Chapter 19 – The Time Before
The next morning, Laxus and Adryn were awoken by their bed shaking. They were confused and opened their eyes to see Serenity, on their bed bouncing in place. She had a huge smile on her face and when she saw that they were awake, she pounced on them.
"Good morning!" Serenity called out as she laid between the couple.
"Morning," Laxus grumbled as he rolled over to get out of bed. Adryn sat up and smiled at her daughter.
"Good morning, how did you sleep?" Adryn questioned her child as she watched Laxus move over to the closet to grab new clothes for the day. He then left the room and entered the bathroom.
"I slept great! How did you two sleep?" Serenity seemed like a completely different child. She clearly was feeling more at home now and was becoming more of the child she should be.
"I slept well. I'm sure Laxus did as well." Adryn then climbed out of bed and went to gather her own clothes for the day.
"I'll leave you to put your day clothes on. I'll be in the living room." Serenity then climbed off of the bed and headed out the door, closing it behind her. Adryn then got dressed for the day and as she was changing, Laxus reentered the room all dressed and ready for the day. Once both of them were done, they exited the room and met up with Serenity in the living room.
"I'll make breakfast, you two set the table," Laxus told the two others as he walked into the kitchen. The two girls agreed and made their way to their table. They collected their tableware and began to set the table as Laxus made them breakfast.
It didn't take too long for them to finish with the table, and for Laxus to finish with breakfast. They quickly ate their food while chatting about their dreams from the night. Serenity had a particularly interesting dream, as she dreamed about Adryn being pregnant. It startled Adryn and Laxus, but they wrote it off as just a wishful dream from the child.
"So, where are we going today?" Serenity asked as the three of them left their apartment.
"To the guildhall. We want to talk about the wedding with our friends." Adryn responded as she grabbed a hold of Serenity's hand. Serenity then offered her other hand to Laxus and he took it. The three quickly made their way through town and reached the guildhall. Once there, they met up with their group of friends. Meaning the Thunder Legion, Eclipse, and Mirajane.
"So, how was your first night in the new place?" Mirajane questioned as soon as they were all together.
"It was great. You should come and visit soon." Adryn smiled at her friend. "Laxus and I also talked about our wedding. We figured out that we want it to happen here and sooner rather than later."
"Have you figured out anything in detail?" Eclipse asked simply.
"Hmm. Well, I think I know who I want to be my maid of honor."
"Oh?" Mirajane and Eclipse both looked at each other, wondering who would be the one that Adryn would pick."
"Both of you," Adryn answered their unspoken question. "I want you, Mira to be co-maid's of honor with Eclipse. I want both of you to be in that role since both of you mean so much to me."
"Adryn!" Both Mirajane and Eclipse hurried and wrapped their arms around the redhead. She tensed up but allowed it to happen.
"I take it that you two are alright with that?"
"Yeah, we're more than alright, right Eclipse?" Mirajane questioned as she looked over to the pink-haired girl. Eclipse just nodded her head in return.
"What about me?" Evergreen butted in, ruining the moment the three girls were having.
"I was getting to you." Adryn smiled at Evergreen. "I want you to be a bridesmaid."
"Good, I accept." Evergreen then returned to being silent.
"So, who's going to be Laxus' best man?" Eclipse asked as she turned her attention to the men around her. Laxus seemed to pause and think about it for a moment.
"Freed." Laxus finally responded as he turned to look to the green-haired man. Freed seemed a little shocked to hear that and looked to Laxus immediately.
"Seriously?" Freed questioned a little hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he'd heard right.
"I want you as my best man," Laxus stated simply. Instantly, Bickslow frowned and began to pout. Adryn immediately noticed and brought attention to the man.
"Bicks? You good?" Adryn asked even though she already knew the answer.
"I only chose Freed because he's better at planning and the details than you are," Laxus told the man, but everyone knew that it wasn't the total truth. Freed and Laxus were much closer than Laxus and Bickslow.
"So, I'll be a groomsman?" Bickslow questioned hopefully. Laxus nodded his head and Bickslow smiled at the man.
"You'll be my only groomsman," Laxus stated, making sure that everyone else knew that he wasn't about to have a bunch of people as important figures in the wedding.
"Now that it's all settled, I have to go talk with Nova." Adryn declared causing Laxus to look at her with hesitancy in his eyes. "Don't worry, I just need to clear up anything with her that is bothering both of us." To her words, Laxus just nodded his head. So, alone, Adryn headed to the infirmary, which was where Nova still was. She'd sustained some injuries that needed time to heal, physically and emotionally.
"Adryn?" Nova noticed Adryn entering the room immediately.
"Hey, sorry I didn't come here sooner. I was... thinking we need to talk, but I wasn't sure how to go about it."
"I can understand that..." Nova looked down at her hands and frowned deeply.
"Listen, Nova, you will always hold a place in my heart, but my heart now belongs to Laxus. I'm truly happy with him and I don't think I could be with anyone else anymore." Almost instantly, Nova burst out into tears.
"I'm so sorry, Adryn. I didn't mean to cause any trouble but I can't help but still feel feelings for you. I was truly in love with you when we were younger before Ivan came into the picture."
"I'm sorry for moving on while you were suffering."
"No, it's better this way. We can both be happy without each other... or at least I hope I can be." Adryn felt terrible and made her way to Nova to hug her. The two girls held each other for a few moments before they released each other. "Let's head out of here. I think I'm good now."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I need to get out of here. I hate being stuck here all alone." Nova then climbed out of bed. She lost her balance a little bit, but Adryn stabilized her. The two girls then left the infirmary to see the Thunder Legion, Laxus, Eclipse, and Serenity all chatting and as they got closer, they realized that they were chatting about Laxus' and Adryn's wedding.
"Hey, Nova?"
"Yeah?"
"How about you be a bridesmaid. Is that alright with you? I want you to be a part of the wedding since you mean so much to me."
"...Alright, I think that's a good idea." Nova smiled at Adryn and it brought the attention of the others.
"So, Aunt Nova gets to be in the wedding and not me?" Serenity questioned as tears began to fill her eyes. Laxus and Adryn immediately got worried and looked to each other. Laxus then got the answer himself and began to speak.
"You can be the flower girl. That's a thing, right?" Laxus replied looking back to Adryn for confirmation. Adryn nodded her head and approached Serenity.
"Your father is right. However, that's an important job, do you think you can handle it?" Adryn questioned her daughter who instantly started nodding her head enthusiastically.
"I can! I can!" Serenity cried out as she bounced in her seat.
"Good." Adryn smiled at the girl as Laxus patted Serenity on the head.
"Hello, children." Master Makarov stated as he approached the group. He'd been off at a meeting and just returned only to hear the wedding news from Mirajane. "I hear my grandson is getting married, is that right?"
"They will be getting married soon. We're already planning it." Eclipse responded to the man.
"Congratulations. Do you have anyone to officiate the wedding yet?"
"We aren't that far in the planning, but do you have any ideas?"
"I can do it, and I want to."
"Really?" Laxus questioned as he looked to his grandfather.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Master Makarov sounded dead serious and Laxus just shook his head in return. "Good."
So, with that, everyone began to take this wedding planning more seriously. With everyone close to the couple pitching in their ideas, the wedding was getting planned very quickly and efficiently.
~
A couple of months later, the wedding was planned and all that was left was the bachelor and bachelorette parties.
"Where are you two taking me?" Laxus questioned as Freed and Bickslow guided the man through town.
"To a bar that just opened. I've heard it's a good place to go to due to its alcohol." Freed responded simply as he looked back to Laxus. Laxus just frowned and didn't put up a fight anymore. He was interested in drinking, but it was the day before his wedding, so he wasn't sure if he should be doing any heavy drinking or not.
"Everything will be fine, Laxus! Don't worry!" Bickslow stated with his babies echoing "Don't worry!" a couple of times. Despite that, Laxus worried.
Even so, his worries disappeared after a few drinks. Laxus, Freed and Bickslow all were getting drunk at a good rate. Even so, worries returned in the form of skimpily dressed women approaching Laxus and the other two.
"Go away. I'm getting married tomorrow." Laxus shooed the women away, but they just wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Oh, come on, you aren't married yet." One of the girls stated as she tried to get her hands on Laxus. The man kept pulling away but they weren't stopping.
"Someone like you shouldn't get married anyway, you look like you want to have some fun." Another of the women spoke as she moved closer to the tall man.
"Enough! Get lost girls, you are not welcome here with us." Freed finally couldn't take it and
moved to shoo the women away physically. They finally understood the fact that they were not wanted and left the men alone. Freed then turned around to ask Bickslow a question, only to see that the man was gone and had headed over with the women. Bickslow turned to wave to Freed and Laxus before giving his full attention to the women he was now with.
"Well then." Laxus couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. However, Freed was not thrilled about it.
"We are supposed to be celebrating you, not going off with random girls!" Freed was outraged.
"It's alright, Freed. Let Bickslow be happy."
"You've grown softer, Laxus."
"Have I?" Laxus asked, but he already knew that he was softer now that he had Adryn and Serenity in his life. Freed couldn't help but smile and take another drink of his alcohol.
Meanwhile, Adryn was being dragged out to a different bar in town. Serenity was left with those at the guildhall and would be taken home by Master Makarov. So, that left Eclipse, Mirajane, and Nova to make Adryn have a fun night. For a little while, everything was fun. Drinks were flowing and the girls were having fun just chatting with each other. Everything changed when a group of men approached them.
"Hey, cuties. How are you tonight?" One man spoke up, clearly drunk.
"We aren't interested," Eclipse spoke up immediately as she stood up from her seat. She wasn't sure what these men would do, so she was all defensive.
"Hey now, you aren't being too kind. We just wanna talk." Another man chuckled as he tried to wrap an arm around Eclipse. Instantly, before the man could touch her, Eclipse had a whirlwind of air swirl around her protectively.
"Leave. Now." Eclipse growled as lightning began to crackle around her with the wind.
"Whoa! We... We just wanted to talk!" The first man was clearly freaked out, meaning these were ordinary men.
"And we just wanted to enjoy our night. So piss off." The men got it finally and ran out of the bar, tripping over each other as they left. As Eclipse calmed down, multiple people in the bar clapped for her.
"That was amazing!" Adryn stated as she stood up and hugged her best friend.
"Indeed, that was amazing." The group of girls turned around to see a man standing just a little way away from them. He was a taller man with black long hair. His right eye was blue and his left eye was red. He had a tattoo over his right eye and wore all black. "Those men have caused a lot of problems with any women who enter this bar, but I doubt they will be bothering anyone again."
"Then I'm glad I put a stop to their actions," Eclipse responded, as she smiled at the man. He returned her smile and began to speak again.
"May I buy you a drink?"
"We're in the middle of my best friend's bachelorette party right now, so I can't-"
"Yes, you can!" Adryn, Mirajane, and Nova all yelled at once. Eclipse was caught off guard but smiled as she turned from her friends back to the man.
"Alright, I'd love it if you bought me a drink." Eclipse then walked over to the man and they instantly began to hit it off. Eventually, the man, named Dracul was invited to go over with Adryn and the others. He congratulated her and they all fawned over the attractive and unique man. The girls found out that Dracul was a traveler from another land but had been staying in Magnolia for a little while, but was leaving the next day. That upset Eclipse, but she didn't dare show it.
"Well, I'd love to keep chatting with you girls, but it's gotten late," Dracul stated as he looked out the window to see the moon was high up in the sky.
"Oh shit. We stayed out too late. I'm getting married tomorrow, we need to get home!" Adryn stated, a little panicked.
"May I walk you home? I wouldn't want anything to happen to you all."
"We'd love that. Especially because we are going to be heading out of town and into the woods." Eclipse responded simply. The girls were going to be staying in Adryn's old home, while Laxus and Freed were going to be staying in Laxus' old apartment. It was so they could be fully apart to rejoin together for the rest of their lives. It was some symbolic stuff that both Laxus and Adryn didn't really understand, but the others insisted they spend one last night in their original homes. Where everyone would sleep that night was unknown, but for the sake of the symbolic meanings, they would put up with anything.
So, with that, the girls and Dracul left the bar and headed through the town. Eclipse and Dracul walked a little behind the others to chat more privately with each other. Adryn, Mirajane and Nova all talked to each other as they went as well. However, too soon for Eclipse and Dracul, they reached the little house in the woods.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye?" Eclipse began as she stood outside the door with Dracul.
"No, we will see each other again." The man stated with a smile on his face.
"Good, I would like to see you again."
"I would like that as well."
"Come on, sis! Stop flirting and get in here! It's bedtime!" Nova yelled out from inside the house. That caused Dracul to chuckle a little bit.
"You should go. We will see each other again, I swear." Dracul then began to walk away with a wave.
"Be safe on your way back to your place!" Eclipse called out to him.
"I will be." Dracul turned to smirk at Eclipse, before disappearing into the darkness.
"He was totally your type, right?" Adryn's voice from behind Eclipse caused the pink-haired girl to jump. Eclipse quickly turned around to frown at Adryn.
"He was." Eclipse simply responded. Eclipse seemed to be a little unsure of the man, or at least a little unsure of his words to her.
"You will meet again. He said so himself, and he doesn't strike me as someone who lies."
"You're right. At least I think you are."
"Come on, I'm tired. Get back inside!" Nova cried out from the couch she was laying on. Mirajane was seated in a chair nearly falling asleep. So, Adryn and Eclipse hurried inside the house. Adryn decided that she would sleep in her bed with Eclipse, while Mirajane took the floor in the living room. Adryn provided blankets for her to lay on and to cover up with. Nova got the couch due to her literally passing out there. They covered her up with a blanket before they all went to bed.
"I can't believe the amount of blankets you have," Eclipse noted as she climbed into bed with Adryn. That caused Adryn to chuckle a bit too loudly, before putting her hand over her mouth to silence herself.
"Yeah, well, it gets cold out here sometimes. I need a cocoon of blankets to survive at times." Adryn's comment made Eclipse laugh more quietly than Adryn had. With that, the two girls laid down and tried to fall asleep. However, it takes Eclipse hours to fully fall asleep and that night, Adryn found she couldn't sleep after a few minutes of trying. Usually, she falls right to sleep, especially when she's consumed some alcohol. "Psst... Eclipse, you still up?" Adryn whispered as she rolled over to look at her friend. She was met with eyes looking right back at her. "Holy fuck!" Adryn gasped out as she jolted backward. She nearly fell out of bed but caught herself. "Not funny."
"I thought it was pretty funny actually," Eclipse responded with a smirk on her face. "What's up? Can't sleep?"
"No. I don't know why."
"Dude, you're getting married tomorrow. That's obviously why you can't sleep."
"Oh... you right." Adryn and Eclipse shared a laugh before laying on their backs to stare up at the ceiling. "I know I shouldn't be, but I'm nervous."
"How come?"
"I never thought that I could be this happy. I don't know why, but I'm just waiting for another bad thing to occur. It's like I can't get a break, and this is going too well. I have an amazing daughter, and tomorrow, I'll have an amazing husband. I have two best friends and other close people that I decently get along with. I just..." Adryn trailed off as she closed her eyes in thought. With Adryn's pause came a silence that lasted for more than a few moments.
"You just think that you don't deserve this happiness, right?" Eclipse broke the silence finally. Adryn re-opened her eyes and looked to her friend.
"I don't deserve this life after everything I've done. After everyone I've killed and hurt. How can someone like me be this happy and at peace?"
"You deserve the world, Adryn. You never did anything out of malicious intent. You thought you were protecting Nova and yourself. You might have done a lot of wrongs, but there are people out there who've done even worse than you. Hell, you, me and Nova all haven't always been ourselves. We suffered too. So, I think you more than deserve this happiness, this life you have and everyone you care about. I don't think anything else is going to happen to you. Sure, there will still be hard times to come, but with Laxus and Serenity, you'll get through them. You and Laxus share a love that most people don't get. With everything you've been through with each other, I don't think anything could tear you apart."
"...Damn Eclipse, that was a lot to take in. Thank you. I think I really needed to hear that." Adryn then yawned and looked over to Eclipse. "I guess I'm finally sleepy."
"Get some rest. We can't have you falling asleep on your big day." Eclipse then rolled over to face away from Adryn as Adryn did the same. The redhead then slowly drifted off to sleep, while the pink-haired girl stayed awake for another few hours before finally falling to her own sleepiness.