There was a light tapping that continued to sound from under the table. It was quick, impatient, and irritable. As it continued on, she struggled to ignore it, but eventually, her hand slipped over his, her eyes refraining from leaving the words of her book, and she shook her head, a silent plea for him to stop. He let out a gruff noise, and the sound was hushed to a minimum. He was still tapping his foot in an anxious way, but it was quiet.

Levy's lips lifted to a smile. Pulling her hand away from his, she held both covers of the book in her hand. She continued to be amazed by how many stories the Titanic had that she had never read or heard of, so she wondered if she could purchase them from the company while she was aboard. The words were written in Latin, a language she was quickly growing fluent in, and it flowed as though it were a poem.

Beside her, Gajeel impatiently ran his hand through the layers of hair, eyeing the library around him. It was quiet, as people were lost in their books or doing a silent activity. He'd never been in such a quiet place, being that the sound of people or music seemed to follow him wherever he went. The men who employed him for the ship said that he would only play music at night, being that jazz suited the dark hours more. Of course, Gajeel didn't argue, being that it meant he could sleep in and spend the day doing as he pleased. On the other hand, he hadn't planned on following around a little bookworm.

Hours had passed,-three at the most-and he became more aware of how patient she was. It tested him, making him grow needy for open air and a walk around the ship, but reminded himself that he didn't trust the frail girl alone. Still, he felt some resentment and hostility towards her, and she occasionally grew irritated of his remarks, but she continued to smile and refused to lash back at him. Gajeel wasn't used to the kindness and restraint that Levy had, being that he'd been in his fair share of fights and had put himself through his own personal torture. Being around her was leisurely, but he also didn't trust her kindness.

Breaking the silence once more, Gajeel pushed the chair back as he stood. It scraped against the ground, disturbing Levy's concentration. She looked up to see where the musician was going, and her chocolate eyes followed him as he moved towards the windows. He pushed himself against the wall, peering out at whatever he could see. He hadn't gotten up from the seat since the two had sat down, but at this point, Levy figured that he would break.

"You don't have to stay by me anymore," she said, setting the book down. She placed her hand over the binding, preventing the wind from making her lose her page. His eyes flicked towards her, his head refusing to turn. He shook his head, and he let out a silent grunt. Of all the times he chooses to be quiet…

As minutes begun to pass, Levy had returned to her book. Growing bored of the view, Gajeel shifted his place, pacing around the library. As he grew more bored, his hands occasionally found their way onto the shelves for books, pulling them out. He found books in foreign languages, poems, letters, novels, and even a book that matched up to Levy's last name. Growing intrigued, he flipped through it, the edges of the pages lined in gold. The font was simple, but sophisticated, and the writing style was a mixture of casual and formal.

Staring down at the book, he found a single character named after the girl he felt the need to protect, and he discovered it was from before she could have been born. Without looking up from the pages, he strides over to Levy, then dropped it down in front of her, closing it.

The sound of it slamming against the table startled her. Dropping her Latin novel, she looked to what Gajeel had put down. His crimson eyes stared at her, expecting some sort of an explanation. Grabbing the book from under his big fingers, she slid it towards herself. She read the title silently, and her eyes glazed over her father's name. A surge of warmth and happiness flooded herself, being that her father's novel was being featured on the Titanic. It was the one he had written from before she was born, and her name had come out of it. She skimmed the pages, wondering when the last time she had read it was.

"How did you find this?" she asked, looking up to him.

Shrugging, his gruff voice finally left his throat. "I was looking through the shelves, and I saw your name." Levy didn't have to look down to the book to remember how McGarden was written in gold, set on a royal blue cover. She took it in her fingers, handed it back to him, and a smile lifted on her lips.

"You should read it. My father wrote it for me before I was born, and he wrote about the adventures he wanted me to have," she said, watching him take it.

A look of distraught and disbelief made Gajeel raise his brow. He slipped back down into his chair and opened the book. He was unsure if it was a worthy read, or if he would even be able to keep track of the events. He had never come to good terms with a book, but for some reason, for the pipsqueak, he was willing to try. His eyes settled down on the first word, and in that moment, for the next two hours, he was lost.

Levy closed her book, glancing at the clock. It read out an hour past noon, and she could see that her American companion was still lost in her father's book. She reread the last sentence of her book, chanting it in her head and making it her manta. It was her favorite, and she replaced it on the shelf where it belonged. Skimming the titles of other books, which she mostly recognized, she turned to Gajeel, who was nearing the end of the book.

It was a short novel, intended more for Levy-if she was an avid reader-to read as a child. It was just shy of two hundred pages, and it shouldn't have taken anyone too long to read. The American man seemed to be struggling with foreign terms and harsh vocabulary, which had been meant to test Levy to the extreme. She evaluated him as he finished up the last few pages, and the humble smile rose up on her lips once more.

Gajeel leaned back in his seat, closing the book. He turned his head to Levy; a look that was impossible to read was etched on his face. Finding him impossible to read, Levy finally brought herself to ask, "What is it?"

"You're exactly like how he wrote you. That's weird," he said, frankly. "If you hadn't been born, then how did he write you so perfectly?"

Looking at him with a furrowed brow and a cocky smile, Levy crossed her arms. "Did you like it?" He remained silent, waiting for her answer. "Admit it: Reading the book made you like me just a smidge more."

Gajeel shrugged. It was enough. "Well, I used the Levy in the story as my childhood role model, and I decided to model myself after her. I've finally reached the point in my life where I can continue the story, and have my own adventures, so here I am," she said, frilling her skirt.

"I'll return the book for you," she said, reaching for it.

