Freed arrived at the house when the fireworks already started to lighten up the sky above the city. He just shut the door behind him and took off his boots and coat, making his way to the closet. He took out Laxus' big old backpack and put it on the bed in the bedroom, starting to go trough what was needed for the mission.
It was not like it was the first time he packed everything ready for Laxus, but it was worrying that he didn't know where he was going and what he would do on this mission. Makarov didn't tell anything about what the missions contained. But if they were picked up to choose who would be the next Master of the Fairy Tail... They were not just some simple missions.
After packing the first-aid kit, clothes and a blanket, he sat down on the bed for a moment. He really wanted to go on this mission with Laxus but he couldn't. How could he make sure Laxus would be okay? What if something really would happen on the mission...
Freed snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the front door opening. Big shoes hit the floor in a familiar way that told him Laxus had come home. He should just get up, wish him good luck and whatever Laxus wanted for them to happen, he only needed to accept it.
So why couldn't he get up? His legs refused to listen to his rational thoughts. He heard footsteps from the hallway and his hands started to shake suddenly. Why couldn't he control himself?!
Laxus stepped on the room and looked at his green haired mate who was sitting at the edge of the bed. It pained him to see Freed looking at him so terrified and ready to cry at any second.
"Laxus..." Freed said and his voice broke.
"Don't talk, just listen", Laxus said stepping in front of the rune mage. "I know what you're thinking. You are wondering why I didn't say something. You are freaking out because you think I'm doing some shit like ditching you while leaving or something similar. I won't do that", he assured.
"If you knew how I was going to react, why didn't you say anything?" Freed muttered.
"First of all I didn't know how to tell this to you without making you worry all the time", Laxus huffed. "Then I needed to think of a way how to make sure you would absolutely be sure everything will be alright and nothing would change while I'm gone."
"You could have just said so", Freed said and stood up now. "Do you have any idea how I was feeling when I had to hear about this mission from your grandfather, not directly from you? You're about to be away for two months! You had so many days time to tell me!"
"And if I told you, then what? You would act brave, smile and be like nothing is wrong but still worry like hell and overthink everything? I can see it when you're in pain, Freed", Laxus said caressing softly Freed's cheek, making him blush slightly. "I don't like seeing you in pain."
"That is not a valid reason to leave me out of this", Freed muttered. "Just because you don't want to see me worrying is not a good reason not to tell me something like this before you are just about to leave because guess what, I am going to worry no matter what and I know overthinking is something I often do but I can't stop."
"I understand, Freed", Laxus said kissing Freed's forehead. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you before. You know I'm going to miss you like hell, righ?" he asked wrapping his arms around Freed.
"I know now", the swordsman said smiling slightly sad, tugging Laxus' purple shirt in his hands. "I'm going to miss you too... I would definitely come with you but Master forbid it."
"Yeah, we are not allowed to take anyone with us, we are only allowed to rely on our own skills."
"Let's just hope you don't need to talk too much..." Freed chuckled, making Laxus laugh.
"I can speak well enough if I need to", he assured. "Just trust me. Come on, babe, I wanna show you something", Laxus smiled nodding towards the door.
Freed followed Laxus to the street and they continued until they were at the forest.
"Why are we here?" Freed asked as they climbed up the old trail.
"I was going to bring you here right after the speech", Laxus said. "You remember this place, right?"
"I remember we used to come here when we were younger", Freed nodded. "If I remember correctly, there is a beautiful view across the town."
"You're right", Laxus chuckled.
Finally they got up and Freed smiled looking at the city of Magnolia. There were so many lights because of lanterns and despite it being quite late already, most of the folks were still awake and outside on the streets. They could hear distant music and murmurs.
"Damn, I was so sure we would make it in time to see the fireworks from here", Laxus muttered disappointed.
"It's alright, this is still really nice", Freed chuckled.
"That's good", Laxus smiled and Freed noticed a basked and a lanter that were on the ground.
Laxus took the lantern and hanged it on the branch, using a tiny spark to lit up the candle. Freed could hardly believe what he was seeing. Laxus actually tried to do something romantic! It wasn't maybe anything big and showy but Freed loved it, as they sat down on the grass under the lantern.
"Don't worry, I didn't make these myself", Laxus chuckled when Freed looked what was in the basket. Finger food, that was nice. And a bottle of very expensive wine with glasses.
"You don't like wine", Greenette said.
"Eh, it won't kill me", Laxus shrugged it off and he opened the bottle.
"You know I can't stay mad at you after all this", Freed huffed.
