so this is an attempt by me to do a StingLu one-shot. It's my first one-shot so please be gentle if you comment. thanks 3

"Oh man!" Lucy Heartfilia said. "I turn my back for one minute and Natsu and Happy disappear on me!" She walked through the town market calling for them. "Natsu! Happy!"

"Lucy?"

She turned around. Sting Eucliffe was standing behind her, looking as lost as she was. "Oh, hey Sting. Hey you seen Natsu and Happy around?"

"No, sorry," he told her. "Actually, I'm looking for Rogue, Frosch, and Lector. We got separated and haven't been able to find each other."

"Oh man. You too?"

"Yeah. Frosch saw a frog, and well…" he smiled. "Rogue is a completely different person when it comes to Frosch."

"You know, now that I think about it, why doesn't Happy, Lector, and Frosch look for us from the air?" Lucy asked him.

"Uh… I don't know, actually. But I bet if we stay together, we'll eventually find them," Sting told her.

"Yeah you're right. Let's keep looking," Lucy told him.

They began walking together through town. Sting looked over at Lucy. Like him, she also had blonde hair, but had large brown eyes instead of blue. She was very cute. He found himself blushing, and looked down at the ground as he walked. To cover up for himself, he tried to make small talk. "So why were you guys here, anyways?"

"We had a small job of catching some runaway bandits. Unfortunately Natsu destroyed part of the city block so we didn't get our reward," Lucy told him. "But that's Fairy Tail for you! So what about you?"

Sting laughed. "Rogue and I were on our way back from a job in the mountains. We stopped here for a lunch break and we got separated." He ran his hand through his hair. "Lector never was the type to worry, but I bet he is worrying now."

"Wait how long have you been separated from your friends?" Lucy asked him.

"A few hours."

"And you still haven't found Rogue?" Lucy said.

"Nope. How about you?" Sting asked her.

"About twenty minutes. I mean, it is Natsu. I turned my back and he was gone," she told him.

Sting laughed louder. "That's Natsu."

After an hour of walking, they both collapsed on a park bench. The sky was painted orange from a brilliant sunset. Lucy propped her head on Sting's shoulder. "My legs hurt."

"My whole body hurts," Sting said. "Rogue is going to have to find me himself, I'm taking a break."

"Maybe we should stay here. This park is in the center of town and it'll be easier for them to find us," Lucy said.

"It'll be dark soon. We should find a place to sleep. I highly doubt that they'll find us today."

"Yeah, you're right."

As they walked toward an inn at the center of town, Sting looked over at Lucy again. She noticed him looking at her and blushed. "What is it?"

Sting's face turned red from embarrassment. "I was wondering... what it is you see in Natsu."

"What?" she shrieked.

"Everyone thinks you two are crazy for each other."

"That's news to me!"

"So you don't like him?" Sting asked.

"No! We're just friends. That's all," she told him.

"Well, maybe you and I can get together some time then," Sting asked her.

"Yeah, sure! I'd like that." Lucy smiled at Sting.

They split up at their rooms, and Sting waved to Lucy. "See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," Lucy said.

As they both lay in bed that night, neither Lucy nor Sting could sleep, but for different reasons; Sting was excited that he'd finally made a move on Lucy, and Lucy was anxious about Natsu finding out.

"Sting would be shish-ka-bobbed, although I have to say, he's pretty powerful too," she said to herself.

After finally falling asleep, she had a dream where she saw the town on fire, people screaming, and buildings, including the little inn they were staying in, reduced to rubble.

When she woke up what seemed like a few minutes later, she was certain it was morning already and began changing. But the sound of Sting pounding on her door brought her out of her tired state.

"Lucy wake up!" he yelled, managing to get the door open. His face turned red.

"Get out!" Lucy shrieked. She grabbed the bedsheet and covered herself up with it.

"Sorry! I didn't realize you'd be naked," he said, quickly closing the door. Wow! he thought to himself.

"Okay, let's go," she told him. They ran down the hall and out the door of the inn. They were greeted by the sounds of large groups of people brawling, and fires burning across the little town.

"What's going on?" Sting asked.

