A/N: First off, I want to apologize for taking such a long time to get this chapter out. I'm currently beta-ing two stories. The first is Who Are You? by I am Titania-Falls and the second is Love Potion by xxFairyTailRocksxx. They're both amazing stories, and I highly recommend you check them out! (:

Chapter 9:

Gajeel lay in bed, wide awake, next to a woman, he never would have imagined he would fall in love with. He groaned quietly and covered his face with his hands.

Against his better judgment, he had fallen for the one person that he shouldn't have. She had been his partner for more years than he could count. She was his other half, more than he had cared to realize beforehand. At first, she had been someone he'd looked down on. For being a woman and a water element mage. She'd won his respect by annihilating him completely, fair and square to boot . Then when Phantom Lord had been defeated by Fairy Tail, Gajeel had been astonished when he'd heard that Juvia had joined the Guild that had lead to their humiliating defeat and to top it off he was even more astonished that she had come after to him to get him to join too. Of course he'd refused, but he was slightly happy that she had thought of him too. That she cared what became of him was unsettling. It was as Gajeel lay there, next to a sleeping Juvia, that he realized she had been with him for most of his adult life. He couldn't remember a time where Juvia had ever left his side for more than a period of 2 days maximum. Even now in the guild, whether she did it consciously or not, Juvia always managed to stay with at least a 4 meter distance from him at all time. Even if she was in the middle of stalking Gray at the time, and he now realized that she was always concerned about him, even if he didn't always see it.

At the time, Gajeel had been at loss. These people were so different from the cuthroat life he was used to living with. He didn't know how he was supposed to act and it seemed he would forever be an outsider. Even then, it had been Juvia who had seemingly read his mind and told him in all seriousness that his past didn't matter so long as he was willing to learn from his mistakes. She just sat with him after that. She let him brood but she didn't leave him alone either. It occurred to him that Juvia had always made it a point in her life to be near him, since they were friends.

And now, when she had needed him the most, the only time she had ever needed his help, he'd failed her. By not protecting her, by letting this happen to her, by letting her get her heart broken.

Even worse, he'd seen it in Gray's eyes whenever he interacted with Juvia that the woman was nothing more than a comrade and would never become anything more. Still, he'd let Juvia continue to run around behind him like an abandoned puppy dog and watched idly as he crushed her heart a little more every time he rejected her. He just watched as she declared herself to Gray over and over again, watching him and everyone else brush her feelings off as if they were nothing. When he thought of it now, his blood boiled.

He sighed. Things just couldn't fucking get any worse. The whole situation was getting too complicated for him to keep up. Ever since Wendy had revealed that the baby's father was indeed Gray, Gajeel had been torn between wanting to punch him silly and being relieved that it didn't belong to the rapist.

But now what?

The days where impregnating a woman meant marriage were long past, but on the other hand, why should Juvia have to shoulder the responsibility of his drunken whims? She shouldn't have to bring up the child on her own.

He decided that if he could, if she would allow him, he would become the kid's foster father. Like Metallicana was for him. He wouldn't let the kid feel unwanted, not that he would, given how affectionate Juvia was, Gajeel strongly suspected that the kid would become largely hands-off in nature.

He sighed again. At least in the midst of the confusion, there was one thing that made sense. Today was the day he would get revenge. The bastard would regret even looking at Juvia when Gajeel was done with him. Gajeel would make sure that he - and the world - would know what it meant to lay your hands on a Dragon's mate.

And that brought him to his next problem.

It was as Metallicana had predicted, the attraction to the woman he wanted was so strong it was unbearable. The problem was whether Juvia would accept him. he didn't think he could handle rejection, but he couldn't keep it to himself either, or when spring came around, history would repeat itself but this time, he would be the one to destroy her.

Gajeel got up and walked to the bedroom window, staring out at the night-time forest below. It was painfully clear that he would not be getting any sleep tonight. he leaned against the window frame.

He didn't want to ruin what he had with Juvia. The comfort that had been built through years of carefully getting to know each other. He didn't want to confuse her more, but for her own good he had to tell her. He doubted that when it came down to it, neither Natsu nor even Erza would be able to stop him. Natsu had never seen a dragon slayer in that state. It would over power him completely, if not trigger his own desires first.

