~Levy~

"That's strange," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes as I began to wake up, "how did I get home?"I remembered talking with that black Exceed at Marley's, but nothing after that. I had been drinking a lot, so assumed that's where my hazy memory had come from.

"No more alcohol," I groaned, making my way to the bathroom. I rummaged through the medicine cabinet, grabbed some pain medicine, and swallowed the maximum amount the bottle told me I could take. "Maybe I should take five or six more pills," I sighed. For some reason, my jaw was extremely sore, and there was a large bruise on it. Did I get into a bar fight or something?

I stripped out of the clothes I had been wearing the day before, and took a shower. I tipped my head back, letting the hot water hit me in the face. Willing the heat to help my headache go away, I took large breaths of the steamy air. When that didn't work, I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around myself, going back to my bedroom to change.

"Hm," I said, noticing a yellow ribbon laying on the floor beside my bed. "Isn't this the one Gajeel took from me yesterday? When did I get it back?"

I pressed my mind for some inkling of when I might have seen him the night before, but couldn't remember anything. If I had the ribbon, I had to have seen him after I left Marley's. "After I got drunk," I groaned, embarrassment consuming me. I acted like some kind of childish idiot when I drank too much, so I usually never let that happen. I sometimes said stupid things, too. "I wonder how much worse I made everything," I sighed, slipping into an orange dress. It was trimmed with white and tied around my neck-which was perfect, because I didn't want to have to worry about covering up the scratch on my chest. I tied on the separated sleeves before grabbing my ribbon off the floor and pulling my bangs back with it.

"I guess I should head to Fairy Tail," I said to myself, locking my room's door as I left. "I wonder if Master Makarov will send us on an assignment today."

"Good morning, Levy!" Wendy smiled, meeting me just outside the gates of Fairy Hills. "Are you on your way to Fairy Tail, too?"

"Yeah," I nodded, smiling in greeting at her. Despite being nine years younger than me, Wendy was nearly as tall as I was, and was beginning to fill out in the chest area, too. I sighed to myself, secretly hating how my dress hung unhindered from my neck.

"Would you like to walk together?" Wendy asked.

"That would be great," I said. Wendy sometimes worked with team Shadow Gear on assignments, so we had become pretty good friends over the last couple of years. When her former organization had disbanded three years before, she was brought to Fairy Tail by Master Makarov. Everyone was excited, obviously, because she was our third dragon slayer. Although she was just a child, Wendy was incredibly powerful-as was expected from a first generation dragon slayer like Natsu. Her powers were strengthened by the air, though, since she was a sky dragon slayer.

"What happened to your face?" Carla, Wendy's white Exceed companion, asked.

"Oh, this?" I touched the small bruise on my jaw. "It's probably just from a brawl."

"Probably?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I drank a little too much at Marley's last night," I explained, earning myself a disapproving tsk from Carla.

"Would you like me to heal it?" Wendy offered.

"No," I chuckled. "Thanks anyway." Along with Wendy's other dragon slayer abilities, she had amazing healing powers. A lot of the magic she used was to assist others during battle, and to heal their injuries. That's the complete opposite of Gajeel's powers. His are only for destroying things. I shook myself. Why am I thinking about him?!

"Are you feeling warm, Levy?" Wendy asked. "Your face is flushed."

"N-no! It's nothing," I gasped. Luckily, we had arrived at headquarters, and I was spared from any further questions. Jet and Droy met me inside the doors and immediately inquired about my face. Once again, I explained that it wasn't a big deal.

"Took long enough," Gajeel growled, sitting across from me at the table Jet and Dory had led me to.

"What?" I had no idea what he was talking about. Was he waiting on me for some reason?

"Don't tell me you forgot!" He sighed in exasperation before leaning over and grabbing something off the floor.

"It's you!" I exclaimed, staring at the black Exceed from the night before as Gajeel sat him on the table. "What are you doing here?"

"You invited me to join Fairy Tail," he said, calmly.

"I did?"

"Told ya she'd be too drunk to remember," Gajeel scoffed.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, looking down at my hands.

"It's alright," the Exceed smiled. "Last night you forgot your wallet, so I returned it to you. Gajeel showed up, and misunderstood why I was there, so we fought briefly before you cleared up the situation. After seeing my battle form-"

"You have a battle form?!" I had never heard of an Exceed demon having a special form for battle.

