A/N: Thank you so much everyone for reading this! It means so much to me! I will try to upload at least one or two times a week on this story but I do have another one on here I will trying to update and move a lot of my other works from the other platform to this one in the next week or so! Please fan, follow, comment and let me know what you think of this newest update. Love you all beautiful souls~
~Gajeel and Levy~
Once outside the guildhall and through the thick of the woods Evergreen turned back to the couple who were following her and her fellow Thunder Legion member to their secluded cabin. Fairy Tail's resident bookworm and Iron Shadow Dragon Slayer stood close to one another but looked everywhere but one another until Levy tripped over a protruding root causing Gajeel to quickly pick her up before hitting the ground. Evergreen smirked and looked forward again.
"So Levy, what were you guys doing that made you so late to getting to the guild hall usually you're always on time?" Evergreen asked with a smirk upon her lips. Levy blushed a bright red as she quickly hid her face in Gajeel's chest who's cheeks were matching hers.
"A detour. How are things between you and Elfman?" Levy quickly answered turning the tables on her fellow guildmate. Freed let out a soft chuckle as Evergreen's jaw dropped at the bookworm's boldness.
"Evergreen leave Levy alone if you can't take what she gives back." Freed stated as the cabin came into view. The two Thunder Legions members stood on either side of the stairway as Freed handed Gajeel the keys for the cabin. He grunted out a thanks and set Levy on her feet.
"Remember if you guys need anything use the card Cana gave you. Also Levy, Freed will be putting an enchantment barrier around this area don't try to break it alright. This is for your guys safety as well as the towns. Okay? We have to hurry with this cabin and get to the others to do the same thing." Evergreen advised. Levy nodded as the two escorts turned to leave and Freed activated the enchantments.
"Come on Shrimp lets get you inside where it is warm." Gajeel said taking his mate's hand and leading them into their home for the next month. Once Levy was inside the cabin Gajeel closed the door behind them and dropped their bags on the floor.
"I want to explore! I hope they put some books in here, I don't think I brought enough for a whole month…" Levy trailed off as they started the tour in the living room.
"With the weight of the bags you brought I feel like you have." Gajeel mumbled following the bluenette around the first level. The first room the duo entered was a large study with several bookcases filled top to bottom with novels. Gajeel grunted throwing his head back knowing where Levy will want to spend all her time.
"Oh my god Gajeel! Look at all these books!" Levy exclaimed looking over to her dragon slayer with a grin that took up her whole face. Gajeel looked down at the small girl and smiled back at her excitement. He watched as his mate walked towards the bookcase closest to them running her hands over the books trying to decide were to start.
"Okay lets look at the ret of the place first before you go and hold yourself up in here." Gajeel said grabbing the collar of Levy's dress dragging her out of the room away from the books and quickly shut the door. Levy groaned in protest but did not fight him and turned towards the hallway following Gajeel and taking a quick look around the living room and the up to date kitchen. Levy walked up the stairs to the seconds level and looked to the first door to the left and entered. She smirked to herself and looked over the pool table and glanced back at Gajeel.
"This will definitely be fun kicking your ass at this." Levy smiled at her mate and ran her hand over the edge of the table. Gajeel quirked an eyebrow at the bluenette mage and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Are you trying to challenge me Shrimp?" Gajeel growled as he walked towards her and leaned onto the edge of the table and smirked across the table at her. Levy continued to smile at the giant dragon slayer in front of here and shrugged her shoulders before she quickly ran around the table and dodged his lunge and made it out of the door and ran to the room at the end of the hallway. She ran into the room and quickly closed the door and turned to find a place to hide but quickly stopped in her tracks feeling her face turn bright red. Infront of her was a wrought-iron four poster king size bed with a black comforter set and several pillows with metal studs decorating near the headboard. The walls were a dark gray with black curtains covering the large window over looking the view of the mountains outside. Levy felt Gajeel's shadow form behind her and felt herself blush deeper.
"Nice room, huh?" Levy squeaked as Gajeel's solid hand took her hand in his. She felt her nerves sky rocket at the thought of what the month ahead of them will be like.
