Chapter 12

Leora enjoyed the wind blowing through her hair as she soared through the sky over the ship. The sun was bright and the clouds were scarce this fine morning. With her wings spread wide and her tail out for balance, she opted to fly to the island rather than stay on the ship that the dragon slayer and the Raijinshuu were currently on. She didn't fly ahead during the journey, simply hovering around the ship as it travelled. She had forgotten how great it was to fly with her true wings. The ocean breeze felt amazing against her skin as she flew with the birds.

Finally sighting Tenroujima up ahead, Leora let out a smile. She had not returned to the island since she fled from it, after the dragon slayer had placed the mark on her. It would be nice to return to her current den for a visit. Unable to hold her excitement, she flew on ahead, not hearing the annoyed shout from the ship below.

Landing in the clearing outside her den, she stretched her limbs and recalled her wings before walking towards Mavis' grave. She stayed in front of it for a moment, taking in the essence of her magic that still surrounded the stone monument. All around her the island was quiet, save for the gentle chirping of the birds overhead. She breathed out as Mavis' magic calmed her from within. Stepping behind the grave, she made her way inside her den, which had remained opened. A little worried at first, she smiled when she noted that everything was still in place and decided to flop down on a pile of furs to take a nice long nap.


"What the hell is taking this woman so long?" Laxus grumbled as he paced around their campsite. It had been a week since they had seen the dragoness after she had flown off to the island. When they had first arrived, Laxus had found her sleeping in her den behind the First Master's grave, but she had simply told him to go away. Said something along the lines of needing a break after having spent the past two months with him twenty-four seven. She told him she'd be back when she had enough rest. Did she always talk back like that?

"Calm down Laxus," Bickslow said as he exited his tent with a yawn. Even his babies looked sleepy as they were flying a little slower this morning. "Dragon girl will come when she comes."

"Bickslow is right," Freed added in. "We should be focused on our own training if we want to get stronger and participate in the Games." Even though Freed wasn't a huge fan of competition, he felt it was his duty to make it up to those members who had waited for them for seven long years.

"Exactly," Evergreen said as she walked out of her tent, pushing up her glasses. She had been itching to improve upon her skills. After her devastating defeat at the hands of the Grimoire Heart and later by that demon she was ready for things to change. "She'll come by when she's ready."

Laxus continued to grumble as the four of them walked towards their training grounds. He had actually been looking forward to fighting the dragon again. Their previous match had been exhilarating.


Later that night after the Raijinshuu had gone to sleep, Laxus was still training on his own in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Practicing his lightning magic, he sent a bolt of lightning straight into a poor unsuspecting tree causing it to be roasted upon impact.

A voice interrupted him. "You're lightning is very…ugly." Laxus immediately turned towards the origin of that snarky remark and noted the dragoness sitting in a tree nearby.

Laxus snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"It means exactly what I said." Leora slipped down from the tree and walked towards Laxus. "Your lightning is too harsh." She looked towards the tree that was just killed by him. "Judging from the looks of it, it's fueled by anger and rage. And that is what makes it ugly."

Thinking about what Leora said, Laxus realized that his magic was really fueled by his anger. Not that it surprised him. It mostly came from the pent up frustration and rage he felt as a child. Having been called weak and compared non-stop to his grandfather, Laxus had channeled all of that energy into his magic. But his rage was also what had made him strong.

"What's wrong with using my anger?" Laxus asked, still a little offended. Besides, he had a lot of it.

"Nothing," she answered as she walked past him. "If all you want to do is destroy." Another harsh bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck down another tree, splitting it straight down the middle. Smoke rose from the strike point and into the air as the trunk sizzled. Leora walked around the dragon slayer until they were back to back from one another.

"But there are so many more things that lightning can do." Sparks began flying from her hands and rose into the air above them causing Laxus to look up. "It can illuminate." The arcs of lightning above them twisted in on themselves creating a miniature lacrima light sphere.

"It can build-" The lightning arranged itself into a spear above their heads. "-and recreate." The spear dissolved back into lightning then morphed into a sword before once again dissipating back into electricity.

"It can listen and tell you things." The sparks of lightning ran through the ground and back towards them.

