Yuletide Lessons

Chapter 14

December 24th


Lucy and Rogue both slumped onto her couch with a chorus of sighs. With a yawn she thought back on their busy day.

The whole day had consisted of running around Magnolia picking up last minute things for the party the next day. Rogue couldn't believe all the people running around grabbing things desperately and said as much out loud.

"These are what we call 'Last Minute People'. They wait until the last minute and scramble to get everything they need and pretty much run around like chickens with their head chopped off." She let out a laugh at Rogue and Fro's scrunched faces.

"So, instead of shopping ahead of time they put it off and rush around like this? I don't see how that makes sense." Rogue said confused.

Lucy shrugged as she grabbed a few gallons of milk. "That's just how some people are I guess. Whereas I plan ahead and make lists before December even rolls around. The whole running around bit would just drive me up the wall and there's no guarantee that whatever you want they'll even have this close to Christmas."

Fro yelped and zipped off the ground to avoid being trampled by a crowd of people.

"Geez, some people." Lucy muttered, patting Fro's head as she plopped on the blonde's shoulder, still shaking from almost being squished. "Just stay up here Fro, you'll be much safer."

After fighting the sea of crazed shoppers for a couple of hours they lugged the last minute items to the guild, dropped them off and headed back to Lucy's.

"It's amazing," She wheezed out, her voice muffled by the pillow on her face.

"How exhausting it is shopping."

"I doubt it helped much that we had to fight a mob of people with every step." Rogue grunted from the other side of the couch.

"Fro thinks those people were scarier than Erza's mad face." The exceed had flopped on the top of the couch.

A snort could be heard under Lucy's pillow. "That's for sure. I'd take a dozen angry Erza's over that mob any day, and that's sayin' something."

The soft glow of the tree in the corner lulled the trio into a state of drowsiness and all were content to just lay there for a while.

Subtly Lucy shifted the pillow on her face to uncover an eye and observed the comatose slayer across from her. It said just how tired he was that he'd dropped off fairly quickly, but she knew even when he was asleep, he was on alert to anything moving around him. From the angle his head was turned she could see his profile somewhat, but he'd thrown his arm over his face, blocked most of the upper half.

Her eyes darted down to his lips, that were parted softly as he exhaled with every breath. They looked so soft, inviting, and she wondered if he would jerk awake if she were to touch them, to see for herself just how smooth they were. She clutched onto the pillow and bit her lip holding herself back from attacking the poor man in his sleep, she'd doubt he'd appreciate that too much and probably would think she was nuts.

So she contented herself to study his features silently. The soft lines that were usually hard in the daylight hours reflected the twinkling lights and bathed him in almost an otherworldly glow. Even as relaxed as he was, totally at ease there was still an underlying feeling that he would spring into action at any moment and she supposed that was ingrained within the dragon slayers from their childhood.

She couldn't imagine how it would be losing not only one set of parents, but to also lose the one who had taken him in as well. He'd not told her much of his past, and she refused to pry knowing how hard it was to relive those memories; as relivng her own opened old wounds. Lucy refused to do the same to anyone else. Silently she vowed that if he ever wanted to talk she would listen, and lend a shoulder for him to lean on, literally or figuratively should he need it.

That mothering instinct always seemed to rear its head around people she could tell hadn't had the best childhood and she figured that with what she'd experienced, as little as it was, helped her to sympathize with people and understand them better. Even as a little girl she was drawn to people who needed help or seemed sad and her mother had commented on that, calling her a Little Angel of Mercy. Lucy had asked her mother once what she meant by that.


"Well sweetie, some people have an inherent ability to help people even without saying anything at all."

"How does that work momma?"

Layla shrugged with a fond smile on her face. "It's just one of those mysteries in life that doesn't make sense and yet it makes perfect sense."

Lucy frowned, confused even more.

"Don't worry about it my love." Layla cooed, threading her hands through Lucy's blonde curls. "That just means you are very special and you're able to help the people around you. My little angel."


Lucy shifted against the cushions and sat up slowly to lay her head against the back of the couch facing Rogue.

"I want to be there for you, Rogue." She reached out, her fingers gently touching the ends of his hair. "But, will you let me? Do you even see me the way I see you? Or am I just another face in the crowd?" She sighed softly, clutching the pillow to her chest. "I want to be more to you, but will you let me? Can I be your Angel of Mercy?"

Lucy sighed as she stood up and headed into the kitchen to get some cookies out. She never saw the red eye cracked open to watch her as she left the room, nor the soft smile that her words had brought.

It was a few minutes before Fro fluttered into the room, rubbing her eyes.

"Lucy, whatcha doin?"

"Just getting some cookies for me and putting some on a plate for Santa when he comes."

"How come?" She tilted her head confused.

"Well it's a tradition for people to put out a plate of cookies and milk for him."

"Ohh. Can Fro help?"

"Sure, you put which cookies you want him to have on a plate and I'll get the milk."

Lucy set out a plate decorated with poinsettias for Fro and pushed the cookies towards the cat. She kept her eyes on her as she poured the milk with a smile watching as she carefully placed each cookie precisely, making sure to pick out the best looking ones.

She watched as Fro studied the plate for a moment and turned towards her. "Did Fro do good?"

"It looks beautiful. Now we'll go put these on the coffee table for Santa."

Fro picked up the plate and hovered next to the blonde as they made their way into the living room, setting down the goodies gently.

"What are you two up to?" Rogue's voice cut through the quiet making them both jump slightly.

"Fro made a snack for Santa." She stated proudly, puffing her chest out.

"Oh did you?" He leaned forward inspecting the cookies, pretending to look over it with a critical eye before turning back towards the cat with a small smile.

"I'm sure he'll love it." Fro jumped up with a squeal and hugged his neck. His arm came up to pat her back as Lucy watched them with a fond smile, her eyes darted down to the table only to spot something she hadn't noticed before.

"What the? I thought I had that in my coat pocket." She murmured.

"What?" Rogue asked.

Lucy stood up to venture into the kitchen only to return a few minutes later and kneeled down to place the puzzle piece on the table right next to the one she found.

"It's different from that one." Rogue mused. "Look there's writing on the back of the other one."

She picked it up and turned it over.

"You complete me." She turned it back over and put the two pieces together, noticing as they interlocked that they made a complete heart.

"That's sweet." She whispered. "But I'm sure that wasn't there before." She eyed the room and her gaze landed on Rogue, only for him to shrug.

"I was asleep, so I didn't notice if it was there when we got here or not."

She nodded, but something still bugged her about this situation. Granted, they had been pretty exhausted and not paid too much attention when they'd gotten back so it could've been there. But the question still remained, how did they get it there in the first place. Lucy blew out a sigh in exasperation, so many questions and no answers in sight.

Rogue stood and stretched with a yawn. "I think it's time we go Frosch." He made his way into the kitchen with Fro on his heels and Lucy bringing up the rear.

"We'll see you at the Fairy Tail Christmas party right?" She asked softly as she opened the door for them.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied with a smile and a wave. "Have a goodnight Lucy."

"Night Lucy!" Fro shouted.

Lucy watched until they were both out of sight before she shut her door and slumped against it. She could only hope this mystery would be solved once and for all at the party, because she had a few things she wished to say to this mystery person. She'd done some long thinking and come to a conclusion, one her heart had urged her to make and she was determined to stick to it no matter what. But life had a way of throwing her curve balls so she couldn't say for sure how everything would turn out, she just hoped all her questions would be answered, because she had a lot of them.


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