The Blankets

Gajeel sighed as he rolled out his bedroll on the forest floor. A small fire crackled as the flames began to burn low. Levy and Panterlily were already asleep on the other side of the fire. Gajeel sighed once more as he pulled his old ratty blanket to cover his chest. The blanket itself had been through everything since Tenrou Island. Gajeel had gotten it new right before the S-class trails. He had found it once the protection spell had been lifted; worn and with a few holes but Gajeel had refused to toss the blanket. Gajeel thought back to just a few hours before when Levy had noticed the state of his blanket.

"Gajeel! Why are you using such a worn out blanket? Won't you get cold if you use that poor thing?" Levy asked with great concern.

"Don't worry yourself, Shrimp. This ole' thing had been with me, and I will be just fine to keep using it for the foreseeable future." The iron dragon slayer ruffled Levy's hair causing the smaller mage to blush and grumble under her breath.

Levy awoke the next morning and looked over to see that Gajeel was sprawled out his old blanket clutched to his chest with frost settled around the edges. Levy frowned as she looked over Gajeel's blanket. It was far too small for the large dragon slayer and riddled with hole where animals had chewed and worn through. As Levy took in the full state of the blanket she made a promise to herself that she would make a new blanket for Gajeel. It would be easier and cheaper for her to but the fabric and thread and sew the layers together. Sewing was one skill that Mira had taught all the younger kids at the guild that Levy had mastered quite well. She would have to wake up earlier than Gajeel and more than likely have to wait for the iron dragon slayer to go to sleep so she could keep the new blanket a secret until it was finished. Levy smiled to herself as she began plan possible blanket patterns.

The next day the trio of former Fairy Tail members found themselves stopping in a town to resupply and looking for a few odds jobs. Gajeel and Lily found themselves helping a few of the townsfolk build a barn and three storage rooms. Levy found a small job of reading to some kids at the park for the afternoon. Levy finished her job before Lily and Gajeel. After Levy finished restocking the trio's packs she took some of her extra money and bought fabric and thread for Gajeel's blanket. She also purchased some patches to sew onto the old ratty blanket.

As the trio set up camp for the night on the edge of the town Levy sat down "Hey Gajeel can I see your blanket? I bought some patches to try and help it hold together for a little longer."

"Huh? Oh, sure, Lev. Just let me grab it from my pack." Gajeel stood walking over to his pack and grabbing his worn blanket. Before he handed it to Levy he ran his fingers over the worn sides really noticing for the first time just how battered his current blanket was.

"Here ya go, Shrimp. Good luck trying to mend the old thing."

Levy gently took the blanket from Gajeel's hands. She then laid the blanket flat across her lap. Levy spent the next few hours patching Gajeel's old and worn blanket. As the moon began to rise over the edge of the hills off in the distance Levy finished mending blanket. As she turned to hand it to Gajeel she was surprised to see that he had grabbed her blanket and fallen asleep with it. Rolling her eyes Levy wrapped the mended blanket around her shoulders and began to work on the new blanket for Gajeel. Levy worked long into the night before finally finding a place to stop for the night.

The next morning Gajeel awoke to find that he was still using Levy's blanket. If his old ratty one was too small for him hers was slightly smaller. The blanket itself did not even reach his hips from his toes. The old ratty thing he had at least came half way up his chest. Gajeel stretched before walking down to a small stream to wash his face. He was shortly joined by his exceed companion, Pantherlily.

"Moring, Lil. Do you know how late Levy was up trying to mend my ole' blanket?"

Lily shook his head no and gave a grunt as response before washing his face with the cold water.

"So Gajeel, any idea how we are going to find a stable place to live? We can't keep moving around and doing odds jobs like this. I mean yeah it can work for one or two people but with the three of us staying together we should try to find a more suitable setup." Lily spoke with concern.

Gajeel sighed he knew that Lily was right about finding a more stable way to live. Odds jobs would only get them so far and Levy would not want to join another guild. She belonged to Fairy Tail and Gajeel had come to feel the same way. Fairy Tail was their home and although it may be disbanded for now Gajeel knew that in his gut that Fairy Tail would be back. The three of them would just have to hold on until then.

"I will find us something more stable, Lil. I promise, but for now we will just have to keep moving forward."

Lily nodded to his partner knowing that he could trust Gajeel. The two then turned to walk back into the camp they had set up the night before. Once Gajeel saw that Levy was still asleep he decided to wake her up so she could wash up before breakfast. He paused when he finally noticed that Levy was currently using his old ratty blanket that she had mended the night before. The blanket was still on the small side even for Levy. Gajeel shook himself out of his stupor before reaching down to shake Levy's shoulder.

"Oi, Shrimp it is daylight. Get up and go freshen up while Lil and I get breakfast going."

Levy slowly blinked open her eyes. She looked up at Gajeel's face before stretching her arms and standing. She handed Gajeel the mended blanket.

