...Okay. It will be a six part prompt. Glad you're all liking it, though!

This ran WAY over my word count limit, but I couldn't find a way to cut it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Title: Home At Last - part 4

Pairing: Cobra x Lucy

Requester: Eien ni Touko

Prompt: "Coming Home"


Lucy watched with a mixture of horror and amusement at the chaotic scene before her, which had begun with the four Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail agreeing on a joint training session to hopefully learn to cover their weaknesses. That intention had been lost somewhere along the way, and now they were just playing some sort of convoluted game involving a heavier-than-normal medicine ball and copious amounts of random Dragon Slayer magic flying everywhere.

Beside Lucy, Levy sighed. The pair, along with the Exceeds and Erza, had come to make certain nothing too important got destroyed (sure they were out in the middle of nowhere, but let's face it – Natsu was involved and he had an uncanny knack for finding new and clever ways to destroy things in a spectacular fashion). Erza and the Exceeds were supposedly playing referee at the moment. Or in theory, at least. Erza had long since ditched the position and entered the fray herself, with Happy giving out extremely unhelpful commentary.

As near as Lucy could tell, it was Gajeel and Natsu versus Laxus and Wendy versus Erza the one woman tank.

"Think we should get them to break for lunch?" Levy asked. "I mean... they've been at this a while."

The Celestial Mage shook her head. "I'm not getting in the middle of that."

Levy accepted this logic. "So, Lu-chan," she said, shifting closer to her friend and leaning in with a wicked grin. "I heard you've been getting really close to a certain Dragon Slayer lately."

Letting out a groan, Lucy hung her head. "I knew that gossipy blue fuzzball was still spreading rumors! No, nothing is going on, I promise!"

"Well that certainly doesn't sound like nothing!" Levy's smirk was all-knowing. A trait she'd picked up from a certain Dragon Slayer herself, Lucy would wager.

"We're just friends, Levy."

"Oh? Then who do you know who I'm talking about?!"

Lucy gave her a look of pity. It was a valiant attempt on Levy's part. "I'm friends with all of them, and Happy spreads rumors about all of them, so it doesn't matter which one you mean."

The Solid Script Mage facepalmed. "The one that's taken up residence with you."

"I live alone, Levy," Lucy informed her, well aware of who she was trying to allude to. "Even speaking in hyperbole, that still wouldn't narrow it down." She understood why Levy wasn't specifically naming him, though. Upon hearing the Poison Dragon Slayer's name, Natsu would assume the man was present and drop whatever he was doing to run around shrieking for Cobra to fight him. It had happened before.

Levy was becoming visibly frustrated with Lucy's purposeful obtuseness. "Lucy, seriously. I'm not just being nosy, I'm really worried about you. Come on, everyone already thinks that he imprinted on you when you saved his life anyway!"

"IMPRINTED?!" screeched Natsu, the three-way battle coming to an abrupt close. "ON LUCY?!"

The other Dragon Slayers did not seem pleased by this outburst, leaving Erza to just stand there amongst them in utter confusion as to what was going on.

"Whoa, Blondie got imprinted on?!" a white haired man said, walking up to the group and forcefully interjecting himself into the conversation. "Nice! Which of those bastards was it?!" He paused, taking in the gathering of Dragon Slayers more closely. "Unless it was Wendy-san?"

A dark haired man cuffed his partner upside the head. "She's too young, moron."

"...I deserved that," Sting acknowledged, while the Shadow Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes.

"We came to visit, and overheard you," Rogue informed the group. "It's good to see you all."

"Yeah!" a red Exceed exclaimed cheerfully.

"Fro, too!" a costumed Exceed also input.

"Lector! Frosch!" Happy greeted the pair. Pantherlily and Carla also joined in with their well-wishes, the Exceed group wandering away from the humans.

Lucy eyed the pair of newcomer Dragon Slayers with trepidation. "Isn't Sting a Guild Master? Should he really be wandering around…?"

Sting blinked owlishly at Lucy. "What are ya talking about, Blondie? Makarov does this kinda shit all the time."

"You really want to be emulating him?"

He opened his mouth and raised a finger, about to refute her statement, only to pause and reconsider. Sting decided to change the subject. "So I overheard someone imprinted on you!"

"Sting, you already said that," Rogue pointed out.

