"Ever," Lucy said softly, "If you take one more picture of me putting on my shoes, I'm going to break your camera…"
Evergreen tutted and smacked Lucy in the head with her fan. "I've got pictures of everyone else on the team from over the years, Lulu. You need to catch up!"
Lucy stood up and rolled her eyes with a smile. "Or, you can save the pictures for times that are really worth it." She paused, then smiled. "Like, you taking a picture with me!"
Evergreen grinned and rushed over to Bickslow who was half asleep on the couch. "Bix! Take our picture!" she shouted, pushing the camera into his hands.
"Ugh, Ever," Bickslow whined as he got the camera ready. "This is the only one I'm taking, so make it good."
Evergreen and Lucy looked at each other for a second, then smirked. Evergreen leaned forward, pushing her chest out more, and Lucy quickly jumped up to sit on her back and push her own chest out.
Bickslow laughed and stuck out his tongue, then laughed harder when both girls mimicked him by sticking out their tongues as he took the picture. "Okay… I'll take one more… This one's mine," he said as he took the newly developed picture and put it in his pocket.
The girls shrugged, then Evergreen and Lucy stopped pushing their chests out and grinned happily as Bickslow took the picture.
"Blondie, I can see your ass like that," Laxus said as he walked into the living room. He chuckled when Evergreen shot up and Lucy fell to the floor in a heap.
"Oh, so that's why Freed's blushing," Evergreen quipped, and then giggled when said Rune mage turned a darker shade of red and buried his nose in his book again.
"Maybe I should wear leggings," Lucy mused as she stood up and flattened the imaginary wrinkles in her clothes. "That way Freed won't die of blood loss while we're in public."
"Really?" Laxus and Bickslow shouted. "That's what you're worried about?!" Both mages shook their heads in disbelief and thought, How is she not concerned with people seeing her ass all the time in those skirts?!
Lucy grinned widely and nodded, then skipped over to Freed and laced their fingers together as everyone walked out the front door to the guild.
"This is gonna be so much fun!" Lucy squealed. She looked excitedly at Levy and Freed and saw that they were both just as excited as she was. They had gone to the guild and gotten the new Raijinshuu team picture taken, and each of them received a copy. Afterwards, Laxus went and told Makarov about the idea Freed and Lucy had come up with, and he instantly agreed. Now, the entire guild was sitting in the bleachers waiting for the fighting to begin while Lucy, Levy, and Freed sat with their pens ready to take as many notes as possible.
"It is, Lucy," Levy beamed. "I can't believe no one ever thought to do something like this so the less battle-ready mages could find ways to improve!"
"Exactly! And it could help to balance out teams in the future if we know what everyone's strengths and weaknesses are," Lucy said, then squealed again.
Freed smiled softly. "First up is Erza and Gajeel, then Natsu and Gray."
Lucy laughed and said, "Well, this should be interesting." She saw Erza about to walk past and stopped her. "Erza, remember I need to see a bunch of different attacks with different weapons."
Erza nodded. "I will try not to end the fight too quickly then," she said with a smirk.
As it turned out, Lucy wasn't able to do much in the way of taking notes during the fights. She had been so wrapped up in taking in as much detail as she could that she was only able to help fill in any blanks as the field was cleared for the next fight to begin. Erza's fight had been immensely helpful because of how different she and Gajeel were when it came to battling. There were a few close calls with weapons and attacks flying towards the crowd, but Freed had already put up runes to block them so no one was hurt. Gray and Natsu were less helpful. Lucy had seen them fight countless times, and they spent more time arguing than actually fighting. Bickslow and Elfman, Wendy and Romeo, Levy and Cana, then Evergreen and Lisanna. Each match had shown Lucy a different side to fighting and tactics, which muscles are used for what attacks, and even gave her a couple of ideas for future fights. Everyone else in the guild hadn't wanted to go all-out in a battle, so Lucy was going to meet up with them after everything was finished to make a complete list of their abilities and watch them using their magic.
"There's a five minute break before the last fight. Who's next?" Levy asked, looking across Lucy to Freed.
Freed read the page, stopped with wide eyes and read it again, then looked at a blushing Lucy. "Lucy," he said softly.
"… Y-Yes, Freed?"
"Why does it say I'll be fighting against Laxus?"
Lucy chuckled nervously, but before she could say anything, Laxus came up and clapped a hand on Freed's shoulder. "Blondie said that she wanted to see you fight so she could memorize your most effective combat runes and how you use them in battle," Laxus said with his trademark smirk.
"That doesn't explain why I have to fight against you," Freed mumbled. He knew he would never be able to match up to Laxus' strength or power. Lucy had been the one to make the matches because of how well she knew everyone in the guild. She did her best to pair up people with equal power or skill levels so that it wouldn't be over before she could learn anything. So it didn't make sense that she would pair him up with his own leader.
"She probably wants your shirt to get torn off in the process so she can stare at you," Bickslow said with a grin, turning around in his seat in front of the small group.
Lucy shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Bix, I don't have to have him fight Laxus to get his clothes off," she said, lightly pushing against his chest with her foot. While everyone around them started shouting out congratulations of sorts or making perverted jokes, Lucy looked over at Freed. "Hey," she whispered, nudging his shoulder with hers. "Wanna know why I put you against Laxus?"
Freed nodded, still wide-eyed. He felt a little better when he saw her smile at him, the one smile that was reserved only for him.
"Because you're the best match for Laxus when it comes to both skill and strength. You know each other very well, so it will make it more difficult to actually land a hit. He knows your moves, and you his. Which means, you both have to be inventive for the match to end," Lucy said softly, her smile still in place and her fingers playing with the end of Freed's ponytail.
Freed shook his head with a rueful smile. "I won't win, Lucy. I have sparred against Laxus before and have never won."
Lucy rolled her eyes and kept smiling. "This isn't about winning or losing in the first place, but I'm very confident that you'll figure out how to outsmart Laxus before he can do it to you. It's kinda your thing, Freed."
Freed nodded, still unsure of himself.
"Hey," Lucy said with a pout. When Freed looked at her again, she said sadly, "Don't you wanna help me learn?"
"Of course I do," Freed said earnestly.
"Then you need to fight against someone that's on the same level as yo—" Lucy paused in her rant, then smiled. "Nevermind. Change of plans." Lucy stood up quickly and ran through the crowd saying she would be right back. After a couple of minutes, Lucy came back grinning and whispered to Laxus.
Freed watched Laxus' eyes widen and he looked at Lucy like she was insane. When she only nodded back, he rolled his eyes and sat down. "What's going on?" Freed finally asked once Lucy was settled.
Lucy kissed Freed's forehead and took the list of matches away from him. She crossed out Laxus' name and replaced it, keeping it hidden from everyone. Freed's match was the last one. Lucy added one more match after Freed's, then she handed Freed the paper and grinned.
"Surely you're joking," Freed said, eying Lucy suspiciously.
"This is no joke, Freed. And don't call me Shirley!" Lucy said playfully.
"Alright, Freed. It's official," Bickslow said. "Lucy's fucking awesome."
Laxus nodded with a grin. "Yep, quoting movies like a pro."
Bickslow, Laxus, and Lucy ended up cracking up, and when their laughter died down, Lucy said, "No, I'm not joking, sweetie. That match is definitely even, and it means you don't have to fight against Laxus."
"Right, but—"
"Time's up!" Makarov shouted, his voice booming across the field. "Will Freed and—"
"MIRA!" Lucy shouted. "Change of plans, Master. Freed is fighting against Mira."
There was a hushed murmur that ran through their guildmates, and everyone watched Freed sigh as Mira walked out with a sweet smile on her face. Freed leaned over and kissed Lucy. Before he walked out onto the field, he smiled and said, "Only for you, Lucy."
Lucy was grinning like crazy, bouncing in her seat the entire time the fight was going. Freed had told her about his fight against Mira during Fantasia, and even though she had beaten him then they were still evenly matched. Mira had a lot of power with her Satan Soul, but that was her go-to for a Take Over. Freed had learned his lesson the first time he fought against her, and immediately wrote the runes for his wings. What Lucy found interesting was that Freed used tons of different runes on Mira, but none of them seemed to affect her as much as they should have.
"Blondie," Laxus said, leaning forward to talk to Lucy. "He's going easy on her."
"But, why?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes on the fight.
Laxus sighed and shook his head. "He doesn't want to hurt any of our guildmates with his magic again. His most common offensive runes are Pain, Suffering, and Fear. He doesn't want to hurt her, but he agreed to do this to help you learn. That's why he's using them but cutting them short."
Lucy nodded in understanding. "I wish he had told me," she whispered. "I would have just asked him to show me at home instead of making him fight against someone."
"Nah," Laxus replied. "It's good for him to fight against someone who knows his moves, just like you said before. He'll be alright."
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked softly. "I feel bad for making him go through with it…"
Laxus moved down into Freed's seat and wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulders. "I've known Freed for years. He would have told you if it really made him uncomfortable. Far as I can tell, he doesn't like it, but he's doing it to help you and the guild. In his mind, helping everyone out is better than him being a little uneasy with something."
Lucy sighed and nodded.
"I'm serious, Lucy," he whispered. "Don't worry about it. If it's still eating you up later on, then talk to him about it. But, I can almost guarantee he'll tell you the same thing I just did." Laxus gave her shoulders a light squeeze before letting her go and watching the rest of the match.
Freed knocked Mira to the ground, causing a large crater and dust to fly up into the air. He landed and walked over as the dust settled. "That was a wonderful match, Mira," he said as he helped her up. "We may have to do this again sometime."
Mira returned to normal and smiled as they walked back to the bleachers. "Definitely, but next time don't hold back."
Freed chuckled. "I only hold back as much as my opponent, Mira." Freed walked up to Lucy and kissed her forehead. "How was that?" he asked softly.
Lucy smiled sheepishly and blushed. "You were wonderful. But, why were you holding back?"
