Characters: Gajeel Redfox, Levy McGarden, Torafuzar and Pantherlilly

Genres: ANGST, romance, canon-verse and canon deviant

Rating: T (for angst)

Request: 'New idea for a one-shot, the chapter 487-488 Gajevy confession/Gajeel's "death" but with the roles reversed.'

Notes: It's been quite a while! Hope you guys are doing awesome! :D

I Think, Therefore You Are

Gajeel felt the raw energy of his Jet Black Iron surge through his bones and muscles almost painfully.

Any other point in time, and he was certain he wouldn't have pulled a move as stupid and this — actually inhaling Torafuzar's deadly Magic Barrier Particles — but with her life on the line, there was really no other choice.

And to him, his own life was worth nothing compared to her future.

He drove his fist at the demon, more times that he could count, now almost operating entirely on instinct, his confidence building with each hit that landed on the bastard's ugly face.

Nevermind that his body was tense from all the magical energy, but the thought of keeping the person who held his heart safe gave him all the strength he needed to deal one last blow to Torafuzar, knocking him into his own gateway to the Underworld.

Grinning as he watched the demon disappear, he turned to look over his shoulder to check up on Levy, but leapt almost immediately away, even before Levy could call his name in warning, his dragon-like sense of smell warning him well in advance.

"I… shan't die without a price," came the demon's disembodied voice, his dark tentacles still seeking Gajeel out.

Leaving the dragon slayer chuckling. "Sorry to disappoint ya, but no can do."

Because while to him his own life was worth nothing compared to her future —

'It is worth something to her.'

With that thought, he charged at Torafuzar — punching twice as hard, twice as fast — grinning as he saw the demon get sucked away to an unknown world.

Just when he thought he'd be caught in its grasp too, he saw letters hover between him and the portal, pride swelling in him as he recognised.

'IRON SAFETY NET'

With the 'O' curiously shaped like a heart.

With him protected, he watched with a face splitting grin as the demon, and every last remnant of its curse power left their world.

Confirming the demon was truly gone, he turned back to face his love.

Who now lay face down on the ground.

At the same time, he tested smelling the now fresh air — tasting her blood on it.

Way too much of it.

"Levy!" He screamed, running towards her.

He picked her up, turning her to face him, marginally relieved at seeing her still conscious.

The feeling short-lived, at the sight of her tainted skin.

'The mask doesn't truly stop the particles…'

'Pathetic, aren't I?'

"No," he choked out, gathering her in his arms. "No, you're not going anywhere."

He was up on his feet in a second, running towards where he'd last sensed people.

"You're staying with me," he reassured her, wishing his voice wouldn't quiver the way it was. She needed him to be strong.

"You're going to be fine. I'll get you to the guild. We'll get you fixed and I can then yell at you properly."

He felt her hand hold onto his shirt. Her grip was terrifyingly weak.

"Ga—" Levy tried, before being overcome by painful coughs, the wet sound of which had Gajeel's heart skip another two beats.

Against his better judgement, he looked into her eyes, finding them piercing back at him, the sadness in them overwhelming.

She was still trying to speak.

"Please—" Gajeel begged, picking up his pace so he was now running, "Don't. Save your energy, I'm getting you safe to the guild."

The two were startled as Gajeel felt his feet lift off the ground.

"Lily!"

"I'm taking you to the Wind Sisters. Flying is faster" He said by way of explanation, carefully keeping his own exhaustion out of his voice. Along with his dread.

"Hear that, Lev?" Gajeel said, forcing a smile on his face.

It didn't calm his hammering heart to see the same quiet look of desperation in her eyes. "Y-you're gonna be safe." He tried, around the emotion clogging his throat.

"A-and you'll be better and then I've got some stuff planned for the two of us."

Levy was truly crying now, her mouth opening and shutting, too weak to convey what she wanted to so desperately, the only sound leaving her being the painful wheezing of her drowning lungs.

He understood, though. And it shattered his heart even further.

"You've given me so much joy," he began, voice softer. Gentler. Laced with hurt. "You made me someone old lady Belno would have actually been proud of."

He noted his own tears only when they nearly blinded him, and fell on her wounded, bloody face. "And I want to make it up to you. Make everything up to you. With a wonderful future."

He hiccoughed, shutting his eyes against an overwhelming wave of sorrow, opening it at the slightest touch against his cheek.

She was smiling at him.

"W-we're almost there." Patherlilly called.

The announcement furrowed her eyebrows, and her smile turned a little sadder.

"Hear that?" He asked, desperation and hope lacing his now gravelly voice. "Nearly there. Please hold on, Levy, we've a wonderful future ahead of us. We're all fighting for that future. I can already see it."

