[A/N]: Oh yeah look a new chapter.
Nothing clever to say here. Which is new. But yeah, it's a more lighthearted chapter and I'm proud of it.
Chapter Three: Though I Left Without Warning
"I and the present S-Class Mages have decided to divide Fairy Tail into two groups─Evacuation and Defense," Makarov declared.
Cana glanced at Laxus, but he wouldn't look at her. "Laxus, what's wrong?" she asked quietly.
"The Evacuation Team," Makarov announced.
"Oh, you didn't," Cana whispered, her voice deadly.
"Cana Alberona─"
"Bastard!" she hissed at Laxus. He glanced at her, eyes heavy with guilt.
"─Max Alors, Bickslow, Romeo Conbolt─"
"No!" Romeo shouted angrily. "I want to help!" Macao shushed his son and hugged him.
Makarov continued like he hadn't heard the boy. "Vijeeter Ecor, Evergreen, Chico Hammitt, Lucy Heartfilia─"
Cana heard Lucy mutter, "Fuck," and sympathized with her friend's furious look.
"─Reedus Jonah, Nab Lasaro, Levy McGarden, and Mirajane Strauss."
The Evacuate Team burst into angry protest. "There will be no debate!" Makarov yelled. "I suggest you go and begin packing!"
…
"I can't believe you," Cana yelled. "How dare you!"
"I'm just trying to keep you safe," Laxus muttered, not meeting her furious gaze as he packed her things.
"I want to defend my home and my guild!" Cana flared. "How could you─"
"I don't want you to get hurt!" Laxus snapped, slamming the suitcase shut.
"And what about you?" she snapped.
"I'm a Dragon Slayer; I have to stay and help."
"What, is Onyx Fury bringing a dragon with them?" Cana scoffed.
Laxus glared at her. "Stop arguing with me and come to the departure point."
"The fuck I will! I'm a part of the guild, I have to help!"
"Going is helping! There are thousands of citizens waiting to evacuate who need wizards to defend them!"
"And yet I notice how most of Fairy Tail's wizards are staying to fight!" she retorted. "You're just being selfish, Laxus! Fairy Tail and Magnolia need all the help they can get!"
"So do its people," Laxus said quietly. "There's no city without the citizens."
"There won't be a city at all if Kuroy Thakos has anything to say about it!"
Laxus was silent. Anything he said would sound patronizing at this point.
Grabbing her suitcase, he stalked past her and out of the building. "Come on. Please, Cana."
…
The scene at the departure point wasn't much more tame than it had been in their apartment.
"Master! You've got to let me stay─all the work I did on the defenses─I can help! I can─"
"I'm sorry, Levy. The decision's been made; you have to help the evacuees."
She bristled. "No! I want to help the guild!"
"You are." He walked off, effectively ending the conversation and leaving her gaping after him. Drawing herself up, Levy stalked to one of the wagons sullenly.
"Levy! Hey, don't worry; it'll be okay, I promise!" Jet cajoled as he and Droy caught up to her.
"Yeah, don't even worry about it!" Droy agreed, trying for levity.
The script mage pointedly ignored them. They weren't being forced to evacuate.
"Hey─Shorty!"
She turned in surprise. Gajeel stomped up to Shadowgear, shoved Jet and Droy aside, and kissed Levy fiercely.
Her eyes widened in shock, but it was Jet and Droy who pushed him away, and within seconds the fight was on. Levy pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.
Lucy wasn't much better; as the caravan of citizens began to move out, she kept yelling, "No! I won't go! We can help, my spirits and I! I swear!" She broke off and switched abruptly to angry cursing when Reedus picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and kept walking. "Fucking hell! Put me the fuck down, Reedus! Natsu!" she yelled. The Dragon Slayer jumped, fearful. "I swear to fucking god, if you don't let me help, there will be hell to pay!" she shouted. Reedus ignored her, and Natsu looked incredibly grateful that the Picto-Magic wizard didn't set her down.
Cana and Laxus couldn't help but stare. "See, you've got to keep them in line," Laxus said without thinking.
To his surprise, she snorted. "It'll be more of a battle than Onyx Fury will!"
He glanced at her in shock. She shrugged. "I get it, but that doesn't mean I'm happy with it. You're a selfish ass, Laxus, but look at all those people." She surveyed the swiftly gathering crowd with stony eyes. "They'll need protecting." Cana glanced up at him. "And since you haven't picked this up by now, you don't need to treat me like I'm made of glass. I can handle myself."
"I know. But it makes me feel better." He kissed her once, softly. "I'll see you─"
"Hell, no. I'm not having any of that quick goodbye shit." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a longer, fiercer kiss.
"Cana, they're leaving without you," he reminded her when she let him up for air.
"Damn, you noticed."
"Cana─"
"I'm goin', I'm goin'." She released him and took her suitcase. "If you get yourself hurt, Dreyar, I'm coming after your blood," she called over her shoulder.
"Counting on it!" He grinned.
Cana jogged to catch up to Levy, who was still blushing after Gajeel's surprising goodbye. "So," she said conversationally, "Gajeel."
Levy jumped, not noticing her approach. "I guess so," she admitted.
Cana nodded ahead of them, where Reedus still carried a grumpy (but silent) Lucy. "You think there's anything there? Her and Natsu, I mean."
"Ha! You know what? This war is causing more gossip than anything that's ever happened in Fairy Tail," Levy laughed.
Cana shot her friend a fierce look. "Don't you dare call it a war. People don't come back from those."
Levy flinched. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
Cana took a breath and tried not to think that Laxus was facing an army of thousands that has already razed some of the strongest guilds in Fiore, destroyed the Magic Council─what the fuck sort of snowball's hope in hell─
Damn.
"Cana?" Levy asked in concern, catching her dark look. "What's wrong?"
She sighed. "Nothing." Glancing back at Magnolia as they climbed the sloping road into the mountains, Cana racked her brains for a lighter topic. "So Gray and Juvia are on Defense together," she tried, affecting a cheery tone that she hoped would fool her friend.
Levy laughed. "I saw the look on Juvia's face when Makarov didn't call either of them for Evac. She was thrilled!"
"Well, I sure hope he is," Cana said sagely. thankful that her friend didn't know what Laxus had told her about Kuroy. "Cause whether he likes it or not, she'll be saving his ass more than once."
Levy nodded in agreement. "I wonder what he'll think when she defends him so ardently."
"He'd better reciprocate," Cana grinned. "Come on, let's get back to you and Gajeel! When did that happen and how the hell did I miss it?"
Levy flushed modestly. "I don't really know. It's the first time he's kissed me. I didn't even think he liked me that much."
Cana shook her head. "Oh, Levy. Are you blind? Mira's been trying to set up a betting pool on the two of you!"
"She has?" Levy looked startled. "How did I miss that?"
Cana laughed. "Not even Jet and Droy missed it. The two of them have been death-glaring Gajeel for months now!"
"Oh," Levy managed, at a loss for anything more articulate. "Well, what about Lucy and Natsu?" She tried to change the subject away from her own love life. Anyone else's was fine, of course.
"When they get together, Mira owes me the oldest vintage scotch she can find," Cana said proudly.
"The queens of gossip bet on couples around the guild?" Levy mused.
"Well, I keep her company while she's at work, and most days, we need something to do," Cana replied earnestly.
Levy shook her head. "Shameful," she grinned.
"It's a perfectly honorable occupation of our time!" Cana objected.
"Riiight." Levy rolled her eyes, chortling.
Cana sniffed and looked away. Levy burst into laughter.
