Finally! Here's the second (and last) chapter of the Last Pieces Arc. I've had it prewritten for a while now but it still needed to be edited and I've been busy. Still haven't finished the next one though, or the one-shot, so don't expect to hear from me for a while. Sorry. I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter!
Review Response: Dear Guest, greetings! (cracks up laughing for several minutes, finally stops) As hilarious as the comparison is, no. The (dubious) honor of being the Lucy counterpart of the team actually goes to Mest. Lucy and Mest both try their hardest to keep the other team members from fighting (and usually fail), both are both the last bastion of common sense on their team (not counting Wren, who is becoming increasingly corrupted by Fairy Tail Luck and Logic) and both tried vainly to NOT be a part of the crazy that is their team before giving up and going along with it all. Laxus as a damsel in distress is a hysterical mental image though.
Dear snowleopard314, hello there! Glad you liked it! I actually meant to delay their arrival a bit more, but then the chapter kinda wrote itself and I figured "why not?". You do? Good, I was afraid that my readers would find it annoying, but it makes sense to me. I want her to use it more often as well, but you have to understand that its practical applications are very limited at the moment unless Wren becomes willing to commit homicide. A black hole isn't exactly an environment friendly magic after all. No problem, I hope you enjoy this one as well!
Dear geekycutecupcake, hello! I really happy to hear that! Enjoy the newest update!
Dear Dragon Lord Draco, hey there! Glad you liked the backstory for Laxus's scar and the fight! Ah, that question requires us to dive into my personal head-canons about the Fairy Tail world and its inner workings (though honestly I swear this might be actually canon, just unaddressed and easily missed). To answer you questions, Laxus does not always use Dragon Slayer Magic, in fact, even in the anime, he mostly doesn't. What Laxus uses most of the time in regular Lightning Magic. You can tell because when he gives the name of the spell, he hardly ever says "Lightning Dragon's Insert Name Here" or "Secret Art Insert Name Here". If you rematch Fairy Tail sometime, pay close attention to when Natsu, Gajeel, or Wendy use their Dragon spells and you'll notice that Fire Dragon/Iron Dragon/Sky Dragon ALWAYS proceeds the name of the spell. With a lot of Laxus's spells in the anime, you don't see that. Therefore, he usually uses regular Lightning Magic and saves his Dragon Slayer Lacrima for harder opponents/when he's really ticked off. Cobra does the same thing in the Nirvana Arc BTW. Now, as for its non-combat use, I remember hearing somewhere (it's also canon in my story, reread the chapter Her Boys for confirmation) that the reason Laxus's dad implanted Laxus with a Dragon Slayer Lacrima is because Laxus was really sickly/weak as a child. So that means that the Lacrima's magic was originally meant to boost his immune system and healing factor, not be channeled for combat. This is why Makarov was so angry when he heard that Laxus had used Dragon Slayer Magic and why Laxus kept his training of it a secret from Makarov for years, because of how dangerous to his health it would be if the Lacrima ran out (like, completely out, not just low) of magic. Make sense?
Dear YumiKnowsBest, hi there! Read on to see what happens to Freed's eye situation! Yeah, I was kinda surprised when the idea came to me, but I wanted them to have a pre-existing relationship before the Raijinshū and they just don't look similar enough to be actual blood siblings. You'll have to wait and see for information on those theories. I DID put a gore warning up in the Author's Note of that chapter, so you were warned. Glad you liked it anyway though! Still working on the one-shot, I'll get there eventually.
Dear Guest, greetings! Thrilled to hear it!
Dear Keelan1210, hello there! Really? Because I always just automatically assumed they did, even in the anime. I mean, it would explain some of their quirkier habits and I can't really see them being able to use their dragon-senses effectively if they didn't have at least some instincts to back it up. But that's just my opinion. I'm a big fan of Pack!Mentality stuff, so you can expect to see more of that pop up here and there as the story goes on.
Dear Yatocat19, hi there! Happy to please! I hope to include some "silly things" in an upcoming chapter soon, but we'll see. If not silly things, then definitely beating up bad guys. Thanks! Enjoy your day as well!
