After leaving the treehouse, I walk back to the guild hall, downcast, as my friend was suddenly taken from me. I sat down at one of the tables with a plate of Sheppard's pie in front of me for my dinner, but I can't help but prod my food with my fork and only take small bites. My concern for Laxus continues to grow and I just want to know that he's okay. Master Makarov walks over to me and sits down next to me at the table.
"What's troubling you Freed? Don't you like the food?" Master questions.
"Food is the least of my problems at the moment." I grumble.
"Let me guess, is it about Laxus?" Master asks.
"Yeah. I'm worried about him. His dad was literally dragging Laxus against his will and you just stood there and did nothing." I say tautly.
"Freed. I have tried time and time again to help Laxus, honestly I have. A year ago I even tried to take guardianship of him because I was concerned about his home life, but Ivan, his dad, he's crafty. The authorities saw nothing wrong and days continued as normal. When I can, I invite Laxus to stay with me, but Ivan is very controlling, so Laxus only stays with me about two days a week, if that." Master explains.
"But... can't you do something else to help? He looked so frightened when he left." I say with concern.
"As I've said Freed, I've tried. I could banish Ivan from the guild to punish him, but then I will lose all contact with Laxus. All I can do is watch over him the best I can. This is none of your worry though, you are too young to know the details." Master says.
"Fine. I'm not hungry at the moment, I'm going to sit in the corner for a bit." I say sadly as I get up from my seat and walk away from the table to the quiet corner in the guild hall.
If only there was a way I could help my friend. I get out a pack of cards and start playing a game I made up to pass the time, until a familiar face catches my eye.
"Cana." I say as I look up from the game I am playing.
"Hey Freed, how are you doing?" Cana asks.
"Better than I was, thanks." I reply, trying to keep my worry for Laxus at a low level.
"Aw c'mon, I know something is still troubling you. You can tell me." Cana says as she sits next to me.
"Well, I made friends with Laxus, Master Makarov's grandson, but I'm really worried about him, what should I do?" I question.
"Oh, I think I've seen Laxus around occasionally. I think that if you are worried about him, then go and visit him, maybe even give him a gift to cheer him up." Cana answered.
"That's a really good idea, except that his dad is quite scary." I reply.
"Well, the way I see it, he can't stop Laxus from having friends. I think I know where Laxus lives, only because I overheard from someone. He lives in a house on Camellia street, if you let me borrow your notebook and a pen then I can write it down." Cana offers.
"Sure. Use the back page." I say as I hand my notebook and pen over that is in my satchel.
"Thanks." Cana smiles as she writes the street name down and hands the notebook and pen back to me.
I continue to play my card game as Cana observes closely.
"That looks really cool, I've never seen cards like those before." Cana mentions as she picks up one of the unused cards and observes the design on the back, featuring a pale blue cross in the middle with a darker blue 'x' shape underneath and a gold octagon outline beneath.
"Yeah, my mum got them for me for my 9th birthday. They're not really playing cards, if you use them correctly then you can use them for magic since each card has a different power, I never learnt how to use them properly but use them in a game by drawing a card from each of the two piles and seeing which one is more powerful, water would beat fire for example." I explain.
"Wow, that's amazing. I never thought about learning magic, I guess it's because I'm too concerned about trying to see my dad." Cana replies.
"Take my cards. Maybe if you learn to use them then you can join the guild and reunite with your dad one day." I say as I stack up the cards and slide them towards Cana.
"That's super thoughtful of you, but I can't take your cards, they're a present from your mum." Cana replies.
"It's fine. I have plenty of things to remember my parents by. Besides, you'll probably get more use out of them than I will and call it a little thank you for helping me." I insist as I smile at Cana.
"Are you sure?" Cana questions.
"Absolutely." I reply.
"Thank you!" Cana says joyfully as she wraps her arms around me for a hug.
