His eyes were red in the shadows of the night. She could barely see his face; all she could see were those haunting red eyes, and the smile he wore for the past… hour? Levy couldn't remember how long ago he'd captured her and the rest of Shadow Gear. Was it an hour? Has it been longer than that?
"UNF!" another blow to her stomach. The thought had crossed her mind that maybe it wouldn't have hurt as much if she had some space behind her to fall back. Since her back was against the tree, it hurt her stomach and her back twice as much.
She knew her comrades, Jet and Droy, were already unconscious as they hung from the tree. She wondered why she wasn't on the tree with them. Maybe he was planning on killing her? No, no, even Phantom Lord wouldn't murder. Then what could he possibly—
"AH! STOP, PLEASE, IT HURTS!" Levy screamed as she felt the horrible burning sensation on her lower stomach. Her protests had made him press harder onto her, making it burn even more.
When he'd finally let go—after what seemed like hours of pain—Levy fell to the ground. She was unable to catch her breath before he'd picked her up and slammed her back into the tree. He stuck nails into her clothing, and hammered it down into the wood behind her. So that's what he wanted to do to her before hanging her up.
"Gihi, hope you like your new guild mark, fairy scum!" his laugh was menacing; he really enjoyed torturing people, especially if they were members of Fairy Tail.
As Levy used the last of her strength to look up, what she saw frightened her beyond anything else that caused a shiver in her bones. This was no monster, this was her friend, Gajeel. But why? Why was he doing this to her?
"Gajeel! Please, stop! Please! We're friends, don't you remember?" These words seemed to only make him angrier.
"Friends? With fairy trash like you? What would ever make you think such a stupid thing like that? The members of Phantom Lord have no reason to disgrace ourselves hangin' around unworthy fairies. You wish we were friends, gihi! Well, it's time for you to go to sleep now."
"Gajeel! No!" Her screams had no effect. His fist had turned iron, and was heading full force to her face.
Levy woke up from her nightmare, sitting upright in her bed. Her breath was short, and her throat felt as if she were screaming in real life. Maybe she was? She'd hoped she hadn't woken up anyone else in Fairy Hills. She laid back down to rest on her pillow, when she noticed that her bed was covered in sweat. She got up again, and stood up out of her bed. She looked at the grandfather clock standing in the corner of her room, to realize that it was 7 in the morning. "There's no point in going back to sleep, I'll just have that nightmare all over again. I'll just go to the guild early today." Levy had been having these nightmares for the past couple of weeks. The nightmares happened after the events between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord ended, but after about a month, they ceased. It's been so long since those events had taken place that nobody in Magnolia even remembers who Phantom Lord was. Now the nightmares are back, and Levy hasn't slept well since they started. Staying in her dorm afterwards always made her uneasy, but she knew that being around her guildmates always made her smile. So she tugged on her favorite orange dress, stuffed her current book into her bag and left.
Most people didn't arrive at the guild so early in the morning. The only people who were always there at this hour were Mirajane and Reedus. Sometimes Lisanna and Elfman would come in to talk to Mira, but today they were absent. Even Master never showed up that early to the guild, since he trusted Mira enough to keep everything in check for when he got there.
Levy took her usual seat that she liked to share with Gajeel and Pantherlily. They wouldn't come for another three or four hours, so she took out her book and read leisurely. She could have read this whole book in 15 minutes flat with her Gale-Force reading glasses. If this were a history book, or a book on runes, Levy would have done exactly that. When it came to storybooks, however, Levy liked to take her time reading. It was nice to take her mind into a world different from this one, every once in a while. Especially since she wanted to take her mind off of her nightmares.
Mirajane brought her some orange juice and toast, knowing that Levy hadn't eaten breakfast. She'd done this every day the past couple of weeks, and it's become an instinct to Mira that she eats breakfast at the guild. Levy was thankful to be around Mira's loving smile when her nightmares woke her up in the mornings. Sometimes, they'd wake her up in the middle of the night, and have nowhere to go until morning came.
Levy read her book, not realizing how long it'd been since she arrived at the guild. Many people came in, going almost completely unnoticed by the blue-haired mage.
"Hey shrimp! What book are you reading today?" the familiar voice made Levy jump in her seat a little. She had been so caught up in her book, she didn't notice Gajeel and Pantherlily standing right in front of her.
"Oh, it's just a story about a pirate, you wouldn't be interested." Levy stretched and yawned in her seat.
