And yet so far to go

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
―Roald Dahl

Magic was everywhere in Fiore but most people simply had no idea where to look for it. There were places where magic was easy to see – in the guilds for example. But often, magic was hidden. For bookworms like Levy McGarden and Lucy Heartfilia, magic could be found in a book which could be found in a dusty library, hidden in the depths of a dark room. For the more competitive people like Gajeel Redfox and Natsu Dragneel, magic was to be found within the thrill of a fight. For the musically interested, for people like Mirajane Strauss and Freed Justine, magic was what made a song beautiful.

And yet, some people who used magic on everyday basis had forgotten to look for magic in the small miracles of every day life. Such a person was Laxus Dreyar. He had acknowledged that there was magic – sure, because otherwise he would not be able to work his spells. But he denied that magic was more than a strange concept that allowed him to punch his opponents into the next week. He chuckled inwardly when he heard how Freed and Mira marvelled at the beauty of a song because he did not see it.

For Cana, who saw the beauty everywhere, his behaviour was confusing and hurtful because it was everything Fairy Tail was not about. It was against the thrill of adventure, the thirst to seek mysterious items … against the way Fairy Tail mages usually went.

"I simply don't get why you are so … unhappy about this," Laxus shrugged as she brought up this topic once more. "Look, I adore magic. It gives me the power to protect my family, to protect you. But I don't see what … music and books have in common with it."

"That's exactly the point!" she said, slamming down her glass onto the table. "It's not about what you can see or touch. It's about what you can feel. No one ever tried to see love. It's an emotion and cannot be seen – it can only be felt … just like magic."

"Love … another silly little tale people tell themselves," Laxus said bitterly.

"So, you don't even believe in love?" she asked as she pursed her lips.

"How could I?" he muttered darkly. "Look at it from my point of view: my father is a sadistic bastard and I never met my mother. The only love I see is the pain Juvia suffers because of Gray's blindness. Don't get me wrong … I believe in friendship and love between siblings but not between other people. You should understand this. You were basically an orphan as well."

"Gray is afraid to love because the people he loved always end up dead," she said as she fiddled with the feathers on her bag. "And well, I do believe in love. No matter how sad my mother was because of Gildarts' departure, she also said that he was the best thing that ever happened to her."

"Sounds like she was a sentimental fool."

"A sentimental fool who died when she saved an entire town, yes," she said as she shrugged. "If you want to get me on that track, you have to get up earlier. Look, Laxus, when two people meet and fall in love, it's not fate. It simply happens – just like I am a good-looking card mage and you a grumpy S-class mage. It's no big deal, it happens thousand times each day. And yet, there is always magic. A sudden rush of magic is naturally present where two lives connect like that." She grabbed a handful of grapes and chewed them thoughtfully. "Magic is everywhere, trust me on that," she said as she grinned at him.

"Prove it," he said as he raised an eyebrow. "Or are you scared of losing your reputation?"

"Actually, no," she said calmly. "We make a bet. You walk me home and we discuss the details."

When she looked back now, she wondered how it was possible that simply a few weeks had passed since then. If she could afford to be honest, she would admit that he had won the bet. No matter what she had tried to make him see the magic all around of them, he had been blind. He was the most disillusioned person she had ever met and she knew herself.

She would admit her defeat today – after the crazy S-class job he had asked her to do with him. A bitter smile graced her lips as she caught up with him on the way to the train station.

"Too early for you, Cana?" he teased. "Usually, this is when you go to bed, right?"

She sent him a glare. "Not everyone is sent to bed with a glass of hot milk at eight o'clock in the evening," she replied as she adjusted the strap of her back. "So, what is this all about?"

"Since we hung out for so long now, I thought that we could do a little S-class job – or are you scared, Cana?" he asked as he bought two train tickets. "I would understand it if you were scared … I mean, you have been an S-class mage only for a few months…"

"Eight," she corrected him. "And I am not scared … at all."

He chuckled as he sat down. "Okay, it's a really easy job. A few smugglers are stirring up trouble up south and for some reason, the local jobs don't get their job done. This is why it was declared to be an S-class job and as usual, Fairy Tail grabbed it," he said uncaringly. "It will be easy even though I guess that there will be some rogue mages with the smugglers."

"Usually, that's a job for normal mages," she remarked as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, even Macao and Wakaba should be able to deal with this," he grinned.

She rolled her eyes as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Wake me up when we are there," she said as she leaned back. "I am going to sleep now."

"Oi, Alberona, get up, we are there," he said as he shook her awake.

"Yes, yes," she said as she stretched. "Let's take out those thugs and get home. Mira told me that tonight is Wish-For-A-Song-Night at the guild and I always attend."

"It is rare for you not to be there," he remarked drily as they walked out of the train station.

"I skip the Karaoke Nights … just like you," she said with a grin.

