I just wanted to start off by saying, thank you so much for the reviews! It actually helped me work on this chapter a little faster than I had originally planned. Also 20 followers is AMAZING!

Here is the next edition in this story and just expect an ending in the next couple chapters. Prepare your hearts and minds for this. The next chapter might have some Mature themes in it as well since ya know. I labeled it that way haha.

Almost done with a chapter of a new story and I'm working out the kinks of how it's going to go. Leave a review of this type of story because I may be focusing in on pairings with mythical themes to it so if you want to see a specific pairing let me know. If you want to see more intimate pairings also let me know. I can only do so much on my own without knowing what my lovelies prefer! 3 Enough of my rambling! Enjoy!

-xoxoxo - MBN!

"O the times are hard, and the wages low."

"Juvia, whar' you bound to?" Thud thud, came the wooden mugs of rum and ale in harmony with her singing.

She twirled and let her curly hair fly as she put down and picked up more mugs, "The Rocky Mountains is my home."

"Across the western ocean." Thud THUD! The merriment became more excited as the song started. It was one of the favorites and only the seasoned guests requested it. The newbies would watch in awe at the show.

It was a short song and after half of it was done more than half the wooden mugs would have to be tossed or fixed, which is why they didn't sing the song very often. The money was coming in well tonight with all the fisherman and sailors coming into port that night to do their trades at the market and fix their ships. Juvia was starting to think she'd be able to spoil herself with a new hair accessory, when reality flashed into her head. She'd more than likely use it to try and help Gajeel escape this place..

A burly man reached up to grab her pale arm and pulled her out of her thoughts, "Girlie! Sing another song! This old sea dog's getting a bit bored!"

Customers did this every now and then and Juvia tried to pull her arm away, his drunken stupor made his grip a bit too tight for her and she struggled. "I-I have to wait just a few more minutes before I can sing again and I have customers to serve-"

He pulled her again and chuckled deeply, "Sing for me sing!"

Juvia started to use her delicate fingers to pry his callused ones off when out of the corner of her eye a flash of steel made her jump backwards, the blade almost grazed the gentleman's wrist and he let go from the surprise. "If you are going to bother the staff, I suggest you leave the establishment." The cold words flew out of her savior's mouth as Juvia looked up to meet Gray's eyes.

"HEY! I'm a customer! She is here to serve me!" The man hollered and others ran quiet.

Gray took his sword back and sheathed it, as he was about to say something, Juvia took her serving plate and smashed it onto the table. "JUVIA!" The two of them jumped a moment and looked at her. "Can handle herself." She paused to glare at Gray who had just almost hurt a customer.

He smirked at her confidence and stepped back to let her proceed. "And you-!" She grabbed the mug from in front of him and slammed it onto the tray. "Are cut off for the night. And if you have a problem with that Juvia can show you the door as well." The bluenette lightly touched her throat but kept her stare.

The older gentleman nodded from embarrassment and straightened himself on his bench. Juvia lifted the tray up and left the silent room to get a quick drink of water. Gray watched her flee, expecting it to be from fear only to find her chugging a mug of water. "Well then-" Juvia coughed some of the water back up into her mug from the shock.

She grabbed her throat and coughed hard from almost choking, "Did your Mother teach you to sneak up on women like that?" Juvia coughed a couple more times before looking over at his ice cold expression. "By that look Juvia can assume your Mother is dead as well?"

He said nothing but his hurt eyes showed everything. "Juvia is sorry for her passing, looks like Gray and Juvia have something in common though."

Gray's expression lightened but it was still a little stiff. Juvia began to drink her water again so that hopefully she would be able to do her songs again soon. "Why are you so determined?"

"What?" Juvia grabbed her tray and stepped toward him, he was wearing his official Navy uniform that looked cleaner than the one he visited her in hours ago. It only meant that his ship had returned to the dock.

"Insisting you don't need help. Insisting on your strength."

Her heart thumped as she looked into his eyes, his face may have been mostly stoic but his eyes betrayed him and she found it fascinating that she could read his emotions with one look. "I've been alone since I was young. You learn to depend on just yourself and maybe a handful of people."

Her heart felt like it was being squeezed and so she fixed her top, making it seem like that was what was going to fix it. "It feels like Gray understands what I mean by that, so if you don't mind Juvia has a job to do…"

She gently walked around him and back into the bar area. Gray clenched and unclenched his fists a couple times. He knew exactly what she meant, he would be a hypocrite to beg her to open up to him and when he would have no intention of doing so either in her situation.

