Who Needs a Princess, When You Can Have a Queen?

Celestia193's Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter kind of mutated into a Sabertooth/ Akane and Rogue chapter, so...get ready for some weird shit, some cute Frosch, and some funny fluffy stuff.

Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This is kinda the calm before the storm chapter. Lots of silly and awkward fluff here. If your not interested in a flustered Rogue, OCS, or Exceeds, you might want to skip this one. I do hope you decide to read it though as it is funny. (Well in my opinion anyway lol). Happy reading.

Chapter 24

It was over. Finally. And Sabertooth…had lost spectacularly. Rogue would never have believed it if it wasn't for the fact that he'd had his own ass handed to him by the man he'd idolized since he was a kid. Fairy Tail had won, and it sounded like Blue Pegasus had come in a pretty strong second. While their team had been left in the dust. "This really wasn't our year…"

He pats his little buddy on the head, finally limping over to where his team had ended up in the large plaza that Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus' final match had torn up. He'd gone down halfway across the city, and gone down hard thanks to Gajeel. "You guys alright?" Sting looked no worse for wear, but Rufus and Orga both looked like they got hit by trains. Meaning…Gray and Laxus. But at least it looked like their injuries had been tended to.

"About as well as can be expected." Rufus nods at him. Though Orga remains silent. "My pride is more injured than anything." It had sorely taken a beating during this year's Games.

"Just glad that Lector is back. Safe and sound." The White Dragon Slayer was still holding a very cuddly Exceed in his arms. "You going to be alright?" He knew that his friend had taken a brutal beating in the final fight.

"Yes, it's nothing that won't heal." Well, except for maybe the gash currently scabbing up on his nose. But Rogue didn't mind a few scars, it was just something that came with being a wizard. Especially with being a dragon slayer. "…We lost by almost thirty points." That was a hit to the ego, but somehow, Rogue didn't feel too bad about that. He felt like he learned a lot. "Where's…" The reigning terror of the Sabertooth Guild. Rogue didn't even want to speak her name. "I assume that she lost." There was no other outcome, really. Maybe now she'd leave.

"Minerva isn't coming back." Sting wasn't sure how to feel about that exactly. "She's dead." He couldn't believe it really, but he had seen it with his own eyes. Not that she didn't have it coming in some ways, but it was still shocking.

"She's…" Rogue's eyes widen, and he notices Frosch shaking a little in his arms. "I see." She must have gone too far. Again. But this time, she did it in front of someone who was more than capable of fighting back.

"…She's gone?" Frosch looks up with wide, almost teary eyes. "Lector's back and she…she's gone?"

"That's right." Rogue bends down to set Frosch on the ground. "Why don't you and Lector play for a bit? Just don't go far, okay?" He eyes Lector carefully, noting that the cat's fur is soaked with tears. Happy tears, judging by the expression on his face. He was glad that his friends could reunite, truly, he was, but obviously there was a lot he'd missed while unconscious.

"Okay!" The red feline toddles over to his friend and takes his paw in his own. "Come on. I saw a stand selling fish nearby!" Obviously, the wizards needed to talk alone for a minute.

"She's really gone." Sting nod his head, confirming it. With Rufus doing the same. "Her heart got torn out." They were both clearly in shock. "Saw it myself."

Rogue stifles a wry laugh. "Was it black?" Considering the things she'd done, the people she'd killed, it wouldn't surprise Rogue in the slightest.

"Oddly enough, it was the normal color." Rufus figured he may as well say something. "Though what surprised me most was who killed her."

"Erza?" Rogue figured that since they'd basically declared war against Fairy Tail, they'd be out for Minerva's blood, at least. And judging by Rufus and Orga, Fairy Tail had really torn into all of them. Only Sting had gotten off easy, and only because he surrendered. "I didn't see any blood on Gajeel, so…Laxus, maybe?"

Sting shakes his head. "Wasn't a member of Fairy Tail." That's what was what so shocking, really. "Sasuke did it. The youngest one from Blue Pegasus." The blonde couldn't help, but smirk a bit. "I mean I guess it's understandable, Minerva was going after his woman apparently. You should have seen Erza and Inferno shortly afterward…they were all over each other. Erza was right on top of him while they were making out." It was kinda funny in a way. "I guess they take that whole kissing it better thing seriously."

