Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sometimes life changes, in it’s own time, but it always does eventually. Even for those who had been absolutely certain it never would. It’s an inescapable aspect of life.

There had been a time when they were an inseparable team, but people change and they grow. Their priorities shift. It doesn’t mean anyone did anything particularly wrong, it's just how life goes.

They were revered all across Fiore, and they specialized in taking down dark guilds, but now the war was over. The light guilds had emerged victorious, and there just weren’t as many dark guilds to take down. A good thing for the world, most definitely. But it changed things.

The Thunder Legion had struggled to find jobs that held any interest for them, for quite some time after they’d returned home from Alvarez, each of its members used to the high stakes of their usual missions. They used to make a living eradicating, swiftly and unapologetically, those influenced by Zeref’s dark magic. Now that he was gone, the world freed from his malicious presence, they had to find other ways to get by.

Never had they considered that successfully wiping the darkest mage in history off the map would be anything but glorious, but here they were.

Laxus had decided to step into the role his grandfather had once held, when it started to become clear that maybe Erza wasn’t cut out to be the master of the guild. She was fierce, loyal to a fault, and the embodiment of what a Fairy should be, but she just couldn’t shake her need for adventure. All those years trapped in a tower made her eager for movement, for the ability to forge her own path, for danger, even, and the excitement that can bring. That kind of freedom just didn’t come with the title of ‘Guildmaster’.

Evergreen, like usual, was the opposite of Titania. She was all but done throwing herself into terrifying missions, trekking through harsh landscapes, and putting her life on the line on a daily basis. It’s not that she couldn’t do it anymore, she just didn’t want to, and that was fine. Her team understood. Lately, she’d been taking on smaller, but still challenging, jobs with Elfman and they’d honestly never seen her happier. They were sure that someday soon, she’d admit her feelings to the man. Then again, they’d been sure of that for years. Still, this time was somehow different.

Freed was seemingly in denial that things were changing so rapidly. The man had grown up in an environment that hadn’t changed in centuries, so it was understandable. His nose was always buried in a book, or five, researching…something. Bickslow wasn’t sure if Freed even had a goal or if he was doing it just to bide his time. He had a sinking suspicion it was mostly a distraction, something to occupy his genius mind enough that he didn’t have to consider the implications of his team falling apart around him.

These were all things Bickslow had been observing about the people most important in his life. Frankly, he was feeling similarly to Freed. For the last eight years of his life (not counting their stasis on Tenrou), this group of people - the Thunder Legion, his team - they’d been the only family he had access to. The thought that maybe things were deteriorating was pretty terrifying, especially for someone who’d effectively lost one family already.

He supposed things would likely feel more serious and suffocating if it weren’t for their guild’s Celestial Mage. Just as he’d watched life affect his team, Lucy had watched it do the same to her own.

Jellal’s head had finally been pulled out of his ass and put it back on his shoulders, undoubtedly the product of the combined efforts of Lucy and Meredy. He’d finally confessed his true feelings to the famed Requip Mage, and as soon as she’d handed over leadership of Fairy Tail to Laxus, Erza gave into her desire for freedom (as well as her desire for the Heavenly Body Mage) and made the tough decision to leave her guildmates behind to start a life with the one person she’d loved since early childhood. Although her official resignation from Fairy Tail had been a painful reality to face, no one faulted her for it and she left on good terms - to roam Fiore with Crime Sorciere. She still stopped by for a visit every once in a while, but the visits were few and far between.

Gray’s life had also headed in a different direction and this shift had led him to be absent from the guild more often than not. Even after the Alvarez conflict had ended, he’d yet to master his Ice Devil Slayer magic - something that both frustrated and worried him. The effect that magic had on his mindset was concerning and even though he hadn’t always been the most positive person, he could feel a darkness looming in his thoughts that wasn’t his own. Since he couldn’t be rid of the magic, nor did he want to be, he vowed he would find a way to still be himself while he used it. In his final moments, his father had entrusted it to him, and he’d be damned if he made a mockery of that trust. After some convincing and reassurance from Lucy that she would be fine, Gray had decided to take a sabbatical from the guild to train with the lost magic.

He wrote to Lucy when he could, but it wasn’t the same as him actually being there and it was taking a real toll on her, though she’d never admit that fact to the ice mage. She knew he’d come running back, despite his best interests, and she couldn’t be the reason he lost himself to his inherited magic.

First Erza, then Gray...at least she knew she’d always have Natsu, but then he had drifted away, too.

Though he’d been the last person anyone expected to change, they all watched as it happened;
Natsu had, albeit slowly, grown up. Harsh lessons, and even harsher truths, about who and what he was made him realize that perpetual childhood wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. And with that realization, he started craving more from life than living from one dangerous mission to the next, eating whatever enormous pile of food found its way in front of his face, and sleeping wherever it was he fell down.

He had a mate out there somewhere, and the day he decided to find her was the exact day that he had.

Mellie, a cute little brunette wind mage from an up and coming guild called Wyvern’s Wing, had literally run right over him as Happy was desperately trying to drag the dragon slayer’s poor, motion-sick body from the train on the way back from a mission. He’d been courting her every day since then. He’d managed to convince her to join Fairy Tail, which she’d done happily several months ago, and he was working on gathering the courage to ask her to move from her tiny apartment on the edge of Magnolia and into his home. Lucy was supportive of the idea, but insisted he, at least, clean the place before he made her a key...and maybe finally fix that goddamn hole in the roof.

So Erza was gone, Gray was awol, Natsu was disgustingly in love, Laxus was running the guild, Ever was finally opening up to Elfman, and Freed was in denial.

That left two lonely mages from the two most successful teams in the guild’s long history as the odd ones out.

Bickslow and Lucy had surprised just about every single person in the guild when they became, honest to Mavis, best fucking friends.

There had been a day almost a year ago that Lucy nervously approached Bickslow and asked him to help her complete a two person job she wanted to take, and he didn’t have a single reason to tell her no. Afterall, he hadn’t been doing anything and it wasn’t like his team would be going anywhere any time soon. So he’d accepted and they left the guild soon after, leaving the curious eyes of their guildmates trailing after them.

That job had been a huge success. It had been challenging and a little bit intense, but they couldn’t have known just how well they would work together. How they’d never considered how similar their magics were, they’d never know, but it became apparent when they found themselves in their first battle together - well, their first battle where they weren’t fighting on opposing sides, anyway. Lucy’s magic had always revolved around strategy, and she was stronger and more experienced than she’d ever been. She seamlessly folded him into her battle plan, trusting him on the same level as she did her spirits. He blocked attacks she didn’t see coming, launching his own from a distance while his babies danced around them both. She switched easily between fighting mid-range with her whip, to equipping her close combat-oriented stardresses and getting in the thick of it, her spirits and his babies supporting them both all the while. He switched easily between long range attacks, defense, and mid-range combat. They covered each other, but neither did the heavy lifting alone. It was more of a partnership than either had previously experienced, each having spent years with their insanely powerful and often reckless dragon slayers.

Only a few days later they had returned to the guild, high in spirits and enjoying their effortless companionship. They’d celebrated their easy connection with a couple rounds of drinks and happy smiles, toasting to their success. They quickly agreed to take more missions together, clinking their glasses as they did so, and a natural partnership had formed soon after.

Now, where one found Bickslow, it was likely Lucy was not too far away, and vice versa. Not to mention that Bickslow’s babies absolutely adored Plue and the little dog spirit could often be seen causing mischief with the five little totems around Magnolia - something the locals had quickly come to love, as all six magical beings were verifiably adorable. Plue had more lollipops than he’d ever know what to do with, while the totems often found their way back to Bickslow carrying various small toys and begging to be moved so they could ‘play’ in them.

Much to Laxus’s chagrin, they had become some sort of Fairy Tail Mascot Troupe - or so they were dubbed by Sorcerer Weekly.

It had taken some adjusting, but the guild had accepted the new friendship rather easily. Mirajane, unsurprisingly, had started a betting pool on when they’d get together. A fact that still caused eye rolls from both mages when it was mentioned (though only Lucy’s could be seen, unless she’d convinced her partner to remove that stupid visor on the day in question).

