CHAPTER 10: Recovery

Levy woke up confused, feeling like the night before was a dream, but the chair that was still next to her bed made smile. Raising her hand to her chest, where her iron rose rested, she froze. Levy looked down and felt her neck, only to panic even more. Her chain was missing.

"Oh, no, no, no..." Levy jumped out of bed and caught her breath as her formerly broken ribs protested at the sudden movement. She hurried to the bundle of ripped clothes and rummaged through it, with no luck.

"Levy! What are you doing out of bed?" Mirajane caught her in the act, making her jump.

"Mira-nee, thank God... Was I wearing a necklace when Gajeel brought me yesterday?" Levy looked with hope at her nurse, but she already knew.

"Uhm... no..." Mirajane looked thoughtfully at the Script mage as she searched desperately through the room. "Levy, you should be in bed, honey. I already gave you the medicine Polushka gave me, but, still..."

"I... lost it... Oh, no..." Levy gave up with teary eyes and sat hard on the bed.

"Your necklace?" Mira approached the bluenette and sat next to her as Levy nodded. "Is it that important to you?" Levy nodded again, escaping a few hot tears. "Maybe we can find a copy, we'll go to Magnolia and..."

"No... It's one of a kind... Hand made..." The white haired girl placed her hand on Levy's shoulder in comfort.

"Maybe the person who made it can replicate it."

"No, I don't think Ga... I don't think that person is willing to replicate it." Levy looked sheepishly at Mirajane, hoping she didn't caught the almost Gajeel part, but Mira's wicked grin told her otherwise.

"I see... Too bad, it looks like you really cared about it... And the person who made it." The Devil girl smiled warmly.

"Yeah... I'm not sure how to tell him I lost it... Oh my God, I lost it!" Levy hid her face in her hands, feeling miserable.

"You should just break it to him and be done with worrying. Besides, maybe he won't mind. It was an accident." Mirajane left for the door. "I'll go fetch you something to eat. I suggest you stay here today, the rest of the family wanna jump you as soon as you leave this room, and you should rest for the time being."

"You're probably right..." Besides, it wasn't such a bad thing to hide the misplaced necklace for one more day. "Thanks, Mira-nee." As the door slowly closed, Levy made herself comfortable under the covers and gazed out the window. She fell asleep from the warmth of the sun for a couple of hours and the sound of the door closing brought her back to reality. The sun was setting on the horizon and a plate of food was waiting for her on a table. Her grumbling stomach told her it was high time to chow something down, so she got up gently and seated herself at the table. She was halfway through when the door opened and a blonde head peeked in.

"Oh, sorry, I'll let you finish..." Lucy Heartfilia came to check on her friend.

"Lu-chan, come in, please, I'm almost done." Levy brightened seeing her b.f.f. Lucy entering the white room and taking a seat next to Levy, placing a thick book next to the empty plates.

"I figured you'd feel lonely all alone, so I asked Freed-san to recommend a Rune book. He was kind enough to give it to me."

"He did?" Levy was stunned to think one of the Raijinshuu would do such a thing for her, even though they got closer to Fairy Tail after Laxus was kicked out. "Make sure you thank him for me, will you?" Lucy smile warmly.

"You can thank him yourself, I spoke to Mira, she said you can go home if you're up to it. Just make sure you won't push yourself for a couple of weeks." Levy brightened at the thought of her room stacked with books, but her bubble quickly burst, remembering the iron rose Gajeel made for her.

"Yo, Levy! How'y doin', girl?" Natsu burst through the door cheerful as always, Happy flying smoothly after him.

"Natsu! Keep it down, will you?" Lucy seemed outraged by the Fire mage's outburst.

"Why? She's not sleeping. I just came to check on her." Natsu made himself comfortable on one of the Infirmary beds.

"Get off, you idiot! If Mira sees you, she'll..." Natsu flew through the room and planted himself on a wall.

"Crack a wall with him?" Mirajane's wickedly calm voice could be heard behind the punch she threw in Natsu's way. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep this room sanitized?" A vein twitched on the Devil girl's forehead as she went to gather Salamander from the floor. Levy and Lucy looked at each other and smiled.

"Maybe I should get out of here, suddenly it became too crowded." Levy looked around her and realized something. "Oh, right... I have no clothes here..." She sent a depressed look to the bundle that was her favorite yellow dress.

