A/N: Whew! I need to get to sleep. I hope you enjoy my first try!

I felt my raw, dark power flare up around me and the air buzzed with my excitement. The diamond dragon peered at me with curiosity, as if just realizing I was there. I launched myself into the air above my opponent and wing slashed his ayuss. (*Please say ayuss out loud.) Unbelievably, I'd scratched him.

The diamond dragon was just as surprised as I was and roared at me. I narrowly dodged being blown to smithereens. "This isn't funny, Richard." My assailant growled.

My master watched the exchange with interest and replied, "I beg to differ."

I roared back at my opponent who countered with a swish of his tail. A barb just barely missed impaling me as the tail swatted me into the side of a mountain. I didn't give up, though. Again, I roared at the top of my lungs while launching myself off the cliff face. The dragon couldn't move in time but took the brunt of it. Now that the diamond dragon was serious, he was unaffected by my attack. I could feel his annoyance and indecision, then I felt calm understanding. It hit me like a cool breeze on a hot day and I hesitated before attacking. The diamond dragon addressed my master without once taking his eyes off of me, "Ricardio, I don't want to hurt your human, for I find it miraculous that you've changed sides on the issue – however twisted your understanding is. On the other hand, I will be taking it from you. Though I'm glad you taught a human magic, humans are not servants or pets. They have free will – or they should, but it seems you have corrupted this one." I was slightly annoyed that he said I had no free will. I chose to serve my master.

Master Ricardio ignored his fellow dragon's statement and instead suggested, "Apprentice, try out that new thing I showed you." I nodded and cast a magic circle below myself. My arms were held out in front of me as I summoned as much magic as I could to the surface and solemnly chanted, "Forbidden Dragon Slayer Art: Puppeteer of the Blood Dragon." One of my red magic circles appeared under the enemy dragon that froze. Then he stood up on his haunches and spread his arms out wide, leaving him vulnerable. My fingers moved accordingly with each limb I was manipulating, and I clamped down on his magic with my own. I controlled what happened to his blood and his magic, and from there could manipulate his movements. My lungs filled with air in preparation for a roar, when the diamond dragon tossed me all of his emotions at once. He ripped open old wounds and memories and I was completely intoxicated and physically hit enough by it that I stumbled. I lost my focus for a moment which was all the diamond dragon needed to regain the upper hand. A diamond 'm' appeared above my outstretched arms and slammed down over them, causing me to kneel as I was pinned to the ground. Now all I could do was watch as the diamond dragon turned its attention from me to my master. The anger, disappointment, and utter hatred freely flowing from the blood dragon and directed at me was palpable as he rhetorically snarled at me, "How could you lose? I put everything into you. I had hope for the human race when I saw you learn the ways of dragons but NOW-!"

I flinched and waited to be obliterated, but the diamond dragon pounced on my master before I could be ended. My eyes peeked back up and froze wide open when I witnessed an event that I'll never truly be able to describe. Two dragons were fighting right in front of my eyes. The entire area became an ocean of magical power pouring off of the two dragons. Both fought fiercely. I had been an idiot to fail a dragon. I should've kept my focus and killed the diamond dragon when I had the chance. Who knew what Master Ricardio would do to me once he won? However, it didn't appear that my master was winning. He was letting his anger drive his attacks and it was making him sloppy. Blood was drawn from my master at the killing blow and I bowed my head so that my face would not be hit by it.

Two hot droplets landed on my crown and would forever stain the strands of hair that grew in those streaks of blood.

I tentatively looked up again to try and spot my master's body, but the diamond dragon blocked my view. "I am your new father." he announced, "Come with me or die with the dragon who hated you for not completing an impossible task." I tried to peer around him but he moved his tail to block my view. "Daughter of the Blood Dragon Ricardio!" he had my attention and my eyes snapped back up to the diamond dragon's face, "Will you live to become a daughter of diamond, or die as the dog of a father who never cared?"

I weighed the options in my head, and before I made my decision had to ask, "What's the point in living if you cannot give me a better life than my master?" The blood dragon may not have cared about me, but he did allow me to live lavishly.

The diamond dragon scowled at my expectancy of him, when I was in no position to make demands. He shouldn't have been surprised. He himself had admitted my relation to a proud dragon. "I will have to humble you so that you learn your sin." he admitted, "But I will allow you to continue your study of dragons and their magic."

I nodded, "Very well, new master."

He released me and I stood while he corrected me, "My name is Shintag." I nodded and walked towards him. He invited me to perch on his back so that he could fly us to where he kept his home, and I ace[ted and clambered onto his back.

He was tensing to take off when I asked, "Master Shintag?"

"-Just Shintag."

"Shintag. What is sin?" His appall stung my tongue like a coin's metallic taste at my question.

"You have… much to learn, small human." With that he took off and I'd forgotten to look at Ricardio's body. By the time I remembered and whipped my head around while clinging to the horns of Shintag's head, we were too far up and far away for me to tell. What did it matter, anyway? I was heading off to a new life with a new master and the past didn't mean anything, now.

Over the next three years I would be raised by the diamond dragon in the ruins of a once magnificent castle. I was not allowed to live lavishly as before and was not permitted to kill another living creature unless it tried and had the ability to kill me. I was named by my dragon father who decided to call me Dio. This name was derived from the end of the blood dragon's name and the beginning of the word 'diamond'. Shintag thought it fitting for me to be called the end of something evil, and the beginning of something that would shine forever. I thought it was ridiculous and didn't understand, but didn't complain. I didn't complain because I wasn't allowed to complain. Shintag called all my restrictions part of my 'repentance'. I didn't understand that either until the day my mind finally realized what sin was. Shintag had explained it a thousand times before but it had never really clicked until that day. I'd run up to my dragon father crying and demanding to know why he hadn't killed me when he had the chance. In my eyes on that day and many days after I didn't deserve to live after all that I'd done. Shintag had told me that it would only be respectful to those I'd ended for me to die when I had repented. From then on I tried my damnedest to be as strong as possible, so that I could never die. After what I'd done, I would be repenting for as long as all the lifetimes I had abruptly put to a stop one hundred times over. I wasn't allowed to die.

