Gale A light in the mountain.

Chapter 2.

A quiet night.

"Oi! Shrimp!" Gajeel freed one arm to get Ahold of Levy. As the small mage lost consciousness, he tried to push aside the picture of her beautiful eyes. What the hell had happened?

"Shrimp! Get ahold of yourself, dammit!" He asked. But to no avail. She was long gone. As the redness of her cheeks disappeared little by little, he couldn't help but ask what the hell was Levy doing. Probably wanted to check if he was still alive or something.

"What the hell…" He told to nobody in particular. He brought both legs down on the floor, as he helped Levy onto the seat, pushing the bag he was using as pillow to the floor sitting right beside her. Once in their seat he brought two fingers to her neck, feeling her smooth skin, as well as her somewhat fast heartbeat. Removing his fingers from her neck, his red eyes scanned her small body, her mouth, her nose, and finally her chest, which raised and lowered in a calmer pace. After confirming that she was fine, Gajeel took a minute to admire the small mage that slept in front of him. Levy rested on the train seat, as comfortable as Gajeel managed to place her. Remembering the feeling of her skin, he placed a firm, yet gentle hand in Levy's cheek. He ran his thumb along her lips, which looked a hundred times softer than her skin. A pink color shined in them, as the sunset shined through the window in their room. He could tell that they were about half way through the trip. Yet still a long way to go.

"Oi… Levy…" He spoke. But there was no answer from the small mage. Perhaps unaware of it, Gajeel almost never called her by her name. But as a small blush creeped on his cheeks, he took his hand from her cheek, her softness staying for a few seconds before pushing the warm feeling off his head.

"Now what the hell am I gonna do with you...?" He asked. It wasn't the first time she had fallen asleep in front of him. But usually she had her lap dogs to wake her up, or at the very least her own tent to go and crash onto. But this was the first time he had seen her so close.

'Well, damn.' He thought. She was beautiful. As the last light of the sunset disappeared, the night appeared to make her look magical. Her pink lips, her white skin, her blue hair. Everything about her seemed to capture the iron dragon slayer. Gajeel couldn't help but to stare. He knew. He had realized a while back, actually. No matter how strong he could seem. How amazing he was. (Because he was amazing, and he knew it) He would never compare to her. Honestly, it started by guilt. He fucked up. And boy how did he fucked up. He had no orders, no one to blame but himself. He was stupid. He was immature. He was…

"Sorry…"

No matter how many times he said it, no matter how bad he could get beaten up, how much could he sacrifice for her, he knew it would never be enough. Not for her, but for himself.

´And to top it off, you go ahead and fall for her, you imbecil. ´

He swears to himself that he was trying to repent. He never, in all his life, wanted to fall in love. And fall for her. It seemed like a sin. For him, as for many others, love was only a farce, a cover up for people to prosper and reproduce. But then he found her.

The moon was up by now, and it shined perfectly on her, as she shuffled on her seat, she shifted from the seat to her companion. Taking him by surprise, he did his earnest not to move, not to wake her up. Even so, her warmth created a small smile in him.

"What'cha planning, huh Shrimp?" He asked in joke. Granted, she wasn't prepared for anything, like he was. And she wasn't exactly the strongest. But she was an exceptional mage. An exceptional woman. So he had to protect her. He owed her that much. He wanted to protect her. And he wanted to be with her. He wanted that and a hundred more things, but, well…

'That would have to wait.'

As he thought this, a small shiver came from the sleeping mage. As a small face of discomfort appeared, Gajeel could not help but to chuckle a bit, before poking her cheek with a small finger.

'Gihi. Cute.' He thought. 'Let's see now…' In a fluid movement, he took his coat from the bag, and covered Levy with it. With this, her small frown and shivers disappeared, and her face took a calm expression. Gajeel smiled at the transformation, and positioned himself on the frame of the window. As he took his eyes off the mage, he looked outside the window. They were pretty far already, and fields and crops were the only thing in sight. A lot had changed since he came to Fairy Tail, and a lot was still to change. He had changed already, and knew that he needed to change even more. He closed his eyes, feeling tired of the sudden surprise. As he fell into the dream realm, he remembered. 'It was a pain in the ass to find the right moment to make this happen, you know? A moment in which we could be like this.' He knew he didn't deserve this, deserve her. But damn, it felt right. It felt so damn right. 'Still… For you, it's worth it. ´ Finally succumbing to the dream, he wished they could stay like this forever.

Little did he know, that tonight, his nightmares would not torment him tonight.

A loud whistle resounded in the night. The steel wheels of the trained whined as the train itself came to a halt. The initial noise was enough to wake both mages up, Gajeel knew it would still be a couple more minutes before they were allowed to leave the train. Unaware of this, Levy shifted her position, before finally giving up and waking up. Rubbing her eyes, a big yawn escaped her mouth. As she sat up right, she took the rough fabric, and placed it on her shoulders unaware it wasn't hers.

