They had a lovely dinner. Gajeel cooked up some delicious pasta. They had a lot of fun cooking, throwing flour at each other. However, that did make the clean up afterwards that much harder. After everything was back in its place, they got into bed, and Levy was asleep within minutes. All the playing around really tired her out. Gajeel watched her sleep, the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest. She looked even cuter while sleeping. He smiled, kissed her on her forehead, wrapped her in his arms and fell asleep.
Levy woke up early in the morning to find her head buried in Gajeel's chest and wrapped in his cuddle. She blushed, realizing that they had cuddled all night and that Gajeel had really wanted to. She wriggled herself free, got out of bed and tied her hair. She walked around the house, quickly gathering clothes and a couple of books for the mission and tossed them in her bag. Then, she went to the bathroom, took off her clothes and hopped in the shower.
Levy's bustling woke Gajeel up. He was a little groggy. He got up and looked around. He could hear the shower running. Grinning slyly, he got out of bed, and tiptoed towards the bathroom door. Levy had left it open. He snuck in, took off all his clothes and hopped in behind her. She was too busy shampooing her hair and didn't notice him. It was only when he wrapped his arms around her that she realized he was there. "Hey! You're up", she said, turning around, shampoo still in her hair. She stood on the tip of her toes and tried to kiss him. He looked up, putting his lips just out of her reach. "Hey!" she said, annoyed. He smirked, bent down and picked her up she wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked into her eyes and said, "I love you so much". "I love you too", she said, blushing. They kissed deeply. He then put her down, and started cleaning her silky soft hair. He loved running his fingers through them.
After about an hour in the shower, during which they did other things too, they got out and got dressed. The journey to Badger island was a long one. It took the entire day. "How're we getting there?" Gajeel asked, as they walked through town. He had just realized that he had no idea of the travel arrangements. "We'll take the train from Magnolia to the harbor, and take the overnight ferry from there to Badger", said Levy, consulting her itinerary. They made a stop at the guild and got some food from Mira. Then, they walked all the way to Magnolia's train station. It was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that Levy kept checking to make sure she didn't forget something every five minutes. Gajeel kept reassuring her, but gave up after the tenth time. There was a bit of a wait at the train station, but they managed to be one of the first ones that got on and got a wide choice of seats. They chose one in the back of that carriage and sat down, opposite each other. "Well, we should reach the harbor at about three in the afternoon, that's a four hour journey", Levy said, checking her watch. "Perfect!" she continued, "I can double check my work once!". Gajeel groaned. "So I'm going to be stuck here for four hours with nothing to do". Levy looked at him lovingly and said, "I'm sorry, but this is important. We'll spend time together on the ferry, I promise. I'll finish this once and for all, and then on the ferry I'm all yours". Gajeel grunted in response.
For the next four hours, Gajeel busied himself with looking out the window at the passing scenery, and when that didn't work, he fell asleep on the seat (since Levy had occupied most of the table in between with her books), with a comically large, anime-quintessential snot bubble. Levy looked up briefly and chuckled to herself. No matter what he thought, Gajeel did look cute when he was sleeping. She stared at him for a while before realizing she still had work to do and got back to her translation.
Gajeel was jolted awake by the train's horn. He didn't even realize Levy was shaking him furiously, trying to get him to wake up. "Come on Gajeel, we've reached! Wake up!" she shouted. He woke up, slung his bag across his shoulder and clutching Levy's hand, jumped off the train. They then walked to the harbor, and checked if their ferry had arrived. "Sorry, the ferry is running late", said the attendant, "it will depart in an hour". "Well, we have an hour here, why don't we check out this town?" Levy suggested. Gajeel grunted in response. It was a nice, quiet town, and the only sounds they could hear were seagulls and the occasional ship's horn. As they walked on the stone cobbled street, They saw a lot of fishermen hauling their catch, haggling with merchants, and setting up shop to sell their wares. As they walked further, they saw a fair; a regular one, with food stalls and also others with games. "Hey! That looks like fun!" Levy squealed and holding Gajeel's hand, dragged him over to one where you had to pop balloons with an air rifle. "Okay guys, what will you be playing for?" asked the guy at the stall. "How about that cute stuffed panda?" Levy's eyes were sparkling. Gajeel chuckled. "You go first, shrimp". "Okay". Saying so, Levy picked up the rifle and shot ten pellets, and managed to pop two of the balloons. Her face fell comically. The guy reattached two balloons, resetting the count to ten. "Hey! Let me try. Same prize", said Gajeel, stepping up. Levy offered him the rifle, but he refused. Turning his arm into a pin missile, he fired ten shots at once and popped all balloons. "Are you guys wizards?" asked the attendant in awe. "Yep, Fairy Tail!" replied Gajeel, grinning. "Such an honor to meet you! Here's your stuffed panda" said the attendant, offering it to Levy. Gajeel glanced at his watch as he extended his arms, and gasped. "We should be getting back for the ferry shrimp", he said, "thanks a lot! Have a great day!" "You too!" waved the attendant as they rushed back.
The whole way back, Levy had her face buried in the panda clutched against her chest. The top of her forehead was visible, which was red. "What's up shorty?" asked Gajeel. Levy looked at him, blushing furiously. "You shouldn't have" she squeaked, "thank you!". She gave him a big hug, stopping him in his tracks. "It was nothing, shrimp", he said, awkwardly patting the top of her head. "I've been meaning to tell you, um, I mean-" Levy muttered. "Come on, we'll miss the ferry!" he said. "I just… I love you!" she blurted out loudly. It was Gajeel's turn to blush. Composing himself, he said under his breath, "I love you too, shorty", and kissed the top of her head. Levy broke the hug, put her arm in his and they walked off towards the ferry.