#This is my little grain of sand. even if it's cringe. it's cringe but *gay* and that's what matters

[astrito]

*hands you another cringe selfship drawing*

*hands you another cringe selfship drawing*

*hands you another cringe selfship drawing*

[raendown]

Commission for @miramise, whom tumblr will not let me tag. Rude. This story is a sequel to Chapter 137 of the Soulmate Story Collection.

Pairing: MinatoKakashi rated: G Word count: 2214 Summary: Older now, Minato and Kakashi have been meeting in their dreams every night for twenty years. After so long together there's only one thing between them they've never addressed. Minato doesn't want to think about how long it would have taken them to talk about it if not for one perfectly innocent misunderstanding.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the blog header!

Florid Flows The Dream

Minato was waving goodbye to Kushina when he spotted the tuft of silver hair not quite out of sight over the crest of his roof. With a smile he turned and pushed a little chakra in to his jump, bringing him up on to the edge of warm tiles where he could peek over the roof to see the back of Kakashi’s head. He took particular note of the paw prints crisscrossing underneath his feet despite the current lack of any dogs capable of getting up here. It seemed his soulmate had given himself company while he waited.

He opened his mouth to greet the other but Kakashi beat him to it at the last second.

“Did you two have fun on your date?” he asked, voice quiet enough that the wind almost blew it away. Minato cocked his head to one side with a bemused look.

“It wasn’t a date.”

Kakashi shrugged. The motion was perfunctory and when his shoulders fell back in to place Minato could see that he was holding a lot of tension there. In fact, despite the casual way he lounged on the terracotta as though nothing were amiss, every line in his body was tight with a tension Minato couldn’t understand. When they had seen each other earlier that day there had been nothing wrong other than perhaps the lingering headaches they were both suffering from celebrating Kakashi’s twentieth birthday with perhaps too much sake.

Shuffling forward until he was level with the younger man, Minato carefully lowered himself until he had settled on the tiles as well. His roof always had a great view of the sunset but something told him that the scenery was not why Kakashi was hanging around up here.

“Didn’t she ask you out to dinner?”

“Well, kind of. Not really. She asked me to meet her for dinner but that’s not the same thing.” Minato frowned, leaning over until their arms brushed together. “Kakashi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He would have been much more convincing if not for the way his shoulders kept hunching tighter and tighter around himself.

“Are you sure? Because you seem…off. You know you can talk to me, yeah?”

The vague feeling that something might be wrong was proven right a moment later, settling firmly in to worry when Minato saw Kakashi turn away from him for the first time in a very long time. When they were younger there had been a period in Kakashi’s life when it seemed everything was doomed to go wrong, the people he loved dropping around him like flies, and his first instinct had been to pull in to himself in the hope that it would hurt less when he lost Minato too.

It had taken Minato several weeks to get it through the idiot’s thick skull that he wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t going to die and he certainly wasn’t going to leave. Not even his duties as the Hokage could keep him busy enough that he forgot to make time for his favorite person. Working their way through those hurts together had brought them closer than ever before and they had been all but attached at the hip ever since.

Seeing Kakashi turn away from him again now stung more than he expected. Unsure what he might have done wrong, it hurt to think Kakashi might not trust him to stick around – especially considering the feelings he had been thinking on more and more lately, feelings he hadn’t quite figured out how to bring up in conversation.

“Maybe I should…go find my own dinner,” Kakashi mumbled finally. “Goodnight, Minato.” He was gone a moment later, hopping down without waiting for a reply.

Finding himself suddenly alone and scratching vigorously at the back of his head with bewilderment, Minato gave some thought to watching the sunset by himself, a lonely thought since they usually sat together around this time and traded gossip about what they had both done that day. He discarded the idea quickly. Without Kakashi here at his side the very notion seemed empty and pointless, the sunset pale and colorless. He was frowning as he dropped down on to the front porch and let himself inside. It looked like tonight was going to be an early night for him, dinner and then bed right after with no staying up to read the book waiting on his nightstand.

He wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible. As much as he knew Kakashi’s patterns and he knew the man always stayed awake for as long as possible when he was upset, unable to fall asleep with his mind twisting itself in to unnecessary knots, that didn’t matter. Minato had always tried to make sure he fell asleep first so he could be there to greet his soulmate in the one place they could both be their whole selves.

Well, the one place where they should have been able to be their whole selves. He himself was guilty of keeping secrets; he was hardly in a position judge if it ever turned out the other man was doing the same.

Sleep came quickly once he laid his head down and calmed his chakra. It was a skill he had picked up from Kakashi, ironically, and they had both used it countless times to catch a bit of shuteye in the middle of long missions when there was little time for rest. It served him well now, sending him down in to familiar darkness within minutes. When his eyes opened again he was standing on the shore of an endless lake with his toes buried in soft white sand that never clung to skin or clothing. This world was what they made of it.

They had made paradise from a warrior’s eye. Even if it were possible for others to enter this world he was sure no civilian could possibly find rest here. This place was tailored to them specifically, empty of the many traumas that came with the shinobi lifestyle and filled instead with the few things that brought them comfort, influenced occasionally by mood or a new desire.

Although he had known that he would have to wait, Minato still found the empty hours that followed nearly unbearable. Just thinking about Kakashi being upset with him for some reason ate at his insides until he couldn’t keep still. Worry sent him wandering along the shore until he turned aside for a change of scenery and ambled through the range of mountains they had lifted so Kakashi could feel the pure air on his face and know that there were no walls around him for miles and miles. Eventually he came to rest in a field of wheat dancing in a gentle wind that never faltered, running his fingers over through the grain and letting the beards tickle his skin. This field had been Minato’s idea, a terrible joke on his partner’s name.

He was still there when Kakashi fell asleep at last to join him here in their private dreamscape. One moment he was alone with his thoughts and the next his other half stood at the edge of the field with a smudge of darkness looming over him, not quite a storm cloud but certainly not a clear blue sky.

“In case you were wondering,” he grumbled when Minato hurried over, “chocolate covered coffee beans are delicious but not enough to keep me awake all night.”

“Please tell me what’s upset you – and don’t say nothing.” With one stern finger he pointed up at the darkness gathered around Kakashi’s head, watching with some exasperation as the younger man waved it away like smoke. It took a few minutes of Minato waiting with both hands on his hips before finally he offered something.

“You went on a date with her.”

That hadn’t been at all what he was expecting. Minato scratched his head. “Who? I haven’t gone on any dates.”

“Kushina,” Kakashi ground out from between his teeth.

“I told you, it wasn’t like that! She wanted to meet me for dinner because she had something important to talk about and she always bribes people with food when she needs help. Honestly I think her stomach runs her head; she seems to think the whole world is as obsessed with ramen as she is.”

Rather than look assured Kakashi only hunched further in to himself. “Oh. So…it wasn’t like…a romantic thing?”

“Not in the slightest. I would never – no.” Minato coughed in to his hand and cursed his stupid mouth for almost spitting out that he would never want anyone else the way he already wanted Kakashi. He knew there was no chance he hadn’t been super obvious about it but he still cringed when he felt a sharp stare boring in to him, a nervous titter escaping as he made a half-hearted attempt to deflect. “Well, glad we got that cleared up! So what did you do today? Did Gai ever find you for that rock throwing contest like he said he would?”

“Wait, go back a second. You would never what? Go out with her? Or go out with anyone? Is she just, like, not your type or something?”

“Um…” Uncomfortable, Minato chewed on his bottom lip and tried to figure out how to respond, searching Kakashi’s face for guidance until it finally hit him. He knew exactly why his soulmate was so upset. “Are you…jealous?”

The way Kakashi reeled back told him everything he needed to know, even without the blush that exploded over top of that ridiculous mask he never went without.

“Oh my god you are jealous!”

“Shut up!”

“But why?”

“Why do you think!? Oh my god, stop being embarrassing or I swear I’ll find a way to wake myself up.”

