Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights go to Hiro Mashima.

Sting's POV
I woke up the next morning, still in Lucy's comfy bed while I saw the said girl on the couch. The sun shone on her golden hair, and her long lashes fluttered open as she felt me staring. I gave her a smile, and as her eyes widened, she blushed.

She's fun to tease.

I walked over, still a little sore from my injuries, but I went over anyway, and picked her up bridal style, dropping her on the bed, covering her with the blankets. She kept staring at me, confused.

"Remember that one time I came to your guild? And I carried you, just like I did now?" I asked, remembering the memory, smiling a little wider. Lucy nodded, sporting a smile of her own now, too. It seems like such a distant memory, and we've gotten so much closer since then. I didn't grin, and I didn't smirk. I smiled, and that thought made me smile more. We just stayed like that, remembering things while smiling each other like idiots. She then got up, and pushed me down on the bed.

"Lie down, you're still injured" She reminded me, making her way towards the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder, and called out to me, "I'll take care of breakfast, so just relax a bit"

Soon after, the smell of bacon and pancakes filled the room, and Lucy emerged with a plate, carrying it to me, and I accepted it with thanks. Pulling up a chair, we ate together, not using a table, but casually ate like we were best buds, and I was completely fine with that. Not like I ever used table manners, anyway. I noticed Lucy staring at me, and I looked at her straight in the eye.

"Oh, sorry. It's just…I've never really seen you smile more" I dropped my head. Yeah, I know, I surprise even myself. It doesn't really suit my chara- my thoughts were cut off with her next words.

"You should smile more, you look better. You have a beautiful smile, you know? You should open up more to me, though…Sometimes I feel as if you're locking up your emotions" Lucy said, sadly. I blushed. She…she likes my smile…

"To be honest…I haven't smiled since I was a kid, with Weisslogia…not even Rogue…" I felt tears start to form at the mention of my dragon parent, and I silently cursed myself. Why am I opening up? I shouldn't. I have to be the strong, confident Sting. I looked up, and just shook my head. Lucy put down her plate and hugged me.

"Just let it out. I know how you feel" was all she said, and that was all it took. My eyes widened, and I broke out of my shell, starting to cry. I didn't want to …I don't know what happened. I thought that I had covered up all the cracks…I thought I put on a mask. Even my best friend couldn't see through it. I hugged Lucy tighter as I cried silently, remembering my parent, and remembering how I couldn't even remember my real parents. I smiled a bit, though, and I felt much better. I whispered a small thank you to the mage, and as I held her, I felt my heart beat faster. She never fails to surprise me… Who exactly is she? I thought to myself, laughing a bit. First, she makes me blush, then, she makes me nervous, then she makes me smile, and right after that, she's able to make me cry. I pulled away from our embrace, and I looked at this crazy girl in the eyes, once again.

"Lucy…You're interesting" I simply said, confusing the wizard.

"How so?" She replied, cocking her head to one side.

"Well, when I'm around you, you make me reveal hidden parts of myself. You're special, in your own way" I explained, earning a blush from her, and having my traitorous features sport a blush as well. Stammering, she just stood up and pointed to her desk.

"Well, you should start some of your work today. I can help you if you want…" Lucy offered, trying but failing miserably to hide her blush. I smiled, again, and headed over to the desk, taking my plate with me. I began to work, the mood turning serious, but I could still feel Lucy staring at me, and I still held a small smile.

Lucy's POV
He…smiled. And it was beautiful. Lucy, what are you thinking?! I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head, and I thought back to his sudden outburst. It surprised me, but I was glad that he was able to open up. I knew about his past, though, and it was so sad. He didn't even really kill his dragon, and he lived his life with the guilt of the crime. After that, he actually met his dragon, only to have it die a couple of minutes afterward. Yet, Sting always put on a brave front for himself, his friends, and the guild. I admired him, really. He was mentally and physically powerful. I, on the other hand… NO, this was no time to be pessimistic! I decided to make some white chocolate cookies and some milk for the slayer, so I immediately set to work making it. It was fairly easy, and soon, everything was complete. I glanced over to Sting, who had a serious facial expression. I blushed.

