You Again

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah was taking a lunch break in Hosenka Town. The spa town was wonderful, and she had multiple massages. And why not? She was treating herself. This café had a row of tables out front of it for the patrons to sit at and get some sunshine and fresh air. Hannah hadn’t drank a lot last night so she wasn’t hung over and she liked the sun on her skin. She was flipping through a magazine, Sorcerer Weekly in fact, as she waited for her order to arrive. They were taking a long time so she was munching on a fork, she would finish it and ask for another before the waiter came back. Forks were cheap, they could get another one.

She sighed and looked up from her magazine, wondering where the waiter was and then she saw her. No way, it was the ice queen. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t crazy. Yup, it was her. She smirked, and ate the rest of her fork. She waved at her and yelled. ”Hey… frosty. I’m surprised to see you. How is it going.” A bit of time away from her had gotten her to cool her jets so to speak. She would be nicer now, but still give the ice queen a hard time about some things.

[Kotone]

Kotone sighed as she walked down the sidewalks of her hometown of Hosenka. She wasn’t originally from here, of course. No, she was a wild child from the woods who had long since learned to be civilized. She had been a pretty cute forest child though, if she did say so herself.  Kotone chuckled to herself, remembering the adorable pink jacket she’d worn. She was a much more girly girl on the inside than she was on the outside; she did like to wear feminine clothing, after all. Especially skirts. Today she just happened to be in her normal travel clothes, minus her jacket – a white button-up blouse and a dark red skirt, the tie she enjoyed accessorizing with it was loose, and her hair wasn’t in its normal ponytail. She’d misplaced her hair tie in her house when Sid caused a landslide of plushies.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice that came with a familiar metallic scent and a familiar greeting. Kotone stopped, closing her eyes and allowing a grin to creep across her face, showing off her fangs for the first time in a while. “Hannah,” she greeted instead of using a nickname for once. She’d mellowed a bit since the two last met, and besides she preferred not to cause trouble in her home town; people actually liked her here.  Her voice still carried a bit of a cocky air to it; when they’d last met they’d barely been civil to each other. Kotone was protective of the few people she considered friends, and Hannah was putting him at risk for heartbreak, after all. “I figured you’d be hard at work trying to keep up with me, not lazing around at spa’s. I can still smell the massage oil on you.”

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah would have been a very savage forest child if she had been one. Good thing she wasn’t then. She was a cute little kid under her dragon master’s hard whip. She wasn’t really whipped, but her dragon was quite strict, but fair with things. That’s why Hannah was a bit more rebellious now. She was making up for her childhood. And it was fun, that was important too.

She grinned when she saw Kotone bare her fangs a bit. Girl was not good at hiding the dragon slayer thing, but she never really hid that did she. Oh well, gave Hannah the advantage of secrecy. She was mildly surprised that she used her name and not a sarcastic one. Although she still sounded cocky. That was no surprise. Some things never change.

”I have been hard at work. Got to relax a bit too. All work and no play makes a dull girl… or something like that.” She would use her real name and no be a jerk. Keeping things pleasant was a good idea. She sniffed her arms a bit, she did kind of still smell like massage oil. She shrugged. ”It was worth it. How have you been Kotone? Froze anyone lately?” She figured the girl still had some issue with Hannah and Roejaster being interested in each other. Girl could just get over it. She would be nice and not hurt the man.

[Kotone]

Kotone rolled her eyes semi-good naturedly when Hannah said she’d been hard at work. There was a slight grin along with it, but it was still an eye roll. It was more Kotone being amused that they were both ‘on vacation’ than anything else. She remained silent for a moment as Hannah sniffed her arm. Kotone’s nose was rather good at picking out smells, even for a dragon slayer as far as she could tell. It amused her that Hannah hadn’t noticed, mostly because she occasionally forgot that she had superior senses to humans. “I’ve been fine,” Kotone told her.

“I’ve frozen my fair share of people. A fire user I ended up traveling with for a while, a demon, and various minor bad guys. Oh! And a certain pig-headed dragon slayer from Fairy Tail,” she told Hannah with a triumphant grin as she crossed her arms. She didn’t mention the fact that she’d been beaten by him first. What did it matter? In the end it had been a pretty one-sided victory when she’d used his cockiness against him like he had her.

“Now I’m spending some time at home, believe it or not. I’m also on vacation, except I spend my time traveling around Fiore, so when I want to get away I go home.” Hannah obviously hadn’t known Kotone lived in Hosenka. She didn’t care if Hannah knew, really, though the angrier Kotone from a few months ago might have withheld the information just to be difficult.

[Hannah Jaymes]

It was kind of funny that they were both on ‘vacation’ at the same time, and in the same place. The world was big, but small all at the same time. Hannah hadn’t noticed cause she was used to it. She should be more careful, but at least the oil didn’t smell bad. That would have been embarrassing. It was actually good to hear that Kotone was alright.

