Out of lust a sin was born
Out of sin a mistake was born
Lisa Dreyar
"Laxus' mother, you ask?" Makarov winks twice at the barmaid standing before him in front of the guild bar counter where he's seated. "Now why would you want to know that?"
"It's just... he's been really quiet lately, and I believe he must've missed his mother."
"Hmm." Makarov crosses his arms. His eyebrows furrow deep as he shuts his eyes in deep thought. "Sorry, I can't tell you that."
"B-but why not!?"
"Mira, my dear, some things in this world are better left unknown, but if you really has to know then why don't you go ask the man yourself?"
"I see... thank you for your time, Master." With that Mira leaves with her head hung low. She knew Makarov was her last because Laxus certainly wouldn't want her prying into his life, and that it would upset him.
"Laxus, I want you to smile again." she whispers.
That evening, as Mira is dusting the Master's office desk, a brown photo album of the guild from 20 years ago is sitting right in the open. How bizarre, it's almost as if Makarov himself had instigated it. Mira quickly picks it up.
The first page reveals pictures of the founding Masters, the next few pages pictures of everyone including herself in their early teens, and finally at the very back page — The Dreyars.
"This is...!"
That's when Laxus suddenly bursts into the room.
"Gramp!" He looks around instead to find Mira gasping with her left hand covering her mouth while the other hiding a rectangular object behind her. "Hey, know where's I can find gramp by any chance?"
Mira shakes her head.
"Tch!" Laxus hastily leaves, closing the door shut with a slam.
"Whew." Having wiped the sweat off her forehead, she flips the pages over back to where she was on the desk then uses her finger to guide her eyes down the three family pictures there. "Aww how adorable~" The first picture melts her heart, where a 5 year-old Laxus is seen dragging Makarov down the street. The second picture makes her blood boil simply to see Ivan's face. Nothing, however, can prepare her for the final picture. "She's... she's so gorgeous..."
Up until now Mira has always wondered how Laxus' got his good looks when neither Ivan nor Makarov can live up his standard. To think he inherited his mother's looks...
"Lisa Dreyar." A feminine voice echoes behind her.
"W-who's there!?"
The woman in question simply stares as her dull, red eyes bore deep into Mira's. In her right hand a basket of medicines, so Mira quickly recognizes her.
"Porlyusica, please don't scare me like that..."
"You, send Makarov my regards." Dropping her basket of on the desk, Porlyusica wastes no time heading for the exit, but a grip to her wrist immediately stops her in her tracks. "What!?" She glares.
"Please, tell me. How much do you know about the Dreyars?"
"..."
"Please."
Polyusica finally sighs. "Listen well, you are better off not getting yourself involved with the Dreyars. Nothing good ever comes of it."
"Anyone can run away, it's super easy... facing problems and working through them, that's what make you strong."
A sigh escapes Porlyusica. Those words somehow remind her of herself and Makarov back in their good old days. "Huh, stop by the treehouse this evening."
"You mean it!?"
"But I'm warning you, you must only come alone."
"Promise."
"Hmph, never have I dreamt the day would come anyone would be so interested in the Dreyars."
"Gramp! There you are!" Laxus yells, heaving his shoulder up and down as sweats stream down his face.
"What up, brat? You look like you've just run a marathon looking for me."
"That's because I did." His eyebrow twitches. Sitting down next to his grandfather on the wooden park bench, Laxus then crosses his arms. "So tell me... did you really see her?"
Makarov nods guilty.
"You told her I'd agreed, didn't you..?"
Makarov nods once more.
"Goddamn it, gramp! I thought we discussed this already, and you promised to cut all ties with my mother!"
"Well what am I supposed to do!? The Dreyars' crumbling as it is!"
"Ggh..."
The sound of rustling leaves carries away the silence between the two, and having clenched his fist for so long, Laxus eventually gets up on his feet. "I hope you're happy now." He mutters.
"Laxus, your mother lov—."
"Save it." With his back turned on Makarov, Laxus slowly disappears from sight, leaving Makarov all alone and distraught with one hand on his forehead.
That evening rain fell out of the sky in blinding sheets as Laxus is pacing back and forth in his room. "Damn it, damn it, damn it all!" His roar rivals the thunder. To think that Makarov, the only family he truly loves, had betrayed his trust is like a dagger to his heart.
Ever since he was little, Laxus has always stared outside the window wondering if his mother is out there somewhere thinking about him. He would look into the mirror and saw her green eyes looking back at him, for they're the only thing she ever gave to him. So why? Why would he feel this bitter now that he can finally see her?
*Ding dong~*
"Tch!"
*Ding dong~*
Laxus examines through his door peephole to find a familiar face under a yellow umbrella. Those emerald eyes, that blonde long hair... there's no mistaking it. "Leave, I don't know you." He growls.
"Laxus, it's me, don't you recognize your own mother?" Her soft, innocent voice further irritates Laxus, and he straightaway grabs the door open to yell at her, but as soon as her hands are on his face after having dropped her umbrella, he can only gawk. "Oh Laxus, look at you... how you've grown since the last time I saw you..."
