Title:A Funeral For Dreams.
Rating: T
Warning: Language, violence, character death.
Pairing:Laxus x Lucy
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
Summary: Laxus is forced to put his dreams to rest.
NORMAL POV
Laxus watched from the sidelines, Freed stood next to him. Although Laxus' facial expression seemed stoic to people outside of his immediate friendship circle, Freed knew that deep down, Laxus wasn't calm like people generally perceived him as at all. Freed knew that Laxus' mind was completely in disarray. In fact, he knew that the blond man wasn't coping at all; he was very nearly on the edge of a complete mental breakdown.
His eyes were red and puffy from the tears that he had shed earlier that day, which was extremely unusual for such a strong willed and confident male like Laxus. This behaviour would even be peculiar to the Raijinshuu on any other day before this particular event, however this event made everything understandable. The entirety of the guild shared Laxus' pain, but this didn't stop Laxus from feeling secluded and dead inside. Slumping against the wall, Laxus couldn't help but to recall the earlier events for the millionth time.
LAXUS' POV
I watched as she returned from a job with team Natsu. She scanned the guild discreetly, her deep brown eyes eventually meeting mine and a beautiful, glistening smile full of emotion spread across her face. She had practically skipped over to where I was seated at the bar, a pitcher of beer in my right hand. As she got closer, I put the pitcher down and let a small smile show on my face, one that only she could see. This made her smile grow wider and my stomach do a small backflip that only she could induce. Pushing out my bar stool slightly, I allowed her to sit on my lap, ignoring the small amount of childish wolf-whistles that the members of the guild made.
It had been a few months since Lucy Heartfilia and I, Laxus Dreyar, publicly announced our relationship to the guild. Lucy's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, and I pulled her slightly closer so as to let her know that she wasn't alone in being teased. The Raijinshuu had been extremely angry at me for not telling them before we had announced it to the guild; they had insisted that next time we make an announcement we should tell them first, and that was when the teasing began.
It started with Bixlow and his "babies", and then Ever joined in. Freed was the only member of the Raijinshuu that was being remotely respectful of our relationship and gave us time to ourselves, keeping the remainder of the tribe at bay for a few hours. Deep down, I know that the guild supported us a couple, and each member showed it in their own way. Even the old man had said his congratulations to us later that day. Placing an arm around her waist, I planted a quick kiss on her lips
"Ready for another job, blondie?" she looked up at me, confusion written clearly all over her face.
"Just me and you." I reiterated, realising that it might seem as if I were trying to get rid of her. I was,in fact, trying to do the complete opposite. As I silently curse my social skills, I receive an embrace that I've missed for so long. Breathing in her scent, I heard a muffled "I'd love to" and we made our way to the request board.
It was at that moment that that pink-haired buffoon and that raven-haired popsicle started yet another fight within the guild, which escalated into a full-blown brawl within the matter of a single minute- it may even be a new personal record created by the pair of absolute idiots. Putting my full focus into finding the perfect job for my girlfriend and I, I turned my back to the pile of guild mates, only to feel a slight breeze to my left, where Lucy was standing, and then I heard a thump.
Automatically turning to my attention to her, I notice a large, raised red impression on her skin. Helping her to her feet, I grab a random job from the board and stomp over to Mira so she can approve it. After hearing the job's location, I pick Lucy up in a princess carry and walk towards the guild doors.
"YOU ASSHOLES" I shout over my shoulder and I heard doors slam satisfyingly behind me. Teleporting us to my apartment, I lay Lucy down on my sofa and leave to find the first aid kit. How dare those arrogant mages injure one of their own. Lucy in particular.
After patching her up, we took a leisurely stroll to Lucy's apartment, hand in hand. I sat on her bed and watched as she rushed around excitedly, packing as quickly as she could. I let out a chuckle, only to hear a gasp from behind me. The window was ajar, Natsu half-in Lucy's room.
"He can laugh!" Natsu said, completely flabbergasted. Lucy was the only person who had ever seen me laugh. The only one to see me whole-heartedly smile. There was one reason for this; she was the only one who can ever draw those emotions out of me. The only one who could ever make me feel complete inside.
