This Is How the Story Ends Chapter 1: This Is How the Story Ends, a fairy tail fanfic

Laxus is having a hard time believing how their story is ending, especially since it's scarcely begun.

"Will you go out on a date with me?"

Lucy looked up and swiveled her chair around so she was facing away from the bar, wondering who Laxus was trying to seduce this time. What she was met with was so surprising, she dropped her milkshake.

A hand deftly caught it before it hit the ground, and the owner of the hand stood back up to his full height, looking down at her curiously.

"Should I ask again?" Laxus wondered aloud.

Behind her, Lucy could hear Mira fangirling, squealing softly to herself and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "I wonder what the babies would look like?"

"You were...? Me? I..." Lucy's brows furrowed and her nose wrinkled like they did when she was puzzled. "Were you talking to me?" she managed, after a moment.

Laxus exaggeratedly looked to her right and left. "There's no one else sitting around you." he pointed out. "So...I'd say, yes I was talking to you. Will you go out on a date with me?"

By now, Laxus' question, so softly asked, had managed to make it around the room, and everyone was staring at the bar.

Lucy could dimly hear Natsu yelling, "The hell I'm letting him get his hands on Lucy!", Juvia happily hug-tackling Gray, who was about in the same state as Natsu, and she could see Erza out of the corner of her eye, debating on whether she, too, wanted to pummel Laxus or restrain the ice and fire mage.

"I..." Lucy bit her lip, and Laxus cocked his head like a curious child, waiting. "Why not?" she said, after a moment. "When?"

"Now," Laxus said, and, even though his face betrayed no expression, the blonde girl could see the surprise and the warmth in the man's eyes as he grabbed her hand and tugged so she popped out of her seat, then dragged her from the guild followed by squeals from the girls, moaning about how Lucy was taken by the guys, and Natsu and Gray yelling about how Laxus was going to corrupt their partner/sister, respectively.

"Why did you ask me out on a date all of a sudden? And where are we going; I'm not dressed to go anywhere!" Lucy questioned Laxus as he tugged her gently but insistently through Magnolia, having not released her hand since they'd left Fairy Tail.

"We're going to dinner," Laxus avoided her first question. "Plus, I was under the impression that your maid spirit could bring you clothes and the crab could do your makeup or whatever it is that you girls do before a date."

Surprised, Lucy asked, "You know that?"

"Of course," Laxus snorted. "I'm pretty sure you didn't bring a bag full of clothes with you to Tenroujima, and you must have had at least three outfits that I know of. When I said something about this around Natsu, the flame-brain told me about the spirits."

"I'm impressed he remembered," Lucy admitted. "He's not the most observant when it comes to these things."

Laxus chuckled. "You're not wrong," he said, which Lucy guessed was the closest she would get to agreement from the tall man.

By now, he had started walking a little slower, and Lucy found that she quite forgot he was holding her hand; because of the expensive boutiques and restaurants in the part of Magnolia they'd ended up in, the girl had always avoided it, low on jewels after paying her rent, Team Natsu's damages, and buying food to replace what her friends ate, and Lucy's eyes were eating up the sights like Natsu would flaming meat.

"I didn't know this part of Magnolia was so pretty..." she sighed, glancing up at the white lights strung from building top to building top across the cobblestoned road. Vendors at every corner sold colorful treasures, and Lucy was drawn to booth after booth to examine their wares.

Laxus always asked if she wanted what she admired, but she always shook her head adamantly, smiling at the booth's owner before tugging an amused Laxus along.

However, when Laxus asked her the question for the fifth time at a booth that made keyrings, she hesitated before answering. She'd let go of Laxus' hand to pick up a ring made of a gold-colored metal. The outer part of the ring had raised designs - roses in rose gold and colored gold making little leaves for the flowers. The inside of the ring could be inscribed with whatever the buyer chose; the vendor's magic allowed him to carve words on his wares in less than ten seconds.

The hesitation was all Laxus needed, and he gently snatched the ring from Lucy, handing it to the vendor, who rang it up and, at Laxus' request, muttered the price into his ear. In return, Laxus murmured something back before counting out jewel notes - not letting Lucy see what they were - and handing them over to the man at the booth.

With a quick smile at Lucy, the vender put the ring in his cupped hand, cupping his other hand and putting it over the other in a manner that reminded Lucy of how she saw kids in other towns holding bugs or little frogs that they'd caught. There was a small flash of light, and the vender moved the hand on top away, flattening the other out and offering the ring to Lucy, who took it with a tentative smile and thanked the vendor before Laxus tugged her off again.

"You didn't have to buy me something; you're already taking me to dinner," the blonde girl said, in a slightly scolding manner, to the other blonde, looking up at his blushing face. (The shadows across his face prevented her from actually seeing the blush.)

"Just be quiet," he growled, although his voice lacked aggression. "Read the inside."

Curiously, Lucy pulled the keyring out of her skirt pocket, where she'd stored it, and looked at the inner inscription, blushing when she read it.

"Yours is the light by which my spirit's born: - you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

"I didn't realize you were a poetry fan," she said after a moment, gently slipping the ring back in her pocket. "I think the Spirits will love it."

"Even a doofus like Natsu knows a little bit of poetry," Laxus commented. "Although, I'd expect his knowledge to be less e.e. cummings and more, 'Hickory dickory dock/The mouse ran up the clock.'"

Lucy giggled, and Laxus smiled a little to himself, stopping a few steps later in front of a large building.

"This is where we're eating," he said, gesturing towards the building with a tilt of his head.

Lucy, who had still been laughing, pulled herself together enough to look at the restaurant, and her eyes widened when she realized that this was, in fact, the fanciest restaurant in all of Magnolia, and that Mira had once gone with an old boyfriend only to find out later that he'd paid sixty thousand jewels for them to eat there.

"This - this is too much!" Lucy exclaimed softly as Laxus led her to the front door, telling the man at the front door his name. Even when the waiter appeared to take them to their table, she was trying to convince Laxus that coffee and a sandwich at a little cafe would be fine with her, Laxus firmly led her on, and she gave up after a minute or so.

The waiter led them past all of the other diners and tables to the back of the restaurant, where he showed them to a short flight of stairs that led up to a private dining room, where one table was set up in the middle, two candles burning merrily.

How romantic. Lucy thought, surprised. I didn't know that Laxus could be this kind of person.

With a bow, the waiter left to retrieve their food, and Laxus pointed out out a restroom where Lucy could change quickly.

With a small smile, she ducked into the room, fingers absently brushing against Virgo's key. The pink-haired spirit appeared in a flash of light, cloth in her hands clutched to her chest and eyes sparkling with an unusual show of emotion.

"Hime-sama is on a date with her crush," the woman squealed, and Lucy clapped her hand over the maid's mouth, knowing fully well that Laxus had probably heard this statement with his advanced hearing.

