A/N: Oh, I'm being unbearably gushy at the moment! The reason, you might wonder…Well, it's because of all the wonderful reviews I've being receiving as of late. Thank you all so much. Also, for anyone that is interested, Dictionary has a short epilogue posted as chapter 16.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Just my Snapple here and an awesome rendition of Fairy Tail's main theme. (Dear goodness, I'm sorry for doubting you ITunes!

Thesaurus

Chapter 5: Haregon, Return to Where They Met!

Gajeel kept a sharp eye on Levy as they walked down the crowded street of the port city. Even after her fainting spell, she seemed fine. He didn't want to take any chances, though.

"Lu-chan told me once that this is where she and Natsu met," the bookworm exclaimed. "I wonder where it was exactly." Pantherlily nodded and chatted easily with the blue-haired girl, chiming in with opinions and whatnot.

Honestly, Gajeel couldn't care less that the Salamander had crashed some stupid boat party and inadvertently saved Bunny Girl in the process. He'd actually heard the story being told to Mira from the blonde himself, several times.

"…Lucy once said that she acquired Plue here on the day she met Natsu," Pantherlily said to Levy, sidestepping to avoid a bustling street vendor's cart. "Not surprising; there seems to be a lot of magic stores here." The Exceed caught a glimpse of Gajeel staring at their companion as she gazed through a window at a quill.

"I thought Magnolia was busy!" Levy laughed with Lily and they continued their walk until they reached the docks that extended over the ocean. "Well, we've seen the sights," Levy sighed. "What do we do now?" Her brown eyes captured every detail of the busy port laid out in front of her.

"It's pretty late," Gajeel said. "Maybe we should set off for Valletta tomorrow." It wasn't like he was holding back on leaving to that stupid town because he was concerned for Levy or anything…just, her passing out had been a hassle. He coughed when Pantherlily gave him a sly look and breathed deeply.

The salt of the sea, the grime of the boats, and tons of sweaty people did a number on his nose, but there was something else that sent a shiver of foreboding up Gajeel's spine. The scent of dark magic hung in the air like smog.

"Lily. Do you smell that?" It was a blunt sentence, almost a demand. The Exceed resting in Levy's arms sniffed at the air and stiffened. If the scent was so strong that even Lily, whose nose was a little weaker than Gajeel's, could catch a whiff of it, they were in trouble.

Levy said nothing, only stared intently at Gajeel, demanding answers with her eyes. "Dark magic…" he hissed at her under his breath. "And lots of it." Her face scrunched in the cute way it always did when she was pondering something.

"Can you tell where it's coming from?" The girl kept her voice at a whisper, and didn't notice how Gajeel had gradually shifted to where he was halfway in front of her. The iron dragon slayer had no intention of letting whatever was out there a clear shot at the shrimp.

"I think it's coming from the center of town," he replied, growing more anxious. Of all the places, the damn bad guys always had to choose somewhere in the middle of a crowd. Mages with evil intentions tended to love chaos, or maybe just enjoy the terror that came from spectators.

"Let's go! I'll carry you, Levy. Gajeel can run fast enough to keep up," Lily's paws grasped Levy's shirt and they took off. She'd never been flown by an Exceed before, and it was both exciting and terrifying. They soared up so high that Levy could make out almost every building in the vicinity of Haregon.

Her wondering eyes soon found Gajeel, who was moving in a weird pattern to get around people. Soon after, he moved to the roof tops and bounded between them. He shot Levy a grin when he noticed her above him. 'It is a very good thing she's wearing shorts…Otherwise Gajeel could find himself with a rather nasty nosebleed.' Pantherlily thought as he maneuvered through the air.

The trio met up at a fountain in the middle of a shopping district. They caused a commotion, Lily swooping down to carefully drop Levy, and Gajeel bounding down from the roofs. "It's just to the north of us, I can feel it!" Gajeel growled at took the lead.

'Could this lead us to Shadow Claw?' Levy wondered. 'If it isn't them, what has Gajeel and Lily so riled up? The way he growled just now, something powerful must be upsetting his nose.'

"HERE!" Gajeel practically roared as he skidded to a stop around a corner. "Iron dragon's roar –" There was no chance for him to release his attack as a sphere of water hit him in the chest and sent him flying.

"Nice hit Ryomo-chan!" A nasty female voice careened through the alley. Why did terrible things always happen in alleys? That voice was strangely familiar! A scene from Clover popped into the bookworm's mind. On a mission there, she and Lucy had been brutally attacked by two Shadow Claw mages, and then narrowly saved by Natsu and Gajeel.

"Gajeel! That voice, it's from Clover!" She shouted to him as he stood and dusted himself off. That sphere of water had hit him square in the chest, and boy, it was heavy for some reason. He heard her call just in time to see something terrifying.

