Chapter 6

Levy had tried to stay awake as she watched Rogue scramble around the room, gathering their items. She hadn't realized how tired she still was until she started to gain consciousness and felt the hard cushions of a train booth. Slowly blinking her eyes, she took in the small room and tried to force herself to sit up. With a desperate groan, Levy had barely been able to roll herself to her side before she fell off out of the seat with a hard 'THUD'. The injured script mage let out a small cry of pain before biting her lip and attempting to push herself up again.

Seconds later, the door to her room slid open and a frightened dragon slayer stared down at her before frantically moving to scoop her into his arms and sit her back in the seat.

"Are you alright? I heard the fall?" Rogue's quiet voice was full of concern and sincerity. He moved to sit beside her as Frosh entered behind him with to go cups. Rogue grabbed the cup holder so that the exceed could join them on the seat before handing Frosh his kiwi juice and handing another cup to Levy.

The bluenette nodded. Her throat felt raw and bruised as her nose barely picked up the faint scent of tea. She watched as relief visibly shown on Rogue's face as he motioned for her to drink and stood.

"It's just a basic cup of Chamomile tea with a spoon of honey and sugar. I wanted you to have some to help your throat and get it set up so that you will be checked on every hour after we start moving." Rogue spoke as he pulled off his cloak and used it to cover Levy. He had felt wrong to change her while she slept, so she was still in the pale blue gown the doctor had her dressed in; the bandages on her arms and legs, around her throat and the ones on her face were plain as day to see. He had wished to give her that privacy from the others, but he knew that she just wanted to get back home. He had grabbed a pair of her slippers and packed everything else. They were sitting underneath the window of the train's room, next to her purse. The Dragon Slayer moved once more to place her bag next to her on the seat, before sitting across from her in the other booth. "Your books and a few other things are there. I know I won't be of much use to you soon."

With those words, the train's whistle sounded and the train soon started to move. Levy looked at the Shadow Dragon Slayer with wide eyes. His head hung low with his hair covering both eyes, and his arms were crossed over his middle, preparing himself for what was coming. She hadn't expected him to go out of his way this much for her. She knew that he felt as if her injuries were his fault, and she knew they weren't; however, he had made sure she was going to be taken care of while he couldn't and had done everything he knew would make her more comfortable during that time.

The script mage took a few sips of her tea, enjoying the warmth as it soothed her irritated throat, before she reached over and searched through her bag until she found her light pen. A silent script for sickness was trickier, but not impossible. Once Levy had finished, half an hour later, she sent the script spell over to enclose Rogue's area, knowing it would just have to take time to kick in.

….

Rogue hadn't known how long the train had been moving, to him it was always forever until they were stopped. He had felt this slight usage of magic power, but it wasn't until now that he had felt some of the nausea beginning to lift off of his stomach. Slowly tilting his head up til his hair shifted, Rogue peered across the short distance of the room at Frosh, who was sitting in the floor with his coloring book. Then his gaze shifted to directly across from him.

The small Fairy Tail wizard was curled up in his cloak, her nose was pages deep in the book in her lap, and she had another tea in her other hand. Rogue smiled at the sight. He couldn't help but imagined that this was how she'd be at home or in the guild during the winter. Rogue stopped his thoughts there as a small wave a nausea to his throat.

What was he thinking? He had let this woman get hurt on a mission where his sole objective was to protect her. That, alone, was enough to say he didn't deserve to even be in her presence. It didn't help the fact that they were in different guilds, her friends will probably declare war on him the moment they see her. Still, sometimes dragon and slayers grew possessive over some things after battle. Plus, there already was something about her that sparked interest in his mind. He found her intriguing, and wanted to know more about her. This time, when the nausea cleared and Rogue looked up, he was met with a pair of warm, hazel eyes looking right at him, and a big smile.

"Hey," Levy's soft voice started, "I didn't get to say thank you earlier." She paused to regain her voice. "I want you to know that it's not your fault and you did great because I'm still alive. I learned a long time ago to be thankful for that."

It was Rogue's turn to look at the mage with shock. He nodded slightly before he sighed, more nausea clearing as he began to sit up straight.

"I just didn't want you to get hurt." He spoke quietly as he tried to keep still, letting the spell work more on him.

"It's part of the job. We get hurt sometimes, I'm just lucky I had a friend there to protect me." Levy gave Rogue another confident smile and then continued with a playful tease. "Besides, that friend could always take care of me until I'm better. I'll make them run all the errands and do all the chores. Isn't that right, Frosh?"

"Yay!" This caused the exceed to cheer as he jumped up beside Levy and gave her a careful hug. "More time with Levy-san."

Rogue felt his cheeks warmed, but she was right. Eventually, every mage gets at least a minor injury, and some mages are left to deal with their injuries alone. There had been many times when he was younger that his only choice had been to pick himself up and continue on. He knew what he had to do and he wouldn't let anything else happen during the remainder of time she was in his care.

