Layla Dragneel

**Layla Dragneel** is a mage part of Fairy Tail and the second daughter of Natsu and Lucy Dragneel.

## Appearance

Layla, as first introduced, is a scrawny blonde teen with a lot of attitude and a lot of crop tops. She is slim and short, unlike her siblings, but is mighty nonetheless. Like her mother, she has blonde hair with a fringe. However, having waist-length hair, she always pulls it back into a high ponytail, the tail being braided tightly to the end and tied with a purple bow at the top.

Her favorite color is purple, as it is associated with royalty, and she wears it nearly constantly. At introduction, she wears a long purple coat with the shoulders cut out and a long cape that hangs around the back. For security, she has a leather belt wrapped around the waist. Underneath, she wears a purple croptop that exposes her stomach (and her yellow guildmark) as well as a pair of tight fitting purple shorts. She wears a pair of heeled boots with purple stockings on her feet, hoping to gain an inch or two in height from the heel.

Like her mother, Layla does have a certain affinity toward fashion and often dresses in various outfits. However, one key feature is the exposure of her abs, as she always likes to show off her guildmark (and flat stomach).

One key feature always in Layla's possession is her ji, a magical tool she uses to channel her abilities. Her ji is about as tall as she is with two metal ends. To coordinate with her usual outfits, she fashioned a purple ribbon to the top of the ji. Just for the extra flair of drama.

Following her trip to Edolas, Layla had an impromptu haircut that resulted in her losing her long blonde hair. Her hair now is completely cropped in the back, only coming to her chin at its longest. However, she decided to keep the cut to show her maturity. However, the purple stays. No matter what.

## Personality

Layla was never known for her charming personality. Ever since childhood, she'd been a bit prickly and always enjoyed rubbing her wisdom in the faces of her older siblings.

Born the scrawniest of the Dragneels, she often felt othered by her two older siblings Nashi and Liddan who were eerily similar in youth. The two, both wreckless and boyish, were often getting into trouble, and Layla (at the time, the baby of the family) found herself content as the tattletale of her family, and that carried on into adolesence.

Above all, Layla spent most of her teenhood battling her own insecurity by taking it out on others. She would pout and call her peers names before they could pick her apart for her own faults. It was her way of staying ahead of the game, even if no one else was playing.

She began to value strength over all else, getting it into her head that if someone couldn't hold their own, then they didn't have any worth.

This attitude caused isolation as most other kids left her alone, the only acceptions being the daring Xavier Dreyar and his father, who spent the most time with her from day to day.

While she never quite brought her guard down around Xavier, he was for a time the closest to her affections. Though much younger, she developed a genuine crush on Xavier, which spawned another secret shame for Layla to hide, an obsession with romance.

From early on, Layla discovered an obsession for romance and romantic media. She would secretly hoard hardcore romance novels and read them in private. She was deeply afraid of anyone knowing she loved romance novels, to the degree that she hid it from her own family.

What spawned the shame was mostly an insecruity with her own femininity. As she made strength the all-important character value of her life, she found herself unsettled by what she saw as a glaring weakness. It took her a very long time to understand that she was allowed a duality to her own nature.

After being "caught" by Marigold with her nose in a romance novel, Layla started to change course. Though she recieved some teasing for her interest, her strong will and character were still in place, and she stomped out any teasing with a heavy boot.

From then, Layla began to mellow out bit by bit. Allowing herself to separate her insecurities from her feelings toward others, she started to make genuine friendships, with her peers and her siblings.

Overtime, she started to become more honest, but never losing her sardonic and quick-witted personality. As she began to accept the love of her family, she started to feel the same sense of protection for her friends as they did.

This development made her far more open to new friendships, notably with new guild member Felicity, who quickly gained a kinship with Layla. As Layla became more honest with herself and others, she began to realize things about her relationships too, and finally came to grips with her crush on Xavier, realizing it was just a crush and letting it pass.

This honesty wasn't always pleasant, though neccissary, as Layla had an honest confrontation with her father and their relationship. During their trip to Edolas, Layla was able to confront Natsu in his own ignorance, showing him how little he knew about his own daughter without truly chastizing him for it. In this moment, she allowed Natsu to make the move, remaining open to his attempts of genuine connection.

Similarly, Layla began a journey of self reflection in Edolas, accepting the change within herself as she becomes an adult. With help of her official boyfriend, Elwin, she is continuing down the path of self discovery, finding herself happy with the person she's become.

## Synopsis

### History

Layla is one of the middle children of the Dragneel Family, their third child and second daughter. She was named after her grandmother, Layla Heartfilia, as per Lucy and Natsu's agreement that they could name whichever kid matched their hair color.

Layla spent the first five years of her life as the baby of the family until Lucy became pregnant with Jude. She wasn't happy about this change in the dynamic.

She was always a bit different from her siblings, taking after her mother more than her father. This separation was driven by her higher intelligence, which also influenced her superiority over them. This helped isolate her from her family and made her look outwards for guidance and leadership. She looked no further than Laxus, the guildmaster, who at a young age agreed to train her, making her a Fire and Lightning Dragon Slayer.

This training made her much closer to her older guildmate, Xavier Dreyar, Laxus' son, whom she eventually developed a crush on. Being in with the Dreyar's, Layla, unfortunately, developed a relationship with Elwin Strauss as well, Xavier's cousin. The two developed an almost one-sided friendship, mostly from Elwin's side, but nonetheless became reliant and trusting of one another.

Layla's hard work would pay off as she would be let into the S-class trials at a young age. She would, however, be fighting against her brother for the title. The trials play out, and the final destination is the point where the Fairy Tail members escaped on Tenrou island years before. Liddan and Layla each meet at the point, engaging in a fight that results in Liddan unlocking his berserk mode for the first time. Layla's life is saved by her family, present to overlook the S-Class trial, and a rift is made between Layla and her family.

Layla is made an honorary S-Class mage and is partnered with Xavier to work under Laxus outside of Magnolia. She takes the job to escape her family but is still bombarded with letters from her older sister, Nashi. For almost an entire year, Layla is gone and fixated on the words of Liddan, she begins to obsess over the notion of love, finding it so absent in her life. While on the road, she discovers a collection of romance novels and begins to read them, becoming obsessed. After being introduced to the idealized romantic notion of love, Layla begins to develop a strong crush on Xavier, who is four years older than her.