"Lightning can be tough-" The harsh rumbling of thunder was heard in the distance. "-but it can also be gentle." The arcs of lightning went back into the air and gently floated around them, looking like they were dancing.

"And lastly," she said. "Lightning...can be beautiful." The arcs of lightning dispersed into tiny little sparks and rose high above them, almost mimicking the bright stars that were present in the night sky. Laxus found himself speechless throughout her entire demonstration, understanding what she had meant. Before he had thought that lightning really was just lightning, but just now he was proven wrong. Now he was able to tell what she meant when his lightning was harsh and fueled with rage.

Laxus couldn't help but turn around to face the dragoness, who was still looking up at the sky. With the way the moon, the stars and her own sparks of lightning illuminated her face, Laxus couldn't help but think about how she was beautiful as well. Immediately catching himself with that thought, he coughed, trying to get his mind away from that train of thought. His cough caught Leora's attention and she looked back over at him.

Seeing the look of understanding in the dragon slayer's eyes Leora nodded, before mentioning. "Tomorrow as soon as the sun rises, we start."

"Start what?" Laxus asked, still a little flustered.

"Training of course," she replied with her hands on her hips. "If you think I'm gonna approve of a weak dragon slayer as my Knight then you've got something coming."

Playing into the game, Laxus gave her a grin as he leaned forward. "I thought you already did approve of this weak dragon slayer. In fact you're the one who submitted to me."

Leora flinched backwards, "T-That's irrelevant!" She pointed a finger towards the dragon slayer. "You've got a long way to go before I truly call you my Knight!"

Laxus pulled back with a scowl, arms crossed. "Fine. I'll agree to you 'training' me. But only if you let me teach you too."

Leora scoffed, looking smug. "I highly doubt you can teach me something I don't already know." She was over four hundred years old. Who was this human who thinks he knows more than she does?!

Laxus smirked. "Oh I do know something that you don't know." He took a step forward, poking a finger to the middle of her bare collar. Out of pride, Leora didn't back away. "You have an empty magic container inside you now, so I'm going to teach you how to use magic." Laxus wasn't about to be the only one learning things. He'd rather be on an even field with the dragoness. Which meant that if she was going to be training him, then he was going to be training her as well. In his mind, it was only fair. Laxus watched as a myriad of emotions went through the dragoness' face. Shock, disinterest, slight curiosity and hesitation.

Laxus decided to urge her on. "What? Are you afraid of learning a little magic?"

Completely baited by his taunt, Leora responded hotly. "Why would I be afraid?!" She glared at the dragon slayer, before reluctantly agreeing. "Fine. I'll learn your stupid magic."

Laxus let out a victorious grin. "Good. I hope you'll be ready."

Leora gave him a grin as well, however hers was much darker. "No. It is you who should be ready. These next three months will be your greatest hell." Laxus felt a small shiver up his spine. He really hoped he had made the right choice in bringing her here.


The next morning, Laxus found himself sitting crossed legged on the sandy beach. He glanced at the dragoness in front of him and noted Leora's odd attire. Well it wasn't odd by normal circumstances, it was just odd since he had never seen her wear it before. The busty blonde was currently in a pair of dark shorts and a very Cana styled bikini top. The two black fabric triangles that caressed her breasts were held together with a gold ring in the middle and two thin straps that were tied behind her neck. From this attire, her Bond mark was clearly visible to him. The black lightning bolt that curved on the inside of her left breast.

She sat down within arm's length of him in a similar crossed legged manner.

"Remove your shirt," Leora demanded with a serious tone.

"What?" Laxus asked, unsure that he had heard the dragoness correctly.

Leora sighed before reaching forward and slicing his shirt down the middle, stripping his shirt for him. Laxus thought he heard a muffled squeak somewhere back in the trees, but he was too stunned by what she did that he didn't think more into it. Before Laxus could react to her defiling of his shirt, the dragoness had placed her right hand on his left pectoral, right above where his mark was. She quickly grabbed his left hand and placed it on top of her right and with her left hand she grabbed his right one. She maneuvered his right hand so that it slide underneath the gold ring of her bikini so that his right hand was now over her mark. Which basically meant that he was cupping her left breast.

Ah. So that's why she wore the top.

