Chapter 9: Realization of the Truth

3rd POV

Lucy continued to stomp her on the raining streets; she had never felt so angered, so betrayed, but most of all, she never had felt so hurt before. Nothing could compare to the amount of pain she felt right at that moment, at least when she was with her father he never gave her large amounts of false hope of having a family and friends, unlike what Fairy Tail had done to her. Arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her, and before the blonde had a chance to scream she heard a familiar voice. "Bunnygirl," Gajeel muttered with a sad tone with it that caused her heart to beat violently against her chest; she was sure she never wanted to hear his tone so sad ever again. If it had been any other time, Lucy would be freaking out and wondering why he was embracing her, but she was too pain filled to notice.

"It hurts," she cried out weakly, gripping onto his forearms like a life line. She felt as if Gajeel was the only person she could talk to right now, she wasn't sure if she wanted anyone else to see her like this. For the entire past month, she had been trying to prove to not only to Gajeel, but also to herself that she wasn't weak, but she had ultimately failed, and now where was she? Crying her heart out in the rain with an iron dragon slayer trying to comfort her. She liked the fact that he was trying his hardest to comfort her, if he wasn't, he wouldn't be here right now, but truthfully, it was only slightly helping.

How is it that a few seconds ago she felt so strong standing up to Fairy Tail only to feel so weak afterwards? To feel as if her world had been ripped apart and all she had left was a couple large pieces and some tiny shreds to fix it up with? "I know," she heard him whisper against her ear, sending small shivers down her spine, but she shook them away.

"I-I'm sorry Gajeel. You were in there standing up for me, saying that I'm strong, yet, here I am, being weak instead," Lucy apologized, lowering her head in shame. She was going to push out of his embrace, wondering if he would be disgusted holding someone so weak when he himself was so strong.

Suddenly, the blonde was spun around, still in the black haired mans hold, and was now face-to-face with him. She stared up at him with wide eyes, not sure what to think when she saw the hard, serious, yet angered look in his red orbs. "Don't. Ever. Say. That," the dragon slayer growled, his upper lip slightly curling as he snarled. "Lucy," he continued, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You are not weak, you never were. You are always strong, and always have been. Don't let the asshole's words get to you, because he's an idiot and completely dense, therefore, he can't say anything against you." Lucy's eyes widened with shock, before they glossed over with unshed tears.

"Th-thank you Gajeel," she answered, looking down.

The man just snorted in return. "Yeah, yeah, enough of the mushy stuff, alright?" he said, returning back to the same old Gajeel, making the blonde smile and giggle genuinely. Him saying mushy things just didn't suit him, but Lucy did admit, she liked it, but wouldn't like it if he acted that why forever, never stopping. The thought made Lucy shudder, imagining a Gajeel who was nice all the time; it was defiantly creepy.

"Alright you big, bad dragon, let's go back to my place." She said with a smile on her face, one that was completely genuine. The pierced man opened his mouth to retort but Lucy stopped him right at that. "And before you say anything, my apartment is the closest and if you haven't noticed, it's raining," she continued cheekily.

"Alright, jeez Bunny," Gajeel answered, before picking Lucy up bridal style, carrying her over to her apartment. The blonde let out a squeal of surprise and instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him.

"What the heck Gajeel?" she yelled, squirming in his arms as she still held onto him; Lucy wasn't used to be carried by Gajeel.

"Could you be any louder," he grumbled. "Well, if I have to abide by your rules, you have to mine, which means, if we're going to stay at your apartment, I get to carry you," he answered with a large grin, making Lucy pout, but she said nothing, reminiscing in the feel of his large, strangely comforting arms holding her own body.

The two fell into a silence after that, the only sound being made was the sound of Gajeels footsteps in the water and the rain still pouring down on them. Lucy wondered if maybe the reason it suddenly started to rain after she left Fairy Tail had to do with Juvia, but Lucy shook that thought away. Despite the fact that Lucy and Juvia had became friends, she couldn't imagine the blue haired girl to be sad, after all, all of the things Gray says to Juvia has never really hurt it. But that single thought made her worry; she cared about Juvia, and maybe now that Gray is no longer the person the blonde knew he had actually offended the water mage for once.

Once Gajeel had made it to the steps of Lucy's apartment, he set her on the ground, allowing her to unlock the door, letting the both of the soaking wet mages inside. "You can have the shower first," Lucy said with a sad tone, the earlier humor the two held now gone like it had never been there in the first place. She walked into the kitchen and started to make some tea for the two of them, listening to the sounds of the shower head starting. The blonde smiled secretly to herself, knowing that is was so like Gajeel to not even say thank you. If had been any other person, she would be irritated they didn't say thank you to the kind action, but… for Gajeel… she didn't really need it. After all, his presence was enough for her; it was like payback. She was glad he was here.