About another twenty minutes of silence passed before Rogue finally felt the full effects of the spell kick in. He stood to stretch his legs before he grabbed the empty cups and made his way to the dining cart. When he returned, Levy had started her book again and Frosh was asleep next to her. Rogue placed Levy's refilled drink in the cupholder next to her before handing her a small bowl of soup.

"Eat, you need to regain your strength." He pressured lightly before he sat across from her and brought out his lunch. He watched as Levy placed her book away and carefully opened the bowl. He made sure she had started to eat before he began his own.

"Rogue," Levy's voice pierced the silence that had been in the room. "How long had I been out? It doesn't feel like it was long, but.." She trailed off, before the dragon slayer let out a quiet sigh.

"Two days, almost three full." Rogue started, setting his food to the side. "I saved you very late that night. The doctor came, took most of the day cleaning and bandaging you right. After that, he stayed for another day to keep an eye on your symptoms and wounds. The following morning is when he let me know about you." The shadow mage watched as the bluenette just nodded, her eyes focused on something distant. "But like you said, you're alive and you have friends ready to take care of you. You don't have to worry about the time you're hurt, worry about the time you get better."

Levy looked over at Rogue and nodded, this time more confidently as they continued their lunch. The rest of the trip was filled with little talking as Rogue made sure Levy stayed comfortable and watched over her until the train docked at their station. Rogue adjusted his cloak around Levy before he lifted her from the seat and carried her out of the train room, Frosh leading the way.

Levy blushed as the dragon slayer displayed no sign of letting her down anytime soon nor any sign of restraint against carrying her. She stayed quiet as she hid her face in his chest, not expecting the surprising comfort and warmth as the gentleness of his walking worked together to rock her to sleep.

…..

By the time Rogue had made it back to the Sabertooth guild, it was just past dark. He figured with it being the middle of the week, many of the guild members would be out on missions. To his luck, he was right and he noticed most of the members that were there were by the bar or lounging by the pool. The dragon slayer motioned Frosh up the spiraled stair case to his left and took a small lead. He had almost made it to his room as he reached into his pocket to grab his key for the door, when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Stalker in the shadows is a shadow?" A lighthearted male voice whispered as Rogue glared over his shoulder at his brother. He rolled his eyes as he finally pulled the metal object from his pants, only to have it removed by the other dragon slayer.

Though Sting may not have been the funniest, at least Rogue let him took his lame humor. Which is why he took the key and moved to unlock and open the door for the shadow mage. He closed the door behind him and waited for Rogue to place Levy on his bed and place the bags upon his dresser. Once that was done and Rogue had sent Frosh down to get something to eat with Sting's exceed, Lector, the two dragon slayers exited Rogue's room to the balcony so they could review over the mission.

Sting leaned over the balcony edge, his forearms resting as he looked over the town at night and listened to what Rogue could tell him. When finished, Sting glanced at Rogue, sitting on the edge with his back to the town.

"So what shall you do now? I understand bringing her here for the night, but Fairy Tail is going to be expecting her back tomorrow. If we take her home injured, they might not want to work with us again. I hate that she got hurt, but I also hate that we might lose friendship and alliance with Fairy Tail." Sting wasn't trying to so rude about Levy's injuries, but he had to think about some of the possible bigger problems later on since he was master. Rogue didn't blame him for trying to take everything into perspective, but there was only one option that was right.

"I don't believe they would do that; but, ultimately, it's her decision." The shadow mage spoke sternly, looking his brother in the eyes. "Tomorrow I shall ask her what she wants to do. I can take her home to Fairy Tail, where she will be surrounded by her friends and can heal there. Or," Rogue paused as he glanced over to his bed, seeing Levy sleeping on her side with her back to the balcony, "She can stay at Sabertooth, and I will ensure she makes a full recovery and has everything she needs until she is healed." The shadow dragon slayer could feel the ice blue eyes of his brother staring into him by the time he finished speaking.

"You're serious about this?" The light mage asked, receiving a nod from the other before Sting sighed and stood up straight, putting his arms behind his head. "Then that's that. Let me know her decision." He said before he gave his brother a quick hug and moved to leave the room, also letting Frosh back in. "Welcome home."

Rogue slid off the edge of the balcony and made his way inside, closing the window doors. He helped Frosh out of his frog suit and on to the bed before he adjusted the blankets on Levy. Finally, he made his way to his desk chair and sat before placing his head on his arms and closing his eyes for a few seconds. He didn't want to sleep; he just wanted silence.

Levy had stirred slightly as a breeze gave her a cold chill. She didn't open her eyes, but her ears focused on faded voices, not too far away. She had heard the end of Sting and Rogue's discussion. The script mage would have to think, but for now she let sleep reclaim her once more, feeling the blankets cover her shoulders more as she drifted deeper into slumber.