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xhusu · 5 years ago

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Mystogan hc’s because I thought of his backstory and it fits

It’s a long post but read it!! I love my boy and he needs a backstory!!

Jellal Faust (yeah, it’s their last name and not the King’s first name which is Luis) and Siegrain Faust were born as real twins. Their wet-nurse was Irene Knightwalker, who gave birth to a girl few months before. Salma, their mother, felt indifferent to them and didn’t take care of them at all

Irene raised them and so Erza hated those two twins, even if they were princes, and her mother. Thus, she wanted to become a royal knight just like her father

Siegrain being born minutes before Mystogan was supposed to be the heir and future king

But the more he was growing up, the weaker he was becoming.

Until their 3 years old, nobody saw his health problem, thinking he was just less physical and more intelligent.

But at 3, he couldn’t walk without help and always had a fever

Mystogan tried his best to cheer him up. At 5, he even went outside to catch a bird, for him to feel better (Siegrain couldn’t go outside anymore and was in a wheelchair) but injured himself really bad in the process and almost died.

Lily saved him

And became close to them. He joined the army et tried to see them as much as he could

Irene was worried when Mystogan disappeared and became overprotective of him too (since she already was, to Siegrain)

Lily and Irene even bought them a bird, when they were 6. Mystogan got tattooed by his father (marked as the heir because Faust wanted to start a new tradition: each king will be marked as a member of the royal family with a tatoo) and Siegrain had to stay in bed all day long. The bird was supposed to cheer the both of them

They called him Pirou. They were happy

Siegrain died when they were 8 years old. No doctors found a way to heal him, only one found a medicine to make him feel better. His life expectancy was between 5 and 15 years old

Mystogan set Pirou free, since it was Siegrain’s last wish. At the funeral only him, Lily and Irene were crying. The king and the queen were indifferent.

After his death, Mystogan tried to understand what Siegrain had. He read tons of book and even studied his medicines, known as X-balls.

He learnt and understood what he had: magic within him. X-balls were created so Earthland’s mages could use magic in this world, it relieved his pain but didn’t change anything. People born in Edolas weren’t physically made to receive magic, they had no organs for it, no origins. This led to Siegrain’s death. The more he was growing up, the more the magic was disappearing and killing him.

Mystogan try to learn and understand what Earthland was, what magic was. Quickly he learnt that Edolas didn’t had magic anymore and had limited magic. And that his father the King was stealing it from Earthland through animas.

Mystogan linked what happened to his brother to the mages in Earthland. Siegrain had magic while he shouldn’t have, leading to his death, this means that if Earthland’s mages didn’t have magic anymore while they should they would die too. Learning that Earthland was composed by a majority of mages, he decided to stop his father from killing almost everyone in this parallel world

From 9 to 12 years old, Mystogan tried to learn as much as he could about those two worlds and created his first stave. He kept Siegrain’s medicine too, because he thought that it was precious and seeing his father becoming crazier, lusting for power, he thought that no doctor or scientist could ever recreate such a thing.

He didn’t tell anyone about his research and his plan. Not even Lily or Irene

A few months before his disappearance, his mother died. He believed that his father was linked to it and that he would be the next one.

He used his father machines to start an anima but in reverse, Edolas wasn’t receiving power but giving. It allowed him to go away and join Earthland.

Irene and Lily were devasted.

In his fall, Mystogan and Jellal had a nosebleed. Their brotherhood and links couldn’t take such events. First, the Siegrains and Salmas didn’t die at the same moment (which don’t happen a lot, normally. This is why Lisanna ended up in Edolas after Edo-Lisanna’s death) and now the Jellals were in the same world. This led to a dysfunction and their destiny changed. They weren’t going to be opposite anymore.

In Earthland, he tried his best to survive. His father tried to activate animas to regain what he lost when Mystogan opened one in reverse. But Mystogan could feel them, after passing by one. And closed each of them.

When Mystogan met Wendy, he felt strange at first. She was five, weak and fragile, and had blue hair. Siegrain died five years ago, was weak and fragile, and had blue heard. He felt close to her rather quickly. He loved her so much…

He did anything for her. And found it easy to take car of her. He always helped Siegrain and Wendy sometimes needed even less efforts than him.

When they had to separate, it broke his little heart. But Faust wanted him dead, the anima affected who he was, made him bleed, he didn’t want Wendy to be harmed. He didn’t want to lose another sibling…

After a while, he arrived at Fairy Tail. He firstly met Polyussica because he was always avoiding people (knowing that he had a counterpart). She met him in the forest but he wasn’t like the other brats. He was calm and silent. And they felt connected (since she, too, passed an anima to end up here). They talked and he was surprise to hear that she was Grandiney, from Edolas. He felt relieved, by logic, this would mean that Wendy’s mother was alive!

After that she made him meet Makarov and he joined Fairy Tail as Mystogan (he chose this name because it was ‘cool’)

I tried to search for “mystogan” etymology. In French, he’s named Mistgun (maybe mist as mystic and gun as… gun). But I found other meaning: a slang for a drug (would be funny with the x-balls), “the protector of all” (it fits), “heaven’s pain” (it fits less) and “love of fire goddess” (don’t fit but my jellatsu’s sense is tingling)

So yeah, he thought it was cool

One day, he closed an anima and a boy with the same face as his appeared. It’s Earthland’s Jellal he believed, but it could be Siegrain too? Murmuring this name wasn’t a good idea because Jellal started a fight, and he won. Poor Mystogan was injured and scared, and his clothes were teared up. Jellal saw his Fairy Tail’s tatoo and smiled. He threated him and told him to watch over Erza and hide his face, otherwise he’ll kill him. He even broke his staves (two now).

Mystogan came back to Fairy Tail a little later for a mission, face hidden in addition of his sleeping spell. Makarov saw his broken staves and asked to talk to him. He told him about this mean Jellal…

He continued his missions and close any anima he fells. He went to see Polyussica sometimes. He trained too, with the staves he fixed and made and learnt how to fight with his bare hands too

One day, Makarov asked him to talk about his twin brother, around 16 years old. He told him about Siegrain and cried (feeling comfortable with Makarov). This is the day Laxus saw him.

After this he tried to avoid Fairy Tail and people as much as he could. He became a S-Class mage at 17 years old, which helped him avoiding the crowd a lot.

With his knowledge about the two worlds and with Siegrain’s medicine, the X-balls, Mystogan helped the Fairy Tail’s member (and Wendy!!) in Edolas. He tried his best to be honest

When everything ended, he was a king… He never wanted to be one but there he is. He now tries his best to be a good king and help his people. He heard about Irene’s death by Erza. But he knows that she joined Siegrain. And knowing that Lily is with Fairy Tail warms his heart

He goes to Siegrain’s grave every week

Today, he is close to Erza Knightwalker. But even though he’s 28, he’s not married yet. He works on his duty as king a lot and kids will come one day. He knows that he will probably call his son Siegrain, if he has a boy.

So yeah

I love him

#ft mystogan #fairy tail #ft jellal #jellal fernandes #jerza #in a way #mystwalker #jellal faust #i don't know what to tag #uuuh

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i-write-fanfics-to-procrastinate · 6 years ago

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6 w/ gruvia?

Hi, anon! I hope you like this one! Poor Juvia is always so worried about Gray. I always imagined that pregnancy hormones would make it ten times worse. Thanks for the request!

6 Gruvia: “I’m Sorry” Kiss

Juvia had been waiting for days with no news, not any word from any of her friends. The last thing she had heard had been so ominous. At first, on the day she had received the note, she figured that it couldn’t be too bad. Since they hadn’t specified what damage the explosion had caused, she had to hope for the best. Maybe in the end the damage wasn’t important.

On the second day after the note, she began to worry. The note was so brief, so vague. Maybe they’re trying to protect Juvia—trying to prevent her from worrying. Someone must have gotten hurt. She had tried to anxiously return to her project—the little baby blanket she was knitting—but she couldn’t focus. She felt sick to her stomach thinking that someone could have gotten hurt in that terrible explosion and no one was telling her anything.

Leaning back against the sofa, her knitting needles and yarn in her lap, she let out a groan of frustration. Juvia feels so useless stuck here. If Juvia was with everyone else she could have helped.

On the third day, after the note, the thought that Gray—the father of her child—could be injured, or even dead, was too much to bear. Even when Mirajane and Lisanna came to visit that afternoon she could hardly contain herself. Maybe it was the hormones or the fact that her son or daughter had kept her up all night, kicking her ribs, but she was losing it.

“What if he’s gone?!” She whispered, biting her lip as Mirajane poured her some tea.

“Don’t think about things like that,” Lisanna sighed, “You know Natsu and the rest. They would never let anything like that happen.”

“But why didn’t they say?! Why didn’t the note say that everyone was safe?” Juvia said, clutching the teacup until her knuckles turned white. “Why did they send the note at all?”

“They probably knew you would worry with news of the explosion reaching Magnolia,” Mirajane said.

“But the note only makes it worse! It doesn’t say. Juvia doesn’t know if everyone is alright because it doesn’t say!” Her voice was rising in a panic. Lisanna gently rubbed her shoulder.

“Let us see the note, Juvia. Maybe a second set of eyes will help.”

Juvia dug the note out from her stack of mail and passed it to Mirajane. The young woman read aloud:

Juvia,

The job is going well, but it looks like we’ll be late. There was some difficulties with the explosion that we’re sure you’ve heard of by now. It was only a small setback. We’re back to work again, and should be home as soon as possible.

Lucy & Team

“Look, Lucy must have written this,” Lisanna said, “She says it was only a small setback. That must mean that no one was hurt. They’re all back to work.”

Juvia should have been satisfied with that explanation, after all it was logical enough. But her emotions were still unbridled, and all she could think about was having to raise her child without their father.

***

On the eighth day after the note, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy returned home. Eight days of panic, anxiety, and loneliness. Juvia was trying to work on her baby blanket when the door to their apartment opened, accompanied with the sound of jangling keys, and someone slipping off their shoes.

Gray. The panic, anxiety, and fear instantly washed away into relief, and then anger. The two emotions mixed within her, causing tears to well up in her eyes. She shoved aside her yarn and stood, meeting her husband as he came into their little living room.

“Juvia…” He let out a sigh, but before he finished his sentence she swung her palm and slapped him across the face--something she had never done before, not to her Gray. Gray was motionless, his eyes wide, completely stunned. What is wrong with Juvia?! She bit back tears, choking on her own words.

“Juvia thought… you could have been…”

“Juvia,” he whispered, “What the hell is this about?”

“The explosion!” she gasped, and then she burst into sobs.

“The… what?! What do you mean the explosion? Lucy was supposed to send you a note. Look, I’m fine. Didn’t se say we’re all fine?!” Juvia pulled the crumpled note out from her pocket and shoved it into Gray’s hands.

He frowned, leaning over to read the faint pencil marks.

“It d-doesn’t say,” Juvia said, “It doesn’t say at all. And then longer you took the more Juvia worried… and worried…”

Gray furrowed his brow, his attention turning back to his wife. “Stop crying,” he demanded, cupping her cheek with his hand, “Stop crying. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” And then his eyes softened, and he brushed away her tears with his thumbs. “I’m sorry, Juvia. I’m so sorry.” He leaned in and pressed a soft, gentle kiss to her lips. “Next time I’ll send you a note. I won’t leave it up to someone else.” Juvia shook her head, wrapping her arms around him and melting into his embrace.

“Juvia is sorry,” she whispered, “Juvia doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.” Then, bitterly, “Hormones.” Gray laughed, embracing her tightly.

“I’ll make some tea. You should relax. I’ll tell you about the job if you’d like?”

“Juvia would like that,” she smiled, pulling away to kiss him once more.

#gruvia #ft #fairy tail #gray x juvia #juvia x gray #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #fairytail #mirajane strauss #lisanna strauss #myfic #request #iwritefanfictiontoprocrastinate

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fallen029 · 6 years ago

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Dead of Night

Since he was a boy, Bickslow always found it difficult. Sleeping. He had an immense amount of freedom presented to him at an early age, following the death of his parents, and that lead to a lot of terrible choices being made along the way.

For a long time, out on the street, he kind of couldn't sleep well. Anywhere. Because someone was always after you. After making it to Fairy Tail though and finding his way there, he found that the night just suited him by that point. He would sit up in his room at the dormitory all night, reading comics and learning spells when he was young, lamenting life while chain smoking when he grew. As a man now, the bad habit had eaten away at him and, though he could tumble out of his bed for practice or jobs, if the Thunder Legion was on any sort of break in Magnolia, he'd only go back to his apartment and sleep all day so he could stay up all night, watching movies on his lacrima while discussing with his babies the myriad of topics that crossed his mind.

The night life was just his most productive hours, was all. Daylight made him squint his eyes, having to hide them behind his visor, and things were much softer at night, he found, other than just the light. People whispered and music was hushed and it was just much calmer, outside. You could hear the animals out in the forest better and even when he was all alone, in his apartment, he found himself trying to be silent about it. Hushed. His lacrima would stay down low, hardly more than a candle or two lit, and the babies knew to keep their nonsensical rambles to a minimum.

Papa had a lot to think about. They usually left him to it.

Still, the hours weren't too great for a social life. It was bad enough, being gone all the time, off on jobs, but then when he was home, yeah, he was around to go out to dinner or hangout late into the night, but as he grew, he found that less and less people were only about that. Staying up all night partying and carrying on. People liked to meet for lunch. Women liked to be taken out. During the day. Or at least not to only have an attentive partner during some of the daylight hours. When he was around to be that. Which he rarely was.

But meh.

Bickslow had a hard enough time finding a woman who was interested in him. It was a lot of work to get a woman to look passed the face tattoo and strange dolls that floated about. And when he did find one, he was kind of tired of her already because he'd already been chasing her for a good point at that part and it was boring. Once that was all done with.

And what kind of guy would he be, huh? Being interested long term in a woman who was interested in a fucked up person such as himself? If she was into face tattoos and delinquency, then he probably wasn't into her.

A catch 22.

Maybe.

He wasn't quite sure what that was, but it felt like it applied to his situation well enough.

It was weird though. When it happened. Really weird. Which suited him, because he was really weird, but…

Lisanna was always kind of a misfit too. Sort of. She was more aligned with the inner circle of Fairy Tail than he was, really, as she spent years hanging off Makarov's golden boy, Natsu (while, you know, Bickslow hung off the real golden boy), and she was Mirajane's little sister, which carried a lot of weight too.

But when she arrived back from the dead, it was to an all new guild and all new people and her siblings, even, were different. Life didn't wait for you, while you were gone. It couldn't. Things moved on. They had to. He was sure she didn't blame them. How could she? It was through grace or fate or luck or, maybe, just sheer chance that Lisanna had been saved. Been given a second chance.

