Spoiler alert! If you don't know about Nero the bird, skip past the following bold writing

I've had it brought to my attention that I haven't made it clear about Nero really being a girl called Secre. In this fic she is still in bird form and being as discreet as always I know she played a big part in the manga and anime, but that's irrelevant for this fic. I hope that's cleared it up for you all and please enjoy the rest of the fic :)

The room went quiet as Finral entered the next morning. All eyes were on him and yet, he defiantly stared right back at them. Asta had told everyone about the kiss he had seen between Finral and the strange woman when he had returned back to the hideout after witnessing it. Now they all believed he was definitely playing away behind Vanessa's back. He had nothing to hide however, he wasn't lying, so why should he act or behave like someone that would be guilty? After all, if he did hide away and avoid people, it would be like confirming he had done something to be ashamed of. He had spent the night sleeping, or trying to at least, in his old room, so he didn't know where Vanessa would be. He didn't have to wonder long as his eyes suddenly locked with hers from across the room. He almost lost his resolve when she gave him a disgusted look before turning away. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to try and talk to her, he would try later when she was on her own and in less of an awkward mood. Sitting down at the bar on his own, he sighed as he felt everyone's eyes burning holes into his back. How would he convince them he was innocent? To be fair, he could live with the team hating him, but Vanessa meant the world to him and that's what hurt him the most.

"Hey Finral" Zora greeted him casually as he sat next to him.

"Huh?" Finral was a little surprised, "Your still talking to me?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's not like you did anything wrong to me. Sure what's happened doesn't look to good for you, but I still have a feeling your not to blame"

"Thank you that means alot. I just thought Vanessa would know better to"

"She'll come round. At the moment she's just hurting. I'm sure once she calms down and thinks about it rashly, she'll realise the truth"

"I hope so" Finral sighed.

"She will" Zora clapped him on the back earning an ouch from the spatial mage.

Else where, Magna, Charmy and Asta were in wait outside of Lucks room. The minute the lightning mage opened the door, they barged in pushing him back inside in the process. Slamming the door behind them, they faced a rather irritated Luck.

"What did you do that for?" he asked, a smile on his face but anger in his eyes.

"Start talking" Magna demanded.

"About what?" Luck asked.

"What were you doing in town last night?" Asta asked.

"How do you know I went into town?" Lucks smile widened.

"Because I followed you" Asta confessed.

"So why did you go?" Charmy continued.

"If you followed me. You should already know" Luck stated, his eyes narrowing.

"We do, but we want to hear it from your mouth" Magna demanded again.

"Fine" Luck grinned as he confessed, "I went to meet Rachel"

"Why? Why would you do that when you know what she tried to do to our friends?" Magna asked angrily.

"And what did she hand to you?" Asta added.

"She's not interested in Finral and Vanessa anymore. She was telling the truth about travelling around but her interests changed when she saw us that one time. I went out training one night after we saw her and bumped into her again and we began talking. All she wants to do now is apologise to Finral and Vanessa about her behaviour, so she gave me a note to pass on to them"

Luck walked over to a side table and opened a draw. He pulled out a scrap of paper and handed it to Magna. Magna gingerly accepted it and opened it up to read.

"He's telling the truth. It is an apology letter" he confirmed perplexed.

"So why haven't you gave it to them?" Charmy asked.

"Because their in the middle of a fight and I don't think a letter from Rachel will be very well received" Luck laughed.

"Good point" Magna reluctantly agreed.

"But why do you keep going to meet her?" Asta asked still confused.

"We have a thing going on" Luck admitted outright with a small laugh. And was met with gasps of disbelief.

"That's a lie!" Magna cut in, "You've never been interested in a relationship. All you ever want to do is fight. At least, you used to" he trailed.

"Things change I guess" Luck shrugged.

"Not that drastically" Magna sighed deflated.

"If your going to tell Vanessa and Finral then go ahead. We've nothing to hide anymore. Now if you don't mind, I'm going down to breakfast" Luck finished.

He walked past them, opened the door and left. The three people left behind were left in stunned silence for a moment.

