Hey everyone! Ugh, I DID IT AGAIN! I MADE U AL WAIT 4 SO LONG! Well this time, I have a slightly better excuse, I had a big project due, (that still isn't finished.) ... actually that isn't a better excuse is it? Ok, please ignore that. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Don't own Fairy tail!

Laxus POV

Laxus sighed in annoyance, picking up his shattered cloak. Some of the bandits they had fought had turned out to be mages, and had scorched his cape. He looked at it with distain and angry scowl on his face. "Man and that was my best one too!" he complained, to no one in particular.

His other comrades stood behind him, Ever sighed. "How long is this mission going to take anyway? Haven't we taken down most of the bandits anyway?"

"We've only taken down a few of the known locations. There are still a bunch we have to find." Freed answered patiently.

Ever moaned in annoyance. "Ugh! This is not fair. I'm heading back and taking a shower."

"No amount of showers will wash the ugly off of that face." Bixlow's doll chirped, then promptly fell to the ground, as a gray stone.

Bixlow jumped, then rushed over to the rock/ former doll. "No! My baby!" he picked it up, and started cradling it like a baby, cooing soft words to it about giving it a new form, the other dolls circling around him in a frenzy.

Laxus presently ignored the others, throwing his discarded cape to the side. He frowned, he was only wearing his muscle shirt now, but it was a bit dirty from his battle. He hoped it wouldn't be a bother. "So where are you off to Laxus?" Freed asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

Laxus didn't look back at him. "I made plans to meet Cana for lunch." Laxus didn't even have to look to know his friends were smirking knowingly at him. He turned, and glowered at him. "No, this is not a date."

"A date?" Evergreen questioned innocently. "We didn't say anything about a date, did we Freed?"

Freed gave a false gentlemanly smile. "No I don't believe we did Ever. Perhaps it was simply implied."

"Oh and why would that be? You don't mean to tell me that we knew all along about Laxus' love for out little card mage."

"Ok that's enough!" Laxus interrupted, glaring at the two of them. "I'm heading into town. I'll see you guys later tonight. AND DON'T FOLLOW ME!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Ever called teasingly.

Laxus hadn't even taken two steps when he heard Bixlow call him. "Hey, um, Laxus?" Laxus turned back to look at him. Bixlow's face was unusually serious, his mouth set in a grim line. He was still holding the stone doll, but the others were turned to face Laxus. Ever and Freed both looked surprised to see him so serious. "Um, be, careful, about that Cana girl." Bixlow bit his lip. "I mean her boyfriend. Be careful of him. Something about him just, creeps me out."

Laxus frowned in confusion. Bixlow had told him that he had met Cana's boyfriend the day before, but hadn't gone into details. Who the heck was this guy, to be able to scare Bixlow? "Sure..." Laxus said frowning. He walked on, leaving Freed and Ever to question Bixlow's odd behavior.

He walked around town, trying to find the place that Cana had asked to meet him. Finally he found the little bakery. He walked in, and sat down in a booth near the back. An older lady came and took his order, before returning back to her baking.

Laxus had just taken a sip of his drink, when he heard the front door slam open. He turned towards the sound, his hand immediately sparking. He saw Cana standing there, she had one hand on each sides of the door-frame, and she was breathing heavily. Even so the thing that caught Laxus' eye was the slightly messy hair that adorned her face, falling this way and that, as she bit her lip nervously. "She looks kind of cute like that." Laxus thought, then quickly caught himself, and scolded himself for thinking such a thing.

Cana's eyes drifted around the room, before she met Laxus' eyes. She sighed, with annoyance, as she walked towards him. "Dang it, I was hoping I'd get here before you." She sat down across from him, propping her elbow on the table, leaning her head against it. "I only woke up almost half an hour ago, and ran all the way here."

Laxus raised an eyebrow at her. "It's almost 2 o'clock? You were still in bed?"

Cana gave him a scowl. "Don't question my actions!"

