Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do NOT own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. I only am responsible for the (albeit poorly written and devised) plot.

Guys I reread my old chapters and my spelling errors are atrocious and my grammar was shit jesus fucking christ.

Literally three seconds into the job, and Gray was already missing most of his clothes and Erza had punched Natsu in the head hard enough to shatter a normal person's skull. Wendy, ever the innocent, bounced along the group of Exceeds that appeared to be having some intricate, philosophical discussion about fish.

Ah, just like the good ol' days.

The trip there was a relatively short one; two days on foot (as Gajeel, Natsu, Sting and Rogue has straight up refused to go anywhere near a train or a boat or any sort of vehicle), trekking through open fields and eventually into a forest that seemed to be getting progressively worse for them, following the rancid scent of a dark mage.

At first there were a couple of small woodland creatures and all of that storybook shit and sure, that was cute for the first two hours.

Then hour three rolled around, and Yukino saw a bug that that was probably about the size of her fist and then it was a little less cute. (Sting's reaction had been pretty funny though, everyone would later admit. At her strangled 'eep' he'd practically flown across from the other side of the group, throwing himself in front of her like a shield.)

In other words, everyone was very happy.

Except for one very disgruntled dragon slayer with hair the color of candy floss.

Natsu, yes, did have his partner, and his best friend and not to mention mate back to go on missions with.

On the other hand, there was someone irritatingly wrong about her that made his blood boil.

She smelled like Sting.

Everything. Smelled like Sting.

And Natsu was losing his mind.

Yeah, it wasn't as noticeable in the air unless you came too close to Yukino. Fine. If they stayed the hell away from Yukino, and were a little less close to Sting (since Sting wasn't just constantly releasing his scent, he smelled normal until he had Yukino in his arms, then he made sure to scent her real good) then really, it was just a tad annoying.

Or at least, that's how it should have been.

Lucy had been dead, alright? It was still a little surreal for her to be back, and regardless of how strong they smelled of Sting, Lucy wanted to be around everyone else too.

Meaning that Lucy had decided that constantly inhaling Sting's stench (Natsu's words, not hers) was a sacrifice she was willing to make to spend time with Yukino. They' lost a lot of time to be fair, especially on Yukino's part. To Lucy, it couldn't have been all that long because Spirit World time was weird and that had been where she'd been spending most of her time as of late, but still. Her and Yukino hadn't had time to really catch up since about two or three weeks before Lucy's accident.

So, when Lucy wasn't back with the rest of Team Natsu or bantering with Gajeel or making pleasant conversation with Rogue, or freaking canoodling with her mate, she was with Yukino.

Which mean that Lucy started to smell like Sting.

Which, to Natsu, was completely and utterly 100% not okay. (And don't even start with Gajeel, he had Levy all the way up front with him and Pantherlily, debating the pros and cons to living off an all-metal diet.)

Look. Natsu and Lucy had been a long time coming, not to mention that she had been dead for a little while. Needless to say, Natsu and Lucy hadn't been any less sickeningly in love as Yukino and Sting were. They were as soul-matey as much as any other pair of Mates.

But Natsu hadn't felt the need to freaking fumigate all of Magnolia with his personal scent. (Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating a little bit. He had, actually, scented her very thoroughly but that had been in the Spirit World and Lucy hadn't even been conscious for most of it. The only ones around to complain about it were Virog and Loke, but they had eventually learned to just deal with it. )

The reason for scenting one's mate was arbitrarily an instinctual thing, to ward off others and make a claim. And while it was stupid, the whole thing kinda led Natsu's instincts to leap to 'Sting is trying to scent and claim my mate.'

Which didn't really go over well.

So yeah, he was kinda tense.

The fact that Lucy didn't seem to understand how much he was not okay with his mate smelling like someone else wan't exactly helping either.

Natsu wasn't great at a lot of things.

He wasn't great at submitting, he wasn't great at reading a room and he most certainly was not great at being subtle.

Which was how the pack of Mages travelling through the woods basically boiled down into a big testosterone-fueled ball of tension between two of the most powerful Mages in all of Magnolia.

Natsu and Sting weren't talking.

Because as much as Sting made the place absolutely reek of his own personal scent, Natsu being challenged brought out a primal, furious instinct that to his credit- wasn't exactly something that he had any control over.

It was biology, an uncontrollable reaction that was as involuntary as breathing. The Slayer inside of Natsu had registered the threat, and least drastic response had been to get his mate back to smelling like him and not like some other guy- not matter how irrational it was.

