Dragon Instinct
Chapter Eight
Laxus frowned looking around at the clothing racks surrounding him trying to make sense of it all.
"Come on Laxus, it's not that bad."
Laxus looked at Freed slowly.
"Why is there so much pink?"
"Because it's the girl's section? Most girls like pink."
Laxus sighed beginning to pick up clothes before Freed grabbed his arm.
"Do you even know her size Laxus?"
"I..."
"You should have her try them on Laxus."
"I have no clue what I'm doin' here," Laxus said with a groan.
"That's okay Laxus. No one expects you to be a pro," Freed said softly touching his arm. "You learn as you go. It'll be okay. Buying the wrong size clothes isn't going to scar her for life."
Laxus sighed picking up a few outfits before turning to Eliana who was looking at him curiously.
"You wanna try this on kid?"
"Oh, uh sure."
Laxus paused looking at the clothes in his hands then looking back at Eliana. He knelt down in front of her with a small smile.
"You wanna pick'em out kid?"
"Can I?"
"I don't see why not."
"Laxus, no so sure that's a good idea..." Freed warned. "Who knows what your daughter will look like by time she's done."
Laxus just shook his head looking up at Freed.
"Who cares? Long as she likes what she looks like."
Freed shook his head with a smirk. He could see how this was going to go. Laxus was already spoiling the little girl. Hopefully she had enough sense that it didn't go to her head. He could only imagine how hard she'd be to deal with as a spoiled dragon slayer. He watched as Eliana picked up out a few outfits nervously, glancing back at Laxus unsure. They still hadn't told her Laxus was her father so of course she was hesitant to take anything from him.
"Is this okay?" She asked quietly holding up four outfits.
"That's fine." Laxus said with a smile. "Now how about some toys?"
"C..can I get a toy dragon?" She asked softly.
"Of course you can." Laxus said standing up.
Freed watched them with a small laugh as Laxus took her to try on the clothes. Once they paid for them, Laxus led them through the market picking out some toys for her. About lunch time they stopped by the house, dropping off the bags and picking up their lunch, walking down to the river bank. Laxus laid out the blanket for them, setting the sandwiches out.
"I haven't been on a picnic in a long time," Eliana said, clutching her stuffed dragon to her chest. She'd refused to give it up when they stopped by the house.
"It's been years for me too," Freed said with a smile.
She grinned at him taking a bite out of her sandwich.
"Eliana, there's somethin' you gotta know."
"What is it?" she asked surprised.
"I...you know how your mama told you dark magic took your daddy away?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, that's not exactly true."
"What do you mean?"
"I...I'm your dad Eliana. I didn't know it until after Freed and I found you," Laxus said quietly.
"You...you're my daddy?"
"Yeah, kid, I am."
"Does that mean one day I'll be big and strong like you?" She asked looking at him wide eyed.
"I'm only like this because my powers were forced on me Eliana," Laxus replied quietly, it was obvious he wanted to tell her yes. "Besides, Freed is powerful too. One of the most powerful mages out there, but he doesn't have as much muscle."
"You can say it Laxus. Compared to you, I'm scrawny."
"You said it. Not me."
"Laxus...if you're my daddy...where have you been? Mama said my daddy...died."
"She thought I did. Hell, the whole world thought I did. Part of the guild, including me, was trapped on an island for years. We had no way of getting to shore."
"I...I see."
"I'm here now Eliana. You'll get to stay with me. Become a member of Fairy Tail."
"You want me to stay?" She asked shyly.
"Yes."
Eliana grinned slowly, her big blue eyes beginning to dance a bit. The next thing Freed knew Laxus was being thrown to the ground as Eliana lept into his arms. Freed grinned slowly watching them.
"Mister Freed? Does that make you my new mommy?" She asked looking at him suddenly.
"What?"
Freed tried to ignore Laxus' sudden round of laughter at the question. He doubted Eliana meant it as a joke, and he planned to answer her seriously.
"Well if Laxus is my daddy...you two are a family right? I mean...you're always together, and you live together..." Freed paused seeing her look away, but he was certain he saw tears in her eyes. "I really miss my mom but...but I'll. ."