Laxus felt something opening up and connecting between them, but he was too busy gaping like a fish to care. Leora's golden eyes flashed dangerously up to his blue ones.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Leora snarled in warning. Laxus' mouth instantly closed. He once again thought he heard some noises over in the trees, but he was too focused on where his hand was at the moment to investigate. It was just a woman's chest, when the hell did he get so sensitive about this stuff? Her eyes narrowed as if she could tell what he was thinking...

"I can't hear what you are thinking, but I can feel your emotions though the Bond," Leora said. "Now, close your eyes. Can you feel the Bond between us?"

Laxus closed his eyes and tried to figure out what she was saying. He drowned out the noises around him as he concentrated. Slowly he felt the flow of magic and power between the two of them. It was a slight tingle that flowed through their arms in a gentle circle. Laxus nodded.

"Good," Leora continued. "Right now, this connection and this flow is our Bond. You can picture it like a channel with two doors in the middle. One door belongs to you. It controls the flow of your magic and emotions into me. The other door belongs to me. It controls the flow of my power and emotions into you. If one of the doors are closed, the flow is stopped. Soon enough, you will learn how to open and close your door. Right now, it is open."

That made enough sense to the dragon slayer. Laxus nodded for her to continue.

"Currently, our Bond can only be felt through the physical connection between our marks." Her eyes flickered down to their arms. "But, given enough time and training we will be able to feel and communicate with the Bond through much greater distances."

Laxus raised his brow, "I'd be able to talk to you through the Bond?"

Leora nodded in affirmation. "Yes. Right now, we can only transfer our magic or power and sense each other's emotions, but when it gets stronger we would be able to communicate. Now, as a first lesson, can you sense what I am feeling right now?"

Laxus closed his eyes and felt for the Bond again. He let his mind venture through the channel to the other side. He probed around, searching for her emotions…Hmm…Found it.

"Annoyed. You're feeling annoyed," Laxus answered. He felt slightly accomplished when he saw her nod.

"Can you figure out why I'm feeling that way?" she asked him.

Laxus' eyebrows furrowed. How the hell was he supposed to know why she was- Wait. He slowed down and concentrated on their surroundings before finally picking up on the noises in the trees that he had been ignoring. Zeroing in on those noises, he could clearly hear the voices of his comrades as they whispered in the bushes. In fact, it was very clear.

"Freed, stop trying to rush out there," Evergreen whispered frantically. Laxus could hear more shuffling.

"How can I not?!" Freed replied, his voice raised an octave. "She's violating him!"

Laxus could hear Bickslow's signature laugh and could practically picture his tongue dropping. Actually wait, he could. "Freed, given the fact that our dear Laxus is the one with his hand on her lovely breast, I don't think she's the one doing the violating." He heard more shuffling and could actually see Freed's head peeking out of the bushes before it was pushed back down. That's interesting. He had never been able to see this well before. Laxus turned his head back to face the dragoness.

"You're annoyed because the Raijinshuu are trying to watch us," Laxus answered with a flat voice, slightly embarrassed by his teammates.

Leora gave him an approving smirk. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Suddenly three yelps could be heard in the distance, before a loud shout was heard. "Goddamnit Laxus! You didn't have to zap us! Fine we'll leave!" Laxus heard the rustling of the trees as the Raijinshuu quickly shuffled away.

Laxus could see the tiny smile that the dragoness tried to hide. Before she could continue, he asked the question that was on the back of his mind. "I can hear and see better than before, is that because of the Bond?"

She nodded. "You're senses have been heightened ever since I've shared some of my power with you. You should now have similar senses to the other first generation dragon slayers. Also an added perk of being Bonded to me is increased resilience. Meaning you can take a lot more damage and heal faster."

Laxus liked the sound of that one.

"But keep in mind that you are still a mage, meaning that you will still be subject to magic deficiency disease should you run out of magic," Leora warned.

He nodded, "So what's in this for you?"

Leora gave it a thought before responding. "For me, like you said before, I can now use magic. Though I can barely picture myself needing it." Laxus snorted at the level of arrogance she had. It was quite similar to his own. "Though I guess one added perk is the fact that I won't be hurt by your dragon slaying magic anymore."

Laxus paused at that one. If his magic was no longer effective on her anymore, what's to stop her from killing him?

