Upon the following days, Levy found herself in a certain state of domestic satisfaction. As the days went by Levy would start seeing more and more of Gajeel in the castle, as he often would follow her or at least keep his eyes on her.

At first though, Levy would hardly see Gajeel in the hollow castle. Her only task was to make sure that the fire burning in the fireplace in the grand hall didn't burn out, which was easy enough and left her with Lily for company and a grand castle to explore. Saying that the castle was grand was an understatement as the castle was huge.

Everything from the halls to the doors, to the windows and the ceiling and the rooms was so big it made Levy feel even smaller than normal; especially when Gajeel would follow after her on her exploration. It reminded her of when she was a child and placed all of her tiny dolls on her bedroom floor and emptied the pretty doll house onto the vast carpeted floor, except now she was the doll and Gajeel was… Gajeel was… well, Gajeel.

She couldn't exactly say that she was surprised by the size as it was a dragon's lair. And with hundreds of rooms to explore, it kept her busy for a while since there was truly nothing else to do. Even Lily didn't provide much entertainment, he refused to talk about Gajeel except when reassuring Levy that Gajeel would come back and that he would never do anything Levy didn't want. And Gajeel was so intimidating and huge that it made Levy hesitate saying anything. She wasn't sure whether or not the dragon meant to be that frightening, but he was.

It was upon one of the days where Gajeel had taken to follow Levy on the explorations of the castle that the little fairy had stumbled upon a grand hall in one of the higher floors of the castle. It took the space of the entire floor with a clear glass door on each side of the room, seemingly leading to their own separate balconies.

"What is this?" Levy asked tenderly as she stepped onto the gently dusted marble floor. It was far larger and naked than the other parts of the castle, and the dust suggested even Lily and Gajeel hadn't used the room much. A pity, she thought as the large glass doors on either side of the castle would allow for a perfect place to lie in the sun and nap.

Gajeel's scales shimmered and shock in the sunlight in what Levy took as a shrug as the large beast took to hum in thought for a moment, the vibration of his deep voice transferring to Levy's delicate wings, before answering. "I'm not too sure actually…"

His answer echoed gently in the great hall as the two continued to step further in. Levy quirked her brows up at the large dragon in confusion as she took to step further ahead in order to turn around and look up at him. "What do you mean you don't know? Isn't this your castle?" She asked while flitting backwards, her wings beating like a hummingbird's while her feet stayed longer and longer hovering over the ground before taking another step on the dusted marble floor.

Gajeel took to hum again, this time with his eyes closed and his head tilted ever so slightly to enjoy the sun beaming in through one of the glass windows. The shimmer of his scales sent reflections through the whole room, taking Levy's breath in its sheer beauty to the point her wings stopped beating and she settled upon the ground again. There was such a familiarity to the sight of those steel scales shining in the sun she couldn't help, but slowly step closer and place her hand flat over some of the shimmering scales. They were cold and sharp, yet soft and comforting making Levy sigh unconsciously in satisfaction.

Gajeel took to hum again in response as he gently shifted his weight to settle down, sprawling his massive form across the large marble floor. He continued to hum softly as Levy took to settle next to his side, leaning onto his shimmering scales.

"I mean I don't know because this wasn't always my castle." He eventually answers her, filling their already comforting silence. "It was the home of a three-headed troll who had apparently kidnapped three princesses, damn greedy bastard. The three princesses were saved by some whoever-hero who took all the riches and left with the princesses. The castle was empty and forgotten when I found it."

Levy hummed in response as she shuffled closer to his head, leaning into the side of his face where he would shift in return to nuzzle into her.

As she laid there with Gajeel in the lazy afternoon sun, Levy could peer out of the glass door to the balcony in the front of the castle. Out beyond the balcony laid the forest lands and the streaming rivers, and way past there again, only as a smudge in the forests, lay what Levy knew was her father's castle. It was so far off yet so close, Levy was yet surprised that her father's army couldn't reach Gajeel's castle no matter how much they had tried.

When looking over her shoulder on the other balcony, she could only see distant rugged mountains and fogged hills. She craned her head ever so slightly, trying hard not to move too much with Gajeel resting around her yet still trying to get a better view of the land beyond the other glass door.

The slanted scales and shimmering lights moved around the room as Gajeel shifted from Levy as he raised his head to crack an eye open in the direction to where Levy was looking. She was already missing the absence of the slowly built up warmth between them, but she pushed it aside to ask instead, "What's that Gajeel?" nodding toward the steep mountains.

He only glanced once before huffing and settling around Levy again in gentle folds as his wings stretched briefly before covering them both in the muted light the sun still managed to shine through the thin skin on the wings. "That is Beyond the Horizon, the land of the dragons." He answered nevertheless while getting back to the humming as Levy took to pet and scratch the softer scales right on the side of his muzzle.

"Is that your home, Gajeel?" She asked gently in an almost inaudible whisper. For a moment she thought he hadn't heard her, but he took to humming, then stopping, then sighing and humming again which Levy took as a 'maybe' from the dragon. And that was good enough for her. At least for now.

~O~O~

Days fleeted by in their simplicity and quiet enjoyment as the house tour took a drastic stop when Levy discovered her heaven: A library. It was nice, it was simple and Levy couldn't exactly say she was dissatisfied with thousands of books within her reach.

