Kagura smiled as she watched her son from the kitchen window interact with his friends, running around the garden.

A smile resembling one of his father as he ran around with a cloak she was certain he had stole from his father's wardrobe, draped over his shoulders shrouding his small body, the Sabertooth insignia standing out, white contrasting against black, proudly on the left shoulder.

"Natsu don't touch the cake!" the blonde celestial spirit mage scolded her husband, slapping him on the back of his head.

"But we're hungry, right Happy?"

"Aye sir!"

Looking over her shoulder Kagura had to remind herself just why she had invited them. Because they're family of course, that and she was certain her son wouldn't forgive her if she didn't invite her favourite uncle Natsu.

Sting and Gajeel weren't impressed they were playing second best.

"Can you three shut up and make yourself useful, help with the decorations!" Erza spoke, her dominant voice silencing all of them. Shooting them a glare from the ladder she was standing on, in the process of hanging a birthday banner up.

"Yes ma'am!" the couple and their exceed said in unison, cowering in fear as they went about blowing up the remainder of the balloons before they ended up suffering at the hands of the terrifying requip mage.

Letting out an amused 'hmph' Kagura made her way around the kitchen, placing out various foods Mira had ever so generously made to help out with the party - plus it wasn't like anyone could say no to the takeover mage without upsetting her, causing her to cry. Either that or you suffer at the demon form, and nobody wanted that, not even Kagura.

She couldn't believe her little boy was turning six today, it feeling just like yesterday she held his small frame in her arms, only a few minutes old. His father snuggled close to her as they both looked down at their new bundle of joy.

Now here he was, six years old and becoming more independent day by day.

Her little baby was not so little anymore.

The mother felt a pang of sadness flow through her at the thought of her son not needing her as much as he used to, instantly expecting her husbands warm embrace to comfort her and tell her that their son will always need them, no matter how old he was.

But she didn't receive it, remembering that he was due to be back soon, within the next hour or so.

Sting had requested for Rogue to accompany him on a job, saying it would be complete in no time and would be home to celebrate his sons birthday.

Feeling several taps on her back, the gravity control mage turned around to come face to face with her son.

It still took her by surprise every time she looked at him, the resemblance to his father uncanny - even at a young age.

Everything about him just screamed a reminder at just who his father was, the shadow dragon slayer of Sabertooth.

From the shape of his face to his personality; Ryos was a quiet child - until he was around his friends, he soon livened up in the presence of them - along with a certain poise and elegance he carried himself with, once again a trait he had gained from his father.

Raven coloured hair rested just above his shoulders, messy and slightly unkempt. A small tuft of it covering his right eye, resembling his fathers.

'I want my hair just like dads!' she'd hear him say whenever she took him to get his hair cut.

The child often even asked his mother to put his hair up in a ponytail - as you guessed - to look like his father. Kagura would nod, proceeding to do so, only then to have him complain that she 'couldn't do it like dad could' causing her to huff and throw the hair brush at Rouge - who would be observing his wife and child, arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his face - telling him to do it before stomping off to do the laundry.

To put it simply, Ryos' father was his biggest idol.

"Yes Ryos, what is it?" Kagura asked, kneeling down to his height with a warm smile gracing her face.

"When is dad coming home?" the birthday boy questioned in return, his hazel eyes - the only thing he had inherited from his mother - shining up at her.

"He'll be home soon."

"And uncle Sting?"

Through gritted teeth Kagura nodded, "And uncle Sting too. Now go play, I'll call you when they arrive."

With a nod of the head, Ryos ran out the back door to rejoin his friends as his mom turned back around to finish putting the food out onto the counter.

"Still mad at Sting, huh?" Yukino asked with a smirk as she walked into the kitchen, placing her gift on the table with all the others.

Kagura mumbled profanities under her breath at the mention of the Sabertooth guild master, causing the white haired celestial spirit mage to let out a giggle.

It was no secret that Kagura and Sting weren't too fond of one another, who got acquainted with one another by arguing over who owned Yukino's life, what was put up as a wager in her battle with the Mermaid at the Grand Magic Games, in which Kagura won fairly.

The argument then started to get physical, Rouge intervening to save his friend from the Mermaid's wrath, holding back the dark haired mage - who had already had three glasses of champagne and was starting to go to her head, a flustered look already apparent on her face - only to get elbowed in the face knocking him to the ground, blood pooling from his nose.

The drunk Mermaid then proceeded to ramble off numerous apologies as she ran around gathering napkins before kneeling beside the dragon slayer, taking him in her arms as she wiped the blood away.

Rogue, who was quite dazed from the stiff elbow blow, noticed that his head was dangerously close to Kagura's cleavage which was proudly on show, his eyes widening as his face turned red.

The blood from his nose flowed even more than before.

