Chapter 7
For all that had happened to her over such a short length of time, Levy was especially proud of herself for the level of self-control she possessed. And, considering the fact that she was currently floating in the open ocean, on top of a merman as if she were a baby otter, well...a different princess would have most likely drowned from shock ages ago.
Who am I kidding...this is insane!
It took a surprising amount of effort for Levy to keep her body completely relaxed as Gajeel had requested. Not that she was afraid of the ocean; she learned to swim at a very young age and snuck onboard ships for as long as she could remember. But swimming while surrounded by attentive servants and riding on a ship with those who treated her as a princess was vastly different from swimming with nothing but the open sky for miles and the nearest landmass who knows how far away, with only a devastatingly handsome merman for company.
Now why'd I have to go think that!?
Praying to the mages that Gajeel couldn't hear her thunderous pulse, Levy tilted her head just enough to see the bottom of Gajeel's chin. She was still shocked and amazed by how other-worldly he looked, but what was more surprising was how he somehow remained remarkably human-like.
His smooth, gray-toned skin was cool beneath her arms, his jaw sharp and strong, and his very human hands cradled her gently against his strong chest. But every so often the current would make his tailfin float and tickle her skin, or the sun would glint off the small, silver scales surrounding his neck and covering the broad shoulders she had held onto so tightly. He was the perfect blend of fish and land; so strange and foreign, yet so familiar that Levy couldn't help but feel completely safe in his presence.
Gajeel tilted his chin, red eyes catching hers, and Levy floundered for a reason for her staring.
"So um...where are we going?"
Not that she was in any hurry for him to leave. There was so much more she wanted to learn about Gajeel; where he was from, who his friends were, what he did for fun. Though the scars covering his well-muscled arms, which she may or may not have looked at a teensy tiny bit when studying his arm fins, showed him to be at least somewhat active in his hobbies. But just what did a merperson do for fun?
"You need be finding home?"
Gajeel's soft question brought reality crashing down on Levy's head. Of course she needed to be getting home. She had no idea how long it had been since the shipwreck and Lucy would be worried sick. Not to mention her father. Levy bit back a groan, already dreading the scolding she would receive when she got home.
"Yes, I suppose I do need to get home." She sighed heavily, flopping her arms into the water.
The movement barely made their bodies ripple on the water. Levy smiled, once again thinking of her favorite furry ocean animal, and felt a strange sense of peace wash over her.
Her legs sank into the water as Gajeel shifted upright and twisted her to look at him. Her chin dunked under water, making her chest tighten, but Gajeel's strong hold on her arm prevented her from sinking further.
He tilted his head, his ruby red eyes boring into her. "You leaving...present?"
"Present…" Levy whispered to herself, spitting out sea water.
She was immensely impressed with his range of language, considering the fact that she didn't even know what kind of language a merperson actually spoke, but for all of her own studying it was still challenging to get through the language barrier.
Gajeel must have seen her confused look, for he scratched his head and grimaced. "You...leave? You, um…" He growled low in his throat, a strange gurgling noise coming from his moving lips.
He turned back to her, a spark in his eye and slowly speaking each word as if sounding it out. "You...do you need...be leaving?"
"Oh!" Her face heated, certain she heard a note of disappointment in his accented words. "My family will be worried. They...probably think I'm hurt."
She hoped she used simple enough words for him to understand. Gajeel huffed, his face pulled into a slight pout and his nose scrunched in an adorable way that contradicted his gruff exterior.
"No leave." He pulled her arms and drew her close, close enough that she could see the dark flecks in his eyes.
She pulled her lips, trying to make her face look as sad as her heart felt at leaving him. "I have to go home."
Another growl, but Gajeel loosened his hold enough for her to float in the ocean on her own.
"Where you be living?"
Levy treaded water and looked around the endless expanse of ocean, trying not to think about just how helpless she was without Gajeel's help. She caught sight of a small landmass in the distance, most likely the island they just floated from, but with no other landmarks in sight, finding her home would be almost impossible.
