Chapter 4 - the revelation

One drink turned into two and two into four until they were left with two empty bottles of sake and two – very – tipsy mages.

"Another one!", Sting called out to the waitress. His words were muddled together and rushed, like his tongue had become heavy in his mouth, making Ayaka break out into a fit of giggles (something very unlike her normally composed persona).

Rogue and his little companion (Frosch, was it?) had left the table after the first bottle of sake had been emptied. That was around the same time they had finished their meals and when Ayaka had once again tried to leave. Sting, however, had been quicker than her, ordering another bottle of sake to their table and telling her to drink with him because "how could I finish all that on my own?". So, she had stayed, telling herself that maybe, if he got drunk enough he would lose his cocky attitude and tell her why the everloving hell he knew her name in the first place.

That was her first mistake.

She hadn't thought about how she had basically been asleep for seven years and had therefore lost all resistance to alcohol. In other words: She was a lightweight. Mike – as attentive as she was – had noticed the change in behaviour already after the first bottle of sake was emptied and had tried to reason with her friend, telling her that maybe they should just go upstairs and sleep. Her attempts had almost swayed Aya to get up and leave even though she had been far away from her goal, but of course Sting couldn't let the situation go uncommented. Smirking at her he had asked if she was alright, maybe needed assistance to go upstairs. And obviously Ayaka's pride couldn't have taken another hit from the blond across from her that evening. So she'd told Mika she'd stay.

About halfway through the second bottle the other two exceeds decided to head upstairs. Lecter – Sting's personal little cheerleader – had been reluctant at first, but had quickly given up on his resolve after seeing the expression on Sting's face. Mika, who'd already nearly fallen asleep, was, on the other hand, more than glad when Ayaka had suggested that they should go to bed.

And now the third bottle was placed between them.

Sting swiftly grabbed the sake from the table to pour both of them a shot, first filling Aya's glass to the brim and then his own.

The auburn eyed mage took hold of her glass carefully, not trying to look even more drunk by spilling the alcohol on the table, and downed her drink in one go, before placing the now empty cup on the table. Sting copied her actions.

"So", Sting started, leaning forward while resting his chin in the palm of his hand, "What made you decide to stay?" He smirked.

Ayaka leaned forward as well, causing their faces to be just mere centimetres apart. "First of all, I'm not one to hop in bed with some guy from a bar whom I barely even know. I can do better than that." She leaned even closer, feeling the breath of the other on her face. It made her shiver, knowing that he was so close he could probably hear her heart beat without using his dragon slayer abilities. "So whatever you were hoping for would happen, it ain't happening." She leaned back in her chair, resting against the back rest with a smug grin on her face.

"Hmm…" Sting didn't seem bothered by her rejection in the slightest. "So why did you stay?"

It threw her off, his cockiness. His unwavering confidence. And that smug smile which told her emhe knew something she didn't.

"How do you know me?"

He raised an eyebrow and gestured with his free hand for her to elaborate.

"You know me. That's why you played around, wanting me to tell you my name, even though you knew it already, why you entertained Mika in her arguing and why you-", emflirted so shamelessly early/em, "why you tried to figure out where I was headed. You wouldn't do that if you didn't know me. Not even if you knew I was from Fairy Tail."

The conversation sobered her up, not completely and not even a lot to be honest, but enough to organize her thoughts into coherent sentences and try to make sense of the situation at hand.

"Took you long enough to ask." The light mage leaned back, lazily throwing both his arms over the backrest of the couch.

"It's not like I usually have to ask people why they know me." Ayaka rolled her eyes.

"Good point."

Then nothing. No answer. Just his ice blue eyes following her every move and his stupid goddamn grin on his lips.

"Well?" She was growing nervous. His hesitation to answer (or his unwillingness?) made her even more agitated. Aya leaned forward in an attempt to get closer to the man in front of her, her eyes never leaving his.

That was her second mistake.

Promptly the man leaned forward again, so close to her that their lips would be touching if Ayaka moved even a little. Shocked by the close proximity, she tried to leap backwards. But before that could happen Sting grabbed her arms and pulled her back, not letting go even when she was rooted in her place.

It should have hurt her, would have hurt her, the iron grip on her arms, which probably left deep purple marks of abuse, but she was just emso/em focused on the face in front of her, on those ice blue eyes that reminded her so much of something.

Sting moved even closer, impossibly so, and leaned into her ear. His cheek was pressed against hers as his lips ever so gently grazed her ear lobe.

It should have unnerved her, so why didn't it? Why was she so calm in a position she was manhandled into? Why didn't she move? And why did her head tell her it was okay?

"I'm sure you remember me. I mean, obviously seven years is a long time, but come on, Aya-chan, I didn't change that much, did I?" He leaned back again, retreating to his previous position right in front of her face, and looked straight into her eyes. It didn't look predatory, or intimidating, just… warm, friendly even.

Is he… ?

