Yo! here it is, the first chapter of the fanfiction "Bonds and Rebirth" from Pacifique! YEAH! I precise this is mainly a GaLe story, but you will see almost every character of Fairy Tail (along with some OC that belong to Pacifique ONLY). Also, in the beginning of the story, the chapters will alternate GaLe events (so you won't see the others) with Team Natsu events (so you won't see GaLe). Eventually all the characters will reunite.

The author is following the anime. The story takes place after the Edolas arc and before the S-class (here this arc doesn't exist).

I fell in love with this story, and I hope it will please you at least as much as it pleased me! Please enjoy and tell me what you think (in the name of the author ^^)

I only own the translation and the mistakes (what a surprise). This story belong to Pacifique and Fairy Tail belongs to the great and mighty Mashima.

x_X

Chapter 1: He...

(by Pacifique)

Like always, he was sat at the back of the hall, at the only table which allow him to escape the light of this place. That was one of the point why he missed Phantom Lord. At least when he wanted to be unnoticed or appearing scary, he could in the shadows. At Fairy Tail, everything was enlightened, the windows wide open, and everybody could study and stare at each other at every moment. For him, it was hard to breath in this atmosphere. Gajeel didn't like to be watch, especially here, where he wasn't really welcomed. He also hated to see the others, talking, fighting joyfully, laughing… all this racket was playing with his nerves. He was almost surprised that no one still hadn't tried to attack him, excepted Laxus. Despite the obvious lack of rigor and discipline that was reigning in this crazy place, along with the incessant protestations when some decision had been decided, the procrastinations and the questions nobody cared about, it seemed that the master had kept some miraculous authority over this carnage.

Usually, he was staying here, sitting all alone when he wasn't gone for a job. He always chose those that involved a fight. It was distracting and in addition he was obtaining money. He always hated being bored, doing nothing, so he was out of bed early in order to be the first to take the best job, it was generally about a gang of thieves or a weird monster he could beat the crap of. He didn't think about the future, but he didn't really envisage staying here for a long time again. It wasn't his home after all, he didn't feel happy here. Maybe Makarov had been wrong, maybe he wasn't just enjoying being alone… it seemed clear now, he was bearing it better than this never ending noise, that joyful and constant excitement. As the days went by, he could barely stand Natsu's presence, especially him. He didn't know exactly why. Certainly because he showed he was stronger than him, and because he never missed the opportunity to remind this to him, during the rares occasions he was speaking to him. Deep down, he didn't care about it either now. All he wanted was to be alone. Today at least… he had tried to do his own show, but considering the boos that had followed, he had concluded he'd better be ignored. He wasn't ready to use his white suit again…

This morning was a bad day. He hadn't found anything worthy to keep himself distracted. It was alas a calm time. So he had gathered a pile of scrap iron on the table, before he started to chew slowly. The guild members had a tendency to stare at him when he was eating. Natsu eating flames, Wendy feeding herself with air, it was normal, nobody was shocked. But Gajeel eating metal, that was something else. As soon as they were hearing the sound of his teeth against the iron, they all turned, slightly stunned, before turning back to their childishness.

But this day was about to be worse than he ever imagined.

"Hey, Metal head."

It was useless to give a single hint of a motion to see it was Natsu. He just growled, barely eager to fight right now. Natsu stood before him, so he was almost obliged to look up.

"Seems the master want to see you… you did something wrong?"

"Shut up." He replied without bothering articulate.

Without another word he stood, leaving the mess on his table, hoping he could come back soon, he pushed Natsu out of his way and walked heavily away from him. He headed for the counter onerously failing to notice that, amongst the morning crowd, someone was following him. He tried to ignore the stares aiming him as he was crossing the large room. The master was like usual sitting cross-legged, near Cana who without surprise was drinking. Not knowing what to do, still feeling awkward toward him, because of the fault he committed that Makarov swore he would never forgive, he eventually cleared his throat. The master didn't move an inch, but he sensed a kind of start on his left, along with a unique perfume. Levy. He nodded at her, not knowing what else he could do. Levy was perhaps the person he felt the most awkward with. Every time he watched her, he saw her pinned to the tree again, badly hurt and unconscious. Worst of all, he felt able to do it again, after all only his situation had changed, nothing more.

"Master." She called in a small voice as he kept silence, reckoning he had taken enough risks like this.

Makarov's eyes flashed open and they could see the whole force of his magic. Makarov rarely bothered to be so serious, that meant it was important.

"Ah, you both." He stated.

You both? They asked themselves together without cutting him.

"I have a mission for you." He continued plainly. Levy and Gajeel stared at each other.

"You mean that.." Levy started.

"Yes, you will do the same mission together."

