An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 20/?
Fandom: Fairy Tail
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Laxus Dreyar/Lucy Heartfilia, Freed Justine/Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel/Lisanna Strauss, Evergreen/Elfman Strauss
Characters: Lucy Heartfilia, Laxus Dreyar, Loke (Fairy Tail), Happy (Fairy Tail), Evergreen (Fairy Tail), Freed Justine, Bickslow (Fairy Tail), Natsu Dragneel, Cobra | Erik, Jellal Fernandes, Meredy (Fairy Tail)
Additional Tags: slight slow burn, guildmates to lovers, Action/Adventure, Romantic Fluff, Unlikely Friendships, Suspense, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Dark Magic, Complicated Relationships, its not all sad, Drama & Romance, Psychological Drama
Summary:
"We're not breaking up. Just taking a break. Erza is meeting up with Jellal, Gray has been working on his relationship with Juvia so they have been taking jobs together, Wendy has been going to Lamia Scale to see Sherria, and then Natsu and Lisanna. I mean, Natsu and I just went on that job yesterday. Not that it had the greatest ending," Lucy explained. She did feel a little left out at times since she never had anyone to take jobs with anymore but how could she complain? She was just happy to see her friends happy and that is what mattered to her.
**Won categories for best: Drama (tied) and Romance for 2024 second term with the guild awards on Tumblr. Thank you to all my followers who voted!!**
'Our paths began in the dark tower. We believed we had been saved by Brain. But that was a false freedom. Torn from each other, cursing the world, we were nothing more than pawns meant to seal Zero. Now... finally, true freedom lies before us'
Decided to draw some fanart of one of my fave roles that Ricco Fajardo voices; Jackal from Fairy Tail! Really enjoyed his performance as this character especially since it contrasts so nicely with some of his other roles like Mirio from MHA. Been honestly working on this piece off and on for a while now so finally happy to have completed it! It was fun drawing Jackal’s 3 forms! Just hope this explosive liminal space makes sense in a cinematic poster kind of way. XD
Just as the Stars Light Up the Night Sky|| A StingYu (Sting x Yukino) story Chapter 1
Sting awoke to the sun shining into the room and filling it with a warm glow. He turned over to the celestial mage next to him and ran his fingers through her soft hair. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal those large brown orbs that the guild master could never get tired of looking into.
"Morning Yuki" Sting hummed, moving his hand down to her bare back, causing her to shiver.
"Sting-sama we shouldn't be doing this, it isn't right, you're the master and well I'm nothing special." Yukino said, placing her hand on his chest to push him away.
"You know I hate when you say crap like that, you're amazing." Sting said, causing Yukino to blush a deep red. Sting, not being able to help himself pressed his lips against hers, she wanted to stop him but he was just such a damn good kisser. Soon Yukino was able to push the dragon slayer off of her. She sat up, her feet touching the cold floor.
"I'm sorry Sting-sama I can't do this, I'll see you at the guild hall." Yukino said putting on her clothes that had been discarded on the floor last night. She walked out the door, not another word said.
It's been a few weeks since Yukino had decided to avoid Sting and she felt awful. She could see how much it hurt him that she wouldn't talk to him, but she knew this was for the best. However she wasn't thinking about that at the moment because she was too busy being sick. Minerva had come over that morning only to find the other girl vomiting, so now she was making some tea to help her friend.
"Sorry you had to see that M'lady" Yukino said, coming out of the bathroom and sitting on the couch.
"It's fine, I've seen worse." Minerva replied, sitting down next to the celestial mage. The two sat there in silence, both of them not sure what to say.
"So, uh, how long have you been feeling sick like this?" Minerva asked, placing a hand on the other girl's shoulder.
"I don't know, I guess about a week or so, but it's only in the morning I'm fine the rest of the day." Yukino explained and as she went further into detail about what had been happening Minerva started to understand why.
"Yukino, it sounds to me like you're pregnant. I could be wrong but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. Now who is the sick fuck I need to kill for doing this to you!?" The dark haired girl said ready to take down a hundred men if it meant protecting one of her guild mates.
Yukino panicked, what was she supposed to say, Minerva could be right, but if that's so then not only does it affect herself but also Sting.
"Um, well maybe it's uh, Sting," Yukino told her friend, fidgeting with her shirt.
"Oh, I didn't... you two have, uh, done the deed?" Minerva asked, suddenly feeling super awkward. Of all of the things to happen she never would have guessed that two of her guild mates were off having sex. Yukino just pulled her legs up to her chest and tried to stop the tears from coming.
