Oh hi! Here's a long over due update! Enjoy!
"Levy are you sure you really want to do this?"
Levy peeked out from the closet with a small smile on her face. She knew her friends were worried about her decision to attend Gajeel's court hearing, but she had to more than anything see Gajeel with her own eyes. Her heart ached for him. She had already promised herself no matter what she saw or heard at the hearing her feelings wouldn't change, she knew Gajeel didn't get involved that deep because he actually wanted to, he had been doing what he thought was the right thing, no matter how wrongly he was going about doing it.
"Mira, I'll be fine. I want to do this; I want to see him. I'll go in after the majority of the crowd has entered and sit near the back, he'll never know I'm there. Skiadrum promised Gajeel he wouldn't tell me when the hearing was, so I need to be careful and respect the fact he is breaking his promise as a father."
Mira shuffled forward, a frown on her face and loosely folded her arms across her chest, "I'm just worried for you. We all love and support Gajeel, no matter what but what if you hear something at that hearing that will change how you feel? Maybe Laxus should go with you?"
Finally finding her white blouse and simple black dress pants she shut the closet door and tossed them to the bed she then kneeled down and started fishing out her black flats from under the bed.
"Nothing I could possibly hear will change my feelings, I love him, good, bad and ugly; all of him. We had one hell of a rough start at this relationship, I'm not going to let it end like this."
Mira sighed and picked up the mate to the black flat Levy was searching for, handing it over to the petite woman she smiled. She loved Laxus with all her heart and soul but she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to place herself in the same situation Levy was currently in and be able to be as calm and collected as the blue haired woman.
Gajeel probably didn't even realize how lucky he was to have her waiting at home for him, then again Gajeel was no fool he most likely thanked the higher power every night to have been blessed with her. She remembered a time Laxus had told her about when the guys had been drinking and Gajeel drunk dialed his brother just to thank him for hooking up with Levy, she silently giggled at just trying to imagine that scenario. Laxus hadn't been able to share the details in between his fits of laughter.
"I'm sorry Levy," Levy stopped and looked at the platinum blonde standing in her and Gajeel's room, confusion marring her face. "You are an incredibly strong, dedicated, and loyal girlfriend to Gajeel. I'd like to think I would feel and do the same as you are right now if I were in your situation."
Levy smiled, "Well let's hope you never are, I don't want anyone to have to go through what Gajeel and I have. But, thank you Mira, your words mean a lot to me."
With tears in her eyes, Levy broke the distance between the two of them and hugged Mira. The two women stood together for a few moments in a tearful embrace before Mira pulled away and smiled down at Levy.
"I still think you should have Laxus go with you."
Sniffling, Levy nodded her head and wiped away the tears under her eyes, "I think that might be a good idea. Do you think he would mind?"
Mira's smile grew and she shook her head, "Not at all darling, he wouldn't mind at all. I'll talk to him today when he gets home from work. It's tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, at 2:30."
Downstairs the front door opened and closed, walking over to the threshold of the bedroom door Levy yelled down the stairs, "Rogue? Is that you?"
"Yeah! I brought home pizza! I didn't know someone else was here though or I would have bought a bigger one," Rogue made his way up the steps, and stood outside the door, "Oh, it's just Mira. Well she doesn't eat pizza anyway, more for us! Hey Mira!" Rogue waved as he walked away.
Mira laughed, "Hello Rogue! And just so you know I eat pizza sometimes! Anyway, I must be going. I will talk to Laxus tonight and he'll meet you here tomorrow before you leave."
"Thank you, Mira."
"Anytime my dear, anytime." Mira grabbed her purse and with another smile directed at Levy made her way out of the room and down the stairs.
Walking over to the bed Levy allowed herself to fall forward, the comforter, satin sheets, and a stray pillow catching her fall. Her eyes clued in on a picture of her and Gajeel on the dresser across from her. It had been taken the day before her graduation, the night before her world became topsy turvy. Her parents had always wanted to see her succeed, have a career full of growth opportunities, find a nice man, settle down, and start a family. She wondered if they'd be proud of the woman she was today, she felt successful in her own right, she didn't regret where she was today, even if her life wasn't the shade of perfection her parents had always hoped for her.
The photo was purely candid, Levy's favorite type of picture. Staged pictures always turned out looking fake. In the photograph, Levy had been standing at the counter and Gajeel had managed to sneak up behind her and was nuzzling her neck. Levy was wearing the biggest smile she had ever seen spread across her own face and had her arms draped over the large arms that were wrapped around her. The love she shared with Gajeel was definitely a different one, but one she wouldn't trade for anything.
"Levy? I'm gonna eat your share of the pizza if you don't get down here!"
Pushing herself up from the bed she slowly walked over to the picture and picked it up, smiling she traced a single finger down the photo and felt her heart warm at the thought of being able to see this man tomorrow, setting the photo back on the dresser she turned to walk out of the bedroom.
"I'm coming! Don't you dare eat my pizza!"