Once the sun sank beyond the horizon and the moon waxed high in the night sky. Once Levy had grown tired and drowsy and she had returned to the bedroom and had crawled into the bed; then and only then would Gajeel (if that truly was Gajeel) appear. Cloaked in the shadow of night, he would slip into the room in silence and swiftly take to sleep close to Levy.

At first it was simple and careful in a gentle manner where his warmth was comforting and his touch made her feel safe, not alone. He would wrap his strong arms around her and hold her tight as if to shield her from whatever danger the wide world could produce. Sometimes he would stay awake to stroke Levy's cheek, or push her hair back, or just hold her, feel that she was truly there; and sometimes Levy would pretend to sleep just to get to feel Gajeel caress her in such manners.

However, with each break of dawn Gajeel – that Gajeel - would be gone and Levy would wake up in an empty and cold bed. She would often find Gajeel – as a dragon – sleeping around the fire place in the grand hall, where she would put out more wood for the fire to grow before settling next to the cold yet gentle side of his scales. It was the same routine every day and every night… though the night appeared to evolve slowly as each of his touches would send shivers down Levy's back, his caress would travel down her elusive waist, over her thighs, only to rest close to her womanhood. His breath would ghost over Levy's pale neck, making her press closer to him and closer still. Their legs tangled, their hands felt each other, fumbling in the dark for more.

She was aware of it, and she knew he was as well; that they were dancing along the fine line of desire, attraction, lust, whatever they may call it. They were probing it and poking it, testing its limits. Testing their limits, how far would they go? How far was okay?

Truly, how far was allowed when Gajeel had peeled off what little clothing Levy wore to sleep and he had pressed his lips in gentle kisses over every surface of the soft, warm and pale skin which was Levy. Until his lips had met with her breasts and had taken some sort of fascination upon them, he would lick and bite and nip at them until Levy was a mewling mess, shaking from sensitivity as her nipples were cherry red from Gajeel's lips.

Her lips would be flushed from biting on them and Gajeel would move up to crash into them with his. To tangle together in their little dance, as they pressed together and rut against each other where each buckle or twist of their hips made for a new sensation to shoot up, made for them both to gasp and moan between kisses.

Yet, despite Levy's wandering mind and unresolved questions she was eager to go further, and like a perfectly completed puzzle, like a completed ending to a book; Levy and Gajeel came to take it further and further still, until he was grunting while inside her and nipping at her neck and Levy was moaning in his ear while moving her hips to meet his thrusts. They would fall asleep together, wrapped in each other's arms; yet despite their nightly activities Levy still woke up alone with only the lingering warmth of Gajeel in the sheets.

It was fine as it was; it truly was; until homesickness hit Levy like an unexpected thunderstorm. She had been reading like usual before the enchanted tray rolled into the library to serve her lunch, like usual. The tea she had been served was a peculiar rose tea, that smelled both mild and sweet and reminded her of her home, her father and her sisters and her father's forests and the rosebushes. Everything was whelming up in her so unexpectedly she couldn't take a single bite of the lunch and she stared wistfully out the window for the rest of the day.

She didn't feel the need to speak of her feelings, but with three days passing and the nagging in the back of her mind didn't stop she finally asked Lily to summon Gajeel on one of the days the dragon was nowhere to be found so she may speak with him. When she was asked why, she simply said it was of most importance. Fortunately, Lily didn't deny Levy her right to see the iron dragon and by midday Gajeel was in the grand hall by the fireplace.

They stepped forward with no hesitation and engulfed in the gentle embrace they had learnt to do. It was as natural as breathing, as comforting as darkness and silence, yet as lovable as light and sound. It made her feel immensely better, yet not quite good enough and with a little bit of courage and a bit of hope she asked if she may go and visit her dearest father and sisters.

He looked at her wistfully for a long while when asked, however he had no objection to that, but first she had to promise that she would listen to what her father said, but not to what her sister wanted her to do.

And Levy promised with all her heart as happiness filled it. They would leave the next morning, with the sun rising for another run across the sky.

That night neither her nor Gajeel did anything of the overly intimate nature, rather they slept together close. With their bare legs tangled and their hands lazily tracing each other and their lips meeting in fleeted kisses as if dusted in order to be preserved on them longer. It was in the quietness of the night; where the clouds broke past the moon and the light shone into the bedroom window, casting a silhouette over Gajeel that Levy could see the gleam in the familiar red eyes, the black of his hair swallowing whatever light came near it and the gleams of metal bits on his face. It was all muted and dark, so very dark, but Levy was sure then and there that whatever she felt for Gajeel was far more intricate and sublime than such simple matters as lust or attraction.

And if she was to be perfectly honest in the silent hours of the night then the best way to describe it would be that she loved him, still love him. Loves him with all her heart and more if she could. And it was with this realization that she kissed him again. Softly, like feathers dusting his lips; and when he kissed back in the same gentle, if not gentler way, she knew that he loved her too.

~O~O~O~

I'm so sorry for being late, but to be honest I got the new fire emblem game and I was really stuck on this chapter and uuuugh

(On other news, can I just say that I feel really satisfied with their nightly scenes? I'm not used to writing stuff like that, but I feel like it came out pretty okay… or did it?)