Not that Virgo's statement was wrong. In fact, Lucy had had a crush on Laxus ever since she'd gotten over him having her turned to stone, but he'd been expelled soon after that, and then, upon his return, had flirted endlessly with every girl in the guild, taking Cana and many non-Fairy-Tail-member girls out on dates.

Lucy had honestly thought that she'd have no chance at all with the Lightning Dragon Slayer, but now...the blonde blushed bright red and dropped her hand, allowing Virgo to squeal once more before showing her master the clothes she'd brought.

The dress was floor-length and black with a sweet-heart neckline, although from the waist up was an overlay of black lace that created a one-shoulder strap. The dress hugged Lucy's body all the way down. Or, at least until the slit that went from the floor to about midway up her thigh cut through the fabric.

Virgo also gave Lucy black heels and earring to match the dress before Cancer worked his ten-second makeup magic. With a nervous smile returned by both of her spirits, Lucy sent them back before hesitantly peeping into the dining room.

Laxus was sitting in closer chair, back to her, and arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be staring with some sort of interest out of the far wall, which was pretty much just glass window. From here, Lucy could make out the lights of Fairy Tail, and the shape of the cathedral.

With a swallow, Lucy stepped out of the little bathroom and started walking slowly across the floor, her heels click clicking with every step.

"Took you long enough - " Laxus started to tease Lucy as he stood and turned to her, but the sight of her dress shut his mouth, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he gave her a quick once over before his eyes came to rest on her own.

Lucy had to say that she was impressed; she hadn't been on too many dates, but, on all of them, the man had always ended up staring at her chest or her butt, never looking her in the eyes like Laxus was doing. Somehow, this made her more flustered than the alternative.

"Do you like my dress?" she asked uncomfortably, shifting slightly.

"Well, I was thinking it'd look a little bit better on my bedroom floor when I first saw you, but now that the rational part of my brain has calmed itself down...Your dress compliments you very well."

When Lucy got what Laxus had been insinuating, she blushed, although another feelings, a little weaker than the embarrassment, shot through her, raising goosebumps on her skin.

That feeling was desire, and Lucy knew by the flash of his eyes that Laxus had smelled it on her as soon as her body had reacted.

Laxus cleared his throat and walked the few steps over to Lucy, taking her elbow and leading her to the chair opposite his, pulling it out so she could sit. Once she had, Laxus pushed the chair closer to the table, then went to sit in his own chair.

To Lucy's utter surprise, conversation was not difficult with Laxus. Even though he looked more brawny than brainy, he was rather intelligent, having had spent so much time with Freed, and reading plenty of books over the time he'd been expelled from Fairy Tail.

He also seemed genuinely interested in her magic, and cajoled her into talking about after she'd mentioned it and then immediately fell silent, remembering the bored looks she'd gotten from other dates.

Even as they ate, the conversation never really died.

And, by the end of that night, emotions won out over logic, and Lucy's dress did, indeed, Laxus thought, look very nice on his floor, although her body on his bed was much more beautiful.

To say that Fairy Tail was surprised by the strong bond that was quickly built between the Lightning Dragon Slayer and the Celestial mage was an understatement.

Contrary to popular belief, Lucy was still pure, having never done more than kissed a boy. So, when she entered the guild the next day with the pure scent gone and smelling strongly of Laxus to the rest of the Dragon Slayers, Natsu went a little berserk.

From the shouting that Natsu was doing and everyone else's general knowledge about the facts of life, it was soon pretty clear what had happened, and Mirajane went into full on fangirl mode, which drove Lucy, tomato red with embarrassment, out of the guild less than ten minutes after Laxus' appearance.

Laxus, frustrated that his guildmates had chased the girl he liked out of the guild, promptly knocked Natsu out and snatched a random job off of the board, yelling something about he and Lucy taking the job before running out of the guild after the blonde.

When he caught up, Laxus easily managed to convince her to accompany him on the job; after all, it was beside the beach, and it would only be the two of them...

Four Months Later (September)

"It really seems like we've been replaced," Evergreen told Lucy teasingly, as the two of them sat at the bar, slurping a strawberry milkshake (Lucy) and some fruity alcoholic concoction of Mira's (Evergreen).

"Laxus would never replace the Raijinshuu!" Lucy protested, sounded scandalized, eyes scanning over the guild.

It seemed like her and Laxus' relationship had made romantic feelings spring up in the guild. Gajeel and Levy, Gray and Juvia, Natsu and Lisanna, Erza and Jellal, and many others were rarely seen apart. (With the exception of the scarlet haired mage and her partner - Jellal was still wanted by the council, so their relationship was on the down-low.)

"It sure seems like it," Evergreen said, alcohol putting her in much more of a teasing mood than normal. "Even when he graces us with his presence on a job, all he talks about is you."

Lucy blushed. "Really?"

Evergreen let out a barking laugh. "Yes, he really does." she told the blonde. "Honestly, I know he's dated lots of girls, but I've never seen him look the way he does when he talks about you. He really, honestly loves you, Lucy."

"Glad to hear it..." Lucy murmured to herself.

Evergreen took a few more sips of her drink before she said, "Hey, how about this? Laxus hasn't been on a job with us in a while, and we haven't been on a job with you ever. Why don't we - me, Freed, Bixlow, Laxus, and you - all go on a job together? After all, if yours and Laxus' relationship keeps going in this positive direction, you two will be married and inseparable before too long."

"Hm...exactly how long are you betting, Evergreen?" Bixlow, who'd come up behind the two women silently - asked.

"I'm saying before the year's up." Freed - who also appeared silently - said.

"I'm going to guess a little longer; maybe he'll wait to say something to her at the Fairy Tail festival in, what, six months?" Bixlow said.

"I'm going to say by Christmas," Evergreen, over their surprising sudden appearances.

"Guys, quit it!" Lucy protested. Evergreen and Bixlow just guffawed, and Fred did his equivalent of smiling and chuckling.

"Eh?" a voice drawled. "Are you three picking on my girlfriend again?"

Lucy - letting out a little eep - felt an arm encircle her waist, pulling her back against a strong chest.

"Not picking on her," Bixlow said. "Just making bets on when you two are tying the knot. Oh, and Ever suggested that the five of us go on a job."

"A job, hm?" Laxus asked, deep voice making his chest - which Lucy was still pulled firmly against - vibrate softly. "What do you think, Lucy?"

"If you'll have me, I'll go." the blonde girl replied immediately. She and her spirits - stronger now, after training with Laxus over so many jobs these past four months - were raring for a challenge.

Laxus heard the eagerness in his girlfriend's voice and said, "How's this; we'll take an S-class mission. You're never experienced one with a real S-class mage, have you?"

