A/N - Finally figured out how people were writing these so now I can say what I want about this - if you see any mistakes don't worry about offending; any criticism or compliments are appreciated equally (well, compliments are slightly higher in terms of my ranking but...) so feel free to drop a quick review!

Hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 1 - It Begins

The sun is descending over the Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia, where the guild 'Fairy Tail' are relaxing and laughing with each other. Although the feeling of happiness is almost overwhelming in the guild, there is one corner of the guild which hasn't quite registered the mood...

Gajeel sat in the corner of Fairy Tail's guild, staring broodingly at the request board, eyebrows furrowed. For once, the iron dragonslayer didn't quite feel like himself. Ever since the return from Tenrou Island he had found himself thinking about the events of that day, and what everyone had been through… it was almost as if he was worried for them; as if he might almost care.

Gajeel shook his head and turned his gaze to where the members of Shadow Gear were chatting to a few members of Fairy Tail's "strongest team"; Gajeel chuckled darkly to himself at the thought of it. Sure, Erza was tough and all but Natsu let his emotions distract him, Gray had an issue with clothes which meant Gajeel could not take him seriously as a competitor for any position of power and Lucy was nothing without her keys. He could defeat most of them one on one, and definitely give Erza a run for her money but… the way the stuck together… Gajeel briefly allowed himself to appreciate the strong bonds of power and friendship between them before laughing to himself. Like he needed people looking after him. As if any of the people here would want him looking after them, especially after what he did to their guild and their nakama.

As he thought this, he couldn't help focussing his attention of the leader of Shadow Gear, who was currently laughing at a comment Lucy had made, seemingly at Gray's expense, who looked irritated. Levy had been his partner on Tenrou Island and whilst everything was going back to normal for everyone else, he couldn't say the same about her. She was a mixture of work and relaxation, seemingly finding time for everyone and herself – something Gajeel secretly admired her for. Realising he had, once again, ended up thinking of Levy, Gajeel leaned back further into his chair and closer into the comfort of the shadows. Closing his eyes, he unwillingly found that despite the laughter and chatter from various other members of Fairy Tail, his ability to hear as a dragonslayer meant he could hear what Lucy and Levy were talking about.

"… so you're saying it wouldn't work?" Lucy tried to stifle a laugh as Gray sighed.

"I am saying that even if you challenged me, even just for a day, it's not a conscious decision." Gray answered dismissively as Lucy giggled and Levy smiled teasingly.

"What is Levy wrote out…?" Lucy started but Levy interrupted her.

"I am not going to try to do any research into how Gray is to keep his clothes on, that's his personal problem to deal with; I refuse to write "fabric" every time you strip!" Levy addressed the last part to Gray and uncontrollably joined in with Lucy's laughter as Grey folded his arms against his chest and attempted to sulk.

"Speaking of personal problems, Levy, how is yours going?" Gray asked quietly, causing Lucy and Levy to stop giggling. Levy straightened up slightly, which had no effect on her height, but it was clear she wasn't in a laughing mood anymore.

"I don't have any, Gray." Levy said cautiously as Lucy smirked and Gray looked at her disbelievingly.

"Come on, everyone knows something went on at…"

"Nothing happened. Gajeel saved me because I was too weak to help myself and those around me. I'd rather just forget it all happened…" Levy trailed off sadly and mumbling an excuse, headed towards the bar, leaving Lucy looking reproachfully at Gray as he raised his hands up in defence at her glare.

Gajeel opened his eyes and watched as Levy walked to the bar and started being comforted by Mirajane.

Without realising it, Gajeel clenched his fists as his thoughts turned bitter as he watched Levy smile sadly. He had told her to stay close to him on Tenrou Island but then had made up all sorts of nicknames so he could avoid saying her name or being associated with her… Gajeel glanced away as Levy motioned towards him, not wanting to seem as if he had been looking at her. He half expected Levy to understand why he was keeping his distance from her whilst telling her to stay beside him; but even the cleverest member of the guild had no hope of understanding his cold, dark heart when even he didn't know what it was saying… or if it existed.

