Chapter Text
There is a particular kind of happiness that only exists in the moment right before it ends—the last one you get to have without knowing it's the last one. It doesn't announce itself. It doesn't feel fragile or borrowed or numbered. It just feels like an ordinary Tuesday, like a train ride you've taken a dozen times before, like a heart doing something as small and unremarkable as being glad.
The train ride from Magnolia to Gazania had never felt so long, but for what seemed like the first time in forever, the tight knot of anticipation in Lucy’s chest was fueled by excitement instead of exhaustion.
She leaned her head against the cool glass window, a small, private smile tugging at her lips.
It had been a brutal month. Between her team getting tangled up in a huge, multi-part job request in the southern mountains and Sting’s mounting duties as Sabertooth’s guild master, their schedules had collided fiercely. They had yet to see each other in over a month, the last time they had spent any real time together being their first anniversary.
Sting had gone completely overboard, whisking her away for a three-day staycation to a luxurious, secluded beach resort near Cedar. They had ended up spending far more time tangled together in the plush sheets of their sea-facing private villa than actually stepping foot on the sand, but Lucy certainly wasn't complaining. Basking in the sound of the crashing waves and his undivided, adoring attention, it had felt like a dream come true.
That was one of the several things she loved about Sting. He never shied away from showing her affection or telling her exactly how much he adored her. It was also one of the things that she was actively working on getting better at.
Usually, Sting was the one who made the grand gestures. He was the one who would show up at her apartment window in the dead of night, breathless and grinning, just to spend the night with her before racing back to Sabertooth in the wee hours of the morning because the guild master couldn’t be away for long. He planned the dates, picked the restaurants, and loudly, proudly took the initiative. He loved playing the doting boyfriend, treating her, as he always said, like the Princess of Fairy Tail that she was.
But this time, Lucy wanted to be the one to surprise him. She wanted to show him that she could be spontaneous, too. And that’s why she had packed an overnight bag and hoped on the first train to Gazania to spend some quality time with her boyfriend.
When she stepped off the train, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and gold. Instead of heading to a hotel, she walked straight toward the Sabertooth guild hall, her heart doing a nervous little flip with every step. She could already picture the look on his face—the way his dark blue eyes would widen, the brilliant, crooked grin that would break across his face before he swept her off her feet in front of his entire guild.
She had even carefully navigated her own team’s protective barrier to get here. Natsu was thankfully on a fishing trip with Happy for two weeks so she had managed to dodge that bullet quite easily. All that was left were Erza and Gray.
Convincing them hadn't been an easy feat. When she had first brought up the idea of taking a "personal trip" to visit Gazania, Erza’s eyes had narrowed instantly, her arms crossing over her armored chest as if assessing a threat.
"A trip to Sabertooth? Alone?" Erza had questioned. "Lucy, I understand you two have been busy, but traveling alone across Fiore just because he is too tied to his desk seems unnecessary. If he wants to see you, he should make the time."
"It's a surprise, Erza!" Lucy had insisted, offering a bright, albeit slightly nervous, laugh. "He always does these grand things for me. I just want to return the favor for once. Besides, it's Sabertooth. I'll be perfectly safe."
Gray, who had been leaning against the bar with his hands shoved into his pockets, had let out a low, cynical scoff at that. "Safe from enemies, maybe. I just don't get why you have to cater to his schedule."
Lucy had turned to him, putting her hands on her hips. "Gray, please. I just want to see my boyfriend."
It took a good ten minutes of Lucy explicitly promising Erza that she would inform them the moment she arrived, and assuring Gray that she wasn't pushing herself too hard after their previous grueling job request request, before the two finally relented.
Erza had sighed, a maternal fondness breaking through her stern facade as she patted Lucy’s shoulder. "Very well. But if he does not treat you with the utmost respect, you tell me immediately."
"I will, I promise," Lucy had smiled.
Despite the skepticism Lucy had faced by most of her team and guild mates when she had told them that she was dating Sting Eucliffe, they had finally come around to trusting him with her over the past year, seeing how patiently and respectfully the light dragon slayer had courted her, waiting for her guild's blessing before making anything official. Most of them had learned to smile and be happy for her.
Except Gray.
And throughout the entire conversation, it was Gray's reaction that had lingered in the back of Lucy’s mind. She had always gotten the distinct vibe that Gray never truly liked Sting. He had never said it outright—he knew how happy Lucy had been over the past year, and he had patiently stood by and let Sting do the work to earn Fairy Tail's blessing. For Lucy's sake, Gray had kept his mouth shut, never wanting to rain on her parade or make her feel guilty for falling for the Sabertooth guild master.
