A/N: Be warned, this chapter talks about guns, and I am not a gun expert. So don't judge me if I got something wrong...

Chapter 55

Gajeel sighed softly as he looked down at his sleeping wife. She was so beautiful and she looked so peaceful, sleeping soundly in his arms, cuddling into his chest. She was so tiny, his large arms around her only confirmed this. So small and delicate-looking... though he knew she was anything but delicate. This woman had fire in her eyes. Will and determination. No longer was there the fear and timidness he'd seen early in their relationship. She wasn't weak anymore, despite what she may think. She was strong. Gajeel could see it. She was strong...

And he knew she could handle what he'd just decided.

Levy followed Gajeel closely, holding his hand nervously as he led her towards the guard barracks, a determined look in his eyes. She did not like this, not one bit. She knew why they were going back there, and she didn't want to go... but she understood why he'd decided she should do this. She couldn't exactly protest. His logic was too sound and her only rebuttal was that she didn't want to. She needed to do this, and she knew she needed to... that didn't mean she liked it.

The pistol was heavy when it was placed in her hands. Levy could only stare at the heavy weapon in her hands as Gajeel set about getting things ready. She had suspected but hadn't known for sure that there was a shooting range by the guard barracks. Just like there was a gym. She'd never been in here before, obviously. Luckily, nobody else was there practicing, so it was just her and Gajeel. She looked across the range at her target, a harmless piece of paper with circles on it. At least it wasn't shaped like a human. That... would bring back some bad memories. She still had nightmares about killing Brain sometimes.

"Alright, shrimp. We're gonna take it easy today." Gajeel gave her a reassuring smile, knowing how nervous she was about this. Still, it was a huge improvement over the girl he'd met two years ago. She wouldn't have even touched a gun back then, yet she was standing here now, holding one, willing to learn how to shoot despite not liking guns at all. He was proud of this alone, and he was glad she listened to reason.

Levy needed to learn how to protect herself. Just in case. The taser he'd given her over a year ago was a start, but it only had one shot in it. And sure, she'd shot a gun before... but it had been at point blank range and in a life-or-death situation. She didn't know how to properly handle a gun, and they shouldn't rely on guards being enough to protect her 100% of the time. With things about to get really dangerous with Jude Heartfilia, Gajeel wanted to make sure his wife stayed safe no matter what.

"This is the safety, always have that on until you plan to shoot. I'm gonna show ya how to load it, so watch carefully, alright?" Gajeel took the pistol from her and took out the magazine to show her that that's where the bullets were. "These are easy, they just slide right in." he said, putting the magazine back into the handle of the gun. "Then you load the first round into the chamber." He cocked it with the sliding mechanism at the top. "These kinds of pistols, you don't have to cock em every time like you see in old movies. Just the first round." he explained to his wife, who was listening intently. She nodded in understanding. "When the magazine is empty, it'll pop right out, and then ya load it again." He locked eyes with her now, his eyes narrowed and serious. "Levy, always assume a gun is loaded. Even if ya just unloaded it, assume it's loaded anyways. Never point this at someone yer not ready to see dead, got it?"

"I-I know." Levy nodded tensely. Gajeel knew she knew it, but he had to stress it. Misfires did happen, and he'd rather spare her from having to deal with something like that.

"Alright. Put these on, shrimp." He held out some headphone-looking things and safety glasses. "Those are for the sound." Gajeel answered her unasked question as she put them over her head. Once she was set up, he took her to stand in front of the target, which was set closer than usual for her since she was learning. The other targets on the range were set pretty far back, something that Levy took note of. Gajeel put the gun in her hands and stood behind her. "Alright, Lev, just relax. Legs apart, shoulders back." Gajeel gently took her shoulders and had her roll them back as she aimed down the range. He reached around her and adjusted her grip on the pistol. "There, like that. Now, look down the sights. You want the front one and the back one lined up. Good." He grinned as she was catching on easily. She was good at listening to instruction, at least, but putting it into practice was different.

"N-now what?" Levy glanced back at her husband.

"Just focus on aiming fer now. Look between the sights and yer target. Ya wanna hit that middle circle, there." he told her. "Try ta keep yer hands nice and steady. Good. Ya can take off the safety, now. We're just gonna do a few practice shots." Gajeel said, reaching around her. His arms went around hers and he held the gun with her. "It's got a kick, shrimp. Don't try ta prepare fer it, it'll just throw yer shots off."