Which led to basically everything in a ten mile radius reeking of the two Slayers fighting to have the dominant scent.

Rogue and Gajeel had ended up just plugging both their noses and walking very, very far ahead of the group, and Lucy and Yukino had continued babbling on about trivial things; catching up and all that while somehow managing to be disappointingly oblivious.

Strangely enough, the one who broke first was Gray.

"You. And you," he bit out, first pointing at Natsu, then at Sting. "I'm a normal human being with a normal nose, and even I can smell you guys from miles away, so if you could cut the crap and quit it with the "let's see who can make the most things smell like me" contest, we'd all really appreciate it," Gray nearly snarled. Sting and Natsu's eyes met, their gazes so close to withering that Gray would later swear that he saw the grass around them wilt.

"Hmm, what's this?" Yukino frowned to herself, bending down to dig at something strange nestled in the gnarled roots of an old tree.

Yukino collapsed, her body spasming and twitching uncontrollably for a few seconds. Lucy, at her friend's side immediately, made a strangled noise when Yukino's body went motionless like a dead fish.

"Yukino?" Sting called as he and Natsu broke eye contact, their little issue completely forgotten to the both of them. "Yukino what's wrong?"

She didn't respond, laying limp in Lucy's arms.

He scrambled over to her, hands clawing in the dirt as he slipped and fell in his hurry.

"Yukino," he panted out, reaching out to take her from Lucy. "Hey Yukino it's Sting. Yukino can you hear me?" Sting asked, one hand cradling her head up as he sat and lowered her into his lap. She remained unresponsive.

"Wendy," he called, voice shaking. "Wendy something's wrong with Yukino!" He peeled off one of his gloves, fingers reaching just under her jaw to find her pulse point.

Things happened very slowly after that.

First. He touched his two fingers to the juncture just under her jaw.

Second. Yukino's eyes flew open, and Sting let out a relieved sigh.

Third. Yukino let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Yukino scrambled out of Sting's reach, eyes wild and pupils blown wide and dark.

"Don't touch me," she said meekly, shoulders trembling with her eyes glued to the ground. "Please." Sting, completely dumbfounded, stared at her. She looked up, and upon meeting his intense gaze, looked back down quickly, biting her lip nervously.

No one moved.

She looked up slowly, her entire body drawn in like she was sure she was going to be jumped at any second. Her eyes went from mage to mage, and once she landed on Lucy, her shoulders relaxed.

"Lucy Heartfilia," she spoke silently. "I know you. You feel... like a Spirit now."

Her statement was said with clear intrigue and surprise, and her head cocked to the side. The energy Lucy was emitting was unmistakably Celestial, but Yukino's strange declaration set alarms off in Lucy's head.

Lucy, eyes cautious, moved forward to crouch and take Yukino's hand in hers. Immediately, Yukino gripped it gently, and their eyes met.

"Yes," Lucy said, drawing the word out as she nodded her head. "Yukino, I'm your spirit." She turned to look at Natsu, and the two of them seemed to share an entire conversation in those few seconds.

Something is very, very wrong.

Yukino breathed out a laugh, shaking her head. Then she stopped, frowning to herself.

"I- I know that's not possible but I-" she paused, nose wrinkling. "-that feels right to say. It doesn't make any sense but- I mean that's impossible, right?" Yukino's hand flies down to her belt loop, and she physically blanches at the amount of keys she finds hooked to her hip. "These, these aren't mine," she denies, unclipping them hastily. She began prying Lucy's old Celestial Keys off, and it didn't go unnoticed by anyone that she was pointedly not looking at Sting and Rogue. Sting moved forward, hand reaching out to hers when Yukino physically blanched.

Lucy put a firm hand on her wrist instead, stopping her frantic detachment of the small gold ornaments.

"Yukino," Lucy said calmly, though a silent storm seemed to be brewing behind her eyes. "Yukino, can you tell me how you got here?"

"No," Yukino said after a few minutes of heavy silence "I... I'm not even sure where we are."

Sting's breathing hitched.

"But you know all of us, right? You know all of our names?" Lucy pressed, her fingers crossed, as she prayed to whatever higher power was out there. Yukino nodded without hesitation, eyes alight with recognition. They seemed to all exhale in that moment, relief washing over them.

"Yukino, can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?" Wendy asked, stepping forwards. Yukino nodded, eyes bright.

