Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Copyright Laws apply and all rights go to HIro Mashima.

Natu's POV
We tried to follow them through the forest but we kind of got sidetracked, and… Put simply, we were lost.

Lucy's POV

I stretched a bit as I tried to think of how many ways this mission could go wrong. There were many. I glanced at the two sleeping dragon slayers, who were still sleeping, though, and all my fears vanished. While Sting may not be the brightest star and while Rogue may not be the most talkative person, I knew that they were strong, there was no doubt about that. Yet, I still felt some doubts lingering as I chewed on my apple. I had been thinking a lot, and I woke up early, so I decided not to go back to bed, and to just think about what we could do in terms of a battle plan.

I recalled all the information I had uploaded, and went over it in my head. Aleci the sandstormer, one down three to go. Then there was Menaili the stormbringer. Trentor the earthshaker, and finally, Cinder the windwaker. Wow, they have cool names. What would I be? Lucy the… I shook away my thoughts as I began to get sidetracked.

Menaili and Trentor are the most straightforward opponents, since we have opposing elements that are stronger, we just need to attack. For Cinder, though, it seems that we only have a defense, so we need an offense. Unless… Wait! There are three opponents, so it divides up evenly, so...I DIDN'T HAVE TO PLUG IN ALL FOUR ELEMENTS?!
I tried to calm myself down and tried not to get sidetracked, but it was all in vain. I noticed Rogue starting to get up, too, so I thought that I would think about it as I washed up. Sighing, I put out breakfast, which of course immediately woke up Sting as well, and I began to tell them what I thought we should do.

"Guys, no matter what, I you face Cinder, just run away. I want to deal with her, because I don't think that I can distribute the magic needed in order to defeat her in between all of us. Sting, his mouth full, just replied, "Hell no! I aint running away! I am, after al, the Great Sting Eucliffe!" I just sent him a glare, in response he immediately gulped, mumbled a quiet agreement, and then proceeded to hide behind Rogue. Rogue just nodded, and continued his civilized way of eating, while Sting, behind him, just kept eating like a madman, food going everywhere. No wonder he eats all of the time. Half of the food doesn't even go in his mouth…When we were done eating, we split to go wash up and pack our things, since we were planning on moving, and we couldn't always make the long walk back to the cave, While I was washing myself, though, a breeze passed by, and then I immediately knew how to deal with Cinder. Element decomposition.

Sting's POV

"I'm telling you, man, Lucy's glare rivals Minerva's and Erza's. She's scary when she's mad~" I complained, still shivering from the experience, as I washed myself, looking over my shoulder to Rogue, who was just smashing his head into a rock.

"Ne, Rogue, why are you doing that?" I questioned, watching as Rogue continued to make a dent in the said rock.

"Because you're an idiot" was the reply he gave, and I felt a tick mark growing on my forehead. As I started to rinse myself off, man was his celestial soap Lucy had good, I let my thoughts wander to what Lucy said before.

Why would she want to face Cinder by herself? From what it seems, it looks like Cinder was the strongest one. If anything, we should all defeat her together… But what's some barrier going to do? Why can't we use our regular magic? With this last question, I remembered a conversation that I had with the other two regarding it.

FLASHBACK

"Our regular magic is too weak to be able to defeat them. They're centuries old, and have access to lost techniques and spells that we don't. That's why we have to cancel their powers" Lucy said, pointing to a chart she made in the dirt.

"But if we cancel the powers out, won't nothing happen, and the magic will just expel?" I asked, confused.

"The magic we have is far more advanced, so we should be able to overpower them. Also, if it does happen, it'll all come down to hand to hand combat, which you guys are excellent in I watched you during the Grand Magic Games" Lucy replied, earning a blush from Rogue and I.

FLASHBACK END

I still didn't fully understand, but I was able to get the gist of it. I wasn't realy good with technical details. The closest thing that I've ever had was to charge into a full-blown army by myself, hoping for the best. Let's just say that it didn't turn out so well. I dried myself off and put on some new clothes, and Rogue did the same. I glanced over, expecting to see the same stoic face as usual, but I was surprised. Rogue was blushing. The Rogue Cheney was blushing. I've seen him blush before, sure, but he was smiling. I was shocked. Worried, I began to pace around in my mind. The world is ending! Does he think hat there's no hope for us? He's probably saying his final farewells to everyone in his head. Wait, what if he's sick...Oh on, not now. Rogue's lost his mind! What will we do?! I don't wanna get lucy kicked~

Rogue's POV

I was thinking of Lucy, and how she was always so cheerful. I heard a lot of noise, and when I looked over, Sting was pacing around frantically, clutching his head and occasionally bumping into something and falling. Is this dude stupid?

