So this is the last of my gifts to you guys! The next chapters will be quite dispersed as i'm working on many other things plus school. Ugh, school. Thanks for sticking out these last 12 days with me.

Until next time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

Chapter 12: Ring

All things considered, he had quite a few options to choose from. First, there was the iron, he had earned on his latest mission. He had gotten it from a smith as part of his missions reward which had been found in a remote cave and welded together by an ancient sword smith. His second option was to melt down some common iron and work from there. He also had a great deal of silver, a rare bit of gold he had been meaning to sell for the last few months, however he did not own a diamond, the rare carbon jewel incredibly expensive and near impossible to 'stumble upon' in a mission. Indeed, if he wished for a diamond ring, he would have to purchase it. He didn't actually wish to spend money. It was not like his beloved was not worth the cost -he knew quite well that she was worth more than a few compressed carbon rocks- it was more that he simply did not think it was right to spend his jewels on something he could put heart and soul in to.

Therefore the ring with the diamond was out of the question.

Would she appreciate silver or gold? He had both, but was unsure as to whether it would be good enough for a woman like her. She had never been particularly materialistic, so he supposed it wouldn't matter too much what he fashioned the ring out of. Still, it had to mean something, and for him, silver and gold meant virtually nothing. She was certainly deserving of something of high quality... but it would mean nothing to him, truly, if it was not fashioned from something worthy enough, which left him with two distinct options; perfectly refined iron, and common iron. Both would work for his purpose, the silvery sheen on the high quality iron calling for Gajeel's eyes and attentions.

His common iron would aid him for a rough draft of the ring, and so he set to it, breaking, remelting, and fashioning it as well as he could with the mandrel that he had brought with him from home. The last touch was to have it imbued with his magic, and that was where his issue came into play.

It was difficult to create something that lasted, his sheen of magic covering it inadequately because the iron was weak. Natsu, whose help he had enlisted, was unable to aid him, the male constantly melting the iron farther than need be.

"I dunno if we can keep doing this. You could always buy something if it doesn't work out again."

"'S not the same thing and you know it." The pair of them had returned to his empty apartment, Natsu leaning against the bigger man's bedroom while as Gajeel sifted through the metals that lay strewn across his floor.

"Yeah, I know." He paused, no doubt thinking of the ring Gajeel had helped him make for Lucy, all glittering and gold like the stars she commanded. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know..."

"Well, don't go giving up on me," he said, noting the disheartened look on Gajeel's face. "There's gotta be something we can do. Don't you have anything stronger?"

At the word, red eyes grew alight, fixing themselves on Natsu's curious face.

"Stronger?"

"Yeah. Anything that'll withstand both of our roars and not be completely impossible to shape. Something so strong we wouldn't even have to worry about it breaking or ruining the- what did you call it again? "

"The consistency of the iron."

"Right, that. Do you have anything that sounds like that?"

Did he have anything like that? All of his options lay assembled on the floor before him, perfectly aligned so he could compare them properly...

But Natsu was right, because damn it all there was another material, one Gajeel hadn't even considered in his count; Old Iron. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about it initially, although, he realized as an afterthought, it was probably because the Old Iron was in short supply as it was and the few bars he did have remained locked away in his father's cave, infused with enough dragon slayer magic able to boost one's powers a hundred fold, specifically. It'd take days to travel there and retrieve the iron if he wanted to ask Levy by Christmas. If only-

He pulled the drawer out from his desk, flipping away the base to reveal a secret compartment. Ignoring his friend's excited exclamations, he withdrew a thin bar of perfect Old Iron, shining and unrusted. He had forgotten that he had kept such a bar with him when he began working for Fairy Tail. He hadn't considered it much of an option as he hadn't touched the iron since the Grand Magic Games training.

"What is it?"

"Iron. What'd ya think it was?"

The rose haired slayer sniffed before smirking. "It's your old man's isn't it?" Gajeel made no confirmation measuring the metal carefully. "It smells just like you, but stinkier; reminds me of Igneel so it had to belong to your Pops."

"You gonna help me or what?" he asked gruffly, getting to his feet with renewed energy.

"'Course But I think we should get Wendy."

"Her? She's busy today."

"Hanging out at Juvia's isn't busy. Besides, she'd be better than any air pipe to cool the metal, and if it's dragon iron, who better than another slayer to help fashion every part of it."

He hesitated before nodding. "Fine."

"Awesome! I'll go get her!"

"I'll meet you in the forest." Gajeel continued to plan for the ring, trying to ignore the excitement he himself was feeling. Damn, he was getting sentimental.

Please R&R