"Really? Didn't even thought about that", Laxus smirked pouring some wine in glasses. "I just wanted to do something nice for you because I have to leave for two months. And when we read those books of yours together, you always seem to enjoy that romantic shit they do to each other. So I just thought what the hell, maybe I could do something like that at least once", he smiled and handed the other glass to Freed.
"Knowing how you really feel uncomfortable with things like these, that is really sweet", the rune mage smiled, clinking glasses with Laxus.
"I brought a blanket too because I was thinking about spending the whole night here so we could watch the sunrise together", the lightning mage smiled.
"I like that idea", Freed chuckled. "Let's hope it won't rain."
"Oh come on, I really try to be romantic here", Laxus laughed. "Bitch."
"Now you sound more like the Laxus I know and love", Freed smirked and he kissed his Thunder God.
They both got surprised when suddenly more fireworks was shoot in the air. It was really beautiful sight, this place was absolutely the best location to admire fireworks as they brightened the whole sky with their colors.
"Seems like we weren't that late after all", Freed smiled.
"Yeah, that's good", Laxus nodded and he leaned against the tree behind him, pulling Freed closer.
They sat there, watching how fireworks brightened the sky and their booming filled the air. Finally there were only couple of fireworks left and then there were silence as they stopped. Freed smiled as he knew that even if the fireworks were beautiful and all, they both still preferred silence.
Suddenly Freed could almost hear in his ears Valdeghar's words what he told him earlier in his sleep. He knew he had to speak with Laxus about that. It was just such a pity that he had to break this beautiful moment.
"I need to tell you something", Freed finally said and Laxus gave him an inquisitive hum. "Valdeghar told me something earlier."
"Yeah? What was it?"
"He told me to be careful and stay near you", Freed said and Laxus looked at his boyfriend. "He couldn't tell me what is going on but I guess we will find out it at some point. I'm worried that he meant something might happen to you."
"How can he know something is going on?"
"I don't know, he just knows."
"Could he be lying?"
"No, Valdeghar is actually very reliable, he wouldn't say something like that without a reason. Sure, we weren't always in good terms but we have learnt how to work together. He warned about the Lord."
"Who's that?" Laxus asked frowning.
"I'm not sure... But if I have to guess, I believe he meant my grandfather", Freed said. "We should be really careful then."
"Yeah... If I had known that earlier, I would have definitely refused to go in this mission", Laxus grumbled. "For me it sounds more like something might happen to you."
"If that is true, I have Bickslow and Evergreen here to help me", Freed assured. "And everyone else, so you don't need to worry. You're the one who has to go out there alone for the whole two months without anyone's help."
"I will be fine. I'll be back before you know it. I won't let some old fart to stop me coming back home to you", Laxus smirked brushing Freed's neck with his fingers. "Just promise me that you will be careful."
"I will", Freed promised with a smile.
As the evening went by, they just looked the view of the Magnolia as well as the sky filled with stars. At some point Freed started to doze off but he woke up when he heard the big bells of the cathedral, telling them it was now midnight.
"Did you fall asleep?" Laxus chuckled when Freed yawned.
"Yes, I'm really sorry", he said.
"It's alright, babe. You can sleep. It's still six hours before sunrise."
"Are you not going to sleep at all?" Freed asked and he pulled the blanket over them and leaned his head against Laxus' chest.
"I will, just not yet. I still want to admire this. Are you cold?"
"No, I'm fine", Freed assured closing his eyes. Laxus moved his hands and Freed couldn't stop smiling when he felt how big, soft coat wrapped around them. "Alright, this is much better", he murmured.
"That's good", Laxus chuckled.
"Freed? Freed, wake up."
Freed hummed something nonsensical and brushed some green hair out of his face.
"Is it morning already?" he yawned and wiped his eyes. "I think I didn't wake up at all through the whole night when we were here."
"You were in a really deep sleep", Laxus chuckled. "The sun is starting to get up."
Freed smiled and he was leaning against Laxus between his legs, moving just a little bit enough so he could see how the sky at the east had started to turn orange.
"I love that color", the rune mage smiled. "It reminds me of your eyes."
"You're still half-asleep", Laxus chuckled.
"I mean it. I have always admired your eyes, they are so beautiful yet sharp and somehow dangerous", Freed smirked.
"That sounds odd, I don't think I have ever heard someone saying something like that about my eyes", Laxus said. "I love your eyes too", he smirked touching Freed's cheek, making him chuckle.
"I'm glad to hear that", the rune mage said.
They just sat there and looked how sun slowly raised itself higher and higher. Shadows disappeared and light filled the whole town as well as the forest around them. The burning orange color started to fade little by little and they could hear how someone at the cathedral started to toll the bells.
"I'm glad we stayed here", Freed said.