Minato laughed, feeling lighter than air, and lunged forward before Kakashi could escape to pull him in to a tight embrace. “That wasn’t very clear, sorry. I meant that you have no reason to be jealous. When I said I would never I was trying to say…never with anyone but you.”

He just barely managed to move his head in time to avoid a rapid collision when Kakashi jerked his own up to stare, wide eyed and disbelieving in a way that was somehow both comical and heartbreaking.

“You–? Me? Really?”

“I mean, we are soulmates. Is it so surprising?”

“Well you, uh, never said anything about this before.” Kakashi puffed out one cheek with embarrassment.

Minato lifted his chin to press their foreheads together across that single inch difference in their heights. “Oh, well excuse me. Are you really going to stand there and accuse me of doing the exact same thing you were doing? If you can fall in love and not say anything then so can I.”

He would have tried for a smug look if he weren’t flying so high on the incredible relief of knowing that Kakashi felt the same as him, that his secret didn’t have to stay secret anymore. Between the two of them they had both read enough terrible romances to recognize this moment for what it was and Minato knew damn well that he should be going in for that first big romantic kiss. Too full of emotions, his body twitched until he could stand it no longer and he was moving before he could think better of it.

The sound that slipped out of Kakashi when Minato lifted him off his feet in an over-enthusiastic bear hug was one neither of them had proper words for. It was probably meant to be some sort of protest, words choked off at the sudden movement, not quite a gurgle and too close to articulate to be called a groan. Minato couldn’t help himself; he laughed so hard that him arms loosened and Kakashi got his wish, gently dropping back down on to his own two feet.

“You are terrible at romance, I will have you know,” he accused.

“Well,” Minato cupped his soulmate’s cheek and peeled away that one last barrier between them. “I would hate to leave you with such a terrible misconception. Let’s see if I can change your mind, hm?”

Knowing Kakashi the way he did, Minato was sure that later he would be facing a whole lot of teasing for this, keeping the attention on him so neither of them would have the time to stop and think about how poorly Kakashi himself had also handled the situation. He didn’t mind, really. Not when they both groaned in to their first kiss, too long in coming, hands pulling at clothing to keep them close while the breeze tugged at their hair and set them both giggling over how badly the tickling sensation ruined the moment.

Around them the sky that had darkened to night with Kakashi’s mood now brightened until it was something comparable to high noon. It was appropriate, Minato thought, that their first kiss be here in the place that was only theirs.

He couldn’t wait for morning so he could lay claim again once they woke up, so he could show Kakashi that he would love him in any world – in their dreams, in this life, and in the next.  

[newgeht]

Binding Ink

Summary: Everyone had a name forever embellished on their wrist. This was the name of their mortal enemy… Or at least it was supposed to be. MinLu (Minerva x Lucy) AU

Wordcount: 4,650

AO3 FFnet Wattpad

She awoke, the sun blinding her doe brown eyes upon opening them. She cringed from its brightness, slinging her burnt, pink forearm over her eyes. How long had she been out for? “Natsu!!! Why didn’t you tell me to move into the shade!!!” The blonde whined, blistering pain shooting through her whole body. 

Maybe she should have thought about bringing sunscreen on the school’s trip to the beach. Then again, she wouldn’t have put it on because she wanted a nice tan. It also didn’t help her situation due to the fact that her whole back side was seared from the great big ball of fire that hung in the sky. Her tan would be so uneven.

Natsu ran over at her call, innocent hazel eyes peering into her. “Gray calls me a sun bum, but look at you.” He burst into a fit of laughter, slapping his knee as he looked over Lucy. 

“You were supposed to keep that from happening,” she exclaimed, throwing some sand at the pink haired teen. “Look at me, my back is as pink as your hair!”

He chuckled, “I didn’t want to wake ya up, Luce. Last time I did something like that, ya gave me a black eye. Don’t cha remember that?”

She pouted, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes.

“You could have at least dragged me under the shade. I thought best friends were supposed to keep one another from getting hurt.” Yes, best friends. Not lovers as everyone constantly thought they were. Can’t a girl just have a male in her life without believing they were involved somehow? The same thing happened with her close friend Gray, but their relationship was a little complicated…

A hand came down on her ass, the blonde yelping.