They both knew it was never going beyond friendship, and they much preferred it that way. They had no desire to be anything else. In fact, they often played wingman to each other when they were outside Magnolia and looking to relax. Neither had any desire to settle down, and if they did, it wouldn’t be with each other. Sure, Lucy thought Bickslow was attractive, and she loved the guy, but the thought of kissing him weirded her out. She was sure he did all kinds of great things with that tongue of his, but… she never wanted to find out. No, thank you. And the same went for the Seith mage. Anyone could see that Lucy Heartfilia was gorgeous, and brilliant, but it had never been about that sort of thing between them.

Cana had been the biggest supporter of their newfound friendship, not surprisingly jumping right on the ‘BixLu’ bandwagon (or so Mira called it). She had gone so far as to get them fancy, matching flasks engraved with ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’, thinking she’d have her proof that they were in love if they used them. Her plan was thwarted when Lucy summoned Caelum, a new addition to her spirit family. The chisel constellation, under direction from his keyholder, had promptly scraped away the engravings, and etched ‘Best’ and ‘Friends’ in their place instead. They had, of course, argued over who got to be ‘Best’, but Lucy won in the end. She nearly always did. They used the flasks to this day, much to Cana’s annoyance. Lucy kept hers strapped to her thigh at all times, filled with an aged whiskey she could only afford due to the lack of destruction in her newfound partnership. Bickslow hid his somewhere in his armor, filled to the brim with top-shelf Brandy. Even Lucy hadn’t quite figured out where on his person it was stashed and, anymore, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

It was only after months of partnership that they began opening up to each other. It started with Lucy, the day he’d caught a glimpse of an odd scar on her collarbone she’d always covered up. They had gone to a combined-gender hot spring, and Lucy had decided she didn’t care if he saw it. She trusted him, and if he asked her about it, she’d tell him. It was long past time to talk about it, anyway.

Of course, he did ask. Almost immediately, “Oi, Cheerleader, when did you get ink?”

His tone had been playful, like it usually was, but when all she did was sigh dejectedly, he eyed her curiously as she sunk into the water across from him. He’d never seen it before, but it didn’t look fresh. Normally, he wouldn’t really question it, either, he did have a huge person-shaped mark in the middle of his face, after all. Now though, now that it caught his attention he realized she’d long since abandoned her low-cut shirts in favor of clothing that would keep such a mark hidden; he wanted to know why.

She didn’t answer, seemingly lost in thought, so he prompted again, “Cosplayer, you gonna talk to me?”

“Yeah.”

He grinned at her softly, “You gonna, maybe, do that at some point today?”

She gave him a long-suffering sigh, again, and finally met his red-eyed gaze, “It’s not a tattoo, Bix. It’s a punishment.” A few moments passed by in an inquisitive silence, “How much do you actually know about my contracts?”

“Well,” his eyes turned from crimson into a soft, backlit green as he focused his magic to examine her soul, “Shit, Cosplayer,” he looked at her with a horrified expression, “you broke a soul bond? ….how do you even…?”

He’d phrased it as a question, but it wasn’t one, really. He could see it, the damage, the frayed ends of her soul that didn’t quite stretch over the massive hole that existed where a bond once had. Though, he didn’t actually know how she had managed it. Once they were made, soul bonds were nearly impossible to sever. In the case of celestial spirits, they could nullify a bond, but to actually tear it to pieces, to pull it from a soul without first ending their contract? That… shouldn’t have been possible. And it was most certainly not healthy, the toll it had taken on her was...extensive.

His knowledge on Celestial history wasn’t the greatest, but as far as he knew, the gate keys had always been a connection, simply a way to reach the gate. The contract, though, connected the mage and the spirit on a deeper level. Some celestial mages always held tenuous connections to their spirits, but Lucy’s had always run incredibly deep, with all of her spirits. This one, in particular, had ripped the bright soul, one he’d greatly admired since the first day they’d met, so deeply it was nearly in pieces. Even though it didn’t exactly seem like a fresh fracture, he was amazed she wasn’t a crying, whimpering mess on the floor.

After all, damage to the soul hurt. Deeply. And not just emotionally or mentally, it was actually a physical pain, and it wasn’t just a one-time thing. The soul echoed through the whole body, that’s why Erik was able to hear thoughts and predict movements, and with a trauma so severe the soul would project that all-encompassing pain until it began healing. It’s what made Seith Mages so dangerous. If you got caught in the gaze of a Seith Mage of any decent caliber, they could cause excruciating, unbearable pain with minimal effort.

“What the hell happened?”

Scooting closer to the stunned mage, Lucy leaned her head lightly on his shoulder, “...I broke a promise to protect one of my spirits, and there were...repercussions.”

“I’m sorry, but could you try to be a little more vague? You’re painting a little to much detail into this picture here, Cosplayer,” he said sarcastically, though more than anything, he sounded concerned.

“...Do you remember when we fought Tartaros?”

“Why do you keep asking me dumb questions, when you’re supposed to be giving me answers? Of course, I remember...I almost fucking died.”

Suddenly, she stood up and took steps away from him. The ends of her hair just barely met the water as she clenched her fists and looked into starlit sky, refusing to look at him as tears fell from her eyes.

“Well…?”

“Shut the fuck up and give me a second, Bix,” she said, taking a deep, shuddering breath. He heard the tears in her voice, though he couldn't see them on her face. She wouldn’t look at him.

Several moments passed as she tried to get a hold of herself, and when she finally did, she didn’t answer him. Not with words anyway.

She turned to face him, and that tattoo he’d caught sight of earlier glowed a soft gold, her eyes did too, as the water around them started to move to her will. She didn’t do anything with it, really, apart from twirling it around her fingers, watching it play in the air and along her skin with the saddest, most pained version of wonder he’d ever seen.

“Aquarius, Bixy.” she began to shake, “I sacrificed Aquarius, to summon the Celestial Spirit King, to defeat Mard Geer Tartaros and release everyone from the curse Alegria,” her voice broke, and the magic fell, the water splashing back to settle at her waist, “Her last act on Earthland was to ‘bless’ me with this mark, with her water magic...but it feels like a curse. Almost worse than the curse she saved us from.”

Moments passed in tense silence while Bickslow came to terms with what his recently-appointed best friend confessed to him.

“...Well, fuck, Lucy…”

She gave a bitter laugh, “...yeah.”

Standing, he called out to her, “Bring it in, Cheerleader. Bixy’s got ya,” he told her softly, reaching out and pulling her into his chest by his grip on her wrist.

After a few moments of silence, he called out at the sky, “...I don’t even know who’s ass I’m supposed to kick about this…” he admitted, and he almost swore he could see the water bearer’s constellation twinkle just a little brighter than before.

And for the first time since that fateful day, Lucy was able to laugh and remember Aquarius at the same time.

-:-:-:-

I almost want to post a conversation between us at the end of each chapter… Like the one below. It’s funny. (Starry)

Well, Mavis fucking knows there’s plenty to choose from. I’m game. (Redfoxed)

We can call it...
“Behind the Scenes Dramatics”

Starry: AHHHHHHH so excited. ...let’s… post it…?

Redfoxed: ...we need a summary

Starry: Redfoxed and Starry are the fucking best, and they did this awesome fucking thing, so fucking read it. The end.

*Random conversation ensues*

Starry: Okay, real summary time. Not my bullshit.

Redfoxed: ^^*Leaving here for motivation*

BOTH:

Zeref’s dead...what’re they gonna do now, grow up? Sure, some of them, maybe. What happens when life comes calling and Fairy Tail’s Celestial and Seith mages are left alone to deal with their shit? Join forces, of course, and become Honest to Mavis, ‘Best’ fucking ‘Friends’! Includes Desna’s Pradesh Fam and Mashima’s Fairy Tail. A Collab Work between Redfoxed & StarryFire14.

Redfoxed: I like it. I’d read it.

Starry: Me too but I read everything. I’m starved for content.

Redfoxed: Me and you both, I’ve already admitted to myself I might have a problem but idc.

Starry: I def have a problem. It’s not going to go away anytime soon, I’ll just enjoy it.

Chapter Text

“Heya, Cosplayer, did I ever tell you about that time my younger brother glued my older brother’s hair to his pillow?”