Leora sensed his hesitation through the bond and pieced together what he was thinking. "My pride as your Dragon and as your…guild member prevents me from killing you. Understand Laxus that for our Bond to grow, we must trust in each other. If you don't trust me to not kill you, we might as well stop here." Laxus nodded, cursing himself for thinking ill of a fellow…guild member.

"Besides my lightning can no longer hurt you either," she added. Not like it did much damage to him to begin with, given the fact that they were of the same element.

After her lecture, Leora was starting to get tired. The Bond was draining more of her power to keep up than she thought it would. Looking over at the dragon slayer she also noted his exhaustion. She decided that they will end here today and removed their hands from each other, instantly ending the connection.

She noted his heavy panting even after their connection had been cut. The Bond must have been a drain on his magic power as well. She was both surprised and amazed at how long he had held up. She held out an open palm towards Laxus. "You can say this is one last perk I guess." Lightning started to spark in her palm. Seeing the confused expression on his face she laughed, pushing her palm closer towards him. "Go on. Eat."

"You want me to eat your lightning?" Laxus asked, with a raised brow. For some reason this felt a little more intimate than he was comfortable with.

Leora rolled her eyes. "Just try it." Laxus looked down at the arcs of lightning over her hand. Subconsciously grabbing her wrist, Laxus pulled her hand up to his mouth and inhaled the lightning. Almost immediately, flavours exploded on his palate and he couldn't hold back a groan. It was the most goddamn delicious lightning he's ever had and he's been in quite a few lightning storms in the twenty three years of his life. He could feel his magic power restoring itself at incredible speeds as well. His eyes wide, Laxus looked towards the dragoness who now had a smirk on her face.

"Like I said, it's a perk from the Bond."


The next week was spent strengthening their bond as well as physical and magic training for the mages. At one point Laxus managed to convince Leora to join in, however that was proven unnecessary for the strength portion of the training as she was easily capable of lifting mountains, much to the dismay of the men. However, they did make an interesting discovery while they were in the endurance portion of their training…

Running was never something she had to do. Why would she ever need to run? All she had to do to get somewhere was to fly. Which is what she tried to do during the running portion of the day.

"Oi Sunshine! Stop being lazy and start running." Laxus shouted towards her as she flew above them.

"What do I need to run for? I can just fly!" she yelled back in protest.

"What if you were someplace where there wasn't enough space for your wings?!" Laxus asked smartly.

"…"

Laxus gave her a smug look. "Exactly. Now put away those wings and start running." Leora grumbled as she came back down.

Within five minutes, Leora learned something new. She. Hated. To. Run. Slowing down to a walk and subsequently a complete halt, she bent forward and held her hands to her knees. Flying never took this much energy…why couldn't she just fly? Stupid dragon slayer…making her run…

"Oi! You're going to get left behind if you don't keep up!" Laxus shouted from far ahead.

His words resonated through Leora, causing her to have a mini epiphany. Is this why Zeref kept leaving her behind? Because she was too slow or tired to keep up? Well…she did often take breaks…which turned into naps…! Leora held a look of complete comical devastation as she realized that the combination of Zeref's occasional empty-headedness and her frequent breaks somehow led to her being left behind. Quite often she may add as she inwardly groaned.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a deep voice.

"Come on. We're not going to wait here all day you know?" She looked forward to see a pair dark training shorts standing right in front of her.

"You waited?" Leora asked, pleasantly surprised, more than she should be.

Laxus raised his eyebrow. "Huh? Why wouldn't we?" Finally having the energy to stand up she looked ahead to see the Raijinshuu waving at her from the distance.

"Uh…"

He cut her off, "Let's go. No one gets left behind." Laxus then turned around to jog once more.

"A-Ah." Taking another deep breath she started to run again, focusing on moving one leg in front of the other. She looked to her side and realized that the dragon slayer had stayed next to her...


"So I think it's my turn to teach, don't you think?" Laxus suggested after he released his hands from Leora's. Within the past two weeks they had managed to strength their Bond so that they didn't need to be touching each other's marks directly. However, they still required physical touch.

Leora's lip twitched, uninterested. What need does she have for magic? She was perfectly fine without it.

"Don't give me that look Sunshine. I believe this was part of our deal," Laxus scoffed, getting up off of the sand and brushing his shorts off. Leora moved to get up as well, but was immediately held back down with Laxus' hands on her shoulders. She gave him a snarl, but Laxus ignored her, opting to walk around so that he was now behind her. He bent down, his hands still on her shoulders.

