Petal by Petal
"Mira…what are you doing?" Lisanna asked her sister, puzzled, as she watched the older white-haired woman pull petals off a dahlia.
Mira smiled as she answered.
"Do you remember when we were little and we would play that game, Loves Me, Loves Me Not?"
"I do remember that. Is that what you're doing?" Lisanna responded, highly amused at her sister's antics.
"Maybe," Mira told her in a singsong voice. Lisanna just laughed before letting Mira know she was going out on a job with Elfman, their brother. Mira smiled and waved them out of the guild hall before gazing around the building.
Not many people were in the guild hall that day. She saw Laxus and his team hanging out on the far end of the bar from her, Gajeel and Levy were sitting as far from the bar as possible without being out of the building, seeming to just be pouring over a book in the blue haired girl's hands, Gray appeared to be sleeping with his head in Juvia's lap and she looked utterly blissful as she ran her fingers through his dark hair, Cana was passed out under a table, hugging a barrel to her chest, and Macao and Romeo were arguing about something near the front doors. Mira sighed quietly as she figured she should go see if anyone needed anything; it was her job after all.
Mira fluttered around the guild hall, checking first with Juvia to see if she needed anything since she was otherwise pinned by Gray. When she just shook her head, Mira smiled at her and told Juvia to let her know if she changed her mind. Then Mira sidled over to where Gajeel and Levy were and asked them the same thing; Gajeel requested some food while Levy asked for a glass of water. Promising them it would be coming right up, she wandered over to Macao and Romeo, but they were still a little absorbed in arguing over what she could now hear was a job Macao didn't think Romeo was ready for; Mira quickly walked away from them rather than get embroiled in that discussion even as the two of them left. Chuckling to herself over how some things never change, she turned to Laxus and his team.
Mira felt her heart start to beat faster as she approached them. She has always had a crush on Laxus, since she was a teenager and first joined the guild. But she never acted on it. She always felt so much more comfortable setting up other people, but when it came to her love life…well…that was just so much harder. Oh she's been on dates and had some guys last longer than a few weeks, but no one ever lasted longer than a few months. They just never measured up to him and how could she truly engage in a relationship with someone else if she was always wondering what he would be doing with her in whatever situation it was? It wasn't fair to those other guys and wasn't really fair to herself, either.
"Can I get anything for you all?" Mira asked with a perky smile as she reached them, even as she willed her heart rate to slow down. She had always had a nagging feeling that Laxus could hear it and wouldn't that just be mortifying? Especially since he has never shown an overt interest in her…
"I'm doing well, thank you, Mira," Freed said with a smile, "I don't need anything."
Bickslow and Evergreen murmured similar statements, not even glancing up at Mira as they were quite focused on the game they were playing. Mira wasn't sure what it was; it seemed to be some sort of strategy game involving the taking and holding of parcels of land, but she hadn't ever played before so she just nodded at them before moving her gaze to the one who stole her breath without ever trying.
"And for you, Laxus?" Mira said. She was glad she had taken a breath before looking at him so that her voice would sound normal. Laxus had removed his headphones to listen to her and she couldn't help the fact that her heartbeat stuttered when his eyes met hers.
"Nothing for me," he told her, his deep voice making her stomach flip as one small corner of his mouth twitched up. She almost shuddered at the way his voice affected her, the way that tiny smile danced around in her brain, the one she wished was just for her, but instead she just smiled, said okay, and went back to the bar to put in Gajeel's order and get Levy her water.
Mira quickly returned to Levy with her water and let Gajeel know his food would be up soon. They both thanked her before sinking back into whatever book Levy had and Mira went back to the bar, wiping it down and feeling wistful. Would Laxus ever look at her the way she wanted? Would he ever feel for her what she felt for him? She sighed silently before pushing those thoughts out of her head. How could she expect him to reciprocate her feelings if she never showed him what they were? As she tried to muddle through her thoughts, she failed to notice the lingering gaze of a certain lightning dragon slayer.
"Why don't you tell her?" Laxus startled as he heard Evergreen's smug voice break his reverie.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Laxus grumbled, shifting his gaze from the beautiful take over mage as she sidled over to give Gajeel his food now that it was done.
"Lying doesn't become you," Evergreen shot back before she looked at the table in disgust, obviously realizing she had lost, to Bickslow of all people.
"I win," Bickslow said with a smirk as his "babies" floated around him chanting, "Win, win, win!"
"Whatever," Evergreen told him with a flip of her hair before she got up and walked away. The other men just shrugged at her back as she left, Bickslow following behind her only a few moments later. It was starting to get late and the guild was actually emptying out for once. Gray and Juvia had left a short while ago, and Gajeel and Levy were standing up and getting ready to walk out the door as well now that he had finished his food.
"What would you lose by telling her?" Laxus just stared at his green haired friend, Freed, when he spoke up after Bickslow and Evergreen left.
"I…" Laxus started but was swiftly cut off by Freed, something that was so rare Laxus could probably count how many times he had done so on one hand.
"Don't give me that crap excuse," Freed told him sharply, "Everyone can see it but the two of you. She cares for you and you do for her. So step up." And with that, Freed waved to Mira and walked out of the guild, leaving Laxus sitting stunned at their table.
Shaking himself, Laxus waved to Mira as well as he made like he was leaving as well, but he only moved upstairs and watched Mira as she stood at the bar. As soon as he was out of her eyesight, he saw her shoulders slump.
Could Freed be right? Could Evergreen? Was he just being a coward? The word chafed at him as he rolled what they said around in his mind. That's when he noticed Mira had brought out a pretty little flower whose name he didn't know and was slowly pulling petals off. Curious, he cocked his head to the side and tried to listen to what she was saying.
"Laxus loves me, Laxus loves me not," he heard her saying as she pulled one petal off at a time, alternating between one saying and then the other. His eyes widened and he stumbled back a step, utterly stunned. Freed and Evergreen were right and Laxus wondered what to do now. Then it came to him. He smiled as he thought of the perfect idea.
"He loves me," Mira said, pulling a single petal off of her dahlia, "He loves me not." She was almost out of petals and she wondered what she would wind up on. When she was a little girl, she used to love playing this game and she would always try to wind up plucking the last petal while saying "He loves me" because then it would come true, or at least that's what her younger self thought.
The petals were slowly dwindling down, and Mira closed her eyes thoughtfully as she pulled the last few. Would wishing for something hard enough make it happen?
"He loves me not," she whispered as she pulled the second to last petal and suddenly she felt a presence in front of her. Opening her eyes slowly, Mira gasped when she took in the look on Laxus's face.
Leaning towards Mira over the bar, slowly bringing the distance between the two of them down to a hair's breadth, Laxus plucked the last petal.
"He loves you," he breathed as he brushed his lips against hers.
Author's Note: I do not own these characters, just the idea behind the story. :)