Laxus blinked in shock.

"That's what you want?" he uttered in complete disbelief.

The blonde nodded.

Laxus disappeared to a closet and returned a few minutes later. He handed over the little cedar box, and Lucy snatched it from his hands eagerly and plopped down on the couch in his apartment. It was their first day home, and he'd made good on his promise to her although her request was quite unexpected.

She asked to see his baby pictures.

His apartment was somewhat bare; there was furniture, but no decoration to speak of. It was obvious it was less of a home and more of a place to sleep and drink. It was the place he stayed between the grand adventures of a wizard, but it seemed somehow a little less bleak with Lucy sitting there. A good woman was, and always would be, the best thing to have in one's home.

Lucy poured the photographs out on the coffee table, turning them right side up and moving them so they were all visible. He sat on the opposite end of the couch with a beer and watched as she sorted through these memories of his life.

Lucy picked up a photograph of a young Ivan with a hugely pregnant blonde. "That's your mom?"

He nodded once.

"She was beautiful. But she's short. Your dad seems tall to be Master's son. You seem really tall to be related to him at all," she commented.

Laxus explained, "My paternal grandmother is very tall. She's almost my height."

"Is? She's still alive?"

"You've met her."

Lucy was confused as she looked up at him, and then she tried to think of all the very tall old women she knew. There was really only one she could think of.

"Porlyusica and Master?!"

Laxus nodded once. "They were on the same team, got drunk one night, and big fucking oops. Gramps was an asshole about it back then."

Suddenly, Porlyusica's confusing concern about her getting involved with a Dreyar man made a lot more sense. Laxus told a short but sordid story of people who were friends but not lovers trying—and failing—to get along well enough to raise a child.

Lucy thought at first that she didn't like her grandson, but then when she looked back through her own memories, she didn't leave him when he inhaled the magic barrier particles. She'd seemed worried to the point of being afraid, so maybe her concern was limited to the idea that Laxus might make the same mistakes as his grandfather with her.

She pushed that thought out of her mind as she went back to her original purpose.

"You were so cute!" she said, waving a picture of him.

He blushed slightly. "Geeze. This is even worse than I thought it would be."

She asked him questions about all kinds of things, and as he answered her questions, Laxus realized she wanted to know him. Not as a dragon slayer or a wizard or as a trainer or anything other than as himself—the guy under all that other stuff. Laxus could understand that, because there was a Lucy that existed under the plethora of labels that had been applied to her also and she was delightful to him.

Laxus didn't really know anything about being in a relationship, because he really hadn't seen many successful ones. In his family, everyone fucked up somewhere, and even in the guild, nobody had a successful relationship while he was growing up.

Lucy looked up at him after she put the photos back in the box. He was really trying, and for some reason, that made her happy.

"We should train tomorrow," she said.

He nodded. "I think you're at a point where we can relax the training schedule a little. Keep your body in good shape, keep working your magic, and you'll have steady progress from here on."

The blonde abruptly climbed onto his lap, straddling him, and took the beer from his hands and put it on the end table next to the sofa. She put her fingertips in his hair and played with it, and he felt some unexpected joy about how she liked his hair. It was relaxing for her to touch it, and it was affection that really had nothing to do with sex, and that was new to him. The feeling was fresh, clean, and sweet.

Up to his grand Lucy moment, he didn't appreciate physical intimacy at all. He had sexual urges, and he would meet them and move on. He didn't like a woman to be close to him, so most of his sexual romps involved a woman bent over on the bed and minimal kissing and other touching.

Laxus felt like Lucy could invade his space in any way she felt and he wouldn't mind at all. She was an affectionate girl, and he was quiet and still as she her hands moved to his cheeks and she stared into his blue eyes like she could see straight through him and still wanted to be with him. That, he decided, was disarming.

"You can touch me. It's okay," she whispered.

Laxus brought callused hands up and slid them through her silky golden hair as it fell down her back, and then ran his palms along the unexpectedly sexy curve of her shoulders to her muscular back and then down to her perfect little hips until his fingertips arrived at her firm but still amazingly round ass.

