Nunnally Wallace: The Plant Mage of Fairy Tail

Chapter 10: A Strange Night Out (Part 02)

After Nunnally and Laxus scared off the two grave robbers, they headed back to the guild. On the way back, however, Nunnally couldn't help but stare at him.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Nunnally said out of concern. Laxus had been trying to get a kink out of his neck for what seemed like hours. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been like that since the start of their mission but hadn't said anything to not worry her.

Still trying to get rid of the kink, Laxus spoke. "It's just a bit of stress. But do you mind if we stop by a pub? I need a drink." He looked at her a bit embarrassed, but he really felt like he needed something to drink.

The sun was about to set, and it would still be a while until they reached Magnolia. Nunnally looked unsure about going to a bar since they were so far from Magnolia, but she ultimately complied.

"S-Sure..."

When the two arrived in a small town, they headed towards the nearest tavern. Upon entering, Laxus made his way towards the bar counter and ordered for himself. Nunnally lagged a bit behind him but slowly sat down next to him as she shyly looked down at her hands, unsure of what to do.

As soon the bartender served Laxus, he immediately began drinking. The alcohol did help to get rid of some of his stress, but that didn't last for long when he noticed how quiet Nunnally was.

"What's wrong?" He asked, oblivious to what was bothering her. "Do you want to order something?"

Nunnally fidgeted in her seat a bit as she answered nervously. "Um... it's just that I'm not sure of what to do." She shyly glanced at Laxus. "I-I've never had alcohol before."

This caught Laxus completely off guard. So much so, that his face didn't hide his shock at all. He figured that since the legal drinking age was 15, Nunnally would have at least tried some by now. He then remembered all the times she drank tea. 'Damn, this suddenly got uncomfortable. I better say something.' Laxus suddenly cleared his throat as he tried to act cool. "Really? Well you don't have to force yourself. I'm fine drinking alone." He finished as he got back to drinking.

Nunnally was taken aback by this and tried to say something. "U-Um, Laxus?"

"Yeah?" Laxus said confused.

"I..." She trailed off embarrassed before saying what was on her mind. "Since I'm here, do you think I could have something to drink? I want to try some." Nunnally actually had no interest in alcohol, but seeing as how Laxus liked it, she wanted to try it as well. What she wanted was to feel closer to him, and sharing a drink together made it seem like that could happen.

Laxus looked unsure about it since he didn't want to force her, but Nunnally insisted.

"Alright..." Laxus sighed. "Hey!" He called to the bartender. "Give her the weakest thing you have." Laxus didn't want to feel like he pushed her into drinking, so he made sure to order something anyone could handle.

The bartender stayed silent as he polished a glass, but immediately began preparing a drink for Nunnally.

Not a moment later, Nunnally had a small glass of pale, red liquid right in front of her. She seemed a bit hesitant as she reached for it, but grabbed the drink with both hands.

With the glass in her hands, Nunnally stared at it nervously as Laxus chugged his own drink. She then preceded to take a small, hesitant sip.

Just a few minutes later, Laxus, who quietly drank, noticed Nunnally staring off into space. "Hey, you alright?" He asked worried.

Nunnally, however, didn't say a word. She simply sat dazed.

This threw Laxus off guard. He didn't know why she was so quiet, and right when he was about to grab her shoulder to get her attention, Nunnally looked at him and smiled happily.

"Alcohol is pretty good, Laxus!" Nunnally drunkenly exclaimed.

"Huh!?" Laxus exclaimed in surprise. Just as he was about to again ask is she was okay, Nunnally clung to him affectionately to even more of his surprise.

"Hey!" He yelled at the bartender angrily while trying to fend off Nunnally's hug. "I thought you gave her the weakest drink you had!"

The bartender then coolly chuckled. "Kid, what I gave her was mostly juice—hardly any alcohol.

"Then why the hell is she acting like this!?" He continued to yell as he tried to keep Nunnally under control.

Amused by Laxus' panicked face the bartender explained. "It's pretty obvious that your girlfriend's a lightweight, kid. I think you two better stay at an inn for the night. You aren't going be able to go anywhere with her like that."

Laxus grew flustered at the word 'girlfriend'. "Wait a minute! She's not my... I mean we're not..." For some reason, Laxus just couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. Instead, he hung his head, somehow feeling defeated.