I just felt really warm inside, is that the satisfaction of helping someone? It felt good, but oddly enough, the hug from Cana wasn't as nice as the hug I received from Laxus, maybe it's because he was being more comforting at the time because of my situation.
"I have a good idea, why don't I take you to the market tomorrow so you can get a gift for Laxus, then you can go and see him afterwards." Cana suggests.
"Ah! That sounds awesome. Shall I meet you here?" I ask.
"Yeah, let's meet at 9:30 tomorrow morning here. I've got to go now, see you tomorrow." Cana replies as she puts the cards in the box and puts it in her bag as she walks out of the guildhall.
I can't wait for tomorrow! I'll be able to do something good for Laxus. Master Makarov approaches me, I can't tell him my intentions otherwise he might stop me, I know he said for me not to get involved, but I can't let Laxus think that I don't care.
"You seemed to have cheered up, something good happen?" Master asks.
"I just did a good deed. I gave Cana some magic cards that I had so she could learn magic and join the guild." I reply with a smile.
"Now that is a good deed. Come on, I'll take you home for dinner." Master says as he ruffles the hair on my head.
All I can think about for the rest of the evening is seeing the surprise look on Laxus' face tomorrow when I give him his present. I wonder what I should get him? He doesn't practice magic, so maybe I should get him something that suits his personality. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. All night long I toss and turn in my sleep as I continue to think of gift ideas, all that's on my mind is Laxus, especially his grin, I've never seen a smile like it, it's unique to him and makes me smile whenever he grins like it.
The next morning has arrived, and unsurprisingly, I'm pretty tired, trying to sleep was really difficult. However, my excitement for the day ahead is the fuel that's going to keep me awake and energetic. I quickly get dressed and sprint down the stairs to the kitchen where Master Makarov cooked up some pancakes for me. He places them in front of me and I grab the bottle of syrup to drizzle it on the fluffy, stacked tower. I work my way through them like a mole digging a tunnel.
"Freed, maybe you should slow down a bit, you'll give yourself a tummy ache." Master says to me as he puts down his newspaper that he is reading.
"I know, but I need to be at the guild at 9:30." I reply with stuffed cheeks.
"How come?" Master questions.
"Going shopping with Cana." I answer with my mouth full.
"Try not to talk when you're eating, and how are you able to go shopping? Do you have money?" Master asks.
Oh no! I swallow a massive lump of pancake as realisation hits me like a brick.
"Uh, no. Maybe Cana has money?" I question.
"I'll give you some money, just give me back the change when you come back." Master sighs with a smile as he gets up from his seat and leaves the kitchen.
"Thank you so much!" I say happily.
Yes! My plan is working perfectly.
Master returns with a handful of cash as he places it in front of me.
"Here you have 1000 Jewel, spend it wisely, please." Master says.
"I will." I reply with a beaming smile.
"Good, if you want to meet Cana in time then you better run along, but I expect you to be back at the guildhall by 3pm. Do you understand?" Master questions.
"Yes of course. Thank you." I say as I get up from the table, put the money in my pocket and leave the house.
3pm is going to be tight, but I have my watch, I just have to keep an eye on the time.
I walk briskly to the guildhall to meet up with Cana. As I arrive, I see that she has already beaten me to it as she is sitting at one of the tables, playing with the cards I gave her.
"Hey Cana, I see that you like the cards." I comment.
"Hi Freed, yeah I love them, I've been practicing lots since yesterday. I still haven't quite got the hang of it, but I feel like I'm making progress." Cana explains.
"That's great. Do you want to go shopping now?" I ask.
"Yes, of course. I'll pack these away and then we can get going." Cana replies.
Cana puts the cards back in her bag and we leave the guildhall together. Trekking for 15 minutes, we finally reach the marketplace. I'm amazed by how much variety there is here and what you can buy: food, drink, jewelry, furniture, craft items, all sorts.
Me and Cana look at all the amazing items on offer and I try to decide what present I should get for Laxus.
