"Goddamn fucking gramps. Goddamn fucking Blondie. Having all of the damn slayers wrapped around her little pinkie. Damn her and her freaky maid and their addicting lightning cookies. And dammit it just has to be Blondies birthday." The curses and self monologue had been going for the past hour as Laxus swore he was freezing his nuts off, climbing the damn mountain trails leading to Shirotsumi. Even though it was mid June, and Lucy's birthday wasn't for another couple of weeks, being high up in the mountains, there was still snow in some parts, and the wind that blew tried to cut through to bone.
Pausing for a moment to take a careful deep breath, Laxus gazed out from the trail he was on, lips curling a little at the view. He had to admit that it was an amazing one. He could see for miles, and see the deep dark clouds that were boiling in the distance. And heading his way. Closing his eyes on a groan, he turned back to the trail and picked up the pace. While he was all for getting his hands on the fresh lightning that was sure to come with that growing storm, he didn't want to actually be traveling in it, and needed to find a cave.
The wind started picking up more, and he could smell the electricity building in the air. Gritting his teeth he kept going, moving into a swift jog, keeping an eye out for an opening of some kind of shelter, anywhere. Glancing over his shoulder, he felt his heart stop for just a moment. The clouds he had seen before were almost pitch black now, and climbing the mountain. He could see the torrents of rain pelting down, and knew if he didn't find shelter he was going to have to grab a rock and hang on for dear life so he didn't get washed away in a flash flood.
This, this right here was why he hated going into the mountains on foot this time of year. Flash floods, sudden storms, and a wind that made you think you'd been born an icicle. Swinging back around he kept going, keeping his eye on the side of the trail that led hugged the mountain, knowing that he didn't want to chance taking a sudden run off the edge of the trail leading to all sorts of cliffs and nasty falls along the way. Sure he could teleport away from any fall that he took, but he didn't want to chance hitting his head or something and being ultimately screwed.
'C'mon, c'mon there's gotta be a cave here somewhere! Even an overhang with a large boulder to sit on!' Laxus growled to himself. He was getting nervous. He could hear the rain hitting the trail behind him now, along with a fear inducing dull roar, and the damp from the rain was starting to stick to make him colder. Pushing himself harder, he was just about to jump and grab a boulder when he saw it.
An opening, just wide enough for him to squeeze through sideways, a few feet above the path. Thanking whatever being it was that was watching out for him, he made the leap up to scramble at grabbing the edge of the opening, and shove himself into it sideways. He didn't care that he got some scrapes on his hands, or that his clothes caught on some sharper rock points. Staggering as he made it through the rather tight opening, he turned his head to peer back out at the trail and saw the flood of water rushing by. He knew the water hitting the mountain at the speed it was, was creating a flash flood even as it spilled over the edge of the trail to the mountain further down.
Panting for breath, he stumbled back a few more steps, grateful that with the opening being so small, the wind that was tearing along the mountain wasn't making it into the cave completely. He started to relax and turn...only to freeze at the feeling of something rather sharp yet soft resting against the back of his neck.
Well fuck.
"Hands up m'boy, and turn around real slow." A strong, smooth, and lilting voice spoke up from behind him, and Laxus could only blink as his pants got rather tight, rather quickly. Gulping hard against the warring emotions that were now storming through him just as strongly as the storm that was now raging outside, he slowly lifted his hands out to his sides and turned, keeping his eyes steady as they met a pair of aquamarine eyes that instantly made him think of the ocean.
He had always loved the ocean and the storms that would come in off of them. They always seemed to have the tastiest lightning, and he had yet to figure out why that was. Taking a careful breath, he felt his fangs start to itch, and could hear his inner dragon throwing a personal party inside of his head, confetti and glitter included.
'Mate mate you found our mate!'
