Wow, can I just say how much I love you all for following, favoriting, and REVIEWING? You all make my day and guess what? I was so happy that I instantly started this new chapter! Hearing from all you lovely readers really does motivate a writer to continue a story as soon as possible.
Last chapter had a lot of Laxus and his point of view, so I thought this one should have a lot of what is going through Lucy's mind. I'm not sure I enjoy this one as much as I did the last though. I so wanted it to get hot and steamy between this awesome couple already, but most of my stories usually jump right into touchy/feely type situations and I decided that with this story I'm going to try and build into it more.
You'll find a bit of an OOC Laxus here, please don't get mad at me if you like the cocky man he is. I've always had the image in my mind that Laxus is a big tough mage on the outside, but is secretly hiding his soft cuddly side so the ladies don't devour him even more. ;)
Disclaimer: I own diddly squat.
She couldn't hold herself back, she laughed loudly and her heart beat wildly. It felt like it was ready to thump right out of her chest from the rapid beating rhythm it was going at. She felt wild. Breathless. Free. And it was truly glorious. Never in her right mind had she ever considered it to be a possibility to become so close to the storms she loved, to feel herself zipping through the air with electricity crackling over her skin so deliciously.
And better yet, in the arms of the man she had been secretly admiring since the Grand Magic Games.
Lucy's smile widened considerably on her face when she heard the lightning mage laugh along with her. She couldn't see him, but she could hear him and still slightly feel the pressure of his arms cradling her to his chest. She supposed it should have been unnerving for her to not be able to see and feel everything around her like normal, but the sensation of actually being lightning took over completely and left her feeling alive.
She closed her eyes and submitted herself to her sense of touch, now heightened with the illusion of no sight to distract her. And what her skin and body was experiencing left her even more speechless than she already was. How could this experience have such a profound reaction? She felt every hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end from the lightening coursing around her. Felt the caressing stray bolts fluttering across her skin in an ethereal dance. The slight chuckles from Laxus holding her shaking her ever so slightly, just enough to remind her that he was there and sharing such a beautiful form of his magic with her.
The power Lucy felt from being lightning left her breath stuttering in her chest, the rapid intakes of air she was doing already making her feel more exhilarated, her entire being felt more alive than she had ever experienced before and she knew that this new understanding of lightning was never going to leave her. She will cherish the memory of the chills traveling down her spine from the awe-inducing sensation moving throughout her body from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her toes.
The crashes of thunder were not lost on her either. It accompanied the lightning like a companion and brought everything together. But really? What would lightning be without the thunder to follow? But now that she was up in the sky, one with the flashes of light, the roar around her became an all new image in her mind. The crashes were sounding right next to her ear as Laxus directed them to weave around a bolt of lightning. Lucy always thought that nature's song was the best, and was much better than any music a person could make. She could hear each layer of rumbling that added up to the boom that was called thunder. It was the most beautiful form of music in her ears.
This day could not have gone any better in Lucy's mind. A wonderful storm showed up out of nowhere and she had been sitting, enjoying the show when their guilds own lightning mage showed up, who then decided to grace her with his company. He showed his compassion when he warmed her up, the returned attraction when he showed her even more of what his blessed magic could do, kissed her senseless, and now showed her the carefree man he could be, laughing and enjoying being one with the storm with her.
And it was magical.
That was almost a comical thought when she reminded herself that they were mages and magic was part of the package.
Her thoughts turned back to the wonderful man holding her. She knew she forgave him, but this was one memory that would forever imprint itself in her mind and connect to Laxus. It would heighten her admiration of him even more, bringing her to like him that much more. Everyone knew him to be a stoic, and stern man, but she was being allowed to see who he truly wished to be, what he looked like with all of his layers and walls crumbling down. And he was magnificent.
He hadn't fooled her for one second in the guild after he was accepted back in as a member. The look of guilt had shaken her to her core and stirred up the part of her that wished to heal every broken person around her. She noticed the desperation in his eyes when he observed their guild mates and silently pleaded them to accept him back in their hearts. He hid it well, almost too well because she didn't catch it at first when she watched as his eyes swept over everyone from the second story balcony. But her life growing up in a mansion with deceiving men, and greedy women didn't come without its perks. She had become a master to deciphering the look in a person's eyes and analyzing it to distinguish any hidden thoughts or motives.
In Laxus' eyes, on the surface she found a proud and stubborn man. For all appearances he seemed to be collected and cool headed now that he was done trying to glorify the guild in his old twisted way. He would act cocky and in a way that had no one second guessing his actions. His body language screamed 'leave me alone,' 'don't mess with me,' 'I'm stronger than you,' and so on. Everyone else believed his lies, they saw him as an over-confident, arrogant bastard.
But she knew better.
