A/N: as promised, here is the next chapter- as always read, review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own fairy tail
She stood in the centre of the ballroom, hands clamped in front of her in the simple submissive stance she was supposed to appear in. Submission, was that what this was? She was like fire, submitting to nothing but air, the lack of which meant the end of its existence, an existence gone like the blowing out of a candle. If only she had the power to burn, if only some things, it would all be worth it.
Her eyes were like sunflowers, devouring the light thrown off the chandelier, dancing on the people below like ballerinas from a different dimension or fairies teasing human kind with their displays of magic. The bright lights were enough to distract herself with for some time, bearing the unbearable.
"Lady Cana?" a female voice called her back from her pretence, oh sweet pretend why must you abandon me know?
"Yes?" she enquired, her voice attempting to mimic the sweet murmuring of birds but something so pure that its wings confined it to the heavens was forever outside her reach.
"A young officer seems to be asking rather a lot of questions about you. You best put an end to it before someone cooks up a scandal out of whispers." She replied in a hushed voice, her eyes kind yet her brow was laced with warning, like an assassins cloak laced with pockets.
What would be in this pocket?
"Do you have some business with me?" she asked, her voice ringing out like a whip, lashing at his already mutilated face. His expression was blank, his stance void of any defining features. If only she could be this blank, like a white sheet of parchment ready to be written on. If only she could be unmarked, unscarred, unpruned.
"Yes and no, Madame." He said, his words twisted by a foreign tongue. She expected her expression to shift, for lines of irritation to appear, her reputation upheld but alas nothing happened other than his intense eyes boring into her.
"Make your mind up about it, I don't wish to play games, your actions have been reckless enough to attract my attention, who else's suspicions do you wish to entertain at my expense?" she snapped, hoping her words would loosen his tongue. Who was a lowly soldier to inspire such vile whisperings among the wretches of court. He shifted his weight, eyes probing. Cana felt uncomfortable, unease filling her bones once again with unease. She wanted to escape his eyes, his… informality. Before she could register her actions she had taken a step back, hiding her shock at how his eyes stripped her back, her façade falling away like her wedding dress.
"You don't remember me?" he asked, almost sadly though his tone could only truly be called apathetic. She looked him over, her eyes trailing over his face, hoping that she didn't remember him, because there was only one part of her memory he would be- that secret part that not even gods wrath could taint.
"What is your name soldier?" she asked, her voice wavering. His face became hard, body tense as if he wanted to spring forth from his body and grasp her, the idea both comforting on a human level and utterly terrifying simultaneously. He took a hesitant step forward, glancing behind them in an attempt to secure the privacy of the balcony which was of course unnecessary. His eyes turned back to hers, burning her like the fire she wished to embody.
"Dreyar, Madame. Laxus Dreyar." He said, the words spinning her into a whirlwind of memories, the tornado ripping the air from her lungs.
"No…" she gasped out with the last of her air before her world was once again engulfed by darkness.
Though it wasn't much of a diference.