A/N: HELLO, IT'S ME. So, I'll be posting more chapters in the summer. I'm too busy with life and school.
Sorry.
ONE MORE THING: The setting in the beginning takes place BEFORE the time-skip.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
LIGHT CASTS A SHADOW
Chapter 12: A FLOWER BLOOMS
The 12 year-old Twin Dragons of Sabertooth were walking up ahead, surrounded by the village's children. Rogue tried to ignore their dazzling gazes as Sting was boasting about the success of their most recent mission.
"Sting-kun is the best," Lector announced on their way back home to the guild.
Yukino hummed absently as she flipped a page of the book she was reading. A moment later, her head snapped up when her book was yanked away and dropped into a shallow puddle of water.
"Lector!—" Yukino shouted in an uncharacteristic flash of anger.
Lector jumped back, looking evidently nervous, but when Yukino only clenched her fists and picked up the drenched book from the ground, he had a smug look on his face very similar to a certain dragonslayer.
"Serves you right, always reading those ridiculous books," Lector retorted. "Sting-kun was talking: You should pay attention."
Yukino gaped at the red exceed in absolute disbelief, "What?"
"You know, Frosch," Lector was saying. "Minerva-san gave Yukino a nickname. Now the entire guild calls her the Useless Flower, 'cause she's so delicate that she can't do anything by herself!" He was laughing tears. "She should really try being like Sting-kun!"
The frog-cosplaying exceed giggled airily, "Fro thinks so too!"
Yukino made a face when Frosch agreed with the red cat, but she inwardly knew that was just a part of the innocent exceed's nature.
She didn't want to be like Sting, the boy she once looked up to. Sure, a few days in joining the guild and Sting was already very popular, but what was so great about his arrogant and obnoxious attitude? Over the past few weeks, he laughed at the weak and made fun of others, and his friends only seemed to influence his idiotic behavior. However, it was her fault he turned out like this, so it was her responsibility to watch over and protect him.
Of course, this also brought along the trait of not having many friends, or any if she was being honest - with an exception to Rogue and Frosch. She only had a few people she could partner up for missions, but most people tended to stay away from her because Yukino was notorious for having almost zero experience in combat. Sting and Rogue have already become S-Class wizards and teamed up to go on dangerously terrifying missions, but she would ony get in the way if she wanted to tag along. So Yukino would choose to do simple quests instead, like finding the missing neighborhood cat. In Sabertooth, the strong ruled over the weak—and so far, Yukino was at the bottom of the food-chain.
Yukino narrowed her eyes, "Lector, what exactly is your point here?"
Lector struggled at first, but when he saw Sting and Rogue out of hearing range, he drew himself up and glared at the 11 year-old girl with resentment burning in his eyes, "You're an embarrassment, you know? Everyone in the guild says so."
Yukino rolled her eyes and looked away, ignoring the unexpected ache twisting in her gut, "Is that all?"
Frosch frowned at the near-maniacal glint in Lector's eyes as the fanatical exceed glared daggers at Yukino. "Why can't you just leave Sting-kun alone?!" He burst, his voice shaking with frustration. "You're always hanging around him and nagging at every single thing he does. You're such an eyesore; Rogue only hangs out with you 'cause he feels sorry for you! God, everybody in the guild laughs at you and Master hasn't kicked you out yet since you make everyone else look good! You're just a pathetic loser that's only useful at being an embarrassment to the guild! I bet you're ruining Sting-kun's reputation on purpose!"
Yukino said nothing as Lector abruptly sprouted wings and flew over to join Sting and the others without another backwards glance.
She heaved a sigh as she examined her drenched book on spirit summoning. Libra should be able to help fix it when they get back home.
When Frosch began to tear up, her mind slipped back to Lector's cutting words.
So she was an embarrassing loser, huh?
She took a deep breath and shook it off. She lifted Frosch up and cradled the tiny exceed in her arms. Lector was her friend, she decided, and he was merely giving her his honest opinion. Yukino could understand his concern for Sting and forgive the red cat's outbursts.
