The First Sin

Summary: "It's what you want my dear Dragon." She paused as she sat down, only letting his hand go once he stood in front of her, "I can give it to you. Everything you ever wished for." She rested her hand on his bare stomach, his mind barely registering that his shirt was gone as she licked her lips, "And so, so much more." – Sent during the Guilds disbandment. LaLu and other couples.

Authors note: So happy people liked this fic. And to think I nearly didn't post it! Thank you everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter of The First Sin. Please note, there is swearing in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I in no way own Fairy Tail! I do however own my own characters.

Arc: Lust

Chapter 2: Stronger

Laxus came to with a headache. One that messed with his senses completely. His body felt warm, cocooned in a heat that he knew he shouldn't feel. He knew he should have been soaked, smelling of mold and sick with having been in an alley during the storm the night before. But for some reason, the aches and pains that should have accompanied a rough night didn't occur. Which meant someone had taken him in.

He opened his eyes, glad that it wasn't as bright in the room as he guessed it would be. The curtain to his side was tightly closed, the heavy pink drapes blocking out the morning light. When he looked to his other side, he confirmed that yes, he was in someone's room and two, it was sparsely furnished.

But what drew his attention the most was the warmth that seemed to enclose his hand. He rose onto his free elbow, not wanting to disturb the heat before he found the source, and felt the blood rush in his ears when he took in the sight before him.

Lucy, Fairy Tails' light, was leaning against the bed, one arm curled under her head while her other arm was stretched out towards him, her slim fingers wrapped delicately around his own. He swallowed heavily, taking in the way her features had matured since the guild disbanded. Her hair was far longer than he recalled it being, and her face had lost what little fat had clung to her from her teens and she had grown into a lean young woman.

He then remembered demanding her in exchange for saving the guild from Phantom and he wanted to punch himself in the ace.

He gingerly pulled his hand from hers, taking great care in sitting up to look around. The whole room was dark, but his enhanced sight and with the little light that seeped through the edge of the curtain let him examine the room.

Her apartment was small, with a small bathroom off to the side and her bed on the other. He could see her kitchen from where he sat and a small sitting area with a couch and a writing desk across from him. In all, the studio was small, incredibly so for him considering his size. He wondered how she had even managed to find him, staring at the small blonde in wonder.

He tried to think back to the night before, muttering under his breath as he looked down. He jolted when he noticed the stained white bandages around his torso, the wound he knew he should have tended to sooner already taken care of for him.

"I didn't want your infection to get any worse." He looked up, staring at the blonde as she sat back, rubbing her eyes. Deep black circles made her look sickly and her brown eyes overly large from fatigue., but it was her strained smile that caught his attention the most.

"Lucy... you-" He paused, not sure of what to say.

"So… you do know how to use my name." Lucy laughed softly, stretching as she stood, "And it's no problem. It's the least I could do. Besides, I couldn't just leave you out in the rain."

She shuffled about, her back to him as she worked in the kitchen. The sound of running water echoed in his ears before she turned back to him, a glass of water in hand and her other hand closed. He could smell the medicine before she passed it to him, nodding his head in thanks as he accepted the glass.

He watched her as she moved through her home, gathering some clothes before disappearing into the bathroom, only to come out a few moments later in jeans and a singlet. She brushed her hair as she moved about, pulling her chair from her desk so that she could sit by the bed.

"Why?" Lucy blinked at him, lowering her brush as she processed his question.

"Why what?" She took back the now empty glass of water and placed it on her bedside table, next to her keys. She felt them warm as she brushed her hand along them.

"Why... this? Why help me? Why not leave me there? And how did you even get me here? Just... why bother? I haven't been... the nicest to you by any means." He looked away, biting the inside of his cheek as he waited. Part of him wished that she would recall how horrible he had been, not just to her, but the the rest of their nakama.

Lucy froze. She wasn't sure why she had cared for him so much. But in her heart, she knew why, and throwing caution to the wind, she told him the truth, "Because, at some point, yes, you hurt me, and the guild, but you were still my nakama. You were still part of our family, and you pulled through when it mattered most. I mean, if I could forgive Gajeel, I could most certainly forgive you."

She sent him a dazzling smile, but he was taken aback by the haunted look in her eyes, "But... how did you even get me here? You don't look all that strong to me Blondie." His words were met with a dark look and he swallowed, wincing internally as his forever arrogant personality turned its ugly head, "Look, I didn't mean that. I just..."