"It's my turn, Sunshine." Laxus whispered in her ear. He smirked when he felt her shiver through the Bond. "Close your eyes."

"They're already closed," Her voice was monotone. Laxus could already sense her annoyance.

Laxus sent a warning jolt through their Bond. "Don't sass back." He felt her tense for a moment. "Relax." To Laxus' surprised she obeyed him, well not without a huge sigh, relaxing her body once again. He called out to Freed, whom he had known was eavesdropping on them this morning.

"Freed. Come here." Laxus commanded. Letting out a cough of embarrassment at being caught, Freed came out from the bushes to approach the pair on the sandy beach.

"Yes, Laxus." Freed answered.

"Sunshine here is learning magic today. I want you to explain it to her," Laxus said. He would do it himself, but he knew Freed would mostly likely be able to explain it to her better. Unlike the others, he didn't exactly start from scratch, since he gained a head start after the dragon lacrima was implanted in his head.

"Very well, Laxus." Freed moved to stand in front of the dragoness as Laxus stepped back to watch. "Leora-san. Since you have gained the capacity to use magic through the Bonding ritual that means a magic container has been created inside your body. Do you feel something of the sort?"

Leora took a deep breath and felt around for this so called container. As a dragon, all of her power was directly funneled through from nature. She acted simply as a medium for nature to enact its will. However, ever since their Bonding she has been feeling something hollow inside of her. Is that what the rune mage is talking about? "I believe so."

Satisfied with her answer, Freed continued. "A mage's magic power originates from Ethernano, which comes from the atmosphere around us. In order to use magic, you will need to fill your magic container with Ethernano. Eventually, it will fill automatically with time, but for now you'll need to concentrate on bringing it into your body."

"How?" Leora asked.

"You're going to start by meditating," Freed instructed.

"Meditation?" That sounded awfully familiar to Leora…

"We're supposed to be doing magic training so why do we have to meditate?" The grumpy blonde mage complained as he sat crossed legged with all the others. Leora watched on from behind the trees as Zeref tried to teach the humans magic. Why he decided they were worth his time was beyond her understanding…

Zeref drew a symbol on a neighboring tree. She had no idea what it meant. "Magic power is necessary to put magic into operation. Also you have to materialize the magic power that's inside of you and release it." She sighed as leaned against her tree. Listening to Zeref lecture was boring…

"But we don't have any magic in our bodies!" The complaining mage commented again. Leora glared at the man who dared to interrupt Zeref.

Zeref continued. "But the fact is there are a great number of wizards who possess magic in this world. To wizards, magic power is the equivalent of their life force." Leora decided to compare that to her own power and life force.

The humans in the field continued to listen to the black mage. "So-called Ethernanos are the building blocks of magic power. They're in the air and can be absorbed into the body. Ethernanos that are thus absorbed become the person's magic power." Hmm. So instead of taking in lightning, these humans would take in this Ethernanos…

Leora continued to listen, slightly more intrigued in the lesson now. She managed to catch the last part of Zeref's statement.

"Meditation is the most effective means of magic absorption."

"Oi Sunshine, are you even listening?!" Laxus' voice brought her back to the present. She looked over to see a scowl on his face.

"O-Of course I am!" Leora replied, inwardly flustered. She couldn't believe that she was doing the same thing that she made fun of Mavis and them for doing all those years ago…

With a sigh, Laxus nodded at Freed to continue. "Like I said, meditation will help with the absorption of Ethernano into your body. For now, you should concentrate on only that."

Leora nodded, her eyes still closed.

"Good." Laxus said. Leora could hear his footsteps approaching. "For now, you're going to be sitting here and meditating, while the rest of us continue with training."

"What?!" Leora protested. She didn't want to just sit here and meditate while the others got to fight. That's absolutely boring.

"You heard me Sunshine. Sit. Meditate." Laxus demanded. The look in his eyes told her that what he said was final.

"Hmph." She didn't know when she started to listen to the dragon slayer, but she didn't like it. Not at all. Soon after, the rest of the Raijinshuu came to join them. She continued to try and meditate but all the sounds of their combat was breaking her concentration. She was starting to get frustrated when she suddenly felt something around her neck. She looked up to see the dragon slayer standing in front of her.

