Seems like all of you were pleased with the last chapter! YAYE! And I got LOADS of reviews. And so, I decided to update extra quick for all of you lovelies! I put the last bit of the previous chapter in because it didn't feel right without it. After the italics the chapter begins.
Rogue: I'm going to get my ass kicked here aren't I?
Rose: Nah. *snuggles* I wike you to much!
Rogue: Okay?
Sting: But I can get beat up?
Rose & Lucy: Yes.
Sting: *DESPONDENT*
Lucy: Rose doesn't own Fairy Tail, which is good, because she STILL can't decide who I'm going to be paired with...
-Rogue-
Lucy comes in when I'm cleaning up. She's smiling again so she must be feeling better but I can't help but want to take a look. Taking care not to startle her, I take her soft hands in mine and stare at them. Completely healed. She should have remembered about Wendy sooner. Though, I should have to. If she were my mate, I'd have to take better care of her. My concern must've shown on my face because after a moment I hear her call my name.
"Rogue?" I look at her. I step closer and we are almost touching. I can't look away from her eyes, they are mesmerising. I inhale her scent, desperately wanting more, but afraid to take it. I was saved from my dilemma by a pink haired fairy bursting into the kitchen calling for 'Luce.' I drop her hands and step away. But it was clear he'd seen, and I was about to get my ass kicked.
Lucy's still looking at me, but all I can see right now is the red-hot fury of Natsu Dragneel. Lucy seems to realise we are no longer alone and her body stiffens. Then her face breaks into a dazzling smile.
"Yep! Wendy did a good job healing them! Thank for your help Rogue!" She says cheerfully. I notice she picked her words with extreme caution. She turns and 'realises' Natsu is there. "Hi Natsu! Hi Niisan!" Oh, I hadn't noticed Laxus was here too. "Did you get everything?" She asks Natsu, tugging on his scarf to get his attention.
What happened? Laxus's throaty growl grates on my ears and I wince. He mustn't be overly concerned with the fact that I was touching his precious 'Talulah' if he was speaking rationally. Natsu on the other had, was livid.
Don't touch her again. Natsu hisses with such venom that Lucy's eyes widen and she recoils slightly.
"Um… Rogue, why don't you go and help Wendy? Laxus, will you go and take the sheets in please?"
Laxus shrugs and stalks into the bedroom. Natsu is still watching me with fierce eyes.
Once we reach the still-destroyed bedroom, Laxus turns on me.
"What happened?"
I decide on the truth, it's not like I did anything wrong, right?
"She picked up the kettle and burned her hands. I put ice on them and then she remembered that Wendy could heal so she came in here..." Laxus looks at Wendy for affirmation, she nods absentmindedly, not looking up from her book. "Wendy healed her, she came back out and I was just checking to see if she was okay."
Laxus raises an eyebrow. "That's the most I've ever heard you talk."
Wendy laughs, Lector frowns and I give a sort of half-smile.
-Natsu-
I turn to face Lucy. Rogue had been touching her. Touching her! She's watching me with tense eyes. I realise the expression on my face couldn't have been very pleasant.
"Luce…" I start.
"LUCY!" We both turn and I see Happy flying in through the window, begin followed by Lily. Happy flies a direct path to her breasts but I catch him by the tail and hold him up to eye level. Damn. You have the WORST timing Happy!
"We found the best place to train! It's in the middle of the forest, heaps of trees, big rocks and a five minutes fly to the east of there is a waterfall!" He jabbers. "It'ssooobigandfunandCarlawilllikeitandthereisawei rdlookingwalland…"
"Happy!" Lucy's laughing. "Slow down please! I have no idea what you're saying!"
Lily translates to Lucy, but I'm not listening, I'm too focused on the conversation going on the in the bedroom.
"Team Rogue huh?" That's Rogue. I hear a sort of embarrassed 'eep' and a thump. Wendy laughs nervously.
"Yep, Cobra and I have a bet going on it!"
A bet? On what?
"What are the stakes?"
"50, 000 Jewel." She says giggling.
"That's not a lot of money." I hear Rogue tell her.
"Oi!" Laxus. "Stop your yapping and actually help out!"
