Past: The Best and Worst of Life

A/N:

And this will be the last flashback chapter for story and relationship backgrounds. Thanks for letting me experiment with this format! There might be flashbacks within future chapters, but it won't be the whole chapter. I plan on taking this story to after the war with Alvarez, don't worry. After that, I'm not sure what will happen. I'm starting to think about what I could do for a sequel, but only if you want it… Or if I want to do it. If I find something that I like I will do it regardless! Anywho, on with the chapter.

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Year 7

Evangeline and Laxus were out on their last job before they got married. Evangeline had made S-Class a few months before, but never had a chance to go on jobs with Laxus because he was always off with his team. Not that she disliked them, but she missed him. This job in particular was a SS-Class job that was labeled as 'Urgent' on the request board. Given, most of the jobs were considered urgent, but this one was different. A group of wyverns had taken up residence near a town called Snow, which was close to the northern border. Everyone in Snow depended on their livestock to survive, and the livestock were being taken and eaten. Snow wouldn't survive the winter if they didn't take out the wyverns soon.

This was how Evangeline actually convinced Laxus to go with her. He didn't want her to go on a SS-Class job for the first time alone, and Gildarts was not around to go with her. She decided to play her trump card: Crying. Laxus hated it when she cried. She started crying on command, a trick she had been practicing since Laxus was seemingly always gone and said that he didn't want to go with her because he was bored of her. That made him freak out, as was her plan. She stopped crying instantly, and Laxus knew he had been played.

"How many hours until we get there?" Laxus groaned. He hated trains.

"Seven. Settle in for a long haul. Then it'll be another two hours by carriage," Evangeline replied, rolling his eyes.

"Why did I agree to come?" he groaned again. Evangeline shook her head.

"Because you've been off with your team since we got engaged really, and especially since my promotion, and you love me," she said. "Come over here and put your head in my lap. It might help you sleep." Laxus did as he was told, knowing that his fiancée was not happy with him. He did feel bad because he was saving to buy a house with her, therefore was always out on jobs with the Raijinshu, but he knew he should have gone with her on more jobs. After he got settled, he fell asleep quickly.

Evangeline stared at Laxus as he slept and felt a smile come to her face. She loved him so much and couldn't wait for their wedding that was in three months. Evangeline was stressed with planning because she didn't have a dress yet, and she had to make sure that everything was ready to go. She knew she shouldn't have been stressing out too much, especially since she needed to be focused for the job they were on, but she wanted her wedding to be perfect. She only intended on marrying Laxus in her lifetime.

Evangeline requipped her soundpods and fell asleep within twenty minutes. She managed to sleep for about three hours before waking up again. Laxus was still asleep on her lap. She started running her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes. It had been months since they had had much time to just the two of them. She internalized most of her feelings about him not being around, and she really hadn't said much except that she missed him and wanted him to go on a job with him. Truthfully, she felt a bit like he had asked her to marry him because that just seemed like the right thing to do. He hadn't told her about why he was going on jobs so often. She knew they would probably buy their own place and… sell her parents house, but she didn't think that they needed to think about it too much yet. She sighed. They had a lot to talk about when he eventually woke up.

"Ev?" Laxus asked just after she finished her thought.

"Hmm?" Laxus sat up but didn't move away from her.

"We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?" he murmured. She nodded beside him.

"I think we do," was all she said. Laxus sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I've been trying to save a lot for a house and also to pay for the wedding and everything. I should have told you beforehand, so I'm sorry. I made you upset and that was never my intention," he started. "I've also been trying to get stronger so that you won't always be the one to protect me when things go south. I want to be able to protect you, too. I know that there are people after you because of Aspen, but I don't know why." Evangeline nodded.

"I think it's time that I tell you. No more secrets. Aspen is actually the Demon Goddess Lilith, but very few people know that. She is the most powerful of all demons. Zeref's demons are just failed experiments. Even though they aren't real demons, they are still very strong. Supposedly, the dark guild Tartaros is composed of demons from the Book of Zeref.

"Lilith was sealed for the first time around a thousand years ago, before the current era. Back in an era when magic reigned over everything, and it was practiced freely without fear of persecution. That's when she was put into her first host: Henry Danshaw. From there, she was forcefully removed from different hosts and sealed into others until year 576 of the current era. That's when she was sealed into an artifact and lost. Occasionally, she was found by adventurers and treasure hunters, but she was released from her seal only long enough to kill those that found her.

"That leads to 765, when I was four years old. That's when I found the artifact. My parents were on an expedition with the council to find her artifact, actually. It was a jade sculpture of an angel with only one wing. I said that it was sad and beautiful. I was going to walk around it to catch up my parents, but I tripped and fell. I landed on top of the artifact and it broke. Lilith came forth from her seal and appeared before me. To me, her true form is the most beautiful thing in the world. I told her the same when she appeared before me just as she was preparing to kill me, and that made her stop. She was losing energy because of the years she was in the seal and also because of the curse placed on her when she was sealed for the first time. She was fading and was about to die when I told her to seal herself inside of me so she could live.

"She wasn't happy with the arrangement for several years, but eventually she grew to love me. I named her Aspen because of the tree I found her artifact under. It was an Aspen tree. My parents came running after they felt her magic pressure and the darkness of it and made it just in time to see her seal herself inside me. My parents brought me to Era to see if they could do anything to remove the seal, but they said there was nothing they could do that would end with me living unless I let the seal go. I said I didn't want her to die. So, now she's sealed inside of me.

"She roamed this continent for centuries before she was sealed away. My goal is to one day figure out a way to remove her curse so she can have her own body and not be bound to mine. She says she doesn't mind, but I know she does," Evangeline finished. Laxus nodded slowly next to her. He didn't really have anything to say yet. A few moments later, he finally had a question to ask her.

"Do you regret finding her?" he asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"She's saved me more times than I can count. You, too, you know. Just because she's a demon doesn't mean she's evil. Kind of like Mira. Mira has a softer side, not that she shows it to many people. Aspen is the same. She only shows that side to me and people that I love. She's grown to love them as well. I miss her. A lot, really. I lost her and the same day I lost my parents. I think I was getting afraid of her powers near the end, and that's part of the reason that something went wrong that day, but Porlyusica said that part of it was due to a buildup of her energy in my body and immature magical system. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but we will see in the future," Evangeline said. "If she wasn't sealed inside me, you'd have died on that job, you know. I can't thank her enough that you are still here."

