Sunder: X798

Laxus shifted through a lot of names. His father didn't have many associates, but the ones that he did have were rather hard to track down and more than a tad shady. Which Laxus used to his advantage.

If they wanted to play in the darkness, fine; he'd been living in it for most his life. Laxus had more than mastered darkness.

Time passed tediously as the man tried to ramp himself up with the thoughts of his soon to be born child, but it wasn't easy. Sure, he was happy and really enjoyed watching just how much, well, joy Mirajane herself got from the whole thing, but his stress levels were cranked to the maximum.

Not only was he concerned about his unborn child and dealing with all of Mira's many (many, many, many) moods, but he still had thoughts of his aunt intermingling with questions of just what happened to his mother.

The whole thing was a mess, honestly. Pure and simple.

Even when he finally broke the case open, figured out just where his father was hunkered down, things didn't get any better.

Namely, he had to break poor Mirajane's heart.

"You are not," he finally told her through clinched teeth after arguing about it for three straight days, "going with me, Mira. I'm sorry. You're just not."

And he had to be that blunt. There was no way not to get it through her skull. Mirajane was insistent that he might need her, should his father pull something funny, and it didn't matter who he promised to take with him; she didn't think he would be safe with anyone other than her at his side.

"I'm not worried about myself, demon," he said more than once. "Ivan could kill me the second he saw my face; I don't care. But I'm not going to let you around him. Or our baby. You should understand that."

Oh, she did. But at the same time, she totally didn't.

Or at least she liked to pretend that she didn't.

So they parted on less than savory terms. It was at the train station, Mirajane there, pouting as they awaited his train, her arms folded over her chest and a heavy frown on her face.

"You never remember," she complained, "when to change trains. And you have to do that, dragon, three time! You can't forget or else you'll get lost. But if I were to go-"

"You know, woman, sometimes I just can't stand you."

And he meant that. Truly and deeply. Yet he still hugged her close, despite her complaints, when his train arrived and promised to be home soon. Then Freed, who would be accompanying him, bowed his head to the woman and swore to take good care of her husband, but Mira wasn't content.

Not. At. All.

Still, Laxus only glanced over his shoulder once at her, gave a slight wave, and then hiked his bag up his shoulder and set out on his own. Err, well, out on his own with Freed. But without Mirajane there, he basically always felt alone.

"What do you think your father's going to say?" his ever faithful sidekick asked after they'd boarded and taken their seats. "Laxus?"

"Dunno."

"Do you think that he will speak with you?" This was one of Freed's biggest concerns. "Or are you going to...detain him?"

"I don't," Laxus grumbled, as he had all the other times that the man had questioned him on this (he had frequently), "know."

"I only worry," the man went on, "that perhaps you have not put much thought into this."

"i have to find out what happened to my mother, Freed."

"Yes, I realize this, but perhaps a letter would have better preceded the meeting of you and your father, rather than just stalking him down."

"Why?" Laxus grumbled. "So that he could run off? What good would that do me?"

"W-Well-"

"I thought a lot about this." Laxus bowed his head then. "All of this. I know what I'm doing, alright? I mean, fine, I don't know what I'm going to say to Ivan or how I'm going to find him in this town or even if I should be talking to him, but this is just something I have to know. If he knows where my mother is and she's...she's in trouble or needs me or something then… And if he says that she just left and didn't care, fine; I'll leave it alone. I'll leave her alone. But before I do that I just have to know."

They rode in silence for some time. Laxus wasn't feeling quite well and the idea of having to get on a whole other train when he got to their stop in a few hours was quite sickening.

He'd wanted to try and use his lightning body magic to transport him as far as it would take him, hopefully all the way to Ivan. But his wife refused, claiming that he might run out of magic somewhere or drain himself, which he never liked to do. Mostly though, Mira had told him not to and, therefore, he just wasn't going to do it.

It was part of the whole marriage thing and being happy in it. And Laxus liked being happy. Or at least not fighting with Mirajane. She was kinda his whole purpose in life.

Laxus was more than a tad nauseous by the time they changed trains, but only sucked on some ginger candies that Mirajane gave him for such things (she claimed it would help), but it was in vain. And, as he groggily followed Freed to the next train, his senses were so disoriented that he hardly had control of any of his senses. And that train they were boarding was just as bad as the first. He could only continue to remind himself that he was doing it for his mother. For the off chance that maybe she needed him or wanted to, well, like reconnect or something.

And for his aunt. Melody. She was tangled up in Iris' mess as well and, from what he could gather from her holding onto those papers still, was very invested in continuing to search for Iris. Or bring her her papers. Or something. Whatever it was that was going on, Laxus had to figure it out.

Motion sickness and all.

Freed, however, was very alert and vigilant. It was in his nature. The only time that he was able to relax and, at least attempt to, goof off was when he was around the Thunder Legion and knew that his beloved idol was completely safe. Riding around in a train, however, and getting himself all sorts of disoriented did not spell for a safe slayer, however.

And there was something that just wasn't sitting right with him.

"Laxus," he began, glancing at his Master, who sat besides him, looking rather miserable. "Have you noticed that woman?"

"What?" came his gurgled response as well as a slight moan. Not lifting his head, he added, "No. I'm married, idiot."

"I did not mean… There is a woman. See her?" Freed tried to, as nonchalantly as possible, to point her out. She was seated a few rows behind them and, at the moment, seemed to be reading a romance novel. "She's been following us."

