Work Text:
Bickslow had been able to see the red strings for almost as long as he’d been able to see souls. It was something of a hobby really. It made for excellent entertainment.
Bickslow grinned as he plopped down on a barstool and turned to watch the crowded guildhall. Evergreen and Freed were supposed to be meeting him soon so that they could leave on a job which meant no drinking before they arrived or suffer Ever’s wrath. He was not in the mood to be beaten with her fan today. So he settled in to entertain himself with soul watching instead.
People thought that Mirajane got some crazy ideas about who people ought to end up with, but she had nothing on Bickslow. He could actually see the red strings connecting fated matches which just made it funnier when people tried to ignore them. He made a killing in the guild betting pools. Nobody had figured out his secret, yet.
Of course it wasn’t just as simple and straight forward as everybody having one red string that guaranteed that they and the person on the other end would live happily ever after together. It was far more complicated than that – life always was. People had to work for it. Many people had more than one string. Sometimes that meant that they had a choice, like Natsu, Cana, or that new cosplayer girl, Lucy. Sometimes it meant that they were destined to be with more than one person, like Erza, Jellal, and Simon. Nobody dared to ask for details of the trio’s relationship beyond that it was apparently “consensual,” but Bickslow could see the truth plain as day. The red strings wrapped around their wrists tied them together into a perfectly balanced triangle. There were other straightforward couples in the guild, like Alzack and Bisca, who had a single bright red cord connecting their shoulders. If they ever got over their shyness and realized that their feelings were mutual, not even a crowbar would be able to tear those two apart. There were people who had no strings at all, like Laki and Reedus. Maybe they weren’t interested. Maybe they just didn’t have anyone “fated,” and the universe had left it up to them to decide. You didn’t need to have a red string to be able to fall in love.
And then there were the… entertaining people. Like Evergreen. She had one red string and it was tied directly to her heart – that was a kind of connection you absolutely couldn’t ignore. And who was on the other end of that string? None other than Elfman, whom Ever regularly claimed to despise. She made hilarious screeching noises when Bickslow told her she was protesting too much. Or when he “accidentally” shoved her on top of Elfman during guild bar brawls. Really, it was the little things in life.
Or there was that massive, messed-up knot-of-a-thing going on between Gray, Juvia, and Lyon. Even Bickslow couldn’t tell who was supposed to end up with who in that one. The longer Juvia was a member of the guild, the more snarled up the knot became.
Or there was Erik. Who shared a single bright thread with his flying snake, Cubelios. That raised all sorts of disturbing questions.
Bickslow glanced back towards the entrance as he heard the doors open. Maybe Freed and Ever had arrived early? Nope. Bickslow burst out laughing. He always did when he caught sight of Gajeel. How could you not? The guy was absolutely hilarious! Bickslow watched as the iron dragon slayer plodded across the guildhall and sat down heavily at his preferred dark table in the corner. Never, in his entire life, had Bickslow ever seen one person so tangled up in his own red string. There was just the one, but it was wrapped around and around his chest so many times that he was practically cocooned in red. And on the other end of that string was sweet little Levy McGarden with a single red thread tied delicately around her wrist. If things didn’t work out between them, Levy would be able to walk away – heartbroken but still able to move on with her life. Gajeel… would not. He’d probably just curl up in a ditch somewhere and die. You almost had to feel sorry for the guy. It was one of the reasons that Bickslow was completely unconcerned about Gajeel ever betraying Fairy Tail. Besides, who was he to judge? The Thunder Legion had done almost as much damage to the guild as Phantom Lord and Gajeel had, and the main difference was that Laxus hadn’t told them to tear the guildhall down.
Bickslow shook his head, trying to refocus on the hilarity that was the guild’s red string problem instead of his own morose thoughts, but it was too late. And just like they did every other time his thoughts had turned dark over the past two years, they turned to his left hand and the single red string tied to his own finger.
His babies clustered closer around his head, sensing his change in mood.
He hadn’t even been able to attend her funeral. Laxus had already been well on the path to darkness by then, and when someone from the guild had gotten ahold of them, he hadn’t been interested in returning for a “weakling’s funeral.” Bickslow had never told anyone about the red strings – not even the rest of the Thunder Legion – so he had kept his mouth shut for once. He’d put a flower on her grave when they eventually got back from their mission.
Bickslow had never really gotten to know Lisanna. She had been several years younger than him, and, well, maybe he’d been a little bit afraid to. Because Lisanna had had two red threads on the little finger of her right hand. A choice. And by the time Bickslow joined Fairy Tail and he met Lisanna for the first time, it was obvious that she had already chosen Natsu. But he hadn’t minded too much. She was better off without him. Maybe they could still be friends. It had never happened. He’d talked to her a few times, but the Thunder Legion was away more on missions than they were in Magnolia. And then Lisanna had been gone. Permanently.
But that was the part that didn’t make sense.
Bickslow looked down at the faint red string still tied around his left pinkie finger. It was taunt and pointing up towards the sky of some reason just as it had for the last two years. If Lisanna was really dead, his thread should be broken and fluttering like the one around Master Makarov’s left arm. Every time he looked at his hand, his eyes were telling him that Lisanna was still alive which made no sense. And he couldn’t talk to anybody about it. People got really uncomfortable when he started talking about the details of his soul sight, and he’d never told anybody about the red strings. He couldn’t exactly ask Mirajane or Elfman, “Hey, was there actually a body to bury for your sister’s funeral? Nobody ever told me.” Even he wasn’t that insensitive. Or suicidal. Nobody held a grudge like Mirajane when she put her mind to it.
So he couldn’t be sure or ask anyone, but he hoped. He hoped that somewhere out there that glittering soul of diamond sunlight was still alive and smiling.
A fan smacked him hard across the head. There was a reason that Bickslow wore a helmet beyond just concealing his sometimes difficult to control figure eyes. Evergreen was a menace with a fan.
“What is with you? I called your name three times and you didn’t even look up! You made me walk the entire way across the guild.” She scowled at him.
“And good morning to you, too, Ever.” He grinned and waggled his tongue at her. “I was thinking.”
“Thinking! Thinking!” his babies chorused.
Ever rolled her eyes,
“And I’m sure you injured yourself doing it. Come on – Freed’s waiting outside, and we’ll miss our train if you don’t hurry up.”
Bickslow gamely hopped up and followed along behind her, his babies trailing him like ducklings. He spared his left hand one last glance.
He hoped he’d be there to see it on the day when Lisanna finally came home.