"Wouldn't dream of it. I'm afraid if I tried, I'd end up killing my brain cells."

Cana reached over, and hit him over the head. Laxus barely even flinched under the blow. "Jerk!" she huffed in annoyance. She turned and called. "Hey Mrs. Goodworth! Mind bringing me a beer?" The baker looked up, and nodded breathlessly. She hurried over, quickly placing the drink on the table, and rushing back behind the counter before Cana could even thank her. Cana frowned. "That's odd."

Laxus nodded in agreement. "Is she usually this busy?" he asked.

Cana shook her head. "No, usually Esther is here working with her. That's strange, I wonder where she is."

Laxus frowned, taking a drink from his bottle. "Hope it's nothing."

Cana frowned, but shrugged. "She's been acting strange lately; maybe she's just taking a break."

Laxus nodded in agreement, but he could tell Cana was still worried about her friend. For some reason, that sad look in her eyes made him feel...what was the word? Uncomfortable that was the word he was looking for. Desperate for a way to distract the girl, he glanced around the room swiftly, and his eye caught onto her purse, a few cards slipping through the entrance. "You said you were a card mage didn't you?" Luckily, Laxus' words had the intended reaction.

Cana's eyes snapped towards Laxus, her eyes sparkled. "Mhhm! I've been a card mage for years! I have almost 300 cards now."

Laxus, relieved, continued with the conversation. "Forgive me, but my knowledge on card magic is pretty limited. All I really know is that you do fortune telling?"

Cana nodded. "I can do a lot more than that, but fortune telling is the most common. Here want me to show you?"

"Eh?" Laxus didn't even have time to protest, Cana had already reached into her purse, and pulled out a stack of cards, and spread them out in front of him.

"Wave your hands over the cards." Cana said.

Laxus raised an eyebrow, but Cana just edged him to continue. Normally this wouldn't be something he was into, but Cana looked so happy right now, he was afraid to mess it up. (Not because her happiness sent his heart convulsing, only because he didn't want to see her upset! And his certainty didn't like the way she bit the inside of her lip expectantly, looking way to cute...) Laxus quickly shoved away his thoughts, fighting off the rapid blush he felt rising in his cheeks. So he quickly waved his hand over top of the cards. "There, now what?"

Cana closed her eyes, and reached her hand a few feet above the cards. Her hand shown a light purple colour, and immediately, three cards slowly floated up to her hand. She opened her eyes again, and quickly shoved the over cards into her purse, placing the three selected cards face up in front of her.

"Now we start to do a little digging." She pointed at the first card. It showed a large knight, strong and powerful, bigger then the other figures. He was defending a group of people, who were all rushing towards him, arms open for a hug, but he held his back to them, his eyes focused on the battle. "You see that knight guy? That's you."

Laxus frowned, studying him. "You serious? Man I thought I was better looking than that!" Cana laughed as his banter

"Oh trust me you are sweetie!"

"I'm glad you noticed, you're not to bad yourself doll." Laxus said on instinct. The two starred at each other for a moment, without an explanation for their strange comments. They both turned back to the cards, both of their faces slightly red. "I, err, anyway, the knight shows that you are loyal, and strong, and can beat pretty much any enemy. But you see how your back is turned to the people, who are trying to hug you? In your guild, at least I think it's in your guild; emotions are a very important factor to everyone. You also care a lot about those close to you, but you are so concentrated on protecting them and making them stronger, you sometimes forget the emotions you work so hard to hide during a battle. That sometimes causes you to hurt those close to you."

