Chapter 10! YAY! So all I can say about this chapter is... poor Gajeel... and we're pretending he doesn't have motion sickness because Natsu's supposed to be special in his own pathetic little way. Oh and, I can't help but feel that I have Lucy channeling Rangiku from Bleach in this chapter a bit... I don't know how it happened, but I find it too humorous at the moment to want to change it.

As for the poll, I had a feeling it'd go the way it is, though I was surprised by a few people that preferred the focus staying on GaLe... so... we'll see what I decide. I'm still having a hard time getting past chapter 13, but once I get chapter 14 done I know I'll be over the hump... it's kinda the transition chapter into the action so it's proving to be more difficult than I had imagined it to be. But, in the meantime, enjoy the sexual tension of this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima. (BTW, who else hopes Elfman beats the shit out of Bacchus? Or if he doesn't, then who wants to see Laxus electrocute the guy for trying to make a move on Mira... or Lisanna if you prefer... personally I say Mira, lol)

The next morning, the rising sun shone down on a sleeping pair nestled together on a hill by the river running through Balsam. When the bright rays broke over the horizon, they gently drew the dark haired man from his slumber, causing the iron dragon slayer to grumble at the early wake up before he realized where it was he was sleeping. As Gajeel lay on his back, shielding his eyes with one hand, he turned his head to see Levy's back as she slept turned away from him, his bicep used as a pillow to keep the girl's head from the cold ground.

Memories of the night before flooded his mind as he rolled over to pull the girl into his chest, nuzzling her shoulder as he thought about his realization. He was utterly, completely, unabashedly in love with the bluenette sleeping peacefully in his arms. He was finally willing to admit it to himself that he was greatly underestimating the depths of his feelings for her before. It took her show of understanding and forgiveness to finally let him see what he had thought was impossible for him. Gajeel, the iron dragon, was a cold-hearted, uncaring bastard who willing bolted a kind and beautiful woman to a tree just to piss off another guild. He could never love anybody, much less the very woman he had assaulted. Yet here he was clinging to her as if his very life depended on it, willing to protect her with his life if he needed to, just so he could see her happy.

Pulling himself out of his internal musings, Gajeel picked himself up slightly so he could peek at Levy's sleeping face, moving his free hand to gently sweep some stray hairs away. He hated the thought of having to wake her and ruin this peaceful moment, but he knew that they had to get back to the resort before their partners began to worry; plus they could always go back to sleep once there.

"Oi, Levy," he whispered to the girl after leaning his face in to brush his nose against her jaw, nudging her lightly as he tried to wake her.

The sunlight in her eyes, along with the voice in her ear, was enough to partially rouse Levy from her sleep. She let out a light groan before turning groggy eyes up to peer at her friend's face hovering above her own. The bookworm was far too tired to blush at the proximity, instead blinking at the man before shutting her eyes again and rolling over to burrow against his chest.

"Don't go back to sleep on me, Shrimp, we gotta get back to the hotel," he said while rubbing his hand over her arm to try and wake her again.

"Hmmm, Gajeel?" Levy finally responded, looking at the man with a mocking expression. "We're already at the hotel, silly."

The dragon slayer couldn't help but chuckle at her obvious confusion, nudging her again with his nose in order to keep her awake.

"Look around you, does this look like our room?"

Levy just looked at the man again before finally taking in the feel of grass underneath her, the bright early morning sun on her face, and the sounds of the river and birds around them.

"Oh my God! We fell asleep out here!" She suddenly exclaimed while sitting up, looking around completely shocked before turning to look at the chuckling man beside her as he leaned back on his hands, grinning at her in amusement.

"Took ya long enough, Shrimp." Gajeel teased the girl, thoroughly enjoying her reaction.

"Shut up."

"Alright, alright," the dragon slayer conceded, picking himself up from the ground to brush off the dirt and grass that clung to him, "let's get back before the others send out a search party for us."

Levy nodded before moving to get up, shocked for a moment when Gajeel offered his hand to help, but quickly overcame it with a smile as she took the proffered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. After cleaning herself up, she couldn't help it as she let out a large yawn, still too tired to really be awake. Gajeel observed the girl's exhausted features and moved to crouch in front of her with an exaggerated sigh.

"Hop on, Shrimp, you can rest while I carry you."

The bookworm blinked at the man in amazement for a moment before taking his out of character offer and climbing onto his back, giggling as she secured a hold around his neck while he locked his arms under her legs.

"Never thought I'd see the day that Gajeel Redfox would be giving a girl a piggyback ride," Levy teased, leaning over his shoulder to grin at the scowling man.

