59th: Victory, Lisanna x Bixslow

Summary: They had lost their battles but they had won the war anyway.

She kneeled on the ground, hardly being able to breath because her lungs hurt too much. She had been forced out of her takeover – something that had never happened to her before because she had always been carefully. Well, it seemed like taking care was pointless when the opponent was some inhumanly strong and fast creature.

"Oi, Lisanna," a familiar voice said as someone touched her bruised shoulder, making her flinch in pain. "You don't look fine. Is there something I can do for you?"

She turned her head, looking up to him. "You lost your visor, Bixslow," she said fearfully, knowing just too well what he was able to do when his eyes were revealed.

"Don't be scared," he said, holding out his hand. "I have no reason to attack you. I promise."

She accepted the hand and he pulled her back up, holding her waist to keep her on her feet. "I am sorry," she apologised. "I know that you don't intend to harm me or another member of our guild but … I never saw you without it before."

"Well, I kinda lost it when I dragged Fried out of the place where the explosion happened," the older mage said as he helped her to walk. "It's so ridiculous. We are the Thundergod Tribe, one of Fairy Tail's strongest teams and we were pushed around like little kids today. Fried passed out because he used too much magic – I left him in your sister's care before I went to look for you, Lisanna. How are you?"

"Terrible," she whispered. "I lost grip on my takeover earlier … like my soul rejected the magic I tried to use … this was scary. I never happened to me before … because it's not supposed to happen to a takeover mage. We are used to connecting our soul with another being's soul … it is the easiest thing in the world for us once we understand the basics."

"That sounds awfully painful – is this how you got hurt like this?" he asked, supporting her as she nearly tripped over her own feet.

"No," she said. "I got hurt when I was defeated, when I was beaten up and couldn't do anything because I couldn't get into the tigress form."

He sighed. "I know how you feel," he said, stopping his steps. "C'mon, I'll carry you back to the camp. You don't have to walk when you can hardly even stand anymore."

"You can't walk either," she replied, wondering why he only dropped his usual rude way to express himself when she was the only one around. "We will wait here until someone comes to get us. I can't take the responsibility for getting you hurt anymore."

He rolled his eyes as he carefully placed her on a rock, his babies swirling around his head, and crossed his arms. "You're a goddamn fool, Lisanna," he said. "I mean, you are seriously the only one who'd insist on taking a break in this place."

She glared up at him. "You can hardly walk and I cannot walk either as you pointed out before," she said. "To put further strain onto our bodies won't help us – at all."

"You are probably right," he said as he sat down next to her, wrapping his jacket around her. "You probably fought well even though you lost. Cana said that she had an easy fight and she took over where you left off, Laxus said."

"Do you think that Laxus and Cana will tell us that they are dating anytime soon?" the white-haired mage asked as she wrapped her arms around her injured legs to preserve the warmth she had left. "I mean … they are getting less good at hiding it than they were at the beginning and Mira-nee said that Fried nearly dropped a hint last week…"

"How much booze did she give him before he even started speaking about this topic?"

"A lot," the young mage admitted. "She said that he was not exactly cooperative and so she had to give him quite a bit of alcohol before he even mentioned Laxus the first time."

"Interesting … maybe I should have told Laxus that it's pretty dumb to place all your secrets in the vessel who cannot hold liquor," Bixslow shrugged, wrapping an arm around her. "Are you okay, Lisanna? I mean, other than the obvious injuries…"

"I can't complain," she replied, smiling slightly back at him. "You are worried about a lot of things lately, aren't you?" she asked. "Mira-nee mentioned that you take many missions on your own … is there a special reason behind it?"

He shook his head. "Thundergod Tribe issues," he said. "Ever never wants to go, though."

"Big surprise there," Lisanna said ironically. "I caught her with Elfman last week."

"Blackmail, here I come," Bixslow said cheerfully.

"You are not nice," she scolded him gently.

"Not nice, not nice!" the babies repeated, awaking from their temporarily slumber.

"Oi, you two," Gajeel thundered as he appeared in between the trees, Levy in tow. "I hope that we ain't interrupting anything but we kinda want you to get back to the camp."

"Gajeel," the blue-haired Solid Script Mage scolded him. "Anyway, do you need help?"

"Lisanna's leg is in a mess and I'm pretty worn out, too," Bixslow admitted.

"We got some kind of sleight for you two," the Dragon Slayer said, dragging the object out of the forest. "You three jump in and I'll get you back to the base."