Hello, my pretties. This week has been insane.
I don't own FT or the Pradesh family.
"That was the most ridiculously stupid thing that I've ever seen an intelligent person do," Kaleb ranted as he paced back and forth in his bedroom at the Pradesh manor. He'd had Thane teleport him there as soon as Emzadi told him what Lucy and Zen were doing.
Lucy resisted the urge to point out that technically, he didn't see her do it. Only Laxus had ever seen that spell and recognized it as hers.
According to Emzadi, the scene of Rhiannon running into Vander's arms blubbering had been surprisingly sweet. Rhiannon argued that she hadn't been blubbering. Though, Lucy had noticed that she hadn't stopped touching him and it made Lucy smile at the way Vander seemed to bask in those touches.
Cristoff noticed her absence first with Rhiannon announcing that she was alive, but that Lucy jumped to just outside the clearing. It had also been Cristoff, through the stronger link of his knightship bond, that recognized the black speck that shot after Acnologia was Zen and Lucy.
"I don't know what possessed you to think that you could take him on your own. I thought you'd grown past this hubris after the last time you nearly got yourself killed."
Part of Lucy wanted to get mad. The other part could feel her mate. Could feel how scared he was. She walked over to him and hugged him, taking in his spiced apple scent.
"The last time you went up against him, you weren't alone and lost three years of your life," he said softly. He shifted them so that he could sit down and pull her into his lap. "I understand why Dalviama walked over to Igneel and asked him to kill her after her mate died. I'm not sure how I'd function if you were gone."
"Don't say that. Your family would still need you. I just-" she snuggled into his chest- "I don't know what I was just-ing. It seemed like a good idea at the time." She was crying. She was crying because she could feel him trying not to.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
"No. You're right. I wasn't thinking. But I did learn something important."
"What?"
"She wouldn't let him kill us. And more importantly, he listened."
"Do you think he loves her?"
"I don't know, but in some weird way, he must respect her opinion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have cared."
"I know we've got to get you back to catch your flight, but can we just sit here for a bit?" Kaleb asked quietly.
"Yeah."
Sting and Rogue were the only dragon slayers flying back with her. They had Sabertooth to run and if they wanted to make sure that the guild was ready to fight, they needed to be there as well. She agreed to hold off for the time being, but Laxus and Emzadi already knew that she planned to send them and Wendy back to Fairy Tail. Natsu had worked well with Emzadi but something told her to keep him with her.
She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she felt the combined magic of Emzadi and Laxus jumping her and Kaleb.
"Hey. I wasn't sure you'd wake up," Kaleb said softly, kissing her temple.
"You were gonna let me leave without saying goodbye?" she asked.
"I was still debating that," he admitted. "Thane brought over your suitcase."
"Thank you, Thane," she said, looking at the man hovering a few feet behind Kaleb with the bag.
"Your tablet as well," Thane said, joining them. "It has your schedule as well as the plans for the flight back in three days."
She opened the schedule. "Lunch with my father?"
"He requested it," Thane said, looking bemused at the frown on Lucy and Kaleb's faces.
"Want me to come over for lunch?"
"No. I should deal with him on my own first. Next time, yes. We should all sit down at least once before we get married."
He smiled and kissed her. "I like how that sounds."
"Lucy?" A heavy hand dropped onto her shoulder. "It's time to go," Erza said gently.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
He reached around her neck and clasped a necklace into place. The White Sea symbol was placed in a shield with the chain coming from either side.
"It's the necklace of the mistress of White Sea. Just in case anyone questions what authority you have."
"Thank you. It'll definitely save some time."
Kaleb lifted her hand and kissed the promise ring. It lit up for a moment as it surged with his magic. He kissed her again. As she tried to deepen the kiss, he stepped back.
"Go."
As she followed Erza onto the airship, she kept glancing back.
You aren't far from my magic.
I know. I know.
It wasn't until Kaleb got back to his suite that he began to feel the pain of their mating being stretched so far. The double mating kept echoing back and forth. He kept pulling her share of the pain into himself until he cried out through the link for Cristoff. His brother appeared with Meredy and put him to sleep.
"Is that what'll happen to any of us if we're separated?" Meredy asked.
"Eventually, no. But I think he's feeling additional effects of two bonds, his archangel and her dragon slayer, as well as trying to hold her share. And we've been mated longer. It'll probably just be incredibly uncomfortable for us."
Meredy nodded. "You should jump to her. Get her to pull back her share of the pain and put her to sleep."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's like stretching a muscle. The more you do it, the less it hurts. Now, while she's flying, is the best time. If he's this useless, we might as well have let him go with her."
"You're right. Except that I can't shift onto a moving vehicle."
She gave her mate a sardonic look. "You have a comm, don't you?"
Cristoff gave her a playful glare, kissed the tip of her nose, and called Lucy.
"Cris?" Lucy questioned, her voice sleepy.
"It's Kaleb. I'm going to walk you through meditation."