"I'm not sure," she shook her head, blinking a drop of seawater from her eye. "Maybe we should swim back to the island?"
Gajeel tilted his head, his mouth moving silently as he digested her words. Levy could have smacked herself.
Right! Simple words, Levy...simple.
"Um, follow the land? The surface?" She pointed to the island in the distance. "Maybe the land will help me find home?"
She tilted her body and moved her arms in front of her. Feet kicking, and splashing a good amount of water, she slowly made her way back toward the island. Spotting a small outcropping of rocks between them and the mainland, Levy angled her body and tried to remember everything her teachers showed her about proper swimming posture; chest down, hips at the surface, elbow bent. Gajeel ducked under the water, his dark form startling her as he swam beneath her floating body.
He twisted and rolled through the water, the way he swam around her showing just how slowly she was actually moving compared to the merman. His grinning face loomed up at her every time he swam beneath her floundering body. Levy huffed, giving up on proper technique and paddled her arms quickly like a dog.
"It would be hard for you too, if you had someone swimming all around you."
She wasn't sure how much he understood, but she could hear his laughter even through several feet of water. After a few strokes Levy grimaced, her calf muscle spasming in protest at her extended swimming lesson.
It was by far the longest she had ever been in the water and with the excitement of actually talking face to face with a merman, she had completely forgotten she was in a shipwreck the previous night. Her lungs rattled from the smoke and ached everytime she held her breath for any length of time. Levy shook her head, trying to erase the flashes of dark water and the ear shattering sound of the ship exploding.
She couldn't think about it, not if she wanted to keep the panic at bay of realizing she would have died if Gajeel hadn't saved her. She owed him her life and one day she hoped she could repay him.
Shoulders stiff and legs still aching, Levy gave a large sigh and straightened in the water. Her legs struggled to keep her afloat and her mouth dunked under the water. Her breath came in huge gasps and her chest had just begun to tighten when Gajeel surfaced in front of her.
With a cheeky grin he turned and placed her hands on the back of his shoulders, lifting her out of the water.
"Silly human," she heard him mutter and promptly smacked him on the back of the head.
His laughter grew louder. Puffing her cheeks at his bobbing head, Levy waited until the rocks were almost in touching range before shoving off of Gajeel's shoulders and swimming in the water on her own. Finding a smooth surface, she climbed on top of the rocks, careful to not disturb the sea life clinging to the bottom of the rocks, and squeezed water from her hair. Gajeel folded his arms on her thighs and raised a scaled brow.
"You sleep?"
He must be asking if I'm tired...I'm getting better at this!
With a loud huff, she turned away from his smirking face and shook water from her ears. "No, I am not tired."
"Gihee, yes tired."
He poked her on the forehead and with a loud splash hoisted himself onto the rock next to her. Water dripped from his long mane of hair and pooled under them. Levy continued to squeeze water from her shoulder-length hair and eyed the merman sitting next to her. His head swiveled back and forth as he watched the ocean, his hand raking down his face to get rid of the droplets forming along his nose. His shoulder bumped into hers and Levy ducked her head, cheeks flaming at the contact.
Get a grip, Levy! You've been swimming with him for probably hours now, but suddenly you're all shy?
Shaking the mocking voice from her head, Levy cleared her throat and folded her hands in her lap. She tilted her head, waiting for Gajeel to glance at her before speaking.
"So...do all mermen have long hair?"
"Hair?"
Levy nodded, reaching up to touch his tangled mass of hair.
Oh...not tangled, I think it's braided?
"Ah, hair...yes." Levy moved her hand and Gajeel drew his long hair over his shoulder.
"Hair is...importance." Levy drew her attention back to Gajeel's face, not wanting to miss anything he said about his culture. "Long hair importance. Not-long hair." He scrunched his nose and shook his head, waving his hand in dismissal.
Levy nodded. "So long hair is better?"
"Yes! Long hair better, long hair is strong." Was it just her, or did Gajeel's chest puff a bit?
She drew her legs out of the water and sat crossed legged, moving her hand as if measuring his hair. "And is your hair the longest?"