Freed smiled slowly at her touching her shoulder gently.
"No one can replace your mom Eliana, and we wouldn't try. For now I'll just be your Freed."
The girl smiled wide tears drying up instantly. Freed pulled her into a hug before letting her run off to play, Laxus turning to Freed with a smirk.
"Mommy Freed huh?"
"Shut up."
"Aw, come on. I was just jokin'. Least we know she likes you."
"That's important to you?"
"Well...I mean...it's better than her not liking you...right?"
Freed almost smiled. He was glad Laxus was being more like himself. His out of character kindness and affection the night before, while welcome, had left Freed wondering if Laxus was ill.
"Yes...Laxus, I suppose it is."
They continued to eat in silence. Eliana seemed to be processing the information, and Laxus didn't seem to want to interrupt her. Freed suspected he was still processing it himself, despite his attempts at remaining calm. The dragon slayer was certainly in over his head. Finally Eliana turned to Laxus with a small frown on her face.
"Can you show me how to use magic now?" She asked quietly.
"Oh, sure," Laxus said standing up.
The two them walked off a short distance. Laxus getting her into a fighting stance. The small girl was looking up at him expectantly. Perhaps she was hoping the magic lesson would take her mind off everything. Freed hoped it did, the girl needed some peace and quiet for a few short days at least.
Freed leaned against the large tree trunk looking over the field quietly feeling a smile pulling at his lips as he watched them. He wasn't sure how Laxus felt about being a father. The other man kept his emotions on a tight leash, he always had. He could imagine it wasn't an easy adjustment for him, Laxus could barely take care of himself, let alone a child. It never ceased to amaze him that someone as strong and powerful as Laxus was so clueless when it came to cooking or cleaning up after himself.
Freed knew he would be there as long as Laxus let him, helping him figure it out. He didn't know what had finally made Laxus develop an interest in him but he was determined to make it work, even though Laxus had a daughter. The last two days, seeing Laxus dote on Eliana had done nothing to diminish the strength of his feelings for the Dragonslayer. No, his feelings had only grown stronger seeing the two of them together, and knowing she was welcoming them into her life made it all the easier. Her reaction to the news had been more than endearing.
"Yo. Freed, come on," Freed jumped slowly shaking his head clear being drawn from his reverie.
He stood walking over to Laxus and Eliana. The small blond looked even more so standing next to the imposing Dragonslayer in his trademark coat, arms crossed in front of his chest. Eliana didn't look intimidated though. In fact, she was beaming up at widely.
"Yes Laxus?"
"I think it's time we head back to the guild, Eliana needs to get her Fairy Tale stamp."
"Right. Are you ready for that Eliana?"
"Uh huh. La...Papa says a lot of people join Fairy Tale at my age."
"Mm, yeah," Freed said thoughtfully grinning at the uncomfortable look on Laxus' face. He could only imagine how Laxus felt about being called Papa. "Not in recent years but most of our guild members did join before they were in their teens."
"Enough jabberin', let's go."
Laxus began to walk away, putting his hands in his pants pockets.
"Is he always so grumpy?"
"Sometimes he's worse."
"Aw man..."
Freed laughed softly falling into step behind Laxus. The poor girl sounded completely dejected.
"Hey Freed?" She asked suddenly, her voice sounding very small.
"Yes?"
"You...you guys are gonna catch the bad guys right? The ones who..."
Freed looked up slowly seeing Laxus stopped suddenly. He knew the Dragonslayer could hear every word Eliana said to him. He met Laxus' eyes as he peered over his shoulder at him, swallowing a bit as he took in how cold the yellow eyes had turned. He knew Laxus' suspicions, and he knew what would happen if Ivan was responsible. The dark wizard would be lucky to breathe when Laxus was done with him.
"Yes Eliana, we'll catch them." He said turning to her. "We'll make sure they don't get away."
"Thank you.."
"Of course, now come on."
