By the time the hectic ten hour train ride ended, Gajeel was ready to kill someone.
When he'd woken up from his nap Ira was gone and he had ransacked the entire car looking for her, only for the small girl to come out of the bathroom a moment later.
After that they had dinner, but the food was horrible so neither of them ate much, which was now adding to the irritation of the dragon slayer.
Then, about three hours from Magnolia the two thought they'd just sleep the rest of the ride home. Gajeel was taking up two seats again with Ira on his chest, tightly secured by his big arm. He was nearly asleep when Ira started crying, whimpering that she wasn't feeling well she vomiting on his chest without any other warning. The smell of the vomit reached his sensitive nose and he ran for the bathroom himself, holding a crying Ira who was looking like she was about to spew again. They spent the remaining time in the bathroom puking and feeling downright horrible. The iron dragon slayer had thrown away his shirt and cleaned up himself and the little girl, who was now crying as he held her, both still sitting on the bathroom floor. Ira kept apologizing while Gajeel tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault and that he wasn't angry at her (though he may kill the kitchen staff because he was sure what little they ate of the food made them sick). Eventually the little girl cried herself to sleep, still in Gajeel's large arms.
Pantherlily didn't know whether to be amused or disturbed at the sight he saw coming off the train. Gajeel was walking towards him, a deadly glint in his eyes, but that was normal. What wasn't normal was how disheveled and shirtless the usually habitually bored man was, not to mention the small child he was carrying, which was the biggest question of all.
"Fun trip?" Lily asked sarcastically, earning a growl. "You know when I asked for a souvenir I meant food or a trinket of some sort, not a child."
"Fuck you, cat!" Gajeel yelled, causing the small girl in his arms to stir and whimper. "No, not you kid," he said to her in a much calmer voice, "you go back to sleep for now."
Lily couldn't really believe the scene that was unfolding in front of him. Gajeel was acting somewhat fatherly and the child didn't appear to be afraid of him at all. He silently wondered if this was actually Gajeel, or at least this world's Gajeel.
"You're going to explain her, right Gajeel?" the cat asked, knowing the man would often say something like 'Shit just happened.' in weird situations.
"When we get home." He muttered. "Can you stop at the guild and have that demon barmaid make us a pot of soup though? The kid needs to eat and I could use some food too."
Pantherlily agreed and they started heading towards their destinations. Suddenly Gajeel called out to his cat. "Hey! Don't tell anyone about this!"
"I can't tell what I don't know." the exceed smirked. But one way or another, I'll make you explain this later.