Sparks:

After the main events of "Aquarius". Lucy and Laxus have returned to the guild. Approximately one month after Aquarius's key was found.

Laxus woke to the sound of thunder and lightning, and the satisfying scent of ozone that accompanied a storm. Late spring, almost summer, and the storms were breathtaking in both intensity and display. Pulling on pants, he slipped down the stairs and got himself the bottle of whiskey and a glass before heading out to his front porch to watch the storm. It was the reason he bought the house in the first place, the large front porch that allowed him to watch storms over the lake. Opening the whiskey, he poured a measure into his glass before a voice made him jump, sloshing some of the alcohol onto the floorboards beneath his feet.

"Did the storm wake you?" A bedraggled blonde head poked up over the railing. Laxus wondered how she could have gotten so close without him catching her scent, or hearing her for that matter.

"Yeah," he grunted, setting the whiskey down, realizing that the blonde was soaked through, therefore smelling much more like rain and the storm than her usual sweet scent. "What brings you here?"

Lucy bit her lip, and he saw the same haunted look in her eyes that he had learned to associate with Aquarius. Even though she made her peace with the spirit, it doesn't erase the pain of losing her. Reaching for the blanket that he kept on the porch for the nights when he decided to sleep outside, the dragon slayer beckoned her up onto the porch. "Come on up and watch the storm with me."

She padded softly up the steps, and he saw that she was wearing slippers, flimsy pieces of fabric that were fine for keeping your feet comfortable in the house, but not outside during a rainstorm. That explained why he didn't hear the familiar click of her favorite boots as she approached. It's a good thing that slippers aren't traditional footwear, otherwise dragon slayers would have a lot harder time hearing people approach. Laxus also noted the soaked shorts and tee shirt, her usual sleepwear.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked, holding out the blanket to her as he settled into the hammock that he had hung for nights when he was storm watching.

Taking it, Lucy wrapped herself in the blanket and toed off her muddy slippers before joining him on the hammock as he shifted to make space for her. Together they stared out at the storm brewing over the lake, neither of them saying anything form a few moments.

"I keep dreaming," Lucy murmured under the sound of the falling rain. "Not nightmares anymore, but they don't feel much better."

"Not having nightmares is good," Laxus tentatively offered, knowing that she wouldn't have been driven out into the storm if she hadn't been suffering. Seven months with Lucy had taught him that she was more likely to suffer through things in silence than reach out to someone, something he understood. It was hard to feel as if someone cared for your wellbeing when your shitty excuse for a father shoved a lacrima in your face. Much easier to just move on with things in silence than risk drawing attention to yourself.

"They're all memories," Lucy whispered, resting her head against his shoulder, and he wasn't sure if he felt rain on her face, or if she was crying. "Memories of her, at time we spent together…none of it bad, but it still hurts so much."

Laxus shifted to snake his arm around her, holding her close. While he wasn't a fan of physical comfort, he knew that Lucy was starved for it when she was upset. During their seven month journey, she had grown comfortable enough with him to attempt leaning against him when she was sad, and even pry a few hugs from him as well. To be honest, he didn't mind the sensation of holding her in his arms, but he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Snuggling closer into his side, Lucy continued: "I…the dream I had where I found out about Aquarius's key…they were able to show me snippets of what my future might be like…I couldn't really tell much about what was going on, but what I could understand...I felt as if I would succeed, but lose something anyway. And I was right. Leaving the key with that girl was the right thing to do, but it hurts so much…"

It was hard to tell whether or not the shaking in her body was because of her wet clothing or because of the sobs he could hear. Tightening his arms around her, Laxus held her as she cried, grieving for her oldest spirit, the one who raised her, who may continue on in this world, but may never cross paths with Lucy again. Something in him knew that she needed this, this chance to grieve, letting out all of the emotions that she had been concealing as people asked her about the seven month disappearance, Aquarius's key that she wore as a pendent, and why she had been so different.

The storm over the lake raged on as Lucy's inner storm subsided, and she lay limply in Laxus's arms, worn out from the outpouring of emotions. "Thanks," she whispered, shifting so that she could look down into his face. "I needed to talk to someone tonight, and my feet just…carried me here."

"Come whenever you need," Laxus said, surprising himself with the offer. Even his teammates were told to call him before stopping by, in case he didn't feel like having guests. But Lucy…something had changed between them since the day when they left Magnolia for reasons she wouldn't tell him until five months later.

Thunder crashed again, and Lucy settled back into the hammock. "Given your preparedness for this, I take it you watch the storms here often?"

"Whenever I can," he murmured, watching the lightning crack somewhere on the other side of the lake. "It's probably one of my favorite things to do. I bought the house because of the porch."

"It's perfect," Lucy whispered, her voice blending with the rain and the thunder. "I bet the stars are visible from here too."

"I haven't ever looked," Laxus admitted sheepishly. "Usually I'm only out here when it rains. Otherwise I'm inside or on the back deck with my team."

"Hmmm," Lucy hummed sleepily. "I'll have to come over sometime and see for myself. If that's okay with you?"

"Only if you tell me about the constellations?" Laxus said, wanting to see a little of what made her tick. She was seeing his storms, and she seemed interested in them…he remembered what she said, the night they got the information that finally led them to Aquarius's key. You were jealous of him, and that means you care about me, which means that after this, if I let myself think about things like relationships, you might be willing to try one with me…

Typically he wasn't one for relationships. One or two night stands, which formed and disappeared as quickly as sparks on the wind…that was what he felt comfortable with. But with Lucy…the initial spark had been attraction, but he could tell that the spark had caught, surviving the initial tumult, kindling the embers of what could become his first true, steady relationship. For once he thought he might try a relationship, try trusting part of himself to another person, and being trusted back.

"Of course," Lucy mumbled, and he felt her breathing settle into the familiar patterns of sleep. "I'll tell you all their stories…"

In the morning, his team would come to find him, worried that he hadn't shown up at the guild when they had agreed to meet to leave for the job they had picked the day before. They had tried calling him, but his communications lacrima was inside, well away from the two mages sleeping in the hammock on the porch.

Bickslow's loud and obnoxious teasing had Laxus calling down a thunderbolt on him and his totems, whereas Evergreen's subtle comments had Lucy's face blushing even more. Freed seemed to be unsure of whether he should be happy that Laxus had finally found someone he might be willing to settle down with or upset that the lightning dragon slayer's honor was tarnished…add Loke and Virgo to the mix when they showed up to assist Lucy and the entire ordeal had Lucy ready to kick everyone into the lake.

Yet it was the few seconds snatched when the Raijinshu were arguing amongst themselves that Lucy remembered most of all.

"We'll be back in town in three days or so," Laxus murmured in her ear as Lucy slipped her feet into the sandals that Virgo had brought her, shrugging on a coat. "Come by that night, and we'll watch the stars, or the storm?"

"It's a deal," she whispered back, slipping past the group of arguing mages as Laxus's magic began sparking along his arms as he took in the sight of his team almost brawling on his front lawn. "See you then."

***Welp. This turned out to be a few days late. Sorry everyone. However, the idea for this didn't appear until this morning when I sat down and said: WRITE NOW. And it's probably one of my favorites so far, not that there's much competition. I'm working on "Manga" as I post this, and as soon as I get that squared away and approved by my beta, I'll have that up. Hopefully that means I'll be able to get "Games" done today as well.***