Ever since Lucy had revealed what was probably her darkest and most guarded secret to Bickslow, she noticed he began to really open up to her. He began telling her stories, a little bit at a time, over the course of many months. He would just work them into casual conversations they had and she loved it. He recounted his favorite missions to her (most of which were just stories of Laxus embarrassing himself), that he was a sucker for sappy movies, and how grateful he was to have found Fairy Tail and The Thunder Legion when he had. He’d even told her the heartbreaking stories of how he’d come into contact with each of the little souls that inhabited the clunky totems always at his side. In turn, she had shared her own stories with him. Stories of adventure, of her life at the Konzern, of Team Natsu’s shenanigans.

But, stories of his life before Fairy Tail, of his family...that was new.

She had noticed his avoidance of the topic, of course, but she knew that a lot of her guildmates had some pretty tragic backstories and she didn’t want to prod, but if he was going to offer up that information to her freely…

“I didn’t even know you had brothers, Bix.”

“Oh, yeah, but it's been about eight years since..well, doesn’t matter,” he said, glossing over it, “Anyway, so Van, my baby brother, he’s always been… actually I don’t know the best way to describe him.” he chuckled lightly, “Let’s go with charismatically chaotic. When we were growing up, he had this habit of picking fights with the rest of us, or pulling pranks and making jokes, and then literally vanishing to laugh his ass off.”

Lucy raised a curious eyebrow, “Vanishing?”

“Yeah, it’s part of his magic. I guess you could kind of call it teleporting.” Bickslow thought for a moment for a better way to explain it, because it was honestly a bit difficult to imagine if you’d never seen Van do it. “Well, actually, it’s probably more similar to what you do, with the gate-jumping shit, but he’s been able to do it for fucking forever.” Bickslow got lost in thought for a moment, but then he laughed as he reminisced further, “I actually fucking remember the first time he did it, because we lost him for about a week. Bastard came back covered in lipstick...”

Lucy laughed, “Sounds a lot like you. How old was he at the time?”

“Seven…”

Lucy choked on her whiskey, “And you weren’t freaking out when he disappeared?!”

“Well of course we were, well...I mean, a little, but he’d always been pretty scrappy. We weren’t that worried.” he chuckled.

“And who all is ‘we’ exactly?” She asked, knowing she was pushing it by prying.

Bickslow noticed her not-so-subtle fishing for information, but it felt… good… to talk about it. He’d spent so long trying not to think about them, to ignore the pain of missing them, that it was nice to finally allow himself to remember without fear of being pitied or judged. She felt comfortable opening up to him, he wanted to feel that way, too. Not for the first time, he sent a thank you to the stars she summoned for how close they’d gotten.

“My family, Cosplayer.” he smiled sadly, “My brothers and sisters.”

“Tell me about them?” she asked with a tinge of hopefulness.

He regarded her thoughtfully, “You really wanna know?”

She gave him a bright smile, “Of course I do, Bixy. I grew up, pretty much, alone. I have no idea what growing up with other kids is actually like. Besides,” she added, “it’s clearly important to you. So I want to hear every detail.”

“Well, okay...but I don’t really know where to start.”

“Hmmm...you mentioned hair being glued to someone’s pillow. You could start there? Actually, I kind of really need to know now. You should start there, definitely.”

Bickslow smiled a little, and signalled to the bartender for another round. He looked into his glass as he thought about it, swirling the contents slowly before he tilted his head back and emptied the glass. He really wanted to open up to her about this, to finally move past the pain, but he was going to need a significantly higher blood alcohol concentration to go into the details.

“How about shots first?”

“Shots?” she reiterated warily, “...I want to be able to move tomorrow, Bix.” She really did not like shots, but upon seeing how he seemed to shut down a little at her dismissal, she quickly revised, “But why the hell not? I can handle my liquor! Bring on the shots!”

The Seith Mage snorted. That was a huge lie, and they both knew it, but he appreciated her effort all the same.

After he got a few shots down his throat, he started to feel more at ease. He was glad, he wanted to be able to share this with someone. He missed his family so much and it had been eight years since he’d seen them...well, it had actually been fifteen for them, something he hadn’t really thought about before...fuck, did they even know he was alive?

He took in a deep breath and pushed that thought aside for now, maybe later he’d try to find a way to write his father a letter without getting caught. He cleared his throat of his emotions, trying to take on the role of an engaging story-teller.

He spoke in an enthusiastic voice, “Alright, so, if you wanna understand why it was so goddamn funny, and trust me, it really was - then you’re probably gonna need to know a little bit about my brothers.”

Lucy practically bounced out of her seat, she was so excited. A combination of being excited to learn more about her new bestie, and the alcohol starting to take a real effect on her system. She turned her barstool to face him directly, placing her elbow on the bartop to prop her chin on her hand, and gave him her undivided attention, “Right-o, Sir Bickslow, now go!”

She was so proud of her rhyming that she couldn’t stop her giggling.

Bickslow smiled at her antics, raking a hand through his hair. He was glad she was so comfortable around him, he hated drinking with his visor on, “Shit, alright. I guess I’ll start with Kaleb. He’s kind of serious, even a little grumpy. He was like the ‘mom’ of the eight of us.” he joked.

“EIGHT?!” she screeched in surprise.

“Uh, yeah, eight.” Bickslow gave her a tongue-lolling grin, happily reminiscing for the first time in a very long time, “We might as well have been a small, smartass, village. Poor Dad, honestly. But don’t interrupt or this will take forever, Cheerleader,” he chastised half-heartedly with a finger pointed her direction. He knew it was futile. She was a chatty drunk.

“So. Kaleb. Mr. Mom. I swear, if he could have gotten away with grounding us, I would have spent my whole childhood confined to my room. Not even Fare was so strict, and he was the oldest and kind of a pretty-boy perfectionist.”

“I don’t like when boys are prettier than me,” Lucy pouted drunkenly. “It’s not fair.”

“Damnit, Cosplayer, what did I say?”

She nodded, “Oh right,” she made a zipper motion against her lips, “I’ll be quiet.”

“Promise?”

She ignored him. Apparently even drunk, she knew what promises to avoid making.

“Anyway, so back to the story. Fuck, where were we?”

“I’m not supposed to talk.” she sassed, taking a swig from the bottle the bartender had left next to their glasses.

He chuckled, shaking his head, and gently pulling the bottle from her clutches. Damn it, if drunk Lucy wasn’t cute as hell, “So Fare is the oldest, but Kaleb has some ungodly need to be in control, of like, everything. And everyone. One day, though, he took it a little too far and actually had the audacity to tell Van ‘no’. And let me tell you something, Cheerleader; that never ends well.”

Chuckling, she slurred, “Why not?”

“Well, because Van always gets what he wants. One way or another. And when he doesn’t, somebody usually pays in the form of an unfortunate prank.”

Lucy made a ‘go on’ motion, before trying to reach for the bottle again. She gave up when she realized it was out of her reach, deciding just to take Bickslow’s glass instead.

“So, I can’t even remember what Kaleb was so against Van doing, really it could have been anything, but Van decided retribution was in order,” the Seith Mage started cackling, “Get this, a week later, Kaleb let his guard down. He finally thought he was safe, right? So Van snuck into his room while everyone was asleep and glued the entire right side of his head to the pillow! We woke up to Mr. High-and-Mighty screaming like a goddamn banshee, running around the house seeking answers and revenge…”

He chuckled, “Cosplayer, the pillow was still on his face!” he was nearly doubled over at the bar, “Fuck! Why is this still so funny!?”

Lucy giggled right along with his infectious laughter, unable to help herself.

“Goddamn it… the look on his face… It was even funnier because you could only see half of it!”

Lucy loved the way his face was lit up in joy. She’d never seen him looking so carefree, but seeing it now, she knew she’d do whatever it took to make more moments like this.

It took literal minutes for him to calm down enough to take a deep breath, and when he did, he grinned over at Lucy happily, “Ya know, I haven’t told anybody about this. The Thunder Legion knows about them, my family, I mean. But I’ve never told them anything specific really. This is…nice.”

“I don’t talk about my family much, either. It hurts too much, but with you, I don’t know...it hurts less.”

