Okay, here's another update. The conclusion on Elfman and Evergreen's story.

And all the editing credits goes to my beta reader, nalufever!

Just read and enjoy!

Miyuu

V - Flowers for My Man (Part 3)

A traffic police officer was in one of Magnolia's intersections. He was leaning on his big motorbike while his eyes observed the traffic on the road. It was his break time, a cup of coffee in one of his hands. A police car stopped in front of the him and that car's window rolled down to show two other officers inside the car.

"Yo Elfman!"

"Taking a break?"

"Bickslow and Freed," Elfman greeted the two cops. He gulped down the rest of his cold coffee and threw the cup in the nearest garbage bin. "What're you doing?"

"We're on break too," said Freed from the driver's seat. "Just passing this road and when we saw you, decided to stop."

"Got a minute to chat?" asked Bickslow.

"Sure."

Bickslow exited the car and then Freed pulled it ahead and parked it out of the way of traffic before joining his friends. "Where's Ever?"

"That's the first thing you ask us, huh?" teased Bickslow, wiggling one of his brows.

"Just asking. It's manly to be straight forward."

"Ha-ha," Bickslow gave a dry laugh. "You're missing Ever, aren't you?"

"Ever had something to do and went off first thing at break. We don't know where she went," answered Freed.

"...How is she?" Freed and Bickslow exchanged glances before they sighed simultaneously.

"Her level of being Medusa has spiked to her becoming Medusa Queen. Everywhere she goes, she leaves a trail of victims, petrified from her glares. Even me and Freed can't escape them," complained Bickslow with a frown.

"No one has dared to approach her for these past two weeks. Master tried to talk to her but in the end he just told us to give Ever time and space," said Freed in a resigned tone. "She's like a ticking time bomb that's ready to explode as soon as someone even thinks about pushing her buttons."

After becoming Evergreen's assistant, Elfman had also gotten closer with Bickslow and Freed. At the beginning, Elfman didn't actually want to have any interactions with team Raijinshuu. He'd been very surprised to learn Evergreen would be his supervisor.

It was because of that certain person; he, the man that he had been looking up to, but was also the one that had hurt his dearest sister, was part of team Raijinshuu. Of all the people in the station, why did it have to be one of his teammates?

Elfman treasured his family, his siblings were everything to him. He respected his elder sister and cared for his younger sister, very much. When the incident three years ago happened, it really pained him to see someone hurting his sister. He swore that he would not let anyone hurt his family, ever again. He knew that working at the police station meant that he could run into team Raijinshuu, but it didn't mean that he had to be in close proximity to them, and he was cool with it. But devious fate had other plans for him. In the end he tried to be professional. He was a newbie, he couldn't protest or complain.

After working with Evergreen and sometimes with the Raijinshuu, not only Elfman's point of view had changed but he had also become friends with them all. He realized that his prejudice against the team was wrong. But the most surprising thing was how he fell for Evergreen. Every rumor that he'd heard about the interrogator was truly terrible. And even though they were in the same gang, Elfman had never gotten directly involved with anything her or her teammates had done.

Little by little, Elfman learned that Evergreen wasn't as horrible as the rumors had painted. She had her reasons for the things she'd done and she just didn't care that everybody talked behind her back, as long as her colleagues and teammates knew she wasn't like that. He felt ashamed when he realized how wrong and demeaning rumors could be. He should have known better. He should have known how wrong it was to jump to conclusions; his elder sister, after all was a victim of rumors too. He got along with team Raijinshuu and asked Makarov to work under Evergreen again. And he'd enjoyed the time they'd worked together.

Evergreen exuded a superior aura while in fact, she was a woman that also longed to be protected. They bantered, they argued, they laughed together… and the spark that flew between them had burned brightly, a glorious warm experience that served to allow them to become even closer. Love was the end result expected from such a blazing fire.

Elfman knew that Evergreen also had romantic feelings for him. He was elated when he imagined that they could become a couple. If only he hadn't seen him coming out of the chief's office, he would've asked Evergreen on the date that he'd prepared. That date was supposed to give him the opportunity to ask her to be his girlfriend. Instead, he decided it was time to withdraw from Evergreen. His sister's situation forced him to make the next move.

After all the stories and explanations from Evergreen, Elfman didn't hate him as much as before. Though he still blamed him, he'd at least give him a chance to fix it. Yet, regarding his situation with Evergreen… Instead of moving forward, he took a step back. He knew he was a coward. He would shiver from time to time, no doubt it was courtesy of Evergreen cursing him.

Asking Makarov to be assigned to another post was his last attempt to draw a line and separate himself from temptation. Until his sister's personal matter was solved, he wouldn't settle his own feelings. And honestly speaking, it was a very difficult thing to do. His mind would always travel back to the time he and Evergreen had spent together.

