Restoration

The house was silent, save for the click of the latch as Gajeel closed the door behind himself. Of course, it was usually quiet these days, the laughter and the joy having been sucked from them all months earlier.

First, it had been the heartbreaking moment at the 12 week scan where the doctor had found only one heartbeat, the second one having stopped sometime in the three weeks between discovery and development. It shook them both deeply, though in different ways, and they'd clung to their love like a life raft in stormy seas. And it had worked, for the next nine weeks.

At the anatomy scan, their whole world had come crashing down around their ears.

When Dr Green had spotted something amiss with their scan, she hadn't sugar coated things - something Gajeel still appreciated the hell out of to this day. The barrage of tests; the waiting on tenterhooks; the general feeling of impending doom - they were all done. Ended with three words, delivered in the softest and most sincere apology Gajeel had ever received.

Incompatible with life.

The weeks that followed had blurred in his memory, a series of moments strung together in a sequence that wasn't right but also, wasn't wrong enough to forget. The look on his father's face - the guilt in his eyes, that maybe this was somehow his fault. The way he'd had to explain to his daughter that there would be no baby coming home, that she would never get to play with her siblings. The way his family had rallied around them, the love and the sorrow was still tangible in the house.

If he closed his eyes, Gajeel could still picture his son's perfect face. His tiny fingers and toes. How fragile he felt, cradled in his arms. How desperately he loved the boy - Nate, they'd called him Nate Adem - and mourned for everything he would never be. It had been beautiful, he entered the world at midnight without uttering a sound, and for the three hours he had lived on this earth, all he had known was love. He had been wrapped in it, bathed in it his entire life, and when he grew still, he left with love and one final kiss from Emmeline, who had been determined to be the greatest sibling she could in the time they were given.

The memories were sweet to Gajeel, treasured and revisited often. But Levy?

Levy had withdrawn, from all of them. She was hollow, a shell of the vibrant woman she had been. Pale skin was sickly, almost translucent from the lack of sunlight. Her slender frame now skeletal, and the immaculately kept blue hair had faded and grown out. She had retreated from the world, from everything that reminded her of Nate, and eventually she'd pulled away from Emme and Gajeel too. Lost in her grief, she was out of reach and far from shore.

But today?

Today, someone had drawn the curtains back in their room.

Today, Levy wasn't in bed when Gajeel went to find her.

Closing his eyes, he listened to the faint noise, and followed his ears to the music room near the pool. There she was, her hair washed and once again blue, in clothes that weren't pyjamas, sitting at the piano.

For months, she'd refused to even listen to music. Refused to entertain the notion of playing against. Refused to even sing for their daughter. But today? Today her fingers caressed the keys like old friends, her voice filling the afternoon air with its sweet agony.

"You used to captivate me by your resonating light. Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind.

Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams.

Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me.

These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase".

With her eyes closed, she seemed not to notice Gajeel's presence and he took advantage of the moment - soaking her in, letting this image fill his heart and chase away a little of the cold fear that she was lost to him forever. He had never in his life heard her like this, her voice was rich and rounded, the pain in her words like a knife against his flesh, but the hope - oh god, the hope he could hear? It sucked the air clear from his lungs and stole the strength from his body, leaving him with damp eyes and legs that shook.

"I'm sorry, Gaj."

Of course she had known he was there - she always knew. Always sensed him, aligned herself with him like it was the most natural thing in the world, like she did it without thought.

"Levs, y'ain't got anythin' to be sorry for. Ain't yer fault." Two strides had him into the room and knelt before her where she still sat on the piano stool.

"Not about Nate. I've been so lost, so caught up in my own sorrow that I haven't been here for you - for Emme. I haven't made this any easier on either of you".

For the first time in months, she reached out and touched him. The second her palm cupped his cheek, Gajeel knew - he knew they would be alright. They'd get through this together, as a family, just like they did everything else. It broke something inside of him, cracking the walls he'd built to contain his dread over the thought of losing her, and he couldn't stop the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Oh, 'Jeel - don't cry. Not over me. I'm here, my love, I'm with you. I'm not going to disappear again".

"Fuck, Levs. Scared me half to death, watchin' ya like that. Couldn't bear to lose ya too."

When she leant up and pressed her lips, the steel bands around Gajeel's chest snapped and he drew the first deep, shuddering breath in longer than he cared to remember. Moving onto the stool, he slid her onto his lap so he could hold her against him, letting her kiss him so sweetly it felt his heart might just explode. When they stopped for air, he wanted to yell with joy as her fingers danced across his chest and toyed with his hair. For a man so tactile and affectionate, the days and weeks without any touch from her had been torture.

"Ya sounded amazin', kitten. Never heard ya like that 'fore".

"Surgery. It's good, opened up notes I struggled with before. And Chelia, she's been amazing, teaching me how to sing again."

"I missed hearin' yer voice. Missed everythin' 'bout ya, Levs".

"I missed you too. You, and Emme. Your Pops. Everyone, everything - I missed it all. I don't want to lose out on anything else. I want to feel again, Gajeel."

There was a spark in her eyes again, the slightest hint of mischief and of the old Levy in the way her lip quirked up, and Gajeel's pulse started to race as she pressed herself against him. He felt like a teenager all over again, ready to explode from her words, from the sight of her pillowy lips and thick eyelashes. All these years, all the nightmares, everything they'd been through and Gajeel was still crazy for her.

"You electrify me, Gajeel."

Should he be giving in to his desire and taking her on top of the grand piano? Probably not. But if she wanted to feel, then dammit Gajeel was going to give his wife everything she craved. Or at least, he'd meant to, until his father's voice boomed down the hall.

"Levy? Gajeel? Anyone home?"

"Maybe if we're quiet, he'll go away?"

"Gajeel! Technically, it's his house. Come on, we can pick this up later." Levy's voice was husky, thick with the desire that ran between them like a live wire. "Back here, Pops!"

"Why, Levy Redfox, do my old eyes deceive me? You ain't possibly out of bed with fresh hair and sat at a piano?" Metalicana looked thoroughly smug to see her up at about, like this wasn't a suprise to him in the slightest.

"Levy Redfox. Fuck, still love the sound of that" Gajeel growled against her ear.

"Down, boy. Keep it in yer pants, we gotta head out if we're gonna get the good seats!"

"Pops, it's a dance recital for six year olds. None of the seats are good" Levy laughed, the sound like bells ringing in the quiet house that had endured so much suffering. The whole place seemed lighter for the noise, and when she did it again Gajeel could have sworn his heart grew wings and took flight. "Well, come on then! Can't miss our little one's first big performance!"


Hey! Look at that! An update for this absolute behemoth! Let me just say, I'm sorry for how sporadic I've been!!! I am trying to find a balance between everything, and it's not easy - but I love you guys that are still reading, so I'm trying to make time for this. Because I really do appreciate the hell out of y'all who have stuck around the entire time!!! Anyway, I'm sorry for a bit of a sad one (not really, you know I'm kinda mean to these guys by now!) and I promise I'll make it up to them soon. Please please PLEASE let me know your thoughts on this one, and hopefully I'll have more for you soon!

Stay safe, and sending you all so much love

- A.V xxx

Song list -


My Immortal - Evanescence