𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚

You suddenly woke up in a bed that wasn't yours.

"When did I even fall asleep?" you wondered aloud. You pulled back the thin covers that you laid under. Your chest, hands and torso were bandaged, as well as your left thigh. You recalled most of these places having been struck by one of the Twelve's magic.

You sat up and looked around, before standing. You were barefoot, and your lower half was dressed in some dark, ill-fitting pants that were tied at the drawstring.

A small, dark red couch was placed against the wall of what you guessed was a bedroom. Your Exceed partner, Kuschel, lay on it. She was in her Exceed form, draped in a large, black cloak.

You padded over and pulled back the cloak slowly, so as not to stir her. Her body was also bandages up as she snored softly, rolling to lie on her side. The green Sabertooth guild mark on her back was obscured by the bandaging, just barely peaking out.

You put the cloak back over her and moved your hand to run your fingers over your own [colour] guild mark, that was situated on your upper arm like every other Dragon Slayer that was actually raised by Dragons. You noticed this after seeing the Fairy Tail mark on Laxus' bare chest.

The door creaked open and you turned to see none other than Rogue walk in with two mugs of some sort of steaming beverage. He seemed surprised to see you standing.

"Oh, you're awake," he said, "that's good."
"You're the one who patched me up?" you asked.

He nodded.
"You were carrying Kuschel after Wendy healed her, but then you started to stumble so I carried you, and you eventually passed out. Probably from pain," he explained, "I wouldn't be surprised. To think you'd fought Acnologia with a wound to that extreme."

"Oh," you said, "uh, thank you."
"It's nothing," he replied, "the least I could do."

The both of you fell silent, until you started to speak at the same time.
"[Y/N]—"
"Rogue, I—"

"No, you first," he said.
"No, you," you replied. You stared at each other for a few moments more before you both rushed forwards, bodies meeting in a vehement kiss. You placed both hands on both of his cheeks, whilst his fingers skimmed along your bandaged waistline.

You both pulled back, only a few centimetres, and pressed your foreheads together.

"I'm sorry for not doing that sooner," he said quietly, "but when I saw you— when your hold on my hand, then, just loosened... when I felt you die..."
You gently pecked his lips again.
"I'm sorry for prioritising Fairy Tail over our guild," you answered, "it's all over now, I promise. No more Dragons, no more Devils... no more being apart."

He hummed.
"I never want to lose you again," he murmured, "when you... died back there, I felt so angry, [Y/N]. I just felt rage bubbling inside me, rage with everything... it scared me. I felt like I was going to kill someone... I wanted- no, I needed someone else to die."
You gently rubbed his cheekbone with your thumb.
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," you said, "I died, didn't I? So what that future bastard said would happen, did happen. You don't have to be scared anymore. I'm not gonna go anywhere."

Despite this, you couldn't help but compare how Rogue described his feelings to what Future Rogue had said - how when you had died, his world had felt so grey and he'd lived with the sorrow until it bubbled into anger and rage. Although that man was someone you were sure Rogue would never become, it sent a chill down your spine to think that your recent death could have been his breaking point. That he could have snapped and the one he killed would have been Sting.