His mouth pulled to the side and he huffed. "Father hair…" he gestured to the top of his tail, just a mere inch or two away from the bottom of his own hair. "Father hair long long."
"Ah I see, so your father is the strongest?" She smirked, finally able to tease him.
Gajeel snorted. "Me almost stronger. Soon stronger." He thumped his chest and Levy was certain he was trying to puff it out more.
"So what about my hair then?" She asked, pulling on her salt-encrusted bandana and fluffing her water-logged blue strands as best as she could. "It goes to my shoulders, so does that mean I'm strong too?"
"Hmm."
Gajeel tapped his chin, taking his time to study every inch of her head. Her scalp began to tingle, making her suddenly aware of the salt on her skin, torn and dripping clothing, and hair in complete disarray. She rubbed her face, hoping to at least wipe off some of the salt film drying around her scalp. Finally Gajeel leaned back and a low click came from his moving mouth.
Levy tilted her head with a frown, not liking the spark she saw in his eyes. "What?"
Gajeel's smile widened and she startled when he patted the top of her head, ruffling her hair. "Silly Levy. Not strong like Gajeel."
"Hey now! I'm plenty strong, see?"
Pushing up her stiff sleeve, Levy bent her arm and flexed as hard as she could, ignoring the fact that her arms didn't even match half of the size of his.
Gajeel shook his head, his booming laughter echoing across the waves. "Gihee, human...tiny. Look like shrimp."
"Did you just call me short?" Of all the insufferable…
"Hmm, short? New human speak. Short...shorther." His red eyes peeked at her from beneath his hair, clearly enjoying her torment. "Short-ed...short-y. Ah, me like! Shorty! Levy is Shorty, gihee."
Levy rose to her knees, shoving his head. "Oh, you meany!"
"Gihee, Levy shorty...tiny shrimp!"
Fighting back a smile, Levy pounded on Gajeel's shoulder, intent on reclaiming her lost honor. She knew she was small compared to the rest of her family and the palace servants always commented on her height, but she would die of embarrassment if she was the only person in the entire world that had a merman teasing her.
"You big dummy," she huffed, giving him a final whack on his arm.
His rumbling laughter tickled her ears and a large hand caught hers. His arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms against his chest. Gajeel's laughter traveled through her body and she froze, heart pounding. After a few moments, the laughter trailed off until she could only hear the sound of the lapping waves. She risked a glance above her and her breath hitched in her chest.
Gajeel stared down at her, his face a mere breath away from hers. She could see every scale covering his nose, every fleck in his dark red eyes. He blinked slowly, his intense gaze seeming to draw her in closer to him. Levy licked her dry lips, face flaming when his eyes flickered to her mouth. A voice in her head warned her that she was getting too involved, too quickly, but she shoved it to the back of her mind. Gajeel's arm tightened around her. Levy felt herself lean forward, eyes closing right as Gajeel lifted a hand to cradle her face closer to him.
"Kiss the girl, kiss the girl!"
Levy shrieked and Gajeel let out an ear-piercing yelp at the loud squawk above their heads. She lurched backward, clutching a hand to her pounding chest. Face on fire, she twisted her head to see the source of the noise.
A large, white cockatoo sat on the rock above their heads. Her head bobbed up and down and her blue fringe of feathers gifted with every squawk. Her wings flapped, revealing more blue feathers underneath.
She was the most beautiful bird Levy had ever seen.
"Kiss the girl! Kiss the girl!" The bird squawked, shattering Levy's good opinion.
Gajeel let out a loud growl and launched himself at the bird. She squawked, a strange cackle that sounded distinctly like laughter, and easily hopped out of the way.
"Silly Gajeel!"
The bird clicked her beak and shrieked, which Gajeel answered with a snap of his teeth and a curled lip. The bird bobbed her head, trilling and whistling. Gajeel lowered himself back onto the rock with another growl. His mouth moved, emitting a series of clicks and whistles, and jerked a thumb toward Levy.