He was so serious during the mission, too. I never knew… I smiled a bit, and set the cookies and milk in front of him, while I took his empty breakfast plate back to the kitchen. As I turned around, I heard Sting, say, "Thanks", and my heartbeat quickened. I'm pretty sure that Sting must've heard it, because he chuckled a bit, took a cookie in one hand, and resumed his work in a good mood. Today was one of the happiest days of my life, and it was all because of this stupid blonde haired slayer. I sighed happily, and took out my novel. Sitting on my bed, I opened the window and looked outside. The breeze blew my hair, and it felt so good. I watched the sakura petals float down. Turning to my novel, I began to write, going into a world of my own. I happily wrote and wrote, and almost did 5 chapters, but then my hand cramped, and I decided to take a break. I looked over, and saw that Sting finished the cookies, so I took his plate away. With a thud, I sat back down onto my bed, and I looked out the window once more. The town was busy, and I smiled to myself, and began to sing to myself softly, the breeze still blowing against my face.

Sting's POV
As she took my plate, I pretended not to notice her, but as she sat back down, I looked back. A slight breeze came through the open window, and was blowing her hair softly. With the sun shining on her, she looked like an angel. Then, as I was about to go back to my work, I heard her sing. My eyes widened, for the about millionth time that day, but her voice even sounded like an angel. At this point, I was beginning to actually wonder if Lucy was human or not. I mean, no girl has ever made me feel this way before. I closed my eyes, and leaned my head back, enjoying her soothing voice. As she continued to sing, I continued my work, and then, what a miracle, I finally finished.

I turned my body around so I could hear her more clearly. I was staring at her now. Closing my eyes, I listened to her voice, and it resurfaced fond memories that I ad of everyone, but I opened them once I heard the music stop. She stared at me wide eyed, the sun making her chocolate brown eyes sparkle.

"O=oh, sorry. Am I disturbing you?" She asked, embarrassed.

"No, I actually finished everything. Continue singing, though. You have a really pretty voice" I voiced my thoughts aloud, and I matched her blush with one of m own. She smiled at me softly and nodded. And we both sat down like that, her singing, looking out the window, and me sitting, looking at the supposed angel in front of me.

Unlike how I usually would, I didn't deny all of the positive thoughts that I had about Lucy. This time, I embraced them, and I felt that I grew closer with the stellar mage. I had opened up to her, my darkest and deepest secrets she knew, and she made me see things about myself that I never noticed. I was different today, that was for sure. I was even smiling, crying, and complimenting in front of a girl, for Pete's Sake! I sighed happily, though. I felt good this way. I felt that I could truly be myself. I hid behind a mask, yet she was able to uncover it so easily. I wondered how…

Natsu's POV
I didn't see Lucy at the guild today, so I ran towards her apartment, but that's when I smelled it. Sting was with her. Growling, I ran faster, but then I was stopped in my tracks when I heard Lucy singing. I was in front of the apartment, and I looked up, swearing that I saw an angel. Her hair was golden, and her eyes were milky chocolate. Her skin was pale. Her voice was sugary sweet. Multiple people stopped to stare at the beauty sing. They all smiled at Fairy Tail's only resident mage, Lucy Heartfilia. If Sting was able to bring this out of her, then I guess I couldn't do anything but leave her in his hands for now. It hurt me one the inside, really, that he could see this new part of Lucy before me, but if my best friend was happy, then I was happy. Speaking of happy, where was Happy?

Lucy's POV

Sting sat next to me on the bed, now, and looked out the window with me. That's when he turned and grinned. He mouthed to not stop singing, and then he pointed downwards. I looked down, and I saw the citizens of Magnolia look up at me, and I was still singing. I stopped momentarily, and everyone clapped. I was shocked. I never thought of myself as a singer, but I smiled, and continued to sing, where everyone fell silent again, smiling with me. Sting looked awed, even, and I was surprised that he was able to see this part of me. I loved singing, but I never told anybody, not even Levy. I guess we both opened up to each other a lot today.

Lucy's POV

W stopped what we were doing when we heard an explosion, without a second thought, we jumped out the window, running towards the source of the sound. I saw Sting wince, since he was still injured, but he didn't stop. I shook my head at his recklessness. We saw a bank on fire, and some robbers escaping, and the happy mood was broken. I immediately told Sting to go to the bank to look for survivors; no way was I letting him fight.

"Gate of the Water Bearer! I open thee! Aquarius! Put out the fire!" I didn't waste a breath as I sent Aqaurius to work.

"River of Stars!" I got out my whip and I snagged the robbers, who turned out to be mages. I licked my lips. This was going to be exciting; an interesting turn of events from calmly singing. The robbers were apparently fire mages, as they tried to shoot flames.