Laxus swallowed at the accuracy of her words, remembering the incident at the battle of Fairy tail. Giving him a quick glance, to see if it was ok to continue, she looked back at the cards. "This second one, is a little romance story I guess. Oh fun, I love a little romance in here." Laxus had to concentrate in order to keep his face from turning any darker than it was before. The card showed a little boy, sitting down in the grass, holding a small ball. But his mouth was set in a pout, his eyes confused. In front of him, there was a silhouette of a girl sitting in front of him, but it was a dark shade of black, a large question mark filling it in. Surrounding the two figures was a heart. Cana giggled slightly, noticing Laxus' obvious repulsion to the images, before explaining. "When you were younger, there was a girl you fell in love with. You've been in love with her since then, but you can't remember anything about her, maybe she moved away or something. You've been looking for her, but you consider it a hopeless case." She looked up at him, and winked. "If you find her, tell her she's a lucky girl."

Laxus tilted his head and winked at her. "Sure, but if she doesn't show herself soon, my eyes might drift away, a man's heart cants be contained for too long."

Cana had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. "You gotta stop saying stuff like that, or else you're going to have two girls gunning for you, and that's never a good thing."

"By who's standards?" Cana laughed again, turning back to the cards.

Her eyebrows creased together, a concentrated expression coming over her face. "You're going to have to give me a sec; this one will take a while to decipher."

Laxus nodded, reaching for his drink, and bringing it to his lips, managing to look non-calm. When her eyes refocused on the card, Laxus' eyes turned to study her. He watched the light glint across her hair, the way her eyes seemed to swim in her concentration. He thought briefly about what she had said about a childhood romance. As far as he knew, there wasn't any childhood girl that he had ever fallen in love with, all the girls at the guild seemed slightly too crazy for his taste. But the dreams he'd been having...

Laxus slowly placed down his bottle, his brow moving to mirror Cana's concentration. If that girl was the one Cana's fortune told about, then that would mean she had to be real. Involuntarily, his eyes flittered up to Cana, but they immediately dropped back down to the table. There was no way that Cana was that girl, she had told him she had never been to Fairy tail, and what reason did she have to lie to him? But, at the same time, the similarities were too big to simply be ignored. It was weird though, he remembered that in one of his dreams the girl had given him a fortune, which was slightly similar to this, what was it she had said?

Cana snapped her fingers, drawing Laxus out of his reverie. "I got it!" she leaned into the table. "Sorry it took so long, there's some writing on this one, and I'm had some trouble deciphering." Laxus leaned in to take a look at the card. It showed a picture of a king standing in the middle of a road, but he was chained down, each of the chains leading to different pathways. At the end of each pathway where things that looked nice, swords, treasure, land, etc. There was another pile of chains beside the man that he had managed to escape. There was a symbol placed on each of the chains that Laxus didn't recognize. "That's you the king this time."

"A king? Aw yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Laxus said with a smirk.

Cana grinned. "The king shows that you are a natural born leader. You have the strength and wisdom for it, and you have the traits that make people want to trust you. But you focus too much on the wrong things of a leader. You focus on the strength, your pride, and your honour, over the people you govern." She pointed at the pile of discarded chains. "You know this yourself, and at time, you've managed to refocus yourself on what's important, but because of your nature you often have to watch yourself to make sure you don't slip up and make the same mistakes." Cana took a deep breath, having completed her fortune. "Well, you are a complicated man aren't you?"

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "I'm a man of many secrets. So how'd you do that? Was there some trick to it?"

Cana shook her head, grabbing the cards. "No trick. Magic." She turned them to face him again, and Laxus saw that they were all blank.

"What the..." he started

"The cards always start off blank. The images are different for everyone, which is why it's so difficult to find the meaning behind them. I've had years of practise, so I'm faster than most."

Laxus raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. "I see, are all your cards like that?"

Cana shook her head. "No, just the three. These ones are technically the only ones I use for fortune telling."

Laxus frowned, confused. "But then what were the others for?"

"Just for show. It looks cooler when there are more than three cards. That was a bit of a deeper fortune, usually I just do general fortunes, that aren`t anything special, but when I use these cards I can get more information. The results can change from time to time, depending on what happened to the person between the times." Laxus raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question her words. but he did remember the dream girl had said something about a general fortune. Cana turned to place the cards in her bag. "I must say, I am slightly disappointed. I was hoping to learn a bit more about you."

