Levy sat quietly in the guildhall. Her joints ached as she stretched, testing her still-healing muscles. She'd still been having nightmares every night, waking up in a cold sweat that left her heart pounding as she distractedly tried to gather herself for the oncoming day. The circles under her eyes were becoming darker by the day as she tried to avoid sleep as much as possible. She'd be sleeping at the guild if this didn't let up, but fear is such a powerful thing and is the one thing the mind clings to the most.

"Good morning Levy!" Jet chimed happily, sauntering up to her with Droy following closely behind.

"You sleep any better?" Droy asked, leaning over to look at her face, taking in her tired eyes.

"Yeah, I slept great," she lied, forcing one of her happy-go-lucky smiles that always sent the two into fits. While they were busy gushing over how cute she was, she let her smile waver. She just felt so exhausted…

Suddenly the doors swung lazily open and the three turned to see who had just arrived.

Tall and clad in black with blazing red eyes that scorched you to the soul, he strode quietly into the guild, not turning to look at the hate-filled glares that met him. He walked past them and she stopped breathing as if the sound would alert him to her presence. He seemed to not even notice as he walked to the back of the guild where the master studied him silently.

"Makarov," he grunted, stopping in front of the small master.

"Gajeel Redfox," the Master regarded him peaceably as the guild collectively held their breath.

"I want to take you up on your offer. I want to join Fairy Tail,"

Levy didn't know words could bring the guild into such an uproar. Everyone was screaming and shouting their disapproval, making wild motions to the hall around them and even pointing to Levy herself. She desperately wanted to sink into her seat and disappear, terror clawing its way into her throat as she stared at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

He was stoic and didn't even look at the chaos around him as the protests continued. Completely unfazed, he crossed his arms and leaned against the beam as Makarov jumped up and silenced the angry guild with a swift motion of his arms.

"Do you doubt my judgment?!" he shouted, "Haven't some of you come here under objectionable circumstances in the past?"

"What about what he did to Team Shadow Gear?!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Are you just going to forgive him for what he did to Levy?!" Jet shouted, visibly shaking from anger.

Levy hid in his shadow as Gajeel's eyes flashed their direction, meeting hers in his bloody gaze. She flitted out of sight behind her other two teammates, feeling as if her world were falling apart around her.

"I'm not forgiving him for what he's done to my children," Makarov rumbled, "But I believe that if there's good in someone it should be nurtured and cared for. Would you have me sit and watch as a troubled child wanders down the path of destruction?"

Levy felt numb, like she was having an out of body experience. This couldn't be happening. Master couldn't be redeeming the monster who'd plagued her dreams ever since the night he'd attacked her? He couldn't possibly be allowing him into the only place she'd always seen as safe. This was just another nightmare, another bad dream she had to wake up from.

She had to get out of there.

Quietly, she stood and turned away from Master and the Iron Mage, feeling their stares on her back as Makarov said something she couldn't bring herself to understand. She thought she heard Jet or Droy call for her to come back as she walked to the door. She felt like she was in a fog, grabbing the door and pulling it open mechanically.

This can't be happening.

This can't be happening.

This can't be happening.

She walked down the street, wrapping her arms around herself against the chilly wind. Had she brought a jacket to the guild this morning? Why did she forget it?

She felt a shadow passing over her as she walked, casting her glance up to the large branches of a tree she had grown to hate. She collapsed onto the ground as the memories came flooding back. The pain under her skin throbbed angrily and her breathing came faster.

She couldn't push it down.

He came out of the darkness so quietly it was as if he were a ghost. Jet and Droy had tried so hard to protect her, but they'd just come from a mission and all of them had been tired and looking forward to going home. Her two friends whom she'd tried to protect took Gajeel's hard blows and crumpled like paper. Then he'd turned his angry gaze to her, hitting her so hard in the stomach she'd lost her breath and curled into a pathetic little ball. Pathetic, he might have actually called her that. He'd kicked her onto her back and grabbed her hair, throwing her against the tree with her feet dangling in the air as if she were some ragdoll.

So fragile… why did she have to be so fragile?

"Oi," a gruff voice called her from her reverie, "You ok?"

Those eyes like molten lava seared into her flesh as he riveted her to the tree. He'd laughed at them, insulted them. Worse than the words and hits, he'd broken her. He'd found his way into her nightmares and plagued her every night. The first few nights she'd woken up in tears, unable to deal with the images that flashed through her head. She'd never been strong, but the type of helplessness that she'd been experiencing every night was just too much…

"Hey! Snap out of it, will ya?" a hand touched her shoulder, rough and calloused but also gentle.

She flinched away, hugging herself, "S-sorry… I just…"

"At least you're talkin'," he huffed, kneeling down beside her.

"S-sorry…" she whispered, staring at the ground. How pathetic could she be, really?

"Geeze, you ain't got nothin' to be sorry for,"

Suddenly, something registered. Her pupils dilated and she peeked through her hair to the figure beside her. She froze, desperately trying to pull herself together and steady her breathing which was quickly becoming even more frantic.

"Don't tell me you're freakin' out again…" Gajeel reached to put a hand on her shoulder and she scooted away.

"D-don't touch me," she whispered, pulling her hand up as if to protect her face, "I-I'm fine… just leave me alone,"

For just a moment, she thought she saw something flash in his eyes. Recognition was clear there, but something else came to his face… remorse? He furrowed his brows and looked up the hill to the guild and rose to his feet.

"You gonna be ok until someone comes?" he looked down at her again, but she was frozen again, disbelief mixing with her fear, "Of course not,"

With that, he turned back to the guild and walked a little more quickly to the doors. He didn't come back, but Jet and Droy found her a few short moments later and walked her home.


AN: Hey! I'm just adding a little excerpt to credit my sister for the image! She's an amazing artist and and literary enthusiast, so the fact that she actually read what I wrote and liked it enough to make fan art for it really touched my heart! She's L of The3Ss on if you wanna check her out! I love her to death!