A few hours ago, Erza was arrested. Many people had been quite distressed about her predicament. Lucy knew that the Council convicted Erza in order to show as if they were enforcing the law. In other words, Erza wouldn't have to be punished, but the idiotic Fire Dragonslayer had to make a ruckus and destroy half of the courtroom.
"The air is way better outdoors!" Natsu cried. "It's really the best!"
Natsu continued shouting and expressing his gained freedom, and the others were annoyed by his antics. Conversations among guild mates burst out. The silent and gloomy atmosphere surrounding the guild was replaced with a lively and boisterous one. When Natsu realized that his duel with Erza was undecided, he challenged the scarlet-haired knight once more only to get knocked unconscious from one hit by the said knight.
Everyone laughed at Natsu's defeat until each and every guild mate dropped on the floor. Some of them had his or her head on the table. A man dressed in dark blue cloak entered through the guild doors. He went to the request board and grabbed a paper.
"I'm leaving," the man said as he gave the paper to Master Makarov.
"Hey! Release your sleep magic!" the old man replied.
"Mystogan," a female voice said.
The man called Mystogan and the Master of Fairy Tail noticed an awake Lucy sitting in one of the guild chairs. The two were surprised to see one of the guild members awake from the powerful sleep magic.
"How did…" Mystogan started.
"I know a spell when I see one," Lucy explained. "This spell is strong, but only those with a strong mentality than the user cannot be affected by the spell."
Despite knowing the spell, Lucy was having difficulty to stay awake. Her eyelids were getting heavier for each passing second, and Lucy was tempted to close them. Regardless, Lucy couldn't exactly let herself fall for the spell. How could she defeat Zeref, an immortal and powerful mage, if she couldn't resist Mystogan's sleep spell? What was the point of altering the future if she was weak? She didn't want to be protected once more by her friends. Lucy would be strong. She didn't want to rely on luck anymore. In the future, she would always be the only survivor after a difficult battle. She had seen many people die protecting her. She would see her unlucky friends die in front of her. Lucy remembered the time when a powerful blast from Etherion hit Sabertooth's headquarters, killing every Sabertooth members in the vicinity. She was supposed to visit Sabertooth for a strategic meeting; however, a powerful storm delayed her travels. By the time she got there, only a barren and desolate land was left. If there was no storm, Lucy would have died along with Sabertooth.
"Lucy…" Makarov said, "… to think you'd be able to stand against Mystogan's sleep magic."
Lucy smiled. "Master, knowing the spell itself helps in being prepared against it."
In the future, Lucy had spent her free time reading different magic books. She would study the fundamentals of every magic from books that she scavenged and come up different methods to face against an opponent with a magic that Lucy had prior knowledge. Abundant knowledge was necessary in a war. She would have to fight mages, each one learning different magic. Unlike her strong friends, she didn't have the monster-like stamina and strength to defeat her enemies, but she had her intellect. She wasn't granted a strong body that could obliterate foes. She was granted a keen mind, and she would use it.
"Who are you?" Mystogan asked.
"She's new in Fairy Tail," Makarov answered. "Her name is Lucy."
"Don't worry Mystogan," Lucy suddenly said. "I won't tell anyone how you look like if that's what you want."
Mystogan was silent. He slowly nodded his head before leaving the guild. As soon as the cloaked mage left, everyone in the guild opened his or her eyes.
"Th-this feeling… was it Mystogan?" one of the guild members asked.
"His sleep magic was so powerful!" another exclaimed.
Lucy looked around. Everyone seemed to be fine as if the whole phenomenon of being affected by a powerful sleep magic was a daily occurrence. Then again, most of the members grew up in the guild.
"He's one of the strongest mage candidates in Fairy Tail," Loke said as if trying to answer Lucy whom he thought was affected by the enigmatic mage's magic. Realizing that he was close to Lucy, he distanced himself from her.
Lucy felt hurt from the action. She could understand her friend's intention. Loke was the banished Leo of the Zodiacs from the Celestial Spirit World, and he knew that his identity would be revealed once he was near a Stellar Spirit mage, especially one with a Zodiac key. Lucy couldn't wait for the day that she would bring back her friend to his home.
Gray saw Loke moving away from Lucy. Knowing his friend's fear of Stellar Spirit mages, the Ice Make mage continued, "For some reason, he hates to be seen, so whenever he comes to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep. That's why only Master knows Mystogan's face."