The thought, however, didn't erase the hollow pang she felt in her chest.
« 7 years later »
"What's wrong, Useless Flower-chan? Practicing your jumping skills?"
Yukino ignored the exceed's jeers and the hoots of laughter that followed as she sprang upwards again, fingers just brushing the keys dangling in one of the forked branches of the tree in front of her.
She blew out a frustrated breath. She should have been more careful—taking a shower and leaving her keys on her dresser was just plain stupid. Of course Lector would sneak into her room and fly her keys up the tree.
The tree wasn't even that high of reach, and the keys were just within her range, but it all seemed to torment her even more by daring her to keep trying over and over again. Half of the other guild members in the vicinity would definitely be able to reach it, but they were all Lector's friends. They usually enjoyed watching Lector make Yukino's guild-life miserable.
"Why are you miscreants loitering?"
A sudden hush fell over the plaza. Yukino didn't waste time turning around and rather paid it no mind. She would rather dive off a cliff than 'loiter' around with the exceed's friends, all of them bullies for laughing their heads off instead of helping her.
"It's Titania!" One of them gasped.
"The Queen of the Fairies..."
"We were just leaving, Fairy-san." Lector muttered reluctantly, and Yukino heard the sound of hastened footsteps fleeing away.
Yukino didn't care anymore, bending her knees and jumping up once again. This time, she wasn't able to touch the keys and almost stumbled on her landing, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Before she could consider the consequences of clambering up the tree, a freaking sword came flying over her head, splitting the small branch from the tree with pinpoint accuracy and dislodging the keys from the limb.
Yukino let out a shriek of pure terror and thrust herself forward, instinctively catching the celestial gate keys before they could collide with the ground. She stared back at the sword lodged in the tree — which could have ended her life — and then back at her keys. Had that person who drove away Lector and his gang helped her out?
"Are you alright?"
Yukino quickly whirled around to look at the woman clad with armor and scarlet red hair standing right beside her. She's really pretty. Yukino thought to herself, but that didn't change the fact that she almost impaled a sword right through her head. But there were no harmful intentions and Yukino was genuinely grateful.
"Thank you very much." She gave a polite bow.
Erza grunted, her gaze falling briefly on the celestial gate keys in Yukino's hands. One eyebrow rose but the knight-mage said nothing and turned away, walking across the plaza, not once looking back.
Yukino tilted her head in confusion and stared down at her keys. Libra's, Pisce's and Ophiuchus's keys stared back at her. They were the precious friends she was entrusted with that helped her on her missions. The two golden gate keys gleamed a welcoming and friendly aura, but the black key continued to emanate a feeling that she shouldn't pamper around with. She wasn't exactly on good terms with Ophiuchus the Snake Charmer.
Yet.
Hmm. Maybe she should work on that.
Carefully inspecting her gate keys and finding nothing wrong, Yukino decided to head back to the guild hall. She'd need to be a lot more careful with where she placed her prized possessions from now on.
Later that day when Yukino returned to the guild hall, she found Erza lingering around the entrance of the building, glaring defiantly at anyone passing by. The townspeople were frightened away when she stared at them. What is she doing here? Yukino gaped. Only extended relations outside of the guild or members themselves could enter the building, so she must have been denied access. But if she continued to stay here, she could get into some seriously deep trouble. Hell would inevitably break loose if someone like Orga or Minerva came outside to find her crowding the entrance.
Pursing her lips, Yukino decided to confront the re-equip mage. "Um, Ms. Fairy-sama," That was the name Lector called her right? "Wh- What are you doing here?"
"Hn." Erza glanced at her with crossed arms, "I'm looking for someone."
That was vague. Yukino shook her head in perplexity, "If you stay around here you might get into trouble!"
"I can handle myself."
Yukino wanted to cry. This lady was extremely stubborn, but she helped her out and Yukino didn't want her to get hurt. "Then, um, would you like to hang out? Er, I mean you helped me out and all and I would like to repay you!" This way she would be able to show her gratitude while dodging a bullet.
