Chapter 23

News

"What's wrong?"

A pair of ruby red eyes were boring holes into Levy's soul. She buried her head in his chest to avoid being figured out.

"It's nothing, I just don't feel well," she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Why are you nervous?"

'Oh, right. He can smell me,' she thought to herself, not saying anything. What could she say?

"I'm tired," she said, settling to go to sleep.

Gajeel didn't push her any further, though he knew she was hiding something, but he trusted her, so he would let her tell him when she was ready.

Levy slept the morning away, waking up in the middle of the afternoon. She smiled, glad that she finally felt rested enough to venture out of the hut. She looked around, not finding Gajeel next to her. She sighed a breath of relief, not wanting to be questioned. As she got closer to the bedroom door, she smelled something amazing, making her stomach growl. She rested her hand on her stomach, her nerves working themselves up again.

As she left the room, she found Gajeel in the kitchen cooking.

"Mmm, that smells amazing," she said, hugging him from behind.

"Feelin' any better, Shrimp?" He asked. He could still smell the nerves on her.

"Yes, actually. I think I feel well enough to go to the guild."

She wanted to occupy her mind with reading or anything, honestly. She couldn't stay in this hut.

"Yer avoiding me." He meant to say that in his head, but it slipped from his lips somehow.

Levy's face reddened. "No, I'm not! I just want to get some reading done," she said, puffing her cheeks.

"Alright," he chuckled. "Ya hungry?"

Gajeel and Lily walked Levy to the guild, leaving her with Lucy and Cana.

"What do you know?" Gajeel asked the exceed as they were walking through the woods looking for a spot to train.

Lily knew all too well what his partner was talking about, but it wasn't his place to say anything. Unfortunately for him, that meant he had to lie.

"I don't know what you're referring to."

"Don't play dumb, cat! Levy told ya something this morning, didn't she?"

"No," Lily put a paw to his chin. "Not that I can remember."

Gajeel growled, trying not to get angry. He wasn't stupid. He knew whatever was going on with Levy, Lily had to know about it too. After all, outside of Lucy, Lily was her best friend. It bothered him, and he was going crazy not knowing what it was.

He too needed to distract his mind, so he stopped where he was, deeming the area a good enough place to train.

"Let's go," Gajeel said, getting ready to spar.

Lily knew this was going to be a bit intense given the mood the dragon slayer was in, so he prepared himself mentally.

Back at the guild, Levy couldn't hold anything down. She'd spent most of the time in the bathroom.

"Porlyusica said this would happen," Lucy said.

"I know," the petite woman groaned. "It sucks."

To be honest, Levy was worried. The older woman told her that since this was a dragon slayer's baby, it would consume a large portion of Levy's energy, causing her to feel tired often. That meant that would leave her unable to fight for long periods of time. 'This is some pretty screwed up timing,' she thought to herself. What is she going to do when that guy tries to attack again? She hated leaving it all to Gajeel. She wanted to be the one to come to the rescue, too. Being the damsel in distress was not her strong suit.

As much as she wanted to avoid him, she wanted nothing more but to be in his embrace, for him to tell her everything would be ok.

"Can you call Gajeel, please?" Levy asked, feeling miserable. She decided to tell him and get it over with.

"Sure," the blonde said, headed toward Cana.

After a few minutes, Lucy came back over, kneeling next to her. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

"I'm just going to tell him. I won't be able to keep it from him very long anyway," Levy said. I just want to go home and rest comfortably, without being so worked up. But I'm so scared."

Lucy put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"He is your mate, Lev. There's nothing to fear. I can't imagine he'd be angry with you. He wouldn't reject you. If the only thing you're afraid of is putting more stress on him, don't be. It's already done, and it's not going anywhere, and I think the longer you keep it from him, the more damage it'll do."

Lucy was right. She had to tell him soon or it would escalate.

Levy was waiting outside when Gajeel got to the guild. She wanted to be alone while she waited to collect her thoughts.

"Levy," Gajeel said as he appeared from the woods, concern etched on his face.

Levy immediately went into his arms, tears threatening to fall from her honey eyes.

"Let's go home," she said, sniffling. She was going to tell him, but she wanted to do it at home, where she was comfortable. "I'll tell you what's going on once we're there."

