It's been forever. I know. I feel bad, but sobbing about it won't change anything. So, I brought you a chapter. Again, sorry for not proof-reading/editing. I never get around to that. Anyway, I hope you like it. :)

~Jacin~

The guildhall was quiet. After Lucy and I had returned, we'd had a party the likes of which I'd never experienced before. It was borderline dangerous how hard Fairy Tail or partied… maybe just straight up dangerous. Honestly, I just wanted to curl up with Lucy, keeping her as close to me as possible, rather than celebrate our return. That was out of the question, though. Fairy Tail was our family, and even if Lucy and I had taken our relationship to the next level…we were still both part of Fairy Tail. As we grew closer, Fairy Tail hadn't gotten any farther. I was grateful for that.

Roawin had been so excited to see us. He'd practically passed out. He clung to my leg, forcing me to walk with a Roawin-sized leg weight. It felt like home. "You were gone for too long!" he'd said. It was the first time since I'd lost everything that someone had gotten in between my brother and I. I'm not resentful. I think that it might have been for the best. Roawin, for a long time, had relied on me. I figured it might have been time for him to take a hold of his independence.

Now, of course, he'd tired himself out. His little blond head rested on my legs, his loose curls falling over his face. His breathing was slow, steady. My elbow rested on him, his arms curled around mine like I was his teddy bear. I sighed and looked up. Most of the guild was passed out, either due to excessive alcohol intake or severe head trauma, and was sprawled out about the hall.

Lucy's head rested on my other leg. Her eyes, barely open, shone with fondness as she stroked Roawin's head while he slept. Her lashes brushed her cheeks delicately. "We shouldn't have left him for so long," she murmured almost silently.

I shook my head as she looked up at me, exhaustion in her brown eyes. "He's a strong little man," I said, "He's ok."

She smiled, "I missed him."

I nodded, "Me, too. Probably not half as much as he missed us."

Roawin twitched in his sleep, a nearly invisible smile gracing his lips. Lucy grinned as she sat up, swinging her leg around and resting it over mine. I lifted my arm and she snuggled up beside me. I pulled her close, kissing the top of her head gently. I briefly caught the scent of her hair as she glanced up at me.

"They're much more pleasant to be around when they're asleep," Lucy said, looking across to the other side of the booth. Lucy's team was passed out on top of each other. Natsu, of course, was on the top of the stack. He lay comfortably on top of Gray, who looked a bit strained under Natsu's weight. Erza was on the bottom. She, in her armor, slept soundly beneath both of the fully-grown men, a wonder to behold. How she managed it I can't tell you.

I rubbed Lucy's arm, "Come on, you love them."

She smiled, "Most of the time. When they're tossing chairs at me, it's another story."

I grinned and nodded, "And what if I tossed a chair at you. Would you stop loving me?" I prodded her, enjoying her reaction. She pouted.

"I will never stop loving you," she said, her seriousness surprising me. Her words rang true, and any doubt in my heart vanished. We kept our voices hushed so as not to wake up any of our unconscious company.

Her fingertips peeked through my shirt, right in between my buttons. I smiled as she looked up at me. She took a deep breath and I could sense the seriousness of our conversation, "No matter what you do, I won't stop. Chair or no chair."

I couldn't help but lean down and kiss her. I would've held her face, brought her closer to me, but I only had one arm. The other one was occupied, and I doubted I'd be breaking free of Roawin's sleep-hold anytime soon. Still, I enjoyed that kiss. I relished it. It felt like that was all I needed to survive. She tasted familiarly sweet, so much so that I lost track of the rest of the world. That is, until we were interrupted.

"That's just not how I wanted to wake up," Natsu said, his pink head lifting. I smiled against Lucy's lips and continued to kiss her. She clearly didn't mind; she didn't pull away. Instead, to my surprise, she deepened the kiss. She tilted her head up, roughly pressing her lips against mine and gently resting the tips of her fingers on my chin.

"Aw," Natsu whined, "Seriously?" No matter how much I wanted to keep kissing Lucy, especially with her tempting me so, I couldn't contain my laughter. I cracked up as Lucy started pressing kisses all over my face and Natsu whined even louder.

