Chapter Text
Paper Moon
Chapter Eleven
Fairy Tail Guild
Fiore
Her eyes wandered towards the job board for the fifth time that morning. Nab was standing around scanning each job which was pointless, because everyone knew he wasn't going to take a single one. As the hours passed slowly, the number of jobs available headily started to vanish as other mages took them. It was a small area of concern for Lucy,
Erza was standing in the corner, he hand rested on the sword on her hip. Since the paper moon job, she had taken it upon herself to watch and 'protect' Lucy from 'threats'. At least it kept Vijeeter and his ridiculous dancing away from her. Mira hummed happily and had Kina deliver a strawberry smoothie to Lucy's table.
Since that, she also had been receiving free smoothies thanks to Mira's guilt complex, so there was that. Everyone else had been super nice to her recently too. Levy offered to let Lucy read a very ancient tome first, Gray made her snow cones all day long and was basically at her beck and call. The remaining who weren't in the infirmary offered to do odd jobs for her. Lucy was receiving first class treatment and it was the life.
If only she could stop staring at the stupid job board. Her gaze slid right back to it and sighed when she saw Max of all people grab a flyer and take it to Mira.
Well that didn't last very long. Lucy frowned. It hadn't even been a week and she already wanted to cave in. In all fairness, she truly did want to try and stick to her word and it was working until she remembered it was the end of the month.
Rent was due on the first and she was broke again. Natsu's huge appetite did not pay for itself. I swear Happy and Natsu are going to eat me out of a home, she wailed internally. Life was so unfair.
Also, she was incredibly bored. Who knew waiting for someone to return could be so exhausting mind-numbing? All the romance novels she read made it seem like a natural gesture. It wasn't realistic, there was no way Lucy could be at the guild at any given time. Who knew this would be so hard?
It was made harder by the fact that Lucy swore Laxus was avoiding her, she hadn't seem a hair of him. She tried to not let it sting.
Besides, what was the harm in taking a small side job? Bisca and Alzack did it all the time now that they had Asuka. Yes, Lucy nodded, she would do just that. After she kicked Natsu's butt that was. He was going down.
"I hope you're ready to lose to me, Natsu, you won't get away this time." Lucy taunted.
"I already won Lu." What? Impossible! We just started! "Read em' and weep."
The two of them were engaged in a very intense battle of checkers. Lucy stared at the game board and her remaining pieces. Her eyes swept over each and every piece meticulously. There was a mistake somewhere, she was not going to admit defeat! She narrowed her eyes and stared at the dragonslayer. Then, she suddenly jumped up, startling a more than a few mages. "I know you're cheating! I don't know how, but you are!" She glared at Natsu, hoping to intimidate him into fessing up. He just had to be, there was no way she lost to Natsu of all people.
"What? Are you crazy? Why would I need to cheat? Maybe you just suck at checkers." Natsu said causally and stuck his tongue out at her. "You're way too cocky.'
"I do not!" Lucy pouted, "I don't wanna play anymore. I don't even like checkers." she pushed the game board across the table and she slumped down on the table. "I'm boreddddddd…" She sighed.
"You were the one that suggested checkers. Why don't we just go on a job?" Natsu offered. "That's always fun." Your definition of fun is chaos. Mine? Not so much.
She took a deep breath. "I've actually been thinking about taking on a new job. But it would have to be something easy and quick, since we didn't get paid for that wild goose hunt."
Natsu grinned widely at her. Lucy knew that he was just as bored sticking around the guild with her. She had tried to send him off on a few jobs but he protested loudly and declared his intent to stay with her until 'Laxus got his head out of his ass.' "This is gonna be awesome! Let me go find Erza and Gray, you go find us a job!" He jumped out of his seat and ran off wildly.
Lucy couldn't help but smile at his retreating form. Natsu's blinding optimism made it difficult for anyone to mope around. As much as she wanted to see Laxus, he would just have to wait, if anything, his team probably wouldn't get back by the time Lucy finished the job. The Thunder God tribe took on an S-Class job immediately. Those usually took a few weeks.
No matter how much her heart ached for Laxus, it wouldn't do to spend all day with her head in the clouds. Lucy stood in front of the job board. It had to be something easy but also something her team wouldn't destroy. She looked over each one and stopped when a brightly colored flyer caught her eye.
Her hand reached out and she scanned it briefly. It was perfect! There was no way to mess this up! All the client wanted was a small security team to watch over his daughter's wedding, it was simple and easy. It wasn't that far either, maybe a day's journey at most. Apparently the extra muscle that mages provided would be enough to deter any uninvited guests from entering and make sure his daughter's special day was perfect.
