Present: I love you

A/N:

Next chapter! Back to the present.

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Evangeline woke up next to Gray, who was still asleep. She checked her clock, and it was just after 10am. Gray was usually at the guild by this time, so Evangeline decided to wake him by shoving him off her bed.

"Ev, whyyy?" Gray groaned, reaching up and pulling a pillow off her bed to cover his face.

"It's past 10," she said. Gray groaned again.

"I don't wanna go anywhere," he said. Evangeline laughed. Gray was hungover, and she found it hilarious.

"It's not my fault you can't hold your alcohol, Gray. Now get off the floor," Evangeline said as she got off her bed and kicked Gray softly after. He sighed loudly, then sat up.

"Do I have to go?"

"Yes. We can wait until after we go over the documents though. They should be here now," Evangeline said before she left her bedroom. She then checked her mailbox, and sure enough, there was a large envelope from Laxus's lawyer. She grabbed it and went back inside.

Gray had pulled himself together and was sitting at her table. He had also gotten himself a glass of water from the sink.

"You should grab your previous copy," he told her. Evangeline nodded and went to grab the previous version of the divorce agreement. She brought it back to the table and then opened the new version.

"Line by line like usual?" she asked. Gray nodded. Surprisingly, Gray was good at noticing small details which made him great for legal issues.

They went line by line between both documents and found no other differences in any part of the terms except an addition to what Evangeline had ownership of. There it listed the exact same thing Laxus had said in his letter: the house, half his income from the past year, and a quarter of his future earnings for the next ten years. After finishing looking over the documents, Gray sighed.

"There's no loopholes, no issues. I just don't know why," he said. Evangeline frowned.

"I can sign, then?" she asked. Gray nodded.

"We can drop it off at the lawyer's office directly since it's on the way to the guild. God, everyone's going to kill us. It's almost 4," he groaned. "I hate legal shit." Evangeline laughed.

"Me too. We still need to figure out why Laxus is doing this," she said. Gray nodded.

"Maybe one of the others will have come up with something by now as to why. There has to be some sort of motive," he insisted. Evangeline didn't want to believe him, but she couldn't help it. After what Laxus had done, there was no way she could trust anything he did.

"We should head out, then. I'm hungry," Evangeline said. The two left her apartment and dropped off Evangeline's documents at the office to get verified and all other things that they needed to do. Evangeline never paid too much attention to the process. Gray and her lawyer took care of most of it for her. Thankfully, Laxus hadn't been difficult and they hadn't needed to go to divorce court. She and Gray had been suspicious of that as well but weren't going to complain.

The two arrived at the guild a short while later. Erza waved Evangeline and Gray over to a table where Mira and the Master also sat. Erza quickly explained that she had filled the two of them in on the letter last night.

"So, there were no loopholes? Just a seemingly innocent and kind gesture?" Master said, his brows furrowed. He loved his grandson, but he had made many mistakes. Hurting Evangeline his largest to date.

"Not that I could find," Gray said. "I said it was good enough for Ev to sign, so she did."

"Will be going to the house yet?" Erza asked. Evangeline shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready to go back there yet. I'll go back soon. I can't just leave it sit there, and I know I left a lot there," she responded.

"Do you want to bring me with when you go?" Mira asked her. Evangeline shrugged.

"I'll let you know. I think it might be something I need to do on my own," she said. Mira smiled sadly at her and nodded. Nastu sighed from across the table.

"At least let me sniff around the place first. I don't trust him," the pink-haired slayer said. Evangeline smiled at him.

"We'll see, Natsu. I probably won't go for a while," she said. Lucy frowned but didn't say anything.

"Regardless, we have much more work to do on the guild hall. Mira, you should go with Evangeline and look for things for the pool and baths," Master suggested.

"Who will take care of the bar?" Mira asked.

"I'll do it, Mira," Lucy said, smiling to the older woman. Mira smiled at Lucy.

"Thank you, Lucy. It'll be a nice break for the evening. Shall we go, Evangeline?" Mira said. Evangeline nodded.

"If no one else has anything to add, I think we can," Evangeline said. She looked around the table. Lucy still had a frown on her face, and said woman was looking at Evangeline intently. Evangeline tilted her head to the side in question.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Evangeline asked her. Lucy shook her head.

"Nothing, just thinking. If you want to go shopping again tomorrow I can-" Lucy was cut off by Erza.

"We are leaving for Akane Resort tomorrow, actually," the scarlet mage said. Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu and Gray also seemed to get excited.

"Tomorrow? And how did you get tickets? That place is huge, and super expensive?" Lucy asked, amazed. Erza shrugged.

"We needed a vacation. We have a ticket for you, too, Evangeline," Erza said. Evangeline stopped for a minute to think about her offer.

"If I'm at the station tomorrow, then you know I'm going. I can't say for sure yet," Evangeline said, an apologetic smile on her face. Erza nodded.

"Very well," Erza said.

"We should head out, Evangeline," Mira said. Evangeline nodded to her friend.

"I'll see you either tomorrow or in a few days, then," Evangeline said as she bid goodbye to her friends.