"Yeah. Definitely something." He mumbled taking in the room and he can smell the nerves rolling off her. He gently squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Come on lets get our bags up here and get some dinner made I know you probably have a ton of questions." Gajeel suggested as he turned and opened the door and pulled Levy behind him.
Once on the first floor Gajeel directed Levy to the study that they first discovered. He set her in the oversized reading chair and tossed down a couple of books that she was trying to grab when they first entered the cabin. Levy looked up at him confused as he turned to the door.
Uhm, Gajeel, what are you doing? I thought you wanted dinner and to take our bags upstairs?" Levy asked as she went to get off the chair. Gajeel shook his head and rested his hand on her shoulder pushing her back down into the chair.
"Don't worry I got it. Let me make dinner and its literally just running the bags up to the bedroom. I figured I can make some breakfast for dinner tonight or something. Plus it will give you a chance to think about the questions you have." Gajeel stated as he left the room and closed the door behind him. He quickly grabbed their bags and ran them up the stairs and set them on the bed. He went back downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed out the ingredients to make pancakes and bacon. Gajeel quickly started whisking the ingredients together and pouring the batter into medium size circles into a flat top letting them cook as he started the bacon. He heard the study door open and glanced back as Levy entered the kitchen with a notepad in hand. Gajeel snorted a laugh as he turned back to the food in front of him.
"So I can ask you any questions?" Levy asked as she hopped on the counter next to his workstation. Gajeel simply nodded as he flipped the pancakes and bacon. "Okay first question, I know Master gave us a run down of all he knew but is there anything that Metallicana told you that Master didn't cover?"
"Not really, I was still young when he disappeared so I feel like the old man was tryin to wait til I got older to have the talk or somethin'." Gajeel stated as he moved the cooked pancakes to the plate and poured more of the batter on the flat top.
"Okay. So did you have a really hard time with the previous season?" Did you get sick like Natsu did?" Levy asked as she picked at one of the pancakes closest to her. Gajeel swatted her hand away causing her to giggle.
"Yeah, I thought I was gonna die. It was worse than any motion sickness I had ever experienced." Gajeel shuddered and quickly flipped the pancakes and transfer the bacon to a different plate to drain the grease. He turned back to the bluenette mage and gently patted her thigh. "Will you get the toppings out of the fridge these are ready." He moved the finished pancakes off the flat top and turned off the stove. He transferred all plates on the small dining room table and grabbed two additional plates and silverware for them to eat with. Levy hopped off the counter and grabbed the fruits, syrup, butter, and the carton of juice from the fridge and laying them out on the table as well. She took the seat closest too Gajeel and started moving some pancakes over to her plate and quickly doused the stack with syrup. Gajeel followed suit by haphazardly throwing the hotcakes on his plate and pouring the syrup over them and adding the bacon to the side of the plate. Levy reached over and snatched a couple strips of bacon and setting them aside on a napkin to keep them syrup free.
The couple ate in a comfortable silence as they enjoyed the hot food and fresh fruits among them. Levy finished eating first since her plate was significantly smaller than her counterpart she took her dishes and the two other empty plates, that previously housed the bacon and the pancakes, over to the sink and started washing them along with the bowl and utensils that were used to make the food. Gajeel finished just as she finished washing the large bowl that had the batter dried and caked on. She grabbed his plate and cup and quickly washed them before setting them in the drain board to put away in the morning. She dried her hands on the dish towel hanging off the oven and turned to the fridge grabbing a bottle of wine and a beer for Gajeel. He quickly popped the lid of the beer and took a swig of the amber liquid. Levy grabbed the corkscrew and popped the bottle of wine. She opened the cabinet door to get a glass down and sighed seeing the kind she needed was two shelves too high.