Lucy's POV

When we regrouped, I handed out a couple flare guns to notify each other of our locations, and we each carried a communication lacrima. With that, we wished each other good luck and went our separate ways. I activated Loke's stealth mode, which helps me move around quietly and quickly, and began to make my way through the forest. I jumped from tree to tree, not wanting to take the risk of getting caught in a trap on the ground or being targeted from above. The leaves covered me, and most of my time was in the air, so I made little noise. I had to admit, it was also pretty fun, jumping around like that. Chewing some gum to help me calm down, I slowed down my jumping, not wanting to waste my energy. I then resorted to walking again, and I was on guard, twitching at every movement, sound, or sight. My communication lacrima went off after about 30 minutes, and my earpiece picked up Rogue.

"I found one"

Rogue's POV

I saw her, Menaili or whatever, the storm mage. I don't really know how the element of Earth was supposed to bring her down, but then I realized it. The aspect of Earth, life, and in turn is always in balance, and lives together in peace. I knew that Lucy was hiding something when she said that we had to unlock the powers for ourselves. I wasn't supposed to use the actual Earth element against the storm, but an aspect of Earth, which was peace. I smiled to myself. You've outdone yourself this time, Lucy. I merged with the shadows, and was unseen, this clearing in the forest being extremely shady. As I began to rise, I thought of the Earth, and I thought of the balance and harmony of it all. As I did, my ring started to glow a ruby red, and I smiled. I called out a spell that I Lucy taught us before. I fully rose, and Menaili looked back in surprise.

"Storm's chaos!" She shouted too late.

"Harmony of the Earth! Peace!" I shouted, my fist glowing white instead of its usual black, and I hit her attack full on, breaking through and making impact with her jaw. She jumped backwards, and glared at me, taking in my guild mark.

"Oh, I never knew you could bite, little tiger" She mocked as she started another spell.

"Storm Bringer's Secret Art: Destructive Mass!" Menaili shouted, and I tried to counter it with another spell.

"Earth's Ground: I beckon you forth to brace the sky and enjoy the sea, bring forth a storm and show thy power- I summon you, Earth Shaker!" I chanted, using one of the strongest spells that I had at my disposal. The ground shook, and Menaili's spell faltered, giving me an opening to merge with the shadows and encase her in a cage. From there, I hit her in the jaw with all I had, and she started to weaken, I could feel it. Her heartbeat quickened, she took deeper breaths, and I saw tiny beads of sweat line her forehead. I smiled. I haven't had this much of a thrill in such a long time. I continued my brash attacks, and didn't notice her small smile as I approached, thinking she was done for. She kicked me in the gut, broke the cage, then began her attack. She punched, kicked, and slashed me, and I started to get weaker. Knowing that I would fall any second now, I decided to go big or go home. I used the strongest spell of this element.

"With the balance of the earth, the harmony of the earth, the life of the earth, and the purity of the earth… I summon the purest aspect of this kind… Peace!" I shouted, and a large white beam made its way to a shocked Menaili, and hit her square in the chest, where she then collapsed, defeated. I decided to tie her up, but I didn't have the strength. I shouldn't have gotten so cocky, I though to myself as I fainted, not even registering the flare that I had unintentionally triggered, the sound echoing throughout the forest while light exploded above me.

Previously on Sting's POV

I saw a flare gun go off, but, as much as I wanted to go there, I had a very annoyed Trentor on my hands. I said something about how his hair looked weird, and how he would never get a girlfriend, but then he cut me off midway and started to dish out some random attacks, his eyes narrowed as he cradled his hair, probably trying to put back together his broken ego. Seeing an opening, I charged. Why do people always have to interrupt me during my monologues? I thought, a little pissed that the dude ignored me and started to attack. Trentor, his specialty was earth magic. I wonder how earth is supposed to beat storm anyway? Well, I'll ask Rogue later.

My ring started to glow a sapphire blue as I shouted out the spell, "Crashing Sky!" A duplicate, stormy sky appeared, and started to crash, ice hitting him and cutting him as angry clouds swirled around him, knocking him from side to side. However, he put up a shield made of dirt, and I laughed. I splashed some water on it and the dirt turned to mud, which stuck to Trentor, the poor guy. I was laughing my butt off.

Trentor glared at me, angry, and started to hurl boulders at me.

"Woah, woah, wo-oomph!" I cautioned as he chucked a boulder at me, hitting me on the head and causing me to fly into a tree. I didn't really like tress anymore. They freaking hurt. Trentor trapped me, and started to cut me with thorns and rocks, grabbing onto my hands and ankles with vines. I couldn't really use my hands now, so I just did one of my favorite moves.

"Light dragon ROAR!" I shouted, hitting him in the chest as he stumbled back, surprised. I limped over to a rock, and supported my weight on it. I wasn't done yet, though, and I sure as hell wasn't about to lose to Lucy. I knew that I wasn't a good idea, in this state, but I decided to try out some super strong spell. I thought for a second, striking a pose and confusing Trentor, and that's when I remembered the words.

