Chapter 6 – Finally Together

When the next day came, Adryn and Eclipse woke up, got ready for the day and ate breakfast. They ate and chatted about Adryn's plans for the day. It was the big day that Adryn was going to tell Laxus that she wanted to be with him. It was taking a lot of courage to even think about saying that to him.

"So, what are you going to say to him?" Eclipse questioned as she took a bite of her food. Adryn just shrugged her shoulders and continued eating. "You don't mean you're just going to wing it, do you?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do. If I think about it took much, then I'll get too freaked out and start to panic."

"You should at least have a plan!"

"I do! It's to tell him that I like him and want to be with him! I just don't know how those words are going to come out of my mouth!"

"Great, just don't fuck it up," Eclipse muttered with a chuckle. Adryn smiled and muttered to herself.

"I sure hope I don't fuck it up." With that, the two girls got done eating and got ready the rest of the way before heading out to the guildhall. By the time they made it to the guildhall, mostly everyone was there, including Laxus. He was seated with the Thunder Legion and was chatting idly with them.

"Good luck." Eclipse whispered as she practically shoved me towards Laxus. She then made her way to the bar to talk with Mirajane, as Adryn had mentioned randomly that they'd become close friends, so Eclipse was curious about her. While Eclipse did that, Adryn made her way to Laxus. As soon as she got close, Evergreen noticed her.

"Oh, hello Adryn. You got here pretty late." Evergreen spoke up to the girl.

"Um, it's only about midday. You guys got here early." Adryn responded with a smile on her face. Laxus had turned around in his seat to look at her. "Laxus, can we talk?" For a split second, worry flashed in his eyes.

"Sure." Laxus then stood up and followed Adryn as she led him to a quieter corner of the guildhall. The Thunder Legion all were watching them and probably waiting to see how Adryn and Laxus were going to react around each other. "What did you want to talk about?" Laxus questioned once the two were seated.

"I want to give you an answer about whether I want to be with you or not." Adryn's voice was calm and gave nothing away. Her face was also the same.

"Alright. What is your answer?" Laxus was remaining neutral as well. It was like neither wanted to show the other any emotion.

"I... I want to be with you, Laxus. I don't know if I can really be in a normal relationship, because I really don't know how to be in a relationship. I want to try though." Adryn then smiled up at Laxus, causing the man to release a breath that he didn't realize he was holding in.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Laxus smiled back at Adryn and was about to speak again, but was interrupted by someone else speaking.

"If you want to be with Laxus, you have to go through us!" Freed declared loudly as he and the other two of the Thunder Legion approached Laxus and Adryn.

"Huh? I thought you guys would be all for this?" Adryn questioned as she stood up with a confused look on her face.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Laxus asked as he too stood up from the table.

"We must fight, Adryn. For Laxus!" Freed spoke up as he put a hand on his sword.

"Do you want to be with him too?" Adryn was very confused now and just had to ask that question.

"I am devoted to Laxus, yes. However, I do not need to be with him, being by his side is enough. I just want you to prove that you are good enough for Laxus." That didn't really answer Adryn's question, but she just nodded her head.

"Alright. I'll fight all of you, one at a time though."

"Let's head to the training field." Freed then turned around and walked out with Bickslow and Evergreen following after him. Adryn looked over at Laxus who just shrugged his shoulders. The two then went after Freed with a few others following them as well just to watch it all go down. Eclipse and Mirajane were part of the ones that followed along.

"You won't be angry with me if I defeat them, right?" Adryn asked Laxus as they reached the field.

"I get a feeling if you don't defeat them, then they won't let us be together," Laxus spoke with a frown. Adryn just smiled and nodded her head.

Once everyone was settled down and ready to watch the fight, Freed and Adryn stepped into the center of the field. They got ready to fight, and when Evergreen signaled for them to begin, Adryn flew into action. She was in front of Freed within a second and punched him right in the stomach with a fist full of blue lightning. Freed went flying backward but caught himself before he tumbled too far away. He then got his barrings straight and went to move to attack Adryn, but she was in front of him again. She went to punch him again, but he dodged it this time. However, that gave Adryn an opening to kick him, sending him flying backward again.

Freed was in shock. Adryn seemed to be even faster than Laxus when it came to how she moved. She was weaker with her punches and kicks, but she made up for that with her speed and power of lightning. Each punch and kick that she landed on him caused lightning to pulse through him, slowly weakening him. He never even got the chance to fight back before he ended up on the ground breathing heavily with his own sword pointed at his neck.

"I think I win," Adryn stated as she moved the sword away from Freed and offered him a hand to help him up. He took her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet.

"You did win." Freed nodded his head as he brushed off his clothing. "I was surprised, I figured you would use your pain magic on me yet again."

"I figured that I should fight you fair this time."

"Next, you fight me!" Bickslow stated, with his babies cheering, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Adryn had a bit of a harder time with Bickslow and his babies, but she was able to take him down. Evergreen was fairly easy to take down, but she did give Adryn a challenge. All three of the Thunder Legion ended up at the side of the field breathing heavily and bruised. Adryn was surrounded by people who were excited that she'd taken down the Thunder Legion so easily. Adryn just pushed through the group and made her way to Freed.

