Chapter 10: The Guild's Reaction

Half an hour later I was still weakly clutching at the article in my hand and wondering what I was going to do. A very large part of me really wanted to believe Laxus's words, and a stubborn part thought that maybe it was possible that I was Laxus's mate. Yet the reasonable part of me argued with the other parts saying that Laxus would have told me if that was the case. After all what sane man or rather dragon slayer would leave that out when confessing to the girl he loves.

The guild was rowdy as ever and I was slightly afraid to go down stairs. Actually I'm quite surprised that no one has bothered confronting me with the Article yet, or going after Laxus to see if it's true. I wanted to run out of the guild and head back home, but that just meant that I'd be heading to Laxus's place and be surrounded by his things.

Taking a deep breath I reminded myself that I am Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail. I don't cower in fear of things instead I take them by stride. When Gajeel tortured me I didn't give in no matter how much it hurt, I didn't give into the darkness with Nirvana, and I defeated a member of Grimore Heart after he tried to crush my skull in. Even if I feel fear I face it head on and that's what gives me an inner strength.

Walking down the stairs I found my eyes automatically drawn to Laxus. He was sitting with the rest of his team, but they weren't giving me strange looks so I don't think he told them yet. It was almost like he felt my eyes on him though because his gaze met mine and he smiled brightly at me, but didn't make a move to come towards me. Laxus was clearly telling me that for now he would give me space, although I have no idea how long it will last.

"Lucy-chan it's horrible!" Mira called me bundling towards me her eyes locking on the paper and by the mad glint in her eyes I knew that she had already read it.

"Mira-san," I tried to protest knowing where she would be going with this.

"We'll have to call them right away and demand a retraction to that ridiculous story!" her eyes were alight with fire and I was a little surprised that she wasn't in her Satan Soul form.

Everyone's eyes were on us because of Mira's loud voice and I could see the pain in Laxus's eyes. The same pain I felt all the time when people seemed to think that the two of us weren't made to be a couple. It hurt, but I had been expecting people to act like this if they ever found out so it didn't really surprise me.

"Mira-san there won't be a retraction," my eyes were downcast as I tried to avoid the look of ridicule I was expecting.

"Of course you can get a retraction Lucy-chan this is just ridiculous making up rumors like this. I'm still debating on whether I should go down there and give Jason-kun a piece of my mind for making people think of you like this!"

Getting fed up I just shouted at her, "IT'S TRUE MIRA-SAN!"

"What?" she asked her eyes comically looking like they were about to pop out of her head. Then her eyes blazed and she transformed into her Satan Soul Halphas form as she ran towards Laxus, "LAXUS I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Everyone just turned towards her with wide eyes as she charged towards Laxus, none of them being brave enough to get into Mira's path. Laxus just looked at Mira with sad eyes like he had expected her to act this way which isn't really much of a stretch. I had seen and heard with my own ears what Mira thinks of Laxus and I being together. Yet even after berating her last time she hasn't seemed to realize that it isn't her job to hurt him, and that I had willingly been with him.

Not even thinking about it I ran in front of Mira putting my arms out to the side standing in front of Laxus. The gasps from our guild mates told me that they clearly thought I was suicidal to get in her way, but it worked considering that Mira stopped in her tracks. I guess it was just wishful thinking hoping that I could keep this on the down low with Laxus until we sorted everything out, especially considering the article.

"Lucy-chan move," Mira demanded glaring at me, but not coming any closer. It seems even in her anger that she has control enough to not want to hurt me or the babies I am carrying yet she seems to want to leave them fatherless.

"No!" I told her stomping my foot down and glaring at her. "This is why I didn't answer you guys when Cana confronted me about it because I knew you would act this way. I chose to go to him it was my choice and I could have stopped it at anytime it certainly wasn't the first time we got close to doing it, but it was the first time I was ready to give it to him. It is completely my decision on if I want to be with him or not and I'm not allowing you to hurt him because of that."

Cana looked like she was going to crash down on the floor as her eyes popped out of her head. The most shocking thing though was the grumbling people pulling out wads of jewels and handing them off to a laughing Natsu. No one else was paid money though meaning that Natsu was the only one who truly thought Laxus and I could become a couple. It actually stings to see just how many people are paying Natsu for being right about us.

"You promised Laxus, you promised you wouldn't lay a hand on her," Mira said switching tactics and glaring at him. Most people would be sweat dropping at this, but I had no idea how Laxus was reacting. It is sort of hard to see his face when I'm standing in front of him after all.

