Chapter Twelve
We'd reached the town before noon like Sting had said we would. It was a much larger town than the last one where we had been attacked, more of a city really. That's the only reason Sting said he'd allowed us to stop. We'd be harder to find in the bustle of the crowd and there were too many inn's for whoever was tracking us to find us so easily. But we still had to keep our guard up, it was the last town before the miles of forest that separated us from the base of Mount Opasnyy, and whoever had tried to stop us, stop me, would be looking for us here.
We entered the town separately, a large group would have attracted too much attention. Gray and Juvia went first with Lector. They were going to find an inn and Lector would return to give us directions there. I was grateful at first. I didn't want to spend any more time with Gray. I know how that sounds, and I really don't mean it like that. He was my teammate, he was like a brother to me, and I had missed him so much all this time. I was happy to see him, really I was! I just wasn't happy about his choice of conversation topics. First it was the inevitable "Where's Natsu?" Which is never a fun conversation, then it was "How the hell did you end up with the twin douches of Sabertooth?" Which was uncomfortable to say the least. He looked so angry at himself that they were here for me when my team wasn't. But I wasn't holding that against him, we all chose to go our own way after the guild disbanded. I had the chance to go with him and Juvia and I didn't take it. That was my choice. I didn't need an apology.
Then there was the absolute shock in his face when I explained to him how Rogue and Sting weren't as bad as he thought, that not only did they help against Tartaros but they'd been helping me too. That we'd gotten closer since we started the quest and I was grateful to them. He gave me a long, curious look and then wouldn't stop asking about the white dragon slayer. I really didn't want to talk about it.
So, I was relieved when he went off with Juvia instead of asking me to go with him. That was, until Lector returned and Minerva, Yukino, Rogue and Frosch scurried off with him leaving Sting and I coughing in their dust. Oh, man. Sting may not have brought up the topic of his feelings, or how close we had gotten since that night by the little campfire, but I could tell he wanted to and I didn't want to be alone with him. I'd catch him looking at me every so often, not to mention the satisfied smirk on his face every time I blushed in response to one of his flirty comments. I knew I shouldn't encourage him. I was in love with Natsu, right? I mean…I thought I was…Listen to what your heart is telling you…Minerva's words echoed in my ears. But what was it telling me? I had no idea honestly, I used to think it said Natsu's name with every beat..Nat...su…but if it was talking to me now I couldn't understand it.
"Well, that was fucking rude."
I just nodded.
"Come on, Blondie." He said after about a half hour of us just waiting. He got up, dusting off his Celestial coat, and held his hand out to me. I hesitated. I wasn't sure touching him was a good idea, I'd been avoiding doing so for a while and I was afraid my body would start demanding I do it more if I slipped up.
"Don't worry," he whispered. "I don't bite, unless you want me to." He smirked and right on cue I felt my cheeks heating up. Screw it, I grabbed his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I stumbled a little, trying to regain my balance and he put a warm hand on my waist to steady me.
"Thanks," I mumbled, blushing even harder.
"Anything for you, Blondie." Well, this was gonna be awkward. But he surprised me again when he just gave my waist a gentle squeeze and let go, turning and heading to town.
"You, uh…don't want to wait for Lector to come back?"
"Nah, don't need to," he tapped his nose. "I can sniff out their trail, let's go."
I followed a few steps behind him, not sure if I was hoping to walk the whole way in silence or not. Turns out, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
"So, pretty cool that ice boy and that rain chick met up with us, huh?"
"Yeah," I replied, grateful for the safe topic.
"They seem pretty happy together don't they?"
"Well yeah, I mean Juvia's been in love with Gray since forever. It just took him too long to wake up to his own feelings…" I trailed off, my thoughts falling to a certain dense dragon slayer, wondering if he'd ever wake up too.
"Yeah…seems like it was worth the wait though." I could feel him looking at me, hear the smile in his voice. I didn't miss the hopeful sound of his words, I can take a hint, I'm not an idiot.
