Brief little vignette for Gajeel and Levy. Perfect Love by Aly & Fila with Roger Shah, featuring Adrina Thorpe. This one has been bouncing around my head for a year, but I've finally decided the scene where it needed to go.

"When did you stop being afraid of me, Shorty?"

The question came out of nowhere and caught Levy off guard. She and Gajeel were sitting next to each other on the bay window of the Magnolia Library – she with book in hand, and Gajeel just there because she was. She was using him as a backrest, her knees tucked under her chin.

She thought seriously about the question.

"Well?"

How could she explain to him that a perfect love cast away all her fears? Once she'd realized the truth – that she was madly in love with him – it had set her free from all the anxiety she'd experienced around him at first. He had done horribly things to her, but he'd had horrible things done to him as well. All he'd needed was someone to trust him for once in his life.

"I'm not who I was before," she finally decided. "I've changed since I met you. You changed, too."

They were both now swimming deep in a sea of love.

He grunted in assent, and she continued.

"Love changes you, whether you realize it or not." She began chanting a poem she'd memorized from a holy book as a child. "Love's the way, love's the truth, love is alive." She took a deep breath. "Love is here, love's not dead, love is the light."

She expected a comment about "mushy stuff" but what she got instead was Gajeel turning to his side and pulling her closer.

"You didn't just think that up, did you," he accused her teasingly, speaking beside her ear.

"No," she said, her heart pounding. He knew her ears were really sensitive. "But I always wanted to believe the words. When I met you, I knew they were true."

He sniffed her hair, and she sank back into him.

His love was all around, like the sunlight falling down onto them through the window. Like the wind. She breathed deeply, catching the smell of him – leather, rust, and a surprising note of aloe from the hair gel he used to get his massive mane under control these days.

"I'm alive," she murmured, "in you."

What she left unsaid was that she knew that she was his own light, and she would shine in to the darkest parts of his soul until there were no more shadows left.

"So you stopped being scared when you fell in love with me? Not before?"

She smiled to herself. "I guess so. What about you? When did you stop being afraid of me?"

He fumbled. "I ain't – that is, I was never…"

"You were."

"I guess when I realized you didn't hate my guts… and maybe I had a chance." He coughed into his fist. Now she'd embarrassed him.

Levy snapped the book shut. Being with Gajeel in the library was fun, but after such an emotional confession from both of them, she wanted to go someplace more private.

She squirmed around in his arms until she was facing him, her eyes heavy lidded.

"Let's go back to your place," she whispered.

His eyebrows shot up, but he was never one to turn down her advances. In one smooth motion he sat himself upright, set her down on the floor, and then stood up himself. He held her hand as he dragged her out of the room.

She giggled. Being madly in love with someone not only let you cast away your fears… it let you cherish the other person all the more.

When the light shines,

Let the light shine in 'til the morning.