Fanfiction series: Odds and Ends
Title: The Place We Met
Pairing: Luxus/Evergreen
Rating: T
Word count: 1960
Summary: She was a self-appointed queen of the fairies and queens are never weak. That's why he chose her.
Notes: Unusual pairing but I wanted to give it a try... Turned out more Evergreen-centric than I planned but the girl deserves some love. All of the girls in FT do.


Evergreen had always been a lonely girl. Her love for fairies had separated her from her peers long before her magical abilities manifested themselves and caused even further rift between her and the others. Not that her loneliness bothered her. She had a rather distinct opinion about the majority of people - she had no need for them. They didn't understand her and she wasn't interested in enlightening them as to her personality.

Even when she joined the mage guild Fairy Tail, she did so merely on the basis of its name. She wasn't looking for friends and since her abilities, especially her Medusa-like gaze, granted her an automatic advantage in any battle, she had no need for a team either. She did her missions alone and always suceeded. She had a reputation of being a cold and uncaring person but what did she care for the opinions of ordinary mages. She was content as she was.

That wasn't to say she had no dreams. She dreamt a lot. She dreamt about fairies and their kingdom. She dreamt of being a queen of that kingdom. She dreamt of finding herself a king and ruling over a court. She knew those dreams were unrealistic. The achievable dreams were different. The position of the strongest mage in Fairy Tail was out of her reach - between Master Makarov, Gildartz Craive, Luxus Dreyar and Mistgun, there was no way she could be recognized. Female mages were a different matter. The only real competition she had were Mirajane and Erza Scarlett.

Evergreen knew that if it came to a real battle between the three of them, she would be the one to emerge victorious. She had faith in her Stone eyes. However, Master Makarov frowned at anything more than playful competition between the mages in his guild and so she had yet to put those two in their places. Until that time came, she would fullfill her missions and do so in a way as she had always done - on her own and without any help.

It was a group of rogue mages she was hunting now. They weren't part of any guild, not even dark. If not for their magical abilities, they would be nothing more than an ordinary bunch of bandits. As it was, she felt almost insulted at having been sent to deal with them. Small fry like this shouldn't have a privilege of being destroyed by her.

She found their base in an old, half-destroyed house at the edge of Sington forest. There were five of them, lounging around the campfire, laughing and drinking. Evergreen felt her upper lip curl in disgust. How undignified, the whole bunch of them. She was going to deal with them quickly.

"Hello," she spoke as she sauntered into the clearing. The effect of her greeting was immediate. The men jumped to their feet, their hands straying to their weapons before they realized there was only one person and a woman at that. The realization made them relax immediately.

"Well, well, got lost, sweetheart?" one of them inquired with a nasty leer. Evergreen snorted. Unladylike, sure, but they didn't deserve any better.

"Hardly. Are you the former members of Seven Stars?"

"Ah, the pretty girl heard about us, boys. Isn't that nice?" the man who spoke first turned to his companions and they all burst out laughing. He turned back to Evergreen, taking a mock bow. "Yes, that's us. And now, pretty lady, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Evergreen snapped open her fan, hiding her lower face behind it.

"I don't think so," she spoke and when they moved angrily towards her, she lowered her glasses, letting the bandits look her into eyes directly. And just like that, it was over. There were now five sculptures in the clearing, all of them depicting moving men. Evergreen pushed her glasses back. All too easy. She turned away from them-

"What did you do, you bitch?"

Ah, it seemed there had been six of them. An inaccuracy in the mission information occured now and then and it was nothing but a hassle for a mage who had to deal with it. Evergreen turned to face her final opponent and went to lower her glasses again. But the guy seemd to be more intelligent than he let on because he immediately started to run away. As if he thought her Stone eyes were the only magic in her arsenal.

With a resounding snap, Evergreen's fan opened. A flick of her wrist-

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun."

-and a barrage of needles caught him in the back. The last rogue mage went down. It looked like another successful mission for her.

"All too easy," she muttered to herself.

"But impressive nonetheless," someone said from behind her. Evergreen whirled around. Who could have sneaked up on her? Three figures stood at the edge of the forest, taking in the result of her brief altercation with the rogue mages. Evergreen relaxed as she recognized the man in front.

"Luxus!"

Then those other two must have been Fried Justine and Bixlow, Luxus' bodyguards/handpicked team. They were among the most powerful members of the guild. It was well known that Luxus didn't suffer weaklings for a company. But what could he want with her?

"Did you follow me here?" she asked.

"Sure," he strode past her, inspecting the statues. "Interesting technique. And powerful," he added meaningfully, turning to face her.

"What do you want?" she was probably sounding defensive but she had a right to be. Luxus' motives were unclear at best and it was best to remain wary.

"I want to make you an offer, Evergreen."

"An offer," she echoed, trying to discern his meaning.

"Yeah, an offer," he confirmed. "Those eyes of yours are very strong. And that other magic ain't bad either. You heard about the Raijinshuu?"