Mira and Evangeline ended up shopping for hours. The pool wasn't done yet and they needed to pick tile for it. They also needed to pick out lighting and faucets for the showers. They didn't even get started on the baths before the shop closed. By that time, it had started raining. Mira lived close to the shop they had been at, so she was able to quickly get home. Evangeline, unfortunately, lived on the other side of Magnolia. By the time she reached her apartment, she was drenched to the bone.

Evangeline changed out of her wet clothes and into warmer pajamas and went right to bed. She had been thinking about Erza's offer to join Team Natsu at Akane Resort, but she still hadn't made up her mind. It would be nice to go on a true vacation where she could get drunk and gamble to her heart's content. Not that she hadn't done that a lot in the past year, but this time she would be surrounded by friends. She decided to make her final decision in the morning.

Unfortunately, nature decided to make the decision for her. She woke up at 4am with terrible chills. She made her way to her bathroom for a thermometer, and, sure enough, she had a fever off 101 F. Evangeline sighed as she went back to bed. She was swept into a restless sleep.

Erza didn't see Evangeline at the station right before the group left for Akane. She was actually disappointed, as she was looking forward to spending time with her friend. Honestly, she missed going on S-Class jobs with the blue-haired woman as well. Her spirit was usually so bright, and her energy always kept Erza in good spirits. Of course, that had been before Laxus hurt her.

Although she never liked Laxus, she saw how he acted with Evangeline before the incident. He was like a completely different person around her. He acted like a person, not some power-crazed asshole. Evangeline had a tendency to get sad when people around her were feeling very strong sadness, and this was the case after Lisanna had passed. Laxus had been at the guild frequently at that time at the bar right next to Evangeline. His presence used to calm her in a way no one else could.

Erza had been shocked when she saw Evangeline in the infirmary on that day. She hadn't thought that Laxus was capable of hurting Evangeline, but, apparently, she and everyone else in the guild were wrong. No one was surprised when they announced they were together, or when they got engaged, or when they got married. They were perfect together. Until that day. Erza saw red when she learned what happened, as did everyone else. Laxus disappeared, though. No one heard from him for almost three months after that.

Erza sighed to herself as she sat on the train. Gray looked up at her and seemed to know what she was thinking.

Lucy was thinking to herself about the blue-haired woman that hadn't gone on the trip. She furrowed her brows. She knew the woman was familiar to her. She trusted her instantly, almost like they had met before. Then she looked around the train compartment at her friends, then her eyes widened. Erza looked at the blonde curiously.

"Guys, I've met Evangeline before," she said. Gray's eyes shot to Lucy.

"Really? When?" he asked.

"It was a long time ago," Lucy said. "My mother was the one who talked to her. She had given Evangeline a gold pass to get her on the train, and also so that she could hold a train for a period of time incase she had to. Evangeline was running late to the train." Erza blinked.

"You know, that explains a lot," Erza said. Gray nodded.

"About what?" Lucy asked, not sure what they meant.

"Evangeline took you into her group. All of us are in her group of close people, she called us her ducklings at one point in time. She hasn't really called us that since the incident. But, it's typically hard for her to bring people into her group, especially now. We had new members join before you, but she never really paid them any mind. You, she was immediately attached to. She must remember you," Gray explained.

"Then why didn't she say anything?" Lucy wondered. Erza shrugged.

"Maybe she didn't remember it was you specifically, but you might have reminded her of your mother. You were very young when you met, correct?" Lucy nodded in answer to Erza's question. She continued.

"You also look a lot like your mother. Maybe that's why she took you in?" Erza said. Lucy nodded.

"It's highly possible. Mother talked to her for a while on the train and wrote to her at least once. I doubt that Evangeline would have forgotten her. I didn't have much interaction with her," Lucy said. "I'll ask her when we get back. Speak of, why do you think she didn't come?"

"Honestly, I think she got sick," Gray said. Erza looked over to him.

"Really?" she asked. Gray nodded.

"It was raining last night. She has also been under a lot of stress recently, so her immune system probably isn't working the best," he explained. Erza nodded.

"Indeed. It sounded like she did really want to go," Erza said softly, getting a sad look to her eyes. Gray put a hand on her shoulder.

"We will get to bring her out sometime in the future. Maybe she will have more of her power back too, so we could maybe convince you to take an S-Class job together and have us tag along? This time officially," he added at the end. He was still scared of her after Galuna Island. He hoped it wouldn't hurt his chances at an S-Class promotion nomination that year. Thankfully, Erza nodded.

"If there were two S-Class mages with us, I'd see no problem taking an S-Class job with you. Evangeline was very powerful back in the day. I stood no chance against her in combat," Erza said. Gray's eyes lit up, and Natsu made an odd noise to show he had heard Erza. Lucy, meanwhile, was surprised at what Erza had said about Evangeline's power.

"Wait, she used to be that strong?" Lucy asked. Gray nodded.

"She lost control over most of her magic just like Mira did. Mira is also somewhat consciously deciding to not use her magic, but Evangeline isn't. She's tried accessing it, but she can't. Her magic is so tightly tied to emotions that it's really affecting her. Her magic isn't just limited to emotions, though. Laxus taught her lightning magic. I taught her Ice Make. She knows Requip and sword fighting. She hasn't been able to use it since the incident. There's more to her magic that has to do with Aspen that she can still use, but she feels like she loses herself a bit every time she uses it right now," Gray explained. Lucy frowned.