"Yes," he nodded. "As I was saying, after you saw my battle form, you invited me to join your organization. You mentioned something about teaming up with Gajeel because he was lonely."

I groaned, putting my head on the table. "Did I really say that?"

"You did," Gajeel frowned, crossing his arms. "Since you invited Lily to join, you need to take him to see Makarov."

"Unless you wouldn't like me to join," he added.

"Your name is Lily?" I asked.

"Pantherlily is my full name, but you may call me Lily."

"That's so cute," I giggled, scratching him behind the ear. "Alright, Lily, I'll take you to meet Master Makarov. I wanted to see him about an assignment anyways, so it will be perfect."

"Levy," Jet whispered as he, Droy, and I led Lily and Gajeel to Master's office, "are you sure about this? I mean, you barely know that Exceed. You didn't even remember inviting him to join Fairy Tail."

"I was drunk," I told him. "I'm sure, so trust me."

"Alright, I'll trust you, but why is he coming?" Jet frowned, pointing his thumb at Gajeel.

"He's going to be on Lily's team," I said.

He grumbled something under his breath as I knocked on Master's office door, but I paid him no mind. I'm still angry at Gajeel, too, but he's a member of Fairy Tail now. If we never forgive those who hurt us in the past, we'll never be able to move forward. I nearly laughed at my own hypocrisy. Aren't I the one who became a hunter for the sole purpose of seeking revenge? I can't really talk about forgiving and moving on, can I?

"Come in," Master's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I opened the door to let us all inside.

"Master Makarov, I would like to make a request," I said, bowing slightly in greeting.

"What is it, my dear?" He asked from his seat on top of a work desk.

"Pantherlily would like to join Fairy Tail and become a hunter," I told him, motioning for Lily to step forward. "He has a very unique skill that I think we could benefit from, and he seemed enthusiastic about joining." I actually couldn't remember if he had been enthusiastic or not, but since he had shown up this morning, I assumed that meant he was.

"What is this skill?" Master looked at Lily.

Before our eyes, Lily transformed into a muscular Exceed that stood as tall as Gajeel. I hadn't noticed it before, but the small sword he carried had also grown, matching his new size. "Wow!" I gasped.

"Can you fight?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, sir," Lily nodded.

"Would you be able to kill other demons?"

"Yes," he repeated, seriously. "If a demon becomes a threat to those who cannot fight, then I will fight for them. I have been doing freelance demon-hunting for a few years now to make a living as I traveled around Fiore."

"I'll have Mira give you a Fairy Tail tattoo," Makarov smiled. "Welcome to Fairy Tail."

"Thank you," Lily smiled back, bowing. I watched in fascination as he returned to his normal size.

"Why have all of you come?" Makarov asked, looking behind Lily and I to the three men waiting quietly by the office door.

"Jet and Droy came with me to ask about assignments, and Gajeel came because he is going to form a team with Lily."

"Another Exceed-slayer team," Makarov chuckled, "alright. Gajeel, I'm giving you permission to begin taking assignments since you have a teammate. I'll trust you to keep Gajeel out of trouble," he told Lily. "As for Shadow Gear, I don't have anything specific for you. There haven't been any major occurrences with powerful demons lately, so everyone has just been picking jobs off the request board. If one comes in, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Master." I bowed and left with the rest of the group, a little thankful for the lack of large assignments. My hangover was still bothering me, and it would have been a hindrance on an important assignment.

"Are you going to train again today?" Droy asked.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"You have been every day that we've had off, so I assumed you'd go again if Master didn't give us a big job."

"Sorry," I told him, "if you and Jet would like to take a job from the request board, go ahead. I don't want to keep you two here if you'd rather be working."

"We wouldn't want to leave you here, though," Jet frowned, looking conflicted. I could tell that both he and Droy were beginning to get tired of training every day, so I encouraged them to take a job without me.

"I'll be so busy training that I won't have time to think about anything else," I reassured them. "You two should go."

"Are you sure?" Droy asked.

"Positive," I nodded, giving them one of my biggest grins. "Just don't have too much fun without me."

"We could never!" They both gushed, causing me to giggle. I waved as they ran to the request board.