"Oi, first you compare me to a stuffed animal, now a pig," he grumbled half heartedly, actually finding it hard to hold back his smirk as he glanced at the girl.

"Fine, fine," she relented while letting her head fall to rest on his shoulder as he began the trek back to the resort, her nose pressed against his strong neck causing the dragon slayer to shiver at the feel of her breath on him. "We'll call it a dragon-back ride, then. Is that better?"

"Gi hee, I guess I can live with that."

At lunchtime, Gajeel and Levy once again found themselves making their way to the hotel's restaurant to meet up with their teammates. The couple had immediately gone back to bed that morning once they reached their room, and were surprised to find a note from Lucy slipped under their door when they woke a few hours later, telling them they'd see them at lunch. Once in the dining room, though, Levy found herself tackled to the ground by her blonde best friend who was hugging her and practically in tears from her apparent relief.

"I was so worried when you two didn't make it back last night!" Lucy cried out, strangling the bluenette in her grip as they sat on the floor, ignoring the confused stares of the other resort patrons. "I wanted to go search for you but Natsu said you would be fine, but the later it got, the more I worried. Then I hear your door shut just after dawn and I wanted to go make sure that it was you that went in there, but Natsu said he could smell you guys and that you were fine, but I didn't believe him. And… and… Levy don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Gajeel had sat down next to his fellow dragon slayer to watch the girls on the floor, trying to hold back his amusement at the celestial mage's frantic state, but found it hard as Levy tried to choke out reassurances while her face was smothered by the blonde's generous chest.

"She acts like this now, but I know you two went running off like that on purpose," he mumbled to Natsu, who was staring at his girlfriend with an exhausted expression on his face, obviously not understanding why she had been so worried.

The pink haired dragon slayer merely shrugged before turning his attention away from the girls to smirk at the man next to him.

"Did it work?"

Gajeel snorted in amusement but grinned none-the-less. "We fell asleep by the river, nothing else happened."

"You're grinning though, so something must have happened."

"Epiphany," was all Gajeel said, bringing any further discussion on his relationship to a close as Lucy finally released her captive so they could sit down and eat.

"Alright you two," Lucy began once they were all sat and eating their meals, "I hope you don't have anything planned for the rest of the day."

"No, why?" Levy asked, looking at the other woman quizzically.

"Well, I was thinking that you and I could go spend some time by the pool, while the boys sniff around a bit more."

"Oi, we're not dogs you know," Natsu deadpanned. "And why do you two get to play while we have to work?"

"Because, Natsu," Lucy growled while kicking him under the table with her pointed toe shoe, "I want to talk to Levy-chan for a bit."

"Aye! I'm sorry!" Natsu yelped, rubbing his bruised shin while shuffling back a bit to hopefully be out of her reach.

"So, Levy, are you okay with that?" the blonde sweetly asked the other mage, acting as if she hadn't just assaulted her boyfriend.

"Ummm, I guess that's okay. Gajeel?" She answered, unsure if she wanted to upset her anymore by refusing, while glancing at the iron dragon to get his opinion.

"Whatever," Gajeel shrugged in response, obviously trying to hide his annoyance at being separated from his partner and forced to spend time with his fellow dragon slayer.

"Alright, then that's settled!" Lucy nodded before continuing quietly. "And tonight I saw in the brochure that they're having a 'date night' after dinner; they're showing a movie in the resort's theater. I thought it might be a good idea if we went to see if anything happens during an organized event."

"I think that's a good idea, plus we might be able to meet with some of the staff running things and check them out for suspicious behavior," the bluenette agreed, keeping her own voice low, and looking at her silent partner again to get his shrug of agreement.

Seeing that everyone was on the same page for the rest of the day's events, the group focused on eating their meal, while letting their discussion move to more everyday topics. The whole time Levy couldn't help but glance at Gajeel as he sat in silence, seemingly bored, but she could tell something was bothering him. So when they were done eating, Levy grabbed Gajeel by the hand as she headed back to their room.

"Lu-chan, I'll meet you outside!" The bluenette hollered back at her friend.

"Okay!" Lucy yelled back as she proceeded to drag her own dragon slayer out to the pool area to wait.

As soon as the script mage got them to the room, she turned to the sulking man with her and gave him a quizzical look.

"What's wrong, Gajeel?"

"Nothing," was his quick response.

Levy huffed before crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. "No, Gajeel, I can tell something is wrong. One minute you were in a great mood, the next you were practically pouting. So what's up?"

The iron mage just returned her glare with a growl before looking away with his lips pursed. "I just wanted to hang out with you today."