"O-okay." Levy nodded.

"Now, take a deep breath and relax yer mind, but keep yer arms and stance tense." he instructed his little wife, who took a few shaky breaths before her breathing evened out. He grinned as he could feel her relax, despite her arms and stance remaining tense. Levy found that it really helped that Gajeel was behind her and helping her hold the heavy weapon. Meanwhile, Gajeel was thinking he'd have to get a smaller pistol for her, since this one was the standard that their guards carried, and his own pistol was even heavier. She could barely hold it up and, while she'd get better at that in time, she probably shouldn't have such a heavy gun for her own use.

"Alright, shrimp. Focus on the target again. When yer ready, shoot." Gajeel said softly. He was helping her with her aim so, when she did shoot, it hit the outer ring of the second most inner circle. Not bad for the first time. Levy squeaked a bit at the sudden kick the gun gave. Luckily, Gajeel also holding the gun kept her from dropping it in her surprise. Gajeel let out a small chuckle. "I told ya there's a kick."

They did a few more rounds, with Gajeel helping her. Levy started to relax and even smile as her shots got closer and closer to the inner circle. And then Gajeel felt she could handle aiming and handling the kick on her own... and he stepped back to let her try it by herself. To his surprise, she still managed to hit the target. He'd been helping her aim a fair amount, but she was pretty good at that on her own. Now, to just let her practice and figure it out on her own. Eventually she was making shots close to what she'd been doing with Gajeel's help, but she still couldn't make it to that inner circle.

"Ah, don't sweat it, shrimp. Ya just need more practice." Gajeel smiled at her deflated pout. He took the pistol from her and loaded it again, but didn't hand it back this time. "Wanna see what a pro can do?" He grinned at her eager nod. Mavis, she'd come into the range a nervous wreck but now she was having fun. Shooting wasn't so bad... just as long as it wasn't at a person. Gajeel took her spot in front of the target, but he didn't aim for hers. He took aim at the furthest target out, a hanging one that could be electronically moved forward and back. He quickly emptied his magazine at it. Pressing a button had the target brought to the front, revealing a human-shaped target with a single hole in the head.

"Did you only hit it once?" Levy asked curiously. Gajeel just gave her a proud grin.

"Nope. All six bullets hit right here." he said, pointing to the single hole. "Look, ya can even see where I'm gettin rusty. Need to work on that." he traced around the single imperfection to the circular hole before looking back to his wife, who was staring at him with awe. And then she pouted.

"You did that... and so much further away than mine..."

"Shrimp, I've been doin this fer over a decade." Gajeel shook his head in amusement. "You just started today. And you did really well fer yer first time. Even I didn't do this good my first time." He gave her a gentle smile as he called her target forward. He took the paper off and held it out to her. "I say ya hold onto that. Maybe put it in that keepsake box you've got."

"Well... okay. But I want that one in it, too." Levy gestured to his target. He grinned and took it down, handing it to her and watching as she took both target papers over to the nearby table. He followed her, watching her write 'Levy Redfox, April of year X790, First Shooting Lesson with my husband, 5 yards' onto her target. She handed him the pen, then, with an expecting smile. He chuckled and took it, writing 'Gajeel Redfox, April X790, 50 yards, 6 shots one hole - needs work, taught shrimp how to shoot' on his target to appease her.

"We ain't doin this every time, shrimp." he handed back the pen with a wry grin.

"I know." she giggled. "But maybe on milestones? It could be a tradition..." she suggested timidly. Gajeel grinned.

"And here ya were scared of this an hour ago." he chuckled. "I like that idea. Maybe on our first anniversary and special events." He grinned at his wife, who smiled happily. "Now, let's get cleaned up. I'm hungry."

Another chapter. Bam. I'm starting to like this whole writing ahead thing. I don't feel as pressured to write, and that really helps the creativity come forth. Although, I do have to fight the temptation to just upload these once I'm done writing them.

Please don't hate on me if the gun and shooting stuff is incorrect. I looked it up on wikihow to be completely honest. Y'all get the gist of it, so no hate.

Don't worry, I plan on things picking up again soon. But these past few chapters have been a nice break from the chaos I have planned, muahaha.

Yo, and what's with the lack of reviews? I though updating more would encourage more reviews.

Also, if you follow me, pretty please favorite me, too! Lol I have a lot more followers than favoriters for some reason.

Thanks for reading!

-Nerdy12