"Freed, you dope. We're on a train. I brought you instead of Ever or Bickslow because I thought that at least you were somewhat intelligent-"

"You do not understand." The man glanced over at the woman for himself that time, not taking the man's words to heart as he knew his motion sickness could put him in the worst of moods. "She's followed us. From train to train. This entire time. I think-"

"So what? She's headed the same place?" Laxus reached into his pocket for another ginger candy. "Shut up, man, I-"

"Laxus, you are not listening; do you not recall on the second train when we had to change seats? At the first stop the train made? Because a group of people wished to all sit rows close to one another? And we moved three cars up? She came with us! And now here she is once more and-"

"Who?" the slayer finally groaned, figuring he'd play into the man. "Huh?"

Freed pointed her out less skillfully that time as Laxus literally sat up to glare over at the woman. She was dark headed with a tan complexion and was obviously pregnant. No one Laxus knew. And, even though his senses were all out of whack, he took a deep breath then, as if hoping to catch a whiff of her scent.

And when he had it, he just sat back once more with a loud groan.

"This entire fucking time," he grumbled as he rubbed a hand into his eyes. "She's been there the entire fucking time and I didn't notice. Shit. Shit."

"W-What? Laxus? Is that… your mother?"

"What? No, you idiot." Laxus took a deep breath before getting to his feet. To Freed, he only said, "I thought I smelled her scent this entire time because it was lingering on me. I've been so out of sorts that it never occurred to me that she would… But she would."

"Who-"

"I'll be back." Laxus shook his head a bit before gathering all his strength not to barf as he made his way across the train and over to the set of seats the woman was in.

"You," he grumbled as he stood before her, "have been very bad."

"E-Excuse me?" Slowly, the woman lowered the book to glance at the man. "Are you speaking to me?"

"Cut it the crap."

"I don't-"

"I know it's you. Mirajane. Your scent doesn't change, you know."

The woman lowered her glasses then, staring at him, before slowly she let out a long sigh.

"It's not good to upset pregnant women, you know," was all she said as the purple tiles appeared. Her extended belly was the only thing that didn't change as she transformed and, slowly, Laxus moved to sit down and rest a hand against it, stroking gently. "Dragon."

Only staring at her for a moment, Laxus finally said, "Go home, Mira. Please."

"No."

Ugh.

Shifting in the seat next to her, he shut his eyes for a moment, trying to quell his own flipping stomach. Then, softly, he said, "You're sneaky."

"Very."

"What were you gonna do? Follow me around forever?"

"If I had to."

"Don't you trust me? To get back home?"

"I trust you greatly." Mira closed the book and sat it in the slayer's lap. He peeked an eye open to glance at it, but it just looked like one of her filthy romance novels. "But I don't trust Ivan. Or...I don't know, Lax. I don't know where your mother is and I hope that you find her, but until we know what she's been doing this entire time..."

"I know." Laxus took in a breath before moving to wrap an arm around his woman's shoulders. "I don't trust her either."

"That's not what I-"

"It's alright. It's fine." Glancing at her, he said, "You know, Mira, that no matter what happens, with me or my mother or...Ivan… I just want to be sure that you're safe. And the baby's safe. That's the only reason I made you stay home."

'You can't make me do anything."

"Oh, I think you've proven that."

Holding her head up higher, she said, "I need to be there. To be there for you."

"That's definitely part of it, sure."

"What do you mean?"

"You," he mumbled as his motion sickness about reached its apex and he almost lost his lunch. Taking a breath, he tried again. "You are the most nosey person I know."

"What's that supposed-"

"And I think that part of you wanting to be here has to deal solely with that."

Huffing, Mirajane gave him a glare before glaring out the window on her other side and repeating, "You're not supposed to upset pregnant women."

"I know." Leaning over a bit, he pressed a kiss to her soft white hair. "I know."

Mira relaxed, just a bit, before glancing at him. "I'm not going back. We're almost to the town you're going to go search Ivan for. I'm not going all the way back to Magnolia after getting so close. I'd only sneak back, anyways."

"Anyways," he agreed as he shut his eyes. "You're too much for me, woman. You know that?"

"I just love you." Mira's eyes found Freed's then, a few rows up, where he was staring heavily over at them. She only shook her head a bit at the man and, slowly, the letter mage faced forwards once more. "And this has to do with me too, dragon. A lot to do with me. You're my husband. And your parents are my in-laws. If the roles were reversed-"

"I'd go to hell and back for you," he agreed. "But I don't have to. Because things are different. And you're carrying my child. And it's my job to make sure you're safe."

"I'm not afraid of Ivan." Mira glanced up at his closed eyes, as if to will them open. "Do you hear me, dragon? Because I'm not. At all."

"I know." A smile tugged at his lips. "If anything, he should be afraid of you."

"He really should." Mira had her determined face on then. "You have to forgive him or at least put up with him; he's your father. But I can tell him off. Punish him."

Laxus peeked an eye open. "He deserves a good scolding, demon?"

Shaking her head a bit, she said, "Way more than that."

"Oh?"

With a nod, Mira said, "A good finger wagging."

"Oh, demon." Laxus relaxed even more, the queasiness of his stomach ever present, but distant then as he took comfort just in the fact she was by his side. "You're too much for me."

