A/N: So here's the next installment. This was supposed to be the final chapter, but there was enough content that I wanted to get put into this story for me to break it up into two chapters. Sorry for the long wait on it!

(Note: If you don't know what a pangolin looks like, think of Sandslash... or give it a quick Google search.)

The Truth is a Long Time Coming

It was two days after Cobra had finally gotten his head out of his ass and called Flare that a thought occurred to him. He wasn't sure just what had made it spark in the front of his mind while laying down for the night, but as he listened to the quiet chirping of insects and the crackling fire just outside of his tent, one image plastered itself right behind his closed eyelid.

The crimson scales stretching across her lower belly that he'd seen on the lacrima just before they'd been interrupted.

He'd called her back after killing a quarter of the mages who had so rudely interrupted them. The rest, he'd left to writhe on the ground from his poison while everyone else in his guild rounded them up. Cobra hadn't given a shit about why they were there or anything else. Once it was handled, he'd gone right back to his tent, grabbed his lacrima, then stormed off into the woods nearly a mile away from their camp. He'd taken a minute to make sure no one was around before calling her. And thank fucking God he'd called her when he had. She hadn't cum yet, and he'd been able to sit and watch the way her hair moved over her body in teasing flicks while her fingers pounded into her sex. And while he sat at the base of a large tree, Cobra had pulled down his pants and given Flare the show she'd wanted, listening to the way she'd moaned his name while climaxing.

But now, two days later, he was stuck staring at the apex of his tent over his head, thinking about those damn scales on her stomach. He didn't know what they were though. He knew for a fact they hadn't been there when he'd fucked her. Granted, he hadn't put his face between her legs that day, but he did remember the way her pale skin had looked from her pert breasts down to the eden between her legs. And there hadn't been fucking scales. She hadn't even had dry skin anywhere that he'd touched. No rough elbows or calloused ankles. Flare was porcelain smooth from top to bottom.

She especially hadn't had scales on her that looked terrifyingly similar to the ones that covered his arms when he used his Slayer magic.

Maybe it had been a side effect of her eating his poison when they'd been fucking though. Maybe it was some sort of Dragon Slayer shit that he didn't really know about, because he was usually in the dark on a lot of things where the magic from that stupid fucking lacrima was concerned. It just meant he needed to get in contact with another Dragon Slayer. Considering he knew where all of them were - it was just a little sad that they were only split between two light guilds, but that did work in his favor - it was only a matter of deciding who he needed to talk to.

His first thought was Natsu. And it was instantly a big, fat No on principle. Like hell was Cobra going to go crawling over to that fire-eating shit sandwich and ask him questions about being a Dragon Slayer. He would rather shove a pissed off pangolin up his ass, tail first, before asking Natsu for help.

Gajeel might have the answers he needed, but avoiding Fairy Tail would probably be preferable. Besides, Cobra had no idea whether Gajeel even knew enough about this shit to begin with, especially since the guy was as gay as they came and pining over that little green-haired fruitcake who had a hard-on for Laxus. Maybe it was different for Slayers who weren't into women. Maybe Gajeel was a fucking virgin and didn't know a damn thing about it to begin with. That meant he couldn't ask Gajeel, either.

Then there was Wendy. She was a healer, and she'd been raised by a dragon, so she was probably a really good fucking choice of someone to talk to about just what the fuck had happened with Flare. Except she was a fucking kid. He wasn't going to walk up to a little girl - healer or not - and start telling her about his goddamn sex life. He'd had enough stints in prison, thank you very much.

Laxus was probably his best bet in Fairy Tail. The only problem was that the guy was a second generation Slayer, just like Cobra, so maybe he didn't have a fucking clue about any of this shit either. Sure, Laxus was in a serious relationship with their guild's Celestial mage, so Cobra knew for a fact that he at least knew what it was like to fuck a woman, but maybe there was something that only happened with some Dragon Slayers and not others. So, Laxus was out as well.

That meant every Dragon Slayer in Fairy Tail was out of the question.

And that only left two others for him to turn to. Luckily, Crime Sorciere was relatively close to Sabertooth, so it wasn't like he'd have to travel too far out of his way to get some answers. The only question was… which one to ask.

Sting made Cobra want to cut his fucking ears off and shove them in a blender. It was like having a blond Natsu running around with fucking light powers instead of fire. So instead of burning people, he just fucking blinded them. 'No fucking thank you,' he thought.

