Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this story! :)

Also, I find that fanfictions where the characters get together almost the instant they meet can be pretty boring, so the romance will be a little slow in this fanfic.

The white-haired woman hummed to herself as she cleaned the dishes behind the bar counter. Things were unusually quiet today – most of the guild was out on missions, after all. Glancing around the guild hall, she saw that there were only about nine or ten people in the hall, aside from herself.

Mirajane's two younger siblings, Elfman and Lisanna, were helping her wash the dishes. Most of the others were just wandering around aimlessly or drinking something – except four of them, who were standing at the request board; Gajeel, Levy, Alzack and Bisca. Mira sighed as she watched Alzack and Bisca reach for the same request at the same moment, and then quickly pull their hands back when their fingers brushed together, murmuring apologies to each other. Levy was observing one of the requests toward the bottom of the board, while Gajeel, leaning over her, was squinting at one near the top. The take over mage couldn't help noting that the former was blushing from the proximity of the latter.

Mira shook her head sadly. It was so obvious that they had feelings for each other. When would the two pairs just admit that fact and get together…?

Maybe it was time to give them a little push.

"I'll be back in a minute," she told her siblings as she carefully put down the wine glass she had been drying and headed over to the request board. "Need help picking a job?" she asked cheerfully, causing Levy to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Yeah, all this shit is too easy," Gajeel growled.

Mira's blue eyes flitted over the request board. It seemed today was her lucky day: there was a job on the board that could help her set up both of the couples she was trying to get together. Grinning, she pointed to it. "How about this one?"

"…A town being held hostage by evil spirits…?" Levy asked, reading the request.

"Will I get to punch stuff?" the dragon slayer asked, turning toward Mira, who nodded. "Cool. Let's take it, Shrimp."

"Wait, it says four people," the bluenette pointed out. "We should bring Jet and Droy with –"

"No," Gajeel said bluntly.

"Why not?"

"I don't like them. And they don't like me. I ain't going on any jobs with 'em, period."

Levy glared at him. "Maybe it's about time you three set aside your differences. This job is a good opportunity for that."

Mirajane decided to pipe up. "If you don't want to take Jet and Droy along, I'm sure there's a certain two who would gladly take the request with you…"

Gajeel and Levy stared at her for a second.

"You mean those two?" Gajeel asked, pointing toward Alzack and Bisca.

Mira nodded. "They seem to be having trouble picking a job. Why don't you ask them to go with you? And it would be an interesting change from your usual team," she added. "After all, you can't always go on missions with the same people."

The dragon slayer and the script mage stared at the two gunslingers. They had spoken to the two of them quite a bit in the past; in fact, Levy and Bisca were good friends, and though Gajeel hadn't liked Alzack much at first, he was starting to grow on him.

"What do you think?" Levy asked, turning toward Gajeel.

"Don't care," Gajeel answered. "Up to you."

Without hesitation, Levy walked over to the other two. After a short conversation, all three of them headed back to the iron dragon slayer.

"So it's settled?" Mirajane asked, mentally smirking to herself. This was going better than she thought. "Good! Then you four just go out on your mission." As she watched the four of them leave the guild, she rubbed her hands together, giggling. If only there was a way she could watch them from now until they got back home – but she couldn't do that without physically following them, so it seemed she would just have to wait and see how things turned out.

"The train? Seriously?!"

"Quit being such a drama queen, Gajeel," Bisca snapped.

"Someone's on her period," Gajeel grunted.

"What did you say, asshole?"

"I said "someone's on her period"," the dragon slayer smirked.

"So you want to die?"

"You actually think you're capable of beating me? Hah!"

"Break it up, you two!" Levy shouted. "The train's here."

"I ain't going on no train," the dragon slayer growled.

"Really?" Alzack asked. "So, what other modes of transport do you have?"

"Uh… Lily! My cat!"

"He's back at the guild."

"I can walk, then!"

"The distance is too long for that."

"Well –"

Alzack sighed. "Just man up and get on the train, would you? It can't be that bad."

"…I stand corrected."

Gajeel groaned, leaning on Alzack for support, one hand waving frantically at Levy. "Shrimp! I need that paper bag again! Now!"

Sighing, Levy handed him the bag. "Why don't you just keep it?"

"Can't hold object. Takes too much energy – blergh!"

"Man up," Bisca retorted. "It's not fair toward Levy that you keep making her hold your damned bag of puke."

"Shrimp doesn't object."

"Um." Levy raised her hand gingerly. "Actually, yes, I do object."

"No ya don't." Gajeel tossed the bag back toward her, but this time, instead of just taking it, Levy tossed it back at him. Gajeel wasn't prepared, and it ended up on the floor. Even though the contents didn't spill, most of the passengers surrounding the bag got up and moved away, some of them screaming.

Alzack stared after them. "It's just vomit…"

Beside him, Gajeel made a sound. "Poncho, could you go get that bag for me? I think I need it again…"

"Oh god."

"So this is the place?" Bisca asked, stepping off of the train. "I don't see any evil spirits."

"The train station of the town we're trying to get to is closed because the spirits won't let anyone in," Levy explained. "This is the closest town. We'll have to walk from here."

"Good," Gajeel said. "No more vehicles."

"So they don't let trains in, but they'll let us in if we're on foot?" Bisca asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I doubt it," Alzack answered. "By the sound of it, we'll have to sneak in."

All four of them turned in the direction of the town, and four pairs of eyes widened at once. It looked as if a dome of solid blackness was covering the distant place.

"…There's probably an opening somewhere in that dome," Levy said optimistically. "Let's go try to find it." There was a pause as she observed the distance between their current location and the location of their job. "…But… we might have a long walk ahead of us first…"