"Inferno…Sasuke Uchiha." Rogue had heard of him, seen him fight, but he'd never properly met the youngest member of the Blue Pegasus team. "He must be stronger than I thought, to have dealt with her like that." Minerva had always seemed unbeatable, and yet…now she lay dead. "And her body?"

"There's nothing left to bury." Rufus frowns at that. The ultimate insult, he supposed. "He burned it. Ashes."

"Not even ashes." Orga's brow wrinkles. "Saw the place afterward, There's nothing there but a scorch mark."

Gone…she was really gone… "I see." Rogue breathes a sigh of relief. "I suppose that solves one of our problems." But now that their master and Minerva were gone…what were they going to do? "What do we do now?"

"I'll take over." Sting nods at that. "I did defeat our last Master and without Minerva around, it seems like it's my slot by right."

Rufus shrugs at that. His pride had taken a beating. "I don't mind Sting being in charge." He wasn't in the mood to challenge him for the title. "He certainly can't do any worse than our previous guild master."

"No, I suppose he can't." And if nothing else, at least Sting would have him around to give him a good smack if he got totally out of control. "Things…need to change." Rogue glances around, watching as members of the other guilds arrive in the plaza, along with more than a few…guests. Particularly guests of Blue Pegasus.

That's when Fro and Lector come back with their fish. "Yeah!" Fro beams as he bites into his fish. "We can be a friendlier guild now!" The feline was positively giddy because Minerva was gone. "Without Minerva and Jiemma, now Ro can invite his girlfriend over!"

A cherry, Rogue was pretty sure that he looked like a cherry right now. "Frosch, I don't have a girlfriend!" Not that he couldn't get one, if he wanted one. But…no, just… "And where did you hear that word, anyway?" He was pretty sure that he'd covered Frosch's ears whenever the topics of love or sex came up.

"Lector said so when Fro asked about Happy and Carla." He beams at Ro. Either not realizing his Dragon Slayer was thoroughly embarrassed or finding it funny. "The pretty lady who found Fro. Remember?" He toddles over to Rogue and offers him some fish. "The one in the Candy Shop? She is Ro's girlfriend."

Rogue's ears start to burn, though most of his blush was hidden by his fringe. "Frosch…she's not my girlfriend." And the snickers from his partner were definite NOT helping him keep his cool. "And what Fairy Tail's cats…do in their free time isn't something that you should ask about. That's private."

Fro pouts at that. "Fro didn't ask. Happy said that Carla was his girlfriend." He nods sagely at this as if it was obvious. "So Fro asked Lector what a girlfriend was."

"I'm suddenly rather grateful that I do not possess my own talking cat." Rufus shakes his head as Sting cracks up.

"Which one is she?" The blond looks at Fro excitedly and well, the Exceed was only too happy to point her out in the crowd.

"Frosch!" Rogue snatches up his cat, stopping the little guy a second too late from pointing out one tall, dark-haired girl in the crowd around Blue Pegasus.

"Good choice." Rufus tilts his head thoughtfully. "She does have lovely legs." There was nothing more appealing to him than a woman with shapely legs.

"Yeah." Sting nods. "She's hot. I'm just not really, you know, into dark hair." He shrugs. "Though you should Dragon Slayer Up, Rogue." He snickers at his unexpectedly shy friend. "Go talk to her if you like her. I mean, you must have it bad, if Fro noticed."

"I spoke with her for two minutes because she found Frosch when he snuck off, and babysat him while he was in a candy store!" Why was this not sinking into his teammates' heads!? "And stop ogling her, Rufus!" Rogue shifts to the side, blocking the pervert's view of her.

"Well if she's not your girlfriend and you don't have feelings for her, I fail to see why you're so distraught at me admiring her feminine curves?" He shrugs, trying to hide a smirk because he knew Rogue couldn't argue with that logic.

"You're saying it in front of Frosch!" And the last thing Rogue needed was his innocent little buddy picking up any more bad words from his guild mates. Or terms that led to uncomfortable questions that Rogue just really didn't want to answer.

Sting shakes his head and laughs. "Well…I guess if she's interested in baby Dragon Slayers, you're all set. You already sound like an overprotective dad." Honestly, his partner was nineteen going on thirty-nine sometimes.