“Damn, Luce. The sun got you pretty good.” She recognized that dark and cool voice anywhere, Gray Fullbuster. “You ever heard of something called sunscreen?”

“Ow! You…” She didn’t want to curse him out in public. “I swear Gray, if you do that again, I’m going to make sure you regret it!” She huffed, looking at the both of them. “If you two are going to stand there and ogle me, can you get me some aloe vera or something?”

Natsu ran off, not wanting to endure the wrath of Lucy. Gray sat next to her, crossing his legs and patting her head. The touch wasn’t foreign, but now she felt uneasy whenever they touched. Like it was taboo somehow.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your tan will even itself out soon enough.” He began to dig a small pit in front of him, sand flying everywhere. His musings with the sand caused the blonde to do the same, her hands roving through the warm grains.

“No shit. I’m not that butthurt about it, plus,” she threw some sand his way, “I thought you would have been more likely to come save me.” She regretted saying it as soon as it came out of her mouth. She swore she would never try to bring up their previous relationship, she’d never meant to hurt him. They were only messing around, wasn’t that what high school was for?

She cringed as memories started to resurface, and she looked over at Gray. His face was as stoic as ever, his jawline just as tense as their current atmosphere. What else could she do to ruin this day?

“Could’a, should’a, would’a, but I was occupied with socializing with the other high schools that are present. You should be too, but you decided to take a nap instead.” The coolness of his voice turned sharp, patronizing her.

A sigh spilled from her lips and she decided not to say anything in return. It was hard to know that he was still into her, and she was sad that she couldn’t return his affections. Gray was really a nice guy, it just sucked that she was gay. Like, super-duper unbelievably gay, loving other girls as much as she loved her spirits. She wished that she hadn’t had to fuck around with Gray to find that out.

As soon as she had officially come out, everything between them had become different, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. He had never fully recovered, and now they were stuck in a stale silence. A frown formed on her lips, digging her feelings into the white sand.

A thump resounded through the air, sand splashing onto her back and into her hair.

“There ya go, Luce.” Natsu plopped down beside her, just as Gray had done not long ago. “Some sunscreen and aloe vera for your back.” The fire mage squeezed the sunscreen onto her back, a small groan of relief coming out of her. It didn’t matter that there was sand everywhere; him tending to her red back was enough to make her happy at the moment.

“Thanks, Natsu. Make sure you rub it in well, along with the aloe vera.” She was glad Natsu didn’t notice anything was amiss - she didn’t want to explain her and Gray to him again. Dense as he was, her best friend was the first to notice the awkward tension between them. She mainly blamed it on that keen nose of his.

As he smeared the cold substance in her back, she lifted her wrist up to her face. The black printed letters still baffled her everytime she looked at them. The lettering was only seen by her and the person whose name she was looking at. Minerva, the name contained power and it made her anxious for the day she was to meet whoever it was; a female, she assumed.

The ink held a purple tint -  as if that would give any indication to who it would be. Calligraphy letters fitting on her wrist so perfectly, it was amazing that such a magic existed.

From how she understood it, long ago the first great sorcerer enchanted his pupils with the same magic that tattooed her wrist. He ordered this group to fight against the one who had been imprinted upon them -  this allowed only for the greatest wizard to live. This tradition continued from generation to generation, only the strongest in the pair surviving to create the greatest wizard offspring. This enchantment applied only to mages -  not that it surprised her.

Nowadays, their teachers said that this enchantment was to keep the magic population from growing too much. It made sense considering the possibilities of what the world would be like if there were too many mages. The school faculty along with many other scholars theorized that the world would be in chaos without this magic.

If the ratio of mages were to be close to that of the normal population, things would go haywire. It was hard enough for the Magic Council to control the current mage population, just imagining the doubling or tripling of said population would give her a headache. No one would be able to control a tidal wave of magic users, she shuddered at the thought. Envisioning the world in utter discord wouldn’t do good for her “good day at the beach.”