Lucy had the leaner body of a fighter, but she was still soft in the right places.

He squeezed a little, and out of instinct, Lucy's back arched and she moved in his lap a little. A gasp escaped her lips. "Laxus?"

Porlyusica told her once it only took one spark, and that moment was it.

Their eyes met for just a second before their lips crashed against one another.

He'd taught her to follow her instincts when it came to her body, and even though he'd been talking about fighting, it was applicable to this beautiful, frantic entanglement of bodies.

Her eyes snapped closed and she felt his warm, callused hands slide under her skirt.

Laxus felt her fingers slide under the hem of his shirt and momentarily forced himself to come back to earth. "Is this the way you want it?"

Lucy briefly considered all in her life, but the truth was that she'd become brave and confident about her own body and as part of that process, she'd shed her girlish feelings about touch. She could punch, she could kick, she could jump, she could do so much to determine her own fate with her own body. Her hands, her feet, her legs, her arms, her body...they had ferociously ambitious blood pumping through them. She wasn't afraid, and she didn't feel awkward or nervous.

Lucy pulled back and looked up into his eyes again as she pulled his shirt upward. "One of the reasons I left my life as a spoiled heiress was so that I can be with who I choose, and I'm choosing you. I'm not scared, and I won't have any regrets, no matter what happens after right now."

XXX

Laxus wasn't a complete imbecile, so as he looked down at her, he knew what they'd done was different than anything he had ever experienced in his life. There were half a dozen spent condoms in the trash and a gorgeous woman sound asleep in his arms and he knew he had every intention of keeping her there.

The first time, he'd been left shuddering as he lay between her legs, almost unable to disentangle himself from her. She was shaking too, and when he moved, she moved with his body to keep him close to her.

With every other woman he'd laid down with, he'd never been anything remotely resembling passionate, but with her, his hands and his mouth and his everything were seemingly everywhere, all the time. He wanted to hear every gasp, every moan, every time she whispered his name as her fingernails dug into him.

He knew what was happening inside of him, and while unexpected, it wasn't unwelcome. No one really likes to be alone, no matter how much they pretended to prefer it. Going to sleep alone, waking up alone, suffering alone, celebrating alone, masturbating before bed, and crazed, pointless sex with strangers was hardly a glamorous or exciting lifestyle. And maybe he had to experience this in order to recognize how terrible all that really was.

He felt a sense of completion he'd heard people speak of, but had never experienced personally. So as he rested his head against hers and slipped back into a state of sleep, he decided it was okay for her to wreck his world. He was happy with her in it.

There was a knock on his door that awoke him and he looked over at his clock and found it was 3:24 am.

He carefully removed himself from her and slid from between the sheets, pulling his boxers on.

The magic he sensed on the outside of his door prevented him from caring further about dressing and he opened the door for his grandfather, who pushed past him and entered.

"Gramps."

"Laxus."

Makarov hiccuped and stumbled past his grandson to the bathroom.

It really wasn't an uncommon occurrence for Makarov to get so trashed he couldn't make it all the way home. On those nights, he'd gotten into the habit of crashing on his grandson's couch.

Laxus waited for Makarov to come out of the bathroom and picked him up by the collar. "You're not staying over tonight."

"Why?"

"I have company."

Makarov chuckled. "Oh? Speaking of which, have you seen Lucy?"

"Fuck off and go home."

He really was too drunk to make it any further, and Laxus considered hauling him the last mile but this was something Lucy would have to deal with. Everyone else was familiar with how they were at the guild, but since his return from exile, they'd had an up close and personal relationship that was both rewarding and annoying to both at different times, usually in tandem. When Laxus was annoyed, Makarov was amused, and so forth.

Laxus got a pillow and blanket from the closet. "Don't bother her, you loathsome old goat."

"Wouldn't dream of it, you ungrateful spoiled ass."

