AN: Trigger warning for recounted violence in this chapter

When she came around, she was sat on the couch which, unbeknownst to her held $3.45 in loose change in its many crevices, had under the second cushion a large beer stain and, had in the back board leaning up against the wall a hole small enough to hide some of Jellal's stash.

She was sat in the front room of the house alone in the dark on that couch. She was enrapt by the texture of her sofa's fabric and colour, like a sick green undercoated brown. She didn't know why she was focusing on the couch so hard, maybe she wasn't all there yet, having woken up deliriously.

She lifted her head and saw that on occasion a car would drive past the front of the house, and through the window the headlights' tracks would be reflected sweeping across the room's walls, like something out of a noir novel. Levy wondered why the curtains hadn't been closed.

Just as she moved her heavy limbs, to walk towards and draw shut the curtains, she felt a vibrating sensation next to her seat and heard her phone ringing beside her. Like a reflex action she picked up her phone and took the call.

Levy was still incoherent about how she'd gotten here and said nothing while she moved from her seat. Whoever was on the line however, said nothing also, and after Levy had drawn the second curtain closed by hand, she had gotten ready to hang up on what she assumed to be a pocket-dial or a kid playing a prank.

Just as her hand unclutched the curtain and she pulled her phone from her ear to end the call she heard a voice, quietened by the increased distance between ear and phone. She pulled it back to her ear to listen.

She recognised the voice as Juvia's, saying, "If he's after us now, he'll come to the house and find Juvia and Wendy. He'll follow us regardless of where we run. It would, in some ways, be better to stay here, but here is the first place he'll look!" Levy felt like she'd been dropped into the middle of a conversation as she had no context behind these words, and could in her head, swimming with confusion, formulate no explanation.

What could Juvia mean by 'the house'? Levy was at the house now, alone. So where was Juvia? Levy had seldom heard Juvia's voice this agitated and said some words to comfort her.

"No Juvia, I don't think he'll come to the house tonight, but you can't be too careful so just pack up the bags, get Wendy, and go where I told you." The exact wording escaped Levy, without her understanding what she'd said. 'Where she'd told her', what could that mean? It was like Levy was no longer in control of her speech or body. Juvia said something about being afraid.

"Juvia, he's not after you, he's after me." Levy didn't know who she could mean by 'he', and the comment didn't seem to relax Juvia, who got agitated further and said she deserved an explanation. Levy sighed, getting frustrated with not understanding this exchange at all, feeling like an outsider despite being a part of it.

"I know, I'm sorry I hadn't planned for this." Levy heard herself apologise, these words being the first that were familiar to her, in a manner which was unsettling. Levy asked herself again why she'd been sitting by herself in the dark. Why would she need to? When had she needed to? What was 'this'?

"I need to stay here." Levy said not believing the words. The proclamation felt like a terrible lie, like out of all places in the world, currently, this was the last place she should be. Levy started looking around panic-stricken. Out of her periphery she saw, as a car went past and cast its headlights on the window's curtains, the outlined silhouette of a tall man standing outside on her porch.

Levy now remembered when all this had happened before. She also remembered how it had ended for her. "If I am gone, you can manage without me." Levy heard herself reassure her sister over the phone, then make a rushed farewell. She remembered that, at the time, she'd really believed she'd die. Levy then rushed to the back door and cried pathetically when it wouldn't open for her. It was all the same. It was all happening the same way. Nothing had changed. All she could do was wait for it to happen.

Kurogane smashed through her front door, shoulders filling the whole frame, eyes hateful, hair like a hoard of jet black leeches- just as she remembered. Each step towards her he made, the floorboard made a 'crack' so loud it sounded like he'd made structural damage. And the sound, upon closer hearing, wasn't that of breaking wood, it was that of breaking bone. Her bone.

She grappled with the back door. The metal handle of which now heated itself until impossibly red hot, and her hand burned to its touch, meaning she'd never get a good enough grip to open it and flee. And upon closer inspection, the hinges were welded flat and nails stuck the door to its frame.

Realising the futility of trying to open it, she grabbed a knife from the nearby kitchen counter but watched helplessly as it turned to dust in her hands and fell through her splayed fingers.

Kurogane was behind her now, immediately behind her, his presence palpable. She turned terrified to look at him, and his gorilla sized hand grabbed her dainty wrist. She felt and heard her wrist bones break, her skin seer red-hot and watched her fingers turn to dust in front of her. He hit her in the face and it had the same effect. Wherever he touched her skin, she decayed. It was only when her jaw had dissolved, and her chest had been excavated to the vacuum of her lungs, now filling with her hot sand, that her scream stopped leaving her body.

She awoke startled and jolted, gasping to assure herself of her lungs' structural integrity. As long as she was gulping down air she knew she wasn't drowning in hot sand, so she gulped and gasped with strenuous tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She was perched on her bed, her slight weight leaving barely a dent. She perched in it like a goddess in a flowing toga, white sheets surrounding her. It had been a nightmare she assured herself, only a dream.