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers as her mouth fell open in a silent gasp, as she fell backwards, ripping her arms out of Sting's grip. Her chair screaked on the floor as she pushed herself away from the table, nearly falling out of it in her rush.

She should have noticed sooner, should've recognised his name, or his face. Something should have given it away. But she had been clueless, not connecting the dots in her mind. No, even more than that. She had completely forgotten about the young boy she'd met seven years ago.

After Tenrou Island, after him, all she could focus on was to make her guild proud again, nothing else mattered. Everything from the past, everything that happened around the time of the incident, was banned from her mind. To stop the negativity from flooding her thoughts, and keep the demons at bay.

So, unconsciously, she had also banished the memories of the young blond she had met on her last mission before departing for her duties as an S-rank member on Tenrou Island. She had met the man across from her before when he was still a child – well, seven years of absence spent in a weird anti-aging zone had kept her from growing up while he was in the real world following the rules of time. So now, they would be about the same age, at least physically.

Back then, however, he was a lot younger than her, young and easily impressed by the Fairy Tail member, who came to his town to beat up some bad guys. Honestly, she couldn't even remember what her mission was anymore, the only thing embedded in her mind was the huge smile of the young boy who ran up to her after she had finished her tasks and told her so animatedly about his plans to become the strongest mage of all, even stronger than Natsu Dragneel.

She remembered the cat, Lecter, standing next to the excited child and nodding at everything he said like some bobblehead doll.

She remembered crouching down to be at eye level with the blond, ruffling through his mess of hair, while telling him to train hard as hard as he could but to never forget the passion in his heart.

She remembered him begging for her to teach her. So she did. The entire day she was with the young mage, teaching him lesson after lesson.

And she remembered leaving. She had held him at arm's length, gripping both of his shoulders tightly while looking deep into his eyes, emthose ice blue eyes/em, while she told him to wait. Because in a year she would come back and check on him to make sure he improved.

In a year.

It had been seven, now.

Seven years later that boy sat across from her at some inn in the middle of the goddamn mountain. Six years since she broke her promise. Six years of waiting. emSix years.

So why was he looking at her so kindly? Why wasn't he mad? Where was the anger, the frustration, the questions?

"I-I'm sorry…", Ayaka stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "I'm so-" She swallowed, bringing herself to speak up. "I'm so goddamn sorry."

"You shouldn't be." His grin turned into a smile as he reached out a hand, placing it on the table in front of her with an open palm, an invitation to take it if she wanted, not forcing her to.

She did.

Shakily she reached out for his hand, needing the confirmation that he actually emwas /emextending a hand to her, a sign that he wasn't mad. So, she linked their fingers at the table, not in a romantic way, no, not even platonic. It was to calm her nerves, Sting did it to show her that she wasn't at fault and that he knew that.

"That really killed the buzz now, didn't it?", he joked, shaking the still almost full sake bottle lightly in his free hand.

Ayaka laughed. Actually just forgot about everything that had been stressing her out ever since she arrived at this table and broke out in heart felt laughter. "I guess we should finish the bottle together, then."

And so, about an hour later, Ayaka returned to being a giggling mess in front of the other, while Sting, who could admittedly handle his alcohol a lot better than his female counterpart, made it his personal mission to entertain the strawberry head and sneak even more sake into her cup – just for good measurement.

"I don't remember you being so cheeky seven years ago", she breathed in between giggles, as she caught Sting pour more sake in her glass.

"Seven years is a long time." He finally looked up again, after placing the bottle of alcohol back in between the two at the table. "I didn't know how to act around cute girls back then." Then he winked, sending Aya into another fit of giggles.

"I doubt that you do now." She laughed out when Sting made a face, mocking hurt.

"Hey!" He reached around the table to grab onto Ayaka's arms and pull her out of her chair and onto the bench he was sitting at. "You don't even know me now. I have girls running after me wherever I go."

The mage rolled her eyes. "That is such a fuckboy thing to say." Then she broke out in laughter as the blond haired man leaned over her and attacked. Sting's hands quickly found his way to her sides, tickling her mercilessly for the comment and telling her to take it back.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I take everything back!" She laughed, raising her hands in surrender.

Sting grinned in victory and threw an arm around her shoulder. After the tickle fight they now were so close, their sides basically squashed together and Aya's legs lazily thrown over Stings thighs (she had raised them during his tickle attack while she was trying to wiggle away). However, the Fairy Tail mage barely even registered their proximity, too intoxicated to even think about if this was inappropriate or not.

"This is fun. We should go out again in Crocus after the games are over."

"Sting Eucliffe, are you asking me on a date?" She pushed herself up from her slouched position to be able to look him directly in the eyes. "Because I told you I am not going to end up in your bed."

He shook his head, chuckling slightly at the accusation. "I told you I'm not a fuckboy." He reached for his cup of sake and took a sip. "I really just wanna go out and spend some quality time after we kick your butts in the games."

Ayaka gasped. "Kick our butts? We will win for sure!"

"Not when you're going against Sabertooth."