"A bunch of bandits are wrecking the town! You and your girlfriend should make a run for it!" someone told him.

"But we're wizards, we can help you!" Lucy said.

"Come on Lucy!" Sting said, pulling her down the road. "We need to get to safety."

"But we can help them!"

"It's too late for that! We have to go," he told her.

Lucy looked back at where she was standing just in time to see the roof of the inn they were staying in fall onto the street. She gasped.

"Come on, let's go!" Sting told her. She didn't argue and let him lead her to safety on a hill overlooking the town.

"Oh my god," Lucy said, looking down on the town.

"It's worse than I thought," Sting said, horrified.

"I don't think we're safe here," Lucy said. "We should keep running."

"Wait," Sting told her. "In case we get separated, there's something I can't go without doing." He leaned down and kissed her briefly, then grabbed her hand. Lucy noticed his face was red. "Let's go."

"Yeah."

They ran across the hillside. The sounds of fighting were soon distant, and they stopped, panting, a few miles away. A small creek flowed beside them, and Sting walked over and cupped his hands in the cool water. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know."

"I think we should keep going. From what I remember, there's a small town on the other side of the woods."

Before Lucy could say anything, Sting grabbed her hand and began dragging her through the woods. It wasn't until a few feet later when he stopped. "Someone's coming."

"And fast. We need to hide," Lucy said.

"I can take them. But find a safe place to hide for now," Sting told her, pushing her into the hollow of a tree.

"I can fight too. I'm not as weak as I look." Lucy began crawling out of the hollow.

"No. I have to protect you," Sting said.

Lucy smiled. "Okay."

As their enemies surrounded them, Sting pushed Lucy behind him. "Damn, there's too many of them."

Lucy pulled out her fleuve d'étoiles. "We can work together to take them down."

Sting grinned. "Yeah."

"Let's go!"

Sting began with punching the man closest to him. "These guys are super weak."

"Sting! Behind you!" Lucy shouted.

Sting turned around in time to see Lucy's fleuve d'étoiles grab someone behind him. He raised his fist. "Attacking your enemy from behind is a cowardly thing to do. Especially when your foe has far more magic power than yourself." He punched the man who had made an attempt to attack him.

Lucy withdrew her fleuve d'étoiles to keep herself from going flying. She felt herself being picked up by her hair. She screamed out.

Sting turned around and saw Lucy hanging by her hair. His heart skipped a beat. "Let her go!" he yelled, running over to her.

"I think we'll keep her," the guy said. "She'll make a great trophy."

"No," Lucy said, tears running down her face.

"She's mine! Now let her go!" Sting yelled. "White dragon roar!"

His attack hit the man holding Lucy square on. She dropped into his arms. "Sting!" Lucy said.

"Yeah?"

"That was awesome! Thanks for saving me."

"No problem." He gave her a big grin. "Let's keep going, shall we?"

"Yeah."

He carried her through the woods, stopping whenever he heard someone approaching. He finally stopped for rest by a large tree, where Lucy sat with her head propped on his shoulder, resting. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. I'm going to make sure you stay safe, Lucy. I promise, he thought. He looked up at the stars, and sighed.

"Hey, Sting?" Lucy said.

"Yeah? What's up?" he said.

"I just wanted to thank you again for saving me. And protecting me. It means a lot. I mean, to some it might not mean much, but to me it means a lot." Lucy smiled at him sheepishly.

Sting kissed her. He went to pull away from her, but he couldn't pull himself to do it. He pulled Lucy closer to him as he kissed her. Lucy looked up at him as he pulled away.

"Why did you stop?"

"I don't want to hurt you any further." He lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I think we're near the edge of the forest," Sting said. "But we need rest. And it's hard to rest when there are people in the forest."

"I have an idea," Lucy told him. She pulled out a golden key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"

"You wish to punish me, Princess?" Virgo asked, appearing before her and Sting.

Sting looked at Virgo dumbfounded. "She's… into that kind of stuff?"

"It's a long story. Anyways, Virgo, can you maybe go underground and see if there are any enemies nearby?" Lucy asked her.

