Fried Justine Weekend was the 17th-18th over on Tumblr (the fact that it is not actually at the weekend is a long-standing joke), so in celebration of my favourite character of all time, here, have my long-delayed sequel to Of Poison And Gold.

Of Water And Falling Stars

Chapter 1 – Swamped

The light was low and red, a candle flickering somewhere close by. But he was too tired to open his eyes and find out – and besides, it was warm here under the blankets.

"-not sure if they'll -"

"-f we gave them another dose?"

The voices faded in and out of his awareness as he drifted on the edge of wakefulness, barely aware of anything except the growing sensation of a bone-deep ache in every limb. He knew he should know what they were talking about, but his head hurt badly enough that he couldn't bring himself to the effort of focusing.

"-worried that they're not actually waking up."

"They should be coming round soon, Porlyuscia said."

"Yes, but that was two days ago. I don't know, Lisanna..."

"They'll be alright, sis. This is the Thunder Legion we're talking about, after all."

He recognised the words, but the sentences refused to settle into his mind in a proper order for understanding. Swamped by the rising tide of pain running through his body, Fried abandoned the torturous process of waking in favour of sinking back under the black wave of sleep that swept him away into unconsciousness.

.

"I've never seen him like this before."

He knew that voice.

"It takes a lot to hurt a Fairy Tail wizard this badly, especially when they're as strong as these guys."

He knew that voice too.

"I know... it's just hard to see any of them like this. I never thought I'd see any of them hurt that badly again."

"Mira..."

Mirajane. Something he hadn't realised was knotted up in his head gently unravelled. If she was here, that meant she was safe.

… safe from what?

"It's just like Laxus to go and get himself hurt even worse than he was just to help them."

"Fried's gonna be so mad when he finally wakes up."

That earned a weak "hah" of laughter from the other voice. "At Laxus?"

"And himself. You know what he's like when Laxus goes and does something stupid."

"You're right. Of course he won't blame it on Laxus. I just hope he's learned how to forgive himself by now."

"If not, you could always beat him up again? Worked last time."

"Lisanna!"

The knot that had unravelled in his head was quickly being replaced with another, growing one. LaxusLaxusLaxus, his brain clamoured, an uncomfortable echo of Bixlow's dolls. Laxus was hurt. He was...

blackchokingmistpaincan'tbreathelostpainwhereareyouhelpmehelpmepainmagicburnssomuchpainpainPAIN!

"Fried!"

He wasn't quite sitting upright when he finally managed to wrench his eyes open to reveal the walls and curtains of Magnolia's hospital, but he had moved enough that every stiffened, overstrained muscle in his body had shrieked into full, painful wakefulness.

It was Mirajane, and Lisanna beside her, both of them pale as they stepped forwards almost involuntarily, startled by his sudden return to awareness. Mira was the first to reach him, just in time to catch him around the shoulders as the surge of panicked energy that had forced him up subsided in a rush and he sank back into her support. With enormous effort, he forced his breathing to level out.

"Laxus?" he croaked.

Mira actually rolled her eyes at him as Lisanna tugged the pillows up so that Mira's arm wasn't the only thing keeping him upright, but he could see the fondness in her expression. "How did I know that was going to be the first word past your lips?" she asked, sliding her arm out from behind him. "He's still asleep, but he's right over there. And Evergreen's next to him, and Bixlow is next to you. You're all here. You're all safe now."

"Welcome back, by the way," Lisanna piped up. "We were getting really worried about you."

"Have... have Ever and Bix woken up yet?"

Lisanna's smile was brilliant. "Sure did! They woke up yesterday evening, you just took a bit longer coming back than they did."

The other knots in his mind started unwinding slowly. Good. They were safe. He looked down at his hands as he tried to call the scattered fragments of his narrative back into line and fill the gaps with paragraphs of memory. The green Fairy Tail brand was clear on his left hand, undarkened by the mist that had filled his vision the last time he remembered looking at it. It was a relief he felt down to the pit of his stomach, until he realised that even at rest on the blankets his hands were shaking as if he was bitterly cold.

"H-how long have I been asleep?"

This earned him a rather awkward shrug from Mira. "That depends on what you count as sleep, but... it's been nearly two weeks."

Two weeks since the attack at the restaurant – Yajima! "The old council members, are they safe?"

"You shouldn't be asking so many questions when you've only just woken up," Lisanna scolded, but Fried was watching Mirajane, and saw the flicker in her eyes.

"Mira?"

"It... it's a long story," she said. "We've been trying to piece everything together for the past few days to help with the reports, but..." She trailed off, catching Lisanna's eye. Now both of them were looking distressed.

"Reports? Am I to assume that this is mostly the fault of Natsu?" He had meant it as a half-hearted jest, but neither of them smiled. In fact, both of their faces fell further.

"A lot's happened since you brought Laxus and the others back from Hargeon," Lisanna said slowly. "And you're probably not going to believe about half of it because some of the people who were there still can't believe it."

There was something very wrong. Neither of them were meeting his eyes any more, and there seemed to be a great weight pressing on them.

"Everyone's safe, aren't they?" He was distantly aware that his voice had cracked on the second word, but he didn't care. "They're all alive?"

Mirajane took a very deep breath. "All of the guild members are still alive," she said, placing a peculiar emphasis on guild members, and Fried's stomach went tight with fear. Someone far less perceptive than he could easily have worked out that she was trying to skirt her way around something she really didn't want to say.

"Mira, what aren't you telling me?"

"Fried, I..."

"Mira." His voice was as cold as the fear eating away at his insides. "What. Happened?"

She suddenly buried her face in her hands and he saw her shoulders shake in a sob. "I'm so sorry, Fried. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Mira, just tell me." The fear was being replaced by dread as she looked between her fingers at him, eyes full of tears. "Please."

And, with words that stumbled reluctantly into the air, she told him what had really happened in Hargeon on the day that Laxus had meant to save them all.