"Those are noise cancelling. They should help you concentrate." Laxus said as he helped the dragoness put on his Sound Pods. "Don't break them or I'll destroy you."

The Raijinshuu looked on in absolute shock. Laxus never let anyone touch his Sound Pods, let alone wear them. For him to lend them to the dragoness was unheard of…

Laxus turned back around to see the dropped jaws of his teammates. He growled, "Not a word." Even though they didn't say anything else, they continued to snicker before he shocked them back into continuing their training. Every once in a while he'd look over at Leora, who was visibly more relaxed now that she had his Sound Pods on. Even he himself had no idea why he lent them to her…he just did. Shaking his head, he decided not to think too much into and instead concentrated on his own magic training.


The next couple of days passed in a similar manner. The morning would be spent strengthening their Bond and testing its limits, while the afternoon was spent with Leora meditating. The others would be training their own magic. The evening was often a time for rest and recuperation.

Leora was getting frustrated. While she and the dragon slayer were making progress on the Bond and the dragon slayer was working well towards developing new dragon slayer techniques, she on the other hand made zero progress with her magic. She growled in frustration as their battling continued to disturb her from her meditation. Leaving her spot, she flew off to find a more serene location so that she can concentrate.


Evening soon turned into night and Laxus still couldn't find Leora. He had saw her leave their training site this afternoon when she was meditating. She had kept her door to the channel open, so he could sense the high level of frustration from her even though they were several feet away. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he tried to locate the dragoness through the Bond, but she was apparently too far away. So Laxus decided to use his brain. Figuring that she would try and find a better location to meditate, Laxus thought about the layout of the island before he looked up.

Ah. He had a good idea as to where she went.

Leora hadn't known that she was up there in the Great Tenrou Tree for so long until she opened her eyes and day had turned into night. She briefly looked up at the sky, noting the constellations that were present. The evening breeze danced along her skin as she continued to sit cross legged at the top of the tree. Being up this high, the only beings that disturbed her were the birds that occasionally flew by, chirping to their nestmates. She breathed in the fresh air before closing her eyes and concentrating once more. She was so absorbed in her meditation that she didn't notice the dragon slayer's arrival until she felt his back press up against her own as he sat down behind her. He didn't speak, only opting to give her the extra boost by flowing some of his own magic through the Bond to her. Even now, she was still not used to the small tingle that rose up her spine every time his magic was transferred over.

When he arrived at the top of the Tenrou Tree, Laxus didn't know whether to reprimand the dragon for not paying attention to her surroundings or be happy that she was comfortable around them enough that she didn't need to always be on her guard. He decided not to bother her and simply provided the extra encouragement as he sat behind her. He looked up to the stars above them as he focused on the magic around them. For him it was easy to sense the concentrated Ethernano in the air, but he knew it would be much more difficult for someone like Leora who had no experience whatsoever with the particle before this.

Using the small amount of the dragon slayers magic as a base, Leora focused once more. She drowned out all that was around her except for the warmth against her back. Suddenly she felt something, tiny particles of magic brushing around her body, urging her to let them in. At first she panicked, but Laxus sent another wave of his magic to calm her down. Her breathing evened out again and one by one she felt the particles of Ethernano enter her body to fill the empty void inside. It wasn't much at first, but it was enough to put a smile on her face. She knew the dragon slayer could sense her happiness because she could sense his own replicated through the Bond, followed by a small bit of pride.

They remained silent for a couple moments more, simply choosing to bask in her success as well as each other's warmth. Leora then looked down through the tree branches to notice the Raijinshuu doing some late night training on their own. Flashes of green, black and yellow could be seen from the ground below. Her eyes unknowingly softened as she watched. It seemed that Laxus had noticed her change in mood, since he started to turn towards her, but she stopped his movement when she began to speak.

"Dragon slayer..." Leora started. Guess she wasn't used to using his name either.

Laxus chuckled, leaning his back against hers again. "Yes, Sunshine?"

She paused for a moment, still watching the others practicing below, before she continued. "What's it like to have nakama?"

Laxus snorted at her seemingly ridiculous question. "What are you talking about Sunshine, you already have nakama."