When Gray finished explaining, Natsu's loud voice shouted, "Laxus! Fight me!"
Lucy turned around to see a tall man wearing a leopard print shirt and a fur cape on his shoulders. His blonde hair was spiked back with a small tuft of it falling down on his forehead. On his right eye, he had a lightning bolt-shaped scar. He was walking down the stairs leading to the second floor.
"He's also one of the strongest mage candidates," Gray said as he watched the tall man descend the stairs.
"No," the Laxus replied, "you'll only damage the guild, Natsu."
Surprised by the answer, everyone hushed their conversations. Laxus was supposed to be arrogant, selfish, and self-centered, yet he didn't show those qualities. Everyone in the guild, even the master himself, were stunned by Laxus's change in personality. Seeing Laxus answer back normally to a fellow guild mate was a strange sight.
Laxus didn't know what he was doing. In fact, he was quite surprised by his actions. When he saw the blonde Celestial Spirit mage awake from Mystogan's powerful sleep magic, he was certain that the girl received the memories from the future timeline, yet how should he tell her? Maybe, he could wait in her apartment.
"Mira…" Laxus said as he gave a paper to the white-haired barmaid, "… I'm going to do this job."
"Eh?" Mirajane said before slowly taking the paper from the blonde man's hand. "Ah, sure thing, Laxus."
"Laxus! I said to fight me!" With his fists in flames, Natsu charged at the blonde man.
Laxus sidestepped the punch thrown at him. He grabbed Natsu's arm and sent a powerful lightning shock that knocked out the salmon-haired Fire Dragonslayer. Natsu was on the floor, yellow bolts sparking throughout the teen's body.
Watching the spectacle happening in front of her, Lucy found herself in a predicament. She didn't know whether Laxus's change in personality was actually another difference in this timeline or a person with memories of the future. If Lucy asked the blonde Lightning Dragonslayer and received suspicious looks, altering the future would be more difficult. On the other hand, if the blonde man had memories of the future, altering the future would be easier. After careful thinking, Lucy decided to confront the blonde man in a roundabout way.
Lucy stood up and slowly neared the blonde man. Feeling the embarrassment from what she was going to do, she stood in front of him. She opened her mouth.
"Excuse me, have we met before?" she asked as she tilted her head sideways. God, she should have worded the question differently. Looking at it from another person's view, she seemed to be flirting with a standard pickup line to the blonde man.
Laxus was trying hard not to laugh. Of course, the girl wouldn't know if it was him, so she was confirming it through an indirect question. The first master didn't specify the guild what time period would their memories be sent. Still, couldn't the blonde girl in front of him phrased the question in another way? Now, how should Laxus answer back? Technically, this was their first meeting, yet he had memories of the future about her. He could feel the stares from his fellow guild mates awaiting for his response.
"… I guess?" he merely said.
Was that a question or an answer? Which was it? Mentally cursing, Lucy smiled albeit strained at the blonde man. She could see the recognition in his eyes when she thoroughly looked at his face.
With a look of recognition on her face, Lucy said, "Ah! You're the guy that helped me out before! I'd like to 'thank' you for your help."
She slightly emphasized the word 'thank', so she could indirectly say 'meet-up'. She knew that the Lightning Dragonslayer could notice the sudden shift in her tone because of his enhanced hearing. Laxus nodded in reply.
"Anytime," the man said before leaving the guild.
Sighing, Lucy felt as if a heavy burden was lifted from her shoulders. Now, she turned around and faced against the puzzling faces of her guild mates. She could see the ridiculous conclusions forming. How could she defuse these ideas?
After a tantalizing amount of time convincing her guild, Lucy was walking back to her apartment. She had to weave an amazing lie that could literally stop any rumors between Laxus and her. She told them that Laxus was an incredible and strong guy to save her from some thugs before joining Fairy Tail. This lie promptly shot down every wrong and misleading idea. There were some disbelieving looks from the others until Lucy added that Laxus seemed to be a calm individual. After Laxus's change of attitude today, most were convinced about Lucy's story. One of the perks of being an author was using creativity to concoct well-made stories… or lies.
Lucy saw Laxus standing in front of her apartment door. She walked towards him. "We have a lot to discuss."