Now that she realized it, the hands on her back were much too gentle to be her best friend’s. Natsu’s hands were calloused and hard, but these were tender. Whoever’s hands were roaming around her back definitely were not Natsu’s.

Not noticing the switch in the person made her smile to herself. She had gotten lost in her own thoughts, yet again.

The fingers were working absolute wonders but their positioning wasn’t the best. Thighs clamped around her own, pelvis sitting right on top of hers. Soft and delicate fingers ground into the muscles of her back, being soothed and relieved from all the tension.

Lucy’s hair swayed over her shoulder, the blonde catching the bobbed, pure white hair before her brown eyes met another pair of the same ones. It was none other than her good friend - and Natsu’s girlfriend - Yukino Aguria. She was an absolute angel to be doing her a favor like this.

“Yuki~,” the celestial mage cooed, “how come you didn’t tell me you were here? I thought Sabertooth wasn’t coming.”

She thought it odd for the other celestial mage to be here - Sabertooth never interacted with any of the other high schools. Ever. For them to be here was more perplexing than a surprise, where did the sudden change come from?

“We weren’t, but we decided a senior ditch day today would be best. Natsu told me all about this little beach trip you guys were taking,” the light blue-haired mage responded, her thumbs now pressing deep into Lucy’s shoulder blades. A groan came from the blonde as the girl continued to speak. “We would have been here earlier, but Natsu didn’t tell me until this morning.” She turned her head to the side, looking at the fire mage sweat drop.

“I totally forgot about it babe… until you said you didn’t want to go to school today.” He rubbed his head behind his head, an awkward laugh coming from his chapped lips.

Her best friend’s relationship was beyond her understanding, but at least he managed to be successful with someone. Unlike herself, whose romantic affairs always ended terribly. Gray was not the first to endure her crazy antics. She didn’t have a great long list, but it seemed as if nothing was going to ever work in her relationships with others. It always was one thing after another when she tried to be with someone, with recent events causing her to stay off the dating scene for the time being.

Being in a relationship right now would be almost impossible with rumours of her and Gray’s minglings getting around to the student population. Doomed is what she was. Absolutely doomed.

A cool finger tapped her shoulder, and Lucy found her eyes meeting Gray’s. “You want me to go grab you a drink, Lucy?”

Without thinking, she nodded. The ice-make mage left, leaving the three of them baking in the hot sand.

“Yuki, we should probably move somewhere with more shade,” the celestial maiden suggested, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Thank goodness you said something, I was about to suggest that myself.” The girl got up off of Lucy, helping the blonde up.

“Thanks for giving that massage too, it was super nice.” Lucy leaned over to scoop up her towel. “So who else came with you today? Anyone we would know?”

Yukino shook her head. “I think you would only recognize Sting and Rogue. But there’s more than those two.”

Lucy remembered the pair well. The said duo was caught multiple times sneaking together around campus after hours. It amazed her how they thought their relationship was a deep secret, but everyone knew about their little shenanigans behind closed doors. She was glad none of the underclassmen ever caught them. The Twin Slayers loved each other very much behind closed doors. Thinking about it made Lucy chuckle to herself.

Natsu punched his hand, a small flame forming over it, “Ya mean to tell me there was people to fight, and ya never told me?!” He began to spurt flames from his mouth as he berated his girlfriend with questions.

“N-Natsu, calm down. I told you I was bringing people with me, namely my group of friends.” She stayed a good distance as his body started to de-flame.

The pink haired boy punched his fist into the air as his resolve grew. “Let’s meet them then, I’m sure they’d be good to spar with.”

Both celestial users shook their heads at his silly idea, sighing in unison. His hot-headedness would never change, and Lucy hoped it wouldn’t. It was one of the things she loved about him - she hoped that his childish antics would never change either. She smiled as her friend led her to the spot where the Sabertooth group had set up.

The spot was mostly deserted aside from a very long-haired blond clothed in regular swim trunks, but with a very large red hat sitting on his head. He certainly had quite the style, as he sat in a blue fold up chair reading a hefty tome.