Laxus raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Cana turned back to him, a mischievous smirk on her lips. "Well, honestly, other than the fun little fact about your romance life," she winked at him. "Didn't realize you were such a romantic by the way."

Laxus shrugged. "I try."

Cana continued. "I could have pretty much told you everything else without the aid of the cards. You're pretty much an open book to me."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Cana shrugged. "Well, yeah. As a card mage, reading different people has become a specialty of mine."

"I see." Laxus said. "Well, seeing as you gave me my fortune, why don't I give it a shot?"

Cana raised an eyebrow. "I can't show you how to use the cards, it'll take too long, and I don't think lightning mages have the right magic skill..."

"I'm not talking about the cards. I mean just from my own judgment. You can tell me if I'm right or not." Laxus smirked at her, his eyes challenging. "You're not the only one who's good at reading people."

Cana grinned, curious. "Alright. I'll play your little game. Shoot."

Laxus took a breath, before he started. "You like drinking."

"Anyone could tell you that." Cana said, rolling her eyes.

"Let me finish." Laxus frowned. "You like drinking, but not in the way most people do. Mostly people only use drinking as a way to block off some kind of pain, but though you do occasionally do this, you drink primarily just because you love the sensation of it."

Cana raised an eyebrow. "Good start."

"The people here." Laxus said, looking up to make sure no one was listening. "In this town. You're close to them, and you consider them almost family. But at the same time, you feel like their chaining you down. You want to make more friends, then just the people here in the town. You want to travel, to meet new people, but you're confided to this small town, because you can't bring yourself to leave the people here, and because of this you have started to feel distant from them."

Cana nodded, "ok I'm impressed. Anything else you got?"

Laxus frowned. "Your boyfriend." He noticed Cana visibly tense at this.

"What about him?" she questioned.

Laxus was silent for a moment, wondering if he was crossing a line. "You like him, but you don't love him. You care about him, but not in the way you should as his girlfriend. Your friend Esther obviously likes him, which is why she is so scarred that you're going to hurt him by hanging out with us, but even though you realize this it doesn't bother you. You're only with him because you know that if you break up it will hurt him, and being with him has become more of a chore for you than anything."

Cana was silent for a moment, Laxus fearing her reaction. "That's getting a little personal, isn't it?"

Laxus frowned, leaning forward. "You got pretty personal there yourself."

Cana leaned forward. "I was using the cards, I only said what I saw, don't hate the player, hate the game."

"And I was only saying what I saw. So we're even."

"What makes you so sure I don't love my boyfriend?"

"If you did, would you be here flirting with me?"

"Oh you say it like you don't enjoy it."

"I didn't say I don't."

"Then what do you think?" Cana said. Both of them immediately froze. Unconsciously, then had been leaning in closer to each other, and were now so close, their noses were almost touching. Cana gulped, a little nervous. "I, um, looks like we're a little close there." Laxus just nodded, his eyes drifting slightly to her lips. "Guess we should, um back away, I guess." Laxus just nodded, he couldn't bring himself to say anything, but at the same time couldn't bring himself to move. The two were silent for a moment, staring at each other, neither knowing what to do. Suddenly, Cana's eyes flashed, and Laxus felt his mind slip into a memory.

The memory was different than his previous ones. This time, instead of being a child, he looked around the same age he was now, maybe a year or so younger, but not too long ago. Laxus himself was sitting at the guild bar counter. The place was half full, most of the members having left for home by now. He had a bottle of beer in his hand, and was just slightly over tipsy.

Feeling a presence over him, Laxus looked up to see Cana standing over him. She was dressed nicely, considering her usual attire. She wore a black leather jacket, unzipped a bit at the top, a black lacy skirt going down to her knees over top of blue leggings. Her hair was held back into a high ponytail, but a few stray hairs flouting around her face. She was obviously drunk, that much was clear, by her walk, and the goofy grin on her face. Laxus, impaired by the alcohol, couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she looked, despite the fact that she was drunk.

