1st: Thunder

Another Laxana Story but this one is dedicated to HeirToTheShadows who is an amazing Laxana-writer herself and I can only recommend her stories! This is the least I can do after bothering her to write more and more Laxana-stories for me.

Fairy Tail's mixed dorm.
Midnight.
Dark clouds had formed huge balls in the nightly sky and every one in a while, lightening brightened up the darkness with a loud, resounding thunder.

For Laxus, this was the greatest weather he had seen in months. He loved the way the air felt on his skin, pure and full of energy. He walked through the hallways and glared at Jet and Droy who were camping in front of Levy's door (which was nothing out of the ordinary) before he nearly tripped over Elfman who slept in front of Lisanna's door (probably on Mirajane's orders to protect the youngest sibling from 'those rowdies' who happened to be Gray and Natsu). Erza passed the young Lightening Mage, probably on her way to the kitchen to get another slice of strawberry cake which would be normal as well.

The young lightening mage huffed. Those kids were crazy and tended to cause far too much destruction when they used their magic. Seriously, where the Strauss-siblings trained (especially Mirajane), everything was destroyed afterwards. He had thought that after the stupid Ice Mage, nothing could shock him but the Fire Dragon Slayer … he sighed. Sure, Mirajane was even worse but her madness had method and could be avoided by following a few simple rules (no insults against her or her siblings, never complaining when she cooked and throwing hateful glances at Erza and her group).

Still, as the eldest member of the dorm, he had to check if everything was alright. He looked forward to passing the S-class exam and earning enough money to live in his own flat but for now, those were just dreams. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts before he continued his way through the building. Close to Gray's room, he ran into Cana who looked frightened. A part of him wanted to ignore her and to go to bed because he was tired but another part of him shook his head and forced him to stop in front of the young and talented Card Mage. "Is there a problem, Cana?" he asked calmly.

She bit her lower lip. "Gray isn't there," she stated as she looked up to him.

"Yeah, he and Natsu got stuck in the guild because of the prank they pulled," the blonde explained. "You were searching for him, I guess. Care to tell me why?"

"Gray understands," she said softly as she stared at the ground. "He understands better than the others … and usually, he comforts me on night like these."

"You are afraid of thunderstorms, Cana?" he asked even though his evil side demanded that he should leave her with her problems alone and get to sleep.

"I wasn't … before," she muttered because as he had noticed before, she was a proud one. Laxus had spent quite a few hours with her when she had first joined the guild and his grandfather had told him to keep an eye on the silent and strangely mature girl. He had complained, of course, but she wasn't half as annoying as the other kids. And so he knew that her mother had died a few months ago and that she had come to Fairy Tail to find her father who happened to be no one else but Laxus' idol – the infamous Crash Mage, Gildarts Clive.

"Before your mom died?" Laxus asked as he bent down to be on her eye level.

"She died on a night like this," Cana explained. "I … I really miss her, you know … especially since … you know … he didn't recognise her."

"Pssh, don't cry, alright? I am not sure if I could deal with this right now," he said as he patted her head awkwardly. "So, if Gray was here, what would he do?"

"He … he would stay with me," she said. "B-but it's okay … I am sure that I can manage alone."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said as he got up again. "If you want to, you can stay with me. I am not Gray but I'm a lightening mage so the lightening won't harm you as long as I am there."

And seeing that Cana trusted Laxus because he had been the first to listen to her when she had joined the guild, she nodded and together, they went back to her room where they sat down on the couch and watched the thunderstorm outside. Laxus protectively wrapped one arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his chest.

"You like thunderstorms, don't you?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Grandfather used to tell me stories about a Lightening Goddess and her fellow gods when I was younger. He said that he had them from grandmother…"

"You have a grandmother?" she asked interested. "I never saw her in the guild…"

"Well, she doesn't like humans all that much," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But well, grandfather says that she has her kind moments – but I mostly got to see her when her mood was really bad … and she gets scary when she's mad at someone. She once threw … Raven Tail's master through the forest because he walked across her lawn. She doesn't like him – at all."

"What is Raven Tail?" she asked as she frowned slightly.

"A dark guild – that means that it's a guild that isn't or never was recognised as a guild by the Magic Council – in a way, that makes them criminal organisations. Most dark guilds look down on guilds like Fairy Tail because we … well … mostly listen to the rules the Magic Council imposed because those fools believe that the Council limits a guild's power," Laxus explained.

"B-but Fairy Tail always gets in trouble because we destroy too much," she said. "Does this mean that we will become a dark guild one day as well?"

He chuckled. "Unlike those rogue mages, we know where to stop and we have good attentions even if we go a little bit too far sometimes," he said. "And we have guys like Mystogan – he would never get in trouble and he is well-respected by most people even if we all wonder what his face might look like because we actually never saw it."

"So we don't have to hold back?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"Well, according to the Council, we should hold back a bit because we ruin too much but I wonder what they will say once Mirajane is allowed to go on missions all by herself. Her Satan Soul Takeover isn't to be underestimated," he said. "But don't worry – I would never allow Fairy Tail to become a dark guild because … we are no criminals. You are no criminal."

"Thank you, Laxus," she whispered as she looked outside. "Thank you very much."

"Don't worry," he smiled as he patted her head. "And believe me – before we would be declared as a dark guild, it would hit Phantom Lord. Those guys are the real problem."

"Yeah … the adults say the same thing…" she muttered. "The sky … it looks beautiful in a way."

"Awesome, right?" he said slightly excited. "Lightening Magic is a beautiful magic…"

"Somehow, I am never afraid of your lightening," she confessed. "Because … it's nakama."

"That's a funny thing to say but yes, you are right there," he said. "Anyway, I got you a new card when I was on my mission with your father before he went away again. I had hoped that he would notice you when I would talk a little bit about you."

"He never notices," she said bitterly as she forced herself not to cry.

"I … I am sorry," he said. "And do you know what he said when I bought the card? 'Isn't she a little bit too young to be your girlfriend, Laxus?' Honestly, what I wrong with this guy?"

"That is slightly … sick," she said as she shuddered a little bit.

"Yeah," he agreed as he took the card from his pocket. "I hope you can use it. The shopkeeper said that it's a lightening card. So you can always carry a bit of me around with you."

"That's kind of you," she said as she looked at the new card. "I think I like it."

"That's good," he grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I can get some rarer ones the next time I am away from this boring town … I heard somewhere that a card maker in the East of the country could make a Summon-Laxus-card … but these cards are extremely expensive … cost more than an S-class-job would gain me…"

"Don't worry," she said with a smile. "It's not like you would ever be really far away after all."

The next morning, it was Erza who had been sent by Gray to check on Cana because the young Ice Mage was still stuck in the guild with Natsu and the red-haired mage froze in the doorway of Cana's room because the Card Mage wasn't alone. On the couch, cuddled next to each other like kittens, slept Laxus Dreyar and Cana Alberona – and for once, Laxus wasn't even frowning. In Cana's small hand was a card that showed a lightening bolt and the other girl shook her head as she walked away. To her, it was obvious that Laxus had bought the card for the young Card Mage who was still working hard on getting more cards for her magical attacks.

"Sweet, huh?" Mira smirked evilly. "I am so going to blackmail them with this."

"That would be mean," her little sister muttered under her breath. "Cana is such a nice person and she doesn't deserve to be blackmailed…"

"She beats me in every game we play. She totally deserves it!"