~~ Gajeel's view~~

After Juvia left he couldn't sleep, he knew she was in trouble because of him and he couldn't just sit there like she wanted. He remembered the map he had gotten later that day and threw the cover off of him. He rooted through her home for hidden stashes of coin and gathered them up. There wasn't enough there to last them long to get far enough out of Jose's and the Navy's grasp and he cursed.

Tonight would be the busiest night for her since it was the end of the working week where people could spend some of their paychecks on luxuries. He grabbed the book with the maps inside and headed out with the money in tow as well in a knapsack he found in Juvia's room.

As he headed toward the tavern he passed the book store he was at later that day. The rain was a very light drizzle which meant Juvia was in a good mood which he couldn't help to also feel the same even for a small moment.

The blue haired girl exited her shop with a small orange parasol and a basket full of books. "The rain has started to let up, that almost never happens…" She held out her hand to collect some rain drops in her tiny palms and smiled at the warmth of the rain.

Gajeel watched from the corner as she started to walk away. Temptation grew in the pit of his stomach to at least get the money he gave her so that he and Juvia could have an easier journey but a little angel in his head appeared and started to yell at him. It would also make her less likely to leave with him.

He would knock her out and force her to come though if he had to. Right as he went to walk away he heard what sounded like a kitten call out. Gajeel turned back to find the tiny bluenette on the ground, her books scattered everywhere.

Gajeel rolled his eyes and hurried over to her, "Watch your step shrimp. You'd think living in a town where the road was always wet, at least the locals could walk correctly."

Still on her stomach she looked over at the massive man kneeling next to her, he grabbed her books one by one and tossed them in the basket. She was almost frustrated with his carelessness but she was the one who dropped them to begin with.

"I really have no reply to that… But thanks…" Levy pushed herself off the ground and sat. Her clothes were now drenched from the rain and dirty. Once the books were in the basket he grabbed the handle, shoved it over her arm and stood up. She looked at the large hand being held out to her and smiled. "I guess you aren't as barbaric as I thought."

Gajeel took his hand away just as she reached, "Don't push it. I'm only helping you because of the voice in the back of my head. That says defenseless baby animals should be helped."

Levy puffed her cheeks and forcefully grabbed his hand when he returned it within her reach. "Haha!" Her nose was red and so was the top of her cheeks. He had clearly gotten to her and for a moment he forgot his worries.

"Where are you headed? You obviously can't make it there by yourself."

"I can make it just fine!" She stomped off and he didn't follow, waiting for her to give in. "B-but if you want to follow that is fine!"

Gajeel let out a deep laugh and began to walk behind her, even though she had a head start it took him nothing to catch up to her because of her short legs. "Where are you taking all those books to shrimp?"

She seemed slightly upset with his nickname but she wasn't going to correct him on it so far. "I'm donating these ones to a church at the port for some orphan children."

Gajeel remembered those dumb picture books from the church when he was first forced to live on his own. "What terrible books are you going to give those poor children?"

"One! Books aren't terrible. They are filled with all types of knowledge from brilliant minds. Two! These are fairytales, tales of overcoming obstacles and becoming a hero! They are to help motivate the kids to be the best they can be." She seemed so confident and proud in herself but he had to correct her it was like she was begging for it.

Gajeel dipped his hand into her stack of books and pulled one out. "One. Picture books about a mouse eating a cookie is not educational. Two, no matter how many fairy tale stories you give them, in the end they will all realize it's fake. Fairy tales can only do so much until the real world kicks in an you start to starve…"

It hit close to home. That is how he got into this mess to begin with. Juvia and him were just starting out as orphans and eventually they needed to find a food source. Although Juvia would catch fish in the ocean for them, there was only so many times that she could show her mermaid form on the beach without being caught.

And as a child there were only so many jobs he could take, and with no shelter he got sick often and had to rely on her mermaid powers to keep him alive one too many times as they grew up. When he found out about a Pirate crew hiring children to work on their ship he jumped on the chance and gave all the money he earned to Juvia so that she could live on land while he worked on the boat.

That was when Jose took an interest in Gajeel and started to teach him how to fight, that stealing isn't that bad, and that if people got hurt it was their own fault. His journey's back home started to get scarce but the only times he was able to return to his normal self was around Juvia. He found a job at the bar washing dishes and eventually as a barmaid. "Did your parents die when you were young?"

Gajeel stayed quiet but then nodded, "My mom died when I was young. My father disappeared one day but I was told that he got on a boat and left port. I feel like there was more to it but I can't do anything about it now."

