𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙧

// 2nd P.O.V //

After finding Kuschel had apparently remained at the inn all day, you walked back to the spot you had seen Rogue the previous night. You had entrusted Kuschel to Erza, who you knew would take care of her while you went to see if Rogue was there again.

You arrived at the same time you had the previous day and waited around for little over twenty minutes before giving up.

"Wait!"

You turned around and saw Rogue there.
"There you are!" you said. "I was wondering if you'd show up. What took ya so long?"

"It was Master Jiemma... again." he said. "when Sting lost to Gajeel and Natsu during the chariot event, Master let him off. But then, when we lost to them today, he... tried to make us erase our guild marks."

Your eyes widened.
"What? You're not in Sabertooth anymore?!" you gasped.
"I said tried. Jiemma... it's a long story. Jiemma tried to kill Lector, Sting's Exceed, but at the last minute Milady— Minerva - saved him." he spoke. "And Sting put a hole through Jiemma. He killed the Master."

"What?" you exclaimed. "Is Frosch okay?"
"Frosch is fine." the shadow mage replied. "he's sleeping."

"Good." you said. "so... you're alright, then?"
"I'm fine. I was only thrown into a wall." his words made your worry only grow. "twice."

"Jeez! You're fine? Are you sure you don't need healing or anything?" you cried out, clutching his forearm with both of your hands. "I can take you to Wendy, she can—"

"It's fine. I'm not sure I'd be welcome there, anyway." Rogue cut you off.
"Sorry. I was going on. I got a but carried away, haha!" you said with a sheepish grin. He nodded and then looked up at me.

"Why... do you care so much?" he asked quietly. "all Sabertooth has done is mock your guild. You and Natsu, you were so angry about what Minerva had done to Lucy, and Gray was so destroyed about losing to Rufus... why do you care so much?"

You sighed.
"The truth is that I don't." you said, earning a surprised look from the Shadow Dragon Slayer, laced with confusion. "I don't care about Sabertooth at all. In fact, I want barely anything to do with your guild. I only wanna surpass them in the Games... a-and I care for you. I've decided that I do."

He seemed very taken aback.
"I do. I've decided that I care for you, and for Frosch, and I hate that the look on your face tells me that not many people do." you said, folding your arms. "but don't go tellin' anyone I said that! Gajeel and Laxus'll have my ass if they find out, and Natsu'll have yours."

He stayed silent for a few painfully slow heartbeats.
"Thank you, [Y/N]." he said finally.

"It's nothing." you said.
"So... what do you say? Friends?" one of his hands slipped out of his cloak and he held it out in front of him.
"Well, I assumed we already were." your face broke into a wide grin, before you took his hand and yanked him in for a side hug. He froze before putting his outstretched arm around my shoulders.

"I'm glad you're okay after today's battle." you said. "just... d'you have some kind of creepy obsession with Gajeel? Oh! Is it this BL that Juvia told me about?!"

He pulled back and said, "n-no! It's just mere interest towards a fellow Dragon Slayer."

"Well, I'm interested in you, fellow Dragon Slayer!" you smiled. "go on, tell me about yourself! Any dramatic backstory I should know about?"

"Oh. I forgot that you're a Dragon Slayer too, it's kind of hard to remember."
"Gee, thanks." you said sarcastically.

"That's besides the point... you should know by now that I killed my Dragon parent." he dismissed my sardonicism.

"Yeah. I heard Sting say it in the arena." you nodded. "Natsu was absolutely pissed, wasn't he? It's probably because of the way Sting said it, like he didn't care... Natsu couldn't excuse it. Especially since I killed my Dragon too."

"You did?" Rogue asked, eyes widening.
"Yeah, but... I didn't want to. She was injured, and her suffering was too much for me. So she asked me to kill her."

"I'm sorry." Rogue apologised. "What was her name?"
"Isychia. The Sound Dragon." you recalled. "she's actually one of the only things I remember from my childhood. I remember nothing before meeting her, and nothing after killing her except getting my lacrima implant. After that, I was at Fairy Tail's door as an eleven-year-old with nowhere to go."

"My Dragon was called Skiadrum." Rogue offered. "in all honesty... he asked me to kill him, too. He was ill, I simply aided him to die."

"So... we're the same?" you questioned.
"We're the same." he nodded.

You looked on at him and both stood in silence.
"I think I should be getting back now." you spoke, making him realise the both of you had been staring too long. He flushed slightly, caught off guard, and then nodded.

"I should be too... Sting needs me there for him, now more than ever." he spoke, tugging at the collar of his cloak.
"Yeah... who knows, I might see you tomorrow, maybe the day after - whenever." you turned and walked a little way down the street, before turning. He was, again, still standing there.

"Goodbye, Rogue." you said.
"Ahm - wait!" he called, jogging up to you. "you wouldn't mind if I, um, walked you back to your inn, would you?"

"What makes you say that?" you asked.
"Well, the streets of Crocus are pretty unfamiliar at night, so I just wanted to make sure..." he trailed off.

"It's fine. Let's go." you said. He nodded and you walked on side-by-side.

"You're a Third Generation Dragon Slayer as well, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. I think that's what it's called. A hybrid between the First and Second Generations, right?" you answered. He hummed and nodded.

"So, you can enter the Dragon Force at will?" he continued.
"I can. The first time I did it was when I was almost fourteen, and it was a rush. It was only against some low-level bandits, since Fairy Tail had become quite unpopular over the seven years Team Tenroujima were gone." you blethered on and on. "but the feeling of power, and the rush of adrenaline... it just made me feel so... so strong, for once!

"That's what inspired me to train my power properly. I don't even remember how to cast Troia anymore, but that's in the past now." you smiled reminiscently. "I use my Dragon Slayer abilities as offensive only, now."

Rogue was staring at you.
"You could'a told me I was rambling, y'know. If you wanted to speak, I would've stopped." you said.

"No, it's fine. I like the look on your face when you talk about something your passionate about. You've got that determined glint in your eyes, and that smile." he replied. "was it really so nice back then? Before the S-Class Trials had begun?"

You nodded.
"It really was. Natsu and I, we had an unbreakable bond. I think that's what allowed me to do the Unison Raid with him the night we challenged Jiemma." you said. "it was the same with Wendy, as well. We're the only two Dragon Slayer girls, and she was just about a year older than me at the time I joined the guild, so we were really close. It sucks that I'm older than her now, but at least I can fight Natsu without Erza dragging me off!"

"There you go again." Rogue spoke with a gentle smile gracing his face. "it's nice to see your face isn't so pinched, like all of my guild-mates. Fairy Tail's so carefree - you think of each other as more than just objects to surpass in order to reach the top there."

You came to a stop outside of Honeybone Inn.
"Yeah... I hope things get better for your guild." you said, pulling him into a full-on embrace. "and, as a matter of fact, I think you did great today, even if you didn't win."

You pulled away from his warm cloak, albeit reluctantly, and then walked to the doorway of the inn.

"I'll see you 'round... friend." you smiled.
"You too, [Y/N]." he returned. You entered the building and then sighed. Once you found a window to look out of, he had already disappeared into the night, presumably moving by shadow like he had done in his scrap against Gajeel.

"Night, Rogue."