Laxus grunted as he moved away from the door, letting the blonde girl unlock it. He followed her into her apartment. Even in the future, he hadn't been to her apartment. In fact, he didn't know anything personal about her.
Entering the apartment, Laxus smelled the scent of wood, strawberries, and ink. The walls were painted pink. Large and spacious, the room had a lot of furniture. The bed with pink covers was placed beside the window. Lucy even had a dining table with three chairs and a coffee table with an armchair. Across the bed, there was a large bookcase filled with many books. The desk had neatly stacked papers, an ink, and a fountain pen. The apartment brought a cozy and homey feeling.
Lucy gestured Laxus to sit in one of the chairs and went to the kitchen. Laxus sat and waited for the blonde girl to come back. They had a lot to discuss, especially on what to do. Laxus smelled coffee wafting. Lucy probably made drinks for the two of them. She came back with two cups of hot coffee.
"Here," she said as she handed a cup to Laxus, "it's better if we have something to drink."
Laxus took the cup. "Thanks… I'm glad you made it."
He took a sip of the drink. The bitter taste of coffee touched his taste buds, and the hot liquid going through his throat filled his body with heat.
"What have you been doing, Laxus?" Lucy asked, "I just got here around four days ago."
"I didn't know what to do when I got back," Laxus answered. "All I've been doing was defeating dark guilds. I thought it would be best to reduce the amount of potential enemies."
"… I see. That could probably be helpful."
"How are you anyway?"
Lucy blinked. "What?"
"I thought you'd be happy to see everyone again." Laxus placed his half-filled cup of coffee on the table.
"I am…" Lucy replied, "… it's just…"
She stopped speaking. Laxus noticed how stiff her shoulders were.
"Lucy… you have to tell me what's bothering you. We're the only ones with a chance of defeating Zeref, and we wouldn't accomplish that with you not focused," he said.
She nodded. "… I just think that… being so close yet so far from the others is…"
"… difficult?"
She nodded in return. "Yeah. Seeing them alive and energetic was wonderful, but the bonds with them are not there. To me, they are my family, but to them, I'm just a newcomer, a stranger… I had to control myself to stop crying for each and every little detail that I see them do.
"… You know, Laxus. Seeing Natsu alive again made me really happy and hurt at the same time. I was happy because I finally saw the person who I loved again, but I was also hurt because I can't feel the closeness I shared with him anymore. I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let him go. Sometimes, I felt myself changing into a darker person. I'm afraid of the person I'm becoming. God, Laxus… I even planned to use Natsu against Zeref!
"Laxus… is it wrong for me to feel this way? To abandon this mission? I wanted to protect everyone by whisking them away somewhere else and hiding them from Zeref. I don't want to see them die again…"
Lucy didn't realize the tears falling from her eyes until she touched her damped cheeks. She rubbed her eyes as if willing the tears to go away.
Laxus didn't know how to deal with crying girls, but he felt that the girl needed to let her suppressed feelings out, so he tried his best to be comforting. Instinctively, he moved beside the girl and wrapped his arms around her.
"… I know how you feel. We're both in the same positions," he whispered in her ear, "but we got this chance, Lucy. We can fix many things… we can even fix the nonexistent bonds, and possibly even make them stronger than ever, so don't cry anymore. Save those tears for when we finally save our friends. I'm here with you now. You're not alone anymore."
Lucy leaned her head in Laxus's chest. She could hear the comforting voice whispering in her ear. The pent-up emotions that she locked away in her heart were flowing out. She felt her eyelids growing heavy. She closed her eyes as sleep finally took her.
Throughout the day, Laxus never released his arms around Lucy as he whispered comforting words.
A/N: Finally, a chapter completed. I hope that you found this chapter satisfying. I know you guys wanted to see how Laxus and Lucy reunite, and I apologize if this wasn't what you expected. I had a difficult time to come up on how the reunion will work. When Lucy asked Laxus, I was debating between his awkward social character or his sadistic side. I tried to add a bit of humor in my work, but I think I failed in that field. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk, right? Many thanks for the supports and reviews. I really appreciate the reviews that you wrote. I realized that my chapters seemed so short. The paragraphs that I wrote in the Word Document don't even look like paragraphs in Fanfiction. Then again, I formatted my fonts in the Word Document. Also, I was thinking of doing weekly updates starting today. I don't know if I can, but I will do my best. Don't forget to fave, follow, and review this chapter.
