Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the other characters or the series I got them from.

Snowflake: I'm guessing you don't read the author's notes at the ends of the chapters, because I kind of already addressed the Zuko and Toph thing. I do have a soft spot for the pairing, but him bidding on her for the auction doesn't necessarily mean anything; think of it as him knowing that she wouldn't enjoy being forced to spend time with a stranger, saving both her and the guy from the experience, and in the process having the opportunity to spend time with the friend he was visiting (they ARE friends, they don't dislike each other). Support Zutara all you want, I can see why people like them together. Still, how on earth does Katara being able to blood-bend make her a better choice for Zuko than Toph is? Blood-bending has absolutely nothing to do with fire-bending.

Warning: my crappy attempts at writing romance (don't expect too much, seriously)

Enjoy!

Raven meditated after her 'date' had ended.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She chanted.

He had taken her to a small bookstore, which apparently doubled as a coffee shop. It was nice a cozy, and she appreciated the smell of old books. Honestly, at some point she might have to bring Lucy and Levy to this place.

Various people were reading poetry, both original works and ones from their favorite poets.

Rogue had asked her about her favorite books, and actually listened when she told him about them, which was more than she could say about some men. The odd thing was, when she asked him a few questions about him in return, she found that she was actually interested in his answers.

Did it make her a bad person if she said that that wasn't usually the case?

Oh well. She was the daughter of a demon king, surely apathy wasn't her worst sin. For kami's sake, her half-brothers were the Deadly Sins themselves! (AN: not joking, they really are.)

She wasn't entirely sure that she liked Rogue in a romantic sense (actually, she wasn't sure that he liked her that way either), but she could definitely see them being good friends, at least.

Juvia moodily moved her food around her plate as she tried to tune out Lyon's voice.

Was that rude of her? Most likely, but she couldn't quite bring herself to regret it.

He was just so annoying! The white-haired boy had been boasting about his accomplishments since this 'date' began. She was self-aware enough that she knew she went on and on about Gray's best aspects (i.e. all of them), but Gray himself didn't boast!

Well, unless there was a guild brawl or when fighting Natsu, but that didn't count.

Lyon's heart clenched painfully as he gazed into Juvia's slightly bored eyes.

What was it about Gray that entranced the beautiful Rain Woman to such a degree?

Why was he, Lyon, always second place? First Ur, and now Juvia…

"So…" Gray began awkwardly.

He wanted to get to know his teacher's daughter, who he had heard about from Ur herself, but maybe this 'date' wasn't the best way to do that.

Damn.

"So." Ultear repeated, before she decided to end the awkward silence. "Tell me a bit about yourself."

"What's there to tell?" Gray asked dryly. "Lucy probably told you most of it."

Ultear slapped him on the head gently with a roll of her eyes, ignoring his surprised expression. "Lucy wouldn't have told me more than the basics; her privacy was intruded upon enough way back when that she's careful not to overstep boundaries."

Gray ducked his head sheepishly. "Right, sorry. Uh…heavy stuff, or light stuff?"

"Either." Ultear responded with a shrug.

Gray looked at her for a moment.

Usually, he would stick with the light stuff. What his magic was (she already knew), his hobbies (fighting with Natsu), that kind of thing.

On the other hand, this was the daughter of the woman he owed his very life to. Ultear had been the most important thing in the world to Ur, and her staged death had broken her. This was the woman who had been robbed of the opportunity to be raised by her fantastic mother, who had hated and resented her for years because her heart had been broken when she saw her mother, seemingly perfectly happy without her, with Gray and Lyon.

She deserved the truth.

"Okay…well, I lived in the north with my family." Gray began. "When I was six, Deliora, one of Zeref's demons, attacked my village. Next thing I know everything is burning and I can't find my parents. Later on I found my mother's corpse, and my old man probably died too. I wanted to learn magic so that I could kill Deliora, so I sought out Ur, who was already teaching Lyon, and asked her to take me on as a pupil."

Ultear bit her lip, heart aching.

To think, she had tried to bring Zeref back into power.

She had ruined and ended countless lives in her quest to achieve that goal, and had she continued to try the casualties would've only gotten more and more.

"So I spent about eight months there. Ur made us strip down to the bare basics to acclimate with the cold to make our molding better, and at some point it became a habit that I can't control. One night, I heard a news report that Deliora was nearby, and I wanted to…"

He was silent for a long moment.