Lucy moved right past the surface of his gaze and delved into the inner light that pleaded to be released and shown through his beautiful stormy eyes. Inside was almost a little boy pleading for someone to look at him with adoration and love, someone without an ounce of fear in them, or contempt towards his past actions. Lucy had witnessed first-hand the anguish he felt when his own grandfather looked at him with a kind smile. She knew he was silently berating himself for allowing his pride to hurt his own family. The only man that ever truly cared for him was cast aside when his thoughts filed his grandfather as soft for allowing their guild to become what he saw as unacceptable. Every day she knew he regretted his decision when those sad eyes took in everyone's grimace and strained hello when he passed by.
Her heart went out for him. The insight she had for how he was feeling allowed her to completely erase her fear of him. He never knew the love he needed when he was a small child. In a way, he still was a little boy inside a grown man's body. Laxus was now struggling with inner demons he always had to live with when his dad mistreated him, using his own son for his gain, and when he grew confused when his own grandfather kicked out the only other family he had. From that point on he let his thoughts fester about the guild and how it was weak. He became strong in the only way he knew, the kind that was arrogant, always hungry for more power, and used people for personal gain.
Now he was struggling to become who he always was supposed to be, a responsible man who had the responsibility to eventually take over the guild from his grandfather. A reliable source of strength their guild mates needed during hard times, and a constant pillar of confidence in a time when everything seemed to be falling apart. Lucy was so proud of how far he had already come.
But she could still see the struggle deep within him. The need that he, himself, the proud man everyone saw, needed his own pillar of strength and confidence to draw upon when his inner demons came back with a vengeance, threatening to take over his mind and fill it with guilt.
From the point that Lucy realized this, she became what he needed. She became the one person who could truly look him in the eye and smile without a twitch in her cheek from it being fake. She could let her eyes light up when he entered the guild every morning and offer a bright hello when he walked past. He may have not noticed it much until now, but her eyes always followed him and offered silent strength when she saw his gaze turn inward and anguish become evident.
Now she was happier than ever with this chance to know even more of who this man was. They were connecting in one of the most personal ways she could imagine, sharing magic wasn't something everyone would or could do. That was why unison raids were so hard to perform. First you needed a good, compatible magic to form such an attack, but you also had to have the conviction to want to share your magic in such a way to allow it to combine with another mages.
The fact that Laxus was doing such a thing with her warmed her heart and her laughter fell from her mouth to join the rumbling thunder all around her. Lucy let her mind clear and turned back to the exhilaration that accompanied having lightning cover her entire being.
Laxus finally brought them down to a patio with a pergola over the top. Vines had grown up the sides and closed all the holes in the top to make it appear as a solid roof if it wasn't for the drops of water leaking through from the storm. Right beside the little patio sat a large lake that was ridden with ripples from the pouring rain. A forest surrounded the area giving it a sense of closure and privacy that Laxus always found peaceful.
Looking down to the jittering jumble of Lucy in his arms, he couldn't help but chuckle at the slight trembling in her body and the almost wild light in her eyes. The left over magic in her system kept her from calming down right away and he knew that the feeling of being with lightning could have that effect. He walked over to a sofa he had set up in this area and sat down with Lucy held firmly in his lap, patiently waiting for her to come back to her senses and her breathing to slow. He zapped a fire pit in the middle of the floor to light some wood for light and warmth.
Lucy knew the moment they touched back down to the ground, she could distinctly feel where she began and ended, also her eye sight returned, though she was too dazed to notice her surroundings. She felt the rocking movements when Laxus walked and when he sat down, only to place her in her lap. For several minutes she relished the tremors throughout her body that the lightning form left in her. But eventually came out of her stupor when she felt Laxus running his finger through her damp locks. Her eyes focused on her surroundings and took in everything with a soft gasp.
Never in her life had she seen anything so beautiful. The stunning quality of the forest and lake added with the storm took away her newly gained breath away. She could only imagine what it would look like in the sunlight. The lake was already dazzling but her mind couldn't help but bring up images of sparkling clear water under the sun's rays, the trees rustling in a warm summers breeze while housing singing birds. All in all, she knew that whether in a storm, or in broad daylight, this clearing was a sight to behold.
Finally allowing her gaze to return to Laxus, she met his eyes and breathed a gasp at the adoration his eyes held. Never had she seen such an expression on his hardened face, and it was so alien that she almost didn't know how to respond. Her body acted on its own accord, her hand slowly lifting to cup his cheek and felt a blush rise to hers when he leaned into her touch. A content smile lifted his lips and Lucy found herself pulling his head down in a bold move to taste the happiness she was witnessing from him.
When their lips touch she groaned from the electric taste of him, she could almost say it was what she would believe lightning would be like if it did have a tangible taste. There was a sharp flavor she couldn't place and warmth she never knew that seemed to flow from his lips to hers. Their kiss was lazy, not rushed in any way that their first was, but with a tenderness that expressed an understanding for one another.
