A/N: I still own nothing. Also, thank you for the reviews and reading! Notice: I've opened up the poll and you can see it via my profile page, so you might want to take a look and vote for your favourite of the four pairings: Laxus x Lucy, Rogue x Lucy, Natsu x Lucy, Sting x Lucy. Thank you!

4. Heart of Courage

"It was merely a coincidence I happened to pick it up. Yeah, right," Sting snorted, reading the rough draft over his friend's shoulder."What exactly are you up to?" He snickered at Rogue's pink cheeks. Although he still wore the expressionless facade, Sting knew immediately there was something on his mind.

"Nothing," said the raven-haired lad, writing his letter on."The blond is in a pinch." He didn't mention anything to indicate what kind of pinch she was in.

"Let's drop by!" Sting decided rashly. Letters took a forever to arrive, they'd make it to Magnolia in a few hours. Rogue's cheeks coloured a lovely shade of red and he shook his head, earning a laugh from the white-dragon slayer magic user. However, the boy stayed indifferent towards his friend in the aspect of words.

"You actually know what's wrong with her?" Sting inquired with a yawn. Rogue nodded absentmindedly. Although he knew, he refused to tell her in a letter. Going to visit was also dangerous – if he was right, then any dragon slayer that came in contact with her would suffer of dire consequences.

"If I'm right, her mother was a dragonborn," Rogue explained without removing his eyes from the paper."In which case, she might have inherited the lost magic from her." Sting looked confused, but there was still a smile on his face. He waved over the two exceed who had woken to their talk and were now entering the room. Lector looked as usual and it seemed like the nap had not affected him, but Frosch was rubbing his eyes.

Sting, currently the guild master, greeted them with his usual laziness. He yawned and laid back on the sofa, waiting for Rogue to continue talking. However, the man said nothing and was soon finished with the letter. When Rogue stood, so did Sting, following him, despite the fact Rogue preferred to be alone at times. This time the shadow dragon slayer did not mind.

"What kind of lost magic?" Sting asked, knowing how valuable information it could be. Rogue shrugged, ignoring the question. There was no way in hell he'd tell Sting. That boy would go bonkers trying to avoid her and end up falling in love with her in the process. Rogue knew him well enough for that and for somehow, it was something he did not wish for.

"You must know!" Sting whined, although the smile stayed on his face. It was rare to see him whine, but to anyone who dared to look at him, he stared darkly, frightening away."Or else you wouldn't be writing her!" His accusation made Rogue snort. There was little chance Sting was kidding.

"We'll go to Magnolia soon," the brunette said."Since that quest is coming up" Sting knew he was talking about the strange job they had accepted. It was a bit farther than they'd usually go, but they'd pass Magnolia on their way and Sting had wanted to fight again with Natsu. The fire dragon slayer made his blood boil. Neither had Rogue given up the thought of surpassing Gajeel, but he was smart enough not to voice it aloud.

"You're right," the blond agreed, albeit against his will. Rogue smirked, which was unlikely for him, but it went unnoticed by people who passed them. They were heading to the train station for another job. Although they'd just returned from the union quest with Fairy Tail, they had been occupying every single moment with different jobs. Rogue was certain that the money they'd been saving up would eventually be spent on something else entirely. It should be said, he was remarkably correct about that.

He dropped the letter into the post box near the station and bought tickets. It would be a long ride and certainly an unpleasant one. He could not put into words how much he hated the motion sickness.

"Lucy-san," it was Wendy who addressed the blond with curiosity."Is everything okay?" Lucy nodded, gripping her head with her hands. The hangover was worse than she would have expected, but she would not admit it to a little girl.

"Just a headache," she muttered, leaning against the table for support. Wendy, careful not to make any loud sounds, took a seat next to her and before Lucy could protest, she had put her small hands on her head, using one of the healing spells she had learned. Poking around to find the source of pain, she frowned, sensing a different kind of magic building up in her.

"A-ano, Lucy-san," she said a bit embarrassed."I don't want to intrude, but... Do you use any other magic, besides celestial magic?"

"Nuhuh," Lucy shook her head."Why?" She felt terribly thankful. Wendy had nearly removed all of the pain."Also, thank you so much!" She hugged the little girl, who shyly hugged back.

"I just felt it in you, Lucy-san," Wendy said."I'm sorry for invading your privacy like that!" She bowed, earning a slight chuckle from the blond.

"Team Natsu does it all the time!" Lucy waved it off with a smile. Wendy blushed by the familiarity Lucy talked about her team. "What kind of magic is it, if you know?"

"It was dragon magic," Wendy furrowed her brows, unsure what to say."A powerful one. It will take a long time to completely train it out." It seemed to be similar to dragon slayer magic, but not quite. Wendy could not put her finger on it.

"Just like Rogue said," Lucy whispered. Although Wendy heard her, she said nothing, but her curious eyes glanced at the worried girl."Thanks, Wendy!" She gave the bluenette a side hug, before hurrying off to Levy to see, if she had found any magics that could fit the category.