"Ugh, you're all impossible." Rogue shoots them all a bunch of dark glares, before turning away from his team and storming off in no particular direction.

…Bullshit, he was heading for exactly who his teammates thought he was.


Akane still couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually killed someone. Though she was currently breathing a sigh of relief. "They're going to be alright." Mikoto and Fugaku had just come back and had just briefed everyone. "They'll need a lot of rest, but Itachi and Sasuke will both be fine as will their teammates."

"Fro thinks so too!" A tiny pink-clad green frog skips up to her, tugging on the leg of her pants. "Hi pretty lady!"

"Fro?" She blinks as she looks down and sees the cute talking cat that may or may not be suffering from an identity crisis. "What are you doing here?" She smiles down at him. Though it was possible he just liked dressing up as a pink frog for some reason.

Mikoto smiles at the cat. "It seems this world has some rather exotic ninja cats." She looks at Fugaku. "Do you think we can get one."

Fugaku tries not to groan. "Perhaps." Though one not dressed in pink would probably be preferable…unless Sasuke or Itachi gave them a granddaughter in the near future.

"Frosch!" Rogue sighs exasperatedly as he moves to scoop up his runaway cat. "This is why you keep getting lost!"

"Ro!" The little cat jumps back into his dragon slayer's arms, snuggling happily against his chest. "Fro found Ro's girlfriend!"

Once again, Rogue's cheeks flush as red as his eyes. "Frosch!"

"Well…I'd say that's our cue." Fugaku shakes his head and leads his wife off. "To go and explore more of the city." Mikoto nods as she walks off with Fugaku, hand in hand. It seemed love was in the air or more specifically, a talking pink cat who was dressed like a frog but also wanted to play Cupid.

"It's alright." Akane rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "He's just a kitten." A kitten who probably didn't know any better.

"Fro thinks so too!" His little white wings pop out as he grins widely.

Rogue hides his face behind his hair as he listens to the older couple walk off. Damn them and their snickering. "…" What was he supposed to say? His damn cat was trying to play freaking Cupid!

"I'm glad you're alright." She shakes her head. "These matches are…barbaric, really, even by ninja standards." Which was certainly saying something.

Rogue shrugs, wincing only slightly. "I've been in worse." Well, up until the point that Gajeel had hit him with that new roar. That…had hurt. "It's an occupational hazard."

"Men are the same everywhere." She shakes her head and smiles. "Always pretending you're less hurt than you are." She smiles and scratches Fro's ears. "You make sure to watch over him, alright?"

"Fro will!" Frosch waves his little paws around eagerly. "Fro likes Ro!" Then, he tilts his head cutely. "Fro wonders…what's a ninja?"

"A ninja is…my job. It's similar to a wizard, I suppose…only more specialized." From what she could gather anyway. She knew so little of this place.

…Well, that was enlightening. Sort of. Rogue eyes the girl carefully, almost suspiciously. "You're…related to them, right? To Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Mhm." There was no need to lie about that. They had the same last name and all had the Sharingan. "I guess the family resemblance is fairly obvious." She activates her Sharingan. "Itachi and Sasuke are my second cousins and Shisui is my third."

"I see." He shifts his weight a little, his whole body aching from the impact of falling a mile from the sky. Gajeel's roar had really gotten him some distance. "You do…look a lot like them." Her eyes…they reminded him so much of his own, just without the slit pupils, and with dots instead. "Can your whole family do…that?"

"Not our whole family." She shakes her head. "It's generally not something the children of our family can do unless they're very gifted or unlucky, depending on your interpretation." The Sharingan was probably either mostly unknown or entirely in this world. "The one that Sasuke killed was your teammate, I would offer my condolences, but…I don't think you're particularly sad about her passing."

Maybe, that was why she was telling him as much as she was. Her cousin had just killed his teammate and it was likely something he'd find out eventually anyway. Maybe, the fact that the cat liked her would negate some of the bad blood that was likely still simmering between the two 'guilds'.

"Honestly…no, I'm not." It would take quite a lot for Rogue to bring himself to be sad over Minerva. "She was a tyrant, even worse than her father, in some ways." Her father…who forced teenagers to fight their guild mates to the death just to weed out the weak. "I doubt anyone will miss either of them very much."