"Awww," the bluenette giggled at the defeated man, not stopping even when he returned to glaring at her, "Come on, it's just for a few hours. Plus, we do need to get some work done investigating. This is supposed to be a mission and we haven't really done anything except for decipher some runes. You and Natsu will be better at checking around, your heightened senses can pick up things that Lucy and I can't, and in the meantime we'll defer any suspicion by making it look like we're having a 'girl's day' or something."

"What if something happens to you while we're gone? As you said, this is a mission, what if you two get targeted the second we're not there to protect you?" Gajeel reasoned, though he knew this was an incredibly stupid thing to be fighting over.

"If that's the case, Lucy will have Loke find you two. Anyway, we're not that helpless, Gajeel."

"I know," Gajeel said with a sigh before moving closer to the small woman and enveloping her in a hug. "Just, be careful, 'kay?"

"Okay, okay, we'll stay alert and keep an eye out for trouble." Levy reassured while returning the hug, resting her chin on the tall man's chest to look up at his face with a teasing expression. "Just look forward to the movie tonight, I thought I saw something about it being a really sappy romance."

"Seriously?" The iron dragon scowled down at his partner. "Do I really have to sit through shit like that?"

"Yes you do," she nodded solemnly; "I'm not going to suffer alone through that, Gajeel. Anyway, it's a 'date night' it'd be pretty weird if I didn't show up with my date."

"Suffer? I thought girls' liked that kinda crap?"

"Eh, I prefer books to movies, and with either one I tend to like mystery and horror much more than romance." Levy shrugged in response, causing the man to chuckle as he realized he should have known that would be her answer. "But, anyway, I'd better get changed to meet Lu-chan before she starts wondering where I am."

"Yeah, yeah, get going short stuff." Gajeel said while pushing her towards her bags with a smack on her backside.

"What the hell, Gajeel? Stop hitting my ass already!" Levy yelled while yanking out her bikini with a huff.

"Why? It's funny. Gi Hee" He chuckled as he watched her glare before stomping to the bathroom to change, slamming the door shut to muffle her indignant shout. He continued to laugh silently to himself at her rather cute reaction, sitting himself on the bed to wait for the woman to finish up so they could head down to the pool.

After only a quick couple of minutes the bathroom door flew open again to reveal a still irritated, and more importantly, bikini clad Levy to the iron dragon. Any laughter he still had in him was quickly lost as he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

He had seen her in bikinis before, but, not counting the bikini top she wore that night, they were all fairly modest and simple. Now, he couldn't help but be amazed by the breathtaking sight in front of him as he took in the red and black polka dotted string bikini she was clad in. He let his eyes roam over inch after inch of creamy skin that was exposed to him, while also settling on the areas that the fabric clung to like a second skin. Gajeel knew Levy had a very nice backside; that's why he took advantage of any chance he had to touch it, but seeing the swell of muscle peeking out of the tight bikini bottoms had him biting his cheek to try and restrain himself. Something that he was utterly failing at as the small bluenette was like a magnet, drawing him to her before he really could stop himself.

As Levy moved to her bag again to fish out her sarong and wrap it around her waist, she had to try and hide her blush as she felt Gajeel's eyes glued to her form the moment she walked back into the room. With her back to her partner, she was surprised when two strong, metal studded arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a hard chest as she squeaked in surprise.

"This new?" The dragon slayer whispered huskily into her ear, gently plucking at a string on her hip.

"Uhhh, ummm, y-yes," Levy stuttered out quietly, her hands going to his forearms as she tried to relax in the unexpected embrace.

"It's nice," he complimented honestly before nuzzling against her neck again.

"Th-thanks," she once again stuttered, trying to suppress a shiver of delight as the man pulled her in closer. With her mind quickly fogging from the proximity of the large man, she hardly noticed that Gajeel had begun nibbling on her neck.

Gajeel was just barely holding back from throwing the woman on the bed as he felt her body practically turn to jelly in his arms with his ministrations. He couldn't contain his grin as he realized that she was reacting just as she did in the garden, but this time there were no enchanted trees to blame their behavior on. The evidence was definitely looking to be in his favor and he was sorely tempted to just claim the woman for himself that very moment. His restraint nearly broke, too, when he made out a quiet moan from the bluenette in his arms. Fortunately a loud pounding on their door had them breaking apart quickly as they heard their other two teammates shouting for them.

"Oi! Metal brain! What the hell's taking you two so long?" Natsu hollered through the door before the iron dragon flung it open to glare at the grinning man in the hall. Gajeel just barely noticed that his blonde partner was also smiling knowingly at him from her place next to the mage.