A thick silence ensued, but Yukino bit back an apology. She didn't regret asking.
Erza blinked owlishly at her, as if trying to take in what she said. "Hang out?" She repeated as if it was in a foreign language, "As in a friend asking another friend to spend time together to engage in girl-to-girl conversations and partake in a fun sort of activity?" Her eyes began sparkling as she passionately reached out to grab Yukino's hands, "I've always dreamed of hanging out with someone! Yes — We shall hang out!"
"Uh," Yukino was thoroughly overwhelmed by Erza's sudden urge to 'hang out' with her. She didn't know how to react, but it was a good feeling that blossomed in her chest and made her feel an elated sort of giddiness inside.
It would be nice to spend a bit of time with her savior, getting to know her a lot better, maybe even grabbing a bite to eat or- or-
Wait. What exactly does one do when hanging out with someone?
She didn't have the slightest clue.
"Where should we—"
"I will have lunch with you in two hours," Erza cut her off, already having calmed down her nerves. "At the cake shop a few blocks from here."
Yukino gaped at her for a several seconds, flabbergasted, before perking up with a serene smile on her face. Erza was a strange person, but the knight-mage clearly didn't mind spending time with someone like her. That much made Yukino the happiest ever since she joined the depressing guild.
They were seated at a small pleasant table in the café, watching the world passing by through the large glass windows. Erza sat before her with a glorious strawberry shortcake, decked with chocolate-covered strawberries, putting Yukino's slice of chocolate cake to shame. She was also wearing a showy maid dress that she swore one of the waitresses were wearing earlier. Yukino blushed slightly when she realized how revealing it was.
"Yukino, you're staring."
Yukino jumped in her seat, zoning back into reality and finding an impassive shade of brown eyes observing her.
She blushed. "Ah, sorry!"
Yukino cut her fork into her slice of chocolate cake, immediately taking a bite and savoring the sweet flavor that danced on her tongue. The cake tasted heavenly, she decided, and she would have to take Rogue and Frosch here some time when they were free.
Erza hummed in acknowledgement. "That exceed from before, why was he picking on you?"
Yukino absently took a sip from her tea, not saying anything. She took a glance at Erza. She looked annoyed.
"You are a celestial spirit mage, are you not? They are very rare and use a special type of magic to form bonds of trust with their spirits." Erza said bluntly.
"Er, yes," Yukino blinked in surprise and nodded slowly, not seeing where this was going. It struck her as odd as to how Erza figured out that she was a celestial spirit mage. It was true that they weren't particularly common and there were only a few in the world, but how on Earthland did she know that?
Erza stared at her as if she thought Yukino was being purposely dense.
"You have three gate keys," The knight-mage finally pointed out after a long awkward silence, "Of the Zodiac."
Ah. So that was how she-
Yukino coughed, feeling a hint of crimson embarrassment flushing onto her face as she shuffled around her feet. Zodiac gate keys were the strongest of keys, but they did take a drastic toll on her magic supply. At one point, her ability to use magic would have been threatened if Sting didn't rush back with the Yggdrassil pills.
"So why not put him in his place?" The red-head demanded.
"L-Lector's a friend of mine." Yukino said, her gaze downcast. "I am not going to do anything horrible to him."
She didn't even need to look up to see the look of skepticism in Erza's face. Erza scoffed, clearly not impressed by her way of thinking, and instead shoved a fork full-of-strawberry shortcake into her mouth, sweetly savoring the bite in the next minute. They fell into a companionable silence for the next few minutes, each eating their own respective cakes. Yukino swallowed hard and drew up her courage to bring up another conversation, and perhaps lighter topic.
"So why were you at the guild earlier?" Yukino tentatively started, "I mean, I've been in Sabertooth for a couple of years now and I might be able to help you find whoever you're looking for if you describe what the person looks like."