“Hey Rufus.” His hazel eyes only looked at her before returning to his book. Yukino wasn’t fazed by this, she just continued to speak, “This is Lucy, and as you know, my boyfriend Natsu.”

“I’ll commit that to memory,” he flipped the page, not looking at them.

Lucy’s first impression of him wasn’t the best, but Yukino seemed pretty pleased with the way he responded. Brown eyes darted around - there were supposed to be more Sabertooth students than her fellow celestial mage and Rufus.

Closer to the beach, a group of four was divided by a net. Sand was flying about as the duos were scrambling to hit the white ball back and forth over the net. They comprised of three males and a girl, and instantly she recognized Sting and Rogue. The blond and dark haired boy effortlessly worked together to pop the ball back to the other team. She knew them from the student mage exchange program the schools hosted. Which was how she also met Yukino, it was a blessing to have her over at Fairy Tail for that short period of time.

But wow…

Dark hair caught the sunlight as the only girl on the team slid across the sand for the ball. Brown eyes were trained on this mystery girl, looking anywhere her eyes could get ahold of. From this distance the girl was definitely a looker. Hair up in identical and perfect buns and nice curves out in display in a cute purple bikini. How had Yukino kept this friend of hers from Lucy?

She felt absolutely breathless as she observed the dark haired beauty. Hopefully she wouldn’t be different in person, that would be a real disappointment.

A small tinge of pain was felt on her forehead.

“Earthland to Luce.” Natsu grinned as he looked down at her, “You ok? You seemed to be dazed for a second, you sure you only got a sunburn while taking a nap?”

Flustered, Lucy waved her arms around. “No, no, I was just thinking about something is all.” Yeah, how to get that girl’s number. “Let’s go meet the rest of Yukino’s friends, I’m sure they would love to fight you too.”

Overly satisfied by her answer, Natsu grabbed Yukino’s hand, practically dragging her down the rest of the beach to the volleyball game. Sand kicked up behind her as she ran to catch up to the couple.

Minerva would have been a fool to not see the voluptuous blonde walk up to their area with Yukino. Sadly, she couldn’t look over her thoroughly as she was trying to win this game against her classmates. Orga wasn’t much help in their struggle because his hand eye coordination sucked. She was glad he never took up any sports that involved a ball, only wrestling. When it came to pinning an opponent to the floor he was a total beast, but when it came to struggling for the ball the slippery texture of the sand was not doing him any favors.

All she could do was hit the ball as hard as possible so that Sting and Rogue would be too scared to go for it. Thus far, her intimidation tactic wasn’t working, but she did manage to spike the ball a couple of times. Just like what she was about to do right now.

Lifting her arm up, she jumped and with as much force as she could manage and slammed her palm against the ball. The poor volleyball flew forward, its velocity splitting the Twin Dragons apart as it hit the sand between them.

It bounced away, steadily coming to roll; its little adventure ended up at the blonde’s pink toes. Minerva’s hazel eyes surveyed the blonde again -how did her best friend know this girl without telling her? But she had heard Yukino tell stories about her time with a celestial mage in her residence at Fairy Tail. Maybe this was that same exact girl.

Her best friend didn’t give much of a description when giving details about her temporary transfer to the fairy school. Since Yukino rolled up with her boyfriend and the girl in tow, she could assume that the blonde was a fairy as well. Minerva was going to have her fun with her before the day was up -she was almost sure of it.

“Hey, Min-Min,” Yukino chirped as she picked up the volleyball. She dropped the ball, perfectly kicking it back to the group of tigers.

She gave the platinum haired girl a small smile as she caught the ball, getting ready to serve it. “Who do you have with you, Yukino?” Swiftly she popped it back over, making sure to keep a close eye on the ball as it quickly came flying over the net.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Yukino opening her arms to gesture to the kids on either side of her. “As you know, my boyfriend Natsu and my good friend-”

“Aye! Why did you run off?” Another voice overpowered Yukino’s, deep and obnoxious--to her at least. Minerva turned her head to see who it was, a dark-haired boy.

Bad idea.