She had no right to complain about anything.

So she didn't. As far as he knew. Lisanna seemed just happy to be around, at any given point, and would spend time with anyone. Her brother seemed to be the only one that she'd go out on jobs with though and Mirajane was content, really, to have her just hang around the bar most days. Where she could glance at her. And grin. Because she was there. Lisanna. Alive. With them again.

She wasn't so clingy to Natsu in those days though. No. He was gone a lot, on jobs, and she was always friendly with most everyone in the hall, before her death, so it was only natural that she'd fall so simply back into that roll following her supposed revival. Or was it just a return?

It didn't matter. She seemed to not really wanna focus on it, up at the hall. She threw herself into whatever everyone else was into and drifted around the hall some, kind of glad to just take it all in again. As time went on though and days became years, she did find herself hanging around the Thunder God Tribe a lot.

This mainly had to do with Elfman and Ever's hot and cold antics which Lisanna enjoyed greatly because it gave her something to tease her older brother about. Not to mention giggle about with Mirajane. Evergreen usually didn't take well to other women, but she did see the benefits of Lisanna. Whether she and Elfman were off or on, it was great to have the youngest Strauss about to tell her every single thing the man was doing when they were apart.

Because she had to know.

Every single detail.

It was through this that Lisanna and Bickslow became friends. Sort of. She seemed to like Freed the most out of all of them and they would spend time together even when Ever or Elfman weren't around to torment, as Lisanna seemed to take great amusement out of the rune mage and his seriousness. He liked her as well. She listened to his complaints from jobs and seemed to understand the woes of leadership. Or at least was sympathetic to it.

Bickslow would hang about in times like that, occasionally, and it was a different dynamic, the one he and Lisanna formed with one another. She was goofy, underneath it all, and he had the same ailment, though he hid it beneath his dark surface, and they could cut up to the chagrin of Freed at times.

He wouldn't consider her a friend. Not really. Something more than an acquaintance and more, even, than the others in the hall. He liked Lisanna enough, the seith did, and he didn't mind too much one day when she sat down at the table with him, just him. They spoke and he drank and when it was time to close down that night, he mentioned that he wasn't headed home just yet and, since Mirajane still had to stay so late, closing up, he could walk her home. If she wanted.

"So you don't gotta wait for your sister," he explained and she almost rejected him, bringing up the fact that she was a super powerful mage too, you know, and could take care of herself, but…

They were having a pretty good conversation before that and it beat walking about in the cold all alone.

"What are you going to do?" Lisanna asked him eventually as they strolled through the dark, silent streets. "You said that you weren't going back home yet-"

"I'm not."

"Then-"

"Just go walk around the park some. Be a vagrant for a bit. Then go home. Smoke. Watch a movie."

"Long night."

"That's the goal."

She offered to go with him and Bickslow was kind of hesitant because, yeah, he wasn't minding his night up to that point, hanging out with Lisanna, but they were pushing some hours together by that point and they couldn't possibly force any more conversations.

Not to mention, he didn't know what her intentions were, exactly. But she seemed to just not want the night to end yet and they were guild mates. Friends, fine, yeah, whatever.

"I guess you can tag along," he gave him eventually with a bit of a shrug. "If you wanna."

"Only if you wanna, Lisanna," his dolls all insisted and she didn't drink, but was pretyt giggly in the late hour.

"But," the seith added as they changed their path then, her no longer leading and him taking over, "there is a rule."

"A rule, huh? Just to hang out in the park? At night?"

"Yeah."

"Gotta hear it then, I guess."

"Keep talkin'," he explained simply, "to a minimum, huh?"

She giggled at first, thinking this was some kind of joke, but when he just shook his head, she teased slightly, "Afraid of waking the ghosts?"

"Somethin' like that."

She giggled once more though and when they finally got to the park, the moon was high in the cloudless sky and it was kind of mystic out, it felt. Their conversation was dead, but neither he nor Lisanna seemed to feel any heaviness over this. Lisanna kept glancing up at it, the sky, and Bickslow found he kind of liked looking up there too.

"Stars are out," he muttered and she shot him a look before putting a finger to her sealed lips and, well, what could he do but tug at his visor and nod.

When the park got boring, Bickslow naturally headed home and he sort of forgot that he was supposed to take Lisanna back to hers until they were at his and he started to speak, but found the sound dying on his tongue and she was beaming at him because she was having a good time and didn't seem too exhausted either.

"Stay up late often? Kid?" he asked once they were inside because they officially weren't outside and that meant that the no talking ban was lifted. Still, he whispered it and Lisanna had been to his apartment before, once, when he had a party and Ever made him invite her and Elfman, but it was different just the two of them.

Everything felt different just the two of them.

"The best hours," she assured him in a hushed voice back. "You said something about a movie?"

Snickering, he could only nod his head. "If you're up for it."

They watched two, actually, that night, and as the second ended and the sky was turning that strange mix of deep purple and light blue, Lisanna dipped out finally. He offered through yawns to walk her back home, really walk her back home then, but she said she only wanted to get there before Mira took off for the morning shift.

"Hopefully," she sighed as she left, "she didn't notice I never made it in."

He'd found out when he rolled into the hall much later in the day, the evening really, to meet up with Freed and Evergreen, that Mira hadn't noticed. Lisanna told him this as she served him, just starting her shift for the night, and Freed questioned him as the Strauss woman left them, what exactly she was talking about, but the seith could only shrug.

"Maybe I hung out with Lisanna Strauss last night. Ever think of that, Freed?"

"No," his friend said with a shake of his head. "And I don't think I rather like the implications."

"Was a silent night, I'll tell ya that much."

"Please stop talking to me about this."

"Lots of hushed whispers."

"Bickslow-"

"Stars. I saw stars."

"I really wish you would find another person to discuss this with."

Bickslow didn't want to though.

He knew to cool it though, when Ever came about, because she might say something to stupid Elfman and then the joke would either get his ass kicked by the muscular man (an attempt, at least), as well as it getting back to Lisanna, which was the last thing he wanted.

Eventually, he found himself alone again, bothering others around the hall as he drank and waited. He wasn't sure for what. That night, he'd wanted to just go home and hang out in the darkness and decompress a bit. They would be heading out on their grueling jobs soon enough, him and his two best friends, maybe even Laxus, which meant that he should be prepping for that, but…

"I thought," he offered when Lisanna got off, "that I could walk ya home again. If you wanted."

She got off before closing (because Mirajane trusted no one to close up the place other than herself) and seemed eager at his suggestion and wow, it had never been this easy before. To get someone to actually hang out with him. Even Ever and Freed took a bit of convincing.

"I probably wouldn't be able to sleep," she offered as they left the place, "anyways."

"Never can," he agreed easily. "Better to sleep durin' the daylight, anyways. It's too bright for being out long."

"That's one reason, I guess, yeah," she sighed and he didn't press because, really, he didn't care much. Not then. He just wanted to get back to his place so that he could see how close, exactly, they were to having the same feelings about the night.

There would be no movies and no park. No. Only his music lacrima, lighting up, and deep self-reflection. He kind of thought Lisanna would bail on that one because there were no stars or silent comedies. But nope. As they sat about, he muttered some thoughts sometimes that she found funny enough and his babies glowed green, softly, in the darkness, to replace the stars as they were provided with before. She didn't even call his musical tastes crummy or nothin', like most people would. Like he would admit they would.

"It really," he told Freed as the man only groaned and prayed his face wouldn't show his embarrassment, the next time he saw the youngest Strauss sibling, "set the mood. The music. And we talked til the sun came up, after. Magical, really, it felt."

"I wish you had another friend."

He did.

But he couldn't tell her about it because she'd get all pissy. Ever thought she was the only one that could fuck a Strauss. And, well, she was, actually, but his story would imply otherwise and you couldn't have that.

They couldn't hang out again, for a bit, because he took off on his jobs and, when he returned, she was never around in the evening, it seemed. He heard something from Ever about she and her brother going off on a job, at one point, but other times he saw her hanging about with Natsu and Lucy and the like, so he just let her be.

Eventually, of course, the darkness found them both sitting around the hall, almost waiting for one another it seemed, and when he offered to walk her home, it was easy for the woman to accept.

They went to the park again that night, but they didn't walk around for long as, after picking out a spot, he and Lisanna fell onto their backs on the soft grass and they stared full up at the starry sky, silently, for a long time.

"Hey, Bickslow?"

"S'pused to be quiet," he muttered as he didn't even glance at her. "Lisanna."

"What do you think about? When you stare up at the stars?" She hummed some, softly, and said, "I think about how, probably, right now, they're looking up at the same ones. In Edolas. And in all other sorts of planets and worlds and… But I think I'm probably the only one."

She didn't think she'd get an answer back, he could tell, because she turned her gaze from him and back up at the sky. It was only then though the man spoke. His visor was pushed up and his hood was off and he felt the cool wind as it blew over them in ways he typically didn't.

"I remember," he told her softly, "when I was a kid. Lookin' at 'em. And my Papa told me that each one was a different universe all together. And when you're done on this one, you get to go hang out in one of those then. Billions of 'em, I bet. Just waiting. For you to try each one. You don't always get put back with the people you want, each time you go to a new one, and I bet that would suck, but he told me that sometimes, maybe, you do. All those combinations, you almost have to."

"I like that." She was looking at him again, he could feel it, but he wouldn't her. "Like… I'm not looking at the same stars as everyone I left back in Edolas; I'm looking at them. And they're looking at me."

Nodding some, he added, "But I wonder some times. When you do go on. When you do get to a new one. And maybe you do meet someone from one of the other billions you'd been to. Do you know? Or would that ruin it? Or do you just feel a connection to them, yeah? One you can't explain. That you don't understand. Until you're separated again. Just to hope you get it again. Maybe different, maybe not, but somethin' like what it was. Maybe that's why I'm friends with them. Freed and Ever. Why I like Laxus so much. Fairy Tail so much. Because I've been with you all before. We've all been with each other before. Or at least some of us with one or the other. Could you imagine that? I wonder if every tie we cross paths, all of us, do we raise as big a commotion as we do here? ON Earthland?"

She hummed in response before her eyes fell away from his face and onto his chest. His babies littered it, dormant it seemed, for the time being.

"Maybe," she whispered softly, "when you meet someone you knew before, that you connected before to, you don't have to leave them. Again. When it's your time to go. Maybe you get to go. And you wait on them. To join you. Like your dolls. Maybe they're people you knew, before or now, who are waiting on you to join them. And your magic just lets you see it. Let's you realize it. And the rest of us have no clue."

"Maybe," he agreed as he blinked. "Lisanna."

When the sky started to lighten and the stars began to fade, he wasn't shocked to find Lisanna snoozing. He'd heard her doing it for a good hour or two at that point. But he only reached over gently to shake her shoulder with a yawn as he got to his feet.

"Don't want someone catchin' ya, kid," is the best advice he could offer. "Sleepin' in a part. Leaves bad impressions."

Freed was the one with the jokes though, that time, when he and his friend met for dinner at the hall.

"And what things, then, did you and Lisanna get up to?" he questioned. He'd been there, when they left together, and though he squeezed his eyes shut and pretended not to notice, the horrible images that he was certain the seith would paint that evening were ingrained in his mind already, conjured up or not. "Hmm? What vague, graphic thing did the two of you-"

"Lisanna and I are friends," he told Freed simply and there was little play in his voice then. He said it in a rather commanding way too, as if affirming this to the rune mage who, obviously, had assumed them more by that point anyhow. Due, of course, to Bickslow's own boasting. "So maybe just lay off, huh?"

Freed frowned, but knew his friend to always be a bit off, so he didn't push the subject. It wasn't as if he were too keen to get into the nitty-gritty of it anyhow.

"If you wanted to do somethin', tomorrow night," Bickslow found himself asking Lisanna a few days later. Days. Because he met her during the day time, as she didn't seem to be around at night recently. But that day there she was, working bar through bleary eyes and he only rubbed at his own as he made an offer to her. "Then do you think that you could meet me in Hargeon? After sundown?"

He had no way of knowing if she was even planning on staying out late that specific night or whatever, but Lisanna nodded not soon after he spoke and it was set, the location and the time. All he had to do was make sure not to get drug out on a new job between then.

They had dinner together, given they met so early in the evening, in Hargeon and their conversation was light and jovial then, like it usually was, used to be more often, when they only spoke about teasing her brother and Ever, or giggled over Freed's serious nature.

After exploring the city until an unreasonable hour for most, they found themselves drifting towards the docks and Bickslow had already rented them a tiny row boat and it was kind of comical, really, maybe, the two of them paddling off into the night together. If they sprung a leak and both drowned, no one would ever be able to explain what exactly they were doing.

"Are we dating?" she asked after they'd rowed a good bit from the dock and where just sitting there, on the single piece of plywood that stretched between each sides. The bench. Seat. Neither knew enough about boats to know if it had a true name. They faced away from one another, though they were forced to touch one another, at the sides, and he looked out into the more ocean that awaited them forwards while she watched the glimmering city behind them. "Bickslow?"

"Not like any datin' I've ever done," he replied simply and she only shrugged some.

"You'd be the expert," she assured him as she reached with one hand, up, for one of his babies as it floated close enough. She didn't grab the floating doll out of the sky, but rather guided him then, down to her lap, where she only grinned down at him. To the doll's father though, she whispered, "Out of the two of us."

"Do you wanna date me?" It was foggy that night and he watched as it rolled over the waves around them. "Lisanna?"

She considered this in silence for a few before saying, "If this is what it is...dating… Then I wouldn't mind it, no. This is nice. I… I wanna keep doing this."

"Who said we had to stop?"

"No one. I was just-"

"It's good to talk, sometimes, kid," he told her with a bit of a sigh, "but other nights, I think, it's just better when we don't."

And she had to agree.

When he rowed them back to shore, the pair took the train back to Magnolia together as the sun came up, and it was almost blinding by the time they arrived, but she only yawned, heading one way as he did the other.

This went on for some time. This late night game they were playing. There was no pattern to it, no rhyme or reason, but as the season only got colder, they found themselves doing it more often than not inside of his apartment. Which was just as well. Lisanna could just as easily kill the early morning hours there as she could else where.

"Why don't you like to sleep at night?" he whispered one night as they sat there, on his bedroom floor, and his back was up against the bed while she laid before him, nearly there, really. Sleep. But not quite. He could tell as he puffed at his smoke and enjoyed the music. "Kid?"