"Oi, it's only eleven in the morning, shrimp! You couldn't possibly be tired already. What's the matter?" Gajeel tried his hardest not to sound too concerned, since being caring wasn't really his style.
"I just haven't been sleeping well lately, no big deal!" she yawned once more. "So, what are you guys doing today?"
"We just thought we'd hang out here today. We've done enough jobs to pay for our rent this month, and even some into next month, so we just wanted to relax, maybe go into the pool out back." Pantherlily answered Levy with precise information, as if he were still a soldier.
"Sounds great! Can I join you then?" Levy decided she'd read enough of her book today. The pool sounded fun and relaxing, exactly what she needed.
"It's the guild's pool, you don't needa ask me permission to join!" Gajeel's eyes roamed around, unsure of what else to say.
Levy changed into her swimsuit and joined Gajeel and Lily outside in the pool. She mostly just floated in the water as she watched her friends play together. First it was a race, then they had a "how long can you hold your breath underwater" contest, and then they relaxed while playing volleyball with each other, despite the net not being put up. Levy enjoyed spending time with them; it was nice to get away from Shadow Gear always cheering her on and swooning over her every day. She loved Jet and Droy, but sometimes they irked even her.
Levy got out of the pool and decided to lay on one of the chairs and get some sun while it was still out. She continued watching her friends in the chair, until she dozed off into sleep. Luckily, she hadn't had enough time to start dreaming when Gajeel woke her up. "Oi, shrimp, we're going inside now. Apparently Natsu started a fight, I wanna get in on it!" Levy nodded and followed them inside.
She could hear the fight from the shower room as she cleaned herself of the pool water. She changed into her dress again, and joined her friends. Lucy and Mira stood by the bar watching the fight, and Levy went over by them.
"Natsu's so dumb, why does he always start these fights? All it does it make Erza mad, especially when someone knocks her cake over" Lucy was obviously unhappy with another fight happening.
"Who did he challenge this time?" asked Levy.
"Laxus, but he didn't want to fight. Gray made fun of Natsu, telling him he'd lose to Laxus, and that's how the fight started." Mira had been watching the whole thing, still all smiles as always.
Levy watched on for a few minutes, then decided that she would continue to read her book in the corner, so as to avoid the battle. A few minutes went by and somebody broke up the fight, probably Master, and Gajeel returned to sit with Levy. "How many bruises do you have now?" Levy asked, keeping her eyes on the book in front of her.
"Pfft, you think I'd get bruised from any of those guys? Please." Levy glanced up to Gajeel's face, only to prove herself right. His face alone catered to at least five bruises. She shook her head and continued reading her book. After a few more minutes, she put the book down, finished with it. As she put it back into her bag, her stomach started to rumble. She'd skipped lunch without realizing it, and now that it was nighttime, she was starving. "Oi, why don't you come back to our place. Lily and I will make you dinner!"
Being invited to Gajeel's house wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Gajeel was very proud of his cooking and would jump at any opportunity to cook for Levy, since she and Lily were the only two in the guild who knew about it. "Sounds good!" Levy replied with a smile on her face. She was glad to have friends like them. They walked back to Gajeel's house, which was surprisingly close to Fairy Tail. Levy often wondered about why Lucy didn't take that place first, until she remembered that Gajeel's rent is 200,000 jewel a month. He liked taking expensive jobs, so this was nothing to him. When they got to the house, Levy sat in the living room while Gajeel cooked up some steak for the three of them.
Levy ate in silence as the other two bickered with each other over which work out they were doing that night. After dinner, she helped wash the dishes like she always did. When they were finished, Gajeel and Lily went into the weight room and started their work out. Levy was used to this routine, and she relaxed on their couch waiting for them to return. By the time they were finished, Levy was asleep.
Gajeel and Lily took turns taking a shower, and when they were finished, Happy came knocking on their door. After a short conversation, Lily left to go on some sort of adventure with Happy and Carla, Gajeel wasn't paying attention. With no one to talk to, he went to the living room and sat next to the couch, and watched Levy as she slept. He didn't know why, but it was so interesting to him to observe Levy in that state. Looking at her made him happy, and perhaps he stared because he knew that she wasn't able to say something about it. He usually refrained from looking at her too long during the day, fearing that he would be embarrassed if she noticed.
After a few minutes, Gajeel decided to get up and find something else to entertain himself while Levy slept. As he turned to leave the room, he heard her say his name. He spun back around, and she was still asleep. He sat back down into his spot and watched her again, this time his curiosity peaked. Is she, dreaming about me? Gajeel thought.
