Broken Mage

The Past

a/n some parts in this aren't on the anime, I made those stuff up so it would make sense a bit :p but then I figured this probably would make u guys confused a bit. tho all will be answered in later chapters i hope. 

It started not too long after the battle of Fairy Tail. The day he gone... a bit crazy for power. He was ashamed, to say the least. Ashamed of himself, of how he treated his comrades, his friends like some objects—a pawn for power. He completely underestimated all of them and got beat up badly in return. It wasn't a matter of pride anymore, he didn't care about that, it was the trust of his friends that was broken, the looks from their eyes—that was what he regretted the most.

He was particularly intrigued by the new recruit, the one that had the worst luck of teaming up with the flame brain. A girl named Lucy. He didn't think much of her at first, just that she didn't seem strong, a little bit annoying and such a cry baby. But still, she stuck by Natsu and his troublesome antics, that surprised him, but then he still thought that she was in no way fit to be a member of the guild. That was until she saw that she managed to defeat Bickslow. That sure piqued his interest more, but he figured it was just too late to get on her good side, she must've thought that he was an absolute egotistic jerk by then.

It was hard to put on a brave face back then, Laxus felt like he just wanted to run and get on his knees to beg for forgiveness from his friends. As he stood by the dark alley, bandaged up, he saw the lights and crowds died down as the festival was coming to an end. He sighed and walked to leave but soon stopped in his track when he saw a certain blonde mage fumbling with the knob of the door to her house.

The said mage stopped fumbling with the door and turned her head where she felt someone was watching her. A look of recognition filled her face as she sighed in relief. The girl smiled at him as if nothing was wrong.

Laxus watched her smile and flinched. How could she smile after that? Laxus knew—he could even felt it, how genuine that smile was. And so, he came to understand why she was called the heart of Fairy Tail. Robbed of all response, he could only nod stiffly and proceeded to walk away—to leave.

Just then, she spoke something that even now he still didn't know what it meant.

'Come back soon, will you?' Lucy called out softly.

Laxus stopped in his tracks and gritted his teeth, he couldn't turn his head then, he was embarrassed.

'Will do.' Was all he said.

He spent a lot of time thinking about what could she mean with those words. He didn't have the courage to turn back and ask her back then, but he desperately wanted to see her face again, specifically her smile. That smile that caught him off guard. He turned her to stone, made her fight and struck her by his lightning and she could still smile so genuinely to him? Just what is her heart made of? As if the gods above had heard his prayers, he was soon able to see her again though under a rather troublesome circumstance. And as they all held hands with each other, putting on brave faces for what was about to come, Laxus saw her across from him, holding tight to Natsu and felt a pang of sadness. He had hoped that he was next to her instead of Natsu. So that he could ask her what she meant back then and so that she could smile at him again.

As Laxus watched her from across, he came to understand once again how she could put up with the troublesome flame brain. She was strong. He could see that clearly from her eyes that shone with determination. He sighed admiringly. Damn, he wished he didn't waste those time thinking about taking over Fairy Tail. One thing for sure; he had fallen for her.

Laxus widened his eyes in shock and stopped. He drew away breathlessly and stare at the girl under him. Once the realization struck him, Laxus turned and sat, his back to her. He ran his hand through his hair, messing it in the process as those thoughts and feelings filled him. Has he always felt this way? If so, how come he just remembered it now? True, after Tenrou, he felt weird. A lot weird. Between asking for forgiveness from his grandfather and doing missions with the ever so loud thunder god tribe, he didn't have time to bother about the weirdness or noticed that he has forgotten about something at all.

A hand on his shoulder made Laxus jumped in surprise. He took in his surroundings. Right, he was on a date with Lucy. They kissed. Wait. Lucy... Kissed? Wait. He snapped his head quickly towards the girl beside him who was looking confused as well as concerned. He scanned her face, from her lovely brown eyes, her small nose, and her lips... that he had just kissed. It was real and it was her.

'Lucy,' he muttered as he cupped her cheeks with both of his hands.

Lucy looked up at Laxus in concern, her hand slid from his shoulder to his forearm and squeezed it lightly, 'Are you okay?' she asked softly.

He smiled and stared at her with tenderness. He nodded as stroke her cheek with his thumb softly and kissed her forehead lightly. Laxus leaned his forehead against Lucy's, he could feel his heart thumping loudly against his chest. He couldn't believe it. He kissed her. And she kissed back.

'Can I hug you?' he muttered without thinking.

Lucy snorted and chuckled, 'Now you ask for permission?' despite saying that, she circled her arms around his back and buried her face in his chest.

Laxus was grinning so wide when held Lucy's petite body, engulfing her in his tender embrace. He felt like he could explode with happiness at that moment. He chuckled to himself. So this was why he felt so empty these days. It was because of the missing memories. He didn't know how such a thing could even happen and why would it happen. It didn't make sense one bit, but he didn't care. The important thing was he was with her now.

'Hey, you'd tell me what was that all about, right?' Lucy asked in a muffled voice.

Laxus was silent for a second and let go of his arms around her and settled on her shoulders. She was looking at him expectantly which made him rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He figured since it was dark, she couldn't see how red he was (but Lucy totally could and it took all of her willpower to not pinched his cheek for being so adorable) and cleared his throat.

'No.' he said, leaning back with both of his hands supporting his body.

Lucy pouted, 'No fair. Tell me.'

Laxus pondered for a moment, 'No.'

'Ouch.' She pinched his cheek.

'Fine. Maybe someday.'

Figured that it Laxus won't say another word, Lucy sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes. She just had to wait, then. Then, Lucy leaned her head on his shoulder and they both fell into a comfortable silence while watching the quiet yet sparkling town of Magnolia from above.

'You know... this is going so fast, don't you think?' Lucy said suddenly, with 'this' referring to their relationship.

'I don't care,' Laxus replied, his head leaned into hers. 'I'm happy.'

Lucy chuckled and smiled, 'Me too.'