"Do you think she will get it back?" Lucy asked. Gray sighed.

"I don't know. I hope so. I miss it when flame-brain over here got his ass kicked instantly when he challenged her to a fight. Hell, I miss her kicking my ass when I did something stupid, too," he said.

"We'll get her back," Erza said confidently. Determination was burning in her eyes. "I won't give up on her. You shouldn't either." They both nodded, then the train car got quiet as they continued to Akane Resort.

Evangeline had taken some fever reducer after she got up again at 8am. She felt Aspen tugging on her to come talk to her. Evangeline sat on her floor and meditated, letting herself get pulled into her mind.

"Great time to get sick, Evangeline," Aspen said with her arms crossed. Evangeline shrugged at her demon.

"Not much I can do about it, sorry," she said. Aspen sighed.

"Regardless. Anima. How to detect it and how to seal it, a crash course over a week," Aspen said in a monotone voice. Evangeline giggled softly. Aspen smiled at her having accomplished her goal.

"Where do we start?" Evangeline asked, sitting down in her mind. She didn't know why she always felt the need to sit in here; it's not like she got tired standing while she technically was just imagining it.

"First, remember that Anima is a dimensional magic to suck magic out of this world into Edolas. The points of extraction are all pre-programmed. That means we can tell where they will appear before they appear. Unfortunately, we don't have a map of these points and the times that they will appear, so we need to use magic to predict these points. It's not so much a spell and more of a continuously acting sensor. Anima will probe points a few hours before actually extracting magic," Aspen explained. Evangeline nodded.

"How do I use my magic to sense the probes, then?" Evangeline asked.

"It's similar to how you push your magic out to pick up on other people's emotions, but instead of feeling for emotions you will be feeling for foreign magic. You'll understand once you feel it the first time," Aspen said. Evangeline frowned.

"So, this is a trial and error thing?" Aspen shook her head.

"Not necessarily. There's a reason I wish you weren't sick right now because it's easier to feel people's magic signatures. You might already be familiar with those in the guild once you actually tune into the magic inside of them," she said. "I want you to go to the guild and try and feel for their magic. Then see how many you can feel at once, and how far away. Mystogan has been doing this for many years, and he might also be able to point out possible spots for Anima to come through if you don't have a large range."

"When I'm starting to feel for Anima, what am I feeling for?"

"The magic will just feel different. You will know it when you feel it, trust me," Aspen insisted. "For now, get ready and go to the guild. Practice feeling magic signatures. This will also help you in the future."

Evangeline nodded, then went back into her body. She changed into clean clothes and went to the guild.

She had just sat down at a table when Mira walked over to her.

"So, you didn't end up going?" Mira said, looking concerned.

"No, I couldn't, I'm-" Evangeline started to say as she went into a coughing fit. The coughing was new. Mira immediately starting fretting over her friend and made one of the members bring her a blanket while she went to get Evangeline some soup. Evangeline tried to resist, but a glare from Mira made her decide to let the woman baby her for the day.

Mira took it a step farther and made a member find a bed and carry it to the guild so Evangeline could lay down. Mira went into full mom mode whenever Evangeline got sick, which thankfully was rare. While Mira was mothering her, or rather smothering her, Evangeline decided to start trying to feel magical signatures in the guild. When she finally found one, she shot up in bed.

Magic signatures were very weird to feel. Evangeline felt like she was intruding almost but realized that the person whose magic she felt was A) Mira, and B) unaware that Evangeline had felt her magic. Mira's magic felt like a slightly tainted orb of energy. Mira used a darker type of magic, so it made sense. Evangeline laid back down quickly before Mira could notice that she had ever sat up. Evangeline continued feeling for specific people's magic energies before she started feeling for many at once.

Several hours and multiple bowls of soup later, Mira decided that it was time for Evangeline to go home. Mira wanted Elfman to carry her back to her apartment, but Evangeline refused, saying that she had two legs and was very well rested. Mira finally gave in after Evangeline used her pleading puppy eyes. She only used it with Mira.

Once she got home, she realized she was running a fever again and took more fever reducers before taking a shower. This, however, was a very bad idea as Evangeline ended up passing out after a few minutes.

Back at the guild, Mira felt like something was wrong. The feeling was eating at her gut and she decided that she had to go check on Evangeline. She all but ran out of the guild and to Evangeline's apartment. She quickly unlocked the door and heard the shower going. Mira knocked on the bathroom door.

"Evangeline?" she asked but got no response. She tried again, speaking louder this time.

"Evangeline?" Mira decided that she needed to go in there. Thankfully, the door wasn't locked. Mira found her collapsed in the shower. She was bleeding from her head and she knew she needed to get her to the hospital. You didn't mess with head injuries. Mira quickly turned off the shower and tried to find the place Evangeline was bleeding from so she could try and stop the bleeding. She carefully wrapped Evangeline in a tower before calling the guild and begging for Elfman to come to Evangeline's apartment.

