Happy Friday! Remember how I said to imagine how Laxus views Mira's transformation? Let's see how he's doing. This might be a hard one for Laxus fans to read. It was definitely a hard one for me to write. Though I did have a lot of fun borrowing from canon and trying to add some different subtext. Any familiar dialogue comes directly from the dub-version of the anime. (I'm a total Dubbie and I'm proud of it!) :)

- K. Chandler

Wounds would heal. Bones would mend. But some things just couldn't be fixed.

He was a Dragon-Slayer now and it had cost his father his place in Fairy Tail. The old man had insisted that it was for the best, but Laxus knew better.

"You went too far," Laxus shouted. "You didn't have to kick my dad out of Fairy Tail. So why did ya do it?"

"Because Ivan… what your father did was a serious breach of the rules," said Makarov. "It could have caused great harm, not just to Fairy Tail, but to you."

"Okay… so maybe it was stupid. I admit it," said Laxus.

"That's not the point!" Makarov barked. "I don't want him trying something like that again."

"Then why don't you just kick me out too, huh? It was as much my fault as it was his. I was the one who let him use me as—" Laxus clamped his teeth together, cutting himself off. None of this was his dad's fault. Ivan was being punished enough without Laxus revealing the extent of what they had done.

The old man's eyes widened, wrinkles drawing together severely on his forehead. "What did he do to you?" he breathed.

"Like you give a crap," spat Laxus.

"Please, Laxus. You have to tell me. This could be dangerous!"

Laxus pressed his lips together. "Guess you should have thought about that before you kicked him out."

Of course, Makarov figured it out eventually, and so did the rest of the guild. Nobody treated him any differently because of it. Except Mira.

Mira had started to flutter around like some sort of social butterfly. She laughed often and talked with everyone… except him.

She gossiped and mothered and wore fluffy dresses. She was always busy—busy building a new life for herself. One without Lisanna.

And without him.

Laxus wanted for her to move on from her grief and recover from the tragedy. But he had always assumed that he'd be a part of that. That he'd be by her side as they healed together. But somehow that hadn't happened.

And now that he was up and about, he could see clearly that there was no place for him in this sparkling new life of hers. She'd managed to move on while he languished in recovery. He'd done it for her, at the cost of his father's Fairy Tail emblem, and this was the thanks he got!

Well, no matter.

He was over Mirajane.

No more knee-jerk decisions and life-altering surgeries. It wasn't worth it.

She wasn't worth it.

He wasn't going to lie and say it didn't hurt. Oh, it hurt. And he wanted to hurt her right back.

They say that time heals all wounds, but the passing years did nothing to stem Laxus' hatred.

Laxus could remember the day that idiot Dragneel and that new girl had gone and stolen an S-Class request from the second floor.

Idiots.

And the rest of the morons were trying to figure out who had taken the thing.

"I know," drawled Laxus. He leaned back in his chair, tilting it back on its hind legs. "A little blue cat flew up here and ripped it off the board."

"It was Happy?" asked Mira anxiously.

He just smirked. Mira was a smart girl. She could answer her own question. Instead, he turned his ire towards the old fool, hypocrite that he was.

"That's a serious breach of the rules," said Laxus, his tone mocking. "Hey, Gramps! Stunt like that is enough to get you kicked out of the guild, am I right?"

He wondered if the old man remembered his own words. Laxus hoped he did.

"Not that it matters," continued Laxus loftily. "It's not like those three losers are going to make it back alive from an S-Class quest," he added smugly.

Mira looked distraught. "Laxus! If you knew, why didn't you stop them?" she demanded, her chest heaving furiously.

This is what she was worked up about? The thought made his lip curl. She cared so much about these losers. She never cared about him half as much.

"Oh, lighten up," he said dismissively. "All I saw was a blue cat flying off with a piece of paper in its mouth trying to act all sneaky. I had no idea it was Happy," he deadpanned. "Besides, Natsu's not cleared for S-Class. I never dreamed that he'd break the rules."

Mira's blue eyes were livid, her feminine features contorting in fury.

So she still had some spark in her, huh?

Laxus barked a laugh, a bitter hollow sound. "You haven't given me that look in a while."