A blank stare from the Celestial Mage was directed at the group. "Does anyone want to tell me what imprinting is? A little lost here, folks."

"Yes, some clarification might be nice," Erza added.

"It's a mating thing," Gajeel explained. "What?" he asked when Lucy stared at him.

"So why does Levy know about it?"

"I was telling Lily about things Metalicana taught me, and Shrimp jumped in at some point."

Sting and Rogue exchanged a glance. "Is that seriously all your dragon told you about it?" Sting questioned.

Natsu looked at them perplexed. "Igneel told me much the same."

"Grandeeny hadn't gotten to explaining m-mating things in detail, yet," Wendy admitted.

The Iron Dragon Slayer shrugged. "The shitty lizard was better at squashing things than explaining them."

Rogue and Sting looked at each other again. "That in itself explains quite a lot..."

Gajeel bristled at the comment. "Hey, are you looking down on me, punk?!" he growled. "Why don't you come over here so I can squash you!"

"Quiet, Gajeel. Sting. Rogue. What is this imprinting thing, then?" Erza demanded, hating to be left in the dark.

Sting made a helpless gesture, so Rogue took the helm. "It's a term used to describe an unbreakable lifetime bond between a Dragon Slayer and another person, generally brought about through a survived trauma."

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed. "Is that all?" She thought back to all of her past interactions with Cobra, terrified and pulling him out of that canal, helping him to recuperate, the inexplicable loneliness she felt when he wasn't around, and the more recent offering of her home for his use (made official with her handing over a key to the apartment). This neatly tied together all of her confused feelings about her dealings with the Poison Dragon Slayer. "Then... yeah, I guess he might have imprinted on me."

Something about saying that aloud felt right in ways Lucy couldn't properly articulate, even within her own mind.

Surprise crossed the Twin Dragons' faces.

"Um... Lucy-san," Rogue said carefully. "Might I ask who?"

"Cobra. I saved him a while ago, and we've become pretty good friends since then. Levy was saying that she thought he and I had something going on, but no, we don't."

This didn't appear to ease the Sabertooth Dragon Slayers in the least. "Uh... Blondie? There's a reason why the princess and dragon-slaying knight end up together in stories," Sting told her. "Although in reality it's the opposite - the Dragon Slayers are the ones with a thing for being rescued."

"So similar to a reverse Florence Nightingale effect or transference?" Wendy asked.

Sting blinked. "I guess? But for Dragon Slayers, it's permanent, and while it can be platonic it's usually not. So Gajeel-san was at least partly right about the whole mating thing. It's not specifically a mating ritual, but it can lead to one."

"Pardon me," interjected Erza, "but how is it that the pair of you know more about mating, when I assume you had about as much time with your dragons as Wendy? Being that you're technically the same age?"

The two stared blankly at her.

Realization dawned in Erza's eyes. "Oh. OH. OHHHHHHHHHH..." Her face took on a crimson hue not dissimilar from her hair colour.

Sting shook with restrained laughter at Erza's reaction, though he was not nearly brave enough to make any sort of noise.

Laxus, on the other hand, had no problem guffawing at the Titania's blunder.

Lucy smiled at her redheaded friend's deep embarrassment. "Anyway, Sting, Rogue," Lucy said, addressing the Dragon Slayers, "I appreciate your concern, but Cobra and I are friends. That's all."

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Sting and I are friends as well, and were before. That has remained unchanged."

She shook her head in denial. "Thanks, but you're mistaken about us."

The Shadow Dragon Slayer tilted his head in acceptance of her statement, though his crimson eyes spoke an entirely different story. He clearly didn't believe her in the least. After all, he recalled his own protests and denials quite well. This wasn't something that could be rushed, though. So he wouldn't interfere further, and would make sure Sting kept his trap shut. Rogue could do at least that much - and quite frankly, Rogue owed Lucy a great deal more for his future self's actions. There was nothing he could do about the Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers, but he assumed they had enough sense to leave the matter well enough alone. It was sufficient that Lucy was aware of the possibilities laid out before her.

If Lucy and Cobra decided that path to mates was the right one for them, all the better. If they didn't, it was also no loss. Lucy was going to come out of this with either a lover or a lifelong friend.

Either way, it would be a win for the pair.