Dear Guest, hi! It's cool, I'm just happy to have the review now. They do indeed, it goes with the Fairy Tail Luck. Glad you liked it, I had way too much fun writing that scene. All very good points, but since Wren is mentally the oldest, she doesn't see it that way. I know right? It's like her survival mechanism to sass instead of panic. I'm thinking they'll stay as a sub-guild, but we'll see how it goes farther down the line. Yes! I was wondering if anyone would catch that reference! Nice work.
Dear Guest (from before?) hi! (chuckles) I know right? Can't you just see Natsu and Gray freaking out over a lack of chaos on their jobs while Lucy wonders why they can't enjoy it? Until absolute pandemonium breaks out to make up for the peaceful stretch and she develops the same nervous twitch whenever explosions don't happen within the span of a few days. Glad you enjoyed it! There was literally nothing about their past on the wiki, so I decided to go a bit crazy on how they joined and why they're so loyal to Laxus. Magic Hunters are something of their own breed, even Dark Guilds fear them because of risk of being hunted for their rarer magics. It will make Makarov more worried, but it's also why he's encouraged them to all be a team, the more of them there are, the less chance there is that Magic Hunters will risk coming after them. Magic Hunters are like real-life predators in the sense that they don't like to go after strong groups but instead pick off unaffiliated stragglers. Let's hope indeed, but one never knows what my muses will decide to do (evil laughter in the background, author rolls eyes).
Dear powerrangersfan364, hey there! So glad to hear it! Oh it would have been a LOT harder. (sorta-spoilers) the original fight would have just been Laxus, and Evergreen when she got desperate enough to help fight for their survival.
Dear Guest, greetings! I'm thrilled you enjoy it, I hope you like the newest update too!
Dear Ori Heartlyng, hi there! I'll take it the chapter was exciting enough? (good choice of favorite characters, you have good taste).
Dear SoLaRSpaZZ, hello there! Uh ... the next major timeskip won't be for a WHILE. I still have to show some Raijinshū bonding, deal with Ivan's eventual return/banishment, Gray's arrival, Erza's arrival, Natsu's arrival, a few more AU-ish things that have cropped up in my plot notes... While I won't be covering EVERYTHING in between those events, I do want to cover them specifically. So, I hope you enjoy really long stories, because this one is going to be a long haul. Yes, this is ten years before canon and canon will still officially start on July 4 X784, just like in the series. So be prepared for a long wait. If you've seen my Transformers story, then you'll know what I mean, all those words and I'm STILL not on Earth. I cannot answer those last three questions as they would involve giving spoilers, sorry. You'll just have to be patient and see. I'm glad you like it so much and I hope you find this new chapter enjoyable!
Author's Note: So, basically just a tying-up-loose-ends chapter, but I hope you all enjoy the fluff that is included. For any Transformers readers who might be lurking around here, I'm still working on both the next chapter and the one-shot, but the next chapter is going to take a while (since you all like longer chapters) and I'm a wee bit stuck on the one-shot. So updates will probably be delayed for a while. The same goes for this story actually, as I've run out of prewritten stuff. Thank you for your patience and enjoy the newest chapter!
Chapter Twenty-Six: Last Pieces Pt 2
(Six months, one week, three days since joining guild)
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Freed whimpered faintly as he slid back toward consciousness from an ocean of black, troubled dreams. He whimpered again and twitched, trying to convince his eyes to open and his memories to return even as the nightmares tried to tug him down again. There was a rustling from somewhere on his right and a slightly hoarse voice asked, "Finally waking up?"
The sound of the voice jarred Freed from his halfway state and he sat up sharply, right eye snapping open in alarm. He looked around wildly, panic squeezing his lungs as he failed to recognize his surroundings and realized that he couldn't open his left eye. A memory zipped through his mind and Freed clutched at the left side of his face with a cry, expecting to feel the indented eyelid because there was nothing there anymore they-had-ripped-it-out-
His fingers pressed against the thick bandage and he felt something twitch underneath in response. … What…? His fingers rubbed the bandage in confusion for several seconds before he looked around at his surroundings again and the rest of his memories came back, "Where…?" Freed paused to swallow, trying to soothe his dry throat, "Where am I?"
