It's rare of Gajeel to leave Lily behind, but the iron dragon slayer had left the exceed at the guild after making the decision to embark on a solo mission.
Levy clutched the black exceed in her chest as she layed on her bed, looking out the window. It was deep into the night and a thunderstorm had suddenly appeared. Knowing that the exceed was terrified of them, she promptly brought him to her room in Fairy Hills.
Truth be told, she never enjoyed thunderstorms much herself. She wouldn't say she was exactly "afraid" of them (as much as Lily was anyways), but she disliked the sudden busts of blinding light followed by booming gunshots.
Rain bombarded the roof and flashes ignited the night at random; incoherent tears of thunder pounded and echoed.
Lily continued his attempt at blocking the noise by folding down his ears. Levy caressed a hand over the exceed's head in a calm, comforting way. His shaking soon subsided, but he couldn't find the courage to release his ears. The blue haired mage found this cute but very upsetting. Only if she knew a way to cure Lily of his phobia...
The abrupt flicker of light stunned her for a instant before the delayed roar of thunder whipped her up into a huddled ball. Rapid images flared through her mind, ones of a certain dragon slayer. No, it wasn't Gajeel she was thinking about. The one in her thoughts was a different man. One she feared she could get hurt just by standing too close. She wasn't afraid of thunder. She wasn't afraid of lighting. She was afraid of the man who could control such force of nature.
The thought that perhaps he would attack at random frightens her. He was known to be careless after all.
Flashbacks literally flashed back into her mind, replaying the fear she had before Gajeel saved her. Lily, who now rested in her lap, took one of his paws and placed it on her forearm. He somehow knew she needed reassuring.
Laxus was back, and he had found his reasoning. He has respect for all guild members of Fairy Tail- including her. So why does she feel small and frail when he sees her? So uncomfortable to be in the same room with him? How come it's so hard to forget the past when it came to him?
He was rash, and he acted on impulse -explosive- like a flash of lighting. His tone hit her like drumming thunder. It was storms that reminded her of him.
He appears so physically towering and so immensely powerful that a weakling like her could be broken easily.
"Lily," the young woman whispered. "Why are you scared?"
"Who said I was scared?"
Levy gave a small smile. The exceed was obviously petrified.
She took a moment and studied her own question; however, she couldn't answer it. She didn't know how to.