This is the conclusion to the CoLu arc! After this, I'll start posting a bunch of other completed drabbles. And since I have quite a few... there will be pretty regular updates to this for a while. Hooray!

I hope you enjoy this finale!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Title: Home At Last - part 6

Pairing: Cobra x Lucy

Requester: Eien ni Touko/Sxtrisoul/Papalogia (why the fuck do you keep changing your name)

Prompt: "Coming Home"


Communication would normally seem to be Cobra's strong suit - after all, the man could hear the very vibrations of peoples' souls, their thoughts, and he certainly had little trouble letting people know exactly how little he thought of them. Unfortunately, Cobra's ability to properly articulate something had a tendency to fail abruptly when he was confronted with situations he either didn't understand, or when he needed to communicate something important to someone important. Like now.

Which would be why he was sitting, somewhat awkwardly, on his best friend's couch in her small home at three o'clock in the afternoon after having purposefully managed to avoid direct contact with Lucy and his team (who were all in town and very eager to catch up with him) for three straight days.

He shifted on the furniture somewhat, as Kinana walked into the room with a tray of tea. "I'm afraid I don't have much by way of poison to add. Sorry."

Cobra shook his head, his body immediately relaxing at the sound of Kinana's voice, tension held over several long weeks finally draining out of him. "That's fine. It's good to take a break every once in a while."

Kinana smiled at him. She passed over his steaming cup, and took her own to her spot on the couch. "I think the saying is, 'Too much of a good thing is bad for you?'"

The dragon slayer snorted at her words. "Ironically a phrase about accidentally poisoning yourself." He shifted again.

"So," Kinana said, putting down her cup. "I'm assuming this isn't a social call."

"...No," Cobra admitted. He frowned and set down his own cup.

When it seemed clear that he didn't know how to begin, Kinana leaned forward. "You know..." she murmured thoughtfully, "I've had a couple of interesting visitors this week. I think even Lucy came by. I wasn't aware she knew where I lived, to be honest."

Cobra nodded. It was faint, but Lucy's scent was definitely present. It must have been left... two days prior, he thought.

Kinana stared at him for a moment. "We had an interesting conversation. About imprinting and the like. Seems she was pretty worried about you, too. Hadn't seen you for a full day. Now..." The barmaid leaned back, picking up her tea once more. "I could be wrong, but being worried about you after having not seen you for only twenty-four hours is a bit unusual." She took a sip of her tea. "Oh, that's hot."

Narrowing his eye at her, Cobra mimicked her movements. "You've been spending too much time with the demon." He sat up straight again. No matter how hard he tried to find a comfortable position, it just wasn't working.

"Which one? Freed or Mirajane?" Kinana teased him.

He blanched outright. Honestly he found both quite horrifying; one had nothing but rules in his head, and the other contained several monsters vying for control. They were welcome to each other as far as Cobra was concerned.

Deciding to move on, Kinana broached the subject she knew was on his mind. "I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this imprinting thing."

"...I don't like it," Cobra confided, the words he couldn't say to Lucy flowing easily with Kinana. "I don't like having my will decided for me. If I feel something for someone, I want it to be because I want to. Not because some ancient, magical tradition chose it for me. I hate having my consent taken away from me." Consent meant everything to him.

After a moment, Kinana nodded slowly. "So there are feelings, then?"

Cobra clenched his hands, unwittingly making his tea shake. He set it down before he destroyed Kinana's cup. "...It's like I'm taking away her consent, too."

"I see."

Silence fell between them, but neither found it oppressive though it was fraught with tension as Kinana internally debated what to say next. "Have you ever felt this way about your magic? I'm just curious."

"At the beginning I did," admitted Cobra. "But there's no way to turn it off, or stop it. It's not like I asked for it either. So I let it drop - there's nothing I can do about it. And I do what I can to give people a semblance of privacy, besides."

"I'm not sure how this is different?" Kinana ventured. "This isn't something you asked for, and as far as I'm aware of there's no way to be rid of it. If she's fine with it, where's the harm? Seems to me that this involves more consent than your magic does."

He blinked several times in stunned surprised, while his old friend quietly drank her tea. "...I see what you're getting at," he stated, once his thoughts were in order once more. "But this is different."

"Because it involves feelings, and a person's heart?"

"Exactly."

His friend rubbed her forehead. "Even if you have the other person's consent?"

"Is it really hers, though? Or is the lacrima forcing it on her?" Cobra pressed.

Kinana sighed. "Now you're just being stubborn..." She drummed her fingers along the side of her cup. "How would a lacrima inside your body affect her opinion? Have a little more faith in the human heart." Raising a finger as he was about to protest, she continued, "Not just in hers, but in yours."

Cobra closed his mouth with a snap, clearly not yet convinced.

"Erik," Kinana said softly, putting down her cup. "Tell me. Have you ever doubted our friendship?"

"Of course not," was his automatic reply. "Why would I?"

A sad smile touched her lips. "Because I still have no memory as to how we became friends, or anything about our friendship prior to a couple of years ago."

The dragon slayer flinched.

"I don't blame you for not telling me," Kinana added. "Given what little I know of your past and my... condition, I... I think I prefer not knowing. At the same time... I've never doubted the strength of our affection for each other. To me, this is something clear. I don't know how it came about. I don't know how we met, even. But I know, just as I know the sky is vast, that you are my friend, and that you will always, always be my friend. Some things the heart just knows, Erik. And you have to learn to listen to what it tells you. So what is it telling you, Erik?"

Cobra opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Suddenly, everything seemed to click into place. "I... I didn't..." He paused, then continued, still in shock, "I didn't imprint on Lucy. Because..." He pointed at Kinana. "I imprinted... on you. Years and years ago." Back at the Tower. They'd saved each other. She, a little snake, and he, a lost, young boy. The lacrima implantation had only cemented an existing bond.

Meaning any feelings he had for Lucy were all him. Completely and wholly his own.

And so were hers.

A brilliant smile bloomed on Kinana's face, her cheeks turning rosy. "Really? It makes me happy to hear that!"

Pushing himself off the couch, Cobra muttered, "I'm sorry... but I need to..."

"Go!" Kinana made a shooing motion at him. "Talk to her. Just lock the door behind you."

He stared at her for a long moment. "Yeah, you're definitely spending too much time with the demon."

"Go home, Erik. Go home."

"...Yeah. I will."


When Lucy returned from her afternoon shopping, she was startled to find her couch once again occupied. After three days of nothing from him... she had started to think that maybe he wanted nothing more to do with her. Despite Kinana's reassurances to the contrary.

Several emotions warred inside of her for dominance.

Before she could choose one to act upon, Cobra spoke, almost casually, "They say home isn't always a place. Sometimes, it's a person."

Lucy set her bags down, appraising his appearance. He seemed a little off-kilter to her. Every muscle was being held stiffly. For once, he wasn't making direct eye contact with her while he spoke, and was it just her or was the skin on his face a shade or two darker than it normally was? "I think I've heard that," she returned, her voice soft.

He was silent again, for several long moments. Then he turned his gaze to meet hers. "...Can I have a key?"

Warmth spread through her body, settling in her chest, and flaring like fire in her cheeks and ears. "...Sure," she agreed. Then Lucy grinned. "Welcome home, Cobra!"

Cobra smiled in return, one of his rare, peaceful ones. "Good to be home, Lucy."