"Um..er.. wait hold on…" I said, looking at my hand, where I wrote down some spells, knowing this would happen. "Oh, yeah, right! Wait, what…? Oh, yup, yup" I began to talk to myself, leaving a very annoyed Trentor, again, and then I started to get serious. I kissed my ring before chanting the spell.

"I summon you, gods of the sky, come to my aide to crush the envying earth. May your power outlive the sea and the earth, and for this moment, may the harmony be disturbed… Dominating Sky!" I shouted, and the sky shook, with all kinds of bad weather striking down on Trentor, and I occasionally found a few openings to kick him here and there. As the self obsessed dude fell unconscious, I grinned to myself, and I could practically hear Lector's voice, shouting me praise. There you go, did you see that, Luce?

Lucy's POV
For the last 45 minutes, I've been trying to get a connection with Rogue and Sting, but they haven't been picking up. I heard something, though, and I looked to my left, only to see a flare go off. I used my stealth at full power, and began to run to the location of the flare. As I began to run, I heard a scream closer by, so I checked it out, only to see a very beaten up Trentor and Sting. I gasped at Sting's wounds, and activated Lion's Strength, something that also used Loke's abilities. I hefted Sting up to my shoulder, and continued on my previous path, towards Rogue. I saw Rogue, and an unconscious Menaili, and I saw that Rogue's wounds were just as bad. I laid Sting down next to Rogue, and was about to get out a first aide kit, but a voice stopped me.

"Oh, a Fairy? Look, isn't that a nice breeze?" a chilling, feminine voice called out.

Cindy.

Strong winds blew all around us, an I shivered, pulling my sweater tighter around me. I bare my teeth at her as I glanced over one more time at Sting and Rogue.

"You will pay for what you have done to my friends…: I threatened, my magical energy increasing tenfold. Cindy seemed startled and started to take a step back, but then regained her composure and laughed. Looking at my guild mark, she snickered, In response, I held up my guild mark proudly, which also seemed to startle her.

"I am a Fairy Tail mage… and I will always help my friends. So, you don't want to dance with Fairies because we, too, are strong. Let's see how powerful you are when you don't have your magic" I glared a Cindy, who seemed o be a little frightened, and she couldn't wipe the look off of her face. She summoned what seemed to be one of her strongest spells, obviously shaken by what I just said.

"W-winds! I call you forth! Tornado Storm! Cindy called out, stuttering. As tornadoes surrounded me, I smirked. Wind was moving air, so if there was no air… there was no wind.

"Element Decomposition! Air! Rid Nitrogen, rid Argon, rid Carbon Dioxide, rid Helium , rid Krypton, rid Methane, rid Hyrdogen, rid Xenon…rid oxygen" I finished, sucking a deep breath beforehand. Cindy looked confused, but as she suddenly remembered science class, her winds died down, and she was left there, gasping for air. I called forth an air bubble which surrounded my head so I could breathe, and I called out my whip.

"River of Stars" The beating, as well as the deprivation of oxygen, took Cindy down fairly quickly, and I restored the air, so she wouldn't die. Heading back to Trenton, I brought him to the clearing where the other two were, and I tied them up. Summoning Virgo to bring me a carriage, I dumped the bodies there, and then sprayed them with a gas so that they wouldn't wake up. Putting Sting and Rogue in the seats, I made sure that I had everything, and then started off back to Magnolia's police station.

TIME SKIP
I dropped off Death Reaper there, and I told the police everything I knew, and they were teleported to the Magic Council almost immediately after. Sting and Rogue still hadn't woken up, so I took them back to my place, and sent the carriage back to the Celestial Spirit world. Then, I summoned Virgo once again.

"Yes, Princess?" she said politely, as usual.

"Virgo, you've really helped me out a lot throughout this while mission, so I would like to thank you. Is there anything you would like?" I offered. Virgo, of course, didn't hesitate with her reply.

"Punishment, Princess?" I sighed. Walking over to Virgo, who was squealing with glee, I flicked her forehead. She looked shocked for a moment, then bowed happily, with hearts in her eyes, and then went back to the Celestial Spirit world. I chuckled to myself. My spirits were so weird.

"Luce…" Sting croaked out. I ran to his side and held his hand.

"Do you need anything, Sting?"

"Yeah, could you get me some water?" He asked. I cringed at his poor state and immediately gave him some water, as well as some pain killers. Rogue woke up, too, probably due to the noise, and I gave him the same thing. They both grunted in thanks, and then were knocked out, probably because they were so tired, and the pain killers had some side effects. Sighing, I took out and extra blanket and pillow, and slept on the couch, leaving the bed for the two layers to share.