Laxus gently put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She relaxed into his arms.

"That's why I have to get stronger, Ev. I can't have you or Aspen protecting me. I have to protect you. You are everything to me, and I need to make sure I can keep you safe if I need to. We don't know why people are after you. What if you are sick and can't fight? What if so many other things happen. I can't let myself sit by and let that happen. You can take care of yourself; I know. I just want to be able to take care of you, too," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"Okay," she whispered, curling into him.

"Now let's sleep. We've got a few more hours on this damn train," he said, and Evangeline drifted off to sleep.

Finally, the two arrived in Snow. It was evening, so they still had time to stop by the client's house for more information. After getting the information they needed about where the wyverns were located, they headed to the inn they were staying for the night. The tension that had surrounded them on the train had dissipated.

"What else do we still need to figure out for the wedding?" Laxus asked her. He wasn't home much to help her with planning, but yet again, it wasn't something he was comfortable planning.

"Not much. We've got the cathedral reserved for the day, and then everything else is at the guild. Yajima has a restaurant and is covering the catering for free even though I told him he didn't have to. We need to figure out the ceremony and what we want there, and then we need to get the practice dinner set up," Evangeline started listing off, and Laxus nodded occasionally.

"Have you decided who will walk you down the aisle?" he asked gently, not wanting to upset her. She felt his apprehensiveness about asking the question, but she soothed that away with her magic.

"Gray is," she said. Laxus nodded.

"I'm a little surprised that Gildarts isn't going to," he noted. Evangeline shrugged.

"Gray really wanted to and I don't think Gildarts wanted to for whatever reason," she responded.

"I'll stay at home after this for a few weeks so we can finish all the planning before I head out again. You've done like, everything and I feel bad," Laxus sighed. Evangeline giggled slightly at this. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You've started sighing as much as me," she told him. He shook his head.

"It's kind of hard not to when you sigh every other second sometimes, ya know," he said.

"Regardless, we should get some sleep before we take care of the wyvern problem tomorrow," she said. Next to her, Laxus nodded, and the two headed to bed.

The next morning, they ventured out to find the wyvern nest that was outside the city. The couple decided to try and take the wyverns out as fast as they could as a group rather than splitting the wyverns into smaller groups. Evangeline would lock down the wyverns with her obsidian seals, then she and Laxus would do a unison raid to wipe them out.

They finally arrived at the large cave that the wyverns had been taken up residence in. Evangeline also planned on collapsing the entrance to the cave so that this didn't happen again in the future. She looked over to Laxus and they nodded to each other.

"Obsidian Chains," Evangeline cast after feeling out where the wyverns were. They roared inside, but they couldn't move. They were stuck.

The couple moved so that they were in the direct path of the wyverns to cast their unison raid, the one they had created all those years ago when they trained with Gildarts.

"Unison Riad: Raiko: Red Lightning," they cast. Evangeline cast one more spell to make sure that the wyverns were dead.

"Obsidian Spears," she said, conjuring up spears of obsidian to pierce through the wyverns' thick hides. This spell was, of course, a sealing spell. The wyverns froze when they were speared, and then went limp, small red lacrimas dropping to the ground underneath them. Evangeline summoned them to her, and then went around with Laxus to make sure they were all dead. They took a scale from each wyvern as proof that they were dead. Thankfully, the colony hadn't laid any eggs yet so they didn't have to destroy those.

"Wyvern blood lacrimas?" Laxus asked her as they returned to the town. She nodded.

"Porlyusica uses them sometimes and I figure that she could probably use more," she explained.

"Ahh," was all he said. Then he paused.

"Did we just wipe out a whole wyvern colony without getting a scratch on us?" he said, blinking. Evangeline paused as well, then turned to face him.

"I think we did," she said. "I think Gildarts will get a kick out of this."

"That he will. Then he will try and one up us, but I don't think he will be able to this time," Laxus said. Evangeline shook her head.

"Anyway, I'm just glad we were able to take care of the problem quickly and easily. These people needed us," Evangeline said, her voice getting soft.

"They will be okay now. I doubt they will have any issues with wyverns for a while, but hopefully they never have a problem with them again. I think leaving their corpses in there is enough of a deterrent," Laxus shrugged. Evangeline gave him a look then shook her head.

"Let's get back to town and collect our reward. Then we have a very fun 2 hour carriage ride and a 7 hour train ride to get back home," Evangeline smiled. Laxus paled.

"Are you sure you can't just summon up a giant storm and then we can teleport to Magnolia?" Laxus asked, his stomach already getting upset from the mention of transportation.

"Nope, train it is," Evangeline said. "I don't feel like using that much magic just because you have a little problem with motion sickness. Think of it as punishment for being too busy." Laxus groaned at this but didn't say anything else.

They arrived back in town and turned in the scales to the client's home and collected their reward. They insisted on leaving half the reward to help the town recover from the damage. The townspeople greeted them and were very thankful that they saved them from the wyverns. They insisted on Evangeline using their snow lilies as flowers in her wedding, and she eventually agreed since the townspeople would show up with them anyway.

Finally, they were on the carriage on their way to the train. Laxus was laying down across from Evangeline trying to fall asleep, and Evangeline had requipped a book that she had been wanting to read.

"Really? How can you read on this death contraption?" Laxus asked her. She peered over her book at him and rolled her eyes.

"It's just you that has problems. And Natsu. At least you can keep it together better than Natsu can," Evangeline said. "Now go back to trying to sleep. It'll be better for you." Evangeline turned her focus back to her book.

Eventually they got to the train, and then they both slept. Even though they didn't do too much that day, they had pushed a lot of magic into their unison raid, and Evangeline had used even more magic than that with her obsidian seals.

Evangeline stared at herself in the mirror. It was the morning of the wedding. She'd just finished her hair and makeup. Her hair was curled, then pinned up into an elegant updo, but two curled locks framed her face. Her makeup was barely there, and she had made sure to use waterproof makeup because she knew she would cry.