Bickslow threw an arm over her shoulder, and ordered another round of shots, “That’s because I’m awesome as fuck, Cheerleader, and so are you.”

Smiling happily, she nodded.

“You know what? I think my sister, Xal, would have really liked you.”

Lucy downed her drink, officially saying ‘Fuck it’ in her mind. She wasn’t going to be doing much of anything tomorrow, she knew, but the fun she was having was worth the potential hangover.

“Oh? You think so?”

He rubbed his chin, pulling out his flask and gesturing to her. She eyed it with veiled disgust, before pulling hers out as well, and they did a ‘cheers’.

“Yeah,” he said after re-securing the lid on the container, “I’ve always actually hoped that she turned out to be somewhat like you. Fierce and strong, caring, but maybe a little bit less scary.” He joked, in reference to the famed ferocity of ‘Scary Lucy’.

Lucy just smiled and took another drink, giving him a look.

“Fuck. Like that. What the hell?”

She just laughed it off and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

He laughed along with her, but then was silent for quite some time, “Man, I really fucking miss Xal. She’s gotta be so different now… Did I ever tell you she wanted to be a doctor?”

Lucy hiccuped, “Bix,” she rolled her eyes, “I didn’t even know you had a sister before half an hour ago…”

“When we were all little kids, I remember this one day. We were all playing a game outside, trying to figure out how to use our magics, and then Emi’s magic just fucking went off and she couldn’t control it. Cris ended up taking a direct hit of some crazy powerful blast and he got hurt pretty bad. Dad took Cris to a healer and Xal decided right then, at fucking five years old, that she wanted to be a doctor. Because even though Cris uses healing magic, it only worked on other people, and she said there needed to be somebody who could heal him when he got hurt or sick.”

“She sounds pretty incredible, Bickslow,” she said softly, “I can tell she meant a lot to you.”

He laughed a little to himself, “I’m not saying I had a favorite sibling, but…”

“I can totally imagine little you doting over a little baby sister,” she teased and pinched his cheek. When he swatted her hand away, she laughed, grabbing his glass again.

“No, don’t…”

She gave him a look, and tilted the drink up to finish the rest of it.

He sighed, “You’re gonna throw that up.”

She shrugged, uncaring. When he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, she sighed. She wasn’t sure why, but Lucy couldn’t stand seeing a disapproving look on his face, and it was frustrating as fuck, “...sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, just maybe take it a little slower, Cheerleader! This is why you always get hungover. You don’t know your limit.” ‘cheerleader, find your limit, cheerleader’ the totems chanted, snuggling up to her face and neck. Apparently they and Plue had finished whatever scheme they’d been hatching for the last hour. She giggled, then picked up Plue from where he sat on top of the grumpy totem, and holding him close.

“And stop fucking stealing my drink,” he pouted, stealing her own glass - though it was empty - in retaliation.

“Yeah, you’re right.” They were silent for a while, until she spoke again, “Thanks, Bix. You know, I’m glad I didn’t have to spend Christmas alone this year. My old team of destruction and I, we used to do something for the holidays, but the last couple years we weren’t able to get together.”

“Yeah,” he said, “Same for The Legion. I asked Freed if he wanted to join us, but he said he had research to do.”

Lucy smiled, “Something tells me that’s not entirely true.”

“I have to agree with ya there. Guys been taking things pretty rough lately,” he frowned, “I wish he’d take the others’ leads and, I don’t know, move on a little…”

“I could say the same about you,” she gave him a pointed look, “But, yeah, I’ve noticed that too. I wanted to invite Gray, but his last letter said he thought he was finally getting closer to figuring out how to deal with his magic, and I just couldn’t pull him from that. Not just because I’m desperate to see him.”

“I’m gettin’ there and I’ve got you, so I’m doing pretty okay for myself.” Bickslow stated, “And I’m sure Gray will be fine. Dude’s fucking tough, he’s just working through some shit like everyone else.”

They sat in silence for so long that it became uncomfortable, like it hadn’t been between them in what felt like forever.

“So…” Lucy began,”Your family. You make it sound like they’re all still around, but you don’t see them anymore? Why…? You don’t know what I’d give to see my own family again... ” she trailed off.

Lucy felt it, that moment she’d crossed the line from friendly conversation to digging for info, and knew he likely wouldn’t answer. She couldn’t really find a reason to care, though, despite the fact that she’d sobered considerably, it seems her filter didn’t really get the memo. And really, she wanted to know.

“They… I... ,” he sighed, “They all live in Bosco and, well, Seith Magic isn’t exactly welcomed there.”

The Celestial Wizard turned her full attention to her best friend, feeling a sense of trepidation, “Why would they live in a place you’re not allowed to go?”

“Well, I’m from there, it's my home. Theirs too. But because of that dumbass fucking law, when I was 11, I had to leave the country. Dad’s pretty tight with the monarchy, so they knew about me. They keep a close eye on them, so we… can’t really talk, anymore.”

“...what.”

“I said-”

“I know what you said. Just give me a second... You said Kaleb, right? Kaleb… Control Freak…Bosco...huge family of mages... Fuck,” she slapped a hand to her forehead, “Tell me, Bickslow, please fucking tell me you aren’t talking about the Guildmaster of White Sea.”

The Seith Mage regarded her darkening aura with widened eyes, but didn’t say anything, worrying that if he did it could awaken ‘Scary Lucy’. He almost whimpered, shrinking away from her.

“Fare… Farron,” Lucy continued, as if she hadn’t just asked him a question he didn’t answer, “It’s Farron, right? Goddamn it, tell me your last name isn’t Pradesh.”

He looked sheepish, and saddened, and a little bit confused, but… he nodded. He didn’t want to lie to her, “...why does that matter?”

“Because I really didn’t want to fucking lose all my fucking respect for one of the few role models I actually have, but here we are. Goddamn it,” she stood up, grabbing him by his collar. It happened… she was awake. Scary Lucy was real. Slightly-Drunk Scary Lucy was the shit myths were based on.

“W-what are you doing?” he asked, managing to snag his visor just before she pulled him all the way off his stool by the back of his collar.

She didn’t say anything, but he felt as her magic swelled, and saw the shining gateway he’d come to recognize as Lucy’s magic, “...Lucy?” he said her name, a last ditch attempt at catching her attention. When that didn’t work, he tried to get out of her grip, “Oi, fuck, Cheerleader. I don’t know what I did, but I’m so sorry!”

“Shut it, Bixy. I’ll be back for you in a week.” she said, chucking him through the golden gate and closing it off behind him. “Merry Christmas, you’re welcome.”

She walked up to the stunned bartender, and settled their tab. Walking out, she mumbled under her breath, “Great. Now I have shit to fix that should have already been dealt with… When I see that guy, he’s gonna wish he’d done this shit himself.”

Behind the Scenes Dramatics

Starry: If I die, you have to finish this story

Redfoxed: You can't die because I can't spell

Starry: Ohhhh yeah
Gotcha
You know
Spell check is a thing

Refoxed: But I can spell 'because' lol

Starry: Aw dammit
Roasted
You couldn't spell feral, so…
Boom
Idek
Ignore me

Redfoxed: I tried to spell that like 3 times and finally gave up
English is a garbage language

Starry: Lol. You put in a last name
Like 'Will Ferrall'
Ferrell?
I don't know
He spells it some way
But feral
Like wild
Is f-e-r-a-l
And btw, fixing that is my job :) so don't worry

Redfoxed: Haha thanks

Starry: just don't misspell 'becuase', I'll never be able to get that right
fuck
Beause
Because
FUCK

Redfoxed: Lol
Free entertainment

Chapter Text

Bickslow, though he’d never admit to it, found himself screaming like a girl as he was rapidly ejected from his partner's celestial mode of transportation. He flew through the air for several feet, before roughly colliding with the unforgiving ground and rolling for several more.

He groaned in pain, trying to sit up, but was forced to continue his horizontal relationship with the hard ground when a wave of dizziness fell over him. Traveling via Celestial Gates wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed. Despite the similarities in his and Lucy’s magics, they also had their differences. The intense purity that came from the stars she summoned sometimes had the tendency to clash with the darker nature of his own magic, so being tossed into what felt like an overly warm vortex of pure cosmic light didn’t bode well for his physical health. And damn it, she fucking knew how much it sucked for him. He must have really pissed her off… somehow. He still wasn’t quite certain how or why. Sighing, he rubbed his temples. He’d get over it, he just needed a minute.

