Laxus's POV

I glanced at my untouched mug of ale that Mirajane had brought me several hours ago and then looked away from it without picking it up. Instead, I reached out to stroke Snooze's soft belly as she lay on her back with her limbs splayed out like she was about to make a snow angel. It had been more than a week since I had seen Phaedra last and I was trying to remind myself how I had occupied my time before I had gone on my crusade to eradicate traces of King Hizeah's capture order.

Even though I normally would only give myself a few days of a break before choosing my next job, something made me hang back. Mirajane had done her best to keep me distracted by forcing me to come along and help pick things out for their upcoming wedding. It had been weird following after Freed, Mirajane, and Lisanna as we visited bridal salons and bakeries. Honestly, I had ignored pretty much everything and only offered my opinion when Freed came over since he had asked me to be his Best Man.

I did, however, enjoy watching them interact with each other. Seeing the way Freed and Mirajane both lit up as they talked about inconsequential things like whether they should have a swarm of doves or butterflies released after they exchanged their vows made me smile despite myself. I didn't think I could ever have the patience to go through this process myself though. Better just to elope and have it done with, I thought to myself even as I smiled when remembering how Mirajane surprised Freed by jamming a piece of cake into his mouth, getting whipped cream on his nose and lips in the process.

Snooze let out a little murmur in her sleep then turned over onto her side and wrapped her long tail around her legs and grabbed onto the tip as she continued to slumber peacefully. I was sitting by myself up in the upper section of the guild hall today since I had no desire to really mingle with anyone. Lately, I had become a bit short-tempered, punctuated by the fact that I had tossed Natsu and Gray out of the guild for trying to start one of their fights. Although if I was being honest with myself, I just didn't really want to be around Gray at the moment.

Ever since Phaedra had left on a spontaneous job with some of the other girls from the guild, he had been acting anxious. No one else had seemed to pick up on it, but having his constant look of worry made me feel uncomfortable as well and I wished I could just go back to when the most important thing in my world was getting stronger.

I had no idea what Phaedra was going to do about our confessions. Truthfully, I had wanted to punch Gray in the gut when I had gone up to her and seen her shaking like a leaf on the tip of the weakest branch of a tree during a hurricane. But even though she had been quite literally shaken by the confession, I wanted her to seriously consider it. It hadn't been my intention to tell her I had feelings for her, but I was fully prepared for her to come back and turn me down. Gray was a good guy, and even though he was a bit hotheaded, I knew he would take care of Phaedra.

Poor Juvia is going to cry though, I thought to myself as I tried to force myself to picture Gray and Phaedra acting like a couple. The mental image only made me annoyed though so I stopped forcing myself and pushed myself up from my seat to go look at the job board.

As I glanced through the S class jobs and their rewards, a familiar magic power burst to life from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I silently watched Phaedra's body stop glowing as she came back to normal speed and she reached out to stroke Snooze's back with an affection-filled look. To my surprise, Snooze's eyes popped open and she sat up, blinking sleepily up at Phaedra before raising her arms with a lazy grin. Phaedra was quick to scoop my little friend into her arms and give her a tight squeeze.

While Phaedra gave her undivided attention to Snooze, I took a moment to mentally process her new outfit. It was a little shocking to see her exposed shoulders, but I felt a strange warmth spread through my chest as I realized that her scars, which used to be so prominent, had faded to almost her normal skin tone. As my eyes wandered up to the unusual bandana that was tied around her head, I noticed that her position had shifted, and when I looked down from the headband to her face I found that she was staring right at me.

"I would like to speak with you," Phaedra said, her voice quiet but perfectly clear in the empty upper room. Technically she shouldn't even be here since she wasn't classified as an S-class mage, but I didn't feel the need to tell her that.

"Alright," I agreed, turning completely around to face her. She glanced over her shoulder, looking down at the tavern filled with rowdy fairy tail members and then looked up at me. Her thumb and forefinger were rubbing the tip of Snooze's ear gently as she lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip lightly. Curious as to what her reaction could mean, I waited silently until she looked up and met my eyes once again.

"Do you know the clearing out to the west of Magnolia? It's a few miles off the main path." Phaedra's question took me by surprise but I slowly nodded in agreement. Phaedra nodded back at me and tightened her grip on Snooze's small body.

"I'll wait for you there. And I'll take Snooze since you could electrify her if you decide to hurry," Phaedra said, turning her face so that she was no longer meeting my eyes. I felt one of my eyebrows arch in surprise at her declaration, but her body had already begun to glow and I felt her magical power spike briefly before she disappeared from in front of me.

Feeling insanely curious and a tad bit competitive, I shifted into my lightning form and zoomed off into the direction she had mentioned. As I shot through the air, crackling all the way, I recognized Phaedra's power and I followed after it, feeling like a boat pushing through the fog towards a lighthouse. Being in my lightning form I couldn't exactly "see" but I guided myself through the electric pulses that were naturally shooting off of me and out to touch whatever obstacle I might run into.