"There was that time with Galuna Island," Evergreen pointed out.

"That was Natsu's decision to disregard the fact that it was an S-class mission," Freed disagreed. "So, her answer should be 'no' as far as I know."

"Freed's right," Lucy admitted. "I've been on some crazy jobs with Natsu, but I've never been on an S-class mission with an S-class mage."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Laxus questioned. "Let's go find a job."

Less than two hours later, the five of them were on a train bound for Silverbell, a small village a few hours' train ride from Magnolia, that was being plagued by a large Dark guild that was trying to get all of the gold out of the small mines that kept the village funded.

Laxus started looking green about twenty minutes into the six hour ride, and Bixlow and Evergreen had taunted him as he'd lain down in his seat, resting his head in Lucy's lap, facing out towards the bench across from them.

Technically, three people should be able to sit on one bench, but Laxus was a big guy, so he and Lucy took one bench, the other three taking the other bench in the booth.

Laxus grumbled to Lucy about the Raijinshuu's taunting until he fell asleep thanks to Lucy combing her fingers through his spiky hair soothingly and singing a soft song to him that made everyone else drift off.

Soon enough, Lucy was the only one awake, and, smiling to herself, watched the scenery out the window as the soft breathing of her friends filled the booth.

Virgo cried out as the mage sliced right through her with his sword, and she was violently pulled back into the spirit world.

"Vir...go..." Lucy, trying to pick herself up off the ground, whimpered. She managed to prop herself up on one arm, but could get no further.

The mage before her let the tip of his sword lazily rest on the ground. "It's so humorous," he said, his voice high and reedy and horrible, "that your friends sent you here, to the abandoned, nearly forgotten entrance to the mine, thinking that you'd just have to deal with some of the little, weak non-mage minions of mine, only to find the Master of the notorious Black Leech guild here waiting for you..."

Lucy looked up and snarled at him, raising the arm that wasn't propping her up to wipe away a trail of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

"Ooh, so fiery," the Master said, eyes lighting up evilly. "It's been a while since a mage has defied me...perhaps I should reap your pretty soul for my own..."

Lucy absorbed these words with horror, while Loke - who'd already been defeated- spoke into her mind from the Spirit World.

He reaps souls and adds their power to that sword of his. In turn, he gains some of their abilities. Like, if he were to absorb Natsu's soul, he would probably have control of fire. Under no circumstances should you get that close to his right hand; that's where his power is. Run, Lucy. Find Laxus. Quickly!

That's easy for you to say! Lucy screamed back, internally. I can't exactly stand right now, Loke!

She felt his anxiety - as well as the anxiety from her other spirits - rise as the Master approached her slowly, sword cutting a line in the grass as he pulled it along.

"Do not be afraid, pet," he crooned. "I'll kill you first, so you won't know the pain of having your soul forcefully ripped from your body. Consider it a reward for your fiery nature."

With all the breath she could gather in her chest, Lucy let out a scream that split the air, startling many a bird out of his tree.

"Laxus!"

Bixlow, binding the hands of a mage with magic-negating wire, said suddenly, "Laxus, none of these men is the master."

Laxus, who was tying up the last of Black Leech's mages, looked at Bixlow, brows furrowed.

"Coward probably ran from us!" Evergreen crowed, digging the heel of her shoe into the back of an incapacitated mage, causing him to curse loudly.

Freed, drawing binding runes around the area where all the Dark guild members were, considered this possibility, then rejected it. "There's no way," he said. "Even though he's not here..." The mage paled considerably.

"What?" Laxus demanded, seeing the look of fear on the green-haired man's face. "What's wrong, Freed?"

"There's another entrance to the mine," he answered, as if in a daze. "The one that we sent Lucy to, thinking that there would maybe be a few goons, if that..."

Bixlow dropped the man's arms he was holding back to tie, letting them fall at an awkward angle that made the man cry out. "Holy crap..." he whispered.

"Lucy." Evergreen said, eyes widening when she realized what Freed was saying.

The four mages shared a look, and, just as they did, a scream ripped through the area.

"Laxus!"

Laxus did not think he'd ever run so fast in his life.

As he crashed through the trees, destroying enough to create what looked like a well-traveled path as he went, his thoughts were stuck on Lucy.

How could he have been so stupid? Letting Lucy go anywhere alone on an S-class mission was beyond foolish - he was just so used to having mages with him who were so close to S-class that they were often mistaken for it that he hadn't really thought as he'd dished out orders.

Laxus suddenly caught a scent; lavender and strawberries, nearly completely overpowered by the metallic smell of blood. Right about the time he smelled all of this, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of a man's voice speaking in a taunting manner, the sickening sound of something slamming into flesh, and the soft cries of a girl.

Lucy.

With a burst of speed and less than a dozen more strides, Laxus broke into the clearing with the abandoned mine entrance.

He saw what he was looking for - Lucy - first. The blonde was lying face down on the ground in the center of the clearing, blood turning the green grass and her white clothes red.

Not far from Laxus was the Master of Black Leech, who had his back to to the Dragon Slayer, which Laxus thought was the biggest mistake - and the last - that he would ever make.

With a roar not unlike a dragon's, Laxus launched himself into the clearing, fist impacting the black-clad man, unchallenged. The Master flew across the clearing, crashing into the rock of the mine entrance. He fell to the ground, and was utterly motionless.

As Laxus turned his attention to and ran towards Lucy, he heard his teammates burst into the clearing, panting, the two men immediately going over to the defeated baddie and tying up his hands and feet with the magic-negating wire.

Laxus threw himself down next to Lucy, grabbing her shoulders and flipping her over, drawing her close. "Luce?" he whispered. "Luce?"

Her eyelids fluttered, and, after a second, she parted her lips and said, hoarsely, "I'm still alive, don't worry."

Laxus nearly laughed with relief. "How badly are you hurting? On a scale of one to ten?"

"I'd say about eleven," she murmured in reply, cringing when his gently probing hand brushed over her stomach. "That's mainly why," she said breathlessly, as Laxus pulled up her shirt to reveal a sickening looking, deep slash wound in her stomach.

"How bad is it?" Lucy asked. "All I know is it hurts like heck, but so did my ankle, that one time I twisted it walking on the wall by the river in Magnolia."

"It's...not so bad," Laxus lied, looking up to find Evergreen closer than he'd thought - close enough to kneel down and touch Lucy, which she did, laying her hand gently on the younger girl's shoulder.

"Liar..." Lucy murmured. "I always know when you lie to me, Laxus."

The blonde man swallowed. "You look like crap," he admitted. "And you're bleeding like crazy."

"That I can believe." she replied, whimpering when Laxus tried to gently hook one arm under her legs and one around her shoulders to lift her.

"I'm sorry," Laxus whispered. "I'm trying not to hurt you."

