Light. Pure white light. Am I dead? Did I actually die? No it can't be. No way. I promised. Promised that I would live. Live for their sake. I couldn't. I shouldn't have asked them for help. I should have known that they would deny me. Cana…they are like family to her. Who am I? A stranger. A stranger that came out of nowhere and disrupted everything. No wonder it rains wherever I am. I carry this bad luck along with me.
None of them deserved to die, not for me. Not my mother, my father, and all those lives that were lost from that terrible day in the orphanage. I should have been the one to die. Why did they save me? Why did all of them want me to live and give up their own life? I had taken this gifted life for granted and wasted it.
"This is not the end my darling, fight. Fight to live." His voice whispered to me. The white light had started to go away
"Dad is that you? Where are you? Dad? Dad! Please don't leave me" I cried out but he couldn't hear me. He needed to know the fairies they denied me. I felt as if I was being lifted up. Was I finally moving on towards the life after death? Will I be reunited with all the people I loved?
She could hear things, the sound of breathing. A man to be more precise. Was this the afterlife? The light it had come back again. She felt as if she had been walking for hours. Her body felt sore. She could barely move. Then, she could feel it. The warmth of someone's hand on her own. She desperately tried to hold the hand reassure them that she was here wherever she was. She was there. She opened her eyes. This was the moment of truth. This is where she would find out whether she had died or not.
Her eyes flickered open. The first thing her brown eyes met were a pair of beautiful blue eyes. "Sting" she whispered looking at him. For some reason he looked happy almost relieved that she was here, the stranger she had met the other day was smiling ear to ear because she was alive and then it had hit her that she was alive.
"Hey, you're alive!" that voice. Lector? she couldn't move her head and see for sure. Her movements were very constricted. It felt like she had run head first into a wall and got run over by a train multiple times. Frosch was there as well. The two exceeds walked over to her side.
"We were so worried about you" Lector said as she patted Lector's head.
"Fro too" Frosch added, he was crying and smiling at the same time.
"I'm sorry for making you both worry" she whispered to the two exceeds.
"We thought you died" Lector said looking very upset.
"I thought so too but I'm alive. Thanks to you, all of you. I can't ever repay you for what you did. Thank you so much." She said while tears were streaming down her face.
"Do you remember anything?" Sting asked softly, she looked away. She remembered most of the horrific things that had taken place. She wanted to forget, all of it. She shouldn't have gone to Magnolia in the first place. She should have stayed home.
"I remember. All of it." She said softly trying her best not to cry. "I was on my way back home. When my horse got tired so I decided to rest for today, it was almost dark. I was making my way to a nearby inn when I was attacked. I tried to defend myself but there were so many people. I- I just couldn't take on all of them. I was tired to begin with but then they all started to beat me. Th- those men I could see the guild marks on some of them but some them didn't have one. The struggle kept going on and then someone stabbed me, and then I could feel the knife going in and out of me repeatedly. After that everything was going dark. I was losing consciousness. There was so much blood even I could tell and then I-I- I could. I could….hear….the sounds of my clothes being ripped off. I still started to resist them till I felt someone hit me on the back of my head. It was too much. I thought it was better if I had died and not lived through what was going to happen next" she finished.
Tears were streaming down her face. She had no idea what they did to her next whether they had succeeded with their repulsive act. She felt disgusted, as if she needed to be boiled in hot water to be purified. Sting had put his hand on hers causing her to look at him.
"Hey, don't cry. It's okay. They couldn't get to you. We found you before they could do anything to you." He said with a small smile. She couldn't help but cry harder.
"Thank you Sting!" she said while crying. Sting smiled at her.
"You should get some sleep" he said while patting her head.
"So should you. You didn't sleep at all." She said while wiping her eyes. Sting was a little abashed.
"Well you're sleeping on my bed" he said slowly. She stared at him for a minute and realized what he just said.
"Oh right! I'll just get up. I'm so sorry, I'll sleep on the ground if you don't mind" she said while she was blushing herself. Sting was also at loss of words, it took him a minute to register what she had said.
"WHAT!? NO! You're not going to do anythin-" before he could complete, she stood up. Just then her blanket fell on the floor, leaving her exposed.
"Eek! I'm sorry! I am really sorry you had to see that! I am really, really sorry" she kept apologizing to a very red faced Sting.
As she kept apologizing she wobbled and was about to fall face down when Sting caught her at the right time. She was blushing madly now. Sting put her on the bed. He was blushing as well.
"Uh- Ummm…..It's completely fine, I'll sleep on the sofa" he said with a smile. She starred at his face for a long minute till she slowly placed her head on the pillow. He smiled and was about to get up.
"Goodnigh-" he couldn't complete his sentence, she grabbed his hands.
"Sting this is your house, please make yourself comfortable as how it should be. I should be the one to sleep on the floor and if you won't let me then….it's completely fine if you sleep next to me. Please don't have a hard time with your comfort for someone like me" she whispered softly as she kept her eyes on the ground, her cheeks were pink. Sting smiled softly. He turned around and sat at the side of her bed.
