Black. Everything was black.

"Levy!"

Her heart raced at the sound of her name. She reached out her hand from the rubble, unable to remove her lower half from the constricting weight of the stones that had fallen on her. She stretched it out as far as she could from her petite frame. Small rocks tumbled around her and she could see small gaps of light. "Ga-jeel..." she croaked. Then her world began to go dark.


It was a brisk morning, perfect for a run. If only she did such things. 'Maybe I should start.' she mused to herself. Gajeel had been encouraging her to build up her physical strength aside from their bi-weekly training sessions. They had started training together before the Tenrou incident, and apparently it had just become a part of their regular routine. Although, their meetings often depended on their mission status. Gajeel often took tougher, longer missions than the small bluenette and her team.

She sighed a long sigh as she continued on her way through the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. Before long her destination came into view: a small, family-run shop that sold everything from hot breakfasts, to fancy home-furnishings, to the latest thrilling novels. And that was precisely why she had come there. The bookworm picked up a shopping basket as the owners greeted one of their favorite customers.

"Good morning, Levy-chan." said Friza, a lovely old woman with a familiar smile.

"Good morning, Friza-san, can I please have the usual? Oh, but could you add an extra kiwi juice on the side please?"

"You should really not get into the habit of gambling, Miss. McGarden." The comment came from an older gentleman who was leaning on a well-used wooden countertop.

Levy smirked in his direction. "I wouldn't really call it gambling Mr. Thompson. Its a bit more like, well, encouragement not to lose." She laughed as she dove into a quick story regarding her most recent loss to her favorite Exceed. "Lily bet me that I couldn't do a certain number of a certain exercise." she began. "I had been training hard enough that I figured it was possible. However, I am doubly regretting that decision today." The small mage looked down in embarrassment. Her arms and abdomen were still sore and aching.

"Gomen, Levy-chan." said the old woman. "If it makes you feel any better, I am also unable to complete 105 perfect push-ups," she finished with a smile.

"Thanks Friza-san, but I don't think..."Levy stopped short of her next statement. "Friza-san," she said darkly, "how did you know about that bet?"

The woman opposite her just smiled, shrugging her shoulders innocently. She then grabbed a nearby broom and began sweeping the floor around her. Levy decided she would be having a word with Pantherlily at their next meeting.

In the meantime, however, there was shopping to do. She began to browse the store for any necessities she could find, placing them neatly in her basket. It didn't take her long to finish off her main list and make her way back to the southern wall which was lined with the latest and greatest of authored masterpieces. She browsed the titles for anything unfamiliar, and finding two new titles, she plunked them in her basket.

"Levy-chan, your order is finished!" the old man called out to her. She detached herself from the book-wall and found her way back up to the front of the store. There, waiting on the counter for her, was what she considered the best part of her days off. A tray holding a slice of fresh, warm bread, two poached eggs, a dish of fresh fruit, and a lively cup of tea awaited her. She slid herself onto the old three-legged stool where she always sat, set her basket on the counter, and after giving thanks she began to engage her meal. "Mmmmmm..." Levy hummed as she sipped at her refreshment.

"I'll go total up your basket for you, Miss. McGarden." Mr. Thompson said.

"Yes, thank you." Levy smiled.

A few minutes into her meal, Levy heard the familiar cacophony that could only belong to her best friend's team.

"Wanna run that by me again Flame-brain?!" Gray yelled.

"What's it to you Ice-Princess?" Natsu retorted.

"Minna, can't we wait until after breakfast to start all this?" Lucy said defeatedly.

"I hope they're serving fish today," Happy drooled as he daydreamed. Meanwhile, Erza's mind was already entranced by the strawberry cake she was eyeing in the shop's display window.

As team Natsu entered her favorite store, Levy waved in greeting. " Lu-chan! What brings you here this morning?" The busty blonde pulled up a stool next to her friend and immediately let her head hit the counter-top.

"Gray froze my stove after Natsu set it on fire while attempting to make breakfast and then Erza crushed it trying to break the ice. Which is fine I guess because I didn't really have food in my house to feed this many people anyways because I wasn't expecting A MILLION PEOPLE TO INFILTRATE MY PRIVATE RESIDENCE THIS MORNING!" Her voice continued to rise as she chided each of her "guests" for not respecting a woman's need for space and beauty rest. The rest of her team, however, were too busy shopping, ordering breakfast, or drooling over cake to pay her much mind. Lucy turned to her friend and said dramatically, "Levy-chan, I give up at ever living a normal, healthy life." She laid her head back on the counter as Mr. Thompson took her breakfast order.

