Chapter 23

Lucy trails a finger down the scar on Laxus' face as she lay awake beside her sleeping mate. She thinks back to the time Makarov had explained to her how the young Dreyar had gotten the scar and her heart constricts in pain. To have his own father call him weak and force the lacrima inside of him; Lucy couldn't even fathom how much pain the man must have gone through. Not only physically but it must have surely taken a toll on his mental and emotional well-being as well. Explains how Laxus went into a rampage during the Fantasia incident. Lucy had heard the story from Natsu and she couldn't help but feel anguish. All the things he had to go through alone. Lucy places a soft peck on the scar willing all his pain to go away and silently makes a vow to always be by his side and never let the man go through any torment ever again.

The soft touch stirs Laxus awake from his slumber and instinctively tightens his hold on the girl. With a happy hum, Laxus opens his eyes to see his beautiful mate gazing at him with loving eyes.

"We should head to the bar." Lucy mutters with a smile. "Everyone must be wondering where we are."

Laxus heaves out a dejected sigh as he mumbles indistinctively making the girl laugh at his behavior. "After the games, we'll have all the time to ourselves." Lucy promises and her mate brightens up at her words.

"Don't think I'll let you out of my sight even for a second." Laxus smirks before taking her lips with his own causing Lucy to go limp in her mate's arms.

At the bar, Makarov sat on the counter chugging down his beer as he watches his children go about their daily business.

However, something seems amiss and he absent-mindedly wonders what it could be. Looking around, he notices Gajeel and Lily with Levy who is reading a book as usual and her team mates fawning over her, Natsu and Gray in a brawl not far away from him, Erza along with Wendy and Carla chatting away with Mystogan; Cana drinking with Macao and Wakaba, Mira and her siblings with the Raijinshuu. Suddenly, Makarov realizes what's missing. Or who, to be more precise.

Laxus isn't with his team. "Hm!" Makarov hums as he takes a gulp of his drink. He once again scans the bar and notices that a certain girl wasn't to be seen either.

"Looking for someone?" He hears Mavis' amused voice from beside him and he leans over towards her. "First Master! Have you seen Lucy and Laxus?"

Upon getting no response, he turns over to see Mavis grinning happily before looking back at him and pointing towards the entrance.

At the doorway stands the blonde pair seemingly lost in their conversation and Makarov watches with rapt attention as they heads towards the bar. Slowly shifting his gaze on Laxus, Makarov focuses on his grandson and notices a soft smile plastered on his usually stoic face. Seeing the sudden change, Makarov chokes on his drink which catches the mated couple's attention.

"Master, are you okay?" Lucy asks in concern as she approaches the old man.

Worried blue eyes regard his grandfather before Laxus takes the seat beside the old man, automatically pulling his mate towards him. Without any hesitation, Lucy makes herself comfortable on his lap, oblivious to the sudden stillness inside the bar and continues to question Makarov in worry while patting the man's back.

"Master?"

Makarov coughs as he snaps out of his reverie. "Oh I'm fine, dear. More than fine." He then lets out a full-blown laugh filled with happiness as he wipes away his tears of joy. Finally.

Realizing he was worrying for naught, Laxus glares at his grandfather as Lucy starts to panic wondering why the master was crying. The lightning dragon slayer gently strokes the girl's back to calm her down and places a soft peck on the side of her head.

"Congratulations to you both." Mavis suddenly exclaims in glee.

Getting a grasp of the situation, Lucy realizes her position, comfortably seated on Laxus' lap like it was a natural thing. She turns red and stares at Laxus with widened eyes. Her mate laughs at her reaction, once again shocking the rest of the members. Because for those who know Laxus well knew that the man never laughed let alone smiled. They couldn't even fathom it. Just imagining it was just as absurd.

"What's the meaning of this?" A voice suddenly calls out from the crowd. All four seated at the bar turns around to see Lisanna staring at the couple in shock. But it wasn't just her; each and every one of the member was gaping at them waiting for a response.

"Lucy is my mate." Laxus declares proudly. "And I'm hers."