She blinked slowly, as though forcefully terminating crying, looking at him with as bright a smile as she could muster.

Along with the strength to mouth the words Gajeel had hoped to have earned the privilege to hear from her someday.

"Me too," he whispered, hoping she heard.

Because in making sure her confession reached him, she had used the last of her strength.

Just as they landed.

Her once bright eyes were clouded, her arm now limp between them and her wheezing had ceased. As had the soft beating of her heart.

In the distance, he could hear Pantherlilly's smothered sobs and Wendy's shocked gasp.

But all he could feel was her weight in his arms.

Her petite frame had never been heavier.

"It's nice to have you back, Gajeel," said Lisanna, offering him his usual drink. "You took extra long this time."

"Yeah, had a bad lead early on," he said, wiping the ale off his unkempt beard.

"But you did find it."

"Hmm," he intoned, voice dismissive. But the way his eyes darted to his bag was anything but.

Lisanna smiled sadly, but went to the key-rack to retrieve a single key, placing it in front of him.

"You've really turned it into something, Gajeel. It's got it's own building now."

"Thanks ta Laxus. The jerk got the building for cheap."

"I don't think the mayor would have shied away from such a lucrative tourist destination."

Gajeel only grunted again. Taking one last swig before rising from his stool, he hauled the bag onto his shoulder and made his way out the relatively empty guild hall. "Thanks for the grub."

Lisanna simply nodded, sparing him any more small talk as he left for his destination.

A small walk, and he reached a grand, pearl white building standing proudly in the middle of Magnolia's culture district.

The McGarden Library had grown to be the largest in Fiore, with books dating back to the age of Zeref stored in it's many stories and many vaults. Every member of Fairy Tail chipped in to adding more titles to its evergrowing shelves, but none — not even Lucy — could hold a candle to Gajeel's contribution to it.

Travelling almost exclusively in search of books he knew Levy would have approved, he had built the library, from a small shed in his — their — backyard, to one rivalling Alvarez's national archive.

Entering through his special doorway, he took a walk through the inner-most sections of the library, the scent coming off the books calming him.

He then walked up to the main counter, depositing the books there, all the while ignoring the new intern doing his best to stick to the established protocol and not talk to him.

Failing miserably when they saw the covers of the books he had brought.
"This isn't supposed to exist anymore! All known copies were said to have been burnt by the council over three hundred years ago."

Gajeel afforded the little boy a small smile. He knew she would have appreciated the kid's enthusiasm for rare books.

"Since no one's seen it yet, I doubt they'll find out ya read it," he said, leaving the kid's jaw dropped and eyes full of excited awe.

He quietly made his way to Kardia Cathedral's cemetery. It had grown dark, and the route was largely unlit, but he could now make this route even if his dragon sight didn't allow for him to.

He knew it like the back of his hand.

With practiced ease, he made his way up the a little his to the east to — the twin tombstones.

The corner of his mouth curled upwards a little as he saw flowers already on their graves. He could still smell bunny girl, Natsu, and their adopted kid lingering in the air there.

And it would seem Happy had joined them this time — if the fish on Pantherlilly's grave was anything to go by.

Gajeel sat down as usual in front of his family resting his back against what had long since become his tree, and began recounting his journey.

He told them of the family he saved, the little girl he made friends with and the crooks who made the mistake of attempting to steal the rare books from him.

He was most talkative when he was here, and his most expressive. He wasn't sure when, but at some point, that little spot on the hill had become warmer and more like home than any four walls had ever been.

Well, almost.

There had been a time — it now felt like an entire lifetime ago — when she had dropped in to visit him. She claimed to have done so to "simply check up on him," but her soft blush said more.

It to give him a cocky, undeserved ego boost. But he was way too greedy to deny himself.

She had cooked that day, it had been the first time he had tried her homemade cooking, and as she tightened her apron and worked over his stove (standing on a stool to reach it) he found himself fall in love with her even more.

As he pictured the sight being a daily occurrence. Of her turning around and telling him off for not eating on time. Of Pantherlilly chasing two kids running around him — with eyes like his own and scents like hers.

It took a knowing stare from Pantherlilly to get back to the present.

And falling tears to come back from the memory.

Even his warm place would forever be cold without them, he knew.

But he had work to do, and legacies to uphold. And he would work tirelessly to ensure the world never forgot that little fairy that changed him, his life and his world.

So he got up, all set to chase another vague lead for another prized book, this time on ancient spirit magic.

He wanted to ensure that at least as long as he was alive, that library kept growing.

Then maybe, someday he'd be deserving of meeting her again. Then maybe, he could live out the future he had once dreamed for them.

A/N: Please don't hate me too much for this!

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