You Are The Light In My Darkness

Bonus Story - A Very Merry Christmas

On the train home from her latest job, Kasumi leaned against the window, staring at the bare trees flying past as the train moved forward. This time, the S-Class job took her two weeks to complete, and the weather has taken a turn from cold winds to gentle snow on her journey back.

A soft sigh escaped her lips. Her heart was aching to meet that person. At the thought of him, his face immediately appeared in her mind's eye. Pink dusted her pale cheeks and she smiled, hugging her bag to her chest.

'Time flies, doesn't it? Without us noticing, a year has gone by.' Kasumi's fingertips touched the familiar crystal earring dangling from her right ear. That day Sting confessed to her, she felt as though all her wishes had come true. Her smile stretched into a cheesy grin as the very memory made her heart melt.

Just then, a soft rustling in the pocket of her winter coat caught the attention of her sensitive ears. Curiously, Kasumi reached in and fished out a letter.

"Hmm? When did this get in here...?" She murmured, flipping the envelope around and slitting it. But all the doubts in her mind were cleared once she saw the familiar wordings of her blond-haired mate.

Kasumi's heart pounded in excitement as she read his words, written in an elegant font, but she could see how it quivered at the edges. A soft chuckle escaped her lips. His writing was always in a clumsy scrawl, and it showed how much effort he put into the letter she held right now. 'He must've slipped it in when I left...'

"Kasumi,
                It's been a year since we've met, hasn't it? I don't know how long you'll be gone for, so I've written this letter for you to read on your way home...

▪️️▫️♥️▫️▪️

Sting got up from the freezing seat at the station to pace up and down the platform for the thousandth time. Breaths of white appeared as he huffed impatiently, waiting for the return of a–no, his blue-haired fairy.

He wondered if his letter reached her. He had placed it into her winter coat before she left two weeks ago, knowing that she would be using it on the journey back to Magnolia.

Taking a special trip to the home of the Fairy Tail guild meant that he would have mountains of paperwork to deal with once he got back to Sabertooth, but Sting bit back a grimace and told himself that his work could wait.

The only thing on his mind right now was the arrival of his mate in half an hour's time, and the gift he had painstakingly wrapped in white and gold wrapping paper.

Trepidation peppered his brow with drops of perspiration despite the translucent snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

'I hope she arrives soon...'

▪️▫️♥️▫️▪️

"I've loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. The most important part of our love is not just the kisses, or the time we spend together (although I can't do without them), but how you complete my world when I'm with you.

Okay...even writing this feels embarrassing...but these are the things I could never find the moment to tell you. And since Christmas is a time to be grateful, I just wanted to say thank you,

For being here with me, for loving me, for putting up with me (haha).

Thank you.

I want you to know that I'll love you forever and ever, because...
You are my one and only mate,
My Kasumi Dreyer.

Love,
Sting Eucliffe"

Kasumi didn't know when the train had stopped at Magnolia, or when tears started rollling down her face even though she was smiling.

...Or when her mate had appeared in front of her eyes when she hastily stepped off the train.

Kasumi's breath caught in her throat as they locked eyes, sapphire meeting lapis.

Her hands held the letter gingerly, though it has already been forgotten. All that occupied her mind was the White Dragon Slayer that stood before her, a grin curving his lips, his heady scent making her heart pound even harder.

"Hey..."Sting moved forward, enveloping Kasumi in a warm hug that she immediately returned. "Welcome back."

"I'm home." She replied, tightening her grip around him as she buried her head in his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

His body immediately missed her when Kasumi pulled away, but it was replaced with anticipation when she took a small box wrapped in powder blue paper out of her bag.

"M-Merry Christmas..." Her cheeks flushed in a dark pink as she held out the present to Sting, but they reddened to a shade close to Erza's hair when the blonde drew the white box from behind his back.

"Merry Christmas!" He laughed, giving Kasumi a peck on her cheek, trying to conceal how fast his own heart was pulsating.

Opening his present, a smile tugged at his lips immediately at the sight of the white knitted muffler.

"So that you'll still be warm even when we're apart," Kasumi whispered, leaning in to press her forehead to his, staring deep into his pools of brilliant azure. "And so that you'll always have a part of me wherever you go."

Kasumi grinned triumphantly as she watched Sting bury his face into the hand-knitted scarf.

"...Smells like you..." He mumbled, his voice muffled by the scarf around his neck.

Flustered, Kasumi distracted herself by opening her gift. Gingerly, she extracted the small box from it's nest of white wrapping paper and flicked it open.

A soft gasp escaped her lips. "Sting...this is..."

Lying on a cushion was a silver chain with a simple gold ring on it's end.

"It's a promise ring." Sting murmured, wrapping his arms around Kasumi once again after taking the necklace from her to attach it around her neck.

"A promise to always love you,
To always be by your side,
And to never let you go."

"Sting Eucliffe,"

"Kasumi Dreyer,"

"I love you."

▪️▫️♥️▫️▪️

Merry Christmas, everyone! It's Kasumi, back from the dead for the sake of you amazing readers who didn't complain about my hiatus :')
I was listening to a love song and had the feels for a chapter, so here it is! I'm sorry that it's late, please forgive me!!(ᗒᗩᗕ)

It's Kenzie, signing out!