"Sting…" I started reluctantly. I wasn't ready to go down this road. He was right, I definitely felt something for him. But…Natsu….
"Lucy!" He shouted before grabbing me in a rough hug and pulling me to the ground, his body covering mine.
"St-sting? What are you–" I was interrupted when the ground exploded right next to us, right where I had been standing. Sting just saved my life.
My heart was pounding in my chest, that was too close. I almost lost her. I couldn't help but run my hands all over her, checking for damage, I was so frantic I wasn't paying attention until–
"Uh, Sting? Could you…let go of me please?" I looked down and saw I had one hand on her chest.
"Guhh Sorry!" I quickly moved my hand and jumped to my feet. I didn't have time to be embarrassed, we were under attack and I had no idea where it was coming from. Lucy tried to stand up and I pushed her back to the ground as gently as I could.
"Sting!" She shouted at me. "Stop it! I can fight too!" She sounded pissed now. Like she thought I was saying she was weak or something. It wasn't that…I just couldn't risk her. But I knew better than to argue with her.
"Fine, whatever, just get behind me." We stood back to back amid the destroyed ground, our eyes scanning our surroundings. I saw a flash of movement off to the left and turned to meet the incoming blast of magic power. My fist lit up in a blinding white light.
"White Dragon's Claw!" I shouted, hitting the spell away from us. I risked a glance back at Lucy, "You ready?" But I didn't have to worry. She had her whip in one hand, light flowing from it like water, her other hand rested on her key ring and a fierce, fighting smile was adorning her gorgeous lips. She's got this. They came at us pretty quick after their initial attacks, three of them closing the distance on us. One moved in to try and take down Lucy and I felt my heart leap into my throat as he rushed her. I was frozen.
"Star dress! Sagittarius form!" And she was standing in front of me in this skin tight, green little number, shoulders and back nearly naked, clothed in her spirit dress once again.
"Star Shot!" A blinding light fashioned after an arrow sprang from her bow her fist and nailing the guy right in the chest. The force of it dropped him to the ground unconscious, thank gods. My heart started beating normally again as relief rushed through my body. Until a force punched me in the back right between my shoulder blades sending me to the ground sliding several feet on my stomach until I came to a crashing halt. Damn it! I'd let myself be distracted and almost got taken out. If it wasn't for my Celestial coat I'd probably be bleeding out with a huge gaping hole in my chest. Get it together, moron! You can't protect Lucy if you're dead!
"Sting!" She screamed my name. The worry in her voice did odd things to my insides. I can't let her worry about me, I can't distract her.
"I'm alright! I got this! Go!" She nodded and turned to face our remaining opponents. There were still two, both taller than me, big guys. Magic power held in both their fists. I was debating on which to target first when my gaze settled on the one to the left. I could feel the rage inside me bubbling up to the surface, distorting my features. I took a deep breath, channeling all my strength.
"White Dragon's Holy Breath!" I screamed, aiming my attack to the opponent on the left. The one with the purple hair. The blast hit him full on in the chest, his entire body engulfed in my holy light. The blinding ray hit him so hard he was sent flying into the tree line. I turned my rage and attention to the remaining opponent, happy to see how afraid he looked. The fear was soon replaced by a grim determination and he took a fighting stance.
Lucy and I faced him together, standing side by side. I was ready to follow her lead, I'd follow her anywhere, but especially in a fight. She looked so fierce, so beautiful. Her skin was glowing with a faint heavenly light. She looked like an angel of the battlefield, ready to smite her opponents with her holy rage. The guy looked like he was about to come at us full force, but he glanced briefly over his shoulder, eyes wide and fearful.
"Fuck this," he said. And he was gone.
