Gajeel tried to drag up something to say about that night. But every thought that came to mind was supplanted by another, crowding the passageway between his brain and his mouth. In the end, he said nothing, staring into space. An apology died half formed. He felt his lips purse together tighter and tighter. It was if his body rebelled against the thoughts, refusing to allow him to speak about it. It was a blotch even for him, something that he tried to repress.

When Makarov had come to give him his new life, it had touched him deeply, but in the end, he felt the same. Isolated. He didn't consider his past as anything special. But after the war with Laxus, he had felt the bonds of his guild more strongly. He began to look upon his past as a black and white memory, missing colour.

Mostly, he let it go. He wasn't an introspective individual. But there were a few moments that haunted him, and this was one. He looked at the girl he'd done it to. She utterly didn't deserve it. It was amazing to him that he could have done that violent action now.

Finally, Levy spoke into the silence.

"Why me?" She asked quietly, feeling that the question was pathetic. "It was because I – we were weak, isn't it?"

Gajeel sighed deeply, taking a swig from his mug, feeling like he needed the extra courage. But the specificity of the question allowed him to answer.

"No," he said honestly. "I didn't know who ya were, beyond that ya were Fairy Tail mages. Apart from yer S-class and Salamander, I didn't know anyone's name in the guild. Ya were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Oh." The word seemed loud in the silence. Levy wasn't sure if it made her feel better or worse. She wasn't singled out for her flaws, but being unlucky felt bad in its own way.

"But," he said slowly, "to a degree, it was because ya are small. I wanted to send a message. So when I saw ya, I thought 'this'll make me look like I mean business'."

She looked at him sadly. The pain in his voice was great. He barked a laugh.

"Yeah, real fucking badass, right? Picking on small girls, that's what badasses do!"

"I…it's in the past now," Levy said quietly. Gajeel glared at her briefly, her head lowered shyly.

"How on earth do ya think yer weak?" He growled.

Puzzled, Levy asked "what do you mean?"

"I've never seen someone so strong!" Gajeel laughed that distinctive laugh, and took another swig.

"I'm not…"

"Shaddup and listen." Gajeel stared at her, his gaze boring into her eyes, locking her in place. "Ya might be good with words, but I'm not. Let me say this in my own time."

Levy shifted uncomfortably, but was silent.

"Before I joined Fairy Tail, only one thing mattered to me. Strength." He leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "It was all I cared about. It was why I was the strongest in my guild. I only listened to Jose. He was one of the ten wizard saints! Who else was worth listening to?"

"Master Makarov…" Levy started, but Gajeel glanced at her and she shut up abruptly.

"I attacked yer guild because I thought it was weak. We were strong, ya were weak. Why wouldn't we crush ya?"

"Well…"

"What part of shaddup and listen didn't ya get?"

"At least be polite!" Levy snapped back, but she talked no more.

"But then…my strength failed me." He was staring into his tankard, as if the solution was at the bottom. "The barrier yer green-haired pretty boy…"

"Fried." Stare.

"…yer green-haired pretty boy set up completely stopped me. I couldn't touch it at all." Levy heard an odd noise, and realised that Gajeel was gripping the tankard so hard that it was deforming slightly. "But ya…ya undid it in minutes." He looked at her directly. "It was the first time I saw strength other than physical."

"I know that I'm good with written magic," Levy said. "But it doesn't make me strong."

"Actually I'm wrong. It was the first time that I realized that I'd seen a kind of strength. In reality, I'd seen another kind of strength before, but hadn't paid attention." Levy leaned in slightly, curious. His voice was quiet, solemn. "It was when you forgave me."

To his surprise, Levy didn't react shyly; she beamed a full power smile, as if reacting to his own coyness. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I believed that if Makarov saw some good in you, it must be there!"

For the briefest moment, it looked like Gajeel might cry, before that trademark scowl came down again. "But I never said sorry."

