This fic features the ship Gajeel x Levy, although I will occasionally hint at my other OTPs. ENJOY!!!

(Oh and I'm having fun with the new feature added where you can seperate all the text with a line, as you'll see below lol)

Levy was sitting alone in her room, crying.

She wasn't sure when it had started or when it was gonna end, but she was in tears. Sobbing. Making soft, pained sounds she'd never make in front of anyone else.

Why?

Because her Gajeel was gone.

He was such a brave man, rushing into danger without caring what would happen to him. Always right there at her side when she needed him most, swooping in to save her at the last second when all hope seemed lost. And she'd never admit it, but she loved him.

Gajeel was such an odd person. He was a metal dragon slayer, which meant he drew his strength from all things metal. He had long, thick black hair that stuck out in random places, flowing down to just below his shoulder blades. He had brown skin and metal piercings running all the way up both sides of his face. His eyes we're blood red, he had a very muscular figure, and his sharply defined features were often set into a nasty glare.

He was a very scary-looking person, but Levy found him to be... Remarkably handsome.

Plus, he had the odd talent of singing. His voice was incredible, strangely enough. Levy loved to listen to him sing. It always made her entire day brighter.

Gajeel Redfox, the only man she'd ever love. And he was gone.

Levy often liked to think that even though he'd been missing for a month and a half now, he was still alive and well. That he was doing everything in his power to come back to her. But it had been so long that the little spark of hope she held in her heart was beginning to fade away.

How had he disappeared? He was a dragon slayer after all, so there wasn't much he couldn't do. He could take care of himself just fine, right? Well, theoretically speaking, yes. A thousand times yes. But even the strongest amongst us are susceptible to tragedy. To accidents. To human error.

Levy had been attacked by a group of dark guild members that wanted some of her priceless books. These books held the key to learning a special type of dark magic with the potential to destroy the world, so she would not let these thugs take them from her. However, she was small and weak. They all were strong. So they took the books from her by force and ran away with them after knocking her down. Gajeel gave chase, promising to return her property to her.

That was the last time she saw him.

Gajeel, running after the band of dark guild members, looking strangely majestic and beautiful in the warm orange glow cast over the land at sunset. It was autumn, so the air was crisp and cold and clear. The sun was sinking into the horizon, casting such brilliant colors into the sky that it appeared as though the atmosphere had caught fire. A single fallen leaf, blood red in color, drifted down and landed on Levy's hair. She brushed it off and struggled to her feet, watching Gajeel run further and further away from her.

"You'd better be back soon!" she cupped her hands to her mouth to shout after him.

"I will, Shrimp! I promise!" Gajeel's voice was carried to her on the light breeze whispering through the trees. It made her heart skip a beat.

She watched until he had disappeared from view. Then, she stayed just a little longer, staring out into the darkness, and watched a little more. Finally, she reached the conclusion that he'd definitely be back tomorrow and went home.

He never came back.

Levy never stopped searching for him. She got several of her friends to help her look after a week had gone by. Missing posters were put up all over town. Nobody had seen him, it was like Gajeel had just vanished into thin air. Like he'd evaporated.

Natsu thought to suggest the possibility that Gajeel didn't want to come back for whatever reason. After all, he had been part of a dark guild all his life before joining Fairy Tail. Maybe these particular thugs had reawakened that old evil streak in him. But Levy knew better than that. Even if Gajeel did have an evil streak within him, buried deep down beneath the surface, he'd never just leave without her. And she knew that. He wasn't the kind of person to just leave his precious Shrimp all alone.

So she had to believe that he was out there somewhere, tearing apart the continent to get back to her. He'd come home, she told herself. He'd be back. He had to be.

Levy sniffled pitifully and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"I shouldn't be crying over something so stupid." she grumbled to herself. "He'll be back. I have to believe that. I can't lose faith in him."

There came a soft knock at the door. Her head shot up and she sprang to her feet, running over to the box of tissues she kept beside her bed for when she was sick. She grabbed one and quickly scrubbed her face with it, knowing she probably looked a mess after crying.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy's familiar voice called from outside the locked door. "Are you alright in there?"

"Just one second!" Levy shouted, thoroughly annoyed with this turn of events. Her best friend Lucy had always been one to visit at the worst possible time. "And yeah, I'm fine!"

"You don't sound very fine to me!" Lucy immediately retorted, making the blue-haired girl groan in exasperation.

