She had only ever seen him in passing. Not being a mage herself, there was never really any reason for anything more. Normies like her never interacted with guild members, let alone guild masters. But she's heard of him, seen him when he's ventured to Magnolia to see Natsu.
And boy, was he beautiful.
...
Before seeing her, Sting never really found any need to go to Magnolia. Natsu was there, sure, but his egotistic desire to beat him wasn't worth the motion sickness. But her? He wished he could go every day.
"Are you going again?" Angel asked when she entered his office, seeing him packing his stuff. Her tone wasn't exactly disappporving, but slightly disappointed. Stink looked up at her and merely nodded. "Whose going to run the guild?"
"You will," he said. "I just have to do some business with Fairy Tail. It shouldn't take all day." When he reached her at the door her put on hand on her shoulder. "Just hold down the fort while I'm gone. And tell Rogue to meet me at the station."
"OKay, but don't you think-"
But he was already gone.
...
The first time she saw him she was on her way to her cafe after purchasng her lunch flowers to put on the tables. She had chosen roses, exspensive yes, but she believed the day called for it. The sun was out in a manner that wasn't too overpowering and hot and Y/n knew that her cafe would be a destination for dates.
Walking down one of the many streets of Magnolia, the one with the river that ran through the middle of it, she had stopped at one of the stalls to talk to one of her friends. They chatted about the weather and the upcoming festival and all the toursits it would bring. And when she turned around to leave she saw him.
It was hard not to notice him, his powerful magic called for attention. On the other side of the river, his blonde hair glistened in the sun light and when he laughed at something his dark haired friend said his lips spread in a captivating smile that rendered her paralyzed, as it did everyone else.
"Who is he?" her friend asked from behind her. Y/n turned back to her friend and shook her head. She had never seen her before, he wasn't a Magnolian resident, potentially a tourist though most likely just passing through on a journey of some kind.
"I'm not sure," she said. "Well I'll see you tommorw then, have a nice day!"
"You too Y/n!" she said, finally taking her eyes of the stranger to aide a customer.
Y/n with her bouqet of roses in her arms, gave one final glance at the boy. He stood directly on the other side of the river, merely ten feet away. His attention was focused on his friend, but for a second it drifted and his gaze landed on her.
Polietly she smiled, her eyes closing and her head tilting to the side, a breath of friendliness passing between them. And then she turned and she continued walking.
On the other side of the river Rogue looked at his friend Sting who's eyes were wide and unresponsive, his mouth slightly opened, paralyzed. He waved a hand on front of his friend and only then did he respond.
"Huh? What?"
"Are will still going to Fairy Tail?" Rogue asked.
"Oh, right. Yeah." Sting shook his head loose and him and Rogue went back down the street towards the guild. But his mind's previous occupation of fighting Natsu was gone and he couldn't help himself from looking back to take a glance at the girl, but she had already rounded a cornor.
...
Sting impatiently waited at the train station. His foot was tapping and his eyes darted from side to side trying to find Rogue, while keeping his ears out for the train depature and arrival annoucements. In a slow, unrushed mannor, Rogue was spotted walking towards him, Froche even further behind.
"Rogue!" Sting called out, exasperated. "You almost made me miss the train."
Rogue didn't speak until he reached Sting, and even then he paused and waited. "Why are we going to Magnolia again?" he asked.
"What do you mean why? It's guild business, I have to discuss something with Makarov and I was thinking we could train with Natsu and Gajeel for a bit, and I..."
"You're going to see her," Rogue said for him.
"Huh?" Sting choked out. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Rogue sighed and glanced at Froche and they shared some sort of silent communcation that Sting could never understand. Looking back at Sting Rogue stated, "You're going to the cafe so you can see her."
"I was thinking about stopping by..."
"There's no business at Fairy Tail," Rogue told him. "At least none that couldn't be done over a lacrima call. You're going to see the girl."
Sting didn't know what to say. He couldn't really deny it.