"Gajeel" A low voice spoke next to him as Gajeel turned and saw Panther lily looking at him with a smirk on his face.

"Lily" Gajeel replied as a way of greeting, giving Levy a last quick glance before focussing his attention on Lily. Lily's smirk widened as he noticed this.

"I've just been with Carla and Happy – I thought I'd give you a heads up to what they were saying…" Lily paused as Gajeel looked other his head where Carla was looking concerned at Nastu and Gray, whom Gray was whispering something to, and Happy, who had stuffed a fish in his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Gajeel looked back at Lily as he continued mysteriously whilst trying not to laugh "…things are about to get a bit heated for…"

Lily was cut off by the sound of Natsu roaring and Gajeel spun around to see him glaring at Gray with flames in his hand. As a response Grey smirked and started preparing his ice magic. The two collided with each other, flame melting ice but ice being re-created quickly enough to keep up, the two mages refusing to back down as they pushed and hit at each other. Gajeel couldn't help laughing at the look on Natsu's face, which was pure anger, and at Gray, who had managed to bump into Lucy and caused her to spill her drink on herself.

"Stop it you two!" Lucy and Erza shouted simultaneously , which usually would have resulted in a pause from the fight and enough time for Erza to step in. Instead, the fighting escalated, Gray managing to lose some of his clothes in the process. As they battle started to head towards where Gajeel was sitting, Gajeel started flexing his muscles and prepared to jump into the fight, grinning wickedly.

He was stopped by Pantherlily though, who muttered quietly "Trust me, you don't want to know what they were arguing about" and motioned for Gajeel to follow him towards the bar for a drink. Gajeel paused for a moment before sulkily following and seating himself two seats away from Levy, who was staring into the contents of her drink with a worry line across her forehead. Gajeel took a sharp intake of breath which he hastily turned into a cough as she tucked a lose part of hair around her ear and looked up to see Gajeel, giving him a small smile. Gajeel turned his back to Levy, holding in the urge to talk to her, and motioned for Mirajane to head over. Levy had gone back to looking sadly at the contents of her drink and Gajeel found himself copying this action once Mirajane had brought his.

"THAT'S IT YOU ICE FREAK!" A voice suddenly shattered through Gajeel's thoughts as he whirled around and noticed three things; one was that Gray was now fighting Natsu in the nude. Another was that practically the whole guild had now got involved, although Lucy and Erza were ignoring it and trying to eat cake at the side of the ongoing battle. Most importantly, however, was that Nastu had just shot a fireball at Gray and he had managed to dodge it, and it was now directly on course for Levy.

Without thinking Gajeel threw himself at Levy, knocking her off her chair and blocking the fireball with his back as he fell on top of her. As Gajeel looked at Levy beneath him he noticed she was looking at him strangely. He could hear her heartbeat quicken as he asked "Are you okay?" in a whisper, barely managing to get the words out any stronger under the gaze she was holding on him. Levy nodded and Gajeel couldn't resist leaning in and briefly pressing his forehead to hers, muttering "Good" before he realised he had been on top of her for far too long than necessary. Hastily he rolled off her and ran into the battle, seeking Natsu and Gray. Without a word he picked them up and dragged them outside of the guild, noting how the guild stopped fighting as he did so and Natsu and Grey struggled against his iron grip.

Pantherlily watched as Gajeel exited and cast a sneaky glance at Levy, who was still on the floor, and was confusingly pressing her hand to her forehead. However, Pantherlily noted, she did have a puzzled smile on her face. Lily laughed to himself and muttered quietly after his friend and finished his original sentence: "things are going to get a little heated for you, my friend" as Happy finally finished his fish and raced off, laughing, to find out what had become of Natsu.

What do we all think? Good attempt at a first chapter? Let me know if you want to see any particular developments occur as the story progresses!