"They are your bodyguards. Elite team consisting of Fried Justine and Bixlow."

"That's the two of them back there," Luxus said, unnecessarily. She wasn't stupid. He must have seen her displeasure because he grinned. "But you figured out that much, huh? Anyway, back to the offer. There's an open spot on Raijinshuu. I want you to fill it."

Evergreen froze. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. Joining Raijinshuu would put her among the strongest in the guild. It would raise her standing considerably and she could finally stick it to those two nuisances back at the guild. There wasn't much to think about. But first she needed to clarify something.

"Why me?"

Luxus shrugged.

"'Cause you are strong. No other reason needed, not for me."

Evergreen smiled. Recognized at last.

"Where do I sign?"


Several years had passed since Evergreen had become a member of Raijinshuu. Their largest and most important project, the Fantasia Festival came and went and Luxus' grandiose plans had failed. She and her two teammates got off lighter than she thought but Luxus disappeared into the vast world out there. She knew that Bixlow and Fried hoped just like her that he would return one day. Until then, they would try to fit in better than before, maybe even make some friends. And of course, there were missions. There were always missions.

Evergreen was on a solo mission again. With the recent activity among the dark guilds, Master was sending out all members who were strong enough to go off on their own to fullfill various quests. Evergreen was on a surveillance mission to Sington forest and the trip was bringing back memories.

Inspite of how it had ended, inspite of everything that had happened, she didn't regret joining Luxus in his quest for power. She had grown much stronger in her efforts to please her leader. Her gains had been more than her losses in those years spent with Raijinshuu. Unlike now.

She missed Luxus. Even with all his faults and obsessions, he was a good leader. He might have gone a wrong way about trying to make Fairy Tail the strongest guild in the world but his intent was good. Didn't it matter even a bit?

Evergreen was so deep in thought that she failed to pay attention to her surroundings and so she was a bit surprised when a group of bandits suddenly encircled her.

"What do we have here, huh? A girl lost in the woods?"

Evergreen suppressed an urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, was it a rule for that type of men to make lecherous remarks? She sighed.

"I don't have time for this. If you are gone by the count of five, I'll forget I ever saw you. Deal?"

"Nah. What kind of men we would be, leaving such a pretty thing alone in the middle of a forest?" the leader replied and then made a biggest mistake of his life. He grabbed her arm.

Evergreen twisted herself out of his grasp, surprising him with her quick reaction. Jumping up, she swang her fan, letting loose one of her destructive techniques.

"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin."

One explosion later, it was over. Evergreen landed lightly on the ground, looking at the heap of unconscious bodies. That would teach them to touch her.

"All too easy," she said to herself and then got the biggest shock of her life when someone familiar replied.

"But impressive nonetheless."

She turned around slowly this time. Luxus stood there, looking as he always did.

"Luxus," she whispered.

"How are you, Evergreen?"

"I'm fine... and you?" she couldn't comprehend how the two of them could just stand there like that, exchanging pleasantries as if everything was normal.

"Could be better," he spoke, walking over to where the bandits still laid after being thrown about by the force of the explosion. "I wanted to take out those guys myself. There's a nice reward for them in the nearest town."

"Sorry."

"Never mind. I'll let them wake up and beat them again. No big deal," Luxus grinned slightly. "You went easy on them."

Evergreen shrugged, her eyes still on him.

"Maybe I have grown soft ever since you left."

"Might be but I think you didn't think them worthy of going all out."

She smiled at that. He knew her so well.

"Guilty as charged."

They stood there for a moment before Luxus asked.

"How are the others?"

She knew he meant Fried and Bixlow.

"They're fine. Busy with missions, like all of us."

"And the old man?"

"The same old geezer as always. His health is better, though."

"I'm glad to hear that."

And he really meant that, Evergreen knew. Whatever their conflicts, the grandafther and grandson loved each other.

"What about you?" she asked. "How are you doing?"

"I'm getting by just fine. Doing mercenary work here and there, drifting from place to place, thinking about lot of things."

"Good. Fried and Bixlow will be glad to hear you're doing fine."

There was another lull in their conversation and Evergreen remembered what she was in the forest for.

"Well, I'd like to stay longer but I need to go," she said with a genuine regret.

"A mission?" Luxus inquired.

"A mission," she confirmed.

"Well, it was good to see you, Evergreen."

"Yeah, I'm glad we met too."

"Until later, then," Luxus lifted his hand in greeting and walked past her. Evergreen stood there, trying to decide whether to do something or not. In the end, she did.

"Luxus," she called out and when he turned he found her standing right before him. And then, she hugged him. "Be careful, okay?" she said into his coat and Luxus nodded, patting her on the back.

"You too."

She took a step back from him and smiled.

"See you later, Luxus."

"Likewise, Evergreen."

And they turned to walk their separate paths.


Lyon/Sherry next, I think. And is it just me or are these fics getting longer?