Hey people! This is a story that just kind of came to me, and so I decided to actually write it. It's a Gale fanfic. I tried my hardest to keep characters in character, so let me know if I did a good job or not on it. Hope you guys like it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

. . .

Gajeel walked down the streets of Magnolia, toward the mages guild Fairy Tail. He was in a fairly good mood, and it was boosted by the beauty of the morning; a bright and sunny day. As he walked, he excitedly thought of the fight he wanted to start with the fire dragon slayer, Natsu. He had spent the past few days training and had decided this would the day he would defeat the pink-haired mage. Gajeel grinned at the thought of the look on Natsu's defeated face after the fight. He would treat himself to a grand lunch to celebrate his victory with the money he had earned from his last job, and after that take a celebration nap. Yes, today was going to be a good day, and he began to hum as he neared the guild. In his elation he hadn't noticed the small person leaving the guild as he was entering, and knocked into them. Even in his good mood, this was still enough to cause him to look down and stare angrily at the person.

"Hey, watch where you- oh! It's you, shrimp. What are you reading?" He asked as he looked at the letter in her hands.

Levy scowled up at Gajeel. "Nothing of your concern." She replied. She walked around the iron dragon slayer who had gotten in her way and left the guild. Despite the short run-in with Gajeel, she was still in a great mood, and resumed reading her letter as she walked away.

"Sheesh, what's her problem…" Gajeel muttered and glanced back at the girl. The one glance was enough to see her grin broadly with a small blush creeping over her cheeks as she folded the letter and skipped happily away.

"What was that about?" Gajeel said to no one in particular. With his original plans forgotten, he walked into the guild.

"Ugh, it's that time of year again." Jet grumbled to Droy. Droy grunted something indiscernible in reply, and Jet nodded. The overweight mage seemed to be eating more food than usual, if possible. There was an overwhelming stack of empty plates to his right, and a plate filled with food sat in front of him. Gajeel watched in disgust as Droy took another large bite of chicken off his plate. He walked over to the bar, where Mirajane and Cana were talking.

"What's their problem?" Gajeel asked the pair and gestured to Jet and Droy.

"Oh, they're upset because it's around this of year that Levy gets a letter from a mysterious man. She always gets really excited when that letter arrives, and she never comes to the guild the next day." Mira replied.

"Who is he?" Gajeel asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious? He must be her lover who can only come to Magnolia to visit her once a year." Mira said dreamily.

"Ignore her," Cana said and rolled her eyes at Mirajane. "Nobody knows who he is. Levy doesn't talk about him and since the day after he leaves she gets really depressed, nobody asks about him. Anyway, why do you care? Are you jealous or something?"

"Me? Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" Gajeel spat back. "I couldn't care less what that shrimp does. I was just curious." With that said Gajeel got up and left the pair.

Forgetting his original plans for the day, he walked straight home. He sat there just thinking for a while. He didn't know why, but the conversation with Mira and Cana had left him in a sour mood. After giving it some thought, he blamed the feeling on Cana's far-fetched accusation of jealousy. Gajeel scoffed at the thought. Him. Jealous. What could he possibly have to be jealous of? Whoever this mystery guy was, Gajeel was certain he could crush him in a fight, and that was what counted the most, wasn't it? He felt rage building inside of him, though he didn't know why and so he figured he might put it to good use. He got up and decided to return to the guild. Today would be the day he would defeat Natsu in a battle…

. . .

Gajeel stomped angrily down the streets of Magnolia. He spotted a can lying on the ground and kicked it so hard it flew out of sight. Stupid Natsu hadn't even been in the guild, had gone out on a mission with the blue exceed and bunny-girl. Today, which was supposed to have been a great day for Gajeel, had somehow turned into one of Gajeel's worst days.

It was dark by the time Gajeel arrived at his house, he had taken three wrong turns on the way home in his anger, and Gajeel slammed his door so hard the house shuddered. He wasn't tired, but wanted the day to end so he climbed into his bed to try to sleep. Unfortunately, his body just wouldn't cooperate. Gajeel lay in his bed, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in his stomach. He had tried to play it off earlier; assumed it would stop after a while but shortly realized that time seemed to only strengthen the feeling. He thought back to when it had started, back to his conversation with Mira and Cana. Isn't it obvious? He must be her lover. These words echoed through Gajeel's head and bothered him, though it was unfathomable to him as to why.

Are you jealous or something? Now Cana's words echoed through his head, and Gajeel chuckled to himself. Him, the iron dragon slayer, jealous. Why would it matter to him if Levy truly did have a boyfriend or something? As he thought this, the feeling in his stomach intensified, but Gajeel refused to acknowledge it. "It'll be all over tomorrow…" Gajeel muttered to himself. After lying in bed for many hours, he finally drifted off into sleep.

. . .