It was strange how familiar it felt to walk alongside him through a winter day. There had been countless days like these so far and yet, every day was something special. Maybe it was the way he did not scowl when it was just the two of them. Perhaps it was because she felt comfortable with him by her side – even though she knew that this would end the moment she would admit that she had lost the bet.

The next time she would go out on a job, she would go there alone and she would look back at the days when they had been there together in wistfulness. She would be sad and feeling heartbroken once more but this time, it would be her own fault. She had been the one to make the bet and the bet was the reason why they had gotten close once more.

Why did she even care whether he believed in magic and love or not? It was not her business anyway. In the end, she would be the one who would drink too much once more because even though she would be okay without him, she would sure as hell not fine at all.

"Can you even see anything with your hair in your face?" he asked as he rolled his eyes. "God, even Ever remembers to bind her hair into a ponytail when it's windy like that…"

She rolled her eyes as she followed his advice. "I was just thinking that you aren't all that bad and well, you just went to ruin my good image of you," she said amused. "But you are right."

"This happens sometimes, yup," he said with a wry smile as he looked around. "C'mon, smugglers never hide this good. Why are they trying to be an exception?"

"Maybe they aren't here," she suggested as she also looked around.

"They are here … I can smell them. They should have showered before they came here."

Her face scrunched up in utter disgust. "That's … really revolting," she stated.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Their smell is actually very nauseating … for a first generation dragon slayer, this would be a reason to roll up into a little bundle and to want to die."

"Here they come," Laxus warned as he dodged a first attack. "Hurry up and beat them before they can figure you out," he advised before he disappeared in a flash of gold and brown.

Cana snorted. A part of him wanted to remind him that this was not her first S-class job and that she was no fool but when, she took on a taller mage who seemed to use some sort of Takeover Magic when the disgusting creature he suddenly became was any indication. She made a mental note to thank the Strauss-Siblings for having enough common sense not to use some half-rotten corpse as favourite takeover.

She threw cards at it, trying to blow it up. If her experiences with Elfman and Mira were any indication, a takeover disappeared once it took too much damage. She was not trying to kill the mage because this was not what Fairy Tail mages did – she was merely trying to force her opponent to leave his takeover alone because this corpse-form gave him more speed than she liked.

But, alas, her range was not big enough and this confused her. Usually, she had a range of more than twenty metres with her attacks but for some reason, her cards only flew ten metres or twelve at most which indicated that the corpse had some sort of barrier around it that did not allow her card spells to pass.

"Okay, okay," she muttered as she brushed back her hair. "Looks like I got to play dirty now. Your attack is short-ranged and I am too far away for you to hit me … and your barrier merely covers a thin zone around you … a circle. If I get inside this circle, you will be vulnerable…"

This was bad because this knew what it meant. Then again, allowing herself to get hit was probably the only thing she could do. "Circle of the Arcana," she muttered as she scattered cards around of herself. "Twelve seconds," she added as she fearlessly glared at the takeover mage. "Come and get me if you dare to."

The spell hit her stomach and even though she had anticipated it, the pain was more that she could have imagined. She staggered backwards, holding the hole in her body as a grin covered her face. "You are in my range now," she announced as all the cards that had been seemingly pointlessly scattered everywhere came to life and positively ripped apart her opponent-turned-monster. "Didn't you know? Fairy Tail mages go down in a firework."

Laxus was paralysed. He had seen the entire scene unfold from the corner of his eye but he had assumed that Cana would avoid the spell due to its relatively small range. Then again, she had taken the hit to get the creature into her own range. He returned his attention to the fight as he knocked out two of his opponents in one go and caught Cana before she could fall down.

"Cana, look at me," he said as she rose her head. "You were right. There is magic. And there's love."

She smiled weakly. "I won," she stated calmly and passed out.

He cradled her body close to himself as he turned to the arriving Rune Knights. "Is there a healer among you?" he growled, not caring of how intimidating he had to look with the blood all over his clothes and skin. "I am only asking this once."

"Y-yes," a thin man said as he stumbled forwards. "I will heal her now."

"I'd advise that you hurry up, yes," the blond man said darkly as he gently lowered her to the ground. "Fairy Tail mages don't like it when their comrades get hurt."

"That spell was new."

She felt drowsily as she opened her eyes and stared at her pure white surroundings. "No," she said as she touched her stomach. The hole had disappeared, something she was eternally thankful for because drinking with a hole would have been difficult.

"I never saw it before either," Gray's voice threw in as the ice mage appeared behind Laxus.

"Oldest trick in the book, really," she said as she stretched and carefully sat up. "You scatter the cards all over the floor and put up a timer. In this case, twelve seconds. After the time runs out, the cards automatically attack everything within the circle that is not the caster of the spell – best thing about it: it doesn't matter if the caster is awake or not."

"This … this is indeed a neat trick," Laxus admitted. "But you were foolish."

"He had a barrier around himself at twelve metres or so. Not even you would have gotten through this. Taking a hit was necessary to get through his defence," she said with a smirk. "A long time ago, card mages were said to be trickier than other mages."