"hhhhey Laxy boy!"

Laxus blinked. He was surprised that Cana was talking to him, considering the two of them weren't on good talking terms. "hey." he started. "Um, Cana how drunk are you exactly?"

"Pppreeetttty drunk!" Cana slurred. To Laxus' surprise Cana jumped up, and sat in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder. "I was out with Vincent."

Laxus increasing good mood plummeted. "Oh. That your current boyfriend I take it?"

Cana shook her head. "Nope, my ex. Just broke up with him."

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Why's that?"

Cana waved her hand. "Wasn't feeling the relationship. He was boring, wouldn't stop going on about his stupid cat. Who the heck goes on a three hour rant about which cat food brand is best?"

"Laxus couldn't hide his chuckle. "Sounds like a great guy."

Cana sighed, snuggling into his shoulder. "I'm upset, though, he was SSSOOOO cute!" Cana moaned in annoyance. "Why is it that all good looking boys are either crazy or taken?"

"And which group do I go into?" Laxus asked, half jokingly, trying to relax his tense muscles.

"Oh you're in a class of your own. Hot guys are a different story all together."

Laxus had to stop a moment, to make sure he had heard that correctly. He laughed tensely, hoping to change the conversation. "You might have a hard time saying that when I become guild master. I could suspend you for saying something like that."

"Oh you're not going to be guild master."

Laxus face hardened, anger stirring inside him. "Excuse me?"

Cana turned, and looked him in the eye, and Laxus was caught off guard by the seriousness in her eyes. "You're strong Laxus and you'd make a great guild master, one that anyone would follow into battle, but not yet. You still have something's to figure out. One day, you'll make a mistake, and it'll be a big one. I don't know what it'll be, but I'm certain of it. And then you'll realize what you've been doing wrong, only then will you be fit to be guild master." Cana curled up closer to him, acting extremely calm. "Just do me a favour, and warn me before you do anything ok? I don't want to see it, cause I know it's going to hurt."

Laxus was silent for a moment, unsure of what response to give her. "You're a strange one, you know that?"

Laxus felt Cana grin into his chest. "Aww, so are you, but I still love you."

Laxus blinked. "Huh?"

Cana looked up at him, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol. "I suppose I should hate you. It's your fault none of my relationships work you."

"Why would that be my fault?"Laxus sputtered in defence. Before he could do anything, Cana grabbed his shirt, and pulled him against her, sealing his lips on hers. It was a rough kiss, and Laxus could taste the alcohol. Against his will, Laxus reached up, and pulled her harder against him, reluctant to let her go. But soon the need for air caused both of them to separate, breathing heavily. Cana leaned forward, noses touching, their lips to close for Laxus' comfort.

"Because no matter how angry I am at you, and no matter how much I know you're going to hurt me, I still can't get you out of my head."

Abruptly, Cana leapt from her seat, and started walking out the doors. "You might have to fill me in tomorrow on what happened, because I am WWWAYY too drunk to remember any of it tomorrow." Laxus watched her walk out, not taking his eyes off her for a second.

Suddenly, the front door bell rang, shocking them both out of their trance. Cana immediately retreated back into her seat, her face blushing red. "I, um, what were we talking about?"

Laxus just shook his head. His head was filled with the memory of a drunken Cana at his guild. "I, um, probably something dumb."

Cana nodded in agreement. "Yeah, probably." Cana frowned, checking her watch. "Um, I think I should go check on Esther, see if everything is ok." Laxus nodded, dumbly. Cana turns to leave, before glancing back at him. "Umm, want to meet here again tomorrow?"

Laxus looks up surprised. "Err, yeah, sure sounds great." Cana smiled slightly, before walking out of the store. Laxus starred down at his bottle, trying to ignore the ghost feeling of Cana`s lips on his own.