That only left Rogue. His last chance at getting some answers without having to compromise too much. Cobra had never really dealt with Rogue before. Or Sting for that matter. But at least the Shadow Dragon Slayer was quiet, and his soul was mostly calm. It still had a booming sort of intensity to it, as did all the other Slayers, but just hearing it made Cobra feel cold inside. It was unnerving, sure, but at least he wasn't obnoxious. And he was already mated, and had been for years. That was a definite bonus. Because Cobra only had a vague understanding of what any of that ridiculous draconic mating bullshit even was. Then again, he was positive that nothing like that would be happening to him any time soon. Or ever, since he was only a second generation Slayer. He probably didn't get the majority of the shit the other Slayers did. And that was actually fine with him.

He didn't need any of that in his life, mucking things up. Shit was complicated enough as it was.

With a heavy sigh, Cobra forced his eye to close while searching for Rogue's soul. It was near Sabertooth, in what he realized was the Shadow Slayer's home with his mate. He pulled away from Rogue's soul when he heard the guy's thoughts concerning how much he liked being degraded by his mate.

Cobra really hadn't wanted to know Rogue got off on being slapped and spat on while he was chained to the fucking floor. Although, if he was sporting a split lip the next day, then Cobra already knew it would be from her solid backhand. Apparently, Rogue took the word masochist to a whole new fucking level. With all the shit he'd heard in people's souls over the years, he wasn't sure he'd ever known someone to be this into someone tearing them down.

But Rogue was the only one Cobra could ask about this shit with Flare. As long as that crazy wench didn't knock Rogue's noggin loose, Cobra really didn't give a shit what those two did.

The large Sabertooth building loomed on the path before him, and Cobra trudged on past the nearby craggy stones jutting from the ground. He had shit to do, and he could hear the utter tranquility in Rogue's soul inside that damn building. Maybe there was something to the beating he'd taken from his mate the night before, if his soul could sound like that. Then again, Cobra knew there was no way in hell he'd let Flare sit on his face until he'd nearly suffocated while taking a riding crop to his thighs.

He wasn't even sure why he'd instantly pictured her doing it. Sure, he liked her, and he really liked fucking her, but it wasn't like they were an item. He'd never actually said much to her past the fact the he liked looking at her. And that he missed her.

With a shake of his head, Cobra took the final steps up to the oversized doors of Sabertooth. He pushed them open and walked inside with no preamble. No one seemed to notice him at first, which was a plus. But soon, one soul fluttered with concern at his noted presence. Then a second. A third. A whole slew of souls murmured and trembled with anticipation while he bypassed them all on a direct path to the silent Shadow Dragon Slayer who was making a point of not looking at him.

It was strange how half of them were planning on how they could stay loyal to Sabertooth while still becoming part of a dark guild at Cobra's order.

The fucking morons.

Cobra stopped in front of Rogue, and he was even more thankful that that sadistic freak Minerva was nowhere near him. He really didn't want to hear her fucking soul. "Rogue," he said, turning a chair and straddling it as he sat down. "I've got some shit to talk to you about."

"Cobra of the Oracion Seis wants to talk to me," Rogue said. "I'll pass."

Cobra smirked and leaned forward, his eye sliding off to one side to look at the little green Exceed wearing a pink frog costume. "You don't seem to understand."

"Frosch, go find Lector." Rogue took a sip of his hot cocoa while Frosch nodded and bounded off the table. His crimson gaze stayed trained on Cobra, and he discreetly pulled in a small breath to try and memorize his scent. Bitter, toxic, and just a little like the woods. That meant he must have been outside for a long time for it to cling to his cloak so much.

"Smart," Cobra chuckled. "I'll correct you now, before you get too far ahead of yourself. I'm not with the Oracion Seis."

"The name of your dark guild really doesn't matter to me."

"I'm with Crime Sorciere." Cobra rolled his eye when the name didn't ring any bells. Of fucking course it didn't. No one but the Council and Fairy Tail knew about Crime Sorciere's single-minded ambition. It would have been nice to get just a little bit of credit for the guilds they took down. Or even for the other light guilds to know what they were doing. "Independent guild. We're the ones taking all the dark guilds down while you guys do the piddly shit."

Rogue's eye twitched, and while no one else was privy to his inner workings, Cobra sure was.