At this Laxus paled and sat down hard, staring up at the full figured woman that was staring at him with a lifted brow, her dark hair spilling down her back in thick waves, and, he couldn't believe it took him this long to notice, a rather sharp bladed weapon made of water still pointing at him from sure and steady hands. Running his gaze over her again, he lingered on the strength of her neck, the soft slope of her shoulders, the roundness of her breasts, the dip of her waist that his hands already ached to wrap around, the curve of her hips, the length of her legs, perfect for wrapping around him, and the overall aura of power that cloaked her, making his mouth water for a taste of her all over.
He couldn't stop the whimper that escaped him, and when both of her brows lifted, followed by a quiet snort and giggles, he merely huffed and looked away from her. It wasn't his fault that his dragon essentially had no control around her. Another giggle escaped her, and this time she flicked a hand to disperse the sword she had made with her own magic. It wasn't until she was reaching down to help him to his feet that he looked at her again.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little worried about what his reaction would be to touching her skin to skin. The smell of her was already messing with his head. Taking a bracing breath, he gripped her hand and nearly moaned at the sensation before controlling himself. He was, however, aware of the jolt that went through them both. His senses allowed him to hear her heartbeat start to race, and he saw her pulse start to pound in the line of her neck. And he had to fight every urge, especially his dragons push, to pounce on her. He felt her eyes run over him and a shiver rushed over him, making his skin feel tight.
Breathing just as deeply in an attempt to calm herself, she was quick to pull him to his feet before dropping his hand like it had burned her. As he steadied himself, he looked over her once more, and found himself to be on the receiving end of a look over as well. He couldn't help the knowing smirk that crossed his face when he saw the heat flash through her eyes.
"Hmmmm, you are a tasty morsel aren't you? Blonde hair, blue eyes, lightning scar...you wouldn't happen to be Laxus Dreyar would you?"
He blinked a bit surprise at that. "Uh...Yea actually. How did you know that?"
"I've heard about you enough from my family, one of who is a teammate of yours. It's been years since we've see each other though, always seeming to just miss each other." She stated with a smirk, cocking her hip.
He swore he was to look like a girl fluttering her lashes with how much he was blinking. He could admit that she looked familiar, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out where. "I'm sorry...what?"
"Yea, my older brother? He's your teammate, Bickslow."
At this point Laxus was certain his jaw was going to come unhinged as it headed for the floor. Narrowing his eyes, he took a closer look at her, mentally punching the side of his head to try and jog his memory when it finally clicked for him.
The pictures. For all of the times he had visited the Pradesh family estate, he had seen plenty of pictures all over the place of the entire family, including the woman standing in front of him. He even remembered Bix talking about his youngest sister who, while a healer and plenty strong on her own as a water mage, had become a full fledged Doctor who specialized in working with children.
"Holy shit, Xally?" Laxus asked, a grin stretching his lips.
"The one and only."She answered with a laugh.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded, waving a hand at their current surroundings.
"I was coming back from a small village on the other side of this pass, when I saw the storm coming and ducked in here for cover. What about you?"
"I'm on a personal job actually. Lucy, our celestial spirit mage, and my kin, her birthday is coming up soon. I'm following a lead on a key so I can give it to her as a birthday gift."
"Awww that's so sweet! Would you like some company?"
"Really? Don't you have to get home for school or something?"
"Nope, I actually completed my schooling. It's one of the reasons I'm here in Fiore. I'm looking for a place to settle down."
"Well congratulations, though I'm surprised you're not automatically heading back to Bosco."
"Bosco and the family will always be there, I want a new challenge, a new adventure. Who knows, I may decide to join a guild that may need a healer." The rather obvious hint had Laxus lifting a brow at her, and he'd been about to follow up with something when a new smell drifted across his sensitive nose and he paused before turning, lifting his nose to take careful sniffs of the air.
Having a couple of siblings who were dragon slayers themselves, Xally immediately went silent and tensed, sharpening her gaze on the area around them, keeping her eyes open for anything unexpected. When a moment passed and nothing charged them from some hidden nook, Xally carefully turned back to her companion taking shelter from the storm still raging outside of the cave.
"Laxus? What's the matter?" She barely breathed the words, knowing that he'd still be able to hear her like she was yelling in his ear.