"I'm sorry to hear that she was that cruel and that Sasuke now has blood on his hands." Though if it hadn't been Sasuke, it sounded like someone else would have eventually done it. "Though I am glad that you are not interested in starting a Clan War over her."

"A…what?" Rogue blinks, not at all understanding what she just…accused him, or not accused him of? "What is a Clan War?" And was it something that he needed to shield Frosch's ears from? Yes, he did believe so. So he subtly presses his hands over Frosch's ears, rubbing them to distract his little buddy.

This world was strange. "In this city, it seems that 'Guilds' fill the role of Clans. Clans are usually related by blood...an extended family that largely shares the same occupation, if you will." He looked so confused. She might as well have been speaking another language. "Here, Guilds don't seem to necessarily be made up of relatives, but they fill the same role. You live together, you train together, you work together, and you fight together. A Clan War is when two Clans war with each other…"

"Oh." Well, that sounded kind of odd. At least, to Rogue, who couldn't remember having a blood family to begin with. "No, we're not allowed to do that." Not that it really stopped guilds from going to war sometimes, but now that theirs was unstable, going to war illegally with another guild was…inadvisable, at best. "The Magic Council wouldn't be pleased. One or both guilds could be disbanded."

"That's good." Clan Wars really weren't fit for the ears of cute kittens dressed in frog costumes. "Was there something you wanted other than to get Fro back?" Maybe, she should get him a leash. This seemed to be a pattern for the feline…would that be cruel though? Fro seemed to have the mind of a young child. Certainly not an animal.

"…" Rogue glances around, looking for an excuse. "…Maybe a healer?" Yeah, that was good. After all, he knew that he still needed looking at.

"I can have a look at you, if you want." She smiles at him. "I am a medic." Though she imagined her world's techniques were very different from this one's. Oh well. He needed looked at and if it gave her an excuse to get him out of his shirt…well all the better.

"You are?" He blinks, surprised by the admission. "Uh…" Great, now he was stuck in this embarrassing situation. "Sure…"

"Of course, if you prefer going to see your regular medic, I understand." She nods at him reassuringly. "The fact that you're actually already recovered enough to walk and carry on a conversation is phenomenal really. I've never seen someone heal as quickly as you."

His cheeks flush a little brighter. "I don't heal that quickly." He was just stubborn, really, and he knew it. "I'm a dragon slayer…so I can just take more of a beating than normal wizards. It's why…I don't have a 'regular' medic." He usually didn't need one.

"Yes, I keep hearing that term thrown out a lot. I'm still not really sure what it means other than the people with that title seem to have an enormous capacity for destructive power." Dragon Slayers...though she had yet to see any actual dragons. Maybe, it was more like a title. Their version of Kages or ANBUS? "Are you warm? Your face is flushed."

"I'm fine." Rogue hurriedly takes off his fresh cape, revealing his tattered and bloodied gray shirt as he turns his back to her. "And it's not a title so much as…the kind of magic we use. There's seen of us, well, five, really, and two artificial slayers. But the five of us…the real ones, we were all raised by dragons, and taught to use their magic."

She thought he was joking at first, but he said it with such sincerity that she found herself believing him. "I should like to hear more about these dragons and I would like it even more, if you took off what little remains of your shirt so your cuts don't get infected by the dirt and the dried blood doesn't irritate your skin." Also for the view, but she didn't have to admit that.

"Okay." Working off the elbow guards first, Rogue slides his shirt over his head. Some of his cuts were still bleeding, or rather, had started bleeding again with the long walk from where he went down, to arriving here in the courtyard. "…What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you feel comfortable telling me." Those cuts were still bleeding or had reopened. It was hard to tell with the dirt. So she uses a minor Water Jutsu and a cloth to wash the dirt and dried blood off. "That's much better." Taking great care to do it slowly. By this time, the other Uchihas were milling about with the Pegasus Members and it almost seemed as if the Uchihas were trying to distract the stallions and mares. Nah. That had to be a coincidence.

Whatever he felt comfortable telling her. Well, that wasn't much. "…My dragon…was named Skiadrum. The Shadow Dragon." And he felt even less comfortable with her hands all over him, scrubbing at his wounds. Though he attributed that more to the fact that wounds in general were uncomfortable and unpleasant to deal with. "He taught me until I was five years old."