Makarov burped and yawned and put his head down on the pillow, and Laxus threw the blanket over him.

The old man sighed in contentment. "I just had a fantastic idea."

"What."

"Poke holes in all your condoms..."

Laxus narrowed his eyes. "I have my father's blood too. I'll fucking leave the kid on your doorstep and skip town for fifteen years."

"Bah. I call bullshit on that all day long. You're like Pinocchio," he said, referring to the book he'd been reading to Asuka, "when you grow up, you're not going to be made of wood anymore. You won't be hard. You'll be a real boy."

His grandson shook his head. "Go to sleep, old man."

Laxus turned the lights out and just before he went back to the bedroom, he heard Makarov's voice again.

"Do you know the difference between a good leader and a great leader?"

He looked across the dark living room. "No."

Makarov said, "A good leader knows how to direct his troops to victory. A great leader knows how to show his enemy's troops the way to defeat. "

"Don't go getting sentimental because you drank too much," his grandson quietly answered.

The old man hiccuped and settled under the covers, and Laxus returned to his bedroom where Lucy was sound asleep. She snuggled up to him, half-asleep, and then returned to a state of slumber until morning.

When Lucy woke up, her boyfriend was still asleep and she looked around for her clothes and then opened his closet and took one of his button down shirts. It was purple, and it went almost down to her knees. She wasn't sure if she'd ever felt so satisfied with being filthy in her life. There was a scent in the bed of sweat and effort that seemed like some protracted battle had taken place there.

She slipped quietly to the bathroom, missing the very short man in the living room and took a shower, washing the traces of them off of her. In some ways, she felt like a different, more mature woman. The girlish insecurities of virginity had been demolished by the dragon slayer sleeping in the next room. She smiled a little when she remembered him begging, and then smiled a little more when she remembered how he paid her back for that.

Sexuality was empowering and it made her feel a confidence in her body that she had never known.

She dried off and wrapped a towel around her head before buttoning up the shirt and stepping out to find Makarov in the kitchen, cooking eggs and bacon.

"M-Master!" she ducked behind a corner and peeked out at him.

The old man grinned at her. "Good morning, Lucy! You're probably hungry."

She continued to hide.

"I already know you've been here all night, so you might as well come out and eat."

Lucy crept slowly and came to sit at the table. "It's not what you think!"

"Relax. There's no crime in being with the person you love. I'm glad it's you. You're a good girl—fiercely loyal, patient, and kind. Laxus needs someone like you to reach his full potential," he said as he seasoned the eggs and gave them a stir.

Lucy accepted his approval with a nod, although she did wish he hadn't caught her creeping out of Laxus' bed.

Makarov smiled gently at her. "Be patient with him. He's going to be a great man. He just had a rough start. But this...you...are a sign he's going to be all right, I think. A lot of people don't realize it when they're young, but love matters. Love can give you the strength to push through all the adversity in the world and reach for your future without fear."

Knowing Makarov had missed it when he was young helped Lucy understand their family a little better, and they spoke seriously but quietly about love, about life, about Laxus Dreyar.

Laxus went to shower when he awoke to the smell of food and came out just as Makarov finished cooking. The two men picked and insulted each other throughout the meal about all kinds of things. They seemed comfortable, and Lucy enjoyed watching them go at it. They were just alike, just from different generations. She believed they'd probably had to go through a lot of difficult times to get to a point where they could simply have a meal together, so she was happy for them.

They were almost like a real family for those few minutes; the grandfather, the grandson, and the grandson's girl. And she knew if they weren't there together, they'd all be alone, so this was infinitely better.

Makarov addressed them both toward the end of the meal, while Lucy was trying to figure out where her clothes had ended up and Laxus was considering whether or not he should tell her since she'd put them on and leave, and he didn't necessarily want her to do that—ever.

"We have a special job request. The Council approached us on behalf of one of the country's nobleman. They asked for Lucy specifically, citing the job requires her powers. The client doesn't want anyone else involved," he explained.