The beacon of Phaedra using her light speed suddenly disappeared and almost immediately I released my own magic. Landing solidly on my feet I glanced around, seeing that Phaedra had indeed led me to the clearing I had been picturing. I had come here to do some training back in my youth and glancing around I could actually see some of the char marks left from my target practices on the bark of the tree trunks and some of the larger stones surrounding the grassy clearing.

Putting aside my nostalgia, I glanced around until my eyes rested on Phaedra, who was sitting perched on a flat stone. Snooze, true to her name, seemed to have fallen asleep and Phaedra was looking down at her with open adoration as she gently stroked her furry head. I walked over to her and she glanced up at me, her expression immediately reverting to her normally guarded one. She gingerly moved Snooze from her lap to lay on the stone next to her, and we both watched as her long orange tail curled around her body as she continued to sleep peacefully.

Phaedra then stood up and looked directly into my eyes. I wasn't sure what I had been expecting from Phaedra after I had told her I had feelings for her, but I had to admit that I was much more entertained by her almost challenging body language than the terrified trembling I had witnessed after Gray's confession. As I continued the little staring contest that Phaedra had begun, I wondered what could be going through her mind right now. Part of me wondered if I should look away first so that she didn't feel like I was threatening her... but at the same time, I didn't want her to think I was a pushover just because I had feelings for her.

As I debated what the best course of action would be, Phaedra suddenly took a step and formed her hands into fists, both of them exploding with a bright light. The stance reminded me so much of the first time I had met her and she had stood between Natsu and me without fear that I couldn't help but grin.

"What are you doing?" I asked calmly as she continued to remain in her defensive stance.

"I want you to fight me," Phaedra replied in an equally calm voice. Blinking in surprise at this declaration I rubbed the back of my neck, neither taking a step forward or back but remaining comfortably where I was.

"Have you been hanging around Natsu too much?" I asked, not sure why but feeling the distinct desire to tease the overly serious woman in front of me. A brief smile lifted the corners of her mouth and I could see amusement flitter through her clear blue eyes, but it soon vanished behind her inexpressive mask.

"There is a purpose to this. I won't attack unless you agree though," she said, not moving from her defensive stance as she met my eyes with a determination I didn't understand. A thrill of competitiveness that I hadn't felt since I faced Jura in last year's Grand Magic Games went through me as I looked at her calmly waiting for my consent to the match. I couldn't really remember the last time someone had challenged me to a serious match without showing any kind of bravado or fear. Phaedra's calm exterior and strongly pulsing magic seemed to ignite a spark in me that I hadn't felt in a long time and I couldn't keep myself from grinning.

"Alright then," I agreed, calling some lightning to begin racing up and down my arms.

Without a word, Phaedra suddenly sprang into action. The force behind her punches startled me at first. I had never seen her fight someone with hand to hand combat before since the only time I had seen her fight she had mainly been using her light shields for defense or her light blades when the king was controlling her. But her fists were flying faster than I could follow with my eyes and even though her fists weren't large, it felt like large bullets were peppering me all over.

Another grin spread across my mouth and I jumped, propelling myself up and over Phaedra just as she was going in for another hit. Slapping my hand onto her back I let loose a bolt of electricity, propelling her away from me as I completed my flip and landed on my feet. I couldn't help but arch an eyebrow in honest admiration as I saw Phaedra create a small light shield midair to halt her unexpected flight before she slammed into a tree trunk. Her whole body began to glow and she disappeared from sight, leaving only the faintest of light streaks behind her as her light shield disappeared.

Not really wanting to be barraged by her fists of fury again, I clapped my hands together and let loose a wave of electricity starting from myself and expanding out into a circle to sweep over the entire clearing. As I spun around, my eyes widened as I saw something incredible for just a split second. Phaedra's body, made completely out of light, came into view as my bolt of electricity raced towards her. Somehow she was able to bend and twist her body perfectly to keep away from the shocking bolts. As soon as she passed over my lightning though, her body once again melted into nothing. Half a second later I felt a solid kick directly in my abdomen, knocking me back a few steps.

Coughing from the sudden expulsion of air she had just forced from me, I called up my magic and caused lightning to race up my entire body. Phaedra's body suddenly shifted from her light form when she connected with my lightning magic and she was tossed away from me from the strength of the electric shock. She managed to twist in the air and land on her feet, very cat-like, and as lightning continued to race up and down my body we looked at each other.

As I met her eyes, I was surprised to see a raw vulnerability there that I had never seen from her before. She didn't look angry, or excited... Instead, she had a strange sadness about her that was coupled with an incredible determination. Even though this was the most fun I had had in a long time battling someone, I felt myself frown as I tried to interpret what her expression meant.