Freed's eyes widened for a moment before he realized that she must have noticed how weak his attacks were. "I didn't want to hurt Mira. Also, she was holding back as well."
Lucy nodded, all of the tension seeming to leave her at once. She sighed and stood up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Laxus was right then. I felt bad for making you fight when you didn't want to hurt anyone."
Freed shrugged and wrapped his arms around her waist. "It helped you. How could I say no?"
Lucy giggled just as Makarov called the final match. "Lucy and Laxus!"
Everyone in the guild shouted at the same time. "EHHHHH?!"
"Don't go too easy on me, Laxus," Lucy said happily. After a second, she said, "But… try not to kill me…"
Laxus smirked. "Blondie, you're the one that set up this match. You still haven't explained why," he said as they made their way to the field.
Lucy grinned at him. "I'll tell you if I survive this match."
"Fair enough. You ready?"
Lucy nodded, determination coursing through her. They each took a fighting stance, and when the small bell sounded for them to begin, Lucy waited. She was curious to see what Laxus would do, but he just stood there looking at her. "Shouldn't you be doing something?" Lucy asked with a smirk, slowly starting to circle around him.
"No, I'm giving you a chance to summon someone."
"Pain," Lucy whispered, her voice dropping lower than usual. She took several slow steps backwards while Laxus dropped to the ground and screamed. Lucy quickly summoned Sagittarius and pulled out her whip, then closed her left eye behind her opaque eye patch to end the spell.
"Shit," Laxus muttered as he stood up. "I forgot about that…" He shook his head, and teleported just behind Lucy as Sagittarius shot three arrows at him. "Too slow, Blondie," he whispered, picking Lucy up and throwing her a few yards away.
"That's it!" Lucy shouted. She grinned at him evilly and said, "I still have to get you back for earlier." She sent Sagittarius back, deciding to try her luck at hand-to-hand until she came up with a plan. I'm no match for his strength, but I know he's holding back. Lucy lashed at him with her whip, only for him to teleport behind her again. She dropped to the ground, finally anticipating his move, and quickly crawled between his legs. Lucy dove to the right just as Laxus turned around to swipe at her, and rolled until she was on her feet again.
"You really should wear pants, Blondie," Laxus smirked.
Lucy sighed. "Laxus, you're just standing there. You should probably actually fight me otherwise I won't get anything out of this."
"You sure?" Laxus asked. When Lucy nodded, he crouched low and grinned. "Alright, Blondie. Have it your way." He streaked after her in his Lightning Form, finally landing next to her and shooting the smallest burst of lightning he could manage at her.
Lucy smirked. Finally, he's at least trying. She dove to the side again, barely missing the blast, then shot her whip out to wrap around his arm. Lucy tugged at it, and had just enough momentum to pull Laxus down on one knee. She rushed in for a Lucy Kick, but was thrown back by a lightning burst from his other hand. She rolled and shakily stood to her feet, then tensed when Laxus shifted into his lightning form and circled around her. She noticed him slow just a little bit before making a sharp turn and shooting right at her, and was able to ready her body to jump over him as he dove down at her feet.
Laxus landed in a crouch, surprised that Lucy had been able to dodge him at all when he was moving that quickly. He whirled around when he heard her whip snap in preparation for an attack and caught her foot as she tried to kick him. He stood up and rolled his eyes when her skirt flew up revealing her underwear while he held her upside down. "What did I say about pants, Blond—"
Lucy smirked and used her other foot to kick Laxus in the jaw while he took time to scold her. He dropped her from the shock of the hit, and Lucy landed on her hands and quickly sprung away from him. "Punch me, Laxus," she said sternly. "Let me see how long I can dodge. I need to watch which muscles contract when you throw punches."
Laxus lunged at her, powering his hits with just a little bit of lightning. He started out with a smirk when she successfully dodged each hit, and added more magic to increase his speed and hitting power. Lucy still dodged every single one, and he could see her eyebrows drawn together while she studied his movements. "Don't forget to fight back, Blondie," he said.
Lucy nodded, and mixed blocking his attacks in with her evasive movements. She felt a tingling sensation run through her with each hit she blocked, then sensed Laxus increasing his magic use. Lucy's eyes widened when he started moving faster, and the tingling she had felt started to hurt. Each time she came into contact with him, a painful jolt of electricity ran through her. Laxus' stance changed just slightly, and Lucy jumped into the air and did a split over his leg as it shot out to hit her stomach. She landed and ducked down when he threw a powerful right hook that she knew would have probably knocked her out.
Laxus' smirk had turned into a full-on grin. He was getting to see firsthand what Lucy was like in a close combat situation. Her eye patch had made her more perceptive, allowing her to see each of his muscles contracting so she would be ready for any move he threw at her. Even when he sped up until he was almost at his peak performance, she was still keeping up with him. He could tell that she was tiring, sweat starting to drip down her face and her breathing becoming more labored as they went on, but she wasn't giving up. He feinted with a kick and when she reacted by dodging to the side instead of jumping again, his arm shot out and clotheslined her. He winced as she hit the ground with a loud thud, but just before he could ask if she was alright, a bright light nearly blinded him and then he was hit with a golden fist that could only belong to one person.
Lucy silently summoned Leo as she fell to the ground, and let him go into the battle while she came up with a plan. Should have done that to begin with… Lucy scolded herself while she got back to her feet and caught her breath. She watched Laxus shooting out bigger and bigger bolts of lightning during his fight against Leo, and that was when inspiration finally hit her. She knew just how to end the fight.
Laxus smirked as Leo was hit with just enough lightning to send him back to the Spirit World. I'll apologize for that later, he thought. Lucy had told every member of the team how she felt about her spirits, and they all understood. He was just hoping that she wouldn't be too upset since they were only supposed to be sparring. He turned to face Lucy and saw a smile run across her face.
Lucy was finally thankful that she had been training those three months with Capricorn and her spirits. She smiled as Laxus turned to face her, and it appeared that her ruse was working. Lucy had created six large spheres of golden sparkling light that floated around her body, each of them the size of her torso. She had them slowly circle around her with her hands held out to her sides, and grinned at Laxus when they picked up in speed.
What the hell is this?!, Laxus thought as the huge orbs of light continued spinning around Lucy. He could feel an immense amount of magic coming off of them, and his eyes widened when her own magic started pouring off of her, almost like she had jumped into a puddle of golden light that splashed up around her in slow motion. His body started crackling with lightning, trying to prepare for whatever she was going to throw at him.
Lucy took one step forward, then another. She let her magic fill her as the orbs sped up and tilted until they were creating an almost solid ring of light in front of her. Lucy lifted her hands until they were stretched out in front of her. She gave the orbs a small push, and all six went flying at Laxus.
Laxus increased the power of his lightning as it flowed around his body. The orbs were too close when they started moving for him to dodge or teleport, so all he could do was block. He let the rest of his magic flow and increased the power of the shield he was making. Not taking any chances. I have no clue what this shit is!
Lucy smirked when she saw Laxus pour more magic into his shield. She pictured a barrier surrounding Laxus like a bubble, with the reflection pointing inside towards him, then Lucy's voice dropped again when she whispered, "Reflect." The barrier appeared around him and just before the orbs hit Laxus, Lucy cut off the magic supply to them and they disappeared instantly.
Laxus saw the orbs coming closer, and sent his all of his lightning out to hit them. He didn't realize what Lucy had done until it was too late. All of the magic he had used to try and take out those orbs hit a semi-translucent barrier that was surrounding him, and bounced back twice as powerful as it was when he released it. There was only so much that he could re-absorb, and even with the natural resistance he had to lightning, Laxus ended up being electrocuted by a little less than half of the returning lightning. He screamed and dropped onto his hands and knees, his body wracked with small spasms as the lightning finally died down once the barrier disappeared.
Lucy ran over and knelt next to him. "Laxus, are you alright?" she whispered, her voice laced with concern. He had definitely been electrocuted, and there were quite a few scorch marks on him.
Laxus slowly pushed himself up until he was towering over her while still on his knees, though he knew he didn't look menacing in the slightest. He smiled down at the blonde girl, and said, "Yeah, little sis. I'm good." He wrapped an arm around Lucy's shoulders in a half-hug. Well, I guess this is what it's like to be proud of someone, he thought.
Lucy beamed at Laxus and helped him stand up since his legs were a little wobbly. "Still want me to tell you why I fought you?" she whispered as they made their way slowly back to the bleachers.
Laxus chuckled and said, "Yeah, I do."
Lucy grinned up at him and said, "I wanted to see for myself how strong my big brother is." She leaned her head lightly against his chest when he smiled softly at her and chuckled again.
"That works for me, Blondie."
She hadn't realized how quiet everyone was until they got back to the bleachers. Mira rushed up and helped Laxus sit down, and Lucy sat down happily next to Freed. When it was still silent, she looked at Freed and saw that his jaw was wide open. Lucy blushed and looked around her to see matching expressions on everyone else. "What?" Lucy asked, her face turning a bright crimson.
Laxus chuckled and said, "I think you broke them… Because you beat me."
"Luce!" Natsu shouted. "Fight me!" He rushed over to his friend with his fists on fire, only to run into a rune barrier right in front of her. "What the—"
Lucy giggle and kissed Freed's cheek. "Thanks, sweetie," she whispered as she watched him re-sheathe his sword.
"Of course, Lucy," Freed responded, pulling her into a tender kiss that left them both blushing since they were in front of the whole guild.
Finally, as if Natsu running into the wall of runes had broken some sort of spell, everyone sitting in the bleachers started bombarding Lucy with questions on how she got so strong. It only made her blush and try to wave them off, because as far as she was concerned, it wasn't that she was strong enough to beat Laxus. She had tricked him.
Everyone slowly filed back into the guild hall, and Levy was the last to leave since she was talking so animatedly about the notes they had taken during the day. Once the Script mage was gone, it was only the Raijinshuu sitting outside in the middle of the field.
"Alright, Blondie," Laxus said gruffly. "How'd you do it?"