Gajeel nodded, picking her up and darting off into the trees.

They were almost home when Gajeel felt a familiar ominous presence. 'No, no, no! Not now!' He thought to himself, setting Levy down. She felt the presence too and it clicked in her head who it was when she saw Gajeel's reaction.

"This can't be happening," she said under her breath. She panicked internally.

"Stay next to me at all times," he demanded.

She nodded, willing to do anything to get out of this situation. She suddenly saw a tall, hooded man.

"Levy McGarden," The man said.

"Who are you?!" She needed answers. This dick killed her parents and was now trying to kill her.

"You can call me Axos," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Gajeel growled.

"Well, it seems plans have changed. I'm going to kill her now."

"Why?! What did I ever do to you?!"

"You were born into the McGarden family," Axos appeared above them, sending his poison iron blade down in between the two, separating them.

The impact the blow of the sword created sent them flying opposite directions, tumbling along the ground.

"I assume he's told you about my sword," he says, casually walking up to Levy.

SOLID SCRIPT: Hole

Levy created a hole to try to trap Axos, but he was too fast, anticipating her attack and appearing a few feet to the side of the hole. Gajeel took advantage of her attack and went in for his own, drawing his iron dragon's sword and launching toward him. Axos then disappeared, appearing behind the dragon slayer, cutting his back with the sword.

Gajeel fell to the ground, weakened by the poison. Levy used her solid script to create iron when Axos caught the iron chunk and destroyed it with his sword.

"Ah, ah, ah. I want him to watch."

Levy was almost out of energy and could only use one or two more attacks. She wished she could use some of the spells from the tablets she'd translated, but she knew she didn't have enough energy to summon the magic needed for them.

SOLIC SCRIPT: Wind

Levy cast a gust of wind that was strong enough to knock him back a few steps, but it wasn't enough. She couldn't handle him in this state.

"You're cute," he laughed. "You're too weak to fight me." Axos walked over to the slayer.

"How's that poison treating you?"

"Get away from him!" Levy yelled.

The man turned around. "Oh, you don't want to watch your mate die, do you?"

He appeared in front of her, the blade close to her neck. "Don't worry, you won't."

SOLID SCRIPT: Slice

Levy barely got him, her attack tearing his coat.

"You bitch," he said, appearing behind her and knocking her to the ground.

"Levy!" Gajeel said, summoning the strength to beat this guy down.

He stood weakly, trying to compose himself, as Axos grabbed Levy by her hair. He knew that was the last attack she had left, and he took advantage of it with no hesitation.

"How does it feel to watch the mother of your unborn child die?!" Axos said sadistically, holding the sword to her back.

Gajeel's eyes widened, the thought of her being pregnant never crossing his mind. He looked at Levy. Tears formed in her eyes as she nodded, devastated that he had to find out this way.

Gajeel didn't even think twice. He became so overcome with rage toward the man, a dark blue aura was visible around his body, going into his Iron Shadow Dragon mode. He covered his body in his iron scales, speeding toward Axos. He attempted to shove the blade through Levy's back, but Gajeel was too fast, using his iron lance to knock him away.

Axos slid backward, using his hand to slow him down. Gajeel immediately grabbed Levy and slipped into the shadows in an attempt to get her to safety. The man didn't very much like their planning to get away. He grew angry, slamming his poison iron sword into the ground, causing the earth to rumble and crack around them, sensing where they were. He then appeared in front of the two swinging his sword, grazing Gajeel's arm.

It didn't even register in Gajeel's mind that he was hit. He himself moved fast enough to sneak up behind Axos and hit him in the side of the head with his iron lance, sending Axos barreling through several trees. Gajeel rested Levy behind a mossy tree trunk so he could have full use of his anger.

Darting off toward the hooded man, Gajeel changed his other arm into his iron lance and swung, destroying everything on his way to Axos. Satisfied when he approached the man seeing that he was, in fact, injured. Still, not enough to his liking. He wanted to kill.

"That seemed to strike a nerve," Axos smirked.

Gajeel grabbed him by the collar and was about to slam him into the ground when he disappeared and appeared to the side of the iron shadow dragon, fed up with this game. He was going to kill him now. He drew his poison iron blade and lunged at Gajeel, only to be taken aback by what he saw.