Sometimes he wished she still would. He wished for something. Anything. But no. Mirajane couldn't care less.

And neither could he.

The distance between Laxus and Mira only grew as the months rolled by.

After the accident, something had changed. Everything was so different. She was different. And he wasn't sure he knew her anymore.

The spark in her eyes was replaced with an unfamiliar warmth. And the fight in her spirit had been quelled to a peacemaker's soothing aura. It was like she'd gone soft.

He could see no more of the pride that was so distinctly Mirajane.

Laxus could remember the way she had begged—actually begged—for his help when those Phantom freaks had destroyed the guild.

"Mira!" he said sarcastically. "I can't remember the last time you called me."

He actually could. He had ignored her. And before that, he'd been the one to call her… the last time they'd spoken over lacrima right after Ivan had planted this blasted dragon lacrima in his chest.

He could hear a frustrated shout from Cana, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"You did your best," said Mira told the other girl gently. Then she turned back to the lacrima. "Master's seriously injured, and we can't seem to locate Mystogan. You're the only one left that we can turn to. Help us, Laxus," begged Mira.

Laxus's face twisted in rage. And he was their last choice. Pathetic.

"We could really use you about now. Fairy Tail is in terrible danger," she continued, sniveling like the weakling she was.

Laxus couldn't believe it. If this was what Fairy Tail had become, it would be better off destroyed! Anything that was strong enough to rise from the rubble might have a chance to be worthy of the Fairy Tail emblem.

"Man, Makarov is freakin' pathetic!" he said, throwing back his head and laughing. "I don't see how this is remotely my problem. You're big girls. So deal with it yourselves!" he roared, taking the opportunity to use Mira's own words against her. He wondered if Mira recognized them. He sure hoped she did.

Cana staggered into view. "So you're not going to help us?" she seethed, her fist tightening around her bottle.

"'Course not," scoffed Laxus. "Why would I? That senile old toad started this. Why do I have to be the one to clean up his mess?"

What had happened to the guild he loved? Where was the pride, the fighting spirit, the determination to stand in the face of defeat? This wasn't Fairy Tail. This wasn't his guild. And old man Makarov was to blame.

"Please, Laxus. Phantom's trying to kidnap Lucy," said Mirajane, continuing to try and placate him.

"Who?" he drawled. "Do I even know her?"

Mira's eyes widened in dismay, her lips parting.

"Oh, wait, is it that new girl?" asked Laxus sarcastically. It was the perfect opportunity to rub salt into the wound. "If you can talk Blondie into being my woman, I'll do anything she wants," he said, smirking.

Mira's lip quivered as she fought tears. Good. Maybe she'd feel as useless and unwanted as he did. Now she'd know what she'd done.

"You are such a pig!" bellowed Cana.

Laxus shot her a withering glare. "Are you sure you want to talk that way to a guy you're begging to help ya? Do me a favor. If that geezer manages to pull through, tell him that he's over the hill and that he should hand the guild over to me!"

Maybe then they'd have a chance to start fresh and rebuild Fairy Tail as it was meant to be. He'd make it the strongest guild in Magnolia again.

Laxus threw back his head and laughed.

The last thing he saw were the pathetic tears of that fair-weathered traitor as connection was dropped.

He didn't need that stuck up beauty queen. He was better off alone.

I couldn't help but notice that when he's in his Bad Egg phase, he goes out of his way to be mean to her, almost singling her out. (Fine, I didn't figure it out on my own. The other writer on this account, Edgar, pointed it out. We sat around and theorized for a little bit and I decided that they look like ex's.) I figured that there had to be an explanation for it. This is what I came up with.

I know that Laxus's defection in canon has a lot to do with his relationship with Makarov and tensions in the Dreyar family. I don't mean to take away from that by implying that everything he did revolved around Mira. In this universe, Laxus is convolving the two issues because both tie back to his decision to get the Dragon Slayer Lacrima.

What do you think? Plausible?

Next time, in [Mazeverse] Can't Catch Lightning, Mira's turn at a canon-rewrite chapter. Let's make our way back to the present with her: "Let's hold hands," suggested Mira quietly.

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