'Piddly shit, huh? There goes my good day. And here I'd been so happy about Minerva treating me to hot cocoa. After what we did last night… Although, he has a point. Why don't we take down more dark guilds? Well, with a guild master like Sting… No, it's not his fault. We're still sorting ourselves out after getting rid of Jiemma. Things are better now. But why would Cobra be here? He must want something. I don't trust him. He smells… wrong somehow.'

"First off, fuck you," Cobra growled. "I don't smell wrong." Rogue's eyes went wide. Much wider than anyone had ever seen before. "Second, stop worrying so fucking much about the details. I'm here to talk to you about the one fucking thing we actually have in common."

'The only thing we have in common is our magic.'

"Exactly," Cobra said. He was just about to relax a little more, but then he heard the clusterfuck of Sting's soul rushing down the hall, vaulting over a railing on the second floor, and landing only feet behind him. "Ugh, here we go."

"What the hell are you doing in my guild?"

"Visiting with Rogue," he said over his shoulder. Cobra didn't bother looking at the stricken expression on Sting's face. "Someone named Orga is in the kitchen with a white chocolate rabbit, by the way."

"That asshole!" Sting shouted, spinning on his heel and rushing off. "Orga, that's my chocolate!"

Rogue rolled his eyes and pushed his chair away from the table. "Follow me to Sting's office," he sighed. He stood and picked up his cocoa, then turned toward the stairs on the other side of the hall. "Whatever it is, I don't feel like having people listening."

As Cobra let Rogue lead him further from the main hall, he realized that this was probably going to be the most depressing conversation he'd ever had in his life. Rogue's voice was going to make his ass turn into Midnight with all of his narcoleptic bullshit. But it needed to happen, that was something he was positive of. Because he really didn't have anyone to turn to, and he did care at least a little bit about Flare. If those scales he'd seen on her were his fault for poisoning her, he wanted to make sure she was going to be alright.

The office was a fucking mess when they walked in. Papers were balled up and tossed everywhere. What he was sure was Sting's desk had piles of paperwork littered all over it with only a small space for him to actually work. Cobra was sure that Sting hardly did any actual work though.

Rogue didn't show him to a chair, and instead turned to glare at him once they had the door closed and locked. "What is it you want? We're not exactly fond of harboring criminals."

"Oh please," Cobra snorted. "You tigers were two shady jobs away from being a fucking dark guild. Just because you never got caught for murder doesn't mean it didn't fucking happen."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

Cobra was more than ready to keep fucking with him. Apparently the way Sabertooth had been run before was a very sore spot for a lot of them. But he needed answers, so that meant he needed to actually play nice for a change. "I need to know if Dragon Slayer magic can make scales show up on someone else," he said. Rogue's soul rippled with confusion. That definitely didn't bode well for him. If Rogue didn't know why Flare had those scales, then Cobra was at a loss for what to do about it.

"What kind of scales are we talking about?"

"Right here," he said, gesturing toward his belt. "She didn't have them before. I saw them a few days ago."

"You…" Rogue brushed a hand over his face and walked around Cobra. "You need to sit down."

"Just fucking tell me."

Rogue shook his head and took a seat on the only couch in the room, a plush white and grey monstrosity, tucked away in a corner. "This is going to take a bit," he said. "And you need to listen, because-"

"Because I'm a second gen," Cobra nodded. "Yeah, which is why I'm coming to you in the first place."

"You didn't have a dragon to teach you, right?"

Cobra rolled his eye that time. "Yeah fucking right. I still question how you lot could have been raised by them." Still, he followed Rogue's lead and sat on the couch as well. He shifted several times to try and get comfortable while Rogue sipped at his cocoa. The stupid couch was one giant beanbag. Only fucking Sting would do something like this. "But you're right. There were no dragons involved."

Rogue nodded and sat back. He was silent for several long moments, but Cobra didn't even consider interrupting him. Not while he was trying to collect his thoughts, organizing what he'd been taught and the things he'd learned over the years. When he was ready, his seemingly bored crimson eyes lifted and locked onto Cobra's face.

"I was told you have more than one type of magic," Rogue began. "Aside from Dragon Slayer magic, there's something else."

"Soul Listening," Cobra said. "And Sound magic now, too." It was a good thing Rogue didn't want him to elaborate on just what his magic was capable of.

