Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

The school bags Lucy was carrying immediately dropped to the ground as she ran towards Sting and cried,"Sting! What are you doing?!"

Sting turned around and faced Lucy, his eyes widened in surprise. "Lucy? You're still in the school? I thought most of the students had already went home for the day," Sting said. He tensed when he realised that Lucy was staring at him, her eyes filled with fear.

"Sting, can you please come down? It'a dangerous to stand there," Lucy soothed gently as she slowly edged closer to him. "Let's go home together, ok? Don't do anything... reckless."

Sting took a step back. "Don't come any closer! Or I'll... I'll jump off!" Sting hollered.

Lucy stopped moving, and a drop of cold sweat trickled down her face. Sting was... trying to commit suicide. That sentence was still processing in her mind, but she told herself to focus on thinking of ideas to talk him out of it. "Why are you doing this? Weren't you happy? Is there something that made you comfortable?" Lucy asked.

Sting looked away for a few seconds. "N-Nothing's wrong. What are you saying?" He muttered with a hint of fear in his voice. "Leave me be, Lucy. Leave now and you can act as if you didn't know about this when I die. I-I just want to be free!"

"You're lying. There is something wrong, and I will not leave unless we both leave together, alive. So what is this about wanting to be 'free'?" Lucy pressed on. She just had to distract him for a while, and Erza will be here in 15 minutes, since it was the Student Council President's job to lock the rooftop door before she leaves. "All you have to do is tell me. You're going to jump off anyway, right?"

Sting hesitated for a few seconds he took a deep breath and told her what was wrong. "An hour and a half ago, a few 2nd and 3rd-years cornered me and made fun of me. I didn't feel threatened by them until they started to mention my father. I don't know how they knew about him, but they seemed to have a clear understanding of what happened. Then one of the 3rd-years said that I should just disappear because I was a murderer, and that my father died because of me."

"But you shouldn't-" Lucy began.

"I know! I don't know why I'm being so childish, believing them, but I really, really want to die. Then I can be free of the heavy guilt I have been feeling for years. The weight on my shoulders just gets heavier, and I think someday I might just... break. I might as well die a quick death before that happens," Sting interrupted.

He stopped talking, and took another step back. His face seemed relaxed, as if he was ready to take away his own life just like that. Then he started to put out his arms, ready to fall. "Take care of Yukino for me, Lucy. I have lived this long only because I didn't want to leave Yukino all alone. Now she has you, she'll manage fine without me," Sting said.

"Wait! Don't fall! Sting!" Lucy shouted as she sprinted towards him just as he started to fall off. When he was about be out of her reach, Lucy managed to grab his arm. "Please listen to me! You can't die!"

"Let go of me, Lucy. By doing this, you're trying to make me suffer and live with my guilt for the rest of my life, you know? Let go," Sting told her.

"You didn't kill your father! I'll prove it! Just, please..." Lucy said. Sting felt warm tears drop onto his arm. "Live."

...Live? He had been told by Yukino not to die, but he was never told to live before. Not dying and living are different things. Very different things. You can be told not to die, but that doesn't mean you actually live. Living is to stop suffering, and to learn to love and hate like every other human. It's to change when it's needed, and to become the person you want to become.

"I still don't know you that well yet. Live so that I can know you and become the best stepsister I can be for you. Maybe you hate yourself. So you don't have to live for you, you can live for me, and for everyone that cares about you. Yukino loves you as a brother, and I'm sure she doesn't want you to die. She needs and wants you only, Sting Orlando. And I want you too. I promise that I'll prove you didn't kill your father. So Sting," Lucy said gently. "Will you choose to live as a new person, or to die to be freed from the guilt of something you may not have done?"

"I..." Sting mumbled. Lucy smiled as she saw a tear escape Sting's eye. She pulled him up as much as she could, and he got back onto the rooftop by himself. "I want to live."

Lucy embraced him gently. "I'm glad."

They stayed like that for a few more minutes before someone's voice interrupted them. "Ahem."

Lucy quickly let go of Sting and backed away a few meters as she realised what she was doing. Her face turned as red as a tomato. "Um, not to interrupt, but both of you need to leave the rooftop so that I can lock the door," Erza said awkwardly.

"O-Of course!" Lucy said as she quickly scurried away. Sting turned his back on Erza to wipe away his tears before he left as well.

