Chapter 58
Lucy closes the door to Mirajane's hospital room behind her while Laxus goes over to his wife.
She has long white hair that becomes wavy towards the end and bangs pulled up in the front. Despite what she has been through, her sparkling dark blue eyes are simply full of life and joy. The highly noticeable swell of her stomach is hard to miss under the thin hospital blankets. The woman doesn't appear to be harmed too badly. There is a cut on the left side of her forehead from hitting the window.
Mirajane is too busy hugging her husband to notice Lucy for the moment. Meanwhile, Lucy can only watch what is happening between the married couple.
"How are you?" he gushes, breaking away from the hug to look her over. "How's the baby?"
She giggles a little bit, gently patting her stomach. "We're both doing great according to the doctor and nurses."
Laxus sighs in relief.
"You don't have to worry anymore," Mirajane teases. She knows how he can get when he is worried.
He tries brushing it off. "Who said anything about worrying?"
That gets her to giggle some more. "You can be so stoic at times."
Only now does Mirajane notice Lucy. She is more than aware that she isn't part of the hospital staff due to her attire. "Oh, hello."
"Hi."
Laxus smiles softly, taking his wife's hand. "Mirajane, meet your personal guardian angel."
She blinks in confusion. Then something sparks in her eyes. "Lucy Heartfilia!" She quickly tugs at Laxus' hand while squeezing it. "She writes under the pen name of Ashley, and you know how much I love her books!"
"I… didn't even notice that…" he admits.
Lucy smiles, feeling a little shy. "Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Mirajane inquires, still not releasing her husband's hand.
"She's been looking out for you since the start of the accident," Laxus replies. "She was behind you when it happened."
"A nurse mentioned a little bit about you," Mirajane begins. "You checked on me and called for help."
"She also got the bastard's plates," Laxus adds. "Last I knew, they were still looking for the person."
"They'll get caught," Lucy assures the married couple.
Mirajane rest both hands on her stomach, making slowly circles with them. It is like she is comforting the life inside of her. "Some people in this world can do crazy things. It really gets you thinking." Then she looks over at Lucy. "And then there are people like you. You didn't have to involve yourself, but you did. I'm sure that other drivers just went on by. Maybe they thought about stopping, too, but they didn't."
"I guess it was a right place, right time kind of situation," Lucy muses.
"And we're grateful for that." Laxus says.
Then she realizes what she just said. "Er, I mean, it wasn't a right place for you. I didn't mean it like that."
Mirajane smiles. "I understood perfectly." Then she holds out her arms towards Lucy.
Lucy is slightly confused. "What… ?"
"She's a hugger," Laxus says.
"I promise that I give good hugs," Mirajane says.
More than happy to oblige, Lucy walks over for the hug.
"Thank you," Mirajane whispers in her ear. Then she squeezes a little bit tighter.
Suddenly, there is a knock on the door.
"Come in," Laxus says, remaining on the right side of the bed.
Lucy straightens up and watches two people walk inside of the room.
Seeming to be around Lucy's age, the young woman looks like a different version of Mirajane. She has much shorter locks in the same color that frames her face with the help of bangs. She also has light blue eyes and fair skin.
With tan skin and muscular build, the young man has white hair styled upwards and sideburns on his face. His eyes are dark while his right one has a scar running from the corner of it across his cheek to the other side of his face.
The two look relieved when they see Mirajane.
"Big Sis!" the woman exclaims happily.
"Lisanna, Elfman, I'm fine," Mirajane assures, getting right to the point for her younger siblings.
Elfman nods. "That's manly."
"It's all thanks to Lucy here," Mirajane adds.
Lisanna and Elfman both look at her.
"Hello," Lucy greets.
"Oh, you're the one Laxus must have told me about," Lisanna says.
Laxus just nods.
"Thank you for helping our sister," Elfman says. "That was really manly of you."
"I'm glad I was able to help out," Lucy says.
"Does anyone know if they caught that driver yet?" Lisanna asks.
"Not to my knowledge," Laxus replies.
Elfman makes a single fist. "They'll catch that no good person."
Lisanna looks at Lucy. "That was quick thinking on your part. Getting the license plate, I mean."
"It definitely wasn't there lucky day with me as a witness," she comments.
Laxus cracks a small grin. He understands her choice of words.
"But you're more than a witness," Elfman points out. "You did something about Mirajane. From what Lisanna told me that Laxus told her, you checked on her. You called for help. You waited for help to arrive."
"And from the look of things, you waited at the hospital," Lisanna adds.
"Well, that's because no one else was here," Lucy says. "I didn't want to leave until someone showed up for Mirajane."
"Laxus called me when he was driving over here," Lisanna says. "He counted on us to tell others."
"Speaking of that, does my dad know?" Laxus asks.
Elfman nods. "Lisanna called him."
"He'll be here when he can," Lisanna adds. "That's what he told me."