"I...know..." Lucy said faintly.

"Don't go to sleep!" Evergreen shouted at the girl, startling both her and Laxus. Even Freed and Bixlow, using a lacrima to summon local law enforcement and ask for immediate transport from Silverbell to the nearest city with a hospital across the clearing, jumped and looked over.

"But I'm so...tired," Lucy replied sleepily.

Sharing a look, Laxus and Evergreen started to run again, towards Silverbell. Even though it had no hospital, there was surely someone who would be able to help.

"Don't go to sleep on me, now," Laxus murmured urgently to Lucy, while he ran.

"I...I'm sorry...Laxus..." Lucy's eyes fluttered closed and her body went limp, heart rate slowing.

Feeling a sense of pure dread, Laxus leaped forward, moving even faster than he had to get to Lucy in his effort to get back to Silverbell.

"No, no, no Lucy. Please, don't die. Please, please. I love you."

Laxus sat with his arms on his knees, hands clasped almost as if in prayer, and forehead leaning against his hands in the hospital waiting room.

He was all alone, for Freed, Bixlow, and Evergreen had gone on back to Magnolia to deliver the message of Lucys' injuries to Fairy Tail and arrange to bring Wendy to Kerrie, a town smack dab in between Silverbell and Magnolia, and the closest place with a hospital.

Right now, Laxus was in Kerrie's hospital, waiting anxiously for Wendy or the ER doctor, whom he'd met very briefly upon his arrival to the facility.

When the door swung open, Laxus looked up, leaping out of his chair when he saw the doctor, still in his scrubs and looking tired. "How is she?" the mage asked anxiously.

"She lost a lot of blood, but a few transfusions fixed that, and we repaired all the internal damage. She's going to have some nasty scarring, but other than that, she's fine...physically." the doctor replied.

"What does that mean? What's wrong with her mental health?" Laxus demanded.

"I'm not sure," the doctor admitted. "For all our trauma patients, we bring in a mage who can sense people's mental health. He told me he thought there was something in her mind, something that would prevent her from waking up. Actually, the word he used was 'someone.' I understand you were fighting mages when this happened, right? Did you know how many there were?"

Laxus racked his brain, thinking back to the request paper. "One hundred and four, including the Master."

"Then I recommend doing a headcount; whoever's in her mind has magical power the likes that our mage here at the hospital has never seen." the doctor said grimly.

"What does he think the mage's capabilities are?" Laxus questioned.

"Because of the condition of her mind, our mage actually tried to probe her it himself. He said that whatever was there threw him out, quite violently, but not before he got a peek of the magic. He thinks that it's a Nightmare mage; that is, a mage who can take positive memories and poison them to create negative memories, and vice versa. He also thinks that the Nightmare mage will be able to access the part of Miss Heartfilia's brain that tells her body she's in pain, and make it hypersensitive. It's a very popular mean of torture in Dark guilds."

Laxus paled throughout the doctor's entire explanation. "And the healer from our guild that we're bringing?" Laxus asked. "She can't fix this?"

The doctor shook his head. "Your healer will be able to ease and eventually erase Miss Heartfilia's physical pain, but only the destruction of the Nightmare mage will remove his influence. But, Nightmare mages are known to destroy their victims' minds; when - if - she wakes up again, it's likely that she'll be...insane."

"I won't let that happen," Laxus growled, low in his throat, just as the door swung open a second time, drawing the two men's attention to a little blue-haired girl in the doorway, Raijinshuu right behind her.

"Neither will I," Wendy, who must have heard everything, said, eyes shining fiercely. "Please, take me to Lucy."

Wendy held her glowing hands over her battered teammate, running them up and down the blonde's limbs and pressing her(Wendy's) little hands to her(Lucy's) abdomen.

"The doctor was right," Wendy told Evergreen and Bixlow, who were standing in the room, and whom she'd explained Laxus and the doctor's conversation to. (Laxus and Freed were discussing a plan of action in the hall; only Wendy, Mira, and the Master knew about Lucy, for the Raijinshuu had arrived after the guild had closed. Wendy had been waiting for Mira to walk her back to Fairy Hills.)

"Right about that bastard in her brain?" Bixlow questioned, and Wendy, used to coarse language from hanging out in the guild, nodded.

"Yes," she said quietly. "Every time I try to heal her mental state, I'm blocked. And the magic's so powerful...Whoever this is isn't a joke."

"Flame brain, Titania, and Ice Princess are going to be mad as hell," Laxus said, mostly to himself, although Freed nodded in agreement. "I think that we should ask them and Wendy to go along with us. And Gajeel. Four Dragon Slayers looking for the same guy is better than one. And, since Gajeel and Levy are dating and Levy is Lucy's best friend, Gajeel will be baying for blood, as well. Juvia will go because Gray is going."

"Ten people searching for one mage..." Freed mused. "Don't you think it's a bit much?"

"Whoever could hide from myself and the Raijinshuu is not someone to take lightly," Laxus disagreed, shaking his head. "I had half a mind to ask Mirajane to come with us, as well, but then we'd have to drag along Lisanna and Elfman. Which, in the end, we'd just end up taking along the whole guild."

"Once we tell them, the whole guild is going to be, as you said, 'baying for blood.'" Freed pointed out. "I think Team Natsu, Juvia, the Raijinshuu, Gajeel, and yourself is plenty."

"Now comes the hard part," Laxus said grimly, and Freed looked at him curiously until the blonde man finished his thought.

"Let's go borrow the hospital's lacrima and call Gramps."

"Master!" Mira called. "Incoming call from Kerrie!"

Everyone else in the guild looked up in confusion; normally, Mira just answered the lacrima herself. What was so special about this call that she wouldn't answer it?

Makarov sighed. "Bring the lacrima here, please," he requested. "If it's who I think it is, the whole guild might as well listen."

This made everyone perk up even more; the Master's tone indicated that something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

When Makarov accepted the call, he chose an option that caused a large screen to project from the lacrima; six feet square, the screen was large enough for the entire guild to see Laxus, his seriousness, and an emotion very few members had ever seen in his eyes; fear.

"What happened to Lucy?" Natsu asked immediately, standing up so fast his chair crashed to the ground so hard it broke into several pieces.

Laxus's eyes flicked in Natsu's direction, but returned to Makarov. "Wendy's done as much as she can," he said, after a second, when he realized that his grandfather had no intention of moving from the center of the guild. "But."

"What do you mean, 'but?'" Erza demanded. "Master, what's going on?"

"You didn't tell them." Laxus said, and it wasn't a question.

"No." Makarov admitted. "I was waiting to hear from you."

"So they don't know that Lucy was seriously injured on a mission and that we rushed Wendy to Kerrie in the middle of the night to prevent her death?" Laxus's voice was mostly flat, but they could hear the fearful inflection his his voice on the words 'seriously injured' and 'death.'