Lucy sighed as she leaned further into his embrace and brought both her hands to cup his cheeks, humming in appreciation when his fingers traced slow circles on her back that soothed the last of her erratic nerves. Her lips became more insistent when his hands dipped a little lower to the small of her back and gasped when they slipped under her soaked shirt.
Laxus took immediate control of the kiss and plunged his tongue into her mouth to roam and dance with her tongue. She tasted like strawberries and cinnamon, something he knew he could easily become accustomed to. The way she tenderly held his face, thumbs brushing along his cheekbones, left him almost breathless already and they hadn't even done anything yet. He never knew this kind of feeling when kissing a girl. He had always been demanding and more on the rough side, preferring to dominate, nip, and suck at any exposed flesh, but the things Lucy was doing to him didn't leave him complaining. He could feel the small smile on her lips as they continued to caress his own, could practically sense the happiness she radiated from her small body.
The moment was too sweet to progress further than this point. Also, this was Lucy, the girl who was seen as a beacon of light in the guild. He wouldn't dishonor her by trying to move too fast. Hell, he didn't even know what they were at the moment, but still, he was only going to allow his hands to stay on the skin of her back, not traveling too low or to the front of her.
Slowly he allowed his mouth to move across her cheek and next to her ear, "what are you doing to me, Lucy?"
His breathless whisper sent a shiver down Lucy's spine and she sighed in content when his mouth continued lower to her neck, laying soft, lazy kisses on her pulse. Her hands moved up to bury in the hair at the nape of his neck as she tilted her head back to allow him more space to continue. It was like the sweetest torture she had never experienced before, the moment almost too perfect to break with words. All she knew was that she didn't want to move and she didn't want Laxus to stop the tender affection he was showering upon her.
The fire burning behind her back kept Lucy warm as the effects from the lightning completely left her, heating her up and further relaxing her when the hands on her back changed to more of a massaging motion other than tracing circles. Her body was slowly turning into a puddle of goo and if Laxus kept this up, she knew that she wasn't going to have any energy left.
Laxus couldn't contain the small groan he let out when he discovered that her skin tasted just as good as her lips did. The rain had washed away any sweat she might have had, and left only the pure strawberry and honey taste her body consisted of. He could feel Lucy slumping into him more and more and knew that being lightning for so long, together with the massage he was currently giving her shoulders was draining her quickly. He brought his mouth back to hers and slowly maneuvered her body so that she was lying beneath him on the couch before he lay on his side with his back pressed against the couch and Lucy pulled into a sweet embrace.
Finally breaking this kiss, he gazed down to the beautiful honey brown eyes to find them looking up at him with such bliss that he was left speechless. No snarky comment came to mind, no arrogant response made its way past his lips, only an answering smile that had her brightening even more. He distantly heard the storm continuing to run its course around him but his entire being focused on the small celestial mage before him.
He couldn't believe his luck at being able to experience all that he had with Lucy already. He found out that his love for storms and lightning was shared by someone that wasn't governed by the element, and most importantly he found complete acceptance in her eyes. That meant the world to him. Deny it as he may, but the fact alone that the light of the guild accepted him with open arms brought such a lifting sensation to his heart that it left him feeling dizzy. No fear flashed in her eyes when she took in her unrecognizable surroundings. She hadn't tensed when she saw that a forest enclosed them from the world, but rather her eyes sparkled with the beauty she was presented with and when her eyes looked back to him he could see the hidden appreciation she had for him bringing her here.
And it was very important to him that she approved. This was his secret hide away. The one place no one knew about, not even his team who he shared almost everything with. Laxus wasn't completely sure why he was already sharing it with Lucy, but it had just felt right to come here after showing her what his magic was like. He knew the connection he felt for the girl was not one sided when all the emotions Lucy felt flashed across her face like an open book, there for him to read and know that her intentions were true.
Laxus didn't know just how much he had yearned for somebody, anybody, to look at him the way Lucy was at this moment. There was a softness in her gaze that kept calling his eyes back to her, leaving him in a trance that he wasn't sure he wanted to escape.
"May I?" The light words reached his ears and he focused more on his surroundings than his thoughts and found her hand hovering just under where his scar started on his face.
A slight hesitation on his part had Lucy drawing away with understanding in her eyes, but his hand shot up and caught her wrist. Laxus looked at her face, trying to find anything to tell him if she was planning something, before pulling her hand up and resting it on his cheek. Deciding he was being extremely soft at the moment, he let a phantom of his arrogant smirk appear on his lips, "sure, Blondie, do what you want." He watched as an answering smirk shifted her lips as her eyes became amused, but then focused on the marred skin her fingers were now tracing over.