Laxus looked up at him. "That's suspicious as hell."

"The reward is the Aquarius key and ten million jewel."

Lucy gasped.

Makarov explained, "I'm very suspicious, and I believe if it's not a trap that there's likely more to it than was offered. I know that key is something you'd fight for more than jewels or fame or bragging rights. But, my suggestion to you is that you barter with the client and sell yourself a little short. If they believe you can't do it by yourself, they'd probably allow you bring a companion."

"Who should I bring then? Natsu? I don't think he'd mind," she asked.

Laxus pinched her ear lobe lightly and gave her a little jolt of electricity. "Who?"

Makarov laughed at them, but he was so happy to see his grandson so relaxed and content with a woman's presence. He left them alone after the meal was over and told her to meet him at the guild at three that afternoon.

As soon as the door closed, Laxus watched Lucy search all over his apartment.

"Do you know where my clothes are?"

"Maybe you should ask Natsu," he lightly teased as he sat up on the kitchen counter.

Lucy played the afternoon before back over in her mind and they'd started out on the couch, and then he'd taken her shirt off over against the wall by the window, but there was nothing. "This isn't funny. I can't wear your clothes outside."

"You could, but everyone would know what kind of trouble you've gotten into. Or, if you will, what kind of trouble has gotten into you," he answered with a smirk.

Lucy couldn't help but smile a little as her cheeks colored slightly. "This shirt is ugly."

"Then take it off and come here."

"We literally just lost almost an entire day. We should have been training."

Laxus gave her an incredulous glare. "Are you saying you don't feel like you had a good workout? I can do worse if you'd prefer."

His dryer buzzed and she opened the little utility closet and rolled her eyes at him as she pulled her clothes out of the dryer. "Don't tell me Gramps washed my clothes..."

"He's like that."

Laxus smirked again and slid off the counter, then took her panties from her. "These belong to me now."

She tried to snatch them back, and he held them over his head. She jumped and pulled at them and he wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her against him.

"I need to go home, Laxus, and be a normal person. People are going to think I'm missing at this rate."

"Everyone probably figured it out by now."

"We can't just lay around in bed all morning!"

"Why not?"

And then she realized that Laxus really, truly just did not want her to leave him alone. She wrapped her arms around his neck sweetly and embraced him, and when he knew she knew how desperate he was to keep her there, he felt embarrassed and bothered and let her go.

Lucy dressed and went home, feeling some crazy amount of excitement as she stepped out into the winter air and all but ran home. She and Plue had a productive morning together, and she spoke softly with her beloved little spirit about how it felt to be in love for real.

When it was time for her to meet the client who had the Aquarius key, she met Makarov at the guild and they went together from there to a restaurant. There, in a private room in the back, was the richest man in all of Fiore.

Makarov knew his face from the papers, but he felt anger radiate off Lucy as the approached and knew she knew him some other more personal way. He knew she had high society connections galore, but had disavowed them and never called upon them again.

The robust man stood and offered a hand to Makarov.

"Please to meet you, Master Makarov. I am—"

Lucy cut him off before he could finish his introduction. "Duke Sawarr."

The duke smiled at her a little.

He wasn't an attractive man by any means, measuring up only to Lucy's height, but at over three times her weight. His brown hair was curled at the ends in an artistocratic style, his ears were strangely huge, and he peered at them with gray eyes through thick glasses. He was in his mid-forties, and his eyes traced over Lucy in a way that made Makarov glad Laxus had not been invited to this meeting.

He might have done worse than try to punch the poor guy's lips off as Laxus had done to Bacchus, although the sight of his grandson in love enough to fight about it made Makarov happy for some reason.

"You two know one another?" Makarov asked.

Sawarr explained, "I've always been very fond of Lady Lucy. It seems much of Fiore has fallen for her these days, but I was the first to fall madly in love with her charm."

He reached for her hair, and she slapped his hand.

"After all these years, you still resist..."