Makarov risked a glance around the room to see that all of Team Natsu was on their feet, plus Levy, Gajeel, and Juvia.

"Gramps?" Gray questioned.

"No," Makarov sighed, looking back at Laxus. "They didn't. But they do now. Thank you."

Laxus grunted.

"If everything is going fine," Gajeel began, "why are you calling, looking more terrified than I personally have ever seen you?"

The blonde Dragon Slayer hesitated, then said, quietly, "We did a head count of the mages from Black Leech."

"And?" Erza asked.

"And, we were short one mage." Laxus replied. "A mage from the hospital told us that there was something in Lucy's head, something keeping her asleep. A Nightmare mage, with the ability to change all of Lucy's memories to suit him, and torture her from the inside."

"How the hell are you 'short one mage?'" Natsu shrieked, voice shooting through about two octaves. "Get that bastard out of Lucy's head!"

"We would, if we could," Laxus snapped. "but the only way to do it is to find this mage and, quote, 'destroy him.' Of course, there's also the fact that if we approach things wrong, the mage could destroy her mind. When she wakes up, there's quite a big chance that she'll be insane."

"Why are you so calm about this?" Natsu yelled. "Isn't' she your girlfriend? Don't you care about what's happening to her - !"

"Don't you dare tell me that I don't care about Lucy!" Laxus screamed, and the entire guild witnessed his complete and total collapse as they fell silent. He went from calm and collected to a man who was falling completely apart at the seams from grief, and many of the Fairy Tail members drew back in shock at this look on his face.

"Don't..." Laxus choked up. "Don't say that, Natsu. I love her more than anything else on Earthland, and if I could chose to be in that hospital bed instead of her, I wouldn't even have to think about it."

For once, Natsu had nothing more to say.

"What do you need, Laxus?" Makarov asked quietly.

"I need Team Natsu, Juvia, and Gajeel in Kerrie before the sun sets. We have a guild master to interrogate and a Nightmare mage to find." Laxus replied, a little more calm, although the torture he was feeling was clear in his eyes.

"We'll be there before noon," Erza said grimly.

Laxus nodded once, and the call cut out. Even before that, the mages Laxus had asked for were hurrying out of the guild, headed straight for the train station.

"Good luck, you brats." Makarov said to himself.

"Wait for them, Lucy."

When Laxus and the Raijinshuu met up with the others from Fairy Tail in a large city an hour or so from Kerrie, it was clear to everyone present that Laxus was furious.

In fact, furious, Juvia thought, was not a strong enough word. Laxus looked as if his blood were boiling, and there was a look in his eye that told the water woman immediately that, if allowed, Laxus would kill the Nightmare mage when they found him. If they found him.

Juvia shook her head. Not 'if,' Juvia. When. When we find him.

Gray shot her an odd look, but she just shook her head at him, too, and he shrugged before reaching over and touching her hand gently. It was only a moment, but Juvia felt so much more secure, and she smiled at him slightly.

"This," Laxus said, gesturing behind himself, "is the largest prison outside of Crocus, and where the mages from Black Leech are being held until after their trials. Before you ask what happens to them after their trials, I'll answer. They'll either be executed or sent to Crocus' prison to live out the rest of their miserable lives." He turned on his heel and started towards the gates of the prison, still speaking, "We are here to see Black Leech's master, Joshua Short. He's a Soul Reaper, but he's chained up with magic-negating cuffs and in a cell made of the same stuff. He's the one we're interviewing. He's also the one who nearly killed Lucy."

When Juvia glanced at Natsu to see how he'd take to this, she found a fire burning in his eyes. "Let's talk to the bastard." the rose-haired mage said, and, for the first time, Laxus smiled.

"I don't think there's going to be too much talking."

Laxus was pretty much right; at first, Joshua refused to tell them anything, but three quick shocks from Laxus's powers, some minor burns courtesy of Natsu, and near suffocation at the hands of Juvia, the Master of Black Leech coughed up all the knew (and quite a bit of water.).

The Nightmare mage that was part of Black Leech's name was Xander Li, he was approximately twenty six years old, had dark brown hair, strangely purple eyes, and would most likely be in one of two places; the Black Leech HQ just outside of Crocus, or his own residence in the mountains nearly three hundred miles from where the team was now.

Exiting the prison, Laxus muttered to himself, "Half of us go to the HQ, and the other half goes to his private residence. If we don't find him in either place, the team that goes to the latter will take some of his clothes so we can see if we can track his scent..."

He stopped suddenly and said, "Freed, Evergreen, Juvia, Gajeel, and myself will go to Li's house. Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Bixlow, and Gray, you go to the HQ."

"What if we find him?" Erza questioned.

Laxus thought for a moment. "We'll need to convince him that destroying Lucy's mind will only cause problems for him. Namely, death at my hands, which will be extremely painful. Then, we need to make him either leave her mind or kill him, depending on how he acts."

"How will we know if he's telling the truth about being out of her head?" Wendy asked.

"Juvia suggests that Wendy go back to Kerrie to sit with Lucy," Juvia piped up. "Wendy could then use the lacrima there to get in touch with the two teams."

"That's a good idea," Wendy agreed, "but we'll need two more lacrima, since neither one of the teams has one."

"There's a place here in the city where we can get lacrima, I think," Freed offered. "I came on a job here not too long ago. I'll go fetch them and meet the rest of you at the train station."

"Got it," everyone agreed.

Less than two hours later, the ten mages were on their respective three trains, all headed in different directions.

Wendy got to her destination first and rushed up to Lucy's hospital room, finding the blonde in much the same state she'd been in when the young girl had left; sleeping in what appeared to be a peaceful way. The only change was that there were no more bandages wrapped around the teen, and the only machine was a heart monitor, beeping rhythmically.

"Hello, Lucy," Wendy said, a little sadly, pulling a chair up beside her bed. "Laxus and the others are looking for him, okay? They're going to get that man out of your head. Promise."

In Lucy's Mind

"Where am I?" Lucy questioned aloud, looking around curiously. She was standing in a large room, about the size of the main room in the guild, but the decor was not like the guild at all; the walls were black with swirly white designs, and there were black and white tables with black and white chairs on a black and white floor.

The blonde's opinion was it was rather bland.

"Bland? I'm offended," a male voice behind Lucy made her whip around suddenly, finding a man with dark brown hair and blue-ish/purple eyes. "I think its nice and modern."

"Who are you?" Lucy asked, moving her hand to her waist for her keys, only to find that they weren't there. "Where are my keys?" she demanded. "Where are my friends? What do you want?"