"Here Gajeel, I mended it as best as I could. It should hold for a bit. Just be careful; it is still thread bare in a few spots." Levy said with a small frown on her face. Gajeel just gave a small "Gihi" before:

"Thanks, Shrimp. It looks a lot better now. I just don't care for sewing things." He paused for a minute while looking at his large, rough, and scarred hands. "It just gets harder the more beat up my hands get."

Levy only smiled at the large man in front of her. This man that used to scare Levy but had somehow managed to catch her heart. While Gajeel may be an imposing force in all reality the iron dragon slayer was just a large softy when it came to the few people that he treasured. Levy was not sure how she had managed to become important to the slayer, but she would not question how the way the world works. She stood and walked off towards the stream to freshen up.

As Levy walked away Gajeel looked over the patches on his blanket. They were all soft blue where the rest of the blanket was grey. He took note of the small stitches that held all the patches in place. Gajeel smiled as he packed his blanket with his bedroll and set Levy's blanket on her own bed roll.

The trio continued to move about in the same fashion as they had been for the past month. Levy continued to work on Gajeel's blanket in secret. Lily had caught Levy working on the blanket one morning, but the exceed agreed to keep the blanket a surprise.

One day Gajeel had managed to fall into a river; pack and all. Once the slayer had finally been brought back onto dry land the trio found out that the water had been the last straw for the old blanket. Heavy with water the blanket fell apart. Gajeel said he would be fine without a blanket for a few days, but Levy knew that the weather was getting colder. That night Levy managed to finish the new blanket for Gajeel while he slept. The dragon slayer was shivering in his sleep thanks to the cold wind. Once Levy had finished the new blanket she gently laid it over the cold Gajeel. She then gave a yawn as she crawled into her own bed roll for the night.

Gajeel awoke the next morning finding himself surprisingly warm. He soon found the source of the warm was a new blanket. Gajeel looked at the blanket in confusion. It was a freshly made blanket that was black on one side and sky blue on the other. The iron dragon slayer pulled a corner to his face and took a careful sniff. He was not surprised to find Levy's scent on the blanket. Gajeel noted however that a blanket this large and with this small of stitching would not have been able to be made in a few hours.

As Gajeel was examining his new blanket Lily woke up. He rolled over to his friend examining Levy's gift. Pantherlily watched Gajeel for a few minutes before finally speaking up.

"I see she finally finished your new blanket. It came out better than what I thought it would. She has been working on that one for over a month."

Gajeel was shocked on how long Levy had spent working on a new blanket for him. It was big enough to cover him from head to toe and was warm and light weight. Gajeel looked over at the small woman he had come to care for. She had spent time and money to make him a blanket that he could use. She mended the old ratty one so he would have something while she made him a special blanket. The resources she had used she could have used to study or to buy a book or two so she would have something to read. Gajeel knew that Levy loved to read, but she had not picked up a book since they had set out on this new journey. The iron dragon slayer was at a loss for sure. This beautiful person kept saving and proving just how much she cared for him. Gajeel knew that he did not deserve Levy in any way. He had hurt her, been the source of her fear, promised to make her big only to be in a seven year long coma thanks to Acnologia, he had to be saved by her when Tartaros attacked Fairy Tail. In Gajeel's mind Levy was so much stronger than she gave herself credit for. He smiled as he packed his bedroll and new blanket up; ready for the next day's travel.

Levy woke up just after Gajeel had gone to go freshen up at the lake they had camped near. She was surprised to see that Gajeel had already packed his things. She blushed as she remembered the fact that she had finished the new blanket last night and covered the shivering dragon slayer with it.

"Oh Levy good to see you awake. Gajeel really seems to like the new blanket you made for him. He went to go freshen up before we head out today." Lily told the small bluenette. Levy blinked owlishly at the exceed as her brain tried to process her actions from the night before. Levy gave a small nod as she packed her own bed roll and blanket. As she walked to go freshen up she walked right into Gajeel's chest. Her blush grew as she looked up at the dragon slayer whose hair was still damp from his dip in the lake.

Gajeel's eyes widened with shock as he walked right into Levy. A blush was dusted across her face and Gajeel felt as though his breath had been stolen. Gajeel quickly snapped himself back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Shrimp. I did not see ya down there." A blush began to spread across his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head. "Also th-th-thanks for the blanket. It-it-it is really warm. I really appreciate it." Gajeel looked off to the side as the blush began to overtake his neck and ears.

Levy looked up as Gajeel began thanking her for the blanket: a shocked expression on her face before a large smile overtook her face. Without thinking she wrapped her arms around Gajeel's waist.

"You are most welcome Gajeel. You needed a new blanket and I could not stand the thought of you getting cold. I'm just so sorry it took me almost a month to get the blanket finished."

Gajeel returned the hug with a look of pure awe. He knew now that he loved this beautiful woman whom reminded him of small fairies. He would make sure that Levy would always be taken care of no matter what challenges they faced.