Levy reached over and touched his arm. "When I was young books were everything to me. Thankfully I had someone to take care of me, blood or not, and I was able to get to this point. I haven't been able to live my life though, I envy that you'll be travelling the world and see the things I've only been able to read in books."

"I know you didn't grow up here though, how did you get to this town?"

"Stowed away on a boat when I was a teenager… I wanted to go farther but I was found at this port and thrown off. Wasn't able to catch another boat since. Fishermen don't go out of port at all, the Navy would definitely find me and I'd get put in jail. And the Pirates are not something I want to tango with." Levy giggled and punched his arm. "You don't seem half bad though."

Gajeel looked at her and grimaced, "How did you know?"

She took her book from his hand and put it back in her basket. "I've seen you from time to time coming off the Pirate's boat. Although I try to stay away from them, I collect maps and sell maps to a lot of them…"

He reached up and roughed her hair a little, "Stay away from the Pirates. All of them are no good."

"You aren't… I see the way you are with that girl… You look so gentle when you're with her."

"We are childhood friends. How come I've never seen you around then?"

Levy shrugged. "You aren't here for very long and it seems like you don't pay attention to much detail when you're with her. You probably don't even know the name of my store and you've finally been inside twice now."

She was right. When he comes back its all to catch up with Juvia and make sure she is getting his letters and the money he sends so that she is living nicely. He didn't really care how well this town was doing. "You got me shrimp."

The girl stared at him, she was probably wondering if he remembered her name. "I do remember your name, shrimp rolls off the tongue though." He elbowed her arm and she laughed at his demeanor.

"So… She is a childhood friend?"

"Yeah. We looked at for one another like family."

Levy seemed a little more chipper at his answer and she reminded him of a little blue bird. Levy reached the church with Gajeel in tow and the children all poured out to see her. With the rain being so scarce they weren't wearing coats and had rain boots to stomp in the puddles. "LEVY!" They called out and hugged her. Some of them pointing out how dirty she looked.

They all tugged on her basket though trying to get her books until they noticed him with the piercings on his face. "Levy is that your boyfriend?!" The boys ran over and started to try and fight him while some of the girls poked fun at Levy and asked her questions.

"N-no! He is just a friend! He helped me get your books here today. It's getting late though you need to go inside!" Levy pushed them all inside and Gajeel grabbed some of them and stacked them on his shoulders and some hung off of his arms and legs.

When she saw she couldn't help but laugh and Gajeel couldn't help but crack a smile. "Thank you, they can be a handful."

Gajeel shrugged, "They weren't terrible… It's getting late and I need to meet Juvia."

"I-if you're going to be in town, feel free to stop by again… I-… The children would be glad to see you more." He waved goodbye and headed out, darkness had started to really set in on the Port.

~~The Tavern~~

Things were getting more complicated but he had an idea to try and gain her trust, thank god his shipmates weren't going to be here to see it.

He stomped out of the backroom, the chains on his boots clattering. Gray walked up behind Juvia as she set some drinks down and grabbed her right hand, leading her to twirl around and face him. "When I was a lad in a fishin' town, me old man said to me: You can spend your life, your jolly life, just sailin' on the sea." The Officer tried to keep his cool with a smirk and a straight face.

But Juvia could see the red on his ears and she couldn't help but follow along with his plan. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart started thumping but it kept the beat of the song. She stepped back and courtsied before holding up her right hand at a 90 degree angle and asked for him to repeat. "You can search the world for pretty girls, till your eyes are weak and dim, but, don't go searchin' for a mermaid, son, if you don't know how to swim." They started to turn in circles toward the middle of the room. No one dared to break their stare as they began to communicate with their song.

"Cause her hair was blue as the deep sea." He continued, she kept up with him but her knees began to get weak. He had changed the song to fit her description, she began to waver but she wouldn't give up because she wanted to know the end. Gray grabbed her other hand and made her spin around with her hands touching in the air above her head, "Her skin was white and pale, her face it was a work of art,
I loved that girl with all my heart."

Juvia wouldn't let that lyric get to her, she knew it was part of the song, but hearing him say that when she had never heard the words before was something only in books. "But you only liked the upper part, you did not like the tail." Juvia clapped twice and started to gracefully skip around him. "You signed on to a sailing ship, your very first day at sea, you saw the mermaid in the waves."

As she stood beside him he wrapped an arm around her waist, "A-reachin' out to me." They started stepping to the side before coming face to face. "Come live with me in the sea," said she. Down on the ocean floor; and I'll show you a million wondrous things you've never seen before."

