Chapter 1: Frustration
It was another beautiful day in Magnolia. The sun was shining and the famous Fairy Tail guild hall was as rowdy as ever. The guild members were eating, drinking, and laughing to their heart's content. It had been almost a year and a half since the battle with Alavarez and there was finally some sense of peace in the world. Inside the Fairy Tail guild hall, Natsu and Lucy were having a meal together.
"Ugh, I've been having really bad writer's block lately" Lucy groans.
"Why don't you try writing a side story and take a break from your novel? It might help you clear your head." Natsu says carelessly, as he's about to stuff his face.
Lucy stares blankly at him, "That... is actually a really good idea Natsu! I can't believe you just had one of those." Natsu is too distracted by his meal to register the jab at his intelligence.
Lucy scans the guild looking for inspiration. Suddenly the guildhall doors slam open. In the opening, the powerful presence of the Thunder Legion takes place and the guild goes silent. "Bingo" Lucy says under her breath.
The Thunder Legion starts walking into the guild and slowly everyone goes back to what they were doing. "Hey Laxus, come over here! Let's battle it out and-" Natsu yells while still chewing his food.
"Doesn't he ever get tired of getting punched in the face?" Evergreen groans.
"You've gotta admire his persistence" Bickslow chuckles.
As they make their way to an empty table, ignoring Natsu, Lucy runs up to the team, "Hey! How'd the job g-". She stops once she notices the tension between the two members who haven't said a word since they walked in.
"It was fine." Laxus replies, "Do you need something?" There was an awkwardness in the air.
"You know... nevermind I think my writer's block has been all cleared up" Lucy says as she backs away nervously. She makes her way back to the table.
"What happened? Did you get the writing material you wanted?" Natsu asks.
"Not quite. Something's up with Freed and Laxus. It's so weird I feel like they have always been in sync, but the tension between them has been so hostile lately. I wonder what happened" Lucy explains, still eyeing the Thunder Legion's table.
At the Thunder Legion's table Freed finally broke the silence, "You didn't have to be so rude, Laxus."
"How was that being rude??" Laxus snaps back.
Freed scoffs and rolls his eyes.
"You have had a bad attitude the whole way back, Freed. What the hell is your problem?"
The two of them glare at each other.
"You want to know what my problem is?!"Freed stands up as if he's about to yell at Laxus, then stops. He notices some of the other guild members staring. His shoulders relax, he takes in a deep breath, "Nothing. I'm going for a walk." he gets out of his seat and walks away from the group.
Laxus rubs his eyebrows and lets out a heavy sigh, "I need a drink." He gets up and walks to the bar.
"Mira, give me a pint."
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks as she pours Laxus some beer.
"Maybe after a drink... or five." he replies without looking up from the counter.
Still at the table, Evergreen and Bickslow are left alone with the lingering tension. "We should talk to them. They're both too stubborn and dumb to clear this up on their own" says Evergreen.
"Yeah, I'll talk to Freed. You take Laxus. Let him have a drink or two first though" Bickslow responds. The two of them get up from the table and make their separate ways.
Bickslow starts walking outside of the guild and finds Freed looking out toward the sea, leaning over the terrace. His chin was resting in the palm of his hand. They both stood there for a minute embracing the cool evening breeze after a long day.
Bickslow sighs, "You should know better than to keep your feelings bottled up, Freed."
Freed doesn't bother turning to look at Bickslow. There's a long pause before he responds.
"Why doesn't he trust us?"
Bickslow quickly looks at Freed's face and sees his expression had turned from angry to almost heartbroken.
"What do you mean? Of course Laxus trusts us. Why would you say something like that?" Bickslow responds.
"Then why does he feel the need to take on all of the heavy burden with every job we do? He did it when we faced Tartaros, Alvarez, and again in this job." says Freed "I tried helping him out and he pushed me away. Instead, he struggled and almost got himself really hurt."
"That's not because he doesn't trust us and deep down you know that. Are you sure that's the real reason you're mad at him?" Bickslow asks.
Freed turns to face him, "Yes it is. It's like he questions my capability to protect him. And don't look at me like that. I've resolved my feelings for Laxus. That's in the past."
Bickslow stares him down, "Just like that?"