"Worry not, I have everything I need here." Levy searched for a bag, but Lucy smiled widely and got her golden key. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"

"Time for my punishment, hime?" Virgo made her appearance, looking as calm as always.

"No punishment. But I do want to ask you to dress Levy up, her clothes are... well... many things happened..." Lucy's eyes filled with pity, remembering Levy's ordeal.

"I know about yesterday, Loke is constantly watching over his Fairy Tail family." Virgo kept her cool tone, looking at the bluenette.

"Great... Even the spirits know how useless I am..." Levy looked away in shame.

"Hey, don't talk like that... You were awesome fighting three guys on your own. Gajeel told us one of them had a broken nose, I believe he had no intention to praise you for that, but he did... in his way." Lucy smiled strangely, remembering how Natsu and the rest cornered him after they heard Levy's attackers were in the hospital.

"He... did?" Levy had no idea how to react to this (valuable) piece of info, so she smiled, remembering the night before.

"Hime, may I?" Virgo motioned to Levy to dress her up after the Script mage nodded. A few seconds later, Levy was dressed in a blue and yellow dress that worked beautifully with her hair color. "All done. Time for punishment?" Lucy dismissed the pink haired spirit with a heartfelt thank you, wonderful job and linked her hand with Levy's, dragging her out the door.

"Come on, I'll protect you from the others." The blonde girl smiled warmly as she opened the door. Levy smiled in return, thanking the world she had such a wonderful family. They didn't care she wasn't very powerful, but they were truly worried about her, she could see it in their eyes and the smiles that spread on their faces as she and Lucy got out of the Infirmary.

"Levy!" Macao was the first to speak her name. Immediately, Jet and Droy snapped their heads up and brightened to the point of tears. Jet got up so quickly, his chair fell on the floor with a loud 'thunk', running lightning fast to Levy and hugging her tightly before Lucy could react.

"Baka! Why did you leave all alone?" He was trembling while sobbing hard in Levy's blue hair.

"Oi, let go, you're crushing her!" Lucy tried to pull Jet off a stunned Levy, with no luck. A shadow came behind Jet, grabbed his hands and untangled Levy from a too tight hug.

"She barely got out of that room and you wanna put her back?" Gajeel's growling voice could be heard behind a stunned Jet, turning to see who dared spoil his moment.

"Gajeel-san..." Jet grabbed Gajeel by the waist, hugging him. "Thank you, thank you!"

"Oi... let go... What the fuck, man?" Gajeel tried to untangle Jet's hands from his waist, looking terribly embarrassed. Levy and Lucy looked at one another and smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry I worried you..." Gajeel and Jet stopped and looked at the blue haired girl, mesmerized. "If it wasn't for Gajeel, I don't know where I would be right now... Jet is right... I should've thanked you a long time ago. For everything." Levy pierced Gajeel's eyes, making him hold his breath. "So... Thank you!" Levy bowed in front of Gajeel, feeling the eyes of the whole guild on her.

"It... it wasn't a big deal..." Gajeel turned around and scratched his head, trying to contain the blush that was taking over.

"She liiiiiiikes you." Natsu came behind Levy and placed his hand around Gajeel's shoulder. The Iron Dragon merely punched him hard enough to send him flying, thus starting the usual fight that destroys the Fairy pub every night.

"I'll walk you home." Lucy pulled Levy through the noisy crowd, out the door and into the quiet night that was silencing Magnolia. Lucy kept chattering away, holding Levy's hand linked with hers. The bluenette smiled fondly, knowing Lucy merely wanted to make her forget yesterday's happenings, but the smile of the man who pinned her on the wall would haunt her forever.

"Are you listening? We're here." Lucy's voice brought Levy back to reality.

"Huh? Already? I'm sorry, Lu-chan, I was thinking about something."

"It's OK. Have a great night, hon. I'll see you tomorrow." The blonde waved and ran down Fairy Hills towards Magnolia, leaving Levy in front of the huge dorm door. Her feet carried her all the way to her room since her mind wandered back to the wooden wagon. As soon as she got in her book-stacked room, she threw herself on the bed and started crying, trembling from the bad memories. Only a light of hope stopped her heavy tears of hopelessness, and that was the sound of Gajeel's voice, yelling her name. Why am I thinking of him all of a sudden? Levy closed her eyes and fell asleep with Gajeel's face lingering in her mind.

TBC

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