Suddenly she was rushing forward faster than humanly possible and I managed to get my hands up just in time to block her. My eyes widened as I realized that instead of her fist just glowing like before, she had created small light shields that sat directly on top of her knuckles so that she avoided electrocuting herself even as she continued to pummel me with her attacks. Shifting partially into my lightning form just so I could keep up with her, we became locked in the most intense fistfight I had even been in. Neither of us was giving an inch as we traded blows and I was shocked when I managed to land a few powerful hits and yet she just grunted and kept coming at me.

This woman is insane, I thought to myself with pure admiration. Deciding that neither of us was making any headway, I leaped back, putting some distance between us, and I was surprised when Phaedra didn't immediately follow after me. I could see her shoulders heaving and I realized that my own breath was haggard from the intense, violent dance that we had just completed. Taking in a huge breath of air I channeled all of my power into one of my most powerful attacks as a dragon slayer.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!" I cried out, releasing the funnel of crackling lightning straight towards Phaedra, after making sure that Snooze was still laying on her rock safely behind me. How the little thing continued to sleep throughout our fight I had no idea, but I felt my eyes snap open in shock when Phaedra didn't even twitch as my attack raced towards her. At the last second though, she threw up her hands and encased herself completely in a narrow light shield, only just big enough to cover her body. I watched as the lightning zoomed past her, engulfing her protective shield and causing her to disappear from my view.

Feeling an unexpected fear, I cut off my roar prematurely and watched as the rest of the powerful attack washed over the spot she had once been visible in. I had to shield my eyes when my lightning faded though because it revealed a shimmering pillar of light so bright that it made spots appear in front of my eyes. Before I could recover my eyesight though, something jetted full force into my chest.

Even though I prided myself on my core strength and my ability to withstand hits, something about this one felt like a blast from the Jupiter Cannon had careened directly into me. To my chagrin, I found myself falling onto my back with the wind getting knocked out of me so hard it left my mouth open and gasping for air as my lungs tried to recover.

After my lungs finally remembered how to expand, I gasped in some air and my eyes focused on Phaedra's face floating above me. As my oxygen-starved brain began to function properly once again I surveyed the strange situation I found myself in. Phaedra was straddling my chest, one hand gripping the collar of my stiff shirt while her other was pulled back in a glowing fist aimed directly at my face. She was breathing as hard as if she had just run a marathon and I could feel her leg muscles trembling against my chest. But even though I was regaining my strength after her spectacular tackle, her exhausted yet eerily fierce eyes arrested my thoughts and all I could do was stare at her.

The glowing around her fist dimmed and she opened it slightly. I watched as a small blade of light began to expand from her enclosed fingers into a large blade that rested only inches from my throat. A strange whirring sound was coming from the light beam, but I hardly paid it any mind, keeping my eyes riveted on Phaedra's as her breathing began to calm down.

"Do you fear me?" Phaedra whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over her light blade. My eyes narrowed in confusion as I met her gaze that looked more defeated than I had ever seen her before. Even though she was clearly at the advantage and had been giving me a run for my money in our fight, her expression was filled with self-loathing and a sadness that made me surprisingly angry.

"Why should I fear you?" I asked, my voice a little huskier than normal since my lungs were still recovering from nearly caving in earlier. Phaedra shook her head, looking down at me with a weird mix of sympathy and pain in her expression.

"You don't have to lie, Laxus. Anyone would be scared if they knew they could be killed with a flick of a finger," Phaedra said, even though she kept her body completely still. I narrowed my eyes at her and jerked up, bringing my neck within a hair's breadth of her deadly light blade. Phaedra gasped in shock, immediately making the blade disappear before I could even graze it with my skin.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Phaedra shouted, clenching her fist and walloping me across the cheek. I could taste the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth, signaling I had cut my cheek against my teeth from her punch. Phaedra leapt off my chest. I quickly spit a mix of blood and saliva onto the grass before clambering up to my feet and walking over to her furiously pacing form.

Somewhere inside me, that was not boiling with frustration at this ridiculously attractive woman, I thought it was actually kind of sweet that she was getting so worked up by my apparent suicide attempt. That wasn't what I had intended though, and I reached out and grabbed her upper arm as she continued to pace in an oblong pattern. Phaedra whirled around, wrenching her arm from my grasp and I blinked rapidly in surprise as she began beating her fists against my chest. There was hardly any strength in her arms as she hit me though, and I stood silently as she let out more words than I had heard her utter in the entire time I had known her.

"You idiot! Why would you do something so foolish! Do you think that this is a game? That no matter how much you get hurt you'll just bounce back?! If I had hurt you I..."

Deciding that her tirade had gone on long enough, I reached out and grabbed both of her hands, holding them firmly between us and I glared down at her. My nerve nearly broke when I realized that tears were streaming down her smooth cheeks, but I quickly reset myself and glared down at her.

