A Saiyan Among Wizards

Chapter 25

What does the snow become when it melts?

A/N: Hi guys, it's been a while hasn't it. I've just been giving this series a lot of thought and I need to rewrite a lot of stuff, but, they could work in my favor if we think that their quality, way of conveying the story, and the way they've been improving could be related to Marcus' growth as a character. Plus, I don't think I could pull off rewriting all of that with everything else I've got going on. I mean, I've actually started to write one of the books that been kicking around in my head. So uh... yeah, let's just keep going with the mistakes that I've learned from.

*Insert TFS disclaimer. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Funimation. I do not own any other mentioned properties.

Marcus had a hard time connecting the events that followed. He could remember a few things clearly, even if he didn't want to. He could recall the looks on everyone's face as he took down the army of wizards that Grimmiore Heart had sent onto the island in cold blood. At the time, he had so many walls built up around himself that he didn't care about what they could be thinking. They didn't know what would happen if he failed.

He could recount how he faced off against Hades alone, leaving the rest of the guild to deal with the remnents of Grimmiore's forces. How he was seperated from his weapon and lacrimi that protected him from fire and lightning magic. He remembered waking up in camp, sore, everyone looking battle-worn, Gajeel and strangely Laxus by his side, and the terror as he felt the twisted energy of Acnologia approaching the island. He recalled the incredibly stupid and life threatening thing he did next.

He was low on power, but he thought of how the sun supplies the plants with energy and how Goku had powered a spirit bomb with to refuel himself. Heat is just energy, when you think about it, surely he could just transmute it into his body so he could destroy the black dragon. Right? He claped his hands together and immediatly regreted his decision. To say it was painful wouldn't even put it in the same star system to what Marcus was experiancing. But he didn't want the others to know, so he gritted his teeth and did his best to keep silent. With more energy than his body could bear, he lanched Acnologia into the air by it's tail and immediatly prepared to use his strongest blast, the famous Kamahamaha wave. He didn't care that it was dangerous as he poured all his energy as he unleashed it. All he wanted was for them to survive and go home today, not years from now.

For a breif, beautiful moment, everyone thought he did it. But Marcus, weak and barely standing, couldn't let himself believe that's all it took, that it was over. He knew the moment he let himself think that Acnologia had been destroyed, the dragon would come back. So he watched and listened with every part of his being for the beast.

He was right.

In mere seconds, the dragon was repairing itself like a more horrifying version of Majin Buu. He must have missed a small fragment of it's body. Drained, he fell to his knees, looking at the damge the transmutation and blast had done to his limbs. They were burnt, blistered, and bleeding. It would be unwise to try it again, but he wasn't feeling particually sage-like at the moment. He looked to his guildmates, no, his family and made his choice. They ran to stop him from doing it again as he spread his arms in preperation. Before he brought them together to form the circle, he wispered, "It's up to you, Mavis. Protect our family." A single tear fell as he closed his eyes and slammed his palms together. He felt something lash across his face before everything went dark.

Seven years would pass before most would wake up, dazed and confused. Except Marcus, almost dead from lack of energy and his injuries. Wendy did what she could, but she could only mange to stop the bleeding. When they made it home and kicked out Twilight Ogre from the barn that was now the guild, Jet went to fetch Porlyusica while they set up a bed for him upstairs. Gajeel had tried the Senzu beans that had been preserved with them, but they were only able to stablelize his energy levels. The witch was able to heal most of his wounds, but they would leave marks on his upper body and a single, thin cut that lanced from his left jaw to his right forehead, narrowly missing his eyes. She told them that he wasn't out of the woods just yet and someone should keep an eye on him. Obviously, Gajeel volunteered, so did Lily and Levy. But everyone else was strangely quiet, remembering that he had killed a lot of people on the island and couldn't bring themselves to forgive him for that. So most every person in the room was surprised when Laxus also volunteered to watch Marcus.

