Chapter Nineteen

It's been a day since my team tried breaking through the rune barrier. I feel guilty about the way I treated them and the way that I reacted. The rational part of my mind tells me that they wouldn't have listened any other way, but the feelings of guilt just gets worse when I think of the looks on their faces after I lost control of the lightning, even if it was just a small amount and only for an instant. Though nothing happened to them since the lightning didn't get close, I still have the guilt of even letting myself lose control. So, to rid myself of these feelings, I've been forcing myself to concentrate only on training. I've moved from being able to create two bolts and a bit to four complete bolts.

"It seems that Laxus has you doing the form of training that I had him do when he was a kid." I jumped at the sound of Master's voice. I look at him standing beside me, then turn back to training, wondering how I didn't notice him.

"Isn't there guild duties you're supposed to be doing instead of coming to see me." That wasn't supposed to come out as rude as it did. I heard Master laugh.

"Laxus' attitude is certainly showing through. Your team has told me that you did decide to continue training, though they did seem upset about something." A stronger jolt of lightning shot from my hand when a spike of the guilt I felt came back with the Master's words. He didn't seem to think anything of it as he continued talking. "I came to see how your training is coming since you refuse to come to the guild."

"I'm coming the day you told me I had to," I say, suppressing a groan, "besides you were just here two days ago. What's your real reason for being here?"

"That is my real reason. If you're progressing fast enough you'll be able to go on a more difficult mission than the one I originally wanted." I felt a small amount of anger and annoyance build in my chest at the mention of a mission.

"I said I'd go to the guild. I didn't say I'd go on a mission." My voice portraying a fraction of the annoyance I felt.

...

"Master?" I look around and he's gone again. I'm almost ready to go to the guild just to punch him. He's not supposed to ignore his 'children'. I blink at my thoughts, and sigh as I realize that I'm a little too much like Laxus in my mind now. Great, threatening the Master in my thoughts. I've only ever seen one person in our guild actually punch him and that was Romeo before he joined. But, now, with his words I'm too annoyed to continue training properly, so in my opinion he would deserve this punch.

I sigh as I slide off the boulder, which I have deemed mine, and walk to a random patch of grass with some small white and pink flowers spread throughout it. I drop to the grass unceremoniously, revelling in the soft scent the flowers give off and relax, watching the clouds glide through the sky. Soon enough, I was too relaxed to begin training again and I began to drift off to sleep.

"-rly, girly. Hey, girly, wake up, it's gonna start raining soon." I opened my eyes to see Laxus' face. Behind him I could see the sun was setting, but I didn't see a cloud in the sky now.

"What d'ya mean rain, there's no clouds?" My tone was tired and made me seem ready to pass out again. I pushed myself up into a sitting position rubbing my eyes and yawning.

"I lied." As I tried standing, I felt Laxus grab my arms to steady me. "What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the clearing instead of training? And you know these flowers you're laying in are used in sleeping potions, right?" I slowly got my feet with Laxus' help. Once I was up he began pulling me along side him back to the house.

"I was training earlier, but Master came by and made me mad so I tried relaxing for a bit before I continued. I was doing good, too." My voice trailed off as I attempted to supress a yawn, but I was still so tired. I was heavily leaning against Laxus so that I could walk without falling over, though I was still wobbly.

"What did gramps want?" He had to stop walking for a second to catch me since I tripped on a large rock. He quickly decides to just carry me since, almost immediately after he steadied me, I tripped again.

"He came to check on my training. He said it was to see if I could go on a more difficult mission than the one he picked." I felt Laxus' arms and chest tense and I heard the tell-tale crackle of lighting. He was mad. I pulled away slightly to look up at his face.

"Laxus?" At my voice, he relaxed somewhat, and the crackling slowed.

"That idiot. He's sending you on a test."

"What for?" I ask quietly as I relax in his hold again. Laxus lets out a quiet sigh.

"We'll talk to him when we go to the guild." The vibrations in his chest as he speaks begin to lull me into sleep once again.

"Laxus?" I start after a few seconds of quiet, my eyes barely staying open.

"Hm?"

"Welcome back." These words are the last thing I remember saying before I snuggle into Laxus' broad chest and completely fall asleep again.

My muses, thank you so much for all the reviews. I've officially reached one hundred. And so I present you with this (slightly crappy) chapter. I really wasn't sure if I wanted to put it up yet, or maybe change it up, but I could not think of anything to add that wouldn't drift from the story too much.

Oh, and I realized that if I ever don't want to type my full pen name and I shorten it, it would be shortened to hp, or HP, so I am Harry Potter, or a brand of computer, but I'd rather be a wizard. I could even be steak sauce. I probably shouldn't go with hp as an abbreviation.

Anywho, send me lots of inspiration and I'll be back soon.