…
Gajeel was pacing the room, his step-father had dropped off a suit for him earlier that morning but then he had left again. The same police officer that he saw on a daily basis has escorted Gajeel to one of the rooms that allowed a bit more privacy, this room had its own shower and changing area for the men in holding to be able to get ready prior to a court hearing. Now he was currently waiting for Skiadrum in the attached interrogation room. It wasn't like the man to be running late but he had said he'd be back before two, and it was just now two on the dot.
He hadn't been stuck wearing a suit since Levy's graduation, which then just brought his thoughts back to the little woman of his. Oh how he missed her and what he wouldn't give to just see her and smell her intoxicating scent, hell he'd even take one of her overblown and drawn out angry lectures at this point. He just wanted her, here and now. If she planned on being true to her word and would be there when this was all over and done with and he was back in her arms again he'd go the rest of his life making sure a smile never left her face.
The sound of the door unlocking pulled him from his daze and in walked his step-father sporting a smug look on his face.
"Yer late old man."
The smug look turned to a scowl as he approached Gajeel and reached out to adjust his tie, "Shut it, I'm no such thing. You should be thanking me, I just left a meeting with the county prosecutor. How the hell did you even manage to do this to your tie? Geez boy, didn't anyone ever teach you how to tie a tie?"
Gajeel grumbled while rolling his eyes and didn't feel the need to remind the man that he had been the one to teach him but Skiadrum had failed to mention he also didn't know how and Gajeel's mother had always been the one to fix his tie.
"So what's the verdict?"
"Well I'm not the judge so I can't deliver the verdict, but the prosecutor seemed very happy with the recent information and has dropped the majority of the felony charges as well as numerous other charges. If I'd have to guess, you'll probably get two or three years with time served going towards your sentence."
Gajeel nodded in agreement, he didn't want to get too excited but a verdict like that he could live with, he had provided more than enough information to help shut down the ring and bring down Jose, he only hoped they had put his information to good use.
Skiadrum glanced down at his cell phone and smirked, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by his step-son, but he chose to ignore it, he had more pressing issues on his mind at the moment and if his step-father lawyer felt confident enough to allow his phone to distract him then he figured he could at least relax a little.
The door unlocked once again and an officer stepped in to usher Gajeel to the patrol car that would take him to the court house. They walked down a long hallway that directed them to a separate car port at the back of the station. Since Gajeel was leaving the station the handcuff protocol had to be enforced and once secured the officer assisted him as he got into the backseat of the patrol car.
The butterflies were going insane in Gajeel's stomach despite his earlier calmness and as they got closer to the court house he began to feel nauseous. Skiadrum had seemed in high spirits and was positive this was going to go in as much as Gajeel's favor as it could without exactly allowing him to walk away totally clean, but his head just couldn't wrap around that idea and worst case scenarios were playing out vividly with the help of his imagination.
The officer occupying the driver's seat broke the silence, "Deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth."
"Does that shit seriously even work or is that what ya say to everyone in the back seat of your car?" He hadn't meant to sound like an asshole but he didn't have full control of his emotions at the moment and sadly that included what left his mouth.
The police officer just laughed, "Well it sure as hell can't hurt you. But really, calm down, I've got a good feeling about your case. You heard the latest news right?"
"Not sure if you've ever been on my side of all this but there ain't exactly TV's in the cells, so no I have not." He really needed to watch his tongue before this cop got fed up with him.
"Porla was arrested," the officer smirked at the expression Gajeel had on his face, "Thanks to your information he was apprehended late last night at one of the warehouses you disclosed. I'm not usually a betting man, but I'd be willing to make a bet you'll come out of this as close to clean as you can get from all the information you gave up."
For the first time since he had been arrested Gajeel allowed a genuine smile to cross his face. He was pleased he had been able to help with the arrest of that slimy bastard. Now he just needed to hear his verdict, serve his time and go home to his shorty.
The car came to a stop and Gajeel leaned forward to glance out the window, the large City of Magnolia Courthouse was staring back at him, he gulped then took a deep breath in through his nose and slowly let it out through his mouth. His door opened and with the assistance of the officer he stepped out of the patrol car and walked up the path to the building.
Once inside he kept his head down and allowed the officer to guide him towards the hearing room. Just outside the door where those who were incarcerated would enter the hearing room the officer clapped him on the back and wished him good luck, telling him the bailiff would escort him the rest of the way.
The bailiff was a good foot or so shorter than Gajeel and he looked scared out of his wits, Gajeel almost wanted to laugh at the poor man but knowing that was probably not in his best interest he abstained from doing so. He figured the poor guy was probably thinking something along the lines of how the hell did he end up with this detainee.
Walking in the door he saw his step-father sitting at a table facing the judge's stand, he glanced out into the open seating area but wasn't able to see anyone in particular, the room was still fairly empty anyway.
When the bailiff stopped suddenly and turned around it took a large amount of effort not to crash into him, he reached into his pocket and pulled a key out and unlocked the handcuffs secured around Gajeel's wrists.