Hannah laughed when she said she froze her fair share of people. She liked violence, what could she say? But then she mentioned a pig headed dragon slayer. Kotone couldn’t, or probably wouldn’t freeze herself, Hannah would only think of that joke, not say it. But then who was it? ”Did he use lightning magic and stare at your chest the whole time?” She figured there couldn’t be that many dragon slayers out there, had to be him.

Now she knew where the ice queen had her lair. Could definitely pick worse spots. This town was nice, and the spas were excellent. ”Ahh… so home. Nice home. I like it here, and I can see why you would live here. Go to the spas when you come home?” She guessed when you were from a resort, going home would be a vacation. Made sense to her.

[Kotone]

"Did he use lightning magic and stare at your chest the whole time?" Kotone rolled her eyes, crossing her arms semi-subconsciously to cover herself a bit. "He did use the lightning magic, though he wasn't content with just staring. Apparently his idea of flirting is grabbing my chest and telling me I’m cute, not pretty. I ended up pinning him to a tree and nearly  beating him to a pulp. We didn't part on the best of terms. How is it you guys tolerate him, anyway?" Kotone would have probably kicked him out of Fairy Tail, herself, after their last encounter. She held a grudge over the whole thing, but it was more the type of grudge where she’d just rather never see him again. Unlike last time, it wasn’t hurt pride, it was simply him being a rude, obnoxious child.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Kotone decided with a shrug, brushing her hair behind her ear, at least until the wind blew it back again. She should have grabbed her hair tie. Oh well. “I’ll be happy if I never see that little punk again.” He was a year younger than Kotone. She was allowed to call him little. “On the plus side, I’m a lot stronger than I was when we had our little spat back in Magnolia,” she told Hannah with a smirk.

[Hannah Jaymes]

”Wow… dude got a bit handsy. That’s both really brave and really dumb. You should have beat him to a pulp, sounds like he deserved it.” She shrugged when asked how they tolerated him. ”I don’t, but I don’t have much choice in who gets in and who doesn’t.” Hannah probably would too after hearing a member felt up another wizard. Yeah, that’s not good and even though Hannah wasn’t very professional, that would not have flown with her. It just wasn’t right. Now if it was consensual during a sparring match, that would be fun, probably. Hannah did think he acted a bit young, but that wasn’t too bad.

”Oh? You’re stronger? Been pumping some iron, taking your vitamins and eating your veggies?” Hannah teased ever so slightly. She really hadn’t done a lot since they last met. She didn’t like thinking Kotone was stronger. Hannah was cocky, so she would have probably assumed she would have been able to beat her still, but she didn’t want to push anything today. She was relaxing. ”So what have you been doing to get stronger? Fought any fun fights lately?” She pushed the other chair out, signaling for Kotone to sit and chat a while.

[Kotone]

“A bit? Ugh. Even Raven never touched me like that. It’s disgusting. I still feel a bit dirty.” Kotone complained, brushing hair out of her face and sitting down in front of Hannah. “Yeah, I’m getting stronger. I uh…” Kotone hated the idea of admitting this next part to Hannah. She would probably only make fun of her for being weak or stupid. She already seemed to look down on her for being a bit younger at times, like when they were talking about Roejaster. “I’ve been less heroic than I thought I was. It seems being the daughter of a dragon comes with its share of issues I have to work through.”

In truth she’d gotten cocky. At one point she was pretty sure she was probably one of the strongest dragon slayers, at the very least relative to her age. But she’d stopped training for nearly a year after she started getting to be more and more bitter and more and more of a troublemaker. “It’s complicated. I don’t think you’d understand. Just…. I’ve got issues, in case you haven’t noticed. I know I'm not the most mature girl, but I'm trying not to push people away as much."

[Hannah Jaymes]

”Yeah, sorry he was so handsy. That sucks.” She would have hurt a guy that did that to her or anyone she really cared about. Or a girl that got too touchy on a guy she cared about. Neither were okay things. Hannah was all ears for the next part. Less than heroic? What did that mean? The girl was very curious and could be nosey. It wasn’t always a good thing. ”I’m sure its hard to be the daughter of a dragon.” Boy did she know that. It was very hard. ”I’m sure you will work through them though. What do you mean by less heroic than you thought?” She sounded curious, and not trying to poke at anything.

”You might be surprised. I can be a very understanding person. We’ve all got issues. What’s going on? I promise, I’ll be nice. Also… sorry if I was ever a jerk.” She sounded genuinely concerned, and genuinely sorry. And honestly she was a bit. Without Kotone being incredibly hot headed, and without her constant anger at Roejaster being interested in Hannah, Hannah could easily get along with Kotone. She was a good fighter, and not an idiot. Both good qualities in her book. And Hannah knew she could be a jerk herself. Finding someone to be close to had a way of making a person a bit nicer.