When they arrived at their final destination, Freed carried Laxus' bag and his own while Mirajane, who only had that book with her, held the slayer's hand while he tried his hardest to keep his stomach from crawling back up his throat.

The original plan wasn't really to stop at a hotel, but with Mirajane with them, Laxus figured it was the best plan. She was eight months pregnant by that point and Laxus really kinda was hoping that if he took her to one, she'd just sorta sit there and wait for him to find and speak with Ivan. Because, you know, he was still trying very hard to figure out how he was going to keep her somewhere safe and far away from whatever was going to go down with Ivan.

As her husband, he felt like it was sort of his job.

"You know we're planning on being here for a few days, Mirajane," Freed said as they walked along. "Did you bring nothing for yourself? Or do you plan to transform into other-"

"Oh, I just packed things in Laxus' suitcase."

"You what?" the man grumbled, glancing down at the woman who only grinned brightly.

"Well, I packed my things under your things." To Freed, Mira only said, "I still have to pack his bags, you know, or else he'll just shove shirts in a bag all willy-nilly. Even though I'm pregnant, I still have to-"

"I told you I could pack it and you know it," Laxus grumbled, frowning down at her. "Don't try and make me look bad. You hear me?"

Mira only giggled though, the sound bringing him just as much comfort as her hand clasped in his did.

By the time they got to the motel, however, she was more than ready to relax for a bit. Her shoulders were sore and Laxus rubbed them for her as Freed went to get settled into his own room.

"I don't know why I'm so cold," Mira commented eventually after Freed had come back to the room to speak with Laxus. She was seated on the edge of the bed, Laxus' fluffy coat wrapped around her, as she listened in on the two of them. "Spring's already upon us."

"If you're cold," was her husband's only complaint, "then you should have stayed home."

"Oh, dragon. I'd have been just as cold there.

Heh.

Shaking his head, Laxus only repeated to the both of them as he stalked around the room, "The plan was to walk around today and see if I could run into Ivan. Then, tomorrow, I beat it out of one of his cohorts that he spends every Thursday at a specific cafe. I'll meet him there, if I have to."

"We'll," Mira corrected though at the moment, she looked far too comfortable to be getting up any time soon. "We'll be going."

"Tomorrow," Laxus agreed, if only for the moment. "Tomorrow you can come. Today though-"

"But that's not-"

"Fair? That's not fair, Mirajane?" He snorted, but, even though his tone was harsh with her, even Freed knew he was putting on. He was hoping that if he was hard on the woman then, maybe she'd actually listen to him.

Probably not, but it was worth a shot.

"It's not," she mumbled, giving him her best doleful look. "At all."

"Yeah, well, get over it. I'll leave Freed here to watch over you if I have- And hey! Your damn sister," Laxus growled, eyes growing dark. "She said that she'd be watching over you while I was gone. Did she know about this?"

Mira only shrugged a bit. "She's your sister now too, you know."

Oh, he knew. And she'd be getting punished for her transgression the second he was back in Magnolia. He was thinking the silent treatment was the best big brother penalization for such a crime.

After a beat passed in which Laxus was contemplating just how he was going to manage ignoring Lisanna for any amount of time, much less how much he was going to set, Mirajane spoke once more.

"Actually, boys," she said through a slight yawn. "I kinda sorta am..."

"You are what?" Laxus prompted, crossing his arms and coming to a stop, there in the center of the room, a knowing glint in his eyes.

"Yes, Mirajane," Freed insisted, not nearly as keyed in and truly concerned. Mirajane being pregnant really put him on edge. He constantly thought she was, like, give birth at any given moment. She was, after all, carrying the child of only the greatest man on the planet and whom Freed happened to revere above all else; her safety was of the utmost importance. "What are you?"

"Tired," she muttered with a slight frown as Laxus only nodded, having known this, and Freed let out a slight breath, glad to push the birth off onto another day, preferably one in which he wasn't so overwhelmed.

"Of course you are," Laxus chided, tone still strict. "Because you're-"

"Everyone gets pregnant, Lax."

"Not even close to being true."

"I-"

"And even if it was, I wouldn't care. Because everyone's not you." He dropped his arms and his glare. Coming over, he gently cupped her cheek, Mirajane smiling up at him. "So just rest up here, huh? Freed and I'll only be gone for a bit. I want to canvas the area; this is a new town for me. I have to get my bearings. But I'll bring you back something to eat when I come. You're not hungry now, are you? Because-"

"I'm fine." Mira yawned again though, turning away from him. After composing herself, she only said, "You guys go. Seriously, Laxus; I'm not going to follow you again. I just wanted to be here, in the same town as you."

"What good would that do?" Freed asked, actually curious. Laxus turned to glare at him, but the letter mage was too busy staring over at woman to notice. "If he does run into Ivan today and you are back here, sleeping-"

"I know when Laxus is in trouble," Mirajane told him simply as the slayer only rolled his eyes. "I just do. Even if I was back in Magnolia, I would have known. I just wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

"How could you possibly-"

"Freed." Laxus caught the man's attention then as he went to grab him by the arm and drag him out of the room. "Leave it alone. Let's just go." Glancing over his shoulder, he said to his wife, "I'll be back later. With food. I love you."

Mirajane, who was already shifting to fall back into the bed, only smiled brightly at him. "I love you too."

Freed only waved at Mirajane and headed right on out the door with Laxus.