"Oh, but you don't have…"

"I'm sorry." He blurted it out quickly as if he had to do it swiftly or not at all. He calmed himself, returning to a normal tone. "I'm sorry. It's not something that I can make up fer…but I really mean it. When I look at ya now…I have no idea how I could have…" His voice trailed off. He suddenly slammed his stein on the table, making Levy jump. "Dammit! Why is it so hard!?"

"I understand. You said it yourself; strength matters to you. You see apologising as a form of weakness, so you hate it." Gajeel glared at her. How the fuck had she figured out that much that quickly? She was a bright one alright. "But it's not; it means that you're getting stronger, shedding an old weakness."

Gajeel laughed loudly. "How can ya say all that and think that yer weak? Ya've got iron deep down in ya somewhere, Gihi!" Both of them flushed suddenly as they realized the unintended double entendre in those words. Gajeel took a swig to cover the moment. Levy took the tiniest sip herself. Oh sweet merciful Mavis, it was like fire! She spluttered into her drink. Gajeel cackled.

Frustrated, she placed the drink on the table and stood, spreading her arms wide. "Ignore my brains for a moment. Tell me that this is strong! Describe this body – go on!"

Gajeel stared at her, his t-shirt spreading almost like bat wings from her outstretched arms. Describe her body?

Sexy.

Where the fuck had that come from? Try harder, brain!

Ok – Cute, adorable, sweet, lovely…I'm done. Read a thesaurus sometime!

Goddamn useless brain…wait, why am I even thinking these words? I'm not attracted to the Shrimp! Oh fuck, she's still waiting for an answer! Say something. Short? No, you insensitive dolt, something nice! Small? How is that nice?! Pocket-sized? Thin? Tiny?

"See?" Levy said defiantly over the silence. "I know those words. Small, fragile, weak. You've even said yourself that my punch was pathetic!" And that I was flat…

Gajeel wasn't sure how to deal with the emotional problems the Shrimp had from her body shape, but she had inadvertently given him a practical problem to deal with. He stood, rising to his full height. Levy's expression flickered as the fifteen inch gap became obvious again.

"Show me that punch again." He held out a palm. "Hit me." Levy wasn't sure where he was going with this, but complied, driving her tiny fist into his oversized hand. For a brief moment she panicked that he was going to crush her hand, but Gajeel let her go and walked around her, studying her.

"Yer form sucks. Yer right handed, right?" She nodded. "Okay, stand with yer left leg forwards. Now raise yer left hand vertically. Like that. Now, when you punch, step forward with yer right leg, and pivot on yer hips."

Levy was caught up in the change in discussion. "Like this?"

"No, no." Gajeel put his hands on her arms, moving her posture slightly. Unseen by him, she flushed again at his touch. He was so close to her! Gajeel stood next to her, adopting his own stance. "See? Then you swing like this!" His last word was followed by a blindingly fast step-in, and his fist made a whistling noise as it cut the air.

Levy tried to mimic him, making a tiny noise with her own fist. It was about the most adorable thing Gajeel had ever seen.

"Ya see? Much better!"

Levy frowned. "I'm still weak. This is meaningless."

Gajeel's patience wore thin. "Yer five foot nothing and eight stone, how strong do ya expect to be?" Actually, she was four foot ten and seven and a half stone, but Levy chose not to correct him. Before she could retort, she went very quiet as Gajeel clapped his hands on her shoulders. "I mean, yer shoulders are half the width of mine!" Again, overly generous, but Levy was a bit lost under his physical contact.

To her surprise, he didn't withdraw. Instead, with a complete lack of awareness of personal space he began patting her sides, kneeling down.

"What are you doing?" She cried.

"Calm down shorty, I'm just checking yer muscle shape." He continued down, touching her thighs and calves while Levy thought she might explode. This was too much! At last, Gajeel stopped, rising again. "Now, ya feel like yer well put together. Once ya reach yer full height and fill out a bit, ya'll be plenty strong!"

Levy was trembling with some intense cocktail of emotions. "H…how old do you think I am?"

