Sorry for the long wait, I just finished my HSC exams, and they were quite stressful. I sure I did well, anyway. This is the fourth and final part in the 'Artificial Dragon' series, but it can be read alone. And, I hope you all enjoy :)

It had been years since Laxus Dreyar had been this happy. In fact, he felt that he never had experienced this amount of happiness before. And he had only one person to thank for that.

Lucy Heartfilia.

They had been celebrating their four-year – four-year – anniversary together by themselves that night, as they spent most of the day at the guild anyway. They left the restaurant they were eating at a while ago, and were walking back to their place. Their hands were encased in one another's, and were making small talk with each other.

Laxus stopped walking on the middle of one of the many bridges going over a river in Magnolia Town. Lucy turned to him, a look of curiosity etched in her expression, but asked nothing, knowing Laxus would answer any unasked questions she would say.

"Lucy…" Laxus began, but trailed off, looking unsure of himself. He took a breath, almost as if it were to console himself, and continued, "I know we've been together for a while, and these four years have been the happiest of my entire life. I want it to be like this forever…"

He stopped speaking, as he didn't know how to continue to where he wanted like Laxus had planned. Lucy smiled at him and said nothing, and her hand squeezed his as a means to reassure him. If Laxus had to be honest, Lucy was both his strength and his weakness, and she could easily bring out his soft side he never knew he had until he met her. Lucy was a saint, and he didn't know what to do if she ever left him.

But Laxus refused to ever think about the situation, because he knew it will never happen. It took him awhile to comprehend that thought.

Laxus took another breath and continued. "I love you, I always will, and I just want to… make things more official, I guess…" Laxus silently cursed himself for sounding so awkward and unsure of himself. "What I'm trying to say is," as he said this, Laxus released Lucy's hand and went down on one knee, "Lucy, will you marry me?"

And wasn't this the most cliché thing he had ever done?

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she stood there for a moment, and Laxus felt like a fool. It was only until a large smile was plastered on Lucy's face was when Laxus' heart started to beat faster and a smile also appeared on his face.

"Yes." Was all what Lucy had to say for Laxus to jump up and release a sound of happiness before he pulled her into an embrace.

It wasn't until Lucy asked a question was when Laxus suddenly turned cold. "Laxus, what about the ring?"

Laxus swore explicitly – he knew he forgot something. The ring.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry. The ring's back at home. Shit, I knew I forgot something." Laxus moved to the side of the bridge and leaned against it, placing his hands over his face.

Lucy laughed, but tried to hold it back, knowing it wouldn't comfort Laxus at all. She moved forward until she stood in right in front of him and moved his hands from his face until she held them between her hands between the two of them. Laxus had his head down and Lucy sighed.

"Laxus, don't worry about the ring. I said 'yes' anyway." She comforted, her voice soft. She saw Laxus' shoulders slump and sighed again. "Why don't we go back to our place and get the ring, and we can forget this ever happened if you want."

Laxus' looked up, his eyes met Lucy's. "Okay." He straightened his back and held one of Lucy's hands in his as they walked towards the other end of the bridge. "Don't tell anyone this ever happened."

She laughed. "As I said I would."

"We'll just say that I proposed in the middle of a bridge and I had the ring. It's not lying, it's distorting the truth."

"I agree."

"And let's pretend I never embarrassed myself." Laxus finished, and although his tone was a bit rough, there was a hint of humour to it.

Lucy laughed again. "Yes, that all happened and the only people who know what actually happened would be us."

The tone was quite light-hearted as they walked back to their home, and both held no complaints as they simultaneously slumped on the burgundy couch. They stayed there for a moment until Laxus got up and left the room, only to return a moment later with a small, black velvet box.

As he sat back on the couch, Laxus handed the box to Lucy. "The ring."

Lucy smiled in amusement. "Thank you." She opened the box and in it sat a simple ring – one with a golden band, a small diamond and two even smaller diamonds at each side. Lucy appreciated its simplicity, as well as the fact that Laxus knew that she wouldn't want something grand or extravagant.

She slowly placed the ring on her finger and looked at it for a moment. "If I'm getting married, I'm glad it's with you."

Laxus looked at his fiancé – his fiancé – his eyes suspiciously glazed, and slowly placed her hand in his. "I'm glad I'm getting married to you, too."

They sat there for a moment, a comfortable silence between the two, until Lucy moved closer to Laxus and placed a gentle kiss to his lips.

"I love you, Laxus."

Laxus looked at Lucy, a smile on his face. "I love you too."

They sat there for the rest of the night, and eventually fell asleep, their bodies entwined with one another. They didn't wake up until the noise of Natsu, Gray and Erza became too loud as they broke into their house. They claimed that the three were worried of what had happened to the couple, but their excuses fell upon deaf ears as they were kicked out by an annoyed Laxus.

Both Lucy and Laxus didn't leave the house that day, merely relaxing in each other's presence. They were both happy, and they will both want to be as happy for the rest of their lives. Neither had experienced hardships for a long time, and they rather keep it that way.

For Lucy, it was entering a new stage in her life, one where she spent her life with someone she loved with all her heart.

And for Laxus, it was a life he should've had, one where, although he could never forget all his negative experiences, he could make new ones with the one who completed him and made him the happiest man alive.