Bixanna Week – Beautiful Soul

Day 6 – Family

Sort of a sequel to "Baby."

"Do you ever worry about that sort of thing?" Lisanna suddenly said.

Her question came out of nowhere and Bixlow was more than a little confused. Considering that the conversation had been about the possibility of Natsu wearing different colored scarves, Bixlow really wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"What sort of thing?" He asked. "Gonna have to be more specific there, Lis."

She gestured vaguely in the direction of Elfman and Evergreen. They were unsurprisingly in the middle of an argument. He wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, save for a few choice words relating to manliness. Even though he couldn't catch enough of the conversation to figure out exactly what they were arguing about, he was highly convinced that it was another isolated incidence of a couple's fight. And Elfman and Evergreen had a lot of those.

He turned back to Lisanna and bluntly asked, "What am I looking at?"

She waved more insistently at the pair. "That!" She said. "Don't you see it?"

"Not really, no," he said. "Literally I see them, but figuratively, I ain't got a damn clue what you're getting at."

"They like each other," she stated. The way she said it made it sound like indisputable fact, and Bixlow hastily tried to pass off his laughter as a coughing fit.

"Could've fooled me," he said. "Seems to me like there's never a moment those two aren't disagreeing about something or other."

"True," she agreed. "But I think that's just their way of showing affection."

Bixlow observed the two in question for a minute. It was true that they argued a lot, but it seemed to him like the issues were never anything serious. And when it came down to it, there were those rare moments that he saw them holding hands when they thought no one was watching.

"They're made for each other," he concluded.

"Right," she said. "Which is great. But at the same time it's not."

"You know, for a moment I thought I was on the verge of a breakthrough and that I was gonna understand your point to all this," he said. "Now you lost me again."

"It's not great for me!" She said as if this cleared everything up.

"Er, how do you figure? I would've thought you'd be rooting for your brother's happiness," he said. He glanced back at Elfman and Evergreen just as their argument was heating up. "Even if it is a somewhat skewed, strange, twisted kind of happiness."

"This is just the beginning of it, Bixlow!" Lisanna said, the urgency in her tone increasing by the minute. "Pretty soon they'll all be in on it!"

"Who's in on what now?" Bixlow asked, feeling more confused than ever.

"Being a couple!" Lisanna exploded, throwing her hands up. "I'll wake up one morning and suddenly bam! Everyone's all paired up!"

"And this is a bad thing?" He asked, still not getting it.

"Yes! Because then they'll all start getting married! Before you know it, you'll start receiving wedding invitations in the mail and watch all your friends tie the knot while you clap politely in the audience," she said.

"That's a pretty active imagination you got there," he said. "But I still don't see how this is a problem."

"And then," she said, going on as if she hadn't heard him. "Then they start having kids and suddenly you're being invited to first birthday parties and family gatherings!"

Bixlow stayed silent for a bit as Lisanna calmed down. Finally he repeated the essential question he'd be asking for the past ten minutes, "So what's the problem?"

"Obviously I'd be really happy for all my friends," she said. "But what if while they're moving on and experiencing all these things, I just stay in the same place and don't get to share in any of it?"

"Y'mean like what if you don't get married and have kids and all that jazz?" Bixlow clarified.

She nodded. "Exactly. What if I'm left alone and sad and have to watch everyone else live out really happy lives? I don't think I could take it. Do you ever worry about that happening to you?"

"Hm," he said. "Honestly? I never thought about that until you brought it up just now. Although I have to say I do admire that you were able to imagine that elaborate scenario just from seeing Elfman and Evergreen bicker."

"I've thought about it before," she said. "It's a real concern of mine."

"I'm not saying it's not important," he said. "If it matters to you then who am I to say that it's not worth worrying about? Although if we're being honest here, I don't think you need to stress, Lis."

She tilted her head. "Why's that?"

"Cause you're surrounded by people that care about you," he said, gesturing widely around the area. "I mean, come on, this guild is practically your family. You've got your siblings and you've got us. And you've got me."

She smiled at that. "Really?"

"Hell yeah," he said with a grin. "I ain't asking you yet, cause I'm saving it for later, but didn't you say you wanted to marry me?"

"Hinted," she corrected. "But yeah. Maybe I did say something like that."

"Problem solved," he said as he put an arm around her.

"Thanks, Bixlow," she said. "But promise me something?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's try not to be that crazy, okay?"

They unanimously turned in the direction of Elfman and Evergreen. Their argument was still ongoing, and the random outbursts about manliness had become even more outrageous. Bixlow nodded. "Done."

The silliness increases! These two are too much for me, honestly.