Chapter II

They continued their journey nonstop in search of Lily. Gajeel woke up sweating and moaning, then when he woke up, he kicked the shit out of Laxus and forced him up. Not Laxus' best morning, we're sure. After about two hours of walking they found a very small village hiding underneath large leaves. Laxus immediately walked up to the first hut. The huts were small, but very well built and compact. Some were made of straw or wood or stone. Most of them were straw though. The home Laxus stood in front of was a straw hut with a wooden door—that was weak and easy to break. "Should I knock or kick it down?"

He stuttered… "K-k-knock…"

"No entertainment today?" Laxus just smiled and knocked loudly, "Open up!"

An old woman with a little girl answered. The little girl stared at Laxus, and the old woman kept her attention on Gajeel. After a few moments of silence, Laxus blurted out, "Was a man-ah-cat here at all? He goes by the name Pantherlily."

The old woman nodded, keeping her gaze on Gajeel. "He came on a mission here about a week ago…to bring home the people of our village and bring justice to our attacker…did he not return home?"

"No, he did not. For three days."

"…I see…well would you like to come in? I can bring out some tea and Tishoha and I could…help you sort out your problems."

Laxus gestured towards Gajeel. He got bit by a mosquito. He's scratching so hard the spot on his arm turned red. "Sure." He ducked his head and went through the door, telling Gajeel it was okay to come in. Tishoha bought in a small jar and a rag and sat Gajeel down on the rug with her. There was some green, glowing liquid in the jar. "It's sap," she said, "Mint leaves, tree sap, and crushed nuts. Our great elder adds a secret ingredient that nobody knows about. It will only sting a little." Not only did the little girl speak broken English, but she had a lisp. And she's a liar.

It stings like a bitch…

Tishoha walked around Gajeel and sniffed for other wounds. She looked at his arm, then at his legs….then his neck.

He covered the mark on his neck immediately. That grabbed everyone's attention. He kept his eyes shut, avoiding everyone else. Laxus crawled over to the rug, "Dude, what's wrong?"

He opened his eyes, "It's nothing." He pulled some of his hair over his shoulders to cover the bruise. The elder welcomed them to talk in private in the kitchen, and sent the girl outside to play. She was one of those cute old people with the toothless smiles. Laxus refused to frown at her. He closed the door after making sure no one would be listening. "What the hell are you hiding, Gajeel?"

"Nothing."

"It's something if you ain't facing me. Gajeel you've been acting weird since yesterday. What is that?"

"I said it was nothing!"

"Gajeel…!" He growled, and forced him to turn around, "Open your goddamn eyes and tell me what you are covering on your neck!"

"It's just a fucking bruise!" He screamed at him and pushed him away, "You fucking bastard…why don't you stay out of my damn business? A FUCKING BRUISE okay!?"

"When the hell did you get that bruise?"

"You bastard, why the hell do you care!? Let's just focus on looking for LILY, and just…j-just leave me alone!?" He turned back around and held his sobs. Laxus leaned on a chair and just watched him. He's yet to move his hand from that "bruise."

"Gajeel?"

"What?"

"Let's just look for Lily, okay?"

"….O-okay…"

He stood up straight and—yet to let go of his bruise—stumbled out of the kitchen. He sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the room in attempt to avoid them. Laxus continued his discussion and found out a lot more than he thought he'd get. "There is a possibility that Pantherlily could still be here…he did say he would explore a little before leaving…he may still be here."

Gajeel sat in the corner frozen. Laxus stopped his conversation once more and walked towards Gajeel. He was trembling, trying so unbelievably hard not to cry. Laxus kneeled down to his height, "Gajeel…"

No sound.

He sighed and after a while gave up. "I don't know what's wrong with him; he's been like that all day."

The two were allowed to stay there for the night. Gajeel never let go of the bruise. As much as he really wanted to tell Laxus what happened…he just couldn't. He left to bathe in the river alone so he could finally relax. The river was clear, glistening, and no big rocks. Perfect.

He stripped of his clothes and stuck his foot in the water. The river was very gentle. He sat and rested, trying to keep himself awake. He couldn't keep his mind off of what had happened. What if Laxus found out? What if Fairy Tail found out? What would they think of him? What if José …came back? Shit, what if he came back!?

Gajeel jumped up from the water and dried himself off. He quickly dressed and ran back to the hut Laxus stayed in. It was a stone hut. He ran through the wooden door startling Laxus, and sighed in relief. "Laxus?"

"What?"

"…I…I can't- N-no…" He ran back outside. Laxus stood up from the floor and ran after him.

Lucy walked around town with Erza to the bakery for some cakes. They were surrounded by cakes, pastries, pies and cookies. Erza died in Lucy's arms.

"C'mon, Erza," Lucy laughed, "Buy something already!"

"Plue."

Erza looked inside of the glass with food. Cookies with chocolate chips that were still warm, she dreamed of licking melted chocolate off her fingers. The cakes were decorated with fruits and textured icing that she'd willingly stuff down her throat at once. But she noticed something…new. Taffy…? When did they get taffy? She pointed at the taffy. She needed taffy. She wanted that gooey, sweet, tasty sensation all to herself.

"I see you noticed our taffy!"

She jolted, and looked at the shop's owner. "Miss Titania Erza! It's very good to see my regular again! How's that throat?" He smiled.

She put two thumbs up, yet to take her eyes off the taffy. Lucy smiled, "Can we get 20 boxes of this Taffy? We'll share with the guild-!"

She hissed at her.

"Erza, shush."

"What a wonderful idea!" He said, "20 boxes of taffy, coming up! Would you like a bag to go with them?"

Lucy glanced at Erza, staring at the taffy being boxed in the back, about to pounce at them before Lucy could get to it. "Can you wrap up the bag, please?"

The guild was glad Lucy had bought taffy for everyone, Especially Erza, who openly chewed all of her taffy at once. They discussed Lily and Gajeel. Lily was gone for almost two weeks and Laxus and Gajeel have yet to come back. One person made a gay joke about the two, which everyone heard, and everyone laughed, and continued the joke from there. "They must fuck like rabbits if they've been gone for so long!"

Levy sighed as she finished her book, very upset when she realized she had closed it for good. She knew she'd never read it again, being that all of the surprises had already been encountered. After moments of quiet sobbing, she asked, "Wanna go to the book store?"

"Ah-! So sudden Levy! It's like you broke up with a man just after a day!"

"Lucy calm down. It's been three days."

They went and ran into Natsu on the way.

"Fuck." Lucy blurted.

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu greeted her, "I've yet to find Gajeel…"

"I have the feeling you won't stop until you do."

"NO I WILL NOT! And I won't stop until I do!"

"She just SAID, you won't stop until you do." Gray sighed.

There was silence.

"….And I won't stop until I do!"

"Aw fuck it." He said before Lucy offered him taffy. He graciously accepted them. Natsu noticed this. "You have taffy! Can I have some? Can I? CAN I!?"

"No."

"But why…?" He sobbed as he slowly collapsed on his knees. Lucy and Levy walked passed him, without him noticing, and entered the bookstore. "C'mon, Gray let's keep looking!"

"Natsu I have the feeling he isn't in the city."

"I AM NOT TAKING ANY TRAIN."