"Ur tried to stop me, but I didn't listen to her. She followed me, and I was about to be killed when she jumped in front of me and cast Ice Shell."

Ultear's eyes widened in shock. Arc of Time was her primary magic, but she was also an Ice Make mage, so she had studied up on those techniques as well.

"She sacrificed herself to cage Deliora, but she wouldn't have had to if it wasn't for my stupidity." Gray said, punching a wall as they walked past it.

"From what I've been told about my mother, I think that she would have eventually used the spell to take out the demon anyway." Ultear told him quietly. "Your involvement only gave her more strength to manage it because she didn't want you to get hurt."

In return, she told him about the years after she had been taken from her mother, from her time at the facility, to joining up with Hades, and her misguided goal to bring back Zeref in an attempt to turn back time and start over.

It became easier to talk to each other after that...

Levy and Gajeel's date went just as anyone who knew them could have guessed.

Gajeel was awkward and quiet, trying to hide the fact that he kept staring at the little blue-haired mage.

Levy herself was also a bit quiet, blushing as she remembered that he had paid to spend time with her. Honestly, if he had just asked…

"We're here." Gajeel said gruffly.

The blunette looked up in surprise. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't even wonder where they were going.

She gasped as she saw the sign.

"The cinema?" she asked with a grin. "What are we seeing?"

"You have a choice between It and The First Kiss." His disgust at the romantic movie was evidence in his grimace.

"Stephen King, no contest." Levy said immediately.

Gajeel looked at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked, slightly bemused.

"I thought chicks liked cheesy cruddy movies." He said without thinking.

Levy swatted him with her red satchel (déjà vu). "Stereotype. Horror is my favorite genre."

"Seriously?!" Gajeel asked, stunned.

"Yes, seriously." Levy repeated with a slight huff. "Now come on, we're going to miss the movie!"

Gajeel grinned, scaring a few of the people around him, though Levy didn't react at all. "Gihihi. Lead the way, Shrimp."

Levy rolled her eyes fondly before doing so.

After the movie had ended, Gajeel was grumbling slightly.

He had hoped that the movie would scare the petite girl, but besides her eyes getting wider at the more gory scenes, she barely even reacted, too absorbed in the movie.

There went his hopes that she'd cling onto him and have him 'protect' her.

He grinned, glancing at the Shrimp, who was skipping next to him.

Then again, one thing he really appreciated about Levy was that she wasn't like other girls. He should've realized that this wouldn't be any different.

Lucy grinned where she saw where Laxus was taking her.

"A planetarium?" she asked excitedly.

He grunted. "Figured you'd enjoy it, and I might learn something."

"I'll make sure of it." She said with a laugh, before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the entrance.

Seeing the glint in her eye, Laxus sighed. "Just what have I gotten myself into?"

Lucy hummed thoughtfully, still pulling him. "Well, astronomy is kind of my thing, so…I could go on for hours."

Laxus' eyes widened at the double meaning, and Lucy blushed when she realized that that could be taken in an entirely different way than she meant it.

"Um…let's just pretend that my choice of words didn't become a dirty joke, okay?" Lucy said, still a bit red. She let go of his hand as they arrived at the ticket booth.

Laxus looked down at her fondly, before ruffling her hair and ignoring her protests.

If she didn't want him to mess with her hair, then she shouldn't be so damn cute.

Four hours later, the duo walked out of the building.

"That…was actually interesting." Laxus muttered.

"You sound surprised." Lucy said with a smirk. "But yeah, it was fun. We might have to come back some time."

Laxus raised an eyebrow at her, amused.

She looked right back at him, not flinching or blushing. Yes, she knew what she had implied, now she was waiting for a response.

"That sounds fun." He said after a moment. "Maybe a concert, at some point."

"Oh, yeah, you're always listening to music." Lucy said, smiling a bit at their agreement that there would be more 'outings' in the future. "What do you typically listen to?"

"Classic Rock, mostly, but I'll listen to pretty much anything." Laxus answered, pulling out his music player and turning it on before handing it to his date.

Lucy blinked, before taking it and perusing through his music library. "Ooh, I like this song. Wow, you really do have everything on here."

"I've spent a lot of Jewels buying music for that thing." Laxus admitted.

"I can imagine." Lucy agreed.

