Makarov's condition declined as was expected. Everyone hated it, but no one could change it. The family was happy as always, but there was an undertow of impending grief that grew by the day.
The twins had successfully finished school, and Laxus believed they'd be gone constantly on jobs. Instead, they barely left and on most afternoons, piled onto Makarov's bed with their baby sister and amused their dying great grandfather with tales of their jobs and magic and their girlfriends. In some strange kind of way, their lives gave him life and strength because dying was turning out to be a surprisingly tiring struggle.
Six months after the the twins turned eighteen, he caught pneumonia.
And everyone who had a dragon's nose knew death was rapidly approaching.
They all knew it was coming, yet nobody felt ready for it.
Makarov's 'other' children from the guild visited to say their goodbyes and Laxus watched them come shaky and leave sobbing. There were so many in the guild that Makarov had taken under his wing and raised that there was constant foot traffic in and out. Natsu had cried like a baby over having to tell Makarov goodbye.
Ivan did not come around, but somehow, everyone expected that.
On the day he died, he spent a while talking to Laxus' wife and then asked to see everyone one-by-one, so she sent her eldest son in first.
Yuri sat in the chair next to the bed and reached for his great grandfather's hand. He realized as he made contact that Makarov's hands had cared for and nurtured him since he was born. His vaguest, earliest memories were of him walking unsteadily, holding onto Makarov's hands.
Makarov squeezed his hand, his breathing ragged. "Don't look like that. You're the level-headed one. The family needs you to stay just like that. You have a baby sister, and you have a crazy brother who gambles with his life more than he should. They both need you to protect them, just in different ways. You and Mako need each other, and I guess that's why you came into the world together.
"But don't be too cold, and don't forget to have fun. Being an uptight bastard won't get you anywhere. You'll end up bitter and angry. Laugh a little more. Party sometimes. Enjoy your youth because before you know it, you won't be young anymore. As for me, I had a good life, and I don't regret one day of it. In the end, make sure you can feel the same way about the choices that you make.
"Cherish your girlfriend. You have literally been in love with her since you were seven and you first saw her. You probably won't appreciate how special that is unless you fuck it up. So don't. Watch your parents sometimes. You can learn a lot from your father.
"Look after your family. Take care of your mom and your sister. Keep your dad company. He likes to talk at night, so have an ear. He's a human being too. Think you can handle that?"
Yuri nodded. "Yes, Gramps."
Yuri's bottom lip trembled, and Makarov felt tears sting his eyes.
"Gramps, I'm glad we got to be together. I'm going to miss you." Yuri kissed his forehead. "I love you."
Makarov smiled softly. "It's just goodbye for a little while."
Yuri came out and gestured for Mako, wiping tears off of his face.
The whole family was in the living room and seeing his upset, Mavis the two and a half year old toddler went to him and held her hands up to demand he pick her up, so Yuri did and sat down, holding her close. She snuggled up to him and kissed him on the cheek.
In the room, it was Mako's turn in the hot seat, and after a coughing fit, Makarov looked over him. "The most important advice I have for you is this don't die. You're so powerful, and if you keep growing, you'll be stronger than Natsu, your father, and Gildarts. You have a good temperament, except that you're crazy as all hell and you put your life on the line too much. It might not mean that much to you because you assume you'll always win, but your life is really precious to everyone else.
"Be smarter, take fewer risks. Listen to your brother, it'll save your life. Don't get arrogant because you're strong, because life has a funny way of correcting that and it's usually not pretty.
"Don't give Natsu such a heartache. His father died on him. Lisanna died on him twice. All he has is his daughter. I want you guys to get married someday—the idea makes me happy, but it's not good to divide a family so one person is left to live alone, especially not Natsu. So if that time comes, stay with him. Have some babies and let him love on them. It would save him, I think.
"Your path in magic is going to be more difficult, because you're stronger. Fate is going to come for you, but remember what's important. Family – blood and guild. Be strong. Stay kind. That's all."
Mako nodded and when he spoke, his voice cracked even though he tried to keep it steady. "Nothing is going to be the same. I really don't want this to happen."
"You have to learn that death isn't your enemy, but you don't need to flirt with it either. It's something you have to face, but when you do, face it with all your strength. Don't hate something you can't change. I'm just going on to the next step. Someday, you will too, and it better not be anytime soon or I'll kick your ass when you get there. You got that?"
He nodded and bent down to hug his great grandfather. "I got it, Gramps. I promise I won't let you down."
Makarov had another coughing fit that rendered him unconscious, and the doctor said that he might not regain consciousness again. Laxus decided he really didn't want anyone else to see when he died, so he sent everyone out that morning and went in Makarov's room to keep a silent vigil over his grandfather.
His breathing became more difficult, more shallow, and Laxus could hear his heart fall into an irregular pattern.
Makarov's eyes opened again, and his breathing stabilized a little. "Grandson of mine..."