"Something changed," she admitted to him softly and she didn't even think about it. Didn't hesitate. "When I went there. To Edolas. Not that place on it's own, but whatever happened to me, when I got sucked up, I think… I think maybe I felt it. Just for a minute or two. The darkness. What really comes for you. When you… Sometimes when I close my eyes, if I'm not really exhausted yet, then I won't be able to sleep so fast. You know? And then I have to think about it, as I shut them, and I don't… I hope your dad was right, Bickslow. That we get to go somewhere else. Other places. With or without people we knew before. Just...other worlds. That it keeps going. Infinitely. For all of us. Because if it doesn't...and what I saw, the darkness, is all there is… I just hope, I guess, is all."

"Yeah." And it burned that time, the inhale, but the exhale felt so good. So very good. "I hope too."

"Bickslow..."

"Hmm?"

"Maybe one day," she whispered as she drifted off, "we can go on a real date. Do you think? I don't even know what that means, but-"

"We will," he assured her,. "Lisanna. Promise."

"But still this too, right?"

"Yeah," he agreed and smiled some from the thought. "Can't sleep without it."

He never thought he'd find someone that would enjoy it as much as him. Those early morning hours. On top of that, someone he wasn't bored with. Because it wasn't a chase. He wasn't after Lisanna. It all just kind of...happened. And she wasn't into his face tattoo or too old to be so edgy attitude. She just liked to be around him. To talk about the same things as him. Listen to the same music. Snicker at the same movies. Sit, for hours, under the same billions of other universes that loomed above them.

To think, he was that old before he realized that's what he shouldda been looking for all along.

He kissed Lisanna for the first time when she left his apartment in the early dawn hours that next morning and she only giggled, there in his doorway, while he grinned and his dolls sang softly behind him, nonsensical and ready for bed it seemed, but to the amusement of the two people they were serenading.

Only, when he fell into bed after pulling his curtains closed and tossing a blanket over his head, he just couldn't fall asleep. His body wanted it. It needed it. But it was rejecting it as all he could think about, instead, was Lisanna and what they'd do, if they ever did go out. Really go out. Somewhere where everyone saw and what would Freed say, to learn that it wasn't nearly as whirlwind as he'd made it out to be, before? And that they were headed towards being, finally, much more than friends?

"Rough day?" the rune mage asked when, before the sun even began to set, Bickslow found himself staggering into the guild for a late lunch rather than an early dinner.

But he could only shake his head, Bickslow could, as he knew he'd have to turn in early that night. Especially if he was gonna get up bright and early the next day (well, by noon at the latest) and prepare for whatever and wherever, exactly, he was gonna surprise Lisanna with a date to.

"No," he ywaned to his friend as Freed only stared. "Not at all."

#Bixanna #Bickslow #Lisanna #Lisanna Strauss #Freed Justine #Evergreen #Fairy Tail #Fanfiction

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sassyhazelowl · 5 years ago

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Title: Life is What You Bake It Rating: PG - a few swear words, comedic violence Pairing: Lyon x Erza Secondary Pairings: Lucy x Levy, Gray x Lisanna A/N: Silly, cute little idea that popped into my head while cruising titles on Netflix. Bakery AU. @dragonshost

Link to Google Docs - Comments welcome and appreciated :)

Chapter 4

“An eviction notice?”

Lyon wasn’t as surprised as Miss Scarlett was. Miss Heartfilia - no, Miss Lucy - had been a very generous and open hostess, especially after cracking open a bottle of wine. And she seemed to be craving some outside world contact because Lyon nearly didn’t make it out of dinner with his ears on. It seemed like the town in general was in a spot of financial trouble on the whole. And if yesterday’s visit was anything to judge by, the bakery was in even more trouble than the town.

It was a common, if sad, set of circumstances for little towns.

Rather than rudely eavesdrop as she read the letter out loud under her breath, he moved away to get more flour from the racks to the side. Even though Miss Scarlett couldn’t bake, she ordered more than enough supplies to keep things flush. He thought perhaps she wasn’t as hapless as she appeared, now that she’d cleaned up a bit and seemed to at least understand the business part of running a bakery.

“What are you doing?”

There was a bossy element to her tone he was not a fan of at all. But, he supposed, she was his boss. And she did get served an eviction notice. And it was a fair enough question.

Hefting the bag of flour, he turned with a neutral expression, “Starting the bread.”

“Bread? What about the muffins?” she huffed, and if it weren’t so annoying, he’d be charmed by the puff in her cheeks, much like a little chipmunk. “Muffins are for breakfast. That’s what people come here for in the morning.”

He pinched his lips together for a long moment then replied with a bit of chill, “Well, since nothing was put out last night, there is a limited amount I can do, but even quick rise bread will take several hours to make. If you want the loaves to be ready by noon, I need to start them first.”

“Muffins are the biggest sellers,” she insisted stubbornly. “Forget the bread.”

He stared at her incredulously, dark eyes wide with incomprehension, “What kind of bakery does not sell bread?”

“I will start the bread then!” she growled, staring him dead in the eye and reached for the bag of flour. He stepped back out of her reach, raising his brow at her, “Do you know anything about making bread?”

“I am more than capable of…”

“Burning things to the ground?” Lyon smirked at her outraged scowl, twisting around when she tried to reach for the bag again. “I heard some interesting things about the visit you had from the fire department.”

“An accident!” she snarled, flushing the same shade of fetching red from the day before. He took another step back only to realize his back was against several large sacks of flour and there was nowhere else to go out of her furious reach. “Give that to me!”

His apron strings ended up in her angry clutches as she leaned forward into his space, chest heaving and eyes blazing. Uncomfortably close. He tried to squirm backwards and twist away from her body but she used it to pin him down forcefully.

“You are infuriating,” she hissed, her lips hovering over his and their noses practically touching. Lyon didn’t have the breath to defend himself. Guts twisting and temperature spiking, he swallowed dryly. She growled as she pressed him back further with a flash of temper, “Then teach me how to bake properly.”

Licking his lips a few times, he mustered up a cocky smile and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Only if you call me teacher.”

“Uggh!” Erza growled, abruptly realizing the position they were in. She made a grab for the flour and he let her have it, quietly wheezing in a few breaths while she was distracted with grappling with the heavy bag. That sort of thing was not good for the heart. Or other places. Or his nose, for that matter, which had been broken enough by his brother to set crooked. When Gray had joked about her temper, he hadn’t been joking. She whipped around and pointed at his nose threateningly, “Just… start the bread.”

He did not need another smack to the nose, and he didn’t trust the local doctor to patch things up. It might be a vet.

Meekly, he put his hands up in surrender, although the amusement in his voice betrayed him, “Yes, ma’am.”

“And do not call me ma’am. Call me Erza. I... sorry, I am not used to working with someone as a partner. My other jobs I was either the boss or on my own. It is… difficult. I am not used to being so clueless and useless. I did not seek to own a bakery; it happened to fall into my lap.”

“I understand,” he replied, adjusting his clothing discreetly and picking up another bag of flour. Carrying it over, he set it down gently on the counter. “I am not sure how much Gray told you, but my bakery Sabbatical was not exactly voluntary or planned.”

“Umm, he said you lost your job. Something about being wrongly fired?”

Lyon didn’t answer immediately, merely grabbing a large, metal bowl and placing it under the mixer. It was a bit too raw to just joke it off, and he really didn’t feel like discussing it seriously with the woman he’d met the day before. Dumping in several scoops of flour effortlessly, he looked up to see Erza staring intently.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Another scoop.

“That. Put it all in without spilling or having it come back up.”

He glanced between her, the flour and the mixer, suddenly having a very clear vision of what his future would be like if he let her near him.

Instead of answering, he scooped faster, asking, “Do you happen to have any of the recipes from the bakery’s menu? I would prefer to make things as closely as possible to what the customers are used to. And while I said I was a fair baker, I meant as a hobbyist. I am not used to working with large amounts of ingredients or big trays and ovens. It may take me some time to get the hang of things, and if I knew how it was done before, that would be immensely helpful.”

She considered his request for an unreasonably long amount of time before sighing and looking guilty. Plopping on the clean part of the counter, she nervously brushed her red hair back out of her face and sighed again.

“Well, the fact of the matter is, Fairy Heart’s recipe is a family secret. And, I am afraid… that I am not family. I can, of course, give you the rest, but the signature bake is a mystery to me. Unless I can find it or make something else people will come for, I am afraid this bakery will fail.” She pulled out the wrinkled eviction notice and waved it around for emphasis. “I truly feel bad for pulling you into this. But you will have a job for the summer. The bank will not be around to collect until August, so I suppose there is that small mercy.”

Lyon paused to glance up and instantly regretted it.

Her face showed real heart break, and it summoned an ache in his chest. This place was clearly more than a business to her. Losing it would hurt her a lot, even thinking about losing it was hurting her. He stuffed down the impulse to wrap his arms around her in a hug.

“Can you replace it?”

She gave him a scathing look at his ignorance. Hunching her shoulders and staring at her lap, she spat, “Impossible!”

“So you have given up.”

He didn’t say it as a question, more like a statement. He kept his face straight when he saw her stiffen at the words. A bit of pride sprung up, knowing he judged her correctly.

Erza was a fighter. And it strengthened his resolve to help. It may be a simple bakery in the middle of nowhere, but to her it was a big, irreplaceable part of her world. And Lyon’s romantic streak couldn’t let that go.

#fairy tail #fanfic #mine #lyoza #///#bake it #ch4

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natsubeatsrock · 6 years ago

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The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 16 (Lisanna)

Why keep Lisanna?

I’ll be honest. Lisanna is a bit of a weird character to start the discussion of characters outside the Strongest Team with. It would make more sense in the minds of many to talk about other characters who have more of a direct impact on the series like Gajeel or Jellal. Maybe even start a discussion about Zeref as a character and antagonist. Not to mention her siblings who both get much more time in the spotlight than her. Heck, I haven't even talked about the Exceeds on the strongest team. So, technically, I really haven't finished discussing the Strongest Team.

However, I want to start with a discussion of arguably the most controversial character in the series. About the only other character to draw as much ire from as many fans and haters of the series is Juvia, yet another character someone I'm sure was expected to talk about first. Believe me when I say that Juvia has far more fans and defenders than Lisanna. I can count on one hand the number of people who have actually defended Lisanna's return and/or existence besides myself and most of the people I'm thinking of also ship Nali. (Not that it necessarily matters.)

The most important thing to note about the question at hand is that it isn't a matter of if Lisanna should or shouldn't return, as normally is the case. The issue I'm addressing is why Lisanna should be kept. In other words, the series was written and the decision was made to have Lisanna not remain dead. Why am I continuing to keep her return, which is a major problem for people who have gotten into Fairy Tail, as an element of the series? After all, I've argued for making major changes to other elements of the series seen as less problematic by fans and critics alike.

Thank goodness that keeping Lisanna isn't a terribly spontaneous choice for me to make. After all, one of the many things I am known for is defending both Lisanna and Nali from fandom criticism at large. If everything works properly, this will be posted on the three year anniversary of my giant post about Lisanna. I was bound to make this argument in some way, shape, or form. In fact, I started making the first draft of this post even before deciding to rewrite Fairy Tail.

All that said, how bad was Lisanna's return?

Now I know that many people who are even slightly familiar with my views on Nali may think I'm going to spend the rest of this post arguing that this was totally fine. But that's not really the case. I actually do think there are problems with Lisanna's return.

The obvious problem with this moment is that this is the return of a character who was established as dead. If you haven't read my post regarding my thoughts on Lisanna, I said that this is one of the things about Mashima's writing that I'm not a fan of - him presenting characters as dead only to bring them back later on. I say his writing because this has happened in every long series that I've read from him and he's outright said this is something he enjoys doing.

I feel like I need to make an important correction. I said that the upshot of doing this is that you can cause greater pain when you actually kill people off. After over a year of watching fake death after fake death, I feel like I should add in that this can only work if you're actually willing to kill people. If you don’t, it feels more like cheap emotional manipulation. Weird enough, since my post in 2016, he doubled down on his insistence that he didn’t want characters to die Fairy Tail.

Another big problem I have with the actual moment that no one seems to have brought up involving this moment involves the way this moment was explained. When we get to the chapter "Lisanna", we learn that Lisanna disappeared in front of Mirajane. We don't actually learn that until this specific moment. The fact that Mirajane and Elfman are even going to a tomb for Lisanna makes it weird to find out that she wasn't actually with them in the first place.

But, of the times that a character has been presented as dead only to be brought back, I think this is one of, if not, the best versions of this trope within the series. Before Edolas, we were presented with the idea that there are two of the same people through Jellal and Mystogan. The arc begins by showing that things can be brought from Earthland to Edolas through Anima. In the anime, it's specifically stated that Lisanna's body wasn't left behind when we see actually her for the first time in Edolas.

So enough elements were in place that the explanation that we got for Lisanna's death was possible. At the very least, there was enough in the series for the anime's director, Shinji Ishihara, to have originally planned to act as if she never died. That’s always been a weird element of that interview we always bring up when discussing whether or not Lisanna was forced back to life. Even if that was just his personal wish, that such an idea was seen as possible by the anime director leads me to believe her return isn’t as terrible as it’s often made to be.

“Okay, but what about the negative impact on character growth? Isn't this a bad lesson for these guys?”

Only kind of.

I want to hold off on talking about how Mirajane and Elfman were impacted by losing and gaining Lisanna in another post. This is an issue I hear a lot and it deserves more attention than a few sentences in a post here. The big issue that I can see is how it affects Natsu's character. Some people argue that real lost opportunity with this is that Natsu wasn't allowed to properly and completely mourn the loss of someone important to him.

As someone whose favorite character is Natsu, likes Nali because of its impact on him and made an entire post about how bad Natsu is with handling loss, I can empathize with this argument. I can imagine what it would be like if Natsu actually did lose Lisanna forever but actually learned to let go of the pain it caused him and lived not to see other people die. This might be one of the best reasons I've heard not to like Lisanna's return.

However, I think that this is just a symptom of Mashima not allowing Natsu to actually mourn throughout the series. This is a great example of that, but it's not the only example. The handling of Natsu's search for Igneel was bad. I don't discredit Natsu's feelings when he finally sees him in Tartarus arc or when he watches him die in. Again, this is why I’m making some of the changes that I’m making involving him.

But, to be honest, I don’t think you fix this issue by keeping Lisanna dead. It’s not a bad or particularly unreasonable way to fix that issue. However, if Natsu has to learn that lesson, I’d personally have him learn that with Igneel. In a sense, I’ve personally always thought of this as a bit of a misdirect for Natsu. He thinks that since he found Lisanna, he can find Igneel. It makes the fact that he gets separated from him that much more painful.

"But wait! Isn't it bad that they built Lisanna up, brought her back and did nothing with her?"

Yeah... but no...?

Yes, it's bad and disappointing that we know so much about Lisanna and she hasn't done a whole lot since her return. Just as we know a lot about other characters like Levy and the members of Crime Sorciere who have been castigated to the background. I would have loved to see Lisanna do a whole lot more than she has. I wrote a whole thing about wanting to see more of Lisanna and how fans perceive her because we don’t get as much about her as her siblings.