Sting laughed at his friends expression, doubling over and holding his stomach as Yukino stood there with wide eyes, hand clasped near her mouth as she watched the scene unfold.

"Oh my."

"Get a good eyeful there buddy?" the white dragon slayer asked his comrade with a smirk.

"Sh-shut up!"

"He's in loooooove!" chimed the blue exceed who had also witnessed this all happen.

"Zip it cat!

"Fro thinks so too." the pink frog jumpsuit wearing exceed added, although unsure of what was actually happening.

But that wasn't the reason Kagura was mad at Sting, in fact they had managed to get on quite well as of recently. That was until Kagura had returned from the Mermaid Heel guild to find the guild master running round her home with a pair of her underwear on his head.

The idiot had raided Kagura's undergarment drawer after he had heard the idea from that stupid flame brain from Fairy Tail.

Panty raid.

Kagura silently vowed to destroy the fire dragon slayer next time he paid her a visit as she turned to her husband, who also wore a pair of her underwear on his head - his favourite ones to be infact, the red lace contrasting against his black hair - shook his head and claimed that he had nothing to do with any of this, only being dragged along for the ride.

It wasn't until her son walked in holding a pair of her underwear too, asking his mom what a thong was as he stretched the fabric between his hands.

Face red and her anger ready to blow, Kagura turned to the two dragon slayers, her glare halting them in their position. Not like it would have mattered as she was planning to cast gravity change to keep them from running away.

Both in turn getting smacked on the back of their heads with Archenemy, Sting getting thrown out of the house via the window and Rouge sleeping on the sofa for the rest of the week.

Kagura now padlocked her underwear drawer.

"Wouldn't you if he raided your underwear?" the dark haired mage huffed as the memory replayed in her mind.

"Can't say that he already hasn't.." Yukino replied with a shrug of her shoulders, a small smile on her lips. "Although he does these things to wind you up, you know he loves you like a sister."

The Mermaid nodded, knowing that even though her and Sting fought a lot - him winding her up to the brink only for her to use her gravity magic to trigger his motion sickness by throwing him all over the place - they both knew that deep down they loved one another. They were merely just like a brother and sister arguing, as Sting stated in his speech at their wedding, blabbering that she was the best thing to happen to his best friend and that he was happy that Rogue had finally someone to share the rest of his life with.

She somewhat loved the Sabertooth guild master, him and his stupid punchable face...

Smiling to herself, Kagura thought about just how wonderful her life had turned out; an amazing husband, a beautiful son and surrounded by her closest friends... and their stupid husbands.

"Mom...mom? Hello? Mom!" a muffled voice spoke, calling out to her.

It wasn't until she felt a hand gently place itself on her shoulder until she broke out of her nap, body shooting up to sit up straight as her eyes blinked several times trying to adjust to the harsh sunlight what was filtering in through the blinds in the office.

It was all just a dream, a memory.

Looking forward to the figure what was standing in front of her desk, Kagura had to do a double take.

Rogue?

She gently rubbed her eyes trying to not smudge her eye make-up as her vision slowly adjusted, the blurry figure finally coming into focus, the Mermaid's breath hitching as she took in the sight.

His body covered in the dark coloured cloak, the trim and piece of fabric holding it closed that of a gold colour, the white Sabertooth guild mark printed on his left shoulder. A simple grey shirt with the brown cuffs peaking out only slightly through the cloak, his arms crossed against his chest. Waist guard reminiscent of the one what was very familiar to her; black and red with gold outlining the symbol and the trim with simple black trousers underneath. A dark blue fabric wrapped around his waist twice to hold the waist guard in place. Armoured shin guards and brown boots finished of the look.

The look on his mom's face caused the young man to frown, "Mom, are you okay?"

The outfit, it was exactly the same thing he wore.

Kagura nodded her head, closing her eyes temporarily to hold back the tears what were threatening to leave her. After a few seconds she opened them, observing the young man once again. She noticed that the katana what had been passed down to him, as a memento from his father was wedged into the left side of the blue fabric what separated his shirt and waist guard.

A small smile formed on her lips. He's just like you Rogue, in every single way.

"Yeah, I'm good. How was your job?" she asked her son who took a seat in the chair what sat in front of her desk.

"Went well. Got the job done faster than I thought I would, uncle Sting was impressed. He said I had gotten stronger." the young mage answered.

"That's amazing to hear, Ryos. Where is Sting by the way?"

The door smacking against the wall, almost breaking off it's hinges as Sabertooth's guild master strolled into the office of the master of Mermaid Heel, "Someone looking for me?" the blonde smirked as he threw himself onto the couch in the corner, feet propped up on the coffee table.

Kagura rolled her eyes at the dragon slayer, only to be met with the smile of her son who just simply shrugged at his uncles actions.

Some things never change, Sting is one of them.

