If Levy had a favorite time of year, it was August. Not only because her birthday took place on the first day of the month, but because the sun was always shining and her favorite most flowers were in bloom and Magnolia was covered in them, thanks to her doing.
Every late May, Levy took the initiative to plant sunflower seeds anywhere she could find a patch of grass or empty lot all over the town of Magnolia. Every year she would skip to her favorite gardening shop, the one owned by a little old lady who had given her many plant related books and taught her the best way to grow a garden. She would buy a bag of sunflower seeds in bulk, and lug it over her shoulder and carry it home. When she was home, she would fill small bags with the sunflower seeds so she could carry a bag in her purse at all times, with a map of Magnolia to mark where she had already buried seeds, and a pair of gardening gloves.
As she made her way about town about her daily life, she would stop to plant a line of seeds around the trees in town, outside the shops, and along pathways. Whenever she would find an empty lot she would design a pathway a simple maze to walk through. In one area of the park, there was a round circle of dirt, and she would line the circle with seeds, so that when they grew the children could walk inside and hide. Sometimes she would give handfuls to children or gardeners for them to plant in their own gardens. She would spend extra time in the parts of town that were a little more run down neighborhoods, planting as many seeds as she could fit into every corner of town. She would bring bags of soil and pour them into discarded bathtubs so she could plant seeds in them, she would use buckets and tires, even discarded shoes. She would plant them along side fences, houses, and barns.
And when July came along, the town was green with tall stalks and broad leaves, and the papers published stories of how the "Mystery sunflower planter is at it again!" The children in the park played within the circles, and sometimes she would take a book to the park with her and hide behind thick stalks to read. Teens ran in and out of the maze she had made, playing "Marco Polo" with their friends. Little old people came out with their watering cans and watered the flowers nearest their houses. The sunflowers were the chatter of the town and when the first one bloomed in Magnolia park, the town gathered in droves to take a peak at the very first of thousands.
Then August finally came, and Levy woke up on her birthday to the gentle aroma of sunflowers blowing in her window with the breeze. She sat up and stretched, looking out her window at the array of blooming bright yellow flowers. They were her favorite flower because they were the exact shade of her favorite color, and when she couldn't appreciate their bloom she would wear their color on her dresses. They stood tall and strong, though they wavered gently with the breeze, and they provided the bees of Magnolia with pollen. Most stalks had multiple brightly colored heads, but some only had one enormous head as it prepared seeds to spread it's offspring.
As Levy walked out of her door with a skip in her step and her favorite dress on, she made her way to the guild for her special birthday fresh blackberry pancakes from Mirajane. She took a moment to smell the sunflowers right outside Fairy Hills before making her way, and she noticed that the towns people were whispering as she passed through town. Were they whispering about her? No, they couldn't possibly... she wasn't a very well known mage throughout town.
Arriving at the guild she quietly slipped through the doors only to find the lights off.
"Huh? That's strange..." Levy noted as she reached for the light switch, even the windows were covered and she was completely in the dark, making her slightly anxious. Her fingers finally found the switch and flipped it on, and the guild erupted.
"SURPRISE!" Followed by a loud boom as someone fired a confetti cannon. Yellow confetti floated in the air around her, yellow balloons levitated, the tables were covered with yellow and white checker cloth, and sunflowers graced every table. Levy's face broke from complete shock into a wide grin and she ran towards her friends.
"Happy birthday Levy!"
"Another year older, huh kid?"
"It's your special day, Levy-chan!"
"Happy birthday to my favorite leo!"
"HEY!"
"Sorry, Loke."
"I made your favorite pancakes for everyone Levy!"
Levy was overwhelmed by all the hugs and happy birthdays, and happy tears blurred her vision. But as she looked around the guild, she found that one face she had yearned to see was absent. Before she could inquire his whereabouts, Lucy pulled her to a table and Mira served the first stack of blackberry pancakes with a syrup drizzle, dollop of whipped cream, and a candle on top to Levy, and they all sang to her as she blushed deeply.
Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes tight and thought, I wish he was here... and blew her candle out. The guild clapped before moving to their own seats, and Lucy, Natsu, Erza, Juvia, Grey, Wendy, and Happy and Charla surrounded the table where Levy sat with their own stacks of pancakes. They all got lost in conversation as they ate, and when Levy had finished her pancakes and coffee, she noticed that the guild had emptied out besides the group at her table and Mirajane, who was approaching the group.
"Hi, Levy! I know it's your birthday and everything, but I found a really quick and easy job with a decent pay for you! It's just helping calculate a good place for a sculpture in Magnolia park. The client is there waiting for you." Mira explained to her, a sly grin on her face.
"Uh, sure, Mira, I'll leave right away..." Levy responded, though she could suspected a hint of mischievousness from Mira, they had already surprised her once today.
"We will go with you!" Lucy jumped up and the rest of the group followed behind. Levy chuckled to herself, Something is definitely going on here, she thought to herself.
They made their way through town, and the group tried their hardest to distract Levy with conversation, so she wouldn't notice the empty streets, the few people who were bustling about carrying balloons or gifts and hiding them behind their backs when they saw the group approaching.
Levy grinned at the amount of sunflowers in full bloom, thousands of flowers lined the streets, and though no one knew that she was the "Mysterious flower planter," she was quiet proud of her own work. As they approached Magnolia park, she noticed a lot of noise, and people running towards the entrance. Was there a festival today?
Right before they turned to go under the arch that welcomed visitors into the park, Lucy put her hands over Levy's eyes so she couldn't see anything.
"Lu-lu! What are you doing?!" Levy exclaimed as the cold hands on her face startled her.
Lucy only giggled and responded in a sing-song voice, "You'll seeeee."
They walked a little further, and Levy's ears picked up the sounds of whispers, shuffling of feet, and giggles, as Lucy and the group led her into the park. Suddenly they stopped, and Lucy's hands dropped from Levy's face.
In front of her stood Gajeel a grin on his face and his arms crossed over his chest, with Pantherlily flying above his head, but the rest of the park was filled to the brim with faces. Faces of people she knew from town, but names she did not know. Children she had tutored, shop owners she knew, people she passed every day.
"Happy birthday, Sunflower Girl!" The entire park shouted, so loudly it hurt her ears slightly, she cringed slightly but a wide smile spread over her face. They knew?
Her eyes found Gajeel again, the one she wished to spend her birthday with, was this his doing?
"Happy birthday Shorty," Gajeel said, before stepping aside and exposing the iron statue that stood behind him.
A statue of a girl with short, curly hair, in a dress, holding a standing sunflower steady as she leaned into smell it. Her other hand was shaped as if to hold a bouquet of flowers and real sunflowers were placed in her grip. Flowers that she hadn't planted were surrounding it.
"Is... is that... me?" Levy choked out the words, as her throat tightened and tears escaped her eyes.
"We all wanted to thank you," Lucy crooned at Levy sweetly, "for brightening the town with not only your flowers, but your bright smile and spirit!"
"Here, here!" The crowd shouted.
Levy couldn't help the sob that escaped her mouth as she hugged Lu-chan tightly, and Lucy whispered in her ear "Gajeel helped set all this up, you know..."
As Levy pulled back from their hug, her eyes were wide in shock. She immediately turned to face Gajeel, who was smirking until he realized that Levy knew he had set it up and his cheeks turned pink, and he scratched the back of his head.
"You made the statue, didn't you?" Levy demanded from him, slightly shocked.
"Uh... yeah, I did." He looked to the ground. "Jet, Droy, and Pantherlily helped with the statue placement and flowers, Lucy, Juvia, and Mira planned the whole surprise... and then once it got going, everyone chipped in. Oi! Why are you crying again?!" He shouted when she started sobbing again.
Levy ran straight for him, wrapping her arms around his midsection and burying her face in his chest. "I'm just so happy Gajeel, thank you."