Lucy sighed, turning away from him, "I haven't been idle, you know. Just like I wasn't when I was at the guild, despite what people believed. My training paid off and I acquired something called Stardress. It lets me harness the powers of my spirits. I used Taurus' power to get you here. And then I had my spirit Gemini transform into Wendy and tried healing you. It wasn't a powerful copy, but we managed to get rid of the infection and bandage you up." She stood, refusing to look at him, "My spirit Virgo brought you some spare clothes. They're in the bathroom with some essentials for you as well. Feel free to take a shower."

Laxus could only nod numbly as he pulled the sheets away from his body, shivering from the cold as he made his way into the room Lucy had gone into earlier.

The bathroom was small, with only a bath, sink and toilet. In one corner was a small hamper and neatly folded on top of it was a pile with his name written neatly on a piece of paper on top. He wondered for a moment how he could have been so foolish to someone so kind. Everyone in the guild had loved her, and even the Thunder Legion had grown attached to her while he was in exile. But he had barely even done the decency to greet her as she always greeted him.

A growl built in his throat as he turned away, turning the water on before stripping, ripping the bandages from his torso and he inspected the wound. It had indeed healed far more than he expected, the once ragged edges of the cut now smooth and much closer to being fully healed than it had been the night before.

Thinking of the previous evening he stepped into the water, letting it wash away the grime and dirt and defeat that seemed to cling to him like a leech.

The water soothed him and if he listened, he could hear Lucy gently humming in the next room. The woman was an enigma, one that puzzled him to the point of him actually wanting to figure her out. She forgave without a doubt, she helped despite the repercussions and she took blame for incidents that she had no part in - he knew because of all the reports he had helped his Grandfather sort through. And yet here she was, not only carrying him home in the rain, he tried not to think his pride or reputation were damaged, tended to him and gave him her bed, likely having cared for him through the majority of the night. But even he could see something was cloudy her mind, drawing her into herself. She hadn't lashed out at all, despite having every reason to. And there was a sadness that tainted her smell. A smell he distinctly remembered to have been of strawberries with an undercurrent of ink.

He sat in the water, pondering the woman in the other room when the smell of bacon filled the air. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for a number of hours.

He grabbed that towel that had been piled on top of his new clothes and he dried off quickly, shoving his legs through the dress pants and his arms through the button up shirt. The simple black and white outfit was a perfect fit and he assumed it had something to do with the fact Lucy had asked her spirit for them. With a quick glance in the mirror, deciding to leave the shirt unbuttoned in case he needed to rebandage his wound.

He opened the door quietly, trying to be respectful to his unlikely saviour. She sat at a small dining table, staring off at the wall that had been opposite him when he awoke. Then, it had been too dark to make out the details, but now that she had opened the blinds, the items pinned up took his breath away. He walked up to the wall, ignoring the blonde woman who watched him, her muscles tense as his fingers ran along the ribbon and string and all the pictures scattered across the entire surface of her living space. His eyes took in the members of Fairy Tail. Bisca and Alzack together in an article from Sorcerers Weekly. Wendy and Carla in a picture after joining Lamia Scale. Mira and Lisanna in a bar. And what made his heart stop was a picture of himself and the Thunder Legion in Blue Pegasus. They all seemed so happy in the image.

"I tried to keep track of everyone you know," He turned to face Lucy but her head was down, playing with her breakfast rather than eating it, "In case Master came back and reformed the guild."

Laxus blinked, taking a second look at the pictures before he took a seat.

"Everyone seems to have moved on so easily. Within a week everyone left Magnolia. I didn't know what to do. And I didn't do anything for a long time afterwards too. But then, I needed money and work made that happen. So, I thought, if I can't wait at home, then I would find everyone for the time that we could all go home together." She sighed, dropping her fork in favour of sitting on her hands, trying to hide how they shook, "Dumb, I know-"

"It's not dumb." Laxus didn't speak before he cut her off, staring into her eyes as he continued, "It's not dumb so don't say shit like that. It means you care. You care enough about your nakama to let them be happy for the time being. If that's dumb then everyone that left is to blame or something." He fought down the heat the built in his chest, taking his fork and shovelling food into his mouth, effectively cutting off any other words that tried to escape his mouth.

"That's very nice of you to say Laxus." Lucy smiled, taking hold of her fork once more.

"Yeah well, I gave you a lot of crap in the past, and after last night, the least I can do is try to make it up to you." He huffed, glaring at his plate when he realised his food was already half gone. Noticing his dilemma, Lucy giggle, drawing his attention to her, his cheeks puffed out as he chewed.