"Of course I can, dipshit." I reply swiftly, with my normal monotone voice. I see Lucy's facial expression fall slightly due to my immediate switch from the Laxus that she knows to the Laxus I use as a disguise in the outside world.
"Look, Luce, I wanted to apologise for what happened earlier..." Natsu began, before something inside of me snapped. This was meant to be our time. Just me and Blondie.
"She gets it, get out." I said, a little harsher than intended. Natsu simply came further into the apartment and shouted "LAXUS, FIGHT ME!", to which I kindly obliged, giving him a swift punch in the jaw, and he fell out of the window.
Seeing that Lucy was now ready to leave, we locked her apartment window so that Natsu and Happy couldn't get into the apartment when me and Lucy were away on our job. We left her apartment and locked the front door, making our way to the Magnolia train station, I paid for our tickets and we stood on the platform, waiting for our train to arrive.
As the train pulled into our station and the doors were about to open, I could hear the two squabbling idiots being scolded by Erza. Why the hell were they here this time? Sighing, I waited for the doors to open, and ushered Lucy on, desperate to have some time to ourselves for once- since we announced our relationship publicly, it's been near enough impossible.
Getting onto the train, we sat down in a comfortable silence after putting our luggage in the allotted spaces. Mira said this journey would take about 4 hours. I could deal with that. The train began to move and my stomach churned. Maybe I couldn't handle this. My eyes found Lucy's,and she automatically understood, pulling my head into her lap and stroking my hair, gently lulling me to sleep.
LALU
I woke up one stop before our own. Groggily turning my head up to see Lucy, I notice that she too was asleep. I sit up, and give her a slight shake to wake her up. We retrieve our luggage and get off of the train, much to my gratitude. I straighten up and feel much better than I did on that horrendous piece of transport.
Looking around the unfamiliar town, I realised it was more like a small village, with rural fields covered with loads of different varieties of flowers that I had no chance of identifying, and small cottages scattered around with straw-thatched roofing. I heard Blondie gasp next to me and I couldn't help but smile. I turned to see her smiling brightly, slightly shivering.
Removing my, what could be considered, signature coat, I placed it around her smaller shoulders, and stepped back slightly to admire her small frame wearing my considerably larger clothes. I let out a deep chuckle, as her face turned a familiar shade of red. Seeing that she was now warmer, we continued walking into the tiny village ahead of us. Mira had said that this was a job that required chasing out a few ordinary bandits, however there was no indication of when the bandits would next be terrorising the locals. Seeing a cottage ever so slightly larger than the others, we assumed that whoever lived there had the most control over the village- and we were right.
LALU
After notifying the necessary individual that the two mages from Fairy Tail had now arrived, we were lead to a cottage that was slightly out of the way of the rest of the scattered housing. We were told to make ourselves at home and that we'd be staying here for the duration of the job. Looking each other in the eyes, we both knew we were exhausted. Throwing down my bag, I let Blondie bathe first and I set about to explore the rooms- it didn't take long.
There was a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and two bedrooms. Laying on a bed in one of the bedrooms, I heard doors opening and closing throughout the house, drawing out a smile. Blondie was trying to find me. It wasn't long before she was following the sound of my laughter into one of the bedrooms. The door opened and my coat was suddenly flying through the air, targeted at my face. This only made me laugh louder when the coat, sure enough, collided with my face, and I fell backwards on the bed playfully, making Lucy laugh that perfect laugh of hers. I took a rushed shower, and went to bed, Lucy pressed up against me until we fell asleep.
We were woken by the local that had shown us the way to the cottage. I believe his name was Andy.
"I apologise for um... interrupting you two..." He began, slightly nervously. "But, uh, the bandits..." he trailed off, pointing a shaking finger out the window.
Throwing on clothes, Blondie and I followed Andy out into the village and we instantly saw the bandits- they didn't fit in in the slightest. From where I was standing, I could see them forcibly taking money, food, and anything remotely valuable from the residents. I hated those kinds of people- they did things only for the good of themselves, not considering anyone else.