"I'm staying at the guild to help Angel do your job. You don't need me to come with."
Sting knew that Rogue didn't mean it like that, but it still hurt. It wasn't like he was wrong either. Sting wasn't being a great guild master, blowing off his job just to steal a glance at a girl from another town. And leaving all his work to Angel wasn't really that great either.
"I'm sorry," he addmitted, but there was no sign of him abandoning his journey. He needed to see her.
Rogue nodded and placed a hand on Sting's shoulder before turing around and slowly making his way back to the guild. Sting called after him.
"Rogue! Buy Angel some flowers on the way back, as a thank you!" Rogue turned, nodded, and then continued walking.
Seconds later the train arrive and he was gone.
...
It wasn't even a week later that she saw him for the second time. As Y/n cleared the dishes of a couple that had sat in the outside area of her cafe, she had spotted him walking with the infamous Fairy Tail guild members. His expression was different that time, it wasn't the calm, content one he had seen when he spoke souly with his black haired friend, the presence of Natsu had strung arrogance accross his features. He smirked instead of smiled, and his eyes had a spark of challenge flash within them.
Deviating from the group, Lucy jogged over to visit Y/n. Being Lucy's favorite cafe, the two girls had become quite close friends and Lucy wished to say hi.
"Y/n!" she called out as she crossed the bridge linking the two side streets over the river. "How are you?"
Y/n smiled at her and placed the dishes down to rest. "I'm fine. Would you like a table?"
Lucy shook her head. "No, we're off to do a quest. Though I do miss your coffee."
"You haven't been by recently, have you?"
"I've been busy. We need to catch up sometime soon though."
Following her like a lost puppy, Natsu crossed the bridge to Lucy, stringing the two dragon slayers along with them.
"Y/n!" Natsu yelled when he saw her. "Do you have some food for me?"
Y/n smiled at him. "Of course I do, but only if you pay for it."
"But I'm broke! And I thought we were friends."
"Natsu!" Lucy began to scold but the conversation soon fell flat on Y/n's ears. She had glanced behind the bickering couple and her eyes locked on the blonde mage. Seeing him close up she could desiphere more of his features, his blue eyes, the scar across his eyebrow. He looked even more beautiful than she thought.
She smiled at him again, over the argument between Natsu and Lucy, and then she smiled at his black haired friend, but her eyes fell back to his. Like they were drawn there. The second time she looked at him, he smiled back. His white teeth shimmered and his sharp features conformed to the smile, his demenor changing in seconds to being softer, friendlier.
But it was then that a new customer arrived and Y/n had to turn to Lucy muttering, "Have fun on your quest. Be safe," before she was pulled away from the group. And Sting's eyes could only follow her as she retreated inside and he was pulled away.
...
He couldn't put it into words how beautiful she was. There was something other than just her appreance that made her shine, glow in such a magnificant way that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He could never, even if he tried, forget her radiant smile or the way just seeing her made him feel.
She made him feel a type of happiness he had never felt before, not with anyone else. Something better than winning a fight. Something meaningful. Something he wanted to make permenant.
But he didn't know her and she didn't know him and he couldn't find a way to change that. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn' do the most simple thing, talk to her. Whenever he would visit her cafe, ordering from one of her employees and watching as she aided to everyone's needs, there was always something the took his tongue and wouldn't let it go. He was rendered useless.
But their eyes would meet, and they would smile at each other and share a moment only between them, and maybe that was enough.
Distraught and broken, stumbling from the train, Sting bumped into someone, clutching his stomach, hoping and praying he didn't expell all of his insides as the person who he bumped into dropped their stuff to the ground.
"I'm so sorry," she said, reaching out to him, ignoring her dropped items. "Are you okay?" she asked, her hands placing themselves on his shoulders in hope to steady him.
His eyes glanced up to see who it was and his breath stopped. It was her. And suddenly the sickness was gone.
"Do you want me to take you to a healer?" she asked, and she was even more beautiful up close.
