Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Caught in the Rain:

The sky had been a sullen gray all day, the dark clouds blocking out the sun, casting a gloomy atmosphere down upon the town below. The townspeople who normally set up stalls around Magnolia, peddling their wares, were closing up shop and preparing to go home in light of the impending downpour. Soon, the main street was devoid of people save for one blue-haired female.

Levy hurried down the cobbled lane. The air was heavy with the promise of rain, and she wanted to reach Fairy Hills before the storm hit. She contemplated breaking into a run to make better time, but the weather had been horribly humid for the past few days, and today was no different. Even the wind that preceded the storm did little to relieve her from the uncomfortable feeling of sweat and fabric clinging to her skin, and that had only resulted from walking quickly. She didn't want to think about how miserable she would be if she actually ran the remaining two blocks and steep slope back to Fairy Hills.

Levy tilted her head back and eyed the dark clouds warily. In the distance, she could see scattered streaks of lightning pierce the clouds' underside and head toward the earth, as if they were strikes from heaven. It was beautiful and terrifying, and not so long ago, she had come very close to experiencing the full effects of those bolts for herself.

A clap of thunder startled her out of her reverie, returning her attention to the road. It was then that a small dark shape rushed across her path and dove beneath a table at the open-air café to the right.

After Levy got over her surprise, her curiosity became peaked. She walked over to the tables and chairs set up outside. Kneeling down to look beneath one, she spotted a familiar black cat curled up under the piece of furniture. With some alarm, she noticed that the cat's entire body was shivering uncontrollably.

"Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, getting his attention. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no, I'm f-fine…" Lily stuttered. She noticed another bout of violent shudders rack his tiny body as thunder rumbled in the distance.

The concerned girl made the connection immediately. She was none too fond of storms herself, so she could sympathize with her friend. With a gentle smile, she reached down and drew the quivering ball of fur into her arms. She sat in one of the café's chairs, petting the furry bundle in an attempt to calm him down.

"Why are you out here alone?" she asked.

"I-I was j-just coming back from visiting the Exceed s-settlement." It was a decision he appeared to be sorely regretting. "I-I was hoping t-to be home before the thunder s-started."

Another boom sent him burrowing into her arms, paws pressing down his round ears, though Levy was sure it did little to block out the sound.

"Where do you live?" she asked, wondering if she could drop him off before it began to rain.

"On t-the other s-side of t-town."

She frowned. The storm didn't feel too far off now, and a trip to the other side of Magnolia would take a while, not to mention the journey back. On the other hand, at the top of the hill, warm squares of light called to her, promising a hot shower followed by hours with a good book in her lap—that was all it took to convince her. She stood up, grimacing as her skin peeled away from the plastic seat.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked when she started walking.

"Fairy Hills," she replied. "It'll start raining soon, and I don't think you should go back home in the storm. Don't worry though," she hurried to assure him. "You can stay the night with me."

Under normal circumstances, Lily would have objected, but the weather convinced him to quickly accept the generous offer instead.

Levy ran the last few feet to her home, ducking under the awning with relief. They had made it halfway up the hill when the first drops of rain fell. By the time they reached Fairy Hills, both the wind and the rain had picked up, soaking Levy's clothes and whipping hair in her face. Lily fared a little better, shielded by Levy's arms.

As they entered the building and the doors shut behind them, the sound of the howling wind and rumbling thunder became more subdued. Lily's trembling gradually subsided as he realized this fact. Levy took off her shoes and carried them to prevent trekking mud—Erza could get pretty violent about mud on her clean floors—as they made their way up the stairs.

"I'll give you the grand tour later," she told the cat she held, who was looking around curiously. This was Lily's first time inside Fairy Hills. He had heard from Charle that the place was a dormitory for female members of the guild, so he had had no reason to visit before.

"It's quite large," he commented, remembering the long lobby they had crossed to reach the staircase.

"It's also very well-equipped. There's a large public bath on the first floor, a kitchen for everyone to use, and a pretty big resource room in the basement. It's not as big as the one in the guild hall, but it still has a decent selection of texts."

They stopped in front of a door and Levy commenced rummaging in her bag, presumably searching for her key.

"Aha!" She pulled out the small object and inserted it into the keyhole. Turning the knob, the door swung open to reveal the room beyond. "My personal haven," she announced proudly, flipping the light switch.

The Exceed took in the space before him. There were books everywhere—crammed into floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined every wall; piled in haphazard stacks on the floor, some of which were taller than the girl herself; spread across her desk; occupying chairs… The only space devoid of texts was the ceiling, although Lily suspected that if it were possible, Levy would have hung books from there as well.

"Sometimes, I run out of space here and store my books on the shelves in the resource room," she confided in a whisper.

Pantherlily couldn't help smiling at the information. He climbed out of Levy's arms and hopped onto the wooden floor, hearing the door shut behind him as he tread further inside.