"Public displays of affection!" Natsu growled, "They make people uncomfortable!"

I laughed and looked at him as Lucy kissed my cheek and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Not me," I said, winking.

Natsu's jaw dropped and then he glared at me, "If there wasn't a sleeping kid on your lap right now I'd come over there and-"

"No, I'm awake." I looked down to see Roawin smiling up at me. He waved from my lap and I blinked.

"How long have you been awake?" Lucy asked, her cheeks turning red.

Roawin crossed his arms where he lay and fought to hide his smile. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers, "Long enough."

Lucy gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. I laughed again. "Come on!" Natsu protested loudly, "You kiss him 'till your lips fall off in front of me with no problem and you turn into a tomato in front of the kid!?"

"Shut up!" Erza shouted. Her fist shot through the air, reaching past still-unconscious Gray, and collided with Natsu's face. They were both asleep again within seconds. They really were insane.

"Yeah, why did you turn pink?" Roawin asked, taking hold of Lucy's arm and crawling onto her lap. Lucy smiled and tapped his nose, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Lucy said, kissing his forehead. Roawin slapped the spot where she'd kissed, pressing his palm down as if to capture her kiss. He then pressed his palm to his cheek.

"I like cheek kisses more," he explained, keeping his palm there.

Lucy laughed a little, "Cheek kisses it is." She showered him with adorable kisses until he squealed.

"You're stealing my spotlight, little brother," I said as Lucy picked up him and got to her feet.

Roawin saluted me and Lucy blew a lock of her hair out of her eyes. It fell back down and Roawin brushed it aside for her. I smiled up at them, the two most important people in my world. It was like nothing could go wrong.

Lucy smiled, "I'm pretty exhausted. I think I'll head home."

I stood up and walked over to them, nodding. "Alright, I think that's a good idea. This guy needs to get to sleep," I said, ruffling Roawin's curls. He grabbed my hand and shook his head.

"I'm not tired," he said determinedly. I nodded.

"Suuure, you're not," I mumbled, taking him from Lucy. He rested his head on my shoulder immediately and looked at Lucy.

"I will see you tomorrow," he said, pointing at her.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," she said, complete with a gesture. She looked to me…finally.

"And I'll see you tomorrow," she said, a spark in her eyes. She stepped closer to me, resting her hand on my hips. She stood on her tiptoes and gave me a long, slow kiss. She tucked the tips of her fingers barely below the waist of my pants and quickly rewarded me with the taste of her tongue. Sweet, as always. Man, I was intoxicated. I was lost. God, I felt so happy that I could die with every kiss.

"Tomorrow," she whispered as she pulled away. Her touch lingered as she turned to walk away, leaving me bewildered. I only snapped out of my trance when Roawin waved his hand in front of my eyes.

"I get that you like Lucy, and that you like to kiss her, but you should make it quicker. You spend too much time kissing. You should do it like I do," he said, nodding as if he couldn't be anything but right.

I scoffed, shaking my head in return, "Trust me, little bro, when you get older, you'll be the one asking me for advice."

Roawin was fast asleep by the time we got to our room. I set him down gently on his bed, easing his shoes past his toes and pulling his blanket up to his nose. I was sure to tuck in his feet like he always demanded. I shut his light off and headed to my room. I ripped off my shirt and debated whether or not I should take a shower. I decided I could just do it in the morning; then again, I guess my exhaustion sort of made that decision for me.

I carefully took my shirt off. My scar still burned a little at times. They were the most random of times, too, sometimes when I was completely still. It didn't make sense, but not much of my life had since I'd joined Fairy Tail. I looked at myself in the mirror. My fingers slid along the smooth, sensitive skin where I'd been stabbed. Memories flashed before my eyes as I stared. Drau's face, the white-hot pain, looking down and seeing the knife.

The ugly mark stood out against the rest of my skin and made me grimace. I covered it with my hand and tried to push the thoughts away. I would get past it. Soon, the only reminder would be my scar…and even that would fade with time. It would never be completely gone, but as least it wouldn't be as gruesome.