"You are not a killer, Phaedra," I growled, staring her right in the eyes. Phaedra's entire body flinched and she pulled against my grip on her wrists and hands but I held fast, keeping her in front of me. "I don't care what you did in the past. You may have the power to slice me in two, but not once during our fight did you use those light blades. And even when you did use it, you dismissed it before I could even come close to hurting myself."

Phaedra looked up at me with a look of open horror on her face and it was all I could do to keep myself from knocking her over the head. I knew that she had to have been traumatized beyond anything I could even imagine from being the king's assassin slave for so many years, but all I wanted was for her to leave that in the past and be happy. But she was being so darn stubborn!

"I..." Phaedra's voice was shaking, although her tears had stopped and I frowned as she looked up at me with genuine desperation in her normally calm blue eyes. "I have nightmares... of killing people," she whispered, her words sounding like they were being forced out of a tiny whistle. Her wrists held tightly in my own began trembling along with the rest of her body and I felt my heart plunge into my stomach.

"I see them, even when I'm awake. I see myself stabbing Wendy through the heart like I killed my parents and siblings. Or I see Natsu and Gray sliced into individual body parts like the King forced me to do if he was really angry... I've even killed Snooze in my dreams." Phaedra's body continued to shake but her eyes never left mine as she expressed her hidden pain to me. I could do nothing but listen as her breathing began to come out in a near hyperventilating gasp.

"What if one day it's not just a nightmare? What if I lose myself and end up hurting someone I care about? How could you not think that I'm a monster?"

Phaedra's eyes were shimmering with unshed tears and more fear than anyone should ever have to experience. Seeing that, I felt like my insides were twisting into knots. Slowly, I began to loosen my grip on her wrists and then reached out and wrapped her into my arms, pulling her gently against my chest. Her body stiffened and I could tell she was about to push against me, but I rested my chin on top of her head and I could almost feel the fight in her vaporize and felt a ticklish sensation when her bangs brushed against my collar bone as her forehead hovered just barely away from my chest.

"With what you've gone through it would surprise me if you didn't have nightmares like that," I said, shifting my head so I was leaning my cheek against her head and I could talk more freely. "And I know that you're not a monster Phaedra because you would never hurt your friends willingly... Unlike me."

I could almost feel Phaedra's confusion as her shoulders relaxed then tensed over and over again. When she pulled back slightly I loosened my grip on her to meet her eyes, although I found it surprisingly difficult to remove my arms from around her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up at me with an expression that seemed to be a mix of confusion and annoyance as if she couldn't believe I would say something so ridiculous.

I guess she had a higher opinion of me than I imagined, I thought wryly before explaining to her how I had used my Raijinshuu to make the Fairy Tail members attack each other in order to save the women Ever had turned to stone. Phaedra listened silently as I explained about my change of heart and my expulsion from Fairy Tail, then my eventual reinstatement under Gildarts' order.

I was surprised at how calm she was as I told her my story, and even more surprised that she didn't try to move out of my loose embrace. She didn't react at all throughout the story, which actually made it easier for me to keep going. I had thought I had gotten over this by now, but as I went through the experience I was surprised at the disappointment and pang of guilt that I still felt for that colossal mistake. Even though I knew that everyone had already forgiven me long ago.

When I had finished my story I stood there, for the first time feeling awkward being so close to Phaedra. She had not looked away from me even once during my explanation and even though her arms were hanging down by her sides, she hadn't pushed away my arms. We were only inches apart and I wondered if I should move back after all.

She made that decision for me though as she reached up, placing her hands on my forearms and gently pushing them down. I immediately followed her prompting, but I was surprised that as I went to take a step back she caught one of my hands in her smaller one. Her partially gloved hand held mine in a tentative grip, causing me to freeze and completely forget about my plan to move away from her. Phaedra was looking down at my hand, and because of the angle I couldn't really see her expression, but I could feel her uncertainty in the way she held my hand gingerly as if she was prepared for me to slap it away or something.

"Do you really think... Is it possible to leave your past behind you?" Phaedra asked, her voice cracking from emotion as she glanced up at my face and then quickly looked back down at our connected hands. A wry chuckle escaped me at her question and I shrugged while gently tightening my grip on her hand.

"I don't think you can ever forget the past, but if you focus on it too much you'll miss out on the present." I grimaced as I realized that I had just said something that sounded like what my gramps would say, but I did feel like it was the truth. Phaedra glanced up at me and slowly nodded, still looking hesitant but her shoulders relaxed slightly and I tried to smile confidently at her.

"Do you still like me?" 

A/N Hey guys. Once again, this chapter went WAY longer than I was expecting. So I'm just splitting it up to make it easier to read. I hope you enjoyed this story and are happy with the conclusion which is in the next chapter <3