Gajeel grabbed the sword, stopping and smashing it with his bare hand. He looked at the hooded man with so much rage and fury. All he wanted to do was tear him limb from limb.

"Yer gonna die," he laughed maniacally, turning his arm into his sword and bringing it down on the man in front of him.

Once the dust settled, the man was no longer there. Gajeel looked around, not sensing his presence anymore. He roared in anger upon the realization that Axos vanished before he could get to him. His fist slammed into the shattered earth under him.

His anger dissipated quickly as his attention was directed toward Levy. He was in front of her in the blink of an eye.

"Gajeel," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

He was at a loss for words. The woman he loved more than anything in the world was pregnant with his kid. That was the most amazing thing to happen to him and he didn't know how to express that. All he could do was take her in his arms.

"So that's why you smell so good," he said, her scent relaxing him.

She was surprised. She expected him to be anything but calm. Before she could say anything, he had her in his arms, carrying her home.

"Gajeel! Levy!" Lily said, alarmed when he saw them entering the hut with injuries. "What happened? Is Levy ok?"

Gajeel grunted in acknowledgment, not wanting to speak to anyone other than his mate. He made it to their room and sat her on the bed, sitting next to her and taking her hands in his.

"Gajeel," she said, looking at his hand. "You're hurt."

The adrenaline finally wore off and the pain in his back and hand began to register in his brain, but the only thing he could think about was his Shrimp. Levy knew he wouldn't think about his injuries until they talked about the elephant in the room.

She leaned back on the bed, her hands covering her face.

"I was going to tell you when we got home, but that guy screwed everything up," she fought back tears.

Gajeel was confused. Why was she crying? This was an amazing thing. Surely, she didn't think he'd be upset, right? He moved her hands from her face, staring into her big eyes.

"Levy, this is the best thing to ever happen to me," he said, trying to find the words to make her feel better.

"Wha…" She suddenly felt his lips on hers, resulting in the most passionate kiss they've ever shared. She felt silly. She knew his love for her was eternal, so why did she think he'd be upset?

Gajeel was over the moon. Nothing could bring him down. He now felt that he had a reason to live. He had a purpose, and that was to raise this kid the be the best they could be. He just wanted to protect Levy, now. He didn't care if he would come off as overprotective or if anyone found out about them. His number one priority was keeping her safe at all times.

He kissed her more, wanting to take her right there, but he was too injured to do anything. It was amazing that he could carry Levy all the way home without collapsing.

"Gajeel," she said. "Let Wendy come over and heal you."

Levy was concerned for his wellbeing, as he'd been gotten by the sword twice. She sat up to tell Lily to find Wendy and Carla, when Gajeel gently nudged her back down, not wanting her to do anything.

"I'm not fragile, you know." She smiled as she got up and left the room.

Gajeel had a smile pinned to his face. Even in a tremendous amount of pain, he only thought of the future and what it held.

Lily led Wendy and Carla to the hut, making them promise to not tell anyone where they lived, per Gajeel's request.

"He's injured pretty bad," Lily said, inviting the two into their home.

Wendy entered the hut looking at all the books scattered everywhere. She hung around Levy enough to know her mess when she saw it.

"Is Levy here?" She asked.

Lily remembered that only a few people knew about those two. He thought it would be best for her to see for herself. He knocked on the bedroom door.

"Come in," Levy said.

Wendy entered, seeing Levy tending to an injured Gajeel.

"Hey, Wendy," Levy greeted warmly. She knew she could trust Wendy to not say anything to anyone at the guild about their relationship.

Wendy smiled. "Levy." She walked over to the taller blue-haired mage and gave her a hug, resting her hand on Levy's stomach afterward. Her eyes widened.

"I know," the script mage said. "I just found out yesterday."

"Congratulations. I know Gajeel must be very happy," Wendy said. "He's harnessing a lot of energy."

"He?" Gajeel said.

Wendy turned her attention to the injured dragon slayer. "I just feel like it'll be a boy," she smiled at him.

Gajeel closed his eyes as Wendy worked her magic, thoughts of the future swirling around his mind.