Then came the day 7 July, x777, when Shintag disappeared. A month after that an egg that would hatch a cat landed on my head and from there came Fairy Tail. : END FLASHBACK.

"…And you know the rest from there." I told the stranger who was no holding me in his lap.

He was deep in thought and assured me, "I understand." I gave him a disbelieving look and his darkened. "Believe me, I do."

The expression on his face was as serious as death and my face softened. "I've given you my burden," I implored, "Please… let me help carry yours." I rested my forehead on his and he calmed.

He shook his head a little but not enough to lose contact with mine, "I couldn't do that to you. I wouldn't if I could." I held his face to examine it for truth, and when I found no falsehood, sighed in exasperation. I began to turn my head away but he caught it and bought it to face his own. Our eyes locked, then began to close as we leaned in for each other. Our lips met and molded to one another's.

The kiss deepened and I moved to straddle him as one of my arms wrapped around his shoulders and my free hand entangled itself in his thick black hair. Both of his hands held my face but I hardly noticed considering the fact that I was totally lost in his lips. The way he kissed was the embodiment of temptation and innocence at the same time and had me in a freefall of enchantment. My tongue asked for entrance, by sliding across his bottom lip, which was granted. His tongue explored every nook and cranny of my mouth as mine did the same to his. His hands slid from my jaw to my hips and under my thighs so that he could pick me up and set me on the table. (*Don't worry about the structural stability of the table. This is a world of magic and that's what you're going to get caught up about?)

I scooted so that I could lie down and he climbed on top of me. He slipped his hand under my shirt to fondle my breast and I hitched a knee to his hip and relaxed into him. His free hand held the crook of my knee, then slowly began to move down my thigh, then stopped. One of his hands retreated out my shirt and the other moved to hold my calf. "I can't do this." he breathed.

"Why not?" My hands were above my head and my face was flushed as I breathed heavily. My body was at his mercy.

"Because… because…" he tried to argue, "What does it matter at this point?" His hands moved back to their previous positions as he started up again where he left off. His hand that was on my thigh soon made its way to my buttocks and he rubbed the outside of my shorts between my legs. My own hand glided down his body to the bulge in his pants and I felt him harden. One handed, he unbuttoned my shorts and moved them so that they were entirely off my right leg and hanging off my left knee. His fingers pushed the underwear out of the way so that he could rub my wet sex, and I bit his lip as he did so. He inserted a finger and I yelped when he got to a certain point. "Virgin." he rhetorically noted, "Not for long…"

My heart raced with excitement and nervousness at his words. We began to remove each other's clothing and the more that we lost the faster my pulse went. He coaxed me to calm down by whispering in my ear and I relaxed a bit at his gentle touch. When my bra was removed he paused and noted, "Those are pretty." He bent to lick one and teased one pink peak with his teeth and the other between his forefinger and thumb. A shaky sigh emerged from my throat. He removed his shirt to reveal a muscular chest and abdomen that I wanted to touch all over, and did. The rest of our clothes disappeared except for our underwear which we were quickly getting to. He gently kissed my lips, jaw collar bone and chest, down my ribs and to my hips. The beginning to be not such a stranger pulled off my underwear with his teeth, trailing kisses as he went. He removed his underwear and pushed my legs apart. He figure eighted my dripping area, making me pull my air in anticipation. I ordered him to stop teasing me and he warned, "This is going to hurt." A ripple of ecstasy shivered down my body at the expression in his eyes. "You ready?" He got it over with quickly but still searing pain shot through me at the action. He waited for a moment, staring into my eyes and waiting for me to get a handle on the pain. At my hesitant nod, he slowly began to rock his hips back and forth. I cried out in pain but he kept going like I would've asked him to. I breathed in when he entered, and exhaled when he slipped out. Very soon I began to enjoy myself, and met my partner's eyes. I could see the tension there and that he was holding back immensely.

"You can speed up." I breathlessly told him. He placed his hands on my hips and his thrusts increased in speed and force. He sighed at the feeling and I cried out, the sound a mix of pain and pleasure. His enthusiasm grew with every noise that escaped my throat, and soon we were both lost in the ecstasy. Pleasure overrided the pain and soon my nails were digging into his flesh along with the occasional moan or sigh slipping out. He chuckled. Soon afterwards I was done and then he was. He slipped out and collapsed next to me. "You won't believe how many splinters I have." I breathed.

I watched his chest heave as he smiled slightly, "I'm sorry."

I shook my head, "Don't be." and kissed him. The man whose name I still didn't know held me and kissed me until I fell asleep.

When I awoke I had his jacket for a blanket and out the window a billion stars littered the sky. The man was sitting cross-legged outside and staring at the stars. After I'd dressed myself, I went outdoors and draped the stranger's jacket over his shoulders before sitting in his lap. He held me without looking and asked, "Do the stars get lonely?"

I smiled to myself and looked up at the twinkling lights. "Probably not. After all, they so many friends up there with them."

The black-haired man contemplated this for a second and then put in, "They say you feel loneliest in a crowd." I pondered his words and, having no answer, remained silent.

I left when the sun rose to go update the customer on the status of the job: completed, and refused the reward seeing as how I wasn't the one who'd done it. I returned to the island in the late afternoon to find the man I'd spent the night with only to discover that he was gone. I wandered everywhere around the island and, finding no one, went back home to Fairy Tail.