Laxus sighed as he finished the last of his drink. The Blue Pegasus guild hall was just a busy as usual, guild members and the general public milling in together as they all tried to have a good time.

Bickslow was busy serving drinks, one on each of his totems as he incorporated his own little show into his work. He threw bottles up into the air, possessing them for a moment to make sure they landed perfectly before catching them behind his back. The patrons were delighted, and Bickslow was as well. He had always been a performer, and this guild provided him with a constant captivated audience. Every time he needed to shake a cocktail he held the bottle perfectly still as he himself performed front flips, bringing his feet quickly up and over his head before landing lightly back on the floor, tossing the bottle up in the air until it landed perfectly on the bar. Everyone clapped and Bickslow practically glowed. If the guild was this good, along with the tips, he would never have to take a job again.

Freed was over on the other side of the guildhall, flanked by two rather attractive men who were all over him. Freed was playing hard to get, giving shy smiles occasionally, but Laxus knew he was loving it. Since they got here, Freed had never gone to bed alone. Laxus would never understand it, but as long as Freed was alright with it he guessed that it was fine. Today's men of choice were two blondes, and Laxus just knew Freed would be going home happy. He had always had a thing for blondes.

Suddenly the music kicked up, and Laxus looked up slightly to see the curtains of the stage pull open and the silhouette of a woman in a skintight dress walk forward to the microphone silhouette reached out to the microphone, and the first words of a song left her lips.

"First things first, I'ma say all the words inside my head…"

Her voice was low, and shot shivers down Laxus' spine. The lights came up and he could see Evergreen, hair styled in perfect long curves, a green dress hugging her curves perfectly. Evergreen hardly ever sang in public, but since coming to Blue Pegasus she had found her own. They all had. Just not Laxus.

He sighed as he ordered another drink, Bickslow throwing it to him with a smile as it flipped through the air and landed in front of him. Laxus opened the bottle, throwing the cork back behind the bar and into the bin. He leant back on his chair, and prepared himself to listen to the rest of Evergreen's set.

They had been there for a month now, and his entire Raijinshuu had already settled in perfectly. But Laxus hadn't. He hadn't asked them to follow him here, it had just been an unspoken thing that they would come too. He had been thinking the last couple of weeks of going solo. Sure, you made a lot less money if you were unaffiliated with a guild, but Laxus had been a man without an emblem for a while before. But he couldn't. He couldn't pull the Raijinshuu away from… well… happiness. They were truly happy. And they were definitely going to track him down until they found him and refused to leave.

The question was… why? Before he had tried to take over the guild it was so obvious. He was the Thunder God! Of course they were gonna follow him, who wouldn't? But now? They had never told him, no matter how much he asked. They would just laugh, shrug it off, and go right back to what they were doing. Laxus' Dragon senses forced him to want to bring his team close to him and never let go, but his draw to protect them was stronger. And if they would be happy without him? Then that's what he had to do. The only question was how to get them to not follow him. Which he could only figure out if he knew why they followed him.

"She's quite something, isn't she?"

Evergreen was barely halfway through her normal songs when Hibiki interrupted Laxus' thought process to… Laxus didn't know. He assumed just to bother him. Laxus grunted, rolling his eyes to the side and hoping that the man in front of him would just leave.

"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine? How do you get people to follow you?"

Laxus nearly dropped his drink, glowering at the man in front of him. He knew that Hibiki had a way of linking people's minds together, but he hadn't realized that meant he could read them too. The man opposite him laughed, waving his hand non committally.

"I didn't read your mind. It's just… blatantly obvious what you're thinking. Why don't you just ask them?"

Laxus opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He was sure it didn't look right on his face. He hadn't thought of actually asking them. Would they answer him honestly? What if they just followed him because that was what they always did? Or… what if they were scared? They knew how much Laxus held onto them, were they scared of what he would do if they tried to leave?

"Go and talk to them, Laxus."

The Dragon Slayer sighed. Annoyingly, the other mage was right. If he ever wanted his family, maybe now his only family, to be happy he would have to talk to them.

"Freed, we need to talk."

The Rune Mage sighed, turning around from where he sat in the blond man's lap. His hair was down and flowing over his shoulders and Laxus knew that meant he would be leaving the guildhall soon. Laxus shuffled on his feet awkwardly, and as soon as he did Freed just knew something was wrong. He stood up, turning to the men he was talking to and whispering something in their ears before he headed to a more private area of the guild hall.