She wiped her hair from her forehead, a sheen of cold there. As she calmed her breathing, she looked towards her dresser, on which rested the infamous alarm clock that she'd put back the night before. It read "7:06" meaning she'd slept through her 'alarm', which had most definitely failed again, but her nightmare had woken her up only a few minutes later than her due wake up call.

Levy was shaken, and not well rested by any means, but at least she wouldn't be rushed or late like yesterday. Though as she sat in her bed weighed down by her nightmare and memory she did allow herself one minute to have a rejuvenating cry, before composing herself.

For a brief moment it had all become too much, but she had a job to do- it was a new day. She'd start by waking her siblings, she had to straighten some things out.

Knocking on Juvia's door later, and waking her sister up, Levy wasted no time in asking her sister her question. "Can you stay home today?"

"Why?" A pyjama-ed Juvia asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Wendy's too hurt to go into school and I don't want her to be home alone. But if you're busy I can cancel my shifts instead." Levy offered genuinely, thinking about the suspect things she'd heard about her sister from Lisanna yesterday. Levy hoped Juvia was okay, but now she looked distressed.

"When Juvia was putting Happy down last night, she saw the injuries Wendy has. They're horrible." Juvia said shuddering. "Juvia was going to meet up with somebody again today, but of course she'll stay with Wendy instead- the poor girl needs some love!" Juvia said, feelingly.

"Thank you so much," Levy replied, relieved. "I'm so glad your plans are moveable."

Juvia hesitated a moment before seemingly taking advantage of this statement, to say believingly- "Yes, well, Juvia was just meeting up with an old relative. Juvia is trying to track the family's genealogy."

"At 8-bit?" Levy questioned, believing.

"Yes, yes. We went there for Brunch yesterday." Juvia confirmed over-zealously. "Juvia is looking for evidence of what she and Monica have, elsewhere in the family tree, so she interviewed our 2nd cousin about what he knows. He's a nice man, old."

"Who's cousin is he, which side?" Levy asked, spontaneously.

"Hmm?" Juvia hesitated, before recovering "Oh, Frank's cousin. Long estranged though, Frank wouldn't know anything about him if you asked him." Levy wanted so much to believe her sister, she missed how much like a loophole this particular remark sounded. "Juvia is looking hard. Genetic defects can spread widely through family trees if they're recessive, so Juvia is leaving no stone unturned. Juvia wants to better understand her condition, then she can conquer it."

This made Levy shine with pride. She hugged her sister and whispered a few words of supportive encouragement into her ear for her optimism, but she added as an afterthought, airing on the side of caution- "Don't trust this guy too freely though, just because he's extended family to us. He still may have questionable intentions."

Levy was hyper-aware and suspicious of people today as always, but especially after the events of last night. Having walked home together from the club the night before, upon reaching the door, Levy had realised she no longer had Juvia's key. She suspected it stolen by that drunken tattooed sleaze. Her and Juvia had gotten in the house alright (having just used Levy's key instead) but Levy hadn't told Juvia she'd lost her key. She'd wait until she could afford to get the locks changed, she didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.

Keeping that in mind and forgetting Lisanna's warnings at the diner yesterday, about the relative who Juvia had been with, Levy added: "But what do I know? He might be great! He might give you all the answers to your genetic questions. He might be really concerned about your well-being. He might walk you home from wherever you meet up. He might show you every courtesy, be a perfect gentleman, and buy frozen peas to numb your jacked-up arm."

With a confused and sly expression, a now very awake and coherent Juvia assured then deduced, "He's a perfectly pleasant old man, though he has not done those things for Juvia. Those are very specific examples. In fact, Juvia feels that Levy might be projecting her own experiences onto her."

Levy having been out of focus and away with the fairies, had made the blunder of mentioning Jet. And now she went into full damage control, making excuses in their dialogue to dissolve suspicions her sister may have formed, of looming romance between her and her boss. Because Juvia was, forever, and always, a romantic.

"Who is this mystery gentleman?" Juvia asked, a stupid happy grin on her face.

"My boss from the call centre. He walked me home from 8-bit, after I hurt myself at work yesterday." Levy admitted begrudgingly, already wary of Juvia's fanatical imagination spiralling out this scenario.

"Quite the gentleman!" Juvia praised, tone insinuating. "Will you ask him out? Or if he beats you to it, will you say yes?" Juvia asked eagerly.

"Wha, no I- I already shot him down yesterday." Levy stumbled over her words.

"But why?" Juvia mewled, outraged at the course of events. "And after he walked you home too!" No matter the angle, to Juvia, if a man walked home a single woman of a similar age to him, with whom he had a platonic relationship, it could only end with professions of mutual engrained love and hungry kissing. Juvia went on to interrogate Levy about Jet (precisely why Levy felt she'd erred so deeply in bringing him up in the conversation).

"He's your boss, so it would follow that he's doing quite well for himself financially?" Juvia asked.

Levy shrugged but nodded, guessing this would indeed be the case.

"And was he handsome?" Juvia asked, provoking Levy to think on the matter. He was a little weedy looking, and very skinny but not unattractive, just kind of plain- though his hair did make a loud statement. Levy mentioned all this to Juvia who sifted out anything her sister said that wasn't high praise for the man, as irrelevant. It was like she was panning for gold, and only a love confession from Levy would suffice.

