Thunder Snow [Fairy Tail fanfic - 8/12]

His first sight of the town the Morning Glory guildhall was located in wasn't very encouraging. It was early morning still as they approached from above, coming down a low hillside and onto a plateau with several houses on it. In fact, he wasn't sure that town would be the best way to describe the place; it was more like a small village or even a large collection of houses. The main road sloped gently down towards the lowlands and as they rounded a curve, he could see more buildings sprinkled like jewels along the path.

"Wow!" Shira said breathlessly. She was riding on his back again because the walk had been the hardest on the children. In fact, each adult in their party carried at least one child on their backs and one giant of a man had two perched on his shoulders. "It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, I guess it is," he said.

The path opened up at the base of the cliffside into a field of flowers. There was a small house pressed up against the stone wall behind it and it was there that everyone was heading. Laxus studied the building as they got closer; it looked far too small for the number of people heading towards it and rather shabby as well. The decorative carvings covering the stonework of the house were worn and aged looking. Ciel reached the door before he did and turned with a smile.

"Welcome to the Morning Glory guild hall!"

He gave her a skeptical look as he entered the door and then stopped in disbelief a few steps inside. This time, it was Ciel's turn to almost run into his back, stepping around him to move further into the vast entrance.

"It's carved back into the mountains. We've been enlarging it for years now, so there's plenty of room in here. Most of the cliffside is actually hollow by now. Let's get the kids to some rooms so they can rest and then you can drop your stuff off. I can show you around after lunch."

He followed her through the entrance hall and towards the main staircase dominating the view. The other members of the rescue party were already on the next floor and heading down a side hall, herding the other children before them. Ciel and Laxus climbed up after them, turning down the same hallway.

About half way down, she opened a door and gestured for Laxus to go in first. Shira climbed down from his back, slumping onto the bed he was standing next to. He then helped lift a sleeping Ino off Ciel's back, laying her on the other bed in the room. By the time that Ino was tucked under the covers, Shira had recovered enough energy to move to the large window, peering out through the glass to see outside.

"Go ahead and open it up if you want," Ciel said. "There's a spell so it can't rain in, but it's fine to let the breeze blow. For right now though, you and Ino should rest. I'll come get you both when it's time to clean up for lunch, okay?" Shira smiled at her before jumping back into bed. She was asleep before the two adults made it out the door.

"They were both pretty tired after all," she said as she led Laxus down the hallway to the other side of the building. "The kids usually stay on that side of the hall and the adults on this side. It gives us some peace and quiet." This time she stopped a few doors down from the main hall. "Our guest rooms are closer to the front of the cliff so that the windows give more light. I can move you to one further down the hall if you want though…"

"No, this should be fine," he said, looking around. "I didn't expect such luxury when I first saw this place though."

"Yeah, it's a bit deceptive. Auntie likes it that way and so does most of the family. Not that we've had problems with enemies or anything like that, but it's just safer this way, I guess." She walked towards a door on the far side of the room, opening it to reveal a private bath. "This is the other reason this is a guest room; you don't have to share with anyone else. And there was a hot spring pulled up into here for everyone to use years ago, so that's a plus, too."

Laxus walked over to the bed and dropped his bag on it, covering it with his coat. He'd been wearing it instead of just having it draped over his shoulders and in the warmth of the guild hall, it was too much. The floors were covered in thick carpets and heavy drapes were pulled back from the wide windows. After spending almost two months freezing in the mines and then walking here, all this comfort felt out of place.

"I'll leave you to rest or get cleaned up or whatever you want to do. We have a few hours before lunch, so I'll come back to get you when it's time."

As she walked past him, Laxus caught her wrist and pulled her to his side. Ciel looked startled for a moment and then gave him a slight smile.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" he asked.

"I really should let you rest," she answered before stepping a bit closer. "It's been a rough time for all of us."

"It has," he said softly, bending his head to brush her lips with his. "But resting together sounds like a good idea to me." Her eyes drifted shut as she leaned into him, her free hand sliding up his chest. He kissed her again, letting his mouth linger over hers. He pulled her against his body, deepening their kiss. Her hands moved down the front of his shirt, slowly slipping the buttons open one-by-one. She stepped back slightly as the shirt fell open, pushing it to the side so her hands could rest on his abdomen.

His own hands were busy opening her shirt as well, pulling the smooth fabric off her shoulders to be caught at her elbows, freeing him to place kisses along her collarbone. She let the shirt slide off her arms and to the floor, falling into a pile at their feet. It was soon joined by his shirt and she ran her hands over his chest before settling at his waist, pulling him closer.