Gajeel swept it up with his own hands, pulling it out of her reach. Lifting it over his head and waving it around so she couldn't get ahold of it, he chuckled as she fell into his trap. He glanced around the library, seeing that it was empty for the moment. Continuing to wave it, he leaned back farther, leaning in the chair. Levy pressed against him, and he waved it a single more time.

And then the chair slipped.

Falling backwards, Gajeel prepped himself to collide with the ground. A let out a noise of despair, closing his eyes in preparation. Levy shrieked, falling upon Gajeel as his chair back hit the ground, and she found herself on him in an awkward position while straddling him. Opening her eyes as she felt the dull pain, she took in the smell of his cologne and shot upwards, forcing herself up with her hands to his chest.

Gasping as she forced him downwards once more, it felt as though Gajeel had missed two intakes for air. He'd gotten the wind knocked out of him as he collided with the floor, and even more, the little female on him forced it out of him again. He looked up to her with eyes that were flooded with pain, watching her panic as she stood up from his body.

Fixing her skirt, she apologized, picking the book up from the ground. As he stood once more, she turned to him from the aisle, stating, "You shouldn't have gone and teased me with the book. It was childish!"

"Your response was pretty childish," Gajeel joked, propping the chair back onto its proper four legs. He approached Levy, poking her in the side of the head. She stumbled for a moment, regained her balance, and then hit him with the book.

Wincing, he added a decent chuckle as he came up behind Levy and propped an arm on her head. Her askew locks of hair fluffed up around his thick forearm, and she withdrew a bit under his weight. Coming in closer from behind, he rested his chin on his arm, letting out a loud, tired groan. Levy stiffened beneath him, waiting for his wait to be relieved, but in a way, she liked the excess warmth that he gave off and how soothing his presence was-in a way.

Levy slid the book back into the slot that remained empty for it. Gajeel shifted his feet, his weight moving around on her head. Slipping out from under him, she took his wrist in one of her small hands, asking him if he would be willing to try dancing with him. She knew the perfect location that was secluded and had a record player, and she wanted to try dancing with someone. A distraught, twisted look came on his face, but as he continued to peer down into her big eyes, he gave in with a loud groan of submission. He leaned his head back as the sound of his grumbling grew lower, and Levy pushed on his chest, then resumed to tug on his arm to lead the way.

Only then, on the way to the secluded room, had Gajeel noticed that the two of them missed lunch. Surprisingly, he hadn't heard the sound of the bell, nor had Levy. It was odd, being that he would never miss a meal, and he had sharp hearing. He glanced into the dining hall for the second class passengers, expecting his stomach to rumble. It didn't. He contemplated if he was enjoying Levy's company, but he tried to shoo the idea away because he wanted to think of her as a pest.

Tugging Gajeel into a room, a smug smile lifted the corners of Levy's lips. A simple phonograph was playing a tune in the corner of the room, and there were no people to disturb their privacy. Turning to evaluate Gajeel, Levy figured the man hadn't danced a single time in his life. He was more of the musician, so he didn't have the time or opportunity, and even more, it wasn't his style. Either way, Levy would make him dance.

"Why are we here, squirt?"

Letting go of his wrist, she stepped around him to straighten his back and fix his posture. As she adjusted his hands for one to rest on her waist and the other to take her hand, she moved to reach her free arm around his neck. As he was too tall, she gave up, sufficing with part of her forearm. "You like music, so I thought I would experiment and test your limits. Besides, this is more along your line of skills," she said, teasing him. He knew that she knew he couldn't dance. He was mocking her.

"I haven't danced before," he confessed.

Levy shrugged, taking a step forward. It forced Gajeel to step backwards, and he immediately knew what she was doing. "I'll teach you simple steps," she replied, continuing the steps that forced him to move backwards. It kept him on his toes, forcing him to keep in time with the movements that Levy decided on, and eventually, she begun to rotate the two, making large circles in the room, sweeping across the floor.

Disgusted with how he was letting Levy lead, Gajeel braced himself to guide her. Steping towards her, she was set off balance for a moment, seeing where the American man would take her. He struggled to put together moves he had seen dancing couples do in Europe, taking big steps, swaying, and even smaller steps. Experimenting, he let go of Levy's hip, pulled out of her reach, and spun her around with his hand that was entangled in her fingers.

The entire time, he couldn't help but stare down at her, wondering what she was thinking. The same, familiar smile was plastered on her lips, and her eyes looked up at him that said she was impressed with his quick learning. The brown orbs were full of wonder, her cheeks flushed and pink, and a smile of his own trembled up onto Gajeel's lips. Taking note of it immediately, Levy's smile widened enough for her to show teeth, and he forced back his familiar frown.

"You smiled."

"Shut up."

A/N: I am so, so pleased with this chapter! Writing it, I couldn't help but smile. I hope I hinted at Gajeel's character development well enough in this chapter, being that you can now see Levy growing on him! It seems that Gajevy is getting the most love in this story so far, or maybe even Jerza, but fret not, because Gruvia and Nalu have a lot of developing left to do before the climax!

I love, love, love hearing from you guys and what you have to say! I may have said this already, but I really want to make this story big… I'm putting my heart and soul into this, and I really want the Fairy Tail world/fandom to enjoy it and read it! So, I would love it if you guys could help me! Please, make some art for me, because I would love to see how you guys envision everything, and post it on Tumblr with the tag #Breaking the Boundary and it would mean so much if you would also spread the word about this story! I'm doing my best to promote it, make it better!

I'm still mourning over the events in chapter 414, so please do expect a chapter dedicated to Natsu's past sometime in the near future! Thank-you, all! I hope that you enjoyed this!