Levy jumped, her face flaming when the bird turned its large eyes to her. She scratched her cheek and looked at the ocean to avoid the bird's piercing gaze.
Wait…why am I getting embarrassed by a bird!?
Just as she was readying herself to give the bird her own strong look, a black shadow floated to the surface next to her legs. Levy stared at the shadow, seeing a dark fish bob to the surface. A blue crab followed after it and scurried onto the rocks. The fish stared and the crab bobbed its eye stalks in her direction.
"Uhh…Gajeel?" She called, waving a hand in the air until it smacked his arm.
The clicks and whistles stopped. She heard him groan and watched as he rasped a hand down his face. More muffled clicks came from behind his hand.
The crab snapped its claws together and scurried onto her leg. Gajeel's hand darted out and grabbed the crab. He tossed it back into the water and gave Levy a shaky smile. Levy smiled back, noticing how Gajeel's ear fins curled backward.
"Kiss the girl! Kiss the girl!"
The cockatoo tittered, the black fish splashed loudly in the water, and the crab climbed onto Gajeel's tail and clacked its claws at his face. Gajeel grabbed the crab and a series of rapid clicks came from his mouth. The fish splashed and Gajeel turned to glare at it. The bird flapped its wings near his face, causing her merman to wave his open hand at the cockatoo. Round and round they went, the air filled with the sounds of sea creatures and Gajeel glaring at each of his friends in turn.
Levy wrapped an arm around her quivering stomach and held her hand against her mouth to hide her smile.
Poor Gajeel…
She listened to the strange conversation, fascinated by the sounds the creatures made. At one point a strange, low ringing came from Gajeel's mouth and she made a mental note to ask him about it when he was done arguing with the sea creatures.
Gajeel let out a final growl and set the crab back on the rocks before sliding back into the water.
"Come…they mean to me," he said, lifting his arms to help her.
"Ok!"
Levy held back her laughter and stood on the reef. She took a step back and rushed forward, launching herself into the air. She broke the surface with a loud splash, feeling a rush of bubbles float past her ears. The current moved around her and she cracked her eyes open. She had just a moment to admire the way Gajeel twisted and turned through the water before she floated back to the surface.
She broke the surface with a loud gasp, Gajeel already positioned in front of her. She grabbed his shoulders and kicked her feet to help propel Gajeel forward. The rustle of feathers sounded above their heads and a blue shadow followed next to Gajeel's shoulder. The black fish darted back and forth underneath them before latching itself onto Gajeel's tail.
The bird squeaked and veered to the left, Gajeel following after.
"Wendy help you home," he called over his shoulder, his head dunking under the water for a moment.
Levy's chest ached, "Tell her thank you for me"
"Wendy understand human. She teach Gajeel…me human speak too."
Gajeel kicked his tail and Levy felt the water rush over her shoulders. Wendy occasionally rested on top of Gajeel's head, but otherwise flew straight and true. Every few minutes the comfortable silence was broken by small bouts of conversation. Levy learned the names of Gajeel's ocean friends and she told him all about Lucy and the people in the castle.
They swam together through the vast ocean until her fingers became wrinkly and the sun passed the highest point in the sky. The waters helped cool her body against the rising temperature, but her temples still began to pound. She kept a watchful eye on Gajeel, noticing how his tail began to slow and he rested on his back more often.
Gajeel twisted in the water and she relaxed her body to allow them to float on top of the waves. His heart pounded against her back. She twisted her head, heart lurching at the grimace on his face.
She patted the arm surrounding her. "Are you alright?"
His tail flapped above the water, "Yes…just tiring. Must resting."
"I'm sorry…" she wiggled her fingers at the black fish suctioned to Gajeel's tail, "Because of me, you–"
"No sorry!"
He turned so quickly that Levy fell into the water. She flailed to the surface and felt Gajeel's strong hands hold her above the waves. She wiped water from her face, cheeks flaming at Gajeel's intense gaze.
"No sorry! Exciting for Gajeel…hooman…wanted to…from little…see–"
"Kiss the girl!" The cockatoo squawked.