"Okay then, let's find out if you really are pregnant, if you aren't then you can go back to living your life as it is now, but if you are you have to tell Sting. I know you and you try to run away from your problems thinking you are a burden to others, but Sabertooth is your family and we want to help you through the hard times, understand?" Minerva said, pulling Yukino into a hug and rubbing soothing circles on her back.
After Minerva's visit Yukino went to the doctor to check if she was really pregnant and Rouge had decided to go with her. He had talked to her earlier and wanted to make sure she was okay.
~FlashBack~
Yukino had walked into the guild hall hoping no one would notice her, but of course she just didn't have luck on her side.
"Oh, hey Yukino, about time you showed up. I don't think I could have handled M'lady and Sting on my own much longer." Rouge gestured for the short haired girl to come sit next to him. Yukino sat down across from the dragon slayer and by the look on her face he immediately knew something was bothering her.
"Rouge, can I talk to you about something?" Yukino asked, petting the little exceed sitting by her on the table.
"Of course, what's up?"
Yukino sighed looking down this was hard for her, but she trusted Rouge he had always been looking out for her and was her best friend.
"I think I might be pregnant with Sting's kid. I'm going to go see a doctor later to make sure and I need someone to be there with me." Yukino explained hugging herself as the tears threatened to fall.
"Don't worry, I'll go with you, I need a break from these crazy people anyway." Rouge said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.
~End Flashback~
Yukino and Rogue were sitting in the waiting room not talking when a doctor came out and called for Yukino. The two followed the doctor to a room where they had to do more waiting.
The appointment went well and it was confirmed that Yukino was pregnant. She was now in the bathroom crying and Rouge was trying to get her to come out. He had called Sorano thinking she would have more luck calming down Yukino but she hadn't arrived yet.
"Come on Yukino, you can't stay in there forever." Rouge said, knocking on the door. He was then stopped by a hand on his shoulder, he looked over to see the girl's sister and backed away to let her try and talk to Yukino.
"Yukino, it's me, Sorano can I come in?" The angel magic user asked in a gentle voice. The door opened just a little to reveal the tear stained face of Yukino. Sorano then walked into the bathroom and started to comfort the young mage.
It has been three days since Yukino went to the doctor and no one had seen her. Rouge, getting worried, decided to go look for her. When he got to her place no one was there, he soon found that all of her photos were also gone. The dark haired dragon slayer went into the bedroom looking for something only to find a note one the bed, he picked it up and read it every word adding more saddens.
Dear Sabertooth,
I have decided to leave for the time being, I don't know when, or even if I will come back, but don't worry. I am staying with my sister, so I'm safe you don't have to come looking for me. Just know that I'm not leaving because of something any of you did, this is for personal reasons. Please don't try and make me come back this hurts enough already, you guys are my family, but this is my decision. Oh, and I have attached my recipe for the float cookies since you all enjoy them so much. ~Yukino
Rouge looked at the piece of paper that was stapled to the letter to see the recipe. Another folded piece of paper caught his eye, it was a second letter with Sting's name on the front. Rouge assumed that Yukino wrote this for him and only him to read and decide not to open it, though it would make sense to take it with him to pass onto the guild master.
When the shadow dragon slayer got back to the guild hall he told everyone about the letter he had found causing them all to start talking at once trying to get answers.
"Yuki left, without even saying goodbye, does she hate me?" Rouge could hear the other dragon slayer whisper to himself.
"Here, Yukino left this one for you." Rouge said, handing the letter to Sting. Sting took the paper and left to his office without another word.
Sting's POV:
I sat at the desk in my office staring at the letter debating whether to read it or not. In the note left for everyone Yukino said that she didn't leave because of us, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that I did something. I decided that it was best to put the note aside for now and read it later, I had a guild to run anyway.
I went back out to where everyone else was only to be bombarded with questions.
"Sting, are we going to go get Yukino?" M'lady asked after I got everyone to quiet down. She looked so upset, her and Yukino had grown super close and now her friend was gone.
"No"
"What!? But Sting, we can't just let her leave like this!" Minerva shouted at me.
"You think I don't know that, this hurts me just as much as it hurts you, maybe even more. Yukino is my everything, I love her more than my own life and now she's gone. But she doesn't want us to follow her and we need to respect that." I said as the tears started to fall, I couldn't handle this right now so I went home.
I had just given birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl, and was overjoyed to have this little bundle of joy in my life, but that didn't stop the pain of not having my Sabertooth family with me.
