All Rights to Hiro Mashima
For LadyAvaRushi - who noticed that this had been primarily written in Laxus' point of view (I threw in a little Lucy in this chapter...just to keep things spicy.)
BEWARE THE FEELINGS! THE ANGRY BLUE FISH LADY!
~Lightbulb~
Chapter 4: The Mermaid
In which Laxus brings home a long-lost member of Lucy's family.
Bickslow whistled lowly. "Damn boss, you sure know how to pick 'em…I remember when she was a naive little girl that complained about her rent money and moaned continuously about her team destroying everything in sight."
Laxus sighed. "You do remember who her team is right? A wildfire with a Demon living inside him, a brooding popsicle with everlasting ice abilities, the Queen of 'slash first ask questions later,' and the most terrifying Dragon Slayer anyone has ever seen...including Acnologia." Laxus shivered, remembering some of the most recent accounts of Wendy's abilities. It seemed that female Dragon's wore the pants and kicked the most ass in a nest and it seemed to translate equally into the Slayers. No one would ever think to look at the blue haired girl twice like that, but everyone had learned to duck and cover when Wendy went full out.
She had once put out END's hellfire, almost choking him to death just by removing all the air around Natsu when the Demon had stolen the last bite of her blueberry muffin. The word territorial didn't even seem to cut it.
"So what? You think that Natsu rubbed off on our resident Celestial Mage?"
Fairy Tail's Master sighed and shook his head as he and his team watched Erza direct the guild members around to rebuild the shattered roof and collapsed walls. He sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Gods above and below for having a wood make Mage in their guild, even if no one could follow her thought processes. "No, I think Blondie had this shit inside her all along and just needed to grow into knowing her potential. After Alvarez...no even before that...after we disbanded for that year, she had been different. Taking quests more seriously, going on solo missions for the experience, training and growing her magic...she changed for the better I think. She doesn't rely so much on other people. Lucy has turned into her own knight in shining armour. She saves herself now."
Freed stepped up placing a single hand on the hilt of his rapier. "Do you think her impressive feats have anything to do with that key you have?"
The blonde nodded. "I don't doubt it. I once caught her in the training room sparring with Capricorn and Loke looking like she had been going at it for a least a couple of hours, she was exhausted and pale and was probably one strong gust away from keeling over. The goat asked her if she wanted to stop, but she said no and that she needed to keep going to get as strong as possible. She was done playing the damsel in distress and wanted to be the one to save her family for once."
At the time he had thought she meant in general and applauded her conviction and strength of will. Now...it sounded like she had meant something entirely different. Laxus had a feeling that something had happened that had to do with Aquarius.
He respected the hell out of her, but now he wanted to be her strength. He wanted to be the person that would hold her up in the times that her impressive conviction wasn't enough. He could be that other half of her, shoulder half of her burdens. Laxus would never dream of taking away her identity, he knew better than anyone the shadow that she had been under for most of her life, as he had lived through that problem as well. First her father and the name Heartfilia and the fact that she had been known as an heiress, as Lucky Lucy. Then, as she had branched out and left her sheltered life to start making her dreams as a practising mage come to fruition with her true family...she had met up with three of the most prolific Fairy Tail mages the guild had ever seen. She had been dwarfed behind her best friend the Salamander, her first girlfriend the mighty Titania, and even her big brother Stripper McGee.
Finally, after standing off to the side the proverbial 'cheerleader' for so many years, she had finally made a name for herself that was her own. Even if she had been sacrificed to a giant clock-fish-castle, kidnapped time and time again, lost a piece of her heart and her father, and was left behind by her family, she had come out the other end a little wiser, a whole lot stronger, and looked like she finally grew into her skin.
She was no longer that scared little girl that jumped at every bump under the bed. She was a grown ass, sexy as hell woman that could hold her own in any fight and gave him serious heart palpitations when she flashed him that sunny smile.
Laxus watched his guild mates scurry around like ants hauling wooden beams while Gajeel used his metal creating abilities to hammer and nail them into place. He didn't mind that the guild was in shambles again, the fix up would just add to its character.
And then he saw her.
His Lucy.
Well...not yet his Lucy yet, but hopefully, he could change that soon.
She had thrown her golden hair into a messy long braid that cascaded down her back and was wearing a simple white t-shirt and overalls to protect her legs and what looked like steel toed boots for safety. She was sweating and dirty from the dust, but he had never seen her so beautiful.