"No Demon I promised I wouldn't touch her unless if she wanted it to. God damn it why can't you understand that I love her!" he screamed I could feel the lightning tingling at my back, but it never actually hit me. Laxus's control was too strong for him to allow it to harm me even when I am right in front of him

The raw pain almost had me believeing that he was telling the truth, but I just can't allow myself to believe it. My heart is just too closed off and I am too afraid of love. I can't allow it to be true because that means that I have to stop pretending like he means nothing to me. Just like my father had been years ago I was too afraid to love him, and too afraid to let him love me. Wasn't it cruel to allow him to love me when the curse that plagues me can one day end up in my death, or end up with everyone I love needing to kill me. Laxus needs to let me go because I will only hurt him in the end.

Mira had a horrified face as she stared back and forth between Laxus and I. Denial was written across her face because she couldn't believe it either. After all he was Laxus Dreyar the biggest playboy in the guild unless if you include Loke it seemed impossible for him to love anyone.

It was only when Mira calmed down and hugged me tightly to her that I realized I was crying. To Mira she probably thought I was crying because of her fighting Laxus leaving her to stand down out of concern for me. What I was really crying about though was how I should have never become a member of Fairy Tail. In the end I would just end up breaking them when they lost me to the darkness. Mama was right being in a guild only brought you pain because you know that one day you have to let them all go.

Everyone's eyes were still on us as they waited for more details about what was going on. It wouldn't surprise me if Mira hadn't hidden all of the Sorcerer's Weekly Magazine's to keep the rumor from going around the guild. At least it gave Laxus and I reprieve for a while. I was terrified of how his team would react towards me when they found out I was pregnant with Laxus's child. Either they like everyone else would think I wasn't a good match for Laxus, or even worse they could start treating me like they do Laxus. Hope Laxus knows that if that happens I'll disappear in a heartbeat if I wanted worshippers I would have stayed with my father instead of joining Fairy Tail.

Squealing Mira let me go and looked at my stomach. Here it comes now that she's calmed down Mira has finally realized that her dream of babies in the guild is coming true. She missed being here for Asuka, but I had a feeling that Mira is going to be one of the most annoying people for the next six months or however long a dragon slayer pregnancy will be. At least I know that she'll be willing to babysit in the future.

"Oh I can't wait to start planning everything," she told me looking excited.

"What do you mean planning everything?" I asked her horrified. Hoping she only meant a baby shower or something like that.

Mira's eyes turned scary and I wanted to hide behind Laxus, but thought it would give him the wrong idea. Going to him for protection would tell him just how much I trusted and cared for him, then again this is Mirajane we are talking about. He might just see it as a natural course of action when faced with her crazy schemes.

"Why the wedding of course to begin with," she said tilting her head to the side in confusion the way she spoke saying she thought it was obvious.

I just looked at her in disbelief. "Let me get this straight you want to kill Laxus one minute, and now you want us to get married?! Are you out of your mind Mira-san?!"

"No not at all. He took your innocence and left you with the consequences the only honorable thing for him to do is marry you. Unless if you're saying he's refusing to do what he needs to do?" she said her eyes twisting with pleasure as she probably thought about how she could torture Laxus.

Looking around I could see the wide eyed looks we were getting and the teary eyes from the Raijinshuu. Freed could almost rival Juvia when she believes that someone is being her love rival with how much tears he is shedding. Obviously they had only thought we had been secretly dating and that Mira was mad about that. Maybe they didn't realize I was expecting yet, and hopefully think that Mira is just overreacting to things like usual.

I thought I would be free to run off, but then Laxus had to open his mouth to reply to Mira's question. "I'd marry her if she'd let me demon, but I have a feeling Lucy will refuse so I'm not going to ask her until she doesn't doubt that I love her. Even if it means waiting years to convince her of the fact, you'll just have to find someone else to plan a wedding for. Maybe even plan your own," he added the last thing as an afterthought. Probably having seen how devastated his team mate was. Poor Freed his Laxus-sama and the woman he loved fighting must be hard for him.

At least Laxus's suggestion that she plan her own made Mira turn red before she fainted Elfman only just catching her in time before she hit the floor. Obviously her overactive imagination had struck again, but putting it towards her own love life must have fried something. Oh well it means that she is off of our case for now and maybe I can go get some peace and quiet, or maybe not considering that Levy is now running in my direction.

"Lu-chan what's going on, why did Mira want to kill Laxus?" Levy asked looking like she was about to explode with questions, but trying to keep most of them in until she got answers for her first ones. Gajeel was behind her just grinning in amusement probably finding the whole thing very amusing.

