COMPLETELY REVAMPED. 13/12/15
Welcome all new readers, please enjoy your stay ;)
To returning readers who just got my update notification, there is a new chapter, however I have changed some of the circumstances from the beginning of the story, to fit better with where I've decided to go, and would definitely recommend re-reading, because it's much better. Love you all! :)

For what seemed like years, Laxus was subjected to broken images of his past. Some happy, some ridiculously unhappy, and then the rest were angry memories. Is this what they mean by 'life flashing before my eyes'? Am I dying? Am I already dead? These reflections went on for quite some time, appearing to be never-ending. If this is what death is like, the world has no hope. But alas, the pictures of things long forgotten, continued haunting his mind. Acting as a plague as they reattached themselves to his psyche; never allowing him a moment of true clarity. That was until the aroma drifted to the cells in his brain, triggering his sense of smell. Surely you can't smell things when you're dead.

The scent continued to pervade his senses, becoming more and more prominent. Laxus furrowed his brow, trying to pinpoint the fragrance, and match it with an image, a memory. Wait. I can move… The epiphany hit Laxus like a tidal wave, and without further adieu, he forced his eyelids open with all of his might.

He yelped as the bright light of the sun attacked his pupils, and quickly shut his eyes once more. The lightning mage decided it would probably be best if he tried remembering the actual important stuff now, like how on Earthland he ended up unconscious, why he was outdoors, and why it felt like he was laying in a puddle of mud. Searching his mind for any remnants of reminiscence, Laxus slowly reopened his eyes, careful to be slow this time.

Nope. As soon as his grey eyes opened the second time, the bright, cheerful blue of the sky, as well as the pure, blinding, white of the clouds once again assaulted them. Snapping his head to the right, Laxus' cheek went sloshing into a pile of brown sludge, which wasted no time in depositing itself into his blond hair. Well. At least now one of life's mysteries has been solved. Laxus was indeed lying in a literal pile of mud. Well, at least it's good for my skin.

Deciding that that was enough narcissism for one day, Laxus forced his body into an upright position, groaning as his muscles painfully protested. The lightning dragon slayer arched his back until he felt –and heard- the bones cracking back into a more comfortable position.

Now that he was feeling not so dead, the young mage was able to focus on the fragrance from before. Sniffing the air about him, Laxus decided that he could definitely smell fish charring. Which meant a fire. Which meant ignition. Which meant that someone else must be around. Laxus was on his feet faster than he thought he could manage. Which was apparently not that much, as he fell back down with a bad case of head rush. He thought he heard a female giggle, but was decidedly far too exhausted to make anything of it. Sleep. That sounds like a brilliant idea. Not even caring that he had just willingly lain back down in wet dirt, Laxus closed his eyes and began drifting off.

His conscious spared one last thought before completely being taken over by sleep; I really hate fish.

Lucy didn't know which was worse: going from town to town with no money or work, or, sitting ten feet high in a tree, watching over an annoying, self-loving, vain, naked, Laxus Dreyar. Life wasn't fair. To think, of all the people she could've run into, she had to be misfortunate enough to encounter the man who had her turned to stone. And her luck must've been very low indeed, because on top of all that, he had to go and electrocute himself.

The stellar-spirit mage seethed as she remembered Taurus' statement of 'This is not my job,' before poofing back to the spirit world. Having to hold his body against hers and drag him away from the people he had angered, while he was his wet skin scratched against her own. Honestly, could he have not spared three seconds to put on some pants? Not that he was necessarily bad to look at. In fact, he had an amazing body. But she shouldn't even be looking. Yes, he helped everyone out during the Tenrou Island situation, and he apologised. And has spent over a year without a guild in order to try and make himself better.

Sighing, Lucy admitted to herself that he wasn't actually so bad, and that she was just bitter, because he reminded her so much of everything she had been trying to forget over the last week. She was honestly just sad that she had left the one place that had ever truly felt like home.

Wait, she thought, wasn't I just admonishing Laxus for being a jerk? He slept with a taken woman! He deserved to be electrocuted. Oh yes, Lucy had found out the reason for the street brawl, after Aquarius had nearly drowned half of the population. Lucy had returned to the town shortly after finding a place to camp, to buy some food as well as apologise to the general public for flooding them. Of course, Sasha was nursing a broken nose and a black eye, which Lucy had smirked at whilst giving her most heartfelt apology. The nice man, Mark, had told her of how he had found Laxus in bed with his girlfriend, and that he deserved to be beaten up. She had nodded her understanding, and then promised that he would never, ever have to lay eyes upon the blond male again.

As she thought this, Lucy's eyes refocused on the man on the ground below her. He seemed to be waking up. Well, this is going to be unpleasant. Looking at the snapper cooking over a small fire not too far from his body –lest His Majesty get cold- she realized that she could actually smell burning. Taking a deep breath, Lucy launched herself down from the tree branch, trying to be careful in the way that she landed, and failing miserably as her shitty boot slipped under body, and toppling her body over. Ow. Ow. Ow. She had landed on mud, and dunked her entire head into it. Gritting her teeth and growling slightly at just how ridiculous her day had gotten, Lucy chanced a glance at her companion, hoping against all hopes that he hadn't seen that particular fuckup. Looking over at the dead weight that was Laxus Dreyar, the celestial mage's eyes widened comically at the realization of just how far this mud spread across the campground. He had practically made himself a pillow out of the stuff.

Lucy cackled as she pushed herself back up. Grinning evilly at the prone form of Laxus, she gleaned a sadistic type of pleasure from his hair being absolutely filthy. Serves the bastard right. Noticing that he was slowly opening his eyes, Lucy turned back to her fish, which she just knew she would end up having to share, so that the man didn't think she was peeping on him or anything. She'd covered him in a worn sheet she'd kept in her pack for an emergency, after deciding that wasting magic on Virgo bringing them new clothing whilst in an unfamiliar forest was probably the worst survival idea ever.

Leaves crunched, and the blond girl spun back towards the now upright body of Laxus, just in time to see it fall back down with a thud. Laughing despite herself, Lucy found herself only slightly worried that he had actually given himself permanent damage with his little lightning show. Unable to believe that it had already been over a day since he'd decided to go whoring around town, Lucy muttered to herself about karma being the biggest bitch ever.

Well, since he's asleep, I guess I don't have to share my lunch after all! A grin formed on Lucy's face as she put out the fire, and waited for the delicious smelling fish to cool.