She lifted a beam of wood onto her shoulder and called out Taurus to her side, eyeing her best friend and brother with a suspicious look while they argued over the best placement for the new wooden bar top. The bull made his usual pervy comment (Insert Dragon growl here, the lightning mage was truly territorial over his little mate) and got to work using his impressive strength to corral Natsu into not burning down the other half of the guild hall.
Laxus almost giggled (almost, he wasn't a twelve-year-old girl so he stifled the offending noise). It was amazing how well Lucy knew her guild mates, her family. She was everything to them, and in turn gave them her whole heart, a shoulder to lean on and all the light in the world to guide them home.
She bent over, scooping a couple of nails into her hand and a stray hammer. Swinging her arms over for a single blow, she drove the iron nail into the wood.
Laxus' mind fuzzed out while his mouth filled with enough water to fill a bathtub. She was delicious, her breasts bouncing with every hammer strike, her skin glistening in the hot sun.
His mind was filled with dichotomy. On one side, he wanted to peel off her clothes layer by layer and follow the path of that droplet of sweat that was sliding down the column of her neck with his tongue. On the other...he wanted to drop to his knees and revel in her presence, worship the ground she walked on and place her on a pedestal so high not even he could reach her.
He growled. Gods, he hated what his mind had turned into. Couldn't he just...love someone without his brain turning into a mushy puddle full of weird ideas and strange thoughts?
All he wanted to do was show her that he appreciated everything that she had done, everything she had become, and how amazing a woman she was without it turning awkward.
Patting his right pocket to make sure that Aquarius was safe, he started forward towards his half destroyed beer hall towards his guiding star.
She was the Star-bringer, the most powerful Celestial mage seen in almost half a century.
She was Lucy of Fairy Tail, the light of his life and successor for the guild.
His smile grew crooked.
She was going to be his.
-ooo-
Laxus and his entourage cut quite a path through the half fixed guild, making a b-line directly for the Celestial Mage.
He was so intent on his target that he didn't even notice when the Thunder Legion had dropped off from behind him to observe him from a safe distance, nor did he realise the strange looks from some of the members when they tried to greet him but were ignored.
His face was a blank mass and those with enough smarts in their brains inched backwards just the slightest. They hadn't seen him this unreadable since before Tartaros.
He stopped directly behind Lucy and waited for her to turn around and notice his hulking figure. It didn't take long, he was so large and as his shoulders were broad enough that he eclipsed the sunlight from hitting the little blonde.
When she noticed him – finally – she paled. "Uhm…Sparky! I mean Master Laxus…you're back…uh…we had a…situation, but I handled it. Pleasepleasedon'tblameNatsuitwasn'thisfault!" She stammered out then bowed her head. "It was me. I forgot my own strength and didn't realise until after it had all happened that I had…uhm…destroyed the guild hall."
He could hear shame in her voice as she whispered that last part out as if it was one of her deepest darkest secrets. However, he could also hear a hint of unabashed pride as she spoke the words 'my own strength.'
His facial expression didn't change but internally delighted at being able to make Lucy squirm, the bright embarrassed blush on her cheeks that was creeping down her chest was endearing as was her fidgeting. He liked that he could get under her skin like this.
"I'm so sorry Master, I know you put me in charge and I fucked up and-" He finally frowned and held his gigantic hand up to stop her thoughts from going down that road. He didn't want her to start second guessing herself, nor think that this outcome was something terrible. Laxus was sure that if anyone else had been the one fighting – including himself – the guild hall wouldn't just be missing half a wall and some of the roof. She had strong control over her impressive pool of magic and used her brain when she fought.
Also…he really needed her to stop calling him Master. It was giving him a slight problem in the pants department. When anyone else said that word, it sounded like a title. When she uttered those syllables passed those pink lips of hers, his brain upstairs stopped working while it awoke the Dragon downstairs.
"Enough. Everyone is safe, Laki and Iron Brows are doing everything they can to put the hall back in order, and you didn't level half the city while you fought, I think everyone would call this a win-win situation. You kicked some serious ass and kept our home standing in the process."
He finally smirked at her, his eyes glinting with something that Lucy had trouble placing and he leant down slightly so that his nose was almost touching hers. He watched as her pupils dilated so wide her eyes were almost entirely black. "I am so fucking proud of you Blondie. This," He gestured around to their safe family (who were all watching the proceedings with varying degrees of curiosity and amusement completely silent) "is why I appointed you my successor. You are smart, resourceful, and have the strength to keep going when most would have nothing left to give. Dammit, Blondie, you give everyone so much light in their lives you shine like a fucking beacon."