Gajeel decided he would tell her after she had the baby. When everything was over and done.

"Mnngh. Ah!" Gajeel turned around to see Juvia half sitting up, propped up on one elbow, the other hand on her stomach. Gajeel sat down on the bed next to her.

"Ya alright?" He asked, trying not to look at the dangerously low neck of her night gown.

"F-fine. Juvia is fine. The baby is just kicking a lot. Phew." She gasped again. "You want to feel it?" Juvia asked, without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. Almost immediately, he felt the tiny kicks of the infant.

He remembered the first time the baby had kicked vividly. He and Juvia had been sitting in the living room trying to decide on baby names for the kid.

"What about Gollum?" Gajeel asked in all seriousness. Juvia wrinkled her nose.

"No offense Gajeel kun. But Juvia thinks that the baby would hate us if we named it that."

"Okay, fine." Gajeel said, slightly miffed. Juvia giggled and patted his arm.

"Let's do baby girl names first. How about Mildred?"

Gajeel looked at her incredulously.

"Now that's a name that would make it hate us. What about Roseanna or Ruby?" He suggested.

"I think – oh!" Juvia suddenly went rigid, and dropped the pen in her hand on the table, letting it fall with a loud clatter.

"Juvia? Oi. What's wrong?"

"Oh!" Juvia gasped again and jerked slightly, clutching her stomach and gaped at Gajeel wide eyed.

"G-Gajeel-kun. It…It kicked." She said weakly, voice faint from shock.

"What?" Gajeel could hardly believe his ears.

"It kicked!"

"It kicked?!"

"It kicked!"

"Yes!" Laughing, Gajeel picked Juvia up in his excitement and spun them in a circle. He set her down breathlessly, gazing at her. Juvia took his left hand in hers and put on her stomach.

"Here, look, feel it."

The second Gajeel felt the faint movement, he fell speechless. It occurred to him, that there was another person inside. A human being.

"That's…amazing. It's a whole actual person." Juvia smiled and sat down on the couch, picking up the pen and twirling it between her fingers

"Yes. It is."

"Aren't you scared?" The question slipped out before he could stop himself.

Idiot! He scolded himself. Why would you ask her that? Like she isn't worried enough with out you pointing it out.

Shut up! I didn't mean to! It just sorta came out!

Is that supposed to be a believable excuse?

Shut upppp!

"A little." Juvia admitted, bringing Gajeel out of his internal infighting. "Juvia gets scared sometimes, butt then she sees Gajeel-kun and she feels like if Gajeel-kun is with her, than she could even conquer the world if she wanted to." Gajeel laughed at the strange comparison.

"Haha. Conquer the world? You got world domination on the brain rain woman?"

Gajeel coaxed Juvia back into lying down.

"Come on. Let's go back to sleep. I'm tired and I have to leave in an hour."

When Gajeel got up next, Juvia was fast asleep and didn't even stir as Gajeel ran around the room grabbing his clothes and shoving them on.

He stood over her before he left, watching her breath steadily, enjoying the calmness and serenity he had worked so hard to achieve for her. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and studied the pale skin.

"I promise you Juvia, today, you will have revenge. He will pay for what he's done." He whispered to her.

With one last look at the fair blue haired woman from the bedroom doorway, Gajeel turned and walked out the front door.

Today, it would end.

… … …

Alright, we have them surrounded, and as far as I can tell, they have no idea we're even here." Erza briefed the guild members on their situation from her perch up in a tree.

"Are you sure? I'm tired of these morons slipping through our fingers every time we get close." Levy stepped forward, arms crossed over her chest. The rest of the guild eyed her warily. It was clear the petite woman was on edge, given that Gajeel was due to show up at any given time. Everyone wondered how she would act in front of him, and whether or not she would confront the man about his apparent infatuation with Juvia.

"Yes, I'm sure. Fried has the whole place surrounded by rune traps and barriers and Natsu and Romeo will use fire to corral them once inside." A rustling off to the right of the group cut Erza off. Everyone tensed waiting and suddenly Gajeel came trudging into view, smacking his arms irately.

"Sonovabitch. I hate these things."