Lucy blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Well… You see… I…" Finally, she dropped her head in defeat. "I tricked you, Laxus…" she whispered, then raised her head back up to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry."
Laxus chuckled along with everyone else around Lucy. "No need to apologize, Blondie," he said with a shrug. "You can't match my strength, so you used whatever you could. That's how it's supposed to be. I was pretty surprised with how fast you are though… I was almost going full speed at the end."
"Yeah, Lulu," Evergreen said encouragingly. "So tell us what you did. I've never seen anything like that. Have you, Freed?"
Freed shook his head. "Neither have I."
Lucy sighed and nodded. "So, I knew I couldn't beat Laxus in hand-to-hand when he finally started trying to fight back instead of teleporting when I attacked. I told him that I needed to see punches, and asked that he actually attack me."
"I even started speeding up and putting more force behind the hits just to see how long she would last," Laxus said proudly. "You did pretty well, but I could see you getting worn out from dodging and trying to keep up."
Lucy smiled at him. "Well, I guess that's why you knocked me down when you did. So, I summoned Leo to keep you occupied while I figured out a way to take you down."
Bickslow nodded. "I was wondering why you were standing there since you usually fight with your spirits. Makes sense."
Lucy blushed and said, "I hated not fighting alongside Leo, but I had to figure something out otherwise I would probably be a small pile of ash right now…"
"Hey," Laxus shouted in mock offense. "I wouldn't have electrocuted you that badly!"
Lucy sweatdropped and said, "Thanks, Laxus…"
"So the plan was those light things?" Evergreen asked. "What were those anyway?"
Lucy finally grinned, having already started to feel better about the fight. "Well, those were just a distraction," she said happily. "I use those for training. I focus my magic into a sphere outside of myself and see how many I can make. Six is what I'm most comfortable with when I start moving them around." Lucy demonstrated by creating a single ball of light in the air above them, then slowly moving it over each of their heads. "It's essentially a ball of my magic, but there's no way to cause harm with it. I usually make a few and start changing their sizes at different rates or having them circle around me as fast as possible and try to catch one."
"How many of them can you make?" Evergreen asked softly, looking up into the soft golden light coming from the orb.
Lucy shrugged. "First thing in the morning? Probably… a hundred. But I can't do anything with them if I make too many, since I'm controlling each of them individually. And, the more I make the smaller they have to be so my magic is split evenly between them."
Freed smiled and said, "So, you used those as a distraction to make Laxus think that you were going to hit him with a powerful attack."
Lucy nodded. "Just before they hit, I used that Reflect spell you taught me. But I changed it so that it wasn't a wall. I pictured it wrapping around Laxus like a bubble with the reflection inside, so anything he shot out would bounce back and hit him. Then when I used my eye, it created what I pictured in my head. I cut off the magic for the orbs right when he tried to stop them." Lucy paused and thought for a moment, cutting of the magic for the orb still floating around and letting it dissipate. "You know, it's a good thing I did that. If I still had them out when his magic hit the barrier, I would have probably passed out. It doesn't drain my magic until something hits it, and it seems to drain more based on how much it has to reflect. If I hadn't pulled that magic back into myself when I did, then I would have been completely drained."
Laxus grinned at her. "Well, I'm proud of you, Blondie. It's not often that I fall for something like that. Plus, I sent out so much of my magic that when it doubled and hit me, I couldn't absorb all of it."
Lucy's jaw dropped. He's… proud of me? She looked around at the rest of the team, and saw nothing but smiles from each of them. "Y-You… are?" she asked, her voice cracking a little as she fought to hold back her happy tears.
"Yep," Laxus replied with a smirk.
It had been a month since Lucy's house had been destroyed. Nothing else had happened, and everyone was on edge while they waited for Freed's father to make another move. The Raijinshuu took a two week S-Class mission, calling Makarov every other day when they had a minute to check on how things were back at the guild. Each time, he told them that everything was fine and they shouldn't worry so much.
Their mission ended with only minor injuries to Bickslow and Lucy. No one knew that Lucy had been hurt, a stab wound in her right bicep from an enemy sneaking up on her, and she bandaged it up once everyone was asleep. It wasn't until the next morning that Freed found out about it when he touched her arm and she winced. He had quickly moved her sleeve to find the bandage she had put on herself with a large blood stain on it. He hadn't said anything at the time, deciding while he changed the bandage to talk to her about it later, but when Evergreen came in and saw it she rushed out to get the rest of the team. Laxus had been pissed that she kept it from them, and gave her a piece of his mind about it. Bickslow said he kind of understood since she was still used to caring for her own wounds. Evergreen ended up crying because she thought Lucy didn't trust them. The worst though was Freed. He hadn't said a thing about it until he and Lucy were alone again.
When he finally spoke, it was completely at odds with how Lucy was used to him being around her. He was withdrawn, his stoic mask back in place, and not even his eyes told her what he was feeling. He had asked her why she didn't tell anyone, so they could have at least stitched it closed for her, and she shrugged. He had been ready to walk out of the room they were staying in to get some air when she blocked the door and broke down. Lucy was still holding onto that fear of being weak, being left alone again because she wasn't strong enough to take care of herself. It was her first mission with the Raijinshuu, and she didn't want to be the damsel in distress like she always was with Team Natsu. She was still struggling with the idea that she had people to look after her if she needed it, people that had her back no matter what. Her biggest issue was the idea that she had to have a scar to remind her of her mistakes in battle. It took a lot of coaxing from the whole team for her to realize that they weren't going to leave her just because she got hurt. They would take care of her just like she took care of them. Lucy told them that she was going to try not to do it again, that she would work on pushing past what held her back and tell them what was wrong, and they readily accepted the effort. Luckily, by the time they reached Magnolia, everything was back to normal for the team and they celebrated a successful mission at the guild.
Laxus, Evergreen, and Bickslow decided to stay at Freed's house every other night instead of all the time, and on the nights when everyone was there the team would stay up late watching movies, swimming, playing random games, and just having a good time. They all knew that it had started as a way to take their minds off of the threat from Freed's father and make sure Freed and Lucy were safe, but after that mission it just became natural. Freed had taken a couple of days to enchant the rest of the team's houses, fearing that his father would hire someone to do the same thing to them that he had done to Lucy.
There were plans in place in case something happened at Freed's house—or anyone else's—and they needed a quick escape. Lucy was to be teleported by Laxus to the guild and then everyone would rendezvous there after things had settled. She was still trying to learn how to use the teleportation runes with her eye, but there seemed to be some sort of resistance on it, so she was never successful. She hated that everyone had agreed to take her as far away from any confrontation that might happen, but only submitted to it because of Freed. He had told her one night that he didn't know what he would do if she was hurt because of his father, and the fear that had been apparent on his face and in his words had made her relent. She wasn't happy about it, but she knew that they didn't think she couldn't handle herself. It was only to make sure she was safe so that Freed could focus on getting back to the rendezvous point instead of worry about her. Lucy understood Freed's reasoning: if she was there during a confrontation, she would be targeted over everyone else because of how close she was to Freed. If they found a way to get to her, there was no telling whether or not they would let her live even if Freed did say he would return home to his father. She couldn't fault him for caring about her.
Lucy and Freed had spent a quiet night alone, and had gone to bed relatively early. Lucy jolted up in bed with fear coursing through her and looked around the darkened room in a panic. She'd had a few nightmares since that afternoon that her home had been destroyed, but none of them were nearly as bad as that one. It had been about her first solo mission again, except instead of the nameless woman she hadn't been able to save, Lucy saw Freed. She had been stuck in one place as she watched him get tortured, and just as she was able to move, she woke up.
"Lucy?" Freed whispered groggily, sitting up and turning on the lamp on his nightstand. "Are you alright?" He could feel her shaking, and heard her short panicked breaths, but as soon as she had heard his voice, he was tackled to the bed again.
"Freed!" Lucy whispered into Freed's hair. She pulled one leg over his hips and straddled him, then hugged him tighter. "You're okay…"
Freed sighed and ran his hands along Lucy's bare back, through her hair, and down her arms as he attempted to soothe her. "It's alright, Lucy," he whispered. "I'm fine. It was only a dream." There was only one thing that had kept both him and Lucy sane throughout their battles with bad dreams, and that was that they never seemed to have them at the same time. There was always one person out of the two of them that was calm and relaxed enough to soothe away any worries the other had until the fear that had overtaken them passed.
Lucy kissed Freed's neck lightly as her tremors finally calmed down, and the last of her terror dissipated. He was safe and holding her in his arms, and that was all she had needed to know everything would be okay. She sighed and sat up with her hands on either side of his head. She smirked when she felt him twitch right against her naked core and rolled her hips just enough to make him groan. Lucy had told Freed that she was ready to take that last step as soon as everything was cleared up with his father. He hadn't understood why that would make a difference at first, but after she had explained that she didn't want to have that threat hanging over them because a part of her would still be worried about it while they were together, he had understood. The only problem was that now she wanted to go ahead with it anyway, but Freed kept stopping her and reminding her about what she said.
"Lucy," Freed whispered as his hands ghosted up her waist to her breasts. His eyes rolled back when she ground against him again, already covering his hardened member in her slick juices. It was torture for him every time she did this, but she had been so adamant about waiting until after his father finally left them alone, that he couldn't let her continue.
Lucy leaned down and roughly tugged on Freed's lower lip with her teeth, making him groan again. Her tongue pushed into his mouth and she moaned as she ground against him again, his length sliding along her moistened slit. Lucy lifted her hips just enough to slide her hand between them and start stroking him. She pulled away from the kiss and rasped, "Please, Freed… I want you…"
Freed panted as her strokes became faster and faster, and almost relented when she lined him up at her entrance and slowly circled it with his flared head. "We… ngh… Can't…" he panted, reaching down to stop her hand even though his body wanted nothing more than to plunge deep inside of her. He gently pulled Lucy's hand away, lacing his fingers with hers and kissing her knuckles.
Lucy huffed in irritation and pulled her leg back over, throwing herself back on the bed and facing away from him. She knew he was right. They had both agreed to wait, and it was her idea in the first place.
