Chapter Ten
The look on Sting's face when I said that…I shuddered. It looked like I had just pulled out his heart with my bare hands. When he said that he wasn't trying to use me…my worst fear was coming true. I was going to have to break a treasured friend's heart.
I hadn't known him long, and we didn't get off to the best I knew Sting was a genuinely good guy. I knew he would always be there for his friends, I knew he'd fight his heart out for the things that mattered. Just look at what he's done for Sabertooth so far. That's why he was here after all. So just because I couldn't give him what he wanted, didn't mean it didn't hurt to have to put him through this. But the sooner the better, fast and painless, or less painful, like a bandaid.
"Huh," was all he said.
"When you held me like that on the ship, when you touched our foreheads…it sounds so stupid b-b-but, Natsu, he used to do that all the time, to…comfort me. It was just too much, that's why I left."
"Uh…and the night in the courtyard, when you were crying?"
"You're um..you're–uh–heat," I was blushing hard now. Gods this was so embarrassing. This was the right thing to do, Lucy. That just didn't make it any easier.
"Oh, so you…were thinking about him…while we were–"
"No," I rushed to reassure him. "When we uh–were kissing, I-I wasn't thinking anything except…how–umm, how good it felt." Gods my cheeks could not get any redder, was my whole face pink now?
"Just…after. When I held you." I nodded. "And earlier, when I called you that."
"He was the only one in the guild that ever called me that, even on the team."
I was hoping he'd understand. I always thought that Natsu and I were gonna end up together. He was just too dense to realize it, but he would one day. I could feel it in my gut. I watched the emotions playing out across his face, confusion, sadness, jealousy, anger…and finally a little smile lit up his features. He was…happy?
I wasn't expecting that but I guess it was the perfect outcome. I was definitely not expecting his gloved fingers to brush my face, hand cupping my cheek. He used his thumb to lightly brush my bottom lip, I closed my eyes at the sensation of the smooth fabric on my skin.
"Hey," he waited til I was looking into his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I know you and Natsu got history. I get it. Better than you think," now he was smirking. I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth. He pulled down on my chin, forcing me to let go.
"Don't go bloodying up that beautiful lip." Then he leaned down and kissed me sweetly, like he was making it all better. Ok, this wasn't going the way I had planned. "Stin–"
"It's ok," he gave me another quick peck. "Just had to steal one for the road. But I'm not going anywhere. I like you, Lucy Heartfilia, you're one strong chick. I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't want to do right now. Probably couldn't even if I wanted to. You'd kick my ass for sure." I blushed at the exaggeration.
"So what–"
"I'm gonna follow through, I gave you my word I'd help you get your friend back. I always keep my promises. I'm not gonna let you ignore me either. But, I promise, no pressure…we can be friends, for now."
For now?
"Better get some sleep, Blondie. Gonna be a long day."
And he just slipped inside his tent. He was getting good at that dramatic exit, then again, so was I. I hoped I looked as good as he did doing it.
The next morning Sting had already gotten breakfast going before any of us had even made it out of our tents. He'd set out bowls for all of us and was already washing up. He was wearing his white pants again, and literally nothing else. The light from the morning sun looked good on his bare chest, he looked even more defined, all his muscles lined in deep shadows. I gulped. I tried to stop staring but he was splashing water on his face and the water trickling down his chest was gulp a little distracting to say the least.
Thankfully Yukino bumped right into me in front of the tent and jolted me back to my senses.
"My, my," Minerva said as she folded her elegant figure out of the tent. "Something sure looks good."
I blushed from the tips of my toes to the top of my head I'm sure.
"Those eggs look great, Sting." Oh, right…breakfast. I hurried over to grab a bowl, mumbled a quick thanks and began wolfing it down, eager to get moving on packing up the camp. I saw Minerva cover her smile, did she know something?
"Morning, ladies…Rogue." He was pulling on his sorry excuse for a shirt. "We should be hitting Bargo by nightfall, if we walk fast we could probably make it at least a few miles into its territory. I'll start breaking camp. Lucy–" I found myself eager to hear what he had to say and hated that a little. "-Minerva, would you ladies mind refilling the water before we go? Rogue and I can get your tent."
"Of course," she replied smoothly. "Would you lead the way, Lucy?"
I just nodded and headed off in the direction Yukino did last night, picking up the bag with the canteens on my way.
The walk to the river was quiet, we briefly touched on a few topics, but nothing held our interest for long. When we got to the river I started filling the canteens, not really paying attention to my surroundings. Until I was doused in water as Minerva jumped butt naked into the water.
"The hell? Minerva, we gotta head back soon. We don't have time for a bath."