"Natsu?" Lucy's voice brings me back to this room. I realise I'm still holding Happy upside-down and I set him on the table. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." Lier.
"What's wrong Natsu?"
"Rogue was touching her." I say. Lucy blushes and I realise how perverted that sounded.
"Not like that!" I clarify, Lily's eyebrow goes back to above his eye. "He was holding her hands."
Happy's face breaks out into a wicked grin. "Did Lucy tell you what Sting did?"
-Sting-
Cobra and I walk back in silence. I don't mind the quiet, Rogue doesn't talk much and Lector talk too much, but most of the time, the stuff Lector says doesn't require talking other than the occasional 'hmm' or 'uh-huh'. My arms are full of those things called 'vegetables' and 'fruit.' It hadn't cost us very much to buy it all, though when I was shopping with Lucy, men-run stores gave us more of a discount. We had bought excessive amounts of meat, though there were 4 growing and 1 fully grown Dragon Slayers we would probably need it all. I wanted to go and see Lucy and get praised for my good work. We'd even found a silver gate key that I'd bought for her as an apology for the earlier… Mishap. Canis Major. I knew she had a Canis Minor which was a white thing with a cone nose, so I curious to see this one. I see the blue and black Exceeds flying back. When we reach the house I can hear Natsu talking. Damn I hoped he'd get back after us.
"...Her hands." I hear him say. Whose hands? Wendy's or Lucy's? And what about them?
I'm about to push open the door when the next words reach my ears, making my heart stop dead.
"Did Lucy tell you what Sting did?"
Shit! Cobra goes to open the door but I stop him and wait for the explosion.
"No. She didn't." Says Natsu, I can hear the accusation and confusion in his voice. "Lucy?"
I hear her laugh nervously, but she doesn't say anything. Why doesn't she tell him? He'd beat me up and I'd 'learn my lesson' why won't she say what I did?
"What did Sting do to her?" I hear Natsu ask. Silence then… I hear kissy noises from inside and my blood runs cold. "What was that?" Natsu's voice is quiet and deadly.
"Sting kissed her!" Yells the blue Exceed triumphantly. Fuck. I'm so dead.
"Did he?"
"Yes…" So much for not telling him. "But Laxus, Lily and Loke beat him up! And he hasn't tried anything since! It's not like he'll do it again and if you hurt him more, he won't be of any use!"
Silence. I hear a sort of scream from inside and I'm dying to know what's happening but I don't want to go in there lest I be killed within the four seconds it takes me to enter the kitchen. Beside me Cobra's smirking, this guy reads minds.
'What's he doing to her?' I think furiously.
His smirk widens and he taps his lip then neck. I frown confused then understanding washes over me. He's checking for my mark. Of course he won't find one. Not yet anyway.
-Lucy-
I squeak as Natsu advances on me. He pulls down the collar of my pyjamas and inspects my neck. Out of the corner of my eye I see Happy and Lily exit the room. Natsu pulls me again his chest roughly and I let him, knowing when he doesn't spot anything on my throat he'll relax, but that's not what he's doing. He trails kisses up my neck and I freeze. Is he insane? Why is he doing this in the kitchen of all places? But… it feels so good. His tongue flickers across my skin sensually and I gasp. He's not marking, only kissing. The trail of scorching kisses reach my chin and up to my temple, then back down again. I gasp again as his teeth grate across the soft, vulnerable skin on my neck, he doesn't draw blood but the intimate gesture leaves me breathless. He resumes his showering of kisses and I can't move. What the hell is wrong with you Lucy? Just before you were dying to hug Rogue and now you're being kissed by Natsu, AND ENJOYING IT! MAKE UP YOUR MIND GIRL! Natsu, Rogue, Natsu, Rogue. I remember Sting's kiss and the pattern changes. Natsu, Sting, Rogue? Rogue, Sting, Natsu? Sting, Rogue, Natsu? You are so god-damned selfish. I hear shuffling at the front door and regain my senses. I push Natsu away and clap a hand to my neck. His eyes widen and soften.
"Sorry." He mumbles. "I got jealous, again." And... I'm confused. What did he mean again? And why… He made those marks again. So Sting would know. So Sting would know to stay away. "First Laxus, then Sting." Laxus? Oh, he made those marks first to keep Laxus away, then to keep away Sting.
