Sweet Starry Shadows

A Stronger Her

Sweet Starry Shadows

Chapter 8: A Stronger Her

"Kick! Punch! Dodge! Repeat!" Lucy cried out as she pulled her right leg up to kick the tree with a mighty force. With sweat rolling down from her forehead, she grinned in satisfaction as she felt the tree vibrate to her impacting strength.

Calling out a "Repeat!" she pivoted on her heel to switch her kicking leg. Now kicking the tree with her left leg, she held her leg as she jumped back slightly with her right. With a steady exhale, she lowered her leg to look over to Sakura who was watching her.

"So, did I do well?" she questioned, watching the crimson get up from the ground to roll her shoulders. Smiling, she nodded her head. "You're improving very well Lucy. You’ve shown great progress within 4 months," she stated where the girl threw her arms up into the air in victory.

"Yes!" Lucy cheered before going into a fighting stance. Waiting for Sakura's instructions, she waited patiently as Sakura walked to stand beside her in the same position.

Listening to Sakura's steady breathing, she waited. "I want you to now do an order of punch, punch, kick, jump back, kick and then a backflip like this-" Sakura said where she demonstrated her instructions.

The girl taking a step forward where she kicked the tree to flip herself back, she landed in ease before repeating the process. Once she was done, she stood there with a smile. "Knowing how to flip yourself will lead to many open opportunities. Make sure not to close your eyes. Make sure it becomes a habit. Once you're able to flip with confidence, your weapons will become a perfect thing to use to fight back while they're expecting you to fall and stack it," she explained.

Lucy nodding, she found herself enjoying Sakura's little crash course of information over the past four months. Before she thought that it was just a waste of breath, but once she took them into consideration, it helped her out a lot when she trained with her spirits in combat. Ever since she listened, her style in combat began to grow precise and efficient.

"When you're able to do those, I'll give you one more routine but with flips and lots of pivoting," Sakura continued before making way for her to begin her new order.

Nodding where she began to stretch, she got straight down into business where she gave two strong punches to the trunk of the tree before taking a step back. "A kick and then another jump back!" she cried out, swinging her leg where she contacted the sturdy thing. Holding her leg, she then jumped back.

With one long stretch to reach out the trunk while she kicked, she sighed in relief before adjusting her footing and flipped herself back. Eyes closed, she heard Sakura's call mid-air.

"Your eyes are closed!"

Quickly she opened her eyes right when her other leg touched the grass. Shifting to steady her balance, she looked over to Sakura with an awkward smile. "Still not used to flipping," she reasoned as she watched Sakura shake her head. "Force yourself out of your comfort zone," she scolded before she clapped her hands once to catch her full attention. "How about a break? We've been at this since early morning and it's now the early afternoon," she suggested as she noticed how quickly time was passing.

Lucy sighing, she nodded her head. With the crimson slowly pivoting on her heel, she tipped her head before heading back to the cottage where the blonde remained before sinking to the ground.

It's been four months since the start of her training, and she had to admit it, Sakura's training wasn't all fun and games. For all those passing months, Sakura would always be there for her every night as she cried herself to sleep. It wasn't because she was weak though... She always believed that she would forget about all about them. She told herself that she was going to get stronger both within the body and mind... She told herself that they weren't the people that she should be thinking of while she trained.

For some reason though - For some bloody reason - They would always appear in her mind with such inviting and loving smiles. Those smiles that could warm every empty heart. No... Those smiles weren't for her at all.

Each time, just when she thought that those smiles were for her... Lisanna would appear in the picture, sucking Natsu's face which such smugness evident in that smirk of hers.

Her heart sank. She was thinking of him again. Just when she thought that she was recovering from that horrendous nightmare...

Sighing, she turned her head to watch Ace and Yuuto playing and sparring with each other in their wolf forms. Their happiness evident, she sighed once again but even louder and heavier.

Oh, how she envied their freedom so much.

If she were to be animal, then maybe becoming a wolf wouldn't be so bad. No, wolves needed a pack to survive. She couldn't possibly join a group of people which could go backstabbing on her at any time like what had happened back in Fairy Tail.

She groaned in frustration and laid down on the grass with a frown. She was beyond tired of everything. With that being considered deep within her mind, she was sure that even Sakura knew what she was doing and thinking of. Every fake smile and laugh being used to quickly pass time – Oh, how tired she was with living!

"Lucy? Oh my god, Lucy!" Sakura said in shock as she dropped the plates and ran to her direction. "Please, don't do this! You're still living and breathing. Please don't make yourself go through this!" the girl continued, pulling her away from the flames of their fireplace.

Her sobs echoing throughout the room, Sakura held her tightly in her arms as if her life depended on it. Scattered and in a mess, her manuscripts sat there just waiting to be burned along her very soul etched in each and every one of them...

It was now a hassle to even think about living. She tried so many times to plaster a real smile on her, but each time she would try, it would always result in the same thing. A smile that's fake and filled with nothing but lies. So many lies. So many fake things. So many replacements.

Just sitting, Lucy sat there in silence. She knew that she was trying to become a better her, but when could she really call herself a better person?

Could time really tell her when?

She doesn't know what she should be expecting now for the future that was waiting for her. She had forgotten how to dream of new possibilities. She had lost her vibrancy that she once radiated.

Ever since Lisanna lied, she had forgotten her smile and herself. Now she can no longer recall what her true smile looked like.

Slowly, she raised her arms and looked at her hands where she clenched them before opening them. Repeating the same thing over and over again, it seemed that she had also lost her feelings of pain within the body other than the heartache in her heart.

Closing her eyes, she tiredly dropped her hands onto her stomach and sighed in exhaustion. "This is such a pain in the ass. Just how can a boy affect me so much?" she questioned out loud.

"That's because he was your first love, wasn't he?" Sakura's voice answered before she opened her eyes to look at the crimson.

Sakura standing there with a plate containing sandwiches on it, she carefully sat on the ground with an iced glass of water in her other hand. Handing it over to the blonde who quickly sat up, she smiled when Lucy said a "Thank you" and began taking small bites into her tomato, ham and lettuce sandwich.

Both resting against the old tree, Sakura looked up to the clear skies with a sad smile on her face. "He's an i***t for not choosing you..." she whispered where the blonde stopped herself from taking another bite into her sandwich.

Lucy placing the sandwich back onto the plate, she hummed a dead tune.

"He doesn't deserve someone as kind-hearted as you. You're too amazing to be held down by someone like him..." Sakura continued where her heart sank even more. She knew what Sakura was saying, but it hurts to think that he never gave her the chance to be with him - to test their chemistry with one another.

Sadly, looking up to the sky, she tried to hold back her tears. "I can't see anything positively as I did in the past. I hate it…" she confessed where Sakura remained quiet. "I wouldn't have cared if he didn't know of my feelings. I just wanted to remain in love and enjoy the feeling of being there for him whenever he fell in a fight. To be able to cheer him on when he needed support," she whispered before feeling a tear roll down onto her cheeks.

"I loved the feeling of my heart swelling up with pride whenever he would win a fight. I loved it when he would call me Luce and would crash into my house just because it way comfortable than his own... I loved it all..."

Wiping away her tears, she gritted her teeth. "Because of him and her... Just because of them, they were able to ruin my happy life. I hate them, but I still also hate the fact that I still care for them!" she yelled before the sound of something unlocking echoed in her body.

"Lucy?!" Sakura yelled as she stood up to face her in panic.

"Huh?" Looking down to her body, she found out that she was glowing out of nowhere.