"The last thing I remember is being at the Grand Magic Games," Yukino declared. Sting breaks out into a weary smile.

That was only a day or two ago.

"I remember Lucy almost being killed in the water sphere," Yukino continues quietly. "I remember Minerva dropping her from the sky."

Sting stops smiling.

"Yukino," Levy breathes, eyes terrifyingly wide. "That was over a year ago."

"What?" Yukino breathes, eyes becoming glassy with tears. "That's- that's impossible." She denied, shaking her head back and forth.

"Yukino," Sting interjects, his voice strangled with hysteria because no, no this is not happening. "Yukino it's true, I swear, I promise. We lost the Games last year," Sting begins, almost pleading with her. "I-"

"And why should your promises mean anything to me?" Yukino spits, eyes determinedly locked onto her hands, voice shaking but hostile. "Why should I give a crap about what you tell me? Your word means nothing to me," Yukino says, tears dripping onto her clenched fists.

It's a new kind of awful, listening to the sound of Sting's heart breaking.

His breathing is the most noticeable. Mostly because it becomes ragged and desperate, like the oxygen making its way through his veins just isn't enough- like it hardly makes a dent in the blur of horror ringing in his head.

Sting swears he can hear his heart stop beating. He can feel the horrible twist in his stomach, as everything in his stomach threatens to make a reappearance on the forest floor. He feels like he's free falling down an endless hole, like there's a ball of lead in his throat because this is all wrong.

"Yukino," Lucy breathes, her own eyes watery. "Yukino you can't mean that."

"The hell I do," Yukino says, curling farther in on herself, like she's preparing for a blow. "I lost everything, my home, my family. And he- him and his brother and Minerva-" Yukino nearly chokes on the last name. "They just watched and laughed like it was some sort of joke. Like some sort of sick entertainment, because tormenting poor little stupid Yukino has always been so much fun," Yukino's voice is dripping with poorly concealed malice. Her eyes then went wide, and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I- I didn't mean that," Yukino stammered, and Sting could feel her own fear in his veins. She curls in on herself, her entire body trembling like a cornered animal. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to speak badly of you two or Minerva-"

A horrible jolt courses through Rogues body, because it slams into him like a ton of bricks.

"The last thing she remembers is the day after we kicked her out of the guild," Rogue says, so quietly like it's a horrible secret, one that should never have been said aloud.

Sting's pupils go dark and wide, head nearly spinning on top of his neck.

"I- I don't understand," Yukino cried out to nearly deaf ears, all of them reeling with the implications of what this meant. "This doesn't make any sense I-"

"Everyone," Erza called out, sounding suspiciously calm. "I think I have an idea what happened."

Rogue, whipped around, eyes frantic, while his brother remained stone-still.

"What, what is it?"

Erza unsheathed her sword, bending down to hack out what looked like the hilt of an old weapon, a shiny jewel set in the old metal. "Yukino was trying to dislodge this just before she collapsed. It has some sort of runes on the blade, see?" She asked, yanking it free with single tug.

"Wait don't touch that!" Wendy cried, just a few seconds too late. Erza momentarily paused, mentally berating herself for doing something so stupid. She held her breath, tensed in anticipation.

"...you're wearing gauntlets," Gajeel muttered, studying the script carefully. "It's a curse, see? Like the ones Freed uses. Those characters, it's an old dialect of Jutsu Shiki runes. It spells out F-O-R-G-E-T, see? Probably activated by skin on skin contact," Gajeel said, and everyone pivoted to stare.

Upon the strange looks he was receiving, he grunted.

"Levy's really into this kind stuff and she asks me to help sometimes," he grumbled defensively. "I do pay attention, you know."

Levy smiled in spite of herself.

"So it's an induced memory wipe," Gray groaned, head falling into his hands. "Great. Great, that's just what we needed right now. Fuck."

"Smells like the burglars," Natsu said, sniffing at the rusty weapon. "Yeah, probably just a trap set to shake mages off their trail. What better way to get someone to stop following you than make them forget they're tracking you in the first place?"

"What's going on?" Yukino asked again meekly. "You said something about memory wipe- that's..."

"That's definitely what happened," Levy confirmed, holding the blade in Gray's discarded shirt and studying it carefully. ("hey wait, how the fuck did you get my-" "don't leave your shit lying around, idiot") "This dialect is practically ancient but yeah, Gajeel was right."

