Just Misunderstood

Chapter 13

A Flicker


"Cobra?" Loke looked at her, "Really?! How could she be so attached to him in this short amount of time?!" He growled as he led Erza too Lucy's old bedroom. "How? He's insensitive, arrogant, rude, incompetent. He's a plain old dick!" He fumed.

"I don't know Loke. Back when Brain was casting the spell on Lucy he tried to stop it. I think he almost challenged Brain," Erza pondered.

Loke stopped in front of the door, "He cares for her. I know that. It's obvious. How could he not? Lucy is an amazing person, she would accept anyone. She's beautiful and caring, smart, understanding. She's just amazing. And she was in a vulnerable state, she couldn't see how they were using her, she trusted them- sorry him. She trusted Cobra since the beginning, I don't know why, I don't get it, I never will. But it's hard. I should have been there, you guys should have been there. Someone other than Cobra should have been there!" Loke yelled, his voice shaking violently.

Erza put her hand on his shoulder, "At least she's alive. I don't know, I have a feeling that if Brain and Cobra hadn't of taken her in she would be dead right now. It's just a deep feeling in my gut. I'm almost really grateful for Cobra, Brain needs to get the hell out but Cobra…" her thought trailed off.

Loke shook his head and a laugh without amusement left his lips. "Let's get you healed, the water should help," He said as he pulled the shower curtain back.

~JM~

Something happened to him that day. That damn day that would change the rest of his life. He was lying on his bed, his arms behind his head, his eyes trained on a spot on his ceiling. He heard it before his hair stood on end, the sudden swell of magic.

A heavy sigh left his mouth and he sat up. "Cobra!" It was angry, scared, strong. He was out of his room with the call. He shut his mouth tight when he saw the sight that was still in the middle of manifesting in the hallway. Brain stood, his hair a mess and his clothes covered in blood. He was panting and he groaned as he dropped a weight on the ground.

"Damn, her magic is suffocating," he mumbled to himself.

She was beautiful, which should have been impossible. She was unconscious on the floor, her hair a golden blonde, her skin a milky white, her features one of a princess. Blood seeped in a pool as she lay, the red color corrupting her pure facade.

"What? Who is she?"

Brain scoffed, "I have no idea."

Cobra waited for him to continue but his master just continued to brush dirt from his coat. "Sooo…"

Brain looked up, "Ah yes, I found her in the empty plains of Magnolia. She was releasing enormous amounts of raw power. She can be an asset," he stopped for a moment, "Enough of this, she's injured. Take her to the infirmary, call me when she wakes," he turned with a dramatic coat flip and disappeared into the darkness of his room.

Cobra's eyes blanked on the wall. He squatted low and his hands went to rest on his temples. A deep sigh erupted from his mouth and he dropped his hands to his thighs. He looked towards the girl currently staining his hardwood floors and a groan left his mouth, "I should've gone out tonight. Angel invited me, I said no. Why the fuck did I say no?"

He hooked his hand under her knee and the other under her shoulders. He grimaced as warm blood soaked his hand and he pulled her against him. "Where the fuck is the infirmary?"

~JM~

Lucy's eyes cracked open and dark hair filled her vision. She was laying on her side, and her front was pressed to a man. Her first instinct was to shove him away but strong arms kept her locked there. She looked up and she found Cobra. His eyes were closed and his head tilted up. His hair was fluffy and fanned out as far as it could. His breath was heavy and a slight snore left his throat every now and then.

His coat was laid out on top of them and Lucy almost found herself burying her head further into his neck. Almost. She pulled back and broke from his grasp, she stood fast and brushed off her clothing. "Cobra," he didn't move, "Cobra."

His eyes opened slightly and purple hit the sunlight. He rolled on his back and he stretched. "Yo."

Lucy looked away, "We need to find Brain and the others."

Cobra sat up and looked at her, she cleared her throat. Lucy listened to the world around her, nothing. "Do you hear anything?" She said quietly.