But Makarov wouldn't allow it, saying that he should only be cared for by his guild. But Laxus pointed out that no one else was volunteering. They started to argue, which escalated to shouting before Porlyusica brought a hand down upon both of their heads and telling them to stop disturbing Marcus' rest. Another voice spoke up, one that no one recognized. They all turned to see Mavis standing at in the doorway.

"Then let him back into the guild. Its obvious that he wants to help, so let him," she said, "There's no way you could know this, but Marcus gave everything he had to save everyone here. I felt in the energy he gave for the Fairy Sphere how much he loved you all, how he thought as everyone here as his family, and how torn up he was about not stopping Acnologia. So let Laxus back into the guild, let him repay Marcus for his sacrifice."

The room felt a bit guilty as they watched Makarov as he was silent for a very long time. "Fine," he answered, leaving the room without a word more. All but the four who were to watch Marcus filed out and followed, stunned.

A sort of routine was worked out, Lily, Gajeel, and Levy would take turns resting while the others kept an eye on the sleeping saiyan. But Laxus, on the other hand, refused to leave. When asked why, all he said was, "He's the reason I'm part of the guild again." They let him be after that and would bring food and drinks along when it was time to switch. Freed eventually joined the chain as well as the other members of the Thunder Legion.

This went on for a few weeks, during that time, someone noticed a sealed envolope addressed to the saiyan on the table beside him that wasn't there the night before. There was some dispute on whether or not to read it until Freed sealed it with his magic, keeping it from being opened. A few days would pass before Marcus woke up to find Laxus asleep in a chair next to him. A bit confused as he looked around, it took him a few moments before he realized what must've happened.

"What a waste of effort that was," he growled to himself, extremely wrathful towards himself. Ripping the blankets off himself, he stood up and started to look for his sword. "It must be here somewhere," he grumbled loudly to himself, planning to take off for a while until he could face the guild again. In his efforts, his searching had brought him over to the sleeping dragonslayer to ask him where it was.

But before he could wake the blonde, he had noticed a series of old, faded scars on the underside of his forearms. To anyone else, these would be invisible. Marcus' heart became heavier the longer he looked at them, he had a huntch as to their cause. The only question he had was why. Why would Laxus do that to himself? Where they alike? Why should he leave? What would it accomplish? He had failed to stop Acnologia, nothing he did would change that. He screwed up and now the guild had to go through the suffering he'd despertly tried to prevent. What kind of fighter was he? Not a good one if he can't even proctect those close to him. Honestly, why did he even try to defy fate? Not like it would have worked.

Sniffling, he sat back down on the bed and hugged his knees. He sat like this for sometime, mentally abusing himself for his failure. But another part of himself tried to inform him that there's a bright side, from what he could sense, everyone was doing well. But that didn't help. He knew he shouldn't do this to himself, and he fought hard against it. But his negative feelings towards himself were too strong and he gave up, letting himself go numb to everything.

He didn't know how long it had been when Laxus had woken up with a yawn, he just knew he couldn't look him in the face. The blonde groggly looked over to the bed, expecting the saiyan to still be asleep but instead found him with his knees tucked under his chin, eyes finally open but dark and empty. It was an unsettling sight seeing Marcus like this, he was usually so full of life that Laxus had no idea he could get like this. When he spoke, his voice sounded broken and defeated.

"How long have I been out?"

"Wha- oh uh," Laxus stuttered, still stunned, "almost a month."

"And how many years since Tenrou dissappeared," still refusing to look in the dragonslayer's direction.

"How did you..."

"How many years," he asked again, coldly.

"Seven," Laxus answered, begining to worry.

Marcus sighed, "At least I didn't make it worse by adding on a few more years," he muttered under his breath.

"What you mean by that?"

Marcus only hugged himself tighter, trying to shrink from view as he denied Laxus a response. The blonde wanted answers, but he knew from his own experiance, if the saiyan didn't want to say anything, there isn't a thing he could do to make him speak. "Fine, I guess I should tell the others you're awake," getting up, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. He turned around to see Marcus gripping it tightly.