"My name is Xander." the man replied with a small smile. "As for the other questions, this is your mind; a small section that I've closed off and made my own. Thus, you don't have your keys because a.) this is something like a dream and you couldn't use them anyway and b.) because I don't want you to. The same applies to your friends; they don't exist in this space of mine, and if they try to enter with either magic or their own spirits, I throw them out. As for what I want...you and your friends destroyed my guild and imprisoned my guildmates. It was quite easy to infiltrate your mind in your weakened state after Master Joshua wounded you so much. Consider this my revenge."

"They'll find a way to get you out," Lucy said, although her voice was uncertain.

"That's just it," Xander said. "The only way I'll leave is if they destroy my human body - kill me - or convince me to leave, which will be difficult. And, I have the best bargaining chip; my magic allows me to twist your memories to suit me. That first date that you had with - what's his name, Laxus? I can distort it so that you believe he raped you, and cause you to hate him. I can make you believe that, when you were tortured by that creepy white blob of a mage on Tenroujima, it was, in fact, Natsu who was trying to kill you. I can make you think what Oracion Seis was doing was for the best, and that Angel was trying to save you from Hibiki, who was trying to kill you."

Lucy's eyes blazed angrily. "I know how much Fairy Tail loves me," she snarled, "and I'll never be fooled by your meddling!"

Xander shrugged. "Perhaps that will be the case; some of my victims can see through my changes. But, something no one has been able to resist is this..." He raised his arm until his hand was level with Lucy's head, fingers outstretched. With a small smile, he tightened his fingers into a fist. "Pain."

Lucy cried out as crippling agony split through her being; she could tell that it was not only the spirit form of herself that was with Xander that was hurting, but also her human body, which she seemed to have no control over. The spirit form of Lucy fell to her knees, hugging herself. "STOP!" she screamed. "STOP IT PLEASE!"

With Wendy

The little Sky Dragon Slayer had almost dozed off when Lucy started to convulse, almost as if she were having a seizure.

Wendy, already grabbing the arm that she was close to, screamed, and a few nurses came running, immediately seeing the problem and rushing over to help the small girl. Wendy was close to crying when she saw on Lucy's face the pain she was in, but this feeling of helplessness was worsened when Lucy began to scream.

"STOP!" she screamed. "STOP IT PLEASE!"

Desperate, Wendy put her mouth close to Lucy's ear and pleaded, "Lucy, please. It's alright. I'm here and the others are doing everything they can to find that man. Please, Lucy, just hold on!"

Perhaps two or three minutes later - a span of time that felt like forever to Wendy - Lucy's limps stilled, and she slipped back into a totally comatose state. Wendy slumped into her chair and cried.

"He's not here." Erza stated quietly to the rest of her friends. "We've searched everywhere in this guild, and he's not here."

"Damnit!" Natsu, in his anger, flipped a table into the wall, where it shattered into a million pieces. He stalked out of the guild building, fire raging around him.

"Let's call Wendy," Gray suggested quietly, retrieving the communication lacrima from his pocket and tossing it to Bixlow, who'd actually listened to Freed's rapid fire instructions on how to use the thing.

A few moments later, Wendy's worried face appeared. "Lucy's getting worse." she said. "It's happened three times now; she starts to convulse and her arms and legs go out of control and she screams at someone t - to stop. It's scary."

"I know it is," Erza said to the young girl gently. "We wanted to call and tell you that we didn't find Xander at Black Leech's HQ, so we're going to head to Li's residence where Laxus and company should be arriving soon. Call and tell them that, and give them your update about Lucy."

"Erza-san, please come to Kerrie," Wendy begged. "I can't half help Lucy when she has a fit, and the nurses have other patients. Please?"

Erza, Gray, and Bixlow shared a look, and then Erza shrugged. "I'll come, Wendy," she agreed. "I'll be there in a couple of hours."

When Wendy called Laxus's group to update them, the Lightning Dragon Slayer's mood went downhill, quickly.

Laxus's group was less than fifteen minutes from Li's house and moving almost faster than Freed, Evergreen, and Juvia could manage. Gajeel eventually took pity on the water mage and carried her on his back as he ran, following Laxus, but Freed and Evergreen were left to figure out a few runes that could improve their speed.

After a little improvision, the two mages caught up with the Dragon Slayers. Soon enough, all of them could see the roof of a mansion rising over the trees.

"What's the plan?" Freed asked softly, slowing his pace a little, like Gajeel and Evergreen.

"Attack," Laxus growled, and leaped from the tree line into the mansion's front yard without another word.

Lucy decided that lying on the floor of her mind/Xander's room was a better idea; he always casted his torturous pain spell when she was standing, which knocked her back down again.

"What, not going to get up?" the mage questioned, walking over to Lucy and crouching by her side. "My, my. I thought you had a little more fire than that."

Lucy waited until he leaned even closer to insult her before she lifted her head and spit in his face, causing the Nightmare mage to fall back, cursing, and kick out, his booted foot hitting her ribs solidly.

"Why you little - " Xander began to snarl, but his words were cut off when his face changed to one of shock, and his eyes unfocused. "Someone's at my home," he said, sounding surprised. "Oh? They seem to be friends of yours..."

As he spoke, Xander relayed images of Laxus, Evergreen, Freed, Gajeel, and Juvia running towards a large, imposing mansion as the moon shined down on them softly to Lucy, who gasped.

They're here! she thought.

Fool. Xander's voice said, even though his mouth had not moved. Your thoughts are no longer your own.

They will be! Lucy thought defiantly.

Not a chance. Now, excuse me while I go meet my visitors... With that, Xander's body shimmered and disappeared.

Lucy was left alone, hoping and praying that her friends were successful.

Juvia slid off of Gajeel's back as the four mages tore after the Dragon Slayer who had so recklessly approached the enemy's home. The blue-haired girl had just opened her mouth to cry out to him when the blonde slid to a sudden stop, allowing his companions to catch up.

It was instantly clear why Laxus had stopped; the doors of the mansion were open, and a man of Master Joshua's description was standing there, in anticipation.

Laxus stepped forward, a snarl on his lips, but Gajeel and Evergreen hastily grabbed one of his arms, and Freed and Juvia grabbed the other, effectively pooling their strength to keep him from moving.

"I think you should talk, Freed," Gajeel muttered. "I think you're the best spoken."

The green haired man hesitated, nodded, then released Laxus's arm, taking a step forward. "Greetings, Xander Li."

"I find it amusing that you ask the one least likely to attack me without warning to speak for you. You see, none of your thoughts are hidden from me. Laxus, the Lightning Dragon Slayer, you're thoughts are quite vicious. Oh, and when I dig deeper, I see many lovely memories with dear Lucy..." Xander trailed off with a smile when Laxus snarled, straining against his comrade's arms.