Elfman arrived at Evangeline's apartment minutes later. Mira still hadn't had luck stemming the bleeding from Evangeline's head, so she placed a towel on the spot and wrapped Evangeline's head with a bandage quickly so Elfman could take her to Porlyusica.

At the guild, Freed was sitting I a corner of the room watching the chaos that was unfolding before him. Elfman had just run off and now everyone was whispering about Evangeline being much sicker than she had appeared. Freed frowned. He liked Evangeline. She was intelligent, funny, and overall a good person. She brought light to the entire guild. He sighed, then stood and left the guild hall in the chaos, slipping away completely unnoticed.

Elfman and Mira arrived at Porlyusica's house as fast as they could. Evangeline's head was still bleeding, and Mira was getting very worried. She knew head wounds bled a lot, but she couldn't get it to stop. She banged on the door as she got there.

"What could you humans need at this-" Porlyusica came out of her house with her broom screaming until she got a look at Evangeline, who was now covered in blood.

"Oh dear, bring her inside, now," the old woman rushed out, letting Mira and Elfman inside with the injured woman. Elfman set her down on the bed closest to him. Porlyusica went to work examining the head wound.

"How long ago did you find her, Mira?" Porlyusica said quickly, still examining the wound and trying to stop the bleeding.

"About thirty minutes ago. She hadn't been away from the guild for more than fifteen minutes before I felt like something bad happened," Mira explained tearfully. Porlyusica frowned.

"And she's still bleeding? And you held pressure on her wound?" the old woman asked, her tone making Mira scared.

"Yes, I couldn't get it to stop," Mira said, tears now rolling down her face. Porlyusica turned to face her.

"Mira, she needs a blood transfusion or else she has no change," the old woman said, rushing away and grabbing tubing from a drawer. "You two have the same blood type."

"I'll do it," Mira said as she sat next to Evangeline's bed. Porlyusica quickly set up the transfusion between he two young women. She then went back to looking at the bluenette's wound. She found it was nearly four inches long, a large cut for the scalp.

"Elfman, call the guild, now," Porlyusica commanded. Elfman did so. Master picked up.

"What's going on," Master said, his tone serious. Porlyusica started talking.

"Evangeline was rushed to me with a decent sized split in her scalp, bleeding profusely. I have Mira sitting for a transfusion right now, we need more with B- though. Is anyone there with B-?" Porlyusica said quickly. Master frowned.

"I don't think so. Freed was here earlier but he snuck out-" Master started as Porlyusica cut him off.

"Call him now and tell him to come here if he wants the girl to live. I can't bleed Mira dry trying to save Evangeline," Porlyusica sounded desperate. Evangeline was one of the ones she actually liked in the guild. Master's face turned grave as he hung up the lacrima.

Freed's lacrima rung while he was reading in the living room. Evergreen and Bickslow were also in the living room. Freed, curious as to who was calling at this time of night, picked up to see Master on the other side looking very serious.

"Freed, you need to go to Porlyusica's home. Now," he said.

"Why? What happened?" Freed was concerned. Master wouldn't ever send someone there randomly.

"Evangeline. She's bleeding out and Porlyusica can't stop it," he said. Freed's eyes widened, as did Evergreen and Bickslow's.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," the rune mage rushed out. Master nodded, then hung up.

"Freed-?" Evergreen started, but Freed shook his head.

"No time, I have to go now or else it'll be too late," Freed said as he walked to the front door.

"Too late for what?" Laxus said from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Evangeline is dying," Evergreen said softly, tears in her eyes. Evergreen thought of Evangeline as a sister, and she hated what Laxus had done to her. To everyone's surprise, Laxus took in a sharp breath.

"Where is she?" he asked, this time for serious.

"Porlyusica's," Freed said.

"I'll bring you. I can get you there faster," the lightning mage said as he walked over to his teammate. They disappeared in a bolt of lightning. Bickslow and Evergreen looked at each other.

"Did he just?" Ever asked. Bickslow could only nod.

"What the hell?" was all that Bickslow could say. Moments later, Laxus reappeared in the living room with a haunted look in his eyes. He sat down wordlessly on the couch and put his head in his hands.

A while later he spoke, his voice low.

"I don't think I've ever seen that much blood on a living person," was all he said. Evergreen let the tears in her eyes finally spill over.

"Let's pray Porlyusica can save her," Evergreen said. The two males nodded. It was up to their healer now.

Lightning struck outside of Porlyusica's home and two males came into her tree home. One being Freed, the other being Laxus. Laxus took one look at Evangeline, then turned a sickly shade of white as he turned and left before teleporting back to who knows where. Freed had a similar look in his eyes as he walked over to where the gravely injured woman lay.

"When do I switch with Mira?" he said, trying to regain his composure. He had thought Master to be exaggerating, but Evangeline's condition really was as bad as he had said.

"Mira will be on for another ten minutes, then I'll switch to you with new tubes," Porlyusica said as she worked, trying to get the wound to stop bleeding. Mira looked up at Freed, terror in her eyes. Freed went over to her side and kneeled next to her.

"Mira, she'd already be gone if not for you," he told her and Mira nodded, still crying.

"Dammit, why won't it stop," the pink haired woman shouted, scaring everyone else in the room except for the unconscious Evangeline. "And why didn't Aspen take over…"

Mira bowed her head, letting her shoulders shake as she prayed to and god or spirit that would listen to keep her friend alive. Elfman was also openly crying. Freed clenched his fists.