For a moment, everyone just watched and then at his expectant stare, they broke out into scattered calls of greeting which acknowledged with a wave of his hands.

"Have we got 'em for sure this time?"

Erza nodded.

"Yeah. We've set up traps all over the place. There's no way they'll get away this time."

Just then, Master Makarov appeared, signalling the start of the raid.

Gajeel trailed behind the group and unexpectedly found himself walking next to Levy. Which brought him back to his previous dilemma that he was facing before the woman he once loved and the woman that currently held his heart.

It was silent for a time and Gajeel found himself wondering how he would tell her.

I don't love you?

No, that would be a lie. He did love her. Just not the way he loved Juvia.

We're not meant to be together?

Better but still not –

"You love her, don't you?" The question was abrupt but it was soft and gentle. There was no malice or hostility in it. Only a calm finality, coupled with a little hope. Like he would say no. Gajeel closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yes."

He owed her the truth and he would not sink so low as to lie.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry"

"Why are you apologizing?" Her voice suddenly became harsh. Gajeel looked at her in surprise.

"I just –"

"Are you sorry you fell in love with Juvia?"

"No!"

"Then? Never apologize if you haven't done anything to warrant it." Gajeel could only mutely nod his head in agreement.

"Besides, it's not like you ever said you loved me. I hope, for your sake, that Juvia returns your feelings. I don't want you to feel the way I'm feeling right now." Gajeel tentatively glanced at her and caught sight of the unshed tears swimming in her eyes. He flinched. That was the last thing he'd wanted. He watched wordlessly as she sped up and joined strides with Cana, who immediately began fussing over her.

He sighed again. He'd never wanted to hurt her, but he couldn't help the way he felt. Before this had happened, he'd truly believed that he was in love with the script mage.

He suddenly saw everyone tense and realized they'd reached the enemy camp without noticing it. He forced the emotional thoughts out of his head and focused on the task ahead. Right now, they were going to avenge Juvia. By the time he was done, these morons would wish that they'd die ten times rather than face him again. He cracked his neck and knuckles.

It was payback time.

With a roar, the entire, the entire guild burst forth from the forest and into the campsite sending the inhabitants into a panic. It instantly turned to chaos as members of the gang attempted to flee and found themselves blocked by the rune wall and traps set by Levy and Fried. Seconds later, huge rings of fire erupted inside the barrier, making their opponents yell in surprise. Evergreen, carried by Elfman assisted them by turning the noisier one into stone. Natsu, Erza and Gray finished up by breaking down the strongest fighters. Gajeel however wasn't interested in any of this. He had his eyes set on one person, one that he couldn't seem to locate in the fray.

A dry laugh sounded off to his right and he turned to find a man with purple shaggy hair buried in the ground, no doubt the work of Virgo. Gajeel brought a steel toed boot down on his exposed shoulder. The man didn't even bat an eyelash and kept laughing.

"You idiots think you're so smart."

"Hah?"

"Are you really this stupid? You think it's this easy to catch us? It took you guys eight months to track us down. How long do you think we've been doing this? Even the council hasn't been able to catch us. What makes you think you can?"

Gajeel snorted and dug his foot in deeper.

"Cocky bastard. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you're up to your armpits in dirt and the rest of your pathetic guild is being flambéed by Salamander." He gestured to the fight with a thumb pointed over his shoulder. The man laughed harder, almost maniacally this time.

"You really are idiots. We let you catch us. Look around smarty pants. Isn't someone missing. You were so busy tracking us that you didn't notice someone give you the slip. It just as well. It took him a while to find her, but I hear Juvia-sama is doing quite well in Galdrom, Amon has gone to deliver his greetings and heard that the rain woman has a gift for him. It'll be a touching reunion, don't you think?"

Gajeel cursed and punched him, knocking the man out cold.

"Salamander! Titania! Bunny Girl! Fullbuster! We've been tricked. This was a decoy. He's going after Juvia." He then turned and sprinted through the forest at top speed praying. Pantherlily, Gray, Natsu Lucy and Erza were hot on his trail. Gajeel cursed internally, he'd been tricked and now Juvia wasin danger again!

Please, please, please be safe!