She finally tore her eyes away from the mirror and turned to face her dress that was hanging up on the door behind her. She lifted her right hand to brush it over the fabric.

The dress was a white ballgown that had crystals sewn onto the bodice in a flower pattern. The skirt of the dress shimmered in the light because of the micro-light lacrimas that were fused into it. She'd gotten the dress custom made from a magical tailor in Crocus. It was extremely expensive, but in her opinion, it was worth it. It was exactly what she wanted, and she'd treasure it for the rest of her life, even though she'd only wear the dress once.

She heard a knock on the door.

"Ev? We've got a few minutes still but are you ready?" she heard Gray say through the door.

"Not yet. I need to get my dress on still," she responded before taking the dress off the hanger. The dress was easy to slip on because of it being made by the magical tailor. After she stepped into it, it tightened around her. She'd already had her heels on. Now, all she had left to put on was the necklace that her soon-to-be husband had bought for her all those years ago.

Gray opened the door just in time to see her fiddling with the necklace clasp.

"Let me do it, Ev," he said as he walked over to her. He quickly put her necklace on then turned her around to face him.

"Mom and Dad would have been proud, you know," he said to her softly, a sad smile on his face. Evangeline raised a hand to his face.

"I know. They'd be proud of you, too, taking care of your big sister all these years," she whispered. She closed her eyes after she removed her hand from his face, then felt him place something on her head. She turned to the mirror to see what it was and saw that he had placed an ice tiara on her head to go with her veil.

"Ready?" he asked her after she put her veil on.

"Ready."

Kardia Cathedral was decorated to the nines. The village of Snow had really outdone themselves with the decoration. If they weren't donated, they would have cost millions of jewels. Everyone within the cathedral was also dressed quite nicely. Evangeline wouldn't have complained if anyone wasn't dressed to wedding standards, but she would send "the look" and no one wanted to be the subject of "the look."

Representatives from Quatro Cerberus, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale mingled with members of Fairy Tail until Master yelled for everyone to take their seats. Everyone sat, but there was still excited whispering echoing around the cathedral.

Evangeline arrived outside of the cathedral in a horse drawn carriage. Gray was riding with her and helped her down from the carriage. Her bridesmaids - Erza, Mirajane, and Evergreen - met her there. Erza and Evergreen wore flowing wine-colored dresses with halter tops. Mirajane, her maid of honor, was also wearing a wine-colored dress, but her dress was strapless. Each of the girls had a small bouquet of red and silver flowers. Also outside were Freed, Bickslow, and Elfman (because Mira had requested). Freed was Laxus's best man.

"Oh my gosh, Ev you are beautiful," Mira and Evergreen started gushing over her. Evangeline blushes at their compliments and waved a hand at them.

"Oh, you are beautiful too! I'm not that special," she started to say, but all three girls cut her off, telling her that it was her day.

A single bell tolled, which signaled to the group that it was time to go in. Evergreen and Elfman would go first, followed by Erza and Bickslow, and finally Mirajane would walk with Freed before Evangeline entered with Gray.

The doors opened and soon it was just Evangeline and Gray left alone outside. Evangeline took a deep breath before removing on hand from her bouquet of silver snow lilies and taking her brother's arm. It was time.

"Please rise," Master announced to the wedding attendees once the groomsmen and bridesmaids had arrived at the altar. Beside him, he watched his grandson nervously looking around the room. He noticed that once Laxus's eyes reached the door, however, he stopped moving, and even breathing. Makarov looked towards the door and knew why his grandson had had such a reaction. Evangeline, his new granddaughter, was absolutely breathtaking in her gown.

It seemed like forever until Gray and Evangeline reached the steps of the altar where Laxus met the two.

"Take care of her," Gray said, his tone serious, but not cold. He stared Laxus right in the eyes.

"I will," Laxus said, then taking Evangeline's arm from Gray. The two walked up the steps and stopped in front of Makarov. Mira took Evangeline's bouquet and adjusted her dress. Finally, it was time for the ceremony to begin.

"We are gathered here today because my grandson finally decided to stop being stupid and propose to his soulmate," he started. The crowd started laughing at this, but quickly quieted once they noticed a chill in the air. All three of Evangeline's bridesmaids were sending death glares at everyone. Makarov cleared his throat.

"Rather, as I was supposed to say, we are gathered here today to witness the union of these two people in the eternal bond of marriage. Before we begin, it is customary to ask for any objections, however if you dared object you would most likely find yourself dead within the blink of an eye," he stated, everyone laughing slightly again. Even Evangeline giggled a bit at the last statement. It was true, after all.

"Since there are no objections, we will now begin with the rest of the ceremony. Now, the only thing these two could not agree on was how long this ceremony should be. My grandson, surprisingly, was the one to want a longer and more traditional ceremony, and my soon-to-be granddaughter wanted one that was shorted. So as to appease them both, I'll be adding in a part of my own now so that this is neither short nor long, not contemporary or traditional. This is Fairy Tail, after all.

"I have watched these two grow from infants to toddlers to children to teens and now to adults. In every stage of their lives thus far, they have always supported and loved each other. They don't know this, but when they were wee little things, when one would start crying, the other would toddle over and comfort the other. A constant cycle of supporting or being supported, and always equal. Once I allowed them to start leaving Magnolia on jobs, they encountered fear for the first time. Raw, genuine, terrifying fear that only comes when the life of someone you love is threatened. From this fear, they grew strong. Their strength lies not only in magic, but in emotion. They understand the tenant of Fairy Tail: That we are a family. The tears of one are the tears of all. The pain of one is the pain of all. The happiness of one is the happiness of all. Today, we finally get to share the happiness of these two with everyone.

"I will say, that marriage is not easy. Love is not easy. There will be times that you will want to quit. Give up. Go to bed without apologizing for arguing with the other. However, you must not quit. You must not give up on each other. Never go to bed upset. Never forget to say I love you before the other leaves, even for the day. Remind each other why you have given yourself to the other every day.

"Both of you have made me prouder than I had ever thought possible. I cannot wait to see where the bond of your love will take you in the future," Makarov finished. Evangeline had silent tears dripping down her face while Laxus was sniffling across from her. Other members of the audience were openly crying from his words.

"The two of them decided to write their own vows for each other. Laxus, my boy, if you would," Makarov said, passing the microphone lacrima that he had to his grandson.

"Evangeline," Laxus started, looking at his bride. She looked solely at him, and he looked only at her, as if they were the only ones present at that moment in time.

"I don't know when I first fell in love with you. I do, however, know why they say it is 'falling' in love instead of any other action. When you fall, you smack into the group and feel like the weight of the world has come crashing onto you from all sides. That is exactly what it feels like whenever I'm with you because every day I fall in love with you again," he said. The audience was either aw-ing or completely dumbfounded that Laxus had this much emotion. Neither Laxus nor Evangeline noticed.

"I realized that I couldn't live without you after your parents died. They acted more like parents to me than my own father ever did. They made me realize that what feeling I had for you were what love really was. I saw the pain you went through, and I hated every minute of it because there was no way for me to take that pain away. For a while, I was looking into Time Magic to see if I could turn the clock back and prevent them from dying, but eventually I realized that was impossible. The only thing I could do was to promise to never leave your side.

"That's what I do today. Today, and every day in the future for the rest of our lives, I promise that you will never be alone. I will never leave your side. I will always be there to support you in any way you need, even if it is three in the morning and you want chocolate. At least now I've learned to keep a stash of it so that I don't have to find a 24-hour store," he finished. Makarov took the microphone lacrima back for a moment.

"Now, Evangeline," Makarov said before handing the microphone lacrima to Evangeline.

"I now realize that I am marrying into a family of good speakers. It's a good thing that I can fit into that," she started, hiccupping a little as she laughed. She had been crying the whole wedding thus far, and she was forcing herself to make it through her vows without breaking down completely.

"I remember the first time that you said you loved me. We were five, and you had just given me a Cala lily. You said that it reminded you of me. For some reason, I never forgot about that day. I remembered that it was warm without a cloud in the sky. After that, we went to my house and put it in a vase with water. We both cried when it died.

"My mother taught us a lesson that day. We had asked her why things die. She asked us why you had picked that specific flower out of any of them. You responded that it was the prettiest one there was. From there, Mom went on to say that the most beautiful things are often taken from us before we have a chance to blink. She was. My dad was. Your mom was. The love we had for them, however, never vanished. The love we have for each other will never vanish.

"To me, you are that Cala Lily and I picked you out of every other one in the world. We, as wizards, never know where our adventures will take us. We don't know what trials we will have, or when our time will come to an end. So, for the rest of our lives, I will be your Cala Lily and you will me mine," she finished. She let out a deep breath after handing the microphone lacrima back to Makarov. Laxus tightened his hands around hers.

"Now, who has the rings?" Makarov asked. Evangeline was then brought out of her private little world in which only she and Laxus existed.

"What do you mean who has the rings?" she deadpanned.

"We don't have a ring bearer," Makarov paled.

"Of course we do," Evangeline sighed. Everyone in the audience started laughing. Suddenly, little Romeo toddled down the aisle with a pillow and two rings tied to it. Evangeline hadn't noticed the little boy and his father were missing. Evangeline held her arms out for the boy, knowing he would come right to her.

"See? Here he is," she said, picking the little boy up and kissing his cheeks. "Can you give me the pillow, Romeo?" she asked the boy, who let go of the pillow. Mira took it from Evangeline and started untying the rings while Evangeline put Romeo down. Romeo, however, didn't want to move from his spot next to her.

"Romeo, come over here," Macao called for his son, but the boy didn't move. He was too busy staring at the woman who was his mother figure.

"It's okay, Macao. He can stay here," Evangeline smiled.

Finally, the rings were ready and given to the correct person and exchanged.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride," Makarov announced, and the audience burst into cheers and applause. Laxus swept Evangeline off her feet and pulled her into a deep kiss.

"I've been waiting to do that since yesterday," he whispered in her ear right after. He was holding her in his arms as he made his way out of the cathedral. The bells of the cathedral were chiming, and when the two got outside, the realized how big of an event their wedding actually was to the magical community. Reporters and citizens were everywhere. However, it only took a moment for them to stop caring. The rest of the guests followed behind them as they went to the Fairy Tail guild hall for the biggest party that would ever be thrown.

Later that year, Erza finally made S-Class. Evangeline was surprised that Erza had gotten the promotion first. She had always thought that Mira would get it first, but she learned in the trial that Mira still needed to mature a bit in her battle thinking. She didn't strategize enough, whereas Erza was quick thinking and quick acting. Exactly what an S-Class needed to be.

Year 8

Gildarts left. Evangeline was pacing across the floor in her new home that she and Laxus had bought together. It was beautiful, and she wouldn't change a thing about it. Not yet, at least.

"Ev," Laxus said for the sixteenth time in a row. She didn't seem to be able to hear him. He sighed. He knew that Evangeline was upset that her godfather had suddenly left on a 100-year quest, but he didn't think she'd be this upset.

"Evangeline. Stop pacing and use your words," he said firmly. Finally, she stopped pacing and looked at him. He saw the pain swirling in her eyes. His expression softened. "I'm sorry, Ev. I really am. But pacing and being upset isn't going to bring him back. He'd not dead, just gone on another adventure."

"I know," she sighed, making her way over to him and then curling into his lap after she reached him. She wrapped her arms around him. "I just don't want something bad to happen and not have any more time with him."

"It's going to be okay, Ev. He made you a promise years ago that he wouldn't let you be alone without family again. Given, you never really were alone, but you know what I mean," he said, nuzzling his face into her hair and wrapping his arms around her.

"It's S-Class trials time, too. I don't want to fight contestants and I'll have to now," she whined. Laxus chuckled.

"So that's what this is about? Only want the old man around so you don't have to fight other people?" he teased. Evangeline giggled lightly at his teases, which made Laxus feel a lot better. "Ready to go to the guild? Regardless of if the old man decided that S-Class jobs weren't enough for him anymore, we still have to go see who gets nominated this year."

Two weeks later, and Mirajane was promoted to S-Class. Evangeline was expecting this, but she also saw that Mystogan had impressive power. He was new, and he was extremely shy. Not that he was shy, per say, but he had something he wanted to hide. She wanted to eventually get to the bottom of it, but now was not the time.