"Teleportation magic," I said. Lucy just nodded. "I wonder what he was so afraid of?" I looked back in the direction he had, squinting, trying to make anything out. Hoping we didn't have another opponent to face. Lucy's amused snort got my attention back on her. She released her magic and she was once again in her Celestial coat, hair in her cute little side ponytail.
"What?" I asked.
"Sting! You like, practically vaporized that guy! Of course his buddy was afraid!" I couldn't tell if she was mad at me or not. I really didn't mean to go that far, but they were trying to kill us! Kill her. That had to be the guy who shot at her before. He'd almost killed her! I couldn't let him go, wondering when he'd take his next shot. There was too much at stake.
"Sorry," I mumbled, hand in my hair, trying to calm myself.
"It's ok," she sighed. "I know they didn't leave us much choice. Can you pick up Lector's trail again?" I nodded and she followed my lead to the town. We walked in silence for a few minutes, both of us alert for any more potential threats. When I was sure we weren't being followed I risked starting up a conversation.
"That was really impressive back there, you took that guy out no problem."
"Thanks," she replied. "You weren't too shabby yourself Mr. Holy Dragon." That made me laugh. I loved when she complimented me.
"It helped that I had something important to fight for." She looked away then and I thought I had gone too far, but it couldn't be helped. I told her I wasn't gonna push, and I meant that. But I also meant it when I told her I wasn't gonna hide. She didn't need to respond to my feelings but I'd be damned if I'd hide them away like I was embarrassed or ashamed. Besides, she was into it. I knew she was. I could feel her checking me out just as much as I did her. She liked me. No question.
"Lucy–"
"Sting–" we spoke simultaneously. I just smiled at her. "You first," I said.
"Sting, thank you. For protecting me."
"With my life," I said sincerely. "Not that you needed any help from me."
"Sting…" she sounded sad now. I stopped walking and touched her shoulder, forcing her to turn and face me. She was biting her lip again, not meeting my eyes.
"Lucy…?"
"I-I-I'm so sorry." Then she burst into tears. I didn't try to stop myself, I just moved on instinct. I grabbed her and pulled her into me. Letting her bury her face in my chest. Letting her cry as much as she needed to while I stroked her hair, offering whatever comfort I could. We stood like that for a moment before I felt her pull away, not enough to break my hold of her but enough so she could look up at my face.
"Sting," the seriousness in her voice had my undivided attention. "I…I don't know what I'm doing." She sounded helpless, sad.
"What do you mean?" I held my breath.
"I mean I don't know what I'm doing with…us." Us? She thought of us? I felt hope rise up inside me again.
"I love Natsu." But she didn't sound so sure this time. "But…maybe…maybe not like I thought. I don't know. I'm just so confused. And I don't want to hurt you."
I knew what she meant. She didn't want to lead me on, responding to my feelings only to drop me the second her pink haired partner came back into the picture. But honestly? I didn't really give a fuck. I just wanted her, however I could get it. I liked her, maybe I'd even love her, and she obviously liked me too. We were adults, we were single, free to give in and see where it led us. I was confident she wouldn't regret it.
"Lucy," I placed my hand on her face, my thumb next to her ear, my fingers wrapped around, holding her firmly. I stroked the loose hair on her neck while I held her, searching her eyes for a clue as to how she was gonna respond to what I did next. I couldn't wait anymore. I pulled her closer until I closed the distance between us, our lips meeting and electricity sparking once again. I kissed her softly, gently at first, then I slowly built up the intensity. My tongue slid between her lips, forcing her to open up for me, our tongues battled for dominance and I had no trouble letting her win.
I broke the kiss first, letting her catch her breath, while I moved my lips to her cheek, placing soft kisses on her face, along her jaw. I stopped when I reached her ear, then I gently slid my tongue around her ear lobe and gave it a slight tug as I sucked it between my teeth. I could feel her whole body shudder in response to me. I let her go then, looking at her face, I couldn't keep the satisfied smirk off my lips when I saw her eyes were still closed in pleasure.