"We've come to negotiate terms with you," Freed, glancing back at Laxus, said. "We -"

"I know," Xander interrupted. "You wish for her good memories to stay good, and her bad memories to stay bad. You also wish that I would remove myself from her mind. My question is this - why should I want to, when you and your friends - plus the one with the strange tattoo over his eyes, who doesn't appear to be here - destroyed my guild and imprisoned my companions?"

"Because," Laxus began. "I'll - "

"Kill me if I don't? Yes, I quite understand." Xander interrupted, once again.

"I'm going to knock him out if he doesn't stop - " Gajeel began.

"Interrupting?" Xander supplied.

Gajeel growled.

"Laxus," Evergreen said softly to the blonde. "There's no way we can beat him if he knows all that we're thinking."

Just to emphasize this, Xander grinned at them. "No, indeed..." he mused. "So, fools, how are you going to save your lovely little friend?" With raised eyebrows, he looked at Freed. "That's a good idea," he admitted. "Or, it would have been if others I've fought hadn't tried the same tactic."

"What was your plan, Freed?" Juvia asked. "Juvia wishes to know."

"I thought that, perhaps," Freed replied. "That we could all think very loud, complicated thoughts, giving one of our number a chance to attack without being noticed."

"Which wouldn't work," Xander replied. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then his eyes widened, and his head turned, eyes roving until they locked onto Evergreen.

"How peculiar," he said. "I cannot hear your thoughts."

Everyone else turned their attention towards Evergreen, whose eyes were squeezed shut tightly. Her mouth moved and formed almost silent words, but, when they attempted to, Laxus and Gajeel heard what she was saying.

"I love Fairy Tail. I love Master Makarov. I love Mirajane. I love Lisanna. I love Bixslow. I love Freed. I love Laxus. I love - " and she continued on and on.

Freed realized what she was doing, and, realizing that the Nightmare mage was too perplexed with Evergreen to read into his thoughts. Therefore, the green haired man took a deep breath and started up, "I love Fiore. I love Fairy Tail. I love Master Makarov. I love -"

Juvia realized next. "I love Fairy Tail! I love Gajeel. I love Lucy. I love Levy. I love...I love Gray-sama!"

At this, Xander gave a great cry and held his head, as if something pained him.

Juvia caught this and screamed aloud, "I love Gray-sama!"

Xander bent double, holding his head, and Freed took the chance to say, "Emotions. He can't handle strong emotions like he can thoughts. Or, at least, love. Laxus's anger he could deal with. Our nervousness, he could deal with. But, when Evergreen started thinking about love, he couldn't read her mind. And, when Juvia declared her love for Gray, the person she cares about the most, it physically hurt him. All we have to do is think about and only about love; that cripples him."

"Son of a gun," Gajeel said. "Who'd have thought that his weakness would be love?"

"I think it fits," Laxus said, eyes darkening with excitement. "You guys, do me a favor? Distract him until I get my hands on him."

"Cause him pain? Gladly," Juvia smiled in a way that unnerved Evergreen so much that the other girl had to step away slightly.

"Love is not manly..." Gajeel sighed. "But I can see this getting back around to Levy, so..." He screwed his eyes shut and started to murmur.

Freed, Evergreen, and Juvia followed suit, and Xander cringed every time Juvia whispered, "I love Gray-sama."

Freed stopped for a moment and said to Laxus, "Like I said, it appears that saying the name of the person you care for most causes him pain. Juvia will continue, but you should give us a signal, and we'll all say who ours is at the same time, so you can grab him."

Laxus grinned. "Gotcha." With that, he lunged forward, towards Xander, fully intending to rough him up a little before he let him go.

The Nightmare mage didn't even realize what was going to happen until Laxus' lightning impacted his body, causing him to cry out loudly. He didn't know it, but the pain he was feeling was about half of the agony he put his victims through when he took over their minds.

Laxus did what he'd intended; by the time he called out to his companions, Xander was already begging for Laxus for mercy.

And, when his friends screamed out in response, - "Gray-sama!" "Elfman!" "Levy!" "Mirajane!" - Laxus assisted them by roaring, "Lucy!"

The kind of pain that split through Xander was of a caliber he'd never experienced before, nor wished to feel again. With barely a wicked thought left in his mind, Xander released his hold on Lucy as he fell into unconsciousness.

Erza and Wendy were talking softly when the crisp blankets on Lucy's bed rustled, and both sighed a little internally, thinking she was going to have another fit, before they turned.

"Lucy!" Wendy exclaimed joyfully, seeing that her friend's bright brown eyes were open and looking around.

"Wendy?" Lucy asked, a slow smile spreading over her face, as the little girl threw herself into the blonde's eyes.

"You're awake!" Wendy sobbed. "Oh, Lucy, I thought you were going to have another fit but you didn't' and Laxus and the others must have succeeded!"

(Erza, tears in her eye, slipped out to call Laxus and her team.)

"Um..succeeded in what?" Lucy asked curiously. "And what does any of this have to do with Laxus? We're talking about Laxus Dreyar, right?"

"O - of course we are, Lucy!" Wendy looked up at her friend, concerned. "Laxus is - " something seemed to dawn on her, and the blue-haired girl said carefully, "Lucy, what's the last thing you remember clearly?"

Lucys' brow furrowed. "The...the mission that Team Natsu, you, and I went on," she replied. "The one where we Arendell to help out with their pest infestation."

Wendy paled. "Lucy..." she said slowly. "That mission was nearly five months ago."

One Month Later

"So, nothing yet?" Wendy asked her blonde companion curiously, as the two walked towards the guild.

"I'm sorry; no." Lucy sighed. "I can fuzzily remember little things, but it gives me a migrane to end all migraines. Horrible. I've just accepted that I'll just have to be filled in by everyone else."

Wendy looked sorrowful for a moment. "I'm sorry, Lucy," she said miserably. "But there's only one person who can give you all the details, and they won't, for fear that these migraines trying to remember is giving you will get worse and hurt you."

Lucy looked frustrated. "I wish they would get over that! I want to know."

Wendy touched her arm sympathetically. "I know." she said. "But, for now, let's just get to the guild. Maybe Natsu will want to go on a mission. Charla and I are leaving to go to Silverbell today."

Lucy, puzzled about why Wendy stressed this name just shrugged. "You guys have fun and stay safe."

Wendy just sighed.

"Will you go out on a date with me?"

A hand deftly caught it before it hit the ground, and the owner of the hand stood back up to his full height, looking down at her curiously.

"I'll ask again." Laxus said. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

Behind her, Lucy heard Mira sigh softly.

"Me?" Lucy's brows furrowed and her nose wrinkled like they did when she was puzzled. (Laxus thought with a pan that he missed that expression.)"Were you talking to me?" she managed, after a moment.

Laxus nodded sincerely. "Yes."

By now, Laxus' question, so softly asked, had managed to make it around the room, and everyone was staring at the bar.