"Stop me if there's something you already know," Rogue said. He waited for a short nod from Cobra then let out a slow, soothing breath. "I guess we should begin with instincts. Dragons rely on their instincts for everything. More than sight and sound and smell. Those are stronger than most, and I'm sure you've already figured out that your own human senses are enhanced from the lacrima."

"Yep."

"There's also your own instincts. Most people have nothing more than a gut feeling about something, but for us - and I don't know if this is the case for you, since you're a second generation - for us, it's more than a gut feeling. It's this… voice, but it says nothing. It's a presence in your soul, but it has no form. Sometimes, it's like claws digging into your shoulders, pushing you down or lifting you up."

It was no fucking wonder to Cobra that the Dragon Slayers were a bunch of fucking lunatics. Rogue was repeating, verbatim, what had been taught to him. Circuitous logic bullshit, was what it was. "You do realize I hear voices in my head all the time, right?" Cobra chuckled.

"But this one doesn't speak," Rogue said. "It rumbles, and it roars, and it pulls you in one direction or another. Has there ever been a time where you've done something, but you can't really pinpoint a reason you did it?"

The night he'd had sex with Flare roared to life in his skull. He'd been able to keep himself under control the entire time he'd been in Sun Village, except that one time. That night, seeing her crying over the fact that he was leaving, hearing her soul's pleas for him to not go away… He'd moved without thinking, and he'd kissed her.

Cobra hadn't been able to pull away after that.

He'd been able to feel his soul calling out to her ever since he'd left her behind. Every morning when he woke up, he could feel this pressure in his chest, pulling away from his camp. Every step he took that was further from her had a dull ache throbbing in his joints. Every night when he went to sleep, he tossed and turned and struggled to get himself comfortable without the presence of her hair slipping between his fingers.

"It looks like there has been," Rogue said, drawing Cobra's attention back to him in an instant. He took another slow sip of his cocoa. "That's your instincts. It doesn't say things like, Kill him or Don't eat that. You just get a feeling, and you know."

"I think this is different," Cobra said as he stared down at his hands. They clenched in his lap and his eye closed. His magic stretched across miles and miles until he felt the gentle brush of Flare's soul. He could locate her, but he couldn't hear what she was thinking about. Or what she was doing. At least he could tell that she was still alive and in Sun Village.

"Different?"

"I feel my soul reaching out to her." It sounded sappy as hell, but if Rogue was going to give him answers, he couldn't hold back. The only way for him to learn what he needed to was to give the Shadow Slayer all the information he could.

"That sounds like she's your mate." Rogue's eyes narrowed slightly while he watched Cobra fall into a nearly meditative state. His tanned hands relaxed in his lap, and the tension in his shoulders melted away as the seconds ticked by.

"I don't even know what that shit is," Cobra muttered. "Aside from having heard the name in passing, and a general idea of it based on animals."

Rogue huffed out a nearly silent chuckle at that. "It's a little like that, I suppose. For dragons, there's a single soul that binds with theirs for all eternity. Skiadrum liked to call it fate. Sting told me that Weisslogia said it was soulmates. But whatever you want to call it, there's one other being in the world for each of us."

"That shit always sounds sketchy as hell," Cobra snorted. "How are you supposed to find that one person?"

"Well, it's not hard for dragons. They're able to tell who their mate is based on scent alone. Skiadrum told me that some could even tell others' mates by scent before they were mated; it allowed parents to find their hatchling's mate, so they could be raised in closer proximity. As Dragon Slayers, we get a portion of that ability, but it's not nearly as strong. We're still humans, after all. So we have to rely on our instincts. And those instincts will pull us toward the person we're meant to be with."

"Which explains why you allow Minerva's psychotic ass to beat you black and blue."

"That… is something else entirely," Rogue growled. Cobra's eye slid open and locked onto the sudden glare being directed at him. He didn't miss the way Rogue's tongue slid over the raw patch inside his cheek where he'd accidentally bitten it the night before. "You should know, since you're a Slayer as well."

Cobra couldn't help but fucking stare at him after that. Because what he was thinking about was the furthest thing from the truth. "I'm not some masochistic ninny who wants a woman to dominate me," he snarled.

"Dragons run a matriarchal society," Rogue said. "The females are in control, and the males serve them."

"Fuck. That."

