Chapter 2

Out in the open fields of wild grass and weeds, Levy, Gajeel and Lily marched on their journey to start fresh and new with nothing but a few tools to survive and the clothes on their backs. Levy was having an intense conversation with herself in her head, mentally making a list of what they need and what she wants to accomplish out of this. She fiddled with the strings of her satchel barely paying attention to where she was going and what was around her. Gajeel was also lost in his thoughts with a new motto in his mind now that Levy was with them and certain accommodations must be made for because of two things.

One. They are well aware of the difference between Levy and them and will not force her into anything she can't keep up with or physically be able to do. Two. She was a woman and that there were boundaries they cannot cross without permission or unless the situation calls for it. By 'they' it was mostly meant for him. Lily is just a cat after all and was watching between the two them.

Gajeel's scowl deepened as he became frustrated with how they were going to work this out together but his thoughts were not far behind coming from the petite script mage. They thought to themselves of how this cannot be another repeat of Tenrou and that they needed to work together this time.

"Watch your step!" Lily called.

But the two mages were so deep in their thoughts that they gave Lily a startled look instead looking at the ground. There was a sudden dip in the dirt and the sudden fall cause the two mages to lose their footing and fall into each other. Gajeel, as if by instinct, grabbed Levy and turned his weight around to take the brunt of the fall.

Lily planted a paw to his face as he watched the two groan and get their clothes and hair all tangled up within the grass knots.

"What the hell, Lily!?" Gajeel yelled as he shook some of the grass out of his mane. "Couldn't have warned us about it?!"

"I did…" Lily replied.

"It's all right, Gajeel" Levy groaned as she sat up from his lap shaking a few grass blades from her hair, "it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Don't be silly , shrimp" he replied, "I call the shots here, It's my job to look after the pack."

"Uh, I'm sorry" Levy scoffed, "since when did we agree that you're the alpha?"

"Just now."

"Well, I object" she huffed, "we have to work as a team. Not play follow the leader and probably end up chasing each other's tail because we can't agree on the same thing!."

"It is teamwork if you follow what I say," he protested, "and it won't fail if you just listen to me!"

"Because that worked out well last time..." Levy sarcastically sighed, "I didn't join just to be ordered around, so forget it. It won't work."

"It will!"

"It won't!"

"Will!"

"Won't!"

"Stop bouncing every time you talk!" Gajeel growled suddenly.

"What the does that have to do with anything!?" Levy asked confused.

Gajeel blushed a little and turned his face away, "yer sitting on my lap…" He said.

Levy stared at him blankly and watched his face twitch as if he was internally struggling with something before blushing a bit. Oh…she thought and dared not look down. "Stupid, Gajeel" She muttered as she looked away only to have her hair pulled from a grass knot entwined with his hair.

"Here" She offered, as she began to untangle their hair. She started picking off grass blades and bur off his hair while she was at it.

"Oi, you got some right here too." Gajeel responded doing the same to Levy.

Lily admired and watched the scene happening before him. At first he just stared at the two bicker back and forth but one thing led to another. He nodded his head, the first step in working together, trust. He smiled hoping this could work out.

"Why don't we take a break here?" Lily suggested.

"You go do that, Lil'" Gajeel answered, "we are a damn mess right now."

Levy giggled while Lily rolled his eyes.

…

The sun was about to set and they had no choice but to make camp before it gets too cold. The problem was that there were no source of wood to fuel a fire.

"Just great…" Gajeel complained, "Looks like we're sleeping in the cold tonight, shorty."

"No we're not." Levy answered quickly, "I may be able to materialize wood for us."

Gajeel raised a brow at this, "Shrimp, these better not be toothpick sized ones."

"Very funny, Gajeel!" She scolded at him, "I'll just make fire for both me and Lily then. You can go freeze for the night."

"Oi!" he grunted, "Take a joke, will ya?"

"That's enough you two!" Lily commanded, "We can't make a fire here. If there is so much as a draft then it could potential spread and set this whole plain on fire."

"Not a problem" Gajeel answered, "I can probably clear an area for us. Won't take me long."

"Great!" Levy answered back, "then I can go make a campfire there too!"

And as planned, Gajeel made quick work in making a clear area for their camp site with his iron roar that shredded the grass off its roots, followed by Lily blowing the grass blades off the grand with his wings and Levy with her solid script 'WIND' until it was only just dirt left on the ground. Levy materialized 'WOOD' about the size of half a tree bark. She and Lily went to gather some stones while Gajeel dug a hole for the fire and chopped the 'WOOD' into smaller pieces. The stones were set in a circle and wood inside making a perfect campfire to heat them through the cold night. When the sun has set down and the moon rise, Levy lit up the campfire.

"Now this is teamwork" Levy called as she smiled at the two admiring their work.

Lily flew to his little rucksack to grab a few canned food for their dinner. Setting a stone slab near the fire, he placed the opened can into the rocks to heat up their dinner. After letting the can cool down they all shared a meal together.

It wasn't much to eat, but it would have to suffice until they can get a job again and buy a suitable meal for themselves. Levy grinned at the two, giving her thanks for sharing the meal and suggested to turn in for the night.

Gajeel and Lily nodded to her with the same grin and made ready to pull out their sleeping arrangements. It occurred to Lily that Levy had no sleeping bag with her and just only had a blanket rolled into her satchel.

"Levy?" Lily called, "I certainly hope you weren't intending on sleeping on just that blanket did you?"

"Actually." Levy replied, "it's all I brought and it's all I need anyways."

"I'm not going to just let you sleep on the ground with thin a blanket, short stuff." Gajeel commanded, "Here, why don't you take my sleeping bag, I've slept on the ground before."

"No, really Gajeel. I don't need it, but thanks for asking." She said as she shook her hands in front of her.

"I'm not asking." He growled.

"Well, I don't want your smelly sleeping bag because I have something much better!"

She casted a spell and waved her arms to materialized a solid script 'BED' in front of them and taking a shape of a mattress as it laid down flat on the ground. She jumped and softly bounced on the 'BED' showing them how comfy it was.

"See!" Levy grinned.

"Tch, whatever." Gajeel huffed muttering something about her calling his bag smelly.

"Being a script mage sure must have its perk" Lily complimented with an urge to cuddle into the soft mattress instead of his cat sized sleeping bag.

"Oi, enough talk!" Gajeel grumbled, "We wake up early tomorrow!"

They only shook their heads at him and went to sleep. During the night, Gajeel woke up to a sound of Levy shivering. He saw her curled tight into a ball while her thin blanket did almost nothing to keep her warm. He got up and added more wood to the fire. He took off his coat and placed it on top of her as a second blanket before going back to his own sleeping bag. This didn't go unnoticed by Lily who just smiled in his pretend sleep-like state.

The action woke Levy up, to see his black coat laid out on her. It was rather actually thick and heavy but it did the job. She looked up to see Gajeel back on his sleeping bag with his back to her.

"Thank you, Gajeel…" she whispered and smiled before going back to sleep.

Gajeel heard this and grinned. He pulled the bag closer to his body and grin disappeared and it was replaced by a frown. Levy was right. His sleeping bag did smell.

A/N: Chapter 3 Preview: Things Will Get Better.