Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I wrote, sorry about that. Hope you enjoy it, and review please!

I don`t own fairy tail, I`m not that cool L

Cana POV

Cana held her head high, the wind blowing through her hair, a large grin illuminating her face. She walked beside Laxus, followed by the other three mages. Cana liked them for the most part. Freed was defiantly receiving high marks in the charming category. Evergreen seemed a bit on the snobby side, always flashing a vain grin, but she didn`t seem too bad. Plus, Cana really liked her hair, so she couldn`t be too bad right? Bixlow did kind of creep her out a bit, but he had a crazy smile, which always meant fun, especially when Cana got him drunk. Though Cana really wanted to know what the point to his helmet was, and why he looked like he was cos-playing. Through their walk, Cana stuck to Laxus' side, chatting happily with him. Cana couldn't explain it, but she felt at ease next to him, as if it was a relief to have him near her, and not trying to kill her. Though Cana had no clue why he would WANT to kill her to begin with.

"Man are you serious?" Cana laughed. "That's hilarious!"

Laxus smirked. "You think that's funny, you should hear the story of how Bixlow almost got his tongue cut off."

Cana laughed gaily. "You'll have to tell me that story over a drink sometime." Momentarily looking up, she gestured towards a small building. "Aw, this is Mr. Trench's magic shop. It's a limited supply, mostly just stuff to use around the house, but there are a few things for full time mages. They have a good stock of magic cards."

"You get your cards here?" Laxus asked.

Cana nodded. "I've known Mr. Trench as long as I can remember; he used to bring me to the park whenever my mother was out of town. If you decide you want anything, I could get you a discount." Just then, the little bell rang at the shop. Cana looked up to see Esther coming out of the store, holding a bag of items she had just purchased. That puzzled Cana; Esther had never been a fan of magic, preferring to do most of her work by hand. "Hey Esther!"

Esther looked up at her voice. At first Cana saw a glimmer of relief in her eyes, but then she saw Laxus and the other members from his guild, and her eyes hardened again, and her jaw set. "Cana." She said, refusing to address the others.

Cana grinned, ignoring her hostility, and walked over to her, the others following. "Hey Esther, what's up? I was just bringing Laxus and these guys on a quick tour."

Esther nodded, not saying anything. "That's nice."

Cana frowned, but spoke up again. "This is Freed, Evergreen, and Bixlow. Your dad hired them to help get rid of the bandits around the town."

Esther just nodded again. "Uh huh. Have you talked to Damien today? Your BOYFRIEND?" she emphasized the last word.

Cana rolled her eyes. Not this again. "No, I haven't. I don't need to tell Damien where I'm going 24/7."

Behind her, she heard Bixlow whisper in Laxus' ear. "Going after a girl already taken? Aren't you a bad boy." Cana pretended not to hear that, as Laxus elbowed him in the side.

Freed stepped forward, smiling broadly. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance milady. I'm ashamed to say we didn't get the chance to meet when he first met your father." Freed reached forward to take her hand, but she sidestepped away from him, glaring daggers at him.

Cana hit his hand away. "I'd be careful Freed, I'm sure your girlfriend won't like to hear about your mindless flirting."

Freed widened his eyes. "How did you know about my girlfriend?"

Cana wasn't actually sure how she knew. She pointed at Laxus. "He told me, weren't you listening this whole walk?" Laxus nodded, but looked puzzled, trying to remember if he actually did tell her.

Freed snorted, his face blushing slightly. "I-I wasn't flirting, it's called being a gentleman."

Cana laughed. "Right, I didn't see you act that way when I introduced you to Mr. Rodgers back there."

Freed's face remained red, while Bixlow laughed, and slapped him on the back. "She's got you there man!"

Cana grinned, turning to Esther again. "Want to join us? We still have almost 3 quarters of the town left to go through."

"That much?" Evergreen interrupted, her face pouted. "I thought this was a small town! I can't walk that far in these heels."

Cana turned her head slightly towards her. "We're pretty close to my place now. If you want we could stop there and you could borrow some shoes." Evergreen huffed, but nodded begrudgingly.

Esther's face remained tense. "No thanks. I'm busy."

Evergreen pouted. "Aw but you have to come! I can't have these boys outnumber us! And I'll need your advice about what clothes I should wear!" Esther didn't ever acknowledge her comment. She just walked past them, offering a quick goodbye to Cana, then walked off, not even looked any of them in the eye.