Because there are five dragon slayers in the guild, everyone was aware of the whole dragon mates theory. But it still surprised them to actually come across a dragon mated couple destined for life.

Gajeel's laugh envelopes the silent bar. "About time you made a move, Sparkplug!"

Laxus tightens his hold on his mate and simply smirks at the man. "Your turn to do so, Iron Freak!"

At the comment, Gajeel blushes unlike himself which causes everyone to gasp in shock again. "Oh fuck off!" The iron dragon slayer shouts in embarrassment.

Laughing at the man's expense, Lucy turns only to catch Mystogan's questioning gaze. After a minute or two of staring intently, they both nod at each other with smiles on their faces. That is how it has always been between the two. Their bond was so strong, they could understand one another without having to say a word. Mystogan couldn't deny that his heart aches a little but to him, his friendship with the girl and her happiness meant more to him.

As reality of the situation falls in, all the members cheer for the new couple and does the one thing Fairytail is best known to do – celebrate and cause a ruckus.

Lucy laughs hysterically as the fierce Titania and energetic Salamander threatens the living daylight out of his usually composed mate, making him sweat bullets. Clearly, Laxus did not know what's coming was way worse judging by the silent Mystogan waiting in line to have a 'talk' with her dear lover.

Giggling to herself, she leaves her poor mate to his fate and goes around greeting everyone, when out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Gray slip away from the back.

Lucy feels bad for things had to turn out the way it did; because she knew about Gray's feelings for her. However, she could never reciprocate it and Lucy knew for certain the boy was aware of that fact too. She only hoped Gray would be able to look past this situation and continue to be her friend.

Soon after when she sees Juvia disappear after the boy, a smile appears on her face. Yeah, everything will work out fine!

Feeling Laxus' distress building up, thanks to the mark on her neck, she decides to save the man from Mystogan who seem to be cheerfully reciting ways he knows to torture a dragon slayer. Natsu and Gajeel weren't far off and didn't seem any better hearing it.

"Alright that's enough scaring my mate!" Lucy steps in with feigned severity.

Mystogan sighs, "But Lu, I'm not done yet."

"Tch! W-Who said I was scared?" Laxus stutters out in hurry.

"Oh? Then I guess you can continue, Myst!" Containing her laughter, Lucy turns to leave when Laxus grab a hold of her arm and pulls her towards him.

"On second thought, stay here!" Lucy, along with Makarov and Mavis, laughs at the man's expense and joins in on the banter.

All of a sudden, a commotion is heard just outside the bar entrance. The noise inside the place quiets down and all head turns towards the door when it suddenly flies open with a loud bang. By the wooden door a girl wobbly stands; her pants reverberating through the silent hall. In an instant, the members become alert and take their stances, uncertain of the somewhat familiar person in front of them as an ally or a threat.

However, Lucy recognizes the person in an instant and rushes towards her. "Meredy!" She shouts in alarm.

The girl's teary eyes immediately zero in on Lucy and she begins letting out loud sobs. Meredy clutches Lucy tightly as soon as the blonde approaches her. "Lucy! Eric...he's...he's dying!"

A sudden chill runs up her spine as warning bells goes off in her head and her stomach drops. What the hell is going on?

A/N: Thank you for your patience, guys. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Fate threw me some hurdles and it wasn't an easy feat to overcome. But I don't want to bother you all with my sad story. :')

That aside, I really hope you liked this chapter. Let me know your thoughts on it. :)

Before I close this note: Thank you to each and every one of you for your positive comments. I truly appreciate it.

Secondly, Mistress Katana, wow, you read my story! So glad, thank you. :) Oh and I know I have no right to request this since I delay myself but please update 'Not the Jealous Type' soon. I'm in love with that story.

Third, many are curious about Mystogan. That gorgeous man will end up with our dear Erza. If that wasn't already a given. ;)

Last but not least, to one of the guest who mentioned some flaws, first off, thank you for pointing it out. I'll try to make the battle scenes more interesting. And forgive me for my slip-up with the tenses. I keep getting confused. I'll keep in mind while writing the other chapters.

That is all for today, guys! Laters! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

~Mrs Dreyar