"Save it, kid." The bartender smiled coolly. "Just make sure your girl sobers up."

Still hugging Laxus, Nunnally affectionately spoke. "Laxus, I want a piggy back ride!"

"What?!" Laxus said with even more panic. "NO! No, I will not-"

In the end, Laxus ended up carrying Nunnally to the inn on his back. "Geez... why the hell do I have to do this?" Laxus whispered to himself with both embarrassment and irritation as he felt nearby pedestrians talk about them. 'I like it better when she's sober. At least then she doesn't make me do weird stuff like this.'

"Laxus, you're so tall! I can see everything!" Nunnally practically shouted as she poked his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah..." He sighed as his tired face grew a bit red. 'Dammit! Sober or not, she's still cute!' Laxus thought as he tried to keep his own emotions under control.

"Hehe, let's sing, Laxus!" Nunnally happily cheered.

"Yeah..." He said in monotonous manner. 'Crap, now she's going to sing...'

In Nunnally's elated state, she began singing in a sweet gentle voice. " Am I a flower? "

'A kid's song?' He thought before speaking. "Yeah, you're as pretty as a flower." Laxus quietly said uncomfortable despite him actually thinking it.

" A butterfly or demon? "

"Yeah, you're like a butterfly to-" Laxus stopped himself before realizing what the second thing Nunnally said was as she continued.

" How could I stay calm with the world in disarray? "

Laxus didn't say anything more in order to listen to the surprisingly dark lyrics. He had never heard the song and originally thought that she was singing a children's song, but that didn't seem to be the case.

" What I wield is not rouge, but, instead, a sharp blade.

Would you be so kind as to give me praise? "

Instead of continuing, Nunnally began humming before she got distracted by the flowers of a passing flower shop. "Those flowers are so pretty!"

While Nunnally was still going on about the flowers, Laxus couldn't help but wonder about those lyrics. 'Not a song I've heard. What the heck was that?' Laxus solemnly thought as he glanced back at Nunnally who was smiling cheerfully.

It wasn't much longer until they reached the inn. Laxus made sure that the two of them had separate rooms so that Nunnally wouldn't feel uncomfortable when she sobered up.

After Laxus finished showering and got dressed, he sat relaxed as he sat on the edge of his room's bed. "That really freaked me out. It was just one little sip..." He sighed thinking of how easily Nunnally got drunk. Just as he said that, there was a knock at the door. "Huh?" He said getting up. "Who the hell would be knocking at this hour?"

"Yeah?" Laxus answered only to be surprised by Nunnally.

"Laxus!" Nunnally cheered as she tackled him into a hug.

"The hell?!" Laxus couldn't hide the surprise on his face. "You're still drunk?!"

"So this is where you were hiding!" Nunnally pouted at bit. "You're so mean, Laxus! I couldn't find you anywhere!"

Laxus sighed. "I wasn't hiding. Now you know I'm right next door, so go back to your own room." He said as he turned Nunnally around and tried to gently push her out of the room by the shoulders.

As he did that, Nunnally looked back at him with tears in her eyes. "You're kicking me out? But I want to stay here..."

Laxus froze up as he blushed. He didn't think it was possible, but Nunnally's cuteness factor rose exponentially. "You can stay..." He trailed off defeated.

Upon hearing that, Nunnally immediately returned to embracing him before backing away with a blank face.

Laxus was a bit relieved that Nunnally let go of him since it was more than he could handle for one day but wondered why she did so suddenly. "What's wrong?"

Nunnally then began fanning herself with her hand. "It's hot in here..."

Just as Laxus was about to ask her if that was all, Nunnally began unknotting the ribbon around the collar of her dress and slipping off her skirt's suspenders, much to Laxus' surprise.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Laxus subconsciously yelled as he tried to keep her from stripping any further.

"Huh?" Nunnally exclaimed confused. "But I'm hot..."

This caused Laxus to yell even louder. "That doesn't mean you should take off your clothes here! Go back to your own room if you want to do that!"