Gajeel laughed before answering for us his voice echoing around the guild, "the demon found out that Bunny Girl is pregnant and that Sparks a lot over there is the father."

"Eh!" everybody yelled turning towards us.

Feeling like I was turning fifty shades of red under all the scrutiny I found myself scurrying around until I was hiding behind Laxus. Oh why did I ever want to be the centre of attention having everybody's eyes on us is really nerve racking. Then again it could just be because of the guilty conscience and the feeling that I was a kid who had done something wrong.

Cana was over in a corner pouting probably at the loss of jewels. I was certain that Cana was the main instigator between the bets of couples in the guild, I would think Mira, but she would probably try to kill people who were against the couples she wanted together. Her fortune telling could tell her who was compatible with others, but it couldn't tell her who had deeper feelings for someone else. Even though she was pouting it seemed that Cana was still paying attention to the gossip waiting for the juicy details that I had refused to give her.

Lisanna was looking between us with a big goofy expression on her face and I wished I had Laxus's lightning power so that I could use it on her before she embarrassed me again. "Wait so Lucy-san does this mean that Laxus-san is the guy you told Natsu and I about, so that I would stop believing what Mira-nee had spread around the guild?!" the twinkling look in her eyes told me that she was planning on making this as fun as she possibly could.

It seemed that the rest of the guild was curious about the answer and even though he already knew it Laxus was looking down at me with a smirk on his face. Damn it I should have never trusted anyone with the information because now it just keeps coming back to bite me in the butt. Sure I could argue with Laxus that I wasn't in love with him, but I couldn't argue that I had told others that I had feelings for someone and that he had been who I was talking about. Because of Lisanna I was well and truly stuck.

So I fell back on sarcasm to hide my real emotions, "no Lisanna I had feelings for someone else, but I totally ended up sleeping with another guy."

Of course Natsu had to respond the dense idiot he is not understanding sarcasm although everybody else seemed to get it. "Wait Luce why would you do that. Poor Laxus."

"She was being sarcastic flame brain," Gray said smacking him in the head. Causing them to start going head to head looking like they were about to start a brawl. For once I didn't even try to stop them thinking if they actually went through with the brawl that I could escape in the confusion.

"What did you say ice princess!" Natsu demanded looking angry.

"Natsu Gray no fighting I actually want to know what's going on," Erza demanded intensifying her aura as she came closer to me.

Her approach making me cling to Laxus subconsciously which he clearly took as permission to pull me into his side and hug me like we were an actual couple. His actions brought a few awes from our guild mates who didn't know that my being pregnant was the result of a one night stand that Laxus had been too drunk to remember. Really he just seems to be milking it and wanting to be a real couple, even though I was certain most people knew we weren't actually together. Or did they believe it considering that I have been living with Laxus for a while now. If we had been dating we wouldn't have had to sneak around as much after my attack.

Actually now that I think about it I guess I should explain the truth behind my attack for Laxus. I hadn't told him before because I didn't want to admit to being pregnant with a dragon slayers kid since the options for father's was slim. But he really did have to know that I was attacked because someone wanted our child. I never should have hidden why I was attacked in the first place, but fear has a way of making you do things that you normally would never do.

"Look our private life isn't important, although Natsu Gajeel one of you should call the Sabertooth guild. Tell them that the target is Lucy, but to still keep an eye on the others for now," Laxus demanded making me look up at him in shock. He had willingly used their names showing just how much this meant to him.

"Yeah, yeah don't worry we'll help you protect Bunny Girl," Gajeel said with a smirk pulling Levy close to him making her squeal as she turned her eyes up to him. Maybe there's another secret couple operating right under Mira's nose. Not that Laxus and I are actually together.

"Why would Lucy-san be a target?" Juvia asked looking at me with concern.

Instead of allowing Laxus to answer for me I answered her question. "Because I wasn't completely honest about my attack the people who attacked me were after the twins I'm carrying. I had a warning note from someone that arrived a little too late, but there are certain people who want the child of a dragon slayer. They didn't tell me why though, but when they attacked me they were careful, so I know they don't want to harm them, yet."

My words seemed to send the guild into a panic as they all looked like they wanted to go out and hunt whoever wanted my children. Some people though looked happy probably the ones who had caught the part that I was having twins and not focused on the rest of what I had said. Laxus even pulled me in closer to him his body shaking slightly with rage, but I knew it wasn't directed at me.

