It was by the sun rise that levy woke up to the wide foreign forest and the dewed grass. It was among these tall trees and moss covered rocks that her tears tumbled down her cheek in dread and sorrow. That her heart felt hollow and her stomach churned with self-loathing because how could she have been stupid enough to sneak a peek at Gajeel? Why couldn't she have just found patience? And with these and many more thoughts swirling in Levy's mind she wept. She wept until her voice was hoarse and her cheeks were stained white with salty tears. She wept until her tears ran dry and all she could manage was little quivering hiccups. By the time she had barely a sniffle left to spare the sun was high in the sky.
It was then that Levy stood up from the fallen leaves and soft moss, dusted off the rags that were left of her nightgown, stretched her wings and looked around. She was surrounded by a much larger forest than she was used to. The bushes were overgrown and the trees stood tall, she could feel in the very air that the forest brimmed of mystery and life. Never the less, it did not scare her, for very little scared a fairy after encountering an iron dragon. With a final look of her surroundings, Levy took to the sky beyond the trees; higher than she would usually dare to fly on her own. Once she was high enough above the forest, when the sun was shining its gentle beams on her, she properly surveyed the area.
Just as she had thought, the forest was large and vast, stretching beyond what she could see. Mountains loomed in the distance, so far and so distant they didn't seem real. She could no longer see Gajeel's castle – their castle – neither could she see the fairy lands. Just as she was about to fly back down in hopes to see if Gajeel had bruised any of the forest on his way to wherever, Levy spotted smoke rising high beyond the trees and blending with the northern wind traveling by.
At once her wings beat as fast as they could and she flew towards the smoke. Whoever it may be might have known which way Gajeel flew, after all, it was pretty hard to overlook a ginormous dragon with a coat of glittering scales.
The source of the smoke was a tiny cottage sitting close to a tiny pond. Right outside of the cottage sat a blue cat grilling fish over a smoky fire. Levy harked and coughed and quickly fluttered closer to the ground and away from the smoke in an attempt to clear her lungs. The cat hadn't seemed to notice her before she started coughing up her lungs. With a jump of surprise the cat sprang up and ran toward Levy who still hovered slightly above the ground.
They exchanged greetings and the blue cat presented itself as Happy, he even offered Levy some of the fish he was cooking though Levy declined as she had no appetite.
She then proceeded to ask if Happy had seen anything of Gajeel.
"Aye, his wings thundered past by dawn's break, but he was going so fast that I don't think you'll catch up to him." Happy replied while munching on his fish. He looked Levy up and down for a moment before gesturing for her to wait as he sprinted into his tiny cottage, and soon enough emerged with a pair of golden scissors.
"You're close to naked and I don't really need this scissor anyway, so I'll give this to you so you can snip yourself some new clothes." He said with a carefree smile as he handed Levy the enchanted scissors.
And what Happy said was true, Levy remembered in humiliation. Her nightgown was in tatters and must have been torn from Gajeel's hasty flight. Thanking Happy again, she cut in thin air with the scissor and gowns of silk came about at once.
With Happy pointing out the direction Gajeel had gone and decent clothing, Levy was on her way.
~O~O~
Levy flew all night and all day, under the gentle moon and above the unknown that lay awake in the dark of the forest. Until the next morning, a little before noon when the sun was still climbing the sky, she came to another cottage. Here there were a young girl and a white cat.
"Good day," Levy greeted. "Have you seen anything of Iron Dragon Gajeel?" she asked.
"Are you the one he's supposed to marry?" The white cat asked as she was sizing Levy up and down with her eyes, her tail waving in mild curiosity. That she was, Levy said as in all technicality Gajeel and her had yet to actually marry.
The white cat scoffed in pity, "He rushed by yesterday, but he went so fast that you won't catch up to him," she said.
The young girl looked at the cat in shock, muttering a quick "Carla, don't say that," in a distressed manner before apologizing to Levy. She then pointed out the direction Gajeel was headed. Though before Levy had the chance to thank her and bid them goodbye, the young girl stopped her in her track and took up a little bottle from her pocket.