Eliana grinned hurrying to follow them back to the guild. Laxus opened the doors to the guild hall letting them inside. Freed fought down the feelings of sadness that he always felt when he stepped into their current guildhall. It wasn't the fact that it wasn't as nice as their old guildhall or that they didn't get as many jobs, it was the people. The people they left behind when they went to Tenroujima, they all seemed so sad and defeated. The only bit of noise the guild heard was from Gray and Natsu's fights. The easy going, pub like attitude of Fairy Tale was gone. Not only was Fairy Tale a fraction of the size they once were, but they lost their spirit as well. He knew the others from Tenrou felt it, but no one commented on it. They may have come home but things certainly had changed in the past seven years.
"Mira," Laxus called out walking to the bar.
"Yes?" She asked looking up.
"Eliana wants her guild mark."
The few people sitting around the guildhall looked up quickly. Freed assumed it'd been years since most of the guild had seen someone joining. For the Tenrou team, it'd only been a few weeks, a month at most, since Wendy had joined them.
"Great!"
Mira smiled going to get the stamper walking over to them.
"What color would you like?"
"Blue?"
"Sure thing, where would you like your stamp?"
Eliana looked at them thoughtfully sitting down in a chair. Laxus smirked at her intense expression.
"It's a guild mark Eliana, they can be removed and put back on."
"Where's yours?"
"On my chest," he said putting his hand over it. "And Freed's is on his hand. A lot of people choose their hand. Some put theirs on their back. Bickslow's is on his tongue."
"His what?!"
Laxus nodded laughing a bit.
"He can be strange." Freed said with a small smile.
"I guess on my hand like Freed's," Eliana said softly.
"Perfect," Mira said picking up the stamper pressing it to Eliana's hand.
Laxus put his hand on Eliana's shoulder watching the grin that spread across her face as Mira pulled the stamper away. He knew how she felt, even if she hadn't come to Fairy Tale under normal circumstances. That guild mark was a reminder of family, and for people without a family, it made Fairy Tale a home.
"Papa...I'm really a member of Fairy Tale now," she said softly, looking up at him, her blue eyes shining.
"Mm, yeah," he agreed, reaching down pulling at one of her blonde curls playfully.
"Did she just say "papa"?" He heard someone, Wakaba he was certain, whisper.
He groaned inwardly. He knew this would come eventually, but he wasn't expecting it to be so quickly or publicly. He had just planned on telling Mira and letting her get around to informing the others. Laxus sighed turning to the sand mage slowly, who was staring with a cigar hanging out his mouth.
"Yeah, she's my daughter."
"But..."
"She's six years old," he said answering the next obvious question, sitting in a chair beside Eliana.
He tried to ignore the stares of the few people in the guild. He suspected that if it were someone else, they'd be getting interrogated.
"Come on Laxus," Cana said with a laugh. "We expect this from Gildarts, but not you."
"Says the daughter of Gildarts."
"We can't pick our family, right kid?" She asked turning at Eliana with a wink.
Eliana giggled softly looking up at Laxus who just smirked at her. At least Cana managed to break the ice with her comment. The other guild members were returning to their previous conversations as if nothing happened. He glanced over Eliana's head catching Freed's eyes who was watching them with a smile. He knew Freed was waiting for his cue, wondering how to act now that they were together, but he wasn't sure himself. He wasn't quite sure how much he was willing to share with the guild. He was still adjusting to the idea himself.
"Another time," Freed said softly, seeming to read his mind, giving him a gentle smile sitting down beside him.
Laxus nodded slowly. Somehow it didn't feel right, keeping his relationship with Freed a secret, but he wasn't sure he could handle the chaos announcing their relationship would cause. The whole guild knew Freed was interested in men, that wouldn't come as a surprise to them. However, many of the members would make a big deal about Laxus being with him, simply because that was what they did best.
"Freed, speaking of family, where's your sister," Erza asked suddenly. "I haven't seen her since we've returned."
Freed tensed up before taking a deep breath.
"She uh...she was killed," he said softly looking down at the table. "Last year."