"No... I can't... I can't face them... not like this...," barely able to speak, he finally looked Laxus in the eye.

The defeated pleading Laxus saw in them made him sit back down, "Alright," he said, wondering about what he should do, he remembered, " A letter came for you a few days ago, Freed sealed it so no one but you could open it." He pointed the evelope on the table.

Opening it, Marcus read it silently. As his eye traveled down the page, they widened in horror. Tears spilt from his eyes as he disjointedly said, "No... It can't... If only... If I hadn't failed I could've been there... I could've brought them here... Kept them safe... But that wouldn't be fair... It wouldn't make a difference..."

Curious, Laxus pulled the paper from his slack grip and read:

Dear Marcus,

It is with my deepest apologies and sympathys to inform you of the destruction of your home world. As I understand it, the newly elected leader of your country incited a nuclear war between nations. I am sure that I don't have to tell you that there's no chance of survival from the fallout of radiation. As of now, your friends are collecting the Dragon Balls in plans of restoring most of the world back to the state it was in before the blasts. But you, Dende, King Kai, and I know that it won't bring back any humans. The good news is that the evolutionary process can start again. If you have any requests, I suggest you hurry for they'd have all seven collected in a few days.

Best wishes,

Whis

P.S. Anubis wishes me to tell you that he has spoken to King Yema so that you may visit your deceased friends and family when ever you wish. Just ask Goku to take you to Other World and Anubis will guide you from their.

"Marcus," Laxus started, feeling a lot of sympathy towards the saiyan even though he didn't understand most of what he read.

He had stopped crying and looked as though he were in deep thought. He got up suddenly with a declaration, "I'm going."

"Wait a minute, if you disappear on my watch..."

"Then come with me," he answered, cutting him off as he opened a gate. The Lookout could be clearly seen through the rip in reality. "I'm leaving, no matter what you say. There's something important I have to do. So, are you coming?"