"Anyway I'm off, Frosch wanted some food plus I'm starving." Ryos stood from his seat, walking round to hug his mom.

"Take Lector with you!"

With a nod of the head to his guild master Ryos took his leave, closing the door or rather what was left of it.

Kagura stared at the retreating sight of her son, calling out his name. The young dragon slayer halted, turning around to face his mother, "Yes mom?"

Sighing she took a deep breath, "You look just like your father in that outfit, when I first laid eyes on him."

Ryos smiled - the same smile she would get from her husband - the one what would light up her whole world. With a smile nod of the head he turned around and walked out, closing the door behind him.

"He really is just like Rouge, isn't he?" Sting mumbled, his head propped up by his elbow as he looked to where the young mage once sat, a small smile on his face as he remembered his old friend, brother even.

Kagura nodded her head in agreement as her mind flashed back to the day of her sons sixth birthday, twelve years ago.

Three hours had passed and Rogue still hadn't come home and Kagura was starting to worry.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he's just late. Also knowing him, he's probably picking up Ryos a special gift." Erza comforted the woman who was like a younger sister to her, shooting her a small smile as she grabbed herself a drink before walking off to sit by Jellal, who was cradling their toddler in his arms as she slept soundly, despite the noise - not from the children, but from Gray and Natsu who had started a brawl.

"You wanna go flame brain?"

"Bring it on ice stripper!"

"Gray-sama! Your clothes!" she heard Juvia squeal.

"Dammit!"

"Put your clothes back on, my child doesn't need to see you naked!" Lucy shouted before kicking the ice mage yards away from the children, throwing his shirt at him in the process.

"Aye sir!"

Kagura laughed at her friends antics, knowing it wouldn't be long before Erza threatened them all to behave.

"Sting you're here- oh my, what happened to you?!" she heard Yukino asked from the lounge room. Curious to what had happened to the guild master, Kagura walked into the lounge only to halt at the state the dragon slayer was in.

Bandages covered his torso and  left shoulder, covering most of his arm. Bruises covered his arms, along with small cuts to his face. His clothes, which were mostly ripped, his pants stained with a dark liquid.

Kagura's eyes widened at the state of her friend, "Where's Rouge, Frosch and Lector?" she asked. Tilting his head to the side, Sting gestured to the two exceeds who were asleep on the sofa, exhausted from their job.

"And Rogue?"

The light dragon slayers gaze turned to the floor, his lip trembling at the mention of that name.

The celestial spirit mage looked at the dark hair woman, her eyes filled with worry before looking back at the man who was once filled with life and tons of energy, now a contrast of what he used to be.

"Sting. Where is Rogue?" Kagura's voice sharp as she slowly started to lose her patience.

The mage flinched at the sound of his name again, his eyes glossing over with tears.

"Sting-"

"I swear, I tried everything I could Kagura. But it just wouldn't stop." Sting spoke, his voice breaking as the tears started to flow down his face.

Her breath hitched, catching in her throat at his words.

"The dragon, it came out of nowhere. We put everything we could into destroying it, but not even a unison raid could deal with it. I had blacked out for a moment when the dragon had attacked me, Rogue stood in front of me and before I knew it he was laying on the floor."

Yukino's eyes started tearing up at his words, about to speak until Sting cut her off.

"I tried to stop the bleeding, but it just kept flowing. I couldn't do anything. I sat there as I watched my best friend die right in front of me."

Kagura's hands covered her mouth to stop the sobs what were threatening to break out, her eyes closed as she listened to Sting's words, tears staining her cheeks. Her knees gave way, falling to the floor as the sobs racked through her body.

"He told me to look after you and Ryos, and that he would always be watching over us." he cried, his hand covering his face as he tried to control his breathing. "I'm so sorry Kagura, I just... I tried so hard!"

"What is going on I heard crying- Sting?!"

Yukino held Sting as he sat on the floor, cradling him against her chest as the tears flowed as she looked at her group of friends who had now come into the lounge upon hearing the three of them.

"He-he shouldn't have been the one to die!"

Sting's outburst caused shock to grace the face of the friends, realisation hitting in for all of them when they noticed the shadow dragon slayer missing. Crouching down Erza placed a hand on Kagura's shoulder as she cried, the loss of her husband.

Her mate, her best friend.

"M-mommy, where's dad?" a quiet voice asked.

Looking up Kagura was met with the only thing that resembled the man she had lost, pulling him into her arms. Her fist gripped the cloak he was wearing, like he was going to disappear at any moment.

The only thing she had left was him.

Wiping the stray tears what slowly flowed down her cheek, "Thank you for looking out for our son, I hope your proud of him."

It was almost like she could hear him reply, that smile she loved gracing his face.

I promised I always would Kagura, no matter what.

-

My feels, they hurt.

Why did I do this to myself? Ouch.