Chapter Thirty-four
We'd gotten to the train station quicker than the walk to headquarters had been, and it probably had something to do with the fact that Laxus was walking at a much brisker pace. No one was complaining, though. We all wanted to get back home as quickly as possible. Bixlow carried Laxus' belongings, and I carried Wendy's and Charle's, while Laxus himself carried Wendy and Charle. Despite his quick steps on the uneven ground of the forest, Laxus was steady as he walked so that the two wouldn't wake up.
It was a short wait for the train and this time, however fortunate or unfortunate, depending how you looked at it, we were separated between cabins. Jet, Droy, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Levy, and Doranbolt to one, Laxus, Wendy, Charle, Freid, Evergreen, Bixlow, and I to another. Laxus and I sat on opposite sides of one bench with Wendy and Charle curled up between us, her head resting on my legs. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't have a window seat, but I couldn't complain as I played with Wendy's hair while I drifted off to sleep.
It was near nightfall when we arrived back in Magnolia and Wendy had still not awakened. According to Laxus, Charle had woken up for a portion of the ride, but had fallen asleep again soon after.
"Should we be worried about her?" Came Doranbolt's voice as we got off the train.
I glanced quickly at him before answering, "No, she's fine. She used a lot of her magic today. Just worn out." We were all dragging our feet as we went to our respective homes, Levy walking with a slight limp.
"Levy, are you still hurt?" Levy turned her eyes on me as we walked, an eyebrow raised. "You're limping."
Understanding clicked in her eyes before she responded, "Oh, that's what you meant. When I was up against that guy with the hair, after I was knocked unconcious, he must have broke my leg. Wendy told me she healed it the best she could, while also healing my other serious injuries, before she didn't have enough magic to continue. So it's no longer broken, but it is still bruised up pretty good." So that's what that crack was when Beta dropped her.
We soon came up to the crossroads that sent us our separate ways, but before we completely separated, we discussed what to do with the sleeping girl in Laxus' arms.
"I would carry her to Fairy Hills since I live there too, but Master's orders for us to be at your house with you when you two aren't at the guild are still in effect until he says otherwise." Evergreen told us. I felt Laxus' annoyance at still not being able to go home and be alone.
"Laxus, she's right. And considering the recent attack, I don't think a reprieve will happen anytime soon." I told him.
"Can any of you take her?" Evergreen asked, looking to the rest of the group.
Jet, Droy, and Gajeel all shook their heads.
"Boys can't go to the girl's dorm after a certain time, or anywhere near them." Jet started.
"If we get caught there, at all, we'll be skewered by Erza." Droy finished.
We were all quiet for a minute, and a few of us looked to Levy, with not much hope on our faces.
"Sorry, if we were closer I'd carry her, but she's almost the same size as me, there's no way I can take her that far." Levy said with a sweatdrop.
"I guess we have to take her with us." Freid said, looking at Wendy, who looked even smaller than usual in Laxus' arms.
After we went our separate ways, Doranbolt disappearing who knows where, the walk was quiet, the sounds of our footsteps scuffling on the stone ground that slowly turned into the crunching of leaves on the forest floor being the only noise.
Once we had arrived at Laxus' home Evergreen went directly to the couch and collapsed on it, barely managing to put one of the tan blankets down first.
"Laxus," Freid said, gaining the attention of both Laxus and myself, "I believe that it will probably be best that we went to the guild in the morning to explain what happened while we were gone. It's best we do it before Jet and Droy blow it up bigger than it is," his eyes flickered to me for a split second, "and it would be a good idea to get there before Lucy's team realized we're back and didn't go to see them." After he was finished speaking, he nodded his head to Laxus then to me before heading upstairs to his room, Bixlow following behind. I looked to Evergreen, thinking I should put a blanket on her and realized someone else had done it already.
Bixlow most likely, Freid was busy talking with Laxus.
I heard Laxus huff and I turned towards him to see he was looking at Evergreen with slight annoyance. I couldn't figure out why until he adjusted his arms to get a better hold on Wendy as she was sliding through his arms.
"Oh, I see, that's where you were going to put Wendy. I forgot you were holding her." Laxus only nodded his head, "I guess this means she's sleeping with me." He gave another quick nod and started up the stairs with me following close behind.
Laxus walked just passed by mine and Evergreen's shared room and turned to look at me. I stood there for a moment, thinking he had something to say. He said nothing and only raised an eyebrow with a quick look to the door, to the girl and cat in his arms, then back to me. Only then did I realize what he wanted.
"Oh! Right! Door! Yes, door!" I almost shouted in pure embarrassment. Oh my! Mavis, why on Earthland would you let me do that? I'm sure you're laughing there on your island.