Gajeel groaned. "Goddammit."

Sting marched up to Levy and Gajeel.

"So how do we fix it?" Sting asked, voice hoarse. "How the fuck do we get her memories back, because I can't- I can't have her looking at me like that Gajeel," he said, voice thick with emotion. "She's looking at me like she's afraid I'm going to hit her," he said, voice breaking.

Pity washed over Gajeel, over all the dragon slayers within hearing range. Sting's grief was projecting. Just not over them.

Yukino felt like sobbing. Like her heart had been ripped out of her and torn brutally in front of her. Like something was horribly wrong, like there'd been a horrible tragedy that she couldn't even begin to process.

"I've changed," Sting insisted.

"I know you have," Gajeel answered immediately. "I've seen it."

"-but she hasn't," Sting finished. "She still looks at me and sees the old me; she sees some monster that used to terrorize her for fun."

"I can try and dig deeper into the blade enchantment," Levy said, her nose scrunching up at the outdated writing. She looked up an Sting, already pulling her little red glasses onto her nose. "If anyone can do it, it's me,"

Sting's heart filled with hope, his breath catching in his throat.

"But we'll need to find somewhere to set up for the night," Levy said, eyes trailing up to the already setting sun.

"This is gonna take a while."

Yukino was a perceptive girl.

Meaning when she'd felt like bawling her eyes out fractions of a second after Sting Eucliffe had frozen up, and then she'd felt a warm just as he'd cracked a smile, she'd noticed. The moment he'd gone to sleep and drifted of in the cave they'd found refuge in, she'd felt at peace instantaneously.

"His emotions are influencing mine," she stated, voice quiet, eyebrow lifting. "Care to explain?" She asked, turning to Lucy, who was currently snuggled up next to Natsu against the cave wall, hands linked.

Natsu groaned.

"Mating bond. Just because she doesn't remember you, doesn't mean it doesn't exist," he muttered over to Gajeel, who was looking across the cave some twenty feet at Levy, who was poring dutifully over the cursed blade. "Shared emotions man, that's gotta be fucking rough."

"Well..." Lucy trailed off, looking over her shoulder at Natsu. He nodded slowly. gently squeezing her hand in his.

"Yukino, what do you know about Dragon Slayers?" Lucy asked.

"I know a fair amount," Yukino said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I made it a point to when we were back in Sabertooth, which from what I understand, I am still a member of?" Lucy nodded. (They'd spent the last few hours trying to fill the gaps in Yukino's memory, carefully avoiding the topic of mates until right now.) "Anything specific you're looking for?"

Lucy paused, quickly changing the topic.

"You know, you and Sting are actually very close nowadays?"

Yukino paused, a little laugh escaping her lips.

"You're kidding."

"Afraid not," Natsu said, eyes tracking her facial expression warily.

"That's Sting Eucliffe," Yukino reiterated very nervously. "That's one of the most powerful mages I've ever met (Natsu bristled a little at that, but Lucy nudged him gently as a warning), the pride of Sabertooth right after Minerva, and all he's ever seen me as is a weak Celestial Mage who's not strong enough to bear our guild mark."

"Yukino-"

"No, he's right. I wasn't strong enough for Sabertooth. Not the old one anyway. Not cutthroat enough to stay there, which I can't really say I regret. The new one you've described seems... like a dream," Yukino admitted "like a dream that's too good to be true. But... I m excited to see it."

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

"II mean- you know Sting is just- Sting. He's- well from what you tell me he's a genuinely sweet guy now, but he's-" she kicked at a stray rock. "He's- well he's like some sort of powerhouse or something and I'm just me," Yukino said. "I can forgive, because everyone deserves a second chance. You tell me he's changed, and while I don't remember being close friends with you," she said, gesturing at Lucy and Natsu. "I do remember you going to Sabertooth to fight for what they did to me. So I believe you..." she trailed off.

"I think. Still weird to think about."

"He's changed Yukino. He's a good guy; both of them are," Natsu reassured her with a smile. "I know you look at them and see two... monsters that-"

"I don't think I'd use the word monster," she cut in suddenly.

"For years, they were my heroes, kind of. They were my age, but they were incredible. True, they were kind of jackasses," she said, and they all laughed at that. "I know some of the stuff I said about them earlier was kinda harsh, but to be fair, the last time I remember seeing them is when I had my mark erased and was kicked out."

