Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, they all belong to Hiro Mashima, the creator of Fairy Tail. Also, this is my first time writing fanfiction—so hopefully you guys like it. Any reviews would be appreciated.

The trajectory of his fist landed upon the man's visage. In the flash of an instant in that connection, there was the loss of his balance–––realized once he was enrapt by the midflight expulsion of his body against the concrete wall of the now dilapidated guild hall. "Is that all you punks got?" Laxus Dreyar, the resident Lightning Mage of Fairy Tail had once more ventured on yet another S-Class mission. His goal was the defeat of the Dark Guild Silent Requiem. His mission had been a thorough success, observed by the broken pillars that supported the building's ceiling, the crushed spirit and dismay of those either unconscious or crippled.

Subjected to his wrath they had decayed, their dark art rendered futile by the ravenous onslaught of lightning. The full extent of his power had yet to be tapped and still they were decimated. The destruction around them was the utmost potential of annihilation. A guild flag tattered and on fire, a flooring split apart once lightning had razed it mercilessly–––and a humiliated leader whose bones were too far in their dislocation to ever be utilized again.

This was the work of an S-Class wizard.

A reward–––the liquor flowed into his maw swiftly, his tolerance to alcohol had increased significantly ever since adopting a more Pacifistic approach in dealing with guild mates and their hyper extended concept of familial relations. A defeat, a pilgrimage, a rescue, were those truly the ingredients to manufacture a bond? "Good work Laxus," Mira interjected! She had undergone significant changes as well in recent months it seemed, the highlights being the return of her sister and the will to fight. Yet still she opted to engage in her eternal sunshine, a persona of blissful ignorance serving drinks and tending to fiscal matters incurred by the overly rambunctious guild mates. All of them.

"Laxus!" She nudged his shoulder. "I need a favor." His optics turned to face her countenance, entertaining whatever request she had for the time being. "What?"

"Well…" She smiled. "Today is Wendy's birthday, and she's sick. She wasn't able to join Natsu's group because of it."

What obscurity. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, I need you to find her and give her a gift for me. I'm working you know, I just can't…leave. And tell her to come here tonight. Alright?" She smiled, dismissing him with a wave and imparting a massive bag into his safekeeping.

"No."

She turned to face him once more. "Master' s orders, Laxus. I'll reward you with a kiss. Hee hee." Her squealing laughter annoyed him, and so did the old man's misuse of such prodigious talent. Regardless he was in Makarov's debt after the unfolding of recent events. He had succumbed to their way of thinking, their false familial relations theory it seemed had begun to take its toll on his rather solitary view of consolidated power.

"Tch."

Once his drinking concluded with the final gulp he departed the guild, his hand clutching unto the gift he was charged in delivering. There was obvious annoyance for being an accomplice in a useless endeavor such as this. Thus began his meander around Magnolia Town, aimlessly walking for what seemed like hours in pursuit of a child and her cat.

Kardia Cathedral was vacant, it seemed much of Magnolia tired of its pedagogues.

Why was he doing this?

There was no sign of her at Book Land, it was that bookworm Lucy Heartfilia's hangout.

She did commit her best effort at the Grand Magic Games…

Wendy Marvell was not present in the roster of Magnolia Hospital.

His birthdays as a child were spent with his grandfather. His own father cared little for the idle celebration of the weak. A narrow minded view he once accepted.

Laxus took a leisurely trip to the Magnolia Bathouse, meticulously inspecting the female section of the bath despite the repetitious protests of her being there. They were too frightened of the infamous mage who once jeopardized their town- to ask him to leave. That was till they amassed their own collective group of women to scream and shove him out the bathhouse.

"And take your garbage too," an old hag screeched from the bathhouse. Her bony legs, wrinkled like like a skin tight suit that ripped with age made future trips a difficult task to envision. What fateful action she took however, was tossing the gift bag–––whose contents spilled onto the street.

A massive blue blob lay sprawled on the cobblestone walkway. "Entertain her for a while. Please," were the words of inscribed unto the note that landed into his palm. It was signed by First Master Mavis, Makarov, and Mira, who dotted her "i" with a heart, and a smiley face.

The First's temper tantrums were a lesson he was taught to avoid. Following her whims were what led to their destructive misadventure at Ryuuzetsu Island. But what fate awaited him was far more life threatening than the collateral damage caused by that weakling Natsu Dragneel. Laxus's eyes widened in shock, half bewildered, half enraged, at the misfortunate turn of events.

