As usual, raw, unedited, and uncut! No judging, please, you beautiful reader, you. Anyway, you finally get some Laxus POV...sorry it took so long. :P Love you guys. Hugs.

~Laxus~

"To put it simply," Wendy said, looking up at me and then nervously glancing down at Gramps, "And I mean…really simply…" She hesitated, squinting as if she were unsure of herself.

"Just spit it out, child," Porlyusica growled, her usual grumpy self, "She's dead."

I felt heavy. Then my throat started to close up a little. It was like my brain couldn't catch up to what I'd been just told, like it was unreal. One minute I'm holding the tiny shaking girl in my arms, wondering what the hell I'm doing and how I could possibly make her stop crying, and then next she's bleeding to death on my floor.

Anya was dead. I looked over to the bed where she lay, completely still and pale. She's seemed sickly when she first showed up, but this was so much worse. I'd been relieved to smell her there, instantly recognizing her vanilla scent as if it had been around me my whole life. Her scent was strangely stale now, though. She'd seemed so worried, on the verge of tears the entire time we first met. I wanted to help her...I mean, it was clear she wanted help. Instead all I managed to do was electrocute her. Smooth with the ladies, as usual, Laxus.

"Dead," I repeated, my mind finally catching up to reality. Then I felt something, the indescribable feeling I'd only recently come to appreciate…the one Anya gave me. I guess the closest thing to it would be…like a gentle breeze touching my skin, a comfortable silence in the midst of my loud world, a welcome contradiction.

"You're wrong," I said, meeting Porlyusica's eyes.

She looked taken aback and then a slight, almost unnoticeable amusement sparked in her eyes, "Interesting."

Wendy stepped forward, "I said that was an oversimplification, though. You're sort of right, Laxus."

"Oversimplification?" Gramps questioned, lifting his bushy eyebrow.

Porlyusica sighed, like the conversation was starting to bore her, and went to sit down. Wendy looked confused but also simultaneously excited, "Her heart isn't beating and she's not breathing…"

"That sounds pretty damn dead to me!" I practically shouted, anger rising. But still, it didn't make sense. I could still feel Anya's magic, even if she looked empty…not even half the mysterious girl I'd met in that alley.

Wendy looked a little annoyed, "I wasn't done." She gave me a sassy look and I crossed my arms awkwardly.

"Please go on, Wendy," Gramps said gently. I was amazed that he was able to keep his temper in the midst of Fairy Tail. It was amazing, to be honest.

Porlyusica was the one that spoke next, her voice breaking the momentary silence, "None of her organs are functioning, but her body isn't going through the normal post-mortem stages."

"And she's warm," Wendy said, the words bursting from her like she's been just waiting to get them out. I lifted a brow.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Touch her," Wendy said, gesturing to Anya's bed. I frowned, walking towards her. The peaceful calm I got when I was near her magic got stronger as I got closer to her. I leaned over her, looking at her for a moment. Her dark hair fell over half her face and her arms rested over her chest, the other at her side. Her lips were blue and her skin eerily translucent.

I reached out and hesitantly placed my hand on the side of her face. The calming quiet effect she had on me rushed into me, blurring my senses for a moment. I let it calm my heart down for a moment and then pulled my hand away from her. The moment I removed my hand the normal wild electricity that pulses through my veins raged. My voice was loud, rushed when I next spoke. "Why is she warm? She's not dead, but her heart's not beating? What does that even mean?"

Wendy stared at me for a moment, then I realized that it was probably because she wasn't used to me acting like this. I was always calm and collected on the outside despite the thunder echoing with every heartbeat and the lightning at the tips of my fingers. I usually managed to keep the lightning contained. "Um," she said, clearing her throat and stepping towards Anya's bed. She gently touching Anya's face, smiling, "Her primary organs are suspended, but parts of her are still operating properly. Her body temperature hasn't gone down despite the lack of blood flow and her wounds are acting normally. They'll heal." Wendy fell quiet for a moment, then looked me in the eye and said, "She's a mystery."