So, as he lay there with his back on the ground, he placed his visor - that he’d barely managed to snag just before being thrown through a portal to who the fuck knows where - over his face, hoping the slight darkness it created would bring him some form of comfort until he felt less like losing his dinner. He also would very much like to avoid the sensation of the brandy he’d been drinking making a return trip.

As his dizziness faded, very slowly - honestly, he’d never imagined how much more disorienting it would be when he was tipsy - he began to notice things. Firstly, he was laying in thick, lush, green grass. So she hadn’t chucked him home - a plausible place to be cast off to, but he lived in an apartment surrounded by the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. So it wasn’t there. Odd.

Only a moment later, he noticed it was… warm. Far warmer than he’d expect for this time of year in Fiore. Did she send him on an impromptu vacation because she was pissed off? That didn’t seem right. Even if she was drunk.

Maybe she’d actually managed to break some sort of time barrier or whatever, and it was, in fact, summer time now. Did she literally toss him into next year? Nah, that was ridiculous. She couldn’t do that… he hoped.

Slowly, he sat up, trying to take in his surroundings, to really figure out where the hell she’d dropped him. If it wasn’t the future, and it wasn’t home, it could literally be anywhere on Earthland if she knew the location relative to her own position, or if she knew the magical signature of someone to lock on to. And she’d gotten really fucking good at judging distance and direction since she’d mastered Gate-Hopping - a name she’d come up with and he’d begrudgingly accepted. He’d told her it was more like being upchucked by space, if space was a person - but he’d found out Lucy didn’t like that metaphor, so he just went with her word for it. It was safer and caused less bruising.

All at once, the details around him started painting a memory and as he took a moment to breathe in the air, he was embraced by a smell so distinct, he could have never forgotten it. The smell of Boscan waters. He took in the sight of the beautiful home on the hill, backing up to the Grass Sea. The lights strung along each of the large columns framing the doorway. The sound of laughter, faint from this distance, but that he knew was loud and joyous, if he’d only get closer.

Home.

She did send him home! Just not to that lonely one bedroom flat in Magnolia that he slept in.

‘Oh, Cosplayer, what the hell have you done…’

He recalled what she’d said, just before she figured out his last name, ‘You don’t know what I’d give to see my own family again…’

Feeling that wave of excitement and joy, even tempered by his own caution, made him want to weep for her. She’d never feel it, this… wonderful feeling of being home. Of returning to people you’d missed so desperately.

He found that he couldn’t be angry. Even if somehow, the Boscan authorities caught him here, he’d never be angry at her for giving him this - a chance to see his family again. He wasn’t even sure how she’d known where his childhood home was, but he didn’t want to dwell on it any longer. They were all right there, right inside the house that held so many happy memories for him. This felt like a dream, and if it was, he was damn well going to see them before he woke up.

He tried, really he did, not to run all the way to the front steps, but he just couldn’t help himself. It really was Christmas and he felt like a kid again, waking up to the best present ever. He slowed only when he approached the steps that led up to the porch.

Staring at the wreath hung on the door, he stopped short… He could hear the laughter that was just on the other side of that door. He hadn’t set foot here in fifteen years. What if they didn’t remember him? What if they were happier without the burden his magic had brought… What if they… didn’t want him there? Fuck, they might not even know he was alive.

Slowly, very slowly, he managed to climb up the six wooden steps. Even if they didn’t want him there… he had to see them.

He hesitated for only a moment, standing silently at the front door, with a tentative hand outstretched. Lightly, he closed his fist and knocked.

Nothing happened. It had been practically silent, though, so he just manned the fuck up and knocked again. It... came out a little frantic, maybe he’d done it a bit… too loudly. Oh well.

The laughter grew louder as someone approached the other side of the door, and he heard a feminine laugh more distinctly than the others as the person’s shadow became visible under the door. The handle slowly rotated and the door pulled open to reveal a beautiful young woman standing in the frame. Long, silky black hair, with delicate, but distinctive features, her baby blue eyes lit up in mirth as she regarded him curiously. All he could think was that she looked far too old. She should be six, after all. In a perfect world, he’d be looking at a six-year-old through his own eleven-year-old eyes, ready to grow up side-by-side.

But the world isn't perfect. And that beautiful woman tilting her head curiously in the doorway...

It was Xally. Right in front of him, and he just couldn’t believe it.

Xally, that sweet little girl he’d once chased around the estate, his baby sister, stood in front of him. She had a confused expression on her features as she stood there, “...Who… are you?”

That one question nearly brought him to his knees. She didn’t know him...

Just past the threshold he could hear the sounds of a merry celebration, much louder now that he was so close. He likely would never admit that it hurt to know they were doing just fine without him there. Honestly, he just didn’t want to feel bitter about it. Afterall, it had been so many years, gods...so many years. Biting his lip to hide his pain, he tried to find the words to answer her.

‘Hey, I’m your long lost brother? I've managed to secretly write to Dad a few times since I've been gone, but you don’t know me.’

‘Hi Xally, remember me? I abandoned you when you were too little to even understand what was happening, because my magic is apparently evil but, you know, my best friend threw me home for the holidays?’

Too lost in his thoughts, he didn’t see the small spark of recognition on her beautiful face, or that she’d moved forward from the door and was reaching out for him. He didn’t notice until she’d actually managed to pull the visor from his head, revealing the dark person-shaped mark resting on his downtrodden face. His features were familiar to her, although much older and more defined. She knew this man.

“Wait… Bixy?”

A heartbeat, maybe two passed in silence.

“BIXY!!!”

His heart might as well have exploded from his chest with the happiness coursing through his very being, as his baby sister jumped into his arms, and promptly knocked him to the ground. The pain of the hardwood porch flooring digging into his back was nothing. He couldn’t have cared in the least as he hugged her close after so long.

“Xal…”

The scuffle must have been heard from inside the house, because a moment later another set of steps approached the door, and a deep, lazy voice drawled, “Xally, what the hell is taking so long?”

Upon walking up to a scene of his, usually reserved, sister straddling a stranger on the porch, he gave her a curious look, “Uh… Xal, haven’t we already talked about how you shouldn’t just straddle strange men? You’re supposed to ask first, before you pull them into your clutches.”

Xally, much too happy to have her big brother home to rise to Vander’s taunting, simply laughed, “You idiot, look closer!”

“... I’m not a prude, Xal, you know that, but… no thanks. All I want to know is how he got onto the property; only family gets by Kaleb’s ‘Overly-Powerful-Panic-Runes’.”

He thought about that for a minute.

Then for a second more, before it hit him, “No fucking way…” he shoved Xally off of the large man and pulled him from the floor and into a tight embrace, “I know this ugly fucking mug! Bixy! You’re home, man!”

“Get your shadowy fucking paws off my brother, Van,” Emi said, crashing the party, rather violently. She pulled them apart by their collars before crushing - almost literally - Bickslow into a hug, placing her nose into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent of treasured kin she’d long thought she’d lost, “Bix... Damn it, I’ve missed you…”

He thought she would hold him there forever - maybe that was just because he couldn’t breathe, though - but instead she pulled him behind her and dragged him into the house, their two youngest siblings following behind.

Once inside the home he’d longed for, he was thrown straight into a massive chest, picked up off the ground, and spun around in a bone crushing embrace, “Fuck... can’t breathe… You’re gonna break all my ribs into... little tiny pieces,” Bickslow said, barely managing to gather enough air to do so.

He heard the smile in the man’s voice, “No worries, Bix, I’ll heal ‘em up when I’m done crushing you.”

“...Cris?”

Bickslow finally found his feet on the ground once more, and looked into the uniquely silver-speckled blue eyes of his younger brother. Who… was fucking huge.

He didn’t get the time to dwell on it before he was pushed backwards and into another set of arms, “We missed you, little brother…” Farron spoke, turning him around to pull him into a brief hug, then pulling back to ruffle his hair, “And what kind of hairstyle is this? I’ve seen Fiorans, Bix, this isn’t normal. Not even there.”