Ever nodded. "Well, and I thought Laxus was rude."

Laxus just glared at her. Cana sighed, putting a hand to her face. "I'm sorry guys. I honestly don't know what's bugging her. Usually, she's one of the nicest people I know, I don't know why she's acting like this."

"It's no problem." Freed said smiling. "Perhaps she's just feeling a little under the weather." Cana nodded, in agreement, but her eyes remained fixed on the path Esther had taken.

Laxus put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Hey don't worry about it. I'm sure Freed's right, it's probably nothing."

Cana nodded, not wanting to let on how nice it felt to have Laxus' hand on her shoulder. She had to restrain the urge to lean her head on his shoulder, before she turned forward again. "Well, let's head to my house. We can grab a drink while we're there." The group of them walked on, chatting happily. Cana loved talking to these guys, it felt so easy, despite the fact that they had just met. She felt like she could trust any one of them with her life.

"We're here!" she finally announced. "Welcome to the Alberona's residence!" Cana waved her hand dramatically gesturing to her house.

Bixlow whistled. "Nice place! You here alone?"

Cana nodded. "My mother bought the land long ago, so I get the place pretty cheap." Cana lead the way inside. She gestured to the sitting room. "You guys can sit down, while I grab a drink. You guys want anything?"

"Just some water for me. I have to be careful drinking alcohol; I've had too many hangovers recently." Bixlow nodded, grimacing at the memory.

"I'll have some Vanilla nutmeg tea if you have it." Ever said.

Cana nodded. "Laxus?"

Laxus looked up. "I'll take a beer. Want some help with those?"

Cana grinned. "That'd be great, thanks." Cana turned towards the kitchen, hearing Freed whisper something about, getting the girl, before she heard Laxus hit him on the head. The two of them walked into the kitchen, which was mostly in view of the sitting room anyway. "The beer's in the fridge. Grab me on two thanks." Laxus nodded, turning to open the fridge.

Suddenly, Laxus heard Cana yelp. He turned his head to her. "What happened?"

Cana grimaced, holding her right hand with her left, her face grimacing. "Got some hot water on my hand, no bigy."

Laxus frowned. He put the two beers down on the counter, and reached into her freezer to grab an ice pack. He walked over to her. "Here, you might want to put this on." Laxus reached forward, and grabbed her hand. As soon as their skin touched, Cana felt a pang go up her arm, like it had been struck with a metal rod. She blinked. "What was that?" she asked, but she could hardly concentrate, as a memory flashed before her eyes.

Cana heard a slam, and turned towards the front of the guild hall. Laxus walked into the guild hall, his face looking grim. He had just come back from a three week long mission. Cana didn't know the details, but Ever told her it had something to do with infiltrating a dark guild or something. Laxus' eyes scanned the room, resting on Cana briefly, before snapping away from her. Cana pouted, and turned back to her cards that she had spread out on the table, acting like she didn't see him.

Cana and Laxus weren't exactly on the best speaking terms right now, ever since a few months ago, when Cana had decided to try some solo missions. Cana wasn't even sure what was wrong with that, she wanted to do something for herself, what's the harm in that? Laxus hardly even acknowledged her anymore, other than the brief glare here and there. Cana wished he would just come out and scream at her, rather then hiding behind a sour face.

"Hey Cana!" Cana heard a voice, and looked up to see Ever walking towards her.

Cana grinned lifting up her glass to greet her. "Hey Ever! How'd the mission go?"

Ever huffed. "Spectacular of course, you even have to ask?"

Cana laughed. "My mistake. So what happened anyway? You didn't give me much info before you left." Just then, Laxus passed by Cana. She didn't even have to look up to tell it was him. Cana glanced up briefly once he had past, and noticed him walking towards the master's office.

"Why don't you ask Laxus?" Ever asked. "I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you."

Cana glanced at her friend, before taking another drink. "In case you haven't noticed Ever, me and Laxus aren't exactly on good speaking terms."

Ever frowned, then sighed, putting her head in her hand. "I don't understand why you guys are fighting. The missions are so boring when Laxus is in a bad mood."

Cana ignored her, glancing again at the master's doors. "Why's Laxus going to talk to the master?"

Ever made a face, following her gaze. "Apparently he found out something about his father when on the mission." Cana bit her lip, knowing that meant trouble. Just then, the guild shook a blast of lightening shot out of the master's office. Everyone in the guild turned to look.