"Tsk, Lucy…there's always time to take care of one's self. Here," she held her hand out. "Toss me some canteens." I did and she caught them smoothly. Minerva did everything smoothly, except for–
"So, I heard you break poor Sting's heart last night." The canteen I had been filling slipped out of my hands and got quickly caught up in the current, I reached for it but missed. Minerva lazily waved one hand and the canteen vanished, reappearing and falling to my side with a soft thunk on the sandy river bed. I picked it up, my hand was shaking.
"It's not what you think," I began.
"No, Lucy, it's exactly what I think. It's ok," she reassured me. "I'd rather you made a clean break of it, if you didn't feel anything for him in return."
"Thanks, Minerva." I was definitely relieved, they had an odd relationship, pretty hot and cold, but they seemed to genuinely care for each other as teammates, friends.
"I said if." What? What did that mean?
"I've seen the way you look at him, you don't have to hide it from me."
"It's not what you think," I tried to head off any rumors before they could make the rounds in our small group. This would be an uncomfortable few weeks.
"Again, I'm pretty sure I'm right. You like Sting, but you think you love Natsu." I just gaped at her, stunned that she would tell me what I felt. I think I know my own mind. I told her that.
"You're mind? Maybe. Heart? I don't really think so."
"And what the hell does that mean?" I was pretty angry now, I thought Minerva and I were getting along pretty well, I had no idea why she would say such things to me.
She walked out of the river, water dripping slowly off the smooth curves of her body, I looked away. She dropped the now full canteens next to me and then slipped her dress back on. The fabric clung to her skin, wet from the cold river.
"I meant no offense, Lucy. I promise. I've been there myself. You're more like me than I thought. You can talk yourself into almost anything, probably talk yourself out of things even easier." She took a seat next to me, pulling the last canteen from my loose fingers and filling it herself.
"I'm just saying, sometimes it doesn't come down to logic or history, listen to what your heart is telling you, give your brain a rest for a while." She placed the canteen in the bag by my side and with another wave of her hand they disappeared, off into whatever realm Minerva held sway over.
I thought about her words all the way back to camp.
We'd made it into Bargo territory two days ago. The forest here was cold, lifeless. Not a single leaf on any of the trees. Icicles were growing from some low hanging branches, framing our walk down the path. Thank god for that almanac, we'd been prepared for this. We all changed into warm, thick winter clothing. Furs, leather, heavy coats. All except Sting who just swapped his furry vest for a furry longer vest. Man really hated sleeves. He was stubborn about it too…we made it about a half a day walk in before the chattering of his teeth caused my patience to snap.
"Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
"You summoned me, Princess? Is it time for punishment?" She bowed, chains clinking from her wrists.
"Still not today. I wanted to see if you could help," I gestured at Sting.
"Oh of course! Master Sting! Did you want me to finish the Shabari lesson?" She beamed.
"Well…" he said, scratching his chin in thought. I just rolled my eyes.
"Once again, not today, Virgo. This idiot dragon slayer needs an actual coat. Or he won't survive the rest of the trip."
"Hey!" Sting said indignantly. "My light keeps me warm just fine, Blondie. But I'm glad you're thinking about me." He smirked.
"I'm thinking about how I can't think of anything over the sound of your shivering!" I stamped my foot. Good, he looked embarrassed.
"Not a problem, Princess."
She popped out of sight and returned almost instantly holding out a gorgeous pure white coat, lined in deep cerulean fur. Little gems dotted the outside in various shades of blue and silver. She held it out to him and I could make out the pattern, the blue gems were scattered in what looked random, but the silver made a familiar design; Draco Ladon, the dragon constellation. I could see Thuban glowing brightly in its tail.
"Clothes from the Celestial World will keep your body heat regulated much better than Earthland clothes. I have some for everyone." She began pulling different garments from nowhere and tossing them to each of us. We all quickly shed our coats and switched them out for the magic ones.
Yukino received a pale blue fur coat, the tips of each hair seemed to glimmer in the sunlight. Rogue received a jacket the same cut as Sting's but unadorned. And of course a black so dark it seemed to suck the light away from all around him. Minerva was now sporting a long, fitted peacoat in a deep, rich purple and a fur lining of black.
I shook my new coat out and was about to pull it on but stopped when I noticed it was a perfect complement of Sting's. The same cerulean fur, the same buttery soft white fabric. It too was littered in gems in a wide variety of colors, but instead of taking the shape of a constellation it contained small representations of ten of the zodiac…and one dragon. I just rolled my eyes. Freaking, Virgo. Still trying to manipulate me via clothing.
"Gee, thanks Virgo, but you think you have something different for me?" Don't look at Sting. Don't look at Sting. He chuckled, damn it.
"I'm afraid not, Princess. I only had time to have one made to each of your sizes. You can punish me if you'd like." He snorted.
"That's ok Virgo you can go back." I tugged it on, it was too cold not to.
She bowed. "As you wish, Princess."
"What's the matter, Princess?" He smirked. "I think it looks good on you, right Lector?"