Freed rolled over and pressed himself tightly to Lucy's back, sliding one arm under her to tease her breast while the other wrapped around her waist and slid down to brush over the golden curls above her womanhood. "I'm sorry, Lucy," he whispered.
Lucy sighed, not wanting her body to respond to him, and said, "I know… We agreed to it. But's it's been a month since anything has happened. Maybe your father isn't going to keep coming after you."
"We can't know for sure. I told you that he usually bides his time until everyone lets their guard down," he whispered. When Lucy huffed, Freed kissed along her shoulder and he pulled her more firmly against him while he ground himself into her from behind. Lucy's breath hitched and her back arched. "I can still help you, if you'd like," he rasped, nibbling all the way up to her ear before sucking the small lobe into his mouth.
Lucy whimpered when his teeth grazed her flesh again and again, followed quickly by small flicks of his tongue. "Please," she whispered. She gasped when Freed's hand pulled her leg up and hooked it over his, spreading her wide open while she faced away from him, and wider still when he opened his own legs. His hand on her breast started moving with more purpose, instead of lightly teasing her, and the hand that had pulled her leg up slid slowly down to the apex of her thighs. Lucy's hips writhed in anticipation while his fingers traced a searing path to her core.
Freed smirked as his hand finally made its way to her weeping center, and he slammed two fingers deep within her, then pulled them back slowly and repeated the motion. She was absolutely soaked, and he groaned at the thought of not allowing himself to push inside of her and feel her wrapped around him like a vice. She was already panting, a light sheen of sweat covering her body, and he couldn't get enough of it. He slid his hand out from under her and let her leg move off of his as he pushed her down onto her back. Freed moved down to take her nipple into his mouth, and picked up the speed of his plunging fingers.
"Oh, Freed!" Lucy panted. His tongue was taking her breath away right alongside those fingers of his. Once his name fell from her hips, she moaned long and low when he buried his fingers are far as they would go inside of her and started to circle around. She rolled her hips, and her head shot back at the new sensation she had felt. So, she rolled her hips again and again until Freed's fingers pulled back and slammed into her. The pace he set had her shooting up to her climax and practically jumping over the edge once she found her release. White light burst behind her eyes and she practically screamed Freed's name at the top of her lungs. She felt as if she was breaking apart into tiny pieces, and yet his fingers just kept hammering into her.
Freed let her nipple go and started kissing down her stomach, never slowing down with his fingers even through her climax. Before she had finished coming down from her high, Freed settled his shoulders between her thighs and immediately replaced his fingers with his tongue. It plunged in and out of her, and he felt her walls contracting around it and trying to pull him in further. He groaned against her at the feeling, and when her hands shot down to tangle in his hair, Freed couldn't help but groan once more. He moved up and flicked his tongue across her sensitive bundle again and again, sucking and nibbling on it until she was wantonly rolling her hips against his face, then pushed his fingers back into her slowly. He loved the way she moved against him, how she cried out when he hit just the right spot, and the way she took control to show him just what she wanted. He especially loved the way she tasted. He found the small spongy patch inside of her and made sure to rub his fingers over it every time.
Lucy always tried to keep herself relatively still, but it never seemed to work. Freed's tongue plunging into her before she had even finished her first climax had set her up ready for another. A jolt of pleasure ran through her when she felt him lick her tiny bundle, and she couldn't get enough of it. Lucy pushed her hips more forcefully towards him, and it only seemed to make Freed more willing to please her. She moaned his name over and over as he drove her higher towards her climax, his tongue moving quickly in contrast with the slowness of his fingers. There were plenty of unexpected things that he did to her with that tongue, but she had never expected the next few words to come out of his mouth.
"How sure are you, Lucy?" he rasped, his voice lower and filled with promises and his lips ghosting across her slit. He pulled his fingers back to sit at her entrance and gently massaged it while he waited for her answer, still teasing her with small strokes of his tongue on her clit. She had told him before why she wanted to wait even though she felt ready to give all of herself to him, and he understood when she explained her reasoning. However, something had changed in the past week, and Lucy had been begging him to take her every single night… and every night he had refused.
"Ngh… Freed…" she whimpered. She was so close to her orgasm, but he had stopped. Her hips rolled again and again as she tried to get him to keep going so the ache inside of her could be released.
Freed pulled his fingers away from her and said, "Tell me how sure you are."
Lucy was panting, trying to form words, and when she was finally able to do so, she answered him. "I've never been more sure about anything in my life, Freed."
Freed looked up at her and continued his slow torture on her womanhood with his tongue. He swirled it around her entrance, and pushed it in slightly only to pull it back out and do it again. His teeth grazed against her lower lips and he heard her breath catch in her throat. "Why?" he asked as he moved up and nibbled on her hip.
Lucy gasped when he sucked the skin on her hip into his mouth, and held his gaze. Why not?, she asked herself. Her mind was hazy with lust, and she could hardly put two thoughts together while he teased her. Lucy had been afraid to give herself to him before because of everything that was happening with Freed's father, but after a month of nothing from the man Lucy couldn't see any reason to deny that she really wanted to finally take that last step. They loved each other and she didn't think that it would be possible for her to love anyone else the way she loved Freed. She pulled him up and kissed him tenderly, regardless of how badly she wanted to find her release again. When she pulled back, Lucy whispered, "I love you. I don't want to wait any more. I'm tired of worrying about everything else, instead of letting myself be happy. I don't want to sit around and wait for something to happen, because sometimes things don't work out that way. I want you to have all of me, and I want all of you, Freed."
Freed kissed her softly. He knew it would be painful for her, and he wanted to do everything in his power to lessen that. Freed pulled away and searched her eyes. There was nothing but honesty and love in them. "Then there's something we need to do first," he whispered. "Do you trust me?"
Lucy nodded and smiled. "With my life."
Freed put three fingers into his mouth and sucked on them, moaning as he tasted her on the fingers that had been inside of her already, before moving back down to her entrance. He leaned down to whisper in her ear before nibbling on it, "I don't want to hurt you, Lucy." When she nodded and placed her hands on his shoulders, Freed pushed his fingers slowly inside of her, giving her time to adjust to how they were stretching her. When she winced, Freed paused and pulled back slightly, trailing light kisses across her neck and jaw. Once he felt Lucy relax, he would start to push further. Each stroke was small, but he kept going slowly until his fingers were fully sheathed in her tight sex.
Lucy whimpered slightly when Freed's fingers were fully inside of her. Just like the first time they had done this, he went slowly and let her get used to it. She had never felt anything like this before though. There was a sense of fullness inside of her, but when his fingers started to make small circles and pull back at the same time, she let out a shaky breath. She gasped as Freed's hand turned slightly before pushing them back in, but he never moved too quickly. He kept his slow pace, but it wasn't long before she was bounding toward the release that she had been so close to achieving before he asked that question. Lucy's legs were shaking, her whole body tense as she teetered on the edge of her climax, and she was barely able to whisper, "Freed…" before his fingers pushed all the way inside of her and his thumb circled around her clit quickly, finally giving Lucy her release.
Freed carefully withdrew his fingers and settled himself between Lucy's still quivering thighs. He kissed her gently as she came back to herself, her arms wrapping loosely around his neck and a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. When the kiss ended, he looked deeply into her half-lidded eyes and asked one last time. "You're sure?" he whispered.
Lucy nodded slowly, pressing her lips softly to his. "I'm sure, sweetie. I'm ready."
Freed kissed her again, then leaned over to his nightstand to pull a small foil packet from the drawer. He tore it open and rolled the condom down onto himself while Lucy ran her fingers across the scars on his chest. Freed leaned back over her and lined himself up at her entrance, sliding the tip of his manhood over her moist slit. "Tell me if I need to stop," he whispered. When she nodded he slowly pushed himself into her, grunting when he felt just how tight she was around him. Freed paused when he heard her gasp.
"I'm okay," Lucy said softly, running her hands over his shoulders. Lucy hadn't realized how different it would be from his fingers inside of her, and now she understood why he said he didn't want to hurt her. She felt every bit of her stretching to accommodate him and moaned lightly until he finally hit that small membrane. Lucy took a deep breath and pulled him down into a kiss, lightly running her nails against his scalp. When he didn't move to push through it, still trying to give her a chance to back out, Lucy's legs wrapped around his hips and quickly pushed him all the way in, then fell back to the bed once that small barrier was broken. She refused to let his lips go, even when she cried out at the sudden tearing inside of her.
Freed moaned when he felt her hot core gripping him so tightly, but he refused to move until she was ready. Once her virgin barrier was broken, Lucy whimpered and her body tensed up around him as she fought the pain. He kept kissing her and brought one hand up to cup her cheek while she tried to adjust to everything.
The pain wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be, and she realized that those romance novels she had read had decided to exaggerate that little detail so often that they had her thinking she would be screaming bloody murder. Once the small pain disappeared, Lucy tentatively rolled her hips and they both moaned in unison. She gasped as he slowly withdrew from her; inch by glorious inch of him rubbed against her walls as he pulled almost completely out of her, and she moaned when he pushed back in.
"I love you, Lucy," Freed whispered. Freed's hand moved from her cheek down her throat to cup her breast as he carefully thrust into her, and he captured her lips again, moving them slowly over Lucy's scarred ones in time with his thrusts. It was something he had waited so long to do, something he had been willing to share with her almost from the beginning—and not because of the act itself, but because of how much it meant to him that it was with someone special—and now he had given her his final "first." He and Lucy had been taught that you were supposed to be a virgin when you got married, but Freed knew from the beginning that his life would probably never play out that way. He always told himself that when he found the right woman, it wouldn't matter whether or not they were married, only that they loved each other. Now that it was happening, he knew that he had been right to think that. He didn't care that they weren't following tradition, or about anything else that was happening in the world right then. The only thing that mattered to him was what he was experiencing with Lucy, the woman he loved.