Evangeline decided to take a solo job. She hadn't taken one in a while, and she felt almost giddy at the chance to have some alone time fighting monsters again. When she told her husband that she was taking a solo job, he admitted he was shocked that she had waited that long to take one again. It had been many months.

The job was straightforward from the description. Find giant monster that is terrorizing town. Kill said giant monster. Get paid. However, she was not expecting the wrench called Gajeel to be thrown into the mix of the job. She met him in the town her job was in. In an alley.

"Oi, lady, stop for a second," Gajeel called out. He saw the woman walking around the town earlier and saw her Fairy Tail emblem. Since he was part of Phantom Lord, he knew that fairies had to be messed with.

"And why should I do that when I don't know who you are or what your intentions are?" Evangeline called out, feeling out for whoever was behind her.

"You're a Fairy. I'm a Phantom. I'm wondering what you could possibly be doing on new Phantom turf," he grumbled. She released some of her magic power to let him know she wasn't someone to mess with, but not enough to provoke him.

"Simple. We had a job come in and I wanted to kill something. Any other questions?" Evangeline said evenly. She really didn't want to have to fight someone tonight. She just wanted to sleep.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice much more dangerous than before.

"I have many nicknames. The Lightning Empress. Several others here and there. I guess I will formally introduce myself, though. I am Evangeline Dreyar, S-Class mage of Fairy Tail. Who are you?" Evangeline said, her voice hard and serious.

"Gajeel Redfox, S-Class of Phantom Lord. Otherwise known as Blacksteel Gajeel," he told her before turning around and walking off. Evangeline blinked, then frowned. She would have to keep an eye on him.

The next day, Evangeline was making her way to find the monster that was terrorizing the town. All was going well because she had killed the monster and was on her way back when suddenly the world went dark. When she woke up, she was in a cell, of course.

Evangeline waited for her eyes to adjust to the low lighting in the cell before scanning the small room to see what she had as resources. This wasn't the first time she had ended up in a situation like this, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Unfortunately, this cell was much better equipped to handle a mage than others she had used before. There was an obvious magical seal on the door, and she felt magic limiting handcuffs on her wrist. Whoever had taken her had money. This didn't bode well.

"Ah, Lady Evangeline, I'm so glad you are awake," a creepy male voice echoed around her. "I was beginning to worry because you weren't waking up as quickly as I had anticipated."

Evangeline decided to stay silent for now. Typically, maniacs would ramble on about where the cell was and what would happen. Sure enough, this was the case.

"Blacksteel alerted me that you were in town. I had set a pretty nice price on your location. Now, I did say that it was because I wanted to greet an old friend who I hadn't been able to find on my own, but we both know he knew better than that. Right now, you are fifteen miles outside of Perth, the town you saved from that monster. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist helping poor, innocent people, so I lured the monster here as a trap for you. Now, I know you must be curious what I plan to do with you. I'll tell you everything so you can hopefully feel more relaxed.

"I want the demon inside you. However, I know that removing her will likely end up with both your deaths. I'm not stupid. In order to achieve my goal, however, I do need access to the demon. Now, what I plan on doing is injecting you with this serum over the next few days. This will force the demon to take over your body. The more of this I inject, the more the demon will want to surface. It is, in a way, a poison to the demon, but not to you.

"You were planning on being here for a few days, so no one will know you are missing. I also know that getting you to sit still while I inject you will be impossible, so I've hired some help," the man laughed, and then the cell door opened to show two men. Evangeline never let closed her eyes as they approached her and proceeded to beat her unconscious. She would get out of there she just didn't know how yet.

Over the next day, Evangeline was in and out on consciousness. She didn't know what time it was when she woke up, but it seemed that every time she awoke that she was being injected or was just injected. Thankfully, because of her earring, or perhaps because the injection was quack science (she wasn't sure), there was no effect on her body or on her seal.

Was she scared? Hell yes. But she couldn't let her fear take over her. Gildarts had told her once to use fear as strength, and that's what she intended on doing… at least, once she was conscious for more than half an hour at a time.

She knew her ribs were bruised, and several were probably broken. One of her arms was throbbing, most likely the result of multiple fractures. Her legs ached, but nothing was broken. They thankfully avoided her head when they beat her, probably by request of the maniac who kidnapped her.

Meanwhile, Gajeel was walking through the forest outside of Perth. He had come across the body of the monster that the Fairy had killed but had overheard she never came to collect her reward. Putting the pieces together, he realized that he had helped trap her. At this realization, something started eating at him. Guilt. He didn't know why he was feeling guilty. She was a Fairy. Fairies were a threat that needed to be put down. Except this way.

On his way back into town, he overheard someone talking about necklace they had found in the forest. It was a dragon carved out of fire opal.

"That necklace belongs to Evangeline Dreyar. I can smell it's hers," he found himself saying to the man who found it.

"The woman who came to kill the monster?" the man asked, holding the necklace up to the light to examine it more. "I guess she'll have to buy it off me again-" the man started to say, but was cut off when Gajeel pushed him against the side of the building next to them.

"So that's how this town treats mages? They do something to save you and then you try and resell them their own stuff? I guess I'll let Master Jose know that this town isn't suitable for a new location for Phantom Lord," he growled. The man he was holding dropped the necklace and shook.

"Please, we do want Phantom Lord here. We need the protection, we are so weak-" he started crying out, and Gajeel scowled.

"You are right. You're all weak. Pathetic. Get out of here before I beat the shit outta you," Gajeel tightened his grip on the man before letting him fall down from the wall. The man ran away as quickly as he could. He left the necklace. Gajeel picked it up and sniffed it, then sniffed the air around. He picked up traces of her scent and followed started following it.

"I don't know why I'm doing this, but you'd better be grateful, bitch," Gajeel grumbled to himself. Something about her scared him. The power she was letting off two days before wasn't even a fraction of her total power, and he wanted to see how strong she was. At least, that's what he told himself.

Several hours later, Gajeel had tracked her scent to a house in the middle of the woods. He stopped because he smelled three other people beside Evangeline inside. Slowly, he approached the house and went inside. The door was unlocked. Once he had opened the door, he smelt blood. A lot of it. He narrowed his eyes and found the staircase that led into the basement, probably were Evangeline was being kept. He came across the three men who were keeping her captive and quickly incapacitated them, then went to find Evangeline.