"What..?" She asked half asleep. She knew that they must have arrived at their destination for the train to stop, but what she did not know is how did they arrived so fast. Looking around, she found her bag on the floor of the room, as well as Gajeel's. She then looked at the seat in front of her, expecting to see the iron mage still asleep. Much to her surprise, said mage was not there.

"Huh? Gajeel?" She asked fully awake.

"What." Came a response aside her.

"Eep!" She squealed in surprise. As she turned around, the pieces started to come together. If the bags were on the floor, and the seat was empty, then what was she sleeping on?

"Gajeel! You startled me!" She said beet red. As Gajeel turned to face her, she somewhat fixed her hair while admiring the state of the waking dragon. Now she'd done it. Hugged him, tried to kiss him and now-

"Slept well, Shrimp?" He teased. Her cheeks took a new shade of red, as she couldn't help but pout at the dragon slayer. 'Give me a break. Jeez.'

"Well enough," she finally answered. She slept better than she would dare to admit. Specially to him. "and you?"

"Same." Answered Gajeel. He stretched as he stood up, barely managing to stretch his arms in the room. As a couple cracks filled the room, he took a look outside. "We're here." He spoke.

Walking past him, she stared out the window. The station they had stopped was an old wooden station, with only one pair of rails. The side the window was allowed the mages to contemplate the small town outside. Filled mostly with crop fields, the small amount of buildings was so simple Levy couldn't help but ask if this indeed was a town. Yet it brought a sense of calm. As if she knew them somehow.

"Looks nice." She said. Turning to Gajeel.

"Humph." With this, Gajeel crouched and grabbed both bags. "Let's go." He said. Opening the door, Levy followed suit, secretly trying to forget everything that happened in the train.

"Please be careful when leaving the train" A voice came from the single speaker in the station. Other than the Station manager, there was no one else in the station. The little noise that could be heard came either from the street past the station, or from the train itself.

Slightly creeped out by the ghost-like ambient, Levy asked. "So, you mentioned something about camping, didn't you Gajeel?"

"Right." He confirmed "But unless you want us to starve in the mountain, we need to stock up first." Already walking past her, he continued talking. "What did you bring with'cha, Shrimp?"

"Well- "

"Besides books." He completed.

"How rude! I brought more than only books!" She said. At this answer, Gajeel raised her bag, staring at it for a second, then staring at her.

"You sure?"

"Of course! I'm not going to wear the same clothes in such a long mission!" As she hit him playfully once.

"Ah. Right right." For some reason, Gajeel decided to stop the teasing there. Perhaps because of the stupid question. Or maybe perhaps because he forgot about having her take her clothes off, even if just for changing them.

Regardless, Levy and Gajeel both knew that the mission had started the moment they stepped out of the train. And they needed to act accordingly. As much as a pain in the ass he could be, he still acted as a professional when it came to these things. First things first. "Where will we meet our employer?" She asked. Even if they didn't have the mission poster, letting the employer know that they arrived and were starting the mission should take the top priority.

"I already met him back in Magnolia. We well rendezvous with him once we are back." He said.

"Huh? But then you know the details of the mission?" Asked Levy.

"Correct." He answered.

As they walked down the muddy street, Levy asked.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Tell you 'bout what?"

"About the mission details!" She answered. She was clearly bewildered as why Gajeel had forgotten so many details. Was he always this laid-back?

"Fine, fine." He said. With their bags on his back, he crossed his arms and glared at Levy. Levy crossed her own arms, and glared at the iron dragon slayer. In the background, the sunrise started to appear, but the pair paid no attention. After a brief moment of mutual glaring, Gajeel Started speaking.

"Employer's name goes by Xavier E. Ford. Or X.E. Ford. He was the son of a powerful knight fourteen years ago. In an expedition to the Demon Spine Mountains with his father, his father disappeared and is presumed dead. A family relic disappeared with him. Guy's giving everything he has for whoever finds the relic. Happy now?" He said. Levy took a second to take everything he had just said. So the man lost his father, and a family heirloom with him. The father died and his kid is giving everything for this thing?

"Is he really serious? Are you sure we are not taking advantage of the man?" She asked. It was not too late to deny the quest, but that did not mean that someone else wouldn't take it. But Gajeel was already walking towards what it seemed as an Inn.

"He seemed serious. It's his request and his resolve. As a man I need to respect that." He answered. As he opened the door to the store, his face seemed dead serious. Maybe something between men? That, or he was hanging out too much with Elfman an Ichiya. Regardless the reason, he did not flatter. And so, she mustn't as well.

"Alright. Let's do this!"

Hey there! Wolfen here. Sorry about taking so long. I finally moved back from Japan! The flight was a pain, and I still have a lot of stuff to do here at home. So I really apologize. ´^` Thank you for your comments and your reviews! i´m glad you guys are enjoying my stories, and will try my best to keep getting better at writing! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!