A rope of shadow came barreling towards two of the things he treasured the most. "WATCH OUT!" He screamed at them; but he was too late. The black mass swept across Levy's legs and the end caught Pantherlily in the stomach.

He was about to move for them when out of the corner of his eye he saw a vine heading for his foot. He stomped on it and gave a sharp tug. It was no surprise who he was met with on the other end. Helga, an obese plant mage from the trip to Clover. She fell forward with a mighty thump that shook the concrete.

From the shadows emerged Nyx, a malicious shadow mage who'd cowardly attacked Levy from behind during the mission in Clover. He'd gotten his ass kicked by an angry Gajeel and Natsu for that one, yet had still managed to escape with Helga. Whoever the water-user had been leapt up and away, and all Gajeel could make out was a black silhouette that looked distinctly female.

"You," the iron dragon slayer spat, preparing a roar. They had the gull to attack he and Levy a second time? They'd hurt his cat, and the shrimp. He was doubly pissed now. "Iron dragon's roar!" Shrapnel whistled as it flew towards the fat one at high velocity. She shrieked as every bit of the roar hit her.

Now he just had to take care of the creepy one. Nyx sneered as Gajeel stared him down. "Don't like me taking out the girlie a second time?" Gajeel's eyes narrowed and he felt anger and power well up inside of him. He was about to attack when:

"Solid Script: Hole!" And down Nyx fell. The iron mage was temporarily confused until he looked up. His cat hovered above the ground with Levy in his grasp, and had attacked unseen from above.

Gajeel could only gape at the team as they descended and headed towards him. "You okay?" Levy asked sweetly. "It looked like you got hit pretty hard!" She looked him over for injuries as he bore a hole in her blue hair with his intense gaze.

'What the hell, shorty? I get a little wet, and you and Lil' get swept away by creepy shadows? I think I'm the one who should be asking if you're okay…' He voiced his thoughts and didn't have time to react before he found two sparkling eyes looking right into his.

"Gajeel, I think Lily and I are just fine. A few bruises don't hurt all that much. Thank you for worrying, though!" Levy was so completely earnest that he felt his face grow hot. Then his eyes found her shins and calves, and he became enraged again.

"Those are some pretty nasty bruises, shorty!" He snarled and marched over to the hole. "Iron dragon's roar!" A girly scream echoed from the hole, and Gajeel snorted, satisfied for now. He walked back over to his team and crossed his arms. "Let's go find an inn to stay in. The trash can clean itself up."

That night the three of them stayed in a small inn close to the sea. They'd gotten a small room together after Levy had explained she'd slept in the same room with Jet and Droy so she didn't mind. Gajeel had ground his teeth at her explanation but didn't say anything.

Levy fell asleep to the sound of Gajeel's deep breathing, and he fell asleep to an image of her adorable sleeping face. Lily lay there smirking, wondering how two love-struck fools could be so oblivious, and then hit the sack and dreamed of kiwis and a world where there were no thunderstorms.

A/N: That was really fun to write, actually. I hope you didn't mind me prolonging their arrival to Valletta. It was in order to bring out Gajeel's feelings and to give you some enemies to consider. I may not have school tomorrow, because man, so much snow! Also, thanks for your reviews! Keep it up, it helps so much.

REVIEW REPLIES:

Darkmyr-InuYashaFan: YAY, indeed! I couldn't resist doing that. :P

1fairytaillover: Yes, he is very worried! And him getting jealous is really entertaining to me! XD

Taria Robotnik: Heehee…very good point. May I say, I read you're Sesshomaru and Rin story and was very impressed. It's wonderful! I will go back and review it when I find the time.

FairyVampire-Chan: ^.^ Thank you very much! Ha, character development. The more you wait, the better the kiss and confession will be, I promise. I've got to build up to it!

XD-RaNdOmNeSs-XD: :D I love me a jealous Gajeel! And I loved episode 125. I cracked up so much! That dancing scene = pure gold. *tears up* that is so awesome! Thank you for making me happy with your review. I'm very happy you enjoyed Dictionary enough to come check this out!

QueenOfTheives: Thank you very much! ;w; I love to hear that! I hope you enjoy my writing in the future. Lol, XD Freed X Laxus is not a pairing I ship!

xXLovelyAnimeLoverXx: Thanks for taking the time to read this! :) I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Embarrassment is a total given…XD

MsSlicingClaws: Haha, when they become canon, he'll have to deal with the books getting a lot of time from his girl! XD That's alright. As long as you write, I'll read! AYE SIR! And hey, Ryomo was peeking out here a little bit… ;)

Review or I will go through a Laxus angry teenager phase and hold a town hostage! I've just got to find some lacrima…