"Just like that." Freed responds. He turns back to the sea but Bickslow is still looking at him with sharp eyes.
"You never told him how you felt though, how could your feelings be resolved?" Bickslow questions.
"There's nothing to tell. My feelings were childish. Simple admiration for him. As soon as I realized that, I was able to focus on becoming a stronger wizard for the Thunder Legion. Laxus and I will always be good friends." Freed glanced inside the guild to see Laxus smiling and laughing at the bar with Mirajane, "You said it yourself, he's not in my league. He'd be better off with someone else."
"Ah jeez Freed, I didn't mean anything by that. I was just joking and Laxus does believe in you! He always has." says Bickslow, feeling guilty.
Freed turns back to Bickslow and a soft smile emerges on his face, "I know, I'm teasing you. Thanks for the talk Bickslow. You and Ever don't have to worry, I'll be fine by tomorrow." Freed makes his way back into the guild hall and heads home to call it a night.
After taking a bath, Freed laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling getting lost in his thoughts. He remembered seeing Laxus and Mira having a picnic in the woods, then their expressions at the bar earlier. He meant it when he said his feelings for Laxus were resolved. If anything, he was happy that Laxus found someone like Mirajane. Freed trusts Mira. She was the one who saved him from himself during the battle of Fairy Tail, and taught him to open his heart to the rest of the guild. Not to mention she's drop dead gorgeous. Maybe she understands Laxus better than he can. They would be good for each other.
Freed shakes his head wondering why he's even thinking about all of that. It was clear his feelings were one-sided. As soon as he came to terms with that he was able to spend more time focusing on his magic. Everything will blow over by tomorrow, and the team will find another job to go on by the next day.
****
Laxus chugs one last pint of beer, pays his tab, then makes his way out. He walks outside and feels the cold breeze on his face almost sobering him up. "I would think you had a better handle on your emotions, Laxus."
Laxus turns around to see Gray Fullbuster standing behind him. "Look who finally decided to wear some clothes" he quips, clearly buzzed.
"Very funny. Shouldn't you be clearing up the situation with Freed instead of getting drunk?" Gray shoots back.
"Freed and I are just fine" Laxus replies.
"Sure. That's why he almost blew up on you earlier and you're here getting wasted alone. It doesn't take an idiot to see the bad tension between the two of you lately" Gray says concerned.
"Oh, really? Who are you to tell me how I should communicate with my teammates?" Laxus shoots back angrily.
"Take it from me Laxus, if you keep avoiding the conversation the two of you need to have, it'll be too late." Laxus and Gray stare at each other for a while.
Laxus scoffs, "Whatever. Isn't Juvia waiting for you? She might get jealous if she sees you out here talking to me."
Gray walks past Laxus, but before he makes his way into the guild he says, "Life is too short to be holding back" then walks in.
Laxus hesitates, he looks up at the crescent moon shining through the night. He sighs, "What the hell does he know?" then walks home.
****
The next morning, Laxus goes down to the kitchen and sits at one of the barstools while rubbing his eyes and temples. It was clear he was pretty hungover. He hears a mug slide in front of him and the sudden smell of coffee causes his eyes to widen. He looks up from the mug to see Freed standing there with his own cup in his hand, "Goodmorning" Freed says to him while sliding the other mug towards Laxus.
"Morning" Laxus responds, accepting the simple peace offering. They sat and drank their coffee together and carried on as if yesterday never happened.
Bickslow and Ever come downstairs soon after. They pause before entering the kitchen, "Looks like our conversations really did help." says Bickslow. They watch Freed and Laxus laughing about something that happened on their last job.
"About that..." Evergreen says under her breath.
"You did talk to him didn't you?" Bickslow presses.
Evergreen smiles at him nervously, "heh well he was already talking to Mira and I might have gotten distracted helping Juvia get ready for a date..."
Bickslow gives her an annoyed look before easing up, "I guess we're lucky Freed is mature enough for the both of them."
"I am glad to see him smiling again," Evergreen chimes, "He seemed to be more serious lately, it had me worried about him."
"I think since he officially became an S-class wizard he wanted to get stronger and more serious about his skills," Bickslow explains.
Evergreen laughs, "Freed is as serious as they come. I guess I worried because he was acting distant towards all of us for a minute, not just Laxus."