I lay down in my bed, turning off my light. I sighed and rested my head on my arm, my eyes sliding shut. My exhaustion quickly overcame me.

"You don't belong, J." As soon as I heard the voice, my heart pounded and I grew numb.

It was quiet. Dark. Cold. I couldn't see anything, not even my own hands. It was just…nothingness. "You're…" I choked out. My voice echoed.

"You don't belong there, J," he repeated. I gasped as tears welled up. It couldn't be real. He couldn't be…but it felt so real.

"What?" I asked as I swallowed my tears.

"You're not like them, J."

"Like who?"

"All of them."

"Wh-Why?"

"Come to me. I'll tell you the truth. I promise," he said. Suddenly a bright light flashed before my eyes. I flinched and held up my hand, shielding my eyes. Everything was pure white.

"Come to me." I turned around and struggled to breath. Standing in front of me, looking exactly like he did when I last saw him, was my father. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could…

I bolted upright with a cry of pain, clutching my chest. I yelled, holding my hand over my scar and breathing hard. I was sweating.

"Jacin!" Crossman put a cool hand on my shoulder, "What's happening?" I clenched my teeth, looking down. My scar looked normal, but it felt like a red-hot blade was digging around beneath my skin.

"My…" I began, sucking in a lungful, "My scar. It's burning."

"Jacin?" Roawin was half-hiding behind the doorframe, peeking in at me. "Are you…ok?"

The burning continued and I nodded, "I'll be ok." My wincing gave me away, though. Roawin slowly walked towards me, climbing onto the bed beside me.

"What's hurting?" he asked. It was something I always did with him. Whenever he cried after being injured, I would always ask him what hurt.

I showed him, slowly removing my hand from my scar. The cold air made it sting. Roawin frowned and reached forward. I grabbed his wrist, "Careful."

He stared at me, "I know what I'm doing."

"Let him take a look," Crossman said. I glared up at him. Cross shrugged. "What harm could it do?"

I hesitatingly released Roawin. Roawin's small hand pressed against my scar and I instantly felt cool relief flood through me. I sighed and released all of my previously taught muscles.

"Better?" Roawin asked, smiling. I nodded, confused.

"What did you do?" I asked.

Roawin shrugged and slid off of my bed, his curls bouncing. I raised an eyebrow and he proudly walked across the room. He paused and turned to look at me. "You have to tuck me in again," he said. The amount of sass in his words left me staring after him. Man, Roawin had grown up while we were gone. What's with that? This proud little kid was completely different from the sobbing one that'd clung to my leg earlier.

"I'll be right there," I called after him. I stood hesitantly. My scar didn't hurt at all. "Weird," I mumbled.

"Are you alright?" Cross asked. I looked up at him and nodded.

"I have no idea what happened," I said, "I had a…strange dream."

"You could ask Othos about it," Cross said. He leaned down and looked at my scar, rubbing his chin, "He might have some answers…he usually does."

I scoffed, "I learned my lesson the last time Othos read someone's mind, remember?"

"This is different," Cross said, straightening, "Besides, you're much stronger than Lucy is."

I rubbed the back of my neck, "I'm not so sure about that. Anyway, I think we'll leave Othos out of this one. There's someone else I can ask, though.

Tomorrow."

~Lucy~

I snapped back to reality when something was shoved into my mouth. It tasted sweet. I chewed and looked across the table, surprised.

"Oh, the cake woke her up!" Erza exclaimed. I blinked and swallowed.

"We thought you were frozen," Levy said, giggling a little.

I smiled, "Sorry."

"You've been in dreamland all morning. Come to think of it, you were like this last night, too," Levy said, tapping her chin.

"I have not," I argued.

"You have," Erza said matter-of-factly. She said it in the sort of way that only Erza could pull off…you know, the I'm-right-no-matter-what-you-say sort of way. I shut up.

"She's in her honeymoon phase," Mira said, swiping a piece of her hair away from her eye.