"Lucy, every time I get to do something like that, it's worth a hundred years of pain." She stood there for a second, searching my face, I wasn't sure what she was looking for. But I knew she could see I meant it. I didn't give a shit what kind of pain might happen, who knows when. Not when I had her in front of me, letting me hold her, protect her, fight with her, kiss her. When my lips touched hers I felt like I could do anything, I could conquer the world with her by my side if I wanted to. Bathe the whole planet in our holy light. She was worth any kind of pain. I could take it. She smiled at me, nodding her head slightly. I smiled back, I must've looked like an idiot, my smile was so wide my cheeks hurt.
"Come on, we've got things to do." I grabbed her hand and started making our way to the inn. She didn't make me let go.
He held my hand tightly as we made our way through the crowded streets to the inn where Lector's and the other's scent was the strongest. Was I really gonna do this? Just give in to whatever I was feeling and throw all caution to the wind? His hand squeezed mine gently, his thumb caressing my fingers…Yeah, I think I was.
We both paused when we reached the door. I was scared to go inside. I didn't want to walk in holding hands, opening ourselves up for questions. I was ready to see where things went with Sting, but I couldn't even explain what I was feeling to myself, I doubted I could explain it to anyone else. Sting seemed to sense my hesitation, and luckily he didn't look upset about it. He simply smiled at me, pulled my hand to his face and pressed his lips gently to the back of my hand, right on top of my guildmark. His eyes never left my face. He gave my hand another gentle squeeze and then let me go, opening the door and letting me walk inside.
I breathed a huge sigh of relief as we made our way through the crowded lobby. No pressure.
"Stiinnngg, my man!" We heard a shout before a red blur smacked into Sting's chest with the force of a bullet.
"Hey Lector," he laughed, giving the little red Exceed a hug. "Forget to come back for us huh?"
"Uhhh," Lector said nervously, glancing in my direction. I just rolled my eyes, pointedly ignoring the smirk on Sting's face. I guess it's no surprise I finally caved, since all my traveling companions seemed to be in on it. Suddenly all of their sudden departures made a lot more sense. No wonder I kept finding myself on my own with Sting.
"Never mind little buddy, where's everyone else?" Lector zipped off on his small white wings and led us to a connecting room. The whole group was there, two tables pushed together to make room. Rogue, Yukino and Minerva were sitting on the left, little Frosch curled up on Yunkino's lap. Gray and Juvia say to the right, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I saw his arm wrapped around her shoulders. We took our seats and once the questions about our dusty appearance finally died down, we brought them up to speed on the attack.
"Serves that fucking bastard right," Gray growled when he learned what happened to the purple haired mage. Everyone else just nodded.
"I'm still wondering what spooked his partner," Sting said.
"I think that may have been our fault," our heads snapped in the direction of the new voice, focusing all our attention on the speaker.
A tall man stood next to our table. Dressed in loose fitting dark blue pants, a skin tight black shirt worn under a flowing, deep blue cloak. Messy blue hair topped his head and an intricate red tattoo decorated the left side of his face across his eye.
"Jellal!?" Gray exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Gray," said a stern female voice from behind him. "Don't be rude." Gray yelped at the sound of that voice. I couldn't blame him. Almost everybody had that response when being scolded by Titania Erza Scarlet.
"Erza!" Juvia squealed. "It's so good to see you! Please, sit, Juvia is sure you want to hear all about how my darling Gray and I finally succumbed to our love."
"Maybe later," Erza laughed. "For now, why don't we go somewhere more private. You guys can tell us what you left out in your letter."
We packed into the room the girls would be sharing tonight. We got two double rooms connected by a locking door. We immediately launched into the entire story, including the battle Sting and I had just won.
"Yes," Jellal said. "We saw the remnants of the battlefield. In fact I think your final opponent may have sensed our approach, that's why he fled."
