A/N: Thank you for your patience as we now continue! I was actually sick for about the second half of this month so I'm glad I had time to be able to plan out the last parts of the story. Really excited for the rest! Please enjoy.
A new day dawned. Cobra awoke, groggily squinting. It seemed awfully light outside. Shouldn't he be up and about by now? Then, memories of yesterday replayed like a bad dream. The encounters, the words, the fights…it made him want to stay curled up in the tent forever. He remembered the futility of sleeping last night, how eventually the rain had petered out, but no one entered the tent even at its heaviest. He wondered how long that would last. Eventually, surely, Jellal would grow tired of his attitude and demand he come out and talk to them. His current guildmaster wasn't as unforgiving as his first one, but even the martyr had his limits, as he learned. And with how Sorano had been acting…
Cobra forced his thoughts to shift away from her, lest he fall down an even deeper hole of self-loathing. Unfortunately, most of the things readily on his mind involved incidents throughout the week. That damn love doctor place and all its peculiarities, the source of all his current–besides being a fugitive–related problems. If he could time travel, he'd already be back in the past slapping himself silly for even thinking of doing something so stupid. But then, of course, that would create a paradox…although Lucy once said that…
Thoughts of Lucy were the most dangerous. Unlike before, the image of her that appeared in his mind's eye was that of a terrified girl who looked at him in fear. He shoved it aside and cursed himself. It would be a while still before that intrusive thought went away. Perhaps he'd leave before the rest of the group. Clearly, staying here in this mood was a mistake. A part of him thought about trying to track down Percy and cleaning up the whole mess himself. Another part didn't want anything to do with him at all. The conflicting thoughts brought Sorano's condition again to his mind. If only he hadn't agreed to any of this. Why did he do so again?
He knew why, but he wasn't going to focus on it. Lest her haunted face burn itself into every corner of his mind. All there was left to do, was nothing.
He rolled over, facing away from the entrance. Suddenly, his ears twitched, picking up the subtle sound of a tent flap rustling.