Whoops. That last part slipped out while he let his mouth run away from him. Oh well…
Collective gasps were heard around the guild from most of the members and Natsu yelled jovially from the corner of the room where he had finally stopped bickering with Gray. "Oi! Sparkplug! Did you just say that Luigi will be the next Guild Master?"
He didn't look away from Lucy's wide eyes, her blush deepening exponentially the longer the attention of the room was focused solely on her. "Fuck yes I did. If anything happens to me…she'll be Fairy Tail's next Master. You got a problem with that?"
Laxus could hear the smile in Natsu's voice when he spoke. "Hell no…I bet you a million jewels that no one could find anyone better." For once, the blonde man had to agree with him, and as a collective cheer went up from all around them, it seemed that the rest of Fairy Tail had the same thought.
He swept her up into a crushing hug (he just couldn't help himself any longer) as Lucy tipped her head back and laughed, eyes sparkling with happiness and mirth. He was more than glad to see her this way and vowed to keep her joyful for as long as he possibly could. Even if she never saw him as anything other than a friend, or Gods forbid, a brother, he would be forever hers.
Forever enthralled in the woman named Lucy.
The kegs were pulled out and everyone partied like it was the last day on Earthland, or as they called it here…a Tuesday night at Fairy Tail.
As the evening wore on, Laxus watched as his little mate danced and had fun with her friends and family. When all but the core mages that had been there on the front lines of Alvarez had gone home (mainly the newer recruits and such) he deemed it high time to give his present to Lucy.
More than anything, he wanted to know just what happened all those years ago, and why she never said a damn thing about it.
-ooo-
Before Lucy heard his voice, she could somehow sense his demanding presence. Everywhere Laxus went he was remembered.
He was a truly unforgettable person, what with his beautiful but deadly magic, striking features (including a jaw that she was sure could cut glass and a backside that was so taught she could bounce jewels off of it), lickable scar, those muscles, his smirk, and that stupidly iconic coat that he just couldn't get rid of.
Oh, and his eyes. Those stormy grey eyes that filled with his emotions whether or not they were reflected on his face. Lucy knew from experience – many, many experiences – that she would melt into a pool of overheated aroused mush when he turned his piercing gaze onto her.
He was too much, and yet not enough…all at the same time.
Over the past year and a half, she knew that something was brewing between them. The playful banter, the easy silences, the ability to flirt with each other without it becoming awkward. He had slowly turned into one of her closest friends – excluding her team of course – and there were some things that she told him that she had never even told Natsu.
For one, she felt like the trust in between them was rock solid, absolute. Somehow even more resolute than her and Erza, or Gray or even her best pink-haired friend. Sadly, she knew it had its roots in that single year where they were gone chasing their dreams, or running from their demons in the darkness that followed them all, and she had been left to pick up the pieces of her life without a single person to lean on, save for her Celestial Spirits.
Lucy had spilt it all, well…mostly all of her feelings to Thunder Thighs when she couldn't stand the overwhelming oppression any longer. She told him of her loneliness, and the need to get stronger, of her drive to become someone that her family could count on in the future instead of look out for. Yes, they would always have each other's back, but she wanted to keep her family just as safe as they kept her.
She learned of Laxus' journey after he had awoken and found Fairy Tail razed to the ground and deserted. He and the Thunder Legion had travelled towards Blue Pegasus (Bob welcoming them all with open arms and stubbly cheeks) to take on enough work to keep himself fed. He never once thought that Fairy Tail was over and looked forward to seeing everyone once again.
They spoke of their families. Her mother, the loss of her father, Michelle, how things with Natsu and Happy had gone back to the way they were before the split, but somehow they didn't fit together anymore, like two puzzle pieces with misshapen edges. He spat out words of longing and loss over his Grandfather while cursing the man who was his father.
Then…Alvarez. That had been a tough conversation, but they had shouldered it together. Laxus divulged his need to live up to his Grandfather's name and the legacy he had left behind in the wake of his sacrifice. Lucy had never seen the behemoth cry before, but it was humbling to know just how much he actual felt behind that wall of granite that he had raised around his heart.
Not once did she mention Aquarius, still feeling immensely saddened and slightly guilty over the whole ordeal – even though Scorpio told her multiple times that it was like an extended vacation for the mermaid and because she knew, she just knew that her family would feel so terrible for the sacrifice she made. So she still kept it in.