"What the hell is their problem?" Gajeel frowned. I jumped, not realizing he was still standing beside me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Never mind," he sighed. Although he shrugged me off, I could sense some anger coming from our bond. I had no idea why he would be angry, so I tried to ignore it. I need to learn how to tune out these sensations. It will drive me crazy eventually if I don't. Besides, I feel like I'm spying on Gajeel, knowing what he's feeling all the time.

I was about to ask him again what he had meant, but Lucy's urgent voice cut me off. "Levy, do you have a minute?" she asked.

Her brown eyes were bright with fear, which made my muscles instantly tighten. "Sure," I told her, allowing myself to be pulled outside. She dragged me to the back of the building, and looked around once we were out of anyone's earshot.

"Lu-chan, what is it?" I asked, grabbing her hands as I stared into her eyes.

Tears filled them once she was certain we were alone, and she wrapped her arms around me. "It's terrible," she cried. I could feel warmth as her tears began falling to my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I hugged her back. Lucy was always so strong, so to see her this upset was unsettling. Whatever had happened, it had to have been something really bad.

"Levy, I-I-," she pulled away, looking at me as tears soaked her face. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Lucy, what happened?" I asked, more sternly. She was freaking me out, and I began to feel a little afraid myself.

"I'm marked." She slowly lifted the her left sleeve, showing me her wrist. Where there used to be only smooth skin, now there was a mark in the shape of a full moon. I frowned as I looked at it, noticing something peculiar about it. The mark wasn't red, as it should have been. Instead, it was jet black.

"Why is it black?" It was a stupid question, giving the circumstances, but I wasn't sure what else to say. No matter what I did, there would be no way of consoling her. She knew what would happen if anyone found out.

"I don't know," she cried, more tears falling onto the front of her shirt. "I woke up this morning, and there it was. Levy, what am I going to do?" She collapsed to her knees, the cries turning to sobs as I sat on mine and wrapped my arms around her.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe the council will pardon you since Natsu is a dragon slayer."

"You know those bastards would never do that." Gajeel's rough voice caused both of us to jump. Lucy gasped, quickly rolling down her sleeve to hide the mark. I stood to face him, blocking Lucy from his line of sight.

"Why did you follow us?" I asked.

"I didn't," he snapped. "I was getting some weird vibes through this damned bond, and could tell you were pretty freaked out. I didn't know what was going on, so I just came to check it out."

"How much did you hear?"

"I'm a dragon slayer," he said, "so I heard everything. As soon as I came outside I could hear you two."

"What are you going to do now that you know?" Lucy asked, standing. She wiped her face and fixed Gajeel with a glare.

"It ain't any of my business," he shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, I should be congratulating you and moving on. See ya."

We watched in shock as Gajeel walked away. Lucy collapsed onto the ground once more, silent tears again soaking her cheeks. "Congratulate me?" She asked, almost in a whisper. "I haven't even thought about that. I was so concerned with this stupid mark on my wrist that I completely overlooked what it meant. Natsu and I are going to have a baby."

I knelt down in front of her, not sure what to say. My eyes widened when she suddenly smiled brighter than I had ever seen her smile before. "Levy, Natsu and I are going to have a baby."

"You are," I nodded, giving her a small smile in return. She pulled me into a hug, and I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying-or both. We stayed like that for several minutes until she finally calmed herself down. I watched as she touched the sleeve covering her mark, looking at it almost as if she were in awe.

"I know I'll have to hide it from everyone or Natsu and I will be in trouble, but that doesn't mean I should be ashamed of it, either. I'm going to have a baby with the man I love, and I can't be ashamed of that." Lucy looked at me, smiling. "It's going to come out after I start showing, but for now I'm going to be happy."

"I'll do what I can to help," I said. I was terrified for what she would face in the near future, but I wouldn't ruin her brief moment of happiness. "Since your mark isn't red, maybe I can find something in one of my books that will exempt you from the council's laws."

"If anyone can find something, it's you," she nodded.

"We should go back to Fairy Tail. Natsu might worry if you're gone too long." A thought crossed my mind as I helped her to stand and we began walking to the front doors of headquarters. "Does Natsu know?"

"He was with me this morning when I saw the mark," she said, blushing slightly. "We've been living together for about a month now."