Gajeel gave a loud growl and splashed the bird. He shook his head, giving the bird a last glare, then turned his attention back to her.
"How hooman say…best day of life?" He flashed her a pointed-toothed smile and Levy's heart lurched at the sincerity in his voice.
She blinked away the sudden sting in her eyes. "It's the best day of my life too."
I never want to be in another shipwreck again, but I wouldn't trade this time for anything!
"Really?" Gajeel tugged her closer to him.
She nodded, kicking her feet to help keep them afloat. "Yes! I've always wanted to meet a merman too."
"Merman?" Gajeel tilted his head, his scaled brows furrowed adorably.
"Me, human…" she pointed to herself, then squeezed his shoulder, "you merman."
Understanding cleared his face. Gajeel nodded, then bit his bottom lip.
Levy tilted her head. "What's–"
Strong arms wrapped around her, pressing her up against Gajeel's chest. His heart hammered underneath her ear and his scales were smooth and cool against her cheek. She wrapped her arms around Gajeel's back and returned the hug, closing her eyes and praying to the mages that the moment would never end.
The cool ocean water rocked them gently. Her legs occasionally kicked below the surface and more than once she felt Gajeel's tail brush against her feet. The sun burned brightly above them, making Levy's temples throb despite her best attempts to ignore the pain.
Feathers rustled above them. "Almost home," an almost human voice squawked.
The cockatoo fluttered her wings and flew off. Levy felt Gajeel's chest expand in a heavy sigh and his arms loosened.
"Levy home soon…"
He twisted around and she placed her arms around his shoulders. They resumed their swim, following after the bird's flying form. Water splashed into her face, but she knew the salt on her cheeks was from a different source.
In less time than she would have liked, a large landmass formed on the horizon. They followed after the bird and Levy felt a pang in her chest when she recognized the tree-covered landscape. Gajeel slowed as they approached, his head twisting to find the bird.
Levy tapped on his shoulder, "Right over there, Gajeel…"
She pointed to a small lagoon, nestled a short walk's distance from the castle sitting near the cliffside. Gajeel swam into the shallow water. Soft, white sand glistened through the clear waves and Levy slid off of Gajeel's shoulders. She swam a few, short strokes and soon enough felt the sand sift between her toes. She hobbled and jumped until the water reached her shoulders, then her waist. With a deep breath she turned and gave Gajeel a small smile.
"Thank you…for getting me home."
She tried to talk clearly, but her eyes burned and her throat grew thick. Gajeel sighed and gave her a nod, his face void of all his earlier teasing. Waves lapped softly against her legs and washed over Gajeel's shoulders. Even the bird stood silently on a nearby rock. Levy trailed her fingers through the water, trying to find the right words to say.
"Gajeel…I–"
"...evy…"
The bird squawked and flew off toward the cliffs. Levy spun toward the castle. Small, dark shapes fanned across the sand and trees and headed straight toward the lagoon. She whirled back to Gajeel, her heart in her throat.
"Will I see you again?" she asked, splashing closer to him.
Gajeel grabbed her hands and brought them to his chest. "Yes…see again."
Her name carried across the wind and with it came the sound of clanking armor. She yanked her hands from Gajeel's and untangled her salt-encrusted bandana, snagging several hairs in the process.
She thrust the fabric into Gajeel's hands and splashed backwards. "It's a promise!"
Gajeel brought the bandana to his lips, his eyes red rimmed. "Promise."
Heart shattering, Levy spun and splashed to the shoreline. Her legs shook and she fell onto her knees right as a group of servants and guards rounded the corner. Lucy burst into loud sobs the moment Levy caught her eye.
"Princess! Thank the mages you're alive! How did you ever–"
Her head throbbed and she couldn't make out her friend's words. Her ears rang and the edges of her vision turned white. Strong arms lifted her from the sand and she felt as if she were floating back in the waves. Lucy barked orders and metal clanked. Something metallic touched her lips and Levy drank the cool water that poured into her mouth. Her vision cleared and she turned her head to take one last look at the empty lagoon behind her.