Without waiting for a reply, Marcus walked through the portal and closed it shortly after, leaving Laxus alone in the makeshift infermary. Cursing, he rushed downstairs, looking for Gajeel only to find out he, Levy, and Lily had gone out on a job, same thing for the Thunder Legion. Swearing again, he ran from the guild towards the saiyan's home where he knew of a second gateway.

~~~Meanwhile, on the Lookout~~~

"Marcus! What an unexpected surprise," exclaimed Dende as the saiyan appeared on the main platform. Taking in the bandages that cover his upper body and the new scar, he asked, "Are you sure you should be walking around?"

"I'm fine," he said curtly, "How goes the hunt for the Dragon Balls?"

"How did you... , nevermind. We've found six and we should have the seventh in a few minutes." He paused for a moment, "Are you sure you're doing okay, I could heal..."

"I said I'm fine," he cut him off, more than a little harshly.

The silence afterwards was uncomfortable as they waited for the others to return with the Dragon Balls. As the gaurdian had said, a few minutes later Goku appeared by his instant transmission with the orbs in hand. Marcus's face hardened before he spoke, "It won't work Goku."

"Whadda ya mean Marcus? And when did you get here," asked the older saiyan.

"Just set them down and help Laxus, he's lost somewhere in the Lookout," Marcus said, being uncommonly forward.

Goku looked at him askenly for a moment, wondering if he should say something. But he just shrugged and dissappeared, reappearing with a very confused Laxus. Marcus had just noticed that it must have been a while since either had shaven, juging by the patchy beard the blonde had. "Marcus, you need to come back before you get us in trouble with Gramps, I'm on thin ice as it is."

"I'll take the blame if it comes to that, but I need to do this," he said, turning towards the glowing spheres, "Eternal Dragon, by your name I summon you forth! Shenron!"

As always, the balls began to pulsate with energy as the sky turn blacker than the void. With ceremony, a great beam of light shot into the sky and began twisting like snake before forming a vibrant green, eastern dragon. Opening it's great maw, it spoke, "Please let someone else have summoned me for once," spotting Marcus and Laxus, who stood in awe, "Thank god it wasn't-," he began before letting out a tired sigh when Goku came into his line of sight. "Can't anyone else find these damn things?!"

"Shut it," snapped Marcus, "Can you restore my Earth to the way it was before the nuclear war?"

"I can, only thing I can't do is bring back more than one sentiant being."

"What?!" Goku exclaimed, "There must be some other-"

"Make it so, no need to bring back any humans or saiyans living there," concented Marcus.

"But Marcus-," everyone seemed to begin at once.

"You don't see it the way I do," he said, the mixture of emotions in his voice made it hard to determine what he was feeling exactly, "it wouldn't be fair to bring one person back, even randomly. They let this happen and as a consequence they were wiped out." He gave off the distinct impression that he wasn't really talking about his world. "Best to let the process start over again, but better prepared."

"What do you mean," asked Dende.

"You'll see," turning back to the dragon.

"Done, do you have something else for me or can I go?"

" I need you to make a couple of things for me," continued Marcus, "technically one. First, set up a world spaning network with every bit of information from humans without restrictions so that it can be easily found by the next sentiant humans in their language. Second, a small device like a router that I can use for the same reason with all the systems I can use in my world."

"That's actually quite easy," he was quiet for a moment, "Here you are, the other is ready to go. Until one of you idiots dies again."

The device Marcus asked for appeared in his hands as the dragon's form dissapated and the Dragon Balls scattered once more. Dende spoke up first, "I know this can't be easy for you." The Guardian was probably the only one who could understand what Marcus was going through, he continued, "But you can't let that get you down, you still have us."

"Thanks Dende," whatever strength or anger he had used to push himself here seemed gone, "I'd better get back, before someone notices we're gone."

"Before you go," asked Goku, "How did you know?"

"King Kai told me several years ago about the wishes not working and Whis left me a note a couple days ago," he answered, turning to Laxus, "Let's go."

Once back in Fiore, Marcus put the device on the table and sat back down on the bed he had occupied for the last month with a tired sigh. He looked as though he had been working hard all day. How could that be that exhausting, thought Laxus, Maybe he was pretending to be strong, so his friends wouldn't worry.

"Hey Laxus," the saiyan asked gently, "if you don't mind, could you answer a couple questions I have?"

"Ummm... yeah, sure," Laxus said, wondering why Marcus was so timid as he sat in sat in his chair.

"Where's my sword, I looked for it but it's not here."

"Gajeel thought it best to leave it at your house for the time being," answered Laxus, begining to understand the reasoning. He might've took off without telling us. God knows where he'd go and when he'd come back. I'd probably do the same if I was in his state.

He made a noncommental noise before asking, "You don't have to answer this one but, those scars on your arms, how did you get them?"

Laxus' heart stopped for a second as he looked down at his arms, having almost forgotten about what he did. From what encounters they had, he never felt as though Marcus was a judgemental person. The saiyan looked rather sympathetic, or even empathetic. Maybe he'd come to his own conclusion as to why Laxus always wore long sleeve shirts and how he got these scars.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that," he apologized, visably shrinking as he mentally kicked himself for being tactless.

"No, its fine," Laxus said quickly, trying to make him feel better, "Its just, I thought no one would ever see them, I barely can." He was silent for a moment before answering, "I used to cut myself."

Laxus waited for Marcus to repremand him or ask for an explanation, like everyone who found out. But he didn't. In fact, he gave a sad, gentle expression as he stood and approached Laxus. Bending down, he embraced him and said, "I won't ask why and you don't have to tell me, just know that I can understand better than most what it really means to hit that low point."

Laxus was shocked beyond words, he didn't think anyone would react this way to the truth. And that last bit, what did that mean? Did he go through the same thing he does? Probably, otherwise Marcus wouldn't have said he understood with such sincerity. Slowly, he hugged back. It was probably the best feeling to know that someone understood him, if only a little bit. The moment was ruined somewhat when Marcus let out a quiet snore. Laxus almost laughed, this is the second time he had to tuck the saiyan into bed.

Gajeel and the others got back the next morning and found Marcus awake and eating breakfast at a table in the guild with Laxus. They rushed over to him, almost tackling him out of his seat. Even in the state of mind he was in, he couldn't help but smile. "Come on guys, I haven't eaten in weeks," he joked.

"Our apologies," said Lily, standing on the table.

"We were just so worried about you," said Levy.

"That was a really stupid thing ya did Hero," goaded Gajeel, smirking.

"I know," he admited, remembering what he said during the whole Anubis affair. His expression darkened, "I'm sorry guys."

"What for," asked Levy, confused.

"I failed to protect the guild and I made you worry," he looked rather depressed.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout," said Gajeel, putting him in a headlock and ruffling his hair, "We're still here ain't we?"

"You did everything you could," said Lily

"Yeah, don't beat yourself over it," added Levy.

"Thanks guys, I think I needed that," looking as though he was feeling better about himself.

Laxus sat amazed, silently applauding the saiyan's acting skills as he went on like that was all that troubled him. Laxus wondered if Gajeel knew that Marcus was pretending as well. He locked eyes with the other dragonslayer for a breif moment, as if to read his mind. Nothing. If Gajeel knew that the saiyan wasn't as cheerful as he seemed, he gave no sign of it. Maybe it was his way of protecting Marcus, remembering how he pleaded with Laxus to not let anyone know he was awake. At least until he could play his part as just the disgruntled warrior who failed without anyone knowing that he grieved for more reasons than that.