"You know," Bickslow cut into Elfman's train of thought. "Laxus is back in Magnolia."

"...I know. I saw him two weeks ago before my transfer, coming out from Master's office."

"Is that why you asked for a new assignment?" Freed looked at Elfman from the corner of his eyes.

"...Yes."

"Ever will have your head if she knows, you know." Bickslow shook his head.

"And it won't only be your head, ours will be included. She'll come for us all and it won't be pretty," added Freed.

"I know…" Elfman sighed. "You don't have to tell me the obvious."

"Elfman, I know that you still harbor dislike for Laxus. But I think it's not a good idea to let what happened in the past be a hindrance for your future. You and Ever clearly have mutual romantic feelings towards each other."

"Dude, be a man and don't run from your feelings. That's not manly!"

Freed and Bickslow shared their thoughts and tried to reason with Elfman. Elfman knew they were right. He knew that it wasn't manly to run away from your feelings. But… his feelings came second in importance to his sister's feelings. Still….

SCREECHH!

A police car suddenly stopped in front of the three, making them jump a few feet from their spot and almost fall.

"WHOA!"

"What the hell?!" cursed Bickslow.

"Thank god for my good reflexes," said Freed.

"Hey you! Roll down the window and show me your license!" Instead of rolling down the car's window, the driver's door was opened and out came someone they all knew. Someone they'd just been talking about.

"What's got in your pants Ever? Just because you've been deprived of Elfman for these two weeks doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want. You almost got us killed!" complained Bickslow, annoyed.

"Shut up Bickslow. I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Evergreen dismissed Bickslow's complaints. "Elfman, I want to talk to you. Freed, take your idiot partner and go."

"Tch! So much for a teammate, huh?" scowled Bickslow.

"Bickslow, come on," Freed pulled Bickslow's arm hard. He had to practically drag the scowling man away.

Whether it was luck or misfortune for Elfman that the traffic was not crowded, he honestly didn't know. "Ever, we don't have anything to talk about."

"We have one thing to talk about, you doofus." How like Elfman to make her angry in under a minute, just as they began talking. "Just so you know, I got permission from your sister already. I will knock sense into your thick-headed skull; and if I have to do it the hard way, so be it."

"Wait, wait. You talked to Mira-nee?"

"I did. Wait a minute," Evergreen went back to the police car and took out a flower bouquet from the back seat. She handed the bouquet to him. "This is for you."

"... For what?" Elfman was beyond confused; it wasn't his birthday, he wasn't fond to be given flowers and not to mention, he was still on duty. His arms didn't move a muscle to accept the bouquet.

"I got this bouquet from Mira, she made it, a bouquet that is full of my feelings and I give it to you, now. Here, take the flowers."

Elfman wanted to take the bouquet, but he also didn't want to take it. He knew what it meant if he accepted the bouquet, he wasn't that dense. His hands remained as his sides, refusing to take the flowers from Evergreen. "Ever…" Elfman looked at Evergreen uneasily, "I can't."

"So… we'll be doing it the hard way. Okay, I get it." Evergreen walked to the car and put the bouquet back into the back seat. Then, she marched to Elfman and before Elfman knew, he was being elbowed in his stomach by Evergreen, doubled over by how hard the jab was. She was a member of the elite force for good reason, not just for show only.

"UGH!" Elfman holding his stomach, let out a painful moan. "E-ver… Wh-at, are y-ou do-ing?"

"I already told you. I have permission to knock sense into you. Just be grateful that I decided not to hit your head. Or else your stupid brain will become even stupider because I'm not going to pull any of my punches," said Evergreen nonchalantly as if she just talking about the weather and not just recently hitting a man that was twice her size. There were some crowds surrounding the two of them now. But Evergreen didn't care about that. She focused on the man in front of her, painfully moaning.

"Yo-u… are… insane," Elfman tried to straighten his body before another hard jab landed on his back and made him sprawl on the ground. "UGH!"

"It's thanks to you that I have to resort to violence. You know already that I will get whatever I want. I won't give up until I get it. And that also applies to this matter. It doesn't matter to me how many times I have to knock you down before you see sense. In fact, it's kind of a stress relief for me. You've made my life miserable for these past two weeks." Evergreen stood tall beside Elfman and cracked her knuckles to show that she was serious.

"Wa-WAIT! Let's talk like civilized people, Ever!" said Elfman in a panic. His life was in danger.

"Talking to you is like talking to a bull. You dare propose to talk civilized? And what's the result of the so called 'talk' you wanted, huh? You've made a stupid decision by yourself without taking my feelings into account!" Evergreen vented her suppressed anger. She crouched beside Elfman and pulled the man's collar, their faces just an inch from each other. "You're always talking about manly 'this' and manly 'that'. You know what, you're just a coward. What you've done to us, to me, isn't manly at all! How can you disregard my feelings just like that? You dimwit!"