"Requip! Aquarius Star Dress Transformation!" I yelled out, and a water barrier protected me.

"Tidal Wave!" I shouted. Immediately a massive wall of water attacked, ice cold, immediately freezing the flames, as well as the mages themselves. Changing back to my normal clothes, and sending a very quiet Aquarius to the spirit world, I tied up the bandits, as I looked around for Sting. He helped a bunch of people escape the fire, which was immediately put out by Aquarius. I spotted a man who was watching me before, and then he pointed to me.

"Badass Angel!" He said, and everyone cheered, causing Sting and I to sweat drop. Some police officers came by to pick the robbers up, and they thanked me, even paying me some Jewels, ignoring my protests.

"Well, look who the hero's now" Sting said, elbowing my rib cage. I just smiled, but then I realized what I could buy with the Jewels. I yelled at Sting to go back to the apartment, and I went to a nearby magic shop.

After half an hour, I came back, and gave Sting a magic healing charm. I put it around his neck, and he immediately began to heal.

"Wow, thanks. I feel much better… Though this means that I won't be able to stay with you as long…" Sting sounded disappointed, so I just made him look up.

"Who says that? Anyway, you seem to be completely fine, so… want to spar?" I asked, in which Sting perked up. With that, he led me to Fairy Tail's sparring grounds.

Natsu's POV

I saw Sting and Lucy approach the guild, and I heard them clearly shout, "We're sparring!" I got excited, fist pumped the air, and told everyone to gather in the back.

"STING AND LUCY ARE SPARRING!" Everyone quickly ran to the back, and Maser, interested in how this would turn out between the two powerful mages. Besides, they never really had seen Lucy's new powers.

Lucy's POV

Everyone was betting on Sting, and I smirked. Time to show them my new powers.

Maser Macarov explained the rules, which was same old, same old, and then the match began. Sing didn't hesitate.

"Holy Ray!" A ray shot at me, but I sidestepped it, and quickly called out 5 gates. He was starting out with one of his strongest attacks, in dragon force already, so I was going to give him a run for his money.

"Open, the gates of the Zodiac, I summon thee! Leo! Virgo! Saggitarius! Aquarius! Gemini!" Everyone stared in shock as I opened 5 gates, but I was unfazed, and so was Sting. This was an interesting arrangement.

Sting ran up to me and yelled out, "White Dragon's claw!" I blocked it with a special move of my own.

Running up, I countered the attack, "Celestial Punch!" The attacks collided, and the magical energy made my hair blow back, and it was the same for Sting. We locked eyes for a second, smirked, and continued to fight.

Sting ran behind me, and landed a solid kick and punch. I was going to win, I swore it.

"Open, the gates of the Zodiac! I summon thee! Capricorn! Aries! Taurus! Cancer! Scorpio!"

Everyone's eyes bulged out, even Sting's. They all started to attack at once, and I summoned my whip, and caught him. Knowing he had motion sickness, I spun him around, making him sick. While he was down, I had Gemini help me, and we did a quick Urano Metria on him, rendering the dragon slayer sick and unconscious. Before anything else could happen, I was declared the winner. I was happy that I didn't really use any of my new powers. I wanted to surprise fairy Tail later on. Everyone crowded me, and started to ask me questions. Sting got up, and fistbumped my shoulder.

"Nice match, but next time, I won't lose!" Sting said as he went to the bathroom, still not quite over his nausea. Natsu came up to me.

"YOU SUMMONED ALL OF YOUR FREAKING SPIRITS AT ONCE! HOW THE HE-" Natsu was pushed aside by everyone else, and I just rubbed the back of my neck. Even Master asked me some questions.

In answer to all of it, I gave an uncertain response, "Training?" They wouldn't have it. Some of them were even starting to suspect that I wasn't Lucy. I just laughed with everyone, and saw Sting in the corner, watching us all with a grin. I flashed a peace sign, and he returned it. I was pretty proud, though.

"But guys, Sting is really powerful. I had to use ten zodiac keys!" I defended, standing up for Sting. When the others realized this they started praising him and complimenting his as well, also crowding around him when he came back.