"I smell something...something that doesn't quite feel like it should be here." Laxus answered, running his gaze over the walls around them.
"What does it smell like?"
"Water...fresh water...and...oh shit! Stardust! It's the key!" Laxus beamed, finally pinpointing where the smell was coming from and hurrying over to the back of the cave, tilting his head as he looked at what appeared to be a solid wall, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out where the path was.
"Oh silly dragon...leave this for a water mage..." Xally said with a smirk, striding by him and patting him on the shoulder before continuing forward with her hand out stretched.
Watching closely, he was admittedly a bit surprised when he saw her hand break through a curtain of water that had been so clear and ripple free that he had thought it was just more cave wall. Winking at him saucily over her shoulder, Xally kept going, using her magic to part the sheet of water to keep her dry, and showing her manners she pushed for the water to part further to accommodate Laxus large size with a small smile.
Giving her a smile and nod in thanks as well, he ducked between the parted water, which brought him down close enough to nearly brush his lips against her, and instead the tip of his nose barely touched hers in a light eskimo kiss. The light flush of pink that warmed her cheeks had his smile spreading further before he pulled away to look around at where they were now.
It was official. He was going to be the best big brother dragon ever, because he had to bring Lucy back here.
Lush soft grass spread out from under his feet, dotted with a variety of colors of star lilies, leading to a large pond in the middle of the rather large cavern. Trees lined the walls, providing some shade for visitors, and heavy plump fruit dripped from branches in jewel tones, giving vibrant colors against the soft green of the leaves.
Two pairs of awe filled eyes roved over the cavern, taking in the sparkling cavern walls, the thriving wildlife, and the softly rippling pond with a small island in the middle of it. Without a word said, they started forward, keeping silent for the moment, feeling like they needed to treat the place with a certain level of reverence. It wasn't until Xally tipped her head back to idly see how far the up the ceiling went when she froze in delight. She quickly reached out to slap at the hulking rock of a shoulder beside her, pointing upwards when she knew he was looking at her.
Following her guiding finger, Laxus felt his mouth go dry. Up above were so many constellations, each one gleaming and pulsing with power. This was what he had been smelling before, and here it was so much stronger, like it had been concentrated. Stardust. The same type of stardust that hovered around Lucy on a constant basis.
"Where in the world are we?" Xally breathed, her eyes wider than before as she looked around once more, realizing there was much more to this location than she had originally felt. And when a smooth male voice that decidedly WASN'T Laxus, sounded from behind her, she cursed loudly and spun around.
"You're at the summit of mount Shirotsumi. One of the highest and closest places that spirits can get to the heavens and their celestial realm."
Turning on one foot, Laxus ran his gaze over the familiar mage suddenly standing before them.
"Loke...what is this place?"
"You know this guy?" Xally asked, running a weary gaze over the newcomer, not realizing she had taken a step closer to Laxus as well.
"Yea, he's a guildmate, and celestial spirit. Leo the lion, aka Loke, leader of the twelve zodiac, who also has a life bond contract with Lucy."
"Really? He seems like a bit of a playboy." Xally said critically, running an amused eye over the suit the ginger haired man was wearing.
"That would be because he is." Laxus snorted with a quirk of his lips, lifting a brow at the huffing spirit, silently daring him to argue the fact. "What are you doing here Loke?" He ended up asking, wanting to make sure Lucy was safe in his time gone.
"I just wanted to let you know that what you're looking for is there in the middle of the pond, and to ask you to bring Lucy here on her birthday."
"Why on her birthday?"
"If you can keep a secret, the king has decided to gift Lucy with her star dress forms, and an additional way to keep her keys safe so she can still reach us and not lose our keys."
"What's out in the pond?"
Lokes grin and wriggling brows had Laxus confused for a moment, but when Loke simply continued to stare at him with a knowing smile, Laxus eyes flew wide and without a word spun around and sprinted for the pond, shedding his usual purple coat along the way. At the edge of the water he was quick to dive in and after a few short moments he pulled himself onto the small hill in the middle of the pound, and as he crawled onto it, he saw the gleam of gold and grabbed it to raise it above his head with a shout of joy.
