Author's Note: I don't own fairy tail and I don't make any profit from this.
I hope you like this chapter. Its my favorite. I wish it was better written though. Oh well.
A Week Earlier
Gajeel stared at that tree. The same one with holes in them where iron nails had been less than a year ago, chaining three people to the tree. And somehow the same one that Levy had suggested to eat lunch underneath. He could barely believe the amount of forgiveness Levy had in her. In a way, he wanted to be angry with her. He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't hang out with someone who did that to her and her best friends. That it was stupid. But Gajeel knew that he was too selfish to do something like that. He liked her too much. He liked the way she'd forgiven him. He liked how smart she was and the way she smiled. He liked her too much to push her away, even if he though it idiotic that she would want to spend time with him.
"You okay?" Levy asked as she tilted her head. "You look sad."
Gajeel quickly turned away from watching the tree. "I'm fine."
Levy stood there for a moment, holding the bag with both of their lunches inside. She stared at the tree and couldn't help but shiver in fear for a moment, which didn't go unnoticed. She remembered how scared she'd been. She thought that she would meet her end back then. She regretted picking that spot underneath the tree to eat lunch, but she didn't want to bring any more attention to it than she had to.
"Why aren't you scared of me?" Gajeel asked suddenly, surprising both of them. "You're scared of this tree, but not me. I'm the one that hurt you….not a plant."
Levy stood there in shock for a moment. "I was scared of you at first, but I know you're not going to hurt me now. I trust you just as much as anyone else in the guild." she responded slowly.
She and Gajeel stared at each other for a moment before Gajeel turned his arm into a sword made of iron. He moved slowly towards Levy. She was fearful for only a moment before remembering what she'd just said and how much she meant it. He passed her and climbed up the tree a little until he was even with where the holes were.
"Turn around and don't watch." he said sternly. Levy turned away, blushing for some reason that she didn't know.
She heard him carving into the wood, but kept herself from turning to see what it was. There was a thud when he jumped back down to the ground.
"Okay. Turn around."
Levy was quick to look at what Gajeel had done. He'd written 'Fairy Tail' in a way that had covered up the holes from the iron nails. Underneath that was a poorly drawn version of the guild's mark that made her giggle.
"I'm not much of an artist. But hopefully now you'll think of this time before anything else when you're near this tree."
Now
Gajeel stared out the window on the train to Clover town. He hadn't even realized where he was until then. He'd left so quickly that he didn't stop to think. He'd left Pantherlily behind, and he didn't have all the facts about the job that team shadow gear had been on. Still, he knew where Clover town was, and that was a start. He was at least closer to her.
He closed his eyes, remembering the time he carved their guild's name and mark into the tree that she was scared of. For whatever reason, that moment clicked with him. He realized something that he wanted. He wanted to take away anything that she feared, anything that made Levy scared.
He wanted to protect her, but he wasn't there this time. Even though she asked him to tag along, he said no. And now she was lost, and he hated to think about it, but she was probably scared as well.
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