It was a very formidable collection of books, he thought, glancing up at all the literature and knowledge that surrounded him. A lot of the stacks on the floor were taller than he was, and their random placement made it difficult to navigate from this height, making the entire place seem like a maze. He also had to take care not to bump into anything, as some of the piles did not look altogether stable. And was it his imagination, or was that stack of particularly large texts teetering slightly?

He hurried past. It wouldn't do to get crushed by all those heavy tomes when he was in this form.

Meanwhile, in an apartment on the other side of the dark and stormy town, sat one lone figure.

Gajeel was slumped on the couch, shooting anxious glances across the room every few seconds. It was getting late and Lily still hadn't returned. After a while, the drizzle outside became a downpour, and he resigned himself to the likelihood that his cat had probably decided to stay the night with the other Exceed.

He was about to retire to his bedroom when a sudden, horrifying thought occurred to him. What if Lily had been on his way back to town when he got caught in the storm? Gajeel knew his cat was afraid of thunder, sometimes to the point of being incapacitated by his fear. What if he was stranded in the street somewhere, huddled up in a ball, cold and terrified?

Lily was crouched in the dark and empty street, huddled over, wet and miserable as rain pelted down, lightning lit the sky, and thunder roared.

Gajeel shook his head fervently. No, Lily was at the Exceed village. He had seen that it was going to rain and decided not to come home for the night. Gajeel assured himself that that was all, and that there was no need to jump to conclusions.

A few seconds later, he sprang from his seat and began pacing the circumference of the room. But what if Lily had tried to come back? What if he had been outside when it began to rain? And worse, what if someone found him and decided to kidnap him? Anyone with eyes could see how awesome his cat was, and they'd obviously jump at the opportunity to steal him away. Gajeel's eyes widened as he began imagining the worst.

Lily had collapsed in an alley, alone and terrified as predatory eyes watched him from the shadows. Suddenly, an old woman swooped in and picked up his cat. She had seen how amazing Lily was and decided to steal him away while he was too vulnerable to defend himself. Even though Lily tried to fight his way free of the old bat, he was weak from the constant boom of thunder and was no match for her. The hag kept a tight grip on him the entire way back to her home, allowing no chance for escape. When she opened the door to her house, she was greeted by several dozen cats.

When the other cats saw that she had brought back this strange creature that was not one of them, they looked at him with gleaming eyes, plotting what to do with this new threat. Lily would be viewed as competition for their owner's attention. He would be bullied by the other cats, clawed, bit, and have his food stolen—all because they were jealous of how great he was.

Gajeel had a difficult time getting a grip on his imagination, and had to tell himself repeatedly that nothing like that would happen. Lily was a trained warrior and he was better than both the girl's and the Salamander's cats combined, so he could easily kick all those other cats' asses. The thought dispelled some of his fears, but some lingering doubts still remained. In the end, he decided to sleep on the couch so he could know right away when Lily returned the next day, because he would return, even if he had to beat up the old woman and all thirty of her stupid pets to do it. That would teach them to try and take advantage of his cat.

The next morning, the weather had cleared up nicely, leaving the sky blue and sunny. The air was cool and refreshing after the previous evening's storm, promising several more hours of comfort before the humidity returned. It was at this time that the doors to the Fairy Tail residence were opened from within.

Levy stood at the entrance with Lily, who was preparing to depart.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast?" she asked.

Lily declined her offer. "I should probably get back to Gajeel. He'll be worried that I didn't come home last night."

"Okay. Remember, you can come visit anytime."

"Thank you, I will," Lily waved to the girl before descending the hill.

As she watched his retreating form, Levy tried to picture the normally fierce dragon slayer fretting over his companion like a mother hen. The mental image caused her to smile.

When Lily walked into the apartment, he saw Gajeel lying on the couch, tossing and turning restlessly in his sleep, the blanket in a heap on the floor. Lily found it a bit odd that the man wasn't asleep in his own bed, but decided not to wake him, even if he didn't look entirely comfortable on the piece of furniture.

Gajeel suddenly shouted a warning, "No! Get away from my cat, you crazy old bat!"

The exclamation halted Lily's approach. He immediately morphed into his combat form, whirling around to fend off the person Gajeel had indicated. However, he saw no one inside the small apartment aside from the two of them. Tilting his head back, he took a tentative sniff, but no foreign scents reached his nose, and he detected no hidden presence in the room. Perhaps Gajeel's heightened abilities were able to sense something he couldn't?

Lily turned to ask his partner where the enemy was only to discover that the man was still sprawled on the couch, eyes closed, breathing heavy. Gajeel was very obviously still asleep.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Lily returned to his smaller form. He picked up the discarded blanket and placed it over his friend, tucking in the edges so it didn't fall again. When that task was finished, he padded into the kitchen in search of breakfast.