She could understand what he was saying to her. That he wanted her to trust him, it was a mere coincidence he sang a song about a mermaid but it spoke deeper to her than he could imagine. She was starting to cave into him. "So over you jumped and she pulled you down, down to her seaweed bed, and a pillow made of a tortoise shell she placed beneath your head." Juvia tried not to give in and she was hoping he was understand her reserve. They began to spin around together as they continued the song.

"But then one day she swam away, so I sang to the clams and the whales: Oh, how I miss her ocean hair, and the silvery glow of her scales. She washed up on the shore that day and looked me in the eyes." Gray lifted her arms above her head and twirled her one more time, "Yes, her hair was blue like the ocean, her skin was white and pale, her legs they are a work of art, and I love that girl with all my heart."

When they were done the crowd began to cheer. They stomped their feet and whistled for them and her flush grew deeper with embarrassment. They bowed and curtsied to one another respectfully and Gray took her hand. "Juvia didn't realize you could sing."

"We both don't know a lot of things…" Gray gave her a serious look before smirking at her and stifling a laugh.

She didn't care that he was laughing at her since it was the first time Juvia had seen a person smile so innocently before, like he had actually enjoyed himself. Juvia touched his cheek and smiled in return, "It seems so…" This time she was the one the caught him off guard and his ears began to turn even more red than when they first started.

Juvia pointed to an empty table and motioned for him to wait there as she started to catch up with the slack that grew form their dancing and singing. It only took her a few minutes to do so before she joined him to sit. "Where do you want to start off?" Gray sat back in his chair and put the ankle of the leg outside of the table on the knee under the table.

The bluenette grimaced, "Gray is the one that called Juvia out… Gray starts."

"I was a boy when my parents died. Pirates raided my town." Juvia felt ill to hear that and she could see the reason why he was the one tracking down the pirates for this investigation.

He saw the despair on her face and he shrugged like it didn't bother him that much anyway. "As you could tell that's why I joined the Navy. To keep other children from ending up that way."

Juvia nodded and began to twirl her fingers around one another in her lap. "I'm going to assume you don't know the details yet." Her heart dropped. "A wealthy man was murdered two weeks ago. His staff, his wife. The staff's families. And the heir to his fortune. Murdered."

Juvia saw a glass of water on the table next to her and hurriedly grabbed it, practically throwing it down her throat. "And the pirates involved?"

"Jose's crew took all of their money and left no witnesses except for some children hidden in barrels of pickles in the kitchen." Juvia's eyes grew wider and she put both hands on the table.

"The children lived?" She was excited to hear the news and Gray gave her a knowing smirk again.

It made her feel a little exposed so she sat back in her chair. "The boy said that a man with a black mane had hidden them there and told them not to come out, and they all listened except for the heir who knew his parents were in danger. That's when he was found just outside the kitchen and killed."

Juvia touched her cheeks and hid her smile. Her friend had saved the children, Gray knew that he was a savior and not just a cold blooded pirate. Maybe she could get Gajeel help then and he wouldn't get locked away. "Juvia is so happy to hear that they are alright…" She put her hands on the table and smiled at him.

"Juvia do you know who killed the families? Do you know where to find them?" He reached over and touched her hand with his gloved hand.

She shook her head, "Juvia doesn't know where they are… But Juvia can't give you any information here… Meet Juvia at the indoor market, while its dark no one will be there…" Juvia jumped out of her seat and began to work again so that it wouldn't cause suspicion and Gray decided to take his leave.

Gajeel had seen it all, their dancing, and their singing. Juvia looked so much happier with that Sailor boy than she had with him. His heart squeezed so hard he wanted to punch a wall. He always had a tender spot for her in his heart, he protected her the best he could and made sure she could live a normal life. It made him feel like he made the wrong decision or else he could've been the one she danced with. If only that Navy brat wasn't in the way.

Gray exited to tavern from one of the side doors and headed down toward the port. In only a few seconds a menacing aura could be felt following behind him. He started to take odd directions and seeing if they would follow. No matter where he went though he could feel eyes glaring at the back of his head.

Out of nowhere a dark figure jumped from the top of a building and landed in front of him. He had all black clothes on and a black leather jacket with a hood that put a deep shadow across his face. "And what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What are you prying around about?" The dark raspy voice commanded.

"I feel that it's none of your business since I don't know who you are."

The shadowy figure stomped toward him, forcing Gray to pull out his sword. "Leave this place. Jose's crew isn't here."