Clover Forest
Fiore
"Bickslow, behind you!" The seith mage turned and directed his babies at the monster running towards him. His soul magic maneuvered them in front of the vulcan's feet and tripped him while the other two knocked it out.
"Ha! Piece of cake, this job is way too easy." No sooner did he utter that, a huge group of around 40 vulcans of varying sizes crept out of the surrounding forest.
Evergreen rolled her eyes, "Way to go Bickslow. Now we have to work even harder. What's a girl to do?" She whined dramatically before lowering her glasses and taking out thirteen in one fell swoop.
Freed rushed to his beloved leader's side. "Laxus, are you well?" He himself was feeling rather sapped from the sudden attack. He had faced off against fifteen other monsters before the vulcans showed up.
Snap! Freed watched as his beloved leader slammed another monster with so much force, there was a sickening crunch- the creature was bound to have a broken jaw. He hadn't even used his lighting magic.
Laxus took out nearly every single one on his own, he obviously had a lot of emotions to get through. Without skipping a single beat, Laxus turned and swiftly punched a vulcan that had been creeping behind him.
The beast flew into the air and twinkled into the woods farther away. Freed watched his leader crack his back and start to walk back to the town to collect the reward without a word to his team. Again. The other members of the Thunder Legion were just expected to follow. Freed pushed away some of the hair that had fallen on his face in mild irritation. "Laxus, are you sure you're feeling alright?" There was no response which didn't surprise Freed. Laxus, however, he didn't even turn around, the nerve! He was fortunate that it was Laxus, if anyone else had brushed him off like that- well they didn't say he had a 'dark' side for no reason.
The blond merely grunted. Freed glanced exasperatedly at Bickslow-he was going to lose his mind! Ever since Laxus and Lucy had discovered the paper moon plot that he was involved in, Laxus had refused to speak to Freed. At first, it was understandable. Surely, he wouldn't hold the grudge forever, they were after all on the same team. But Laxus had held firm, his stubbornness was truly admirable. If only it wasn't directed towards him. Freed had hoped doing job after job in such rapid succession would appease the large man and help him atone. Instead, it only served to silence him even more.
The silent treatment was starting to take a toll on Freed.
Why couldn't Laxus see that Freed only wanted to help? His only wish in life was to take care of Laxus after all. His happiness was all that mattered.
Still, it had been two weeks of this hell. They hadn't been in the guild in days and if they were- it was only to quickly grab a job request and then vanish. Laxus wasn't known to express his feelings, he was rather repressed. But anyone could see that he was upset. If Freed had known what negative effect this would create, he would have never participated in the hair-brained scheme of Mirajane. No matter how terrifying and ruthless she could be. He had hoped that in succeeding, his leader would be happier and all Freed ever wanted was to make Laxus happy. No one else was so deserving of such happiness but his leader was. Because beneath that tough exterior, Laxus was lonely. Lonelier than anyone he had ever met.
And he had seen how Laxus watched the celestial mage. Freed was certain that Laxus was not even aware of the feelings he had, he probably wasn't aware that he stared after Lucy in a longing manner, that he went out of his way to accommodate the girl, to speak to her. The changes were subtle, unnoticeable to regular people, but for him and Mira, they had caught on rather quickly. Especially since Freed was positive he once saw Laxus blush when Lucy smiled brightly at him. It was an obvious choice to help get them together. He reluctantly agreed, however, that it wasn't the most thought out idea. There was so much room for error after all. He had already calculate all possible consequences.
He was prepared for this kind of occasion, one had to be ready for all possibilities but he hadn't prepared for the silent treatment he was receiving. He, the most loyal to Laxus was lost without him. Now he was reduced to walking behind the group. And it was cold and muddy and everything hurt, there was surely a few leaves in his hair and Freed loathed the dirt, preferring cleanliness over anything.
As if Bickslow could feel his distress, he nudged Freed gently. "Give the boss man some time. You did after all fuck with his life. You know how much of a control freak he is."
Freed crossed his arms and glared at the path. "Yes, I am very aware of that, but it's been weeks Bickslow. How long does he plan on dragging us from town to town? Without even a word to his team?"
"First off, it's only been like a week and a half and secondly, can't blame him," Bickslow muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Although, he has been a real piece of work lately. He made that little girl cry the other day."
"How could I forget?" The girl had burst in sobs when Laxus fixed her with a malevolent glare. Normally, he would have been bashful or ashamed of making a child cry, but he breezed past her like she wasn't there. One also couldn't forget that time a few days ago when Laxus watched Freed slip and tumble down the hill they were climbing. When he had found the strength to climb back up, his hair covered in leaves and dirt streaks on his face, only to see that Laxus hadn't waited for him! He had to sprint to catch up with the team.