"What's going on?" she demanded, sounding more alert.
"He's trying to take on all the pain of your separation. I need you to pull it back to yourself. Have someone make sure that you don't hurt yourself." He listened for her to wake up Erza and tell her what she knew. "Sit on the bed and close your eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus on the link between you and Kaleb."
He continued to repeat himself. Letting his voice get progressively slower and deeper until he heard her cry out.
"She's unconscious," her friend, Erza, said.
"That's good. Well, not good but that's how she should be. Cuddle her. It'll help."
"Okay. Good night, Cristoff. Tell Meredy good night as well."
Meredy snatched the comm from Cristoff. "Night."
Cristoff was looking at his brother. "Do you mind sleeping here tonight?"
"As long as you're in the middle, no," Meredy said, understanding why.
They settled into the bed, Meredy curled up into his side and his brother calming down behind him.
.~*~.
"Your house or mine?" Vander asked as everyone left the Pradesh Manor. Rhiannon had a single finger entwined with his and he was enjoying her need to constantly be touching him.
"Mine."
He pulled her to him and jumped them to Rhiannon's beach house. Once there, he sat on her bed and she straddled his legs. Vander put his hands just above her knees and rubbed circles with his thumbs.
"You were right." He let the top of his shadowleather disappeared so that she could nuzzle the green and brown dragon that encompassed his shoulder. "I was scared. I thought- I don't want to share anymore."
"Are you willing to let me love you?" He kissed her when she tearfully nodded. "Will you promise with me?"
"Yes."
A few hours later, Rhiannon's murmuring woke Vander up. He sat up, intending to simply watch his mate sleep for a bit since his Caelish was still minimal at best, until he heard her say, "Zeref."
He eased himself up, knowing that a Void jump, even just as far as where his comm landed, would wake her up.
"Do you realize what time it is?" Farron asked crankily.
"Yeah. I need you to-" Vander whispered.
"Why are-"
"-Translate Rhiannon's sleep talk." Vander carefully placed the comm next Rhiannon's mouth where Farron could hear her.
He was getting better at reading Caelish but the first time Farron had sent something Caelish that he'd written out phonetically, the shadowquip looked at it and said, 'This can't be real.'
She continued to murmur for a few more minutes before her face scrunched up and her arm was reaching over to the other side of the bed. Realizing that she was close to waking because she no longer felt his touch, Vander stroked her face, letting his hand wander down her neck and over the tapestry of flowers tattooed on her back. After a minute of stroking her skin, she settled back down but was silent.
"Well?" Vander asked.
"It sounds like she heard the conversation between Acnologia and Zeref from when they first partnered," Farron said, sounding a lot more awake now. "Zeref was the one that gave Acnologia the lacrima that's in Emery. They knew that the lacrima would kill her."
"How did she hear them?"
"Best guess? She's so scared of Acnologia, she listens for him even in her sleep."
He brushed back her hair and watched as she instinctively nuzzled into his hand. "Anything that we didn't know?"
"He targeted Emery for a reason. I caught part of what almost seemed like a second conversation. It might have been but her dreaming mind didn't exactly transition. Zeref made a comment that there were easier women to go after but Acnologia was fixated that it had to be Emery but I'm not clear why."
"Okay. Go back to bed," Vander said, noticing that Rhiannon was getting restless again.
"Night."
.~*~.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Erza asked again. They were at the skyport in Crocus.
"Yeah," Lucy replied. She still felt the strain of her bond with Kaleb. It felt like she was trying to wear clothes that were too tight. Though, being back in her Fiorian clothes, was certainly not helping the feeling. "It's just uncomfortable now. I need to go. I'm having breakfast with Princess Hisui."
"Most people would be excited by that."
"Most people haven't met her." Lucy took Erza and Gray's hands. "Be safe. Don't do anything stupid."
"You're one to talk. I heard about what happened," Gray said.
"Do as I say. Not as I do."
"We're not your dragons," Cana said, draping herself over Lucy's shoulders.
"I know. I wish you were. It would make knowing you're safe easier. You were my first family."
"Flight to Magnolia, now boarding," a voice over an intercom said.
"Go," Lucy said, hugging each of them. "Stay safe."
"Are you okay?" she asked Mira quietly.
"I will be," she replied.
Lucy watched them board before running over to the Boscan Embassy to change from the comfortable Boscan clothing that she'd worn onto the airship.
By the end of breakfast, Lucy was wondering how the Fiorian government was even slightly thriving. Breakfast had included not only Hisui but the rest of her Council. A few of them had recognized her necklace as the symbol of the Mistress of White Sea and had given her the deference that her position demanded. The others were told but it didn't stop their chauvinistic minds from belittling her. It had taken everything in her to stop from growling.
There were three representatives from ERA. One recognized not only the dragon on her shoulder but the rumbling growl that she suppressed. The mage had assumed she was mated to a dragon slayer. That had irritated her enough that she'd stood up, slammed her hands onto the table, and told them that she was the queen of the tatsu that included the dragon slayers of both Bosco and Fiore. That didn't go over well with Hisui's council.
