"I promise to love you forever, till the day I die."


"That's right... I can't die yet... not here..." Lying flat and powerless on his chest, the dying man digs his fingers deep into the moist red-stained ground and groans as his entire body perishes in pain. He forces himself up but immediately splashes right back into his pool of blood. "Gah, ah..." Even so, he refuses to give up.

Meanwhile, somewhere close by on the lonely street, catching her breath and splashing through the puddles is none other than his beloved.

"Laxus, please be alright..." The constant screaming of a man echoing throughout the street has long stopped, making Mira that much more anxious for she could only imagine what Laxus may have gone through. "Laxus! Where are you!?"

"ARGHHH!"

Mira wastes no time sprinting toward where the scream was coming from. Nothing, however, prepares her more for what she's about to see when she finally arrives by the park climbing stair.

A huge lightning strike reveals Laxus standing lifeless between her and the giant tree while covering his open front wound with his bare hand. His face is bruised and battered; so is his upper body. Trail of blood lingers behind him while the rain continues to wash away even more down his abdomen.

Mira drops her umbrella at the sight.

"Laxus!" She rushes toward him without paying much attention to the stairs, causing her to trip the whole way down until she splashes into a puddle of mud below. Getting dirty however is the least of her concerned right now. She quickly recovers and once more rushes for Laxus.

"What happened!? Who did this to you!?" Mira asks, to which Laxus only stays silent even when she later shakes his forearms for answers. The dull, dreary look in his eyes remains unchanged.

"Laxus, please, say something."

"..."

"Say something, please!"

"..."

It is only by then that Mira notices the trajectory of Laxus' eyes staring down at what seems to be pieces of photograph floating on the ground and realizes how devastated Laxus must have been.

"You came..." Laxus finally whispers.

"Oh, Laxus, thank God. We need to get you treated, fast!"

"Don't bother. I'm not gonna make it..." Laxus promptly falls forward into Mira's embrace, and as his bare chest is pressing hard against her breast, Mira can feel the thundering beat of his heart as well as his heavy breathing around her neck. Carefully, she moves him down to the ground along with her before resting his head on top of her lap.

"Mira..."

"Hush, don't talk. Save your strength." Mira chews her lower lips at the frail sympathetic look Laxus is giving her, the very same look Lisanna once gave her on that tragic night. Fate plays such cruel tricks. She never thought it would force to relive the same painful moment again.

"Gah!" Laxus coughs up some blood, causing Mira to panic as she rubs his chest around with her hand. Terrified of what death has in store for him, Laxus weakly reaches out his hand to Mira. "Hold my hand and don't let go. That's... my only final wish."

Sending tears like raindrops down Laxus' face, Mira shakes her head as she folds her hands around his trembling hand, "No... you are going to make it. I beg you please don't do this to me!"

"Listen, you have to let me go. I am nothing but a horrible man you've shed enough tears for. This is for the best."

"You're wrong. " Mira shakes her head yet again as she tightens the grasp of her hands. "Laxus, being with you was the happiest moment of my life."

Laxus smiles as he tenderly strokes her soaking wet hair with his other hand. Her kind words was all he needed to hear right now. "Thanks. Being with you was also the happiest moment of my life. I glad... that I was your man."

"Please... hang in there... don't leave me."

"Listen, I should've bought you flowers and held your hands... gave you all my hours... and take you on missions with me when I still had the chance. Those are my only regrets."

"Stop! Just stop! I don't wanna hear it... you promised you'd love me forever, so don't you dare die on me now!"

Laxus gently runs his hand across her cheek to her eye, wiping away her tears with his thumb as he smiles at her for the last time. "I've lived up to my promise. Thanks for giving me the chance to love you—" In that instance, his hand drops splashing to the ground beside her.

"Laxus? Laxus?" Mira desperately shakes his body to no response. If anything, his hand gets colder and colder by the second while the color of his face slowly fades away, and that's when reality slaps her in the face.

Laxus is dead.

"LAXUS!" A huge lightning strike follows after her scream as Mira buries her face between Laxus' chest. No longer able to feel his heart beating, she screams and screams and screams until she exhausts herself. " Please come back to me... You're the only man I have ever truly loved..." Her voice cracks like a little girl. For God knows how long she grieves by his side, and strangely, she starts hearing voices inside her head.


"Sis, how long do you plan on lying there?"

"..."

"Wake up."

"..."

"Wake up!"


Mira surprisingly wakes up to Lisanna sitting on a chair beside her bed. Moreover, for an unknown reason, her head is hurting so bad as if a huge rock had just collapsed on top of her head.

"You had me really worried there, Sis. I thought you'd never wake up, plus you were crying, screaming, and rolling around in your sleep."

"What happened...?" Mira sits up and rubs her head with her hand, squealing when she accidentally scratches a huge bump on her head. Before long, it all quickly comes back to her. "That's right, Laxus! He's... he's gone..."

" Gone?" Lisanna tilts her head. "But he's right over there." She points her finger toward the open balcony of the room. There stands the wounded dragon slayer resting his arms on the railing while gazing at the stars with his bare, broad back exposed to the the two ladies.