"That's different. You guys already treated me like nakama, but-

"But you weren't ready." Laxus interrupted. He had his arms folded in front of his chest as he waited from the dragoness to answer.

"Hai." She found it weird how he was able to tell what she was thinking even though their Bond wasn't strong enough for that yet.

"Why is that?" He asked bluntly. Laxus knew he was treading on thin ice, but he had to ask.

Leora flinched. Her mouth opened to respond, but abruptly closed. Why was she suddenly so willing to share so much today? Was it the residual high from finally filling her magic vessel, or the comforting warmth from his back…No. It was definitely the residual high. But she figured there was no harm in telling the dragon slayer…

"Having humans as friends is not worth the pain," she whispered into the wind.

"The pain?"

"For you, fifty, one hundred years may seem like a lifetime, but for someone like me, who is supposed to live forever, it soon becomes a blink of an eye." Her eyes drifted up to the stars in the sky, which seemed to give her the courage to continue. "So you enjoy those one hundred years and after that you pass away. But for me, I continue to live on beyond that. And I have to carry those memories with me."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "I think you must have guessed by now, but I was once 'friends' with Mavis and the other founding members of Fairy Tail, including your great-grandfather."

Laxus' eyes widened slightly. Despite him knowing this fact already, hearing her say it reminded him of the difference between her and him. Somehow he already knew where this conversation was going.

"I was only with them for a short period of time, but it was some of the happiest years of my life," Leora reflected with a pained smile. "But when Mavis…left…it changed everything." She clenched her fists as they laid on top of her lap. "I was brought back to the reality of what it meant to have humans as friends…as family. I held on for a couple more years, but when Yuri died…it was the last straw. It hurt so much that I decided I didn't want to see the rest of them pass." She let go of the breath she didn't even know she was holding. "So I decided to hide any evidence that I was ever part of Fairy Tail and opted to simply go to 'sleep'."

Laxus could feel the sadness radiating through the Bond and it made his own heart clench. But he wouldn't dare interrupt her now. Not when this was the longest she's ever spoken to him.

"I wanted to wake up from suspended animation long after all of them had passed away. I wasn't expecting to wake up so soon, but as fate would have it I did. To someone from Fairy Tail binding me to him of all things," she chuckled, but there was still pain evident in her voice. "The pain was too fresh still so I decided to lock out any of these feelings. So for the longest time I never considered having humans as nakama again. But then you guys had to barge into my life and change all that, spouting nonsense about living for the present…"

Laxus sent reassuring waves of his magic through the Bond, hoping to calm her. After a couple of moments, he asked his one question.

"Well, are you ready now?" His deep voice pierced through the silence.

Leora froze for a moment before turning her body around to face his back, but she used her hands to prevent him from doing the same. Laxus could sense her hesitation through the Bond. She looked fondly down at the Raijinshuu once more before coming back up to stare at the back of the dragon slayer's head as he continued to look forward, patient. Her fingers curled against his back. She took a deep breath.

"Yes. I think I am."

Leora could feel though the Bond that the dragon slayer was pleased with her answer. He didn't respond, but he didn't have to. After a couple of minutes, Laxus decided to continue the conversation, since they had made such progress tonight.

"What was my great-grandfather like?" Laxus asked curiously.

Leora let out a small laugh. "Yuri? He was stubborn, lacked patience and was overall…quite annoying. Kind of like you. You too actually look quite similar now that I think about it."

"OI," Laxus retorted as he turned around to face her finally. He was shocked to find her with a soft smile on her face.

She continued. "But he was also kind, cheerful and cared dearly for his nakama."

"Ah. Well that's nothing like me then." She looked at him with her head tilted, confused. "I'm the kind of person that started a war within the guild and pitted comrades against one another…"

"Well, did anyone die?" she asked.

He looked away from her sharp gaze and odd question. "No-"

"Well, that means you're already a million times better off than me," Leora said and she meant it. Laxus immediately looked back towards the dragoness in slight shock. Though realistically speaking he should not be surprised. She was a dragon, something that he found himself forgetting sometimes. It shouldn't surprise him that she's killed someone before. And for some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to dislike her for it…

He still wasn't quite reassured by her comment, but realizing how late it was, Laxus moved to get up. "I'm calling it a night. Are you coming down too?"