"But he was kind to you, wasn't he?" Juvia asked. There was no doubt in Levy's mind about this. Levy realised as she was listing off to her sister every good deed the man had done in the span of a few hours, her sister was justified in saying "He could take care of you, Levy."

"I can take care of myself." Levy responded defensively, reflexively.

"Yes, but maybe Levy shouldn't have to." Juvia pointed out. "Levy struggles sometimes, Juvia knows, and the struggles would perhaps be lessened if the weights Levy had to bare were shared between two pairs of hands. I mean amongst raising two children, carrying multiple jobs, looking after Juvia on her worse days- a weaker woman would crumble. Like I did." Juvia added as an afterthought.

Levy caught the red flag and said measuredly but assertively to Juvia. "You, and Wendy and Happy don't weigh me down Juvia. Not ever. Look at today, you offering to stay home with Wendy- that's more helpful than you know."

Levy continued. "I don't need a man to be my rock when you're around Juvia. You're made of iron."

"But even iron rusts in the rain." Juvia pointed out. "We all need help to get through hardship when it falls down. So, if this man really wants to help Levy, give him a chance."

Levy considered this. Jet had been nice, great in fact, but their interactions had been awkward at best. There'd been no connection between them Levy could see, not anything withstanding. Was she silly to want that, some feeling of chemistry? People could get along just fine without that, Levy knew, but perhaps she was a romantic just like her sister and wouldn't be satisfied without that feeling. The last thing Levy would want would be to lead a nice guy on, but maybe he could lighten the load. If they were together romantically what would Levy owe him in the wake of it either? Perhaps then.

"I just might, Juvia." Levy decided.

Levy asked Juvia to wake up the kids and explain to Wendy she wouldn't be going to school the next two days, Levy had figured it would be better received coming from Juvia than her anyway. The morning transpired in a much more relaxed fashion than yesterday and things like breakfast and packed lunches were made by Levy, far more measured than previously. Jellal wasn't on the couch, which meant he was probably out all night. Be that out socialising or working, Levy had no clue.

As Levy and Happy were getting ready to leave for their bus, as an afterthought, Levy put the alarm clock in the stroller's bottom compartment. Levy was optimistic today that she might get it fixed, as she couldn't relay on her nightmares to wake her up at a sensible time every day. Levy and Happy were waved off by the youngest and eldest of the family's sisters, who were sat in the kitchen where Juvia was redressing the cut on Wendy's forehead. Once Levy and Happy had gone for the day the two sisters broke into conversation.

"Levy's met a nice man." Juvia said to Wendy, smile on her face and in her voice.

"Really?" Wendy asked surprised, having heard nothing about this herself. "Is she in love with him?" Wendy asked.

Juvia hesitated while ringing out a cloth but mulled it over aloud. "Juvia doesn't think so. Not yet anyway, but there's so few good men in the city that she'd be foolish not to try."

"I didn't know that it was something you had to try at, I thought love came naturally to people." Wendy pointed out.

"It should. But when people are unlucky in Love again and again, they tend to close off. But you should always try to love people Wendy. You should always forgive them and when you love, put all of yourself into it, because it can be the best feeling in the world." Juvia promised.

"Have you ever been in love?" Wendy asked Juvia, enthralled.

"Juvia has been, many times." She admitted. "She is just waiting to meet someone who'll love her back."

Levy delivered Happy to Preschool at a reasonable time without a hitch, her promptness had even put her in such a good mood that Levy shrugged off all the dirty looks she'd gotten from the parents, namely the moms. Yukino still seemed concerned like yesterday, about Levy's bruised shoulder. She asked after it even despite Levy having had the sense to cover it with a cardigan today. But Levy thought little of it and instead walked leisurely away and towards the call centre.

When she arrived and got out the elevator on the first floor, Jet was poised nearby at the photocopier, twiddling his thumbs clearly having grown bored with keeping up the farce of activity in his wait for Levy to arrive. When he spotted her, he sprung back to life and in rising from his perch he put his weight down on the flimsy printer tray and tripped over his own feet at surprise, it having not supported his weight like he'd expected.

He tripped practically comically, and it emphasised just how awkward this man was and could be. Keeping that in mind, Levy realised if she wasn't forward about her newfound intentions they might be going around in circles for a while, given that he'd misinterpret something, and she would back, and it would take forever to clear the air. Instead she just said, "Walk me to 8-bit after my shift is over?"

Jet looked like this had been the last thing he'd expected. He managed to mumble out "Um, sure, but why?"

Levy thought about it for a moment. "A change of heart, about what you said yesterday. Maybe after my shift there we could get some lunch?"

Dumbstruck, Jet managed to say, "I'd like that very much."

And Levy knew that she would too. She walked off with an affirming nod signalling her departure, ready to start her shift. She was sure her shift would pass much quicker than usual, now that she had something to look forward to.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Many Thanks to Dragonfly, eviemk, JGio23, and KGVision for all reviewing after the last double update (We'll be getting back to Gajeel next chapter, and it'll be structured quite a lot like this chapter, so please let me know what you think of this one if you can) ~Until next time.