I scoffed. Damn right, she was. One that I was determined to unravel. I mean, what the hell was she doing in that alley? Why did she disappear for a week? Why had I gotten so used to her magical energy every day when I walked past that alley that I began to relish the moments of peace she brought me? Why had I wrapped my arms around this girl like it was normal for me? Why had she been shot…and why had it shaken me so much? I had to know. I had to get to the center of her labyrinth of questions.

I sighed and sat down at the end of her bed. "Why not do something else to make yourself more perplexing, Anya?" I said under my breath, looking up at her.

"She's dead, but she's not," Gramps said, walking towards her, "Have you ever seen this before?"

His question was directed towards Porlyusica. "Absolutely not, and I didn't need to…now I'm just going to go question everything I've ever learned about medicine and the human body." She was mumbling as she stalked out of the room.

"She's leaving?" Gramps asked, stunned.

"There's really nothing we can do," Wendy said, "We can only wait and see what happens. I don't think she'll stay like this forever." Hope and anxiety sprung up inside me.

"How do you know?" I asked, confused.

"Mm," Gramps mumbled in agreement, then turned to look at me, "It feels like she's waiting for something. She's patient, cautious…frozen in time and preserved."

"Waiting?" I questioned, then it slammed into my like a freight train. I stood up, staring at Anya who was apparently flypaper for miracles. "Holy…"

"What?" Wendy asked.

"A self-defense mechanism," I said, looking at her. The electricity inside me buzzed as understanding hit me.

"Laxus?" Gramps questioned.

"It's her magic," I said, "I'm not really sure, but when I met her she did this…" I shook my head, "She froze me, like paralysis, but my mind was frozen, too."

"If your mind was frozen, how did you know you were paralyzed?" Wendy asked, curious.

"Because it wore off…but that doesn't matter. Anya…she must have used her magic on herself, preserving parts of her body while the other parts worked to heal themselves," I said, turning back to Anya. She still lay there, unmoving. It felt like it was only a matter of time now, though, like any moment she would open those impossibly dark doe eyes and instead of this bluish tint, her cheeks would light up red like they had when we'd met.

"Magic that suspends…" Gramps said, stroking his chin, "So rare it was labeled extinct, on the verge of becoming a legend."

"Rare?" Wendy asked.

"And impossibly difficult to use," Gramps added, his eyes suddenly lighting up with fascination.

Wendy smiled and then yawned, "I'm sure you'll tell us all about it, but later because it's really early and I've been awake since Laxus brought Anya to the guild."

"Right, of course. Get some sleep and we'll continue this is the mor-" Gramps paused, "The slightly less early morning."

I watched them head towards the door, but instead of following them I sat in the chair next to Anya's bed. Gramps looked back at me for a moment. We made eye contact for a moment and then he nodded, turning to leave with Wendy and shutting the door behind him.

I sighed and rested my arm next to Anya's. I stared at her. "You'll panic if you wake up and you're alone, won't you?" I asked her even though I knew she couldn't hear me.

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. It was only then that I realized I still had her blood on my hand. I frowned, the familiar rage filling up my chest and fogging my vision. Someone had tried to kill Anya. She didn't deserve that. She was just an innocent girl, trying to help Fairy Tail.

My heart dropped. I clenched my jaw at my realization. It was because she'd helped us. The person she's been talking about, the one who was after my guild…he'd done this to her, found out about her intentions to thwart his plans. God knows how she found out about them, but I knew it had been him. I suppressed the growl that was forming in the back of my throat and looked back at her.

The anger was starting to overwhelm me, to the extent that I could feel the air around me buzz with impending lightning. I took a deep breath and then reached out. I took Anya's warm hand in mine. I was glad it was still warm, that she still felt the same she had when she'd finally come back after her week of absence, even if she didn't look the same.

I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. I felt Anya's magic calm my nerves. It was strange feeling such calm. I was used to the lightning, to the endless energy and the static. But whenever she was around I felt different, at peace. At first I found it alarming; it had made me uneasy to say the least. But now, after seeing Anya almost die…I guess I'd come to appreciate it. I actually liked it, and that was why I'd instantly brought her here. I had to save her, to keep her alive and her soft, gentle magic close to me.

I felt my eyelids fall slowly. "Perplexing," I mumbled as sleep took me. Perplexing.

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