What he saw when he did find her shocked him. She was battered and bruised and broken, but when he opened the door, he saw her glaring at it, expecting it to be her captors. Her glare quickly turned into a look of confusion.

"Well damn," Gajeel whistled. "You sure got yourself into a mess, didn't ya?" Evangeline started to glare again, and Gajeel started to feel his danger instinct going off.

"Look," he started. "I knew something was up with that dude, but I never expected this. I thought maybe he was just a fan or something, not a psycho. Also, how the hell did you get captured?"

"I don't fucking know," Evangeline ground out with a raspy voice. "They knocked me out somehow. Magic, probably."

"What did they want with you? I don't see crazies looking for most S-Class mages. They aren't that stupid, usually," Gajeel asked. Now he was just curious. She shook her head.

"I'll tell you after you get me out of here," she said. She was getting tired, and she was in a lot of pain. Gajeel narrowed his eyes at her, but then got her magic cuffs off. When he was closer, he saw how her right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and her breathing was shallow and uneven.

"Can you walk?" he asked. She nodded.

"My legs are fine, just sore. Give me a few minutes and I can probably just teleport us back to town, then I'll tell you some of it if you swear to secrecy. I don't need you sending more of these people my way. I get enough as it is," she said, tone threatening. Gajeel nodded, the paused.

"What do you mean teleport to town?"

Gajeel didn't like teleporting. After the two had landed, he vomited up everything in his stomach.

"Why the fuck didn't you warn me about that shit?" he complained, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. She weakly shrugged her shoulders.

"Everyone reacts differently. I haven't seen someone have this bad of a reaction to it, but it might have to do with you being a dragon slayer," Evangeline said. She turned and started walking towards the inn she stayed at. Her stuff was still there, as she had paid for several days.

Eventually, Evangeline got to her room and Gajeel followed. She propped herself up on her bed and closed her eyes before telling him a bit of her story.

"I have a demon sealed inside of me. A real demon," she started. Gajeel nodded for her to keep going. If he was trained by a dragon, it wouldn't be too hard to believe she had a demon.

"Now, this demon is very old, and she's extremely powerful. At least, she used to be. I'm trying to figure out a way to get her separated from me so she can go back to doing her own thing. For now, though, I'm her host.

"I've had over a hundred dark mages come after me to try and extract the demon. Most of the time, I kill them. It's generally frowned upon in Fairy Tail to kill, but we do when there is no other alternative, as is most of the cases when these mages come after me. This isn't the first time I've been kidnapped. Eventually, I would have gotten out, but thanks for coming to get me," she finished. Gajeel stared at her.

"So, you've been in that situation before? Is that why you didn't freak out when I showed up?"

"Yeah. After a few times of being caught, you get used to it. This time it was just another crazy person without much of a talent for magic. He had been able to knock me out with sleeping magic because I was unaware of it. I guess I spaced out while I was walking back," she trailed off. Then she sighed.

"Can you grab the communication lacrima out of my bag over there? For some reason I didn't put it in my requip space," she said, pointing her good arm to the bag in question. He grabbed it and set it down next to her. He was an asshole, but he wasn't about to make a woman with broken ribs catch something. He turned to leave, satisfied with having his questions answered. He still felt something nagging at him, though. Evangeline called out to him before he left.

"Gajeel. I forgive you," she said. He turned back to her and narrowed his eyes, then left. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, I doubt that'll be the last time I see you," she whispered to herself. She took the communication lacrima out of her bag and made the call she had been not wanting to make since she had gotten kidnapped again.

"Ev?" Laxus asked, wondering why she would be calling at this time of day, then he looked over her and saw her bad arm and sighed.

"Yep, got myself kidnapped again," Evangeline sighed.

"Where are you now? You're safe?" Laxus asked, worried about her. He knew she could handle herself, but he could see that she was in pain.

"Back in town. Perth. You should be able to make it with lightning travel," she said. She was tired. She just wanted him next to her, but knowing him, he would take her to see Porlyusica to get her bones reset. That wouldn't be pleasant.

"I'll be there soon, then we're going too see the old lady," Laxus told her. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she heard lightning strike near the inn she was at. Then, he was in her room.

"Receptionist give you a key?" she asked. He nodded. She relaxed a bit now. She was safe. Laxus scanned over her broken form, frowning.

"What happened, love?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. He went over to her and kneeled beside her bed.

"Another crazy. He used sleep magic on me, and I wasn't really thinking at the time. When I woke up, he said he wanted to force Aspen to take control of my body, so he was injecting me with some sort of weird liquid. He hired two guys to make sure I stayed unconscious," she explained softly. Laxus clenched his jaw. She saw and gently lifted her left hand to his face. "Hey, I'm fine. A few broken bones never put me down for more than a few weeks. They didn't do anything else. They are in custody now most likely."

Laxus picked her up and carried her outside. He would come back for her stuff later. All he was focused on now was making sure she was okay.

Evangeline and Gajeel ran into each other three more times in the next few years. The first time involved Gajeel causing an avalanche and Evangeline just happening to be there to save him. The second time involved Gajeel killing a monster that Evangeline was supposed to kill, so she gave him the job reward. The third time was right before Evangeline's divorce, and the two were on a joint mission to investigate a supposedly haunted forest. The only thing that was "haunting" the forest was a group of forest Vulcans, which the two quickly took care of.

Later in Year 8

Evangeline was sitting at the bar bored out of her mind. It had been three months since Evangeline was kidnapped on her last job, and Laxus hadn't let her do anything or go anywhere without someone else. She knew he was just trying to protect her, and it made since when one of her arms was broken, but she was all healed and ready to fight again. She was growing restless.

It was otherwise a dreary, rainy day in Magnolia. Members of the guild sat and talked at tables, but it was overall quite quiet. Suddenly, Evangeline felt a massive wave off sadness and self-hatred outside the door, and then the door opened to show Mira and Elfman. Lisanna was gone. They didn't even need to say it because Evangeline could feel it.

Evangeline snuck up to the second floor to her office before she broke down. She curled up on the couch in her office and sobbed. She didn't notice that her magic was making the rain outside turn into a full-blown storm. This is what alerted Laxus that something was wrong, as he was with his team in Hargeon and there were previously no clouds in the sky.