But nothing much came of the day. Laxus wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting. He knew his best bet was the next day, at that cafe that man that Laxus practically beat information out of (he never said he was proud of everything he'd done) told him about, where Ivan was supposed to eat lunch at the exact same time, every week.

Then again, the man could have also let Ivan in on that he'd given that information to someone, which would ruin everything. At the same time, however, Laxus had scared the man pretty badly, so the chances of that were slim, as he'd threatened to return and do the same, should he find out he'd spoken to Ivan following their encounter.

"We'll just get him tomorrow," Freed assured Laxus as the sun started to set and the man went to go find Mirajane something to eat. "It'll be easier to approach him, anyhow. How many years has it been since you've seen your father?"

"Since he tried to fuck us at the Grand Magic Games," he grumbled as he stood in line at a restaurant. "I think he's tried to write me before, but I just chunk the letters. Or I have Mirajane do it. Whichever."

"Whichever," Freed agreed softly. To the man, he said, "How are you going to keep her from coming along with you to stake out the cafe tomorrow?"

Laxus only let out a long sigh. "At this point, I don't know what to do with the woman. Her concern for me is overriding any concern she should have for herself."

"I believe she's more annoyed than anything, Laxus, that you continue to insist that there's something wrong with her."

"There's nothing wrong with her," the slayer grumbled. "She's just very pregnant and I'm very concerned about keeping her from being too stressed or doing too much. What? I'm a good guy who wants to take care of his pregnant wife, so I get complained at over it? What should I do? Just let her run wild all over Fiore and not give a shit? I'm so sorry that I love my wife and want our unborn child to have the best chance at a normal life there is. Forgive me."

But Freed wasn't the one asking for an apology. And honestly, neither was Mirajane. She was kind of thrilled, inwardly, that Laxus was so concerned with her. It was annoying, of course, as it had been since she first started showing and his mentality, for some reason, took a hard left away from the way he used to love her strength and set its sights for protecting her from any and everything while also being sure she didn't exert herself in any way. But she knew it was coming out of a place of love and, really, that was all that mattered.

Except for, of course, when she wasn't feeling up to dealing with him. Which she wasn't, that evening, when he came in bearing food and Freed.

"Mira," he called out as soon as they walked through the door. "I brought you-"

"Would you," came the growl in the darkness that was enough for Freed to know well enough that he should turn right around and head for his own hotel room, "shut up?"

Laxus blinked, coming forward alone then. It was for the best; no need for Freed to see Mirajane at her worst.

"I brought you dinner, demon." Laxus stared over at where she was in bed, back to the door, just lying there. "Something wrong?"

"I can't," she complained, voice low, "sleep. I want to sleep. I keep trying to sleep. But the baby keeps moving and then my back hurts and I'm worried about you and I want to take a bath, but what if you need me while I take one? Then what? And I'm hungry, but I didn't want to leave in case you came back because, you know, you weren't kind enough to tell me when exactly you'd be back-"

"Okay, well, I'm here now and safe, so that eliminates a lot of that stuff. You can eat, take a bath, and then if your back still hurts, I'll rub at your shoulders some, and then you can go to bed. Or whatever it is that you want."

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Laxus."

"I'm not. I don't think you're stupid, at all. I think you're very smart. Now sit up and-"

"Shut up, idiot."

Laxus blinked. Then he sighed.

"Alrighty then." Walking passed the bed then, he went to set the sack of food on the desk in the corner of the room. "This is here when you want it, Mira. I'm going to go take a shower and just decompress some, huh? I-"

"Oh, so you're going to just go shower and-"

"Tell me what you want, woman," was all he grumbled as he went to where he'd left his duffel bag. And, sure enough, when he dug to the bottom, he found Mira had really packed her own stuff beneath his. Huh. The woman really knew how to pull one over on him. "Because I've had a very hard day. One in which you complicated further by following me here. So do you want me to draw you a bath? I can do that, if that's what you want."

Mirajane only pulled the covers up around herself and grumbled something he didn't care to catch. Which was fine. He knew she was just miserable and taking it out on him.

She did it a lot recently, honestly.

So he left her alone for a bit as he ran her a bath. And, once that was done, he only went to gently shove her shoulder, ignoring her complaints until she finally got up and went to go take a bath with him. The man had long learned to ignore other people when what they were saying only served to annoy him; being married to Mirajane, it was kind of a requirement. And, as he'd learned, when she was pregnant, it was a nearly constant thing. He knew too, of course, that her annoyance with him would fade soon enough and could put up with it until then.

It really didn't take that long.

After the bath, Mirajane went to eat over at the desk and Laxus only stood behind her chair, gently toying with her shoulders as she went on and on about how sorry she was for snapping at him; she was just going through a lot at the moment, she claimed.

"i know," he sighed, though that wasn't really true. If anything, all she was going through was that he wanted to find his father and, eventually, his mother. Really, Mira wasn't working much anymore (at all, as far as Laxus knew, but she'd sorta been taking shifts while he was out tracking down his father's associates) and had very little to do during the day, other than prepare for the baby and spend time with Makarov. Oh, and worry about her husband. That was the biggest one. "It's alright."

"I shouldn't snap at you so much. You know? It's not fair."

"Yes, it is. I put you through more than enough to qualify for some grouchiness occasionally."

Mira stopped, mid-chew, before lifting her head up to stare at him. With a frown, she only said, "I was not grouchy, Laxus."

He blinked. Then nodded.