"I love you, too," she panted. Lucy's hands slid down to move along his shoulders and back, and she moaned when his thumb brushed over her sensitized nipple. She felt her walls clamp around him for a brief moment, and when he groaned and pushed into her a little harder, she couldn't help but respond with a breathy, "Oh, Freed." It was everything she had ever imagined and more. She never knew that there would be such an intense warmth spreading from her heart to the rest of her body, or that she would be lost in the beautiful eyes of the man she loved when he looked at her. She wanted her first time to be special, with someone she loved, and it was just that. Her previous fears about moving too quickly or what others might say went flying out the window once she decided that she was really ready to take this last step with him. He had been her first everything, and just like every other first of hers, he made it perfect.
Freed's hand slid down her body and he lifted her leg just a little higher as he started to move a little faster. He leaned down to kiss her again, and was surprised when her tongue slid into his mouth to battle with his. His body started reacting to each shock of pleasure he got from that kiss and he moaned when Lucy's hips rolled to meet his thrusts. Both hands shot to her hips, gripping them lightly while he pulled her just a little closer each time they met.
"Oh… Ngh…" Lucy moaned and she gasped when he sucked her now-healed lower lip into his mouth. Every time his hips met her pelvis, it felt as if he was getting deeper and deeper. Her hands tangled in his hair, their previous slow pace forgotten as the beginnings of another, much more intense, orgasm started winding inside of her. She pulled his hair lightly and when he slammed himself into her she screamed out, "Oh God. YES!" There was no pain, and she hardly remembered why she thought it would be painful. Lucy's back was arched as he found a sweet spot just inside of her, and she panted his name like a prayer when he did several short strokes to pass right over it as she kept climbing towards her orgasm.
Her words were music to his ears, and they drove him crazy. He needed more of her, wanted to hear her scream his name to the heavens in pure ecstasy. Even though his grip on her had tightened, she still met each of his thrusts and rolled her hips against him. He leaned down and roughly sucked a nipple into his mouth, nibbling the peaked tip and moaning as he slammed into her heated core again and again. There was no more taking it slow, and Lucy didn't seem to mind it one bit. He moaned against her breast, rolling the nipple between his teeth. Her hands tightened in his hair again and Freed was roughly pulled back to her lips for another searing kiss. He slid his arms under her body and pulled her tightly to his chest as he sat up, still pounding into her.
Lucy's head flew back and she moaned at the new angle as he pushed further into her than before. Freed was hitting some wonderful spot deep inside of her, and she never wanted it to stop. "F-Freed… Ah… Harder!" she screamed, wrapping her arms around his neck while she tried to lift her hips in time with his thrusts. Lucy could hardly keep up with him as he plowed into her, and he quickly compensated for it.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't deny her. Freed locked his arms around her waist and pounded into her more forcefully than before. "So tight," he panted, then groaned loudly when Lucy's body reacted to his words by tightening around him briefly. The sound of their skin slapping against each other and her sounds of pure pleasure spurring him on. Freed's head tilted to the side when Lucy pushed his hair away from his neck and roughly sucked on the skin there. He felt her walls tighten a little more and groaned as he pushed into her faster. When her nails started digging into his shoulders he felt another jolt of pleasure rip through him and he threw her back on the bed, diving down to suck and nibble along her throat and chest, leaving marks all along the way.
Lucy gasped when Freed's arms wrapped under her legs and he lifted only her hips up to meet him. He picked up in speed again, his breathing erratic and the glistening skin of his chest sliding against hers. Her breath came in shorter bursts, her moans turning to downright screams, and just when she didn't think she could take any more, Freed surprised her again.
"That's it, baby," Freed grunted into her ear. "Cum with me." He slammed into her again and again, felt his body tightening along with hers. When her head flew back with his name ripping out of her in a scream and her back arched off of the bed, it was his undoing. He plunged into her one last time, filling her warmth with every inch of him before shouting out her name with his release. Freed's head dropped to Lucy's shoulder, and he propped himself up on his elbows while the rest of his body shook from his release. She squeezed him so tightly while her body tried to pull him further in that Freed moaned and shuddered every time her core tightened around him.
Lucy felt like she was floating, her limbs deliciously heavy and slightly jittery while she came back to herself. She smiled and moaned softly when Freed's lips pressed against her neck and shoulder over and over. After a moment, once her hands started working again, Lucy slowly slid them up Freed's back and pushed his hair away from his face before sliding back down. "I love you so much, Freed," she whispered as she continued to massage him.
Freed felt his body finally calming down and returning to normal. He kissed her neck again and said, "I love you too, Lucy." He pulled his head up and kissed her while he carefully withdrew himself from her warmth, furrowing his brow when she winced.
It was painful when he pulled out of her, but Lucy kept her lips on his not wanting the kiss to end. She felt him move just a little, and when he pulled away from the kiss Lucy lazily watched him lean over to throw away the used condom. She smiled as Freed adjusted to lie down next to her, and rolled onto her side to face him.
"Are you alright?" Freed asked softly, brushing her slightly damp hair behind her ear.
Lucy kissed him lightly and smiled, pulling some of his hair into her hand to play with. "I'll probably be a little sore in the morning, but I feel amazing right now," she said with a light giggle. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she giggled again.
Freed kissed her forehead, then pressed his against it. "Why are you giggling?" he asked with a smirk on his face.
"Because we've been together for a little over a month, and that was the first time you've called me anything besides my name," she said with her smile still on her face. Lucy moved closer to Freed and pulled the blankets back up over them, then kissed his chin.
Freed's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out if she was right. When she giggled yet again and rubbed her finger lightly between his eyebrows, he looked down at her.
"It's true, Freed. I never pictured you using a petname for me anyway, so it's not a big deal," she said sweetly. She thought for a moment, then said, "Well, you called me an angel twice, but I don't think that counts since you didn't realize it was me you were talking to."
Freed chuckled and shook his head. "Even if I didn't know it was you at the time, I believe I was right to call you that," he whispered. Freed turned off the light and wrapped his arm around Lucy's waist, lightly massaging her bare back and closing his eyes. "That's exactly what you are."
"Mmm," she hummed. "I can't really fight that… You only say what you mean." She yawned and cuddled closer to Freed, letting his steady heartbeat lull her to sleep.
Freed smiled and kissed her hair. Her breathing evened out quickly, and he spent a good long while just lying there holding her. She was an angel that saved me, he thought. She's saved me every day since she found me. He had always thought he was emotionless because he never let them get to him. The beautiful woman in his arms showed him that there was so much more to life than what he had thought. Lucy had opened his eyes to so much, and his heart swelled with love for her. Eventually, Freed's eyes started to droop and he felt sleep calling to him. Just as he was drifting off, he thought, I would do anything for you, Lucy.
"Freed, are you sure you're father's still planning on doing something?" Lucy asked softly while she brushed his hair. It had been six months since Lucy had found him in that monastery, and they hadn't heard or seen any sign of Freed's father coming after him since then. Six months of her and Freed living together peacefully—aside from either of them having nightmares and the occasional panic attack on Freed's part. He had opened up to her about all three weeks of his torture, and they had been able to go on their first date out in public just one week before their six month anniversary. She was pleased to find out that Freed looks amazing in jeans and a dress shirt.
Freed sighed and shrugged as he brushed his thumb over one of the scars on his wrist. He couldn't understand it. If his father wasn't planning on doing anything to get Freed to come back home, then why would he have been captured and tortured? It could have only been a plot to destroy Fairy Tail to begin with, and forcing Freed to come home was just a perk. If he had been killed in captivity, there was still Christophe to take over the business. Then again, Christophe had written that message saying that their father was sick, so maybe he had died and Christophe was going to leave them alone. If father died, wouldn't someone have told me?, Freed thought sadly. "I don't know, Lucy," he whispered.
Lucy frowned and put the brush down on the bed then pressed her chest to Freed's back while she kneeled behind him. She looked down to see him tracing his scars, a habit Freed had developed when he was thinking about his family. She reached down and brushed over the same scar, then lifted Freed's wrist to her mouth and kissed it gently. "Talk to me, sweetie."
Freed shook his head and sighed again. "It doesn't make sense," he whispered. "What is he waiting for?"
Lucy shrugged and said, "Who knows?" She sat back on her heels and picked up the hairbrush again. Lucy moved Freed's hair to one side and said, "You never told me about the scars on your shoulder blades."
One of the things Lucy had made him do to help move past what had happened was explain where each of his scars came from, and if there was any significance to them. There was a crescent-shaped wedge that had been taken from just above both of his hips that had something to do with one of the men wanting to try a new technique out. "Those two are specifically related to Fairy Tail," he whispered. Freed took a deep breath and said, "They said that I wasn't part of the guild anymore—that I wasn't a Fairy—so I didn't need to have wings. They cut out a large chunk of my skin where wings would have been to prove a point. They wanted me to feel disconnected from the guild in the hopes that I would start talking."
Just like Lucy had done with every other scar her told her about, she leaned forward and kissed the two large scars then rubbed her fingers across them until he wasn't tense. Freed refused to let anyone aside from his team see him without a shirt on because of his scars, and Lucy was determined to make him realize there was nothing wrong with them. Every time she touched a scar on him, she wanted Freed to realize that it was out of love and that he had nothing to be afraid of. "Well, they were wrong, Freed," Lucy said tenderly.
"How so?" he asked, turning around to face her. He kept his head lowered as he looked at his wrist.
She smiled at him and lifted his head so she could see his eyes. "They forgot that your wings can't be cut off. You'll just write new ones."
Freed fought the smile that wanted to spread across his face, and lost. He chuckled and shook his head. "You know just what to say to put a smile on my face," he said happily.
Lucy shrugged. "Not my fault you can fly any time you want," she said with a smirk. She squealed when Freed tackled her to the bed, and smiled into the kiss once his lips pressed against hers. Freed's hands ghosted up her sides, skimming lightly over her breasts before she smacked his hands away. "Uh-uh," she said between kisses, "You still have to… get ready… to go to the guild. Remember? It's… Christmas Eve."
