Yukino woke in the room she was sharing with Nova. She closed her eyes again almost as quickly as she had opened them against the glare of the sun through the window. She shifted slightly and felt something heavy lying on her stomach and something very warm cuddling her neck. Yukino cracked one eye open to find Sting clutching her like a teddy bear and Lector snuggled against her head on the other side. Yukino sighed. Best friend or not, at some point he was going to have to learn to sleep in his own damn bed no matter how comfortable he thought hers was.
Suddenly, Yukino remembered what today was. She lay in bed for a moment letting the sunlight wash over her as she tried to get her heart to stop beating so frantically. In just a few hours, she would be leaving for a surprise location with Natsu Dragneel to train for the S-Class trials.
"I hope I don't embarrass myself," she muttered.
"You will if you keep talking to yourself like that," Nova mumbled before burying her head under the pillow.
Yukino sighed and lifted Sting's arm off of her so she could climb out of bed. The purple-haired woman had been with Sabertooth longer than Yukino, and she was finding it hard to adjust to the new, friendlier form of the guild. Yukino hoped that Nova's anti-social personality wouldn't jeopardize the plan to form stronger bonds with Fairy Tail. She didn't know anything about the Rune Mage that Nova had partnered with, but Yukino also hoped that he could handle it.
Sting and Nova were still passed out when Yukino left the room, though Lector waved to her sleepily as she left. She emerged from the inn to find Natsu dancing around excitedly in front of the building with his exceed Happy flying around his head in lazy circles.
"Ready to go? I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled. He grabbed her hand and started tugging her down the street as he had the night of her first Fairy Tail party.
"But how did you find me?" Yukino asked while she tried to keep up.
"I smelled you," Natsu said. Yukino wasn't quite sure how to take that. She knew that dragon slayers had heightened senses, but she didn't think that Rogue or Sting would be able to track her down like a bloodhound.
Natsu finally slowed his pace and released her hand as they reached the edge of town. Yukino felt suddenly awkward as they strolled through the forest side by side. She vaguely remembered talking to him easily while drunk on a hillside, but she had no idea how to start a conversation now. Did he even want to talk? Maybe he was focusing on their training regimen. What if he'd only chosen her because his usual partner used the same type of magic? Dozens of thoughts buzzed through her head as the silence of the forest in the early morning surrounded them.
She had finally made up her mind to say something to break the awkward tension that she might have been imagining when Natsu suddenly pulled her to a stop. He sniffed the air and gestured to Happy. The blue cat took off into the sky and zipped back down toward them almost immediately.
"On your left!" Happy yelled just as a giant forest Vulcan crashed through the underbrush. The creature nearly trampled them, but Natsu managed to grab Yukino around the waist and pull her out of harm's way.
"Pretty woman!" The Vulcan yelled as he danced in place. "Give!"
"Not on your life, creep," Natsu said. Flames glimmered around his hands as he stepped in front of Yukino.
"Then you die," the Vulcan said before charging forward. Natsu met him in the middle, and the Vulcan was laid out unconscious on the ground in a matter of seconds. Natsu immediately turned back to Yukino.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said.
"Come on, we should keep moving to the training spot."
Yukino nodded and fell into step slightly behind Natsu this time. The whole experience left a bad taste in her mouth. She'd never needed anyone to rescue her before. She prided herself on her strength before her loss to Kagura in the games. Since that day, she'd lost something. Some part of herself had vanished, and she wondered now if that cool, confident woman she thought she was had ever really existed.
They still walked in silence but now it was a different kind of tension. Yukino was sure that Natsu must be regretting his decision to partner with her. The first sign of a mere Vulcan, and he thought she needed to be protected. Did everyone think she was that weak? Sting had said that she deserved a shot at S-Class rank, but did she really?
She glanced at Natsu's back as he strode ahead of her. She noted the tense set of his shoulders, and the way his hands still seemed to be smoking slightly. Heat radiated off of him to glide over her skin. Was he angry with her?
Natsu was oblivious to the fretting of the woman behind him as he dealt with his own issues. Happy flew beside him casting worried glances in his best friend's direction. Natsu had half a mind to go back and beat the Vulcan again, to pound it into the ground over and over for daring to threaten Yukino. Beneath the anger that bubbled so close to the surface, Natsu was also worried about being alone with Yukino for an entire week. Sure, Happy was with them, but the exceed knew how Natsu felt about the celestial mage. Natsu's skin prickled with the nervousness that roiled in his gut. How was he supposed to tell her? How would she react? And then there was the fact that she had absolutely reeked of Sting when she came out of her inn. Were they together? Natsu didn't think they were, but maybe he'd been wrong to think that Yukino and Sting were like him and Lucy.