A rather grouchy Gajeel once again stomped down the streets of Magnolia. Although he had managed to drift off to sleep the night before, it was a fitful one, and Gajeel woke up feeling completely unrested. To make the morning even worse, the feeling he had felt still hadn't gone away. The clear sky and sunny day seemed to spite him and his awful mood. Grumbling under his breath, he took a washer from the bag of washers in his pocket, and stuck it in his mouth; the tiny pieces steel were like candy to him. Suddenly, he looks up, smelling a familiar scent. Walking in his direction on the other street was Levy, and she was clearly in a great mood. Before he knew what he was doing, Gajeel had crossed the road and approached her. Grinning ear to ear as he neared the girl, he said "Hey shrimp! Where are you off to so early in the morning? Going off on a mission all by yourself? What will those two bumbling morons who always trail after you do without you around?"

Levy smiled a false smile at Gajeel. "Listen, I won't let even you get me mad today, okay? So why don't you leave me alone." And with that said, she began to walk past Gajeel and away.

"No, wait!" Gajeel called. He reached out and grabbed her arm gently. He didn't understand why she was being so difficult; he only wanted to talk to her. "Really, where are you going?"

Levy sighed. "I'm heading to the bookstore to buy a present for-" She gasped, having seen the time on a clock in the window of the store Gajeel had stopped her in front of. "What?" Gajeel asked, perplexed. "I'm sorry, I really can't talk now! I have to go I'm running late!" With that she began to leave rather quickly. After she had taken a number of steps she turned around to face Gajeel again. "I'm sorry I couldn't talk right now." She called out. "I'm really in a rush; we can talk later, okay?" She smiled. It was a genuine smile that warmed Gajeel. Then she turned away and waved as she left.

Gajeel stood there watching Levy run away, star struck for a moment. He could think of nothing but her cute smile as she had left for a few moments. Then something else hit him. "Who is she getting a present for?" He wondered out loud. Then he seemed to remember something. "Oh, I bet it's for that guy." He spat. Even as he said this though, he wasn't sure. Gajeel knew that he had to find out. He began to walk towards Fairy Tail; he had been heading there before he had met up with Levy anyway, and tried to think of a plan. If what Mirajane and Cana had said yesterday was true, then Gajeel wouldn't see Levy for the rest of the day to ask who he was, and she'd be too depressed to ask after that.

Who else could he ask? Gajeel quickly thought of people he knew Levy was close to. There was Lucy, but she was out on a mission with Natsu, so she was out. I know, I'll just ask those two bumbling morons she always hangs around with. Gajeel thought. They were definitely close to Levy, so they must know something. With that in mind, Gajeel walked with purpose to Fairy Tail.

There weren't too many people in the guild as Gajeel entered. Mira stood in her usual spot behind the bar, and a few people sat scattered at the tables, talking and drinking. Gajeel scanned the room and quickly located the two men he was looking for. Like yesterday, they seemed to be miserable. As Gajeel approached them, he overheard bits of their gloomy-toned conversation, but didn't pay too much attention to it. When he reached their table, Jet and Droy both stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. What could Gajeel, who had never shown any interest in them, who in fact, only took away their time with Levy, want?

"Hey, you two are friends with Levy right?" Gajeel asked. Droy continued to stare, offering no answer, only a confused face, but Jet dared to speak.

"And what if we were?" He asked

"Are you friends with Levy or not?" Gajeel growled threateningly.

"Y-yes sir." Jet said quickly. Droy had begun to shake at Gajeel's deadly tone. "Good." Gajeel responded. "Then I want you to answer me a question." Gajeel had dropped the deadly tone, but Jet and Droy still looked petrified of the iron dragon slayer. "Who is Levy meeting with today?"

Jet's eyes narrowed. "Ugh, thanks for reminding me. We don't know who he is, only thing we know is that he comes once a year and makes Levy really sad the day he leaves."

"Are you sure that's all you know? You don't have his name or anything?"

"Nope, that's it. We don't even know what this bastard looks like." Droy said while Jet folded his arms across his chest.

Gajeel rose from the seat he had taken at the pair's table. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find out who he is by ourselves."

"Huh?" Jet and Droy both said in unison.

"That's right, you're coming with me. I've decided to see who this asshole is with my own eyes. You want to know what he looks like and who he is too, right?"

"W-well… Yeah but.."

"Then come with me."

"What if we don't want to…?"

"You're. Coming. With. Me." Gajeel growled. He hadn't wanted to seem threatening to them, but he really wanted to find out more about this guy, and he sure as hell wasn't going alone.

"Y-yes sir!" Jet and Droy said in unison and rose from their table. They followed Gajeel, who had already headed toward the door.

Mira had watched the scene from behind the bar. She chuckled to herself. "Those fools don't realize how angry their going to make Levy doing this." She sat on a stool and folded her arms on the bar. Resting her head on her arms, she thought what's your secret Levy? You've got three love-struck fools running after you.

. . .

That's it for this chapter. I had originally planned this to be a one-shot, but it's becoming longer than I originally planned, so I'm going to split in into two chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story! I'd appreciate reviews and constructive feedback ^-^