"But I looked up to them, Sting especially. When he was away from Minerva and his brther he was kind of... okayih. Just, don't tell him that. I don't know if his ego can stand any more inflating," she giggled.

"It was when they got older, and I finally got on their radar that they noticed me. And, not in a particularly good way."

"Yukino, you don't have to-"

"Yeah, it's okay. I'd like to talk about it, if that's okay."

"Of course," Lucy said, offering a slight smile. "I'm here to listen."

"I had like, this massive crush on Sting when we were kids," Yukino admitted. "Then, I dunno, we got older and it was painfully obvious that I liked him, so Minerva stepped in and beat the crap out of me until I said I didn't."

Lucy sucked in a harsh breath.

"It wasn't just Minerva, you know? She couldn't just beat it out of me, Sting is- was kind of an ass. He only got worse over the years, or at least, he did when he was around Master or Minerva. Kind of like he needed to impress them. I get it but... I can't respect that."

Lucy inhaled deeply.

"...he's a good teammate," Lucy said quietly, a strange feeling overcoming her. "I'm telling you this because you need to know Yukino, and it's very important that you understand why Sting does what he does starting now. I don't know what could happen while we're out here, and I want you to know that Sting will give his life to protect you without a second thought. He-"

"I'm mated to him, aren't I?" Yukino asked, looking as nonchalant as is asking what time of day it were.

They gaped at her, even Levy looking up from her work.

"How the ever loving fuc-"

"Gajeel, language," Levy scolded. "But seriously Yukino, how the hell?"

"I can smell him everywhere. My moods keep changing whenever his do, and for some reason I keep inching towards him without meaning to. I may not remember it or recognize him as my mate, but my body definitely does."

Gajeel cracked a grin.

"Knew I liked you for a reason," he said, scratching at his jaw. "Can't believe you figured it out so quickly but also... how you taking it?"

"I'm observant," she said, winking at him, then quickly sobered. "I don't know... It feels like some sort of intricate practical joke, but it feels even more wrong to deny it. I keep reaching out to touch him, even though that doesn't make any sense."

"...do I love him?" Yukino asked after a slight pause, eyes locked on Sting, who was sleeping next to his brother.

"Yeah," Lucy said. "You two are absolutely disgusting."

Gray choked on a laugh, continuing to create little figurines of ice in his palm.

"Can't say I argue with that."

Four hours later, the group had dwindled down to the two girls, both crouched around a fire they'd lit when the sun had finally gone down. Lucy had returned to the Spirit World with Natsu several hours ago, though for her it would feel like a few seconds, maybe a minute tops.

"I got it!" Levy cried excitedly, "I can re write the enchantment!"

"Really?" Yukino said, scooching over closer. Levy nodded enthusiastically.

"Right here; look!" She said, touching her quill to the tip of the blade. A long line of text came shooting out, curling out like one long iridescent ribbon of ancient runes into the ceiling of the cave, spilling out and tangling in threads of starlight. Yukino's mouth dropped open.

"Oh my," Yukino breathed. "Levy this is, this is amazing! And you wrote all of that?" She gestured towards the vast ceiling of the cave, lit up with thousands of letters she couldn't recognize.

"Yeah, well, everything but that bit," Levy said, pointing at a small segment of darker, duller characters. "That's the original rune curse that you activated, and from what I can tell, your memories weren't wiped. They were transferred. The dagger contains them, and I rewrote the Justu Shiki magic around the original enchantment to release the year you lost back to you."

"You are literally the most amazing person ever."

"You know, it's actually sort of interesting. The dagger yanks out a year of memories, and the shock of it makes the person scream. Logically speaking, it's the perfect trap to shake a tail. You make the tail forget what they're doing, and it also helps narrow down the location of whoever was following you. Your little seizure was your body at a loss, trying to fill the empty space. Lucky for us, we're a few days behind, so they were nowhere close."

"Levy, this is... incredible. I don't know how to thank yo-"

"We're close friends," Levy interrupted, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. " And while I don't think we'd have trouble getting there again, I think Sting is losing his mind. I want to see him happy again. You're not... unhappy per se, but if you'd ever seen two mates together, you'd realize how strange it is to see them apart. Everything just.. I dunno, fits."

Levy cleared her throat, hoping the yearning hadn't been as obvious in her voice as she'd thought.

Yukino made no immediate comment, but squeezed her hand lightly.

"... I have a good feeling about you two. It'll work out, alright?"