Surprisingly, Lucy heard not one sound of protest from the usually protective Natsu, Gray, and Erza, although she supposed they were busy with their respective partners. (When had that happened? she wondered.)

"I..." Lucy bit her lip, and Laxus cocked his head like a curious child, waiting. "Why not?" she said, after a moment. "When?"

"Now," Laxus said, and Lucy could clearly see the joy in his face at her acceptance. She saw something else, too, but didn't recognize it. With a shrug, she followed after Laxus hurriedly.

Surprised, Lucy asked, "You know that?"

"Of course," Laxus snorted. "I'm familiar with your spirits."

"Really?" Lucy asked, surprised.

Hastily, Laxus said, "The others talk about them all the time. I've picked it up."

"Oh," Lucy said

"But what?" Laxus asked, and she was a little startled by the hope in his voice.

"Nothing. It's passed."

There was silence as they wandered past booths, not going up to them, even at Laxus' insistence.

"I can't imagine how expensive this all is," Lucy denied. "You're already buying me dinner."

However, when they passed a booth that sold key rings, Laxus insisted, tugging her over despite her protesting.

Lucy examined the rings quietly, and Laxus made a face at the vendor, who nodded, knowing fully well who Laxus was. The blonde man had brought the vendor the key ring this morning, giving him instructions.

"How about this one, dearest." the man asked, handing Lucy a gold ring with raised rose gold and green gold designs of flowers and leaves. "I think it suits you."

Lucy's eyes lit up, and she gasped, "Oh!", before gingerly accepting the ring and examining it. "How beautiful!"

"It's yours," Laxus said, and handed the vendor a letter of thanks and explanation disguised to look like money. He shared another smile with the vendor before grabbing Lucy's hand and tugging her away.

"You didn't have to buy me something - " the blonde girl began.

"Just be quiet," Laxus said, rather gently. "Read the inside."

Curiously, Lucy pulled the key ring out of her skirt pocket, where she'd stored it, and looked at the inner inscription, blushing when she read it.

"Yours is the light by which my spirit's born: - you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars."

"I didn't realize you were a poetry fan," she said after a moment, gently slipping the ring back in her pocket. "I think the Spirits will love it."

"I've been more interesting in poetry recently," Laxus admitted. "Someone has certainly piqued my interest in it."

"Who?" Lucy questioned, but Laxus just smiled vaguely and did not answer. The two did not walk much further before Laxus pulled her to a stop.

"This is where we're eating," he said, gesturing towards the building with a tilt of his head.

Lucy looked at the restaurant, and her eyes widened when she realized that this was, in fact, the fanciest restaurant in all of Magnolia, and that Mira had once gone with an old boyfriend only to find out later that he'd paid sixty thousand jewels for them to eat there.

How romantic. Lucy thought, surprised. Just like Laxus. She blinked. Why did I think that?

With a bow, the waiter left to retrieve their food, and Laxus pointed out out a restroom where Lucy could change quickly.

With a small, unsure smile, she ducked into the room, fingers absently brushing against Virgo's key. The pink-haired spirit appeared in a flash of light, cloth in her hands clutched to her chest and eyes sparkling.

"You're on a date with someone you like," Virgo whispered softly, touching Lucy's face. "You must be very excited, Hime-sama."

Lucy, blushing, shushed the spirit, lest Laxus hear.

Lucy had honestly thought that she'd have no chance at all with the Lightning Dragon Slayer, but now...the blonde blushed darker, and Virgo smiled almost knowingly, pushing the clothes she was clutching into Lucy's arms.

("Please, Let her remember." Virgo murmured to herself, as she and Cancer returned to the Spirit world in a cloud of golden light.)

Laxus was sitting in closer chair, back to Lucy, and arms crossed over his chest. He seemed to be staring with some sort of interest out of the far wall, which was pretty much just glass window. From here, Lucy could make out the lights of Fairy Tail, and the shape of the cathedral.

With a swallow, Lucy stepped out of the little bathroom and started walking slowly across the floor, her heels click clicking with every step.

"Took you long enough." Laxus said softly, standing and turning to face her. His eyes did not wander; just locked on her own brown orbs.

"Do you like my dress?" she asked uncomfortably, shifting slightly.

"It's lovely. Just like the wearer." Laxus replied.

Lucy grinned broadly. "Thank you - " she said, but a nagging thought made her smile fall.

"What's wrong?" Laxus asked. "You look upset."

"What you said..." Lucy said to herself. "It's...not right."

"Not right?" Laxus asked curiously, even though his heart rate had actually sped to such a fast pace that he expected it to burst out of his chest.

"That's what I said." Lucy bit her lip.

"What do you think is 'right?'" the Dragon Slayer asked.

Lucy hesitated before answering like she was quoting something. "'Well, I was thinking it'd look a little bit better on my bedroom floor when I first saw you, but now that the rational part of my brain has calmed itself down." - she paused for half a second, then added , "Your dress compliments you very well.'"

"I wonder why it is that you think that," Laxus murmured.

Suddenly, Lucy staggered as if she'd been hit, and Laxus stepped forward, grabbing her elbow. "Lucy?" he asked, anxiously.

"I..." Lucy's eyes opened and locked onto his, and Laxus could see the wheels turning. "We went on an S-class mission...and there was someone in my head..."

"But...before that?" Laxus asked, searching her eyes for the recognition of him.

"Before that...you...and I." Lucy replied, and, with a feeling of joy, Laxus saw it. She knew him. She remembered him.

"But, if you'll forgive me, there's one thing I don't recall..." Lucy said slowly, and Laxus cocked his head curiously.

The girl blushed before continuing her thought. "It's...what my dress looks like on your floor."

Laxus grinned broadly at her.

"I can fix that."

Because I wasn't sure how No Regrets was going to end (as in, who Lucy was paired with) I decided to create some one-shots with a couple of different pairings to make up for it

Do you guys like it?

Loosely based on 'Rescue Me' by Kerrie Roberts:

This waking nightmare lingers
when will the mirror stop telling lies
I don't know where I've been
or where I'm going
But I can't do it alone
I'm reaching out

Rescue me
Show me who I am
'Cause I can't believe
This is how the story ends

Fight for me
If it's not too late
Help me breathe again
No, this can't be how the story ends

I'm wrapped up and waiting for you
I've lost so much more then I'll ever know
The past, the truth forgotten
find me now
Before I lose it all

I'm crying out

Rescue me
Show me who I am
'Cause I can't believe
This is how the story ends
fight for me
if it's not too late
help me breathe again
no, this can't be how the story ends

Rescue me
Show me who I am
'Cause I can't believe (I can't believe)
This is how the story ends
Fight for me
If it's not too late (not too late)
Help me breathe again
No, this can't be how the story ends
Source: a href=" "click here/a