Chapter 30

United

Lily arrived at Natsu's house, only to find out that Levy and Lucy had left. The exceed put a paw to his face, the hole he was in getting deeper and deeper. 'I definitely screwed up big time. Gajeel won't let me off easily, that's for sure.' He thought of where she might have gone, considering all possibilities. He highly doubted she went back home unless Lucy walked her back, but knowing the state of mind Levy was in, she may have convinced the blonde to take her on a job or something.

Lucy was strong-minded, though, and Gajeel and Lily knew they could always count on Lucy to keep their Little Blue safe. Lily flew off toward home, certain the celestial mage did the right thing.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked her short friend.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Levy walked in silence for a bit, not wanting to go home. "Hey, do you think you could take me on like, a translating job, or something?"

Lucy looked at Levy incredulously. "Seriously? You think I'm going to let you go on a job?"

"Come on!" Levy begged. "I just need a little bit of Jewel so I can go shopping, or whatever."

"Now you're just looking for any reason to not be home!"

"Can you blame me?" Levy asked. "I haven't left at all one time this week. The only time I get some fresh air is if I open a window." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Just wait for Gajeel, Lev."

Levy was getting frustrated. Nobody would listen to her, but they all listened to the brute that wasn't even there! No one understood how she felt. They all had the freedom to leave and do whatever they wanted. She always got the same response, "wait for Gajeel to get back." Screw that. Levy was her own person, and she was going to do her own thing, regardless of what anyone else thought.

Levy huffed, contemplating running away from her tall friend. Hell, Lucy was too lazy to go chasing after her and she knew it. Horologium was her go-to spirit when she didn't want to travel, and he was pretty slow, himself. Levy could easily outrun her.

"Oops," Levy said. "I dropped something."

She bent down, pretending to pick something up, then darting off giggling when Lucy wasn't looking. She had to admit, it was pretty thrilling. She was doing something she had no business doing and that made her adrenaline pump. She hadn't been able to really do anything exciting since she found out she was pregnant, so any fun she could have was worth it. She ran in no particular direction, finally feeling free.

Lucy sighed upon hearing Levy run away.

"Levy!" She yelled after her.

Lucy started to feel dismayed. Did Levy forget that there was a psycho killer after her? Why does she keep doing dumb things? She couldn't wait for Gajeel to come back. Levy'd been absolutely looney since he's been gone. Lucy had no choice but to chase after her, which was the last thing she wanted to do. The celestial mage scanned the area, but she was already gone.

"Ugh!" She pulled out her keys, determining the right spirit to summon.

Lily was almost home when he spotted Lucy.

"Lucy!" He landed at her feet.

"Lily!"

"Where's Levy?" They both said simultaneously.

"Crap," the blonde muttered.

"You let her go?" Lily asked, upset.

"Wait, what? She wasn't my responsibility!"

"She is when she's with you," the exceed argued.

"Well, she just ran off! I don't know where she went! I was about to go find her!"

"Putting your friend's life at risk," Pantherlily shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Like you weren't doing the same thing! And besides, I was walking her home. If you would have just brought her over in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Lucy said.

"Me bringing her over would not have stopped her from running off when you decided to walk her home."

"Whatever. Let's go find her," Lucy said.

"Do you at least know which direction she went?"

"I think that way," she said, pointing.

"Don't concern yourself," he said. "I'll go find her."

Lily flew off in the direction Lucy pointed. After all, Levy was his responsibility, unfortunately.

Levy was somewhere in Magnolia, walking around and enjoying the sights. She'd seen these buildings a million times before, but everything was better when you weren't supposed to do it, right?

The first thing she did was eat. Her cravings were out of control recently, and she would try to find anything to replace Gajeel's iron, but nothing came close. She tried regular iron, but that didn't help, and she even tried her own iron, and that didn't help either. It had to be Gajeel's. After she ate, she went into a few shops, looking at baby clothes and trinkets.

After a bit, she'd decided she should go home. It was getting late in the evening and the sun was starting to set. 'Lucy is probably worried sick about me, and who knows where Lily is.'

She was almost out of the city when she saw two very interesting looking people. The woman, who was in all red was very pretty, and Levy almost envied her. The male that was with her was sharp. His suit, his hair, everything looked a perfect frosty white. She wondered if they dated, and if so, they were a good-looking couple. She wanted to compliment the woman on her looks, but decided she was too far away.

Levy saw a kiwi stand and wanted to stop and bring a few kiwis and some juice back for Lily. It was the least she could do for making him deal with her all week. As she walked to the stand and stood in line, she heard a voice behind her.