For the first time in years, Bickslow allowed tears to fall from his eyes and he nearly sobbed out his brother’s name, “Fare…” he clutched onto his oldest brother’s shirt and cried into his shoulder.

‘It’s so good to see you, Bickslow…’ he heard it in his mind, as strong arms encased him from Farron’s other side. Another sob, “Kaleb…”

“We didn’t know if we’d ever get to see you again,” Kaleb spoke aloud, “How… how are you here?”

Bickslow didn’t get the opportunity to answer, because he was pulled from his siblings embrace by two deceptively strong hands on his shoulders. He wiped his eyes and looked into the green eyes of his father, who was studying his features closely, as if trying to memorize them or trying to find anything that could disprove this grown man was the eleven-year-old son he’d been forced to send away, “Bickslow,” the hands moved from his shoulders to his face, “Bickslow…”

“Dad!” he near-shouted, the large man he had grown into was all at once a child again in his father’s arms.

“Dad…” he crushed him into a hug, “Why did everyone else get old but you look the same?”

Laughter rumbled deeply from the chest pressed against his in a loving embrace and the man hugged him back fiercely, “I can’t say I know the answer to that, my sweet boy,” he took a heavy, emotion-filled breath, “I can say I am unbelievably happy to have you home…even if I don’t understand how you are.”

Bickslow pulled away and rubbed his neck after wiping at his eyes, “Ah, yeah… about that…”

Kaleb snorted. No one had the chance to question it, though, because in the next moment a golden light shimmered next to Bickslow. Before he could even turn to look, a bag flew from the light source and slammed directly into his head, knocking him to the ground.

“Fucking hell, Cosplayer!” he yelled, immediately recognizing the magic once he caught a glimpse of it, but Lucy didn’t deign to respond. Apparently she was still huffy. Instead of any sort of reply, the magical gate shimmered brighter and his five little totems came through. He smiled, opening his arms to hug them. He’d nearly forgotten about them in the joy of his reunion.

They did not fly into his arms. Each flew into his face. Harshly, without mercy. Each of the souls seemingly partaking in Lucy’s new favorite pastime of ‘Throw painful shit at Bickslow’ and ‘Throw Bickslow at shit that’s painful’.

And each chanted essentially the same thing, as they hovered around him.

“From Lucy” “From Cheerleader” “From Princess”

Kaleb, the closest to him after he fell, gave him a raised eyebrow, “That person seems… interesting. I suppose we have her to thank for your being here? Who is she?”

“...she’s an angry blonde cheerleader, with more magic power than restraint, and who also happens to be my best fucking friend.”

A round of laughter went around the room, and even though he was essentially being laughed at, Bickslow felt completely encompassed by the love of his family.

“When do we get to meet this lovely young woman?” Arman asked.

“Well, before she kicked me across the continent, she said she’d pick me up in a week, but I’m guessing it’s more likely to be whenever she feels like it…”

-:-:-:-:-

Behind The Scenes Dramatics

Starry:
I’ve got literal tears right now.
What have you done

Redfoxed:
Good fucking writing is what.

Starry:
We have to post this.
We need to.
We owe it to the world.

Redfoxed:
I don’t know if they can handle this heartbreaking scene.

Starry:
They gonna learn today -Kevin Hart

Chapter Text

Lucy found herself annoyed at how utterly stupid her new partner and best friend could be. And even more annoyed at the fact that his family was apparently worse. What kind of ambassador to such a foreward thinking country lets his son grow up away from himself and his family just because of a stupid law that most definietly could be changed with the right amount of effort. It wasn’t just his father, either. Sure, Lucy was pissed at the Patriarch of The Pradesh Family, as she’d always looked up to him for not crumbling when he lost his wife as her own father had done, but at least two of Bickslow’s brothers were in a position that was highly influential amongst the lawmakers of Bosco. They’d not done anything, either.

Farron was also a highly ranked ambassador and Kaleb was the master of a highly successful and long standing mage guild, in a country where that kind of thing held a lot of renown and power. Not to mention The White Sea’s Master was a fucking Wizard Saint. The more she thought about it, she was almost pissed off the most at him, because he was supposed to be a leader. How could he lead when he couldn’t even be bothered to put forth the effort necessary to bring his brother home and clear his name? Instead Bickslow had been forced to live a life of seclusion, in a whole different country, afraid to even say his last name in fear of being outcast yet again. Always forced to look over his shoulder, never able to relax, never able to feel at home. Never even able to do something as simple as show his own face in public.

Lucy wasn’t a Wizard Saint, but she had single-handedly made the Spirit King himself change a law, in ten minutes no less, that had been in effect for at least a millennia - to save a friend she’d only just started getting to know. Surely Arman Pradesh, Bosco’s Chief Ambassador, could have done something by now to save his son. Surely Kaleb Pradesh, Guild Master of White Sea and Fourth Wizard Saint of Bosco, could have done something to save his brother. Surely Farron Pradesh, youngest ambassador in their nation’s history - quickly showing promise of being a greater ambassador than even his father, could have done something to help his little, lost sibling.

Even if the politics of it all were proving to be a problem, she knew for a fact that Bickslow had other siblings with incredible abilities who could have done something. She had to believe that doing things against the better wishes of those in power was more than just The Fairy Tail way.

Her very first day as a member of Fairy Tail, Master Makarov had given a speech. In that speech he’d said, ‘If all we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will never progress.’

She’d never forgotten it.

But now, instead, it was Lucy left to do a job that wasn’t hers to do. The job of another person, another family, of an entirely different country and she wouldn’t soon let them forget it. Not a chance.

Aside from her anger geared towards the hurt that Bix had to endure silently, it pained her to admit that she was jealous, incredibly so, that Bickslow had the opportunities with his family that she would never have again. She wasn’t bitter, she wasn’t that kind of person, and yet… she couldn’t fight that uncontrollable rage that built up in her when she thought about how they were squandering every chance to be together. Especially when she would give almost anything to have her own family back, even just one of the many precious people she’d lost and the happy memories they could have made. She’d be damned if she let them do this to themselves.

And partly, she blamed Bickslow, too. His family weren’t the only ones who hadn’t made an effort to make things work. He was a grown man and he could have done something. Lucy was strong now, sure, but she hadn’t always been. She remembered the times where she’d been a scared little girl, very well. She had no doubt that Bickslow had been absolutely terrified at the age of eleven, being taken from his home and sent to live in a place so foriegn to him. But now, he’d grown up and he wasn’t that scared little boy anymore, nor was she the same battered, frightened little girl without the power to make a change.

Bickslow was stupidly strong and a formidable mage in any fight, just as she was. And they were one hell of a team, if they’d just put their effort into finding a solution maybe he’d have been home legally long before now. Fuck, if he’d just mentioned it to her, she could have worked on it for him. Not to mention fucking Freed Justine, research extraordinaire, who could have surely done something to help. For crying out loud! Freed specialized in finding loopholes in rules, or exploiting them! It was the very nature of his magic! The fact that he didn’t even think to try and fix the problem himself, or with her help, or with both her and Freed, was both frustrating beyond belief and served to stir up some of those pesky feelings of inadequacy she’d fought long and hard to bury within herself.

Once again, she pushed them to the side, ‘I’m going to fix this, Bix. I promise. They might not have helped you, but I will, even if I’m not sure they deserve you right now. Even if I’m mad as hell that you’ve not tried to fix it yourself.’

And so, there she was, packing a bag for the very Seith Mage she had just chucked through a celestial portal. She gained the tiniest bit of satisfaction out of the fact that she knew he hated travelling that way, because she was very frustrated and definitely petty - even if it wasn’t his fault, entirely.

And the babies, though adorable, were not helping. She was tipsy, irritated, and they were… aggravating, to say the least. Especially as Bix wasn’t there to reign them in.

“No, Papa, you cannot take all your toys. Don’t you sass me right now! BECAUSE I SAID SO, fuck!” Lucy was pretty sure her golden blonde locks would turn gray before she even had the chance to send the babies back to Bickslow.

When his little totem body pushed her as she was digging for clothes, she decided she wasn’t sure he was going to make it back to Bickslow with a body at all.