"I figured out that your chakra nature is shadow." She smiles at him. "We don't have that type naturally as a nature where I come from, though some do use shadow jutsu." She places her hands over his chest and an ethereal green light emits from them. "You don't have to talk about Skiadrum, if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It's okay, he died fourteen years ago…" Rogue stares at the light, feeling his wounds close up. "You…can use healing magic? Or…you said chakra? How can you do that…exactly?"

"Oh well it takes a lot of training." She nods at him. "Yes, though. Chakra is what we call magical energy where I come from." Their words were so strange to her.

"I see." That was…extremely odd. Chakra…it was a very foreign word on Rogue's tongue. "There must be many talented…" What had she called them, ninja? "Ninja healers where you come from." It also sounded as though it was very far away, another continent, maybe? "I've only encountered two wizards before with the ability to heal."

Hmm. Well they were rare, but not that rare. "Every ninja village has at least a few medics. Though we're definitely a minority." She pauses as though considering it. "It varies from village to village, but I would say probably five to fifteen percent of ninjas are either fully or partially trained in medical ninjutsu."

Five to fifteen percent? "That's a lot of healers." Rogue moves his arms a little, having used them to take the brunt of Gajeel's breath attack. "I suppose that means that where you come from, healing isn't a Lost Magic. Here…we just make do with what we can manage ourselves, or through professional doctors."

"Well ninjas make up a small percentage of our population to begin with." She didn't want him to get the wrong idea. "So it's a minority of a minority." It wasn't like there were medics everywhere that one looked. "I'm sorry that your land has so few medics. That must be awful, especially in competitions like these."

"During the games, we have the royal healers close by, just in case someone is injured." Or worse. "It's not as dangerous as our actual work." Well, the games were more difficult than the work most wizards did, but speaking from personal experience, Rogue had been in far more dangerous situations. "For some of us…we're lucky to come back in one piece from a job."

Maybe, their worlds weren't so different after all. "Yes, ninjas are the same way in that respect." She finishes healing him with the soothing green energy. "I"m glad that you came back in one piece form your missions though. You do have some very nice pieces, it would be a shame if lost some of them."

His cheeks flush red again, and he makes to conceal his face. "Do you have any bandages on you?"

"Yes." She reaches into a pouch and pulls some out. "I carry them along with my kunai and traveling rations." Akane hands him the bandages. "I healed your injuries, so you shouldn't need them. Though it doesn't hurt to have some extra laying around."

"Thanks." She'd gotten all the injuries he'd let her at, but there was one that was already closing up that needed tending to. The scar would be strange enough, it would be weirder if it was half healed. Not that he cared much about that. He unravels a length of the white cloth, cutting it cleanly with a tiny bit of magic, before proceeding to wrap the bandages over the bridge of his nose.

"If you want, i can do your nose as well." She had missed that somehow.

He shakes his head, a small smile gracing his face. "It'll remind me that I've learned my lesson." To not follow someone like Jiemma or Minerva ever again, that mistreating your comrades is wrong, that…a lot of things Sabertooth held to be true, were wrong.

She nods in understanding. "Alright. If you're sure." Well as scars went, his was actually cute.

"Yeah." Rogue glances down at Frosch, noting that his little buddy as already fallen asleep. That little guy could fall asleep anywhere, at any time. It was a gift, really. And one that Rogue wished he had. "What about you? You must have used a lot of power to heal me."

"Oh no. Not really." She shakes her head. "Your injuries were already fairly minor by the time I looked at you."

"Oh, good." Though Rogue knew that his own scale of major and minor injuries was likely rather skewed, he had a bad habit of underestimating the strength of others. "Lucky it's evening, though."

"Yes, it appears the worst of it is over." She smiles. Not realizing how very wrong she was about that.

"Well, yes, but it means that I can replenish my magic power easily. I was getting hungry anyway." Rogue exhales a deep breath, before inhaling slowly, wisps of shadow rising up from the ground around them, before disappearing between his lips.

She blinks in confusion. "Did you just eat the shadows?" Must be a Dragon Slayer thing.

