17th: Gambling

Summary: The stakes were high at a play like this but she would win anyway.

"You raised the stakes, Cana," he said as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I really wonder what the guild would say if they knew where you are right now."

"I am too good at keeping secrets to be caught," she replied as she stared at the lights of Era. "You of all people should know that, right?"

"Of course," he said with a sigh. "But you would fall so deep, wouldn't you? From the praised guild veteran to a traitor … some might even assume that you knew of my plans for the Battle of Fairy Tail … your loyalty towards the guild might be questioned…"

"After my fight against Fried? Please," she sighed. "I proved my loyalty many times and I really doubt that such a minor issue would make the others doubt me."

"I don't think that being engaged with the lunatic who nearly killed off whole Magnolia might prompt Mirajane and a few of the other women to ask questions," he said as he hugged her tightly. "Especially after our argument during the Phantom Lord Crisis…"

"Do you want me to leave that badly or why are you talking like that?" she snapped. "I made a decision. If the guild has a problem with my decision, please, they can excommunicate me. There are plenty of guilds that would love to have me after all."

"The last thing I want for you is to be unhappy," he said softly. "And don't say that you wouldn't care if grandfather would throw you out. You love Fairy Tail. If you would have wanted to join your mother's old guild, you would have been a part of Mermaid's Heel for twelve years. You need Fairy Tail like the air you breathe."

"I need you more," she replied softly as she turned around and traced the lightening-shaped scar on his face with her fingertips. "You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "And I really wished that you wouldn't do this … because two months ago, I was an S-class mage. I was someone in the guild. I was part of the elite. Everyone respected me … well, more or less. Then I went and snapped and now, I am a nobody."

"Well, I happen to love this nobody just as much as I loved the somebody before," she said.

"Does anyone know that you are here right now?" he asked as he sighed into her hair.

"Juvia knows," she replied. "Technically, we are on a mission together but she's a former S-class mage. She said that she can deal with it on her own. And she won't tell anyone."

"You told her that you would be meeting me?" the blond man asked shocked.

"I can trust her," Cana replied with a slight edge in her voice. "Sure, she used to be in Phantom Lord but I can rely on her with the really important things. She won't tell anyone because we are friends and friends don't go and scream secrets from the roofs of the town."

"So, if I kill you, I would have to face the rage of a wrathful water mage?" he asked.

"That's not even funny," she snapped at him as she stepped away from him.

"Do you think this situation is easy for me?" he asked as he sat down on the couch. "This is terrible for me. I want to be a part of your life, a real part. Tomorrow, you will leave for Magnolia again and you will be far away why I will be sitting here, waiting for the next time you have a job here. I feel so … dirty for hiding all the time."

She sighed deeply as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "First of all: You are not my dirty little secret. You are my fiancé and I am really proud of this," she said as she watched how her ring glittered in the moonlight. "Secondly: Both of us have been gambling with high stakes since we began this relationship and we didn't lose yet."

"I lost," he muttered. "I wanted to increase the gain and lost everything. That's so pathetic."

"You could still afford a pretty ring for my hand so it's alright," she chuckled. "I can deal with this. I am hanging out a lot with Juvia lately … she's still waiting for Gray to get it."

"You are Gray's friend, you could help her there," Laxus sighed. "Usually, you could get him to see the facts quite easy…"

"I tried, believe me, I tried," she said darkly. "But he still had the nerve to ask me to be his fake-date for a mission. Juvia nearly cried when she heard this."

"What did you do?" he asked.

"He got a slap and a snappy remark that he should open up his damned eyes before someone else would see what he fails to see," she said grimly. "Sometimes, I really want to yell the truth into his face but we all know how he would react to this…"

"Gray is really a dense guy sometimes," he agreed. "I am sorry, by the way. I messed up all the plans we had for the future … our future."

"Laxus, I am not happy about the current situation but I always told you that you shouldn't change because of me," she said as she hugged him tightly. "I believed in you and I still do."

"You believed in the wrong guy, Cana, I fear," he muttered quietly. "You are perfect, alright? And I just can't keep up with that perfection. I am sorry. I am just a mess."

"I was never wrong when it came to these things before," she said softly. "No Fairy Tail mage is perfect, don't forget that. I don't want to pretend that we are perfect because we aren't. We are human and we are doomed to make mistakes … but we will get up and we will change … and we will learn from our mistakes so that we won't repeat them."

"Yeah," he agreed. "You are right."

"Don't sound so surprised because of that," she pouted. "We won't fall apart because of this, understood? This might not be the relationship we had in mind but this is what we got and we need to learn to dealing with the cards fate dealt us."

"Alright," he said. "We won't try being like Alzack and Bisca. Seriously, they should be together by now. We will be Cana and Laxus because this will be alright for us."

"Yes," she nodded. "And even if it means that I won't stop gambling at high stakes anytime soon, we will make this work. But it's alright with me … because I never lost when there was much on the line, right?"

"Well, you've a point there, Alberona," he grinned.

"Thanks, Dreyar," she smirked.