Leo x Aries fanfiction

Fanfiction series: Odds and Ends
Title: The Lion and the Lamb
Pairing: Leo(Loke)/Aries
Rating: K
Word count: 1088
Summary: Love and friendship between Stellar Spirits is a complicated thing.
Notes: Ignore the lame pun for the title. Shorter one because Carolina (my muse) refused to cooperate.

He was to women what a flame was to the moths. Tall, light-haired, suave, with deep eyes and natural grace, he was the embodiment of every female's dreams. And he knew it. He carried himself like a king because he was a king. A royal feline, the lion. Leo of the Ecliptic Zodiac, Loke of Fairy Tail. Her best friend in both worlds.

Aries couldn't remember when their friendship had begun. Stellar Spirits were practically immortal and with a life-span of millenia, little details got lost. All she knew that in all of their years of knowing each other, he had never once made a move on her.

She told herself she didn't mind and for the most time, she really didn't. Some of his pick-up lines were cheesy, others were corny and some were downright awful. But it was the unspoken feeling behind them, the fact that the woman he used that pick-up line on caught his interest, that bothered her. She had never caught his interest.

Part of her dismay at the fact was Aquarius' fault. Aquarius and her perfect boyfriend Scorpio. If her gloating was anything to go by, having a boyfriend like Scorpio was the best thing that could ever happen to any girl or Stellar Spirit. Virgo was good at ignoring Aquarius' ramblings and so was Libra. Gemini didn't care at all and Aries got good at pretending she didn't either. Having someone else rubbing their commited state in your face at every opportunity got tiring after some time. And now, that nine of the Zodiacs had one owner, Aries was forced to spend more time with Aquarius.

However, the thought of Lucy always brought smile to Aries' face. Her new owner was so different from the previous ones. So kind, so loving, so understanding. It was impossible to describe just how much it meant for Aries to have an owner like that. And she knew most of her fellow Spirits felt the same. And they were in agreement that if someone were to collect all twelve of the golden keys and gain the power the possession of the complete Zodiac granted the wielder, Lucy was the best candidate. There hadn't been a Stellar Spirit mage with the complete Zodiac set in five hundred years, not since Coram Luceno. And though the man had been kind enough to them, he had never learned to see them as anything more than useful tools.

Lucy was a wonderful person who treated her Spirits as her equals. And for that alone, she deserved all the love and support her Spirits could give her. Even though some went further than strictly necessary in that regard.

Aries had to roll her eyes discreetly at Leo's behaviour. Her best friend of many centuries was lying face-down on her sofa. Every Stellar Spirit had its own dwelling within the Spirit world, where they were spending time in between the calls from their owners. In some cases, though, they were spending quite a lot of time in their friends' homes, especially when heart-broken.

"What happened?" Aries asked, sitting down next to him and smoothing his wild hair. She could guess what would follow and indeed, it did.

"She has refused me. My beautiful love has refused me."

"And who is she?" she could guess at that too.

"Lucy, who else?" Leo exclaimed, turning his head to look at her. "She is my beautiful love, the reason for my existence, the sun of my day..."

Aries tuned him out. This infatuation with Lucy had been going on for longer than Leo's other interests but half of it was the thrill of the chase. The other half was the bond between a Spirit and an owner. In the end, Leo would recover and find some other target for his affection. And before it happened he would turn to her to comfort him as she had always done. It was nothing new to Aries and she guessed it was nothing new to Leo.

"Give her some time," she said when his tirade ended. "You can be rather forceful when confessing and Lucy is still young and shy."

"Shy?" he repeated. "Have you seen some of her outfits?"

"Leo, I am shy and look at my outfit."

"Point taken," he admitted. They fell silent, comfortable with each other after so long. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Leo turned on his back, looking up at her.

"And what if she refused me because she loves someone else?"

"Then you bow out gracefully and let her be happy," Aries answered. "She deserves that much."

"I know. But what if he doesn't want her?"

"You beat him up and then comfort her," she half-joked. "But you don't know if there is someone else. Sometimes the other person does not see us romantically no matter how much we wish for that. If that happens, we must be grateful for whatever affection that person decides to grant us."

He was looking at her intensely.

"It sounds like you experienced that feeling."

"How long have we been alive? Is it so hard to believe that during that time I fell in love with someone who would never love me back?"

"No, it's just... you never told me anything," he sounded almost hurt by that.

"I'm not the type to complain, you know that. I'd rather suffer silently than bother someone with my problems."

"Not even me? Your best friend?" Leo asked.

"Especially you, my best friend," Aries replied sadly.

"Sacrificial lamb," he breathed out.

"Can't help being what I am. And besides, you have had your heart broken more times than I can remember," she added in an effort to disspell the heavy atmosphere. "You need comforting more than I do."

He shook his head stubbornly.

"You're wrong. I have been heart-broken only once and that is today."

"What about those other times you came to me in despair because some woman said no?"

"They didn't mean anything. They never do. It's just a game. The only ones I care about are Lucy and you."

"Your love and your best friend?" she smiled at him. Being ranked so high above the rest of the female population meant a world to her.

"No, my beloved owner and my beloved best friend."

"And where is the woman you love?" she dared to ask.

He looked her in the eyes and replied with such a sincerity she couldn't doubt his words.

"In both of you."