The voice that had woken him up answered, "This is Porlyusica-san's house. She's Fairy Tail's personal healer, even if she's really crabby about it." Freed looked over sharply in the direction of the voice, then went stiff in astonishment. The strange blond boy who had saved his and Evergreen's life lay on a cot next to him, propped up on the pillows and smothered in half a dozen blankets that had been shoved down to pool around his waist.
"…You." The word was the only thing Freed could think to say. Or perhaps, it was more like the only thing that managed to escape the confused clamor in his head and slip out of his mouth. A thousand questions rolled around in his mind, but couldn't untangle themselves enough for him to ask any of them.
The other boy didn't seem to notice Freed's mental conflict, he simply raised a hand in greeting, "Yo. You had us worried for a while there. Porlyusica-san had to keep you sedated for … a week now I think, in order to safely fix you. She said you'd be fine though." The boy lolled his head to one side to stare out one of the small windows in the room as he added, "Your sister was here just a few minutes ago. Porlyusica-san dragged her off to help gather some more plants and things since she insisted on sticking around. They'll be back soon."
Freed tried to process everything the boy had said on top of his last, pain-hazed memories. So … we're safe? But… "Who … who are you? Why did you…?"
The boy blinked at him and Freed jolted a bit as he finally noticed the jagged lightning-bolt scar running down the right side of his face from just above his eyebrow down almost to his jawline, when did he-? He didn't have that earlier, did he? The boy, unaware of Freed's newest confusion, replied, "Oh, right. You wouldn't know. I'm Laxus. Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail. As for why we saved you," the boy's face when murderously dark, "two of my best friends have eye magic just like you. Even if they didn't, there was no way I'd let that scum get away with what they did to you."
Freed stared at Laxus, memories of just how fiercely, how rabidly the other boy had attacked the monsters who had hurt him flickering through his mind. How Laxus had saved him from the man who had grabbed him and saved Evergreen from the monster's kicks. Then something else clicked and Freed gasped, "You're eye!"
Laxus blinked again, unintentionally showcasing the scar, "Hmm? My eye? What about it?"
Freed twisted his blanket in his hands, "You- because of us! Are you alright?"
Realization flashed through Laxus's eyes and he rubbed the part of his scar that was on his cheek, "What, this? It's fine. It wouldn't have even scarred if it hadn't been a flame-type magic knife and my healing factor wasn't so fast. The injury cauterized and then my healing factor had already turned it into a scar by the time we got to Porlyusica-san's. But my eye is fine, no harm done to it. Not that I would have cared either way. Better my face than your other eye."
Freed flinched at the mention of what had happened to his left eye and Laxus's face twisted apologetically, "I … probably shouldn't have said that. Sorry."
Freed stared at Laxus in surprise then shook his head, "No, no … you … you saved me. Saved my sister. You have nothing to be sorry for!" He shifted his gaze over Laxus's form, then froze when he felt something twitch under his bandages again. His fingers shot up to the left side of his face in alarm, "What-?"
The door to the small house opened just as he touched the bandages and an elderly voice snapped, "Don't touch those boy. I'm not redoing an entire week's worth of surgery just because you decided to fiddle with things you shouldn't. Stupid child."
Freed flinched at the strange woman's harsh tone but was soon distracted by Evergreen barreling into him with a sobbing cry of joy, "Freed! You woke up! You're okay!"
Freed grunted at the impact, automatically wrapping his arms around Evergreen's shoulders despite his surprise, "Ever!"
The pink-haired woman clicked her tongue as she set down two baskets filled with various plants and then turned to face the beds, "Well? How do you feel? Nauseous? Migraine? Dizzy spells? Double vision?" Freed froze under the rapid and curt questions, instinctively throwing a panicked look in the direction of the boy who had saved his life. Laxus gave him a sympathetic look and mouthed, "it's fine".