Laxus attempted to be dignified, but he really couldn't be. His eyes watered as he squeezed his grandfather's hand. "Hey Gramps."
"We had a good time together, didn't we?"
His grandson nodded. "I was thinking just now about when I was little. My dad had just left again, and it was time for the Fantasia Parade. So we watched it together, but I couldn't see, so you put me up on your shoulders and made yourself huge. I felt like I was at the top of the world and as long as I had you, I didn't have to care about anything else."
Makarov saw him on the verge of breaking down into tears. "Enough, you damn crybaby. It's fine. Everything is fine. All good books have an ending, you know. This is the best ending any man could ever hope for. To die in peace, surrounded by a loving family, having done and accomplished all I desired in life."
It was difficult for him to talk, but dammit—this was their last talk and he wanted to say all he had to say. "There are letters in my desk. They're for Mavis on each of her birthdays for the next twenty years. I won't get to tell her how I feel in person, but I need her to know some things."
He coughed violently, and there was suddenly so much blood. He kept coughing as if he couldn't stop and Laxus helped him sit up to spit the blood out of his mouth. By the time it ended, Makarov was drained of the little strength he had left and Laxus eased him back onto the pillow.
Laxus could sense death as if it was lingering there in wait. And he realized his grandfather's heart had stopped.
"I'm so proud of you..." Makarov whispered weakly as his eyes closed.
He let out a long, slow breath as his body went completely limp. The fingers gripping Laxus' released, and for a minute, Laxus waited for another breath, or for the sound of his grandfather's heartbeat.
Makarov was dead.
The truth was that no matter how much time they spent together, it never would have been enough. Love hates separation, no matter how that separation comes. This form of separation was the worst, and as Laxus held onto Makarov's limp hand, he cried because he'd lost the only person who had loved him all of his life.
A thousand memories flashed in his mind of being a happy child, being an unhappy teen, being rebellious...Makarov had always been there. Even when Laxus was becoming a dad for the first time, his grandfather had been with him every step of the way. They'd watched his sons grow from little crying babies to men, had thousands of late night talks, done mountains of paperwork, and spent more time laughing and happy than they'd spent upset in the years prior.
The emotion was almost unbearable, so he sat there and cried quietly knowing he at least wanted to try and put on a brave face when he left that room and told his family.
Laxus told himself he had to get his shit together, so he wiped his face, got rid of the bloody towels that suggested the last few minutes were as rough as they were, covered his grandfather up to the neck, and steeled his resolve as he stepped out into the living room.
Everyone looked up at him, puffy-eyed and clearly devastated. It wasn't even necessary for him to say it, because they already knew. "Gramps is gone."
Grief shot through the room like a boomerang, and even though everyone save Mavis knew this moment had been coming, it still felt like a shock.
Laxus felt his wife's arms around him and he hugged her so tight, eyes clenched shut.
Yuri tightened his grip on his baby sister who had her head tucked under his chin, and he cried. She didn't know why everyone was sad, but it made her sad too, so they cried together.
Mako covered his face with his hands as he sat next to his brother and didn't move at all for what felt like a lifetime.
Laxus sat between his sons and felt relieved neither of them had been violently angry about the death. His sons had never incurred a serious loss before, so they were wildcards and Laxus had feared one or both would deal with their grief in the worst possible way. He was reminded again that his sons had grown into great men.
They grieved in their own ways, but the family stayed together.
There were still pragmatics, and Laxus had to leave then to tend to those things. Those things were upsetting to him in a way; it was hard to go into some place and ask people he barely knew to go to his house and take his grandfather away, yet it had to be done. Mirajane and Erza had already made most of the other necessary arrangements at his request.
Then he went to Fairy Tail, knowing everyone was waiting inside to hear any news.
When he walked in, the guild became dead silent and everyone looked at him as if hopeful he'd have anything else in the world to say. "Sorry everyone. Master Makarov has died. Be mindful of each other. It's a difficult time for most of us who he raised. He loved all his children, so look after one another. That's what he wanted."
His eyes cut over to Natsu, who was shaking as he sat at a table.
Laxus looked from one of Makarov's monsters to the next. Erza, Gray, Lucy, Levy, Gajeel...he could have gone on for a long time, but he realized as he looked around the room that his grandfather had an incalculable impact on so many lives. He knew that deep inside, at least a couple of them envied his blood relation because in the end, Makarov had chosen to be with his blood family first and foremost even though he loved all of them.
Even though he wanted to go home, he knew his family was going to be fine. It was the guild that had the most open sores, so he stayed for a while. He wasn't sure how to lead any of them through this, but he knew as he looked down that rivalries and other petty things were still churning, but now under the heavy weight of grief.
This was his real inheritance. His grandfather trusted him to look after and lead the people he'd spent his life raising and looking after.
Wendy broke down into sobs and Laxus gave her a hug.