But was Lisanna really built up that much?

In the manga, she almost exclusively shows up in flashbacks and is mentioned by characters up until we actually see her in “Fairy Hunting”, which is chapter 170. And the only people that seem to care about her before Levy tells Lucy about Lisanna in chapter 168 are her siblings, Natsu, Happy and Gildarts - people who, for the most part, would be most hurt by her death. No offense to the Strauss kids, but they're not the most important characters in the series anyways.

In the anime, before Natsu and crew go to Edolas, she's only mentioned in like 5 or 6 episodes. She's an important character with her own actions in only 2 of them, both of which are episodes before the current events of Fairy Tail. One is based off a special chapter and another was mostly original content added to one chapter. Keep in mind that over the span of 79 episodes.

Again, that's not to say that we don't learn a whole lot from the few moments about what Lisanna could have been. At the very least, we know that she had an important bond with Natsu, which is reason enough to be disappointed at how little they interact throughout the series, even if you don't ship them. It would be cool to have Lisanna do more than just stick around the background a few times.

But I don’t think we were supposed to expect her to be some kind of hidden weapon for Fairy Tail. As if Mashima was holding back on developing a great character that would fundamentally change the series. Heck, in that exact same time span, Mystogan was built up to be a much more interesting character with more relevance to him and I don’t plan on doing much more with him than what we got in canon.

How I think a more relevant Lisanna looks...

...is something I’ll get to that when I talk about the Strauss siblings. (I still haven’t finished the first draft of that post.)

For now, though, I hope my mindset in handling characters outside of the main members of the Strongest Team is clear. I don’t intend to make Lisanna a character who is as important to the series as, say, Wendy or Gajeel. I want her to interact with other characters and have more moments to shine as a character. I want her to have an impact on characters like Juvia and especially Natsu, in light of what we know in canon. But I don’t think she should take much more of an elevated spot in canon than she already has because of those interactions.

I don’t think that the solution to making characters who were disappointing is either making them be infinitely more important than they were or cut them from the series. After all, the only way a character can be disappointing is if we had expectations for them to begin with. What I want to do is play with the expectations we may have had for characters in ways that make sense within the series universe. This shouldn't come with the addition of unnecessary importance or outright removal of their character.

While this is true for a number of other characters, I’m most terrified of how this affects my handling of Lisanna. Considering my obvious stakes in this, I could easily have planned to make her take up the same place Lucy took in the original for Natsu as a partner the instant she comes back. I don’t think that’s the right way to go about reworking their relationship considering what I want to do with the rewrite in general. I want to make that clear now in hopes that my intentions for this rewrite are clear to those who will inevitably disagree with my choices in changes.

#lisanna strauss #the rewrite of fairy tail #part 16 #two of these in a row #on a wednesday no less #never ask me to do this #ever. again.#anyways #i'm probably going to #do bonus posts for a while #this was a fun one to do #i started this post like two or three years ago #and when i started to rewrite fairy tail #this became a part of the series #fav

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ohnohetaliasues · 7 years ago

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Lucy or Lisanna? {Fairy Tail Fanfiction} {Ch. 4+5}

(Kat)

I've been on Tumblr all morning, so it's time to post something.

Makarov POV...

Oh, okay.

I am just standing here shocked. One second Lucy was dead and now she's alive! What is goin on? Wait... What's this? I feel a presence.. A dark one. It is nearing Lucy and about to hit her before I could react a grey wall appeared in front of Lucy and deflected the thing. Whatever that thing was fell on the ground and appeared to be human. Lucky for us it was Gajeel who deflected the guy while Lucy was sitting there fazed."

Gajeel cannot make iron walls.

He uses Dragon Slayer magic, not maker magic.

You should pay more attention to your surroundings bunny girl..." Gajeel mocked in his sarcastic tone of voice then topping it off with a "Gihee".

I find this funny for some reason.

At least Lucy was safe for now... But I had a strange feeling that is she didn't leave more of this would happen...

Leave where? The guild?

Lucy POV... What just happened?!? Why am I surrounded by a thick grey wall and Gajeel talking to me? I want out right now! "Let me out Gajeel!" He simply replied with a "nup".

That isn't a word, Gajeel.

God I was gonna kill him when I was out. I summoned Virgo and asked her to dig a hole and in no time I was crawling out, this was painful and I was still losing blood but I wanted get out, it was hard to breathe in there. Gajeel had his back to me. I crawled up slowly and grabbed his leg yelling "why was I stuck a iron dome?!?". He turned looking unfazed and pointed to a guy on the floor. The guy on the floor laughed eerily and I remembered that laugh..

The one before... Before what? Wait the guys at the guild said I was dead right? Wait it's coming back to me... Something hit my face and I fell backwards then I went unconscious! I suddenly started to feel woozy and light- headed. That person was doing something, I looked up to find him staring into my eyes, it was creepy.

I am so utterly confused right now.

His eyes turned from green to yellow and although I was already on my knees it hurt when I hit the ground. I could hear shouts of concern from my fellow guild mates and hands rattling my shoulders but it felt so distant... As if I couldn't control myself...

Someone explain what is happening....?

Creepy unknown guy's POV... Hehehe everything's falling into place, that girl is so gullible. She shoulda known I'd do something but hopefully this time she will die...

Makarov POV... Damnit! That's it... When Lucy wakes up I will be sorry to tell her but she will need to leave. It's too late for her here, she's not safe...

What.

WHY AREN'T YOU PROTECTING HER?

REMEMBER THE PHANTOM LORD ARC? YOU PROTECTED HER THEN.

WHY IS THIS TIME ANY DIFFERENT?

Natsu POV... Gray and I sat there for what seemed like hours. My phone dinged and I read the message.

Uh.

Phone?

This is supposed to take place in a medieval type world.

My eyes went wide when I saw what it said. ' Lucy woke up from what seemed like sleep but she lost her memory of what happened' I gasped at this and got to my feet to run. Then I remembered Gray so I showed him the text and he was gone before my legs started to move.

Slow down, you speed demon.

My phone dinged a second time and I nearly collapsed when I read it. ' Natsu, Lucy was attacked by the person again and now has gone unconscious. We need you here now!' The message from Erza read. I was sprinting and before I knew I was bursting through the doors of the guild.

Lucy POV... I was floating again and I felt lifeless but humble at the same time. I heard Lisanna's giggle from afar and I heard Natsu's voice burst through a crack in the wall and I listened intently for who said what next.

These POV switches are making me mad.

Mirajane POV... I don't know who to support. I have always supported Natsu and Lucy but now Lisanna has strong feelings for him. Who should I support and I feel awful for what happened to Lucy. How could I be such a witch?

MIRA EXACTLY.

HELP LUCY.

SLAP LISANNA.

GET HER TO COME TO HER SENSES.

TELL HER WHAT SHE'S DONE.

Elfman POV... Lucy is a man! She will get through this but even if she doesn't it isn't a bad thing, so Lisanna can be with Natsu finally. She just needs to knock on deaths door.

ELFMAN WHY ARE YOU ENCOURAGING THE DEATH OF YOUR FRIEND?

Wendy POV... Lucy is in a trance, dreamlike state where she is moving around but in a different place. She keeps rolling and shaking her head so she must be talking to someone, somewhere. I hope she will be okay since I can't wake her up. Oh! There is Natsu. If we combine our power maybe we can wake her up.

Natsu POV... Wendy keeps going on about combining our power and waking someone up but all I care about is Lucy. I would do anything for her. Lisanna is still standing in the same spot and smirking. She tilts her head at Lucy and glares. Like who glares at a dying person?

Natsu finally asking the real questions.

I always thought Lisanna was sweet, but maybe there is another side to her...

I've never had a major problem with Lisanna, other than the fact she's sort of useless in battle, but she is sweet.

I'm lost in thought when all of a sudden a hug wraps around my stomach and I see a mass of silvery hair. Lisanna. It felt funny, the way we connected. As is we belonged but I thought I liked Lucy? I Hugged her back and said it would be okay and she looked at me with tears eyes that looked quite fake but I held her anyway because she was nakama. Was she?

If they look fake.

They're probably fake.

But Natsu's so dense I'd be surprised he even knew that much.

Lisanna POV... I did it! I. Hugged. Natsu. Me!

It's just a hug.

You know, that thing friends and family do to express affection.

My friends hug me all the time.

Little Lisanna did a massive act with Mira clapping and Elfman wolf whistling.

They would be caring more about Lucy's state.

And Elfman has more decency than that.

What a dream come true and I know he felt the spark too.

No.

We just connected. I'm sorry about what happened to Lucy but she brought Natsu to me.

You hypocrite, you did this to Lucy.

All I have to do now is seal the deal. I look up at Natsu making sure I have tears in my eyes. He hugs me but I lean closer to his face and as the space between us shortens he suddenly pulls away. I was worried he rejected me at first but he only left since Wendy was calling out to him. He turned around and mumbled a 'see you round'. So I wave. I'll be with him! Just you wait...

LISANNA YOU NEED TO STOP.

That wraps up this review.

I think I might watch some Fullmetal Alchemist.

~Kat

#ohnohetaliasues #mod kat #Kat reviews stuff #Mod Kat reviews stuff #Mod Kat reviews things #what the heck #What Just Happened #What happened #fairy tail #bad fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail fanfiction #lucy or lisanna #???

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coleymari-blog · 7 years ago

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Cyber Space is Always Sweeter : Chapter 14

SUMMARY: LUCY IS A DOWN TO EARTH, STUDIOUS, RESPONSIBLE RUNAWAY ATTENDING MAGNOLIA COLLEGE. NATSU IS A RAMBUNCTIOUS, INTELLIGENT, PYROPHILIC FRATERNITY BOY GOING TO THE SAME SCHOOL.

THEY DON’T EXACTLY RUN IN THE SAME CIRCLES AND THEY HAVE ONE HELL OF A HISTORY. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE NAMES AND FACADES DISAPPEAR AND ALL THAT’S LEFT ARE WORDS BLINKING ON A SCREEN? MODERN DAY, COLLEGE/PEN PALS AU. I’M SORRY I SUCK AT INTROS. RATED M FOR LANGUAGE, ADULT SITUATIONS, AND FUTURE SEXUAL SITUATIONS. CHAPTERS 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

The second Lucy walked in, Natsu knew he was in trouble.

The second the door shut behind her, it was like the grad student became physically unable to focus on anything but her. His mind eviscerated any useful thoughts on covalent bonding and instead replaced them with her. A short, pink ruffled skirt hung midway down her thighs and a plain white tank top clung to her curves deliciously. She’d left her golden locks down, allowing them to hang loosely across her pale shoulders. Her makeup was casual, accenting her chocolate brown eyes just enough to make Natsu feel like she was staring right through him.

With slightly flushed cheeks, Lucy made her way to the seat around the corner of the table from Natsu. Honestly, he was surprised by her choice, expecting her to sit across from him like she tended to do the past few weeks. Being alone and in such close proximity to the girl that had been on his mind for weeks didn’t seem like the best of ideas but what was he supposed to do? Move to another seat and make it painfully awkward? Cancel the session entirely under the guise of ‘too little attendance’? Shaking his head briefly, the TA came to his senses. It was like going into a fight, he couldn’t let his opponent catch onto his weaknesses or hear his racing heart.

“And here I was thinking I’d been completely stood up,” Natsu teased cooly with a chuckle, leaning back in his chair in an attempt at appearing casual and unbothered. Any more ‘casual’ and he probably would have fallen over like a complete dumbass. Real smooth, Dragneel.

Lucy’s cheeks blushed even harder (if that were even possible), tinging her face, neck, and shoulders in a color rivaling her wardrobe. He honestly thought it was one of the most intriguing things about her. Even when she’d stood up to him at the Greek Row party at the beginning of the semester, she had this subtle flush to her cheeks, like they were desperately trying to give away some major secret that the blonde freshman was too stubborn to share. The more basic side of him, however, simply wanted to believe that his presence was what had that sort of effect on her.

“Hard to forget when it’s a weekly thing,” Lucy replied, a playful undertone hiding in her voice. She bent down to her right in order to place her bag on the floor underneath the table, causing Natsu to hold back a feral growl when her top rode up her waist, exposing her hip and lower back. Her voice was what brought him back from the edge of depravity. “Guess everyone is too busy partying before the game tomorrow.”

The Frat boy wanted to slap himself. How could he have forgotten?! The following day was the college’s Homecoming, the Football team’s first home game of the season. No wonder the session was dead, the other students were probably too busy getting drunk and making complete fools of themselves. Granted, the year prior, he and Gray had almost gotten ‘detained’ by Campus Police for streaking across the college grounds with nothing but the school flag after the team had won, but it looked like this year was going to be incident (and fun) free. “With everything going on, the game completely skipped my mind,” Natsu explained, frowning slightly. At least he still had the next day to drink to his heart’s content.

Bringing them back to reality, the Teacher’s Assistant quickly logged into his laptop and began the tutoring session. Once they were on the subject of Chemistry, and Natsu was able to think with the correct head, the two of them worked in perfect sync. He was so proud of Lucy when she solved problems that he knew had been more difficult for her in the past and the small celebrations she made when she was right made all their combined effort worthwhile. That worksheet he had “found” and emailed her? Yeah, he spent four hours making the damn thing for her but it seemed to do the trick. That bright smile and victorious giggle were the best rewards he could have ever hoped for.

After about an hour, Lucy excused herself to get a drink from the vending machine, leaving Natsu alone to figure out how to survive the remaining hour. Being so close to her spiked his adrenaline like being on the edge of a cliff. Part of him wanted to make a move, to dive right off head first into the unknown waters below. The other part of him desperately wanted to respect her and her boundaries. She was technically his student for Gods’ sake. If Makarov knew about his “special showers”, the professor would have his head.

Then he thought about Starfire. Natsu’s stomach fell when he thought about the faceless girl somewhere out in Earthland. Why couldn’t she have been a student at M.C.? Why couldn’t he have met her through a Frat party or inter-college mixer? At least then she would be real. Lucy was right in front of him, regardless of how she felt about him. It was normal for him to think/dream/fantasize about someone he actually knew right? Before he could figure out an answer, Lucy was back and setting a can down on the table in front of him.

“Got you your favorite energy drink,” Lucy said calmly with a sweet smile, smoothing down her skirt before regaining her seat. He couldn’t even remember telling her which brand he preferred. In that moment, something snapped inside of Natsu and suddenly making a decision was so much easier. Diving off the cliff was the only suitable option.