"So, watch'a going to name her?" Macbeth asked not sleeping for once.
I looked down on her small face thinking of the best name for such a tiny, but bright child.
"Alumina " I said, settling on a name and smiling out of pure joy, I just wish her father could have been here.
After a mission that ended with far more mess than it should have, you run into an old friend of yours. The same old friend that you had grown to love, and continued to love throughout the years.
A/N: I used F/N instead of Y/N just because. I always considered turning this into an actual series, but I decided to stick with a brief one shot instead.
Pairing: Natsu Dragneel x Reader
Warnings: angst, you are a villain, reunion gone wrong, sad ending
You sighed heavily, glancing around at the damage that your guild had inflicted on the surrounding area. The four of you had only come to take out a singular person, and yet your comrades had ended up taking it over the top.
“This happens every time.” You muttered, running a hand through your tangled hair. Though you knew you should be used to it by now, you couldn’t help praying that they would learn eventually. “Can’t you guys just stick to what we have to do?”
“It’s not like we’re doing any harm!” Yuka giggled, grinning childishly at you.
You glanced over at her. Yuka used transformation magic, and was very good at using it effectively. She tended to distract the target, causing them to attack her, whilst the rest of your group could take them out in secrecy.
“I don’t care about the harm,” You shot back, rolling your eyes. “As a dark guild, we have to be wary of covering our tracks. We don’t want anyone tracking us down.”
A loud scoff caught your attention. Takeshi, who used dark ice magic, was already walking away from the scene with a contented smirk on his face. His light hair was being blown out around him, but his hair was messy already, so it wouldn’t make much difference to him.
“Let them come to us, [F/N]. We’d be strong enough to take them down.” Takeshi’s voice eventually reached your ears as the rest of you started to follow him. He was always overly-confident when it came to fighting.
Takeshi was the kind of wizard to attack the Magic Council single-handedly, if he could. There had been several occasions, on which he had attempted to attack the Magic Council, though your group always came along to stop him. It had usually ended up with you slapping him round the face and dragging him back to the guild, despite his overwhelming kicking and screaming.
“I wouldn’t mind fighting Blue Pegasus!” Yuka added to the conversation, skipping along beside you.
With her small figure and bright eyes, nobody would have guessed that such a young, innocent child would be part of the notorious dark guild, Shadow Heart. She was always playing with toys, or following the gossip about the famous guilds, such as Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel.
“I’d hate to have to fight Fairy Tail, though…” Hajime, the celestial mage of your group, had a tendency to sit at the back. He would allow to rest of you to fight, before jumping in whenever it appealed to him.
“I don’t understand what’s so bad about Fairy Tail. Who even are they?” You wondered aloud, your voice echoing around the empty area.
All of the civilians had either been badly wounded, or they had escaped before the destruction had taken place. Several of them had run away, screaming about how they were going to contact one of the stronger guilds, in hopes of getting them to drive your guild away.
“It’s not that I don’t know who Fairy Tail are, I just don’t know the people in Fairy Tail. Surely they can’t be that strong.” You continued, raising your shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. You were the kind of person that didn’t really care about the other guilds, therefore you didn’t know the kinds of magic that the other guilds wielded.
As a user of dark magic, you were one of the strongest mages in your guild, Shadow Heart. You were taken on most jobs because you could walk in, take the enemy down with a mere flick of your wrist, and then walk right back out.
But not today.
None of the people in your small group had expected to be ambushed on your way out of the destroyed town. So when a black-haired male, wearing nothing from the waist up, jumped out of a nearby bush, there were a few surprised screams from the four of you.
Hajime stumbled backwards, grumbling when he fell on his ass. He rubbed his head tentatively, before glaring up at the unknown male. His narrowed eyes fixed the unknown person with a glare so harsh that it could have melted ice.
“You guys were actually here? It was surprisingly easy to track your guild’s movements.” The male commented, narrowing his eyes at the four of you.
You were already posed to strike, knowing that this guy wasn’t here to make small talk, or befriend any of you. You also suppressed an eye roll, knowing that the encounter could have been avoided. After warning the others not to cause a big mess, it had finally come back to haunt them.
“We told you to stick to the plan, Ice Princess!” An irritated voice caught your attention.
The next voice was feminine, “Gray!”
Four more people came tumbling out of the same bush, fixing the undressed male with several glares. A female with red-hair and armour, that looked to be fairly heavy, grabbed him by the ear.