"Don't be a bitch!" Levy snapped. "Gimme just one second and you can come in!"

She could hear Lucy's annoyed sigh, even through the door. Levy rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom to wash her face. Once she was finished, she had a heated staring contest with her own reflection.

I think I look... Better, I guess. You can barely tell that I've been crying. Levy thought to herself, tilting her head to one side, studying the small girl in the mirror. Pale skin, messy blue hair that just barely reached her shoulders, and golden-brown eyes. She looked an honest-to-god mess, she realized. Her hair was a lot frizzier than usual, since she hasn't brushed it in a couple days, so it was knotted and stuck up in random places.

Like Gajeel's did, she couldn't help but think as she reached for her hairbrush.

"It's not locked, Lu-chan. You can come in." she finally announced, amused at the thought that Lucy could've just tried the door and let herself in.

"You mean to tell me that it's been unlocked this entire time?" Lucy's irritation was obvious in her voice as she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Had you tried the door in the first place, you would've found that out for yourself, dumbass." Levy shouted back, rolling her eyes for the second time that day. "You're on the same team as Natsu-san and Gray-san. I would've thought that their break-and-enter habits would've rubbed off on you by now."

"Of course it hasn't, I wasn't raised by hooligans like they were." she snapped, in response. She appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, both hands on her hips. "Well? Did you miss me?"

"Hmmm..." Levy turned to face the blonde and made a face, pretending to think. "Nope. Didn't miss you at all."

"Feh! You just don't want to admit that I'm your favorite friend that you think about every spare second of your life!" Lucy flipped her long hair over one shoulder and grinned smugly.

"Actually no, that's Freed. He's my favorite friend that I obsess over." Levy smirked, deciding to tease the blonde a little. "Because he's actually nice to me. And he's helpful. And sweet. And quiet. And he doesn't constantly move around like you do, he's good at sitting still. And-..."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Lucy made a sharp exhaling noise as she stormed out into Levy's bedroom and flopped down on the bed.

"Do you really? Because you're still running your mouth like you're hot stuff."

"I am hot stuff! You wish you were!"

"In your dreams!"

Happy to have gotten the last word, Levy finished brushing out her hair and marched into her bedroom, feeling thoroughly spruced up. Perhaps she looked a bit less dead inside now that she'd cleaned up a bit. She decided she'd take a shower after Lucy left, it was good for her.

"So what brings you here?" Levy asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"Freed- your favorite friend- was gonna come up here and check on you but Laxus and the rest of the Thunder Legion dragged him off on another mission before he could, so he asked me nicely to check on you for him." Lucy turned her head to look at the smallest girl, brown eyes sparkling with concern.

"Ah. Well, I'll make sure to say arigato to him when he comes back, that's very sweet of him." Levy nodded a couple times, digesting the new information. It wasn't uncommon for Freed to worry about her. He was used to taking care of his friends, so naturally she fell under his order of protection. "And I also owe you a huge thanks for doing it for him. Thank you, Lucy." she added, after thinking for a moment.

"It's no problem, Levy." the blonde smiled warmly. "So... Are you really okay? Or are you just saying that to get me off her back?"

"The latter." Levy finally admit with a sigh. "I'm just... Missing Gajeel, as usual."

"Ah. That reminds me, Freed also told me he'd keep an eye out for any clue as to where Gajeel went while he's out. He'll even ask around to see if anyone's seen the metal head too." Lucy nudged the smaller girl's shoulder to get her attention.

"Oh. In that case, I owe him a huge thank you, then. That's really great." Levy tried to smile, but her heart was aching as she thought of Gajeel's smiling face.

"Cheer up, Levy. I'm sure he'll turn up soon. I mean, he's Gajeel! He's almost as strong as Natsu. And if I know him, there's a really good reason why he isn't back yet and it isn't because he died. So keep your chin up, okay? He'll be back. I know he will." Lucy reassured.

Finally, Levy was able to muster a real smile. Because the blonde's words meant a lot to her. "Thank you, Lu-chan. I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, Levy-chan."

Gajeel... I don't know where you are or why you're still out there... But... Wherever you are, I'll always be looking your way.

To be continued...

Sooo what did you guys think? Hope you liked it! Chapter two will be out soon! Pls leave a review and tell me what you think? Love y'all!

-UltimatexAdmin