Lucy had heard that the scar on his face was from his father forcing a lightning dragon lacrima behind his eye, and had always wondered if it hurt. Skimming her hand up and down, she became awed as Laxus closed his eyes in a show of trust. His hand slowly moved from her wrist to travel down her arm, along her side, and finally rested on her hip. Lucy felt the rough edges of the darker skin and found it ironic that it was in the shape of his element. Had it purposefully done to be like that or was it pure coincidence? She almost didn't want to know.
Any father that could inflict such a burden to the small child he was didn't deserve to be free. She was happy when Laxus dealt his retribution during the Grand Magic Games and proved to himself that he was better than his father. She saw firsthand how cruel his father could be when she saw Flare at the games sporting injuries that didn't come from any of her fights. How a man can take his entire team of well-trained mages and face his sun was beyond Lucy's comprehension. Nobody should use power in that way.
Deciding to test her chances now that Laxus was allowing her to touch his scar, something that she has seen no other person do, she asked, "does it ever hurt you?"
Laxus opened his eyes to see only curiosity burning in her gaze and found himself unsure of how to answer. He never spoke about his scar to anyone. True, it was practically a part of his magic since he got it from the lacrima implantation, but the memories that were connected to the scar kept him from openly admitting his thoughts on it. However, with Lucy cradled in his arms, with only adoration radiating from her, he couldn't find it within himself to lie or avoid the question. Sighing he glanced off into the forest to organize his thoughts, "In all honesty? Yeah, it does. There are days where it can be agonizing. There is a pulse behind my eye from the lacrima that can create anything from a headache to a migraine. It's not in the least bit pleasant, but it also isn't every day. But every year it slowly gets better even though I've had it for a large part of my life." Turning back to the blonde girl, he furrowed his eyebrows when he saw her expression sadden. He watched as Lucy slowly raised herself on her elbows and closed his eyes when she neared his face, only to open them in surprise when he felt a tender kiss pressed to the closed eyelid that bore the scar.
"I wish I could make it better, no one deserves that kind of pain, especially the knowledge of why you have it in the first place." Lucy settled back down in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist, soaking in the heat his body radiated.
Laxus lay frozen and stunned. He had mostly gotten over what happened in his childhood, but that one kiss from Lucy, the light touches of her hand caressing his scar, made him feel completely accepted and gave him a feeling of empowerment the left him believing that he could finally let go of the weight on his shoulders. The mark on his skin took on a new meaning to him in that moment. No longer was it a mark to show the abuse his father bestowed on him, not the proof that he contained a lacrima, but a scar that showed he survived and beat his father by not fearing him anymore. No longer would he let the memories his father left him with haunt him, it was finally time to let go.
His arms tightened around Lucy and a wide smile broke across his face when he watched Lucy grow confused at his next words, "Thank you." No words felt more honest when leaving his lips. He knew Lucy couldn't possibly understand exactly what he was thanking her for, but she didn't need to. She helped him move one step farther in his life, and it was still the first day that he truly talked to her and shared anything with her. Her reputation of the Light of the guild took on a whole new meaning to him now that he has experienced her light for himself.
Lucy noticed that he wasn't going to elaborate and didn't feel the need to ask him what he meant. All she cared about at the moment was that he seemed truly happy and that one of his walls crumbled for good. She lowered her head on his arm that was beneath her and allowed for his other hand to completely wrap around her waist and drag her even closer to him. She nuzzled her nose into his chest and let out a contented sigh when his heat completely washed over her.
She was for the most part a calm person, but couldn't help but revel in the new serenity that came over her while lying in the muscular arms of Laxus. The rain at this point had dwindled to a drizzle that pattered lightly on the vines hanging above and offered a soothing ambiance. Distant thunder rumbled far away that had her slipping into a doze, she heard the words 'sleep Blondie' whispered in her ear and allowed herself to succumb to the blissful sleep, safe and secure with no burdens while in Laxus' embrace. She felt happy. Peaceful. Free.
How was it? Good? Bad? Mistakes everywhere? Totally different from last chapter?
Seriously, tell me what you think and if you like where I'm making this story head. I'm writing for all of your enjoyment just as much as I'm writing for mine, so I want to make you all happy by writing a story that you all like.
And what did I tell ya? Is Laxus OOC or what?! Don't worry though, his arrogance and 'manliness' will come back again, because really? Can you see him being like this in front of anyone else? Not me! I can't wait to write a scene containing the guild and what he will do with Lucy then. ;) And I do plan to eventually make this couple take it up a notch with their totally obvious burning passion for each other. Just not yet. I love the stories where Lucy is a bad ass and knows what to do in bed, but here she's going to be a little more shy than that... or will she? Hmmm.
Please review and I'll see you all next chapter!