Chapter 12: Under the Stars

Gajeel wasn't in the sleeping mood. He stared up at the tent and followed the pattern the camouflage print provided. The different shades of green and the occasional splotch of brown provided a calming affect for the man. Then with his heightened hearing senses he heard the crunching of leaves. He sat up and listened once again. The same light, crunching sound. This person was trying to tip toe away, who were they? His curiosity got the best of him and he got out of his tent to follow the noise.

He didn't see anybody in sight so he listened out for the steps again. Sure enough he heard the snap of a twig to his left. He followed it eagerly, wanting to know who it was. From the weight of the steps he could tell the person was no longer tip toeing but walking full steam ahead. Gajeel instinctively picked up his pace. He felt an internal tug, a need, to see this person. He couldn't explain it, he could only feel it. He should of seen it coming. He really should of known who the person was.

The noise eventually lead him to an open plain that ended in a steep cliff. The view was of the ocean that he could hear splash against the cliff. A full moon lit everything with a soft glow. It was nice, maybe even beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the girl standing at the edge. He should have known that it would be the shrimp's footsteps he was following. That he would find himself steps away from that perfect bluenette. He felt an impulse to wrap his arms around her. To breathe in the scent that had been teasing him all day. He didn't have the guts though. Gajeel Redfox, the man who is willing to rush into any situation and beat any foe to a pulp, was nervous at just approaching a little, harmless shrimp. Funny, isn't it?

He dared to take a step forward, accidentally snapping a twig beneath his feet. Alarmed he tensed up and stared at shocked, hazel eyes looking back at him. Levy's words seem to tumble out of her mouth. "H-hey Ga-jeeel"

"Hey" Gajeel responded.

She nodded and turned her head back towards the view, probably because she couldn't think of anything to say. In response Gajeel took a step forward. "Why did you come all the way out here?"

Levy just stared pointedly out into the horizon, taking her time to respond. "What's in that book?"

The question caught him off guard "What?"

"What's in the book?" She looked back at him again "I've been going along with this whole crazy scheme because it was so fascinating, so book like that there was no way I could just leave it behind. But I have no idea what the magnitude of the situation is, what am I even getting myself into? Why do you need it, the book? What is in those pages that would help you so much and why do you need me exactly? How do I know if I'm on the right side in all of this?"

He looked at her exasperated expression and mentally kicked himself. Why had he never thought to explain himself? He was lucky she even joined him at all. It was all possibly life threatening and here she was, worrying if she was even on the right side. She deserved a real explanation.

"Well it's a long story." He sat next to where she was standing "Take a seat"

She complied and so he began his tale.

It was after his treatment with Porlyusia. He was getting ready to leave, all he needed was for some paperwork to go through, when she entered his room.

"Gajeel"

"Oh, surprise to see you here."

"I need to tell you something"

Gajeel felt his muscles tense. Porlyusia hated people, she wouldn't be here unless she absolutely had to be. The news was bad.

"You have a condition Gajeel" She stated, straight to the point "It's an ancient disease, something that affected that dragon parent of yours."

"Metalicana?" Gajeel rarely heard mention of his dragon parent, especially in terms of his "father's" weaknesses.

"Yes" Porlyusia sounded annoyed at the interruption "You have an illness that ties back to him. Now I can't give you a cure because it's simply to old. There's a book. A book that will have it, Ferreo Page. Find it and you'll find your cure. If not -" She said sharply, cutting in before he had time to ask a question "you'll most likely continue to have these effects and yes, there's a possibility you could die."

Die? There's no way Gajeel's life could end in this way. He had to find that book, had to get better, he had to live. The sinking feeling in his stomach seemed to turn into solid rock.

"For now take your medication and get out" Porlyusia interrupted his thoughts and pointed towards the door.

Since then he, with the much needed help of Makarov, had been locating this book. He discovered that it was really popular for many dangerous wizards because it apparently had an evil, powerful magic attached to it. Of course its full potential could never be revealed because no one could actually open the book. It simply refused to do so. This prompted one, Jose Porla, to find out how to open the book, other's followed his actions and the trail led to Levy Mcgarden, a normal high school student.

"And that's the lot of it" Gajeel stared at the ground and tugged a lone daisy from the grass.

"So you're sick right now?"

"Yeah, the medicine keeps it at bay though" He pulled the daisy from the ground.

"Right" She looked at her hands as she also stared to mess with the grass.

"So, do you feel you're on the right side?"

She looked at him and smiled "Yeah I am"

He glanced her way and smirked.

Then they looked into each other's eyes and just stayed that way. He was hypnotized by her hazel orbs and from the looks of it, she wasn't willing to leave his red ones. It wasn't intentional, it was like the tug he felt earlier, the one that prompted him to follow her footsteps, that led him to turn towards her. She followed his lead and soon they were facing each other. It was strange. It was like they were in their own little world, in that moment it was just the two of them. Then he was leaning and their world get a lot smaller. He was mere inches from her face. Everything was in more detail now. Her hazel eyes that reminded him of topaz, her smooth, cream like skin, her cute little button nose, and those lips, perfect pink lips. He stared a little long at them, he knew it based off the blush from her cheeks. He looked back at her eyes and saw a leaf hanging in one of the blue strands that framed her face. He slowly moved his hand and gently removed the leaf from her hair. He could have removed his hand away from her blushing face, but he didn't want to. In fact he wanted to touch her more, which is exactly what he did. He cupped the palm of his hand against her cheek and rubbed his thumb against her skin. Following his desires he moved his thumb to the corner of her lips and slid it gently over her them. He felt her breath hitch in her throat. He felt his heart hammer. He leaned closer, tilting his head, closing the distance between the two.

"Leeeevvvvvyyyyyyyyy" A voice cooed, making an ungodly amount of noise as the person crashed through the forest.

Damn he must of been distracted not to hear his running. The person soon revealed himself as the moron and now jackass Jet. Another loud clamoring followed Jet and now the other jackass, Droy, was promptly by his side.

"Lev we were so worried!" he exclaimed arms waving in the air "We couldn't find you anywhere!"

Levy, with the help of Gajeel, had managed to create distance and was able to semi - confidently reply "S-sorry, I just went on a uh walk"

"Well let's get you back to the tent" Jet walked to Levy and grabbed one hand.

"Yeah you need rest, it's a big day tomorrow" Droy agreed and grabbed the other hand.

"Right" was all Levy had to say.

Gajeel just scowled as he watched the two numb skulls lead Levy back to the camp. Mavis knows he was pissed as he followed the trio back to camp.

He stormed into his tent and roughly closed it, nearly ripping the zipper off.

"Have fun Gajeel?" A now awake and questioning Lily looked at Gajeel with false ignorance.

"Shaddup Cat" Gajeel nearly growled, throwing a nearby shirt at Lily's face.

All that earned was a chuckle. Gajeel just huffed, hopefully tomorrow would be better.

And done :D

I saw so many of my fav fanfics update so I had to do the same

Another fun chapter for me, hope you guys enjoyed.