"You must have come a long way already, and there is still so far to go; so you can have this bottle. It's enchanted so it never runs out and you are the one to decide what you want to drink from it." The young girl explained.
So Levy got the bottle, said her thanks, and set out again. She flew high and low in search for her most beloved. Even as the North winds tugged at her wings and froze her shoulders and the hungry growl from her stomach was aching and impossible to ignore, Levy didn't falter nor stop. With another day ending and another night passing, by the first peeks of sunlight warming the lands, Levy came across a third cottage. It lied close to a mountain spur which was as steep as a wall, and so high, and so wide that no end could she see.
Fatigued and exhausted, Levy drifted – nearly plummeted – to the ground and knocked on the door. Her wings ached and the rocky terrain of the mountain side looked more and more tempting to sleep on. Thankfully the door to the cottage opened to reveal a small black cat.
"Lily?" Levy asked in surprise, her tired eyes straining from suddenly widening in surprise.
"Levy, thank the gods you are here!" He answered before ushering Levy into the cottage.
"Why are you here? Where is Gajeel?" She asked in a daze as Lily nudged her to sit down.
Levy didn't get any answer to her questions as Lily fed her then ushered her to the bed in the corner. She wanted to protest; to insist on going on her way to Gajeel, but once her head hit the pillows then she fell asleep.
~O~O~
Despite her hasty mind and desire to find her dear, Levy slept through the day and night and only woke up the next day.
She woke up with a gasp as she bolted up from the bed. Everything was so dark, and foreign, and small, so very small compared to what she had gotten used to, that it was only when she spotted Lily that Levy relaxed.
"Do you feel any better?" Lily asked; his voice gruff as he unfolded a table cloth. From the opened cloth came fort dishes upon dishes of food so splendid it made Levy's mouth water.
He saw Levy's look and chuckled softly before gesturing her over to eat.
"Where is Gajeel?" Levy asked after a little while.
"He flew past here 2 days ago, up the mountain. I know a bitter old witch lives near the top… and I hope you can bring him back." Lily answered his voice clear and strong with no hint of doubt.
"Of course!" Levy nodded before getting up, "Then I better leave, there's no time to waste!"
"If so…" Lily said as if started to fold up the cloth again and all the dishes vanished into thin air, "take this with you, you might need it. And this," he held up the cloth and a small silver pen.
Levy's fondant pen that had started the whole mess.
She had no time to wait, but said her thanks, took the items and left the cottage. With new found strength and determination she took to fly up the mountain side.
A whole night and a whole day passed, and just as Levy felt like she couldn't lift her wings any further and would sink to the ground, she got to the top. At least it seemed like the top, but the closer Levy looked, the more she realized that it was simply a large and wide cliff with a large and old tree on it, behind it the mountain surged up and past the clouds for anyone to see how far up it was.
She was just about to continue on when she noticed the windows, and door, and light coming from the openings in the tree. It was a house, a very strange looking house, but she could see shadows and silhouettes flickering and moving behind the light of the house.
However, no matter how much Levy shouted and knocked on the wooded door for attention, none of the flickering shadows seemed to notice. So Levy decided that if she couldn't shout for their attention, then she would try grabbing it instead. She took a few steps back, found up the golden scissor and started to snip in the air.
Long drapes of silk and velvet came about around her, when the door of the tree house burst open and out came the most grand and intimidating, yet small and stern looking elderly woman Levy had ever seen.
Her bright pink hair was tied tightly up in a bun while she was draped in a deep red cloak. She stepped up towards Levy without hesitation, looked her in the eye and said "Those scissors are mine."
And open palm came from under the cloak, obviously gesturing for Levy to place the scissor there. Her head was reeling, spinning quicker and quicker until everything stopped. It was calm, it was solid, and Levy knew exactly what to do.
"Where is Gajeel, the Iron Dragon?" She asked, fearlessly meeting the elderly witch's gaze while clutching the scissor in her hands.