“Thanks, Lucy,” he replied, cracking it open and taking a sip in order to buy him some time while he plotted his next move. Reading women was like reading an enemy on the mat, one needed to be quiet and observant in order to truly anticipate the other’s actions. He watched as she brushed strands of her golden hair behind her ear before getting back to work on Natsu’s worksheet. She was breezing through it much to his chagrin, meaning at that rate, she’d finish before the last hour was up. He knew it was greedy, but he wanted to keep her there with him as long as possible.

Shifting his upper body, Natsu leaned his arm on the tabletop as he continued to watch Lucy work, closing the gap between them slightly. While talking to women wasn’t exactly his best skill, he normally wasn’t that nervous. He was afraid that if he so much as said the wrong thing, she’d run like some kind of frightened woodland creature. “So…” he muttered, looking down at his laptop in order to give some semblance of control. “Are you going to the game tomorrow with your friends?” Regardless of how many clicks he made on the keyboard, he stayed on the same web page, focusing on her and her response.

“Levy and her boyfriend are going tailgating with Fairy Tail,” Lucy explained, jotting down her scratch work for one of the formulas. Her teeth trapped her bottom lip as she figured it out, causing that carnal side of Natsu to want to do the same. “Figured I would just sit in the student section and watch.”

“Your first college Homecoming and you’re not gonna tailgate?” Natsu replied, unable to hide the shock in his voice. He couldn’t imagine going to the football games without spending the day partying and hanging out with his brothers and friends. It made the experience all that much better. No way could Lucy miss out on such a rite of passage. “Why don’t you come too? Fairy Tail always has plenty of booze to share and more than enough tent space.” They always sent the pledges to the Student Lot super early to settle the best spot possible. He grinned brightly at the young freshman. “What do you say?”

Lucy pondered the idea for a moment before answering, her smile saying everything Natsu needed to hear. “That sounds fun!” she answered excitedly, causing the pinket’s grin to grow. A day spent drinking, playing games, and spending time with Lucy sounded more than perfect to him. She blushed softly once more before turning her attention to solely focus on Natsu. “Thank you for inviting me.”

The tutoring session continued in the normal fashion, Lucy asking questions with Natsu explaining them a million different way so she would fully understand. She was working on a particular problem while he was scouring his student email for something about Rush Week before he decided to take another chance. Slowly and gently, Natsu brushed his knee against Lucy’s, never taking his gaze away from his screen but watching her from his peripheral vision. The blushing returned with fervor but what happened next was completely unexpected. Coughing, Lucy shifted and crossed her legs, running her shin against his thigh.

Did she think she was smooth?

Surprisingly, Lucy left her leg right where it landed, her knee resting against his. Even though it was through his jeans, Natsu felt like he’d been struck by lightning and he was suddenly more aware of her presence. The smell of vanilla and jasmine overtook him, the sound of her tapping her pencil against the desktop, everything made Natsu feel like he was on fire. Her next question shattered him into a million pieces.

“So how’s that Lisanna girl?” Natsu noted a hint of something like jealousy in her voice but it still pained him.

“Wouldn’t really know, she’s with one of my brothers now,” he replied, making sure to sound as apathetic as possible. If he was being honest, Natsu had barely even thought about her since meeting Lucy, except when it was something negative. “Don’t hang out much with Lily Heart girls anyway.” For multiple reasons.

Lucy giggled at his response. The sound was almost angelic. “I hope I don’t run into them much during Rush next week,” she said softly. Natsu was confused almost immediately. Was she going through Rush again? That took bravery, something that the grad student admired immensely.

Natsu grinned, puffing out his chest playfully. “Well, if they give you any trouble, you come to me and I’ll handle it. Sound good?” The look in her eyes said it all, gratitude, respect, appreciation, and just a flicker of romantic intent (okay, maybe he was dreaming up that last one). But there was one thing he knew, he’d defend her from the world if it meant her looking at him like that...

#nalu fanfic #nalu fic #cyber space is always sweeter #nalu fanfiction #fairy tail fanfiction #;csias #;here comes the queue

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vitaetmorsfilo · 1 month ago

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this is a list of moments where natsu is smart (and then some, i couldn't stop myself) (episodes from 17 to 32)

- when fighting zalty, upon learning about time arc, deduced that it does not work on people, which ultear elaborated as it not working on any living matter

- when deliora started to crumble, caught on that this damage was not done by him

- when our team returned to the now fully undamaged village, natsu figured that that must be work of time arc

- when sherry and yuka came to village, natsu quickly told erza that yuka's magic can cancel out other's magic (in comparison, lucy told that sherry's magic is controlling trees and stones, like, girl, didn't she explicitly said that she can make puppets out of everything, excluding humans?)

- (on another note, in the episode where natsu, lucy, happy, gray, erza and loki's bodies and souls got shuffled, how did natsu managed to read that spell? it was in an ancient language that gave even levy trouble)

- i mean, even when he turned out mistaken, he recognised happy's egg as dragon's egg, because it had slash-like markings (like, we don't know how exactly dragon eggs look like, so it's a fifty-fifty chance that he was right)

- (on yet another note, makarov saying that you can't hatch an egg with magic? and that in general for there to be life there supposed to be love? it falls pretty in place as to how natsu himself was revived by zeref. after all, zeref genuinely loved natsu, and thats how he managed to revive him in the first place. if he held no love, then natsu would've still be dead after attack on his village. damned stubborn dragneels, amirite?)

- (also, i'm probably being delusional, but aren't first arcs strangely and loosely correlate with natsu's backstory? like, with macao being taken-over by vulcan = how zeref was consumed by his curse? or maybe how they searched for macao, when he was in their sight all along = igneel actually being sealed in natsu's soul, when natsu searched for him all around fiore? and daybreak book being saved by lucy from being destroyed and figuring out secret message from it = lucy being the one who rewrote e.n.d. book thus saving natsu from dying? yep, i'm being delusional-)

- figured that it was gajeel behind the attack on guild hall and team shadow gear (which is, like, okay, for us its obvious, but gajeel seemed surprised when natsu said that, did he really thought so low about natsu that he won't figure it out?)

- (have you fucking seen him when he overheard that lucy was taken by phantom lord? my boy was going to smoke that goon right then and there, he is down bad-)

- (he was SO going to go back to beating the shit out of phantom lord, nevermind his injured guildmates and master and order from erza to retreat, but the moment he saw lucy cry and starting apologising and blaming herself, HE FUCKING FOLDED LIKE A PRETZEL, my boy is down bad)

- went to destroy jupiter before it accumulated power for another shot, which is honestly a solid plan

- when fighting totomaru, under the guise of letting out a roar, managed to spit on totomaru (which is... i don't know if it was intentionally planned or not, it could go either way, but i think the first variant is way funnier)

- managed to redirect totomaru's sword at the giant lacrima, and when he figured out how to fight totomaru by spreading his flames further even if they are under control and how to make them not susceptible to the control itself, got a fluke shot at totomaru that actually went flying into sword in lacrima, which was his target to begin with

- (onto yet another note, what was your fucking plan lisanna? hope that your words alone would reach elfman? without any kind of back-up plan, or at least some thought put into evading him in case he attacks, or measures to defend yourself? you are stupidly lucky that anima picked you up)

- when fighting gajeel, dissipated his roar with bare hands, wild

- when he heard that gajeel's dragon also dissapeared, he quickly connected it with igneel's dissapearence too

#fairy tail #ft #natsu dragneel #galuna island arc #phantom lord arc #ehhhhh #nalu #sorry i just can't handle it #oh!#rewatching fairy tail #i hope you don't mind russian subtitles

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theolddarkmachine · 7 years ago

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Must Love Cats- Chapter 8

Levy hadn’t planned on being a pet sitter when she’d moved into the city. She also hadn’t planned on pet sitting for a sex god either, but here she was.

AKA the one where Levy is a pet sitter, Gajeel is her client, and Lily is the glue that binds them together.

The writer’s block on this was REAL you guys. Sorry there ended up being a week delay, like I said I didn’t want to give you guys a pile of poop just for the sake of getting it out on time. Y’ALL DESERVE GOOD THINGS AND I WON’T GIVE YOU POOP JUST BECAUSE. Sooooo, hopefully you don’t think this is poop lol This chapter was a bitch because I wasn’t happy with what originally happened, then I wasn’t happy with what I’d come up with instead, then I got writer’s block, then I still didn’t like the direction it was going. And then when I woke up this morning i was like AHA THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN so, there ya go lol As always, thank you so so much for reading! I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

******************************

There was only supposed to be five days until he came home. Why did this have to happen now? Gajeel tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of his plane seat as he bore holes into the window with his glare. When he'd finally gotten his phone charged enough to turn it on, he was stunned to see so many missed calls and texts, the majority in which had been from Levy. He'd never felt anything like the pit that had formed in his stomach when he saw her name so many times. It wasn't that he didn't think she'd text him while his phone was dead, but he knew she'd only call if something had gone wrong. Without even checking any of the messages, he had called her back only to be met with the news that Lily was sick and that they were both at the vet. It hasn't taken him long to find a last minute flight back home, but even the few hours it had taken to get into the flight were enough to drive him crazy.

Things had been going so well, and he was going to be home in five days, and he was going to ask Levy out. Why did this have to happen now? Lily was going to be fine, that he was sure of. Lisanna was an excellent vet and he knew it would be fine, but Levy's terrified voice continued to echo through his mind. It wasn't her fault, and yet he could tell just by how she'd sounded that she thought it was. Gajeel's fist closed tightly around the armrest as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He needed to get home.

***

Levy wasn't even sure how long she'd been at the vet anymore. While she knew it had to only have been hours, it felt like days. The kindly receptionist had informed her it was okay if she wanted to step out and maybe get something to eat, but Levy just couldn’t bring herself to leave. She knew Lily couldn’t possibly know if she was there or not, but it didn’t feel right leaving him alone. At least that’s what she told herself. Really she just couldn’t bring herself to go back to Gajeel’s apartment just yet. Mirajane shot her a worried look when she passed on the opportunity to go, but didn’t say a word as she returned to her desk. With a sigh, Levy dropped her head into her hands, and closed her eyes to the outside world. She shouldn’t have been so preoccupied with him and paid more attention to Lily. That was her job for fucks sake, she should have caught that something was up, and now he was in surgery and Gajeel was on the first flight home probably worried out of his mind and hating her for letting something happen to him. What must he have thought of her when she’d told him? That she was completely irresponsible and shouldn’t have this job most likely.

What an idiot she was, letting herself become so preoccupied with an owner that she wasn’t able to properly care for their pet. She had known this was a bad idea, and yet, she just couldn’t stop herself. Her phone started to vibrate on her lap, alerting her to a phone call. It wasn’t Gajeel, that she knew, and yet a shock of panic still rocked through her body before she looked at the screen and saw Lucy’s name. Quickly standing from her seat and heading towards the exit to take the call outside, she answered it.

“Levy!” Lucy’s voice shouted into the phone before she could say anything first. “Are you okay? How’s the cat?” Levy had almost forgotten that she’d texted Lucy about everything when she hadn’t been able to get a hold of Gajeel and first arrived at the vet.

“H-he’s going to be fine,” she stuttered, unaware up until that moment that she’d started crying. “They said the surgery went fine, but they want to keep him overnight just to be sure.” A small, wet hiccup escaped her lips. Lucy let out a relieved sigh on the other end.

“That’s good,” her friend replied. “But how are you?” The emphasis on the word only let Levy know that Lucy was more than aware of the inner turmoil she was suffering about the whole situation.

“I’m,” Levy started before she paused. How was she? Not good, that was for certain. Far from it actually. If she was being honest, she was exhausted and her spirit felt so low. Her worst nightmare had been a situation in which a pet ended up at a vet on her watch, and it happened to happen with Gajeel, who she had allowed her feelings to grow out of control for. It left her with a hollow feeling in her chest, and apparently, it was making her cry.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. Lucy would pick up on the lie, but at this point Levy didn’t care. She didn’t want anyone to tell her it wasn’t her fault, or give her a pep talk. This was something she would deal with on her own. The beat of silence between the two of them stretched as Lucy considered if she would pursue the lie or not.

“That’s good,” Lucy replied, letting the lie slide. For now anyway, Levy was sure she’d say something later. “Are you going to be home soon?”

“No,” Levy sighed as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand, spreading the tears around her eyes. She was thankful she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Gajeel asked me to meet him at his apartment tonight since he’s headed home right now because of this.” All Lucy responded with was an affirmative hum.

“Just don’t beat yourself up about this, Lev,” her friend said suddenly. “This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that can be avoided, so don’t shoulder too much of the blame, okay?” This caused even more tears to slip down her face. A part of her knew this already, and yet she still couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility.

“Yeah, alright,” she mumbled, sniffling back some of the tears.

“I gotta go though, I only stepped out long enough to give you a call. I’m sure Natsu has destroyed the store already in that amount of time. Call me for anything though, okay? You have the store’s number too.” Lucy’s voice was thick with worry for her friend. Great, now she’d caused someone else emotional pain too.

“Will do, Luce,” was all Levy said before she hung up the line. The bluenette shoved her phone into her pocket and took a few breaths of fresh air, allowing it to clear her mind as she mopped up her tears with her hands. It was time to head back to the apartment. Gajeel wouldn’t be home for a couple more hours, at least according to the itinerary he’d sent her before hopping on his plane, but there was still a matter of the mess that had been left at the apartment when she’d left. With one last steadying breath, she headed back to the apartment and what was most likely the end of whatever it is that her and Gajeel had been doing.

***

After cleaning up all the spots of vomit, taking out the trash and cleaning and changing the bedding, Levy was ready to sleep for days. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, and especially hadn’t realized just how tired she was feeling until she let herself fall onto Gajeel’s couch. The furniture wrapped her into a soft, warm hug of cushioning. The worry she’d felt the entire day was finally ebbing away as she accepted the fact that most likely Gajeel would let her office know he never wanted her watching Lily again and that would be the end of that. They’d had a good run, but all good things come to an end, right? It just wasn’t meant to be, she told herself as she yawned. Stretching out slightly, Levy propped her arm on the arm rest of the couch, using it as a makeshift pillow as she rested her head on it. Gajeel should be home any minute now. The thought ran through her mind over and over as she felt her eyes slowly start to drift shut. Gajeel should be home any minute now...

***

That damn flight had taken far longer than necessary, Gajeel thought angrily to himself as he hauled his luggage into the elevator of his building. He wasn’t actually sure if it had taken any longer than he’d been told, but it sure as hell felt like it. By the end of the flight, he’d been a bundle of nerves worrying about Levy and Lily. When he’d hopped off the plane, he’d received the text from her saying that Lily was going to be okay and that they were keeping him overnight but that he should be able to come home in the morning, but it hadn’t said anything about how the little bluenette was feeling, which only caused him to worry more. If there was anything he’d learned about her in the short time they’d been talking, it was that she took her job seriously, and shouldered a lot more of the blame of things than she needed to. Lily would have gotten sick no matter what, that was the nature of what happened. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Levy would think it was all her fault and he wanted nothing more than to assure her that she was wrong. The elevator finally dinged as it reached his floor, and he stepped out before the doors could fully open. Unlocking the door, he threw it open, Levy’s name stopping in his throat when he saw her on his couch.