Upon entering the premises, both Natsu and Gray had become enthralled with one thing or another so their fighting had, for the moment, ceased. Happy wandered around looking at shiny things, and Erza went to the front counter to purchase her cake. Even though her tranquil breakfast had been interrupted, Levy was happy to see her guild-mates. She finished her meal and paid her tab. Looking at the clock above the entryway she realized that she still had another 15 minutes before Jet and Droy were going to meet up with her. After patting an exhausted Lucy on the back reassuringly, made her way outside with her grocery bags.

"Stop in again soon, Levy-chan!" called Friza.

"Knowing my cooking skills, you will very likely see me again tonight!" Levy jokingly called back to the dear old lady. Feeling full and energized Levy made her way down the busy morning streets of Magnolia. She took in a deep breath of fresh, cool air, and continued on her way.

Just as Levy had expected, Jet and Droy were already at their meeting place when she arrived at park they had often played at together as children.

"Levy those look heavy..." "Levy do want some help with those?..." "I can run those back to your place real quick for you..." The barrage of questions and concerns didn't phase her, in fact she had anticipated them. She probably wouldn't have bought so much stuff if she hadn't. She felt a little guilty using her friends for personal reasons, but they had offered, so she wouldn't turn them down.

"Thanks Jet, if you could please," she said sweetly as he took the bags from her arms and jettisoned up the road to Fairy Hills. He was back in no time at all, and the three friends continued with their typical ritual. Levy stood between the two men, talking animatedly about their latest quest and the new book she had acquired from it. Jet and Droy listened intently as their life-long crush discussed the finer points of runes and ancient languages. They all smiled as they walked up the streets toward the guild hall. Levy reached down to adjust the strap of her sandal mid-stride. Jet and Droy continued on without her, unnoticing, caught up in a conversation between the two of them.

Suddenly a large, black shape ran straight into her, knocking her flat on her bottom.

"Oi, watch what yer doin' Shrimp." Levy looked up with surprise at the red eyes, unruly dark hair, and multiple piercings that defined the Iron Dragon Slayer. Beside him was a small black cat with rounded ears, floating on wings beside his partner. Her attention went directly to the latter of two.

"Pantherlily," she said in a serious tone, "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Me?" The little cat pointed at himself innocently.

"Yes, you and that big mouth of yours are in quite a bit of trouble at the moment. Thank you, Gajeel," she said as the rough Dragon Slayer picked her up by the scruff of her dress and set on back on her feet. He folded his arms over his chest to take an uninterested pose behind her. By this time Jet and Droy had noticed their tiny companion was missing and backtracked to find her lecturing the cat about not telling every soul about their competitions or bets or whatever they may be called. The men stood off to the side as their friend laid into the little creature.

"This reminds me," Droy exclaimed to Jet, "we owe Lily three kiwis each don't we?"

"Yeah, we do. I usually put a lot of faith in Levy and her abilities, but I think I'm learning to avoid the bets in her favor when it comes to the physical stuff." Jet replied. The two men continued to watch Levy scold a now juicebox-toting cat who couldn't care less about his punishment from the script mage. When she had finally finished ranting Lily landed himself on the ground and looked up at Levy (not something she was accustomed to due to her short stature). He asked her forgiveness and, with two fingers crossed behind his back, he promised not to tell another soul when she lost a bet. Gajeel chuckled at his cat's antics.

As Levy looked down into the adorable creature's big brown eyes staring back up at her she couldn't contain herself. She picked the little guy up off the ground and hugging him she cooed over him in forgiveness.

"Tch." he mused. 'Dumb-ass cat's too smart for his own good. Knows how to play the system.' The little black Exceed winked at his partner as the bluenette continued to cuddle him.

"Hmph." Gajeel snorted. "Alright Lily, let's go," he said snatching the cat from the small woman's arms. "We'll see ya at noon then?" he asked Levy over his shoulder as they departed.

"Huh? Oh, um..." had they really planned on meeting at noon? She could have sworn they said three. "Uh, yeah, sure." she smiled at them.

"Kay." he took his feigned disinterest and continued along the path he had been taking before bowling into Levy. Once they were out of hearing range from the small team, Lily turned to Gajeel.

"I thought we were meeting at three today."

"Changed my mind." the Iron Dragon said.

"Mhm." the Exceed hummed with knowing. Drunken late night conversations had revealed to the cat that there was definitely something more to the Dragon Slayer's decision.

'Stupid cat knows too much,' Gajeel thought to himself.


A/N: Hello all! Welcome to my first Fairy Tail fanfic. Just in case it gets a little confusing, every chapter will have a flash forward moment. I hope you have fun trying to put the pieces together as we go along!

I don't own Fairy Tail nor most of these characters. They are H. Mashima's. I do however, own this story and would really love some feedback.