"Freed, your turn," Porlyusica rushed as she grabbed new tubing for his veins. She quickly restarted the transfusion into Evangeline. Mira went over to her brother and clung to him. Several more minutes passed before Porlyusica sighed.

"It slowed. She's not in danger anymore. Freed, stay for a while longer to replenish more of her blood supply. She went through too much," she said, sounding exhausted. Mira started sobbing, relieved her best friend would live. "Call Makarov."

Freed pulled out his lacrima with one hand and called the guild. Makarov picked up immediately.

"Is she?" he asked, hesitantly.

"She'll survive," Freed said. Master let out a sigh of relief, as did everyone still at the guild. The citizens of Magnolia also noticed that the tension in the air no longer felt suffocating.

"Thank you, Freed," the old man said, tears in his eyes. "Thank you and thank you Mira for saving her." Freed finally let tears fall from his eyes. He never cried, but he figured that on this day it was allowed.

"There's no need to thank me for something anyone would have done," Freed said. Master shook his head.

"If either of you hadn't been here, Evangeline would have been gone. You have both saved her life. You as well, Elfman. Thank you," he said one more time before hanging up.

Freed called Bickslow's lacrima next, knowing that Evergreen would be too distraught to pick up and Freed couldn't bear to see Laxus right now. Bickslow also picked up right away. Freed noticed instantly that he was tense.

"She'll be okay," Freed breathed out. Bickslow leaned back in his chair and put one hand over his eyes. Freed heard Evergreen start sobbing just as Mira had. He heard someone standing up and leaving the room, which must have been Laxus.

"Would you have made it if he hadn't?" Bickslow asked, referring to Laxus's teleporting Freed there. Freed shook his head.

"I wouldn't have made it in time otherwise."

Porlyusica sent the three uninjured mages home with instructions for Mira and Freed to rest for a few days. After they had left, the pink haired woman sat by the side of Evangeline's bed and looked at the young woman with a sad look in her eyes.

"Oh Evangeline, when will you stop getting into trouble," she sighed. Evangeline had a particularly nasty bacterial infection and gave her antibiotics intravenously to start killing the bug. It would most likely be a few days before she awakened.

Porlyusica heard thunder outside her home again. Except, Laxus didn't come inside. Porlyusica sighed as she stood and walked over to the door and opened it.

"If you insist on making such a noisy appearance, the least you can do it come inside and see your wife," she snapped at him, but her heart wasn't in it.

"She's not my wife anymore, Porlyusica," he said, his head hanging down.

"Come inside, boy. I won't tell you again," she said. Laxus wordlessly followed the old woman into her home and looked at the woman he lost.

"Well what are you waiting for? A written invitation?" Porlyusica said, glaring at him. "Go sit next to her and take her hand. She always recovered quicker when you were around." He slowly went over and sat in the chair next to Evangeline's bed and gently took her right hand into his hands.

"What happened?" Laxus asked, his voice quiet.

"Mira said she found her in the shower at her apartment," Porlyusica said. "She was sick, but she didn't appear to be sick enough to pass out. She has a nasty bacterial infection. Her immune system has been badly impacted just as her magic has."

Laxus took a deep breath.

"Any idea when she might wake up?" he asked again a while later.

"A few days. She was also low on magic, though I don't know why. Aspen also didn't come out like she usually would in this kind of situation," Porlyusica said, expressing her confusion.

"Something else must be going on. She's passed out many times and Aspen always takes over. Always," Laxus said.

"I'll look into it. Do you intend on staying here while she's asleep?" Laxus nodded.

"One more time."

Several days later, Team Natsu returned from the Tower of Heaven heavily injured. They stopped by Porlyusica's house, only to find Evangeline unconscious in a bed.

"Passed out in the shower and nearly bled to death if not for Mira and Freed," Porlyusica explained quickly, knowing Evangeline would want them to know.

"When?" Gray asked as he sat down next to his adoptive sister and took her hand.

"The same day you all left," she said. Porlyusica made quick work of bandaging up the rest of the team.

Gray, who was still holding Evangeline's hand, felt her tighten her grip on his hand. She slowly opened her eyes.

"Mmm, what happened, my head feels like I got wasted," she groaned. Porlyusica went over to her.

"You collapsed in your shower, Evangeline. You almost bled you, dear," she said. Evangeline's eyes widened. "Mira found you in time and I transfused her blood into you. Freed also gave you some of his. Now, rest. You can go home in a few days, but I want someone to stay with you for a few days after."

Evangeline nodded, then closed her eyes again, falling asleep almost instantly. She felt herself pulled by Aspen.

Aspen was crying. The demon never cried.

"Oh Evangeline, I thought you were going to die," she said as she wrapped her arms around her host. "I couldn't take over. I tried, but I couldn't. I don't know why, exactly. It hasn't ever been a problem before… But I suppose you aren't used to me taking over right now. Your body was also a lot more stress."

Evangeline wrapped her arms around her demon.

