Breathless

Lightning did many things to a person. It tingled, it numbed ... it killed.

From a distance, it was just a nice thing to watch, lighting up the world that was otherwise dark and stormy. That was how Freed's life had been. Darkness. A tempest of hatred and raining blood, until the lightning struck him.

The first time, it just shocked him. It woke him up out of what felt like a long nightmare. There was still a storm raging inside, but there was light now. He followed the light, often followed blindly, focused on just that flash. He would follow him anywhere, into Hell if he must. Anything was better than the Darkness.

Yet the storm passed, and with it the lightning was gone. There was nothing. Silence. Freed's head cleared. He realized there was a world outside of the storm. He had friends whom he had hardly realized were there all along. He smiled as his life cleared and showed him joy.

Lightning struck again on Tenrou Island. Laxus was back, but no darkness anymore. Just him. Just this tingle. The tingle did not go away, either. It grew, buzzing through Freed, painful at times, numbing him. His heart fluttered with the electrical current that seared his nerves. At times, he felt like he would die from the intensity of this feeling. He needed a grounding rod.

He sure got one!

It was a drunken night the first time. He made the initial attack, but Laxus did not push him away. He took Freed into his arms. Darkness and Lightning seemed to work well together in the night. Yet morning came, and the aftermath of the storm showed the damage. Blood on the sheets. Laxus had not been gentle, and Freed had not been sober. It almost destroyed them.

Then came rain without lightning, without darkness. Just rain. It poured over Freed. It filled him and drenched his face. He wanted to sink in it. He wanted to let it cover his head. Just let the rain flood over him. He sank, drowning, breathless. His heart had already died, so why not let it stop. He was ready to succumb to the ultimate Darkness that would end the pain.

The lightning saved him again. The jolt this time restarted his heart, shoved air into his lungs, and his eyes opened to see Laxus leaning over him in terror. Freed grabbed him this time, and he would not let go. He feared everything but the lightning. Darkness, rain, storms ... but this man was life. This man blazed with electrical hope and banished the darkness from the worst storm of his life.

Freed showed him what their world could be like when Darkness and Lightning combined. Laxus was now the fearful one. He brewed storms in people's lives and hurt the ones he loved. He was dangerous! Yet Freed showed him that lightning had a place in the Darkness. Those flashes were needed to see through the shadows. They lit the way through the tempest, and the roaring thunder left Freed breathless.

When the storm ended this time, there was just them. The sun shined down, not on blood and regrets, but on two men happily in love. The rainbow lit their hearts.

Lightning did many things to a person. For Freed, it gave him life!