"I would give up my comfort especially for someone like you. So for my own comfort I'll settle for your comfort. You need rest more than I do and besides just two hours later I have to be present at the guild hall. I usually don't sleep that long anyway, that was a huge lie and besides you're the one who's hurt. You need to rest." Sting said with a soft smile and finally he ran his fingers through her hair. It did feel like silk.
"Sting if it isn't too much to ask can you lend me some clothes?" she mumbled still blushing. Sting thought back whether he had any clothes he could let her wear. Usually girls he would spend a night with left some of their clothes but he always made a point to throw them away and even if he had them he would never make her wear them. Damn it! He should have asked Yukino for clothes, he felt like an idiot. He nodded and walked over to the closet and thought for a minute, could she wear one of his vests? No, let's not go there he did want this girl to like him. A cut out t shirt? Yeeeaaaah no. He finally pulled out a black flannel shirt. Maybe this would do.
Sting handed her the shirt, she took it from him. Sting wanted to see her put it on but he couldn't let such perverse thoughts get in the way. Sting turned around and heard her put the shirt on after an extra minute or two he looked behind him. Looking at her in that shirt made Sting's thoughts drift over to another world but he quickly shook the thoughts out. She hid her face under the blanket. Sting flopped on the sofa that was next to the bed and closed his eyes. All he could smell was her. Sting turned to look at her only to see that see was fast asleep. Her mouth was slightly open. Sting sat up again. He moved to the chair next to her and was about to place his hand on hers but he stopped.
What if she thinks I'm some sort of a creep? He thought and then he heard her mumble "thank you Sting." Sting blushed and placed his hand on hers. She grabbed his hand tighter.
It was late in the afternoon. Sting wasn't up yet. Rogue and Yukino were going to leave for a job. They were getting late. Rogue and Sting were the ones who were supposed to go but the looks of how Sting had gotten attached to this girl in a short amount of time, there was no way Sting would go to work. So, Rogue decided to take Yukino, who was happy to go. Frosch was quite upset about leaving Sara, but in the end he chose Rogue.
"I'm going to kick him awake" Rogue gritted his teeth in annoyance, Yukino sighed. They both made their way into Sting's room to find Sara still fast asleep and Sting was holding her hand and resting his head on the wall while sitting on a chair. Rogue walked over to Sting.
"Wake up fuck face! Me and Yukino are leaving!" Rogue whispered rather loudly. Yukino shook her head. At this rate he's going to wake the poor girl up and just then Sting jerked awake.
"I'm awake! I'm awake! Please don't leave the guild I'll be a better guild master! I swear!" Sting yelled out loud and with that her eyes snapped open and she sat up.
"Oh Thank God you're awake" Yukino and Rogue said simultaneously, they both were relieved. Sting was stretching and yawned.
"Yeah she woke up at around dawn, didn't Frosch and Lector tell you?" he asked looking at Rogue who rolled his eyes.
"Frosch was too sleepy, the minute he came back. He went to straight to sleep and Lector only said and I quote this 'Sting is in luuurv with the girl I love, yes.' He's been sulking ever since and has been eating like a maniac" Rogue said with a vivid smirk causing Sting to avoid his gaze. Yukino giggled while Sara blushed.
"Thank you all of you, I'm in debt to all of you" She said with a smile causing Rogue and Yukino to smile.
"I hope you feel better. I'm Yukino Agria. I'm a member of Sabertooth as well" Yukino said with a smile.
"I know, I was present during the grand magic games and at the grand ball." Sara said with a smile, causing everyone to look at her in confusion. "My father was personally invited by the king himself" she said trying to clarify things a little.
"Who's your father if you don't mind me asking" Yukino asked, while she worked as a sergeant in the royal army she had come across most of the kings enlisted friends and guests.
"My father was Stephen Alkaev, I'm Sara Alkaev." She sounded very miserable before Yukino could go on. Rogue cleared his throat.
"We would love to sit and chat but our time is short. If we wait any longer then we will miss our train for sure. Sting, me and Yukino will be leaving for the job. It'll take us a day or two max and till then make sure the guild stays in one piece." Rogue cautioned his friend who rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes and Miss Sara, we found your carriage this morning along with your coachman, your baggage will be brought upstairs soon. Please treat our guild as your own home." Rogue said in more calmer voice.
"You can just call me Sara, there's no need for miss and what not. I think I should be going home" she said softly, looking away.
"In this state? No way you're not going anywhere till we find who did this to you" Yukino said sternly.
"Yes I agree with Yukino, it would be best if you stayed under our protection. In case the attacker might attack again." Rogue said while looking at her with genuine concern.
"Please stay with us, it would be our pleasure to have you as one of us" Sting requested with a cheeky grin. It would be shameful and hard to say no to a smile like that.
Looking at their faces at that moment for the first time in weeks made her feel better. As if the world hadn't ended and she wasn't alone. It seemed as if with these people around she would never have to suffer alone. She has happy to be here, isn't that what her father wanted the most for her? So for her fathers sake. For the sake of her happiness, she smiled through those tears. The others smiled back at her reassuring her.
Who knew this was just the first step of her journey to find her true self.
Hi Guys! I finally updated but for some reason I felt as if this chapter was a little off. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that it's 5:45 am here and I still haven't slept. Oh well. I promise the next chapter won't be as bad as this. Follow, Favorite and Review. Thanks in advance.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