Levy had her head resting on her arm on the arm rest, with her legs tucked underneath her, as she breathed slowly and evenly in what seemed like a very deep sleep. Her cornflower locks fell partially across her face and down her shoulder, and her mouth was open slightly as she breathed. Gajeel’s heart skipped a beat as she took her in, afraid to wake her, but also afraid of what the sight of her in such a peaceful state in his living room as doing to his heart. While he really wanted to speak with her, he could only imagine how hard of a day she’d had, so without a word he closed his door and left his luggage by it. Walking overly quietly, he gently lifted her from her sleeping position on the couch, careful not to jostle her too much. As he lifted her from where she was, he paused for a moment as she squirmed before she nestled her face into his chest and sighed deeply. The room was suddenly very hot and he swallowed back the feeling that had suddenly started to burn within him. With as much care as possible, he walked towards his room, and set her gently in his bed, covering her with his comforter. She was still sleeping heavily as she settled herself further into the covers and clutched the edge of the pillow before sighing what sounded suspiciously like his name. (Not that he was going to dwell on that or anything. It did not make his heart fall into the pit of his stomach for a moment.) He carefully brushed a lock of hair from her face before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

He would make sure she didn’t blame herself for anything in the morning. For now, he would let her sleep.

***

Light was pouring across Levy’s face, not only making her inexplicably hot, but also waking her from what may have been the best sleep of her entire life. Which, was weird, given her side of the room didn’t have the window. Suddenly the entirety of the day beforehand flashed across her mind’s eye and ending with the last thing she remembered: Falling asleep on Gajeel’s couch. It was only supposed to be a moment to let her tired eyes rest, but she must have slept for much longer. Sitting up quickly, her eyes darted around the room, only disorienting her further as she didn’t quite recognize her surroundings. This wasn’t his living room either.

“What the hell?” She muttered under her breath before it hit her that she was in Gajeel’s room, and tucked into his bed. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she quietly padded to the door and opened it. Low snores greeted her as she slunk into the living room to find Lily’s owner sprawled across his couch, one leg hanging off the side and one arm thrown over his eyes. If the guilt of the day before hadn’t awakened in full force, she’d have found the moment to be endearing. She may have even noticed the slice of stomach that peeked out from the hem of his shirt that had been raised as he slept. Her veins were coursing with guilt though, and she just couldn’t bring herself to wake him to speak with him about what had happened. It was cowardly, and she knew it, but she just couldn’t do it. As silently as she could, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the magnetized notepad that hung on the fridge. Scrawling out an apology and a recap of what the doctor had told her, she hung it back on the fridge. Grabbing her purse and shoes that were by the door, she opened it quietly and stepped out, turning back to take in Gajeel one last time.

“Goodbye, Gajeel,” she whispered under her breath before she closed the door behind her.

**********************

#Gajeel Redfox #Levy McGarden #Gajeel X Levy #gajevy #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #must love cats #pain and suffering is what this chapter caused me lol PAIN AND SUFFERING

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pyropsychiccollector · 8 years ago

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Mashima... Stahp.

It's been beaten like a dead horse today, but Zeref's analysis of Natsu's allies left a lot to be desired... Setting aside Lucy and her... *bond* with Natsu... **MASHIMAAA...** I very much would have liked to hear Zeref's opinion on the likes of Erza, Wendy, and Gajeel, 'cause he knew the 'main trio' sooo well. Ugh. "They all share a very strong bond and trust each other." *insert appropriate, 'No, really?' meme here.* You just described the Fairy Tail Guild right there, great detective work, Black Wizard.

What I wanna know is what "impact" Lucy has had on Natsu's "upbringing". What significant influence has Lucy Heartfilia had on Natsu Dragneel? Did she teach him to read and write? Inspire him to get stronger? Drill into his head that Fairy Tail is a family that he can rely on? Hypothetically, let's say I'm being unfair. After all, all that happened BEFORE Lucy arrived at Fairy Tail or even met Natsu. She musta had some significant impact for Zeref to make such a claim...

Let's see... She did help him in Hargeon when he was stuck on that boat with his imposter and his lackeys. ... Or more precisely, that was Lucy summoning Aquarius, who was a little ornery and tried to sweep away her Summoner as well. Natsu brought her to Fairy Tail after that...

... I'm not gonna go through every mission they've been on together. We'd be here forever. 'Cause she's a member of Team Natsu... But let's hit some of the highlights of their relationship early on. Breaking into Lucy's apartment. Lucy Kick. Giving her the chance to watch the Rainbow Sakura trees even when she's down sick. Being wary of taking battle-heavy jobs (shies away from Guild brawls, too). Going up to Mount Hakobe... in her usual attire... Getting kidnapped by Phantom Lord... Gee, that seems to set a precedent. Sits on the sidelines after helping Juvia beat Vidaldus at the ToH. Takes down Angel of Oracion Seis when Natsu is marooned on a raft, which is a form of transportation... Next to useless on Tenrou, though (being chased around by Kain, need I say more?).

And so it goes. I'm not gonna claim Lucy never accomplishes anything, but the point of this post isn't about what Lucy has or hasn't done (in general). In all her time with Natsu, I can't think of one meaningful life lesson he took away from her specifically. No pep talks from her. I suppose you COULD say it was thanks to her that the rest of Fairy Tail came back after getting absorbed by Cube, though all she did was break Aquarius's key, which summoned the Celestial Spirit King, who did the real heavy-lifting in liberating Fairy Tail. Again, not really a Nalu supportive moment, though...

Oh, but wait, that's right... Natsu sure is protective of her, isn't he? He sure lost it when Future Lucy was murdered. Oooh. Except Natsu is protective of ALL his nakama (need I point out Yukino?). He was most certainly affected by Lisanna's 'death', and if nothing else HE'S always the one inspiring Lucy to keep fighting. Lucy simply brings nothing to the table aside from fanservice with her clothes getting shredded in most battles and Natsu seeing her naked all the time. Natsu has NOT changed ever since Lucy joined his team and FT - at least not through influence on her part. It's kinda funny, really, 'cause as the camps for Nalu and Jerza argue that Natza is a brotp, I see Natsu as an older brother looking out for a younger sister in Lucy. They're great friends, but Lucy just hasn't done enough to warrant a 'significant impact' on Natsu's life. Certainly not his 'upbringing' - I'll be generous and say they've known each other for little more than a year. Five months in X784, probably most of X791 (then timeskip), and now Alvarez. Not much better off than Jerza......

Now Erza, on the other hand... Well. Methinks Zeref mixed Lucy and Erza up. She's done a looot more than Lucy in making an impact on Natsu.... XD Mashima, you need to stahp trying to force these pairings. The square does not fit in the round hole. XD

Edit: I will concede the word 'upbringing' may erroneously convey the meaning of what Zeref had to say about Lucy. I won't even blame anyone for that. However, my point still stands in regards to Natsu's growth. What has changed in Natsu's nature since meeting Lucy? What about his quirks? Sure, he's had mature moments, but I cannot think of a situation where it was because of Lucy. Most, if not all, of those moments can be assigned to Erza, Gildarts, Makarov, and even Gray. Lucy is a dear friend to him, that much I can agree with, though the bond doesn't transcend that, at least as far as I've seen.

#natza #chapter 522/523 #why #fairy tail

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riverofmemoriesft · 8 years ago

Text

. The Game of Life . 10

Full Summary: “You’re new here, so I’ll explain the rules once. Winners get one lash, losers die. It’s quite simple. The last one standing gets no lash. We do one game a day here and you live as long as you can stand it. If you somehow miraculously try to get away, I kill you. It’s quite simple really.”

Pairings: Natsu x Lucy, Gajeel x Levy

Warnings: This really isn’t a fic for sensitive readers. Mentions of suicide, descriptive gore, the likes. It’s rated M, my friends.

Levy wasn't all too certain on what was taking Gajeel so long to come back, but Levy understood how careful Natsu had to be. Lisanna had explained that they were keeping her arrival under wraps to avoid the murderer hearing, and evening had come and gone before Natsu came up again, pencils and papers in his impatient fingers.

Ignoring the pain in her mouth and the aching bruises at her throat, Levy reached for the pencil and paper he'd found and went to work, writing as hastily as she could. She remembered her quills - her beloved quills with which she'd underlined quotes in books - and then forced her mind past such a petty matter.

Lucy, she thought and hastily drew a map on one page, making sure to number houses and circling the two or three that she thought Simon was in. She set the page aside and Natsu grabbed it, studying it.

She held up a hand to stop him from running off, and when he looked up, she began to hastily write, ignoring the way Lisanna was trying not to read over her shoulder. She'd tell more to everyone later. Natsu needed the information now.

His name is Simon, she wrote, He's a nullification mage that may actually have been considered S-Class if he were in a guild, and he can use a little of requip magic. I'm pretty sure he could nullify even Laxus' magic. I doubt he's as physically strong as you or Gajeel, but he's strong enough to kidnap Lucy and I at the same time. He's been using Lucy's whip. She scrambled to think of anything else. Amber eyes. He has amber eyes. Don't just walk past him, no matter how normal you think he is. The girls are in the basement of his house. They're cuffed to walls. Besides Lucy and I, there were three others: Ayako, the Lamia Scale mage, Maria, and Athena. You can't forget them in your rush to get Lucy. Maria and Athena aren't mages.

When she was done, Levy handed it to him. Natsu quickly read through and gave a curt nod. "I'll check the basement if I find his place. Do you know any easier ways to see past the things he hides?"

Levy narrowed her eyes and grabbed the paper back.

When she pushed it back into his hands, he read, The only way you can truly see everything is if you've been hidden as well, I think. He kills one girl each day after playing some kind of game in the evening, Natsu.

"If he thought you were dead," Natsu said slowly, and she flinched at the way he put it, "Then you were the one for last night. Tonight-" He scowled. Lucy.

She furrowed her brow and wrote, Not necessarily. If Lucy is still alive...he might have beaten her, but she could still technically have lived with the pattern he runs with. The loser of the game is killed. Natsu, there's a huge disadvantage, but…

"You thought she was dead though," he argued, and he grimaced at his own words. Why was he arguing with this? He tried to not let that hope gain too much ground in his chest, but Levy forced a gentle smile to her face and shakily touched his cheek.

Lucy was alive.

He leaped to his feet. "Fuck what Gramps said about not including Erza and Gray," he spat suddenly. "We're going out and we're finding Lucy. Levy-"

She waved him off and gave him a thumbs up to tell him she was fine with him telling them. Her eyes were blazing as she met his gaze. He was pretty sure her eyes said, Make him suffer, but he wasn't entirely sure.

He flashed Levy one last look of gratitude, and then froze when the door opened and in stepped Gajeel.

Natsu made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, and Lisanna gaped, too, before smiling to herself. Levy stared at the iron mage in shock and then promptly burst into both tears and laughter, earning a glare from Gajeel though his crimson eyes glittered with relief.

Lisanna made her way out the door as Natsu finally just shook his head and left, resting her fingers on his arm briefly. "I think it's a very nice haircut, Gajeel," Lisanna said honestly, smiling warmly before leaving the room.

Levy sniffled, trying not to cringe in pain as her laughter brushed over her tongue and made it ache and burn. She reached for her paper and pencil and wrote out a note that she handed to him, her hazel eyes twinkling and that terrified haunted look nowhere in sight.

"'You look great. Thank you,'" Gajeel recited aloud and then snorted. "Woman, don't compliment me before I give you a lecture"

She arched a brow, waiting.

"Don't go bein' all miserable about your damn hair," he told her. "'Cause the fact that you're here to be miserable about it is more important."

Tears gathered in the blue-haired woman's eyes, and she gave a little laugh, her gaze warm as she cupped her hands over her mouth to try and hide the smile that felt as if it was tearing her mouth apart. A choked sound suddenly escaped her and she began to sob. Gajeel grunted and hesitantly moved over, uncertain of what to do as she suddenly shuddered in pain.

"Let me look," he demanded. "I know the witch took a look earlier and said it would heal, but I wanna see so I can lecture ya about that, too."

She only shook her head. She didn't want anyone to see the hideous scarring within her mouth, remembering how Porlyusica had said that it would never go away. With shaking hands, she took his hand. He let her, seeming to flush as she suddenly brought his knuckles to her lips and just barely brushed her blistered mouth over them.

He stiffened a little, but didn't dare move. And when she dropped her head, still clutching his hand, to rest her forehead against his gently curled knuckles, he only smiled a little, trying his damn hardest to hide the relief that flooded through him that she was alive as his free hand lifted to tug thoughtfully on a short piece of black hair.

Natsu flew down the stairs, his onyx eyes blazing as he searched for his team. He found them speaking quietly with Juvia and practically tackled Erza, grabbing Gray by the collar of his shirt. Both squawked and gave him furious looks, but Natsu laid a dark look on Juvia, said, "Tell no one that we are gone," and proceeded to drag them to the back of the guildhall. He pulled both out through a backdoor that only Mirajane used on a regular basis and then released them, clutching his head when Erza smacked him furiously over the back of his head.

"Natsu Dragneel!" she hissed, glaring viciously.

"That hurt," he muttered, and then shook his head, immediately glaring back. "We have to leave. Now. Lucy's life is at stake. I'll explain on the way."

Erza looked uncertain, aware that they weren't supposed to do anything without Makarov's permission, but Gray nodded curtly. He recognized the look in Natsu's eyes; Natsu never would have risked Erza's rage in such a way without reason.

Natsu looked at a piece of paper and then shoved it into his pocket, tugging his scarf away from his mouth. "Come on, the sun's already going down and Levy said he kills at dusk."

"What?" Erza's lips parted as he took off at a spring. She took off after him, dressed in no armor. It gave her far more freedom as she and Gray raced along behind him. "What do you mean 'Levy said'-"

"Gajeel found Levy last night, 'caught the bastard in the middle of trying to throttle her." Natsu raced around a corner, grimacing at just how empty the streets were. "She woke up early this morning, while we were all sleeping, and I thought Lucy was dead at first, but Levy thought she might still have a chance."

"Okay," Gray said, choosing not to question why they'd spent all day unaware that Levy was alive and home. "Then we know where Lucy is?"

Now he hesitated. "Not exactly. Levy knew the few houses that might be his."

"But it's better than nothing," Erza said firmly. "We have reason to search houses now. Did she describe the man we're looking for?"

