"Go back to bed." Laxus groaned when Lucy tried to wake him up the next morning.
"I can't sleep anymore. I went to bed at six last night from exhausting baby making. I've slept for too long. I need French toast and a milkshake." She whined. "Pleeeaasee?"
"You're annoying."
"But you love me!" She smirked as he stood up to put a shirt on and went to make his wife what she wanted.
"Still a pain in my ass."
"But the only pain you ever wanted." She stood up to follow him to the kitchen. She took a seat at the table and watched him grab stuff from the fridge and cupboards. He started to whistle a tune, and Lucy became exceedingly curious about something she had never thought about. "Can you sing?" She asked.
"What?" He turned to look at her and raised a brow.
"Can you sing?" She repeated.
"About as good as Gajeel can." He chuckled, turning back around to continue cooking.
"You can't be that bad." She rolled her eyes, with a giggle.
"Oh, but I am." He reassured.
"I'm gonna asked Bickslow."
"No you're not. You are forbidden from asking Bickslow anything to do with my musical abilities." He said sternly. Lucy took out her phone while his back was turned and texted Bickslow. He immediately responded with a winky face and said to ask him to sing Bosses Daughter. She snickered. "You asked didn't you? Even though I told you no."
"Yup!" She smiled widely.
"What he say?"
"Secrets."
"Secrets? Come on Lucy."
"Maybe later. Finish my food, we've got training to do." He dropped it at that point and started to cook her food so they could leave.
They meant to go see Stephany before this battle, but all three of her kids were down with the flu and she advised against it. She said that she wished them luck in their battle, and she'd be praying hard for them. She also wanted to see them when they got back. She had something for them.
They all met for a moment on the battlefield. The dragons hadn't arrived yet, making a peaceful moment before they got their ass handed to them in mean comments. They knew they were only to fuel them harder, but it made it worse. They were hurtful. But they were a necessity, because these demons would say worse on the field. Way worse. Levy looked over at Lucy.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm still super sick. I never imagined that having a baby would make me this sick. Like really sick. Like I wanted French Toast this morning and it was really good, but then it all came back up. It wasn't enjoyable the second time." Lucy said and Levy giggled a little.
"I've got ginger candy and I'll gladly give you them for the battlefield. That's where the problem is going to be. We need to tell the guild too. You know that. It's easier if we are all on the same page, and this secret needs to be out for all of us to work as a unit."
"Hell yeah!" Laxus yelled.
"Why does that make you all excited?" Levy questioned.
"Because I get to rub it in Orga's face that I got the girl he really really wanted pregnant. Duh!" He said matter of factly. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Not everything is a competition with him." Lucy said.
"No." Laxus said with a pause. "Because I already won. I got you. And I got your ass pregnant! I'm the ultimate winner!"
"That's sweet. Kinda." Yukino said with a giggle.
"How are my children today?" Perun asked walking up to the group with the other dragons. "Lucy you look like Hell."
"Gee thanks old man." She said rolling her eyes.
"I think the rest of us are good." Levy said. "I'm still not over my babies being gone, but I'm getting more and more pissed off, which in return makes me super mama."
"We're doing training a little different today and tomorrow. The dragons that will be on the field with you, will be training you…and your team. Yes, that means that we are bringing in the other members of your guilds to train. This may be overwhelming for them, but we are going to push you guys harder than ever. No more games. We've got two days to whip you guys into shape. Well, more than you are. We have come together as dragons to create enemies that will test your skills to a new level. They may not be on the level of the demons fully, but they'll push you harder than ever. So be prepared. It's not going to be an easy two days." Perun explained.
"However, remember your payoff. You've got this. We will not be beat." Igneel said.
"Who gets what dragon?" Yukino asked. At that moment the other guild members joined them waiting to be called to train with their dragon and teams.
"Gajeel's team. You're with Skidrum and I." Grandena said. "I need Gajeel, Juvia, Kinana and Rogue." The group walked with the dragons to a far away spot to train.
"Cobra team you're with me and Weissalogia, and I want no trouble!" Veneno said. "That means Cobra, Wendy, Gray, Mira and Sting front and center." That's when that group really realized the trouble they were in for. It was going to ba long two days.
"Laxus, Bickslow, Evergreen, Freed, Lisanna, and Orga you are with me." Igneel said. He watched Lisanna's eyes fill up with glee. Little did she know he was going to push her hardest. She already took down one demon, she can do it again.
