Summary: Laxus and Freed take in Fumie, a child they rescued on a quest. Her magic is powerful—and very similar to Freed's. One day she goes missing as a magical storm crashes down upon Magnolia. Freed realizes he can't handle the thought of losing her.
Sequel to Cana’s Weekly Drinking Club. For MyFictionalFantasy.
Freed made his way through the kitchen, erasing runes every few meters. Fumie's version of runes was cute, but the fact that she did it everywhere got a little inconvenient.
He'd finally made it to the pantry when a familiar early-morning grumble announced Laxus's presence.
"You left the bed," the Dragon Slayer complained, yawning and rooting around for a glass.
"I've been awake for a while. I was just going to get tea and come back up, but there were a number of traps I had to deal with first."
Laxus's grunt was both laughter and annoyance.
"There's got to be a better way to erase them," he said.
"That's not how runes work," Freed said. "The only reason I can un-write them so easily is that I'm significantly stronger than she is. For now. She has to learn not to do this."
The subject of their conversation trailed in. Freed still hadn't determined what emotion expanded in his chest when she appeared each morning: on the surface it was all frustration at how messed up her hair got because she wouldn't let him braid it at night. But if he let his heart speak a little more, there was desperate relief too.
She'd stayed with them for several months now, and he still had occasional nightmares where someone awful came to take her away.
As she entered, Freed smiled and said, "Good morning."
"How did you sleep?" Laxus asked her while she hovered sleepily in the doorway. Freed returned to rooting around the pantry.
She only answered honestly when Laxus asked; Freed chocked that up to the time Laxus told her about his own bad dreams. Laxus told her that the dragon-spirit who protected him when he was little was now going to protect her, and that she could picture the dragon curled around her to remind herself everything was okay. Fumie loved that story, and talked about the dragon-spirit often.
"Fumie," Freed said suddenly. "This bread was not here yesterday."
He turned around, and he and Laxus both looked at her. She cuddled closer to the doorjamb.
"You know what we call teleporting things that don't belong to us," Laxus said.
"Stealing," she murmured.
"Can you return it to the person it belongs to?"
Her eyes tracked back and forth between them, as though looking for the weak link.
"Fumie, do you know we have enough food?" Freed asked. "We aren't going to run out."
Her only reaction was her eyes widening a little, but he knew he'd hit the mark.