"What?!" I gasped.

"Sorry for not telling you," Lucy sighed. "To be honest, we'd be married by now if it wasn't illegal. Moving in together was the only thing we could legally do, so that's why we're doing all of this backwards. We kept it a secret because we knew the organization would go overboard with some kind of congratulations. It would surely make it back to the council if they did, and then they'd get suspicious about why we were living together. Neither one of us wanted that, so we decided just to keep it a secret from everyone."

I chuckled, "Fairy Tail would do something like that. I'm happy for you, Lu-chan. Hopefully one day you two can get married."

"Hopefully," she agreed, smiling.

~Gajeel~

I returned to the table I had been sharing with Lily, feeling uneasy. After sensing the Shrimp's fear, I had immediately excused myself and rushed to her. I wished now I hadn't. So the blonde and Salamander are going to have a baby, huh? I felt kind of bad for them. News like that was supposed to be happy. The council wouldn't see it as something to be celebrated, however, and I knew they'd face the punishment of any other hunter that had allowed themselves to be marked. Natsu would most likely be killed, and Lucy would be kicked out of Fairy Tail. Even worse, they council would force her to have an abortion, not wanting to "taint" the world with demon-human half-breeds.

Those bastards should have thought about that before they created the dragon slayers. We're nothing more than half-breeds ourselves. In my opinion, the council should just keep their noses out of everyone else's business. Under normal circumstances, the half-breed child was taken by the demon father, and later hunted down by specially-trained hunters. Since the general public believed the demons killed the half-human offspring, no one knew what truly happened. It was the hunters who killed them. If they weren't taken by the demon father, the half-breeds were stolen from the mother and executed for being a result of illegal activities.

The thought instantly sickened me, and was the reason I had defected so long ago. I had been recruited as one of those specialized hunters. Once I found out what was really going on, I fought against it. Afraid I would tell their dirty little secret, the council had proclaimed me defective, thus insuring no one would believe my claims against them.

That's why they had tried so hard to kill me over the years-and why they were afraid enough to send three high-ranking members of the council all the way to Fairy Tail to arrest me after I had joined the organization. They wanted me dead so I couldn't educate the public to what they were really doing behind the scenes.

I shook those thoughts from my mind. That was a dark time that I didn't want to return to. I'm a member of Fairy Tail now. I can start building evidence against them in secret while I'm completing my duties as a hunter. And that's exactly what I planned to do.

"Gajeel, Lily," Makarov said, approaching our table, "have you seen Levy?"

"No," I lied, shaking my head. Lily did the same, though his was honest an honest answer.

"Send her to my office if you see her," he told me. "It's urgent." As he spoke, Levy and Lucy entered the cafeteria, smiling. Why are they so happy?

"Levy, perfect timing," Makarov grinned, "I have an important assignment that just came in. I'm going to need Shadow Gear to leave immediately."

"I'm sorry, Master, but Jet and Droy just left to go on another job," she apologized. "They wanted to work, and I was going to train since we didn't have any assignments from you, so I told them to go ahead without me."

"Your language skills are why I picked Shadow Gear for this assignment, so we'll just have to find you a suitable replacement team for it," he said.

"Who would-"

"We'll accompany her," Lily spoke up, stepping forward.

"Great," Makarov nodded. "Here's the file containing everything you'll need to know," he handed the file to Levy, "you can read it on the train. You have a three hour ride ahead of you, and your train leaves in one hour, so I'd go get packed if I were you. You'll be gone a few days, so pack accordingly." He was gone before I could protest.

"What the hell?!" I growled, glaring at Lily. "Why'd you volunteer us to help the Shrimp?"

"She needed someone to assist her on this assignment, and we weren't doing anything better. Since you two are bonded, I thought it would make sense for us to go with her," Lily shrugged.

"I'm not too happy about teaming up with you, either," she grumbled under her breath. Had I not been a dragon slayer, I probably wouldn't have heard it. But I did, so I glared at her.

"I guess there's nothing I can do, now," I sighed. "Come on, Lily, let's go pack. We'll meet you at the train station in fifty minutes, Shrimp. Don't be late."

"You don't be late," she snapped, following Lily and I out the door. She marched towards Fairy Hills angrily, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"A mission with the Shrimp. This'll be interesting."