And then there was all the weather conditions. Everywhere they went, there was a huge thunderstorm brewing in the clouds. A sure sign of their leader's moody tendencies. And Freed was done with getting trampling all over the forested areas of Fiore. He was sure Evergreen and Bickslow would agree. They all just wanted their friend back.
There was a not-so-delicate cough. "Laxus, when are we heading back to the guild?" Evergreen finally asked. Evergreen had gone out of her way to stay silent, her normal complaints were non-existent. Freed was actually surprised on how well she could read the atmosphere. Her restraint was stronger than he thought. Evergreen knew to stay to herself and keep her mocking comments to herself. The stress must have gone to her head too if she's finally saying something. The blonde grunted again. Hopefully Evergreen will let it go. Hopefully. Freed watched her eyebrow twitch at his dismissal. Perhaps not… "Laxus Dreyar!"
Bickslow turned to stare at the brunette. "Did she just yell at Laxus?" He whispered to Freed, disbelieving. They both watched as Laxus stopped and turned around. "Better yet, did Laxus just listen to her?"
"What is it Ever?" Laxus said tiredly as if all the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
Ever nodded and took a deep breath. "When are we heading home? I miss sleeping in a bed." Way to make it about yourself Evergreen. Freed rolled his eyes, was everyone this selfish?
His face was unreadable as he paused briefly before answering. "When I feel like it."
Evergreen stomped her foot. "I'm sick and tired of walking all over Fiore without rest. We need to head back to the guild, this is getting ridiculous and you're acting like a child!" Laxus raised his eyebrow and the other two waited for the bolt of lightning that Evergreen was sure to receive.
"You wanna go back so bad? Then go. No one is forcing you stay."
Evergreen's mouth opened in surprise. "Are you kicking me off the job?" She didn't let Laxus speak, "You know what?" She adjusted her glasses. "Fine. I'll head back to the guild and wait for you to get your ass out of your head. Lucy doesn't deserve this either. Just because something went on without your knowledge doesn't mean you get to treat us like this." She turned on her foot and flew off, leaving Laxus to stare after her. No one really expected her to leave.
"I don't know why she complained, she can fly. The rest of us actually have to walk." Bickslow mumbled.
Freed pinched the bridge of his nose."Bickslow, we can all fly." Secretly, he knew Evergreen was in the right this time. Laxus had to know how tired they all were, he was just as exhausted as them, the dark circles under his eyes were a dead give-a-way to how he felt.
Clover Town
Fiore
Evergreen was right. Laxus could admit that much, he wanted to go home just as badly as the rest of his team. He rubbed his face tiredly, he just didn't know how to go back after that show he made when leaving.
He regretted that deeply, even he could admit it wasn't the best way to leave. What did Lucy think of that? She probably hates me now and there's no way to fix it.
It was just easier to repress his feelings and get to work, fighting was all he was good at anyways. Laxus could hear Freed and Bickslow trudge slowly behind him, keeping their distance. It wasn't fair to either one of them. They were right, his back was killing him, turning back would be the best course of action.
He could go back to the guild and get a nice meal, go home, take a nice, long shower, and finally get some much needed rest.
There was only one thing, he couldn't get the image of Lucy's crumpled face as he left her. Stupid! The embarrassment kept him from heading back. Truthfully, the last week had been consumed by her. It had cleared up some of the initial hesitations that Laxus had. Laxus didn't understand how someone so beautiful, so kind, and so forgiving could possibly be interested in him. But she was and he couldn't let her get away. He scratched his head and let all the fear he felt slip away. Yes, the Laxus Dreyar was scared of a girl and his feelings, but for all it was worth, he was heading back. Even if it was too late, even if Lucy laughed at him, Laxus needed to make things right. Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly turned towards Freed and Bickslow.
They recoiled as he stepped closer and he tried to not smirk. "I'm sorry you two and I'll apologize to Ever when I see her, but there's something I have to do." He bent his knees and used his lighting magic to leave.
There was silence as he vanished from his spot and the other two stared at the spot where Laxus was.
It was Bickslow who broke the silence. "Does that mean?"
Freed nodded and let the tears flow down his face happily. "Master Laxus is doing the right thing, I'm so proud!" A puddle formed where his weeping fell.
"Well that's great and all but don't you think he should have taken us with him? Now we have to walk back dude. Not cool." Freed didn't seem to care as he happily skipped down the road. They were going home! He could take a proper shower and maybe Laxus would let him rub his back later.
The day was certainly looking up.