"Oh, shoot! My hair tie snapped."

"Don't worry. We'll find you another one," a male's voice said.

Levy turned around and saw the good-looking pair behind her in line at the kiwi stand.

"Here," Levy said, rooting around her bag. "I have another one you can have!"

Levy pulled out a yellow headband, identical to the one she had on and handed it to the pretty woman.

"Sorry, it's not white, but it'll at least keep the hair out of your face," Levy said cheerfully.

"Thank you," the woman said, graciously taking the ribbon and tying her hair back.

"You're so pretty! You guys look so cute together!"

"Oh, we're not together," the woman chuckled. "This here is my partner. We do business together."

"Revan," The man said, bowing. "At your service."

"And I am Jade."

"I'm Levy! Nice to meet you both!" Levy said, happy to have made new friends.

Levy collected her kiwis and started toward home, feeling good about her day.

"How sweet of her," Jade said as she ran her fingers through her hair, not knowing that was the dragon slayer's mate.

"Yeah, she was a cute little thing, wasn't she?"

"One kiwi juice, please," Revan said to the vendor.

"Coming right up."

It was dark now and Levy was still walking home. She was in the middle of the woods, and dangerously close to collapsing from exhaustion. 'I'm so stupid!' She cursed herself internally, wishing she was curled up in bed.

"I'm so tired," she said to herself. "I should have stayed with Lucy. Now, look at me. I'm about to fall over."

She spotted a boulder she could sit on and rest for a few seconds and was almost there when she started seeing spots. She'd passed out once before she found out Gajeel's iron gave her energy, now, she'd pushed herself too hard and her body desperately needed rest.

She'd almost fallen completely to the ground when a pair of large arms caught her and whisked her away. She was barely able to open her eyes, and she saw all she needed to see to make all her worries disappear.

"Gajeel…" she said, her voice barely audible.

"Don't scare me like that ever again," he said, holding her close. "When I tell you to stay put, stay. Put."

"I'm sorry," she said, tears falling from her eyes. She held him tightly. "I missed you so much!"

Gajeel wanted nothing more but to embrace her right there, but they were still a little bit away from their house and his main focus was to get home.

After a few minutes, he slowed down when he knew they were close to home and within her enchantments. He kissed her, wanting to do that since the day he left.

"Gajeel!" Lily flew toward them, landing at their feet.

"Oi! What the fuck, Lily!" Gajeel spat. "You weren't supposed to let her leave!"

"Gajeel… it wasn't his fault," Levy said. "I left on my own."

"He shouldn't have let that happen," he glared at the cat.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel." Lily didn't really have an excuse.

"Yer sorry?" The dragon slayer snorted. "What if something happened to her?!"

Pantherlily didn't know what to say, fearing if he said anything, it would set Gajeel off.

"Come on," Levy said, grabbing his hand. "I'm fine, I just needed some fresh air."

"Yeah, well, you were gone for a couple of hours, and nobody could find ya, according to Bunny Girl."

"You saw Lucy?" She asked.

"Yeah, Shrimp, I went everywhere looking for ya. Damn near went crazy trying to find ya. Imagine how scared I was when I got home, and you weren't there."

Levy looked at the ground, tears forming in her eyes again.

"Aw, Shrimp," he said, his thumb and index finger on her chin, lifting her head.

"Let's go inside, I'm tired," she said.

The two lay in bed, finally in each other's arms.

"You look so tired," he said, his hand resting on her growing bump.

"I didn't sleep much," she said, her hand resting on his. "But what about you? You look even worse."

He did look terrible. He had dark bags under his eyes and large scars on his arms and chest, and one on his face. She ran her fingers across his new scars, worried.

"I'm fine, now that I'm home."

He didn't want to tell her about his encounter or how he didn't sleep either. She was worried enough as it was. All he needed was to get some rest and he'd be good as new.

"I don't think I can make it without you again," she said softly.

He didn't know if he could leave her again either, but he knew he had to.

"It won't be for a while, Blue."

She looked at him, her eyes wide and brimming with tears.

"Please don't leave me again. I'm a mess without you."

"Levy…"

This was why he left without her knowledge. He knew she was going to do this, and it pained him seeing her this way.

"I… have to," he struggled to say. "I have to provide."

"I can help, too," she said, hoping for a positive response.

"I can't let you, and you know that."

Levy didn't bother arguing, she knew he was firm on his decision, and she just wanted to enjoy his presence.

She snuggled into his chest, his heartbeat soothing her to sleep.

"Hey, Gajeel?"

