A/N: Hey guys! Here is another chapter of The Choices We Make! Sorry I didn't update as soon as I could. I've actually been taking some extra classes at a community college over the summer to get some credits out of the way and it ended up being a while since my last update and now the semester is about to start up again, so sorry again that I haven't been updating as frequently as I would like.

In response to kurahieiritr JIO: While I agree that Natsu is probably too dense to notice things like love, but I feel like there are t a lotimes in the manga where I feel like Natsu may be on the brink of noticing any feelings he has for Lucy and prioritizes her safety and wellbeing over any others, plus I do ship NaLu. But since this is a fanfiction, I made it so that Natsu is in love with Lucy.

Anyways! Hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to leave a review!

Chapter 12:

~Laxus' POV~

I followed behind Lucy as she pouted all the way to her apartment. She was still upset that we had told her to stop trying to remember that flame brain. I thought about what she had said, about how Levy told her that Natsu was in love with her. I had always figured that he was too dense to notice things such as love, and even if he did notice, I thought that he would have had feelings for Lisanna, considering that they were always together before she "died".

"Stop pouting, Blondie. It'll give you wrinkles." I say as I follow behind her.

"Shut up, Laxus! And you're blonde too!" She exclaimed.

"Look, Blondie. I get that you want to get your memories back as soon as possible. However, every time you try to remember, you just end up hurting yourself. Everyone is worried about you and no one wants to see you get hurt. I get that you want to remember for yourself, but I also know that you want to remember for Salamander's sake. You know that by forgetting him, you've hurt him and you being you, you don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're right. I want to remember because I don't want to hurt anyone. From what everyone has been telling me, Natsu was my best friend. He was the reason I came to Fairy Tail and found a new home, a new family. I can't even begin to imagine how he must feel, especially if what Levy-chan said was true. But I can't just sit around doing nothing. I feel like without those memories, a part of me is missing. I feel incomplete without them. So I need to remember, Laxus. I can't spend the rest of my life feeling incomplete." She pleaded.

"The guild is doing everything that it can to help you. You just need to trust us to find a way to get back your memories. But in the meantime you can't keep hurting yourself trying to remember. That'll just set us back. So promise me Blondie that you will leave this too us. If something comes to you naturally, then that's fine, but don't try to force it." I say, lecturing the blonde.

"Alright, I promise." She replies.

"You gotta mean it this time, blondie." I say eyeing her.

"I do mean it, Laxus. I will trust you and the guild to help me get my memories back and I will just go with what everyone decides and I will no longer force myself to try and remember Natsu." She promises.

I nod in satisfaction and follow Lucy into her home. She immediately goes to shower and I make myself comfortable on her couch and place my sound pods over my ears and close my eyes. I must have drifted off because the next time I opened my eyes, Lucy was in the kitchen making dinner. I stand up from the couch and make my way into the kitchen to see what she had decided to make us. She had decided on making a hearty helping of beef stew. I helped Lucy move the food to the table and sat down to enjoy the meal.

"Ne, Laxus?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you care about me so much? You never used to pay this much attention to me before."

"I don't know, Blondie." I lied. I knew why I cared. It was because I was in love with her. She was the Light of Fairy Tail. She cared for everyone in the guild including someone like me. She always placed the wellbeing of others over her own. This situation was a perfect example of that. "I guess I've just changed from how I used to be. Being exiled from the guild really threw my life into perspective. I never really knew what I had until I lost it. So when I came back, I had already learned to appreciate everything that I had. I now know how important nakama is. Most of us in the guild didn't have the best childhoods and we all had our own situations. However, the guild became our new home and became our new family."

"Well, I'm glad that you changed. You seem happier than before, not as grumpy." She smiled. "Hey, do you think that we could go on a job sometime soon? I don't want to just sit around my house waiting for someone to get my memories back. Besides, I need rent money."

"Whatever, Blondie. We can stop by the guild tomorrow and pick something out. The Raijinshuu will most likely want to tag along as well so we might even head out on an S-class job." I reply.

"An S-class? Do you think I'm ready for that?" Lucy asks.

"Listen, Blondie. You're a strong mage. Holder magic is a lot different than caster magic. From what I can tell and what I knew of Karen Lilica, it is extremely difficult to have two gates open at once. You can summon two gates as well as keep them open for a significant amount of time not to mention switch out zodiac gates simultaneously. You were able to beat Bickslow not once, but twice. You would've won against Flare in the GMG if it weren't for Obra interfering. I have a feeling that for the next S-class exams that you will be one of the participants." I say. "Besides, if I recall correctly you've already been on an S-class job before."

"Oh yeah. The Galuna Island incident with Lyon and Deliora. I was with Gray, Happy, and eventually Erza." She furrows her brow. "But there's a chunk of my memory missing from that time. I'm guessing that has something to do with Natsu, huh?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "Enough about this tonight, Blondie. Go to bed, I'll clean up here then crash on your couch and tomorrow we can go pick out that job request." I say standing up and collecting all our dishes, then bringing them to the kitchen to be washed.

"Thank you, Laxus. Good night."