"Yeah. Definitely weren't,' he agreed easily, going back to messing with her shoulders. "Sorry."

The one good thing about Mirajane's mood that night was that it had kept her up so long that she fell asleep rather easily after eating. Laxus just massaged her feet a bit as she stretched out in bed and, after awhile, he glanced up the bed at her, only to find she was conked out.

Going to press a kiss to her head afterwards and pull some blankets up around her, Laxus only went to get a cigar and go have a smoke with Freed. Or smoke around Freed, was more like it, as he wouldn't smoke. Wasn't his thing.

So they went outside and just walked around the hotel a bit as Laxus enjoyed his cigar. Once more he was more or less hoping to happen upon Ivan, but that just didn't seem to be in the cards, as he didn't do it then either.

Apparently, they were just meant to meet in that cafe. It was how things had to go down.

Mirajane slept pretty well that night. It wasn't until around five that the baby began bothering her and she did that thing where she'd claim that there's no way she was purposely waking him up when she was tossing and turning and making those noises.

No way.

But Laxus only rubbed her stomach for her and did that silly thing that he only did when he was deliriously sleep deprived where he sang to the baby in her stomach, just to get Mira feeling better.

It worked.

He woke up around eight that morning, shifted further down on the bed, right next to Mira's belly, as she snoozed peacefully above him. He almost just laid there, listening to what sounded like a garbage truck somewhere on the street that intermingled with Mirajane's soft snores, but something in his brain suddenly clicked, just as he was drifting off back to sleep, that he wasn't at home. Wasn't in his own bed. Couldn't just push off going down to the hall until later that day.

Because he wasn't going to the hall. Rather, he was going to go, hopefully, meet up with his father and finally get to the bottom of just what happened to his long lost mother and also what Melody Gallows had to do with the entire thing.

"Mmmm," he yawned as he slowly sat up. A quick stretch followed before he leaned down to press a kiss to Mira's tummy because, fine, some of that cutesy stuff is all him.

Shifting to tumble out of bed then, the first thing he went to do was go shave. He hadn't the day before and, though he liked to play around with the in between stubble that he could form between stretches of days, he definitely didn't want to be sporting anything close to a beard when he encountered his father. Laxus didn't want the man to even think that, perhaps, he was mimicking him or that he was still some little kid that wanted a beard because daddy wanted a beard and would go to extreme lengths to get the bubbles in his bath positioned just so on his face so that it looked like he had a bubbly, soapy beard only to be yelled at to stop playing in the bath, Laxus; and who gave you bubbles, anyways? It wasn't stupid Makarov was, it? Because it better not have been!

...Erm…

He only awoke Mirajane after going out to get her some breakfast. She seemed to be in better spirits, all giggly and such, telling him that he didn't have to do such a thing for him and that he was too good to her. You know, until he tried once more to convince her that there was no reason for her to come with him to the cafe, because Freed was there and they would be fine.

Mirajane really didn't like that.

Shut it down immediately, in fact.

"I," she told both Laxus and Freed, who'd been invited over to eat with them, "am going with you guys. We agreed on that last night."

"And we agreed before that you would stay behind in Magnolia," Laxus pointed out. "So I really don't know why-"

"I'm going, Laxus."

"Fine," he huffed, not even enjoying his bacon (though that had less to do with their fight and more to do with the fact that it wasn't the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy that only his woman seemed to be able to achieve). "Then I'll just have Freed stay here with you and make sure you don't come. How do you like that?"

"Oh, please." Mira glared over at Freed who, from where he was at the desk, just wished they'd leave them out of their spats. "I could take Freed."

"I have to concur, Laxus," the man spoke up. "If only because I would never harm a pregnant woman. Much less your wife."

"I'd dare you to try," Mira challenged because she was feeling spunky that day. It might have been a bit more intimidating if she wasn't currently eating pancakes with a whipped cream smile face on them (Laxus knew his woman), but partially what made Mira so scary was, simply, how childlike she really was.

"Mira, it's not that I don't want you to go." She and Laxus were seated on the end of their bed and, glancing down at her, he gave her a rather grim look. "You know I want you with me always."

"Awe."

"Well, mostly."

"Lax-"

"But I don't want Ivan to know about you, alright?" He shook his head a bit. "It's not even really about keeping you safe. I mean, yeah, I'd rather keep you away from anything that might involve danger because, face it, demon, you're pregnant. And that means whatever you go through, the baby goes through. But even without that I… I don't want Ivan to know that I'm married. To you. Or that I have a baby on the way. I don't want him to ever try and harm you or our son."

Mira only stared up at him. "Daughter."

Laxus tried hard not to sigh. "Is that what it is today?"

"Mmmhmm."

'Then I want her to be extra safe and even further away from Ivan." He looked back down at his plate. "The point is, Mira, that I want to keep you and...her far away from him. As far as possible. I want to keep that part of my life separate, if not completely finished with after this. I want to start the new part of my life. Or continue it, I guess. And after I finally can find out where my mom's run off to, we can do that. I just need you to stay safe while I get that done."

"Lax, let's be real," Mira said, going back to her plate of food, which she was trying to balance in her lap, but wasn't working too well because of her belly. Freed kept offering to allow her to sit at the desk, but Mirajane was being hard headed. "You know that I'll just sneak to follow you, so let's just get over with it. Get mad at me now, yell at me about it now, but don't expect anything different; I'm a pretty flat person; I don't change much."