Leora glanced up at him before shaking her head. "No…I'm going to meditate a little more."

Laxus looked down at her softly. "Alright. Don't overdo it." With that he jumped off the Tenrou Tree towards the ground in a flash of lightning.

Leora stayed still for a couple of minutes after the dragon slayer left before once again crossing her legs together and placing her hands down to meditate. The dragon slayer had helped her with the initial absorption of the magic into her body, but she knew it wasn't enough. There was something…missing. Her mind drifted back into her memories as her eyes closed.

The soft voice of the black mage drifted back towards her. "There's one more important thing. To use magic, it takes more than just transforming the magic power in your body. There's something else that is indispensable. That is…the strength of a wizard's feelings."

"Strength of feelings?" The little girl had asked.

"Yes." Zeref had responded. "Unless you have strong feelings in your heart and draw upon them, it won't be easy to employ any magic."

Strength of feelings…Leora tried to focus on that concept as she continued to absorb more of the particles into her body. She thought about the faces of her…nakama. Both old and new. She let the feelings of happiness flow into her…but it wasn't enough.

Were those feelings not strong enough for her? She dug deeper within herself, trying to find a feeling strong enough for her to be able to transform the magic power that was now inside her. With her search, she made the mistake of opening up the Pandora's box of emotions that she had caged up for so long. She was suddenly hit with feelings of pain, loss, desperation. Darker particles of Ethernano now surrounded the dragoness, fighting to enter her body.

Desperation quickly led to fear…anger…the need to become stronger. Yes. She needed to become stronger. This was what she did all this for. What she was born for. To become strong. To defeat. No. To kill him. She found herself grasping onto the one feeling that has been clinging onto her heart for the past four hundred years.

Hatred.

Her eyes sprung open as she felt the magic swirling angrily around her, concentrating over her right hand that was closed into a tight fist. When she couldn't hold it back anymore her hand sprung open and the magic burst around her in a small black shockwave.

Breathing heavily, having completely exhausted what little magic reserve she managed to gather, she let out a choked cry as she glanced all around her. The leaves…the branches of the Great Tenrou Tree where she had been sitting…

Had all perished. Dead.

She found herself letting out a pained chuckle as she fell backwards on the bed of dead leaves, the sickening crunch making her flinch. Her bright golden hair contrasted harshly against the dull garden of black. She reached her arm out in front of her, watching as the residual tendrils of black danced along her hand until they finally dissipated. For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of her heaving breathing.

How ironic that this would come back to haunt her. Of all the kinds of magic she could've shown an affinity for.

It had to be magic of the black arts…

Death magic…

Her chuckles escalated until all that was heard that night was the sound of pained hysterical laughter resonating from the top of the Great Tenrou Tree.


They had been walking for an hour now, her hand still in his as he led them further away from the burning dungeon. He looked down at the little blonde who was walking beside him in her bare feet.

"Little Dragon, you still haven't told me your name," He mentioned as he shifted the boy he was carrying.

She suddenly stopped walking causing him to pause as well. He watched the hesitation flicker through her eyes.

He looked down towards her, his eyes gentle. "Little one. What's your name?"

When she continued to hesitate, he gave her a small smile of encouragement. "Don't you trust me?" It wouldn't do well if his little dragon didn't trust him.

"I do!" she immediately shouted. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with certainty. Her voice rang out to him.

"My name is Leora."

He waited to see if she would say anything more, but when she didn't he gave her a small smile, letting go of her hand to ruffle her hair.

"Leora…like the light from the sun." He glanced behind them to see the small black trail of dead grass and foliage that trailed behind the little blonde dragon as they had walked. It contrasted harshly against the livelier green surrounding it.

"How…ironic."

He watched as her brows furrowed slightly.


A/N: It had taken a while to get their three months at Tenroujima as well as the explanation of the Bond to flow right. It was longer than I thought so I pushed it onto the next chapter, which happens to be more...sour than normal, if you get what I mean. It was so hard to try to keep everyone in character, so I apologize if anyone ever goes OOC. Also just in case you were wondering, no she does not have the same curse as Zeref.

Once again thank you guys so much for all the lovely reviews, favs and follows! It makes me happy every time I see them.

Until the next chapter!