Cobra scoffed, "Of course," but as he listened closer he realized that he didn't. He stood slowly and met her eyes, "Actually…" Lucy had time to tackle Cobra to the ground before a shock wave ripped branches off of trees. Her hands went to his shoulders and her chest went to guard his. Violent wind whipped at their clothes and the forest around them, rocks flew past with unfathomable speed. Several hundred feet away their eyes were called to a massive pillar of light erupting from the ground. It shot thousands of feet into the air and it filled the dark forest with a brilliant glow.

~JM~

Cobra groaned as he put the unconscious girl on the old bed sheets. Cubellios climbed his body and draped herself across his shoulders. He huffed and found a place to lean against the wall. His eyes watched her as she slept. She was quiet at first but small whimpers left her mouth and tears leaked from her closed eyes. Cubellios dropped onto the floor with a hard thump and it even startled him, the large snake found it's way to the girl's side.

Purple irises watched the girl breath, and he felt a small thing stir inside of him, like she was going to be the most important thing to ever enter his life. Like she was going to change everything he stood for. Like one decision she made changed the entire course of his life.

Cubellios made a long hissing sound and the girl shifted to face her. "Loke, if that's yo-" her voice was broken and dry and it was cut short but a little scream that left her throat as she realized just who she was talking too. She tumbled off the side of the bed and Cobra almost moved to catch her but he was completely shocked by his instinct. She gasped as she discovered her wound and it took her a few seconds to regain her composure. It had seemed she hadn't noticed him when her head peeked over the edge of the bed to meet Cubellios' eyes. "You're bigger than I am," she said softly. Her hand was hesitant at first but she patted the snake softly. It was then her eyes moved to Cobra. His breath got, only slightly, caught in his throat when her brown eyes were prettier than brown eyes should be.

He closed his own eyes to hide hers from him and inhaled. "You're bleeding."

~JM~

Erza's entire world crumbled with a single word. A single name. She almost asked Wendy to repeat it, but she knew she had heard right. After the little dragon slayer had explained how she had escaped, a little running there, and a little well timed magic there, she had told them what she had done. Tears, snot and all. Natsu was already beginning to ask exactly what she meant. But stopped when Gray gave him a pointed look.

Both guys gave Erza a look before she turned away. "We can deal with that later, Wendy can you heal Gray and Natsu, Angel broke…." she trailer off and sighed. "Just heal them."

Wendy wiped away tears and choked back a sob, "Okay," she sat by the two and warm light emitted from her hands.

Erza looked away, her hand running over the tender skin of her arms, they still held a pink hue from being healed. She tugged at her cloth shirt and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked sadly at the ground and her magic swelled around her, in a flash of light her normal armour appeared over her. She looked down at her iron clad hands and clenched her fist.

She caught Gray's gaze and his eyes seemed to ask, "Are you going?"

She smiled and gave a small nod. He nodded back and waited till Natsu was done being healed before tackling him to the ground.

"Thank you," she whispered before sprinting off into the direction of the blinding pillar.

"Erza!?" Natsu's voice yelled from behind. "Gray, get off!" He struggled against the ice mage. "I'll kill him! She can't go see him! He'll only make her cry again!" He fought back tears, as he watched her run.

~JM~

Wendy watched as Lucy and Cobra left with Racer, but she jumped when the man she was healing groaned. Her magic faltered and Brain slammed his staff on the ground. "Hurry up!" He commanded.

Wendy glared at the man and her magic flared up again, she watched and worked with extreme precision as she forced the entheron to leave his body. It was several minutes later when he stirred again, his brown eyes opening slightly.

Brain laughed and threw Wendy away from the waking mage. The sky maiden released a short scream as she was shoved to the ground, and was shocked when Angel came up to kneel beside her and pull her farther away from the crazed man.

Jellal snapped his chains with ease and stepped forward, his eyes slowly moved around the room. They laid and stalled slightly on Brain but he found the cave exit and took a step towards it.

"Jellal! Where are you going? Don't you remember me?" Brain said excitedly, but he couldn't hide the confusion that laced his voice.

Jellal's bored gaze found Brain's again and a sudden swell of magic surrounded Jellal and exploded towards Brain. The blue haired man watched with little interest as Brain was launched into the cave wall.