That was the large and small of it, after all. Laxus could talk in circles for the rest of the morning, but it wouldn't make that much of a difference; Mirajane was going to do whatever Mirajane wanted to do. She always had. He sort of just stood around to clean up the mess (and wipe her tears when she inevitably realized, once more, that the world wasn't nearly as kind as her and had far more blood lust), which is what he was most comfortable doing. He never wanted to break Mira's spirit. He liked how silly and gullible and loving she was. And that was the whole deal at the moment. More so than even just her drive to snoop. Mirajane loved her husband and, therefore, didn't want him to have to face his father alone.

Plus, as she'd said before, she wanted to wag a finger in Ivan's face and explain to him what a bad boy he was (which sounded not only extremely awkward, but also an image Laxus would never want in his mind, so that definitely wasn't allowed to ever happen). All the things he'd messed her poor dragon up on, Ivan at the very least deserved that.

It was decided that Mirajane and Freed would accompany Laxus to the cafe, but would sit together at another table, where the woman would get to keep the eye on the man she wanted, but she wouldn't officially be with him and, therefore, not on Ivan's radar.

So Mirajane and Freed went there first, because it would be fine if Ivan saw them. They couldn't all arrive together, so if they went first and Ivan was there, it wouldn't matter; he wouldn't pay attention to them. But if he saw Laxus there, he might bolt.

Maybe. None of them were truly sure what the man would do when he saw his son again, or if he would even care at all about Laxus. There was a good chance that he knew that the man was the guild master of Fairy Tail, which would be an interest (and an exploitation in most ways) to the man.

"I don't get why I can't sit with Laxus," Mirajane complained to Freed that afternoon as they arrived at the cafe early and took their seats, out there on the patio, where the man had said Ivan always sat. If worse came to worse and the patio area filled up, it was Mira and Freed's job to get up and allow Ivan to have that table.

Laxus really wanted to encounter him outside. Mirajane wasn't a hundred percent what they would imply, but she was nearly certain it meant that Laxus wanted some room to attack the man if need be.

And, knowing her husband (and their guild), that seemed extremely likely.

"He just loves you, Mirajane," Freed told her around a menu. "You should consider yourself lucky, honestly. Many people would kill for that sort of attention from Lax- Another person. They would kill for that kind of attention from another person."

Ignoring that, Mira only said, "I love him too. And I would want him with me if I was going through something like this."

"But would you? Honestly? If you knew that Laxus being around would be detrimental to his health?"

Glaring down at her own menu, she said, "I just want to give Ivan a piece of my mind."

"When there's so little to go around?"

"H-Hey!" Mira caught that. Glaring over at Freed, she couldn't help it as her eyes just as quickly began to fill up. Sniffling against her will, she asked, "Why would you say something like that?"

Honestly? He thought of it in his head and, for a moment, forgot who he was talking to and about. He and Bickslow frequently traded jabs as well as with Evergreen, so it was only natural that when an easy one popped up that he would act on it.

"M-Mirajane, I did not mean that." Freed took to glancing around. If Laxus saw him making Mirajane cry, there'd be no excuse. "It was a joke. A horrible one, at beast. And I agree with you; Ivan deserves everything you would throw at him. But please; do not get upset with me."

She was trying hard not to. Honestly. But the day was taking it's toll and, honestly, she'd felt rather depressive about the whole thing the entire time. It stemmed more from the fact that Laxus and his father, no matter how hard she might try, would never have a special connection that a father and son should have.

To Freed, she only sniffled some more before saying, "I'm not stupid."

"I would never imply it. I promise. Please, I-"

And he stopped. Just like that. Glancing over her shoulder, Mirajane saw the reason why.

"Ivan," he whispered as the man came out onto the patio. It was a rather nice day out and there were quite a few people out there, but three tables were still open, leaving Ivan with a place to sit. He was wearing his typical drab purple garb, hair combed over in an attempt to hide what seemed to be a growing bald spot (Mira would have to hear, once more, from Laxus of his own veiled fears of such a thing happening to him; truthfully, she had an inkling that it just might), and looked about as cheerful as ever.

As in he didn't. Seem cheerful, that is. He was alone and only barked at the waitress when she rushed over to ask if he would be having his usual.

"Of course," he grumbled, loud enough that everyone on the patio heard it. "Why even bother asking, woman?"

Mira frowned at this. Considering Laxus frequently referred to her as 'woman', it was something she could definitely see as an endearing term. Coming from Ivan, however, it was nothing, but an insult.

Ivan sat rather stiffly over at the table, glaring out at anyone who happened to catch his eye. Freed hunkered down, fearful of perhaps being recognized (though he found that extremely unlikely) while Mirajane face forwards, having to keep that seething anger down within her.

The man that caused her dragon so much pain, had forever scarred him, and, possibly, done something to Melody and Iris that kept them away from Laxus, was right there. It was very aggravating to her. As if drowning with water just out of reach. She wanted to go over there and just….tell the man off! About how wrong he was to his son and his father and about all the things that she'd had to clean up because of his selfish actions.

And ooh, if her finger just wasn't itching to be wagged.

Mirajane and Freed had just placed their orders and Ivan was sipping from some sort of drink the waitress had brought him when it happened; Laxus arrived.

He didn't even look over at Mirajane and Freed. Just glared at the back of his father's head, as the man was facing the other way, as he walked over to where Ivan was seated.