"Gah!" Laxus hastily leaps back.
"My son, are you not happy to see your mother after all this time?" Lisa asks placing one hand on her breast. However much to her dismay, Laxus only takes another step back and the fear in his eyes only grows stronger. "Laxus, I—"
"Don't take another step!"
"..."
"After all this time you think you can just walt in here like nothing ever happened!? Like everything's fine!? Gramp may have fooled you into thinking that I'd take you in now that you've lost everything, but did you honestly believe I'd forgive you just like that!?"
Tears trickles down Lisa's face.
"You're dead to me." Slamming the door shut in his mother's face, Laxus leans his back against the door and grits his teeth as Lisa bangs the door begging for his forgiveness. "Never show your face here ever again! You'd better be gone by the time I get back..."
The moon dawns in a blink of an eye. Laxus doesn't need to move out his bed to know his mother is still drenched outside and shivering in cold with his keen sense of smell. What he fails to pick up is... another person's scent.
Having just returned from the East Forest, Mira happens to walk past Laxus' house with her umbrella when she finds a woman sobbing by the door — her arms wrapped around her knees, her face buried. Cautiously, she gets down on her knee then pats her shoulder, all the while sheltering her from the rain. "Miss, how can I help you?"
"I need a place to stay..." Her face straightaway tells Mira a thousand words, and she needs only recall what Porlyusica had told her during her visit to grasp the situation.
"You're freezing. Let's get you over to my place before you catch a cold, okay?"
"Why? Why would you do this for a stranger?"
Mira shakes her head. "I'm doing this for Laxus, certainly not you."
"... I see."
"Yes, now hurry."
The short distance home to her apartment feels long and tedious as tension builds up inside Mira's chest. She can't bring herself to look at her. Until, Lisa suddenly asks, "Who are you? What's your relation to Laxus?"
"I'm Mira, a proud member of Fairy Tail and a childhood friend of Laxus."
The word "Childhood" to Lisa is like a slap to the face, immediately stopping her in her tracks as she lowers her head staring into the muddy street. "How nice... you two must be very close..."
"I wish. He rarely ever talks to me since we don't have much in common." Mira then raises out her hand. "Come, we're almost there."
Lisa weakly nods.
Having finally arrived at her apartment, Mira tosses Lisa her towel and a spare change of cloth from her drawer. "There. You may use my shower just around the corner."
"Thanks." Lisa sincerely says. Minutes later she emerges looking more elegant than ever before in her new dress, mesmerizing even Mira who's sitting on the edge of her bed. "... Umm, thanks again for doing this."
Mira smiles. "Don't sweat it. Come sit next with me."
"Alright."
"Now then," She says once Lisa has sat down, ""Why have you decided to come back after all this time?"
Of course, Mira had already known her part of the story. Still to be able to hear the truth come out of her own mouth will give Mira an insight of the real Lisa.
"You see... ever since I'd left town for Crocus, life over the next twenty years had been nothing but a constant struggle, and never a single day went by without me missing of my one and only son."
"If that's how you really feel, then why did you leave town in the first place?"
Lisa sighs. Her eyes sparkles with tears. "I love my son with all my heart, really I do, yet I was a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of my husband which forced me to make the hardest decision of my life. Take a look." Lisa lifts up her dress, revealing multiple scars from cuts and bruises.
"That's horrible..."
"I couldn't come back, I mean how could I!? I couldn't bear the thought of my own son not being able to forgive me, and when I heard him perish on Tenroujima Island seven years ago, I-I..." Lisa can no longer hold back her tears, so Mira gently stroke her back.
"I know. I know..." she whispers. "but then years later you saw him participating in the Grand Magic Game and went too cheer him in the final. That's when you bumped into Porlyusica."
Lisa nods wiping her tears.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep my knowledge a secret."
"It's alright... I suspected as much." Lisa forces a smile. "Ever since the Grand Magic Game, I could no longer contain my penned up emotion. I just had to see him. That's why I gave up what little I had to afford a trip back to Magnolia, but once again, I only ended up hurting everyone."
"Come here." Pulling Lisa into her arms, Mira weakly smiles. "You've gone through a lot, still there's no denying the unforgivable fact that you did forsake your own son to leave in such abusive environment all by himself, devoid of motherly love."
"Please tell me... I don't know what else to do."
"Give it time. Laxus is a sensible man. One day I'm sure he'll understand."
"..."
"..."
"What have I done...?" Laxus stares at the rain-soaked yellow umbrella lying before him outside the front door. His mother's scent has been long gone, which sends a frown on his face.
Ironic as it is, he grabs the yellow umbrella and soon finds himself searching around town like a mother to her lost child. Laxus, however, can't bring himself to scream out for his mother's name. His pride just wouldn't let him.
Damn it, woman. Where could you have possibly gone?
To be continued...
Thank you for reading. I am deciding whether to continue with this story or finish "Until We Meet Again" depending on the number of reviews I get for this chapter, so whichever story you find more interesting, please let me know in the review ^_^.