Levy and Gajeel looked at each other once again, surprised. Right after he looked down, feeling the exasperation growing inside him. Couldn't they leave him in peace? Levy, as for her, tried to offer him a faint smile. His surprise only grew even more, he had expected her to sigh, or to protest, since everyone seemed to act like this with him. She added nothing more. Makarov seemed to wait their approval to follow. But nothing happened, because actually neither of them had fully understood, or rather realized.

"One of my friends heard rumors about a Dark Guild that would have been created recently. Its name is Rebirth. It might include powerful mages whose goal is to revive a ancient sleeping magic. I can't send all of you there. The Council is keeping an eye on us closely, they want to dissolve our guild. If we land an attack openly they will take the opportunity, accusing us to break the inter guilds wars interdiction."

"But…" Gajeel began, stepping forward. After all, if everyone could protest, why couldn't he?

"Even if this is a Dark Guild, this law is still protecting them. Nothing forbid them to create a guild and do anything they want."

He paused once again, but no one spoke.

"Here my plan." He said then and both of the young mages nearly stopped breathing.

"The Rebirth members will come to Magnolia in order to recruit new members. Find them, pretend you want to leave Fairy Tail and to join them. Win their trust the faster you can. As soon as it's done, you will tell them that Fairy Tale knows about their goal and want to attack them. Levy, you will suggest to create a rune that would protect them from the outside. In reality, you'll create a rune that trap them from the inside. Then I'll send the Council that could arrest them."

Gajeel sighed, then he was about to answer but Levy spoke first.

"Why me?" She asked, her voice nearly shaking. "Fried could do much better than me, and much faster than me."

"Most of the Rebirth members know him. He took part in a lot of missions that gave him a certain notoriety. All those who know his name know he would never leave the guild. However, coming from Gajeel, no one will be surprised, and you Levy, no one knows your name. If you have something to say, say it now. Otherwise go and get ready, and you Levy ask Fried to teach you how to make the rune."

They both looked down, simultaneously. Levy thought that indeed, despite the fact she had been part of Fairy Tail for a long time, she always did only minor missions with Shadow Gear, matching the smallness of her powers, and her pathetic fight skills. Gajeel as for him understood once again how hard his redemption was before he could truly be part of this Guild. He was starting to doubt to want it really.

"Good." Makarov continued, when he seemed to take this dark silence as a sign of approval. They remained here, staring at each other for a moment, ignoring what to do or say.

"So." Makarov spoke again, sizing the cup of sake placed before him. "Why are you still here? They'll be here at the end of the afternoon, there there, go."

Gajeel and Levy looked at each other one last time, and as Makarov was almost finishing his drink they decided to recover by mutual agreement.

"I… I'm going to get Fried. We meet here later."

"I…" He wanted to say, but she was already gone.

He sighed. It was nearly the worst situation he could imagine. Makarov was an ultimate manipulator. He had used their surprise to make them accept the situation. He nearly wanted to turn around, to explain him it was out of question he leaves for a mission alone with Levy, but he seemed so satisfied with himself that he gave up. After all when he thought about it, it was the only solution. He was the only one who could do it. All this because of his scary face, because he did look the part to act like a Dark Guild dog. He thought back about the master's words before he had joined the guild.

"Would you have taken lives if Jose had ordered it? There is no difference between this and being a doll, don't you think?"

That was exactly what he did not want to be, a doll, he had believed that if he joined Fairy Tail it would be, but apparently, here or elsewhere, the orders from the master were incontestable. That was it, when this mission will be over, he will leave this guild and go on his own path by himself. Even if he had no choice, it was foolish from the master's part to send someone like Levy in the middle of horde blessed with an incredibly powerful magic, and he was even crazier to send him, the most selfish member of the guild, to assure its safety.

Levy wanted to reach the stairs to find Fried but Jet and Droy surprised her.

"Where are you going Levy-chan?" The first asked.

"Is something wrong?" The second added.

Indeed, Levy had had no time to recompose her face, in her mind a single thought was running in circles: this mission, she would never be capable to succeed. She didn't feel strong enough. She hesitated a moment but eventually concluded it was useless to lie, even if she hoped she could always hide a part of the truth.

"I have to get Fried, before he leaves." She whispered, looking down at the floor.

"Why?" Jet asked.

"What's going on, aren't we supposed to work together today?" Droy added.

She shook her head, finding it hard to look at them.

"No, I have something else to do." She whispered again. She wanted to step forward toward the stairs, repeating "I have to find Fried."

It seemed the last sentence hadn't been heard.

"Something else to do? Without us?" They asked almost at the same time.

"Oh…" She stated, gathering her strengths to appear more confident. "You won't be interested, he promised me to teach me how to create traps with runes."

