Gajeel sighed, on his third hour of paperwork. He had been swamped recently, having drawn the short straw of his siblings, and been put in charge of the knight exams, as well as all of his other duties. Currently, he was alone in his office, with Lilly being on his break. He was working on investigating some tensions with a neighboring nation, a border dispute. As he reached for his atlas, he remembered that it had been in his last office, which Natsu had managed to incinerate during a training exercise with the castle guard. Why his hyperactive sibling was considered responsible enough for command and supervision of the royal guard was beyond him.

Anyways, he was now in need of a new, high quality atlas. Usually, he would send a servant or Lilly out on the errand, but he was exhausted, wanted out of this office. He decided to go to the bookstore in town himself. He was less well known than his flashy brother, and his well known and loved little sister, so it wouldn't be a problem. He tied a bandana over his forehead, covering some of his prominent piercings, and changed into nondescript clothing.

He walked to the higher class area of town, keeping his head down. The bookstore was located conveniently, quite near the palace, as books were monumentally expensive, and could sometimes be difficult to come by. He entered the store, nodding absently to the girl behind the desk, and wandering about, searching for the atlases and maps. He found himself somewhat frustrated that he couldn't find his goal. Eventually, a soft voice came from besides him,

"Can I help you find something?," the shopgirl had approached him, somehow without him noticing. She was tiny, craning her neck to look up at him. Her blue hair struck a familiar chord in him, but he couldn't quite place it. He responded, "yeah, I need an accurate atlas. The nicest one Ya got." The girl nodded, and turned, gesturing him to follow her, as she wound her way with ease through the maze like shelves. She didn't seem to have recognized him, but if she had, she didn't say anything. He watched her walk in front of him, her hips swaying gently, feet padding silently, and was again struck by déjà vu. She came to a stop in front of a shelf filled with finely bound large books, and launched into descriptions of each for him. He chose one quickly and left, leaving her alone in the store.

Levy relaxed the instant he left. She found the first Prince terribly intimidating, and it was the first time anyone from the castle had spotted her outside of training. In training, she had padded up her boots, giving herself an inch in height, and wore a thick bandana over her forehead, hiding her delicately manicured eyebrows, and casting her large eyes into shadow. She also flattened her chest, and wore loose layers to give the illusion of bulk. That seemed to be enough to hide her identity, though he had given her a look when she first approached him. Why on earth would Prince Gajeel appear in the bookstore? Him of all people!

Generally, the store was a good job. The pay was decent, the clientele were generally mostly polite, and she could study from the books during the breaks. This was convenient, as nobles typically have a massive advantage over common folk, as they could afford book learning. Levy and Lucy poured every penny that they could save into books, but could only save enough for a medical book for Lucy, and one book on politics, and a story book. The rest, the two had to figure out by getting others to lend them books, or studying during breaks and slow hours at Levy's work.

She returned to the book she had been perusing at the desk, as it was a slow day. It was a battle strategy book. The exam date was in only two months, and Levy intended to pass her first time around. After that, she would be assigned a mentor knight to follow around, and assist. Typically, she would also have to live with them. That was when the real challenge as far as her gender would come, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

Levy got off work, and remembered that today the training ring was open. Despite the fact that the run in with the prince had unnerved her, she needed the training. She headed home, getting ready in the empty house. Lucy was still at her job, as a handmaid. If Levy got lucky, she would catch Lucy on her way out and they could walk home together.

Once she arrived, she set to work, running through slashing and stabbing drills repetitively, lost in her own world. She finished with the warm up drills maybe twenty minutes later, and glanced around for a partner. As she did that, she spotted a familiar face. Laxus Dreyar. He was the son of the owner of fairy tale tavern, and also the head of the Knights. He hadn't spotted her yet, as she was a ways away, and wearing a helmet, but he could be useful ally, so she decided to try to get him on her side. She ignored him for now though, scanning the yard for anyone who looked idle, when she spotted sir Lilly. He had fought her last time, and was a very good sparring partner. He met eyes with her as he entered the large ring, and approached.

"Mr. Levy!" He called, once he had approached her, "nice to see you again. Do you need a partner?" She nodded, and with no preamble the two took their stances. She attacked first, slashing quickly, using her speed. He used his superior height and strength to try and wear her out. One of the weaknesses of faster more active fighters is that they tend to wear out, and he was taking full advantage of that in order to wear her down. Levy was working on stamina, and held up quite well, but began to wear out. Her strikes were still landing, landing against his side and shoulders, but the clanging from hits on her helmet were giving her a headache, and exhaustion was weighing on her arms, making her sword heavy. Pantherlilly was also breathing heavily, though not as much as her. He used his superior side to shove into her body, knocking her to the ground, and placing his sword at her neck. The two held that position for a moment, before Pantherlilly sheathed his sword, and held out his hand to the smaller figure, yanking Levy to her feet. She removed her helmet, exhausted.

"Good fight, sir Pantherlilly," panted out Levy, before turning away to grab her water skin. "You too, Levy." He responded, doing the same as her." If your diplomatic skills are as good as your sword fighting, you should have no problem."

Lilly relaxed next to the smaller fellow for a few minutes. He had never met such a small man, and when he had first seen him, he had been astonished. He had come down to the training ring, and seen a tiny figure in oversized chainmail, beating a low level knight, Jet, while his friend Droy panted nearbye. He had sparred with him, and had been so absorbed that he was late, and Prince Gajeel had come looking for him. That had seemed to terrify the small recruit. In the past couple weeks, Lilly had formed a sort of friendship to the small fellow, learning of his sister Lucy, and chatting on the things that he was learning. Lilly was actually hoping that if Levy passed, that he could be a mentor to the young man, because he really did enjoy his presence. As his break came to an end, Lilly exited the field, waving to the much smaller man and going to change.

Levy decided to continue with drills where she had left off, and then push ups and sit ups to improve her stamina. She was unusually muscled and wiry for a girl, but she hid this with loose, flowing dresses with sleeves. When she finally finished, and removed her helmet, Laxus, who was still observing, finally caught her eye. She could tell that he wanted to speak to her, and she turned to head home, knowing that he would probably follow. As she walked, she wondered what her sort-of older brother figure would have to say.

A. N.: ooh, will Laxus help out levy, or turn her in? SUSPENSE! Sorry for taking so long, life is stressful. Thank you to readers, and any comments are welcome. Suggestions, complaints, whatever. You guys are great, and thank you for reading.