"But I want to be here with you..." Nunnally said with a sad look on her face. The alcohol allowed her true feelings to seep through. Lately, she had unknowingly been sharing Laxus' feelings. All Nunnally had been wanting is to be by Laxus' side. Although it was obvious to the older guild members of their feelings for each other, if it was not said in words, neither Nunnally nor Laxus would be able to get their message across.

Nunnally's words made Laxus' heart race. He wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but just as he opened his mouth, Nunnally drunkenly smiled once more before closing in on him. "Since it's hot in here, I'll take off your clothes instead!" Nunnally happily said as she began unbuttoning Laxus' dress shirt.

"What the hell kind of logic is that?!" Laxus yelled frustrated.

Nunnally continued smiling as she explained. "I figured since I'm hot, you must be too."

As Nunnally stripped him, Laxus immediately tried to stop her without hurting her. "That doesn't…. really…. explain…. why you're taking off… my clothes." He struggled to say as he tried to smile.

Laxus' efforts to get Nunnally to stop stripping him seemed to have worked as she backed away a bit sad, although leaving part of his chest exposed. But just when Laxus sighed in relief, he noticed Nunnally close in on him once more. "H-Hey, what are doing?" Laxus nervously said as he backed away.

Laxus backed up to the bed, but still continued until he reached the headboard. "I just want a hug! ~ " Nunnally affectionately said as she crawled her way to him.

The moment Nunnally reached him, she tackled him into a hug as Laxus tried to gently fend her off. "Get a hold of yourself Nunnally! You're drunk!" Laxus growled in between his efforts to get her off. Every attempt however was futile as she clung to Laxus every chance she got.

The battle soon came to an end when Laxus gave in, and Nunnally happily laid asleep atop a weary and frustrated Laxus. "DAMN YOU ALCOHOL! I'M NEVER LETTING HER DRINK EVER AGAIN!" He quietly yelled with bloodshot eyes as he tried not to wake Nunnally up.

"Laxus…" Nunnally purred in her sleep.

The next morning, Nunnally awoke ashamed and embarrassed for last night's events. "I am so sorry!" Nunnally bowed as she begged for forgiveness. She couldn't quite remember the things she said, but some very vivid images played in her head.

Laxus tried to tell her she didn't need to do that, but Nunnally still kept apologizing even on the way back to Magnolia.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault." Laxus dully said with a tired expression. What Laxus wanted was to relieve some stress with a drink. He didn't think that would backfire on him by making him more stressed out than before. 'I'm definitely not going to be drinking for a while.' He quietly thought to himself, feeling defeated. "Just keep in mind that I'm not letting you drink ever again."

"Yes… I am very sorry, Laxus." Nunnally kept repeating, and kept doing so until...

"Nunnally! Good timing!" Master Makarov called out to her as they walked into the guild hall. "You've been requested for a job."

Master Makarov's words surprised both Nunnally and Laxus as they wondered who would request her, unaware of the events that would soon unfold.

To Be Continued...

In the Next Arc...

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you all for reading this long. You guys have been great, and I promise that the next chapter leads to major story development. We're finally going to be delving in deeper into Nunnally's past. I will be writing about it in small portions (about a chapter length) that I introduce every once in a while as relevant information to the current situation, but they will be solely focused on her.

Now to talk about the lyrics I referenced.

Am I a flower? A butterfly or demon?

How could I stay calm with the world in disarray?

What I wield is not rouge, but, instead, a sharp blade.

Would you be so kind as to give me praise?

Those words were taken from the English translation of the song, "Benibana no Otome Uta" from the anime "Otome Yōkai Zakuro" (It's a great anime, I recommend you guys watch it for those who like romance genres). I tried to revise parts of the lyrics to fit the melody while keeping the original meaning. Which brings up how surprised I was when I found how eerily relevant this song was to Nunnally. For a long time (over a year) I have had several things in mind when it came to Nunnally's past (which I cannot reveal in order to keep the surprise), but it was so similar, it frightened even me because I had never heard this song until about a month ago.

The song itself may not be everyone's favorite, but it is good, so I recommend you listen to it. I will leave a link to the song, original translated lyrics and my revised lyrics. If you guys think I can improve on it, please feel free to message me.

Song: watch?v=dxDwo1LkDYM

Original Lyrics: 2013/11...

Revised Lyrics: 28636267/journal

See you next time!