She longed to learn who she was and only he had the answer. Problem? He was in Sabertooth and she was in Fairy Tail, two rival guilds. On the road to get answers, she finds herself falling for his partner. [StingxOC] [RoYu] [NaLu] Other pairings inside.

The Shadow's Light

Sting X Nina (OC)

First Full Year!

Nina rubbed her eyes one morning, just waking up as she looked out her window, realizing that it has been a full year since she joined Sabertooth. She never told anyone, but it was also her birthday and she often liked the parties that Fairy Tail threw.

Rolling out of bed, she put a simple top and skirt, not bothering to even put shoes on as she looked at Shina. "Can you believe it's been a year?"

"Yeah, but you know those two'll be worried about how you feel." Shina sighed.

"If they get the chance. Besides, I think it's alright if I hide the fact from them... Things are still tender between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth.." She said before making her way downstairs to get a job ready for when she was ready.

"Hey, Nina! Come here for a moment, will ya?" Sting asked, waving her way.

"Uhhh, sure..?" She tilted her head before heading over and getting a kiss on her cheek as he covered her eyes. "What's the point? I can smell, ya know..."

"True. But, you're not going to have time to." He said.

She was confused about what he said, but she wasn't allowed to have time to sort her thoughts out before he removed his hands, revealing the entire guild of Fairy Tail outside the guild of Sabertooth.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NINA!" The guild shouted.

"B-B-But... Wh..What?!" She stuttered as she was nearly knocked over by Erza in a hug. "You guys remembered!"

"How could we forget? You may be a part of Sabertooth, but you are still Fairy Tail in your heart." Erza said, smiling and hugging her again.

Nina beamed in her smile as she recieved hugs from Laxus and the Thunder Legion and even Natsu's team. "Lu-Lu! I need to hear everything... Have you told him yet?"

"Eh? N-No. I haven't had the time to do that... Plus, he's, well, him." The blonde said.

"Come on. Don't make me taunt you with my own boyfriend, Lu-Lu.." She teased, getting Laxus's attention, as well as Makarov and the Thunder Legion's.

"What is that..? You have a boyfriend, Rose?" Evergreen gasped before looking coyly. "Do tell all."

"Yes, we need to know for information." Mira said.

Nina flushed as Freed, Bickslow, Laxus and Makarov looked angry. "Uhhh... If it helps... Rogue approves..." She looked to her blood brother as he was suddenly surrounded by the four men.

"Are you nuts? I told you to protect her from guys!" Laxus said.

Sting, however, opened an eye. "Relax, you four. It's not the end of the world, ya know."

Freed took over. "Our Rose is prone to have her heart broken and we vowed to never let anyone have the chance to do so."

"It ain't gonna happen. I'm not gonna do that to her, jeez." Sting said, looking at the four dead-on, straightening and pressing his lips into a thin line.

"You're... her boyfriend?" Bickslow said slowly.

"But, you're also the guild master, aren't you?" Makarov asked. "It's nearly impossible to keep a relationship like that away from your duties as a guild master."

"To his defense, Sting's been able to do so quite well." Nina defended. "We have an agreement that, when he's in the chair, it's strictly professional. Otherwise, it's not getting in the way of really anything."

That made the four mellow out before Natsu stormed over and glared at Sting, who returned the glare. "So help me, pal, if you EVER hurt her, you'll be burnt to a crisp within seconds!"

Nina gulped and got between the two. "Calm down, Natsu... He gets it. Stop it already, geez. Can ya stop interrogating my boyfriend for five minutes already? Freed, put the sword down." She didn't even look at the script mage as he did as told. Sighing, she rubbed her head slightly before heading to say hi to Asuka and her parents. "How've you been?"

"Great, sweetie. You happy here?" Bisca asked.

"Of course. I do miss Fairy Tail, but I have new memories here, too. Plus, talking to all of you over the past year made it seem like I hadn't left." She said, hugging Asuka.

"I miss you, Nina!" She said, hugging her tightly.

"Same, Asuka. Hey... I have something I want you to do for me when you get back, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Try and get Natsu to kiss Lucy... Without Happy around..." She said, getting even Bisca and Alzack to smile at her idea.

"I'll try! Cause I want to see them kiss like Mommy and Daddy sometimes!" Asuka said. "Do you and Sting kiss, too?"

She flushed and nodded. "Of course we do." Looking at her boyfriend, she saw him prodding Natsu about something while Rogue was busying explaining something to Laxus. It was true, she and Sting have always had a few kisses every day when they could, sometimes when she was leaving for a mission or at the end of the day. "But, if you do, don't mention me~"

"Okie dokie, Nina!" The child said as she went to go talk to Elfman and Lisanna.