Master walked out, followed by Laxus. "There's no reason to get angry boy. Rules are rules."

Laxus' fist shook. "Forget the rule old bat; he's your son for crying out loud! And he's the master of his own dark guild, don't you even care!?" Cana winced, knowing she really shouldn't be listening to this, despite the fact that she really didn't have a choice.

Master looked unperturbed, but Cana knew better. Master had a better poker face than anyone she had ever met, she knew because the man had taught her how to play poker soon after she first joined the guild. Master had become a sort of father figure in her life, since her own father didn't realize of her existence. It was slightly closer to grandfather figure, but Cana preferred father. Cana knew that he was truly worried about both his son, and grandson, but his placement as guild master held him back from making any actions. "If that is the course Ivan has taken, there is nothing that I can do about that."

Laxus' eyes burned with anger. "Is that all you have to say!? What happened to never letting someone fall to darkness? Do those words mean nothing?"

Master didn't answer him. He walked past Laxus, and sat atop of the bar counter. He turned to Mira, who stood diagonally next to him, across the counter. (If that makes sense) "Mira, mind grabbing me a drink?"

Mira nodded, slightly nervous. "Yes master."

Cana saw something in Laxus' brain snap. He held out his hand towards his grandfather, and a bolt of lightning flew towards him. Master easily avoided it, but it smashed into the wall behind him, causing the glasses to fall the ground and shatter. Mira ducked her head to avoid the shards. "Listen to me you piece of trash!" Laxus shouted.

That did it, Cana stood up, despite Ever's pleas to look the other way. She stormed towards them, and placed herself in between Laxus and the master. "WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Cana screamed.

Laxus glared at her, but he lowered her hand. "Get out of the way, this has nothing to do with you."

Cana glared daggers at him. "Not my problem? Laxus you could have killed Mira!"

Laxus grunted. "That's not my problem."

Cana's eyes widened in disbelief. "Not your problem? She's your guild member of course it's your problem! Your father isn't the only person that matters!"

Laxus scowled. "At least I care about my father, unlike him!" he said, pointing at his grandfather, who managed to keep a straight face.

"Are you stupid? Of course your grandfather cares! Are you blind, can't you see what's right in front of you!?"

"Look who's talking!" Laxus spat, on instinct.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Cana asked angrily. Laxus clenched his teeth to keep himself from saying anything stupid. "If you care so much more about your dad then you do your own guild members, why don't you go join his guild?"

"Well maybe I will!" Laxus shouted back

"Good! You'll make a great dark mage; you've never been one to fight on the good side anyway!"

Laxus growled, his body was sparking. He turned abruptly. "Freed, Ever, Bixlow, let's go." He stormed out of the guild hall, his friends scrambling to follow him. Each of them had an uneasy expression on their faces, Evergreen turning, to mouth an apology before walking out the doors.

The guild hall was silent, all eyes were on Cana. She was breathing heavily, her feet planted on the spot.

"You didn't need to do that Cana." Erza said gently, noticing Cana's hand shake.

"He shouldn't act so heartless." Cana said back, her eyes glued on the guild doors.

Master spoke gently. "The boy is simply upset, as he has the right to be. He'll be back to normal before you know it."

Cana didn't say anything, doubting Makrov's words. She drew a shaky breath, forcing herself to relax. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said those things."

Master smiled up at her. "Nothing to apologize for happens to the best of us. Want to relax with a drink?"

Cana smiled, feeling exhausted. "Sounds good. I better help Mira though first."

Cana's eyes snapped to attention, her eyes fixing on Laxus. "d-did you see that?" she asked softly.

Laxus was silent. He opened his mouth to speak, but just as he did, Bixlow started singing loudly. "CAUSE EVERYTIME WE TOUCH I GET THIS FEELING!"

Evergreen grinned, as she joined in. "AND EVERYTIME WE KISS I SWEAR I COULD FLY!"

"CAN'T YOU FEEL MY HEART BEAT FAST, I WANT THIS TO LAST!" Bixlow sang again, Freed sat beside him, barely able to contain his laughter.

"NEED YOU BY MY SIDE!" Evergreen finished, falling back in her chair.