"Amber eyes," was all Natsu replied, sprinting over a bridge that led over the canal. "He has amber eyes." He shoved a hand into his pocket as he ran, fisting his fingers tightly around Lucy's keys. They seemed to warm beneath his touch, one even burning him.

Hold on just a bit longer, Lucy, Natsu pleaded as they began to reach the outskirts of Magnolia.

I'm coming!

Lucy felt numb, her heart broken as Ayako stood protectively in front of her. She wanted to order Ayako aside, but she ached and hurt. Too much to talk. She felt feverish and hot, too, and she guessed that her wounds were going to be infected soon if they weren't already. How fast did infection set in? she wondered.

Simon looked entirely amused by Ayako as she stood before Lucy. "Move. Or I'll let you die before her. She lost. You know the rules, Miss Ayako."

Ayako's hands shook. "Don't touch Lucy, you bastard. You've already tormented her long enough."

His lips twitched, and then drew downward; Simon was growing angry.

Suddenly, her whip cracked and Ayako screamed in agonizing pain. She dropped to her knees, curled into a ball and cradling her face. Blood began to drip between her fingers and Lucy felt sick at the sight.

She felt sick period, actually. Sick and numb and ready for this to be over.

My Spirits, she thought dully, wondering what had happened to them. Had Natsu found them and taken care of them for her? Would they be found and taken care of? Would they go to Yukino? Or would they end up in some cruel person's hands?

Lucy screamed when the whip cracked over her back, splitting the mess of skin even more. How she even had flesh left...how she even had the energy to feel anything or scream, she wasn't sure.

Suddenly, Ayako was kicked aside. She sobbed hysterically, clutching her face. Lucy struggled to move away, ignoring the way her sweat-slicked skin was sticky and covered with dirt and grime. She ignored the agony it brought her back to move.

"For the first time, I regret having cut your hair," Simon mused, suddenly kicking her. Lucy wheezed, blood touching her tongue. She rolled with the blow and then screamed again as the tender flesh came into contact with the hard unforgiving stone floor.

"I could have dragged you by it. This'll work, I guess." Lucy cried out as his hands descended, grabbing her and hoisting her up without pity. "Can't kill you here...I don't like the smell of decay that death brings, you see. It's why I've been taking you all elsewhere to do the deed. You must understand, Miss Heartfilia, I don't enjoy the killing, but I see it as a necessary evil. Women are all cruel and heartless. They all play with the hearts of men and then rip them to pieces. I'm saving your partner from what he thinks is affection. In reality, you're trying to crush him and steal his soul."

Lucy found herself struggling to stay conscious. "You're insane," she managed to get out. "More than insane. I love Natsu. He's my partner and...and more. He'll burn...he'll turn you...t-to ash. I r-regret...that...I won't…" She couldn't bring herself to finish, the pain ripping through her.

I regret that I won't be able to watch you turn into ash, Lucy thought and then knew nothing more.

#fairy tail #fanfiction #the game of life #riverofmemoriesft #nalu #natsu x lucy #gajevy #gajeel x levy #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #gray fullbuster #erza scarlet #lisanna strauss #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden

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roxiesdiary-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Dawn of Change, Chapt 4

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my third diary posting! I hope that you enjoy reading about my adventures in Magnolia, Fiore! If you want to read further than this chapter, there are 3 more after this, all posted on the following websites. Just follow the link you want to follow! Also, please don’t forget to favorite/follow/bookmark and comment.

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6555616

FF.Net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11262127/1/Fairy-Tail-Dawn-of-Change

In this fourth chapter, I begin my training with Master Makarov. And, boy, what a busy day! Now, then. Here we go!

Roxanne enjoyed a night without nightmares and groaned when the alarm lacrima sounded at six o'clock the next morning. Lucy groaned as well and reached over to silence the noise while Roxanne sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning, Lucy."

"Morning, Roxanne." Lucy replied as she yawned. "Mind if I shower first?"

"S'fine," Rox mumbled, rubbing her eyes and stumbling out of bed. "I'm gonna get dressed. Meet you downstairs?"

"Yeah." Lucy sighed as she got up and made her way to the bathroom, while Roxanne stretched leisurely as she made her way to the wardrobe.

"My wardrobe, huh?" she whispered. "That's right. This is my wardrobe. In my Fairy Tail apartment. Above the Fairy Tail guild hall." She bit back a grin, reminding herself again that all of this was real. She reached for the blue training shorts and white tank top, changing quickly and making her way over to the bathroom.

She knocked, asking Lucy if she could come in so she could wash up. Lucy agreed and Rox heard a door slide closed soon after. She opened the main door and found the screen that separated the bath area from the toilet and sink areas closed, a screen that she hadn't realized was there. "That's cool," she murmured as she walked to the sink.

It didn't take long for Rox to brush her hair, but it took longer to plait it into a braid. Even though her hair was rather long, it was also thick, which made it hard for her to grip the sections between her fingers. And since she couldn't see the back of her head, she had no idea if the braid was straight or crooked. After several minutes of struggling by herself, she finally caved and asked Lucy for help. Luckily, Lucy seemed delighted to help with such a task, exclaiming that she'd never had the chance to play with someone else's hair before. Roxanne supposed it must be because Lucy was an only child and she'd never really had friends, so she had never gotten to do anyone else's hair before.

Roxanne smiled as she remembered all of that. She was actually surprised she remembered details like this. After watching the whole anime twice, she was sure that her memory would focus on the late-anime stuff, but it seemed that she remembered the early-anime details as well. Maybe that's because the early-anime details helped to develop the characters, while the details later in the anime were focused more on the plotline?

Once they were done, Roxanne left the bathroom. Her face was washed, her hair was brushed and braided into one massive braid and then the braid had been curled up so it wrapped around itself, and then secured with a hair tie. Her teeth were brushed and she had on clean training clothes so there was nothing left to do, and Roxanne went downstairs to face the day.

"Good morning, Mirajane," she greeted the older woman as she sat down on one of the barstools, swinging her legs idly.

"Good morning, Roxanne. Did you sleep well?" she replied brightly, matching Roxanne's cheery tone of voice easily. In this, the two were exactly matched. Both had a sunny disposition and greeted everyone with smiles.

"I did, thanks. Um, I won't have any money for a while, so could I start a tab and pay it off once I can take on jobs?"

"I've already started it for you. Makarov told me a bit of your situation. I hope you don't mind."

"No, that's fine. Thank you very much."

"Sure. Oh, and Master has already ordered your breakfast for you, so that will be ready in just a few minutes."

"Great!" Roxanne forced a smile, worried about what she'd be forced to put up with today. "Thanks!"

Mirajane smiled and disappeared into the kitchen. With nothing else to do, Roxanne watched the stairs and the door, hoping someone would enter the room. Her wish was granted five minutes later as Lucy came downstairs, dressed in a very familiar outfit.

"Morning, Lucy." Roxanne called as Mira produced Roxanne's breakfast. "Oh! Thanks, Mira." To her surprise and vast relief, it was normal. Eggs on toast, cottage cheese with pineapple slices, and a cup of orange juice. Maybe it was just that one restaurant that had weird food? Come to think of it, she hadn't really noticed the food much when watching the anime. Maybe the food here wasn't so strange after all.

"You're welcome. Now, eat up. Master wants all of this gone by seven o'clock. Good morning, Lucy. Can I get you anything?"

"Morning, Mirajane. Just some water, please?"

"Sure!" She replied before she disappeared again. Roxanne started eating, tearing into the eggs on toast first since that was her least favorite item.

"So, you excited for today, Roxanne?" Lucy asked.

Roxanne just nodded in response, holding her hand up flat, and then wobbling it back and forth in a teeter-totter motion. She was very excited, but also nervous.

"You're nervous?" Lucy guessed, and then smiled when Roxanne nodded again. "That's understandable, since it's a pretty big step. You're training with the Master of Fairy Tail, and you might discover your magic today. That's plenty of reason to be nervous. But I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. Makarov seems like a fair guy. I'm sure he won't give you more than you can handle."

Roxanne nodded again in agreement, smiling in thanks, then she pointed at Lucy, palm upward, and she raised her eyebrows questioningly. She learned this from one of her classes at school, an American Sign Language basics class. In ASL, asking a question was accompanied with raising of the eyebrows, not lowering as most people do when they verbally ask a question. And it was more polite to turn your hand palm-up if you’re pointing to someone in a non-offensive manner. Realizing this wasn't home so Lucy might not understand the eyebrows thing, she almost panicked until she heard Lucy's response.

"Me? What do you mean?"

Sighing in silent relief, Roxanne teetered her hand again.

"Oh! Am I nervous? I dunno; I guess so." Lucy prupped her chin on her hands. "I don't know what I'm going to do today, but I'll probably stay here and socialize. So, yeah, I guess I am. It's my first day in the greatest guild in the country and I'm meeting new people. What could possibly go wrong?"

Roxanne tried to reassure Lucy by patting her shoulder—after she had wiped that hand on a napkin of course. Crumbs were gross, and it'd be rude to get any on Lucy's clothes.

"Thanks, Roxanne. You're right!" Lucy agreed emphatically, a determined look settling on her face. "Everything will be alright, and I'm not going to worry until there's something to worry about."

Roxanne agreed with her friend, throwing her fist into the air as well. She also quite enjoyed the fact that Lucy did most of the pep-talking herself.

So they talked like that, Roxanne gesturing while she ate while Lucy did most of the actual talking, until Roxanne finished eating. After that, they carried on a more diverse and verbal conversation for another ten minutes or so, until the clock chimed seven times and Makarov entered the guild hall. Roxanne turned to face him and showed him her cleared plate. She'd made a point to finish quickly, so there would be no delay. He nodded.

"Good morning, Roxanne, and good job. Let's get started on that training, hm?" He offered her a broad grin.

"Yes, sir!" she chirped and bolted towards him, waving goodbye to Lucy. She left the guild hall with Makarov, and the two made their way deeper into the city, to a park that Roxanne remembered from the anime. She could almost see Natsu, Lisanna and Happy there, Lisanna telling the boys to stop fighting because they were family. Roxanne smiled at that; she loved the idea of Natsu, Lisanna and Happy being a family. That was primarily why Rox shipped NaLi just as much as she shipped NaLu.

No, don't do that! She reprimanded herself. I'm here to train, not to reminisce about the anime. Focus!

She followed Makarov as he made his way down the steps and to the tree at the center of the park, sitting down in its shade.

"There are two ways that a person can become a mage," Makarov began, patting the ground for her to join him. "For most, the magic reveals itself to a person when that person is in a state of high emotion and desperation. This is what happened to many of your guildmates."

That's what happened to Erza. She felt powerless in the Tower of Heaven, a child-leader of the rebels who wanted only their freedom, and her mentor and defender had just been killed. She wanted to defend those she was fighting for, and just like that she became a wizard. Roxanne remembered the scene from the anime well. She'd never forget young Erza holding her dead friend close, facing the enemy, glowing with a light as if she were lit from within.

"The second way is for the person to search for the energies resting within themselves," Makarov continued solemnly, holding her eyes with his to make sure she was paying attention. "This method takes longer to accomplish, but the person will come away from the experience not only with magic, but also being more sure of themselves. This is the method you will use, discovering the magic for yourself."

Roxanne nodded. She didn't think things would be so convenient as to make learning magic easy or instantaneous. No, she'd have to work for it, just like everyone else. If she didn't work for it, then she wouldn't treasure her magic because she hadn't earned it.

Makarov nodded, seeing that she understood. "Every morning, we will begin the day by meditating. It's very crucial to becoming a mage and unlocking your magic, Roxanne. Do you know why?"

"Um…" Roxanne thought about it, brows furrowing as she searched for a plausible explanation. "Because meditation regulates your heartbeat and helps you clear your mind," she began slowly, recalling the information from a project she had done in class "…which is beneficial when matching your inner energies to the natural ones?" she guessed the second part, unsure if it was the right answer. It made sense, right?

"Very good," Makarov said, obviously pleased. "That's precisely right." Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief. Jeez, had she gotten lucky! "Now, sit down beside me and I'll teach you how to meditate. First, pick a stance. Something that's comfortable for you and that you can maintain for a long period of time."

She did as she was told, sitting down beside him. She even copied his pose, cross-legged with her hands on her knees. When that turned out to not be as comfortable as she'd been hoping, she shifted, leaning back against the tree's trunk and stretching one leg out in front of her, leaving the other bent. Then her arms felt awkward, so she rested one on her bent knee and cradled the other in her lap. At last she was comfortable, so she glanced at Makarov one more time, and then closed her eyes the way he had. "I'm ready, Master," she said.

"Good," he murmured. "Now, clear your mind and focus on your heart. Feel it beating in your chest, feel the rhythm, hear the blood pulsing in your ears."

He paused, and Roxanne did her best to do as he instructed. She focused on her heartbeat, on the rhythm of it, using that to block out other thoughts until her conscious mind quieted. Her heart beat quickly at first, a result of the recent movement, but it soon slowed to a much more relaxed tempo.

"Now pace your breathing," Makarov continued a few moments later, once Roxanne had gotten the hang of the first part. "Breathe slowly and deeply, but effortlessly. In, hold, out."

Roxanne did so, breathing in on an upbeat, holding the breath for a moment and ending the exhale on a downbeat a few seconds later. She didn't pant or hyperventilate, and she didn't try to beat her personal breath-holding record. Her breathing was smooth, clean, and languid. She endeavored to perfectly copy the process with the next cycle, all while keeping her conscious mind quiet.

"Good." Makarov praised her quietly, and Roxanne could hear from his voice that he had also achieved the state that she was in. "This is the basis for meditation. Breathing at a slow but sustainable rhythm, getting so used to it that you don't have to concentrate on it, all while keeping your mind quiet. If your thoughts are too loud, you cannot hear the whisper of magic within you. This is what we will do for this next hour, breathing and practicing."

After that, all was quiet for the next hour. Roxanne practiced her breathing, getting used to the rhythm she had set, while she learned how to keep her mind quiet. She was a fast learner, so she had figured out how to quiet her mind quickly, but keeping it quiet was another matter. Throwing aside or shutting down active thoughts was nearly impossible. An ant crawled over her ankle, making it itch. Birds chirped and twittered in the trees, distracting her. Her mouth dried out a little, making her thirsty. She battled boredom, and bittersweet memories of the park tried to intrude on her thoughts, as did anticipation for the magic she would hopefully discover soon, and some silent fangirl squealing over the situation and the fact that Makarov—Master Makarov himself!—was teaching her.

She'd finally managed to keep her mind quiet for three whole minutes when Makarov interrupted the silence with a simple command: "Wake up."