"I'm not buying it" Magna spoke up, "He's not acting like Luck or talking like Luck. No one changes that much or that quickly over night!"

"Maybe not, or maybe he did. I guess we'll just have to wait and see" Charmy added, "He wouldn't have told us such a thing if it was a lie surely. Plus he doesn't care if Vanessa and Finral find out so he's not exactly hiding it. Therefore, it can't be anything sinister"

Magna stood for a moment as Charmy left the room. As Asta went to leave as well, he stopped him.

"Do you believe him?" he asked.

"I don't know" Asta confessed, "It does seem strange I admit. But he might actually be telling the truth. Who knows?"

"It's definitely strange. How can she suddenly be so infatuated with Luck when it wasn't to long ago she was chasing after Finral?" Magna huffed as he folded his arms in thought, "And I know Luck wouldn't suddenly fall into a relationship out of no where"

Let's just keep an eye on things. For all we know, he might be telling the truth" Asta added as they left the room, "At the very least, we need to hope that's the case. In the mean time, we should let Vanessa and Finral know she's about again"

"Yeah I guess..." Magna finished with another sigh.

It was later that day when Vanessa and Finral were finally together in the same room. They were sitting separately in the main living space when Magna and Asta found them. Sitting down by Vanessa, Magna called Finral over.

"Hey cheat, your needed over here!" he scorned.

Finral rolled his eyes in response making no motion to move. Vanessa protested and threatened to leave if Finral so much as breathed near her.

"This involves you both so sit over here and listen" Asta demanded, pointing at an empty chair and waiting for Finral to fill it.

Finral did just that, noting that Vanessa still refused to look at him.

"This might seem hard to believe but to start with, I need to tell you that we saw Rachel a while back" Magna began.

"What?" Finral and Vanessa exclaimed together.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Finral asked.

"We spoke to her and she said she was just travelling and picking up new medical techniques along the way" Asta explained, "We decided that as long as she never showed up again and posed a threat, then we had no need to tell you"

"You still should have told us" Finral scorned.

"We should have and we're sorry. But that's not the most important thing right now" Asta added.

"So why are you telling us now?" Vanessa cut in narrowing her eyes already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"She's showed up again" Magna confirmed, "Apparently...her and Luck are...dating"

"What?" Vanessa and Finral again gasped in unison.

"I know, it's hard to believe. But there it is" Magna finished.

"Are you being serious right now?" Vanessa asked in disbelief, "Luck is not interested in a relationship"

"That's what I said!" Magna confirmed loudly.

"How did it even happen?" Finral asked.

That was when Magna and Asta both explained everything, from Luck being shifty around them, to following him around and finally, when they had confronted him.

"It makes no sense" Finral spoke quietly.

"Well if it is true, we can't do anything about it" Vanessa concluded sitting back in her chair, arms folded in thought, "Luck is his own person, he can make his own decisions"

"Mores the pity" Magna scoffed.

He proceeded to hand Vanessa the letter Rachel had written to them as apology and she quickly read it over.

"As long as she doesn't show her face in front of me, they can get on with it" Vanessa finished getting up from her seat and throwing the letter to Finral, "Let's just hope it quickly runs it's course and she's gone for good. Well that is, until this guy decides he wants her instead of his new bit on the side"

"You just had to have a dig didn't you?" Finral scoffed.

Vanessa said nothing as she walked off instead.

"She's not wrong though is she?" Magna coaxed as he slouched back on his chair.

"Yes she is!" Finral spat back, "I've done nothing wrong and to be completely honest, I don't care if you lot believe me or not! All I care about is Vanessa and that's that!"

"I saw you kissing another woman with my own eyes!" Asta shot back.

"You don't know what you saw!" Finral argued, "If you did, you'd know I was innocent!"

Finral stormed off in the same direction Vanessa had left in leaving a stunned Magna and Asta behind. His mission was to find her and make her listen to him. He found her slouched against the wall just outside of the room crying silently. Once she saw him approach, she made to walk off again. Finral stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Let go of me!" she protested.

"Not until you listen to what I've got say" he demanded.