The guild fell silent, and Laxus turned to Freed slowly wondering if it would be too much for him. The green haired mage was staring at the scratches in the table as if fascinated by them, refusing to look up at the other guild members. Laxus reached over putting his hand on Freed's shoulder trying to comfort him.
"We're sorry to hear that Freed. We know how much she meant to you," Mira said softly, giving him a sad smile.
"Thank you Mira, I appreciate that. But, today is about Eliana," he said quietly looking up at her. "Let's focus on her and not me."
"Right, come on Eliana. I think I might have a cake in the back we can cut for you," Mira said leading Eliana away.
"Cake?" Eliana asked surprised following her quickly.
Laxus laughed softly following them to the bar. He sat on one of the barstools watching as Mira cut a celebratory cake for Eliana. If he knew Mira as well as he thought he did he'd almost bet that she went out and bought the cake that morning in anticipation of Eliana joining the guild.
Freed watched Eliana climb into Laxus' lap as Mira cut the cake with a small smile. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized Eliana was Laxus' daughter from the beginning. She looked just like him and the two of them were so much alike. She was just as headstrong as he was. He blushed as Laxus met his eyes over Eliana's head. The look in the blonde's eyes made Freed feel flushed with happiness. It was a look he'd never seen Laxus give anyone else before him. He swallowed looking away again smiling a bit.
"What's going on with you a Laxus?" A voice whispered in his ear.
Freed jumped turning to see Evergreen standing behind him with a grin.
"I...uh..." Freed swallowed looking back at Laxus nervously, unsure of what to say.
Evergreen would figure it out eventually as they lived together, but she was also terrible at keeping secrets, and neither of them were ready to tell the guild.
"Oh my god, are you two dating?"
"Maybe?" Freed said softly feeling his face flush again.
"Since when?"
"Two days ago, I suppose."
"And you didn't tell me?!"
"You've been with Elfman this whole time."
"I have not!"
Freed sighed shaking his head.
"Evergreen, we're not dumb, and you don't have to hide it from us," he said looking at her. "It's not like you can hide it from Laxus anyway."
Evergreen let out a frustrated groan sitting in the chair beside Freed.
"I'm happy for you Freed, it's about time you get some happiness," she said quietly. "And...I'm really sorry about Freya. We all loved your sister like she was our family too."
"I know. And I appreciate it."
She reached over giving his hand a squeeze and Freed smiled at her gratefully before turning back to Laxus and Eliana. The dragon slayer was holding Eliana in his arms laughing at something Cana was saying. Eliana had her arms wrapped around his neck, her head on his shoulder. It was obvious how happy she was that Laxus had turned out to be her father. Freed watched them thoughtfully, wondering not for the first time if Eliana had been able to sense her bond with Laxus from the beginning. It would sure explain the way she had clung to him since they had met.
He got up walking over to them, Eliana smiling wide when she saw him coming.
"Freed! Come eat some cake," she said happily reaching for him.
He laughed taking her from Laxus as the dragon slayer turned to them.
"How you feelin'," he asked quietly.
"I'm okay," Freed assured him as Eliana curled into him. "She's being awfully affectionate."
"I think she's feelin' a bit crowded in here."
"Who doesn't?"
"I kinda like the chaos."
Freed looked at him surprised before shaking his head with a smile. He shouldn't be surprised, the noise of the crowded guild was just Laxus' style.
"Come on, let's get a seat and unwind. We'll eat here tonight. Give you a break from cooking."
"Oh, sure," Freed said following him to a table.
Laxus sat with Freed watching him quietly. He'd been worried being asked about Freya would upset Freed more than it had. He could see that Freed was visibly upset but the Rune mage had managed to keep a lid on most of it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but so far he seemed to be deal with it well enough. Having Eliana in his arms seemed to have helped cheer him up immensely. Laxus couldn't help the swell of pride rise in him anytime he watched the two of them together. Seeing Freed dote on her and seeing how much she was bonding with Freed made him feel as if everything that had happened had been worth it. If he hadn't been exiled from the guild he never would have had Eliana and he probably still wouldn't have realized his feelings for Freed. He already couldn't imagine life without either of them.