~~~In the middle of the night~~~

Laxus had given up on trying to fall asleep as the clock on the wall read 03:27 a.m. His internal clock had been messed up by the eratic sleep schedule he'd had for the past month watching Marcus. Rubbing his freshly shaved face, he got up off Freed's couch and walked over to an open window. The mid-spring breeze felt nice as he wondered what he should do, maybe ask the script mage if he had anything to help him sleep. He had been keen on offering Laxus a place to stay when he voiced not having one anymore.

Deciding against waking him, Laxus leaned on his arms out the window and looked out over the lamp lit streets at nothing in particular. But then he spotted a familiar figure taking a drag from a cigarette walking aimlessly past Freed's appartment. Making a snap decision for lack of anything better to do, Laxus snuck out to the street and began to follow Marcus from a distance. Curious as to why he was out here at this hour, maybe for the same reason he was awake.

"If yer gonna stock me," Marcus said dryly after a small spell, crushing the cigarette beneath his heel before lighting another, "at least learn how to hide you energy signiture and do it properly." He sounded like a teacher correcting his pupil's technique. "Might as well walk with me, the company might do me some good," he added.

"What are you doing out here this late," Laxus asked, pushing past his embarrassment as he caught up to the saiyan.

He gave a wry smile before replying, "Funny, someone could ask the same of you." Pausing for a drag, he got serious, "Nightmare, couldn't trust myself to go back to sleep so I snuck out for a smoke."

He's dressed pretty nicely to just be out for a smoke, Laxus thought as he looked him over. The saiyan had pulled most of his hair back except for a few strands on the right side of his face. He had shaven all the hair from his face minus a patch on his chin, making him look a few years older. Marcus had dressed himself in white v-neck with a dark, denim over shirt (where his cigs sat in a breast pocket), light skinny jeans, and a pair of black, square toed boots. To Laxus, he looked almost picturesque, like he walked off the set of a lacrimovie. To others, he might appear to be a bit of a tosser.

"You're staring," Marcus pointed out, an amused smile playing across his face.

"Well who dresses like that to just walk around and smoke," he said defensively.