"Of course." Virgo dived into the ground, and Sting looked into the hole after her. "She's a lot different than Yukino's spirits."

"She's just one of my spirits," Lucy told him. "The others have personalities all their own, as well."

Virgo popped back up. "There are enemies coming from the east, princess."

"Okay, thank you," Lucy told her.

"Until next time," Virgo said, disappearing.

"Okay, let's go," Lucy told Sting. She took off running. Sting chased her.

"Wait up!" he yelled after her.

Together they ran through the woods, Sting leading the way. He was laughing as he ran, looking back at Lucy who was running behind him. She, too, was laughing and had a big smile on her face. Seeing her so happy made him happy.

"Wait," he said, stopping suddenly. Lucy crashed into him and fell to the ground. "I smell fresh air."

"So we're out of the forest?" she asked. Sting helped her back up.

"Yeah." He picked up a familiar scent. "I just caught Rogue's scent!"

"Is he close by?" Lucy asked him.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure there's no one following us now that we're out of the forest," he told her. "Let's go."

Sting led the way, with Lucy close behind him. "His scent is getting stronger."

"We're getting closer to town, too," Lucy said.

"Stay close to me," Sting told her. She nodded.

When they reached the town, they found it deserted. Sting walked all over the tiny town in search of Rogue, but couldn't find him. The fact that he couldn't find his friend frustrated him.

"At least we can rest," Lucy said.

"Yeah, but where?" Sting asked her.

She pointed toward the open door of an abandoned house. "Where there's homes, there's beds."

They pushed the door open slowly and walked in. After insisting on checking all the rooms for people, Lucy climbed into a bed and fell asleep, while Sting took over on the armchair in the living room as a lookout.

It's so weird, he thought to himself. The last I heard of this town, it had people in it. And now it's completely deserted. What happened here? And where's Rogue?

He got up from his seat and went to check on Lucy. He found her shivering in the bed. He took off his jacket and put it over her. He decided that he should get some sleep too and stayed with Lucy in her room.

"Sting?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you a little cold?" she asked him.

"No I'm fine."

She took his jacket and draped it across his shoulders. "I'll be okay. Go ahead and take it back."

He reached up and covered one of her hands with his; they were both cold from being outside for so long. "Keep it."

She gave him a small smile. "Stay with me, okay?"

"Of course," he told her.

He laid his head down on the bed beside hers and fell asleep. When he woke up, he had a blanket draped around his shoulders and was considerably warmer. Lucy held his hand while she slept. He smiled softly before going back to sleep.

Lucy woke up awhile later to the sound of rain on the roof. Sting was sound asleep beside her, his hand in hers. She put his jacket back around him. This town is unbelievably quiet. And I could tell that there were people here not long before we arrived. So what happened to them?

"Lucy?" Sting mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Okay, you're awake," he said sleepily. "We should head out soon."

"Not until after you've finished sleeping," she told him, smiling.

"Hmph, I don't need sleep," he told her.

"Okay, then."

Lucy stood up and stretched. Sting came over to her and draped his jacket back around her. She blushed.

"So you can stay warm," he told her.

"Do you think you can sniff out Rogue's scent in the rain?" Lucy asked.

"No problem. You ready?" he asked her.

"Yeah."

Sting ran out into the rain, with Lucy close behind him. She struggled to keep up with him.

"I think I know why Rogue's scent disappeared like it did," Sting said. "He was going from place to place as a shadow. And he must've had Lector and Frosch with him."

"That makes sense," Lucy said.

Sting's eyes widened. "I just picked up Natsu's scent too."

Lucy gasped. "What?"

"It seems like his and Rogue's scents got mixed at one point up ahead."

"Can you tell where they go from there?" she asked him.

He stopped. "No. The trail is dead."

"I'd ask if you think they're looking for us, but they got here ahead of us." Lucy lowered her head in thought. "So maybe they thought that we'd both come through the woods and into the village?"

"Yeah, maybe. But then that doesn't explain the missing townspeople," Sting said.

Lucy put his jacket up over her head to protect her from the rain. "I was thinking about that. I may have come up with something."

"Oh?"