"Good behavior allows you to be free of the handcuffs during the hearing, just don't try anything."
"In the room with the one person determining my fate? I'll be an angel." Gajeel hoped the man had a sense of humor.
"Just go take a seat next to your lawyer."
The man clearly did not.
"How was the drive over?" Skiadrum smirked.
Gajeel glared back at the man and rolled his eyes. Briefly turning around to scope out his audience he saw the place had filled up rather quickly, just as the bailiff was announcing for everyone to stand as the judge made his appearance he thought he caught a glance of blue hair near the back row but was unable to make certain if his eyes were playing tricks on him when Skiadrum kicked him from under the table silently telling him to stand up and turn back around. He wouldn't be able to confirm anything until this was all over as now he had to sit forward and face his fate.
"Gajeel Redfox, how do you plead?"
Gajeel stood and cleared his throat, "Guilty."
Skiadrum winked at him and spoke, "We entered into a deal with the prosecutor, your honor."
"I am aware of this deal and I must give credit where credit is due. Mr. Redfox, you allowed the Magnolia police department to do quite a bit of cleaning up. Your information lead to the arrest of Jose Porla and over twenty other individuals as well as the confiscation of an extremely large number of drugs. This has all been taken into consideration when decided the outcome of your sentencing."
Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly Gajeel waited for the judge's decision.
…
The butterflies in Levy's stomach were going crazy, her breathing was erratic and it took a large amount of effort to keep herself from screaming at the top of her lungs. Laxus had one of her hands in his and with the other he was gently caressing the top of her hand, trying to help the woman remain calm or from doing something stupid. He was afraid if he let her go she'd bolt towards the front of the room and throw herself at Gajeel and that was the last thing they needed right now.
"Why is he taking so long to read the verdict?"
Laxus hushed her and quietly whispered in her ear, "He has to read off his charges first, Gajeel may have already pleaded guilty but he still has to list the charges."
Levy squirmed in her chair, she didn't have the best view of Gajeel from where they were seated near the back but she could just barely see his face and the man looked broken. She wanted nothing more than to take him into her arms and tell him everything was going to be okay. He was close and yet so far.
"I don't think this was a good idea," she mumbled.
"Chin up, if not for you, for him." Laxus smiled at her.
"Gajeel Redfox," the judge started, "I sentence you to three years in jail with your time already served going towards your overall duration. Upon release you'll have one year of probationary duties. With the information you provided I have lowered your felony charges to misdemeanors and for good behavior I will also allow you twenty-four hours from the release of this court session to handle any outside affairs you may have, but you are not permitted to leave Magnolia. I have been assured by your lawyer and the officer who was assigned to you in the jail that you would continue to behave don't make me regret this decision or make fools of those vouching on your behalf."
"Yes, your honor, thank you."
It was the first time Levy had heard his voice and just from those few words she thought her heart was going to burst from her chest. The sentencing was just and fair and even though three years was still a long time it was nothing compared to what could have been.
"This court is now adjourned."
Levy stood with the various other people attending and did her best to blend in with the aid from Laxus. As the exit became crowded she chanced a look back at the front of the room and through a blur of people there was a straight shot to Gajeel, red eyes meeting with hazel and in that moment no one else was there, only the two of them. Levy's lips turned upward in a smile as tears streamed down her face. Gajeel made a motion to go to her but was held back by his step-father trying to tell him something and with that brief distraction Laxus guided her out of the room.
…
Once inside the car with his step-father Gajeel let out a long breath and gazed out the window, "I saw her. You told her about today didn't you?"
Starting the car and pulling out into the street Skiadrum replied, "Yeah, I did. I'm not sorry either."
The rest of the car ride was made in silence. As he watched Magnolia pass by through the window he thought back to how her face had lit up when she had seen him, that despite the reasons for him being in that place she still looked happy that their eyes had met and at how incredibly beautiful she was, it had been nearly half a year since he had seen her last and his memories really didn't do her justice.
Gajeel was still daydreaming when he realized the car was stopped on the curb outside his house, he turned to face his step-father, confused as to why he had brought him here. "I thought I was going back to the hotel with you?"
"You're a dumbass. Get out of the car."
"What's going on?"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow at two, be ready. Go be with her."
Gajeel turned back to the window, looking out at his house, his car was parked in the driveway but Rogue's was gone. She was alone in his house, their house. She was back home.
Without another word uttered between the two men he got out of the car and slowly walked to the front door, he didn't have his keys, actually he didn't have anything, he was still wearing the suit Skiadrum had brought him earlier that day. He silently prayed she had left the door unlocked, and with all the courage he could muster he gripped the handle and opened the door.
Levy was standing just inside waiting for him.
So this fic has maybe 2-3 chapters left, and the next update will not take as long as this one did seeing as I'm nearly halfway through it at the moment! Anyway, let me know what you think! Reviews are much appreciated!