They remained silent for a moment… It had been a long time since she hadn't seen them so focused.

"So why do you look so sad?" Droy inquired.

For once, Jet didn't feel like adding something. Levy felt her last hope fading, she couldn't hide the situation anymore.

"Come." She said. They sat at their usual table, and after a quick explanation she found herself facing their horrified expressions.

"Gajeel?" Droy chocked.

"Yes…" Levy sighed. "But the real problem is I'll never be able to make this rune at time…"

"Of course you can Levy we trust you…" Jet began.

He didn't need to say it, she knew they both were thinking this. Today again she failed to understand where this unlimited trust they gave her modest person came from. She grabbed her head and sighed.

"Just don't trust Gajeel… we don't know what he's thinking…"

Levy took a minute to think. She saw Gajeel, struck by Laxus' blow that was meant for her, without fighting back. She didn't think it was possible, but she was happy to leave with him and not with them in the end. It might be selfish but it was obvious for all of them that Gajeel was much stronger then her two teammates, if not the whole Shadow Gear team. There were more chances she could stay alive with him, just because he was stronger.

"It isn't Gajeel who scared me the most… it is rather being in the middle of a Dark Guild…"

They didn't answer. Levy wasn't used to such serious missions, neither were they. There was a silence. Then...

"I better go no" She added. "I'm leaving this afternoon." She couldn't stand their scandalized looks that only reminded her her own incompetence anymore, she stood and headed for the stairs, leaving them behind. She quickly spotted Fried who was wearing a dark expression too.

"You don't believe I can do it, right?" She asked directly when she saw him.

"I think you can… even if it required a huge amount of magic. What bothers me the most are the circumstances. If you want my opinion, the master better let this Dark Guild do as it please, and leave the consequences to the Council."

Levy sighed. Everyone seemed to think this mission was meant to be failed.

"If the master wants to take such a risk, it must be something serious, and he doesn't think the Council can be able to stop this thing they want to awake." She added.

She shivered. What if she had to witness this thing's awakening whatever it was, and what if she had to face it with her weak abilities? Fried remained silent for a moment too, before he motioned her to follow until they reached the Fairy Tail archives that also contained a large library. The rule was simple to understand for her, but the real problem was she had to repeat it a countless time, while taking care of several parameters. A single symbol mistake, a single askew line and she would have to do it again from the beginning. She felt she would have to create the trap on a large area, and it would be even harder. But she had no time to learn even more, so she would practice.

She left with a few books in the arms. And barely half an hour later, she was coming back in the hall, with her stuffs ready. She looked for Gajeel, surprised she couldn't fond him, before she realized that Jet and Droy, their backs on her, were preventing her to see him, in the shadow at the back of the room. Struggling with her bag slightly too heavy because of her books, she ran as fast as she could toward the table. Being small was at least an advantage, it made her discreet. None of them had seen her coming.

"If you try a single wrong move on her…" Droy began.

"We…" Jet trailed off, clenching his teeth.

Gajeel almost hadn't looked up, he was still chewing his metal calmly. It was as if he didn't realize the situation.

"You what?" He asked calmly.

"You will regret to be born."

He continued to watch them casually, but Levy thought she saw something sad in his eyes, a strange glimmer that seemed to say he was already regretting it. This fleeting impression was gone as fat as it came, but for her it was enough.

"Stop." She said in a small voice.

"Stay out of this Levy." Jet stated, turning toward her as Droy was still glaring at Gajeel with furious eyes.

"Please" She tried "I'm asking you to leave him alone."

But this time it seemed no one was listening. Droy gripped Gajeel by his collar, but the man still observed him as calmly, eating. He didn't manage to make him move an inch, and the Dragon Slayer smirk before the ridiculousness of the situation. After a long moment Droy let go of him, gritting his teeth.

"Can I go back to work now?" Gajeel asked as he ate the last bit of iron that was laying on the table.

"Yes, let's go." Levy agreed. During a few seconds, he thought he was about to stand and strike, but instead he just walked away with her. They walked quickly toward the big door, ignoring the glances.

"Sorry" She said through her teeth. "I couldn't do otherwise than telling them."

"Well, where are we going?" He asked as if he hadn't heard anything.

"In my opinion they will search a discreet place, I think I know where." She answered as they were leaving in the street. She hesitated to add the words 'Follow me' but she was afraid he would take it as an order. Deep down, even if he had been able to take some blows for her, she still was slightly afraid of Gajeel, she was feeling like walking in a minefield.

"I'm following you." He said.

She nodded, and before they walked again he saw her pinned on the tree one more time. He chased this image as best as he could, hoping it would disappear someday.