Freed pulled back and dropped his head to Lucy's shoulder. "So close," he muttered.
Lucy giggled and shook her head. "Not even remotely, Freed. Besides, the team is gonna be here any minute to walk down with us." When Freed nodded sadly, Lucy said, "I'll make it up to you tonight. Remember that see-through lingerie Virgo gave me my first night here?"
Freed's head shot up and he stared at Lucy hungrily, causing her to blush and giggle.
She nodded at him and said, "You finally get to see it. Tonight after we get home. Think of it as an extra Christmas present." Lucy squealed again when Freed captured her lips in a heated kiss, then blushed when she heard the tell-tale popping sound of Freed's bedroom door opening.
"Ugh, Freed… Get off my sister," Laxus grumbled with a smile on his face. He burst out laughing when Lucy's hand shot up, with only her middle finger extended. Yep, definitely my sister, he thought as he walked out of the room.
Lucy sighed happily when Freed finally pulled away. He smiled down at her and said, "You gave him the finger again, didn't you?" He laughed when she grinned and nodded, then stood up and started to put on his shirt. He looked over at the beautiful blonde still lying on his bed once he was ready and walked over to help her up. Lucy smoothed down her hair and before she could ask how she looked, Freed whispered, "Beautiful, as always."
She would never get tired of hearing him say things like that. Lucy's heart melted every time he did it. Their fingers laced together and they walked down the stairs to see the rest of their team sitting on the couch. Smiling at them.
"Holy shit, Cosplayer has clothes that cover her body?!" Bickslow shouted with a grin. The blonde had come down the stairs wearing skin-tight black pants tucked into a pair of black boots that went halfway up her calf with light brown fur lining the edges, and a white turtleneck that hugged her in all the right places.
Lucy nodded with a smirk and said, "Sparky over there said I was going to freeze my tits off if I didn't wear more."
"Hey, I said if you didn't wear more during the winter!" Laxus shouted indignantly. He sat back and crossed his arms, then muttered, "Just don't want you getting sick…"
"Awwww, so sweet!" Evergreen crooned as she snapped a picture of a grumpy Laxus. It had been weird at first seeing Laxus treating Lucy like she really was his little sister, but when they saw how happy the two blondes were—smiling even when they argued over something as simple as what to watch on tv—it all seemed like it had always been that way. No one envied her either, since they didn't think they would be able to handle Laxus doting on them over little things. Evergreen smiled at the thought of Laxus finding someone that he could have that kind of relationship with, and it was absolutely adorable when he got embarrassed for caring. She turned back to Lucy and Freed, then pointed at the ceiling above them.
The couple looked up and sighed. Mistletoe. Lucy turned to Evergreen and raised an eyebrow. "Really, Ever?" Before Lucy could get much further, Freed spun her around and cupped her cheeks before pulling her into a soft kiss. There was the flash of Evergreen's camera, and then the kiss ended with Lucy blushing.
"Besides, Lulu," Evergreen started. "I didn't put that up there…"
"Then who did?" Lucy turned back to glare at the Fairy mage.
Evergreen pointed at Bickslow, but before Lucy could yell at him his hands flew into the air. "It wasn't really me… My babies put it up there!"
Lucy paused, then smiled. "Oh, why didn't you just say so?"
Everyone sweatdropped and Bickslow said, "That's all it took?"
Lucy nodded happily as they all grabbed their coats and walked outside. Lucy's was a dark red fur-lined coat that fit her perfectly, and bore a striking resemblance to the coat of a certain blond that had decided to give her an early Christmas present. As they made their way towards the guild Lucy put on her gloves, then laced her fingers with Freed's and hummed happily. She loved winter, and halfway there she squealed in delight as it started to snow.
"Oi! What the hell, Blondie?!" Laxus shouted, staring at her like she had lost her mind.
Freed chuckled as Lucy danced ahead of them and spun in happy circles. "She loves winter, Laxus. Her mother got sick just as spring started, so the last memories she has with her mother out having fun is in the snow."
Everyone looked at Lucy sadly for a moment. That is, until she tipped her head back and stuck out her tongue with her mouth hanging open. Their sadness instantly disappeared when she caught a snowflake and squealed again.
Lucy skipped back to the rest of her team and laid her head happily on Freed's shoulder. "This Christmas is gonna be perfect," she whispered.
"Why's that, Cosplayer?" Bickslow asked.
"Perfect boyfriend, perfect big brother, perfect team, perfect guild," Lucy chirped, pointing to Freed, then Laxus, then Evergreen and Bickslow, and finally to the guild itself.
Evergreen smiled warmly as they reached the guild doors. She pushed them open and the all watched Laxus turn a flying table into ashes with his lightning before striding over to Mira. Everyone headed over to their team's table and got settled while they waited for Mira to get their drinks.
Lucy smirked and stifled a moan as she lowered herself onto Freed, pushing his manhood slowly into her waiting heat. She stilled when he moved and grunted, and then slowly leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. "Freed," she whispered as she brushed his hair away from his face.
No response.
Lucy rolled her hips and heard him groan, but his eyes stayed closed. "Freed, wake up…" she purred as she kissed his neck.
Freed mumbled something unintelligible, still half in the dream he was having about Lucy spread out beneath him.
Lucy sat up and pulled him almost completely out of her, then slammed down and moaned loudly. She smirked when Freed's eyes shot open and he grunted. Lucy rolled her hips again and started to ride him, moaning when he immediately moved his hands to tease her nipples.
"Oh, Lucy," Freed groaned as she swirled her hips around once he was fully sheathed inside of her, his head falling back and his eyes closing at the new sensation. She leaned forward and he pulled a nipple greedily into his mouth, then grabbed her hips to help her keep moving. He circled his tongue slowly around the pink bud, then lightly closed his teeth on it causing Lucy to ride him harder. Freed grunted again when her walls started fluttering around him, and he rolled so that Lucy was lying on the bed.
Lucy gasped once her back was pressed against the bed. Freed instantly took over and never paused, kissing across her chest to lave his tongue over her other nipple while he plunged into her soaking depths. Her hands moved across his chest, feeling every muscle that bunched up and loosened as he picked up speed. She was already screaming his name, her fingers digging into his shoulders as her climax approached.
Freed trailed kisses up Lucy's chest and his mouth shot to hers, his tongue instantly diving inside to glide along hers. His hands skimmed down her body, and he marveled at the shiver than coursed through her at just that simple touch. He lifted one of her legs and threw it over his shoulder, angling himself slightly before pounding into her again and again.
Lucy's mouth ripped away from his when he changed the angle, her whole body beginning to quake in anticipation of the orgasm that was coming at her full-speed. Freed never slowed down, his mouth moving to nibble on the vein in her neck while groans spilled from him. "That's it… Oh God… Right there, Freed!"
She was driving him absolutely mad with the noises she made. He felt every small movement, every shuddering breath, and every tightening of her sex when he gave her what she wanted. His breath hitched when Lucy arched her back and changed the way he pounded into her. It tightened his whole body up in one stroke, and her walls fluttered around him in anticipation at the same time. "Tell me what you want, baby," he rasped, his tongue sliding down her throat until he nipped at her collar bone.
"Freed… Ngh… M-More…" Lucy moaned. Her eyes widened when his hand shot between them and his thumb roughly circled around her clit. Her eyes rolled back and her back arched again, trying to meet his powerful thrusts. She was so close to her orgasm it was almost painful, and she could tell Freed was right there with her. Still, he slammed into her, his free hand wrapping under her lower back in an almost bruising grip.
Freed felt Lucy's body go rigid, and smirked as he used a small amount of magic to speed up even more and finally threw them both over the edge, the other's name on their lips. Freed tried to catch his breath while he carefully withdrew from Lucy's sex and threw away the condom. Once he was lying next to her again, his lips closed over hers and his hand smoothed up her back to rest gently on her neck. "Good morning to you too, Lucy," Freed whispered once their lips parted.
Lucy blushed and giggled before saying, "Good morning, Freed. Merry Christmas." She curled up next to him and sighed happily before the clock on the nightstand caught her eye. Lucy sat up on her elbow and gasped. "Freed, it's almost 7:00! We're supposed to meet everyone at the guild for presents in an hour!"
Freed chuckled and nodded, but pulled Lucy tightly against him when she tried to get out of the bed. "Relax, we've got plenty of time," he whispered, nuzzling his nose into her hair. He laughed when Lucy started to get restless after a few minutes and whispered, "Go ahead and get the shower started. I'll be there in a minute."
Lucy grinned and gave Freed a quick peck on the cheek before jumping out of the bed and skipping into the bathroom. She turned on the water to the shower, and while it warmed up brushed her hair and teeth, then took off her eye patch.
Freed watched Lucy with a smile on his face. Once the door to the bathroom was closed, and the shower was running, Freed stood up and walked over to the dresser. He traced a finger over the frames of each of the three pictures there: the day the Raijinshuu was officially formed in a basic black frame, the newest Raijinshuu team picture in a matching black frame, and his first picture with Lucy while they were playing the piano in a silver filigreed frame. He heard a soft hum of delight from the bathroom and knew that Lucy had finally gotten under the spray of the shower. Freed opened the top drawer and pushed past his socks to pull out the small jewelry box. Tonight, he thought happily when he opened it to reveal the gold ring nestled in the plush red velvet.
"Freed?" Lucy called from the shower while she shampooed her hair. "Did you fall asleep again?" She giggled at the thought. Freed had a tendency to sleep in whenever he got the chance. It had been a surprise to her at first, since he was so strict about getting things done by a certain time, but she quickly realized that she was the reason he wanted to sleep in when his excuse every morning was that he was 'too comfy' to move.
Freed closed the ring box and put it in the back of the drawer, nestled underneath his socks once more. He took a deep breath and opened the door to the bathroom. "I'm awake, Lucy," he said with a chuckle as he stepped into the shower. "You made sure of that."