With that slight encouragement and Evergreen bristling protectively at his side, Freed managed to get through the woman's rapid interrogation on how he felt, when he had woken up, if he was hungry or thirsty, and if he had been stupid enough to get out of bed.
After Freed had shyly answered all of the questions, the woman -who Freed assumed was the Porlyusica-san Laxus had mentioned earlier- huffed, "Well. You're a cooperative patient if nothing else. Listen up, boy. Don't take off those bandages for another two weeks, understand? I managed to rebuild the pathways that connect your eye to your brain, but that new eye of yours will be very sensitive to any disturbances. Especially light. After two weeks, come back here and I'll check everything and give you further instructions on how to care for your new eye."
Freed sputtered in disbelief, "N-new eye? What do you mean new eye?"
Evergreen piped up, "She's amazing, Freed! She- she made you a new eye. I've never seen anything like it!"
Freed continued to sputter, "But- a new eye?"
Porlyusica-san seemed to take it the wrong way, "Unfortunately, your old eye was too badly contaminated. Too much dirt and degradation to be safely repaired and returned." She hesitated and for the first time since she had walked through the door, her tone softened, "I'm sorry. But a new, artificial eye is the best I can do. It will not be able to channel your eye magic, artificial eyes are not magically conductive. You'll have to learn to use your powers with only one eye as a medium."
Freed flinched at the knowledge that she knew he had eye magic, even as his mind reeled with the information he had just been given. Porlyusica-san huffed softly at his flinch before turning her sharp gaze to Laxus, "And you. Make sure to stay out of trouble until your lacrima fully regenerates. Don't go on any more jobs for at least two weeks. I expect you to keep these two," she motioned toward Freed and Evergreen, "out of trouble. Make sure the boy eats, he's underweight. Don't let him shirk on his vegetables and meats."
Laxus nodded seriously and Freed finally found his voice, "Keep us out of trouble? Does that mean…?"
The blond shifted his attention to Freed, "You'll be staying with me and my Raijinshū until your healed. Or … longer, if you want."
Evergreen sat up sharply at that, both she and Freed staring at Laxus in a mix of shock and hope, "Longer?"
Laxus rubbed at his scar again until Porlyusica hissed warningly at him, "Yeah. I talked it over with Jiji when he came to visit. He says if you want to, you can both join Fairy Tail. I talked it over with the rest of the Raijinshū too, and they said they'd be happy to have you join us. If you don't, Jiji said he could arrange things with the local orphanage instead…"
Freed felt tears well up in his un-bandaged eye. This boy, this strange, powerful boy with magic unlike anything Freed had ever seen had not only saved them from the men who had tried to steal their eyes, but now was offering them a place at his side? A new home with him and the other children who had rescued them? "Why?" Freed whispered softly, "Why would you go to so much trouble for us? You don't even know us."
Laxus shrugged, "It's … there's really nothing to explain. I didn't really have a reason except that … no one should have to go through that. You- what those men were doing was wrong. And yeah, I guess when I saw that I kept imagining what it would be like if it was Bickslow or Wren going through that and it made me even angrier but really … I stopped them because I knew someone should. Because you were hurt and needed help."
"As for not even knowing you…" Grey eyes locked with first Freed's, then Evergreen's without flinching, "There's a first step to everything, isn't there? Well, this is mine." He slid off of the cot, ignoring Porlyusica-san's growl of warning, and held out a hand to the step-siblings, "But only if you want to take it with me."
Something swelled in Freed's chest, powerful and permanent as he stared at the patient figure holding out his hand, waiting for their answer even though he had more than enough power to force them into complying. The boy who had been the first to rush to their aid just because he saw they needed it, the boy who was offering them, two strangers, home and healing. Offering them a place at his side.
In that moment, Freed wanted. More than anything else he had ever wanted in the world, he wanted to stand at the side of this boy. He wanted to be there when Laxus shook the world -which he would someday, Freed could feel it- and he wanted to help in any way he could.