"Something's wrong," Evergreen said as she looked at the sky. The three males with her nodded.

"We need to go back. Something probably happened at the guild again," Laxus muttered. Just then, his comm lacrima rang.

"What happened?" he asked as soon as he picked it up. He saw his grandfather with a grave look on his face, and Laxus suddenly felt a deep sense of dread about the answer.

"Mirajane and Elfman have returned from their job. Lisanna is dead," he said. The group's eyes widened. They were stunned into silence.

"Please come back as soon as you can. Magnolia is in the midst of the worst storm since the last time she lost control of her powers," Makarov sighed, hanging up. No one could speak. It was completely unexpected. Lisanna was innocent and young, far too young to die.

"Can you three catch the train back?" Laxus asked, and the Raijinshu understood what he meant. He needed to get to his wife to calm her down, and he couldn't take all three of them with him.

"We will meet you at the guild once we arrive," Freed said, and the other two nodded slightly, their eyes downcast. With that, Laxus teleported back to Magnolia right outside of the guild.

His grandfather wasn't kidding when he said that the storm was bad. The wind was howling, and the rain whipped through the sky like needles. He found his way inside and was quickly pointed upstairs. He found Evangeline sobbing on her office couch.

Evangeline didn't even realize he was there until she felt someone scoop her up off her couch and hold her. She knew it was Laxus. No one else would do this. Slowly, she started calming down, as did the storm outside.

Lisanna's funeral was two days later. Fairy Tail buried an empty casket at Kardia Cathedral.

Several weeks passed and Mira had completely changed. She was now soft spoken and sweet rather than the goth demon girl she was. It was weird. She and Erza stopped fighting. Mira couldn't even use her Satan Soul anymore. She now worked at the bar. Evangeline was currently sitting on the second floor, her head resting on her husband's shoulder. She sighed.

"Back to chronic sighing again, are we?" Laxus asked her.

"I'm worried about Mira," Evangeline mumbled. "I don't know what to do. And now Natsu disappeared and he's still young and he's alone and I don't know what to do."

"Natsu can take care of himself. Mira, on the other hand, I'm not sure about," Laxus said. Evangeline lifted her head off his shoulder.

"Then what do I do?" Evangeline asked.

"Ev, if there's anyone in the world who can help someone with emotions, it's you. You can also see her memories. Figure something out. You're smart," he said, standing up and leaving her where she was. She needed to figure out a plan to help Mira, and he was going to let her do that on her own. She was the one that was the comforting one. He just pushed her into it sometimes.

Evangeline realized that her husband was right. Again. As per usual (not that she would ever admit that). She went downstairs to the bar where Mira was and felt out for her emotions. She felt intense sadness and guilt still coming from her friend. Gently, she started soothing that away. She didn't lay it on hard so that Mira didn't know what she was doing. She'd start with this first until Mira was ready to come talk to her.

This gentle easing lasted for a few weeks before Mira approached Evangeline to have her help go through her memories and emotions. Mira knew she would never be the same, but she had to find a new normal. She had to do it for her brother; her last remaining relative.

Laxus stuck close to home for a while. He never left on jobs that were too long or too far away, just incase his wife needed him. He didn't want to care about everyone else in the guild because he'd come to the conclusion that they were weak, but he'd never wanted any of them to die. He just wanted them to be stronger. He hoped that Lisanna's death would inspire everyone to work harder and get stronger. They had to.

S-Class trials finally occurred four months after Lisanna's passing. Life had started to go back to normal for everyone. Mira was making progress with Evangeline, but it would be slow going in the future. Elfman still blamed himself and took to the mountains alone to train.

Mystogan was the one awarded the title this year. Evangeline had seen his face in the trials and realized that he looked exactly like the new, very young council member and wizard saint Siegrain. Evangeline wanted to search Mystogan's memory, but she didn't. It would be a massive invasion of privacy. She did, however, make sure he knew that if he needed someone to talk to and no one to tell it to, that he could come to her. She would never break a promise to keep something a secret.

Year 9

Natsu had finally returned from his quest to find Igneel, but, unfortunately, he hadn't found his father. Evangeline felt bad for her young friend, but she knew that he would be alright. Natsu had gotten a lot stronger in the time he had been gone, as well. He would need his strength in the future. Laxus was starting to worry her with his constant talk of power. She wouldn't be able to convince him to let it go, not right now, at least.

Now, though, it was her anniversary. Laxus had brought her back to Crocus for a magical week just like they had had years before, just after her parents had died.

"What are you thinking about," Laxus asked her quietly, tightening his arm around her frame. It was morning, and they were still in bed. There wasn't really much of a reason to get up yet since this was a day they had planned to just not do anything.

"You know," she said, sadness leeching into her voice. She felt Laxus start to have guilt come over him, and something else she didn't recognize, but before she could feel for it again, it was gone.

"I know you don't like it, Ev. I'm sorry that I've upset you," he mumbled. She sighed.

"It's not about me being upset, love. It's about you thinking that our family needs to change. I understand that you want everyone to be stronger. I really do. But what you are talking about is taking it too far. Let's maybe train with them, help them. Everyone has already been training more since we lost Lis," she said softly.

"Mmm, so that's the compromise?" he asked, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"Compromise isn't exactly what I was going for, but it works," she said before turning over to her other side to face her husband. "Now, enough talk about this. It's our anniversary."

A few months later, Evangeline was watching Romeo for a week while Macao was on a job. Laxus was away as well, so it was just Evangeline and her favorite little boy. Romeo was very sweet and not a trouble maker at all, at least, around her. For Macao, he was terrible. He hadn't been around Laxus too much recently so she didn't know how he would act around her husband.

"Well, Romeo, do you want to go to the guild for a bit? We have a few hours before it's nap time for both of us," Evangeline asked the boy.

"Let go to the guild!" Romeo exclaimed. He loved going to the guild and seeing Natsu especially. Natsu was home right now and hadn't left on another job, at least, that she knew of.

"Well, let's go then, little one," she said, crouching down for the boy to climb onto her back, which he promptly did. She then teleported them both to the guild through her lightning travel.