"Finally, Natsu, Lucy, Levy, Cana, and Erza you are with Metalicanna and I." Perun said. "Now, let's get to some training!" Everyone cheered and they headed off to train in their respective groups.
Eight long hours later each team met back up in the middle of the field. They felt like shit. They knew they needed to eat, but there was no way anyone was cooking. They opted to just order pizza. They walked inside and headed straight to their respective hot tubs.
The girls were quick to undress and sink into that heavenly water. They needed it, but Lucy forgot that she was gaining a little bit of weight, and that meant she was going to get asked about it. She knew it was coming. She just didn't know when.
"Levy! You look great for having just given birth." Erza said with a smile.
"I really don't. But that's not even the worst part of it. I burn. My lady bits are hurting. Badly. I was at least given a potion to help with it, but I can still feel the burn. And you guys aren't blind you can see my stitches from my taring. It's okay it was beautiful, but it has destroyed my body."
"Gajeel doesn't think so." Lucy winked.
"No. That man would jump me now if the doctor gave the okay." Levy giggled.
"But that's true love. We really are missing out without being mates." Erza said.
"There's someone out there for all of you. True love isn't dependent on mates or not. You can have the same love we do with a quote normal unquote person." Lucy said.
"Unless you can't be with them." Cana said dejectedly. Lucy's heart broke again. She was going to set these two idiots up if it was the last thing she ever did.
"Oh, but you can! And I'll make it happen!" Lucy said harshly. Cana just rolled her eyes.
"Speaking of Lucy, is Laxus feeding you well? You look healthier than you've been. It looks like the eating disorder has finally gone away." Mira asked.
"Something like that." Lucy said not answering her question.
"You know I didn't mean anything by it." Mira apologized. "I'm just glad to see you're doing so good. That's all."
"No. It's okay. I get that, it's just…" her words died off and the mates looked at her with wonder. Lucy weighed her options closely. She knew Perun didn't want her to tell, but it seemed like a lie to not tell them. She was torn, but now was not the time.
The men all sunk deeply into the hot tub. They all took a moment to just relax.
"Shit I hurt." Natsu said. "Perun is a slave driver."
"Yeah. He's like that when she sees potential." Laxus chuckled. "Igneel isn't much better. Damn man was pushing Lisanna to her breaking point. I thought she was going to lose it."
"Nah, he knows better. He just sees something in her that she doesn't see in herself."
"That's what they're supposed to do." Bickslow said. "They're supposed to make you your best, and you can't do that if you never push yourself. We all know that. They're pushing all of us, because they know we can do better. They've witnessed us do better. And now really isn't the time to half ass anything."
"When did you get like this?" Natsu asked.
"Probably through Lucy and Laxus." Bickslow shrugged. "They've taught me a lot, and to Hell if I see them die before they have a chance to have a life together."
"You really love her don't you?" Natsu said rolling his eyes.
"What are you talking about?! I don't love Lucy!" Bickslow said heatedly.
"No, but you love Cana." Natsu said flatly.
"What?!"
"Oh dude we all see it, and when she held those babies, yup you were gone."
"What does that have to do with Lucy?!"
"They're best friends." Gray said. "They do a lot together and you don't want your wing woman to die and you not get your shot with Cana."
"Also think of what would become of the guild if she died." Rogue said. "You guys see her as your light and without her things wouldn't be the same. Cana may actually lose herself, and then you'd never have her back."
"Why do you all think I'm in love with her?!" Bickslow yelled.
"Are you saying you're not?" Laxus asked snarkily.
"I'm just saying," his words died off slowly.
"You've only got one life man, do it right." Laxus said.
"I just don't know. I'm so back and forth on it all. I'm scared, I'm sure she'd be scared, and the guild would be complicated if we ever did break up."
"You guys are already sleeping together. This doesn't change a whole hell of a lot except you're exclusive, which you guys kind of already are." Laxus said. "It was the same fear I had with Lucy."
"But you're mates you don't break up."
"There was a time I didn't know we were mates. Thought it was all just lust." He shrugged.
"We all had that same feelings. The dragon doesn't necessarily tell you right away that they are your mate. They just drive you mad with lust, hoping we figure it out." Natsu said backing up Laxus. It was true he didn't know that his love for Lisanna went more than lust until she came back. That's when he started to re-get to know her. It's a whole process. And it's a hard one. He'd be lying to himself if he said he hadn't had a small thought that maybe Lucy had been, but it was different with Lucy. Even though he loved Lucy and would do anything to protect her, she didn't drive him mad with lust like Igneel had warned mates would. He thought she was pretty, but not sexy. Not the way Lizzy is.