Rogue raised a hand to silence him. "Let me finish. Male dragons are inherently stronger. They hunt and fight while the females raise their offspring. To anyone outside of their society, one would think it's the males who are in control, but the truth is that females are. They always have been."

"Okay, and? What the hell does that have to do with you thinking I'm a-"

"Let me finish, Cobra," Rogue sighed. "The easiest way to control a male dragon is to show your dominance over him. With how powerful the males are, the females had to make sure they didn't go on a rampage. For Slayers, it's different. We don't live in a matriarchal society, but the draconic instincts inside of us dictate that we defer to women."

"I swear to fucking god-"

"You're worse than Sting," Rogue grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do you mean to tell me there's no part of you that wants to find someone to hold you back?"

"No," Cobra growled. Hell no, he didn't want a woman to hold him back. He wanted someone who was on his fucking level. Someone who wouldn't hold him back, but who challenged him. Cobra wanted a woman that made him quiver down to his damn soul.

"So, you don't want a woman who's powerful enough to hold you down," Rogue said with a nod. He stared across the room toward Sting's desk, piled high with papers. "Somebody who can take the darkest parts of you and accept them, just as they are. That's what being someone's mate is about. Take away the whips and chains, or whatever it is you prefer, and it's about having a person who you connect with on more than a physical level."

"The fact that you're thinking about your own mate, and about that light-sucking fuckface at the same time, is actually a little worrisome."

"I worry about Sting," Rogue chuckled. "I don't think he'll ever care about finding a mate."

"I'm not either," Cobra scoffed. "I just want to know why there were fucking scales on her stomach. Because if my poisoning her while we were fucking is going to kill her, I'd like to know." If that was the case, he needed to get out to Sun Village and see if there was some way to get the poison out of Flare. Cobra couldn't understand why she wouldn't have already died from it, though. His poison was a pretty quick and effective method of murder. But it had been nearly a month, by his count, and she was still alive.

'He used his magic while they were… Oh…'

"Yes," Rogue said. "Well, I feel like you should understand the process of taking a mate-"

"Just cut to the fucking chase, already," Cobra growled.

"Fine," he sighed. "The thing is…"

By the time Rogue had finished explaining, Cobra could feel his asshole trembling with the need to shit himself. He was sure his face had gone completely white somewhere near the beginning. He'd stayed silent, listening to every syllable that passed the Shadow Slayer's lips as he'd continued with his explanation. He'd answered every question directed at him with honesty, because he could hear in Rogue's soul that he already knew the answers anyway. And through it all, Cobra was well and truly fucking scared.

"It usually happens right after you mark your mate, but not always," Rogue said.

"Sh-She's… You're sure she's…"

"Pregnant, yes," Rogue replied. "While having sex, you poisoned her. Her body accepted your magic, reacted to it, and then you bit her and poisoned her again. The scales are a form of protection for the baby, and they'll grow with her body until the birth, then fall off when they're no longer needed."

Cobra was so fucking dead. He couldn't be a father. He definitely couldn't raise a fucking kid with Flare. It wasn't like he could just settle down with her. Giant souls were something he could deal with for a time, if he really needed to, but he couldn't live in a place like that indefinitely. He couldn't have a child at all. What kind of parent would he even be? He didn't even know if he wanted kids. Or if he really even liked them to begin with. What if he had this kid with her, and he just fucking hated it? Could he really disappear on her and their child forever? Cobra didn't even know how he felt about being the absent father in this hypothetical situation.

But Flare couldn't be his mate. She was supposed to have some sort of mark on her aside from those scales, and he hadn't seen anything like that. "A-And the mating mark?"

"It should be where you bit her. It's different for every mated couple."

"Different, how?"

"I've only ever seen Minerva's," Rogue said, never taking his gaze from Cobra's wide-eyed, vacant stare. "It's a sort of tribal mark on her-"

"I don't need to know." Of course, it was too late. Rogue pictured it, which allowed Cobra to see it in its entirety. The black, wisping tribal markings that curved around the underside of Minerva's breasts like wings and met in a small scar in the center of her chest, shaped like Rogue's teeth.

"If she's pregnant, you really should be with her," Rogue said, cutting into Cobra's mental reprimand of his magic's abilities. "You're supposed to be close, so you can bond and strengthen the mating mark."

"I haven't been with her in a fucking month," Cobra whispered. He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or to Rogue.