"Let's solve one love life crisis at a time, shall we?" Levy said, smirking. "C'mon girl, let's put your memories back where they belong. I want to see you happy again."

"Hey Natsu?" Lucy asked, closing her eyes as she felt Celestial Magic flooding back into her veins.

He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

"Yeah, Luce?' He asked, rubbing comforting circles in her bare shoulder. "What's bothering you? I can feel it," Natsu said,

"You- You know I only want what's best for you, right Natsu?" Lucy asked, muffling her voice into his scarf.

"...Lucy, you're kinda scaring me," Natsu admitted, pressing a kiss to her temple. "What's going on up there?"

"What are we gonna do Natsu?" Lucy asked, voice small. "I don't wanna watch everyone I care about slowly get older around me. I don't... I don't want to outlive my friends by decades, Natsu. I don't want you to either."

"Lucy, you're being dumb right now," Natsu said fondly. "We'll figure that out, alright? Because they're my family, but they're your family too. I'm not gonna let you out of my sight, or let you do some stupid self-sacrificing thing. Where you go, I go, fair? I lost you once, like hell I'm gonna lose you a second time."

She smiled up at him, eyes full of some emotion that he couldn't name.

"I love you, Natsu Dragneel," she said as an anwer,

"Aww, love you too. Now c'mon Luce, we should get back. A couple of us wanna talk to Sting before we leave. Gajeel definitely wanted to say something."

"You ready?"

Yukino inhaled, rolling her shoulders back.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Levy dropped the dagger into Yukino's hands, and Yukino muffled a groan at the sudden rush of memories. Her fingers curled over the edge of the blade, and Levy gasped at the blood that came out of her friend's palms.

Sting groaned in the background, still deeply unconscious.

"Holy Mavis Yukino, stop! You're hurt!"

"No," Yukino panted, shying away from Levy. "No wait I can do it," Yukino inhaled deeply, eyes scrunched in concentration. "No Levy don't let it finish I can-"

Yukino gasped, eyes bright. She sat there, panting, eyes wild.

"I- I'm good," she stammered, shaking her head. "Yeah- you-" she stopped.

"I-" she began, looking slightly puzzled. "I'm back."

"You okay?" Levy asked, staring at her face intently. "You're looking kinda pale."

"Yeah just," she shook her head. Everything just feels... different. Stronger. Everything's messed up now, like everything was yanked out and shoved back in. Like," she ran a hand over her face, blood streaking across her pale skin. "Shit, I forgot."

"Yukino, I'm gonna go wake up Wendy," Levy said worriedly, already standing. "Just stay there."

While Levy went to shake Wendy awake gently, Yukino clenched her fists, looking over at her sleeping mate.

"-she's looking at me like I'm going to hit her."

She hadn't lived this long by having poor senses. And whether she'd wanted to admit it or not while she'd lost that year, she'd always been finely tuned to Sting.

I was scared of him. I made him upset, and I said all those awful things to him. He was afraid of hurting me, Yukino reminded herself again, roughly swallowing. The idea of Sting hurting her seemed... completely insane now. But she'd genuinely been afraid of Sting. She'd almost forgotten how scared she'd been of him. Though, by the haunted look Sting had worn when Yukino had said those awful things to him, he hadn't. (She idly wondered just when he'd realized he was her mate.)

Yukino didn't say much as Wendy came to slow the bleeding form her hands, deep in thought.

"Thanks Wendy," Yukino said with a tired smile. "Go back to bed. I'll manage. You too Lev."

Cautiously Levy and Wendy retreated to her sleeping packs, waiting several minutes to see if Yukino's condition worsened.

"Go to bed," Yukino said with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry about me; I'm fine. Promise. I just... have lot to process."

They go to bed, and Yukino finds herself sitting by the embers of a dying fire, dried blood srying over her unwounded hands and in streaks down her face, left with only her thoughts.

It was... confusing, to say the least. To lose memories and suddenly have them back. Yukino thinks the worst part is probably the remembering of the time when she didn't have her memories with said memories back, and the logic of it all makes her head spin.

It was like having the memories of two different people in her head. The memories of a cruel, viscious Sting and Rogue had been dredged up to the surface, making Yukino's stomach churn.

That wasn't them. Not anymore, you watched them change. She thought asentmindedly, drawing patterns in the dirt. How could you ever have been afraid of them? Rogue's like a kid; sweet and looking to help, and Sting is well... Sting. Guess they're not the only ones that changed.