"Um, what was that about?" Xally murmured, watching in growing amusement as the big blonde, burly shoulder started dancing around the small hill.
"A few years ago, Lucy sacrificed a gold key, her oldest friend, Aquarius, to turn the tide of the war. We've been waiting for her key to be remade before starting to plant leads for someone to follow so they could get the key back to her. There are only a few guild members who know what happened, and have been tracking down this key ever since."
"That's why he's excited then..."
"Yes. He loves Lucy like a sister and only ever wants her happy. While she may get drowned the first time Aquarius gets summoned, she'll make sure to renew the contract they had. When you manage to get the overgrown child back to shore, you might want to point him over to that bunch of bushes over there." Loke stated before disappearing into a burst of gold.
Blinking after him, and shrugging, she tapped into her water magic and reached out to firmly wrap around the rather happy go lucky dragon slayer who was still doing a rather...adorable...version of what she could only assume was a happy dance. She was impressed. She had yet to meet this Lucy gal, but already she could tell that Lucy must've been one hell of a woman if she could get people, especially slayers, to act in a way they normally wouldn't.
Letting out a sigh, and giving an amused shake of her head, she gave a quick yank, pulling Laxus off his feet, giggling over the slightly undignified yelp that escaped him as she brought him back to shore, dropping him right in front of herself.
"I'm guessing you found what you were looking for then?" Xally asked with an indulgent smile as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans, trying not to be affected by the sight of the great Laxus Dreyar dripping wet. When he nodded excitedly, flinging a few drops of water everywhere, and still grinning like a fool, big hand gripping a slim piece of gold metal firmly, yet gently, she had to fight back the urge to squeal at the level of cuteness he was giving off.
"Lucy is going to be so happy when she gets this for her birthday." Laxus rambled, still nearly vibrating in place. He always had a sense of victory any time he completed a job successfully, but he was really excited for this one because he knew that this particular key was really important to Lucy, and all he wanted was her to be happy.
"Well, Loke told me to let you know when you got back here, to tell you to go and check out that group of bushes over there?" Xally said with a slight question and gesture, wondering if he might already know what was over there. Blinking in slight confusion, he turned and headed for the bushes she had waved at, carefully sliding the renewed key securely into his pocket. Quickly dropping to his knees he shoved his hands into the foliage, pushing leaves and branches aside, completely confused as to what he was supposed to be looking for.
Then his hands ran into something rather solid and smooth, and blinking a bit in surprise, he eased his hands alone the surface of this thing, trying to figure out how big the thing was so he could get a grip on it. After a few moments he was able to figure out that it was a rather decent size, and when he realized that the item was rather oddly curved, he pressed his hands flat against it to grip it before pulling the item free of its hiding spot.
Grunting slightly as the thing got stuck for a moment he pulled a bit harder and ended up sitting back on his ass at the momentum as it suddenly came free. Throwing a hand back to catch himself, he stared in awe at the rather oblong shape, with a wider circular bottom and coned top, that landed in his lap. There was some rather hefty weight to the thing, and it took him a moment to realize just what it was that had landed in his lap.
He didn't bother to look up when he heard soft footsteps approach him, instead he saw Xally kneel down next to him from the corner of his eye, still unable to tear his eyes away from the large thing currently nestled in his lap.
"Isn't that-" Xally started, whispering, eyes wide as she looked over the storm gray surface littered with bright yellow spots.
"An exceed egg...how in the hell did it get up here?" Laxus whispered, running a gentle hand over the surface, jerking in surprise with a solid thump sounded through the cavern and made his hand jump.
"No idea...but I think you just found your own exceed..." Xally said with a smile as she watched him. She had to admit that she was a bit surprised by him. She had never really had a chance to get to know him over the years, but she had always thought that he was be a rather serious, stick to the rules, toe the line sort of mage who didn't know how to have fun. Instead, she was seeing a rather sweet side of him that she was sure not many people got to see, and she could admit to herself that it made her heart melt at the sweetness of it all.