"Need help there Shrimp?" Gajeel chuckled setting down the now empty beer bottle on the counter and Levy scowled at the large man and quickly hopped up on the counter again and grabbed the edge of the cabinet pulling herself on her knees. She reached up to grab the wine glass and gently set it down closer to the wall to make sure she did not accidently knock it over. She turned to swing her legs down when her center of balance shifted and she was pitched forward falling off the counter. Gajeel wrapped his arms around her before she was able to hit the floor and set her gently on her feet. Levy blushed as she straighten herself and the dress and looked up at the man in front of her.
"Thank you Gajeel." She smiled resting her hand on his arms as his hands still rested on her hips. He smiled back and brought her closer to him leaning down so their faces were level.
"Anytime." He said simply before glancing down at her lips but back up to her eyes blushing. The stray strand of hair fell in Levy's face and Gajeel gently moved it tucking it behind her ear resting his palm against her cheek. Levy leaned into his touch and bit her bottom lip as one of her hands reached out to his shirt and tugged him forward as a hint. Gajeel smile grew as he leaned forward the rest of the way and quickly captured Levy's plush lips with his own. The kiss was gentle at first as they got reacquainted with one another. Levy surprised Gajeel as she took the initiative and quickly licked his bottom lip and pressing harder against him trying to deepen the kiss, Gajeel smirked and lifted her off the ground and she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck to not lose balance. Levy gasped at the sudden move letting the iron dragon slayer slip his tongue in Levy's mouth exploring her. He set her on the island stepping closer to her as her legs now dangled off the edge of the counter space. When their tongues collided and wrestled Levy let out a soft moan that triggered Gajeel to growl as he tightened his grasp on her thighs. They pulled back for needed air but Gajeel did not let up. He started kissing and nipping down her jawline and neck til he stopped at the apex of her shoulder and neck. He nipped and sucked at the skin as Levy gripped Gajeel's hair and moaned again but this time louder since she was not muffled by the other's mouth.
"Levy, we may need to stop here… The season may not be in full swing yet for the next couple of days but I feel the need to take you now and there is a lot more things we would need to discuss and I know you have more questions for me anyway." Gajeel mumbled against her skin as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. Levy nodded knowing that he was probably right and they did need to discuss what all this meant for them and the reality behind it. After several minutes of the two catching their breaths and slowing their hearts they pulled away from each other slightly. Levy's hands slid down the slayer's arms to rest on his forearms as his hands continued to rest on her thighs but lightly as his thumbs drew light circles on the skin.
"Come on, lets just go to bed." Levy spoke slightly above a whisper smiling at the man in front of her. He nodded and stepped back from her letting her hop down. She looked at the abandoned bottle of wine and contemplated about pouring a glass anyway and taking it to bed with them. Gajeel made of her mind for her as he poured a full glass and popped the cork back in the bottle and put it away before grabbing a new beer tossing the previous bottle in the trash bin. She took a tentative sip so that she would not spill it on the way up the stairs. Gajeel turned out the lights and slipped his hand in Levy's as they made their way up the stairs to their new bedroom for the next month or so.
Once inside she set the now half empty glass on the dresser and walked over to her bag to remove it from the bed as Gajeel grabbed his bag and started rummaging through it. She looked at the clock on the wall realizing it is only 9:45 p.m. she looked at the door opposite of her and decided that a warm bath sounded right. She walked over and opened the door smiling at the large stone bathtub that could rival the one is Lucy's apartment. She quickly ran to turn on the hot water as hot as it could get and dropped a few drops of oils in the water. While the tub filled she walked back out and grabbed her glass of wine watch Gajeel put away his clothes in the dresser she was leaned up against.
"Do you want to take a bath with me?" Levy quickly asked as the liquid courage coursed through her. Gajeel perked up and nodded to her as they walked into he bathroom. She turned off the water as it was full and set her wine glass down on the edge of the tub. She quickly stripped from her clothes and put her hair up in a high messy bun and slipped into the water resting against the stone tiling. She watched as Gajeel stripped as well and slid into the water opposite of Levy. Both took a drink of their respective drinks and blushed looking away from each other.
"Go on Shrimp. I know you bursting with questions." Gajeel finally spoke breaking the silence.