"That'd make sense," Sting nodded. "You two do give off an awful lot of power. He definitely didn't want to get caught between us."
"But Erza!" I got the requip mage's attention. "How are you guys even here at all?"
She smiled at me and tipped her head at Yukino and Minerva.
"I apologize, Lucy," Minerva explained. "I didn't mean to over step. But we used the information from your map to send them a letter too. Yukino and I reached out to all the members of your former team."
"All of them?" I asked, hopefully. I felt Sting place a comforting hand on the small of my back. He obviously knew I was thinking of Natsu, I hoped he wasn't angry. I knew he wasn't when I felt him rubbing soft soothing circles into my back. I felt my body relax into his touch. I didn't miss the way Erza's eyes narrowed at us. I was definitely gonna have a lot of questions to answer.
"Well," Yukino supplied. "The ones we could get contact information for. Gray, Erza, Wendy…" There was an apology in her voice. But I shouldn't have been surprised. There was no way they'd be able to get in touch with Natsu. I didn't have a clue where he was so how would they?
"Wendy too?" I asked, excited.
"Indeed," Erza replied, still watching Sting and I closely. "We met her and Carla in Imiq. They should be joining us soon. In fact…" She pulled a portable communication lacrima from her hip. "We found them," she said to the voice on the other end. She had to pull the device away from her ear at the squealing response. "The Drunken Knight," she said. "Room 212, hurry."
"They'll be here shortly," she told us.
I couldn't believe it. Team Natsu was back together again! Well…almost. But I felt even more secure now that I was surrounded by so many of my powerful friends.
"Thank you," my voice was shaky from emotion. I was overwhelmed.
"No need for thanks," said Jellal. "Crime Sorciere will always be ready to fight the darkness." He spoke so seriously that it was almost funny. But the smile he gave me filled me with gratitude and confidence. There was no way we could lose now.
The door burst open with a loud bang and a little blue ball of energy practically tackled me to the ground. Luckily Sting was at my back, keeping me from falling on my ass.
"Wendy!" I exclaimed, delighted to see my young friend. "Carla! Thank you guys so much for coming! I really missed you!" I wrapped them both into a hug, a little surprised that Carla submitted to it.
"Of course, child. We couldn't leave you at the mercy of Sabertooth, you needed more Fairies to back you up."
"Hey!" The Saber mages said in unison. But Carla just laughed.
We spent the next hour or so catching up on everything, well almost everything, we'd missed out on the last few months as well as our mission and the threat working against us. I was grateful that all my friends were so determined to help me get Aquarius back, although Jellal was a little more focused on Erebus, or whoever it was that held his power now. I was surprised that they hadn't run into any hint of dark mages on the journey here.
I assumed we were ahead of him based on the information Dolphinus gave us. If Gray and the others were following behind us, how come they didn't notice a powerful dark mage right behind them? But Jellal was insistent that he had detected no dark magic until he came to the battle Sting and I had right outside of town.
"Whoever this Erebus is, he must have the ability to mask his power," Jellal said firmly. "It's either that or…."
"Or what?" I prodded him.
"Or, they're ahead of us…" That thought sent a shiver around the room. None of us wanted to even think what could possibly happen if the darkness was ahead of us. Had they already gotten to the key? No, I told myself. You would know if they had, the spirits would have told you. No one had much else to say for the moment so
Erza asked if I would accompany her to the market. "It'd be a great chance for us to catch up," she said, looking pointedly at Sting. I saw him smirk in response while Rogue covered his laugh with a really bad fake cough. "Whatever," I rolled my eyes.
A/N Just a little time line info here for those curious. Sting and Lucy have now spent every minute of every day together for the last 29 days. Saber's arrival in Crocus is day 1, their training session was day 2. The courtyard scene was day 6. The boat make out session was day 13 and Sting confronting Lucy at camp was day 21. And Lucy basically spent every second either denying or dissecting her feelings for Sting or worrying about Aquarius.