He paused, and stood up fully, a head taller than her. And all he could do was shake his head.
"Okay," she said. "Well I hope you feel better."
It was then that he saw the dispersed flowers, cloths and bags of decoration that laid unforgotten on the ground, and he was acting before he was thinking. Sting reached out to grab her stuff, hauling it all up into his arms.
"No, you don't have to. I can manage."
He shook his head again, grasping every item in his arms. He then shifted them all over to one side so he could free a hand and he held it out. It was now or never, he told himself.
"I'm Sting," he introduced, his voice confident and jovial, a smile that only she could evoke from him spreading his lips.
And she smiled back, a slight giggle escaping her lips as she took his hand, large and rough but warm and comforting.
"Y/n," she said and even her name was beautiful.
"Are you going to the cafe?" he asked and she nodded. "Then I'll help carry your stuff."
"You don't have to. It's not that much and I can manage," she tried to tell him, feeling bad for taking up his time. She had asked Lucy about him when she started seeing him more. He wasn't only a mage, but a guild master, and wouldn't have the time to help her run stupid errands.
Sting handed back her stuff and her heart dropped. But he held onto one of her roses. He looked at it, and back to her and frowned. "But you can't carry it all," he said, "you have no room for this so I have to help. Who would I be if I didn't help a person in need?"
And this time her laugh was loud and it was real and he wished he could hear it everyday.
"Fine then," she said. "Help me." And she handed back the heavier items and they walked together back to her cafe.
But that was the pique of Sting's confidence and when they arrive at her cafe he had run dry, unable to find an excuse to stay behind and talk to her more, to get to know her, or to spend time with her, and soon he was on his way back to the Sabertooth guild, his heart both heavier and lighter than before.
...
It was only untill the festival in which Fairy Tail had invited all of Sabertooth to come experience that he saw her again. He was ashamed, he had to addmit, at his lack of ability to build his realtionship with Y/n, and he had given up on visiting her.
And Y/n didn't realize how much she missed those blue eyes until they stopped showing up to meet hers.
On the night of the festival, Y/n had closed her cafe, bundled up in a cardigan and jeans, to walk the streets of Magnolia in the cool night, decorated and full of stalls to be ventured. She was alone as she walked, prefering to take in the scereney without the need to please another's desire for a conversation.
And when she reached the cherry blossom tree, bright and pink, illumiated by the lights and the moon, she saw him on the otherside, alone as well.
Sting had escaped the company of his comrades to explore the festival, his mood killed by the absense of her. An absense he had convinced himself he could never fill.
But when they're eyes met across the field, just centimeters from being blocked off by the trunk of the tree, they felt something pull at them, like a red string of fate. And slowly, they walked, Sting to the left, Y/n to the right, and their eyes never left each other as they did.
They met in the middle. And she smiled and he wondered how he could ever surive without it.
"Enjoying the festival?" she asked, gazing up at him, her features illuminated in the moonlight.
"I am now," he couldn't help but say and she had to look away, her cheeks flushing a pink the shade of the cherry blossoms leaves.
"Well that's good," she said, her eyes trained on the space between them. And she watched as he took a step forwards and brought her gaze to his.
"You're beautiful," he whispeared to her, lost in her eyes and drunk on her presence. When she didn't respond, but she didn't run away either, his hand reached forwards for hers and he felt ecstacy as her fingers wrapped around his, welcoming him.
"Probably not as beautiful as the tree, you can't help but look at it," she finally said, adverting her gaze to the tree, but his eyes didn't leave her.
"I don't need to," he said.
Her eyes were back on him and he tucked a lock of her hair behind he ear, his hand resting there.
"The most beautiful thing in the world in right in front of me."
Sting leaned down and did what before he could only dream of; he placed his lips on hers. The Magnolia Festival's mesmerising fireworks were abandoned by the couple. Because nothing was better than their moment. Than the feeling on their lips connected.