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24 | discovered feelings

Galatea loved the darkness. As a child, the darkness was comforting while the light scared her. She found comfort in being alone in the darkness, with nothing but the stars and her thoughts.

But now, something about the darkness scared her. Or rather, what was on the other side of that darkness. Something about those moments where her life almost slipped away, where everything turned black and she couldn't smell anyone's scent anymore.

Her eyes slowly opened, taking in the dim lighting of the infirmary. She looked across the room, where Lucy was laying, still asleep. Elfman was on a bed on the either side of the room near the door.

She slowly sat up, moving the blankets slightly. After her match against Sting and Rogue, Erza had rushed her to the infirmary. Sting's stigmata had unfortunately been centred on the very piece Minerva had taken out--the piece that functioned as her lungs. As a result, her chest had been in excruciating pain that she had managed to ignore during the fight. But she wasn't fooling anyone when she had begun to cough up blood. Porylusica had chewed her out afterwords, but she didn't care much. Juvia had been great help in removing the lingering blood from her body, and she promptly feel asleep afterwords. Mira had also brought her a change of clothes from the inn, to replace her tattered clothing.

Turning her head, she looked out the window on the wall next to her, staring at the orange sky being overtaken by the purples of the night. The infirmary door slowly opened, causing to Galatea to turn her head to the door.She smiled slightly at the familiar blonde entering the room.

"Hey, come in." Galatea said, "Close the door behind you quietly though."

Laxus came over and sat on a stool next to her bed.

"You good?" Laxus asked.

"Yeah. I feel fine now, a little sore and low on magical power, but I'm fine." Galatea said, her gaze trailing away from to him and on to her hands.

"Are you okay?" Laxus asked wearily, watching her reaction.

Galatea's chest clenched, and clutched her sheets slightly.

"I'm doing fine." Galatea said, though she knew she was lying.

"Tea..." Laxus said, "You don't have to lie to me."

She bit her lip before speaking up a few moments later.

"Physically I'm fine." Galatea said, "But honestly, I'm terrified."

"I had that lacrima made specifically so it couldn't removed. I even put a special brand of my magic into it to seal it. So how did she remove it? I've never felt this weak before, and I'm terrified. If she can pull out part of my lungs, what else she can do? She already tried to kill me years ago. I'm such an idiot, I should've known she'd come back to finish what she started." Galatea ranted, as tears became to form in her eyes. "And there were so many times where I saw the end. It was scary and I have no idea how to handle it. I could've died before I even got to complete my life goals. And..."

"Tea." Laxus said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Breathe."

Galatea took a breath.

"I'm sorry. It's just a lot."

Laxus nodded.

"You don't have to apologize." He said, "But can I ask you something?"

Galatea nodded.

"When you mean 'She tried to kill me years ago', does that have to with what you were talking with Sting and Rogue about? About the murder of someone named Vivi?" Laxus questioned.

The purple-haired dragonslayer froze, before taking a breath and reaching out to grab Laxus's hand tightly, taking the blond by surprise. He placed his other hand over top of her hand, wanting to comfort her but not really knowing how to. He was fully aware that he wasn't the best at comforting.