"Would you shut up!?" Laxus yelled at them. He roughly handed Cana the ice pack, before grabbing his beer, and one of the glasses of water Cana had prepared. He stalked over to Bixlow, and poured the contents onto his head. Bixlow protested, but his dolls were still bouncing around, singing different lyrics of 'Every time we touch' by Cascada.

Cana smiled, their merriment putting her at ease, as she turned back towards the tea she was preparing. She struggled to stop her hands from shaking. She remembered her mother explaining to her different aspects to spells. She once told her that if two different ends of a spell came in contact, a magic zing would pass between the two. It was a built in safety measure made by the original creatures of different spells, so they could identify if a spell had been cast on them. But Cana wasn't under any spell; everything was the same it had always been. Cana glanced back toward Laxus, only to find him looking at her in turn. Both of them retreated their gaze. Cana wasn't under any spell, was she?

Esther POV

Esther walked along the streets, her eyes glued to the ground, as she hurried towards her house. Suddenly, Esther bumped into someone, causing her to stumble back slightly. She looked up, and almost dropped the bag she was holding. Damien stood in front of her, a grim expression on his face.

As soon as he noticed Esther, his expression lightened slightly. "Hey Esther! Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Esther took a moment to respond, her own hands shaking. "I-I was j-just grabbing some stuff for my father at the store."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "There's no reason to be nervous Esther, it's only me." Damien flashed an easy grin.

As much as it shamed her, Esther felt herself ease at the sight of his smile. She knew that it was stupid, to like someone like him. She knew everything he had done, she knew his true nature, and yet, every time he smiled at her, her insides turned to jelly. "You can't choose who you love I guess." She said, sighing under her breath. "I'm sorry; I'm just a bit cold."

Damien frowned, looking concerned. "Want to borrow my coat?"

Esther quickly shook her head, trying to hide the slight blush she felt. "No thanks Damien, I'm alright."

Damien grinned at her again. Then his gaze became distant, turning his head to the right. "I noticed we had some new people in town."

Esther sucked in a breath. "o-oh really?" she asked, acting innocent.

Damien nodded, still not looking at her. "I saw Cana with them earlier."

Esther felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face. "o-oh yeah, Cana ran into one of them at the bar last night, and offered to show them around town, I had totally forgotten about it."

Damien was silent for a moment to long, Esther gripping her bag tightly. "Any idea why they're in town?"

Esther quickly shook her head. Too fast. "No idea, didn't ask."

Damien frowned, looking at her, the darkness Esther saw in his eyes scarring her. "You sure you don't know." Esther gulped, but nodded quickly. Damien took a step closer to her, and she felt her heart race. "You're sure?" he asked again.

Esther bit her lip, fearing that if she said anything, she didn`t know what Damien would do to her father if he found out that he had requested their presence. She laughed, trying to make it sound effortless. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I'm sure." Damien was silent for a moment, as Esther held her breath.

Then he sighed, defeated, and placed a hand on her head. "I'm sorry Esther, I'm acting stupid." He smiled again. "You've never lied to me before, why would you start now?" Esther immediately felt an irrational pang of guilt, but quickly shooed it away. He turned, and started walking away. "Talk to you later Esther!" Esther raised a hand, and waved after him, not moving as he walked away.

Esther followed Damien through the forest. She had no clue why he was walking around here, so late in night. It had been somewhere between 1-2 years since Cana had left them. Esther had gotten over it, knowing that she had meant no ill will. But Damien still hadn't recovered, Esther seeing the sadness in his eyes every now and then.

She hid behind a tree, hoping that Damien would not spot her. To her surprise, she saw him walk up to a man. He must have realized he was coming, and came out to meet him. Esther froze when she saw him, recognizing him immediately.

"And who are you boy?" the man asked, his voice dark.

Damien looked up at him. "It was you. You were the one who killed Cana's mother weren't you?"

The man smirked slightly. "And what are you going to do about it boy? Take revenge for your little girlfriend?"

To Esther's shock, Damien shook his head. "No, I have a better plan then that." He looked up at the man, starring him hard in the eyes, with ferocity a child shouldn't have. "I want you to train me."

Sorry this one took so long. I've been depressed, since I have so little time till school starts. (,-.-,) tear- anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter; I'll post the next one A.S.A.P. also, Freed`s girlfriend is Mira-jane. i like their couple, and will probally write them a short story soon. also, I`m sorry the end was a bit rushed, please forgive, and Please Review! :)