Mayor`s POV

The mayor sat down in his chair, glancing nervously at the figure sitting across from him. He didn`t regret making Esther leave the house, even though he wished for the extra support, he knew his daughter`s safety came first. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Across from him, Damien sat on his couch, sprawled out on it as if he was at home. Damien smiled goofily at him. "What's with this cold attitude, Mr. Mayor? You used to welcome me with a smile whenever I came to your house!"

"Not anymore." He spoke quickly. "What is it you wanted?"

Damien sighed at his behaviour, as he straightened his posture. "Well, I was talking to Cana yesterday."

Aw, the fight. The Mayor had heard about that from some nervous townsfolk the day before. "You two fought."

Damien frowned. "Na, I wouldn`t call it a fight, just a, um, disagreement. No reason to worry." The mayor didn`t comment. Damien leaned forward a bit. "But you know, while we were talking, Cana said the funniest thing. She, ha you're not going to believe this. She actually said that it was you who requested for the mages to come to town!" Damien's entire demeanor changed, as he came to the end of his story. The mayor tensed, but didn`t take his eyes off him. "But then I thought, no, the Mayor? There's no way he'd do such a thing! I mean, surely after all these years, you of all people, know better than to go against me." He smiled innocently, but the aura surrounding him told a different story. "So I thought, hey, I'm in the neighbourhood, why don't I stop by, and ask, just too clear things up."

The mayor was silent for a moment. "I did call them Damien." Damien didn't reply, his silence scarring the Mayor more than his words. "Damien," he started, tactfully. "This, behaviour of yours has gone on for long enough. The bandits, perhaps they have done some things, but, they are people, you can't treat them..." the Mayor stopped himself, knowing that these words would have no impact. "You have to let Cana go."

Damien's figure tensed. "So you did know that they were from her guild."

The mayor nodded. "I thought that perhaps their presence here could revive her memories. She deserves to be free Damien. At least someone from this town will be." The Mayor thought grimly.

Damien was silent, for a second too long. "You broke my rule." The Mayor went silent. "I said it before; no one meddles with my affairs. And do you know what happens to people who break my rules?" Damien stood up, and started walking towards him. The Mayor made no move to retreat, knowing it would be futile.

As Damien placed his hand on the older man's forehead, the mayor spoke. "You can't win." Damien hesitated for a moment. "You may be strong, but you're not strong enough. The people of this town will be free from you."

"Such hostile behaviour Mister mayor!" Damien said smiling.

Softness slipped into the Mayors eyes. "You used to be such a kind boy, you used to care about others."

"I still care about others." Damien said. "Which is why I won't let anyone destroy the peace I have made in this town." And at that, his hands glowed red, and the Mayors eyes rolled back in his head.

The Mayor's head shot up at the sound of a door slamming. "Esther, are you home sweetie?" the mayor slowly stood up, and walked towards the front door. He found Esther standing there, leaning against the wall gasping for breath, her eyes wide and bloodshot. She was only about 12 years old at this time. "Darling, what happened?"

Her head snapped towards her father, tears falling out of her face. "Daddy, oh daddy it was horrible!"

Her father knelt down, and brought her into a hug, she started sobbing into his shoulder. "Shhh, shh its alright dear, tell me what happened."

She spoke through the sobs, err father had to struggle to understand her words. "I-I was following Damien, in the forest, I know it was wrong, but ever since he started going to that man." The young girl sniffled. "He-they were practicing some fire magic. The, Damien's teacher, said that he'd never be strong enough to use it on a person, and Damien...Damien." Esther was silent for a moment. "He, he went to another one of the bandits, and he burned him." Her uncontrollable sobs started again. "Oh daddy it was awful! He burned him from the inside out, the screams..." Esther balled into her father's shoulder, who simply stood there, to stunned to say any words of comfort.

Hey everyone! Ya, I know that last scene was a bit, um... I can't think of the word to describe it. I'm sorry this chapter came so late, I hope you all enjoy it! Please Review!