But she had noticed the little things. She had seen the way Gray’s jaw would tighten whenever Sting would be doting and affectionate towards her in public, and the subtle, protective way he would step just a fraction closer to her whenever Sting was around.
Lucy could tell that he was barely tolerating him because he thought Sting was making her happy. She didn’t know why Gray didn’t like the young dragon slayer and she couldn’t force him to, just because he was her boyfriend. All she could do was be content with the fact that he was respecting her wishes.
Lucy shook her head to get the ice-make wizard’s image out of it as she approached the doors of the Sabertooth guild hall. The usual raucous noise she expected from a wizard guild was strangely absent. It was later in the evening, so most of the members had likely turned in.
She slipped through the heavy front doors quietly, not wanting to make a scene just yet. The main hall was dim and mostly empty, save for a few wizards chatting in the far corner. Lucy kept her head down, smiling as she noticed Lector and Frosch, who were asleep on one of the benches, before heading straight toward the back stairwell.
She knew the way to the guild master’s office by heart now.
Up the stairs, down the quiet, carpeted hallway. Her hand tightened on the strap of her bag. She felt a sudden, fluttering wave of nerves. Was this too spontaneous? What if he was buried in paperwork and stressed? No, she told herself, shaking her head. It’s Sting. He’d drop a mountain of paperwork just to be with me.
Reaching the mahogany door of his office, she noticed it was unlatched, resting ajar by just a fraction of an inch. A sliver of light cut across the dark hallway.
Lucy raised her hand to knock, a breathless "Surprise" already forming on her lips.
But the words died in her throat.
Through the narrow crack in the door, she didn’t see a tired guild master buried under a mountain of council documents. She saw her boyfriend. His signature fur-trimmed bolero jacket was discarded on the back of his desk chair. His back was turned mostly towards the door. And wrapped tightly in his arms, her face buried in the crook of his neck as his hands rested firmly on her waist, was a very familiar white-haired celestial wizard.
The silence in the hallway suddenly turned deafening as Lucy froze, the breath completely leaving her lungs.
For a second, her brain flatlined. The logic centers of her mind scrambled to find an innocent explanation. Yukino is crying. He must be comforting her. Like a Master would with his guild members. That’s right..
But the illusion shattered when Sting leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of Yukino’s ear, a low, intimate murmur escaping him that Lucy couldn't quite catch. Yukino let out a breathless laugh—a sound so familiar, yet completely alien in this context—and tilted her head up. Sting didn't hesitate. He kissed her, deeply and with a practiced familiarity that proved that this was not the first time.
The overnight bag slipped from Lucy’s fingers, hitting the carpeted floor with a dull, heavy thud.
The sound was not loud, but in the dead silence of the hallway, it echoed like a thunderclap.
Inside the office, the two wizards froze. Sting’s head snapped toward the door, his eyes instantly locking onto the narrow gap. Through the crack, his gaze collided directly with Lucy’s.
For a moment, the cocky, confident Sabertooth Master looked utterly blank. Then, as recognition set in, his face went completely pale, his eyes widening in a look of unadulterated panic. He let go of Yukino so fast it was as if she had burned him.
"Lucy?" Sting’s voice choked out, cracking on her name.
Yukino gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as she turned toward the door, her own eyes filling with instant horror. "L-Lucy-sama?!"
The sound of Yukino’s voice—the formal, respectful suffix she always used—sent a sickening jolt through Lucy’s chest. It felt like a slap to the face.
“I don’t have any feelings for him, Lucy-sama. You’re my precious friend. Master Sting is just my guild master, nothing more. I give you my word.”
Yukino’s voice from a year ago echoed vividly in Lucy's mind.
Lucy remembered that day with agonizing clarity. They had been sitting in a quiet, sunlit café in Gazania. Lucy had been entirely upfront, her cheeks burning with a nervous blush as she confessed to Yukino that Sting had been relentlessly courting her. But before she had even considered giving Sting an answer, she had looked across the table, caught her fellow celestial wizard’s hands in her own, and explicitly asked her.
She had given Yukino every single opportunity to claim him, to admit to a hidden crush, or to even imply a passing fondness. Lucy would have walked away without a single shred of regret. She would have buried whatever silly, fluttering feelings she was developing for the handsome light dragon slayer deep down and never looked back, because to her the sisterhood she had forged with Yukino following the Grand Magic Games and the events of the dragon invasion meant infinitely more to her than any boy could.
