Nightfall faded in so slowly that Laxus didn't notice the trees making silhouettes everywhere. He'd been busy hunting for animals to cook for dinner.

While the East Forest harbored a lot of vegetation, the dragon slayer didn't want to live through dinner without eating meat, so he'd spent the rest of the afternoon to try and remedy that.

Lucy had been insistent that he'd return home before dusk. Annoyed, he'd finally told her to shut up and take a leisure shower. Laxus could recall her sputtering, apparently embarrassed by his notion that she smelled terrible, although she didn't. On the contrary, she always smelled good to him.

It's time to head back, Laxus thought, seeing that the path ahead of him was sinking into darkness. When he looked up, he saw dark clouds looming in the sky, promising rain. Carrying a large chunk of meat on his shoulder, he summoned his lightning magic and transported himself to Porlyusica's house.

When he turned the main door open, he found Lucy sitting on the bed, clad in a bathrobe. Her blonde hair was disheveled and appeared to be still damp. He noticed that was staring at him, her brown eyes showing a glint of relief.

"Welcome back," she said with a grin. Then, her eyes darted to the chunk of meat hanging from his shoulder. "Nice catch."

"Yeah," Laxus grunted, kicking the door close. "I'll chop this thing up in the kitchen, but you'll be doing the cooking. Think you can handle that?" he asked her. "Cause I gotta go clean up."

"Right."

When Laxus was finished chopping the meat into smaller portions, he made his way to the bathroom but stopped for a second at the main room to nod at Lucy, signaling her to start cooking. Without a word, Lucy entered the kitchen and lit the stove.

Time to make myself useful, she thought wryly.

She was able to find some spices and herbs earlier while Laxus was away and grounded them in the kitchen. Despite him telling her to stay indoors, she just couldn't hang around in a small and empty room without doing anything.

Half an hour later, Lucy finally came out of the kitchen, carrying two plates of cooked meat. She saw Laxus sitting on the bed in his bathrobe with his spiky blond hair wet from the shower. The sight of him fresh and clean made her want to simply eat him up.

Shaking that thought away, she debated whether she should put the plates on the desk or on one of the barrels near the bed to where Laxus was sitting.

"Over here," Laxus said, cocking his head to the side.

So they were going to have their dinner on the bed—in their bathrobes.

They ate in silence, apparently spent because of today's events and the thought of what uncertainties they would face tomorrow.

Although Porlyusica's house had some enchantments that would conceal them, there could still be a chance that Acnologia could see right through them if they weren't careful. Mavis' magic certainly hadn't stopped him from finding them in the Fairy Tail guildhall. Or it was probably the black dragon's hunch to look for them in there.

Lucy finally spoke. "I'll wash your clothes tomorrow if that's alright with you. I'm just too beat to do that today."

"Sure, thanks," Laxus mumbled. He'd seen her wet clothes hanging in the bathroom; they'd smelled like laundry soap.

"Hey, heads up," he warned, looking up the ceiling.

Lucy stared at him questioningly. "Huh?"

At the same moment, thunder clapped in the sky and she jumped. Groaning, she realized that Laxus could sense lightning.

It was bad enough that the temperature had dropped dramatically when dusk came, but really, it had to rain?

"Are you finished eating? I'll wash the dishes," Laxus offered.

"Yeah," Lucy replied, handing him her plate. She watched Laxus' disappeared into the kitchen and sighed.

To her dismay, she could sense that butterfly-feeling again inside her stomach.

Are we going to share this bed tonight?

Laxus was slowly awakened by Lucy's soft voice; she was whispering in her sleep again and calling out Natsu's name in the middle of the night. Sighing, he pushed himself off the floor and walked over to the bed where the celestial wizard was sleeping.

Since there's only one bed, he'd offered to let her sleep in it earlier. He'd sensed that she's uncomfortable with the idea that they'd share it.

He'd be, too, since it wasn't that long ago when they almost had sex on one of the dining tables at the Fairy Tail guildhall. All because they could no longer fight their urges.

Laxus wasn't going to let that happen again. As much as he desired her body, despite his need for physical intimacy, he couldn't let his guard down as there's so much at stake if he did.

Even when Lucy had blankets wrapped around her, Laxus could see that she was still shivering. The forest sure was cold during the night, and it didn't help that it was raining heavily.

As he continued to watch her trembling from the cold, his gut told him to pull her close in his arms and hold her. It should keep them both warm and snug until dawn.

I'm just going to lie next to her, but I'm not going to do anything, he thought, feeling his mouth going dry. Just as Laxus was about to do just that, he suddenly heard Natsu's name escape from her lips again.

Moments later, Lucy started crying and begging the fire dragon slayer to stay with her. Laxus was sure that she's living that memory again where Natsu decided to remain in Crocus to fight off the dragons.

Here we go again.

Laxus reached out and gently nudged her shoulder to wake her up from her dream. Lucy's eyes immediately flew open and she sat up, breathing hard. She turned her head to face Laxus, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Laxus," Lucy sobbed, her whole body shaking. "Laxus, it's…"

"I know," Laxus murmured, stroking her soft hair with his fingers. "It's just a dream. I'm right here."

Lucy flung her arms around his neck and cried on his bare chest. Laxus waited for her to calm down before gently pulling away from her and planting a kiss on her forehead, trying to ignore the fact that their physical contact turned him on.

"Natsu's not coming back, is he?" Lucy asked in a strangled voice, staring up at him.

"No, he isn't," Laxus answered, doing his best to meet her eyes even if it pained him to see grief in those beautiful brown orbs. "He's gone Lucy. Sooner or later, you're going to have to accept that."

They had both heard it from Acnologia; Laxus was the last of the dragon slayers alive in Earth Land. Everyone they knew and loved was gone; they're now probably watching their misery in a faraway place where there's no pain anymore.

For a fleeting moment, Laxus envied them.