And without a glance to the other four mages he disappeared with a flurry of golden swirls.

~JM~

Cobra huffed as he watched Angel and Lucy leave to go shopping, he leaned back in his chair and looked at the uneven planks of the ceiling. It had only been a few hours since she had woken up in the infirmary and he couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to fuck him up.

It was just something that jumped into his throat whenever he would look at her, whether it was his stomach, heart or every organ at once. He scoffed as he stood, "Fuck me," he mumbled as he made his way to the back storage room.

It was a while before he found what he was looking for and it had an entire seven layers of dust on it. He scoffed again, he kept question why he was doing this but every time he would stop and try to return to his room a nagging sounded in the back of his head.

So he just cursed as he pulled the white bedframe and headboard out of storage room, he slid it into the bedroom and set it up like he had heard.

He returned with a mattress, still wrapped in old plastic. He grumbled as he slammed it on the bed frame, and he jumped as Racer spoke up, "What are you doing?"

Cobra was surprised he didn't hear the man come in, he scowled and shook his head, ridding it of the thoughts that clouded his mind.

"Uh, I was bored, he said lamely. Racer raised his eyebrows and Cobra heard his doubts. "Shut up, My actions are my own, I did it because I wanted too," Racer raised his eyebrows even higher. "Leave me the fuck alone."

The speed mage chuckled and left, leaving the snake charmer with an embarrassed look on his face.

~JM~

Lucy coughed as she rolled off Cobra, both the mages rubbed at small aches and pains as they stood. "What was that?" Lucy asked.

Cobra shook the dirt out of his hair and coughed. His eyes were wide once he looked up again, his pupils contracting as the bright light blinded him. "No way, Brain actually fucking did it."

Lucy gave him a blank stare, "He did it? That's Nirvana?"

Cobra nodded but stiffened when he heard the slight emotion in her voice, he didn't say anything to reassure her. He gave her one last long look before he turned towards the light again. "Why'd you tackle me?" He asked after a little while.

She looked at him, "Because you're important."

His eyes widened slightly as he heard the words, "To who?"

"Me."

"That doesn't make sense, the spel-" Realization cut off his words. He was important to her. That was impossible, she couldn't feel. But the spell had to attach to someone. "Lucy?" He said carefully, she looked at him. "Would you protect me? If I was going to die, would you save me? Even if it costs your life?"

She blinked slowly, "Yes."

-no-

Cobra coughed and dropped his face into his hands. "Holy shit. That son of a bitch. Oh my fucking-" he groaned as he dropped to the ground. "He's fucking with me!" Cobra laughed but it was more in disbelief than amusement.

Lucy looked down, her gaze latching onto him.

-please no-

"He bound the spell to me!? That sadistic bastard! Jesus Christ! Why me?! Why now!? Why couldn't of he just do this since the beginning so you wouldn't of showed us you! Your personality! The way you speak and the way you move! The things you do and say! To me, to Angel. To all of us! Why did you have to make us care! To show us so much kindness and trust even though we never deserved it!" He was standing now, yelling at her.

Lucy stepped back a bit to keep away from the small beads of poison that flew from his flailing hands.

His chest was heaving, from both his beating heart and heavy breaths. His eyes softened once he realized he was yelling at an empty shell.

"You showed us you, Lucy. The beautiful, witty, spitfire woman that was you," he looked away from her golden eyes and smiled at the trees. "You made us care, you made us feel a bitter resentment for a man that we all trusted and followed. In all my years I have never defied that man, but I just did. By trying to get save you. By trusting, caring about you."

He laughed. He met her eyes. He smiled. He turned away. Cobra knew that he would have never said that if she was herself. He wouldn't give the little blonde the satisfaction. But he needed to get it off his chest, to rid it from his being. But saying something out loud doesn't banish it.

It just makes it real.

And he knew that once he turned around again, golden eyes, wide and teary. Salty pools glistened in her eyes and he was in front of her in a second. Kneeling where her knees brought her to the ground. A shaky breath left him as his eyes widened. The brilliant gold he had learned to hate, dimmed and her eyes widened as they flickered brown.