"But you do know where they are I presume?" The man took out his sword as well, it was thicker than his but lacked an inch or two in length. With no light he couldn't see just how big his attacker was or what build he could be but he could at least defend himself enough to get some answers.

The man took a lung forward and cut diagonally up toward Gray's face, causing him to stumble back at first and flick his sword up and over in an ark to push the blade aside. "Stop coming around here!" He yelled as they exchanged close encounter blows.

Gray had a rough time fending him off without inflicting any damage. He had deduced at this point that this was the man the Juvia was hiding, how else would he know about Gray or what he was after? Let alone wait outside of Juvia's work to attack. "I am here to condemn the crew that Jose commands! I will not rest until I do!"

They exchanged a couple more blows before Gajeel finally over powered Gray and almost caught his shoulder in the process. "The girl has nothing to do with this! Leave her out of it!"

"I hardly believe that! And if you would just-" Gray paused to duck Gajeel's swing. "Wait a moment I could explain everything!"

Gajeel wouldn't stop though and he stomped at the ground by Gray's feet causing him to fall back. It left the officer open and Gajeel took the chance to cut down, little did he know that Gray had decided to try and ward him off with a warning attack. Gajeel missed, but Gray cut deeper than he had intended.

Now injured and bleeding, Gajeel took off, leaving Gray unable to get the information he needed. He chased after the hooded man, still not even knowing his name but in the darkness the man slipped away and disappeared. "Shit… SHIT!" Gray yelled and kicked a pile of empty boxes next to him.

It would be time to meet Juvia soon and he needed to tell her that her friend was injured. He stormed off and hoped that the idiot pirate would be able to fix himself up.

Gajeel ran through the narrow streets and back allies, relying on his sense of survival to find help. Without knowing it he ended up back at the book store he found previously. For the first time he read the sign. Garden of Knowledge, through the pain he scoffed and managed to bang on the door, hoping the bookworm was still there.

Levy was putting inventory away and labeling the sections of the store when loud bangs came from the front of the store. She gasped and dropped all the books in her arms. "H-Hello?" She peered around the row of books she was in and saw a dark mass laying at the bottom of her door outside. Levy gasped and raced to the door, opening it to find Gajeel almost passed out. "Wh-what happened? Gajeel!" She couldn't get a very good answer and grabbed him under his thick shoulders to pull him into the store.

Next, she grabbed a medicine book she had in stock and looked up ways to wake up a person who had passed out. It called for a smidge of spirits of hartshorn. She tripped over herself to get to the kitchen area in the back and grabbed the smelling salt. Rushing back to the big lug laying on her store floor. Levy opened the bottle and whisked under his nose.

Gajeel coughed and shot straight up against his better judgement. The pain in his torso causing him to fall back down to the floor. "Ah! God Damn it!" He punched her floor and scared her.

"G-Gajeel what happened?"

"Levy go into my bag and grab a tiny bottle." Gajeel held his chest with on hand and with another threw his bag off his shoulder.

Levy wrestled with the bag until she found a bottle that was smaller than her palm with a tiny amount of fluid in it. "I found it but there is hardly anything in it."

He tore off his jacket and lifted his black shirt off his body and exposed his chest. There was a long cut below his left peck the trailed diagonally up into the middle of his pecks. If it weren't for the rush of adrenaline in her body she may have had time to appreciate his build. "Put a drop at both ends and the middle, if there is any extra just put it in there."

"But-"

"DO IT!"

She listened to him and opened the bottle placing it directly over his wound and putting a delicate amount of it all through his cut. The next second the bottle shattered on the floor, Levy watched as a pale blue light appeared in his wound and out of nowhere the gash seemed like it was never there. No scar could be seen, it was, magic. It was the magic she read about in Fairy Tales. "Gajeel what the hell?"

He reached up and grabbed her hand, "You can't tell a soul."

"I won't."

"I'm trusting you Levy…"

Her heart skipped when he said her name. "O-ok…"

Alright guys I thought I'd put some links up to the sea shanty songs I found to give those websites/people credit. Follow me to get updates on this story and on future stories! Feel free to private message me if you have any ideas on what YOU want to see in my next installments as well! I'm open to criticism, there is no way that I can be the best writer I can be without being told what I can do better!

I think I'm going to give you all a nickname so if you have any suggestions for that let me know too because I'm leaning toward Nightlies- lovelies only night.. Ya know.. It's a play on words sorta.. and it's kind gender neutral too.. Sometimes I think I'm funny and I apologize.

I'll see you in the next chapter my Nighties!

?492-Mermaid-Sea-Shanties-and-Songs

shanty/western_