Chuckling softly, Rogue nods slightly. "I convert them into magical power. It's one of my abilities as a Shadow Dragon Slayer." And very convenient, since wherever there was light, there was also shadow. The darkness protected him, just like Skiadrum always had.

"What do shadows taste like?" She couldn't really imagine it.

Rogue blinks. "Like shadows." …Oh, right, human. "…It's kind of hard to explain." How could he explain what shadows taste like to someone who had never tasted shadows before. "…Thick…and it was hard not to choke at first. But like…darkness?"

Akane's eyes dance with mischief and she couldn't entirely stifle a laugh. "Thick and hard not to choke at first sounds like something else...minus the darkness."

Tick…tick… Rogue chokes on the shadows, coughing up a bunch of them as his face blazes cherry red. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant like…" He trails off, his cheeks still burning hot.

"Forgive me." She shakes her head and looks at her feet. "I suppose that was in poor taste. My Clan is apparently more open about such things than Sabertooth is. I should have held my tongue."

"Ah…no, it's not that." Jeez, now he was going to look like a dork. "That's more…Sting's department than mine. We're not shy, I just…I'm usually more focused on Frosch than on…" He lowers his voice, covering his cat's ears for good measure. "Sex."

"Well I'm sure that he appreciates the attention and he does seem like quite the adorable handful." She concedes. He was a shy one. "Though I'm sure that you don't lack for offers of companionship in any case." Akane had thoroughly embarrassed him. She felt a little guilty about that. "At least unlike that iron beast, your lover wouldn't have to worry about getting her lip cut up by all that metal on his face." That and Rogue seemed considerably less likely to sire pink haired sons than Natsu. That poor Dragon Slayer. His childhood must have been so traumatizing.

His idol who'd beaten him to a pulp aside, Rogue shakes his head. "No, there's no shortage of offers." That was just one of the things that came with being a powerful wizard. "Sting indulges in the attention more than I care to." He scratches Frosch's ears softly. "I just try to keep Frosch out of all of that."

"Well he seems like a smart cat." She shakes her head in amusement. "I believe he could read a DO NOT DISTURB sign, should you ever wish to indulge yourself." She smiles at the cute furball and pets him. "You're either shy or selective. Those aren't necessarily bad things."

"I would get Lector to watch him!" Damn it, this woman was intent on embarrassing him. "And is it so wrong to be both?"

"Not really." She smiles at him. "Some women enjoy a challenge."

…This woman was going to kill him. "Well, I'm not-" He'd started to try to organize some kind of defense, but was cut off by the sound of stomping boots.

"Attention wizards!" A troop of soldiers march into the plaza, each one of them armed to the teeth. Well, at least for royal soldiers. "You are summoned to the Crystal Plaza. The king asks for your presence!"

She blinks at that. "What's going on?" Why were the wizards being summoned.

"And why exactly is the king summoning us?" The tiny old master of Fairy Tail eyes the soldiers suspiciously.

The squad captain's face grows grim. "The kingdom is under threat of attack by dragons."

"By…dragons?" The words rang in Rogue's ears. It was impossible, there were no dragons left! Just…what the hell was going on!?

Why did Rogue look so shocked? He said he was raised by a dragon and there were dragon slayers. So obviously, they existed. "I"m no wizard, but I'd like to go as well. I have healing magic as you call it." She looks at the captain.

Worried scarlet eyes fall on Akane as the soldier simply waves it off. "If you are capable of fighting, we would be glad of your help!"

"I'm capable of fighting." She smiles at him. "I'm a Jonin." Apparently, that meant something where she came from.

Rogue wasn't sure that whatever that meant was going to help much against dragons. "Have you ever fought a dragon before?"

"Well no…I have fought against giant snakes though?" Orochimaru's Summons were close enough in her mind.

Before he could say a word, the thundering voice, not at all what you would expect from such a tiny man, of Fairy Tail's Master rings out. "Fairy Tail, move out!"

Rogue sighs at the proclamation, before getting to his feet and fastening his cape around his shoulders. "Then if it looks like things are going badly, run. This isn't going to be like fighting giant snakes." No, it was going to be like fighting flying giant snakes the size of castles with four limbs, breathing some kind of magic, and with hides as strong as diamond.