The saiyan was quiet for a moment, thinking about he was going to say next. "Well the thought was, if someone where to still be awake and look out their window, it's better they see me wearing this instead of a sweatshirt with my hood up. People might think I'm..." he paused, barely containing a dorky grin, "...up to something," he finished slowly in a low, accented voice. He let out a small snort of laughter at his inside joke.

Laxus, who didn't get the refference, just lowered an eyebrow and said, "You seem to be taking all of this rather well, don't you think?"

Marcus' expression darkened for a second before relaxing. With a sigh, he answered, "Let's find somewhere to sit, we could be here a while."

Curious to see if he could get a straight answer out him, Laxus followed him and sat opposite him on one of the canal's bridges.

Taking a drag, "A reason for me taking this so well could be that I've accepted the fact that death, no matter relation or cause, is just a part of life. It's sad, but I can either sit around and mope about it or, I could do what everyone who I lost would want me to and live each day to the fullest. But," he paused, looking down at his shoes, "right now, if you want the truth, I'm stuck in the middle. Which is fine, not like I'm going let myself get suicidal about this. Walked that path far too many times. I wised up a long time ago to the fact that taking my life will get me no where and is just plain stupid and selfish. Plus, I still have a few things to anchor me here." He gave a dark, hollow laugh, "Besides, I've sinned far too much to meet them in the afterlife if I went through with it."

Laxus just sat there, stunned by the blunt honesty. Wondering if he could get more from him, he asked, "Back on the Lookout, you said 'they let it happen and were wiped out as a consequenece.' You weren't talking about your home, were you?"

"No, I wasn't." He heaved a great sigh and muttered something under his breath that Laxus failed to catch. "I suppose since Gajeel and Lily handled it okay, I'll tell you. But you have to swear to me that you won't, under any circumstance, repeat anything I'm about to tell you without my explicit permission," he said, extremely serious.

Being aware of the implied threat, Laxus responed, "You have my word, I won't tell a soul."

Settling down, "Up to this point and a few bits into the furture, I have known what major events were going to happen to the guild. Eisenwald, the Phatom attack on Fairy Tail, your plan for the Fantasia parade, and so on," Laxus squirmed a little from the memory, but Marcus ignored it, "and did not prevent any of it cause I knew the outcome would benefit us by making us stronger in the long run. I knew that Zeraf was on Tenrou with Mavis, that Grimmore Heart would seek him out and unintentionally cause the summoning of Acnologia, and that the Fairy Sphere would freeze us in time for seven years. I never wanted that to happen, it would cause suffering for the guild. But I failed and as a consequence, I was unable to save anyone from my world because I choose to meddle in the fate of another."

"But how did you know," Laxus asked, trying to wrap his head around it. At least it makes sense of the things he said when he woke up.

"There are infinite possible universes," the saiyan explained, "and it's a theory of mine that they interact with mine by giving part of their history as a story for authors to write about as fiction. In my experiance, it's not always exact. Fairy Tail for example, everyone in the guild is much stronger than they were depicted in the televison series in my world. It intrigued me. But I only got so far before I came here and made Magnolia my home. I promised myself not to go any further in the story so I don't mess up things horribly in the future. Bad things can happen when people mess with timelines and who knows what will happen because of my involvement," he finished, rather grimm.

Laxus was speechless, listening as Marcus continued to show the cards he'd been playing so close to the chest until now. But he kept it vague in a few places. Even so, it was still daunting, more so to keep secret. It must've have been harder for him, to hold on to them for so long and do nothing.

"I know its a lot to take in and if you want nothing to do with me after this, I understand. I'd be pissed if someone was holding out on me too," he said, expecting Laxus to leave or maybe just shoat a bit. But he didn't, only giving a puzzled look.

"Why would I," he asked, "Did Gajeel not take it well?"

"You could say that," Marcus said, a bit distracted, "After coming to grips with the death of my family, I told him and Lily everything I told you. He said he's had it with me keeping things from him, especially something like that. Said that it was about time he moved out and found his own place. That's the short version anyways, none of the yelling, cursing, and the one sided fight."

