Chapter 11

Lucy was furious with herself. What on earth was she doing? She had told herself she wasn't technically disobeying Master, she wasn't going to attack Naomi, she just wanted to talk.

Of course, now she had run into a band of mercenary wizards who were giving her more trouble than she had bargained for, and of course one of them had a big-ass club that could stretch out and smack her every which way. Typical.

She scrambled up and yelled, "Open, gate of the Lion!"

"Already on it, gorgeous." She looked over and rolled her eyes, smiling.

"You mind helping me out?" She drew out her whip and got into a fighting stance.

"No problem. Maybe you'll let me sweep you away when all this is over." Loke smirked as he charged and together he and his mistress wiped the bastards away. He turned to her and asked, "You still gonna go through with this?"

Lucy flicked away a bead of sweat on her forehead. "No. It was a stupid idea in the first place." She suddenly froze, staring past Loke's shoulder.

"What's up, are there more of—oh."

Naomi and Laxus had stepped out of the trees, looking strangely concerned. Lucy was so taken aback that she had to take a few moments to recover. She had so many questions. First of all, why was Laxus with her? Why did it seem like they knew each other pretty well? Why was Naomi here in the first place?! All she got out was:

"What're you—why did—how—?"

"We just heard a scream and came to check it out. But you've got it covered, so I'll be on my way." Naomi said shortly, and turned to walk back through the trees.

"Wait. Thank you." She turned around to face Lucy, who was looking strangely at her. "For caring, I guess." Lucy looked confused. Naomi nodded hesitantly, then began walking.

Laxus began to follow her, but Naomi stopped him, saying,

"Go back home. Go with Lucy, make sure she doesn't get into more trouble."

"And if you get in trouble?" She turned and looked at him with one eyebrow raised and her first smile curved at the corners of her soft lips.

"I won't scream unless I'm in real danger. Which would take more than a group of bandits." Walking off once more, she couldn't stop herself from saying, "Take care, Laxus Dreyar."

Laxus watched her go with confusion and a hint of frustration. Did she expect him to drop her when she was still recovering? Like hell he would.

"Hey! What does she mean by 'unless she's in real danger'? That was really dangerous right here, thank you very much!" Lucy said indignantly. Laxus gave a tiny sigh, and turned, rolling his eyes.

"Come, on princess."