It had been fifteen minutes of pure torture (and Lucy wasn’t unfamiliar with that particular activity, not in the slightest, unfortunately) while she tried, and mostly failed to pack a bag. With Bickslow’s totems following her around his apartment, tossing in their toys from various random Magnolian citizens whenever she turned away from the luggage. In the end she’d managed to put at least two of those stupid armor sets in his bag, she was pretty sure she’d managed to throw underwear in as well (if the babies didn’t take them out - they kept trying to make room for their own stuff), maybe a set of pajamas and a set or two of normal person clothes. Taking the bag with her, because she did not trust Pipi in the slightest, she went to the bathroom and tossed in his favorite body wash, his toothbrush, and his deodorant before zipping the bag and giving the babies a hard glare.

“He’s lucky I care so damn much,” she grumbled to herself before she addressed the souls that were still hovering around her head, “Did you take anything important out of here?”

She got a round of “No way!”s and “We would never!”s from the babies that she didn’t believe in the slightest, before sighing and opening another portal, pulling on Bickslow’s magic to find him.

Without hesitation, she threw his bag into the gate, hoping it would hit him in his stupid face, smirking when she heard him faintly shout at her.

“Go on, babies,” she said, and she heard the dull thuds of each of them hitting him in the face before closing the gate. She did love those little souls, frustrating as they were.

With her best friend’s clothing needs taken care of, and some of her wrath released in the form of little totems hitting him in the face - as well as packing a neon pink shirt Evergreen had bought him that she knew he hated, she began taking steps to right the wrongs of that dumbass Seith Magic ban in Bosco.

So, begrudgingly, she did what any proper heiress would do; she called the royal to beg for a favor.

“...Lucy?” the princess answered, her green locks disheveled and the room around her dark, until the woman sat up and activated her lacrima lamp. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she fully focused on the communication lacrima feed, “Is everything okay? Is it your spirits? What’s wrong?”

Lucy held up a reassuring hand, “It’s nothing like that, Hisui, I just need a favor.”

The blonde heard the shuffling of her sheets as she readjusted and fully woke up, yawning, “Well,” she said tiredly, “Celestials know you’ve got about a million to cash in on. Though I might have appreciated you doing so in the warm light of morning,” she teased.

Lucy smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, sorry, I’m just a little worked up and I don’t really feel like wasting time. This problem has gone on long enough.”

The green-haired celestial mage regarded her cautiously, “...what kind of international incident should I be preparing myself to get involved in?”

The blonde laughed at her friend, “Nothing major… Okay, it’s kind of a big deal, but it’s probably best if you didn’t get too overly involved.”

Hisui put a hand to her chin, considering, before nodding slowly, “Alright. What can I do for you, Lucy?”

Smiling brightly, she responded, “Oh! I just need an invite to the Boscan New Year’s celebration in the castle!”

The princess deadpanned, “...an invite to the most exclusive event on Ishgar’s political event calendar. Is that all?”

“...now that I think about it, I could use a rundown of all the major politicians and high military officials in Bosco, too…”

Hisui rubbed a hand down her face, “I can probably manage that… but this is at least three favors.”

The blonde smiled brightly, excited to have somewhere to start.

“Oh, and you’ll need a date. And for the love of the stars, don’t bring Natsu. Whatever you do, don’t… bring Natsu.”

Lucy laughed openly at her old partner’s expense, it seemed he would never be rid of his destructive reputation, “Not to worry, Princess. I’ve got the perfect person in mind.”

-:-:-:-:-

“I’ve told you time and again, Master Laxus, this form needs to be filled out in black ink. They will send it back and fine you for the return if you use blue. I don’t even know where you keep getting blue pens, I keep throwing them away! This is rudimentary paperwork etiquette, redo it. ”

The blond slayer sparked slightly in response, “Fuck the council, I’ll use blue pens if I want. It’s not like they can’t fucking read it just because its in blue!”

Freed just sighed, “This is far from a war worthy of waging, Laxus, just-”

The Rune Mage didn’t get a chance to finish his tired plea because just as soon as he reached to hand Laxus the correct pen and a fresh form, the door to the guildmaster’s office was violently shoved open and a second raging blonde entered the fray.

“Excuse me, Lax, but I need to borrow this.”

“Borrow what?”

She grabbed a hold of Freed’s arm and shook it, “This.”

The Rune Mage, for his part, just looked on amused. He’d always liked Lucy, but this was a bit odd, even for her.

“What use could you have for my arm, Miss Lucy?”

“Not your arm, Freed. You.”

Laxus sparked more furiously. He liked Blondie, he really did, but she had this way of jumping on his nerves and grinding her heels in. Probably something to do with them often differing on opinion, and also being stubborn as fuck, “You can’t take my Freed, Blondie, especially if you’re already taking my you. Who’s gonna help me with paperwork?”

Lucy and Freed shared a look of amusement, “...you know, you could always do it yourself.”

He shrugged, “Okay, but then who’s going to deal with those council twats?”

“...that would also be you, Laxus.”

The Dragon Slayer shook his head violently, “Oh, fuck no. I can’t do both. How long are you planning on being gone, anyway?”

“It’s literally the definition of your job…” Lucy snarked, crossing her arms.

Laxus glared, this was why he didn’t get along with Lucy. She was a sassy little jerk, sometimes, but what was worse...she was always fucking right. It annoyed him endlessly. He almost missed the days when she was intimidated by him.

He sighed, raising an eyebrow, “So? How long is this going to take?”

Freed looked at her in question as well.

She shrugged, “I told Bix a week, but who knows?”

“So you’ve effectively stolen half of my team, for an indefinite time frame, and I’m just supposed to be okay with it?”

She gave him her brightest smile, “Hate to break it to you, Sparks, but I’ve stolen Bixy from you indefinitely. And I did so forever ago. I’m just borrowing Freed for a project, I’ll give him back… Probably.”

When both men saw the flash of gold to her right, both paled, for different reasons. Freed, because he hated celestial gates, and Laxus because he was sure she’d not just leave him high and dry. There was a council meeting tomorrow…

“Blondie, don’t-”

“Miss Lucy, wait-”

“See ya, Lax!”

And she disappeared through her gate, a pale Freed in tow.

“Goddamn it, Blondie…” Laxus groaned in defeat, slouching in his chair and picking up the dreaded black pen that had been placed on his desk.

-:-:-:-:-

Behind the Scenes Dramatics

Starry: You read my brain again. I didn’t like it.

Redfoxed: We seem to do that a lot.

Starry: Right? It’s creepy.

*Note from Starry*
….we didn’t talk much this time. Our dramatics isn’t very dramatic. I hope you’ll forgive us. Maybe we will be funnier next time…?

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Freed didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know what he was doing. Although he was fairly certain he’d just been kidnapped...by Lucy. All things considered, he did figure it was about time Lucy did the kidnapping rather than being kidnapped, but... It was just… unfortunate that it had to be him playing the role of victim.

Had she not been a guildmate, and a good friend, he would not be going along with this - whatever this was. He wasn’t nearly as close to her as Bickslow had become, which was probably his own doing, but they’d found they had many shared interests and an easy sort of friendship had formed. Thinking of Bickslow, he found it highly odd that the Seith Mage was not around. Ever since Lucy and Bickslow had formed their ragtag team of souls and spirits, they were nearly inseparable. Perhaps they were going somewhere to meet up with him.

Not that Freed could know for sure, really, seeing as Lucy hadn’t yet been bothered to tell him what the purpose of this abduction was.

In fact, she hadn’t said more than five words since they’d emerged from her Celestial Portal and into a crowded shopping district. The few times he’d had the chance to travel through a Celestial Portal - or ‘Gate Hop’ as Lucy so unfortunately coined it - he’d not exactly enjoyed it. It didn’t feel bad, necessarily, it just always messed up his hair and left it a tattered mess. Not that the same dilemma affected Lucy. No, she always left the gates as if she were a goddess that just emerged from a fictional novel.

But none of this was the point.

The point was that he had no idea where he was, no idea why he was there or when he’d be returning to scolding Laxus on proper paperwork management, nor was he in any way prepared for this impromptu quest of hers. Seeing as he couldn’t exactly change his immediate circumstances, he sighed, his shoulders hunched ever-so-slightly.