"Me too", Laxus nodded.
"But we can't stay long", Freed sighed. "We still need to fully pack your backpack and you need to eat."
"Don't worry, we still have time", Laxus reassured kissing his boyfriend. "Just a little bit longer, until the sun is up enough so it will brighten the sea."
So they waited. Freed smiled when the sun finally was high enough so it's rays glimmered at the water surface.
"That's breathtaking", the swordsman said. "So beautiful."
"Yeah", Laxus smiled. "It is."
"A perfect ending scene for a romantic picnic like this. It was worth to wait", Freed said.
"We are not going anywhere just yet."
"Really? Is there something more?"
"Yes", Laxus said and now he looked really uneasy. "Fuck, I hate saying romantic crap no matter how much I try", he growled annoyed.
"You've done really well, you can stop", Freed chuckled. "Don't do anything you don't like doing just for me."
"I have to", Laxus said. "Because I want to even though I don't like it. That sounds ridiculous..."
"No, for me it makes perfect sense because I know you well enough", Freed smirked. "I'm honestly really surprised you could do this much just for me."
"Why shouldn't I? I'm still kicking myself because I didn't understand it sooner how much I love you, so now that I have you I have to make sure we can enjoy every second together."
"Now that I would call romantic", Freed grinned and he turned around kissing Laxus. "But everything happened for a reason. You didn't understand it because you weren't ready."
"I guess... But I'm ready now", Laxus smirked. "Hell, I'm ready for anything. And if you know me as well as you said then I don't even need to use some fancy words and shit, do big romantic gestures like in those books."
"They are just books", Freed smiled. "Real life is never like that. I know you're not like that but I appreciate that you try sometimes."
"You have no idea how fucking hard it is so I really hope I don't need to do this for nothing", Laxus said making Freed confused.
The lightning dragon slayer put his hand in the pocket of his coat and took something out. It was a black box with velvet coating.
"Okay, don't say even a peep", Laxus said when Freed opened his mouth, his eyes widened. "Speak only when I give you the permission, okay?" he asked and Freed nodded quickly. "Alright... Okay, so... I won't do that kneeling and shit because that's stupid, so I'm just going to talk. I actually never thought I would really do this some day. And we have been together only what? One month? But we have known each other many years before that", blond smiled. "And even though I didn't realise it, I have liked you for a long time already. Everything is so good right now so it kills me that I have to leave you for two months. But I know you will be alright, babe, 'cause you're strong, wise and careful. At that two months we are not allowed to make any contact so it's going to be harsh and lonely, but just believe that I will come back."
Freed really did his very best so he wouldn't cry but he already felt tears in his eyes.
"Don't cry", Laxus groaned. "Because now I start crying too, shit. I hate it when I'm having this much touchy feelings", he snarled, making Freed laugh. "Whatever, I just want to make sure you really understand that I will come back and nothing changes. I will not come back with someone else or forget you or something like that. And don't you dare find someone else while I'm gone, that ass is only mine. I will eat every single guy who tries to touch it."
"My jealous dragon", Freed smirked.
"Damn right. And no speaking. I don't know if I will become the Master or not after this mission, I honestly don't care anymore. But I know it means a lot to Gramps so I just have to do it for him. And yeah, Fairy Tail needs a new Master we have to finally admit it. Gramps maybe won't die just yet but he cannot defend the Guild like he used to. So, I'm sorry that I have to leave you but I have no other choice. I just want to ask you before that: Will you marry me, Freed Justine?" he asked looking at the rune mage.
"Yes", Freed sniffled. "Definitely", he smiled.
"That's good to hear", Laxus smiled and he took the ring out of the box. "This belonged to my grandmother but don't worry, it's just a plain ring so no-one knows if it belongs to male or female. It's still a Dreyar family heirloom and I want you to carry it."
"I love it", Freed smiled looking how Laxus put the ring on his finger. "What about you?"
"I have this", Laxus said and he showed a ring matching with Freed's. "This is from Gramps. He ain't getting married anymore so he gave these for me a long time ago."
Laxus put the ring on his own finger and Freed couldn't stop admiring how good their hands looked when they put them side to side, rings touching.
"I love you", Freed said kissing Laxus and he put his arms around his neck, touching his blond hair with his long fingers.
"I love you too, babe", Laxus smiled wrapping his arms around the swordsman. "Everything will be alright."
"I know. I will wait patiently", Freed smiled and rested their foreheads together. "You had to wait me at the start, now I will wait for you."
"It's only two months", Laxus laughed. "It's not like I'm leaving for two years. We can do this."
"You're right", Freed chuckled, kissing his dragon slayer again.