"You can't say anything that will make me forgive you" she yanked her hand back.

"Just let me try" he pleaded.

Vanessa sighed losing the will to fight back.

"Fine. I have something I need to tell anyways" she agreed reluctantly.

"Is it important?"

"A little, yeah. But you go first. Might as well get your grovelling out of the way"

"Ok" he agreed, "First, I would like to start off by apologising to you. Even though I have really done nothing wrong"

By the time Finral had finished explaining things to Vanessa, they were both sat outside on an old tree stump. He had tried his best to prove his innocence. Whether she believed him or not remained to be seen, but the talk quickly led to other talks. Once he had finished pleading his case, Vanessa broke some news to Finral that turned his world upside down. As he sat trying to take it in with tears threatening to brim his eyes, Noelle appeared from the tree line having come back from training giving him no chance to react. Vanessa stood up to leave.

"I can't trust what your telling me as the truth" she stated loudly enough for the new comer to hear, "I want to believe you, but I just can't. You'd do best to leave me alone from now on. Maybe over time we could be friends again, but I wouldn't hold your breath"

She turned and walked away just as Noelle reached them.

"Maybe you should just leave altogether" she told him, "I think you've broke her heart enough don't you?"

It was obvious the whole squad hated him for something he hadn't done. He thought they all knew him a little better than that, but he had been wrong. With squad mates like that, maybe he should leave. Standing up, he made a portal. Taking a look at the retreating backs of Vanessa and Noelle, he smiled sadly before walking through it.

It had been two days since Finral had left and Yami was not happy about it.

"Damn idiot quitting on me with out notice! It's bullshit that I have to walk to the toilet on my own!"

"Is that all you care about?" Zora asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Damn right! How am I am supposed to get around?"

"With your own two legs" Zora answered sarcastically.

"He better hope I don't see him again! I'll break his scrawny neck!"

"Yeah yeah, that's why we haven't moved location since he left" Zora added.

"That's because there could be a demon threat around here. The dud could prove to be true still" Yami hastily answered unconvincingly, then quickly finished with, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a dump!" then added loudly, "With my own two legs taking me there!"

"Such a liar" Zora smirked to himself.

Yami stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him. The room was left in silence for a moment after.

"I do hope Finral is ok" Grey squeaked through her fingers.

"Mumble mumble mumble" Gordon added as he showed everyone a picture he had drew of Finral returning home and him welcoming him with open arms.

"Don't be so upset" Noelle spoke now, "He must have had a guilty conscious to leave in the first place"

"He's probably with that other woman now" Magna added.

"Or maybe you guys not giving him a break pushed him away" Zora suggested.

"Do you seriously still believe him?" Magna asked.

Before Zora could answer however, Luck entered the hideout with Rachel in tow. By now, it was public knowledge the two were dating.

"What is she doing here?" Noelle asked threateningly, standing up.

"She needs to leave" Charmy added from where she sat stuffing her face, "Before Vanessa see's her"

"Actually, I've ready spoken to her" Luck laughed, "She said it was ok"

"What?" Everyone gaped.

"He's right, I did" Vanessa confirmed as she entered the room stroking Rouge.

"What? Why?" Noelle asked surprised.

"Because it's not fair for me to tell other's they can't bring their partner over" Vanessa answered, "Even if I can't stand them" she finished, "Hello Rachel"

"Oh hello Vanessa" Rachel greeted her nervously. Up until now she had been hiding beside Luck, "Erm... did you get the letter I wrote for you and Finral?"

"I did"

"Ah good" Rachel sighed, "I really am sorry about the way I acted"

"Uh huh" Vanessa acknowledged as she went to walk away.

"Erm...where is Finral if you don't mind me asking?" Rachel continued.

"Don't know, don't care. We broke up and we haven't seen him for two days" Vanessa stopped walking and turned back around, "Why?"

"Oh I, err, just wanted to apologise to him face to face as well. But that explains why..." she stopped mid sentence, "Never mind"

"No what?" Vanessa asked, her interest piqued.