"H-H-H!" He stammered in shock.

"Wendy! The Cake Shop is this way, like I told you it was!" Carla mused in the distance, ready to fly round the corner unto the street.

Laxus used this time to quickly maneuver himself and the spilled contents into an alleyway, nestled far behind the view of the open street. Crates veiled him as he lurked from behind, his eyes appearing flagrantly cast upon her miniscule frame. Her magic had not yet been able to heal such illness as a common rhinovirus; the toll it had taken on her had become fairly obvious. The sound of her coughing was audible even at his distance. The pressing concern was not her illness but rather what those fools had intended for him to deliver, armed with a note that had a clear set of instruction. "B-B-B-BASTARDS!" Crackling in his hand were sparks of electricity. A manifestation of his magic savagely began to thunder round his body. Laxus was enveloped in layer after layer of scintillating lightning, circling his body with its many ganglions. The high pitched whirring and crackling resonated vociferously as the note caught on fire and was swept into the sky as ash.

It was an order from the first and his grandfather whom he had already admitted himself indebted to. No matter how tenuous he would be reduced to–––the guild masters' will was absolute. With his spirit desiccated he donned the human sized suit of happy and emerged from the alley way, a new being.

And though he glared at the onlookers their laughter failed to cease. Perhaps destroying Magnolia with Fairy Law back then had been the best course of action. The vehemence of the dragon slayer's look could have instantly killed them upon the first fatal glance. All he could present to the world now was the enlarged, blown up head of a smiling blue cat. The humiliation that was thrust upon him would be paid in full.

Laxus walked into the cake shop, his massive shadow being cast upon them by the sunlight pouring in from the window. Carla's ears perked up and she slowly turned round, her mouth agape in the horror of this dimwitted fool. "Hmm," Wendy noted her companion's sudden astonishment and turned. She remained blissfully ignorant as children did. "Happy! You've gotten so…so…big."

His eyes narrowed furiously before he winced. "A-A-A-AYE!" Laxus's voice was deep, undulating with the tone of masculinity and depth. A clear and stark contrast to Happy. "I…ate…too many fish." He turned his head to the left-in shame.

Wendy merely laughed. She had the naivety of a child still it appeared. "W-W-W-WENDY! YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS FREAK DO YOU?!" Carla on the other hand––––was wise beyond her years. "Carla, be nice. How come you're here Happy?"

"N-N-N-Natsu. Everyone on the Team sent me to spend your birthday with you. They'll be back in a few days of course. Aye!" Laxus slammed his mouth shut afterwards. This degradation would go till the evening?

His recalcitrance to such a fate began to dissipate lugubriously as she immediately took his hand, her cheeks vivified with the rosy colored silhouette of happiness. A smile was procured from his fellow dragon slayer. The reality was that she was the only member of Fairy Tail who did not have the memory of his rebellion. During the Magnolia Harvest Festival he carried out a nefarious plot that ultimately led to significant changes in his life. Still there were glances at time to time, though most were now disarmed of their caution. Wendy however had no recollection of this or any bias to hold him accountable to. Perhaps that provided a small semblance of rationale to this horrible misuse of an S-Class Wizard.

"Happy! Carla! Let's go to the Park!"

And so began the decline of Laxus Dreyar's sanity. Though the people still glanced, though there were snickers, Wendy seemed unfazed by it all. Her conversation had shied away from Natsu and the usual gang into more generic questions, how his day was, what kind of fish was his favorite, what did Exceeds dream of. And as they passed the hours the darkening ink colored skies invited traces of distant days. A thousand recollections, strange towns, unknown people, the thrill of adventure. To be young again.

Unfortunately what feelings of nostalgia arose from the walk turned to bitter repugnance at the Park. There he was subjected to the venomous tidings of children, whose forceful tugs proliferated in every direction. His foot, his cheek, punches flung upon his face, his chest, even the precious Dreyar genitalia. They clung to his manufactured wings, and screamed with their shrill prepubescent voice that only they could produce: the ignorant bliss. At times his lightning manifested itself inside the suit. How lowly he had fallen, a Lightning Dragon slayer of peerless caliber. So valorous in might that he once took down a guild specialized in hunting the members of his own. He so desperately longed to erupt in the anger that overwhelmed him, but could only snap at them verbally–––and to refrain from attracting the ire of wearisome mothers his language was kept shockingly clean.

"Get off me you punks!" The bellowing roars he issued to them, resonating with fear and power were abnegated by the anathema of his garb. To them a roaring cat of this appearance, so rotund and blue with a limp tail and wool filled wings was nothing more than an oversized kitten. Harmless.