The crowd had grown, and all the curious onlookers were watching Evergreen confront Elfman.

"I know that there's a problem between Mira and Laxus. I never asked you to forget about what happened. But it was in the past and can't be undone! And Mira has given her blessings for us. Her making the bouquet is proof that she wants us to be official. All of my feelings are represented in the bouquet. My desires to be your woman, the longing to be with you… the love that I feel for you… And you said that you can't take it. HOW DARE YOU!"

"Ever…"

"Don't you Ever me!" shouted Evergreen. Venting out her anger and emotions had drained her energy more than if she'd had to interrogate someone. At least her emotions didn't get as involved in an interrogation. Her breath was ragged, as if she'd just run a marathon.

They were staring into each other eyes in silence. Elfman's nerve broke and he muttered in resignation, "What do you want me to do?"

"Be honest with yourself," Evergreen implored in a soft voice. "Don't restrain your feelings and make both of us suffer any longer. We have Mira's blessings already and I know that Laxus will also want me to have my own happiness. So Elfman… take me as your woman."

Elfman took Evergreen into his embrace. "You are so manly, Ever. I have fallen for you again. From now on, you are my woman." He crushed her body to his and covered Evergreen's lips with loving kisses. Their kisses grew heated, wanting and needing to taste each other, more and more. She circled her arms around Elfman's shoulders. They were so into each other that they didn't notice the cheers from the crowd.

At the edge of the gawkers, a blond man with a lightning scar on his right eye was walking away from the crowd. A thin and proud smile spread on his face. "That's the Evergreen I know." He disappeared into another bustling crowd.

At the other side of the crowd, a group of five people were standing at the back.

"Wuuhuu~~!" whistled Bickslow loudly. "You go, Ever!"

"AWW! I can feel the passion burning hot between them from here!" Mavis' eyes became starry, feeling excited.

"That's Ever for you," said Freed, a satisfied smile on his face.

"She's indeed so manly." Erza nodded proudly.

Mira was holding a video camera, filming the whole scene. She was thankful her brother could find his own happiness. She wished for Elfman and Evergreen to avoid being like her and Laxus… She shook her head to dismiss that distressing thought. "They are very sweet!"

"If the two of them get married, it will become the talk of the year in Magnolia's Police Station," said Freed flippantly. "But I'm sure it won't happen in the near future."

"And if they have a kid, the police station will be their playground." Bickslow also added his thought.

"If they have a kid…" Mira imagined what Evergreen and Elfman's child would look like. And suddenly she burst into a torrent of tears. "HUAAAAA!"

"Mira!" Mavis called out in panic. "What happened?"

"I-I tried to imagine what Elfman and Evergreen's child would look like, b-but… The poor child!"

"Mira, what does your imagination tell you about the child's appearance?" Erza asked curiously.

"The child will have Evergreen's wild hair but it's also spiky like Elfman's with its mother eyes and heavily muscled body like its father. OHH! Poor child!"

The others sweatdropped from Mira's wild imagination. Erza patted Mira's shoulder to comfort her. "But it's only in your imagination."

"But we don't know yet, Erza!"

"They won't have any kids in the near future. Maybe we can do something for them to not have a child that resembles the one from your imagination."

"Can we?" hiccuped Mira.

"Who knows?" shrugged Erza.

Lost in their own private world, Elfman and Evergreen finally released each other from their loving embrace and saw passion reflected in each other's eyes. "Be my woman, Ever," said Elfman huskily.

"Who else would be your woman?"

"Hehe… You got it right."

"Let's go somewhere else. Too many spectators here."

"Come on."

Evergreen pulled Elfman to the car and both of them got in. She took the driver's seat while Elfman was (forced to) take the passenger seat. Inside, she took the bouquet from the back and gave it to Elfman, "Flowers for my man."

He took it this time. "This is manly," grinned Elfman.

They drove off with a spray of gravel, leaving the cheering crowd behind.

Evergreen's passion, her longing and her desires to be with the man that she loved had won the day. Even though there's still a matter to be solved before their happiness could be called perfect, they had taken a step forward to make that happiness come true. Camellia, a gift for man, a flower that represented all of Evergreen's feelings for Elfman. The same feelings that Elfman harbored for Evergreen. A perfect flower that brought them together and for them to reach their goal of happiness.

To be continued

That's it! What do you think for this couple? Even though this is one of the canon couple, but honestly, they're not my top three favorite pair and that's why I'm a bit afraid that I didn't get their character on the spot. BUT, I hope that I don't make Elfman and Evergreen OOC. And of course I hope you like it as well.

Stay tuned for the next chapter and may you have a good day. Jaa~~!