The old witch's eyebrow twitch for a second as her gaze turned to a glare, attempting to will Levy into handing her the scissor. When Levy doesn't budge, she looked at her a little more before sighing and gesturing up toward the cloud covered mountain peak.
"Up in a cave by the mountain wall. He will soon be sent far, far away where he will guard a tower." She answered, wiggling her fingers in an attempt to make Levy hand her the scissor.
Instead, Levy gasped at the news before she composes herself and begged the witch to allow her to see Gajeel. "You'll only get your scissor back if I can see him!"
That was all well and good for the witch, and with the scissor in one hand, she gestured with the other and the thick layer of clouds parted for Levy to fly through.
"I will warn you though, he have been asleep since he arrived here; grieving and refusing to budge." The witch told her before she disappeared into the house again.
Nevertheless, Levy didn't falter as she flew past the clouds and up, up the mountain until she saw the gaping cavern of Gajeel's whereabouts.
"Gajeel?" She called out tenderly while fluttering gently into the darkness. A low rumbling vibrated through her chest, followed by shuffling and clinking of metal. However, to her distress; Gajeel was indeed fast asleep. Tightly curled up, and no matter how much Levy shouted and begged, he would not budge. Even when she shook his paw, he only curled further into himself.
In the end, Levy spent the night by the sleeping Gajeel, hoping he would wake, but to no use.
By the next morning's sun, once again Levy stood outside the tree house. This time she was pouring herself every kind of drink she could think of, and once again the witch came out and demanded her little bottle back. Again Levy demanded to see Gajeel, and again the witch didn't mind and opened the layers of clouds.
With no change, Gajeel didn't budge no matter how long or how hard Levy screamed and begged.
The third time did not go much better; Levy took out the cloth and started folding out the most delicious meals. Once she flew up to Gajeel, he was still fast asleep and refusing to wake up. And Levy was left to feel distressed and desperate, because she had just bargained all she had in order to attempt to wake up her Gajeel.
…That is… almost all she had. Going into her pocket, she found her fondant pen. And with desperation on her tongue and love in her throat, Levy started to write on the air around her. She wrote of her love and her desire, her wishes and pleas; because how could she possibly let Gajeel slip away from her fingers when she was so close to happiness?
Once again the witch came out, and once again Levy bargained her pen in order to see Gajeel.
The witch accepted it and opened the clouds for Levy to go. Little did Levy know that the witch had no need for her pen, or the scissor, or the bottle, or the cloth, but she went along with it because true love was a path worth the hurdles.
Once in the cave, with the realization that this may be her last chance to be with her beloved. Levy flew close and cradled close to his head. Gently whispering her love and kissing where she may reach. She moved a little forward and kissed his nose, then unexpectedly his eyes fluttered open and with the drizzling of a thousand scales, overpowering both sound and sight Levy fell back in shock. And before she even knew it began, it was over, and before her stood Gajeel. Human Gajeel, in his beauty and glory; with happiness and love and relief shining in his eyes. And they embrace, tenderly, with their arms circling each other and their heads resting on each other's shoulders, and just breathing… just breathing together.
Because they were together again.
And together, hand in hand, they fly off, but not before hearing the witch shouting her blessings at them, and picking up Lily. And they fly off to live happily ever after, far, far away from the mountain east of the dragons and west of the fairies.
~O~O~O~
FIN
WE are done! (again, super sorry for the late update - I am a lazy person)
First I just want to thank everyone for reviewing and taking the time to read it and blanania on tumblr for the amazing fanart (I love you so much, you're so amazing) And I am so happy that we are done, and that I managed to finish it.
Again, thank you. I will gladely accept any review. And Gajeel's last human appearance was inspired by blanania's picture: post/86018793090/here-are-some-doodles-that-i-lost-motivation-to
Which, by the way, was not drawn for this fanfiction.
By the way, this is a gajevy version of the norwegian fairy tail "East for the sun and West for the moon"