"Well, there weren't any signs of a battle, so no one attacked them. What if Happy and Natsu ran into Rogue, and they warned the townspeople about the town that we were in and they evacuated for safety?"

"But there's no way in telling if that's right."

"If Natsu can avoid transportation, he will. Happy's been flying him around, which explains his scent getting mixed up with Rogue's suddenly. I've been partners with them long enough to know that."

The rain started coming down harder. Sting grabbed Lucy's hand and began running. "I think I saw a cave up ahead. Maybe we can take shelter and get dried off in it," he called back to her.

"Yeah!" she replied. The rain soaked through to her skin, and she was cold, but holding Sting's hand gave her a feeling of warmth.

When they reached the cave, they collapsed on the hard rock floor, out of breath. "I didn't realize that it was that far away," Sting said, trembling with cold. "Sorry."

"It's okay. At least we're out of the rain for now."

"We still have wet clothes on though," he told her.

"I can fix that." Lucy tried to pull out her keys. "My hands are numb."

Sting reached over to help her. "Which one are you trying to get?"

"Virgo's."

He handed her Virgo's key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"

Virgo appeared. "You summoned me, Princess?"

"Can you help us out with clothes from the Celestial Spirit World?" she asked her.

"Of course. This is the latest fashion." She handed her a stack of clothes. "And I've included a matching set for Sir Sting as well."

"Thanks," Sting told her. He got his set of clothes from the stack and began changing. He turned to Virgo when he was done. "You guys are really good to Lucy."

"My Princess is a kind person. She treats us like her guildmates." Virgo dropped the sheet Lucy was changing behind. "Princess, is it time for punishment?"

"No. You can leave now," Lucy told her.

"Until next time, Princess," Virgo said, and disappeared.

"So, when she disappears, where does she go?" Sting asked.

"The Celestial Spirit World." Lucy went over and sat down beside him.

"They have a world?"

"Yes. It's where they stay when they aren't in use."

Sting thought this over. "I understand but somehow I'm also confused."

Lucy laughed. She leaned against his shoulder. His heartbeat calmed her somewhat, and his body was warm. She sighed.

Sting put his arm over Lucy's shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. She put her hand over his and looked up at him.

Sting pulled her chin up and leaned down to kiss her. "My Lucy."

She smiled softly. "My Sting."

He pulled her closer to him. "Lucy…"

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah?"

He smiled back. "Nothing."

"It's stopped raining. We should start looking for Rogue again," Lucy said. She stood at the opening of the cave and looked out.

"Yeah. I should be able to pick up his scent now," Sting told her. "The rain made it nearly impossible."

Suddenly something came toward them. A shadow.

"Rogue!" Sting said.

"Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Rogue yelled at him.

"Quit yelling at me! I've been looking for you!" Sting yelled back.

Lucy smiled. It really was like watching brothers fight.

Suddenly Rogue noticed her. "Lucy! Natsu has been looking everywhere for you. We heard about the town getting destroyed so we looked there for you guys but didn't find you two."

"Where is Natsu?" she asked him.

"He's with Lector, Frosch, and Happy on up the road. We should head back there, he's been threatening to burn stuff up for hours."

"That's Natsu for you," Lucy said weakly. "Resident pyro."

Rogue led them a few miles away towards an abandoned home. He knocked a few times and opened the door. "Guys look who I found."

"Sting!" Lector cried, running to him. "I was so worried."

"Sorry for worrying you, but it's okay now," Sting told him.

"Lucy!" Happy said. "Are you okay? We heard about the town!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucy told Happy. Natsu came over to her.

"Sorry for walking off like that," he told her.

"Huh?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Sting, Rogue, thanks for all your help," Natsu said, smiling. "See you all later!"

Lucy watched him and Happy leave the little house with a dumbfounded expression, then followed him. "Bye, Rogue! Bye, Sting! Bye, Lector! Bye, Frosch!"

"She told me bye, too!" Frosch said.

"Lucy's really nice," Lector said.

Rogue looked at Sting. "So do you wanna explain your clothes?" he asked him, smirking.

"Oh shut up!"