Yukino's stomach gave another painful lurch at the thought of her two best friends being her greatest tormentors, the though almost making her physically ill.

Across the cave, Sting gave a moan of discomfort, twisting in his blanket.

Yukino startled, head whipping in his direction, gaze immediately turning fonder as she locked in on his sleepy pout.

Yukino, tired and cold and physically and emotionally drained, considered going back to her sleeping pack and dozing off for a few more hours, then completely rejects the idea in favor of curling up with her snoozing boyfriend. (even now she gets a little thrill thinking the word; never in a million years would she have thought this was possible.)

Sliding into the warm bundle, tucking her head into his chest, Yukino fell asleep within seconds, the steady beat of Sting's heart thrumming under her fingers.

Natsu and Lucy appeared in the cave in a sudden burst of energy, rocking back on their heels from the sudden kickback.

"Sorry," Lucy giggled, upon seeing Natsu's slighly shaken expression. "I'll get better at that eventually."

"You're lucky I love you so much," Natsu murmured, hands sneaking around her middle. "Yeah you better- I don't know if I like the idea of having the ground ripped from under me every time we have ot go back to the Spirit World."

Lucy sobered at that.

"Natsu... You know eventually I'm going to have to go back for longer than a minute or two. You know you don't have to come for those trips; right? You'd be mssing days, weeks of your life here in Magnolia. What abour your life in Fiore? You won't be able to-"

"Lucy," Natsu cut her off, eyes darkening. "Stop it, you dummy. I don't care what I lose here. They're.. my family, but you are the other half of my soul, do you understand? You are worth it. I don't care if there are things I can't do anymore, I don't care if-"

Natsu's head jerked up, eyes narrowing.

"I smell blood."

"Where?" Lucy responded immediately, eyes scanning the cave. "My eyesight got better when I was became Andromeda but my nose isn't that good. Who?"

"It's Sting," Natsu said, already bounding over. "Fuck," he said, working to get him out of the bag. He stopped, nose wrinkling in confusion.

"It's Yukino," he said, though this time it sounded more like a question. "She's in here too. She just smells too much like Sting for me to- hey!" Natsu said as Sting shot out and encased Yukino's body under his, eyes dangerously dark and warning.

"Don't touch her," Sting breathed, nostrils flaring. He looked like rabid animal, fangs bared and body tensed in anticipation of a blow.

"Uhm, Natsu?" Lucy asked, voice wavering.

"He's got a lot of new hormones now. His first job is to protect her from harm; everything else comes after," Natsu said, and gently resting on Sting's shoulder. "Sting, it's me. Something's wrong with Yukino."

Sting shook his head, looking slightly disoriented by noticably more in control of himself.

"I don't feel anything," Sting said with a frown. "I should have felt something if she got-" He cut off, seeing dried streaks of blood coloring her face. "Shit. Shit where is she bleeding from?" Sting hissed, gently shaking her awake.

"Yukino, Yukino can you hear me?"

Yukino groaned lowly, rolling over to one side.

"Yukino," Sting hissed, face screwing up with worry. He could feel his breaths coming in shorter gasps and-

"Mmfine," Yukino grumbled out, arms drowsily coming up to loop around his neck. She pulled him down to touch their foreheads together, bumping their noses gently. Sting's heart leapt inot his throat. Being assaulted by her scent was like a breath of fresh air, now that she would finally tolerate being within three feet of him.

"I'm just tired. Levy fixed me up," Yukino said, tapping her temple softly. "I've got it all back up here."

"You're back?" Sting asked, hope fluttering in his stomach. "You," he swallowed nervously. "You remember? Me, Rogue? Us?"

"Yeah," she said, expression melting into something so heartbreakingly fond that Sting's heart skipped a beat. "It... It was really unpleasant. It's like a massive hangover; having a year's worth of memories crammed back in, but-" she broke off. "Totally worth it."

"I missed you so much," Sting said, crushing Yukino to his chest. "The bleeding though, what happene-"

"Gripped the knife a little too tight," Yukino said dismissively, turning up her palms for Sting to see. "Wendy healed me up; I'm just peachy," Yukino beamed at him, eyes turning into little crescents.

"...I swear being friends with you all is like living in a really crappy romance novel," Gray groaned sleepily from across the cave, irritatedly turning around in his sleeping bag.

"I'm going back to sleep everyone please shut up now thanks."