TIME SKIP
Sting's POV

I woke up and cracked my eyelids open, welcoming the morning light. At least I didn't die, or wait… was this heaven? Nah, I was too good for heaven. I saw Rogue sleeping next to me, but I was too tired to make some comment. We were in Lucy's apartment, so she must've finished the job and brought us here. I looked around the room, and saw Lucy sleeping on the couch, wrapping the blanket around her tightly.

"Idiot, why didn't you take the bed?" I whispered. Surprisingly, she replied in her sleep.

"Because… I want… Sting… to have a good…rest" I blushed, and covered my mouth with my hand. I plopped my head back onto the pillow, and fell back to sleep.

When I woke up again, Lucy had breakfast ready, and Rogue was already up. I mumbled a sleepy good morning, and Lucy came to me to help me get up. She gave me some meat, which I was grateful for, and we spent the rest of breakfast like that, Lucy helping us as we ate. My wounds were way deeper than Rogue's, and so, Lucy paid more attention to me, and I smirked at Rogue, who just turned away.

"Lucy, my wounds aren't that big of a deal since they're just some bruises. So, with that, I'll be heading back to Sabertooth, because I promised Yukino that I would meet up with her today" Rogue said, standing up.

Lucy, looking a little disappointed, agreed and said, " Ok, but be careful. Give me a call if you need anything" She saw Rogue out, and sunk in the chair next to me. I didn't want to seem like I was intruding, so I stood up to leave with Rogue, only to have Lucy sit me back down again. She looked me straight in the eye.

"Oh, no. For the next dew weeks, you'll be living with me. Those wounds won't heal for a while, and we don't want your guild to see their master in such a state, right? If you need to do some paperwork, I can go over to get it for you, but for now, just rest" Lucy said in one breath, holding my shoulders down. I just smirked and did as she said.

"Well, I don't blame you, who wouldn't want to be in the Great Sting Eucliffe's company?" I said, lightening up the mood. Lucy grinned, and I returned it, looking forward to the next few weeks.

"Go take a bath, you stink. I'm going to go to Saber to pick up some work for you. Don't worry, I'll make an excuse. Do NOT go anywhere, or else I'm going to hunt you down…" Lucy threatened. I nodded, not wanting to die this early.

Lucy's POV

I took the train to Sabertooth, where I greeted everyone. Speaking to Minerva, I made something up.

"Sting will be staying with me for the next couple of weeks because he said he was going to do some research of the magic shops. I told him that it would be a good experience, so I just came to get some paperwork that he might have to do. Also, you know my address, so if there's anything else, feel free to mail me or talk via lacrima. Minerva nodded, and while I spoke to some members, she came back with a stack of paper work, which I toppled under the weight over, and I thanked her, wanting to get home as soon as possible so I could be with Sting. I didn't even process what I just thought, and I summoned Loke to carry the papers for me.

Sting's POV

I got out of the bath, my hair still wet. I put on some pants, and threw on a shirt lazily, and sat on Lucy's bed, not bothering to dry the upper half of myself. When Lucy finally did come back, thought, she looked at me, set the papers down, and scowled. Going to the bathroom, she got a towel, and, kneeling in front of me, began to dry my hair.

"You're going to get sick, idiot" She said, blushing at how close we were.

I grinned. "Yeah, whatever. This is much more eventful anyways" I said, examining her features.

Her chocolate brown eyes were mesmerizing, and I felt myself being lost in them. The way she sat in front of me left our faces mere inches apart, and my eyes trailed down to her perfect lips. Lucy was pretty hot, so I was wondering how I didn't notice it before. She caught me staring and we looked at each other a bit, before looking away and blushing. As she removed the towel, I felt a little sad that our moment was over, but then, she sat on the bed, and sat me down on the ground, in between her legs. She combed my hair, occasionally playing with it, and it felt good. I could hear her murmuring how soft it was, and I let out a small smile. A smile. Not a grin. Not a smirk. A smile. Leaning back I savored the moment. Then she handed me the towel, to my confusion, and she started to stammer.

"Sting, d-dry y-your u-upper t-tors-o…: she said, steam coming out of her ears. Trying to act innocent, I refused.

"Ehh? But Lucy, I'm injured, so you have to take care of me, right?" I said, refusing to give up. She gave up pretty quickly though, and took the towel from me. She took off my shirt, in which I said, "Eager, are we?" and she blushed more, if that was even possible. She began to dry me, but it wasn't awkward at all. In fact, it was kind of cute. When she was done, she sighed, and tried to get up, but I pinned her to the bed, still shirtless.

"Lucy, I'm tired" With that, I fell asleep before she could say anything, sleeping on command being one of my strong points. She just held me softly, and I smiled again. Except it wasn't a small one. It was a real one.