He remembered how, even in his agony, he had seen the seamlessness of Laxus and his Raijinshū as they fought together and he wanted to be a part of that. He wanted to follow this boy, this … savior, to the ends of Earthland and back.
Dimly, he recalled swearing to do just that while watching Laxus and his allies fight on their behalf even in the midst of his pain. Now, with a clear mind and a tear-clouded eye, Freed mentally renewed his vow as he reached out and clasped the outstretched hand. Evergreen reached out a half-second later, her slender fingers curling over his as Freed choked out, "It would be an honor, Laxus-sama!"
Laxus's ears pinked faintly at the honorific and he grumbled out something about them not needing to be so formal, but Freed and Evergreen both stubbornly stuck to the honorific as they continued to speak to him, raptly listening to everything their new leader had to say while Porlyusica-san rolled her eyes knowingly in the background.
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Rihanna watched from the doorway of Porlyusica's house as Laxus welcomed two more members into his tribe and both of the child versions of Freed and Evergreen strove vainly not to cry. Beside her, Bickslow grumbled softly, though there was no bite to his words and a decidedly curious look in his eyes at the prospect of having other eye magic users to talk to. Cana was cooing over the clear hero-worship in the eyes of their two newest members while Mest just sighed over the inevitable increase in Fairy Tail Luck that was to come.
Rihanna didn't say anything. She was too busy trying to memorize the moment that, unbeknownst to anyone else, was so pivotal to the future of Fairy Tail. She had been worried for so long that her presence had somehow prevented Freed and Evergreen from joining the Raijinshū. That hers, Cana's, and Mest's inclusions to the Raijinshū's membership roster had somehow changed the timeline too much for Freed and Evergreen to join Fairy Tail at all.
But right here, right now, Rihanna just knew somehow that this was how Laxus had met them in the first place. He may not have had the Raijinshū yet in the original timeline -he certainly hadn't had herself, Cana, and Mest with him- but this was the moment. This was the reason they were so undyingly loyal to Laxus, even over Fairy Tail as a whole. He had saved them from a fate worse than death, he had given them hope, and then he had offered them a home.
Something eased in Rihanna's chest as she watched the others finally enter Porlyusica's house to introduce themselves to their newest members and she felt herself smile. At long last, the last pieces of the puzzle were in place, the lost members she had been afraid would never come had arrived. Even if the way they'd been found was horrible and regrettable, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but happy at that moment.
Because she could feel, deep into her very core, that the Raijinshū was finally whole.
Laxus spotted her hovering in the doorway and, ignoring Porlyusica's half-hearted protests about so many humans in her home, waved Rihanna in, "Wren, come meet Evergreen and Freed. Evergreen, Freed, this is Wren."
Freed shifted on the bed a bit, he looked a touch nervous at all of the attention, "Ah, hello Wren-chan. Laxus-sama and the others saved my step-sister and I from some really bad men, so I hope you don't mind that we are staying with Laxus-sama now." Rihanna raised an eyebrow at how he worded his statement.
Bickslow snorted, "She knows. She was there."
Evergreen's eyes went round behind her new glasses, "Eh? Where? Was she waiting in the tree line?"
Rihanna sighed silently and reached out a hand, calling up a few tendrils of shadow to wrap around her arm and weave around her hand like small snakes. Both Freed's and Evergreen's jaws went slack before Evergreen sputtered, "That was you? I thought Laxus-sama had a pet demon or something!"
Excuse me? I do not look like a demon! I don't even look scary! … Do I? She shot a questioning look at Bickslow, but he was laughing too hard to answer her. Mest gave a weak chuckle as he patted Rihanna's head, "Wren-chan can look pretty scary when she's angry, but I promise, she isn't a demon of any kind." What do you mean 'pretty scary'? I'm physically six! How in the name of Pantherlily is a six-year-old 'pretty scary'?
Evergreen sounded genuinely curious as she asked, "So … she didn't eat the souls of those men earlier?"