"It's okay, Aspen. Remember when I got sick when I was a lot younger? You couldn't take over then, either. My body wouldn't allow it. I think my immune system does something weird with your demon energy when you take over, so it doesn't allow the change," Evangeline said. Aspen nodded into her host's shoulder but held on tight.

"We aren't going after Anima. Mystogan should be stopping by tomorrow. He will understand. At least he has shared with us information about his burden," Aspen said. Evangeline nodded.

"I'm not strong enough right now to be using that much magic on my own," Evangeline said sadly.

"You will be again soon, don't worry," Aspen said as she released her host and practically threw her back into the part of her mind where she would sleep.

Outside of Evangeline's mind, Natsu was sniffing around the room. He growled.

"Mira, Freed, and Elfman weren't the only ones here, were they," he said. Porlyusica looked at him.

"If you are going to be like this then leave. You are all patched up, now leave. Don't come back," she said, chasing Natsu and the rest of the team out with a broom.

When Team Natsu had gotten far enough away from Porlyusica's house, Gray asked Natsu what he meant.

"Laxus was there. For several days it seems like. I don't know why," Natsu said. Erza started getting upset, then calmed herself.

"You know, he might have been called in. Regardless of the situation between them, Porlyusica was there the whole time to watch over them. She also heals better when he's around," Erza said, her voice getting quiet near the end of her statement. "Regardless, let's go back to the guild."

Team Natsu was amazed to find that the guild hall was done. The offices, the pool, the baths, everything. It was all done, and all new.

"Team Natsu, my office please," Master said, waving them up the stairs. They followed, wondering if it was about Evangeline. Once they had arrived in his office, they found out their assumption was correct.

"Have you heard about Evangeline yet?" They all nodded.

"We stopped by Porlyusica's right before we came here. She's awake now, but Porlyusica told her to rest and she fell back asleep. At least she's okay," Lucy said softly.

"I'll let everyone know that she's awake then. The whole guild has been upset this week because of that," Master said, dismissing them from his office. He followed them out and announced to the guild that Evangeline was awake. The guild decided to throw a party, as was expected.

Two weeks later, Evangeline was back on her feet and much better. Gray had stayed with her for a few days after she had been allowed to go home just to make sure we okay. The first time that Evangeline stopped by the guild after waking up, she was mobbed by everyone. They actually brought Evangeline to tears by their outpouring of love for her. Mira had forced everyone back, then the two embraced and sobbed on each other for several minutes. The rest of the guild started crying as well from watching the best friends sobbing on each other. Finally, Mira and Evangeline separated from each other, and the guild threw another party.

On another day, Evangeline was walking back from the guild to her apartment when she ran into Freed. She hadn't noticed him until he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hug.

"I was so scared we were going to lose you," he said as he held her tight to him. Evangeline wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I miss you and the team."

"We miss you too, Evangeline," Freed told her before letting go of her. They then parted ways.

Mystogan had also stopped by her apartment and Evangeline explained what had happened. He told her that she shouldn't force herself to try and help him, especially after a near death experience. She tried to apologize, but he waved her off. He told her to take care of herself. She promised to at least try, and with that, Mystogan disappeared again.

Gajeel had also apparently joined the guild, as had Juvia. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk with either one of them.

Evangeline was now sitting at the bar talking to Mira. The Miss Fairy Tail competition was in a few hours, and Evangeline had decided not to enter.

"But why Evagneline," Mira asked her. "You enter every year!"

"I didn't feel like it is all," Evangeline said. Mira rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I call bull. What's the real reason?" Mira asked, this time more serious. Evangeline sighed.

"The scar," she mumbled. "And I have a bad feeling is all."

"Oh, Evangeline," Mira said. "You are the most beautiful woman in Fairy Tail, scared or not. I just need you to know that. I know you hate that scar and it makes you upset. I'm sorry I pushed you."

"No, Mira, it's okay," Evangeline smiled at the woman. "It'll be nice to see from the other side how ridiculous we look up on stage." Mira laughed at that, and Evangeline followed after her.

"Yes, yes. But you still have to come and sing on stage, okay?" Mira said. She wanted Evangeline to promise to sing. Evangeline had a very good voice, but she was very shy.

"Fine, I guess," Evangeline relented. Mira clapped her hands together in excitement.

"I can't wait to hear you sing again," she said. "Actually, you should go now."

"Right now? Mira, I don't think so. I don't have anything memorized right now for the piano," Evangeline said. "I'll do it later."

"Fine," Mira sighed. "But I will make you keep that promise." Evangeline nodded.

"Of course."

Over the next two hours, more people started arriving at the guild. All the contestants had made their way backstage to get ready for the pageant. Evangeline was still at the bar staring into the bottom of her empty glass. She really felt like something bad was going to happen. She just didn't know what it was. She couldn't linger on her feeling, though, because the pageant was about to start.

The contestants were introduced, and each came out for their first round. However, that's when everything went wrong. The curtains of the stage went up to show all the participants turned to stone with Laxus and his team standing near the statues. Evangeline was petrified. She felt like she had been turned to stone.

And just like that, the battle of Fairy Tail had begun. People poured out of the guild hall, but Evangeline still couldn't move. She heard Master cursing and Natsu and Gajeel reading off battle results. It was too much for her, and the world slowly went black.

