Chapter 4: Burning Bridges

Bixlow woke up early the next morning, sighing in relief when he saw that Lisanna was still sound asleep, curled up like a cat next to the wall of pillows, breathing softly and deeply in her slumber. Her hair, which had grown longer in the 6 months since the Grand Magic Games, shimmered in the sunlight around her shoulders. Man, Lisa...you really are beautiful. But in truth, the next time he saw her in the skanky outfit she had on last night, he'd blow a gasket. Speaking of which...

Bixlow got up and silently grabbed the garish outfit from out of Lisanna's duffel bag, taking his lighter and bringing it all to the balcony, closing the double French doors behind him so that the smell wouldn't reach Lisanna. He set fire to it all, the shoes, the miniskirt, and the tube top. That outfit is just too revealing...way too tempting. It's bad enough half of Fairy Tail's women dress like skanks; Lisanna doesn't have to be added to that mix. Man...that outfit could've belonged to f****** Cosplay Queen Lucy f****** Heartfelia! Bixlow shook his head.

How naive is Lisanna that she'd go off and flaunt her body in such a slutty way to so many guys she didn't know in an unfamiliar city?! I mean...even I had trouble not snatching her up and having my way with her in some dark random ally! What if I hadn't shown up? She could've been raped or killed or_

"You know, you could just ask me to throw them away instead of burning them on the balcony of the best hotel in town..." Bixlow jumped, quickly spinning around to see Lisanna leaning against the left and closed French door. He grunted and shrugged.

"Too late now."

"Too late! Too late! Too late! Too late! Tooooooooooooooooo laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate!" The dolls chanted, swirling around Bixlow's and Lisanna's heads.

Lisanna laughed, shaking her head. "Well, I just hope this doesn't get us thrown out..." Lisanna walked out onto the balcony, joining Bixlow. "I'm sorry about last night, I really am."

"It's alright now..." Bixlow muttered, shrugging. "Just don't do it again."

"Okay..." Lisanna nodded. "Soo...what's the story with you and your brothers?"

"It ain't a pleasant one."

"Well, last night wasn't a pleasant experience and this isn't a pleasant mission."

Bixlow sighed. She had a point. "Pleasant pleasant pleasant pleasant! PLEASANT!"

"Oi, babies. Not right now. Don't parrot the story either."

"Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir!" They all chanted in unison.

o0o FLASHBACK o0o

"Daddy, why don't we have a last name?" A young Bixlow with a much more innocent face and voice asked sweetly.

"Go on, Kid. Been that way for as long as I can remember," Bixlow's father snapped at him. He never looked the boy in the eyes like he did Aaron and Cable; in fact, no one did. Not since what happened to their mother, Elaine. Bixlow even wore a paper bag with small eyeholes that were covered with tape, and people still didn't quite look at him the way he longed for them to. "Don't ask stupid questions," His father added gruffly, turning away from the small five-year-old.

"But Daddy! Can we get a_"

Bixlow ducked as the beer bottle sailed towards his head. "I SAID GO ON, YOU IDIOT BOY! YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE!"

Fighting tears, Bixlow made a run for it, barreling through the front door and out into the city. He tore through the streets and allies, begging someone, anyone to love him the way his mother had before she'd died. All he'd gotten were cold glares and kicks to the ribs and shoves to the ground. In the distance he could hear his father shouting swears at him, blaming him for his mother's death.

Finally, Bixlow sat in an old abandoned ally, holding a small stuffed lizard that had been thrown away. Bixlow looked at it through his teary eyes, sniffling and not really minding that the tape and tears obscured his vision and made the small toy blurry.

"No one wanted you either?" He asked quietly with a hiccup. "You were...were just thrown away...? Did you do something terrible...too?" Bixlow sobbed harder, his small body heaving and trembling. The sound of the tiny lad's wails bounced back off of the faded brick walls, ringing in his ears.

"Why...why am I talking to you?! You're stuffed...you can't even...even hear me! Much less talk back!" Bixlow coughed, then his eyes widened. "Unless..." He smiled for the first time in years, since that rainy day. "Unless I give...give you a voice..."

Wrenching off the paper bag, Bixlow stared into the Lizard's faded black marble eyes. The came to life and the lizard's mout opened, tongue flicking and hanging out in a wide grin. "Give me a voice? Give me a voice, that's nice." Bixlow put his paper bag back on.

"Uh-huh. I'll call you...Uh...Eli." That was as close as he could get to his mother's name with out it being a girl's.