Gajeel frowned at the question. In truth, his own words had surprised him. He'd always thought of Levy as an adult, as she carried herself with a mature air (though bound up in an adorable package). But as he looked at her now, he panicked. Shit, was she far too young for him? At that size, she was what, fourteen? He added one to inflate the suggestion.

"Um…fifteen, right?" There was an almost audible sound as something in Levy's brain snapped. Gajeel quailed as her face fell into a scowl that would have made Satan proud. "Sixteen?"

"I'm seventeen!" She shouted, driving her new-found punch right into Gajeel's chest with a resounding clap. Again, a moment passed and Levy recoiled, nursing her hand. She hopped from foot to foot. "Learning that just made me hurt myself more!"

"Hmm…so yer as big as yer gonna get?" Gajeel ignored the emotional problem again for the physical one.

"Yes!" She rubbed her bruised knuckles. "This is all I'm ever going to be! A little, weak girl!" She spat the words.

Gajeel shrugged. "Okay. But not all strong mages are strong-bodied. Take that damn Rain Woman. She's no boxer, but she's really strong! Ya'll have to focus on yer magic and yer smarts."

"I already knew that!" Levy shouted.

"Ah? So what are ya doing about it?"

Levy blinked. "Um…well, I'm learning new words…"

"Oh? Show me one!"

"On you?"

"Gihi, go on, I owe you a free hit!"

Now Levy felt pissed. He wasn't even considering her a threat at all. "Solid Script: Storm!" The word pushed forward into Gajeel's exposed chest, his arms wide. His face set, and his legs strained briefly, but the wind spell didn't so much as push him back an atom's width. However, it ripped through his t-shirt and left a mark on his skin.

"Ah…" Levy snapped to. It wasn't like her to do something like that. "I…I'm sorry."

Gajeel laughed and ripped the damaged clothing from him. Levy looked at his exposed torso. She suddenly felt very self conscious, and her hands went to cover her chest. It wasn't fair! She was so tiny in every meaning of the word, but he was…perfectly sculpted.

Wait, what? Why had she thought that?

"Don't worry midget, it's a black t-shirt – I've got hundreds!" He looked at her, noticing what she was doing with her hands. He smiled, but chose not to call attention to it. He went over to a pile of unwashed laundry and plucked another black t-shirt. This one had the logo of one of Gajeel's favourite bands – Frankenstein Joe.

"Don't wreck this one, yeah? I'm fond of this one!" He pulled it on as Levy watched his muscular back flex.

"I meant sorry for hurting you!"

"Ah? It didn't hurt much."

"You see!" Levy was angry again. "Even without any defence, that barely hurt you! I'm a weakling!"

Gajeel's patience finally snapped. "Then get stronger!" Levy flinched. "Stop complaining and get stronger. I'm not here to coddle ya and pretend that yer really strong! Get stronger, and I'll fight ya anytime, see how far ya've come!"

Levy wasn't quite sure if he was berating her or encouraging her. For Gajeel, maybe the two were very similar?

"Also," he went on more quietly, "don't judge yerself against me. I'm really strong!" A cocky smile spread across his face. Levy surprised herself as she smiled in response. Gajeel was like Natsu – not a person she compared herself to in terms of strength.

"Alright! I accept. But if I ask for a spar, you have to say yes!"

"Gihi! Any time, Shrimp!"

At last, seemingly out of words to say on the subject, they sat back down. Gajeel realised that he'd almost finished his pint. He went to refill it and came back, annoyed that he'd had to get up again. Levy took another sip of hers and grimaced as she desperately tried to keep it down this time. She felt the warmth spread to her cheeks and hoped she hadn't gone tomato red. Judging by his grin, maybe she had.

"Alright Shrimp, I can't say we've fixed yer issue, but is there a more…happy topic ya'd like to cover?"

Levy looked around his living room.

"Actually, there is…"

If anyone gets the Frankenstein Joe reference, I will be very happy!

Please know that I read every review, and am very grateful for each and every one! I have a few topics lined up, but if anyone has a topic they'd like Gajeel and Levy to riff on, please do let me know!