She came to a short while later, however, Master was also in the infirmary. Porlyusica was telling Levy that she had to find Laxus and tell him that his grandfather wouldn't make it through the battle.

"I'm going with her," Evangeline said, cutting Porlyusica off. "Don't tell me that I can't. I have to face him." Porlyusica wanted to argue but knew that Evangeline needed to do this for her own sake.

Evangeline and Levy arrived at Kardia Cathedral, the same place Evangeline and Laxus had married years before, a few minutes later. Laxus was preparing to cast Fariy Law. It didn't work. Levy ran out in front and tried to get Laxus to stop his attack for his grandfather, but he laughed. That was when Evangeline snapped.

"How dare you," Evangeline seethed as she walked into the cathedral. "How dare you mock your grandfather's impending death. How dare you make your family fight each other in this pointless game. How dare you think yourself above them all." She was stalking forward, her anger coming off her in waves of magic energy. Natsu felt his danger instinct go off as Evangeline got closer.

"Gajeel, Freed, Levy, we need to get out of here," Natsu said as fast as he could.

"Flame-brain, why? Evangeline can't use her magic-" Natsu's glare cut him off.

"Feel. Her. Rage. We need to out of here before she unleashes it on us accidentally. Whatever happened to make her power go away snapped," Natsu said. "She's lethal when she's mad. And she's beyond mad right now. She needs to let out her emotions that she's been pushing down since he hurt her. Let's go." Freed, Levy, and Gajeel all reluctantly left, but Evangeline was thankful that they did. Gajeel stopped one more time to make sure she would be alright.

"Go, Gajeel. This is my fight," Evangeline growled. Gajeel finally left, and Evangeline turned her attention to Laxus.

"You should have let them fight," he said lowly.

"And lose the opportunity to show you everything you've tortured me with for the past year? I was so afraid of you I avoided the guild for weeks at a time," Evangeline started. She wasn't even bothering with her emotional magic. It wasn't what she needed.

"You-" She cut him off.

"No, you don't get to talk right now. You attacked me, your WIFE. You attacked me out of anger. You betrayed every single ounce of trust I put in you and now I can never trust anyone with my heart again. And now, you've pitted my family against each other to fight. You said even to the death. I refuse to let you sit here and make my family fight with each other for a place in your fantasy Fairy Tail. I will beat you here even if it kills me," Evangeline said, releasing another burst of magic. She felt Aspen tugging at her mind, but she refused. She had to fight him. She had to get over her fear.

"And you know the worst thing? I was never angry that you attacked me. I was terrified of you. I'm still terrified, but I know I will never get to move on with my life unless I finally confront you," she finished. She looked him over and noticed he was wearing her necklace. "Why do you have that?" she hissed. He didn't answer, but got mad again.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar," he shouted, sending the roar in her direction.

"Obsidian Dome," Evangeline said, tapping into her dark magic. The shield broke after the attack, but had served its purpose. Laxus appeared behind her, attempting to get her with lightning in his fist. She dodged. He kept leaping around in his lightning body form trying to attack her, but she dodged too fast.

"Did you already forget what we learned, Laxus?" Evangeline shouted, as he was now on the opposite side of the cathedral.

"You're just like the rest of them if all you can do is dodge," he said. Evangeline smirked.

"You have forgotten then," she said as she walked forward. She didn't have a single scratch on her. She felt powerful with her magic now accessible again. However, she noticed something else. She heard him. He wasn't speaking, though. There was a war going on in his head.

"You idiot, stop attacking her," one of the voices was saying.

"Keep going, you know you want to break her," the other voice said. That one was dripping in darkness.

"There's a war going on inside you right now, Laxus," Evangeline said.

"There's not, though. I'm trying to figure out which was will be best for me to finally take you out," he growled. Evangeline knew he was taken over by the dragon lacrima inside him. It was making him darker. It was made her Laxus change. All because of his father.

"Oh, there is. I'm going to beat the shit out of you and hope that makes the dark voice inside you go away," she said. He laughed.

"You think you can do anything? You couldn't even defend against a lightning bolt in an argument," Laxus said. She hated this Laxus. She vowed not to hate, but she hated this darkness.

"You don't know everything about me, Laxus. I'll beat you if it's the last thing I do," Evangeline said as she launched herself towards him in her own lightning body. "Did you forget you taught me your magic? That I know absolutely everything about you?"

Evangeline knew attacking him with lightning was pointless, but she could attack him with her own fists, not to mention her ice and obsidian. She Requiped the sword that Laxus had gotten her a few years ago that he had made specifically for absorbing his lightning magic. Laxus, seemingly having forgotten about the sword's abilities, threw another lightning attack at her, only for it to be absorbed.

They clashed like this several more times until Laxus managed to throw her across the cathedral. She landed on her feet and slid back. She dismissed her sword and got into stance for ice magic.

"Ice Make: Cage," she said as she cast a cage of ice around Laxus. It wouldn't hold him long in his dragon force mode.

"Obsidian Binding: Demon's Capture: Lilith's Chains," Evangeline cast. It was her strongest obsidian binding spell. Black chains formed around Laxus's wrists and ankles and pull him to his knees. She walked towards him. He glared at her, but she knew the conversation going on in his head.