“Gray, we’ve been through this.” She told him, her voice low and menacing as she released him from her grip. Her eyes then turned to stare at the four of us, though she didn’t seem at all surprised. “Oh, you found them. Good job!”
Immediately after threatening him, she turned to him with a smile and patted his back with much force. The dark-haired male, who you now knew was named Gray, stumbled forward, his face scrunching up in pain.
You exchanged a confused glance with Yuka, her confusion seemingly reflecting yours. Your guild had been approached by five strangers, but instead of fighting you, they were exchanging some friendly banter.
“Guys, this isn’t the time for this!” A blonde-haired female whined loudly, clutching her hands to her chest. Her eyes were fixated on our group and you realised, with much satisfaction, that she seemed scared.
“Natsu, I got stuck in a tree!” A blue cat flew into the clearing, followed shortly by a white cat. You rubbed your eyes, wondering when you were going to wake up.
And then something resonated within you.
That name was familiar. The name Natsu was familiar to you. Where had you heard that name before?
“Look, you guys are cute, but we’re kind of going somewhere.” Takeshi told them, before attempting to stride past their group. He was immediately met by a flaming fist. Takeshi fell backwards, his back colliding harshly with the floor.
“Natsu-san, you didn’t need to do that!” A young girl, with deep blue hair, turned to the salmon-haired male with wide, pleading eyes. She looked to be the same height as Yuka, though they were visibly different in the chest area.
Once again, the name struck you as familiar. As did the fire magic used by the pink-haired male. Both were shockingly familiar to you, striking up a feeling of nostalgia within you, though you were unable to remember where you knew it from.
“Natsu…” You breathed, the name feeling strangely comforting as it fell from your lips. It felt as though you had spoken that name a million times.
“[F/N]-chan, is everything okay?” Yuka glanced over at you, placing a hand upon your arm comfortingly. You looked down at her with wide eyes, and nodded gently, fixing her with a small smile.
This time, it was the fire mage’s turn to stare with wide eyes.
“We weren’t intending to fight you, but it seems you’ve hurt our comrade. That is something unforgivable.” You stated, before raising your hand. A thick wave of dark energy lashed out at the blonde-haired female, sending her flying backwards.
Before any of them could react, you immediately raised your other hand, causing the younger child to fly backwards. She collided with a nearby tree, then fell limply to the floor.
“Requip!” The red-haired female yelled loudly, causing a light glow to surround her body. With furrowed brows, you realised that her armour was changing. Instead of the simple armour she wore before, she was now dressed in an outfit that had a very long skirt, with wings protruding from her back.
As she fixed you with a harsh glare, you saw a wheel of swords gradually appearing behind her. A smirk tugged at the corner of your lips; you realised that you were facing strong opponents. Perhaps it would be fun.
“Ice Make: Lance!” The unclothed male shouted something at your group, before a shot of ice ran towards you.
Takeshi laughed aloud, intercepting the ice with his. A black mist settled upon the ground, before a large number of black ice bullets began to rain down on the ground.
Gray seemed somewhat taken aback, before he attempted to dodge the attack. He then turned to his comrades, “I think I’ll take on this guy!”
“I was going to say the same thing.” Takeshi interrupted the other male, firing another cold attack in his direction. As the dark-haired male lunged away, Takeshi followed, which took the two of them away from the small gathering.
That left two other opponents, assuming the females didn’t stand up again.
“Transform!” Yuka immediately threw herself at the red-haired female. The two of them stumbled backwards, immersed in their fight. As they hesitantly moved away, still throwing hasty attacks at each other, you rolled your eyes.
Now you were left with the pink-haired male. He glared at you furiously, probably enraged from where you had hurt his comrades. Hajime stood slightly behind you, staring down at his hands with a bored expression.
“I’ll go on ahead. You can have fun, [F/N].” Hajime muttered, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
Natsu, your opponent, could have easily attacked him there and then, but he seemed frozen to the spot. His eyes were wide again. You cocked your head at him, wondering what was bothering him.
The more you stared at him, the more it clicked into place. His hair was familiar to you. It reminded you of the mop of hair that you were so used to seeing as a kid. His eyes were familiar to you. They reminded you of the sparkling eyes that met yours whenever you were sad.
“Natsu…” You repeated yourself quietly. “Natsu Dragneel…”
Natsu Dragneel! He was your childhood best friend. In fact, you’d even go as far as to say you’d developed a crush on him. The two of you had been so incredibly close, and yet you hadn’t spoken to him for years.