"Well I don't want to cause anymore issues, especially since I'm already in everyone's bad books"

"Just say it" Vanessa demanded.

"Just, I saw him last night going into an inn with a blonde woman"

Everyone glanced at Vanessa to see what her reaction would be. To their surprise, she just shrugged and walked away.

"He can do as he likes" she huffed as she went.

"Does she seriously not care?" Zora questioned.

"I guess having your heart broken does that to you" Noelle answered soberly.

"What did he do to her?" Rachel asked.

"None of your business" Noelle snapped at her.

"Sorry for asking" Rachel backed down.

"Aww come on guys, she's going to find out eventually" Luck defended then turned to face Rachel, "He cheated on her"

"Oh my! He didn't seem like the type" Rachel gasped.

"That's what we thought" Noelle cut her off angrily, "I can't believe you told her Luck!"

"Like he said, she would have found out eventually" Magna defended his friend.

"Even so, she should have found out when Vanessa was ready to tell her!"

"I guess tensions are high" Rachel commented at the out burst.

"More so now your here" Zora added.

"Come on Rachel, you don't have to listen to this" Luck smiled at her as he took her hand and they left the hideout.

"Yeah get going you traitor!" Noelle shouted after him.

Walking into the room as Noelle was shouting, Yami stood in confusion. Everyone looked so gloomy and run down whilst Noelle had a face like thunder.

"What did I miss?" he asked casually.

Finral slouched over a bar quietly nursing a drink as he wallowed in self pity. It had now been three days since he had left the hideout and he was feeling as lonely as ever.

"Please just give me anyone to talk to!" he sighed loudly to himself.

As if answering his prayer, someone unexpected sat right down next to him. Looking over, his face fell.

"Not you though!" he groaned.

"That's a bit mean" Rachel giggled, "It's been awhile. How are you?"

"Would be better if you left" he answered truthfully.

"Don't be like that, let me get you a drink and I can lend you an ear to vent to. You look like you need it"

"Why aren't you with Luck? I thought you guys were a thing now" Finral asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh you heard about that? Well, we're sort of on a break" she admitted, "Long story short. I went to see all the Black bull's yesterday. As you'd expect, we didn't hit it off"

"Surprise surprise" Finral smirked, "Did you expect a warm welcome?"

"No, but it could have gone better"

"How did Luck take the break up?"

"He's fine. It was him that suggested it. To be honest, I'm a little hurt" she sighed.

"I'm sure you'll get over it" he scoffed.

"Mean again!" Rachel laughed, "Your really throwing it about aren't you?"

"I'm just surprised he went for you. Your not exactly his type" then added half to himself, "Well nobodies really his type"

"You know he wasn't my first choice either" she smiled knowingly at him placing her hand on top of his, "But talking to someone can really help you see their real personality"

Finral slowly removed his hand from under hers with a nervous smile.

"Look, me and Vanessa have just broken up. I'm really not looking for someone else. And it definitely wouldn't be you if I was"

"I heard and ouch by the way" she faked a hurt face, "I also heard that you've been a very naughty boy haven't you?" she giggled flirtatiously moving closer to him, "What's one more?"

"If your on a break with Luck, shouldn't you be working on winning him back instead of flirting with me?" Finral asked sternly then added, "As for me, I did not cheat. It's just a big misunderstanding"

"I doubt me and Luck will ever get back together" Rachel sighed moving away, "And if I'm single and your single. A bit of fun isn't going to hurt"

"I'd rather try to fix things with Vanessa"

"And you accomplishing that how?"

"I'm working on a plan" Finral answered defiantly.

"Fine" Rachel sighed, "I might as well accept that you'll never want me"

"Nope" Finral agreed.

"Well, at least let me sit with you and drown our sorrows together?" she asked.

"Er... I don't know if we should" Finral told her.

"Oh come on!" Rachel smiled, "We can be civil for a bit at least"

Finral thought for a moment then reluctantly agreed. He was a little on edge but it wouldn't do any harm. He was already in every ones bad books any way.