"You finally found someone? That's amazing! I never thought that you'd like him considering what happened in the Grand Magic Games." Lisanna said.

"You're a real MAN to do that, Nina." Elfman said.

"I'm a girl, not a man, Elf..." Nina scolded lightly. "But, it's in the past and we're moving towards a brighter future."

"You always looked on the brighter side, didn't you? Speaking of looking, he's rather handsome..." Lisanna teased.

"Back off, Lis. I will hit you." She teased back.

"I might try my hand and see if he'll date me."

Nina rolled her eyes before frowning, never thinking about others trying to get him. He had eyes on her, true, but other girls were more pretty and less... Dragon Slayer-like than her. Her stomach turned as she remembered how she rarely showed her back since the Grand Magic Games due to the marks Minerva had left on her. There were some that would show if she didn't cover them up with makeup, most on her back and across her front. There was a large one from her hip to the inside of her left thigh, which made her nervous to wear anything that showed it off.

The former Sabertooth mage Minerva had vanished after the Games and Nina had a feeling if she were still around, she'd be unable to join. Minerva had haunted her since with what she had done and it was a recurring nightmare she dealt with every night, thus not sleeping well. The laugh and even the glare had carved itself into Nina's memory and would often pop up when she thought of the old Sabertooth.

Lisanna's smile vanished. "Hey... I was joking... What's wrong?"

Nina wanted to tell them, but she also wanted to forget about it and move on, yet she couldn't. "I'll... Tell ya later, Lis.. I've gotta go see Levy and see her." Backing up a few steps, she turned and went to the solid script mage, waving. "Hey, Lev!"

"Oh my god, Nina! I'm so happy for you! Sting's quite a catch." Levy said.

"Thanks... Any luck with Gajeel?" She asked, the bluette having told her how she had grown to love the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"No... He's so distant..." Levy replied.

"Well, according to the book, if a female wishes to get the male's attention, she has to go through a few things..." Nina thought back on the book before smiling a little.

"Well, tell me!" Levy said, shaking the female Shadow Dragon Slayer.

"Alright... Alright, relax, Lev." She said, giggling. "For Gajeel, you have to play hard-to-get. He will like the chase and his instincts will notice the change, making him curious. Once he starts, you need to be bold and actually start teasing him in return. You know how he calls you 'Shrimp'?" She got a nod. "Start calling him something like 'Chief', 'Playboy' or even 'Wonderboy'. I call Sting Champ and he calls me Superwoman... But I also get away with calling him Tough Guy." She winked a little at the stunned look from her friend. "I'd suggest 'Wonderboy' for Gajeel, personally."

"Alright... What else can I do?"

"Well, how comfortable are you showing skin?"

"...Umm.. Not too much..."

"Of course not.. Like show off that awesome belly of yours and keep wearing shorts. Let your hair grow, too. And make it look messy, yet clean..." She laughed a little. "That should be enough. Remember to play hard-to-get mostly... Male Dragon Slayers love a chase when it comes to their 'mate', so to speak."

"Thanks, Nina. You're the best!" Levy hugged her before heading away.

She smiled and made her way to Sting's side, seeing how he had seemingly passed Natsu's 'test of worthiness', seeing the fire wizard actually grinning at him. "Having fun over here, Champ?"

"Eh, not really. Not until you came over, Superwoman." Sting said, smirking.

"What were ya talking with Levy about? She looked close to shaking your brains out." Natsu pointed out.

"Well, we were talking about how she could get IronHead to notice her as someone more than a comrade. So, I gave her a few tips on how to do that via his dragon instincts." She said, smiling coyly. "Speaking, Sala... What're ya gonna do about Lu-Lu?" She asked.

"Huh? Is Luce sick or something?" He asked.

"Natsu... Tell me you're not that dense..." Sting groaned. "Even I can tell she's the one for ya and that's saying something."

"You realize that that charm you broke her out of?" She asked.

"With that fake Salamander?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"It's said that 'only the interventions of the soul mate can dissipate a charm spell of love'." She reminded. "And you are more protective of her than anyone in the guild." That got him to blink and tilt his head a little. "Obviously, she's the one you've been waiting for, Sala... Don't let it pass ya up... You know as well as we do that there's no 'other' that is out there." She pointed out before he nodded and went to go fight with Gray, who was without his clothes again, making her roll her eyes. "Aaaaand of course Gray strips..."

Sting raised an eyebrow at her words. "You're not surprised?"

"Not really. I grew up around him, don't forget. I know every quirk of pretty much anyone that way." Smiling, she pointed at Natsu. "When Natsu gets angered, his right hand twitches three times before it's engulfed with flames." When it happened, she moved to Gray. "And Gray's eyebrow twitches twice before he acts."

