...Where the heck did the angst come from, that wasn't supposed to be in there...

Only one more part to go after this! I have a ton of prompts ready to be posted, but I'll wait until after this one wraps up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Title: Home At Last - part 5

Pairing: Cobra x Lucy

Requester: Eien ni Touko/Sxtrisoul

Prompt: "Coming Home"


It was a full three days after the imprinting conversation before Cobra showed up again at Lucy's apartment. Hearing a soft knock at her door, Lucy answered it. Discovering, much to her surprise, Cobra leaning on the wall next to it, wheezing. Sweat poured down his face, and he looked for all the world like he had run the entire way from whatever hellhole Crime Sorciere was stashed in on the other side of the country.

Actually, given Erza's penchant for telling Jellal everything she considered noteworthy (if it wasn't deemed classified by the Master, that is), it was entirely possible Cobra had done just that.

Lucy stepped aside and allowed the weary mage to stumble in with a sympathetic look. "Would you like some water?"

Collapsing into his spot on the couch, Cobra made a vague gesture with his hand - which Lucy decided to take as a yes. After grabbing two glasses and filling them with water, she made her way over to Cobra and handed him one. He gratefully took it. Then Lucy sat down next to him with the other glass, tucking her feet up under her and leaning against the back of the couch.

After a few minutes spent in silence, Lucy finally ventured, "You shouldn't exhaust yourself this much. That's how you ended up on this couch in the first place."

A groan and an eye roll was her response. But he set down his empty glass.

"...So?" Lucy prompted.

Cobra's eye narrowed, and he glowered at an undefined point on Lucy's wall. "...I need time away from my team." In all honesty, it was more to prevent their murder at his hands than anything else. They were becoming very annoying.

With a giggle, Lucy shook her head at Cobra's wounded pride. "Was their teasing really that bad?"

"Jellal doesn't know when to fucking quit!" he grouched. "It was payback for me teasing him about the redheaded monster." The Dragon Slayer grimaced. "Sorano and Macbeth wouldn't let up either. And Meredy...!" Cobra paused, watching Lucy shake with restrained laughter. "Glad to hear you're enjoying this."

She wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "I've been getting much the same treatment, truth be told." Happy was the literal worst. "It just means that they're your family."

He snorted at her statement, but seemed to consider it.

Lucy's smile fell, and she shifted nervously in place. "I hate to ask but... what do you think of all this?"

"Imprinting in general? Or on you specifically?" Cobra questioned.

"You can hear what I mean."

"...Only if you know it yourself."

The Celestial Mage flinched in surprise. "...Both, then."

Cobra shrugged. "I'd never heard of imprinting before, but it makes sense. As for how I feel about probably having imprinted on you... it's more complicated. I'm not sure I appreciate having a lacrima dictate my feelings." It left him adrift, with no way to control the situation himself. Cobra didn't like having his control taken away from him - so much had been stolen from him throughout his life, but he had assumed his core emotions were still under his sole possession. Now it seemed as if they never had been.

The whole thing left a bit of a rancid taste in his mouth.

Nodding, Lucy tried not to feel hurt by his words. She could understand not wanting to be manipulated - thanks to her less than stellar childhood. Cobra wasn't taking issue with her in particular, just the situation.

Still sort of felt like a rejection, though.

"...Hey," Cobra muttered trying to get Lucy's attention before she retreated into herself. When she made eye contact with him again, he slowly said, "I just wanted time to think it through. Away from Crime Sorciere." He paused, and then asked, "Do you mind if I... do my thinking here?" He wanted to say more than that. That the apartment was comfort to him, that Lucy was comfort to him, even if it was lacrima-induced. This had become his safe place; Lucy had become his safe place. He wasn't going to give up either without a fight.

But he didn't know how to say any of it. Too many years spent in people's head left it hard to communicate what was within his own.

Lucy smiled at him, adept at reading between the lines. Especially so when it came to Cobra. "I don't mind at all. Stay as long as you want - this is your home, too."

A loud grumbling filled the room.

Laughter burst from the pair as the noise subsided.

"I see one part of you is certainly settled in!" Lucy joked, happy the tension was diffused.

Cobra chuckled. "Yeah. I might have... forgotten to eat anything on the way here."

"Just how far away were you?!"

"...Bosco." When Lucy's mouth dropped open, he grinned at her. "I hitched a ride on top of a train. ...I don't recommend the experience."

Lucy swatted his arm lightly, a small part of her soul soaring at being allowed the action. "I thought I told you to take better care of yourself!"

"Damage was already done."

Standing up, Lucy walked over to her kitchen to rifle through her supplies. Hopefully there was something left over for them after Team Natsu's latest raid. "You will take care of yourself from now on, you got that?"

"Yeah, yeah." As he watched Lucy rummage around, the smile slipped from his face. "I'm trying," he said quietly to himself. "I'm trying."