"I'm gonna take a shower." I say breathlessly. I bolt from the kitchen leaving behind a very hurt, very confused Natsu. I ignore the looks I get when I enter the bedroom, retrieve my clothes and run into the bathroom, slamming the door loudly behind me. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I push my collar down and see red lines streaking down my neck. Fuck you Natsu! How embarrassing. I turn on the water and stand under it for a few minutes before remembering that I was still in my pyjamas. I strip off the wet clothes and stand back under the hot water. Would it have been better? If someone else had come instead of me? Erza maybe? Juvia even. Why are they so… I frown not being able to find the right words. Into me? I wince at the way it sounded. In love? I shake my head, that's not right either… Infatuated! I clap before remembering that everyone outside the bathroom could hear me. I decide to wash my hair and soon I forget everything and enjoy the fact that I am alone.
"As long as you love me~"
I let the hot water wash over my hair and stream down my face, it was nice, but I missed my bath at home. I skip over the words and sing at my favourite part.
"We both know it's a cruel world, I will take my chances~"
I smile sadly to myself this was my favourite song it was written by a celestial spirit who actually fell in love with their wizard. They were exiled from the celestial world and lived with their wizard for a total of four weeks before she faded away. She was a silver key and four weeks was an enormous feat for any spirit, though I'm quite proud of Loke for living as long as he did. For some reason, the wizard was not able to summon any other spirits, I believe that it was because he himself had fallen for his spirit.
"As long as you love me, we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke~"
For the month the spirit was there, he couldn't work, he could pay rent and he couldn't eat. He was poorer than me, but he was happy. It was one of the saddest love-stories of all time. According to Lyra she was good friends with the other spirit and had been summoned once to perform with her. On more than one occasion, I had requested Lyra to sing it for me, but she had only done it once. 'It's her song.' She would say.
"As long as you love me, I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver I'll be your gold~"
There were two kinds of keys in addition to the gold and silver. Platinum and Diamond. Platinum keys existed, there were 31 in total but the legendary Diamond keys were legends and rumours, and I was determined to find out if they were real or not.
-Wendy-
I step out of the bedroom, dying to eat when I stop dead. Sting was on the ground cowering while Natsu kicked him.
"Stop!" I shriek. He turns to me, and I shrink back, his eyes glowing gold. "Laxus-san! Rogue-san! Lily-kun! Please!" They come running and it takes all three of them to restrain him. I whirl around to face Cobra. "Why didn't you do anything?" He points to the enraged Natsu, who looks like he's just seconds away from activating Dragon Force.
"Didn't feel like dying today, you know?"
"Do something!" I hiss at Laxus. "Before she gets out of the shower!" Laxus and Lily drag him away and Rogue hauls Sting into the bedroom. Literally seconds after, Lucy steps out of the bathroom. I grab her clothes. "Why don't you and Cobra-kun go and check out the training spot Happy found earlier?"
Happy nods vigorously behind me and Cobra slings his arm around Lucy.
"My clothes…"
"I'll wash them for you!" I say brightly.
"Breakfast?" My shoulders slump as she eats slowly. I tap my foot, but she doesn't notice. Cobra decides to eat also and Happy is munching on a fish. Eat faster, before Natsu comes back! Finally Lucy stands.
"I'm done." They walk out without another word and I sink into a nearby chair. He could have arrived any second. This is getting complicated.
-Cobra-
We follow the blue cat thing silently for a while, every few seconds I steal a glance at her. Her expression is politely disinterested and she never takes her eyes off the cat.
Stop staring at me it's creepy.
I snicker. So she could see me looking at her huh? She had been pretty careful with her thoughts around me. She was impressive. She had been able to put up what seemed to me like a concrete wall enforced with iron around her thoughts, making it virtually impossible for me to know what she was thinking. She could control it and sometimes speak to me directly with her mind. She couldn't read my thoughts but it was like I could have a decent one-sided conversation with her. And she could somehow tell when I was 'digging' around her brain. However, she couldn't hold it all the time so occasionally I would get a few hours when she would take a rest and I'd get to see inside her 100 kilometre an hour brain. Her mind was one of the most complex I've ever seen. She was able to talk to someone, yet be thinking of a thousand different things at once. Her guild, her apartment, books, people and her novel-which I got to read because she thought everything while she wrote it down and she couldn't write and keep up the barrier at the same time.