"Oi, Lucy! Fight me!" Gray yelled, and I met him head on, with my signature grin. Everyone crowded around again, and I was happy that they were able to see how much I've grown. I feel like their trust in me just tripled, and I was glad that I was now seen as an even stronger Fairy Tail mage. I held up my pointer finger and thumb in an 'L' position, and riled everyone up.

"LET'S DO THIS FAIRYTAIL!"

"YEAH!"

I smiled. Even after all the hell we've been through, even after Tenroujima, even after the Grand Magic Games, even after Eclipse…They never change, do they? Fairy Tail was my home, and always would be. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could make me leave my family.

A Week Later

Sting's POV
I walked into the guild hall, completely healed now. Lucy gave me some fake report on the magic shops so I could cover up some questions, and I walked to the front of the guild.

"Okay, people! We have a new goal! Beat Lucy Heartfilia!"

Minerva simply asked, "Why?" And I simply replied, "The chick beat me in a fight"

.

.

.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, even the usually emotionless Rogue. I smirked, and I looked at Minerva in the eye.

"She's different from the Grand Magic Games, so I think that you'll be able to have a fair fight this time" I told her smirking, in which Minerva cracked her knuckles and returned the expression.

"We may be friends now, but I won't hold back!" Minerva said, licking her lips. Other members piped up, and we decided that we would have a sparring schedule. Weekly fights. Yeah, that sounded fun. I ran up to my office to call the old man, and we made arrangements. We would have a tournament!

Rogue's POV
I stared, wide eyed. Lucy had beaten Sting…? Sting was the master, and one of the strongest in the guild. Then, I facepalmed. He probably lost in some way, like due to his motion sickness. I smiled, and everyone stared at me, surprised, but I ignored them. Lucy was always observant, and she was smart. She would make an interesting opponent. I spoke up, basically being the master's right hand man.

"I call dibs on being her first opponent" I said, loud enough for everyone to hear, and I melted into the shadows, leaving everyone shocked at the sudden display of excitement.

"No fair, man! You can't call that!" Orga said, pouting. Rufus agreed with the tip of his hat, and Minerva was emitting a deadly aura. I chuckled, and went home, thinking about how I could defeat the stellar mage. I was interested, also, because I sensed a strong magical energy coming from her. That was enough to impress, yet I didn't notice all the subtle jewelry she wore.

Lucy's POV

I fist pumped the air as I heard about the tournament we were having against Sabertooth. They were targeting me, but everyone would be involved. I was curious what brought this up, though, and when I asked about it, everyone started laughing at me. Master spoke up to explain.

"Child…*laughter* you do realize that you have beaten Sabertooth's *Chuckle* Master? Of course they… would be… (gasp) interested…" I nodded my head, a smirk never leaving my lips. No one ever saw my fighting side, the part of me that loved the thrill of danger. Sting rubbed off on me, I guess. This would be fun, and I was interested in fighting a certain shadow dragon slayer. With my feelings pumped up, one of my restraining rings broke off, and a large burst of my magical energy filled the air, silencing everyone.

"S-sorry, one of my restraints broke. I guess I got a little too excited" said, summoning another ring to replace the broken one, and the air turned back to normal. I forgot to mention that I was a S- Class wizard, but that was to be expected, right? I mean the trials were super easy last time (almost everyone got in), but Natsu was on his mission, and I forgot to mention it, so I guess… he kind of… didn't know? Oops?

"Lucy-san…is there something you're not telling me?" Natsu said cautiously, putting emphasis on the honorific. (San is like mr. or mrs. )

"Okay, okay, I promise that I'll explain everything to you later. But, for now, I need to devise a strategy to beat Rogue" I said, thinking about what I could do with his shadows. Before long, I was fully absorbed in my daydream, totally ignorant to the fire freak that was my best friend trying to get my attention.

Rogue's POV

Tomorrow was the official start of Fairy Tail's and Sabertooth's unofficial tournament. Sting was the prominent master, but everyone in the guild knew me as the real master, the one who works in the shadows. Well, wan't that ironic? I was pretty confident in my skills, and I knew only a few people who could hit me in my shadow form. I knew that I shouldn't underestimate the mage, though, because if she was able to beat Sting, then this would prove troublesome. I was laying down on my bed, and as I stared up at the ceiling, I thought about the blonde beauty. I hadn't seen her in a while, and she was now a good friend to me, so I got excited again. As I felt my eyes get heavy, I looked out the window one last time, and I saw Lucy's smile. It was a smile so bright that it could melt even the darkest of shadows.