"Does this mean I have your permission to be with Laxus?" Adryn questioned with a smirk on her face.

"We lost. You can do what you want." Freed responded as he looked up at the girl.

"She probably wants to do Laxus." Bickslow stated with his babies echoing, "Do Laxus! Do Laxus!"

"Shut up, Bickslow," Evergreen complained as she smacked the man. Laxus shot Bickslow a glare before approaching Adryn. However, before Laxus could say anything to her, Natsu jumped in between them and began to yell.

"Fight me next, Adryn!"

"Do you want to be with Laxus too?" Adryn questioned, mocking the pink-haired man.

'What?! No, of course not. I just want to fight you again!" Natsu yelled out instantly. "Don't use your pain magic on me this time! I want a fair fight!"

"Fine." Natsu jumped towards Adryn and she just moved out of his way, and punched the back of his head, sending him face-first into the ground. "Um, are you alright?" Adryn questioned when Natsu just twitched on the ground for a moment.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out as she hurried to her friend. She helped him up and he was relatively fine. Adryn then turned to look at the group of people that surrounded them.

"Does anyone else have a problem with me being with Laxus?" Adryn questioned the whole group. However, before anyone could respond, Laxus stepped towards Adryn, wrapped an arm around her shoulders before pulling her to him.

"If anyone has a problem, they can screw off because I'm going to be with her regardless if I have everyone's permission or not!" Laxus yelled out to everyone who all just nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm so glad!" Everyone turned to see Master Makarov standing there with Mirajane. "Laxus finally found someone to settle down with!" He was nearly crying over the situation.

"Whoa old man, we just started dating, there will be no talk of settling down yet!" Laxus grumbled instantly. Adryn blushed and sputtered something incoherent before everyone burst out into laughter.

"Let's go celebrate Laxus and Adryn's getting together!"

"Yeah!" Everyone responded as they all hurried back to the guildhall.

"Let's go celebrate, alright Adryn?" Laxus looked down at his new girlfriend and watched as she blushed and nodded her head. Laxus held out his hand to her and she just stared at it. "Come on, so you don't get lost on our way back." Adryn laughed and took his hand. They walked hand in hand all the way back to the guildhall. They all celebrated that night and probably (definitely) overdid it with the alcohol.

~

A week went by and Laxus and Adryn's relationship had been going good. Well, good to Adryn, but Laxus had never moved his slow with someone before. He wasn't sure what was okay and what wasn't, so he just kept touching Adryn to a minimum. He would hold her hand and put his arm around her sometimes. He hadn't moved to kiss her yet and definitely hadn't tried anything past that. It wasn't like he was complaining though. He enjoyed just being with Adryn and seeing her smile, not that he'd admit something so sappy to anyone.

Even with the slowness of their relationship, Laxus decided to take Adryn out on a date. He informed her to wear something nice, which caused her to panic. She only had shorts and tank tops with the occasional couple of pants, so her, Eclipse and Mirajane spent the day shopping for the girl before her date later that night. Adryn ended up in a casual black dress with some blue flowers on it. She didn't like wearing dresses but allowed it for that one night.

"Hey Laxus, I'm sorry I'm late," Adryn spoke up as she approached the man. He looked up at her to say something but froze when he saw her. This was his first time seeing her in such an outfit. "Don't stare at me." Adryn was instantly self-conscious. She tugged at the hem of her dress, but Laxus just grabbed her hands gently.

"You look beautiful tonight," Laxus stated with a smirk on his face. "I mean, you always look beautiful, but it's different tonight." Laxus looked at Adryn and hoped she understood what he meant.

"I understand what you mean." Adryn looked over Laxus and saw he was wearing different clothing. He didn't have his usual coat on and he wore a dark blue shirt and black pants. The two looked great together. "You look nice tonight too."

"Freed made me wear this." To that, Adryn chuckled and smiled at her boyfriend. "You ready to go in?"

"Yeah." Adryn and Laxus went into the restaurant and were seated right away in a private section of the restaurant. They were waited on right away and ordered their food and drinks. They decided to not drink any alcohol at dinner.

"So, how did your day go?" Laxus questioned after he tried and failed to come up with anything else. Adryn chuckled and then responded to him.

"Mira, Eclipse and I went shopping and bought myself some new outfits. Apparently, only having shorts and tank tops was not acceptable to them."

"Freed and Bickslow were the same. They took me shopping for new shirts that weren't my normal colors. They must have coordinated with each other to get us both wearing something blue."

"You're probably right." Adryn chuckled as she took a sip of her water. They then just chatted about what upcoming jobs they were planning on doing and if they were going to keep working together, which was an obvious yes. It seemed like the Thunder Legion accepted her as a new member, but they'd have to officially talk to them about it to make sure everyone was okay with Adryn joining them.

Soon, the food arrived and they began to eat. As they ate, they chatted about random things all the while smiling and laughing with each other. It was nice that they could be themselves without worrying about other people watching them and judging them. After the food was eaten, Laxus paid and they left the restaurant. Adryn wanted to at least pay for her food, but Laxus refused to allow her to do that. He wanted to do the date right and be a complete gentleman to his girlfriend.