Laxus walked in and placed Wendy on the bed while I was freaking out in my head. He gave a curt nod in my direction, with a quiet 'night', as he walked out of the room. I frowned after him at his distant attitude.
I walked over to the bed and looked down at the sleeping girl. I could see from the moonlight that she was covered in the dirt and dust of the broken down library, and probably the beach we spent our morning at, along with the dried, crackled blood of the people that she was healing.
I suppose I should clean her off. There's no reason to let her sleep like that.
Kicking off my sandals, I head down to the kitchen and grabbed a medium sized bowl and brought it up to the bathroom. I set the bowl under the faucet and let it fill as I went through the cupboards for liquid soap and a soft wash cloth. Turning off the water and tucking the soap under my arm, I made my way back to the bedroom.
I knelt down beside the bed and set the bowl beside me, also lighting a candle on the table. I looked Wendy over once more. With the light from the candle she didn't look as dirty as the darkness made it seem. The small girl was still fairly dirty though. She wasn't that bloody, most of it being on her dress, legs and hands, with smears on her cheeks and forehead, probably from where she was wiping away sweat. The dirt and dust, however, had clung to whatever sweat was on her body and had dried there.
I'll quickly wipe away the dirt, then I'll focus on getting rid of the blood. I thought as I leaned forward and took off her sandals. Dipping the cloth into the water and ringing it out my thoughts began to wander.
I wonder what's up with Laxus? He's been really quiet since the fight. I felt my hands moving on their own as wiped down Wendy's skin of any grime. Even while speaking with his team he barely said anything at all, if that makes sense. Granted he doesn't always talk much, but with his team there is a significantly larger amount of words and sounds coming from him. Just now when he was in here, he was acting as if I was a stranger again. I mean, we've been living under the same roof for almost two months. We are way past the awkward good nights.
As I moved onto the blood on Wendy I squeezed some of the soap onto the cloth and rubbed it in, the subtle smell of apples reaching my nose. The cloth ran smoother over Wendy's skin with the soap and I had to rub a little harder to get the blood off. Her hands and legs were simple enough, but she kept pulling away whenever I brought the cloth to her face, not that I could blame her. I'd flinch away from my face being touched in my sleep, too.
"Whatever. I'll let her deal with it when she wakes up." I whispered with a huff, giving up on cleaning her face.
I'll just change her out of her dress now. I flushed with embarrassment as I realized that would mean I'd not only have to see her naked, which isn't that big a deal, we have bathed together, but I'd have to maneuver her into new clothes.
Get over it, Lucy! I shook my head and told myself that I wouldn't want to sleep in bloody clothes, even if the blood was mine. I thought about grabbing her pajamas, but then realized that going through her bag was probably a little too personal, despite the fact that I was about to change her clothes. I bypassed her bag and went to one of my drawers, grabbing one of the large t-shirts I used for sleeping.
I paused as I reached for the straps of Wendy's dress, my earlier blush slowly coming back. Come on, if this thirteen year old girl can deal with seeing and touching both male and females while she heals them, then you can easily do this.
Taking a deep breath I sat Wendy up and readied my shirt. The second her straps were off her arms, my shirt was on and over her. I slid her dress off while pulling the shirt down on her and slowly laying her back down. Once the dress was completely off I folded it and set it on the back of a chair in the room that had her bag on it. When I turned back I had to stifle a laugh. What was a loose shirt on me and went to the base of my butt was a dress on her and almost reached her knees, even while laying down.
It was hot in the room despite it being almost midnight, and because I had slept on the train almost the whole way back to Magnolia, I was not tired in the slightest. I looked to the doors that led to the balcony and figured some fresh air might help.
I slip out, being careful to not to wake Wendy or Charle as I closed the doors, feeling the cool wooden floor of the balcony on my bare feet.
I sighed and leaned heavily on the railing, looking out into the field, thoughts faintly crossing my mind of the moonlight reflecting beautifully off the rippled water of the small lake. My mind wandered through the events of the day, somehow focusing on finding when Laxus had begun acting strange.
Everything had been as normal as it could be when you're in an unfamiliar place with Rune Knights watching your every move. Even this morning during training, before the attack, he'd seemed normal, if a bit irratable, but that's to be expected when no one has had much time to themselves. Something must have happened during his fight. Or soon after it.
"I thought you went to bed, Girly."
So, ya. This was kinda long and kinda mleh. I'm actually not entirely sure I like it, but I figured that all of my Muses had gone long enough without a chapter, so I should at least give you something.
Review and tell me everything, send me inspiration, and next chapter should have some LaLu moments, hopefully.