Hear me

13

"Well, if it hadn't been for you, Hades would have taken us all out," she added. "But I don't think I ever thanked you for letting me have him in the end."

"You had more right to him than I did," he argued. After all, she'd been the one wearing the emblem, not him. She had deserved to end that fucker more than he ever did.

"But anyway," he said before she could say anything to the contrary, "like I said, I knew I wasn't going to suddenly be welcome just because I came through. But it was nice just seeing everyone again. And then we all got swept up in the shitstorm sweepstakes that was Acnologia and I was so pissed off. Not even because of him, but at myself for letting my life go the way it did and for never saying anything to you and just...for everything."

"When we woke up, it was such a relief, but it also sucked because it was just more of the same. The thought of wandering around the country like I had been killed me, so I came back, got a place on the edge of town just so I could feel like I was at least a little closer to everything that I cared about. And then Guildarts reinstated me and it was like the world opened up again. I was determined to do better, to be better, but every time anyone looked at me, it was like they were expecting me to go off the rails again. It sucked to be treated like some sort of feral animal. Even after I helped us win the Games and take down the dragons, it still feels like people are just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had nightmares about it...about hurting everyone, hurting you. And I proved everyone's suspicions right when I pulled that shit the other day. It just...sucks to realize that I haven't changed as much as I thought I had," he seemed to shrink as he finished.

It broke Natsumi's heart to hear how much he'd suffered. She'd missed him, remembered wishing Gramps to reconsider when he'd sent Laxus away. She'd even missed Laxus specifically, even though they'd fought in what both had initially thought was going to be death match. There'd been no denying that there was a Laxus-shaped hole in the guild that no one else could ever fill. But she'd had everyone around her to help with the loss. She'd had Happy and Lucy the rest of the team, including Wendy, when she'd come into their lives.

But Laxus had been alone, without even the Thunder Legion to follow him.

She jumped him, hugging him viciously, only just remembering to snuff out the flame in her hand before grabbing him.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his skin, as if she could take the pain of his year in exile away with the force of her embrace.

He hugged her back, burying his face in her hair, even if he did have to bend his knees slightly to do so.

"It's not like it was your fault," he said. "I'm the one who acted like an ass. Gramps was right to do what he did. I just wish I was better at living up to who I thought I was."

"But if I hadn't misunderstood...if I'd listened to what you had to say, then you would have never had reason to fight me," she argued. She'd only wanted to fight him, not cause him actual pain.

"Please," he laughed, "you know it's my fault. I'm the one who spent the last few years actively avoiding how I felt. I gave you a complex about it, and then thought me telling you how I felt in the heat of the moment would make it suddenly okay. I knew you wouldn't respond well, but I did it anyway. It was just one fucking stupid decision after another, but at that point, I was so tired of floundering about what to do to give you what you wanted from me."

"And so I decided it was worth whatever shit the Old Man was going to put me through to show you that I was serious. That I actually did care about you instead of just thinking you were some hot chick that couldn't hack it as a mage."

She started to protest again, to apologize once more, but he cut her off.

"So what I'm saying is that I know I should have handled it better, and I regret that, but I'm also glad that I did it, since it ended up working out for the best."