He trailed behind her, attempting to keep up with her brisk pace as she maneuvered through the dense crowd and after nearly ten minutes of silence from her, he nearly lost his collected composure and demanded answers. However, just as he was about to make a scene and call her out on her lunacy, she stopped and stared up at a hotel. She motioned for him to follow her inside and, begrudgingly, he did so. He bit his tongue in silence while she chatted with the hotel clerk in a friendly manner for far longer than necessary. He even managed to restrain himself from speaking as they boarded the elevator and rode it to the eleventh floor, but as soon as they’d entered the room and she turned the lock, his quick invasion of her personal space pushed her against the closed door.

“Miss Lucy,” his voice was more precise than usual and his clear frustration towards the situation was easily shown through his assertive dictation, “while I am more than happy to oblige you in my assistance wherever it may be needed, I cannot say I am pleased with being whisked away in the middle of a task to an unknown place for an unspecified duration of time.”

“Freed…”

“I have not had time to properly prepare, nor to pack a bag. I was in the middle of assisting Master Laxus with basic, but crucial, guild matters he can’t seem to wrap his thick skull around. Furthermore! -”

“Freed…”

“-Whatever it is you say my skills are needed for, I am sure that it could have waited.”

Lucy pouted, outright. She hated being ignored, “Freed, if you would just slow down a-”

He took a large inhale of breath to no doubt go on a separate tangent she didn’t want to hear, “Additionally - ”

“Oh for fucks sake, Justine!” Lucy shouted to grab his attention- pushing his shoulders away with a calm force, allowing herself to move away from the door and further into the room, “Put some silencing runes up in the room and over your mouth and I’ll tell you everything!”

He grimaced deeply, not exactly partial to being addressed by his Family Name or being told to shut his mouth. He studied her for a moment before relenting. He draped runes over the entirety of the hotel room they were occupying, with a sigh and a narrow eyed glance in her direction every few steps.

“Only because I consider you my friend am I giving you a chance to explain yourself. You have exactly five minutes to tell me what this is all about before I leave to…” he trailed off, remembering he didn’t know where they were, “...find my way back to Magnolia.”

She just rolled her large brown eyes at him, it was slightly amusing that his reserved representation of his personality was so easily cracked when his plans were interrupted.

“Well, first off, we’re in Bosco. Palerno to be specific - just so you can plan your route back accordingly. And secondly, I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to tell you, but I need your help with changing a law that should have never been passed.”

He blinked, regarding her for many moments that passed in thick, imposing silence. Finally, he spoke suspiciously, although his voice lacked any real accusation, “...What have you done with Bickslow?”

“He’s fine,” she avoided, “tell me what you know about Bosco’s restriction on Seith Magic.”

“You must tell me where he is so that I may go and fetch him, right this instant, Miss Lucy,” he commanded, ignoring her questioning, his demeanor growing truly worried, “I do not think you fully grasp the danger he is in while in this country. You need to tell me where I can find him.”

“Like I said, he’s fine,” she saw him begin to protest and she sighed, “But if you really need to know that too, I’ll tell you. But first, you should probably know... that I was a little drunk and a lot of pissed off, and feeling a bit… nostalgic. When I did it.”

“Lucy…” Freed warned, his voice icy.

“So, we were at one of our favorite little pubs in Magnolia and we were having a blast, like we always do, swapping stories, taking shots, but then Bix starts telling me all these sweet little stories about a family I didn’t even know he had. And it was heartbreaking, because this time of year, I just miss my own family, you know? And he seemed so sad…,” she regarded Freed when he looked ready to interject, “The point, because I do have one, is that we eventually come around to the part where I figure out his last name is Pradesh. And so now he’s currently enjoying his first Christmas with his family in almost sixteen years.”

Freed just gaped at her. His mouth started moving, as if ready to scold her, or demand something of her, but the words just didn’t come out.

She looked up at him, her pointer fingers meeting a few times in an anxious gesture, “So….”

“What on all of Earthland were you thinking?!” He finally exploded.

Lucy’s face flamed, but she found her brief embarrassment was evolving into a righteous fury, “I just fucking told you what I was thinking! And now we have to fix it! We have to fix all of it!”

Freed, proper and always professional Freed, flopped onto the bed with slumped shoulders and groaned, “Lucy, why…?,” it was almost a whine, “And how do you propose we accomplish this, hmm? There are people who have been trying for over a decade to correct this injustice, people far more well versed in Boscan Law than you or I, and they’ve been unsuccessful. What makes you think we’ll achieve a different outcome?”

Determination lit a fire in the woman’s eyes as she stared at Freed on the bed. Scary Lucy, indeed.

“They didn’t have Gemini on their side,” she smirked at him, “And while they may have had access to something like this,” she held up sealed envelope, “exclusive invitation to a quaint little gathering next week… they didn’t have the benefit of being underestimated, nor the inclination to dig through all the Boscan Royals dirty little secrets.”

Lucy gave him a wink, as she watched his face go from exhausted disbelief and morph into a special kind of excited, “Wait…. You can’t mean…”

“I can, indeed. Freed Justine, would you do me the honor of being my date to The Boscan New Year’s Ball?”

She bowed to him in jest and held the invitation out to him in true dramatic fashion.

He sat up fully, reaching for that brilliant, iridescent paper envelope, and opened it with shaky fingers, breaking the elegantly pressed wax seal.

“You actually have an invitation to The Boscan New Year’s Ball!” he practically squeaked.

This single event on Earthland’s International Political Calendar was extremely exclusive. Even bearing the prestigious Heartfilia name had not been enough for Lucy’s father to secure an invitation. It was reserved for those with directly recognized royal lineage across the world and close friends and nobles they wished to invite.

Freed had grown up similarly to Lucy. He belonged to a well respected, centuries old, upper class family. Even then, his family had never been sent an invitation into the Royal Social Circle. And even though they had both walked away from that life years ago, it would still be a child’s dream come true to go to this particular ball. For the first time in his life, Freed was looking forward to his next conversation with his father. He could not wait to describe The New Year’s Ball in intricate - exaggerated - detail. Afterall, he had accidentally achieved something his father had failed to after decades of methodical political moves, despite his so-called ‘deviant tendencies’.

He was going to enjoy holding this over his father’s head.

Lucy smiled, “So, still want to walk your pristinely ironed pant-clad backside all the way to Fiore or do you want to stay and help me?”

Freed eyed her, ignoring the rather classless comment as his eyes drifted over the hand-penned invitation once more, “I’d be honored,” he said, grinning as he looked back up at her through the silky green of his bangs.

The summoner grinned, taking his hand, getting on a knee and kissing his knuckles as she smirked up at him, “The honor is mine… we should get started.”

One week. That’s all they had to prepare for Ishgar’s biggest political event of the year. It was a good thing they both kept up on the basics of politics throughout Ishgar, or the task would have been impossible. As it was? It would be difficult… but they’d manage.

They decided, both of them, that they would spend that first night relaxing. Freed made his way to the bath house, the green haired mage more than enthusiastic about their current location and planned to enjoy it. Lucy took a bath, alone, in the lovely bathtub in the suite they stayed in, each enjoying the night in their own way before going to bed early. They knew it would likely be the last sleep they got before the big event, and so they capitalized on it.

The next morning, as the sun streamed into the luxurious hotel room past the heavy silk curtains, they woke, and got to work righting the unjust laws made by the Boscan Government decades ago.

=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=

"Behind the Scenes Dramatics"

Redfoxed: So...I seem to have written a snarky and grumpy Freed. Am I sorry? No. Will I probably do this again? It is likely.

Starry: I’m very much not opposed to this. He’s perfect.
Starry: So… I think we should apologize. Or well. Me. Because I suck.

Redfoxed: I know its been a while since an update and normally I would apologize…but I think instead of apologizing, I would just like to say - Fuck 2020.

Starry: Fuck it hard. With a stick. Or something. Agreed. But ALSO. Thanks for waiting us out?

Refoxed: Yeah thanks! I think you’ll enjoy this new chapter almost as much as I do!

Starry: Yeah! You can fangirl over Freed just like we did… >.>

Redfoxed: Yes, please...just continue on with the chapter and leave me here until next time.