And then he just stood there, glaring at Ivan, as he stood before the table, and his father fought hard not to choke on the tea he was sipping.

Swallowing heavy, he kept his composure as he said, "I take it's been you then, that's been tearing into my associates?"

Laxus still only stood there for a moment, glaring down at the man, before saying, "Who was Melody Gallows?"

Ivan blinked. Then he took another sip of his drink. After a moment, he finally said, "I can't be expected to keep track of every single woman that's become...entangled with me, now can I?"

Laxus didn't want to hear that. At all. Eyes blazing then, he said, "Tell me who Melody gallows was."

Again, Ivan took a moment before saying, "I expect this, of course. For you to one day come back to me. But these meaningless questions-"

"Melody," he growled then, still just looming over the table, "wasn't worthless. She was my aunt! And she-'

"If you already knew who she was," Ivan grumbled, "then why did you- And how did you find that out then? Who have you been speaking to?" Suddenly, his father's eyes were just as dark as his own. "Who, Laxus?"

"What different does it make to you?" Snorting, Laxus looked off before saying, "You clearly didn't care enough to talk about her."

But Ivan didn't wish to speak on family related things. Rather, he sat up taller as something occurred to him.

"Did you come then? To speak to me on it?" Ivan almost seemed to take a completely different tone then and Laxus, unfortunately, knew exactly what he was going to ask about. "The Lum-"

"Shut," the slayer growled as, with some force, he jerked the chair across from his father out before taking a seat in it, "up."

"That is why you have come, isn't it?" The man almost sounded ravenous, as if any amount of information about what he so craved will be feasted upon with great raucousness. "You have finally realized how foolish my father is and-"

"Fairy Tail ain't got nothin' to do with Gramps anymore, so you better watch yourself," Laxus told him darkly. "I'm the Master now and that's all the matters. So if there's anything that I want to do or keep under wraps, then it's by my own fruition.'

Voice full of gravel then, Ivan ground out as he seemed to be forcibly restraining himself, "Then just what are you here for?"

"I want to know about Melody." Laxus was restraining himself as well. "And my mother."

That got Ivan to sit back, staring deeply in his son's eyes as he asked simply, "Why?"

"What do you mean why? Do I not deserve to know?"

"She's dead. Your mother. And that other woman is-"

"Gramps told me, Ivan," Laxus said harshly "He told me all about how Iris isn't dead. And that he doesn't know where she is. 'cause, see, I got a little paper in the mail, asking me to come identify the body of-'

"You can't be serious." Ivan's face lost some of its annoyance, though it was only replaced by some form of panic. "Iris is-"

"It wasn't her." Laxus snorted. "Not that you would care. Since, apparently, to you, she's been dead-"

"Why," the older Dreyar kept up, "would they even think-"

"It was Melody. And she was carrying a lot of...Iris' papers. Identification.'

Something odd happened then and Laxus' caught it. Ivan actually let out a slight sigh and, oddly, relaxed into his chair, staring off passed his son. Then, softly, he said, "Is that all?"

"What do you mean, is that all? Where's my mother, Ivan?" Laxus hadn't felt like a child in awhile, but that question definitely did it for him. "Don't lie to me, Ivan. Where is she?"

"If I knew, you twit, do you think that I would have asked you if she were truly dead?" Ivan threw his hands up into the air then. "How foolish are you?"

Laxus set his jaw. "What happened to her? Huh? What did you do to her? And Melody? That they were so afraid to even-"

"I don't even know Melody," Ivan remarked with a bit of snark. "And I didn't do anything to your mother, you stupid brat. Iris left all on her own. And she didn't come back for you. So why the hell do you want to bother me, the one who kept you-''

"You didn't do anything," Laxus complained. "Except, apparently, keep my aunt from-"

"I didn't even know that woman." Ivan was angry then, eyes turning harder then as he glared off once more. "I only met her once."

Laxus, still wanting information, tried to keep his feelings in check as he said, "When? After Iris-"

"What difference does it make? And I don't answer to you, boy," he replied, hissing at the end. Turning his gaze back on him, Ivan said, "If anything, you answer to me. You think that you would be anything without me? That if I hadn't graciously placed my lacrima in you, you could possibly be a guild master? Or even a mage for that matter? I saved you. I-"

"With the intention of killing me." Laxus practically spat that back at him. "To get back your lacrima. But you don't like to bring that up, do you, Ivan?"

Stifling, he said simply, "If I wanted it back, boy, I would have-"

"You couldn't take it if you tried."

And they both glared at one another then before Ivan, in his anger, swept his hand across the table, sending his drink clattering across the patio.

At the same moment, however, for Mirajane and Freed, who were tensely sitting across the patio, witness absolutely nothing. Quite literally, there was nothing going on at the table. Laxus and his father seemed to just be sitting there, staring at one another with blank looks on their faces, not even speaking.

Both mages knew what was up, of course, but weren't sure when to step in. Clearly, they were being tricked by one of Ivan's illusions. The only question was when to break it up.

Freed came to the conclusion that he must long before Mirajane did. He was even moving to get to his feet when, suddenly, she reached across the table and laid a hand over his. When his eyes fell to hers, the woman only shook her head.

"But Mirajane-"

"Leave him alone." She had to take a deep breath after she said that, sparring a glance over her shoulder at where her husband was. It took more than Freed knew, of course, for her to say such a thing. She had forced her way on the trip, after all, and was certainly all for protecting Laxus at all costs. And if someone was hurting him, she would be the first one to his rescue.