What was I doing?! I feel so embarrassed now! And for some reason, I feel guilty... Lucy thought to herself as she experienced a mix of embarrassment and guilt. She briskly walked to the classroom to get her bag, and then she realised she had left it at the rooftop. She was about to return to the rooftop when she saw Erza standing at the classroom door, holding her bag.

"Thank you, Erza," Lucy said, taking her bag from her hands. "I should go to visit Natsu now. Did Sting leave the school already?" Erza nodded, and stopped Lucy before she could leave.

"Wait. I need to talk to you. Don't worry, it'll only take a few minutes," Erza said, rather firmly. Lucy was confused, but she nodded for Erza to continue talking. "About the hug with Sting at the rooftop..."

At the mention of that, Lucy's cheeks reddened. "Y-Yes, what about it?"

"I think it would be better if you stayed away from Sting. I heard from Yukino that both of you are soon-to-be siblings. Having romantic feelings for him would be very painful, since both of you can never be. Falling for him will only make you suffer..." She mumbled with a faraway look in her eyes.

Lucy was surprised that the fierce-looking Erza had a side like this, but she understood that everyone suffers because of something. In Erza's case, it seemed to be love.. "Don't worry, Erza. I like Sting only as a friend and love him as a stepbrother."

Erza snapped out of her trance. "That's good. That was all I had to say, you can go now, Lucy."

Lucy glanced at Erza's sorrowful face for one last time before she finally left, heading to Natsu's house.

"Hm... I'm sure it's somewhere around here, but all the houses look the same..." Lucy muttered to herself as she tried guess which of the identical houses was Natsu's.

"Can I help you with something, Miss?" A kind lady with short white hair asked. "You seem lost."

"Um, do you happen to know where Natsu Dragneel's house is?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, his house is the last one of this row. I'm his neighbour, Lisanna Strauss. And who may you be?" Lisanna said politely. She then noticed Lucy's uniform. "Oh, you're from Fairy High?"

Lucy nodded. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, a new transfer student who transferred into Natsu's class recently. Are you from Fairy High too? ...Though I don't remember seeing you before.."

Lisanna grinned. "I used to be a student there until a got an invitation to attend a boarding school at the United States. I came back because I hated the school and I missed everyone. I'll be joining Fairy High again a few days later, once I get my moving details sorted out."

"Is that so? I hope to become friends with you then!"

"Me too! I gotta run now, catch you later!" Lisanna said, waving as she ran back to her house.

Lucy waved back, smiling. Once Lisanna went into her house, Lucy walked to Natsu's house, and rang the doorbell. No one answered. She pressed the doorbell a few more times before she realised the door was open. "Strange... Why is the door open?" Lucy said to herself.

When she came in, the first thing she noticed was the huge mess. Clothes were scattered everywhere and dirty plates filled the sink. Lucy put her school bag and the bag of medicine on the sofa as she said, "Sorry for disturbing..." even though it was obvious no one was home.

She somehow made it to Natsu's bedroom, which was even worse. Other than the clothes on the floor, papers (homework, perharps?) were all over his desk, and some on the clothes. His bed was left unmade. And there was something that stood out most of all. Spray-painted on the walls of his bedroom, were two words in red: GIVE MONEY.

There was no way he did it himself. "GIVE MONEY"? ...Was he in debt? As she was thinking this, she heard a soft purr from under Natsu's blanket. A cat?

A blue cat emerged from under the blanket and walked cautiously up to Lucy. At first, it hissed, but upon realising that Lucy wasn't one of the loansharks, the cat snuggled up against Lucy, purring in delight. Lucy smiled and rubbed the cat's head gently.

"I'm home..." A familiar voice announced wearily. Lucy heard Natsu take the bag of medicine. "Is someone here?"

As he walked into his room, Natsu noticed Lucy sitting cross-legged on the floor, petting the blue cat as it napped. Lucy turned her head to look at Natsu. "Oh, I just let myself in since the door was unlocked. I'm sorry for intruding. Erza sent me here since she was worried about you. Are you feeling better?" Lucy said.

Natsu, who wore a hoodie with jeans, didn't say anything. "Natsu?" Lucy said anxiously. "What's wrong?" Lucy placed the blue cat onto the floor and walked up to him. As she was about to take his hand, he suddenly collapsed. "Natsu!"

Lucy dropped to her knees and rolled up his sleeves to see if he had any physical injuries that caused him to collapse. His arms were covered in bruises and fresh cuts that looked like they were made only minutes ago. It was the same with his legs and his entire chest.

But Lucy became even more horrified as she realised the major injury that made him collapse. He had been stabbed.