Levy sat on the front porch and watched Gajeel and the boys with a fond smile. Her fingers twirled in the air, providing a steady stream of magic to the LIGHT she hung near the small group. An hour earlier Miss Izumi had walked to the porch, taken one look at her hole-ridden yard, and literally booted the boys and Gajeel to the barn. They sat under an overhang in the corral and continued to conduct their experiments.

With her light, Levy was able to see the holes in the damp dirt and the steadily growing pile of gleaming metal near Gajeel. Small bites taken out of the chunks and the boys, mainly Ed, would yell at Gajeel if he so much as looked like he would eat the entire thing. According to Al, they needed the evidence for future notes.

A flash of blue light illuminated the trio and when it disappeared, Ed handed Gajeel another silver chunk. Gajeel sniffed it, took a small bite, and promptly gulped down the rest in three bites. Levy chuckled when Ed's outraged shout cut across the yard.

"Hey! You were supposed to save some of that! It's hard to reconstruct!"

"Wow! A little sweet with just a hint of tang. Dunno what you just gave me, but that was the best one yet, Squirt!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK SO SMALL YOU COULD EAT HIM IN A SINGLE BITE!?"

"See, Ed? I told you cadmium would have a sweeter taste to it because of the-"

"WHATEVER! Just write it down. Ok, Metal Monster, try this one."

Gajeel took a small bite and immediately spit it out. Levy could feel the heat of his glare from where she sat.

"What was that, you punk? Tasted like vegetables!"

She smiled when Gajeel tucked Ed under his arm and rubbed his knuckles over the boy's hair. Ed squirmed and yelped, but Al continued making notes and made no move to help his brother.

"I knew there was something sketchy about chromium." he said, pencil flying. "Ok Ed, try zinc next."

"I will, if this big oaf would let go of me!"

Levy laughed again and fed a bit more magic into her spell. The rain had died down into a soft trickle, but the sky was dark from the cloud cover. The sun had set early and the air was thick with the scent of rain.

The door opened behind her and Miss Izumi settled onto the porch next to her. The woman patted her knee in invitation and Levy flew to the offered seat. They studied the boys for a few moments, Miss Izumi making an occasional grunt that Levy suspected was suppressed laughter. Al and Ed flipped through their book and it seemed as if Gajeel would have a short break from his impromptu meal. Levy watched his hand snake toward the pile and take a piece of metal. He plopped it into his mouth before the boys could notice.

"He's lookin' much better. More like the other Draaks I've seen."

"Have you traveled a lot, then?" Levy asked, turning her attention away from the boys.

Miss Izumi's brow furrowed. "Not too much, but I have visited all of the clans. They're a fascinating culture that takes pride in their heritage, but aren't afraid to mingle with other races. I don't know why people are always so afraid of them."

"Maybe because they look different?"

"And wings and a tail are so much more common." Miss Izumi raised her eyebrow and her mouth twitched. Levy returned the smile.

"Yeah, seems hypocritical to me too."

"Obviously not everyone is afraid. There's always people floating around with a little bit of Draak blood in their veins. But your Draak over there is definitely full-blooded. No way in Fiore he can't be."

Levy ignored the way the woman emphasized 'your Draak' and was ecstatic to finally satisfy her curiosity. "How can you tell? About being full-blooded or not?" She had been dying to learn more about Gajeel's culture and people, but the guild library was shockingly bare when it came to the elusive race.

"It's hard to tell if someone's only part Draak 'cause the more obvious features like the scales, eyes and teeth usually dilute after just one generation. The main way you'll know is the motion sickness."

"Really?"

Miss Izumi crossed her arms. "Yep. All Draaks have terrible motion sickness down to even the third or fourth generation. Get sick on anything and everything that moves."

Levy thought of Wendy and Natsu, who always seemed to get sick on anything other than their own two feet. "We have two Faireis that get sick a lot. Natsu even threw up when Gajeel just shook him inside a jar."

Miss Izumi nodded. "Wouldn't be surprised then if they had some Draak blood hiding somewhere. What kind of magic do they have? There's a Fire Clan, Wind, Iron, Light and Shadow."

"Well, Natsu has fire magic and it's really strong too," she answered, drawing her knees to her chin. "But Wendy mostly uses healing magic so she might not be part Draak after all."

"Not necessarily," the woman shook her head, "The Wind Clan is known for being healers and herbalists. You should ask your friends about their families and see where their grandparents were from."

"That would be interesting. But can I ask you something?" She waited for the woman to nod before continuing. "Why are you telling me all this? I'm grateful because I've been wanting to know for so long, but it's just a little strange."

"I just figured you'd want to know as much as you could so that you could be prepared."

Levy frowned, lowering her legs. "Prepared for what?"

"When the two of you have kids of your own."

Levy jerked backward, nearly falling off her spot. "W-what are you talking about! I've never, I mean, Gajeel and I aren't like that-" She waved her hands frantically, her entire body turning warm.

Miss Izumi snorted, "Oh please, it's clear as day that you're in love with him. And judging by the way he's always watchin' you and even now keeps eyeballing this direction, I'd say the same thing about him too."

"No, he can't...you really think Gajeel…" She shook her head. It was just too impossible.

"Like I said, I know dragons and I know Draaks. They are directly related, you know, and dragons were known for being extremely territorial and protective of those they cared about. They're also social creatures," Miss Izumi added, raising her finger, "always wanting to be right next to the members of their clans. The boy probably doesn't even realize he's following his natural instincts every time he leans against you."

"How...how did you know he does that? I don't...that is...um," Levy poked her fingers together. Her face flamed in embarrassment, yet she was secretly thrilled with the amount of information she was getting. Gajeel cared about her? That's why he had been messing with her hair lately?

"But that's enough for now," Miss Izumi said, shaking her leg to dislodge Levy so she could stand. "I'm sure that old guild master of yours could answer any more of your questions. He probably doesn't want me telling you too much right now."

"Wait," Levy said, hovering in front of the door so the woman couldn't leave. "Has our master been contacting you? Why?"

"He called in a favor and asked me to look into something for him. And that's all the information you're gettin'! He warned me about how abnormally curious you are."

The woman gently pushed her out of the way and went back inside. Levy scratched her head, confused at the strange conversation. She took a deep breath and focused more magic into her light spell. An outraged cry caught her attention.

Somehow Ed had been placed in another headlock and Al was being pushed away with an iron leg. Gajeel lounged in the dirt, grinning wickedly while chomping on a long piece of metal that both boys tried in vain to retrieve.

"Please, Mr. Gajeel, you can't eat the fence! It was brother's idea, I swear! We're sorry, we'll make you something less yucky this time!"

So...my silly brain is already planning a crossover sequel with Ed, Al and Gajeel. Don't know when I'll write/post it, but it'll happen one of these days!