Rihanna gave a silent squawk of indignation. Because as much as she liked people taking her seriously, and as much as she practiced her Look in order to keep Bickslow and Cana in line, being considered a demonic soul-eater was definitely not what she'd been going for.
She half-expected Bickslow to leap to her defense, but instead the boy was too busy rolling on the floor laughing hysterically. Cana was muffling a laugh behind her hand while Laxus looked far more amused than Rihanna believed the situation warranted. Even Mest was chuckling softly.
Mest finally saw fit to reassure Evergreen and Freed, "No. She didn't eat their souls. She just used her shadows to knock them out and hide them in the tree line to scare the rest of them."
Freed looked far too skeptical for Rihanna's liking, "So … she won't drag us off to the depths of the underworld if we displease Laxus-sama?"
Bickslow gave a hooting wheeze from the floor and Cana sniggered before saying, "Well…"
Rihanna's head snapped around and she narrowed her eyes into The Look. You are Not. Helping. Cana's mouth snapped shut reflexively and on the floor Bickslow immediately swallowed the rest of his laughter. She continued to glare at them for several more seconds before she turned to face Evergreen and Freed.
Who now looked absolutely terrified of her.
Mest leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I think you just made things worse for yourself, Wren-chan." Rihanna shot Mest a despairing look which caused Laxus to finally lose his composure and start laughing.
Rihanna gave in to the childish urge to stomp her foot. She was not that scary and Freed's and Evergreen's terror of her was not that funny!
A pity the rest of the Raijinshū didn't seem to agree on that last part.
For the moment, the bone-deep relief that she hadn't somehow erased Freed's and Evergreen's existence as Raijinshū was set aside in favor of frustration over the misunderstandings the two newest members had about her and the others' stubborn refusal to help clear up the matter. Then Porlyusica-san got sick of their noise and shooed them out of her house with a broom and dire warnings to go home, rest, and keep Freed from doing anything stupid with his new eye.
Later though, when they had all returned to the lighthouse, figured out how to fit two more people into a house already overcrowded with five people -Mest being coaxed into staying over-, and the others had fallen asleep, the relieved elation came flooding back. Rihanna slipped out of bed and up to the top floor of the lighthouse, a small flashlight clamped between her teeth and a leather book with a lock on it in one hand. Settling down with her back against the glass and the moon to give her extra light, she pressed her hand against the lock, pushing some of her magic into it to unlock the book.
It was a gift Laxus had given her about a month ago. Explaining to her that the lock could be keyed to her magic signature and hers alone. That way, once she knew how to write, she could write down everything she remembered from her "future visions" in safety. He had also promised to teach her how to use requip magic to store the book -a solution so ridiculously obvious yet secure she wondered how she hadn't thought of it earlier- but so far the learning of requip magic had been slow and hard.
Of course, unbeknownst to Laxus, Rihanna already knew how to write, and so had spent several nights over the past month scribbling down every last detail she could remember of the anime -and later the manga- storyline. She had organized everything according to the arcs, with special sections set aside for what she remembered about the various characters. The anime-only arcs she had written down as well, but she had put a question mark on their title pages because she wasn't certain if they would hold true for the universe she was in now.
She had also, after some debate, made a checklist of everything she could think of as vital to the wellbeing of Fairy Tail and the progression of the "plot" as she knew it. With a wave of relieved triumph, Rihanna carefully made a checkmark next to the item at the top of her "important pre-plot events" list.
Freed and Evergreen join the Raijinshū: check.
Rihanna closed the book and locked it again before leaning back to rest her head against the glass with a low sigh. Her thoughts wandered, alternately worried and relieved as she considered all the things that had changed because of her presence, and all the things that had stayed the same. Gradually, her thoughts drifted off and her eyes slid shut as exhaustion pulled her down to dreamland.
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That was the position in which Laxus found her hours later, as he made a restless patrol through the crowded lighthouse. His dragon instincts had woken him up, driving him to check on all of his "Treasures" both old and new after finally being allowed to go home. He stared for a moment at the tiny figure curled up against the glass, the moon casting an ethereal glow on her and her fingers still clutching a locked book.