It reminded me of my father- of how I used to act before Fairy Tail saved me and made me realise who I was again. With anger silently building up inside me, I raised my arm and sent numerous bolts of lightening after the bandits, before Lucy even had time to touch her celestial spirit keys.
Andy stared at me, open mouthed. This job had been one of the easiest I've done in a while. Turning to Lucy, I gave her a small smile and we began to walk back to Andy's house to claim our reward of 50,000 jewels.
LALU
Back at our temporary cottage, Blondie and I packed our things once again, and left within the hour. As much as I wanted to stay in that village with Blondie longer, I had to get back to magnolia. I decided, tomorrow would be the day I would propose, I had to get a ring as soon as I possibly could. The more time I spend with her, the more I realise just how deep in love with her I am. How everything she does make me fall deeper for her; every smile, every laugh, every kiss. I thought about the proposal for pretty much the whole train ride,completely oblivious to my motion sickness due to my almost endless train of thought. Tomorrow would definitely be the day.
NORMAL POV
Laxus ran his hands through his hair, tears soaking through his coat, that he was no longer wearing. Instead, it lay across his lap, his face half-buried in it. Freed had never seen him like this. He had no idea what to do, so he remained silently standing beside him. Although it pained him so much to recall the events, he couldn't stop going over them in his head.
LAXUS' POV
Stumbling off of the train and onto still land, I slung my bag over my right shoulder and we began to make our way back to the familiar surroundings of the guild. As soon as we pushed open the guild doors, we were essentially ambushed by the Raijinshuu and Team Natsu. The Raijinshuu shouting at me for not telling them where I was going, and Team Natsu threatening me,once again, over Lucy's safety. Lucy happily walked to the bar to order a strawberry milkshake from Mira, whilst I dragged Freed outside.
"Listen, make up an excuse if any one asks where I've gone."
"Even Lucy?" Freed questioned.
"Especially Lucy." I agreed, "I'm going to find her an engagement ring." I said quieter,and feeling a light blush spread across my face, I turned to leave.
I searched every jewellery store in magnolia, excluding one, and no ring seemed to be perfect. None of them felt right, until I visited the last one. There, I found a golden ring, containing two Gemstones, although they looked as if they had merged into one. One of the stones were a light blue
colour, fading into a crystal clear diamond. I couldn't quite think of why, but it reminded me of her. After paying a huge amount, I made my way to the guild. I had taken hours,examining each and every ring in each and every store. I couldn't wait for tomorrow- I was going to do it now. I was going to ask her to be my wife, to later have a family with her; This was now my dream in life- to have a family with the woman I love to no end and I couldn't wait.
LALU
I entered the guild doors for the last time today. The usual cheery atmosphere had completely disappeared. For once I seemed like the happiest member of the guild. Looking around for my soon-to-be fiancée, I realised that she was no longer at the guild. Making my way over to Freed, who also looked extremely solemn, I cleared my throat and he turned to me, tears in his eyes.
"L-Laxus..."he began,"L-Lucy, she went to find you, but she..."he trailed off.
"She what?" I demanded, a sinking feeling in my chest.
"She got hurt." Was all he managed to say before his tears started to fall.
I ran all the way to the infirmary, stricken to see Wendy standing next to Lucy, who was completely covered in blood. Panicking, I burst through the infirmary doors, and ran over to her side. How the hell could something like this happen? I stopped right next to her bed, only to notice that Wendy was also crying, and not using any magic.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" I practically screamed it at her. "HELP HER,WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING?" Tears had begun to well up in my own eyes by this point.
"I-I can't help her any more...she's gone..." Wendy choked out.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? SHE CAN'T BE GONE, SHE CAN'T! I was going to propose..." My voice grew tired from shouting and tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't believe it. I was gone for a few hours, and yet, just like that, my hopes and dreams were gone; the rest of my life was gone.
NORMAL POV
Breathing in Lucy's scent from his coat that she had previously worn, Laxus watched as Lucy's coffin was lowered into the grave that had been dug out for her. He held the engagement ring in his hand, the tears still falling since the day her heart stopped beating-the day his stopped and his stoic facade had become real.