Immediately, Roxanne stirred and straightened, heart rate picking up speed again as she slowly drained the… the zen from her body. That's all she could think to call it, the zen. It was difficult for her to explain the phenomenon, even to herself, but zen was the word that first came to mind and it seemed the most appropriate. She did all of this slowly, feeling as though waking up too quickly would hurt her somehow. She couldn't explain it any more than she could explain the zen, but it was a warning she felt in her soul, so she listened to it.

"All right, up we get," Makarov instructed as he rose to his feet. "Now it's time to train our bodies. After all, your magic isn't at its full potential if your body isn't. Besides, if you only depend on magic, you won't have anything else to rely on."

Nodding, Roxanne stood and faced her mentor. Fairy Tail mages were full-contact mages, most of them supplementing their magic with some kind of fighting ability. It made them much more versatile than enemies thought. That underestimation is often what tipped the scales so they favored the Fairy Tail mage.

For twenty minutes, Makarov gave her simple stretches to do, which served to 'wake up' her muscles after all that sitting still, and prepare them for the real training. Roxanne touched her toes, twisted her waist, did back-bends and overhead bends until she was limbered up, and then started on the actual warm-ups. First came a light jog around the park, followed by a short break to regain her breath. Makarov used that to gauge her basic endurance. Then came three sets of stair runs, which started at the bottom of the stairs, extended to the top, and then ran back to the bottom to complete one set. There were twenty stairs, so Roxanne's breathing was labored after one set, but her leg muscles burned once all three sets were done.

Once she'd caught her breath again, she had to do ten sit ups, followed by ten push-ups, followed by three more laps around the park. All of this, from the stairs to the running, was one pattern. She got a three-minute break once she finished, but she had to complete the pattern three times. That was one-hundred-eighty steps, thirty sit ups, thirty push-ups and nine laps. By the time Makarov called a halt, she wanted to flop on the ground and give up, but she refused to let herself do that. It would only make it harder for her to get back up and do the next task, and she didn't want to waste that energy. She was going to do everything Makarov asked her to, and she was sure there was a lot of that left so she would need every ounce of energy she could muster.

Besides, Makarov had done all of that with her, and he was an old man, a grandpa! She couldn't even tell herself that he had longer legs than her, because he was actually shorter than she was, and he wasn't using his magic to cheat. So if Makarov could do it, then she could too!

"Alright," Makarov said, once she'd regained her breath. "That might have been a bit much for your first day's warm-up, but you're doing pretty well. Have you ever taken self-defense before?"

Roxanne shook her head, drinking from the water-bottle he'd given her with quick sips.

"Mm, I thought not. Though you did surprisingly well at the meditation for a beginner." Makarov rubbed his chin. "We'll start with the basics, then. Now, I know you saw those rascals at the guild hall tussling, but that isn't what self-defense is for. It's to help you protect yourself, not pick fights with others. Save that for when you're old enough to know better!" He chuckled at his own joke, while Roxanne smiled.

'The basics', it turned out, consisted of two things: how to stand in a balanced, ready fashion, and how to fall without hurting herself. It sounded easy, but Roxanne quickly learned that it was a lot harder than she'd thought. Makarov demonstrated first, and then had her imitate him. The hardest part was relaxing while falling, because all of her instincts told her to brace herself instead. Makarov's training method wasn't what she'd expected, either. Instead of telling her to practice falling, he told her to practice her balanced stance, and then—very gently—knocked her feet out from under her. She learned how to fall both backwards and forwards, and each time she fell, he helped her up and corrected her stance, telling her what to do to fall better next time. The one time she fell at a particularly bad angle, almost hitting her head, he caught her easily and prevented the injury.

After that, it was a little easier to make herself relax into the fall.

"Once I'm sure you've got this down to a reflex," Makarov told her, "you'll start on how to make and dodge blows." A bright, encouraging grin, surprisingly youthful on his lined face. "At the rate you're going, that should be by the end of the week!"

"Thank you, sir!" Roxanne smiled at him, wiping her sweaty face.

She felt relieved down to her soul when Makarov stopped the training and brought her back to the guild for lunch. She sat at the bar and looked around while Mira cooked her food. Lucy sat at one of the benches across the guild hall with Natsu, Happy and Gray. Roxanne grinned at Lucy's visible happiness and stayed where she was, content to mull over her meditation lesson by herself, ignoring her growling stomach.

"Hey, Roxanne!" She heard a voice call her, and turned back around to see Natsu waving at her. "Come join us!"

"Really?" she asked, not really expecting to be called over to join that group. "But I'm just a boring kid."

"You're not boring!" Lucy replied before Natsu could. "You are young, but you're certainly not boring."

"Exactly. So come over here!"

"Come on, kid," Gray said casually, using the term as an endearment instead of an insult. "Come talk with us."

Reassured, Roxanne smiled again and raced over to the table, sitting down beside Lucy.

The group talked for a few minutes, which mostly consisted of Natsu asking Roxanne questions about herself, which she answered truthfully. After all, all she needed to lie about what where she had come from. She had no reason to lie about what she liked to do or what foods were her favorites, so she answered as honestly as she could.

Pretty soon, Mira brought Roxanne her lunch and the conversation shifted away from Rox, which she appreciated. Now the subject circled around Lucy, with Natsu asking many of the same questions. Gray didn't speak much, preferring to listen instead, but he was paying attention to the questions Natsu asked. Roxanne knew that he was interested in getting to know his newest guildmates, and that he trusted Natsu's instincts, so he must think they were worth getting to know since Natsu had taken such a shine to them.

Roxanne looked down at her plate, smiling at the thought and trying not to bounce with excitement. Her legs swung from the bench's edge, kicking idly as she munched her way through the chicken salad sandwich and sweet rolls Mirajane had brought her. Once her plate was completely clean, Roxanne looked around for Makarov, expecting him to tell her it was time to continue her training, but he just smiled and shook his head at her, gesturing for her to continue talking as he went over some paperwork up at the bar. Relieved, Roxanne turned back to her new friends and continued chatting.

After another fifteen minutes, Makarov called Roxanne away. She pouted for a second, enjoying spending time with the group and not wanting to leave, but then took a breath and followed him anyway. As much as she loved talking with her new friends, which was a lot, she wanted to be a mage twice as much. Besides, she knew that being a guild master wasn't just about being the strongest mage in the guild. There were a lot of responsibilities that Master Makarov had, and he was taking time away from them to help her. She wouldn't let one second of that time be wasted.

Makarov led her back to the park, where they meditated again, and then did another set of warm-ups, somewhat gentler this time and focused more on endurance-building exercises like jogging. That was followed by foot training—ladder-runs and hopscotch and side-dashes—and reflex-training such as wall ball and coin catch. Her favorite was the coin catch. Makarov had her hold one arm out in front of her, slightly bent, palm down. Then he balanced a coin on the back of her hand, and bounced her hand up, making her try to catch the coin on its way down. It was a lot harder than it looked, but once Makarov told her that the motion was incredibly similar to parrying a punch, she found it a lot easier to concentrate. He told her that once she got better at it, she could try to catch two or even three coins at a time. He also told her that once he was sure her endurance was up to snuff and she was competent with falls, he'd move on to more self-defense.

"Now, I won't always be here to train with you," he reminded her, letting her take a brief break. "So on days when I have duties with the Council or other such things, I want you to focus on meditation and endurance training unless you've got an older mage to supervise you. It's much too easy for a growing girl like you to hurt yourself."

"Yes, sir," Roxanne agreed meekly. Weakly, even. This time, training had lasted nearly two hours, and she wanted to do nothing more than crawl into bed and sleep forever. She doubted she'd be able to sleep, though—every muscle ached, and even her head hurt from concentrating so much.

"I'm glad you understand. Now, let's do our cool-down stretches, alright?" Makarov worked her slowly through the stretches, making sure she hadn't strained herself too badly and that she didn't cramp up in the process. Once he was satisfied, he led her back to the guild, urging her to clean up and change into something besides training clothes. "And you'll want to soak in the bath for a bit, instead of just showering. No point in making you stiff as an old man just yet!"

Roxanne almost wanted to resent his cheerfulness, but found she was too tired even for that. "Yes sir," she agreed meekly, and did as he said. While soaking in the bath, she scolded herself for her weakness. She hadn't even started serious training yet, but she was ready to crawl under a rock and die from today's exertions. How much worse would serious training be? She just might actually die!

But it's something I have to do, so I’m going to ignore my exhaustion and give my training everything I’ve got!

This stuff would be critical later. If she expected to be a good fighter and help the guild, she had to learn the essentials of hand-to-hand combat until she discovered her magic. If she didn't train, she'd be only a burden and a liability. Someone could get hurt or even killed trying to protect her! So she needed to toughen up and train now, while it was still relatively easy.

Once she was done bathing, she emerged feeling better, though her legs were still weak as jelly. She had changed into black jeans and the 'Cute but Fierce' shirt, but she still didn't know why Makarov had brought her back. She was sure that it wasn't just to shower and change into clothes that she couldn't train in.

As they made their way back into town, Makarov explained. "Starting tomorrow, part of your training will be swimming. For that, you'll need a swimsuit. I don't suppose Lucy bought one for you?"

"No, sir." The possibility hadn't even crossed their minds.

"Then I'll buy the swimsuit. Tomorrow, you'll start swimming every day. There won't be time to go back to the apartment to change so wear it under the clothes you had on today."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Roxanne groaned inwardly at the thought of adding more exercise to her regimen. "What else should I be prepared for?"

"That's it, actually," Makarov said. "Every day will go similar to today. We'll start the day with a good breakfast, then an hour of meditation. Then we'll do the stretches and warm-ups, followed by the first segment of self-defense training, then lunch. After lunch, we'll do another round of exercise and self-defense, and then move on to swimming for a half an hour. After that, we do another hour of meditation and then you're done for the day. But there won't be any swimming today, so instead we're going to end the day with the second round of meditation. However, I do want you to do another hour of meditation before you go to sleep every night."

"Yes, sir!" Honestly, Roxanne wasn't sure if she'd be able to stay awake long enough to meditate, but she could at least try. "Um, when will I get to learn magic?" she ventured after a moment's hesitation.

"Why, when the magic is ready for you to learn it!" Makarov said cheerfully. At Roxanne's nonplussed look, he chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. "Sorry my dear, that was just a joke. It will come to you in time, with meditation and patience. Hm, come to think of it, we should probably include time for magical theory in your training. And you're so young—have you had schooling?"

His question made her heart race. Uh oh. She hadn't counted on school in Fiore, which meant the subjects were almost guaranteed to be different! How should she answer? She couldn't tell him the truth, not yet. He'd think she was nuts! But she couldn't say she hadn't had schooling either. Her mom was supposed to be a college professor!

"Mostly self-study," she replied, doing her best to drain the panic from her voice. She prayed that this was a good middle-ground. "My parents were away all the time and they didn't want me going to school, worried I'd get hurt or something, so I had to figure things out for myself. I can't read or write Fiore's runes, and I don't know anything about Fiore's history, but I can do basic math and I know some science from looking at the pictures in my mom's books."

Makarov frowned, and for a moment Roxanne felt panic clutch her heart. But rather than question her further, he just shook his head. "Hm, I suppose that gives us something to work with. You've met Macao—his son Romeo is a few years younger than you, but he might have some beginner's books we can use to start your rune studies."

Roxanne breathed an internal sigh of relief. She felt bad about the deception, but she was relieved he'd bought her excuse. She was also intrigued by the idea of using Romeo's old books to learn how to read—she hadn't even considered the possibility!

An hour later, the pair made their way to the park, Roxanne's new swimsuit in the bag in her hand. They reclaimed their place under the tree, and Makarov walked Roxanne through the meditation process once again.

The hour was spent in silence. Once again, Roxanne focused on her breathing and keeping the conscious half of her brain quiet. Once they were done, the pair stood and stretched out their muscles, then Makarov reminded her to wear her new bathing suit tomorrow and to meditate for one more hour before bed. After she promised, she was allowed to leave. She raced back to the guild, wanting to spend the rest of the day with her friends.

For the next several hours, she talked with Natsu, Lucy and Gray, until Romeo dropped by. Having not met him last night, she excused herself and went up to him.

"Hi!" she greeted him, her voice very excited. After all, since he was the only other child associated with the guild, who else should she play with? "I'm Roxanne. Your dad is Macao, right?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded, nervously but excitedly. "I'm Romeo. Are you a new Fairy Tail mage? Dad talked about you last night, and he said that you joined the guild yesterday."

"I did join yesterday, but I'm not a mage yet. I'm training with Makarov, though, so hopefully I'll become a mage soon. Until then, I can't get my stamp but Makarov's letting me live here for a while."

"That's cool! Makarov's a nice guy."

"He really is! Hey, do you wanna play, Romeo?"

"Yeah!"

She smiled and reached out to tap his shoulder, gently because he was six years old. "Tag!" She yelled and took off running, Romeo chasing at her heels.

Their laughs and Roxanne's shrieks drew the whole guild's attention, and the older members started to comment. They hadn't seen guild children play in a long time, since Natsu, Gray, Cana and Erza were kids themselves. The sight was probably one to enjoy, at least for the more sentimental adults. Lucy seemed to enjoy watching Roxanne play, but Gray and Natsu didn't pay much attention.

The sight was one to see. Two carefree children, one of them having just spent many hours enduring hard training, racing around the guild hall laughing and enjoying being children as if they didn't have a care in the world.

When the two became too tired, they ate dinner together. Well, Roxanne sat with Romeo and his father's friend Wakaba, and they ate their dinners while Wakaba talked with another adult.

After dinner, they played a bit more until Wakaba noticed the time and took Romeo home. This seemed a little bit weird to Rox, Wakaba taking Macao's child home, but she figured that Macao must be on a mission since she hadn't seen him all day, and Wakaba was Macao's best friend. Who else would Macao entrust his son to while he was gone? Not to mention, by this point, Macao and Romeo's mother would be divorced, and she'd probably moved away, so she wasn't around to care for Romeo. This left Wakaba pretty much Macao's choice for secondary caregiving for Romeo.

After Romeo and Wakaba left, Rox did her best to talk with Lucy and the boys, but she just couldn't stay awake so she went upstairs, took a shower and then a bath, and then she went to bed. She probably would have stayed in the tub all night, since she had found a comfortable position in the warm water that shifted her weight so that if she had fallen asleep she wouldn't slip down beneath the waterline and drown, but she figured Lucy would worry if she came into the apartment and found Roxanne not in her bed but in the tub. So she willed herself enough energy to get out, dress in pajamas, and crawl into her bed.

Sleep came quickly.

#Fairy Tail: Dawn of Change #Roxanne Simmons #Lucy Heartfilia #Makarov Dreyar #MiraJane Strauss #Romeo Conbolt

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