She waited for a response, but he was already asleep.

They both slept for quite some time, comfortable in each other's presence at last. Levy slept for about fifteen hours, waking up feeling more rested than she'd been in a week. She looked over at a sleeping Gajeel. She watched the slow rise and fall of his chest from his deep breathing. If she hadn't heard him snoring, she'd have thought he was unconscious. 'He must have been more drained than I was.'

She got up and tiptoed out of the room, looking for Lily.

"Hey," the cat said, emerging from his room. "You slept for quite a bit; I was starting to worry."

"Yeah, I finally got some real sleep," she said. "I'm a little worried about Gajeel. He's still sleeping."

"He'll wake up in a day or two. This usually happens when he's pushed himself to his limit."

Levy thought about how he was going to have to do this a few more times, and the toll it would take on his body. Lily saw the concern etched on her face and wanted to make her feel better.

"Levy," he said, putting a paw on her calf. "He's built for things like this. If it was truly dangerous, he wouldn't go through with it. He's got so much more on the line now, I doubt he would risk it all."

"There has to be another way to earn Jewel!"

Lily thought about it. It seemed them being apart took a physical and mental toll on them both.

"Perhaps you both could rejoin the Council? That way you're safe most of the time and you guys are together."

Levy hadn't thought about it, but giving it some reflection, she saw more pros than cons. She'd be able to get out of the house more often, she'd be able to work small jobs to earn her own Jewel, and she'd be by her lover's side. The only con she could think of was the fact that it required a bunch of traveling and time away from the guild. The next challenge was getting Gajeel to agree.

Levy cleaned the house and cooked Gajeel's favorite dish, topped with her iron so he would have something to look forward to after he woke up. It'd now been almost a full day since he fell asleep, and Levy still couldn't help but worry. She'd check on him periodically and maybe lay with him for a few minutes or so, satisfied when his body reacted to her touch.

She stripped out of her clothes and ran a bath, ready to relax for the night.

"Ya gonna invite me in?"

Levy turned around to see her olive-skinned God leaning on the doorframe. She was breathless at the sight of his body. He looked even more ripped than usual.

"Cat got your tongue?" He smirked as he walked toward her.

He took in the view of his beautiful mate, noticing her belly had gotten a little bigger. It was amazing how so many things could change in a week's time. He noticed her hips and breasts were starting to fill in a bit which piqued his interest. He stopped inches in front of her, his eyes pooling with lust.

Levy watched as he came closer, getting butterflies as their bodies barely touched.

"Gajeel…" her voice barely a whisper.

"My baby is treating your body well, I see," he said, facing her toward the mirror.

She noticed slight, but noticeable changes in her body. She was a bit curvier, though, she couldn't complain, she was tired of being so small, anyway.

The two stood in the mirror, his arms draped around her body. He still couldn't believe that he'd got her. He'd got the woman of his dreams and made her his.

"I want you so bad right now," he whispered in her ear.

Those words were like music to her ears. She'd missed his touch over the past week.

"Smells like you want me too," he said, picking her up and carrying her to their bedroom.

He wanted –no, he needed her. It'd been far too long since he felt the inside of her walls. He laid her gently on the bed, planting kisses all over her body.

"Tell me what you want," he said, licking the inside of her thigh, knowing damn well she couldn't respond when he had her like this.

Levy's body begged for his entrance, all without saying a word; his biggest turn on. He now faced a challenge. To tease, or not to tease? Neither of them wanted to wait but there was something so erotic about making her go crazy for him, it was usually worth the tease.

Now, it seemed wherever or however he touched her, she'd just get wetter and wetter, and that definitely didn't make it easier for him to toy with her. She smelled so good, he bet she tasted even better. His tongue dove into her core in an attempt to quench his everlasting thirst for her release, relishing in the sweet moans coming from her lips.

She tugged gently at his thick mane, signaling her soon release.

"Already?" He came up for air, smirking, not wanting her to let go just yet.

She whimpered in response, trying to pull him back down but he wouldn't budge.

"No, Shrimp," he said, crawling over her, his lips meeting the mark on her neck. He wanted to experience release together.

He sat upright, lifting her legs so that they were resting on his shoulders, staring at the view before him. He let the tip of his dick slide up and down her clit, coating it in her essence. She trembled at the sensation, her body seemingly a million times more sensitive than usual.

"Ga…jeel…" She moaned breathily, eager for him to fill her walls with his dick. She traced his abs with her fingertips, making him go wild. He shoved his length into her core, enjoying the pure bliss from being one with his mate.