The blonde postured herself like someone who was going to strike at any moment. "After all these years, you're still a creep!"

Sawarr's lip curled into a snarl. "Still wild. I thought you were untamable by any man, but I've heard you've been involved with a few: Natsu Dragneel—the one who spends all night at your apartment. Gray Fullbuster—often seen half-naked with you, Bacchus Groh—the casual fling, and Laxus Dreyar...God even knows what you're doing with that freak of nature."

"Do you want me to spell it out for you?" she indignantly hissed.

Makarov wordlessly allowed the tension to churn and the sparks to fly, because he knew Lucy's determination to regain her key was much greater than her dislike for this man, as disgusting as he was. Had this been a year prior, he never would have allowed it, but she was at a point where she didn't need anyone trying to protect her.

And then, she whispered, "You're disgusting."

The duke laughed at her evilly and held a glimmering, beautiful golden key out. Lucy could feel the magic emanating from it. Aquarius was so close, and her heart ached.

This was still the same game the men had played with her before. Duke Sawarr leveraged wealth against her when she was young, offering her the whole world for her hand in marriage. She ran, and her father betrothed her to him anyway, which resulted in Jude Heartfilia's ill-fated decision to send Phantom Lord to retrieve her. When that didn't work, Sawarr brought the Heartfilia name to ruin, and went so far as to take possession of every penny of wealth they'd had.

That key was just leverage, and had it been anything else in the whole world, she would have turned and walked away.

Lucy pushed him when he took a step closer and on her step forward, donned Scorpio Star Dress. "Listen, Duke. I'm not just a wizard. I'm a powerful wizard and if you cross me, I'll make you regret the day your poor mom let her parents force her into a Junelle marriage...don't get your panties in a twist because I didn't do the same. You will never be the kind of man I'd look at. Get that through your head, and let's keep this professional. You have something I want. There's something you need me to do, so get to it and tell me what this is really about!"

Like this, she was infinitely intimidating to him as her little metal scorpion's tail whipped in irritation.

Sawarr took a step back. "The job is going to be difficult."

"...and it requires me for what reason?!"

"Easy, little monster. A dark wizard was paid to steal something from my home. The Junelle diamond was taken by a dark wizard who came from Indus. I want you to travel to Indus and retrieve it. You're the only wizard that has ever seen the Junelle diamond, and despite being unimpressed, I'm sure you remember what it looks like."

Indus was literally on the other side of the world, and never in her life had Lucy imagined she'd end up traveling there. Once in a while, there were rumors that there were great wizards in Indus, so he was essentially requesting she travel and alone to a place that would pose unknown risks and challenges.

But, if she could do it, she could have her first friend back in her life. That was worth anything to her.

Lucy met his eyes. "I won't go alone. That's too far, and if I remember correctly, the Junelle diamond is the largest diamond in the world. It's probably been stolen at the orders of some mighty family who might have unknown magical resources guarding it. You have to increase the reward, and you have to pay us half up front since we have to travel, one-fourth of it in Indus currency."

"You take too many people and it'll be suspicious. No more than two companions," he quickly argued.

Makarov watched them shake and Junelle gave her the paperwork. He no longer suspected this was a trap but knew some piece was missing.

Sawarr added, "Be careful. There are rumors that the Junelle diamond has great magical properties."

"How did it come into the possession of your family?" Makarov asked.

"The legend is that a celestial summoning wizard named Anna Heartfilia was given the diamond by a lightning dragon she knew and upon her death, arranged for it to be given to my family. My family is under a curse and none of us can use magic, so it has no effect on us," he explained.

The dots really connected themselves: a celestial spirit wizard and a lightning dragon.

No one present really believed any of this was a coincidence, although the meaning and relevance of fate were, at the moment, hidden from all of them.

Makarov was possibly most concerned about the fact that Lucy's ancestor was connected to a lightning dragon. History had a peculiar and strange way of repeating itself, as if it was the very nature of the universe. This was especially true with tragedies and although little was known about how Anna Heartfilia's story ended, it was safe to assume they were both dead in the end.