"I am. I just don't know which ones to ask first." Levy replied looking into the slayer's crimson eyes in front of her. She left his calf brush against her thigh and warmth and reassurance spread throughout her body.
"I'm an open book for you, just ask whatever you want." Gajeel reaffirmed to her. The solid-script mage's breath caught in her throat as she nodded and sputtered out the first question that came to her mind.
"Why me?" She asked quickly.
"What? What do you mean?" Gajeel asked tilting his to emphasize his confusion. He had an idea why she would ask but he needed her to voice it.
"You know, why me? Why did you or your dragon choose me as your mate? I mean I know there are a ton of stronger, pretty, more well-endowed female wizards out there. I'm not strong enough to be your mate…" Levy trailed off looking down at her lap at her hands. Gajeel's hands took her hands in his. She looked up at him shocked with how close he was to her and she didn't realize it. Large caramel doe eyes stared into serious crimson eyes.
"Now listen here Levy, there is no other person out there for me. You are the most beautiful and sexiest person I have ever met. Who cares if your chest isn't as big as the She-Devil or Bunnygirl. You are perfect, besides your ass is perfect. But the fact that you don't think that you are strong enough to be my mate is actually ridiculous. Do you forget you were chosen for the S-Class wizards trials? The Master can see how strong you are and so do I and anyone else. I mean you are the leader of your team Shadow Gear. Plus you are beyond the smartest person I have ever met. Remember when the Battle of Fairy Tail was going down and you were able to rewrite Freed's enchantments to free Salamander and Me to fight Laxus. Master said that someone would have to work months to make that enchantment work as it did and you changed it like that." Gajeel stated raising an eyebrow at her to see if she would try to refute him on any of his points. She stared at him in shock and silence as he talked to her and was defending her to herself.
"I don't want you to ever thing about yourself like that. You shouldn't compare yourself to others because honestly Levy I love you the way you are. I don't care about any of that other stuff. Plus dealing with my dragon, well what do you think kicked my ass in gear before." Gajeel chuckled looking down at their entwined hands.
"I love you too." Levy smiled with happy tears in her eyes as she gripped his hands tight in hers. Gajeel smiled at their hands and looked up at her. He tugged her to him as she turned around and leaned against him as she sat between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her taking her hands in his resting them on his thighs as he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. "Can I keep asking you questions?" Levy asked closing her eyes resting her head back against his chest.
"Yeah, go right on ahead." Gajeel murmured into her skin.
"It may be a little tough to answer… But when we first met was when you were in your previous guild… Did you know back then that I was your mate?" Levy asked unsure if she really wanted to go down this road. She felt Gajeel's body stiffen behind her and she quickly shook her head. "Nevermind, I'll ask something else." She quickly stated and Gajeel shook his head once and gripped her hands slightly tighter.
"No. You have the right to ask that. To be honestly not really. Like when I had jumped you and your team it was all really a blur… But I remember that your scent was throwing me off… Like something had awoken inside me." Gajeel whispered and Levy felt his chest rising and falling quickly. She knew that his days in Phantom Lord and that night in particular were still rough on him and from what Panterlily has told her he still has nightmares every now and then. Gajeel continued pulling Levy out of her own head. "After I had you and the guys on the tree and I actually got to look at you and I felt it then. I was sicken with myself. I knew right then that even though it was per Jose's orders I hated myself for it and I could never figure out why. That was until I joined Fairy Tail and actually got to know you and then things my old man told me started coming back."
"What did he tell you?" Levy asked trying to get him away from the memories of his Phantom Lord days.
"Dad told me once that one day I would meet someone that would awaken part of my inner dragon that would make me draw close to them. He said that wouldn't happen for a long time since I hadn't hit puberty at that point. But he said once I met that person they would be the only person I would ever come to truly love more than anything in the world. That I would do anything to protect that person even sacrifice my own life for that one person. I thought he was just talking out of his ass but I can see that he was right." Gajeel smiled kissing her shoulder and he calmed down. Levy smiled and giggled as his lips barely coasted over her skin.