"So, what are you thinking?" Cana asks.
"Thinking about what?" I question.
"Well, you want to get a present for Laxus don't you?" Cana replies with a smile.
"Oh yeah, well, I don't know really, there's a lot of stuff around here." I comment.
"That's a good point. What you need to do is narrow it down by categories, do you want to get him furniture?" Cana asks with a giggle.
"Not really." I giggle back.
"Okay, what about food?" Cana questions.
"Not really, the only thing I would consider is sweets." I reply.
"Okay, well I think there is a confectionery stand around here so we can go there now if you want." Cana suggests.
"Let's have a look." I reply.
Me and Cana search for the confectionery stand and find many delicious treats for sale. I observe all the products on offer, but I don't feel that there is anything here that Laxus would like. However, Cana ended up buying candyfloss so it wasn't a waste of time coming here.
"You want some?" Cana asks.
"Okay." I reply as I tear a bit of candyfloss off the stick and eat it.
It's so fluffy, it just melts in my mouth as I get the sugary strawberry flavour hit my taste buds.
"It's so good right." Cana comments.
"Yeah." I reply.
"So, where do you want to try next?" Cana asks.
"Um."
As me and Cana stroll through the marketplace, looking at all the items on offer, I try to think of where to look next, until something catches my eye. I grab Cana's hand and lead her to one of the jewelry stalls.
"You gave me a shock then Freed." Cana says.
"I'm sorry, but I saw something here." I reply as I look at the different pieces of jewelry on sale.
There it is, the thing that caught my eye. A gold lightning bolt pendent on a thick gold chain glimmers in the sunshine and grabs my attention.
"I think this is it." I say as I point at the necklace behind the glass screen.
"A lightning bolt necklace? How come?" Cana asks, not entirely sure about my logic.
"Well, even though Laxus doesn't know magic, I still think he's quite a strong person at heart. Furthermore, I think he's electrifying, how energetic and happy he is, his grin is as bright as a bolt of lightning striking across the sky." I explain.
"Wow, you picked so many positive points from something that should be negative. I think that's amazing." Cana says happily.
"You think so? Should I get this for him?" I ask.
"Well, it's not up to me, but if you think of Laxus when looking at this then I don't see why you shouldn't get it for him." Cana explains.
"Thanks, let's check the price." I say.
The stall owner walks over to us and takes the necklace out of the glass cabinet, showing us the price for it.
"1000 Jewel." I say sadly.
"Oh no, do you not have enough money?" Cana asks.
"I do, but if I spend my money on this then I have no money left for lunch." I explain.
"Don't worry about that. I'll get our lunch, just buy that gift for Laxus." Cana says.
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Yes! Buy that necklace." Cana giggles.
"Okay! I'll take it!" I say confidently as I hand my money over to the stallkeeper as they wrap up my necklace in a gift box and hand it to me.
I feel so happy, I really hope that Laxus likes it just as much as I do.
Me and Cana finished looking around the market before leaving. The time is 12:30pm. Me and Cana find a cafe nearby and order lunch, we both decide to have a cheeseburger with chips and salad on the side. The meal is delicious and definitely something I needed after the long shopping trip we went on.
"That was successful." Cana says.
"Yeah, thank you so much for doing this for me, I owe you one." I reply.
"Don't worry about it, you've done plenty for me, I'm just glad that I could help." Cana comments.
After finishing lunch the time is 1:15pm, I'm slowly running out of time and know that I need to get going soon if I'm going to get back to the guild in time after seeing Laxus.
"Thanks for the lunch Cana, but I really need to get going if that's alright." I say.
"Yeah sure, no problem. I'm going back to he guildhall now so I might see you later, but more importantly I hope that Laxus likes the present you got him." Cana replies.
"Thanks, I'll see you later." I say as I walk away quickly from the cafe towards the street that Cana noted down for me.
I hope he's okay.