As soon as they were away from prying eyes and ears Freed shut the door behind them, turning to place his back against it and looking at Laxus to explain why he had ruined his fun.

"Freed… why do you still follow me?"

Whatever Freed had been expecting, it wasn't that. He was rendered speechless for a moment, before he coughed and rubbed his temples.

"You really need to ask me that, Laxus?"

There was no reply, just Laxus looking uncharacteristically nervous as he shuffled from foot to foot. Freed sighed, turning to leave before he felt Laxus' hand on his shoulder.

"I love you, Laxus. I always have, and always will do."

It was an answer Laxus had been expecting, but he had hoped for something a little bit more… descriptive.

"You saved me, Laxus. I was going to die in that hospital. You came in and saved me, and you saw me as a person. You weren't scared of me. You weren't disgusted. I owe my life to you, Laxus. I meant what I said in that cathedral, you know. I will follow you no matter where the road may lead."

With that Freed left the room, and as Laxus stood in the doorway he say the rune mage leave the guild hall with his two blonde friends in tow. Well. That was Freed sorted. The next may be more difficult.

Bickslow was spinning a bottle on his finger as he juggled two more with his left hand when Laxus walked over to him. He served his drinks before making his way over to the Dragon Slayer, tongue hanging out as it did to reveal his old Fairy Tail tattoo. Every member of the Raijnshuu had refused to get rid of them, and simply gotten their Blue Pegasus tattoo's somewhere else. Freed's had gone on his right hand, Evergreen's on her thigh, Laxus' on his left shoulder. Bickslow's had gone on the right side of his neck, causing a lot of jokes about copying Elfman but the Sieth had just shook them off.

"Bickslow… I need to ask you something."

The Sieth grinned, leaning forward on the bar until his mask was ridiculously close to Laxus' face. The Dragon Slayer took a deep breath, and just came out with it.

"What would you do if I left, Bickslow?"

Bickslow almost visibly deflated, and Laxus knew that he had touched a nerve. Their conversation was scored by Evergreen's singing, and it managed to stop anyone else from hearing their words.

"I would follow you, of course."

Laxus sighed, if Freed had started off vague Bickslow was even worse. He tapped his fingers on the counter in time to the music. Bickslow's face wasn't happy anymore.

"But why? You never listen to anyone, not Freed, not the guild master. Why on Earthland do you still follow me?"

Laxus wasn't expecting the next move. Bickslow grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him close until their foreheads touched. Well, until Laxus' forehead touched Bickslow's mask. He had to strain his ears to hear what Bickslow was saying, but he was glad he did.

"You run away if you want to, Laxus. You turn your fucking back on me like everyone else has. I don't care where the fuck you go, I will track you down and I will find you."

His babies had come from delivering their drinks and hung around the both of them almost menacingly. Laxus didn't doubt it, either, judging by the amount of times Bickslow had found him during the time he had been banished just to check up on him. After a moment Bickslow let go of his shirt, and went straight back to serving drinks. Somehow Laxus knew that he wasn't getting anything else out of him.

Laxus was waiting for Evergreen when she got off the stage. She sighed, starting to change into something more comfortable to head home without even worrying that Laxus was still in the room with her.

"Evergreen. I need to ask you something. Why do you all still follow me? Is it because you're scared of me?"

Evergreen scoffed, dropping her dress to the floor before heading to grab a t-shirt and jeans. She was obviously completely checked out for the night, even though she still looked exquisite in the casual clothes. She didn't even give him the courtesy of looking at him.

"I may not be Queen of the Fairies anymore, Laxus, but what on Earthland gives you the idea that I am scared of you?"

Laxus sighed, leaning against the wall of her dressing room.

"Because why else wouldn't you leave? Other than you're scared that I wouldn't let you go?"

Evergreen chuckled, grabbing her bag before going to walk out of the door.

"Laxus, if I wasn't happy with you there is not a force on Earthland that would stop me from walking away. But go ahead, pretend I'm scared of you if it makes you feel better."

With that she was gone, and Laxus was left with more questions than answers. Trust his team to be loyal to a fault, and still spend all of their time winding him up. Maybe he would stay a little longer, if only to watch them complete their journey to being completely independent. He couldn't guarantee that he would stay forever, but at least for the foreseeable future he would remain the leader of his team.