Hear me

13

Neither of them were sure how late it was when they decided to head back to town, only that the darkness was so complete that Natsumi had to summon a flame in one hand so Laxus could see. The blonde hadn't even responded to the small girl's taunting about 'real dragon slayers being able to see in the dark,' and she took that as evidence that Laxus was well and truly in a good mood. She decided it was fun to joke around with him when he wasn't so busy retorting to everything she said.

Looking up at him, she also admired how the glow of the firelight bathed his figure. His hair, still damp from his impromptu dip in the river, fell limply on his forehead and around his ears, making him look younger than his twenty-three years, softening the hard angles that usually defined him. He hadn't bothered to put his shirt back on, claiming that even if it was summer, it was still too fucking cold to put on wet clothes. Instead, he carried the bundle that was his coat and shirt under one of his arms. Natsumi sympathized, even if she was jealous that she wasn't also allowed to walk around topless. Although, she suspected that he was mostly just showing off. Not that she was complaining. She wondered why he wasn't shirtless more often.

She also carried her vest and her sandals in her free hand, not wanting to pass up the chance to go barefoot. Despite it still being wet, her scarf still hung limply around her waist.

As they made their way down the path, a thought occurred to Natsumi.

"Hey, Laxus?"

"Mm?"

"We came out here to avoid those people staring, right?" she asked, moving her conjured flame up so she could better see his face.

He hesitantly nodded the affirmative, raising an eyebrow.

"Why? Like, why does it bother you? They're just people. I mean, I get stared at sometimes, but that's just because there was this one time Happy and I went to a café when I had a cold and I sneezed and blew out all the windows and it was a huge—"

Laxus sighed, his countenance darkening as he interrupted her.

"It just bothers me because it reminds me of stuff I'd rather everyone forget," he admitted, looking guilty.

"Like...the Harvest Festival?" she offered, feeling guilty herself for bringing it up.

"Yeah," he said, sighing again. "Before that happened, I ate that shit up. I was so arrogant about it. I was so sure that I was the best fucking thing to ever happen to Fairy Tail, like it was my world and you were all just living in it." He laughed then, a sharp sound that was nothing like the joyous laughter from when he'd pushed her into the river.

"I was such an asshole. When people stared I knew that they respected me, looked up to me. But after the Parade..." he trailed off, looking into the darkness ahead of them, made complete by the absence of starlight through the thick canopy above. Natsumi looked on quietly, giving him time to gather his thoughts.

"It just gave me a lot of time to mellow the fuck out. I wandered around for a long time, taking odd jobs and stuff, just sorting out my shit. I thought a lot about what happened with you and Gajeel, and I felt so guilty. I said so much shit that I didn't mean to you, and I wished I could take it back. But mostly I just missed it, you know? I'd taken it all for granted and then thrown it all away like it didn't mean anything to me. I missed Gramps yelling at everyone and I missed Erza and Mira and I missed you trying to pick fights with everyone that walked through the damn door," he laughed again, softer.

"And then Tenrou Island happened," he went on, both of their expressions darkening at the memory of the failed S-Class Trials. "It's so fucked up, but I was actually glad at the beginning. I was so surprised to see everyone there, and I didn't even think about it before I just...joined in. I knew Gramps was never going to let me back, but I thought that I owed it to myself and to all of you to do what I could."