Before anything more could be said a flash of blue went speeding by the dark haired man who was gripping the door so tight it looked like it was about to shatter.

"See you two later!" Levy let out in a rush as she grabbed Lucy and dragged the now laughing girl down the hall, leaving the two dragons alone at the door.

"Sorry, did we interrupt something?" Natsu asked innocently, his amusement betrayed by the grin on his face. His answer was a fist planted firmly in his face, sending him flying into the opposite wall of the corridor. Natsu only laughed as he picked himself up from the debris of the destroyed wall and began walking off. "Alright, I get it, touchy subject. At least you can say you've marked her for yourself now."

"Tsh," Gajeel hissed in annoyance as he followed the salamander down the hall after slamming his door shut in his irritation, "Couldn't help myself. Guess its Bunny Girl's turn to deal with a panicking woman."

"Yeah, well, she was already planning on talking to Levy about you anyway, guess they're just going to have more to talk about." Natsu stated casually before glancing up at the nearly murderous dragon walking next to him. "So, you guys official yet, or was that just a case of you losing control?"

"What do you think?"

"Lost control, then," Natsu sighed, "Well, at least I'm sure you have a better idea of what you're looking at with her."

"Gi Hee," Gajeel chuckled as he thought of all the revelations he'd had over the past two and a half days of their mission. "I still don't want to rush things too much, though. Even if she's forgiven me for it, I still can't help but consider our past."

Natsu just nodded in understanding before answering. "I guess it's better to be safe when you have such rough past, but at the rate your going if you don't say something you're just gonna confuse her. I guess it's safe to say this now, but, according to Lucy, the hardest part of this mission for Levy was that she had to remind herself that anything you did wasn't real, just an act. So you might just want to 'fess up to her sooner rather than later so she doesn't go running off with my girlfriend everyday."

The iron dragon snorted in amusement before glancing down at the other dragon. "It's kinda sad that I'm actually taking relationship advice from you, dumbass."

"Well, I think you need it seeing as you're about to attack your girl out of pent up sexual frustration." Natsu teased, earning a growl as Gajeel was reminded about what had been interrupted not long before.

"Shut up! You have no idea what it's like being that close to a girl you are actually aware of liking but knowing you can't have her, you clueless bastard!" Gajeel growled back, slamming his head against the other dragon's.

The two dragon slayers quickly let their tempers get the best of them as they broke into a tug of war, growling at each other while pushing their heads together. They were completely oblivious to the fact that they were standing in the middle of a courtyard, with other hotel occupants watching them with sheer terror on their faces. Every mage in that place recognized the two aggressive first generation dragon slayers, and knew to keep their distance from them. Most mages that knew of their rivalry from the Phantom war were well aware of the damage even a half hearted fight between the two could bring. Fortunately for everyone there, the two were interrupted by an orange haired man dressed in a suit clearing his throat next to them.

"I do believe the ladies wouldn't be too happy if you two went and destroyed the resort," Loke chastised the dragon slayers.

"Loke! What the hell are you doing here?" Natsu yelled at his partner's celestial spirit.

"I'm on standby so I can travel through my gate whenever I feel it's necessary," Loke reminded them.

"Are the girls alright?" Gajeel asked, glaring at the rather relaxed spirit.

"They're fine, just thought it would be best to stop you guys from going berserk. Levy's already freaking out as it is, I don't think you want to add massive property damage into her rather hectic day." The lion spirit informed them, drawing a defeated nod from the iron dragon, before turning back to his master's new boyfriend. "By the way, Natsu, I have a message for you from Aquarius."

"Huh? What does she want?"

"She told me to tell you 'Congratulations, and if you hurt Lucy I'll set you out to sea on a boat before drowning you.'" Leo quoted the water bearer.

Natsu immediately reacted to the idea of being on a boat, getting sick at the thought of the transportation, while nodding enthusiastically at the leader of the zodiac spirits.

"Now then, I shouldn't stay away from Lucy too long, so if you two are done with your melodrama, I'll be going." The spirit said while walking away, a wave sent back to them, before stopping to grin at the black haired dragon slayer over his shoulder. "By the way, Gajeel, good work on Levy's neck, now everyone knows she's taken; but you should really talk to her soon."

"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel muttered back, "just get back to them already."

Loke just laughed at the slightly blushing man as he walked off, vanishing into thin air as he made his way across the courtyard. As soon as the spirit was gone, Gajeel turned to his pink haired teammate who was still lying on the ground with his face turning blue.

"Seriously? You're not even on the fuckin' boat!"

BTW, just an extra little note about my one-shot dump "Paperweights;" I am accepting word prompts so PM with any that you may have and I'll give it shot!