And Yukino had looked her dead in the eye, squeezed her hands back, and lied to her face.
"Lucy, wait! It’s not—hold on!"
The office door swung wide open as Sting rushed forward, reaching out a hand, his face a mask of desperate terror.
Lucy didn't scream or cry. A strange, terrifying numbness washed over her, freezing her blood. As Sting’s hand approached her shoulder, her instincts kicked in. She took a sharp, violent step backward, her hand flying to the keys at her hip in a defensive reflex.
"Don't touch me," she whispered. The voice didn't even sound like her own. It was completely hollow.
Sting froze, his hand hovering in the air, his chest heaving. "Lucy, please, let me explain. It’s—we were just—I can explain, I swear to you—"
"Explain what?" Lucy’s voice rose slightly, cracking with the first wave of raw agony breaking through the numbness. She looked past his shoulder at Yukino, who was trembling, tears already streaming down her face, looking entirely guilt-ridden. "Explain that you've been cheating on me? That too with my friend nonetheless?"
"No! No, Lucy, it’s not like that, I love you!" Sting took another step, his voice frantic, pleading. "You're my princess, you know that. I worked so hard for you—"
"Don't call me that," she choked out, the betrayal cutting so deep she felt physically sick. "Don't you dare call me that."
She couldn't stay here. The walls of the Sabertooth hallway were closing in on her, suffocating her. The smell of his cologne, the sight of Yukino’s rumpled blouse, the reality of what she had just witnessed was burning itself into her retinas.
Her flight response instinctively took over and turning on her heel, Lucy ran.
"Lucy! Wait!" Sting shouted, his footsteps instantly pounding against the floor behind her.
She didn't look back. She sprinted down the hallway, bursting through the stairwell doors as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her mind was a chaotic whorl of pain, but a single, desperate thought cut through the noise: I need to get home.
Lucy flew down the stairs, her boots skidding dangerously on the polished wood. Tears were finally breaking through the numbness now, hot and blinding, blurring her vision as she bolted into the dim main hall.
The commotion had already done its work. Lector and Frosch were sitting up on their bench, rubbing their eyes, blinking sleepily at the sudden noise. Near the entrance, Rogue stood by a pillar, his quiet conversation with Rufus abruptly cut short as Lucy burst out of the main hall like a hurricane.
"Fairy-sama?" Frosch gasped, her large eyes widening in instant confusion. "Frosch thinks Fairy-sama is crying!"
"Lucy-san? What are you doing here?" Lector called out, his ears perking up. "Hey, wait—"
Lucy didn't answer. She couldn't. She kept her head down, burying her face in her hands as she sprinted past them, her breath coming in painful gasps.
"Lucy! Stop! Just let me talk to you!"
Sting’s voice echoed from the stairwell. He practically threw himself over the banister, landing on the main floor. His hair was messy, his boots untied, and his face was twisted in a look of frantic desperation.
Rogue stepped forward, his eyes darting between a fleeing Lucy and his completely unhinged partner. His dark brows furrowed in immediate concern. "Sting? What the hell is going on?!"
"Get out of my way, Rogue!" Sting yelled, not even looking at his partner as he pushed past him, his eyes entirely locked on the front doors that Lucy was about to reach.
But Rogue caught him firmly by the shoulder, his grip like iron. "Sting, what did you do?"
"I said move!" Sting shoved Rogue back, a dangerous spark of white light snapping from his palm in his panic.
That split-second delay was all Lucy needed. She threw her weight against the doors of the Sabertooth guild hall, bursting out into the night air of Gazania.
The city lights blurred into streaks of gold and neon as she sprinted down the cobblestone streets, her chest heaving, the agonizing image of Sting and Yukino repeating behind her eyelids like a cruel loop.
Behind her, the guild doors remained open. Rogue stood on the threshold, staring after Lucy's retreating figure before turning a cold, demanding glare onto Sting. Yukino had slowly appeared at the top of the stairs, her face pale and stained with tears, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
Lector and Frosch looked back and forth between their masters, the cheerful atmosphere of Sabertooth completely shattered.
"Sting-kun..." Lector whispered, his voice small and frightened. "What happened to Lucy-san?"
Sting didn't answer. He stared down the empty street where Lucy had disappeared, his hands trembling at his sides. The crushing weight of what he had just thrown away was finally settling in as the light dragon slayer realized that he saw no way out of this dark.