Everything seems to be working out despite what happened with the car accident. Perhaps it is time for Lucy to leave. After all, Mirajane has her family here now. She looks at Laxus. "I think I'll be going then. If the police call for more questions, I'll be sure to answer."
"You're already leaving?" Mirajane pouts. "So soon?"
"I thought that you'd want to spend time with your family. Not some stranger, I guess."
"Some stranger?" she scoffs.
"You saved my wife and our unborn child," Laxus says.
Mirajane nods in agreement.
Lucy doesn't bothering arguing. She feels as though she did play a small roll. The paramedics were the ones who actually got Mirajane out of the vehicle and brought her to the hospital. Instead, she just smiles. "I guess I'm not a stranger then."
That gets Mirajane to smile along with her.
"I'm Lisanna, by the way," she says to properly introduce herself. "Elfman is my big brother. And you already know Mirajane and Laxus."
"Lucy," she says.
"Welcome to the family, Lucy!" Mirajane cheers.
"Wh-what?" she stutters in surprise.
She winks. "Eh, what's one more?"
Laxus folds his arms across his chest. "You're stuck with us now. No way out. Especially because Mira's word is law."
"Family is always a great thing to gain," Lucy muses.
Mirajane gasps.
"That's what Mira says," Elfman comments.
"Family is important," Mirajane says. "From the one you're born with to the family you chose along the way in life."
"Or marry into," Lisanna adds.
That gets Laxus to grin and take a step closer to his wife to rest a hand on her shoulder.
"And the family you make yourself," Lucy adds, noting Mirajane's pregnancy.
She rubs more circles over her belly. "All of it is special."
Elfman sniffles. "This is… so touching. So manly."
Lisanna takes out a tissue from her purse. "And it's manly to cry."
"It's one of the manliest things a man can do." Then he dabs at his eyes before blowing his nose.
Someone new walks through the open door since Lisanna or Elfman didn't shut it behind them.
He is an extremely short man who can pass as a grandfather. His eyes are a dark shade unlike his white hair. Well, with what hair he does have. Along with the thick mustache on his face, he is going bald. The only hair on his scalp is on the outer rim.
He is carrying a vase of colorful flowers that can cheer anyone up. A "get well soon" balloon is also in tow.
"Pops," Laxus says.
"Oh, hello, Makarov," Mirajane says cheerfully.
"Lisanna told me what happened…" he says, looking over Mirajane with his own eyes so he knows that she really is all right.
"I'll take care of these for you..." Lisanna takes the flowers and attached balloon to put them down.
"I'm a-okay all thanks to Lucy." Then Mirajane motions to her with a hand.
Makarov takes one look at Lucy and gasps, pointing a finger at her. "You're Natsu's girl!"
She is surprised that some stranger knows that they are dating.
Laxus perks up. "Natsu? Like, Natsu the delivery guy from your Clover Lane location?"
Makarov nods. "The very same!"
Lucy looks at Laxus. "How do you know that?"
"I pop in and out of my old man's stores to check on things," he replies. "It's hard to forget somebody like Natsu."
Lucy makes the connection now. Makarov's Pizzeria! He is Makarov Dreyar, the owner of that popular chain!
"So you're telling me that Lucy already shares a connection with us because of Natsu?" Mirajane inquires, wrapping her head around it all.
Elfman whistles. "Wow, what are the odds of that?"
Mirajane smiles big. "What a small world we live in!"
A/N: Yay for new characters making an appearance :D As for Lisanna, idk if she'll have past ties with Natsu as a friend like she does in canon. She won't be part of any love triangle though. And yes, I try and add references/easter eggs to other works of mine. In this chapter, RPRT had a bit :P
PS. Ohayocon was great! I loved it so much! It was great to not worry about writing the next chapter and posting right after that busy weekend :P And now I'm excited for the summer Matsuricon :D For those who are curious, I cosplayed Lucy!Dragneel all weekend. It was Lucy (long hair with twintails with her guild mark) and my fave pair of Natsu's clothes! I even carried around a Plue :) I also met Monica Rial, the voice of Mirajane and Plue! :D
GalaxyNaluFan: At least Mirajane and the baby are all right! And Miraxus is now confirmed in CAF!
Kura-chan13: Yeah, finally! And now the other Strauss siblings :D
Jillian B: Took the ship long enough to make an appearance :P
Guest: Godmother Lucy is totally on board! And thanks :)
Guest: Yeah, we still have a bit for Natsu (and his family) come back from France :P But yay for new characters!
Guest: I plan on finishing CAF for sure! I don't like giving up on works :P
Goldenfireflower: Nah, that woulda been mean for me to due to Lucy XD Someone else has drama happen to them for a change :P
Misty Desu: At least you had chapters to read! But now you gotta wait :P
Fairy Tail Lover: Ayyyyyyyyyyyy :D
Ashly: And more to come :D Only took almost 60 chapters for that to happen XD
NaluDragneel: More to come! CAF ain't over yet! Still surprised this supposed to be one-shot is still going XD