In her peripherals the ball came flying back and there was absolutely nothing she could do before it hit the side of her head. Her hearing went fuzzy, as she held her hand to her ear. Big ouch - the twins were out for blood with that punch and she definitely felt it. She held her head as everyone began to burst out into laughter, including the ones who had served it.

Just to set a good impression on the blonde, she wasn’t going to do anything to the boys - yet. She turned her head slowly, sending a malicious smile at them as she chuckled darkly to herself. Maybe if she had been more focused it would have never hit her in the first place, but she needed to know who interrupted Yukino.

Then she felt something cool up against the side of her head, small drops of condensation falling down her face.

“That wasn’t nice of them, was it,” a fruity voice camefrom next to her. When did she get here? “This should help you, I think. I hope that hit wasn’t too hard.”

Minerva laughed, turning to see hair as bright as the sun waving enchantingly over the girl’s shoulders. She managed to keep her jaw from dropping in awe of the blonde’s beauty, she was so much better up close. “It wasn’t, don’t worry about it too much.”

She took the soda can from the fairy’s hand, holding it to her head. “Thanks for the makeshift ice pack.” Sarcastically she said, “It should help the swelling go down a bit.”

A light laugh spilled from the blonde’s lips and it made Minerva smile, effortlessly. “It’s no problem, really. You mind if we join in?”

The territory mage shook her head. “Not at all, the more players the better. Right?”

“Of course, I’ll play on your team. You have a really nice spike.” Though she knew she was good at spiking, the blonde’s comment made Minerva’s heart flutter. She turned her head, the blonde calling the rest of her group over.

Natsu spoke up, “I’m going against those two.” He pointed at Sting and Rogue, standing aloof in all the current excitement. They stood on the other side of the net, making small comments to one another., that lay on the other side of the net. “All by myself!” The fairy hit him on the back of the neck, a smack resounding through the air.

“We’re all playing together, so be a good sport,” the blonde chided him as she set herself up next to him.

Orga took one for the team and switched to the other side so that Natsu and Yukino could play together. Funny, all the girls were on the same team. The dark haired boy who distracted her earlier was also on the other side; she could get revenge on all of them at the same time. A devious smirk wiped across her face as she got ready to serve the ball once again.

The opposing team seemed to notice her dark intent, readying up for the ball. Orga held up the back as he was the tallest, and so did the other fairy; the dragons were practically inseparable. Minerva held the ball out, her toes digging into the warm sand as she swung, sending the ball flying over the rope.

It was returned almost immediately, the blonde popping up to send it right back over. It was nice to know that she was somewhat athletic.

The ball was hit back and forth over the net, sometimes the players hitting it or going out of bounds. The group of teenagers werehaving a blast as it went sailing back and forth; some diving for the ball and others (Yukino mostly) shirking away when it came at them aggressively. This was the most fun she’d had in awhile, and she never wanted it to end. She didn’t know how fun a friendly competition could be, especially against the fairies.

Once every couple of matches, she would turn her head to look as the brown eyed fairy gracefully hit the ball. Or, with the most valiant effort, she would go flying for the volleyball even if it was going over the line. Though her back seemed to be sunburnt (Minerva wasn’t completely sure if it was that or a bad tan), she was still beautiful in the sun’s rays. She found it somewhat odd that there was black lettering on her left wrist, the same one that had her future guild mark upon it.

Now after their countless rounds the game was getting a bit more heated, quite literally. She didn’t know how her own best friend could stand Natsu bursting into flames whenever he wanted to. His spontaneous combustions were starting to make the ball super hot, making it harder to hit. It was almost like instant death if your hand stayed on it for too long. This began to make the matches shorter and shorter, which she didn’t approve of.

“Okay, okay,” the dark haired girl exclaimed, “Final match, I’m getting pretty tired.” It was a lie, but she didn’t want to touch the ball anymore. She was much more interested in the pretty blonde beside her. Winning this girl’s affections was more important than winning the game.

“Whoever wins this match wins the whole game!” Sting exclaimed as he twirled the ball on his finger, waiting to serve it. The tiger could agree to that, and she was surprised no one had used their magic the whole game (not including the buffoon, Natsu).