"CIEL! Where are you, girl?" The shout from the guild leader shocked them both and they broke apart suddenly. Ciel stared at him blankly for a few seconds before reaching down to grab her shirt. "CIEL!"

"Dammit," she whispered angrily. After giving him a quick kiss, she ran from the room trying to pull her shirt back on at the same time. Laxus sighed and grabbed his own shirt from the floor, tossing it on the bed as he headed for the bath. What he needed now was a cold shower after all.

The next week and a half was spent recovering from being imprisoned for so long. Just being fed regularly and sleeping in a warm bed was more than enough to make him feel normal again. The other members of the Morning Glory guild were more than happy to replace his clothes and other items that the guards had either destroyed or stolen.

Ciel was kept busy running errands for the guild master or else kept close by that old woman's side, almost as if she were trying to keep them apart. He didn't really suspect her of anything, but it certainly was suspicious. The other members of the guild were friendly and undemanding, asking if he needed anything or letting him help out with chores when he could, but no one tried to pry into his past or asked uncomfortable questions. It felt odd to just be accepted with question.

The chaos of the guild hall itself wasn't all that different from what he'd seen in Fairy Tail though. There was a constant stream of people coming and going - townsfolk coming in with requests for help, mages leaving to assist or returning from completed jobs. He spent the days off to the side, watching all the activity with an intensity he'd never bothered with back home. Ciel had said her family members made up a large portion of the guild members and now he could see the resemblance between many of them.

While waiting for Ciel to join him, a noisy troop of children, the rescued ones among them, charged past and ran through the front door, heading out to play in the fields surrounding the guildhall. The volume inside the building immediately dropped down to something resembling normal. It felt out of place to have that many kids running around a guild, but considering the members were mostly family, it did make sense. He'd never noticed any children around Fairy Tail, although he knew there were a few – Macao's son Romeo for one – but not many. Still, he grew up running around the guildhall, along with a good portion of the current generation of mages there; why hadn't he ever realized they were all just part of a big family?

After fifteen minutes of waiting and still no Ciel, Laxus finally got up to go look for her. A few questions got him pointed down one of the lower hallways he hadn't explored yet, so he started looking there. He could faintly hear the sound of raised voices from behind a partially closed door further down the hall and was heading that way when he finally registered what was being said.

"Well, why haven't you, dammit!" The old woman's voice made him pause; Ciel must be speaking to her guild master. He was ready to turn away when his name was mentioned.

"Auntie, I'm not trying to make Laxus stay here," Ciel said.

"He'd be perfect for the guild! And I've given you plenty of opportunities to do something about it. Silly girl, we need good members in the guild."

"Plenty of opportunities? You've kept me by your side since we got back from the mines."

"Are you stupid? You were supposed to go seduce him at night into wanting to stay here. How else is he going to be tied to us?"

"Auntie!" Ciel sounded scandalized at her guild master's words. "I'm not.. I won't do that… I'm not sleeping with someone just because you think he's handsome and strong and you want him to join the guild!"

"But what if you think he's handsome, eh girl?" The old woman paused for a moment and then burst out into cackling laughter.

"Auntie, you didn't hear him talking about his friends or his guild. They're obviously his family and he's just taking a break, that's all." She sighed in frustration. "Besides, how would you feel if one of us was out on walkabout from the guild and someone tried to recruit us into their guild?"

"I'd take my cane to them!" she shouted, and Laxus could hear wood striking wood. "No one steals my members from me!"

"Well, that's what you want me to do with him. I don't get the feeling that he's ready to go home yet, but I'm damn sure he's not ready to stay here forever, either."

"Hmpf. Fine, fine, I see your point." Silence from the room and he was wondering if they were done speaking when Auntie spoke again. "Maybe he could leave sometime behind though…"

"Like what?" Ciel sounded cautious.

"Oh, you know… heh heh heh… we've always loved having children around the hall, after all."

"AUNTIE! I'm definitely not going to seduce him just to get pregnant! You've lost it, old woman." He heard a chair scrape against the floor and footsteps. At the sound of the old woman's laughter, the steps paused. "I really do hope you were just joking, Auntie. I'd hate to think that's how you repay someone who's helped us out."

Laxus missed the guild master's reply because he was already heading back out. He was waiting in his place in the main hall when Ciel walked out of the hallway, frowning to herself. She smiled when she saw him though and headed over to take his hand.

"Come on; let's go down to the town to have lunch. I need a break from this place."