"Thank you." Erza smiled in appreciation. "She's a friend of mine, but I doubt you would know what she looks like. She's not in your guild, but that building was the only place I haven't checked yet in this town. If I wasn't able to get in, then she probably wouldn't have been able to enter either."
"She must be really important to you." Yukino stabbed the chocolate cake with her fork.
"Oh, yes." She was saying murderously, "Once I find her, I'll drag her back from the hair if I have to."
Yukino almost yelped out loud in her seat, startled by the unexpectedly livid hiss of sound in her words, but she watched Erza's cold expression begin to soften. Her fists were shaking under the table and her voice became hoarse. "She left the guild one day, without any explanation where or why she was going. When we visited her home, we found that her apartment was completely empty. All that was left in the room was a neat little note sitting on her desk, 'I am going on a journey to find the only remaining person left in my family. I don't know when I am coming back, so please don't search for me. Thank you for everything and I'm sorry.'"
Yukino could tell Erza must have read that note over and over again many times to herself, judging by the way she remembered its contents. She opened her mouth, finding that she had nothing to say, and closed it again.
"That Lucy. What a dumb girl," Erza laughed bitterly with a look of hurt in her eyes, "How could she not realize after all this time that we're also a part of her family. Telling us not to go searching for her was beyond ridiculous. We would have helped her look, even if it meant tearing apart towns, if she just mentioned everything to us."
Yukino had frozen with her cake halfway to her mouth. Shakily, she lowered it back onto the plate. "'Lucy'?"
Erza nodded slowly with a faint gleam of hope. "Yes. Do you know of her?"
Lucy Heartfilia? She's alive?
With effort, Yukino pushed her shock aside and thought.
In a way, it made perfect sense. Erza Scarlet was a mage of Fairy Tail, and now that she thought about it, she was one of the guild's key members who went missing seven years ago. If Erza was back, then that would mean Lucy Heartfilia was back too. Lucy never died, but merely disappeared, and that was why no one was able to find her. So that would mean... She was alive. She was never dead. Lucy was alive. She was-
"Lucy's alive." A drop of liquid splashed onto her cake, staining the chocolate. Yukino hastily rubbed her arm over her eyes. What was she doing? She hadn't cried in years. A wobbly smile formed on her face, "Thank God... She's really alive?"
"Yes," Erza stared at Yukino, her disbelief mixed with several emotions.
Yukino and Erza spent half of the day in the cake shop talking about what they both had in common: Lucy. Yukino told her about the visions she had, but she left out the parts about Sting and the dragon lacrima. Erza listened intently, absorbing all the information like a sponge. In the end, however, they weren't any closer into finding out Lucy's whereabouts.
"Thank you very much," Yukino let out a watery laugh. "For 'hanging out' with me today. This was the most fun I had in years. I'll also do my best to keep an eye out for Lucy. I owe her a lot and she is a very important person to me. Thank you, Ms. Fairy-sama."
"Erza."
She blinked, "Eh?"
Erza was already savoring another cake, delicately picking the strawberries off one by one. "I will be sure to contact you once we drag Lucy back home, and you'll be able to have your 'talk' with her afterwards. Until then, it was a pleasure hanging out with you Yukino."
"Thank you for everything," Yukino smiled back and added rather shyly, "Erza."
For a day that started out so miserably, it had miraculously turned out to become one of the best days of her life. Once they were outside, Yukino had already forgotten that they were walking back to her guild. She never actually spent time indulging herself before, but going home was...
Sometimes, it never really felt like home anymore.
"You seem nervous." Erza said observantly. "Are you worried about that exceed?"
Yukino ducked her head and avoided her sharp gaze, "It's nothing. I'm sorry you had to see me like that earlier, but Lector and the others have always been a bit mean to me. I'm already used to it."
Erza frowned and didn't look at all delighted with Yukino's evaluation of her guild mates, but let it go for now.
By the time they reached her guild, Yukino was happily describing a boutique that she always passed by on their way to the guild. She noticed that Erza seemed to be the type of person who really enjoyed dressing up, and her eyes were sparkling when she casually brought it up.
