Our Child

Chapter 5

James' pov

I followed Sting through Crocus.

"This is the king's place. It's open for tourists and one of our tourist hot spots." He explained. I nodded and hung on to his every word. At least, that what it seemed like. I was mostly trying to figure out who my father could be. I really really wanted to know. I just want my dad to be happy again! If I could get my father to know about me, I could tell him where my dad was and they could make up!

Of course, there were problems with this plan. One, my father might not want to see dad. Two, I might not be able to figure out who my dad is. And three, my dad might run again! From what he told me, he apparently ran when he found out he was pregnant with me.

I sighed. I just want my family to be together again!

"You okay?" I heard Sting ask. I looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." I said.

"Okay. Want to head back to the guild?" He asked. I nodded. We walked back to the guild, Sting pointed somethings as we walked back. We made it back. Sting walked over to a black haired girl who's name I think is Minerva.

"Excuse me." I whirled around and saw a man in a red hat.

"May I help you?" I asked. He looked at me.

"How old are you?" He asked. I stiffened slightly.

"I... I'm twelve." I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so." He said. "You know, I find it a bit strange that you look so much like a dear friend of mine that disappeared twelve years ago."

I shifted uncomfortably. Crap! He's onto me! I thought. "O-Oh... That... That's strange..." I stuttered.

"Hey James!" Grateful for the distraction, I ran over to Sting. I didn't want to be around that strange man.

"Y-Yes?" I asked. I could still feel that man's stare against my back. Sting smiled at me.

"I just wanted to introduce you to some of my friends." He said.

"I'm Minerva." The girl said. I smiled at her.

"Hello! I'm James!" I said. She nodded to me.

"Nice to meet you. What magic do you use?" She asked. I shuffled slightly.

"I uh... I don't know what it's called..." I said.

Minerva frowned. "I see. Who was your teacher?" She asked.

"My dad." I said simply.

"Who was your dad?" She asked.

"My teacher."

She frowned. "Who was your teacher?" She asked.

"My dad." I said, smiling slightly. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Don't be a brat." She said, scowling. I looked at her innocently. "I don't know what you mean." I said.

She scoffed but gave me a small smile. I smiled back. Sting grabbed my arm and dragged me over to a large man and... The weird one.

"This is Orga and Rufus!" Sting said happily. I greeted Orga. While I did, I felt Rufus stare at me. I gave him a forced smile.

"Hi. My names James." I said. He gave me a stiff handshake.

"Hey James, you wanna stay with me for now?" Sting asked. I smiled. "Sure!" I said.

Rufus' pov

I watched Sting leave with James. I frowned. There's no way that it's a coincidence that he looks like Rogue and is twelve. There was something that was missing. He knew something about Rogue. I was sure of it.

"Hey. You okay Rufus?" Orga asked me.

"I think James knows something about Rogue." I said bluntly. Orga stared at me in shock.

"Why do you think he knows something about Rogue?" He asked.

"Well, for starters, he's twelve and Rogue's been missing for twelve years. Secondly, he looks like him. His black hair, his pale skin. His personality reminds me a bit about Rogue as well." I said.

"Alright, I can see the looks but his age could be a coincidence and his personality doesn't really seem like Rogue." Orga said.

"Well, he's closed off like Rogue was. And until he's comfortable around you, he'll act nervous and cold. Just like Rogue." I said.

Orga blinked. "Yeah... But... What do you think he knows about Rogue?" He asked.

"Well. His location. And most likely why he left in the first place." I said.

"What are you two talking about?" I looked behind me and saw Minerva and Yukino walking towards us.

"Well, I think James knows where Rogue is and why he left." I said.

Yukino's eyes widened. "Really!?" She asked excitedly. I nodded before staring back at the guild door. If he did know, I was going to confront him about it tomorrow.

James' pov

I followed Sting through the streets of Crocus.

"I was thinking that we could pick up some dinner before heading home." He said.

"Sounds good! I haven't eaten a lot today." I said. We just went into a small restaurant and grabbed some food. I followed Sting to his house. Many people stopped and said "Hi." I'm guessing because he was a respected Master.

"Here we are! Home sweet home!" He declared. I looked around. It was small, but comfortable. There was small kitchen that looked like it hadn't been touched in awhile. Sting noticed my stare and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah... Rogue would normally cook for me or we'd go out. I haven't cooked anything in the kitchen for ages." He explained.

"I see. Well, I can cook." I said. Sting's eyes lit up.

"Really! Wow! That's awesome." He said. I smiled at him.

"I could cook for you if you want." I offered. Sting shook his head.

"That's okay. I just don't think Rogue would like it if someone touched his stuff." Sting said. Beside him, Lector sighed.

"Sting-kun... We've been over this. Rogue isn't coming back." He said sadly.

"You're wrong. He'll come back. I know he will." He said. Frosch nodded beside him. I smiled sadly. I noticed a picture of Sting and my dad arm in arm. My dad looked slightly annoyed while Sting was smiling brightly into the camera.

I suddenly remembered something my dad told me when I was young.

"Your father was always so kind... He was always smiling and even when times were tough, he would always secretly lend a hand... He also had the most beautiful blue eyes. One of his many good features.."

Dad smiled at me. "You have his eyes."

I blinked in surprise. I had blue eyes. I looked back at the photo. Sting has blue eyes.... I thought. I remembered something else my dad told me.

"We always went on missions together. We were a very powerful team... We met when we were younger and I think that's why we worked so well together. We always knew what the other was thinking..."

My eyes widened in shock. I looked back at Sting and saw that he was busy talking, more like arguing, with Lector. The more I studied him, the more convinced I was.

Sting is my father.