Lucy had heard that Aquarius' key would show up in Earthland sometime and resolved to look for it. That was the reason behind her getting stronger than ever. Most keys were buried or lost now, but a golden one would pop up in the news. Requests would call for a strong mage, and that's what she intended to do, and what she achieved. In her travels and solo quests, she had collected a couple of new silver keys, but a golden one had yet to appear.
She had trained too hard and so well in fact that this year she was sure she was a contender for the S-class trials, and not just as a partner this time.
But this last year and a half, with all its trials and hurts – going through something as petty as a cheating boyfriend notwithstanding – had been tolerable because of her time with her new Guild Master.
She had tried to date, to see if her feelings for the Blonde man were something genuine, or perhaps just infatuation. But she had held back with Drew every single step of the way, and when she had found him cheating on her with that other woman, she had felt two very distinct and separate emotions.
Rage, at both Drew and herself for not seeing the warning signs that were literally everywhere.
And an overpowering sense of relief.
When Laxus had stepped up behind her during her confrontation from the dick formally known as her boyfriend, and he had only spoken about her with pride colouring her tones but didn't make a single fucking move to 'save her' she knew.
She goddamn knew that whatever she felt for that stupid Thunder God was nothing like what she felt for any other man anywhere in the entire world. It wasn't just lust for his body – but damn did she do that anyways, that man was still in the prime of his life and she intended to have her way with that rippling tattoo on his chest someday – it was also admiration, pride over who he had become in recent years, and dare she say…the beginnings of love.
So, as she sat on her bar stool amid the party on a Tuesday night in the guild hall of her childhood dreams, she shuddered pleasantly when she felt Laxus' heady gaze on her back.
It was as if he was physically caressing her, intimate and warm, and she was even more surprised when he stepped up even closer towards her and placed a single, innocuous box down on the counter top beside her right hand.
She arched a single eyebrow while he kept his face passively blank. "What's this Thunder Thighs?"
"The payment for the last job my team and I went on."
"Why are you giving it to me then?" She drained the last of the fruity concoction Mira had thrust in her hand a half hour before.
He smiled – not a smirk, not a half-assed grin, a true smile that melted her heart just a smidgen more – and winked at her. Familiar heat curled in her limbs at the gesture. It was those stupid eyes of his, they were dangerous. "None of us can use it like you can, and believe me…I think you'll want what's inside it." He tapped the box once with one finger.
Curiosity overwhelming her, she placed a ginger hand on the lid and slowly opened the box.
Dumbfounded silence filled the space between them as the air crackled with anticipation.
Lucy's brain ground to a halt, her thoughts centred on a single point that throbbed in time with her heart.
Aquarius.
-ooo-
A stifled sob rents the air so quietly that Laxus almost missed it.
In the next moment, he was pulling Lucy from her bar stool into his lap and curling around her heaving form as she silently shook in his arms. She didn't utter another sound, the grief and relief she must have been feeling rendering her cries mute.
Laxus ran gentle fingers through her silky hair, revelling in the softness, but not allowing it to distract him from the woman in his arms. She was his priority, not his annoyingly uncomfortable arousal at her scent and the way she had fit so nicely against his broad chest.
The only one to notice something strange was Mira. It was like the Demon barmaid had a sixth sense when something out of the ordinary was happening. Leaving her post at the end of the newly installed bar top (gleaming and crazy clean as always) Mira softly whispered to Lucy – which Laxus was thankful for – asking if she needed anything. Not once did Mira ask if she was alright because obviously, she wasn't.
Laxus frowned slightly when Lucy pulled herself out of his lap and slowly pieced herself together, wiping her eyes on a towel the She-Demon had handed her. He wasn't ready to let her go yet.
"Just a glass of water please Mira, no ice."
He had to hand it to her, the girl was crazy strong and her voice didn't waver or crack in the slightest. Laxus also had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't thirsty, but he wanted to see what happened next, so he made no comment.
Lucy turned towards him, her face bowed as she tried to shield her red puffy eyes from the partiers around them. "Where did you find her?" She whispered low.
"The King. He said that Hisui found that key in a shop when she was vacationing in Seven. The Princess knew of her and what she meant to you, so she bought the key and brought it back. Toma decided to give it to me as payment for our last job. I think there is a note from the Princess in the bottom of the box to read when you're ready for that."
She only nodded, smiling softly towards Mira when the glass of cool water was placed before her.
Lucy held the golden key suspended above the water for three full minutes before Laxus grunted. "What are you waiting for?"
"I'm afraid…"
"Of what? Of her?"