Hundreds of songs? Yeah, that would cost a huge chunk of change.

The due spent the next few minutes talking about their favorite bands and artists, and comparing their experiences at live performances.

Suddenly, Laxus' head shot up and his eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked, immediately stopping and looking around for a threat.

"Freed put a rune barrier around my house…" Laxus began, before starting to jog, Lucy immediately matching his pace. "To alert me when the egg starts to hatch."

Lucy's eyes widened just as much as his. "You mean…?"

"Fairy Tail will be welcoming a new Exceed real soon." Laxus confirmed.

Lucy laughed, and Laxus was struck by the beautiful sound, full of happiness and delight, which was mirrored in her eyes.

"We'd better not keep your new friend waiting, then!" she chirped, before speeding up, gesturing for him to go ahead of her. She didn't know where he lived. "Come on!"

Laxus grinned widely, his own eyes reflecting his excitement, before picking up his pace.

Five minutes later, Laxus unlocked his door, before opening it and stepping aside to let Lucy in.

The girl quickly got the hint, calling "Nice place!" as she poked her head into the first doorway, grinning when she saw the egg being warmed up by the fireplace lacrima.

She went over to it, crouching and examining the cracks in the egg. From what Natsu, Lisanna, and Wendy had said, it wouldn't take very long.

"Birds have things on their beaks to help them break through the shell." She said after a moment, as Laxus came in and hung up his coat. "I wonder how an Exceed manages."

"Never thought about it." Laxus responded gruffly, though now he was slightly curious as well. He offered his hand to Lucy, who smiled sheepishly, tugging off her own coat and handing it to him so he could hang it up.

"Thanks." She said with a smile and a slight blush.

Laxus inwardly grinned. Apparently their date was going well, and even if it had kind of been interrupted, he couldn't bring himself to mind.

Not when Lucy was just as excited for the Exceed's arrival as he was.

'Ah, shit.' Laxus thought as he swallowed a groan.

He was really starting to like this woman.

From the moment he saw her, all those years ago, he had immediately noticed her beauty. Honestly, who wouldn't? Blonde, large eyes, body to die for, and practically radiating innocence.

Of course, he had only cared about her appearance at that point. He hadn't had a very favorable opinion of Celestial Spirit mages, thinking that they were weak (though Freed later educated him on the matter after the thing with Loke), and he had been big on strength back then.

He hadn't given her much thought, besides to make a comment to Mira during the Phantom Lord ordeal, and then put an arm around her after Evergreen used her Stone Eyes during the Fairy Tail war he had set up.

The first time he had thought of her as more than a pretty face had been after he found out that she had defeated Bickslow in battle, which wasn't an easy thing to do, especially when they were right above a mountain of things Bickslow could transfer his babies into as soul containers.

Bickslow's account of her fighting with her whip alongside Loke instead of allowing her spirit to do all the work (another stereotype that caused him to sneer more at Celestial Spirit mages) only made him respect her more.

Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to find out more, as his grandfather exiled him from Fairy Tail, not that Laxus could blame the man.

He had always wanted people to treat him normally, not as Makarov's grandson, so how could he complain when he was punished the same as anyone else would be, especially if he deserved it?

The next time he saw Lucy was on Tenrou Island, when they were fighting Hades. Her clock spirit had saved the youngest dragon slayer's life, proving that her magic was indeed useful, and Lucy herself had kept fighting regardless of Hades' obvious superiority in combat and her just as obvious magical fatigue from the exams that Grimoure Heart had interrupted.

Imagine his shock when he saw 10 gold keys attached to her belt. Hadn't she only had three when she joined Fairy Tail, and six when Laxus had last seen her?

There were only 12 in EXISTENCE, damn it! How the hell had she gotten seven of the most powerful Celestial Spirit keys in less than a year?

He didn't know much about how to gauge the strength of a Celestial Spirit mage, but he was fairly sure that she might very well be the only one to have gathered so many Zodiacs in a very long time, especially considering the 88 keys were spread across the entire WORLD, not just Fiore.

But again, he wasn't given the opportunity to get to know her better, this time because of Zeref and Acnologia, because damn it, this was Fairy Tail, and when things went bad...

Well, they went to shit, let's leave it at that.

Lucy was thrown into a portal by the Black Wizard, and Laxus didn't see her again until apparently seven years later!

