Genderneutral Oneshots

Laxus (Fairy Tail) - Time Lost

I'd met him while he was wandering the countryside. I'm not really sure what had made me want to start following him around. Maybe it was the feeling that I could trust him or it could have been the hint of sadness and loneliness that I caught when I looked in his eyes. I'd just seen him as he walked down the path through the overgrown fields that had once belonged to my parents, the sun shining brightly as I watched him from my lonely vantage point in one of the sporadic trees he would be passing soon.

I'd been fascinated by the strange devices he'd worn on his ears, the spikes sticking out from them only adding to my curiosity. It was only when he stopped just beyond the reaching branches of my tree and stared up at me that I realized how deep I had been lost in my wondering. I had failed to hide myself from his sight and I'd only been able to hope that he meant no harm, unlike some travelers in these parts.

My luck had been even better than I could have hoped for that day, finding not only a kind stranger in him, but a potential friend. And so I left my only home, leaving my older brother behind, not that he seemed to mind one less mouth to feed. We hadn't been getting along anyhow, him wanting to sell the land and me wanting to stay, but now I felt that maybe leaving wasn't so bad after all.

With a bag half full of food and a handful of coins, I got on the road and began a journey that would change my life forever. Even if my new friend hadn't asked for a companion, I was dead set on following the first person in years to make me feel like I wasn't a burden to this world.

Besides, I just had to find out what those things on his ears were for!

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It was so painful, seeing the empty water where once stood the island my friend had gone to in such haste when he'd felt the call. I'd stuck with him for as long as I could, but there was no keeping up with someone so much stronger and faster than I, so he'd told me to go to the inn and wait for him.

And wait I had, for day after day. Finally, after a week had passed without sight nor sound of Laxus, I had begun traveling again in search of him. I'd hit town after town until finding one where I heard word of what had happened, my knees buckling underneath me as I felt despair envelope me.

It had taken a bit but I had finally gotten myself onto a ship with the group of people searching for any trace of them, my heart sinking further as we got closer to where the island was supposed to be.

After spending too much time staring blankly at the place that should have been filled with land and trees and the people we were looking for, I turned away and headed below deck, unable to look any longer at the place I felt Laxus should have been waving to me from.

I missed seeing his smiles when something turned out right, hearing his voice when we talked about what we would be doing next and seeing how his eyes lit up when I learned a new spell. He might not have liked it at first when I started following him but we had quickly grown to enjoy each others company, forming a fast and strong friendship during our travels.

I missed my friend and there was nothing I could do right now to get him back. After all, I was still just a kid in the eyes of most people, no matter what I was able to do by myself after all the training he'd had me work on.

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Years passed slowly as I learned how to live on my own, refusing to return to my brother and ask for his help. I joined a guild and went on missions, finding a nitch that I could fill in their group.

Still, it would never be the nitch I had with Laxus and will never bring me the same warm feeling of happiness I had back then. I ignored it when some of the people in the guild began to flirt with me, not interested in catching their eyes and even less in their wandering hands.

When things became a hassle to deal with, as well as the guild itself becoming too power hungry, I simply quit the guild and began searching for a new one. I finally ended up heading to the Grand Magic Games, hoping to find a guild that would accept me as I am.

Hopefully I could get there before the games ended and the guilds started to disperse again.

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I was shocked to hear that his old guild, Fairy Tail, had not one but two teams that had joined the games in the beginning, although I still hadn't found out who was in the teams since I had only heard bits and pieces as I traveled. Last I had heard, the guild had fallen from the magnificence they used to hold, the loss of so many of their best and strongest members along with their guild master too hard of a hit for them to easily recover from.

I would have joined them back then, if not for the fact I knew I wouldn't be able to be around his old guild members without having too many painful memories surface, but maybe I should just push that aside and take the chance to get to know the people who had known my oldest and best friend before I ever met him. I had really lost track of what was even going on with them these days, especially if they had gotten enough high ranking members to put two teams together.

With this thought in mind, I sped up my journey, wanting to see the newest members of Laxus' past guild.

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It was impossible. It couldn't be him, it just couldn't. He was gone, the whole island gone with him, so how could he be standing there in the arena? It was impossible, right? Wiping the tears from my eyes, I stared down at the ever so familiar figure of the man I had thought gone from my life forever during the past several years. Could it really be him?

Having spent so much time staring down into the arena at him, I finally staggered to my feet and began winding my way to the area where his guild members were seated. It took several minutes to get there, pushing past heavy crowds that had gathered together to talk over the fights going on down below and weaving through those who were standing farther apart, ignoring the comments people made beyond offering a halfhearted apology as I kept going.

Finally finding myself standing in front of a mix of vaguely familiar faces and several unfamiliar faces, I pointed behind me and heard my voice crack as I forced the words from my throat.

"Is that really Laxus down there?" My hand trembled as I waited for an answer from the shocked looking people.

Seeing the old man before me slowly nod, I felt relief rush through me before everything went black.

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I fought to stay asleep, the image of a smiling Laxus slowly fading from in front of me as the dream I'd been having fell apart around me, the green leaves of the forest turning grey before vanishing into the dark void that now surrounded me. The last thing I saw as the dream ended and I was forced to wake up was a pair of familiar eyes looking back at me before they too vanished from my sight.

Sitting up with my hands covering my face, I let out a quiet sob as the familiar feeling of loss filled me once more. Would this dream ever stop haunting me, reminding me of what I had-

"Is it really that bad, getting to see me again?" The familiar voice questioned from nearby, shock jolting through me as the thought that maybe not all of it had been a dream hit me, shaking me to the very core of my being.

Grabbing the blanket, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked over to where the voice had come from, seeing a face I had thought I would never look upon again outside of my dreams. Giving a trembling smile, I reached out towards him with a shaky hand and felt his own hand gently wrap around my fingers as he took the few steps needed to sit on the edge of the bed I had awoken on.

"Laxus..." The name was barely more than a hushed whisper as I took in everything about him, my eyes wandering over things both familiar and new. The same scar, familiar hair and that irreplaceable smile I had missed more than I had even realized until I saw it again as he looked back at me.

"You've grown,. Tell me about the things I missed while we were apart. I want to know everything." The smile on my face grew stronger as I felt his arms wrap around me, finally feeling like everything would be okay again as I started telling him about the life I'd lived while waiting, always waiting for someone I'd never thought would return to me.

I'm so glad I'd been wrong about that.