[Kotone]

Hannah was being surprisingly understanding for someone who had been infuriatingly difficult the last time they met. Kotone wasn’t surprised at the sympathy for the physical violation from Tatsuma, though she appreciated. What she was surprised at was Hannah’s sympathy for living up to being the daughter of a dragon. She blinked a few times, her expression suddenly somewhere between surprised and curious. She hadn’t expected this kind of talk with Hannah. Maybe some quick jabs and a bit of catching up, but not what seemed like genuine concern. “I mean Dad wouldn’t have wanted me to get such a big ego I forgot to keep up my training for a while,” Kotone responded, casting her eyes to the ground with a slight glare. Hannah was one of those people she thought of as a bit of a rival, and admitting her huge ego problem wasn’t pleasant despite Hannah’s strange amount of niceness. Had she always been this easy to get along with for everyone else, or was Roejaster mellowing her out?

Hannah did keep pressing, which nearly earned a slip up and Kotone telling her to mind her own business. It was hard enough saying she had issues without explaining anything in detail. But Hannah did apologize for being a jerk, which disarmed that quip quickly enough. Was this the same Hannah? The way Kotone looked at her, it was apparent Kotone wasn’t sure it was, despite the familiar smell through the lotion. “I just… forgot what it meant to be a dragon slayer,” Kotone told her, sounding like she wasn’t happy admitting this stuff aloud. “I’m a bitter girl. I’ve been abandoned more than once in my life, which is why I refuse to get caught up in a guild despite everyone’s insistence that I join theirs. It could happen again. But…” Kotone sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

“That moron, Tatsuma. I met him once before I beat him in a fight. He beat me the first time, quite easily. I don’t know what’s changed in him, or if he’s really just that hypocritical and stuff, but he made me realize I needed to work at being the daughter Krendall raised me to be and not the egomaniac who chased people away and claimed to be heroic while mostly ruining people’s day. So I’ve been training both my attitude and my magic since then.” Kotone sounded a bit subdued as she admitted this part. It was obviously hard for her, but she was pushing through. Hannah wanted in? Fine, Kotone would let her. “I’m… sorry for the thing with Roejaster. You want to be his girlfriend? Fine. Heck, as long as you aren’t an idiot like Tatsuma you can do whatever perverted things you want. It’s not my business.” As she said it, Kotone realized that she was jealous in a way. She wasn’t girlfriend material. People who liked her were idiots who didn’t know any better. Besides, she was a dragon slayer, and she shouldn’t get tied down, right? She was a human too, though, and a a seventeen year old girl at that. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to have someone look at her the way she saw Roejaster look at Hannah that last time. Had she been jealous then too?

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah guessed her prodding worked. She seemed to have opened up the Kotone flood gates or something. They had both matured it seemed. Hannah wasn’t being a complete jerk and Kotone wasn’t either. Hannah wanted to, but she didn’t. Self-control… it sucked sometimes. She listened to Kotone and she could relate. She wanted to let on she could relate, and give specifics on why. Those were better than vague hints.

”I’m glad you learned to be a dragon slayer again… that sounds hard.” Hannah knew all too well it was hard. Hannah was bitter too, but she turned her bitterness a different way. Different paths and all that jazz. ”I know what you mean about being bitter. Its hard… and makes it hard to get close to people. I’m sorry you’re going through that. You could always join Fairy Tale… just throwing that out there again. Hannah wouldn’t mind someone else around who wasn’t a complete idiot, that would be nice.

This got Hannah to thinking, she probably needed to step up her game as well. Work on keeping her ego in check, but also work on making sure her training doesn’t lapse. She had been a bit lazy as of late. ”Don’t worry about Roejaster. I wouldn’t hurt the guy, and I’m not an idiot like Tatsuma. I don’t want to hurt Roejaster…” Kotone could afford to get tied down, and to be a girlfriend. It helped a lot of things. Being the lone dragon slayer was hard. Having someone close made it a bit easier.

[Kotone]

It hadn’t taken a lot of prodding. Kotone had been considering it again as she walked down the street before she found Hannah. “I’d gathered,” she told the woman simply when she expressed not wanting to hurt Kotone’s friend. “If you had I would have heard about it by now and come to settle our old score,” she told Hannah seriously despite the slight grin that spread across her face. She glanced at a few people walking past. “But either way, that’ll have to wait. I prefer not to cause trouble here.” Kotone placed her hands in her pockets, shouldering her pack and causing Sid to stir and meow at her in protest as his head poked out of the bag.

“And besides,” Kotone grinned and winked at her. “I’ve got some things to take care of, and I need proper time to enjoy kicking your butt from here back to Magnolia.” She was mostly teasing. Mostly. A rematch one day soon would be great fun, and this time maybe they’d keep their cool enough to enjoy the whole thing. “Good seeing you again, Rust Bucket,” she told her secret dragon slayer rival with a widening grin. She wasn’t actually saying it as an insult so much as a friendly jab this time. “Get as strong as you can for next time. I plan to finish what we started, but on better terms.” With that, kotone shouldered her stuff again, Sid once again insisting she stop, and she turned around, giving the green-haired woman a wave as she went about her business again.

-Exit-

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