Mira wipes her eyes before pinching herself. Yes, she saw him died at the park a while ago with her very eyes, so how is it possible that she and Laxus are now back at the apartment, and why does her head hurts so much? Nevertheless, she isn't dreaming.

"Lisanna, could you please give us a moment?"

"I understand." Lisanna quietly leaves the room. As soon as she closes the door, Mira gets out of bed and slowly approaches Laxus with her hand on top of her breast until she's right behind him on the balcony.

"Laxus, It's really you, isn't it? Tell me this isn't just a dream."

"..."

His silent treatment is killing her, so Mira takes it upon herself to wrap her arms around his waist from behind before burying her face inside the cleavage of his back. Immediately, Laxus can feel her body trembling all over him. "Please, say something. Anything..."

Laxus grunts, finally giving up on the idea of honoring his bet with Nathan. "How's your head doing?" he asks.

"I'm fine, but more importantly, tell me everything that happened. Who did this to you?"

"I was... err, you see, robbed by bandits."

"The truth." Annoyed, she grabs him a handful below the belt, threatening to squeeze unless he changes his mind.

"A-alright, you win. Please let go now." Right after Mira spares him, Laxus beckons her to stand next to him, and so she rests her arms on the railing beside him as the breeze gently blows across their faces.

"It all started this morning when..." Laxus talks on and on as Mira attentive listens to his every story starting from the diamond rings incident, his bet and fight with Nathan, until...


An hour ago.

Finally on his feet, Laxus was dragging himself half-way through the park. He knew he had to stop his bleeding somehow If he were to make it and decided with great resolve to seal off his open wounds by burning them with his lightning.

"ARGHHH!" His life flashed before his eyes for the second time the moment he simultaneously thrust his lightning-infused hands toward the surfaces of his front and back wounds. He was quickly losing consciousness, until he heard Mira call his name.

"Laxus!"

There was his angel running down the park climbing stair. Sadly,much to his dismay, she tripped, bumped her head on the stair edge, rolled down the stairs into a puddle of mud, and fainted.

"Hey..." Needless to say, Laxus dragged himself over to his unconscious beloved. He crouched down to carry her on his back and moaned as her weight pressured against injured body. "I swear... you will be the death of me..."

It was a gruesome, tedious, freezing walk on the street. The rain kept pouring down like blinding sheet on their bodies, and could only persevere as he grinded his teeth from the knew he was reaching his limit.

"Please... hang in there... don't leave me." Mira suddenly whispered in her dream just when Laxus was about to give up, giving him a newfound determination as he stopped to glance at her innocent sleeping face.

"Heh," Laxus smirks,"Something like this isn't enough to stop me, you hear? You Just rest..."

The whole way back to Fairy Hill, Mira continued to talks in her sleep from time to time which keeps Laxus' smirk from ever fading, especially when she whispers, "You're the only man I have ever truly loved..." That certainly made his day, from rainy, to sunny.


"Lisanna was outside the apartment waiting for you to come back when she instead found me carrying you on my back. I believe you know the rest of the story." Laxus concludes.

Mira, having heard the whole story, is unsure whether to be sad, angry, or thankful to Laxus. All she knows is that she can no longer hold back her tears. "Hey, what's the matter...?" Laxus frowns at her. To his surprise, Mira suddenly rams into him and breaks down in tears.

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" She repeatedly smacks her fist on his chest. "Have any idea how worried sick I was about you!? I thought you were dead, Laxus! How could you!?"

Clenching his teeth, Laxus only stays silent as Mira continues to take her emotions out on him. Until, he grabs her wrist to stop her. "That's enough! I'm not perfect, alright? Stop asking so much of me!"

Mira drops down to her knees. "Damn it... I thought I'd never see you again..." Before long, Laxus crouches down and pulls her in to his arms, allowing her to sob on his chest while he strokes her thrice on the back.

"Sorry I yelled at you."

"No, you're right... All this time, I have always failed to appreciate the good in you and only think about how I feel. Yet you, Laxus... no man would go so far for me like you would. I never should've let you go."

"I know that better than anyone, Mira. It is only until you've lost someone will you realize how much that person means to you."

"I'm sorry. I'm the one to blame for all this."

Laxus sighs, gently pushing Mira off his chest with his hands clasped on her shoulders so that she can look him in the eyes. "Look, that's all behind us. All that matters now is that you and I are back together."

"Back... together?" An awkward silence hangs in the air as Mira stares curiously at Laxus.

"Sorry. I, I didn't mean it that way..." Laxus scratches the back of his scalp, unaware of the reddening of his cheeks. "I know it's probably to soon for us to—" Laxus couldn't finish his sentence for in that instant Mira has sealed his lip with hers, and he soon finds himself deepening the kiss as they both drown in the moment with their eyes closed. Grabbing the back of each other's neck, their lips refuse to part.

"I love you, Laxus." Mira whispers.

"I love you too." Laxus whispers back before stealing another kiss. Outside on the balcony under the stars, the longest night of their lives goes on.


To be continued...

Thanks for reading and patiently waiting for the update. It would mean the world to me if you would share with me what you think of this chapter or give your criticism so that I can improve myself. See you at the next chapter ^_^.