The weird thing was, she thought about Sting and Rogue almost as much as she thought about Natsu. Natsu had kissed her. Sting had kissed her, and according to a very excited Wendy, Lucy and Rogue had shared an intimate moment. So now I owe her 50, 000 Jewels. I grin, that kid was hysterical. She acted all cute and sweet, but her mind was so well-developed sometimes I think she's actually a lot older than 13. She's cunning and wants her way all the time. First, we were going to make a bet on who she would end up with, then Wendy suggested that every time one of the boys 'made a move' as she put it, on Lucy, the person opposed to that pair, would give the other 50, 000 Jewels. Due to the front lawn incident, Wendy and I were even, but now, because of the kettle thing, I owed Wendy. That kid, is so clever. Lucy's barrier suddenly drops. Worried I glance at her again, but she's fine. Whenever she needs to do something that requires extra brainpower her barrier becomes weaker before finally dropping altogether. Her large brown eyes are watching everything and for a while I don't understand what she's doing. I dig a little deeper into her mind and she winces at the intrusion. Every inch that we just walked past was embedded into her mind. She was creating a map, in her head so she could remember the way home. After a few days of living with Lucy, it became clear that she had an abnormal memory. She could remember every detail of her guild, right down to the number of panels in the back wall and how many barrels of alcohol Miss. Cana Alberona drunk on the 28th of December. Her mind was so complex and-though I'll sound like a pervert when I say this-It made me hungry for more. I could spend hours combing through her memories and I'd never have enough.
You've got a creepy look on your face. She informs me. I turn away from her and we walk in silence. Lucy's mind buzzing beside me I want to try something new. I've never attempted this before but she was the only person able to deflect my talent by will.
Yo. I think the word as loud as I can. She doesn't react. Yo! This time she jumps and whirls on me.
"What the hell? Are you trying to make me deaf?"
I smirk. Can't go deaf in the mind. She lets go of my shirt and stares.
I can HEAR you.
Surprised?
She shrugs.
A little, more creeped out I guess. Do you think if I put up a… She searches for the right word.
Barrier? I supply.
If I put up a barrier, would you still be able to hear me?
"How should I know?" I say out loud. I decide then that I'll teach her how to hear everyone. It'd be helpful for her, to understand what those guys were thinking. I see her frown and then grin mischievously.
"What?"
She leans forward and pull my hair up off my neck, a patch of violet coloured scales are clearly visible against my tanned skin. She starts to laugh.
"When did that happen?"
I shrug and brush her hand away. "I was released a few days before I had to come here." Her eyes grow large and she laughs uncontrollably. The cat stops and watches her. Suddenly she remembers something, she stops and steps closer to me.
"If you hurt Kinana…" Her voice lowers, so I doubt the cat can hear her. "You. Will. Die." She jabs her finger at my chest for emphasis. "I know you love her and stuff…" She continues, voice returning to normal. "But you're in jail, for life."
I shake my head. If I come good… They'll consider letting me out. Her eyebrow shoots up and she nods.
"Don't screw up then Jail-Bird!" She laughs, she gestures at Happy to continue and she follows him.
What a weird person. I think as I start to follow her.
"How am I weird?"
"Your best friend is a fire-eater who has a talking, flying, blue cat as a pet."
"I am not a pet!" Protests the cat.
Lucy just laughs. "Point taken."
Song: As long as you love me by Justin Beiber (Don't know how to spell his name no offence) but the version I used was a cover by Annie Rose which can be found on youtube :)
The competition for the cover is still open! Post it on Deviantart and PM me telling me your Deviantart name! Competition closes when Chapter 26 has been posted.
… So yeah, another filler chapter, sort of. I wanted to develop characters a little more so I decided to do it this way. I'm going to split the people up into groups of three, two or four when they train. Who do you want together on Day 1? PM your thoughts! Read and review or no update for you!
Much love,
Rose-chan.