Much to her surprise, Laxus had gotten back early and was upstairs. He was standing at the railing of the second floor and nodded to her when he saw her looking at him. She shot him a questioning look before letting Romeo down to play with Natsu. Gray was out right now, which was probably a good thing. He and Natsu fought like cats and dogs, but at the same time they would die for each other in a heartbeat.

Evangeline made her way to the second floor to see what happened on her husband's job that had him home so early.

"It was another target on you, Ev," he replied, sighing. She furrowed her brows.

"Like a few years ago? In Perth?" He nodded.

"Similar circumstances. This one had a lot more people hired, but they weren't hard to knock out. They are all in custody," he said. Evangeline shook her head.

"That's the fifth one in three months, Laxus. Why are so many more people learning about this?" she mumbled. Laxus wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know. This group was affiliated with Dark Claw, a dark guild under Grimoire Heart. The recent ones have all been connected to dark guilds somehow. It's probably coming down all the way from the big three," he said.

"I hate this. I don't even really want to go on jobs anymore simply because I don't want to deal with it," Evangeline sighed. Her shoulders dropped. Laxus tightened his arms around her.

"We'll figure out where it's coming from and stop it eventually. None of them are stupid enough to come after you here at the guild, so you and everyone else are safer here. We're lucky they haven't realized targeting other people is the best way to get to you," he started, and Evangeline went to refute his last statement, but he continued quickly so she wasn't able to. "You know it's true and you can't deny it. What if they took Romeo, hmm? You'd throw yourself at whoever it was just to get the kid back to safety. You love everyone too much, Ev. Same with people we are supposed to be enemies with. Look at our last few jobs. You've tried to help them on trial."

"I can see remorse and hope for a future in the ones I defend. They deserve a second chance. The last few were all kids, Laxus. Younger than us. They were orphans just like most people in Fairy Tail, but they didn't make it to us. They fell into trouble and weren't able to get out," she muttered. Laxus shook his head.

"That's exactly what I mean, Ev. You care about them. It's who you are, but it's a huge weakness should they learn about how to exploit it. Just be careful," he said. He let her go and looked back out over the main floor of the guild. Evangeline requipped a watch and realized that it was time for Romeo's nap, even though he insisted he didn't need one anymore.

"Ah, shit, I gotta get Romeo and head home for his nap," she groaned. Laxus chuckled beside her.

"Let's go then," he said, and they descended the stairs and Evangeline caught Romeo as he was flying through the air, courtesy of Natsu.

"Natsu. I will smack you for that later. Babies are not meant to fly," Evangeline said darkly at the younger mage. Natsu paled and started shaking.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he said before he ran away from her.

"Ev, Romeo isn't a baby anymore, ya know," Laxus reminded her while they were walking back. Laxus was holding Romeo, as the boy had passed out from exhaustion when they got outside the guild doors.

"He will always be a baby to me," she said. "He's kind of like our kid, you know."

"I know. But you can't always be Mama Bear. Alice wouldn't have been," he said. Evangeline sighed sadly.

"I know. It's not fair that he doesn't get to grow up without his mother, though," she murmured.

"He does have one, though. He has you. Even if he doesn't call you Mom, he knows that's what you are to him. He's got it better than I did. I didn't really have anyone hovering over me all the time until I started spending a lot of time with you, and then I had you and your mother doing that," Laxus said, and Evangeline shook her head while smiling a little.

"Oh, make up your mind. One minute you say he's not my kid then the next you say he is," she said.

"Well, he's going to have a lot harder time in the future when he will have to share you," Laxus said. They had reached their house and put Romeo in his bed by now.

"In the future, you say?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, in the future," he confirmed. They hadn't really talked about having kids in years, given that the thought of possible death freaked Evangeline out a ton.

"I suppose he will have to share me eventually, then," she said softly. "But in the mean time, he will be spoiled rotten!"

Year 10

Evangeline sat in her bed in the infirmary and stared blankly at the wall. She had been in that state for a few days, and everyone was worried about her.

"Nee-san, please talk to me," Gray begged her softly.

"And say what, Gray?" she rasped out. It was the first time she had talked in a few days.

"Anything, so that's a start," Gray said, moving to sit next to her one her bed. She sighed softly.

"Gray…" she trailed off, the grabbed his hand.

"It's okay to not be okay, Ev," he said.

"I can't feel anything. My magic, emotions, anything," she said sadly.

"It'll come back. Right now, just focus on healing up. I'll be here the whole time," he told her. At this, she gave him a small smile.

"I know," she said, then yawned. "I'm going to sleep for a bit, I think."

"Okay, sis. I'll be back soon."

Evangeline fell asleep and didn't realize that her friends were all talking about her outside the infirmary door.

"She's talking now, at least," Gray told Master and everyone else who was outside: Mira, Elfman, Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, Natsu, Erza, Levy, and Cana. No one else really fit in the hallway, so they would find out after the group dispersed.

"That's progress. What did she say?" Master asked. Gray frowned.

"She can't feel her magic. Can't feel her own or other's emotions," he said. The hallway was silent for a while before everyone gradually filtered out, except for Freed, Master, and Gray.

"Have you found him, yet?" Gray asked Freed. Freed shook his head.

"I have not. He won't answer his comm lacrima, and I have not heard from the inn owners in the towns nearby. Wherever he has gone, he wants no one to find him," Freed explained.

"Can't we send Natsu on his trail? He would be best at tracking most likely," Gray asked. Master shook his head.

"Natsu won't be able to find him. He teleported away with his lightning so he left no trial. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack the size of Fiore. He will return eventually, and then we proceed from there," Master said. "For now, we just need to be here for Evangeline."

It was three months before Laxus showed his face again. He showed up at the guild while Evangeline was back at her new apartment and dropped over a large envelope for her. He proceeded to pick up a job and disappear again. This cycle of showing up for a few minutes and leaving again continued for another three months before his team started to go back on jobs with him. The few times he was at the guild at those times, it was clear to everyone that he knew he made a massive mistake. He was suffering. Evangeline was suffering. Everyone was suffering. Eventually, eight months after the incident, everyone found a new normal.

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A/N:

Okay! This is the last true flashback chapter, but there will probably be stories told in the coming chapters about events in the past. I'm also editing past chapters! I'm not making any major changes, though.