The point was to entertain Wendy, but the sadism of Carla seemed to enjoy the scuffle more than the former. "It's just a toy everyone. There's candy inside," she encouraged them! Though she had failed to deduce his identity, divine retribution seemed to punish him well enough for her to let it slide. The tiny bodies toppled him, and his scowls, once paralyzing and intimating with the fresh force of a feared beast's rage–––mere meaningless fantasies of a past that was now fading into the distance.

Eventually the clarity of Kardia Cathedral's bell had resonated in the air. The ringing was their dismissal, the children disembarked homebound while Laxus was left at the mercy of a child and her unusually sadistic cat. "No more…" he mused to himself, knowing that this fate of descent would have to end eventually.

As they once again trailed down the cobblestone paths of Magnolia, the sun's bountiful shades of orange and scarlet cast its setting light upon the encroaching trio. They went to the harbor past the train station to watch the conclusion of light descending down the path of the horizon. Their feet–––two pairs of tiny, one pair of pretense, hung mere inches away from the crashing waves. As it broke against the stony surface it spread its frosty spray upon the trio's bodies, procuring light laughter from the sky dragon slayer.

"Happy…can I ask you something personal?"

The smiling face of the cat faced her own, rotating its massive head to her direction. "What is it, kid?" His usual aggression had returned without his noticing.

"What was it like for you growing up here with everyone?" She then coughed, clasping her throat gently to use some magic to ease the episode.

"A-A-A-Aye sir!" His initial response had already been elicited an awkward sweat drop from the child.

The answer for Happy, as told through Laxus, did hold a semblance of the truth. "Well…At first I guess it was difficult accepting I had to share…Natsu." His own version of Natsu was his Grandfather, Makarov. "But over time I guess, it wasn't easy, but I got along with everyone…Give or take a few instances" A heavy sigh escaped the fat cat's lips. The record of memories played out, from the innocence and fragility of youthful age to the present man he had become.

How did he manage to go down that path for so long, without clearly seeing the things he had wanted the most? They were there for him the whole time.

The girl seemed lost in analyzing his story for some detail to pinpoint in truth, who he was.

"You know…Wendy…you're young. When I look at you, I see you as just a child."

She protested this, frowning and glancing to her chest briefly–––a recurring habit of hers was comparing herself to the other women in Fairy Tail, all of whom were significantly busty.

"Ah ha ha ha ha." The condescending laughter spilled forward naturally, not to insult–––but because it was his laughter. Laxus patted her head with his paw and gazed longingly unto the sunset forever imprinted into his heart. "Not because of that. You're young, but you're strong. That's not the point. When I look at you, I see the infinite possibilities you that are laid out for you. There are so many paths you can take now. The road remains open while your dreams are alive. Only fear can block the way."

In his own thoughts he began to wonder if he chose the path of recklessness that he did, because of fear. He wanted to prove he was a man in his own right, that he was Laxus Dreyar, the strongest wizard of Fairy Tail. Not Laxus Dreyar, the grandson of Makarov Dreyar. His own father abandoned him because he was weak. Is that why then, he wanted to be strong on his own? What poetic irony. He was so hell bent on being recognized as the most powerful and indomitable that the true reason for wanting such strength was what he was sacrificing. That was the salient conclusion he had drawn here. A man reflecting on life in a cat suit, accompanied by an Exceed and a girl whose birthday was probably less than expected.

The waters were now tinged with the fading shades of dark scarlet being overwhelmed by the darkness of coming night. Its chill made the girl sneeze once more, and withdrew the extension of her feet from its range.

"Happy when did you get so…deep?" Carla narrowed her eyes unto his frame, fatuous as his grossly proportioned costume. Wendy soon followed with a harrowing cough.

The mood was completely torn apart by the abject reality she had faced him with. He was posing as Happy, an Exceed, who loved fish, and friendship. His past had little to no tumult and was an overall pleasant experience. "Tch. I've been hanging around…Lily too much. One wiff of catnip and the fool loses his mind. He probably gets it from Gajeel." Envisioning that aloof sap, clandestine in his shell and being warped by some Fairy Pride espousing cathartic, histrionic episodes was more than enough to carve out yet another piercing laugh.

The giant cat then scooped the child unto his back. For the time being what little consternation he could have mustered in regards to these circumstances had been acquiesced.

We are not the masks we wear, but if we don them–––do we not become them?