He suppressed the low rumble of concern that tried to rise in his chest -his dragon instincts had gotten a lot louder ever since his active use of Dragon Slayer magic-, and instead moved to gingerly pick up the smallest of his Treasures. She curled against his chest subconsciously and Laxus couldn't stop the faint purr-like hum that rose in his chest.
He knew she was already using the book he had given her. He didn't know how, exactly, since she couldn't write yet, but that was her business. He did wonder what had happened to make her stay up so late to write in it tonight though. He paused as he recalled his two newest Raijinshū. Oh. That must be why. So that means … she knew they would be joining? Laxus shook his head as he somehow managed to maneuver his way down the ladder with Wren in his arms. He had promised not to pry into the images her hereditary magic had shown her, no matter how curious he was.
As he laid her down on her bed, a thought suddenly occurred to him. If she had known Freed and Evergreen would join the Raijinshū, then did that mean she'd known how? That she'd had pictures of that horrible moment when Freed lost his eye in her head since she was three? He bared his teeth silently, angry at both the memory of that moment and the thought that his littlest Raijinshū had had something that gruesome branded in her mind by a magic she could not control. A magic that no one could teach her to control because anyone else was dead.
His anger bled out of him just as quickly as it came. There was nothing he could do about either of those things, and anger would just risk waking up his Treasures. Wren stirred slightly on the bed, a frown tugging at her features and her breath hitching in a way that would have made a whimpering sound had she still had a voice.
Laxus immediately laid a hand on her head, fingers carding gently through her curls. His inner-dragon gave a low croon, its usual wariness of Wren gone in favor of comforting his littlest. Wren shifted again, fingers twitching faintly, and Laxus combed through her hair again and whispered low, "Easy, Imōto. Easy…" Perhaps it was the sound of his voice, perhaps it was his touch, perhaps whatever was troubling her thoughts left on its own. Whatever it was, Wren's features relaxed and softened as she slipped away into better dreams.
Laxus removed his hand, but he still lingered there for a while, pondering his littlest. He glanced at the book again and flared his nostrils in a silent huff, she shouldn't have to worry about stuff like that. Still, there was nothing he could do to change it. He could only do what he could to help her manage it, and make sure he was there to watch her back when some future trouble finally came calling.
His inner-dragon prodded demandingly and Laxus petted Wren's hair one more time with a low whisper of, "Oyasumi, Imōto," before he slipped off to check on the rest of his Treasures one more time before getting some sleep himself.
He frowned a bit to himself as he checked on Bickslow snoring on a futon on the floor and Cana in the next bed over before he padded down the stairs. Shouldn't think of them as treasures. They aren't objects. It would cause misunderstandings. His inner-dragon gave a brief snarl at that. Treasures were Treasures. It didn't matter if they were alive or not, they were his and he would guard them while they rested.
Laxus gave up trying to reason with his inner-dragon. It wasn't going to be changing anytime soon and he'd heard somewhere that losing arguments with oneself was worse than having arguments in the first place. If he didn't start any arguments, he wouldn't lose any.
Even if the night patrol instinct was kind of annoying and he was hoping it wouldn't become a habit.
His inner-dragon poked him sternly, Treasure. Protect. Guard. Check. Laxus rolled his eyes as he peaked into the living room where Mest was sprawled over the couch before moving on to what used to be his room but had been given over to Freed and Evergreen. Yeah, yeah. Protect, guard, and check. I got it the first twenty times. He cracked open the door to the room, carefully scanning it and its occupants for any sign of danger or distress before coming to the conclusion that everything was fine.
Finally, his inner-dragon settled down, and with a low noise of relief, Laxus moved back to his futon in the living room to go back to sleep.
Secretly though, despite his inner complaints about it, Laxus found himself waking up and doing it again the next night, and the night after that. Always checking on every member of his Raijinshū before finally going back to sleep himself.
They were his after all. And nothing was going to harm them in their sleep if he could help it.
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Japanese Translations: Oyasumi - informal version of Good Night. Essentially, "Night" or even "Sleep Tight".