Yet at the same time, Mirajane knew that there were some things that the man just had to do on his own. And yeah, she was right there, at that table, ready to step in, but only when she was needed. Laxus wanted to find his mother; interrupting wouldn't help that. If he wanted her or Freed, they were right there.

"He has to do this on his own," she told Freed who fell back into his chair, though he didn't relax in the least.

She felt much the same.

Laxus figured too that he was in an illusion (or that the others were or something; whatever) when the cup skidded across the patio and not a soul glanced over. Eyes on his father the whole time, he sighed.

"I don't want to fight with you," he told Ivan simply as the older man only snorted. "At all. I honestly don't care if I never see you again. But I have to know what happened to Iris. I can't...do that again. Go identify another body. So if you...did something to her or if she's still out there, please, just-"

"If I did something to her?" That really got to Ivan for some reason. "I didn't do anything to that woman. And I haven't seen her since the last time you saw her. And I don't care what her fucking sister says, I had nothing to do with her running off. At all. Get that, Laxus? Your mother flew the coop and never looked back. She didn't give two shits about you or me. You don't think I looked for her too?" Then he laughed, but it was dark and Laxus really did feel like a little kid then, listening to his mad father's ravings about how unjust the world was. "She doesn't want to be found. By anyone. Not me, her damn sister, or you. And if the two of you haven't figured that the hell out yet, then you're both fucking idiots. She's dead, Laxus. Either dead or dead to us. Is there really a difference?"

He hadn't felt that small in a long time. And, when his eyes drifted away from Ivan, and over to another table, where he desperately wanted to be at the moment.

Ivan glanced that way too. The others were frozen, of course, but when he saw where he was looking, the elder Dreyar only sneered.

"Your wife?"

That one got Laxus, who whipped his head back towards his father. "What?"

"What? You think I don't hear things about you then?" Snorting once more, Ivan shook his head before tsking. "As if the fact that you married another one of Fairy Tail's top mages would have somehow eluded me-"

Laxus, trying to stop himself from freaking out over the fact that, no matter how hard he tried to keep her away, Mirajane always found herself right on the cusp on danger, only remarked dryly, "You keep tabs on me then?"

"Coming from the man that worked his way through every person I know-"

"I want to know where my mother is." Laxus wasn't giving up on that. "And I want to know right-"

"You're having a child?" Ivan glanced over at Mirajane then, full on, and Laxus had to clinch his fists just to stop from shooting a ball of lightning at the man. Then, sneering, his father said, "How quaint."

Breathing heavily out of his nose, Laxus regretted not just locking Mirajane up in house like he should have in the first place.

"If you even think about touching my family," he began, but Ivan's laugh cut him off.

"You're worthless to me," he told him simply, banging a hand on the table. "Now! I did what you wanted, so tell me; what is the Lum-"

"You've done nothing for me. You've told me nothing. What the hell am I supposed to do with-"

"She was going to come back for you." Ivan looked away once more as he said that, tone softer, if only a bit. "Laxus. She was going to stay with her sister and come back for you when she was settled. But she never came back. And then her sister...Melody… She said that she never got there." Snorting, Ivan said, "I figured she took some time for herself. She'd be back. She had to come back. Iris isn't...strong. She's so fucking weak. But then… I don't know what happened to her. I looked, but it was too late. She was… She just...disappeared." Ivan even laughed, once more, tossing his hands up in the air again. Then, staring over at his son, he said, "So now, tell me about-"

"Fuck you."

And Laxus only held up a single hand before shooting a rather strong bolt of lightning at his father. It caused the illusion to immediately meld back into the real world, leaving them both just sitting there, Ivan, due to the effect of the magic, paralyzed.

Laxus only got to his feet before saying, "My family's mine. Me, my wife, Gramps, and my child. You're not a part of it. So carry on with your life as you have and stay the hell out of mine."

And with that, as his father was still stuck staying right where he was, Laxus went over to Mirajane and Freed, pulling the woman gently to her feet while ignoring the questions of both of them.

"Pay for both your food, Freed," was all Laxus said as he drug Mirajane away. "And I'll see you back at the hotel."

But Mirajane wasn't nearly as easy to get rid of. Mainly because, one, she didn't follow his orders blindly (or else she'd be far away at the moment, obviously), and two, he was sort of dragging her along.

"Dragon, what-"

"He didn't know anything." The man took her back out onto the street, keeping his back to the restaurant, not even waiting for Freed to catch up. "He's just as worthless as he's always been."

"But Laxus-"

"Mira." And then he looked down at her, truly, and his face showed just all he was going through. She didn't know what happened, but she didn't need to. Only bowed her head. "Please. Just let me get back to the hotel. Alright?"

She shook free of his hand (it wasn't hard; he'd never truly tug her around), before moving to grasp his hand in hers. Though it wasn't a cure all, not by any account, Laxus did feel as if he was able to breath again, if only for the moment.

Squeezing his fingers, she nodded, before whispering back, "Alright."

I have no idea where a month went (okay, maybe I do, just a little), but I think nearly 10,000 words makes up for that, no?

And I also know that I said Accidents and Incidents was the next to be updated (that one's been a month too; I haven't been feeling my own writing recently), but this one just came to me better the past few days. It's definitely next now though, hopefully, so it should be up soon.