"I don't have any reasons...
I've left them all behind
I'm in a New York state of mind~" you sang sleepily as you made your way down the corridor to Sting and Rogue's room.

It was 6am. You had a train to catch to Magnolia that left at 9, but given the usual amount of distractions faced when having to travel, you'd woken up extra early in order the make sure you'd be on time. You didn't knock for the fear of waking up Rogue - a prospect that still terrified you.

You tiptoed over to Sting's double bed, where he was spread out on his belly starfish style, with Lector occupying the far right corner of the bed against the wall, snoring gently in his little nightcap. You knelt down and shook Sting's shoulder gently. It was hard to ignore his lack of shirt. You prayed he wasn't the sort of person to sleep naked, or an embarrassing scene would soon ensue. "Sting?"

"Mm?" He murmured sleepily. "What is it?"

"I'm off to Magnolia to ask about the party. Did you want to come with me?"

"Do I have to get out of bed to do so?"

"Yes, you idiot." You whispered with a frown.

"What time are you leaving?"

"8:30."

"And what time is it now?"

"6:05..."

"Seriously, _?!" He groaned. "Just go back to bed for another hour."

"But...I'm already up." You protested as quietly as you could. You nearly yelped as Sting moved up his covers and pulled you into his bed next to him, before replacing the duvet on top of the both of you. Your feet brushed against his legs. Thank goodness, he was wearing pyjama bottoms. Panic over.

"Then you can just wait a while with me." He smirked.

"S-Sting."

"Just go back to sleep." He murmured, pulling you towards him and curling up against you. He seemed to radiate body heat but it wasn't unpleasant. Despite blushing furiously, you curled up next to him, leaning into his touch, quickly feeling your eyelids droop. Surely a few minutes wouldn't hurt...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" A voice cried out and you jolted awake.

You thought you'd only closed your eyes for a moment. Oh no. Light was pouring in from the windows. Rogue was standing over the bed. What was he doing in your room? You thought sleepily. Then you remembered you weren't in your room. You turned away from the angry Rogue to see Sting lying next to you, shirtless and scowling at Rogue.

"I thought I told you to keep all of that to her room!"

"N-nothing happened!" You blurted, waving your arms. "I just sort of fell asleep. It was Sting's fault?" You offered Rogue. He didn't seem convinced and stormed off. You glanced at the clock. It was 8:25. "Sting, we're going to be late!"

"Ah, damn." He cursed. "Sorry."

"It's okay, just get dressed!"

You jumped out of the room and ran across the hall to your room, pausing only to throw a shout of 'it's not what it looks like!' to a scandalised Yukino who saw you leaving Sting's room in your white vest top and pyjama shorts. After quickly getting dressed, you grabbed your guitar and bag, slinging them on your back and hastily put on shoes as you ran downstairs to meet Sting and Lector, who were in a similar state of unorganised frazzle.

"Let's go!" You urged, giving a hurried goodbye to the rest of the guild. The two of you raced towards the train station.

"Do we have to get the train?" Sting cringed in horror.

"Unless you feel like flying to Magnolia, yes."

"You have wings."

"No." You asserted as you went through the ticket barrier. The whistle was blowing on the platform. You grabbed Sting by the arm and raced to get on the train. No sooner had you got on the train that it began to pull out of the station. You sighed with relief, a smile on your face.

"Um..._-chan?" Lector said. You looked at Sting, who was sweating and leaning against the corridor of the train, white as a sheet and clearly fighting back the urge to vomit.

"O-okay. Easy now." You soothed, helping him into the train booth and lying him down. He groaned pathetically. It was tough like this to remember that he wielded one of the most powerful kinds of magic in the world. You wondered if he would be as well respected on Earth. Certainly, being good looking would have gotten him a little bit far. He had drive, too. But like most wizards in Earthland, without magic, he most likely wouldn't be famous or noteworthy on Earth. But you didn't mind that. You stroked his hair gently. He was annoying at times, but you loved him. And, although he didn't say it often, he loved you too.

Lector had told you that Sting had social issues. Despite his popularity in Fiore, Sting's only real friends were Lector and Rogue. Possibly Frosch too. You were, obviously, and Yukino, Orga and Rufus were getting to be better acquainted with him. But apart from that, friends were still a bit of an alien concept to Sting. You almost felt sad about the fact that he had spent so long trying to get strong that he'd never made many friends. But the getting strong was for Weisslogia, and Lector. He'd done a great job of it, too, you smiled to yourself.

"Sting, are you okay?" You asked softly.

"Ugh...do you have those headphones?"

You repressed the urge to smack your forehead. You'd actually forgotten them, in your haste to leave. You had your iPod and charger lacrima but your headphones were still on your bed.

