Normal POV
Lucy sat in the tent Virgo set up in the training grounds for the three of them plus Lector and Frosch. She was too tired to protest the fact that she'd be sharing a tent with both Sting and Rogue. She laid down on her back, staring up at the clear plastic roof. The stars were shining and the moon glowed a pretty soft violet. It wasn't creepy, no it was relaxing. She waited on them, Sting Rogue, Lector and Frosch, to get back from the lake, where they were supposed to be scrubbing two week's worth of grime off their disgusting bodies.
Lucy smiled to herself as Rogue's gentle training has done wonders for her. She can hold her own against him for about twenty minutes before collapsing from exhaustion. Though the progress was small, she was proud of every minute of it. She's been working hard on it.
She waited another ten minutes before her eyelids grew heavy, eventually falling to a close as Sting and Rouge entered the tent silently. Both looked at her with fondness in their eyes. Their time together has been four months out of the six they planned on training for, but they grew to care for the blonde as though she were actually part of the team as she had for them. Sting laid to the left of the sleeping blonde and scanned over her body, checking for any injuries, a habit he had developed on day one of training. Rogue did as well, but paying more attention to detail. He admired the way her hair never seemed to tangle too much, and the way her mouth was slightly parted, and the way she smelled. She had taken her bath in the lake before them, and came back smelling like summer strawberries. And like Sting, Rogue laid on the other side of Lucy. Rogue found himself somehow content laying next to this blonde girl.
"You feel it, too, huh? The air of comfort this girl has around her all the time. Maybe that's why Natsu-san always protected her."
"He failed." Rogue said before he could stop himself. "He couldn't protect her. He never bothered to think about her feelings."
"In all the years I've known you, Rogue, I believe that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time." Sting smirked at the roof of the tent.
"Shut up." Rogue turned away where his back was facing both Sting and Lucy. He heard Sting snicker to himself before his breath evening out, almost in unison with Lucy's, as he fell asleep. He turned back to face her. "Hey, Lucy. You did really well in training today. You push yourself to the very limit. We're so happy for you. You're getting stronger every day."
Lucy rolled onto her side, in a sort of fetal position and a quiet, soft voice, "Rogue-san."
Rogue's heart accelerated at the sound of her voice saying his name. "I'm here, Lucy-san." He said quietly, realizing she was having a nightmare once she had started to whimper slightly. Her hand reached out, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. Rogue froze, not knowing what to do. Gently, he pulled her into his arms. His movements were awkward and lacked a pattern to them. He listened as her breathing became less and less even. He knew he was in for hell when she woke up, so before she could wake up, he untangled himself from her grip and left the tent to watch the morning sun peek over the snowy mountain tops. He settled against a thick pine tree and listened to the unsteady pitter patter of footsteps.
"Rogue? What're you doing up so early?" Lucy said while rubbing her eyes to rid herself of sleep. "If you want I can start up breakfast."
He shook his head.
"Okay. Do you want me to wake up Sting?"
Once again, Rogue shook his head. He patted the spot on the tree next to him. "Come watch the sunrise with me."
She smiled at him. "Alright," She complied, leaning next to him against the tree, watching the sunrise. They didn't need to talk to feel comfortable with each other. They just sat there in a blissful silence. "Oh, Rogue-san! Look!" She whispered as a few deer made their way into the clearing where they were camped. "Aren't they so pretty?"
He nodded at her, watching the deer carefully. To Rogue, the deer's movements seemed unnatural. Their steps were stiff and awkward. He furrowed his brow, not taking his eyes off of them, he pulled Lucy closer to him. "Go back to the tent." He ordered quietly.
She looked at him with worry in her eyes. "But-"
"Just go. Hurry." He refused to look at her as the deer's heads all turned in their direction.
Lucy bolted for the tent, waking Sting in the process. Sting kept Lucy behind him as they walked back over to Rogue. "Take-Over Mages." Sting said, not in the least bit grumpy that he was woken up.
Rogue nodded.
Lucy furrowed her brow at the thought of Take-Over Mages. She growled as the thought of Lisanna and Natsu passed through her mind. "Release your magic and reveal yourselves."
The first deer, the one in the front and center of the pack glowed a bright light. Once it died down stood a man she vaguely remembered. The man, dressed in a sleek black tail coat, similar to a butler's uniform, yet all the buttons remained undone. He had slick black hair, gelled out of his face. The man smirked at Lucy and began walking over to her. "My, my. You've really grown up, haven't you, Lucy?"
Lucy backed away from the man approaching her. "Who are you?" Her voice quivered despite her efforts to sound strong.
"I'm a good friend of your parents, Thomas Radcliffe. I visited your mother when you were but a toddler, you were so small then."
"You knew Mom?" She asked before she could stop herself.
"Yes, indeed. Your father as well. Ivan was a good man until he cast out your mother. I was your father at one point. I helped Layla stay on her feet, she lived with me for a little bit." He had a distant look in his eyes, as though he was reminiscing. "Well, before your mother died she sent me a letter," He shuffled in his pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope. He cleared his throat and began reading the letter aloud.
Dear Thomas,
If you're getting this letter, then I am dead, or am dying. I beg you not to tell Ivan he has a daughter. She's young but she has a lot of potential, I want to tell you that she will be fine. I want her to stay with Jude until she decides to move forward with her life, and on the off chance she finds her way to Makarov and Ivan, perhaps even Laxus, let her be with her family, even if she doesn't know it. I do not want her to know she has a man like that for a father. I know Makarov will be there for her, just as Porlyusica will be. I want Lucy to discover her family when she needs it, during a heartbreak or crisis, I want them to be there for her.
Thomas, good friend, to make my request clear, I wish for you to watch over her, watch over my sweet child and teach her Take-Over magic when you believe she is ready. I want the best for her and my son. I am deathly afraid Ivan committed the crime I begged him not to do. If he had, there isn't a way to reverse the process, saying that he survived the ordeal.
I beg this of you, good Thomas, teach my daughter what I failed to do. Laxus's body was too limited for Take-Over, but Lucy's Celestial Magic makes it limitless. Lucy can learn Celestial Take-Over and I beg you to teach her.
I give you the best of luck with her, she has Ivan's stubbornness, Layla Heartfilia.
Lucy's knees buckled as Rogue caught her before he hit the ground. "Mama…"
"Lucy, how would you like to learn Celestial Take-Over?"
"How about you tell the truth?" Sting snapped. "You're lying. I can smell it all over you. So just own up before we beat it out of you."
"Soul eyes activate!" Lucy shouted, it was something she learned on day eighteen of her training with Sting and Rogue. Everything went a dark gray and black except the auras surrounding the animals and people around them. Rouge's dark purple was the brightest, since he was closest to her. Then Stings blinding white. Then she looked at the man named Thomas. He had a soft orange glow that reminded her of Loke. The others had various other soft colors like blue, purple, red, pink, and green. There seemed to be no malicious intent around them, except for one. The red one seemed to be flickering slightly, growing so dim it was barely visible to where it was equal to the rest or the Take-Over mages. The more she looked at it the more noticeable the faint gold outline.
Lucy's glazed eyes widened with realization. She released her Soul Eyes and made eye contact with the deer in question. "He's a Celestial Spirit. He's an Obsidian Key."
So I made this chapter a little be longer than normal because I haven't posted anything but character spotlights (i'm working on Levy next BTW). I will continue on Hated With Love, eventually posting that chapter hopefully sometime this month.
Check out my other stories if ya want :)
Love and Lucky, -SFL