"Don't worry. I know what Dragon Slayers are like. I have extra if you want it." He could only look at her and nod, handing his plate to her as a silent request, "I figured. When... when Team Natsu were together, they always crashed at mine and ate me out of house and home. Didn't help that they were the reason I was almost always late on my rent." A dry laugh left her as she handed the plate back to him, a tower of bacon and eggs waiting for him to devour.

"I always heard the rest of the guild saying you were always short. Looking back, the damage reports from your team were ridiculous." He chuckled as she flushed.

"Yeah. It could be a pain. I was always short on money for things." Lucy cleared her throat, collecting her plate and placing it in the sink, "So, uh. Why were you out last night? I mean, you weren't in the best state and-" She stopped short, her muscles tensing as she heard his growl and the clang of metal on porcelain, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. You don't-"

"I failed." His voice was grave as he stood, turning to face her with so much self-loathing in his eyes that Lucy blanched.

"How..." Lucy paused, swallowing heavily before correcting herself, "What do you mean you failed?" She waited for him to answer, her natural curiosity getting the better of her, despite knowing her actions were akin to poking a lion in a cage.

Laxus growled, glaring hard at the space above her head, "We went on a mission. It should have been easy. But I was careless. And my underestimation of the mission got my team hurt. Got me hurt. Not long after we reported the failure, Master Bob let them on a mission, but forced me to stay behind. He couldn't risk me being a hindrance and put them at risk in my state." He spat the words like poison, his hate from that fateful night bubbling back to the surface.

Every muscle in his body tightened when he felt her, the woman so small she barely reached his collar bone. Her slim arms wrapped around his torso, her head resting over his heart as she sighed.

"I know the feeling. Of being the reason the people you care about get hurt. I've felt it on multiple occasions. And sometimes it gets you when you're most vulnerable. When you're guilty." He let the words wash over him, his body relaxing under her touch, "The feeling shoves you in a corner of your own mind, and despite everything, it can make you hurt people again. Master Bob was just looking out for you. And for your team." She sighed and pulled away, "And I know you don't see it right now, and it won't be an easy pill to swallow. So... do you want to tell me what happened?"

Laxus could feel his blood roar in his ears, his vision hazy as he sat down heavily, his anger from the night before fading to the defeat that had eaten at him since they had returned from the mission. He exhaled, his shoulders hunched as she watched him deflated, "Where do I Even begin?"

Lucy hummed, leaning against her kitchen counter, "Would it be easier for you to tell me the short version or the long version?"

He shrugged, eyes down as he thought, "I guess I'll just tell you how it is." Laxus nodded to himself, not even sure why he was speaking to her about it in the first place, "We selected a mission. It was meant to be simple. I'd been driving the team pretty hard and wanted them to take something easy for once. We were just meant to take down a dark guild. But as it turns out, the guild has multiple strong leaders, they go by the name Infernos. They took a while to track down and when we finally got one..." He shivered, glaring at his hands, "The bitch used manipulation magic. But she only controls men. Had me on my knees before I could knock her out. She made me attack my team and then had them fight me."

His voice was strained and Lucy knelt down in front of him. The veins in his neck bulged and the blonde woman frowned, "So you're wound is from them?"

He nodded, closing his eyes, "She said they were planning something big. Her and her guild. And then she mentioned E.N.D or something and then Zeref. If anything, I'd say they were another crazy cult. But their strong. And they've been terrorizing various towns. I failed my team. I failed those people. Just like I failed during Tartorus..."

Lucy couldn't help but smile, though it was strained and pulled at her cheeks painfully, "You can only grow stronger. If you're weak, you get stronger. If you get knocked down, you go down kicking and get right back up. We never give up. You of all people should know that Laxus."

He blinked at her, shocked to hear the words that she had spoken. He could barely register the hand that she had raised. Her left hand with her pink guild mark, "No matter what happened and what will happen… We are members of Fairy Tail and we stand by each other no matter what. So, let me help you Laxus."

He processed her words slowly and Lucy placed her hand over his guild mark on his chest. The shiver that shot down his spine jolted him back to reality and he smirked, "You don't even know what I'll need for you to help."

She answered his smirk with a smile, eyes glinting, "No one messes with a Fairy. I think we showed them what happens when they bang on our door."

xXxXx The First Sin xXxXx

Thank you to Flamey Owl, Jade, Mewhee89 and Tiernank for reviewing the first chapter. And to everyone that followed / and favourited this fic. It makes me really happy that people are interested in this story.

I hope you liked this chapter. I know they seem a little OOC but I think it works. This was essentially a filler / information chapter, and so will the next one… a little. In any case, thank you.

Please review. Have a Happy Easter everyone!