"Eli, uh-huh. Eli. Call me Eli." Okay, so most of the words were just random parrotings, and the lizard always had his tongue lolling out, but that was okay. Bixlow finally had himself a friend.

"I'm Bixlow. We can be best friends from now on!"

"Bixlow, uh-huh, you're Bixlow, uh-huh. Eli Bixlow's best friend, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh." The tongue slapped Bixlow in the face, but it didn't hurt; instead, the little boy giggled brightly, eyes shining with a light that had been vacant for far too long.

"There he is!" Bixlow's head snapped up as Aaron and Cable stood in menacing stances at the entrance of the ally.

"You dumb ***! Someone saw you use your magic eyes thing and ran and beat up Dad!" Aaron growled.

"You're gonna' pay ya' littly punk b****!" Cable seconded.

"I just wanted a frieeend!" Bixlow pleaded, clutching Eli to his chest. "Just leave me alone, please!" The tears began to flow again as Eli was wrenched from his grasp.

"Friend please, leave friend alone please! Bixlow friend!" A fist connected with Bixlows face and he could hear ripping sounds. But they weren't his clothes or his bag.

"Eli!" Bixlow cried as a foot knocked the wind from him and he was slammed against the ground. The blows all came in a blur, and his vision spun, dimming slowly.

When he came to, Aaron and Cable were gone and Eli was torn to shreds, stuffing leaking out of the small, felt frame. Eli's eyes were dim once more. Bixlow kicked a can in anger. "I WAS FINALLY HAPPY!" He screamed to the air. "HAPPY FOR ONE SECOND AND...AND..." He sobbed harder, flinging himself to the ground, punching it and kicking it with all his might. "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYY?!" He screamed to no one in particular.

"So your'e different too?"

He looked up, seeing a young girl with scarlet hair and brown eyes. She gave him a sad smile. "I know a place where you'll be wanted...and these people won't beat you or tear your things...well, they might fight you, but only if you fight back."

Bixlow sat up, sniffling. "Where?"

"Fairy Tail."

As Bixlow grew older, he sent money back to his family in Paristole; 50,000 jewels a month. Sure, Aaron, Cable, and Dad weren't the best family, but hey. Bixlow still loved them, deep down inside. And in a way, Elaine's death was indeed his fault.

Bixlow and Erza, as he'd found out that had been the girl's name, didn't talk much as they both preferred to keep to themselves. Instead, Bixlow often found solace in the company of Fried, Laxus, and Evergreen and the four mainly kept to their own little circle. Eventually, Bixlow ditched the paperbag and went for a helmet. He took to letting his tongue hang out like Eli had and he created Pappu, Peppu, Pippi, Poppo, and Puppu.

As Bixlow learned to control his magic and trust in Fried and Evergreen, he became more or less content; but never really happy. He thought about his family and hometown a lot, especially Elaine. He wondered that if he hadn't accidently taken over her body and inadvertently ran her into the way of a speading train in his own panic would she still be alive.

o0o Flash Back End o0o

Lisanna sat in silence for a moment before wrapping her arms around Bixlow's shoulders. "I'm sorry," She whispered, feeling her own tears prick her eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"It ain't your fault and it's over and done with..." Bixlow muttered, not really looking at her as he awkwardly patted her back. "I moved on."

"I know, but it must've been hard! And then I kept on and on about how excited I was, and then I took off last night and_"

"Hey, hey. You didn't know. And it's not really a big deal, okay?" Bixlow pulled back, brushing tears from the corners of Lisanna's eyes. "I told you. I moved on."

"Moved on...moved on moved on moved on..." The dolls chanted softly, unusually somber.

Lisanna nodded, and cupped Bixlow's cheek. "We'll get them together, okay?" She whispered, looking Bixlow directly in the eyes. Even before, she'd always looked at his nose or just under his eyes when he had his helmet off. But this time, she looked straight into his dark eyes; void of all threatening magic.

"Yeah...yeah, we will," He muttered.

LIsanna kissed his cheek and smiled. "And we'll give 'em Hell."

(A/N: In the flash back, I originally planned for Bixlow to be 5, but I guess he was a bit older, seeing as I put Erza there, who was 11. And Bixlow is about uh...let's see, Erza's 17, he's 23...uh...6 years older than her. So yeah, I guess Bixlow was kind of a bit too childish for his age in the flashback, but trauma will often stunt a child's emotional growth, so I think it evens out. Anyway, R&R if you please! ~)