Lucy was grinning from ear to ear as they made their way to the guild. She had asked Virgo to deliver all of the presents she and Freed had gotten for everyone to the guild after she got out of the shower, and felt the small pulse when Virgo returned to the Spirit World letting her know that it was finished.
"You seem very excited," Freed said, stealing a glance at the woman next to him.
Lucy nodded and said, "I can't wait for you to open your present!" She stopped dead in her tracks a moment later, her body going tense and shifting immediately into a fighting stance. "Freed, take off your gloves," she whispered. "Something's wrong." She tore off her gloves and put one hand in her pocket to wrap her fingers around her keys. I can never feel them as well with gloves on…
Freed did as she said, quickly tucking his gloves into a pocket of his jacket and placing a hand on his sword as he looked around.
"It seems we have been detected," a deep voice said solemnly from behind the pair.
Lucy and Freed whirled around to see a tall, lanky man with piercing blue eyes and platinum blonde that was braided, the woven strands hanging loosely over his shoulder and down to his hips. He wore clothing similar to Freed, except it was all black with small golden accents.
"No fun," another voice piped in with a pout. The owner of the second voice slowly stepped out from behind the man and she giggled with a wicked grin. She was young, looking like she could be Wendy's age, with bright pink hair in a pixie cut, and a black fringe of bangs reaching down to cover her eyebrows. She had a baby pink pea-coat that hung down to her knees, light green eyes that shone with innocent mischief, and rosy cheeks. Her legs were covered in a pair of dark jeans and she had a pair of dark brown boots than covered just up to her ankles. She definitely looked like a child, and could easily have been considered sweet and innocent if it wasn't for the look on her face. The one that promised tons of misery for whoever she faced.
"It's alright, Eden," the blond man said with a smirk. "We're just here to pick up our package, then we can go."
Eden turned and pouted at the man. "Aw, c'mon Ren! I just wanna have some fun!" She glanced at the two mages in front of them and said, "I wanna know how she got through my runes!"
Lucy kept her face blank, tensing in response to Eden's words. She's the one that made the prison Freed was in. Lucy's keys vibrated against her hand, letting her know that they were watching and ready to come out. Even Aquarius was offering her support.
"I'm surprised, Freed," Ren said, his smirk still dancing across his face and his brown eyes looking up and down Lucy's body. "How did you manage to get such a hottie? Even with that eye patch and scar, she's still good enough for a night."
"What do you want?" Freed asked, his mask firmly in place. He wasn't going to waste time answering silly questions, though his blood had begun to boil when Ren brought up bedding Lucy.
"We were sent to pick you up and bring you back to your daddy," Eden sneered. "Little rich boy didn't like have everything handed to him, huh?"
"Eden, that's enough." Ren held up his hand and glared at the young girl, then turned back to face Freed and Lucy with a small smile. "As my companion has said, we are here to escort you back to your father's estate. It would be wise to come quietly. We have been ordered to leave your…" He glanced a Lucy, a slight look of disgust crossing his face before he masked it, "Mistress… unharmed as long as you comply."
"And if he doesn't?" Lucy spat. How dare he look at me that way!
Eden giggled, "If he doesn't, then we'll kill you and make him watch!"
Lucy looked at the girl for a moment, anger filling her. Freed had been through enough at the hands of his father, she wasn't going to let them take him without a fight. Pain, she thought and smirked internally as Eden fell to the ground screaming.
Freed shot forward, pulling his sword from its sheathe and swiping it at Ren's chest. The attack was blocked by a bright pink runic barrier, and he flew back as his attack was reflected.
Eden was writhing on the ground in extreme pain, but she forced herself to get back up and blocked out the pain that was radiating through her.
Fear, Lucy thought as she tilted her head to the side, her fist going up to her chest in mock concern while she kept the Pain spell in place and added Fear on top of it. Eden dropped to the ground again, her screams completely different than before. She tore at her face and arms, ripped out her hair while she was filled with horrifying images that could literally scare her to death if Lucy kept the spell going long enough. She had added training with Freed's magic to her daily routine, and had quickly discovered that she didn't have to say the spell out loud. Since it was so similar to summoning her spirits, she tried to use the same principle to cast the spells, and it worked. Lucy's eyebrows pushed together in concern and she softly asked Ren, "Is she alright?"
Freed smirked internally when he saw what Lucy was doing. She had taken her training very seriously when it came to using his magic, but he was still able to recognize which spells she used based on the screams of their enemy. Pain and Fear, that's my Lucy. He tried to figure out what the rules for Ren's runic barrier were, keeping a defensive stance in case he needed it.
"Interesting," Ren said with a smirk, his eyes glancing off to just behind the blonde in front of him.
Lucy saw Ren's eyes flicker briefly behind her, and she instantly reacted. Leo, Lucy called out as she touched the Zodiac Leader's key. A bright flash of gold appeared behind her and she heard Leo grunt in exertion as he blocked an attack that was aimed for her. "Thank you, Leo," Lucy said as she kept her eyes trained on the two in front of them.
"Anything for my Princess," Leo called back before turning his full attention on the woman in front of him. Requip? Seriously, this is just sad… He watched in amusement as a light appeared around the woman's hand, slowly fading until a katana was revealed.
"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Ren sighed. He looked over at the almost defeated form of the Requip mage they had brought with them. "Looks like Yuki is done for… And I had such high hopes for her…" Just as he finished talking, there was a pained cry that could just barely be heard over Eden's screams, and Yuki fell to the ground unconscious.
Lucy had to let the spells on Eden go before she killed the girl. Sighing internally that it hadn't seemed to affect Ren in the slightest, she cut off the magic and watched Eden twitch and whimper on the ground. "She doesn't look so good," Lucy whispered innocently. She looked over at Ren and silently cast Pain. And nothing happened.
Ren smirked at the blonde. "So it was you all along little girl. I guess we'll have to change that." Before either mage could react, thick iron shackles shot from the ground and locked around Lucy's wrists, pulling them away from her body, then forcing her down to her knees on the ground.
Freed realized just as Lucy was chained up what the runes were. Her spell hadn't gone through them, and neither had his attack. It was a reflection barrier similar to his own, but it also had anti-magic runes mixed in so that only Ren's magic would be allowed inside of it.
A shock of electricity ran through Lucy, and she felt her magic instantly cut off. Leo shouted out, trying to get to her, and then disappeared. The hum of her keys had stopped, and even her eye patch had stopped working. She lost her depth perception as the eye patch became completely opaque in front of her left eye, and noticed that the acuity of her vision had greatly decreased. Another stronger jolt, strong enough to match Laxus' lightning, coursed through her and she screamed out in pain.
"Leave her alone!" Freed shouted, standing protectively in front of Lucy and facing off against Ren. They were only a couple of blocks from the guild, the boisterous laughter of their guildmates during their Christmas celebration filtering down the empty streets. Surely someone else will come by and distract him long enough for me to get her away from here, Freed thought with the last shreds of his hope.
"Come with us and she goes free," Ren said simply, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "You don't want her to get hurt, do you?" Just as he asked the question, Ren shot a stronger burst of magic through the shackles, wracking the blonde woman's body with violent tremors and ripping another scream from her throat.
Once the pain stopped, and Lucy could breathe again, she said, "Don't worry about me, Freed. Go to the guild. Tell them what's—"
Her voice was cut off by another scream. Ren eyed the blonde that Freed stood in front of, slightly impressed that she had been able to withstand two shocks from him even after he cut off her magic. She should already be unconscious… She was panting, tears staining her cheeks, and her body still shaking in the aftermath of those shocks, but she was still upright on her knees and defiantly glaring at him.
Freed couldn't take it anymore. Lucy's screams—a sound he never wanted to hear—echoed in his mind, and the darkness inside of him that had come to treasure her just as deeply as he had filled him. Freed felt his magic flowing and before he could even say the incantation, his body shifted into his Darkness form. He lunged at Ren, punching the runic barrier as hard as he could and ignoring the wounds that were reflected on him. Freed growled low in his throat, circling around and finding the weak point in the runes. One hit was all it took to break the barrier, and he reached out and grabbed Ren by the throat, then pulled his hand back to use his Flare Bomb and knock the man out.
"I'd stop if I were you," Eden rasped. She smirked and held a knife to Lucy's throat, pressing into the flesh enough for the skin to break and a fresh line of blood travel down her neck. "I'll kill her right now, Freed."
Freed stopped and his eyes widened when he saw Lucy. Tears were still running down her face, sadness and guilt wafting off of her. What caught his attention the most was the blade that was pressing against her fair skin, and the blood that dripped down. "Don't…" he growled, his grip on Ren's throat tightening.
Ren smirked. Good girl, Eden. He used Freed's distraction to palm the small syringe in his pocket.
"Shift back and come with us," Eden said coolly. "I won't tell you again."
"Don't listen to them, Freed!" Lucy shouted, seeing the doubt in his eyes. "Go to the guild! Please! Just don't worry about me!"
Freed dropped Ren to the ground and walked over to Lucy, then knelt in front of her as he shifted back. "I can't let you get hurt. I swore I wouldn't…" he whispered. Before he could decide what to do, he felt a pinprick in the back of his neck, and exhaustion swept through him.
"Freed!" Lucy shouted, lunging forward and wincing when the blade against her throat pressed more tightly to her. "Let me go!"
Ren smirked as Freed fell to his hands and knees. "He'll be out soon, Eden. Let the girl go," he said as he walked over to Yuki's prone form. She was just starting to stir, but he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder before returning to the trio on the ground.
"C'mon, Ren. Just let me finish her off!" Eden pouted.
"Orders are orders," he said sternly. "We're taking him with us. She goes free."
"Lucy," Freed whispered through the fog that surrounded him. "I'm sorry…"
Lucy felt Eden pull the blade away with a huff, then lunged forward again and rested her head on Freed's shoulder. "It's okay, sweetie," she whispered back, kissing his cheek. "I love you."
"I… love you…" he whispered just as darkness filled his vision. He breathed in her vanilla and strawberry scent one more time before the exhaustion and darkness overpowered him. Then, he fell to the ground.