It wasn't long before they were both giggling like school children as the drinks flowed freely. They spent the night talking about times when Finral was back in the hospital and how Rachel would get into trouble for giving him things he shouldn't have. They talked about what went wrong in there relationships and the good times they had had in them as well. Any unease Finral had felt had soon vanished.

"Seriously though! This guy was huge and Luck just didn't care. He ended up in a fight with him and this huge guy just couldn't touch him because he was to fast. By the time he gave up, Luck had zapped him to the point his hair was full of static" Rachel laughed.

"Yep that definitely sounds like Luck" Finral agreed with a laugh, "It was always Vanessa protecting me! Even when I didn't want her to!"

"She's definitely protective I'll give her that. Like a lioness" Rachel pretended to growl and failed miserably earning her a laugh.

"She been through a lot and she hold's her friends dearly because of it" Finral sighed.

Someone else entered the bar and Finral's mood immediately darkened when he saw who it was. Rachel saw this and followed his line of sight. Standing close by was a blonde woman, the very one that had caused all the trouble for Finral and Vanessa.

"I'm going to go ask her why she did it!" Rachel slurred drunkenly.

Before Finral could protest and stop her, Rachel stood up and made her way over to the blonde.

"Hey you!" she shouted, "Why have you been causing so much trouble for my friend over there?"

The woman looked at where Rachel was pointing in confusion and saw Finral.

"I...err, I don't know that man" she stuttered.

"Are you kidding me?" Finral shouted, "After everything you've done, your denying it?"

"I'm sorry if I've done anything to offend you. But I do not know who you are"

Finral sat in disbelief.

"Are you calling him a liar?" Rachel asked coolly, "Think carefully about your answer"

The woman looked at Finral again.

"Oh it's you. I didn't recognise you without that pink haired slut attached to your arm" she smiled sweetly at him, "I enjoyed the other night handsome. Fancy it again?"

"But I haven't seen you since..."

Finral was cut off as Rachel hushed him.

"He is not a cheat. He is a sweet, caring, loyal person and you have hurt him and his relationship badly with your lies" Rachel hiccupped, "Now I'm going to give you a chance to make things right, will you take it?"

"No" the woman grinned.

Rachel grinned back and before anyone could stop her, she emptied the entire contents of hers and Finral's drinks all over the woman. People rushed to her aid as she gasped and cried at this outcome. The inn keeper angrily told Finral and Rachel to leave. A drunken Finral however refused, saying it was her own fault and she deserved it. Rachel began to hurl abuse at him and so the inn keeper asked two burly men to escort them out. Seeing Rachel was not backing down, Finral grabbed her hand and yanked her out of there as fast as he could as the men chased them out. Running around the corner escaping the pursuing men and angry shouting, they gasped in air through their laughter.

"I can't believe you did that!" Finral choked out through the laughs.

"Well she had it coming!" Rachel giggled as she straightened herself up, "I doubt you'll get her confession easily though"

"Th...thank you for trying. You didn't have to" Finral stood up straight to as he finally caught his breath, "Even if she did refuse to sort it"

"Don't worry, I'll get her to confess eventually" Rachel smiled, "That is, if you still want her to?"

She brought her body closer to his and looked up at him through fluttering lashes.

"Erm...err...I...I...don't know" he stammered caught in her gaze.

Rachel brought her face closer to his and Finral found that he to, was getting closer to hers. Just before their lips touched how ever, Finral pulled back.

"Oh err, I think I should get going. I need to find a new inn to stay in after all" he laughed nervously, walking slowly back so she got the point of him leaving.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly, "You could always stay with me?"

"No! No..." he almost shouted, "I'll see you again sometime. Thanks again and erm... good night"

He waved before walking hastily away from her.

"Bye!" Rachel shouted after him. She wore a malicious grin on her face as she watched him go, "You will be mine" she spoke to herself.

That's another Chapter down and let me tell you writers blocking a real issue XD. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it. The story is starting to come together nicely. Especially since I k ow what's actually going to happen and knowing that you guys have to wait and find out :p I hope the wait will be worth it for you all how ever and the next chapter should be up next week, fingers crossed. Until next time, have fun!