"Ga..jeel…" There was no mistaking it, her dream definitely involved him. "N..no. No.. Stop… S..stop. Stop! No, no! Stop! Please!" her words became faster, sharper, more frightened. Gajeel realized she was having a nightmare as she tossed herself back and forth on the couch. He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to gently shake her awake, but it didn't work. She began screaming. "Stop! Stop! Please!" The more she screamed, the more afraid Gajeel felt. He wasn't afraid of anything, yet this feeling at the pit of his stomach made him uneasy. He kept trying to wake her up, shaking her more and more. "STOP GAJEEL PLEASE!" were the last words before she shot up into a sitting position on the couch.
She tried to catch her breath as she took in her surroundings, realizing she was in Gajeel's home. She turned to see a wide-eyed Gajeel staring at her on the floor. She jumped back a little bit when she first saw him, until she remembered that they were friends in real life.
"L-Levy.. What were you dreaming about?" Gajeel's voice was soft, and he lowered his head as the words came out. He knew exactly what the dream was about, and he needed her to confirm it.
"Oh, I… I don't remember. It was nothing, don't worry about—" she cut herself off when Gajeel looked up at her with tears in his eyes. Tears? He never shed any tears, he was the Iron Dragon Slayer, the most fearless man she'd ever met. They couldn't be tears, she must have been seeing things.
"Levy, you were screaming. You screamed my name, and told me to stop. It was about that night, wasn't it?"
Hearing those words caused Levy to tremble. Her stomach was twisted and she began to cry, unable to stop the tears. "I'm sorry Gajeel, I don't know how to stop these nightmares."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I—I didn't want to upset you. They make you seem so scary and every night it gets worse—" this time, Levy was cut off by Gajeel pulling her into his arms. The kind gesture caused Levy to sob even harder, but this time, she was able to cry into his chest.
"Is this why you've been so tired lately?" his voice seemed distant. Levy nodded into him, unable to speak through her tears. Gajeel put one hand on the back of her head, while the other arm squeezed a little tighter around her waist. Levy felt a small wave of relaxation, when she realized that Gajeel's chest was shaking. He was crying, too. "I'm sorry Levy. I wish I could go back and undo it all, I wish I never hurt you. I'm so sorry."
Levy pushed off of Gajeel's chest to look at his face. He turned to the side so his eyes wouldn't meet hers. "G—Gajeel…" Levy didn't know what to say. She had never seen her friend shed tears like this. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Gajeel hugged her back, and they cried together on the floor. They stayed like that for a few minutes until they both calmed down enough to let go.
"Levy, I will never hurt you again. It kills me every single day to have to remember what I did to you, and now that I know how much it affected you, I have to do whatever I can to fix it. I don't want you to forgive me, I don't deserve it. But let me protect you, let me make up for it."
Levy was shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. "Gajeel, look at me." He hadn't been making eye contact with her. "Look at me. I've already forgiven you. You're one of my best friends!" She smiled through the tears that still came down. "Don't hold a grudge against yourself."
Gajeel looked into her eyes, and her words made him feel weak. "Levy… You're… you're more than that to me." Gajeel admitted, his face turning red. "Ever since I joined Fairy Tail, everything about you has changed me. Your forgiving nature makes me want to be better, to not need forgiveness. Your kindness makes me want to deserve it. I've felt compelled to protect you for such a long time, that I start worrying when you're not around."
Gajeel spoke slowly and softly, and Levy could tell that he meant every single word. Her face turned red. "Gajeel," she breathed, "I love you."
His eyes widened at those words; he was shocked. "I-I love you too." Suddenly, he felt happy. Happy that she said those words, and happy that he was able to say them out loud for the first time, to her. He cupped her face with both of his hands, and covered her mouth with his.
Levy felt the butterflies in her stomach, and she blushed under his kiss. Her hands moved up to his chest as she kissed him back.
It was Gajeel who broke the kiss. He moved back and looked her in the eyes. "I don't want you to have nightmares anymore. Sleep here tonight. I want to be there for you in case it happens again."
Levy smiled and hugged him. "Okay," was all she needed to say. Gajeel picked her up and brought her into his room, and laid her down on the bed.
"You can wear my t-shirt to sleep," he said as he handed her his favorite shirt. He turned around to allow her to change, and the two got into bed. "Goodnight, shrimp." Gajeel smirked.
"Goodnight, Gajeel." Levy fell asleep quickly. It was the best sleep she'd had in weeks.