"She's always been the stronger of the two of us," the voice she dubbed "regular Laxus" said.

"She'll go down, I'll kill her," the voice she dubbed "dark Laxus" responded.

"She will win. I don't care if she kills us, at least she won't have to deal with the pain we cause anymore," regular Laxus said. Evangeline stopped in front of Laxus. She put a finger to his forehead.

"Eyes of Light: Redpemtion," she said. She sent a huge amount of magic into Laxus's system, finding the darkness and eradicating it. She quickly released the chains that were holding on to Laxus, and he collapsed. Evangeline went down near him.

"Laxus? Are you back?" Evangeline asked softly. She heard him take a deep breath before she heard him try and move over to her. He had no energy left. Neither did she, to be fair. He finally reached her side after pulling himself over and flipped onto his back next to her. He then grabbed her right hand.

"I'm here," he whispered. Laxus closed his eyes, not that she could see.

"What happened, Laxus?" she asked, tears starting to stream down her face.

"I gave into the dark instead of your light. I've been fighting it around you since Ivan was banished. Last year it slipped," he said, his voice quiet and strained next to her.

"Why didn't you tell me it was there?" she asked.

"I didn't want to worry you, but look where we ended up," he sighed.

"We're in the same spot we got married, exhausted after fighting each other with no restraint," Evangeline said sadly. "I'm sorry you went through that on your own."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he replied, tightening his grip on her hand. She did the same to him.

"I heard your mind," Evangeline said. "I heard the two voices. That's when I realized it was you that attacked me."

"It was me," Laxus said. "It was me because I didn't resist it. I got ahold of it after and realized what had happened. I blackout almost when it takes over. I couldn't believe I'd actually hurt you. I got you to the guild and dropped you off. I wanted to stay but I couldn't. I felt too guilty. That's why I tried to make the divorce as easy as possible. I never deserved you." Evangeline tilted her head to the side and looked at him. She rolled over onto her right side and reached over to his face with her left hand.

"I never stopped loving you," she said, running the tips of her fingers over the side of his face. "You gave me a reason to be happy. You gave me a reason to get stronger. I wasn't strong enough to see the darkness take hold in you." Laxus tilted his head to look at her.

"Even as a bloody mess, you still manage to look beautiful," he said, a small chuckle on his lips.

"Laxus, listen to me. Come back to me, please," Evangeline said, more tears pouring down her cheeks. Laxus reached over with his right hand and brushed some of her tears away.

"You need someone better, Ev. I doubt I'll be allowed to stay after this mess," he sighed. Evagneline shook her head.

"No, I don't want to be with anyone else. You hurt me. You didn't tell me about the darkness so I couldn't stop it from getting stronger. That's not all your fault, Laxus. Please," Evangeline said, desperation in her voice. Laxus shook his head.

"Ev, listen to me. You gotta move on, I don't deserve to be here next to you," he said, studying her face. He wanted to remember her because as far as he knew, this was the last time he'd see her. He ran his hand down to her neck and before she knew it, he hit a pressure point to knock her out. She didn't completely slip out of consciousness until after she heard him say

"I love you."

Evangeline woke up the next day. The parade had happened last night, and Laxus had been expelled. Master called her into his office and handed her a box.

"He left that for you," was all he said before he left the room. She opened it, and inside was her dragon pendant along with a letter.

Ev,

I'm sorry about everything. My time with you was the best of my life, and I managed to mess that up for both of us. I put you in danger. I hurt you. I can't be with you, Ev. I love you too much to hurt you again.

The necklace is yours. I gave it to you after THAT job, but you remember that. I'm always with you when you have that on.

Go on with your life, Ev. Try and be happy, find someone who isn't like me. You mean the world to me and I only want the best for you.

Laxus

Evangeline putt he necklace on and then scrunched the letter in her hand. She left Master's office and ran intro Gray, who was waiting for her. She flung her arms around him and started sobbing. She thought she was far enough away from the main part of the building that no one would hear her, but everyone in Fairy Tail heard her sobbing in pain. Gray picked her up and carried her down the stairs to the main floor. She didn't want to be with too many people, but she needed it. He sat with her at a table, and Erza put a hand on the woman's shoulder. Mira put her hand on Evangeline's other shoulder. Natsu put his hand on Mira's shoulder, and Lucy put hers on Erza's. The members of Fairy Tail started to form a web spanning out from Evangeline in the middle. They all channeled a small amount of magic to the person in front of them until all their magic had reached Evangeline. The crying woman didn't even know that her guild mark had started to glow, as had everyone else's.

Upstairs, Mavis was watching as the members of her guild sent their love to one of theirs who was hurting. She smiled sadly. She had wished Evangeline didn't have to go through the pain she was in. Mavis knew what it was like to lose the one you love, even if they were still technically alive. Mavis decided that she would bestow a gift on Evangeline in that moment.

"You are worthy of Fairy Law, Evangeline. I hereby grant one of the sacred magics of Fairy Tail to you," Mavis whispered. "Perhaps in time I will grant you Fairy Glitter as well."

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A/N:

Okay, a bit shorter than the last two, but this is where I want to stop it. Thanks for reading!