"Ouch," Laxus said in sympathy.

He rubbed his shoulder before continuing, "Lily's gonna help him look for a place in the morning. Can't say I didn't see this coming, we've been growing apart since Edolas, maybe even before that. We rushed into this and Gramps said it wasn't a good thing. My fault really, I was desperate about finding someone to share my life with, I forgot that to pay attention to some of the red flags until it was too late."

"You sound surprisingly okay with that," Laxus observed, secretly glad that it was over between them. Why is that?

He made small noise of acknowledgement, "Might have been destined to fail to begin with, considering how it started." When Laxus perked up, he supposed he should continue, "It was when the guild hall fell, I took Natsu's place in the match against Gajeel. I got deep into the role of a capable fighter struggling to keep up with his opponent until there was no need for a distraction. I got carried away, acted brashly, and almost killed him. When he showed up at the guild with Juvia, like they were supposed to, I was relived and wanted more than anything to make it up to him. I think that's why he took my offer, showed me his sweet side when I let him know I was interested in him, and possibly why he stayed." Taking a deep breath, Marcus looked off somewhere else, "So we were more of fuck-buddies really, when I think about it. Maybe he'll come back, maybe not. Either way, I want him to be happy."

"But what about you," blurted Laxus before he could stop himself, "What about your happiness?!"

Marcus smiled, in a way that Laxus knew was fake, and said, "Didn't I tell you before, I've sinned to much to deserve it."

This angered Laxus, the way he comforted him in the infermary, how he put on a brave face for his friends, and now he was sacrificing one thing that makes him happy. Doesn't he ever think about himself?! And then it hit him, that's just how Marcus was. Selfless, placing others' needs far above his own. It pissed off more, and really upset to see him do this to himself. "You're wrong," he growled under his breath.

"What?"

Standing, "You're wrong," Laxus almost roared, startling a few early risers out for a walk, "Out of everyone here, you deserve to be happy more than anyone! You gave up so much just to be here, almost killed yourself to save us, lost everything because of it! Tell me! What are these 'sins'?!"

"I've killed. A lot of people. Men and women of Grimmore Heart. Men and women who had families. Men and women who would have fled if given the chance," he said gravely.

Laxus had heard this before and scoffed, "Is that all?! You were fighting a war to protect us!"

"But I failed."

"Failed?! Failed! You were the one that saved us from death! You were the one powered the spell that saved the entire island! So what if we were stuck there for seven years! You've seen for yourself that the guild will just shake it off like nothing!" Leveling with Marcus, he looked him dead in the eye and gave him a hard poke in the sturnum, "Don't sit there with a martyr complex and say you don't deserve to be happy," eyes narrowed, "You said it yourself, your family wouldn't want this for you and neither do I! So for once, listen to your heart and do what you want! Fuck what other people think!"

With that, Laxus turned and began to storm off. He got a far as the end of the bridge before something grabbed him by arm and pulled him back hard. He was spun around and found himself locking lips with Marcus, giving it his all. Surprise washed away quickly as he pulled the saiyan close to him by his shoulders and returned in kind. Just like the first time, it was spellbinding and neither of them wanted to stop. But the need for air broke them apart. As soon as their breath return, Marcus chucked and said, "Freed's looking for you."

Sure enough, Laxus picked up the sounds of the script mage calling for him somewhere up the street. "Shit," he cursed.

"See you at the guild later," nothing provocative in his voice, only curiousity.

"Sure," giving a curt nod before the sayain zipped off fast enough that Laxus was the only one that saw him fly off in the direction of his house.

"Ah, there you are Laxus," said Freed, chipper now that he had found him, "Where were you this morning, if you don't mind me asking."

"Felt a nice breeze from the window, thought I might take a stroll," he lied quickly, smirking as he looked to the spot he last saw Marcus before guiding Freed back to his appartment.

"Must've been a good one," noting his good mood.

"Sure was," Laxus said, still grinning.