Chapter Twenty Six:

During their entire conversation, Laxus had sat quietly with his back against a tree at the edge of the clearing. Loke had acknowledged him with a nod at the end of their conversation, but the lightning dragon slayer was still shocked at how the two of them had interacted. He supposed that they had both hurt and been hurt by the other's actions, but Lucy seemed shattered on the ground.

That's always the hardest part, he thought as he crossed over to pull her into his arms. Once you break their trust, it's a long hard road to get it back.

Cradling her against his chest, he rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shirt. "I'm sorry Lucy," he murmured into her hair. "I'm so sorry."

When it looked as if she would be crying for a while, he scooped her up in his arms and started walking her back to their temporary home. "You and I always seem to end up like this, don't we?"

She cried even harder, and he felt each sob tug at his heart. He knew all too well the heartbreak of realizing that your friends no longer trusted you. It had haunted his steps until the first time he had returned to Tenrou when Hades was attacking. Only then did he start to redeem himself in the eyes of his guildmates.

Reaching the guild hall, he took a seat on the bench and cradled Lucy's shaking form. He knew that she was just tired and shaken from her encounter with Loke or he would have taken her up to her room. She needed a person more than she needed sleep.

"Well you've had an interesting few days, I see." Laxus looked up to see Mavis standing in the doorway.

"And where have you been?" he snapped lowly, not wanting to disturb the blonde in his arms.

"Research and checking on a few things. What did I miss?" Mavis's green eyes scanned over them, almost as if she was able to see through them.

"She made progress on her magic yesterday, and we did some experimenting today." Laxus said, keeping his description as short as possible. He didn't want to hurt Lucy by putting her through an extended rendition of the encounter with her spirits.

"What type of progress? I haven't been able to figure anything out for her. Her keys are back on her belt; did she begin summoning again?"

"Yesterday we were trying to see if we could turn her manifested magic into a solid shield, and she ended up opening a rip into the Spirit Realm. Because of the intrusion, the Spirit King paid us a visit, which scared her, although she did get to see Aquarius there. Today we tried to focus in on this ability to create doors into the Spirit Realm and she was able to successfully use it to both shield herself from unwanted attention as well as attack. From what I can tell, now that she has this alternative method of fighting, she feels comfortable summoning her spirits again, which she did today."

"Then why is she in tears?" Mavis questioned, her eyes sweeping over the shaking form in his arms. "Shouldn't the reunion be a happy one?"

"Stop pretending Mavis," Laxus snapped. "You have a pretty good working theory. I figure you've known this since the beginning. And I know that you were eavesdropping the last time she summoned Loke. How can you make me say it for you?"

"Because sometimes we have to say the things nobody wants to hear," the ghost said. "It's part of being a friend, let alone…"

"Stop," he hissed, covering Lucy's ears. "I know that guild masters have to say things that hurt. My own grandfather disowned me for a while there. But I'm not going to drag her through it all over again for your satisfaction. She's in enough pain right now."

"I take it the reunion was unpleasant then?"

"You know what, First? Back off." Laxus spat. "She doesn't need this from you right now. I know that you're teaching me, but don't capitalize on her misery. One of her best friends just showed her how much it hurt when she drove him away, and that hurt her because she was trying to protect him. So back off and leave her be."

"No."

Laxus and Mavis both looked at the girl in shock. Somewhere in their argument, she had stopped crying, although her eyes were still bright with tears, and she was now sitting there looking between them. "No," she repeated.

"What do you mean Lucy?" Laxus whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Don't sugar coat for me. Don't protect me. I was the one who screwed up here, and I don't deserve the luxury of having both of you tiptoe around me." Her eyes flashed at both of them. "I said cruel things to a man who would rather die than make me unhappy, threatened to forcibly remove him from my presence when I knew that I was possibly the only thing that he lived for, and the only reason I could make such threats was because I knew him better than anyone else. He trusted me with himself. I betrayed that trust. The fact that he came when I requested today amazes me, but I don't deserve anything more than what he said. Actually, I deserve a lot worse. So say anything you want to me; it's only what I deserve."

She was sitting on the bench, an inch away from leaning into him, her body shaking with suppressed sobs, but her back was ramrod straight, and her jaw had a determined set that reminded him of Erza, Grey, and Natsu. Laxus couldn't help but be impressed with the inner strength he was showing, and he could see Mavis was stunned too. They all let a moment pass in silence after Lucy's outburst, and then she stood and moved towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing Lucy?" Laxus asked, trying to understand.

"You made lunch, so I'm going to make dinner. It's as we agreed upon after we moved in. Equal sharing of chores and meals." Lucy reached for a pot and placed it on the stove. "I'm going to make curry. It will take a little bit, but we ended training early. Would you like some tea while you wait?"

Her voice still caught, and the hands that reached for the canister of tea were definitely trembling, but the look in her eyes was so vivid it took his breath away. The guilt and the pain were there, and he knew how they stung, but they were overwhelmed by the determination to make things right and face her mistake head on. For a moment, Laxus wondered if he could do that, if he could have done that, but he pushed it away. Such things were in the past.

***You are all wonderful people! I'm sorry this chapter's a bit short, but later today I'll be releasing a side chapter! I have another one-shot that will probably be out Friday as well. Thank you so much for all of the reviews and support!***