Bickslow grabs Evergreen into a chokehold. "Look at you not thinking about yourself for once!" he teases, "Come help me make pancakes I need your help with planning something." After Evergreen fights free from Bickslow's chokehold, the two of them cook pancakes and have breakfast with Freed and Laxus.
****
Around noon, the team arrived at the guildhall and began to enjoy their time off. Bickslow and Laxus were chatting it up at the bar with Makarov and Mirajane, Evergreen was having lunch with Elfman, and Freed was back at the bulletin board looking for their next job. He was having a hard time choosing what would be best to help the Thunder Legion improve when suddenly one caught his eye.
The flyer read, "URGENT: THE CITY OF MOONLIGHT NEEDS HELP! GANG MEMBERS ARE TERRORIZING OUR STREETS!"
Freed grabbed the flyer from the board and made his way to the bar.
Laxus sees him walking towards them and yells out, "Hey Freed! Find our next job already?"
"I believe so," replies Freed, "I think I've found the perfect job actually. It's something I think will actually challenge us. We should leave tomorrow morning."
Bickslow shoots a look at Evergreen as if cueing her to say, "Wait, tomorrow?"
"Is that a problem for you?" Laxus responds.
Evergreen looks a little flushed before saying, "Well.. you see I already made plans to spend the week with Elfman. It's been so long since we got to spend some alone time together."
"Yeah.. I don't think I can go on this job either you guys.. I promised my girl I'd take her out somewhere special."
Freed and Laxus give each other blank stares. The atmosphere between the team quickly got quiet. "Wait, you and Elfman are official now?" Laxus asks Evergreen.
"I mean I thought it was pretty obvious.." she replies.
Freed turns over to Bickslow, "Your girl?! Who are you dating??"
Bickslow smiles mischievously, "Sorry buddy, I don't kiss and tell."
Freed looks down at the job flyer, "Well I guess we don't have to go on a job right now" he says with a disappointed look on his face "I'll put the flyer back on the board."
"Wait!" Bickslow yells, stopping Freed in his tracks. "Why don't you and Laxus just go on the job together?" he suggests "It'll be like one-on-one S-class training for you Freed, since Laxus has more experience."
Laxus and Freed look at each other for a minute. "I think that'll be good. It can help prepare you for solo S-class jobs" offers Laxus.
Freed is hesitant. Going on a job alone with Laxus after they just resolved their argument from the last job? It might be too soon to be alone together. But he really does want to train for solo jobs.
"Alright, we'll leave tomorrow morning. Pack tonight so we don't waste any time tomorrow. It takes several days to get to Moonlight according to the map of Fiore" Freed ordered.
"Aye aye captain!" Laxus smirked, causing Freed to involuntarily blush.
In the morning, Bickslow and Ever watched as Freed and Laxus gathered their belongings and left for Moonlight. The two of them leave for their job, waving goodbye to Ever and Bickslow.
"Wow, I can't believe that actually worked!" says Evergreen.
Bickslow laughs, "Right? I for sure thought they were going to fight it a little bit more. Maybe they subconsciously wanted to go on this job alone together."
"So who are you dating, Bickslow?" Evergreen asks.
"Wouldn't you like to know" Bickslow smiles.
"... yes... that's why I asked" replied Ever, confused.
"Hey!"
Bickslow and Evergreen jump out of their seats.
Behind them stood Makarov with a worried look on his face, "Did Laxus say he was going to Moonlight?"
"Yeah. He and Freed went to do some one-on-one S-class training" answers Bickslow.
"Oh.. okay as long as he didn't go alone" says Makarov, relief instantly washing over his face.
"You looked really worried for a second, why were you asking?" Evergreen questions.
Makarov motions for the two of them to sit down, "You see, Moonlight is uncharted territory in Fiore. It was only recently discovered, so even the Magic Council does not know much about it. There are no signals of magic being given off and it's as if it just randomly emerged from the ground fully inhabited."
Bickslow and Evergreen look at each other with concern for their friends.
"But Laxus and Freed are some of our strongest wizards, I have no doubt they will be able handle anything thrown their way." he reassures.
The two ease up a bit, "You're right. Together Freed and Laxus are unstoppable. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about" says Evergreen.