"Damn." Sting replied as Laxus walked over. "Done chatting Rogue's ear off, dude?"

"I was giving him pointers, bub." Laxus stated, eyeing him. "Just like I'm about to do to you. You better make sure she stays happy or you'll deal with me and that's a promise, not a threat." He looked down at Sting, something he does to intimidate a guy away from her.

Nina mentally groaned and shook her head as she looked to Rogue, seeing him grimace at her as she looked to Laxus, praying it wouldn't be a bad thing. It was one thing to stand up to Natsu... It was another to have to stand up to Laxus, Mira, Erza and Makarov.

Sting raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "I already told Rogue this: I have no plan to break her heart. That'd be worse than anything. I'd rather deal with the dragons again than to even think about that."

She smiled lovingly at him, his words making her heart skip a beat before she went back to Bisca, who waved her over, Alzack with Asuka talking to Macao. "Something up, Bis?" She asked.

"I know Makarov and Laxus might ask, but you might be better telling me: are you still a virgin?" She asked bluntly.

Nina turned as red as Erza's hair and spaced out before answering. "Of course I am. I've been busy with jobs, so... And he's got guild master things to do. We've barely had time to even talk now." She admitted, frowning slightly.

Since he became the guild master, she rarely saw him, except for when he takes mandatory breaks and days off, but even then, he's usually sleeping to get ahead for the next day. At first, she was fine with it, but now her heart hurt as she figured they'd drift apart and go back to being strangers again. She saw more of Rogue than her own boyfriend before she realized it was what came with dating a guild master while thinking it was stupid of her to want this when it would bring her pain no matter what.

When she first arrived, the two of them had instantly clicked and began talking about anything and everything: her past, his past, her life in Fairy Tail and his in Sabertooth. Now, it was like the past few months never happened, the two barely even saying three words to the other. Meanwhile, she had actually gotten closer to Lyon from their talks but wanted to see it through with Sting.

Bisca picked up on her mood and hugged her like a mother would. "Hey, it's alright, sweetie... I promise you that it won't always feel this bad... I used to be just like you once... Wondering if I'd ever have love..." She tilted Nina's head up and gave a soft smile. "Just don't try to grow up too fast, okay?"

"Thanks, Bis..." Nina said, hugging the shooting mage as she remembered her mother saying something like that before she died. She looked over and saw that Sting's face was as red as hers had been, figuring Laxus had asked the same thing Bisca did. It was one thing for her blood brother to ask, but another for her adoptive one to ask. Sighing, she looked to the sky, thankful that her family in Fairy Tail had visited for her birthday.

Later that night, she stayed up, writing in her journal about how her birthday turned out to be the best yet and that she couldn't wait for the next one, glancing at where Shina slept, knowing her Exceed partner was sleeping over at Yukino's with Froche and Lector, the Celestial mage offering a room for them at her place she rented with Rogue.

Sighing, she finished the entry and was about to head to bed when she heard a knock, making her drag her feet over to the door and revealing Sting. "It's late... Something up?" She asked, half asleep and half worried, letting him into her room and sitting on her bed cross legged.

"I know it's been an odd few months now, but I swear it hasn't changed how much I love ya. You could have anyone in this world but you chose me; and I am eternally grateful. Time spent with you is the best time of my life. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you… I will always love you; while I live and even after I have taken my last breath." He stated, sitting on the bed and gently holding her hands. "I don't want you to ever doubt that we would go backwards."

"I know. I love you more than you will ever know, Sting." She leaned over and kissed his cheek softly, his words etched into her heart and soul as she stared lovingly into the blue eyes that had captured her attention from the day they met. In that moment, she realized she had been waiting just for him and that Lyon was a roadblock that Sting had eliminated with ease, Sting was her soul mate, her one and only, the one she was destined to live out her life with. His next words affirmed he had the same thoughts she just did.

"Ever since I found you I have lost the 'emptiness' I felt in my life; My life is filled with you – Stay with me forever and never let me feel that emptiness again? I want to say something special to you on your birthday but no words can be more loving then the traditional 'I love you'."

Happy tears leaked as she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. "I love you, too, Sting... Nothing can tear me away from you, ever..." She pulled back and met his kiss with her own, sealing their words to each other and cementing their feelings into their bond. Breaking the kiss for a breath, she found herself drowning in his gaze as his arms around the middle of her back pulled her tighter. "Sting..."

"Nina... I would never pressure you any farther if you're not comfortable..." He said. "It's up to you..."

Getting hot~ It's so odd for me to go so long without having any lemons or anything... I need to start up again~
~~Kiwi~~