"My what?" I asked.

"Honeymoon phase," Mira repeated.

"No! Really!?" Levy asked, her voice rising.

"Am I missing something?" Erza asked, apparently as confused as I was.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned.

"What I wouldn't do for a honeymoon phase," Levy said, resting her head on her hand and sighing dreamily.

"The honeymoon phase is the first few days, maybe a week, after you have sex for the first time with someone," Mira said, her cheeks pink.

I'm pretty sure I imploded. I couldn't even gasp, that's how shocked I was…how…how did she know?!

"YOU HAD SE-" I shoved a giant piece of strawberry cake into Erza's mouth before she could finish her question.

"Shhh!" I hissed, "What is wrong with you? You don't just shout stuff like that across the guild hall!"

"So you did?" Levy asked, her eyes on me.

I hesitated and then averted my eyes. "…yes."

"Oh, my GOD! LUCY!" Levy shouted.

"Shut up!" I said instantly.

"My little Lucy. All grown up," Mira said, sighing, "How time flies."

"How was it?" Erza asked, apparently over her piece of cake. I sighed, remembering everything that had happened. My face heated up and I covered it with my hands.

"Amazing," I squeaked.

"I'm happy for you," Erza said fondly.

"Me, too," Mira said.

"Me three, but I'm also jealous," Levy grumbled. I made a silent vow to help Levy later…with a certain tall, dark, and moderately terrifying guy.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your honeymoon," Erza said, returning her attention to her cake.

"Speaking of honeymoons," Levy said, her eyes flicking away from me. I raised a brow and turned to see what she was looking at. To my surprise—and delight—I was met with a kiss. Ever since we'd gotten back, Jacin's attention had barely left me. If I hadn't recently watched Jacin die, it might have been overwhelming, but after everything that had happened, I couldn't get enough of him.

"Good morning," he said softly, leaning on the back of my chair. "You taste like strawberries," he said.

"Cake," I said, answering his unspoken question, "You want some?"

He shook his head, "I've got to do something. Maybe later?" I stared at him for a moment. That was weird. I'd just been thinking about how he'd barely been able to take his eyes off of me, and now he was rejecting time with me. Maybe I was overthinking it, but there was something off.

Jacin's hair was messy, more than usual. His shirt was a tad wrinkled and there was a shadow of stubble on his jaw. There were dark circles under his eyes, taking away from his handsome face. He looked drained. Othos's key hung at his neck, though, and that gave me some comfort.

"Are you ok?" I asked hesitantly.

He nodded and then yawned, "Just tired. I didn't really sleep well last night." I nodded and watched him go. I didn't want to be the clingy girlfriend, despite how much I wanted to be near him, so I let it go. He headed upstairs to the second floor and disappeared around the corner.

When I turned back to the table, no one said anything, so I guess I was the only one who had seen it. I wanted to just completely erase that little nagging feeling, but it wouldn't go away. I sighed and took a bite of cake.

I was about to ask them if they'd noticed anything when something caught my attention. Abigail was walking into one of the back rooms of the guild. "I'll be right back," I said, standing up,. "If I don't get murdered," I added under my breath.

"Where are you going?" Levy asked.

"I've got a feeling she has something important to do," Mira said, glancing to where Abigail was.

Erza was too busy eating her cake to care. Levy nodded slowly, "Ok?" It was clear she wanted to ask me what was happening, but she kept quiet. Levy had always been one of those people who were always curious about everything.

I quickly walked across the hall to catch up to Abigail. I opened the door and found her sitting alone at the big table in the center of the room, reading a book. The sun shone in from above and illuminated her hair. She really was beautiful. I wasn't not surprised that she'd caught Jacin's eye. I sighed as I walked towards her.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. I hugged myself for courage.

She slowly looked up and when her eyes met mine…I mean, the look she gave me could have cracked diamonds. I gulped.

"What?" she hissed, venom in her voice that almost convinced me that I should leave…for my own safety, of course. But no…I stayed because I knew this had to happen.

"I came to talk to you," I said quietly. I stood there like a weirdo for a minute, and then I sat down across from her. She closed her book with a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said, looking away.