"I...I never said anything around the other slayers...but I had always waned one, I actually love animals...but being a mage with a pet makes things a bit difficult to properly take care of one...to have a companion like an exceed that could travel and talk with me?...It was something that I had always hoped for but didn't think would ever happen." Laxus explained, shifting so he was sitting cross-legged, cradling the rather large egg in the groove of his folded legs.
"Well...I would say your wish finally came true." Xally said sweetly, shifting to sit as well and lean into his arm, resting her head against the curve of his shoulder, eyes falling shut so she didn't see the slightly startled look that he gave the top of her head.
"Yea...it just might've...this has definitely turned into one hell of a trip..."
"How so?"
"I found the key that the guild has been trying to find for the last few years, a new exceed egg has apparently decided it wanted to be my partner before it's even hatched...and I'll hopefully be giving Lucy an extra gift aside from the key for her birthday if the other thing will accept it..."
"What would that extra gift be?" Xally asked, lifting her head to look at him, brows pinching slightly as she tried to think of what else could be given to her.
"A new sister...you're my mate Xally...and I know she'd absolutely love you..." Laxus rumbled, blushing slightly at the grin that simply lit up her face, making her, if at all possible, even more beautiful.
"I was wondering how long you were going to hold out in telling me. Silly slayer, I knew from the moment I helped you up out in the other cavern." Xally said with a grin and slight giggle at the dumbfounded look on his face. "Two slayer siblings remember firefly? And I'm one of the few "normal" mages who was lucky enough to grow up around a dragon, so while I'm not a slayer, I'm aware of the different things that come with being one."
"You are just full of surprises aren't you?" Laxus murmured, feeling, hearing his dragon purring in contentment in his head.
"Oh, I'll definitely keep you on your toes. When is Lucy's birthday?"
"July first, about two weeks from now, why?"
"Well, this place has fruit, and if the fish I just saw poke its head above the surface of the pond a few seconds ago is any indication, this place has enough food that we could live comfortably here for a few weeks...what do you say we go back to Magnolia, and Lucy, with the rest of her gifts handled?" Xally purred, running a hand up the chiseled and rather defined pecs of Laxus' chest.
Grinning lecherously at the midnight haired beauty before him, he moved the exceed egg in his lap off to the side carefully before pulling her into his lap instead and meeting her smiling lips with his own.
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A few weeks later had Lucy's ecstatic squeal ringing out through the guild hall as she bounced in place for a moment before launching herself at her blonde brother, legs wrapping firmly around him as she drowned him in kisses all over.
His own indulgent laughter rang out as the other slayers slapped hands over their sensitive ears, but even then they were smiling as their claimed kin was showing so much energy.
"Ohmygawd you found her! Thank you so much Laxus! Best gift ever!" Lucy spluttered between laughter, tears of happiness, and the kisses she was pressing all over the lightning slayers face.
"I also found an exceed egg, which I'm going to keep when it hatches-"
"Really?! That's so awesome! You'll have your own furry companion now!"
"AND-" Laxus cut in before she could get carried away again, and carefully set her on her feet before reaching out for the dark haired woman who had come in with him and stood off to the side to watch the activities. Pulling her to him to nuzzle his face into her light scented hair. "I'll be taking you back up there in the next few days, but I thought you'd want to meet your new sister first."
"New sister?" Lucy blinked curiously, running her eyes over the beauty that was only slightly dwarfed by Laxus large frame.
"Yep...I found your key, an exceed...and my mate."
The dual screams of joy that rendered the air had many of the members ears ringing, quickly followed by thuds as Mira and Lucy both fainted out right at that announcement.
"Uh..." Xally blinked down at the small blonde now sprawled at their feet. "Is that normal?"
"Yep. Welcome to Fairy Tail love." Laxus said with a laugh, wrapping his arms around her more securely.