"You know I would do the same thing for you right. I would put myself in the line of fire if I thought it would give me a chance to save you." Levy said turning her head and giving Gajeel a peck on the cheek. "So if you knew it was me all this time why did you know say anything? Especially when you knew how I felt about you?"
"Well honestly I didn't know for the longest time. I really thought you were just trying to be nice and integrate me with the rest of the guild. But it was hard trust me. Every time your two fanboys would touch you or hover over you it took everything in me not to rip into them. It especially irked me when they treated you like a child or would speak over you or cut you off. I wanted to yell at them to let you talk but I knew you would only get mad at me so I held my tongue. But I think a part of me just didn't believe that you would love me especially after everything that happened." Gajeel said turning his head so his cheek rested on Levy's shoulder looking into her amber honey eyes. "Come on lets get out and get in bed. You're gonna catch a cold, and before you ask yes you can ask more questions." He chuckled as he saw her eyes light up.
He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss as he stood up pulling her along. He grabbed the towel next to the tub and wrapped it around her and grabbing his own tying it around his waist. Gajeel got out of the tub and grabbed both the empty wine glass and beer bottle setting them on the counter before turning as Levy got out of the tub and drained the water. They made their way into the bedroom and quickly got changed. Gajeel simply pulled on a fresh pair of boxers as Levy slipped into a pair of solid black cotton sleep shorts and a black shirt with the saying 'There's no such thing as too many BOOKS' that fell right mid-thigh. She turned around and blushed as Gajeel was already in bed with his hands behind his head watching her get dressed with a smirk at her shirt. She slipped into bed next to him and leaned back against the pillows. Gajeel wrapped his arm around Levy pulled her close to his side. Levy smiled and curled into his hand and rested her head on his chest.
"That shirt suits you Shorty." Gajeel chuckled and Levy nodded smiling at him.
"So what all does the future entail now? I know that being mated is this forever thing but what does it actually mean? What is it like?" Levy asked pulling his other hand in front of her running her finger over his hand tracing his callouses and scars.
"Well, like the Master said, mates are soulmates. Once mated the bond that is formed is extremely powerful. Our magic itself will increase as well. Especially when we are close together. We both will actually get a mark once mated. Master was correct about what the mark should look like. But other than that I don't think anything will change. I mean we will obviously be closer and want to be near each other at all times. But it would be like any other relationship or any marriage, except there's no option for divorce. So you definitely have to be sure about this Levy." Gajeel stated running his thumb up and down her shoulder with he arm that was wrapped around her shoulders.
"Gajeel, I am sure about this. I love you more than anything. You are the only one I have ever had feelings for like this. The only person I have ever wanted anything more than friends with. Trust me I will not let anyone else have you. It kills me when we are on jobs or around town and all the other women are lusting after you. It makes me want to punch each of them in the face." Levy admitted blushing. "So does this mean that we are basically married then?"
"Married plus more." Gajeel confirmed.
"What about my team. I don't want to break up Team Shadow Gear. Jet and Droy are my best friends, my brothers." Levy stated absentmindedly. Gajeel grunted causing Levy to look up at him with worried eyes.
"You're team doesn't have to break up per say. I mean they will have to know that you're my mate and that they need to respect that. I mean if you want Lily and I can just join your team. I mean when we go on jobs anyways you are our leader too." Gajeel offered causing Levy to smile and nod.
"I would love that! I have to talk to Droy and Jet first obviously but I don't see any argument they can come up." Levy smiled. "So when we go home… what are we going to do. Obviously we will be together but like after spending this month together I doubt I will want to go back to Fairy Hills alone." Levy inquired. Gajeel shrugged his shoulders and yawned.
"We will figure it out later Levy. This is just the first night. Come on, its late lets get some sleep. Remember you think you can kick my ass in pool and I want to see if that is true." Gajeel said scooting down in the bed and pulling the blankets over them. Levy smiled and scooted closer to him curling further into his chest as his arms wrapped around her. "Good night Shrimp." Gajeel whispered as Levy slipped into a dream filled sleep of the future.