"You really are conceited, aren't you?" Ayaka shook her head in disagreement and leaned back.

Sting laughed heartily at the pout on Ayaka's lips and took the bottle to pour himself another cup of sake, only to find the bottle empty.

"Well", he sat up and gently pushed Ayaka off of him. "We should probably get going. It's late and we both have to be somewhere tomorrow."

Ayaka jumped up only to stagger, not expecting the alcohol to affect her that much. Letting out a quiet 'woah' she found her balance again and made her way through the now nearly empty room. Then she looked back at Sting one last time before disappearing through the door.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you at the tournament. Fairy Tail will kick your ass."

Mika and Ayaka left early in the morning, before sunrise. Ayaka, even though her head was buzzing like crazy and her memory was more than just foggy, was in a great mood. The conversation she had with the Sabertooth mage yesterday really motivated her for her training.

And the first part of that was getting to their training spot.

They first had to wander through the woods into the steeper part of the mountain, where there was close to no vegetation. The ground was dry and sandy, which made it difficult to hike. Also with everything just consisting of stone and dirt, orientation was a rather tricky thing. The first couple of times they had been here, Mika had to fly them over the mountains so that they could find their destination. Otherwise, they would've ended up in an endless labyrinth of stone walls.

There deep in those mountains was their training spot. It was a hidden cave, well actually more like an underground tunnel system with a subterranean stream flowing through it. It had huge areas that were perfect for training her primary magic as well as areas with tall stalagmites she could use to practice her sword skills. Overall, it was the perfect spot for her.

They had arrived around noon and immediately started unpacking when they had reached the cave. Ayaka was more than surprised when she found out that the futons she had brought here years ago were still intact and usable. Those would definitely make their stay a lot more comfortable.

As soon as they were finished with unpacking, Mika and Ayaka built up their training equipment. It wasn't much for the first part of their training, since it didn't require any special weapons. Ayaka simply made sure that she had several bottles of water in reach, a change of clothes (just in case) and a mat rolled out on the floor for her to sit on.

She quickly changed out of her travel clothes and into her sport wear, which consisted of black stretchy pants and a black long sleeved crop top in the same fabric. Then she walked over to the middle of the room and plopped down on the mat she had laid out beforehand.

Taking a deep breath she concentrated on her body, blocking out everything around her. The only thing on her mind, the only thing she felt, was her body. Every fibre, every cell, every piece of herself she had power over. She dug deeper, behind the biological aspects, searching for something even stronger, more primal. Something so untamed, so fierce, so emferocious/em, she herself was unsure how she kept it locked away in her body.

It was more than just a fire burning inside her. It was the abyss.

And with just the reach of her hand she had it in her palm.

Writhing and bristling it showed her that it was a force to be reckoned with. But she had learned that the hard way. Now the warning was empty, nothing more than an annoying alarm going off in the back of her head.

So she grasped her fingers around it, captivating it in her grip, controlling it.

Using the power roaring inside of her has never been the problem, hell she was a mage, how else was she supposed to do her job? The issue was combining it with her primary magic. They kindled each other. Only then was the danger of losing control real.

So, she isolated herself while practicing.

Not even Mika was allowed anywhere near her while she was training the magic her mother had taught her. The little exceed wasn't even in the tunnels during her training session. Ayaka's reach was too far to just put her best friend in the next room.

She pulled on the power – her magic – inside of her, letting it flow in her body, giving it free range within the barrier of her skin. She felt herself float, not metaphorically, but actually float over the floor as her body started radiating power.

Next, she concentrated on the atmosphere. Feeling the humid air, smelling the unique scent of the earth, hearing the stream flow outside. She focused on the planet, how it worked, how it lived and thrived, around her.

Her magical power relished in the feeling of being grounded, of having a focus and feeling the pull to the earth. However, it exploded when it was thrown into nothingness.

As soon as Ayaka activated her primary magic it was like her power sprung to live. The air felt like it was sucked out of the room, creating a vacuum no normal living being could survive. The rules of gravity were nullified. Now, not only she was floating, but so was everything else located in this room, which wasn't deeply rooted to the spot.

Every insect unfortunate enough to be in the tunnels while she was training shrunk up under the absence of air, dying gruesomely under Ayaka's power. She felt every single one of them as she crushed them with just a fragment of her power. Inside her mind she was picturing holding her own magic in a tight grasp, with just enough of the lilac colour ball leaking out between her fingers to infiltrate the world. She had practiced control enough times to create a consistent flow within her soul, but she had never dared to release more than just that.

Today, however, she did.

Author's Note: Hello lovelies! I hope you liked the small detour to Ayaka's and Sting's past. I love to show this kind of sweet and playful side of him instead of the arrogant fuckboy side he has in the Games. Also, are y'all excited to find out more about Ayaka's magic? (My friend, who does all the proofreading, is so on edge because of that haha.)

Anyways, since I have a month off uni at the moment, I got loads of free time to write again. So there'll be more updates to come the next few days. Stay tuned!

xoxo Franny