"I've never really gone there before but everyone says that their designs are really good, so maybe we should go their next time to try some stuff on?" Yukino said hopefully, feeling genuinely excited.
Erza nodded vigorously. "This would be a good chance to get the latest haute couture for my wardrobe."
Yukino's smile broadened. "After we're done, maybe we could visit the bakery on the other side of the town! The owner of the store was one of the guild's clients that was missing her pet and I happened to take her request a few years ago to find her lost kitten. Fortunately, she gave me a ton coupons to try her cakes for free, but I never got the chance to try them."
"Yukino, who is that?"
Yukino froze, and then spun around to find Frosch pointing up at Erza. The small green cat in the pink frog suit swayed his body from side to side, as if anything and everything could make him happy. She smiled and crouched down to greet the adorable little exceed, "Ah, Frosch! This is Erza Scarlet, um, a- a friend of mine!"
Yukino felt a warm sort of happiness swell inside her chest when the knight-mage didn't object her. It was a wonderful feeling to be considered as a friend, and she turned to the armored mage with a small smile.
Frosch gaped, staring open-mouthed at Erza before throwing his arms up in the air. "Wow, you're friends with Yukino? Hooray! Everyone will be relieved! We thought no one would want to become friends with our Useless Flower!"
Any joy Yukino had felt evaporated within the blink of an eye. Her face burned red with humiliation as she averted her gaze towards the ground. She made a horrible decision to look up when she caught sight of the older girl's reaction. Erza's eyes were darting all over her, and for the longest second, the disbelief written on her face was visibly distinct.
All of this seemed to make Yukino feel even worse.
Frosch obliviously continued to cheer her on, "Yay! Yukino finally has a friend! Fro is so glad—"
"I do not hang out with useless people." Erza cut the exceed off with a solemn tone in her voice.
Frosch's entire body nearly drooped to the floor with disappointment and Yukino had to steel herself to prevent herself from recoiling. It was ridiculously insane how much Erza's words hurt compared to Frosch's innocent views of her.
"Aww," Frosch frowned. "Poor Yukino—"
The tiny exceed was abruptly cut off again when Erza sharply turned to adress the celestial spirit mage, "Yukino Aguria, I will meet you at the bakery tomorrow at the same time as earlier. Do not forget to bring the coupons."
Yukino stood there speechless, her mind having been shut down with failure to say goodbye, as she watched Erza already walking away with her back completely turned.
"Fro thinks you made a friend!" The exceed said excitedly, "Rogue will be happy!"
Yukino didn't hear the cat's words as her eyes continued to follow the Fairy Tail mage out of sight. After what she did to Sting, her relationship with the white dragon slayer grew distant and she could only watch over him from a distance. At the time, Yukino wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if Rogue wasn't by her side.
She scorned herself for being weak, she couldn't handle the burden by herself and she would have caved in from all the pressure. She just wanted to crawl in a hole and forget about the world, but Rogue was there for her to trust completely and unconditionally. He offered her support, which was more than anything she could ever ask for. He didn't judge her, no matter how stupidly she acted, and he still continued to accept all of her flaws. Her carefully constructed dam burst. The most important thing of all was that he reacted just like any true friend would. He let her cry.
If another true friend came to her in the form of a terrifying, yet caringly passionate Fairy Tail mage... then Yukino would continue to fight. The 'Useless Flower' would bloom into a force to be reckoned with. She would face her fears and finally open the gate to Ophiuchus. Yukino had been eternally awakened with a powerful new resolve.
Find Lucy.
A/N: Don't get me wrong — I personally love Frosch — he just has an innocent and airheaded personality. I just sort of used it to my advantage and took his cluelessness to a whole new level. Also, Lector can be overprotective of Sting sometimes, so I think it fit quite well. In this arc, we'll finally see some more Lucy action. It's time to kick some Dragonslayer butt!
Edit: 9/6/2017