The made their agreements and Lucy stared at the golden key for a moment before they turned to leave.

Despite his caution, Makarov could see very easily the effect Laxus had on her. When she first came to the guild, she was easily intimidated and seemed uncomfortable in her own skin. Somehow—whether intentional or not—she'd learned how to take control of what was going on around her. She was confident, trustworthy in battle, and had she not been both, he would have pulled the plug on this entire operation.

While they were walking together back to the guild, Makarov said, "You know you can't leave Laxus behind. Team loyalties or no, you can't lay down with a man who cares about you and then disappear to the other side of the world for an unknown amount of time in an unknown amount of danger. He would hunt you down and when he found you, everyone would be sorry."

"I know. He's probably the most important person to bring too. The diamond belonged to a lightning dragon, so he might have some link to it."

"And the other person?" Makarov asked.

"Natsu?"

The old man shook his head. "I won't allow it—this guilds enemies would jump at the idea that Natsu and Laxus are gone. Take Wendy if she'll go."

"Wendy?"

"If there are battles that you and Laxus cannot win, adding a third person probably won't improve your chances of victory. What Wendy will do is increase the chances that none of you will die if it comes down to it," he explained.

Lucy nodded in understanding.

Makarov looked up at her. "There are rumors that there are dragons alive in Indus. I doubt it's true, but tread carefully. This might be the biggest adventure of your life or your biggest mistake. And remember, if you can't complete the mission, it's better to come home and live than to die trying. Aquarius would understand that also."

"I understand."

Lucy explained to Laxus first, and she could tell he was uneasy at the idea of leaving the side of the world they knew. The continent and Alvarez were close enough that they were 'the world' to most people. Everyone knew there was land on the other side of the world, and a few times in a person's life, they might run into travelers from Indus who told wild stories.

At the same time, it was the heart of a wizard to adventure, to wander, run, jump, and seek the unknown to find out what lied there at the depths of uncertainty.

Wendy was similarly tempted and agreed to journey far, far from home for the sake of this wonderful adventure. Truthfully, she was most lured toward agreeing because she'd get to spend time with the person she casually thought of as her big dragon brother and a woman she'd come to admire. Wendy also fell under the weight of being called a cute little girl, but she knew Lucy had shed that label and she had confidence in herself to do the same someday.

They spent a week preparing for the journey, tidying up unfinished business, cleaning and clearing up their homes in case they were gone for a while, packing, and making travel arrangements.

Porlyusica concocted several doses of a serum to ward off motion sickness using herbs that were normally nothing short of impossible to get, but Lucy was an amazingly adept mountain climber at that point in her progression as a wizard and she was happy to get anything that might help them.

She packed them a first aid bag with herbs, serums, magic potions, bandages, and tools, just in case they ran into disaster on their way, which was almost guaranteed. She explained what everything was and made a guide, which she entrusted to Wendy.

They boarded a boat in Hargeon and left everything they had known, unsure when they'd see the shores of Fiore or the guild hall again.

Lucy stood on the edge of the ship and looked out over the water. The Grand Magic Games left her feeling victorious and confident, and having a boyfriend was really so amazing she almost couldn't believe it, but the real reason she'd gone through such rigorous training was so that she could go on adventures and fight with her friends.

She could practically taste the excitement on the air as the ship ventured farther into the ocean, until there was no land visible anywhere at all. The future awaited them on some distant, strange shore, calling back to the past where all of them had been connected.

Please Review!

Special thanks to boyceashlee, xxshyxx, yukino scarlet, ilarual, megumiyoung, kurahieiritr JIO, guest, aoutre, SilverGhostKitsune, paname, thornado, guest, aviend, axltz, dragonq, 12,w1n6s-0f-f1r3, 12rayne, flamey owl, katieboom, daeimagines, mirienka, katiekat2001, and mwolfe13 for reviewing!

AN: There are several more arcs in this story. So if you like short stories, sry.