Nights

They started simple.

Laxus saw a wild, young man. Untamed hair fell in clumps over his eyes and his tongue dangled lossly from a huge open-mouthed grin. He waited patiently as someone held his tongue and stamped it. He turned to Laxus, with his tongue still escaping his mouth, branded in black with the guild's signature.

"Yo! I'm Bickslow and these are my babies."

The boy and the floating objects around his head began to dissolve.

Laxus saw a pretty teenage girl. Her secretive, cunning smile reflected back into a pair of confident brown eyes as she groomed her perfect chestnut locks.

"In order to live up to my name, I must preserve my beauty so it is always radiant and evergreen. That means you boys will have to wait," she said with a shrill laugh.

The girl sitting in front of the vanity began to dissolve.

Laxus saw a calm, young man with thick green hair serenely reading a book at one of the guild's long wooden picnic tables. He ignored the general bustle as his guildmates shuffled around the hall. Not a hair on his head was disturbed as he gracefully dodged a chunk of ice and concurrently a fireball whizzed that past his head. The boy seemed only affected by the text he read. As he read, his face grew distorted with worry which developed into terror.

"Freed! What's going on?" Laxus asked worried. His friend wasn't one to easily lose his composure. He looked up, seeming to notice for the first time that he wasn't alone.

"Laxus," he began with a panicked edge to his otherwise smooth tongue. "You need to stop this." The image began to dissolve into a white haze.

"No! Freed come back!" Laxus shouted into the cloudy void. The words had barely left his lips before they were stifled by the pressing miasma. "Ah what the hell!" Laxus boomed. He released a torrent of lightning in an attempt to dissipate the fog. It only reflected his energy and pain shook is entire body. "Shit," he muttered.

From that moment, they became increasingly more difficult to bear. He futilely chased the illusory scenes but each one was swiftly supplanted by the next.

Laxus saw a faceless crowd in a shadowy market street. They made no sound as the shuffled in and out of his vision. Ghostly figures without a future. They are only able to move forward with about as much detail in direction as they have in their individuality. A thunderous explosion shook the silent scene. The flow of the crowd became more forceful. He found himself swept up in the tide of the swiftly moving bodies.

Laxus saw his father. Standing proud before a hungry audience. They greedily reached for his feet, climbing over one another in an attempt to reach him. The tyrant scowled down at the weaklings. He kicked the ones who encroached on his personal space tossing them back into the scavenging mass of people. Fights broke out amongst the disturbed public. The overbearing man unleashed a lethal dose of lightning on the unforgiving crowd. Wait, his father wasn't a lightning mage.

Laxus saw the ruins of a battle field. The buildings of Magnolia law strewn about in piles of smoking rubble. Thick smog filled the air and obstructed any sunlight from reaching the Earth's surface. The only conceivable source of light was the reflection of raging fires reflecting off of the cloudy atmosphere, giving every surface a glaring red glow. He stood in the center of it all, arms crossed, evaluating the devastation. What happened here? He took a small step but something stopped him in his tracks. On the ruined path in front of him lay an indiscernible body. He suddenly noticed all around him were more faceless victims of the decimation.

Laxus saw his guild hall, once a proud monument at the epicenter of Magnolia, crumbling and defeated in a dark, desolate wasteland. The thick stench of blood and decay filled his nostrils making his eyes water. He approached the building, his steps getting more and more heavy. It got to the point where he could no longer move and the distance between him and the guild hall seemed to stretch like putty. Laxus looked down and saw of a stream of blood, spilling out from the doors of the building and pooling around his ankles. He tried to escape the rising tide but the ground had a solid hold on the soles of his feet. The blood and filth overwhelmed him and he was lost.

Laxus saw a girl. Her back was to him and he longed to see her face. Wisps of her soft, black hair blew in a gentle breeze that tickled the dew covered grass beneath their bare feet. The two of them stood on a distant hilltop, disconnected from the rest of the world. A blanket of mist protected them from the outside and cast a soft light on the surroundings. Here it was just the two of them. She whispered his name. He could almost feel her soft breath brush his ear.

Laxus opened his eyes and saw the girl's face. Warm grey eyes regarded him softly as delicate fingers brushed away a tear that had escaped his tired eyes. She had pulled his head into her lap and was gently brushing back loose strands of his hair. The proud lightning mage was embarrassed to be crying in front of a complete stranger. He couldn't remember the last time he had expressed such vulnerability. And his tearful departure from Magnolia hardly counted because no one was actually watching him. It made him ever more uncomfortable that she had entered his extremely personal and intimate dream.

Emmaline leaned away from him momentarily to produce a small flask full of water. He took a few meager sips as he waited for her to say something. He was sure she'd ask if he was alright to which he'd think 'Do I fucking look okay?' but say 'Yeah'. He brooded and stared out into the dark forest, refusing to acknowledge her.

The night was at its prime and he focused on the calming harmony of night life. A cloud slid over the full moon, casting a deep shadow over the landscape and keeping the tree's secrets hidden from view. Eventually, he realized that she wasn't going to say anything. His rigid muscles relaxed, pressing more into her leg. He hadn't realized that he was leaning against her. Or maybe she leaned against him. Either way, he was too exhausted from his nightmares to care. Man, this is pathetic, he thought but didn't do anything to resist. Her fingers traced light patterns across his temples and hairline. The gentle touch eased some of his worries and he succumbed to exhaustion.

A distant lullaby ushered him to sleep. It seemed to stand as a barrier between him and the shadows that dared to enter his dreams. A calm washed over him and he sank into a deep sleep.

-o0o-

Dear Mom and Dad,

I started writing another letter but I made some premature accusations. So I scrapped it.

Today I learned that there are a multitude of layers to each person. People are unbelievably multifaceted and complex. My goal on this adventure wasn't to learn about human nature but I am and I couldn't imagine learning a better lesson right now. I have discovered that people have dark sides and light sides, just as shadows cannot be cast without the light. And I also have learned that it takes patience and persistence to discover the potential in people, if it isn't already evident.

I've come to realize that you shouldn't believe everything you read in Sorcerer's Weekly, even though that is my most reliable source of news in the guild world. But, they didn't nearly give Laxus the credit that he deserves. I mean, he was habitually characterized as the angsty wizard of Fairy Tail and seemed to play off of that a lot. They didn't downplay his strength at all (it's so much more impressive in person, though) but generally it was attributed to his lineage, not his own accomplishment. I can see though that he has his own drive. He has so much conviction which stems from deep emotion. And that's not something that comes from anyone else. I guess I just could be fangirling again. He probably doesn't even care what they say about him. He's pretty cool like that.

Hope everything is going well. Sorry you're gonna get a ton of letters all at once. There's a lot of distance between towns with post offices...

We haven't had any more run ins with bandits thankfully. But even if we did, I bet I could beat them myself! And even if I couldn't, Laxus has my back.

Love,

Emmaline


A/N:

So, what do you think? I had a lot of fun writing this brief chapter. Please leave a review if you have any comments, questions, advice. Or PM me (:

Also, I made a tumblr for my story! To post some writing stuff that's too short to publish as a story but mostly to save all of the awesome Fairy Tail stuff that I find. It's still new and I'm looking for more fairies on my dash. Let me know if you have any suggestions! You can check it out at emmalinetigre (Make Me a Fairy)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail