Happy Friday! This week, Mira mourns in magenta.

- K. Chandler

In the days following the accident, Mira forced her life to go back to normal. She needed to be happy. She had to move on.

When she and her siblings had been shunned for her powers, Lisanna had been the one who had kept them together. She had smiled and acted like everything would be okay. There was a naïve hopefulness in that, but it had kept all their spirits up.

But Lisanna was gone now.

Lisanna was gone and she and Elfman were left. And someone had to keep them moving forward. And Mira did that in the only way she knew how.

Mira had always been the caretaker in her family and keeping busy was something she understood. If she kept herself distracted, then surely, things would get better. Wouldn't they? But keeping herself occupied was harder than she had thought, especially after she resolved to stop taking jobs.

"Retirement?" asked Cana, scrunching her nose.

Mira nodded, plastering a serene smile on her face. "Everyone retires eventually," she said.

"Mira, are you sure?" asked Erza, her eyes solemn.

"I've made up my mind. I can't…" Mira's voice died in a strangled choke. "I can't go through that again, Erza. I can't!"

Mira felt the other girl's arms tighten around her shoulders.

"Follow your own path and do what you think is right," whispered Erza. "You're still one of Fairy Tail's strongest, no matter what."

Mira nodded. The words meant a lot, especially coming from her long-time rival.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do about money?" asked Cana, pragmatic as usual.

"I hadn't thought about that…" said Mira.

Rent was expensive. If she wasn't taking jobs, she wouldn't be able to keep the apartment that she shared with… well, it was just Elfman now. Though, honestly, she wasn't sure she wanted to keep the apartment. It was too big, too empty, too full of memories.

"We could use a full-time bartender," Master Makarov interrupted. "Just someone who can keep this place running, help me with a little paperwork and maybe organize some events for the guild. Do you girls know where I can find one?"

Bartender…

Mira's eyes widened. "It's for pay, right?"

"Just tips, same as it's ever been," said Master. "You know it's not a whole lot, but we can throw in a couple rooms at Fairy Hills and Fairy Ridge."

"I'll do it," said Mira without hesitation. It wasn't ideal, because it would separate her from Elfman, but it was better than nothing. At least, this way she didn't have to worry about rent money.

"We should have a party," said Erza suddenly.

"A party…?" asked Mira.

"To celebrate your retirement. Think of it as the first event you're putting together for the guild."

"I don't know…"

"We can have cake," said Erza.

"It's too soon for a party," mumbled Mira. "I don't really feel like celebrating."

"It'll give you something to do," said Cana.

Something to do? Now, there was something worth celebrating.

And so, Mirajane became the official Fairy Tail bartender. She forced herself to smile even when she didn't feel like it and made sure she was always surrounded by with new and exciting people.

But working the bar wasn't quite enough to make ends meet for both her and Elfman. That was when she started working for Sorcerer Weekly.

Mira had been blessed with a pretty face and a classic figure. Posing for photos was an easy way to earn a little extra cash.

All she had to do was smile.

But that was harder than it sounded. Smiling around a broken heart wasn't easy. Still, she managed. She stayed busy.

Busy, busy, busy. Serving drinks and wiping down tables. There was no time for anything else. No time for sadness.

The others had been generous with their tips, and with the modeling gig she had picked up on the side, she had enough spending money for both herself and Elfman. There was even enough for a little extra.

She had gone shopping the other day and bought herself some dresses. Bright, frilly dresses with ruffles and lace and bows. This wasn't the sort of thing she would have chosen for herself, but Lisanna would have liked it.

Mira pulled out a bold, pink dress, slipping it on and pulling up the zipper at the back. It was so girly.

Lisanna always said that she loved Mira in pink. It was a color that Mira had never worn back then. She regretted not being able to change that. But she could wear it now. And maybe, wherever she was, Lisanna could see it.

Mira shook her head sharply, getting dressed quickly. She couldn't start thinking that way. She couldn't let the sadness back in. It would consume her.

So she'd wear her frilly pink dress and mourn in magenta. She'd gotten really good at putting on a big fake smile so she could do photo shoots for Sorcerer Weekly.

But through all of this busyness and smiling, one person was noticeably missing from her life.

Where was Laxus?

After all of his 'I want to help you's and 'Please let me in's, he was nowhere to be found.

She hadn't seen him in the guild in weeks. Actually, she hadn't heard from him at all after he had stopped visiting her at home. Well, minus the one late-night call, but she was pretty sure he had been drunk out of his mind. When she tried calling him back, he didn't pick up.

It was like he was ignoring her. It hurt a little that he would just disappear like that. She had needed him and he wasn't there.

But she couldn't worry about that right now.

She needed to live.

With or without Laxus, she needed to live.

For Lisanna's sake and in her memory, she needed to live.

Lisanna was gone and Mira couldn't change that. But what she could do was live the life her sister would have wanted for her. The life that Lisanna would never get to have.

She'd have to live for both of them.

So Mira threw herself into her work with renewed vigor, putting Laxus out of her mind.

He was the last person she expected to see waltzing into the guild two weeks later.

"Hey." That was all he said.

Mira looked up, surprised. "Where have you been?" she asked, trying to keep the judgement from her voice.

He shrugged. "You seem to be keeping busy," he observed, his eyes narrowing.

Mira nodded. "So I, um, I'm the new bartender," she said, forcing herself to smile. "Master said they could use someone full-time instead of having everyone rotate shifts, so I said I'd do it!" she chirped. "It doesn't pay quite as much, so I do modeling gigs on the side. I've gotten pretty good at it. I even made the cover of latest issue Sorcerer Weekly!"

"Is that right?" asked Laxus. He didn't sound impressed.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but there was a gaunt look to Laxus' face that made the dark bags under his eyes look even more pronounced. He had lost quite a bit of weight and frankly, he looked more than a little sick.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked brusquely before turning away.

His sharp answer made Mira recoil, even as she stared at his retreating back.

"…Never mind," she said.

Dang.

I know this is Mira's chapter, but imagine what it looks like from Laxus' point of view, especially after the phone call they had that ended on a sour note.

The tragic thing is that this didn't have to happen. It was a giant misunderstanding. This was entirely avoidable.

Communication is super important in a relationship, but I don't think Laxus or Mira are in a place to be able to do that. They both have stuff going on in their personal lives, but neither of them is sharing. And at this age, I'm theorizing that neither one has the maturity to make it work. :'( I headcanon that this is the start of 'The Break' and sets up the relationship between these two characters as we see it in canon.

But how much worse do you think we can make it? XD

Next time, in [Mazeverse] Can't Catch Lightning, Laxus remembers the aftermath of this their choices: Wounds would heal. Bones would mend. But somethings just couldn't be fixed.

Stop back next Friday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.