So much had happened. Alzack and Bisca got married and had a daughter (which was barely conceivable to those who had been stuck on Tenrou), Jellal had been set free, the two Grimoure Heart girls had joined the guild, Romeo had grown up, Kinana was now officially a mage (she hadn't made any progress with Mirajane before the incident), the other second generation dragon slayer had joined, as had many others that helped keep Fairy Tail at the top…

But above all was Lucy.

In those seven years she had grown into an even more beautiful woman, more confident and strategic-minded (her battle against Natsu was hilarious), no longer concerned about what others thought of her…

And the best part was that now he didn't feel nearly as dirty when he noticed her, since technically she was now older than him.

He hadn't been surprised to find out that she had become an S-Class mage during their absence.

One of the best things about her was her determination to pick herself up after being shoved down and get stronger from the experience. Fairy Tail was in danger, so she sucked up her pride and utilized her father's connections to help attract new members. She had used her emotions over losing her friends to become stronger so that she would have a better chance of protecting them if it happened again. She had been bruised, battered, and humiliated by that Sabertooth woman, only to take the opportunity to learn a new type of magic so that she wouldn't be caught in that situation again.

The girl was an enigma, all right.

And he had been lucky enough to spend the last few hours finally getting to know her.

The reality was even better than what he had imagined.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a noticeably louder crack sound coming from the egg, and the two mages leaned closer to it automatically.

"Come on…" Laxus whispered almost silently.

"You can do it." Lucy cheered the little Exceed on, smiling as she heard Laxus' own encouragement.

Silence.

Suddenly, a tiny yellow paw burst forth from the egg, and a moment later, the shell crumbled to the ground, leaving an Exceed in its place.

It had yellow fur, with white paws and a white tummy, with large brown eyes kind of like Carla's.

She (for her gender was obvious even to them) blinked up at them sleepily.

Seeing that Laxus didn't really know what to do, Lucy gently picked the Exceed up, cuddling it into her arms.

"Hello, little one." She cooed. "Welcome to the family."

She meant Fairy Tail, of course, but Laxus blushed.

"Hey, kiddo." He said after a moment, scratching behind the Exceed's ears and smiling a bit at the contented purr he received. "Took you long enough."

"Laxus!" Lucy scolded, hitting him lightly, before sighing. "What are you going to name her?"

"Astoria." Laxus muttered.

"That's a really pretty name." she said after a moment, smiling happily as she gently rubbed Astoria's head.

Laxus glanced at the two of them, noticing how quickly Astoria was bonding with the Celestial Spirit mage.

Wait...had Astoria imprinted on Lucy?

That would be that she basically thought of her as a mother already, huh?

Maybe someday.

And if he had chosen her name because it was similar to Astraea, Greek goddess of stars, then so what?

No one had to know.

Three weeks later, when Astoria said her first word, 'Mama', to Lucy, the two blushed heavily as their guild mates laughed at them.

Laxus, who had sort of been expecting it to happen, was pleased to have been right. Still, he didn't appreciate the teasing.

Many of the guys ended up getting in trouble with either them or their own girlfriends for teasing them.

It was in the aftermath of that incident that Laxus and Lucy finally decided to give being in a relationship a try, though they didn't really refer to each other as their boyfriend or girlfriend.

Still, who could blame little Astoria? Lucy was with Laxus all the time, helping him raise her, and even she could feel the odd tension between the two of them.

Please review!

This is probably my longest chapter for this story.

Ugh, the LaLu scene was a huge pain to write. Doesn't help that I'm horrible at remembering to put LaLu scenes in this story in the first place, so when I do, I have to make them fairly long so it shows that they do in fact have feelings for each other (well, that Laxus has feelings for her at least, but I think it's fairly obvious that they're mutual) and not that I just threw in a pairing for no reason.

Lyon honestly annoys me, but then so does Juvia's crush on Gray. I like Juvia's character better, but that being said, I do feel a bit bad for Lyon. Not too bad, though, because of how he brushed off Sherry's affections and now Chelia's (though there's definitely a good reason for that one because otherwise he would be a pedophile, she's only 14). Still, he could just tell her that it isn't going to happen. He's constantly looking for someone to appreciate him, but once he has it, he ignores the person giving it to him. That's how I see it, anyway. Feel free to disagree, but I'm not about to argue about it.