When your parents mysteriously disappeared, you fell into a state of despair. Natsu kept trying to contact you, but you kept shutting yourself away from everyone. You eventually left Magnolia, wandering aimlessly for several months, before you had stumbled upon your new home – Shadow Heart.
At first, you hadn’t realised it was a dark guild; everyone had been so friendly and inviting that it hadn’t even occurred to you. But when you listened to the news that spread, you realised what you had gotten yourself involved in. And you didn’t mind.
They had welcomed you. They had given you the home you thought you’d never find. Shadow Heart was your family, and you wouldn’t give them up for anything.
It was only now that you began to wonder what had happened to Natsu Dragneel. It was only now that you wanted to know where your best friend had been this whole time, and if he still remembered you.
“How do you know my name?”
You immediately stared back at the boy, your eyes wide and your face pale. “What?”
“My name is Natsu Dragneel. How do you know it?” He repeated himself, this time speaking with more anger. There was something about his voice that was familiar, too.
“It seems you share the same name as my childhood friend.” You told him, laughing awkwardly. There was no way it could be possible. There was no way that the person in front of you could be the same Natsu Dragneel that you had grown so close to.
“Hold on… That girl said your name was [F/N].” Natsu kept muttered quietly. He seemed to be as shocked as you were. “That was the name of my childhood friend.”
And then it clicked.
The person stood before you was, in fact, the Natsu Dragneel that you had been in love with. The person whose comrades you had just hurt was, in fact, your best friend.
You shuddered. “No way.”
“Why, [F/N]? Why would you join a dark guild?”
“They were all I had. They welcomed me, Natsu. When I had no one, these guys were my family!” You told him, feeling your hands begin to shake at your sides. You didn’t want to fight him. You didn’t want to hurt him anymore than you already had, but you didn’t think you had a choice. “I didn’t want to be alone.”
“I was your family, [F/N]! You had me!” His face, too, was pale as he stared back at you. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, in time with his breathing. “Do you know how much it hurt me when you went missing? I searched for you for months! Years, even!”
“I-I didn’t know…” You whispered, feeling tears in the corner of your eyes.
“I don’t want to fight you, [F/N], but you’ve hurt my comrades.” Natsu breathed as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Flames engulfed his shaking fists and you realised that you might have to fight him.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Natsu.” You told him, your voice quivering as the fear slowly settled in. The love that you had felt for him had never truly died away. It had always lived deep within you as a hushed secret, a whisper of hope that you might meet him again.
But you hadn’t wanted to meet him like this.
You could do nothing but watch on as he prepared to throw his first attack at you. As much as you didn’t want to fight him, you also didn’t want to just stand there and take what he was going to throw at you.
Just as he was about to charge at you, you shrieked, “I loved you, Natsu! I still do!”
He froze just in front of you, his face barely inches from yours. The flames around him slowly fizzled away, until they were nothing but mere embers. You breathed a sigh of relief, though you knew that you weren’t in the clear just yet.
Natsu dropped his hand back to his side, his hot breath fanning across your face as you tried to control your breathing. His intense gaze met yours, seemingly locking your eyes in place. The lack of distance between the two of you was something that you couldn’t quite ignore.
“I’ll give you two choices, [F/N]. You can hand yourself in, or you can leave her with me. If you come with me, you’ll join Fairy Tail and you’ll stop working for bad guilds.” He told you, constantly avoiding your gaze as he spoke.
The first option was out of the question. You’d be locked up for ages, and potentially forced to hand over the rest of your guild. That was something you couldn’t do; you couldn’t betray their trust.
But you didn’t want to leave them. As much as you wanted to be with Natsu again, you couldn’t just leave your family. You needed them, and they needed you. They would never forgive you if you just abandoned them.
“Natsu, I-I can’t just leave them.”
He glanced away from me, “We’ll let them go.”
“I can’t leave them, Natsu. They’re my family.” You pressed again, knowing that it wasn’t going to end happily either way. No matter which you chose, you would be leaving someone behind.
With a deep breath, you leaned forward. You leaned towards Natsu until you felt your nose brush against his, until his serpentine eyes were right in front of yours. A sad smile danced across your face as you leaned forward, pressing your lips against his cheek.
“It was nice to see you again, Natsu.” You whispered, before walking past him. If there was no way to be with them both, then you would choose neither. You would hand yourself in to the Magic Council, despite the pain it was causing you.
Perhaps you and Natsu would meet again. And when it did happen, you would tell him everything that you had locked deep inside yourself.