Lucy looked at Freed for a moment, then dropped her own head in defeat. She knew that Ren and Eden weren't close enough to hear her, but she didn't want to take any chances. Lucy sobbed openly and kissed Freed's hair just before he was pulled away from her. She watched as Ren dragged him across the ground, and Eden activated a mass teleportation rune that surrounded them.
"Don't come after him," Ren said, glancing briefly at Eden. "You won't be able to make it out of Magnolia if you try." Then they were gone.
Lucy screamed into the heavens as Freed disappeared, sobbing until she couldn't any longer. After half an hour, the shackles disappeared and she curled up in a ball while her magic returned to her. She was cold and alone again. I have to get him back, she thought. But… how? Lucy opened her eyes and saw fresh snow falling to the ground, then a faint glimmer of light caught her eye. Carefully, she sat up and crawled towards it, noting how much snow had actually fallen while she had been crying. She put her gloves on quickly to try and return some warmth to her body, and then cleared the snow away from the object that caught her attention. Her tears started anew when she uncovered the Fairy Tail symbol on the hilt of Freed's sword.
Freed, Lucy thought sadly as she pulled the sword close to her. She had to get to the guild and tell them what happened. They would know what to do. Lucy stood to her feet slowly, her whole body aching from the jolts of electricity that had shot through her before. She walked the last two blocks to the guild alone. She was alone again. Freed was gone, and it was her fault. Her sadness leaked away from her, followed by her guilt and everything else she felt until she was completely empty. She was completely numb from the inside out, only feeling Freed's sword in her hand and the vibration of her keys as they tried to console her. She didn't have enough magic for any of them to open their gates yet, and she didn't want any of them with her right then as it was.
Laxus looked over at the door to the guildhall when it quietly opened, a fresh flurry of snow flying inside just as Lucy walked in. He frowned when he realized Freed wasn't with her, and stood up to walk over to the blonde and find out where the guy was. They know it's still not safe for them to be alone, he though as he started to move through the crowd. Something was wrong, he could feel it.
Lucy heard the happy cheers of everyone in the guild when she walked in, but her eyes stayed on the floor. She had to find Makarov and her team. She needed to tell them what happened, then find a way to bring Freed back. It was the only way to fill the emptiness inside of her.
"Hey, Luce!" Natsu shouted happily as he ran up to his friend. "Where have you been? We were waiting for you guys!"
Lucy felt a presence rushing up to her and quickly slashed at it with Freed's sword. She didn't want to see anyone but her team. She didn't care who it was, because she knew it wasn't anyone that she needed right then. All she needed was Freed, and he was gone. She was alone. Empty and alone.
Natsu jumped back and winced at the small gash that ran across his stomach. "What the hell, Luce!" he screamed. Why'd she hit me with Freed's sword? Where is that guy anyway? He moved to grab her again, but pulled his hand back just as she swung the sword once more. Her eyes never left the floor, but he could smell her tears. "Luce?" Natsu whispered, concern lacing his voice.
Laxus' eyes widened when Lucy attacked Natsu. It wasn't the attack itself as much as the fact that she had Freed's sword in her hand. Then she attacked him a second time without so much as looking at him. Something happened… Lucy… He pushed more forcefully past everyone, his body crackling with lightning to get them to move, and rushed over to Lucy. He paused just out of reach of the sword, looking around at everyone in the guild and silently telling them to stay away. Carefully, Laxus took a step forward, letting his magic flow back into him to make himself as unintimidating as possible. Lucy tensed, her grip on Freed's sword tightening as she prepared to lash out at him, and Laxus froze.
"What happened to Luce?" Natsu asked softly. A new scent hit his nose, one he would never forget. Lucy's blood. She was bleeding somewhere, but it wasn't enough to make him rush at her. Natsu looked at Laxus and said, "She's been crying… and bleeding, Laxus."
Laxus sniffed the air, and couldn't believe he missed it. Tears and blood. Freed's scent was all over her as usual, but it was faint—too faint for how long it should have taken them to get from his house to the guild. He took another pull of the air, focusing only on Lucy's emotions, and didn't smell a thing. There was no sadness or guilt or even happiness. It was all gone. Suddenly, he didn't care what anyone else in the guild thought of him or how strong he was. Everyone knew that Lucy was like a sister to him, but he made sure to keep a little distance and not joke around as much when they were here. Lucy needs me, Laxus thought as he took another step forward and said, "Little sis?"
Lucy heard his voice. The deep rumbling voice of her big brother, Laxus. Her head slowly rose to meet his gaze and she took a deep breath. She needed to be strong. Freed needed her to be strong so they could find a way to save him. Lucy felt a small pang of sadness inside of her at the look on Laxus' face, but it drifted away as quickly as it came. Emotions are a weakness, she told herself. I can't be weak. "Laxus," she said softly, her voice oddly monotone.
Laxus took another step forward, and when she didn't move but just stared at him, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Lucy tensed, and he pulled away to look at her. "Lucy, what happened?" he asked as he searched her eyes for any clues. He didn't see anything. The light that always sat in her had dulled completely. It was as if an empty husk that looked like his little Blondie was standing in front of him.
"They took him," she said flatly. "We were walking here from home, and they took him." Lucy knew that she should have felt anger or sadness over what happened, but it never came.
"We need to talk to Master. They could still come back for you," Laxus said softly, turning to lead her to Makarov's office.
"No," Lucy whispered. She pulled Laxus' hand and he instantly stopped to look at her. "They said if he went with them, I would be set free."
"Whaddya mean 'set free', Luce?" Natsu asked loudly.
Lucy turned to look at Natsu, and saw the shock in his eyes. "I mean… I was shackled to the ground with no magic, getting electrocuted in the middle of the street. Freed tried to save me instead of coming here to get help. Eden put a knife to my throat when Freed was choking Ren, and then Freed dropped him and came back to me. He knelt down in front of me, and Ren came up behind him and stuck a needle in his neck to knock him out. They left with Freed and their companion Yuki using Eden's teleportation runes."
Evergreen gasped, tears filling her eyes as she heard Lucy's explanation of what happened. The blonde's voice was devoid of all emotion, as if there wasn't anything she was capable of feeling any longer. "We have to go get him!" she shouted, rushing forward to stand in front of Lucy.
"We can't," Lucy replied simply. "There's no way for us to leave Magnolia to go search for him. Eden put up runes around the city."
"They told you that?" Laxus asked.
"No, it was in Ren's tone when he said it, and he glanced at her. She used runes to protect him but not herself, and he was clearly the superior," Lucy answered. She looked down at Freed's sword in her hand and lightly touched the Fairy Tail emblem. "It took thirty minutes for the shackles to disappear once they were gone. I was lying in the snow for a while until I saw his sword."
"Luce, shouldn't you be more upset by this? I mean, Freed's your boyfriend!" Natsu shouted. He couldn't understand what was wrong with her. Lucy wore her heart on her sleeve, and let everyone see just what she was feeling. Now he couldn't even smell her emotions, and it was as if they didn't exist at all.
"Natsu," Evergreen whispered harshly. "Not the time."
Lucy slowly raised her head to look at Natsu blankly. "What good will being emotional do, Natsu?" she whispered. "Emotions are a weakness. If Freed didn't love me, he would have been able to leave and get help. Instead, he stayed and tried to save me. And now… He's gone." Lucy's gaze went back to the ground as she continued. "There's no point in feeling anything, Natsu. He was the only one that understood everything about me, loved me no matter what. I've cried enough for a lifetime. Now, I'm just empty."
"Luce…" Natsu whispered sadly. His eyes filling with tears as he watched her walk away towards Makarov on the bar.
"I was too weak to save him from being taken," she said softly. "I won't be too weak to get him back." She looked at Makarov once she was in front of him, and carefully placed Freed's sword in his hands. "Master, I failed you, the guild, and Freed. As soon as I figure out how to get him back, I'll let you know what my plan is. If you don't agree with it, I'll do it anyway. With or without your support, I'll bring him home."
Just before Lucy's hands left the sword, Makarov placed his gently over hers. "Child, emotions are not a weakness. You of all people know how strong they can be."
"You're wrong this time, Master," Lucy said. "I don't have them anymore. Not without him." She pulled her hands from the sword and turned to walk out the door. She was going to pour through every book in Freed's library, the guild library, anything she could find, until she found a way to get to him. "I'll be at home, Laxus," she said as she walked past him. She knew he would worry about her, the whole guild was probably feeling that way, but she didn't care. She told Laxus where she would be so he knew where to find her. Lucy pushed the doors to the guild open and felt the wind and snow barrel into her, but there was no change in temperature from how she felt inside.
They all watched in silence as the guild's light disappeared. Bickslow walked up behind Laxus and placed a hand on his shoulder. When Laxus turned to face him, devastation written across his face and tears welling in his eyes, Bickslow said, "She's right, man. I saw it from the beginning, but I didn't want to say anything."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Laxus whispered, none of the fire that was usually present in his voice making it past the choked sob he let out at the end.
Bickslow sighed and took off his helmet to run a hand through his hair. "She can't feel anything without him. Her soul's probably the brightest I've ever seen in my life, and she made Freed's brighter when they got together. Now…" Bickslow sighed again, his lips turning down as he looked at the door. "Now she's just… empty."
"How's that even possible?" Evergreen asked as she put her coat back on. She was going to stay with Lucy and help any way she could. The girl needed someone on her side.
"Her soul's there, but it's only an outline," Bickslow explained as he put his helmet back on and grabbed his coat. "The rest of it is missing, like it never existed. She's got just enough to exist and have magic, but that's it. Everything that was who Lucy is has vanished…"
"So, if we get Freed back…" Evergreen said softly as the Raijinshuu made their way to the doors, ignoring everyone else inside.
"When we get Freed back," Bickslow corrected, "She'll be back to normal again. It might take a little bit, but he'll bring back what's missing."
"We're gonna get him back, little sis," Laxus whispered to the sky as they walked toward Freed and Lucy's house. "I promise."