Gajeel POV

I stripped off my wet clothes that clung to my body, throwing them onto the floor. I stepped into the shower, turning on the hot water and letting it take away any earlier coldness. As I stood in the shower, I thought about what had happened only minutes ago and felt my earlier rage rise. How dare flame prick and his team of dimwits do that to Bunny! She was way stronger than that wanna-be-seductive kitty cat. And the whole thing about Lucy being weak was way off. She had more guts than anybody I had ever known and she also had the strongest mental capability ever. I remembered when I had tortured her in the Phantom battle and I remembered being secretly in awe about how easily she was taking the beating, and was willing to do that all for a guild who stabbed her in the back in the end. Then afterwards, she had forgiven me, now I admit, forgiveness is a damn hard thing to do (I haven't been able to forgive anybody) but she forgave people so easily, it was shocking. Sure, her strength in her magic and in her fighting wasn't as strong, but she was pretty smart, and tactful.

I will admit one thing that team flame brain had right, which was she no longer belonged on their team, and that was because she was just way too good for them.

I paused for a second, rethinking my thoughts; shocked at myself for the way I was acting. When I first started to spend time with Bunny, I did it because I noticed others were ignoring her, and I felt I had to help in some way, after all, I still haven't forgiven myself for what I done to her, Levy, and all of Fairy Tail.

You don't get it dimwit! Think about all of the things you like about Bunnygirl, my inner dragon growled, snorting at the end with humor. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, what was it that I wasn't getting. Dammit, now I sound like that dense idiot, my thoughts snarled.

So I thought it over. I like the way Lucy forgives people easily, I like how she's kind to almost every person she's ever met. I like how she can be very feisty and how she squeals when she is shocked/scared. I love that she makes me laugh, and how we can fall into a silence together, and it's always comfortable. I just love how comfortable to feel around her in general, like I didn't have to act differently. I love her blonde hair, her beautiful body, she chocolate orbs, her scent, and her brilliant smile when she's extremely happy and her musical voice. And that's when I realized; it all made sense now, my inner dragon's constant nagging, how different I act with her… I was falling for Lucy.

To be continued…

A/N: Here's another chapter! So, Gajeel (finally!) realizes his feelings for Lucy! Hope you liked it! Now, all we have to do is wait for Lucy to realized her feelings (oh gosh, this might take a while folks). Oh, and did you see what I did there; slowly change like to love and how he actually said her real name! Oh and thank you for the so many reviews! And for favorite/following!

To FW Wandering: Let's just say you should be suspicious of her.

To Rambadoodle: Yeah I couldn't not have her leave Fairy Tail and just write some letters, I wanted her to say them herself.

To All-american rejects: I'm sorry! I hope you won't get too mad at me about this sort of cliff hanger.

To SuperPsycoNutcase: Thank you and no it alright, I tend to do that too. It's just I get this feeling that maybe the I did something you guys didn't like in my last chapter because I enjoy feedback.

To dragonsshadow89: Thank you so much! Your review is much appreciated.

To OgaxHilda: Thank you!

To Daniyia87: Well, now you see him already figuring out his feelings. Though it might take a while for Lucy, she can sometimes be as dense as Natsu… And I'm glad you like it.

To Daddys little crazy bitch: Thank you, hope you enjoy this chappie!

To Kitten1318: Yeah well it is, after all, a GaLu pairing. And though most fanfics that are GaLu make Levy okay with it, I knew she wouldn't because it was obvious in the anime she really liked Gajeel.

To katty6900: Right?! That's my favorite part so far and of course she couldn't say anything bad about her sister like Gajeel has done, but she would stand up for Lucy.

To walkesav000: Thank you!

To elizabethbane: Hmm, technically, it would be GaBu, that is until, or if he ever, starts to actually call her Lucy.

T l1: I know the lack of reviews doesn't dictate whether the story is good or not, but my mind sometimes think that there might be a part they hated or etc. Thank you for all the good things you've said. But I would like to point out a couple things. First of all, this is a romance fanfic; when doing those where the couples are a weird couple (crack shipping) and not together before, the characters will tend to act OOC at times because their original role wasn't meant for that. Besides, I try my hardest to keep them in character. Also, this story is just starting out! Counting this chapter and the prologue, there are ten in total. I plan on going over at least a forty or more chapter story. What I have planned is not going to be following the other fanfics because I did not say that she was going to train with someone or a group to get stronger… did I? There's going to be multiple twists in the story that I am planning and I am going to be adding a lot of difference's in there as well. Although you may look like it's going to be like the other stories I can assure you that it's not going to be like that. Anyways, your honesty and review was much appreciated!