Day 1: Aquarius

Out of Sight, Close to Heart

It was really quite lovely to spend time like this.

Laxus was lying beside her, both of them tangled in his sheets, the smaller blonde on her stomach and her head rested on her arms on the pillow as the bigger blonde lying on his side traced patterns with his fingers on her back.

The two blondes' relationship started as a no strings attached agreement between the two of them, but as time passed they realized they actually enjoyed each others company outside of the bedroom, and somehow, at some point their relationship turned into something more.

And Lucy absolutely loved it.

Laxus' fingers were magical, she decided, no matter what they did; definitely the best fingers in the world, as long as they kept going that is. Lucy sighed contently as Laxus' fingers trailed up her spine and traced the edges of her tattoo.

"Why do you hide it?"

Her brows furrowed and she twisted her neck to get a better look at him, "hide what?"

He sighed in frustration, "your tattoo, Blondie; is there anyone who even knows about it other than me?"

"Well I only got it a few months after Tarataros, and it just felt weird to talk about it to anyone, you know? I didn't see the point of showing it to anyone, since it's not for show - it's for me." She explained.

The look on his face when she finished had her stifling a giggle.

The big, bad, intimidating blonde had a reputation of being cold and indifferent thanks to his ability of having a poker face at all times, he had difficulty sharing his emotions and thoughts, and was even worse at explaining them in actual, real words.

In actuality, the Lighting Dragon Slayer's communication problems were not the reason Laxus had a stoic image for the public, but because just like any other powerful individual with enemies, he tried to protect those he loved by keeping them at arms' length.

Which Lucy thought was stupid, and told him so, but he was so used to being alone, to fighting on his own… some habits are harder to get rid of.

But all of that didn't matter, because she knew what a softie he was on the inside. He cared, and he felt, just like everyone. Only a handful of people knew about this side of his (namely his grandfather, team, and very recently, also herself).

As they got to know each other better, Lucy found out that behind closed doors – and away from people – Laxus was, in fact, very expressive. He didn't express himself with words, no, he was a man of actions, and why would he even need words with eyes as expressive as his?

And now, looking at his face, she saw curiosity befitting a small child in his eyes, so unusual of him. It clashed with his hard features and created a sight unlike any other, and her heart swelled knowing she was one of the only people to ever see him like this, asking for more.

Her blue mermaid tattoo was very beautiful if anyone asked her.

It was positioned between her shoulder blades, not in the middle, but a bit to the left side of her rib cage – just above her heart.

"Last year, when we fought against the demons of the books of Zeref…" she trailed off, the words escaping her. It was still such a sensitive subject, even after all the time that has passed, no one was overly comfortable talking about that subject yet.

"I was the only one not caught by the Alegria, the only one able to fight… I was running out of magic fast and I already summoned two spirits, but it wasn't enough, so I summoned a third spirit, Aquarius."

The smaller blonde closed her eyes as memories of that day assaulted her mind. She worked hard to mend her heart and soul afterwards, and it took a long time until she felt like her own self again. Getting that tattoo was a turning point for her, symbolizing the beginning of a new start.

"If a Celestial mage can summon three spirits at the same time, they can summon the Spirit King. But there's a price for that," she drew in a shaky breath before she continued. "I can summon the Spirit King only if I break one of my zodiac keys, give them up, but not just any of them, one that I have a close bond with."

A tear escape her eye, but Lucy kept talking. "I won't ever be able to summon Aquarius again; I will never see her again." Now the tears were flowing freely down her cheeks.

Laxus could not see her like that; Lucy Heartfilia is a happy, bubbly, friendly, forgiving, and kind person. She was strong-willed, accepting, and her personality drew people to her like moth to a flame, making them want to change for the better, to deserve her kindness.

Seeing her cry was unnatural, and Laxus could not stand it.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest and rolling to his back, so she could lie on his chest, and then proceeded to kiss all of her tears until none were left.

It was such a touching, rare gesture from him, that giggles burst out of the smaller blonde between sobs.

"You're ridiculous," she told him.

"Don't get used to it." His usual scowl was firmly back in place, which caused her to grin down at the Dragon Slayer.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

The mighty Laxus Dreyar huffed and Lucy laughed again.

"Oi, don't laugh at me, Blondie!"

"Don't call me 'Blondie', Blondie!" she retorted and pulled a few of his own blonde strands for good measure.

Laxus glared at her and his eyes shone with mischief. Lucy had just enough time to pull back an inch before he started tickling her.

Somehow, ten minutes later, Laxus was sprawled on the floor and watched Lucy walk to the kitchen to get them both water. He pulled down the blanket, pillows, and sheets from his bed, attempting to make the floor comfortable enough to not have to stand up and actually get back into the bed.

When Lucy came back with a glass of water for him, she bit her lips to hold back the laughter; her boyfriend was lazy, and she would probably have to make his bed for him, otherwise he was most likely going to sleep like that for another week.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" she asked once she noticed the crease between his brows.

"Nothing…"

"Laxus."

"It's just… you got that tattoo to remember her, but you chose to have it where you can't see it, I don't get it."

"The tattoo is her. Forever as close to my heart as anything can be, but I won't ever see it – her – again."

Laxus blinked at the other blonde as she made herself comfortable on his chest again and started to fall asleep.

It was just like her to think of something like that. Ever the artist, he thought.

"Luce."

"Hmm?"

She was practically asleep by then, and Laxus was overwhelmed with content, willing to stay like that forever.

"Good night."

"Night Laxy…"

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Word count: 1,214

Ahhhhhhh LaLu week! OMGOMGOMG OMFG I can't believe this is actually happening!

So as you might understand, I'm very excited to add to the LaLu love in the fandom, I really hope you liked this, I admit I made many changes since the first draft...

English is (unfortunately) not my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes you might see in this one-shot or the ones that follow, if you want, you can always PM me and I'll fix the typos~

IF REVIEWS ARE LOVE THEN CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS A ROMANTIC GESTURE and I will appreciate nothing more than your love :D

Anyways, see you here tomorrow :)

24/2/2016: (Yes I write day and then month...) Edit time is here! I'm editing all of these chapters, because I didn't have enough time/ was too lazy to do it at the time. I'm currently in a writing heap and I decided to edit this fic before moving on to the next project.