In frightening unison, the rest of them nodded. “We’re going to beat you guys down to the ground!” The unnamed blonde fairy proclaimed, standing proudly in her spot. Minerva looked through the roped squares, glaring at the dark haired fairy, whose gaze was always on the blonde. They didn’t appear to be together, but his longing for her left a sour feeling within her.

Sting chuckled when he served the ball, sending it straight toward the fire mage. Natsu let out his famous line, “I’m all fired up!” When he hit the white ball, it seamlessly transformed into a ball of fire. The other team scrambled out of the way as it went riding toward them.

They all screamed the pink haired boy’s name in lament. It was such an anti-climatic finish to the match, but they won. Now Minervacould rub it in the Twin’s face in retaliation for hitting her in the head with the ball.

She slapped the blonde’s hand as she came by, giving the rest of the group high-fives as well. The fairy’s sportsmanship was refreshing to her, and she congratulated the rest of the team for their efforts. Even Natsu, because of his “accidental” win.

In all the commotion, she looked upon the neverending body of water in front of them. The waves rolled onto the beach, coloring the sand a darker shade than it was previously. Colors burs across the sky as the sun finally came to rest for the day. It was really a sight to take in and it brought a small smile on her lips. She really did love the beach.

The tiger failed to notice the keen eyes upon her as her gaze drifted across the beach. The tiger’s smile looked absolutely perfect, she wished she could have managed to get it on camera. Lucy was enveloped by the perfection in the moment as she saw the unnamed girl lightly smile.

Turning away from her, Lucy cleared her throat, “We should go down into the water now guys. I’m sure we’ll cool down from that match faster that way.”

Gray immediately hopped on her suggestion. “That sounds perfect!” He inched closer to her, not noticing her dodging him when he tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Lucy turned to the dark haired tiger.

“Does that sound good to you?” This grabbed the other girl’s attention and she nodded.

“The beach sounds like a wonderful idea at this time,” she answered in a low tone that sent goosebumps all over the celestial mage. Without another word, the dark-haried girl left for the siren’s call of the waves.

“Wait for me,” Lucy said, chasing her sand prints down to the water. Everyone else followed after the pair, scattering into different groups to play in the rejuvenating sea water.

They hardly noticed the cold blue eyes staring Lucy down as she chased after the tiger. They were  unforgiving and sent unwarranted chills down Lucy’s spine as he stood there, the turf hitting his calves.

Soon enough, the fairy stood beside the tiger as they made their way down the wake of the beach. Lucy pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, shyly looking at the dark haired looker next to her. She could feel the blush crawling across her face as she opened her mouth to speak, shutting it closed.

The girl beside her chuckled, kicking the water as it came up over their feet.  Little holes formed in the sand as the little sand crabs dug their way back into their home as the wave was dragged back into the ocean. The dark-haired girl turned her head, her hazel eyes dawning on the celestial mage’s face and she blushed even harder.

“Your name?” They inquired simultaneously. Both looked away, their laughter filling the air.

Her counterpart cleared their throat, “Sorry I didn’t hear your name earlier, your friend cut Yukino out. Please tell me he’s not as annoying as Natsu.”

Lucy giggled as she shook her head, “No, Gray is perfectly fine. Like a more refined version of Natsu.”

“Is he your boyfriend? He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of you during the game,” she sounded almost jealous of him.

Now Lucy shook her head vigorously, “N-No.” Her blush deepened as she thought of what to say. “It’s complicated, but it’s over now.”

“Good,” the word slipped from the girl’s mouth so fast. Was that a good or bad thing? She smirked as she continued to speak, “I’m Minerva, by the way.” Her head blocked the blending pallets of the setting sun, her face darkening.

The blonde stopped in her steps, looking at the back of Minerva’s head. She continued to walk, her steps getting slower and slower like Earthland was stopping. The world around her seemed to fade, aghast as she pulled her wrist back up to her face. The black lettering almost haunting now as her eyes wavered over her wrist.  

Minerva.