Laxus P.O.V.
"You are to defeat and capture the Dark Guild, Eisenwald." The Magic Council stated and left.
I sighed. This is boring. It's always destroy this guild or defeat that one. I want some change. I guess I should be happy because it's been a long time since I went on a job with Lucy. I smiled to myself. She looked so lost and afraid and fragile. She had definitely lost her tough edge since her mom died. And in a way, I missed her constant yelling. She looked so, so- I don't know how to put it. She kind of reminds me of Mira-Jane, really mean and tough but then when Lisanna died she became nicer.
"This should be fun, right?" Lucy smiled, looking up at me. I could feel my heart speed up again. "I know you hate these kind of jobs but they're still fun. It lets us spend time together like old times."
My heart melted at her words, I refused to let my face show it though. I've always had a soft spot for her. She was my weakness, after all. There isn't much I wouldn't give her.
"Do you remember our promise?"
"The one where we said we'd wait for each other to come home?" I asked. We made that promise in front of Mavis' grave nine years ago.
"Yeah. Well, I meant something else but I-"
"Lucky Lucy of the Heartfilias, my. It's your unlucky day." I whipped my head in the direction of the voice.
The voice belonged to a man with wild black hair and three metal studs along each side of his nose.
"Who the hell are you?" I shouted the man.
He flicked a piece of metal into the air and caught it in his mouth, chewing it then swallowing.
"Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon-Slayer." Lucy answered, her eyes were wide. "He's part of Phantom Lord."
I moved protectively in front of Lucy. I noticed her hand flicked to her hip, her Gate Keys.
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" She shouted
"Moo! You summoned me, Lucy?" The cow-man mooed.
"Taurus, I need you to defeat that man!" Lucy pointed at the Iron Dragon-Slayer. She looked up at me.
I nodded understanding what she wanted me to do. She wasn't weak, but she knew she couldn't win this battle alone. I picked her up and ran from where Taurus and Gajeel Redfox were locked in battle. Lucy's eyes began to leak tears. She hated leaving her spirits behind. She loved them very much.
"L-Laxus…" She whined. I gently pushed her face into my chest as she clung to my shirt and jacket.
"Its fine, Luce. We just have to get back to Magnolia, alright? That's only a three hour train ride. You can cry all you want on the way." I assured her. When we reached the station I bought to tickets for Magnolia and sat on a bench by the loading dock. I put my Sound Pod over her ears and watched her drift off, tears still streaking down her cheeks.
"Laxus!"
I looked up at the sound of my name, seeing Freed and Team Natsu run toward us.
"What's wrong with you idiots?!" I barked quietly, trying not to wake Lucy.
"Laxus," Freed gasped. "The guild hall has been smashed." He took a deep breath. "By Phantom Lord."
I ground my teeth together. "Damn them! I won't let them!" He roared. Still holding Lucy, the seven of us, including Lucy and Happy, ran onto the train bound for Magnolia. I gently put Lucy next to me when we sat down on the train. Natsu looked like he would vomit at any moment and Gray and Erza looked so angry words couldn't describe. Happy was poking fun at people, trying to lighten the mood slightly but to no avail. Freed, however, looked shocked at my angry outburst earlier.
"Laxus?" a small, light, female voice reached my ears.
I looked down at Lucy. "You're okay."
"Who are these people?" She asked weakly.
"My apologies for not greeting you at the Guild Hall, Lucy. I'm Erza Scarlet."
"Pleasure to meet you, Erza." Lucy smiled.
"I'm Gray Fullbuster." He said, taking off his shirt.
"Gray! Your clothes!" Erza yelled, punching him in the head, knocking him out cold. "He has a habit of this. Don't mind him."
"R-right." Lucy stuttered. "Laxus,"
"Hm?"
"Here," She handed me my Sound Pod.
"Keep it." I gave it back to her.
Erza smiled at this. I watched her eyes dart between us with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I roared.
"I've come to the same conclusion, Laxus." Freed said. "What is she?"
"A human being, Freed." Lucy roared at Freed. "A human being with ears and feelings." She put the Sound Pod over her ears once more, clearly angry. "Jerk."
I pressed my cheek to the top of her head. "He didn't mean it like that, Luce." I faced Freed and Erza. "You two wouldn't know her but I bet you've seen the pictures of her on the second floor, Erza. She's the youngest S-Class wizard Fairy Tail ever had. She left due to some circumstances before you joined the guild. It's not my place to tell you what they were though."
"You can tell them, they're family." Lucy grumbled.
"This is Lucy Heartfilia. Daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia." I said slowly, since there wasn't a day that went by when Gramps wouldn't tell the stories of Layla Heartfilia.
"Lucky Lucy? Really?" Gray said, regaining consciousness. "I've heard the stories of how Jude treats the people around him. Your mother let you join Fairy Tail, not your father. Am I right?" He asked, sheepishly.
Removing the Sound Pod once more, she nodded. "It was awful. Living there was like hell on Earth. When mom got sick, he pulled me away from Fairy Tail, against Mom's wishes. She wanted me to have a loving father and many siblings. She wanted me to know the warmth of a loving family and freedom. She and Gramps knew each other long before I was born. Laxus' father, Ivan Dreyar, was very kind to me growing up and very fond of Mom too."
Erza looked at me in shock. "Ivan Dreyar…Kind? Those are not words I would use to describe that man."
I wanted to hit Erza. "A word. Erza." I said standing up. I walked into the dining car with Erza tailing behind. "Don't mention anything about my father, alright? She has few good memories of father figures in her life. Don't take them away from her." I folded my arms over my chest.
"This is really out of character for you, Laxus. I've never seen you act so fondly towards anyone before. To be frank, I didn't think you had these emotions for the longest time."
"Tch, Shut up already. I'm just telling you that if you tarnish the few good memories she has left, you'll be answering to me." I left to go back to Lucy.
"You do know, Lucy, that Laxus is rather fond of you. It's because of you that he distanced himself from a lot of people. It's because of you that he doesn't work well with anyone except Freed, Bixlow, and me."
"Evergreen! That's enough!" I yelled, recognizing her voice. I saw her sneer fade off her face. I hurried over to Lucy. "Damn," Tears were streaking down her cheeks once more. She really hadn't changed. She was tough for him back then when he needed it, but now it was his turn to be strong for her. "EVERGREEN!" I roared. "Get out of my way before I tear you to tiny pieces." I scooped Lucy into my lap.
Freed rounded on Evergreen, making threats on my part.
"Why is Lucy crying?" Natsu asked as the train came to a stop, recovering from his motion sickness.
Please Review! It gets me motivated! -SFL