"Well, you should have already bonded before marking her, so that will be able to sustain both of you until you're able to get back to her."

"I was only with her for a week before it happened," Cobra said. Slowly, his eye focused and he turned to look at Rogue again. Except this time, knowing that he had most likely marked and mated with Flare without her even knowing it, that he'd impregnated her and left her to her own devices, he was actually terrified of what would happen. "I met her when she dragged me out of a desert and kept my ass from dying. We don't even really know each other…"

Rogue's soul went quiet for seconds that felt like whole hours. Cobra watched in slow motion as his eyes widened and his jaw went slack. His long-emptied cup slipped from his hands and fell to the thick carpet with a soft, low thud. "You mean to tell me, you didn't bond with her?"

"I don't fucking know her!"

"Cobra, you need to be with her," he said urgently. 'This isn't good. She could die. He could… Fuck, this isn't good. He needs to go now!'

"Why?" It wasn't that he was all that opposed to being around Flare. He liked her. He'd told her that he hadn't wanted to leave, and it had been the truth. Cobra hadn't understood at the time, just why a part of him had wanted to stay with her when his guild had showed up. But if he was really mated to her, that must be the reason.

"She needs you," Rogue said. "When you mark your mate, there's a time afterward for you two to bond. It's not always sexual, though. Just being around each other, touching, even if it's the backs of your hands, is essential to strengthening that bond. Without that… and with her being pregnant…"

Rogue didn't have to finish speaking though. Cobra heard it all. This separation could kill her. The baby would leech off of Flare in more than just the nutrients she took in. It would feed on her magic to grow its own magical container. And without Cobra there, poisoning her, feeding his own magic into their bond, the baby would die. Or it would kill Flare in the effort of trying to stay alive. It would probably kill both of them.

Even worse was what Rogue was thinking about concerning his end of this shitstorm. If he lost his mate, regardless of how he felt about her, those instincts Rogue had mentioned would tear him up inside. He would lose himself entirely. Cobra would be as good as dead.

'I just don't understand why he's not already affected by this.'

"Is that why I haven't been able to eat much lately?" Cobra asked. Maybe that was why he'd gotten that cold that he hadn't been able to shake lately. His brain was working overtime to figure out some solution to this fucking mess. He didn't really want Flare to die, but he wasn't sure if he cared all that much about some accidental baby not making it. And he definitely didn't want to wind up dead, himself. Maybe if she wasn't pregnant, she'd be alright without him being right there with her.

"It's part of being separated from your mate too soon," Rogue replied. What he didn't say, however, was that Cobra should have been going crazy from his instincts pushing him to return to Flare. That actually made Cobra chuckle just a little bit.

"I've been insane for a long fucking time," he said. "Some lacrima can't even touch what's wrong with my head."

"This is serious, Cobra."

"I know," he said, his small smirk melting away into a scowl. "I'll handle it. Finding out she's my mate is enough." And he figured it would be a good idea to tell Flare what was even happening. Although he was just a bit surprised that she hadn't mentioned any sort of mark where he'd bitten her. Or those scales on her stomach. Maybe she hadn't even realized she was pregnant yet.

With a final nod to himself, Cobra stood from the couch and left Sting's office without a word. Rogue followed several steps behind him until they reached the main guild hall.

"Cobra, if you need more information…"

"I know where to look," he said with a nod over his shoulder as he kept walking away. "Thanks."

Cobra didn't really thank people all that often for shit, but this was a bit more important. He'd gotten a crash course in this magic he'd never asked for, and now he knew just how much it had really changed him. It was more than just his dull brown hair turning red, his eyes changing to a deep purple, his teeth becoming sharper and more pointed. It was something so much more than him being able to ingest poison and kill people with a single breath.

This lacrima had given him just one more thing he wasn't sure if he really wanted. A mate.

"I told you to leave me the hell alone," Cobra growled. His gaze never wavered from his moonlit path through the woods, away from Crime Sorciere's camp.

"I couldn't just let you go wandering off by yourself," Meredy replied. She picked up in speed so she was directly behind him, walking in the steps he left behind. That was the safest route since she couldn't see all that well.

"You actually fucking could have."

"No," she sighed. "Because a certain someone thought it would be a good idea to sneak out."

"I've got somewhere to go."

"Where is it?"