I frowned. This was going to be harder than I'd thought. I took a moment to gather my thoughts. What did I even come to say to her? I'm sorry that I stole your boyfriend/maybe fiancé but actually I didn't steal him because we thought you were dead until a couple days ago? Also, how about lunch? Uh…no way in hell.

"Go ahead. Get it all out," she said, looking back at me. Her eyes were still angry.

"Huh?" I asked, confused. Get what out? My fear? I doubt that was happening anytime soon…

"Go ahead. Brag all you want. You got Jacin and I didn't. He loves you and not me," she said, looking down and running her fingers along the spine of her book. I blinked, utterly shocked. I would never say anything like that. Not just out of fear…I honestly didn't feel that way. If anything I felt guilty.

"Do you love him?" I asked. She was quiet. I waited. When I was certain she had no intention of answering me, I spoke again, "Because I do. Probably more than anything…"

"I don't want to hear this," she said, still not looking at me. Her fingers tightened into a fist.

"I want you to know that, though," I said, resting my chin in my hand.

She hesitated, "Why?"

I smiled, "Because I think you deserve to know and because I want you to know that my feelings aren't half-hearted. I would do anything for Jacin, sacrifice anything."

She slowly turned to me. Her brown eyes were glossy. She bit her lip, "Do you want to hear the truth?"

I nodded. "I'm not sure about anything any more," she said. There was sadness in her voice that I hadn't heard there before. Her angry tone had completely transformed.

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly, looking down at my hands.

"I thought Jacin was dead for a long time," she whispered, "I thought Drau was kind, too." She paused, "And I thought Jacin would love me forever."

I didn't know what to say. I let her words sink in. Their story was tragic. Jacin thought Abigail was dead and she thought he was. I almost felt like I'd ruined a great love story, but I knew better than that. It hadn't been me, but Drau who had broken them.

"Worst of all," Abigail finally continued. Her voice was so quiet now that I could barely hear it. She looked up at me and a tear fell from her chin, "I thought I would love Jacin forever."

I hated myself for feeling a pressure lifted from my heart somewhere deep down. Abigail just sat there, a tear occasionally sliding down her cheek, silent. I did the only thing I could. I gently placed my hand on hers. Her head immediately snapped up and she looked at me, confused.

"I think happiness is an eventuality," I told her, "Life is made up of obstacles and pain, but also love and joy. It's a balancing act. If you've got too much of one, you're bound to get a bit of the other. If you're happy, sadness will probably find you, but if you're sad, happiness will seek you out."

"No one is an exception. It might be a little idealistic depending on how you look at it, but I really believe that," I smiled, "You might think I'm stupid, but life has a funny way of sorting itself out. I think if you're confused now, all you have to do is grant life a little time. I'm sure you'll find yourself."

To my surprise, a genuine, if small, smile graced her face. She tilted her head to the side and her eyes shone, "You've got a way with words, huh?"

"I've been told that," I said.

She took a deep breath, "Thank you. Honestly, you're the last person I wanted to hear that from…but probably the only one I would have listened to."

I laughed a little, "You're straightforward."

She stood up and I looked up at her. She nodded and wiped her eyes to rid herself of the remaining tears, "Ok, stop crying, Abby." She picked up her book and headed towards the door. Before she opened it I said, "Hey, do you still hate me?"

She paused and turned, "Yep."

I frowned, "Oh."

"But I won't forever," she turned and opened the door, "We are sisters, after all." I blinked and then smiled. She shut it behind her.

Sisters. How…unexpected.

Hey guys, so I'm sort of going through some…family stuff right now. I haven't really found the will to write much of anything recently, but somehow this helped me get my mind off of how depressing my life is right now. I just wanted to warn you, though you're probably expecting this by this point, that I most likely won't update for a long time. I'm really sorry, but to those of you who have stuck with me this far: thank you. You really do mean a lot to me, and so does every word you write to me, because I read every review you're kind enough to leave for me. Thanks for brightening up my day, fanfictioners.