𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙁𝙏 // 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙭 𝙤𝙘

ＦＩＶＥ．

As soon as the dawn light hit the little cottage and shown through the rickety old windows, Fuyumi was up and running. As fast as possible she got dressed, scrawled down a note for Natsu, Happy and Rue, and then pranced out of the house.

They had never noticed how nice the town of Magnolia was during the morning hours. The only shop open was the quaint little bakery that sold breakfast pastries until noon.

She didn't really register it when she'd woken up, but now she knew who she was looking for — Sting. She could smell his scent all around her now she had mer him, even if it was just faintly. A fresh smell like newly washed linen, mixed in with the exotic, sweet, and intoxicatingly rich aroma of jasmine flowers.

Where the scent was strongest she followed, walking along the cobbled path with a slight spring in her step. It wasn't long before she bumped into who she was looking for, quite literally.

Both fell to the ground followed by a scatter.
"Hey, watch where— Fuyumi!" Sting cut himself off, scrambling to his feet before helping the girl up.
"There you are," she said, "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" he blinked.
"Yes, I have. After— oh, you dropped your, um... pastries," she pointed out.
"Oh, shoot. Yeah," he said, quickly scooping up the buns he had been carrying, "want one?"

Fuyumi eyed them skeptically — it wasn't uncommon for her to, at home, go grappling with Natsu in a competition of who could grab a stray chip from the floor. Although, this wasn't Natsu, her gross older brother - it was Sting, her new friend.

"Ahh... sure, why not," she sighed, the looking of the buns being just too irresistible.
"They weren't on the ground for too long. Plus, it's not that dirty around," Sting agreed as she bit into the soft bread.

"Ohh... these are amazing," Fuyumi noted.
"I got them from the bakery down the street," Sting acknowledged, "did you know the baker's a wizard?"
"Really? I just walked past there," the Ice Dragon Slayer shrugged as she finished off the bun, "thank you, how much did those cost?"

"Huh? No, no," Sting shook his head, moving to gesture but his arms were full of the buns.
"Please, I insist. I knocked them out of your hands, and I've already had one of them. At least let me pay you for the one I ate," Fuyumi fumbled in her bag for her coin purse.

"No, it's fine. I've got enough jewel to get me around," Sting said.
"Are you sure? I'd really like to pay you back," Fuyumi frowned.
"No, it's fine. Can you give me a couple minutes to deliver these? I'll be right back, promise," the blond said.
"Can't I come with you?" Fuyumi asked.

"Uhh... it's better if I go alone. Just— wait here!" with that, the boy scampered off with the remaining three buns in his arms. Fuyumi watched him go, puzzled, as she ran a hand through her lilac hair so as to keep it from her face.

True to his word, though, Sting did return only a few minutes later, panting.
"Toldja I wouldn't be long," he grinned.
"You ran all the way there and back? Where did you even deliver them?" she asked.
"Oh, just to some friends, y'know?" he replied.

"Ohh, I see," she nodded, "well... where do you want to go?"
"Huh?" Sting flushed pink.
"Where would you like to go today, Sting?" Fuyumi repeated.

"Uhh... gee, I don't know. It's up to you," Sting gave a gallic shrug.
"I don't mind, that's why I asked," the girl smiled politely, "anything in particular you want to get up to?"

"How about... we just, go for a walk?" Sting suggested, and Fuyumi nodded.
"That sounds good to me!" she said brightly, "we'll have to, um, go a bit further from Magnolia though... I wouldn't want Natsu to catch me with you."

"True," Sting nodded, shuddering at the thought of being savagely torn apart by Natsu Dragneel for hanging out with his little sister.
"Well, come on," Fuyumi took him by the hand and hurriedly pulled him along behind her, towards one of the many entrance gates of Magnolia.

"I still can't believe you're in Fairy Tail," Sting said with a grin, "it's just... awesome. I can't believe I have a friend who's in Fairy Tail."
"And I can't wait for you to join us," Fuyumi said, "and your cat... Lector, was it?"
"You remembered!" he grinned.

"Do you think he would get along well with Rue?" she asked.
"I think he would," Sting smiled fondly at the thought of their Exceeds playing together and forming a friendship - right now, Lector's only friends were Frosch, Sting and Rogue.

"Oh, good. And maybe he would get along well with Happy, too — Natsu's cat," Fuyumi said.
"I hope so," Sting nodded, "it'd be kind of awkward for them not to... you know, all this talk of joining your guild is really getting me excited."
"Me too. I mean, right now, I don't really... have any friends outside of the guild," the Ice Dragon said admittedly, "well, there are people I talk to, but not really any friend friends, you know?"

"I do know," Sting nodded, "you've got me now, and I've got you!"
"That's right," Fuyumi hummed, before stopping short as they emerged from the forest area and up a small incline.
"Huh? What— woah," Sting paused.

Before them was the rising sun, painting the sky a gorgeous red-orange. The sun peaked over the mountains and trees dotting the horizon. Sting turned to Fuyumi, and his mouth fell open. The amber light fell onto her face in such a way that made her look ethereal.

"I wish I'd brought Rue to see this. It's... beautiful," she said.
"Yeah. It is," Sting was still staring at her. She turned to look at him and squeezed his hand with a smile. He flushed pink, nearly unnoticeable against the light of the sunrise.

"Shall we continue?" she asked.
"Could we just... stay here a while?" he replied. She hummed and then sat down.
"Of course," she nodded.

He sat down beside her, staring out at the sunset.
"There's so much out there," he said, "there's so much beyond this."
"Yeah... my mother has to be out there. Somewhere," Fuyumi agreed, "the world's so big. And your father, too. They could be anywhere."

Sting looked from the scene ahead of them to his lap with a guilty sigh.
"Sting? Fuyumi said, "is something wrong?"
"No, nothing, I..." he choked on his words, "I just realised that... I really miss my dad."

Fuyumi frowned and shuffled closer to the White Dragon Slayer, putting an arm around him.
"Hey, it's fine," she said, "when you finally join our guild, you, Natsu and I, we can go off on an adventure to find our Dragons. Just the three of us. Oh, and Lector, Happy and Rue."

"Yeah... alright," Sting gave a watery grin, "sounds good to me."
Fuyumi gasped, "you're not crying, are you?!"

"No, I— I've just got something in my eye!" he retorted defensively, rubbing furiously at his face.
"It's fine if you are, Sting," she said, "it's a really touchy thing, isn't it?"
"I... I guess so," he huffed, "I'm not crying, though."

Fuyumi calculated his face for a moment or two longer, before replying, "alright, then... it's fine if you are, though."
He just nodded and looked down before flopping onto his back, unintentionally dragging Fuyumi with him. She gasped as her back met the grass and looked at him, before the two burst into a fit of giggles.