"No, I don't. Do you want me to sing instead?"

"...sure." He said weakly. Lector sat up from Sting's back, where he'd sat himself nibbling at some lemon cake that you'd brought for him.

"The day we met..." You sang softly, rubbing circles around his back. "Frozen I held my breath
Right from the start
I knew that I'd found a home for my heart...
... beats fast
Colours and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow..." You sang gently to Sting, who was more relaxed. Lector smiled at you.

"One step closer
I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more..."
Sting turned over and looked up at you. You paused. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no." He said weakly. "Just...you're so beautiful."

You would have had cause to blush had Sting not promptly had to stop himself retching.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah." Sting said with a strong smile as you walked through the streets of Magnolia. The sun was shining and you could smell fresh strawberries as you passed the market stalls. It smelt...like coming home. "I guess you must miss this town, huh?" Sting continued.

"I do. But I don't regret leaving." You squeezed his hand. Lector making puking noises in jest behind you, before running ahead.

"Do you reckon we'll see Carla? She's so beautiful..." He said wistfully.

"Happy will fight you, Lector. Besides, Carla...how do I put this...has really really high standards."

"You saying Lector isn't good enough?!" Sting scowled.

"No. I'm saying Carla is stuck-up. There's no other phrase for it. But why not try? Ice Exceed might melt."

You arrived in front of Fairy Tail, smelling the faint smells of wine, smoke and Mirajane's cooking. A smile spread across your face. "You ready?"

"Sure."

You grinned, before deciding to make an entrance befitting a former Fairy Tail Mage. You kicked open the door Natsu-style and shouted to the crowd of people.

"Hey! Did I take the party with me?!"

"_-chan!" Romeo called out happily, and the guild cheered. You ran to the small boy, who was sat with Wendy and Carla and hugged him tightly. In the two year gap before the rest of Fairy Tail returned, you'd gotten to know Romeo well. He was a spirited kid and you'd always encouraged his secret magic learning.

"Hey, Romeo." You grinned. "How's tricks?"

"Good. My fire magic is improving every day."

"You'll have to fight me and Natsu-kun when you get strong."

"I will!"

"Sting-san's here, too!" Wendy beamed. You glanced at Lector, who was already trying to hit it off with Carla.

"Ah, beautiful Carla, I haven't seen you since-"

"LOVE RIVAL!" A voice interrupted Lector. For once, the outburst did not come from Juvia. Happy had flown across the room at top speed and was angrily attempting to drag Lector away from Carla, fish dangling from his mouth.

"Oh geez." You sighed. "But if Happy's around, that means..."

"Yo, _! Sting!" A familiar pink haired dragon slayer said, bounding forward and grinning deviously. "Fight me!"

"Natsu, we're barely through the door!" You protested, although Sting looked eager to take him up on the offer.

"Welcome back, child." Another voice said. The Master had made his way through the crowd to see what all the fuss was about.

"Master Makarov." You beamed. "It's good to see you."

"What brings you here? Did this boy hurt you?" He said suspiciously.

"N-No!" You shook your head.

"We're organising a party at Sabertooth to celebrate creating a better guild. _ told me that you have some great parties, so we came to ask if you wanted to have a joint party, as a show of friendship between guilds." Sting said, addressing the Master.

"It can be held here or at Sabertooth." You added. "Please? It would be so fun! And we'd make it an open bar!"

"Would we?" Sting muttered.

"Yes!" You whispered back.

"I'll think on it. But you really came all this way just to ask us that?" Makarov replied.

"Well, not exactly. I owe Pantherlily a match if he's around."

"Him and Gajeel were on a job with Levy, Jet and Droy." Mira said with a smile. "They were due back any time now, really."

"Sweet." You sighed in relief. "It's so good to see everyone again."

"I agree." Mira said.

"Oi, _! You write another song for me yet?" Natsu called from across the room.

"Not everything's about you, Natsu!" Gray yelled.

"What'd you say, ice princess?"

"You wanna fight, you idiot?"

"I'm all fired up, stripper!"

"Bring it, hothead."

"Pervert!"

"Flame brain!"

The two quickly launched themselves at each other and began fighting. Gray's clothes had all gone bar his black shorts.

Sting sweat dropped. "Are they always like this? Even at the guild?"

"Are you kidding? Of course. Natsu's a walking disaster, and Gray will do anything that involves stripping off and tackling other people." You giggled.

"Cut it out, you two! I'm trying to eat my strawberry cake in peace!" Erza roared. The two immediately started turning their fighting into dancing together.

"Aye!" They both said.

"She's scary, hai." Lector muttered. "Even scarier than _-chan."

"I agree." You said, watching the armoured woman sit back down, eyes glistening as she began eating her cake again.