"That's why for now Lucy isn't allowed to go anywhere on her own. Without being able to use her magic she is too vulnerable right now and there is no guarantee that she can protect herself. Don't worry with us all working together I am positive that we can protect her because we are Fairy Tail," Master said finally coming down from his office.

The guild cheered their responses most of them turning back to what they had been doing before. Obviously they no longer cared about the gossip now that they knew about a threat on me, but they were convinced that they would be able to win again. Why do I always end up being the target for kidnappings? It's more like I'm unlucky Lucy Heartfilia instead of Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, at least in this area.

"Now Lucy-chan I've been wondering how far along are you?" Master asked looking at me with happy eyes. He had been wanting great grand children for so long now that I guess I couldn't blame him for being curious as well.

Thinking back I tried to figure out when Natsu and Lisanna's party was. Yet I couldn't really focus on the details considering that Laxus had started to trace circles into me side, although when I looked up at him to tell him to stop he was looking down at me with a bright smile on his face. Making me remember he wouldn't know how far along I am either since he was drunk, but he seemed happy at the idea of being a father. I doubted that he even knew what he was doing, although by the ecstatic grin on Master's face he caught it as well.

"About three and a half months I think. I can't really think clearly right now," I told him with a shrug. Then thought about how Porlyusica and I weren't sure if this would even be a normal pregnancy. "Although that won't help in how long it takes, Porlyusica-san isn't sure if the dragon magic will speed up or slow down the process since I'm the first person to get pregnant with a slayer child in recorded history."

"Lucy-chan what day did you two get together?" Mira asked finally waking up and turning to us with wide eyes. I wasn't even sure if she had heard me say how far along I was.

Blushing I decided to answer her. "It was the day of Lisanna and Natsu's party. I was headed home afterwards, but saw Laxus passed out on the ground so I summoned Taurus to help me bring him home. When we got there I let Taurus go but then realized Laxus was wearing jeans and he hates sleeping in them, so I tried to help him take them off. He woke up at that moment though and one thing led to another, and I just let it. I'd been attracted to Laxus for a while and thought maybe getting it out of my system could work."

Mira's eyes and Master's were wide at my explanation. Laxus's fingers dug into me slightly though before he pulled them back probably realizing what he had been doing after hearing my slight hiss of pain. Obviously some part of my statement had upset him, but I wasn't sure if it was the fact that he thought he might have taken advantage of me, or because I had said I wanted to get him out of my system.

"Lucy-chan weren't you drunk then?" Mira asked looking at me with concern.

"No I tried to get drunk because people were getting on my nerves still convinced I liked Natsu, but I guess what I was drinking wasn't strong enough. I left after one too many people asked me why I let Natsu go. Didn't want Lisanna hearing about it later and think she as hurting me after all I did to get those two stubborn people together. Natsu and her had already left so I decided to leave as well," it took a lot for me to not lash out my anger at Mira when I remembered people's stupidity that night.

It seemed that my words reassured Laxus because he had looked guilty when Mira had asked if I had been drunk. Not that he should be guilty even if I was he had been drunk as well and it was almost like I had taken advantage of him.

"Good now that all of that is settled why don't you head on home Lucy-chan. I'm certain that you're probably tired after all of the excitement. Not to mention wanting to get away from all the questions that are bound to be asked," Master said although I knew it was more of a command then a suggestion.

"Alright thank you Master, let's go Sparky," I told Laxus.

Then ended I up squealing when he decided to pick me up and left the guild with me in his arms in a princess hold. Stupid man wanting to bring everyone's attention on us as people on the street pointed at us having probably seen the article. Now thanks to him it's probably going to be spread around Magnolia that it's true and I am fairly certain that we'll end up having the Sorcerer here soon enough to confirm it. Oh well what's done is done and I can always force Laxus to take over the interview. Then again that could be dangerous since he'll be completely in charge of what the whole of Fiore will believe. Better to be there during the interview no matter how annoying Jason can be.

Everyone had taken it a lot better than I had thought though. Especially Erza I had been expecting her to attack Laxus just like Mira had no questions asked, but she seemed to actually listen to Laxus. Heck if it had been Natsu or Gray who had been in this sort of situation I had no doubt that she would have shown them no mercy, so why did she not seem to care that much about Laxus. Unless if he had told her before that he had feelings for me no way that's just ridiculous isn't it? Yeah completely ridiculous she must have just accepted the explanation they were given. There's no way Laxus would have told Erza that he had feelings for me. Just no way. It's impossible he's Laxus Dreyar after all.