"That's of no importance to you," he snarled over his shoulder. Cobra understood that Meredy was just trying to get to know him better. But he didn't want to be her replacement for Ultear. Whether she was aware of it or not, he didn't care, but that was exactly what she was doing.

"Cobra, why don't you just tell me?"

"Because I don't fucking want you here," he said. He'd considered telling Jellal or Midnight what he was planning, but there was no point. Cobra didn't give a shit about some dark guild they were supposed to be scouting the next day. He'd talked with Rogue and gotten the information he needed, and if he'd been a little more aware of his surroundings at the time, then he would have realized that Meredy had followed him to Sabertooth. Except he'd been just a little preoccupied while going there, wondering what was happening with Flare. And afterwards, all he could think about was how long it would take to get to Sun Village from where they were at. And that he needed to get his hands on a map.

Considering he only had a vague idea of where it was - he hadn't really been paying too much attention when he'd left the place before while riding on Midnight's flying carpet - he really hoped it was on a map. Or that there was some sort of desert shown on the map that he could start at.

"Why are you going toward Sun Village?" Meredy asked. When he didn't say a word, she sighed and picked up the pace just a little bit to tap on his shoulder. Cobra shifted out of the way, and again when she tried a second time to just catch the fabric of his cloak. "Cobra, are you going to see Flare?"

He was still silent. Meredy kind of hated when he got all broody like this. But it was the first time since they'd left Sun Village that he even had energy to do more than trudge along with their group. Ever since they'd listened in on his call with Flare that one night, he'd seemed a little more like himself. Ever since seeing his meltdown, Meredy had been worried about him. He hadn't even had the energy to argue with her when she tried doting on him. There had been a few choice words for her, but nothing else. Now that he was actually willing to tell her to fuck off, she couldn't help but smile just a little bit. Cobra was really back to normal.

"I'm not going to Sun Village," he lied.

Meredy's smile just widened. "Yeah, sure you're not," she said. "You just packed up your tent and took your bag like a runaway kid, and now you're disappearing to, what? Go on a shopping spree?"

"You caught me," he said with a smirk that just wouldn't stay hidden. "I'm a shopaholic. There's a sale on pumps in Crocus, and I absolutely need to get my fucking hands on them."

Meredy snorted when she caught a glimpse of his eye in the darkness of the forest they were trudging through. "I knew it," she giggled. "You're a real sucker for those six-inch fuck me pumps, aren't you?"

"I truly am." Cobra's steps slowed as the minutes passed in silence until he finally stopped and turned toward her. "Tell me why you're following me."

Meredy knew there was no point in lying about it - he would hear the truth anyway - but it was a bit of a surprise for him to actually ask her. Cobra could hear her reasons for coming. There wasn't any reason for him to ask. Still, she cleared her throat and straightened under his intense glare. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I've been worried about you. We all have been," she said. "And now you're disappearing in the middle of the night for no reason. I want to make sure you're going to be okay."

"And?"

She crossed her arms beneath her bust and found a few leaves on the ground wholly interesting. Much more interesting than having to look him in the eye. "When I was little, my whole town was destroyed. I found out later on that Grimoire Heart had done it. I didn't have many friends, but there was this boy…"

Cobra frowned as the foggy memory drifted through her soul, watching as a sad smile pulled at her lips.

"He had such pale skin, and his hair was… it was so blonde, it was almost white. He didn't really talk to anyone, but when some of the bigger kids had pushed me down in the street, he came out and chased them away with a stick." Her fingers tightly grasped at her arms while she tried to remember just a little more about that boy. She couldn't even remember his name anymore. Maybe she'd never known it to begin with.

"I'm not that fucking kid," Cobra said, narrowing his eye.

"I know," she laughed. "But he was nice to me, and he was my friend for a little while before Grimoire Heart came. I don't know why, Cobra, but when I'm around you, I feel like I'm with that boy again."

If he hadn't been able to hear it in her soul, Cobra probably would have thought this was some crazy love confession. But Meredy hadn't had a crush on the boy. She'd been too young at the time to even comprehend that sort of feeling to begin with. He'd simply been a good friend of hers when she'd had so few. And considering she really didn't remember much about her life before Ultear had taken her under her wing, it was no wonder she couldn't remember the kid's name.

"I know... I know you don't really trust people, even Midnight and Angel. They take care of you when you have a nightmare, but you still don't trust them."

"I've got no reason to," he said.

