...

Cana remembered how Laxus told her to stop drinking when everyone else had already accepted booze as an integral part of her. She smiled at the thought that perhaps he really was concerned about her health. Coming to think of it, he was never seen smoking after his expulsion from the guild. Could he have cut it out already? She began beating her chest a little, thinking to herself, "Laxus is no longer smoking, but I still smell alcoholic... How pathetic!"

"Will she muster enough willpower to break out of her alcoholism?" Laxus contemplated. "Doesn't look like she will do it, even though she can," he muttered to himself, eyes closed and sighed.

...

In an unknown forest, Fairy Tail is enjoying a collective picnic.

"Laxus, fight me!" Natsu made a tremendous leap from behind a bush, he intended it to be a death-from-above assault. "Is this supposed to be an ambush?" Pantherlily asked. A bolt of lightning struck the Salamander from above, as usual, he passed out. "Fight me next!" Gajeel roared in excitement. "Uninterested," Laxus deadpanned, minding his own business.

As expected, Laxus was sitting on the same mat with Raijinshu. The Strauss family always stuck together, though sometimes Evergreen and Elfman gravitated towards each other for obvious reasons. Gajeel was with Team Shadow Gear and Pantherlily. Erza carried the unconscious Natsu back to the mat where Lucy, Happy and Gray were sitting. It was quite the usual setting.

Although Cana was with Wendy, she felt a bit lonely. Macao and Wakaba were absent from the picnic but so was Gildarts. Lucy called to Cana, "We won't mind you joining our mat!" Wendy hurried to Team Natsu and sat down on their mat with some sandwiches. Cana turned to face Lucy and made an attempt to stand before 2 large hands were placed on her shoulders. She was spun around, facing Laxus.

"What's with this look? This isn't like you at all," Laxus opened. "That's because we don't really know each other," Cana stated dryly. Laxus smirks, "It doesn't matter, we still have plenty of time to familiarise ourselves with each other." Cana shifted her gaze downwards, asking, "What you said about my love not being unrequited... Were you serious?" Laxus raised a brow, "Did I sound like I was joking?" Tears were streaming down from Cana's face and she cried into Laxus' shirt. Then, she looked up and asked with a smiley face, "I thought it was a pick-up line or something."

Lucy was watching the duo from her mat, smiling brightly. "If Laxus is ruled by darkness, then I am the sunlight in his life," she smiled to herself. Laxus walked briskly towards Lucy's direction, Cana tagged along. Gray gave them a slant glance before he got violently pulled away by Erza. Juvia persisted in her stalkish behaviour. Cana stretched out an arm to reach for a bottle of sake but was quickly pulled back by Laxus. Then, she called Lucy for help, so Lucy stretched out her right arm in an attempt to grab a can of beer, only to be stopped by the same man. Both women were comically flapping their arms with open palms, eyes pinched together and mouths perfectly O-shaped. Laxus ended up holding Cana's waist with his left hand and Lucy's waist with his right to keep them from "helping each other". "I can't really stop you from drinking, you know. You have to do it yourself," he warned Cana. "If my father said the same thing to me, that would make me feel happy," she thought to herself.

The Strauss family and Raijinshu were seen joining their mats together and Mirajane announced, "I told you all, my love signals never go wrong!" Freed began to cry, "O, Laxus is floating further away from me~" Elfman blurted out by mistake, "Laxus is a true man, he's gonna have 2 wives!" Evergreen immediately gave him her signature face-kick. This time, it was the flying variation. "Then don't you ever dream of becoming a true man, you must stick with me!"

Everyone was laughing.

...

Cana to his left and Lucy to his right, when will Laxus actually marry Cana? Just so you know, Gildarts is concerned about Cana, just not in the same way as Laxus. Are you waiting for a fight scene or two? Well, I will be sure to arrange them in future stories and chapters. Don't worry, I am sure you'll be reading something epic soon.