Author's Note: I can't thank everyone who has read and reviewed enough. Thank you to DancesWithSeatbelts and iTanasha91 for your reviews—it makes me unbelievably happy that you've enjoyed it.
A very special thanks in particular to ImpracticalDemon, who has been so encouraging from the very start. I don't know if I would've ever posted any fan fiction without her support.

*Please be advised the author is not responsible for any ill effects or cavities caused by the sugariness of this or the previous chapter.*


Epilogue

And, reader, she married him.

It was not a quiet wedding—they held the ceremony at the guild, surrounded by the friends who'd become their family.

Jet and Droy walked Levy down the aisle, her maid of honor was Lucy, and Natsu, surprisingly enough, served as Gajeel's best man.

Evergreen caught the bouquet—though there'd been quite a scuffle over it—and Gray caught the garter, much to his dismay and Juvia's delight.

After the traditional post-ceremony rituals, in true Fairy Tail style, they held a huge party, inviting friends from guilds across Fiore.

As a precaution, particularly since Crime Sorcière would be attending the festivities, Laxus had Freed set up runes around his office to prevent any kind of amorous relations—except, of course, any involving Laxus himself.

His apprehension was not without merit, for we all know drunks tend to throw caution to the wind, and at the wedding after party, the alcohol flowed like, well, wine. The number of sober mages present could probably be counted on one hand.

Levy and Gajeel mingled with their guests, and during the course of the evening, Levy found herself conversing with a relatively intoxicated Seith mage. It turned out he was a somewhat serious, contemplative drunk, and Bickslow admitted to Levy that at the root of all his library shenanigans was a deep love of books, rather than any kind of romantic attachment to her. She found his confession endearing and told him she'd be more than happy to discuss literature with him. Just…perhaps not some of the more…unusual titles he had a tendency to sneak into her stacks. Bickslow gave her his signature grin, tongue hanging out, and eventually Levy extracted herself from his philosophical ramblings.

Before she was waylaid by another guest, Levy sought out her maid of honor, who she found observing Cana and Bacchus playing some sort of card-based drinking game. Presently, Bacchus was good-naturedly accusing Cana of cheating.

"Lu-chan! There you are. Got a moment?" Levy said, pitching her voice to be heard above the rowdy revelers.

Lucy nodded and hopped down from the barstool she'd been perched on. The two found a quasi-quiet corner, and Levy handed a book to her friend.

"What's this?" Lucy asked. She examined the book and then gasped. On the Matings of Dragons. "Is this— Oh, Levy, I can't take—"

"It's not mine, don't worry. There aren't enough Jewels in Fiore for me to part with it." Levy's cheeks grew slightly pink. "But I thought that you might need a little help at some point, that all future partners of our dragon slayers might. So Freed and I worked on creating duplicates from my copy, one for each dragon slayer we know."

Lucy threw her arms around her friend, hugging her tightly. "Oh, Levy, thank you!"

"Just so you're aware, your book has been enchanted to prohibit any kind of alteration or replication. Even though it's a fairly old work, that was the only way I could prevent Freed from having some kind of existential crisis over possible plagiarism. Although it wasn't that hard to get him to help. He did seem rather interested in the topic."

Lucy thought for a moment. "Wait, you said all the dragon slayers? Does that include Cobra?"

Levy giggled. "In a sense. I figured it didn't hurt to make an extra copy, so should Cobra ever find himself out of jail and in need of advice for a mate, I guess we'll be prepared."

The blonde laughed and then looked at something over Levy's shoulder. "Speaking of mates, here comes yours." Lucy hugged Levy once more and went off in search of Natsu.

Coming up behind her, Gajeel wrapped his arms possessively around his wife's waist and nuzzled his face into her hair, eliciting wolf whistles and catcalls from various partygoers.

"Love you, wife," he murmured, face still buried in her azure strands.

She twisted around in his arms. "I love you too," she said, grabbing his collar and pulling him down for a kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" someone called.

He stole another kiss and then whispered in her ear, "So, you ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

They bid their guests farewell, and then, in an echo of when he'd carried her home from the library, he lifted her into his arms and carried her across the threshold, setting off for their honeymoon and whatever adventures their future would hold.


Author's Note: That's all, folks! Thanks for sticking around! I had so much for doing Gajevy Week!

If you caught the Jane Eyre reference, I love you forever. And yes, I know the "across the threshold" thing is for entering, not exiting. Artistic license and all that.