She laughed, the sound mending something in his heart that had broken at the look of sorrow on her face earlier. "No, not her. We've been communicating…sort of…since I lost her."
"How?"
"Scorpio, her boyfriend."
"Then why are you afraid?"
"Because of them." She pointed towards her team, then swept her arm out around in a general fashion capturing all her family in its wake. "I don't want their pity, or their sadness, or their guilt…"
He grabbed her hand that wasn't poised over the water and growled. "Listen to me, Lucy. They are your family, and I know whatever the fuck this is, they will not give you pity. Did you pity Ice nuts or END over there when you found out about their fathers? Or Erza when she revealed her past with the Tower or Jellal? Did you pity the Seis when they told you about what Brain did to them?"
She shook her head slowly, and he sighed, relieved that she was still thinking clearly. "Then you should have faith in us as well to give you what you need. There might be sadness or guilt. But never pity."
Blushing prettily, she gave him a small smile and leant forward placing a single lingering kiss against his cheek. "Thank you, Laxus."
Heat blazed through him as she said his name, phantom lips still caressing his heated cheek as she turned away, but not before he caught something in her eyes. Some emotion that he felt reflected in his own.
Laxus knew in that moment that the feelings he held for her weren't one sided. When tonight was all over, he would drag that little minx of a mate away to his house and tell her in no uncertain terms just what she meant to him.
"I am the person who connects the road to the stellar spirit world, thou shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate…OPEN GATE TO THE WATER BARER!"
"AQUARIUS!"
His attention was quickly diverted by a gigantic blue mermaid exploding out of the tiny glass of water in a shower blue sparkles. The revelry around them ground to a halt as most people questioned why Lucy had summoned her strongest spirit – that seemed to genuinely hate being summoned mind you – in the middle of the guild hall.
In the corner, her team started to wonder just when the last time they had actually seen the mermaid spirit in the flesh as it were. Lucy had whipped out some impressive water magic in the last few years (sometimes rivalling Juvia but no one would say a word because the water mage was touchy and prone to bawling rivers of tears at the slightest provocation) but Aquarius had been absent from their jobs.
"Tch. Brat…took you long enough."
Lucy gaped up at her friend for long moments before peals of laughter spilt from her mouth at the same time as tears streamed down her face. "A-Aquarius! I've missed you!"
The mermaid's eyes softened just a smidge before she sniffed. "Nice to see that Jackal didn't kill you. That would have been messy and I was just getting used to seeing your annoying face when you summoned me. The Gods know it would have been too tedious to break in another mage. You finally know how to hang on to something so that you don't fucking drown when I attack you."
The tiny blonde only smiled wearily up at her friend.
"How long has it been since I've been here?"
"Three and a half years."
Laxus took a quick look towards her team to see their faces white as a sheet. They obviously didn't even suspect something was amiss with Lucy or the fact that Aquarius hadn't been to Earthland in almost four full years. He hated to see the pain they were in as the lightbulbs went off over their heads in quick succession.
"Where was my key found?"
"Seven. By Hisui."
"Hmmm. Maybe you should have left me with the Princess. At least she would be able to find a boyfriend faster than you brat."
"Ugh. Shut up you old bag. I had a boyfriend…but he was…unfaithful. So I had to kick him in the nuts across town."
For the first time, he saw Aquarius smile. And by the looks on everyone's faces, it was their first time as well. "Finally grew a backbone didn't you? Well. Can't say I'm not happy about that. I'm going back to Scorpio, call me anytime. Same contract as before."
"I missed you."
"Missed you too brat."
Then she was gone in a flash of golden light.
Lucy shone a radiant smile at him though slow tears still tracked down her face. "Thank you so much Laxus." He barely caught her in time as she launched her body at him in a hug that tackled him to the floor off of his bar stool.
"No problem…Lucy. Anything for you."
She opened her mouth to comment on that last sentence of his – that just fucking slipped out again, goddammit – but was interrupted by a throat being cleared.
Her team stood behind her, ashen faced and sullen, but curious.
Laxus knew they would have questions, so he scooped up Lucy in his arms, settling her down into his lap while he sat on his recently vacated seat and waited to hear the story.
"What did Aquarius mean when she said she hadn't been here in three and a half years?" Gray's voice cracked with barely suppressed emotion.
Lucy snuggled deeper into his hold and Laxus could barely suppress a smirk at the fact that she wasn't trying to get away from him, but tried to get comfortable in his presence. She sighed when she apparently found a comfortable nook. "You better sit down for this. It's a long story."