The rest of the meeting centered on posturing. As of that morning there were over a thousand dead in Fiore alone and they were more concerned with appearances. It didn't matter to them that Lucy kept reminding them that these attacks were small compared to what would happen when Alvarez attacked enforce.
While Lucy may question her ability to lead, she'd acknowledge Hisui's ability to read a room and she ended the meeting. Though, she scheduled another for the following afternoon.
Calm down, Kaleb's voice said as she raged in her room at the embassy.
I don't want to, she said and heard him chuckle at her deliberately petulant attitude. She fell back into the bed and basked in the general sensation of his magic before remembering that she'd been annoyed with him that morning as well. The pain was still there. Like a drill to her temple but she was adjusting. That was stupid. We're partners.
You're right.
I usually am.
There's probably some Boscan chocolates somewhere in the embassy.
Have I mentioned how much I love you?
Yes, but it's always good to hear.
I love you. Now, get back to work. I expect an entire day alone with you. I may even consent to honey.
May?
May.
I'll take what I can get.
She stood, grabbed her tablet, and headed downstairs to the lobby. Before breakfast, she'd seen that Farron had emailed her but had been running late and hadn't read them.
The first sentence in the first was 'The Council is rather chauvinistic. Don't lose your temper.' She chuckled, feeling a touch exasperated that he knew her that well. Despite the attacks, many of the other ambassadors said they felt like Chicken Little warning that the sky was falling and being ignored.
As she read, she missed the last step and yelped as she crashed down. She paused to listen for any staff before sighing. At least there'd been no one to see her. A moment later, Monoceros appeared.
"Maybe you shouldn't read and walk," the spirit commented once she'd taken an appraisal of the situation.
"Is it sprained?"
"Only slightly." Monoceros knelt down and healed her ankle. The healer glanced over her before her eyes lingered on Lucy's abdomen. It made her frown because Emery had done the same as well.
"What is it?"
"Uh…"
Lucy pursed her lips. Monoceros was almost as monotoned as Virgo. "What. Is. It?"
"You're pregnant. Judging by how far along you are, I'd guess the conception was your mating."
"Wha'? That's not possible. How could that happen? I mean, I know how that could happen, but- Oh fuck." She remembered Zen saying that Emery was upset with the deaths of the children. Then, when they were flying behind Acnologia, she thought she heard Emery say 'pregnant' but had dismissed it. "That's why she stopped Acnologia. Ceros, you can go. Tell Leo to meet me in my room."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Lucy grabbed her tablet and scrambled up the stairs. Loke and Virgo were both already in her room when she got there. Both were nearly giddy.
"How long have you known?"
"Just since yesterday. Ceros wasn't certain since she was trying to heal quickly." He watched as Lucy poked at her flat stomach. "You're only a couple of weeks along."
"I hate to ask-"
"Do you really think that you need to ask?"
"Thank you." She sighed. "This is shitty ass timing."
Lucy? Are you okay?
Yeah. Just found out something we'll need to talk about when I get home. She glanced at the clock and almost sighed in relief for the excuse. I've got to get going to meet my dad for lunch.
Did you get the chocolate?
Got distracted. Just as well, I suppose.
"You didn't tell him," Loke said as he escorted Lucy out of the embassy.
"I want to tell him in person. I want to see his face. And I want to be there when Arman finds out."
*.*.*
Lunch with her father started off surprisingly well. After they saw each other at Hisui's birthday, he'd started researching Bosco. Seeing not only the promise ring, but the engagement bracelet made him giddy. Especially once he realized that the crest she wore was the symbol of the Mistress of White Sea.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" Jude asked. His daughter had been silently playing with her noodles while he rambled on about the business.
"I'm pregnant," she replied.
"What?"
"I'm pregnant."
"That's amazing. Does Kaleb know? It is Kaleb's, right?"
"Yes," she replied through clenched teeth. Then, coming to a conclusion to a debate that she hadn't realized that she was having, she said, "I need you to promise me something. I need you to promise that if anything happens to me, you won't fight Kaleb or Arman over this child."
"You want me to give up rights to my grandchild. Not chance in hell."
"Father," Lucy sighed. "Don't add fighting you with all of the other shit that I have to deal with."
"Language. Why?"
"Because you already did enough damage with me. You're not harming my child," she said, standing up. "If you force me to go through legal means, you won't have any rights to the child."
"Fine," he said as she walked away.
She was walking back to the Embassy with the plan to finish reading her messages, preferably while in a bubble bath, then coming up with a battle plan for meeting with Hisui the following.
"Lucy," an annoyingly familiar voice said.
"What do you want?" Lucy asked as she turned to look at Minerva.
"Nothing. Just wanted to see your face when I did this." She cast a spell and trapped Lucy into one of her pocket dimensions. It happened so fast that no one on the busy street noticed the abduction.