"Oh yeah, Sting," said the little exceed, perched on his shoulder. "You guys look great together!"
I thought I couldn't have been more embarrassed until Minerva winked at me and said "I agree, picture perfect." I saw where she was going with us. I'd have protested but I saw Rogue and Yukino from the corner of my eye, hiding their smiles.
"Whatever."
"That's the spirit!" Sting laughed.
I gotta admit, he did look pretty damn good. Virgo had always had an eye for fashion. The deep blue was an almost perfect match to his own blue eyes, his crystal earring was picking up the light from the little gems, casting a faint blue light on the left side of his face, his eyes had a matching glint. This was gonna be a long trip.
We made it out of the border forest, the frozen trees giving way to a frozen plain stretched out before us, we could see the small cluster of lights indicating a nearby village.
We found the only inn in town and got their last two rooms, both singles but the lady at the front desk swore they could sleep up to four people each. It wasn't ideal but we'd probably not stay more than one night and it was better than the ground. It was a tight fit but we had managed worse.
Yukino wanted to lie down after the intense day of walking, not caring if she skipped dinner. Minerva was gonna meet the boys at the bar in the back room of the inn. She asked me to join but I wanted to see if I could find a local bookstore before they closed. I was hoping to find some information on Bargo and there was no better place to start. We parted ways at the bottom of the stairs. The receptionist gave me directions to the only bookstore in town and I went on my way.
I was half way to my destination when I heard someone call out to me. I was relieved when I turned around and the shadow dragon slayer was the one waving at me. Sting wasn't anywhere in sight. He'd kept his word, he wasn't going away anytime soon. But neither did he ignore me. In fact it seemed like he was back to his old self again…sort of. I couldn't help but notice I was the only one he teased and flirted with. Luckily, Rogue was the only one of our group who hadn't mentioned anything about my love life, even the damn cats were joining in! I thought I'd be safe with Rogue…I was wrong, dangerously wrong.
"Hey! Lucy, Minerva mentioned you were going to a bookstore. I was wondering, may I join you?" Rogue was definitely the most gentlemanly of all the dragon slayers I had met.
"Of course! It's just around the corner." I turned and he fell into step beside me.
"Where's Frosch? I thought you never let him out of your sight?"
He laughed. "I guess I'm a little overprotective. But he does tend to get lost whenever he wanders off alone. He's safe though, he and Lector are curled up with Yukino. Minerva will make sure they're ok when she and Sting are done." Done? With what, I wondered. I felt a little pang from his words but refused to examine it closely. Rogue must've heard something in my silence because his next words offered some reassurance. And some context to some awkward interactions from the last few weeks.
"It's nothing untoward. They called it quits a long time ago. But I'm glad they're still really good friends." I made a small noise of agreement, not wanting to seem like I cared. Because I didn't.
We entered the store and were greeted by the diminutive shopkeeper. She was a tiny old woman, pretty far advanced in age, with silver hair, small sections of dark blue strands were spread throughout, the last of her original coloring. Her face was weathered but the deep laugh lines indicated a kind woman who smiled a lot. Like now. She pointed me to the history and reference section and Rogue to the magic research area, reminding us she'd be closing in two hours. We thanked her and spread out, examining our preferences in silence.
It was about an hour and a half later that Rogue looked up from the book he was reading quietly getting my attention. Rogue respected rules even when he was excited and we were in the quiet section after all.
He leaned across the table and whispered to me that he had found something we had to show the others. We quickly paid for our books and left, rushing back to the inn.
"Rogue, what is? What did you find?"
He wasn't paying attention to me, he was looking all around us searching for something, nose snuffling the frigid air. We had just passed a dark alley when he threw an arm out, halting our progress.
"Someone's watching us," he whispered.
"From where?"
"I'm not sure," he confessed through gritted teeth. "Lucy, look out!" He shoved me out of the way but we weren't fast enough.
The magic bullet hit me just under my right shoulder blade, the force dropping me to one knee. It would've tore right through my chest if it hadn't been for my coat. The fabric glowed and I could feel spots heating up, the spirit clothes were good for more than just regulating body heat. I turned to face the threat as I gained my feet, one hand on my fleuve d'etoiles, the other brushing my keys. "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!"
"Eeeekk, I'm sorry, Lucy!" She squealed as she left her gate.
"Aries!" I ignored the apology, you had to with Aries. "We need cover, there!" I pointed towards where I thought the shot came from.
"Okayyyy! Wool wall!" She thrust her little hands out in front of her and a giant wall of pink fluff formed in front of them, blocking us from sight. "Please, hurry Miss Lucy!"
"Rogue, exit plan?" I hoped he had one. Instead of responding he just grabbed me and pulled my back to his chest, backing up into the shadowy alley and we vanished into the darkness, into Rogue's shadow realm.