"That's a lot for you guys to figure out. How did Laxus even know that Lucy was his, when he's slept with most the town?" Orga asked bravely.
"It was hard. It wasn't necessarily not knowing she was my mate, it was more that I didn't want her to be." Laxus responded.
"But the thought of sex with her has always stirred you up." Bickslow said ratting out his best friend.
"Yeah, sex. Not a life with her. Not kids and marriage and growing old. I wanted to sleep with her. I wanted nothing more than to take her as a lay, not a mate."
"So was it pretty scary realizing she was?" Freed asked. Laxus tilted his head.
"I don't know." He said plainly. "I don't remember my fear around it, because she walked into my office to sign charity papers and never left. I think it was scarier that she has a good reputation and I don't. I didn't want to bring her down, but I think by the time I realized I loved her, and it was more than just lust, I was too far gone. She had already changed my life in a way that was not going to be able to sustain any more one night stands. I would never be able to go back to that lifestyle, because she was the only woman I looked at that way."
"And what way might that be?" Gray asked. All the slayers smirked at each other.
"It's hard to explain." Gajeel said. "We normally see mates as objects of desire before we see the connection. That's why it's sometimes hard for us to see that they are our mates. But when we look at them, it's like…"
"Home." Sting said. "Us slayers have never had a steady home. Minus Laxus, but he really didn't have one either. So, looking at our mates is looking like we have a home. When I look at Yukie it's like…it's like I've just come home from a long mission and there's a meal on the table and everything is good. It's a smell too. Each mate has a specific smell that is attractive to us. Yukie smells like fresh cut grass. Sounds weird, but the earthy smell she gives has been one of my favorites my whole life."
"He mows the guilds lawn, just to smell it sometimes. Even if it doesn't need too." Orga said rolling his eyes.
"I am who I am, what can I say." Sting said with a chuckle.
"We should probably get out." Natsu said. "We need to meet as slayers and mates before the final day of training tomorrow." They all nodded and headed to get dressed.
They walked out and were met with the girls coming out at the same time. Lucy looked exhausted, and Laxus knew she was. They may just wanna head to a restaurant with the group for dinner. Kill two birds with one stone.
"Hey cutie." Laxus said pulling Lucy into him. She purred in delight at the comfort he brought her.
"Hey handsome." She breathed him in. She felt her tears start. She was going to have to leave this man for who knows how long. She was not going to get to cuddle or hug him like this. It was all starting to get to her. It was going to be worse this time knowing that she was carrying his child. Everything seemed harder at this point.
"You wanna get some dinner with the group then we'll go home?" He asked softly. She nodded. The slayers heard and grabbed their mates and they all started to walk away from the guild.
"Does anyone else feel like this is worse than last time?" Lucy asked, still under Laxus' arm.
"Definitely!" Levy said.
"Oh yes." Lisanna said looking up at her mate. "It just feels heavier. Like we're in more danger than last time."
"But we're not." Natsu said reassuringly.
"He's right. Same group. Same powers. And hey, we gained a powerhouse back." Laxus said smiling at Levy, who smiled brightly back at him.
"I don't know about a powerhouse, but I've definitely got some skills up my sleeve. I'm ready to fight honestly. I've been sidelined for too long. It's time this mama got some action in." Levy said with a smile.
"I think we've all got better tools this time around." Kinana said.
"I think so too." Yukino said. "Plus, we're badasses. Nothing can beat us." They all laughed. "Hey, if it's how the slayers think, it's how we should think too."
"Absolutely." Natsu smiled.
They ate and talked more tactics, and before long they were saying goodnight and heading home. Where slayer and mates alike held on to each other a little tighter. Saying their prayers that this was all going to turn out in their favor. That they'd get a life they thought they really deserved. They had shitty lives until their mates. They were overdue for a happy ending.
The dragons stayed late at the guild to drink with each other and talk about what they were to do from here.
"I'm not worried." Perun said.
"Liar." Igneel said rolling his eyes.
"I'm not." Perun tried lying again.
"Really? We all are." Metalicanna said.
"Okay maybe a little." Perun said.
"We really shouldn't worry, we know how this is going to end." Igneel said.
"First of all, we aren't supposed to know that. Second of all, it could still turn out differently nothing is set in stone with Fate." Perun argued.
"They've got this. Your blondes have this in the bag. Plus, we've still got one secret no one knows about." Igneel said.
"Let's just hope this works." Perun said slamming back the rest of his Bourbon.