She laughed and shook her head. "Jellal says I should stop trying to replace Ultear with you. She was like a mother to me, y'know? Losing her was… devastating."

"So I've heard."

"But that's not what I'm doing with you. I just want to be your friend. I mean, I feel like maybe you could be a kind of brother to me, but I won't push that on you... I just want you to open up to someone. I mean, you hear all these souls, and you're smart and funny - even though you're kinda twisted about it - but you never talk to anyone."

"I don't like talking. And I don't like people. They're fucking annoying."

She bit her lips and let out a slow breath through her nose, but Meredy really wasn't sure what to say.

"I don't like you all that much either," he continued, and the way her shoulders sagged just a little bit made his brow lift with curiosity. She had to have known he didn't fucking like her. He didn't like anyone. Well, Kinana was an exception, but they didn't talk all that often. He tolerated the people in his guild - both in the Oracion Seis and now in Crime Sorciere - but that was all. "I can't fucking stand listening to the bubblegum bullshit in your soul. It's loud, and obnoxious, and makes me want to shove a skewer in your brain to see if a lobotomy will make you calm the fuck down."

"... Oh."

"Honestly, if I didn't have to hear your soul ever again-"

"Okay, I get it," she muttered.

"- wouldn't be soon enough. Do you have any fucking clue-"

"I said I get it!"

"- annoying as fuck when I'm trying to-"

"Cobra, shut up!" she finally screeched. The fact that he really did stop talking was just a bit surprising, but when she looked up at him only to see a malicious glint in his eye, she fought back a bout of angry tears. He'd made his point pretty well. That hadn't been necessary at all.

"You said I should talk more," he pointed out. "Just because you don't like what I have to say, I should stay quiet now?"

"You're just saying it to be mean."

"That's pretty much my fucking default. If you can't handle it, then turn back and leave me the hell alone." His hand lifted and he roughly jabbed her shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance. "I never asked you to come with me. I don't want you here."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't need your bullshit when I've got enough on my mind as it is."

"Like what?" she asked with a frown. That was different. Had Cobra actually just opened up the tiniest bit, and told her something he hadn't meant to?

"It's none of your damn business," he snarled.

"But you-"

"I said leave it alone."

"But Cobra," she said, reaching out to grab his arm before he could turn away from her. She'd expected him to move - he always did - but Meredy really hadn't expected the sudden flash of pain across her cheek, or to stumble back a couple steps and trip over a tree root. She bounced on the ground and a smooth rock dug into her rear while she stared up at him in surprise. "Did you just… slap me?"

"Don't fucking touch me," he spat. Cobra towered over her with a heavy, malevolent glare. "The last thing I need is you coming along and trying to fucking help me. I don't want it, and I don't fucking need it. All you're doing is wasting my goddamn time, when I need to get going!"

"But you slapped me…" She'd never known Cobra to hit a woman before. When he started yelling at her or Angel over something, he never hit them. He backhanded Racer more times than she could count, but he'd never laid a hand on her before. She hissed while pressing a hand to her cheek, gently prodding at the red, heated flesh.

"I don't know how the hell you need me to put it so you can get it through your thick fucking skull," he said. "Leave me alone. I don't want you coming along. I don't need you. I fucking hate you, Meredy, so just fuck off and go back to Jellal and everyone else who actually gives a shit about you. I'm not your friend, or your brother, and I never fucking will be! So leave me alone!"

Meredy simply stared as he turned and walked away from her, through the woods and off into the darkness beyond. She wasn't sure what to do, what to say to him. Part of her wanted to call out to him, but she already knew that he wouldn't listen to her. Cobra didn't listen to anyone. Maybe she'd romanticized the type of person he really was, and maybe he made her feel the way she'd felt about that boy from her childhood because she wanted him to fill that role.

Maybe there was nothing more to the Poison Dragon Slayer than just what she'd seen right then. Maybe there wasn't really any good in him after all.

Slowly Meredy stood and clasped her hands over her chest while looking up the tree canopy obscuring the night sky. Thinking there was nothing good in Cobra was probably what everyone thought of him.

"Is that why you're so angry all the time?" she sighed into the quiet night air. "Because no one believes in you?"

Her eyes slid closed for a moment, and a slow smile spread across her plump lips. When they opened again, she turned and started carefully making her way through the woods. All she could hope was that she didn't get herself lost. That would definitely be unpleasant.