A gasp from Yukino pulled Natsu out of his thoughts. He grinned when he realized they had arrived. He turned to take in Yukino's reaction.
"So beautiful," she murmured. A lake spread out before them with a waterfall just visible on the far side. The water tumbled from cliffs of copper-colored clay to feed the lake, which lapped at the sand a short distance from the edge of the forest. A fish leaped from the water, and Yukino laughed at the adoring look that appeared on Happy's face.
Natsu smiled softly.
"Come on, I'll show you where we'll set up camp," he said. He took her hand once again and drew her away from the trees. Up a small incline, there was a grassy area with a fire pit already dug into the ground and ringed with black stones. From the new vantage point, Yukino could see the entire lake. In many areas, the trees came right up to the water, but on this edge there was the beach where they had first emerged and a large grass-covered knoll including the campsite.
"We'll train on the cliffs above the waterfall," Natsu said.
"Train how?" Yukino asked. Natsu grinned at her, and she felt her heart stutter as it always did when he looked at her with that smile.
"You'll see tomorrow," he said.
"But we only have seven days to train," Yukino said.
"I know, but that also means that I only have seven days to get to know you. We can train tomorrow. Today, let's just… hang out," Natsu said. He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for her reply. She finally nodded. He pumped his fist in the air before picking her up and swinging her around as he had done in the guild.
"Natsu! Can we go fishing now?" Happy whined. Yukino giggled at the exceed.
"Sure, buddy. Let's do it," Natsu said. He set his pack on the ground and produced three fishing poles. He turned to Yukino and asked, "Ever been fishing?"
She shook her head.
"First time for everything!" Natsu exclaimed. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the beach. Pulling her around by the hand seemed to be a habit of his, but it wasn't one that she minded terribly.
Natsu set up a pole for her and explained the basics. They fished in silence for a while as Happy muttered constantly about "delicious fish."
"Say, Yuki, why are you always so quiet?" Natsu asked finally.
"I-I don't know," Yukino said. She felt her cheeks heat up as he glanced at her before focusing back on the lake. She hated that she was being so awkward. Talking to him on the hillside that night had been so easy, but now, she had no idea what to say.
"Tell me about Sabertooth," Natsu said. It felt so much like he had read her mind that for a moment Yukino couldn't respond. He looked at her with that same questioning head tilt.
"I'm not sure where to begin," she said.
"I'll help you. Start with Sting," he said. Yukino thought she caught a hint of anger in the way he said the guild master's name, but she couldn't be sure. She decided if it had been there it was probably just due to their friendly rivalry, so she shook it off and launched into the story of how she met the hot-headed white dragon slayer.
Later that night, Natsu lay awake in his tent staring at the ceiling.
"Natsu, stop thinking so loud," Happy muttered sleepily.
"Sorry, buddy. Just thinking about Yuki. And Sting."
Yukino had moved on from talking about the other dragon slayer to telling him about Rogue, Rufus, Orga, and the other members of their guild. She'd talked about their barman Nicola and their doctor, Mr. Humphrey. She talked about how much things had changed since Sting became the master of the guild. Each time Sting's name was mentioned, Natsu felt something clench painfully inside him.
"Are you going to tell her soon?" Happy asked.
"I don't know, Happy. I don't want things to be weird. I think… I think she likes Sting."
"That's crazy," Happy said. He yawned loudly and settled closer to Natsu.
"Maybe, but maybe not," Natsu said.
"Just don't wait too long this time," Happy mumbled.
Happy started snoring softly. Natsu ruffled the fur on his friend's head. He kept staring at the tent ceiling long after Happy had drifted to sleep. He knew the exceed was right. He had waited too long before. Once he'd finally worked up the courage to tell her how he felt, she was already with someone else. He didn't want that to happen again, but what if it was already too late?
"I just have to wait for the right moment," Natsu murmured before his eyes finally drifted closed.
A/N: So many follows and faves! Yay! Makes me :D And thank you to those who have reviewed as well! I'll be responding to those individually soon. Let me know what you think of this latest installment :)