And that single gesture tipped the atmosphere in favor of comfort over fighting. If Wendy could cry, why not them? And if Laxus could give a hug, well, certainly anyone else could.
It was a heavy blow, and it was like the very heart of Fairy Tail had broken.
Laxus reviewed funeral arrangements, and tended to the guild, signed a few urgent papers, and went back to his home. Mako was sound asleep in his mother's lap as she held him, and their daughter had just awoken and gone into the bedroom where Makarov had died.
Laxus stopped to kiss his wife and rub Mako's back for a minute. He felt like his son wasn't asleep but like he didn't want to be awake either, so he just kept his eyes closed.
In the bedroom, Yuri was remaking the bed, and the window was open in an attempt to get the smell of death out of the house. His eyes were sad, but his expression seemed calm.
"Where's Gramps?" the little one asked. For what she could remember of her life, Makarov spent most of the time in bed, so it was strange for him not to be there.
Yuri put the sheet down and picked her up. He really had no idea what to say, so he scrambled to find words to explain why he wasn't there. "Gramps went away. On a trip."
"Trip?"
"Gramps had been sick for a long time, so he went on a trip today to a place where he doesn't have to be sick anymore."
"Can I go?"
Yuri shook his head. "No, not on this trip. But, Mako and I are going on a trip and we're going to take you with us. We're going to go to the beach. We can make a sand castle, and play in the water, and go down this big slide. Just us kids, no Mom and Dad. We're going to go as soon as we have a special party for Gramps, okay?"
Mavis was excited by this and ran to her room, and Yuri noticed his father as she passed through.
"Kidnapping my kid?"
"Mako and I decided it's been really heavy around here for a long time. We are sending you and mom on a vacation after the funeral, and then we're going to go hit the beach. You've looked really tired for a whole year, Dad, so we figured once it was over, you deserved a break from having to be everything to everybody. You trust us with Mavis, right?"
Laxus looked thoughtfully at his oldest son. He'd felt the weight of the world in a very real way over the past year or so, but he always had to maintain. His sons had even recognized the pressure, and he was truly grateful they wanted to help him decompress. And trust them with a toddler?
Yuri and Mako adored their sister and had carried her around so much as an infant that Laxus wasn't sure she'd ever learn how to walk. The boys knew her imaginary friends and the names of her stuffed animals and played with her often. It had only been a couple of days since he'd come home to find his two s-class dragon sons having a tea party.
"I'd trust you if you said you wanted to take Mavis to see an active volcano. Your mom and I really appreciate you two. Your mom got a little overwhelmed taking care of Gramps sometimes with the bathing and medicine and cleaning—it wasn't a terrible way to go, but it wasn't pretty either. And then I wasn't even home all the time and had a whole fucking guild pulling on me. Making dinner, cleaning up, taking care of your sister...that stuff mattered more than you even know. You're young, you just made s-class, you could be doing a lot of other things," he said.
Yuri finished making the bed. "Family first, right? Besides, we have our whole lives. We only had a little time left with Gramps. We can go out and fight anytime, but we couldn't get more time with him."
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Laxus could remember his son's troubled phase. The yelling, cursing, and rebelliousness had been frustrating to a point he almost couldn't stand, but he'd pulled through.
Alzack and Bisca brought food over, and the family half-ate a meal mostly in silence that night. They all took turns starting at the empty chair at the end of the table. They'd had countless meals together as a family, for years and years, and during nearly every one, Makarov sat at the end of the table and watched the antics of the family—the boys, Laxus and his wife, Laxus fussing at his sons, their mother spoiling them—and he'd speak now and then. For the most part, he'd watched over them all along.
After dinner, they spent half the night telling stories about Makarov. Laxus told his sons all about things that happened before they were born, and the boys shared some of their own experiences with their grandfather, and his wife told them how she and Makarov used to sit and laugh at all the crazy things that happened in a dragon's nest.
They laughed, they cried, and then they separated.
Laxus and his wife bathed Mavis and read her a story before bed, and when his wife went to check on their sons, she found neither was home.
"Do you know where they are?" she asked worriedly.
Their father nodded. "A man gets to a certain age and he doesn't want his mother to hold him when he's sad-not all the time at least."
"Do you need me to hold you at least?"
"Always."
Laxus had sex until he passed out, doubting sleep was going to come any other way, and was somehow surprised to wake up the next morning and the sun was shining, birds were singing, and life went on as if nothing had changed.
He showered and dressed, and prepared for a different morning routine. While his grandfather was sick, he'd still have coffee with him, but sometimes it was in Makarov's room.
When he came in the kitchen, he found his sons sitting at the table with coffee. He couldn't decide whether he should cry or smile at them. His wife was cooking breakfast, and his daughter came out of her room in her pajamas and climbed into his lap, half-asleep.
Laxus felt like he had been taking care of his family, but suddenly he knew his family was taking care of him.
Please Review!
Special thanks to BizzyLizy and Such a lonely life for reviewing!