"Come on, Laxus. You should have let me pay for myself. Since you wouldn't let me, what can I do to repay you for this wonderful evening?" Adryn was pouting as she looked up at the man. He smirked down at her and thought of something.

"You could kiss me." Adryn's eyes widened and she blushed. "I mean if you want-"

"I want to." Adryn quickly said as she took a step towards him. "I really, really want to."

"Good." Laxus smiled down at Adryn and leaned over for her to be able to reach him. To his surprise, she took a step closer and pressed her lips to his quickly before she pulled away and looked away from him with her face completely red. However, Laxus wasn't satisfied with such a quick kiss and gently turned her head to face him before kissing her. The two kissed for a good bit of time before they finally broke apart. Adryn's face was redder than Laxus had ever seen it before. "You good?"

"I'm great."

"Come on, let's get you home." Laxus wrapped his arm around Adryn and guided her through the streets and out into the forest. They walked in silence as they each thought about the evening. It was only just getting dark as they arrived at Adryn's home. Eclipse opened the door before Adryn could and smiled at the two.

"Good, you got her home before dark. I approve." Eclipse commented before walking away from the now open door. Adryn turned to Laxus and smiled up at him.

"Thank you for this date, Laxus. It was really nice."

"I hope we can go on many more."

"Yeah, me too." With that, the two gave each other one final kiss before Adryn disappeared into her home. Laxus made his way back home while Adryn turned to smile at Eclipse, only to see her friend not smiling any further. "What's wrong?"

"How did your date go?" Eclipse questioned with a fake smile on her face.

"It went really well. I had a great time."

"Good."

"Eclipse, what's wrong?" Adryn wasn't stupid and she knew that something was up with her best friend.

"I'm leaving."

"What?"

"I have to track down every member of Raven Tail. I know there are still some out there."

"We can all go track them down together!"

"No! You have a life here now. You moved on from your past! I need to do this myself. I need to make up for everything that I've done!" With those words, Eclipse walked to the door and opened it. "I'll return when I have finished my mission." Then she was gone. Adryn wasn't sure what to do after that, so she just got changed into her usual clothing and headed out. She made her way to the guildhall and walked right to Mirajane.

"Hey, Adryn! How did your da... What's wrong?" Mirajane questioned once she saw the look on Adryn's face.

"Eclipse left. She said she needed to go after all the remaining members of Raven Tail."

"What, why?"

"She has it in her mind that she has to redeem herself alone." Adryn sighed and sat down.

"On a better note, how did your date with Laxus go?" Mirajane set down a beer in front of Adryn and she began to blush as she took a drink of it.

"It went amazing. I had a lot of fun."

"Oh? What all happened?"

"We went to a restaurant and then he walked me home..."

"Anything else?" Mirajane could tell that Adryn was holding something back. Adryn looked around to make sure no one was listening to them before turning back to Mirajane.

"We kissed a few times. Those were my first real kisses." Adryn was blushing again but Mirajane just cheered for her.

"Oh Adryn, that's great!" Mirajane then gave Adryn a smirk. "Speaking of great, here comes Laxus now."

"What?!" Adryn panicked and turned around to see Laxus and Freed approaching her. Adryn tried to not blush as she looked at Laxus, but it didn't work. She was blushing and giving him a small smile. He returned her smile and came over to her fully with Freed at his side.

"Hey, Adryn. What are you doing here?" Laxus questioned as Freed ordered some drinks for them.

"Well, Eclipse left and I felt like I needed to be around people." Laxus looked confused, so Adryn explained the situation.

"I'm sorry that she left. I'm sure she'll be fine." Laxus stated, trying to make Adryn feel better. She nodded her head and took another drink of her beer.

"Let's get drunk tonight!" Adryn declared as she stood up. Laxus chuckled at her and agreed.

"Yes, let's get drunk." With that, the two took their drinks and went to a table with the Thunder Legion. After they all had a drink, something came to Laxus' mind. "Hey, what do you guys think about Adryn joining us from now on?"

"That'd be alright. I have a feeling that you'll be in a better mood if she's around." Freed spoke up first with a smile on his face.

"Finally I won't be the only girl in this group!" Evergreen stated with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Bickslow commented as he took a drink, with his babies echoing his last word a few times.

"Great! Thank you guys for accepting me!" Adryn was extremely happy now. She was actually a part of something good and she knew that she was safe with her new friends and boyfriend.

So, now that it was settled, they all began to heavily drink. The drinking led to chatting and laughing over random things. There were a few drunken fights in the guild, but it was more amusing than anything else. They all had a great time and eventually, everyone in the group passed out on the floor. Evergreen passed out with Elfman, who'd joined them a bit later on in the night. Bickslow was passed out holding his babies, while Freed passed out snuggling with his sheathed sword and finally, Adryn passed out in Laxus' arms. They all had a great night, but would most likely be suffering in the morning. Even so, they wouldn't regret that night one little bit.