I want to thank everyone who has continued to read and wait for this next chapter! I appreciate all your awesome comments and hope you thoroughly enjoy this chapter! I do not own Fairy Tail. Leave a comment:)

…

Grabbing my bag, the fabric crosses my chest and slings over my back. What the hell just happened? Maybe I imagined all of that somehow. Oh Mavis, what if I'm starting to think like Juvia! No way. Standing up after packing my things I exhale slowly contemplating the possibility and start walking towards the cave exit ready for the last incline. Gajeel then stops in front of me before I can fully step out. Without glancing my way he grabs my hand. "Can't have you blowin' away on me Shorty." he says abruptly. My entire face goes up in flames. Gajeel, do you even realize what you do to me!

While we slowly hiked up the mountain my eyes laid on what I was searching for. "Found it!" I yelled over the wind, dragging Gajeel towards the 4ft. entrance.

"You've gotta be kidding me." he mumbled. His shoulders hunching in defeat.

"Sorry Giant, what'd you grumble?" I smiled from ear to ear.

I easily slip through the opening, only having to bend over a little. Looking back I see Gajeel crawling slowly inside. I pat his head giggling, knowing I would never get another chance.

"Keep it up Shrimp, keep it up." he snarled.

The dark encased us. I look down and discover that I can't even see my feet in front of me. I could hear Gajeel start walking and smack into a wall face first. "I'm so done with caves for a while." he vocalized.

I laugh and whisper 'Solid Script: Fire' so we could both see. Not noticing how close I was Gajeel's jacket side caught on fire. We both jump in surprise. My hands start frantically hitting his jacket trying to pat out the flames.

"Gihi"

"Be quiet, and just walk next to the wall!" I said sternly, "Try not to go face first though." I fight my smile.

…

My dragon hearing picks up a sound coming our way. In the dark I hear Levy's hands scraping at the wall. Her scream is muffled and all I can hear is her legs kicking the air around me.

"Levy!" I scream.

I hear the friction of scales on the cave wall above me. A low groan vibrates through the air. The monster then opens its green eyes casting light throughout the tunnel before me, letting me see the scene of Levy biting into the creatures arm. Releasing another cry, his grip loosens.

I feel the air around me being sucked in, the skin on my arms forming into iron on instinct. The ice hurtled towards me shatters on contact with my arm, thrusting me into the cave wall from the impact.

"Iron Dragon: Iron Fist" I yell, my fist colliding with its skull.

I see Levy able to wiggle out of his hold. As she plummets to the cave floor I run to her. Her body flips through the air.

"Solid Script: Oil" she says towards the monster, making him fall from his safe haven on the ceiling.

I catch Levy and continue to run to the opposite side, not wanting to be crushed by the oversized lizard.

"Iron Dragon: Sword" I pummel him into the opposing wall.

"Solid Script: Fire" Levy set his side a flame, using the oil as an accelerant.

The injured creature wailed in pain and slithered out of the cave tunnel slowly, understanding Levy was sadly not going to be his snack this afternoon. Damn straight asshole, no one takes my bookworm.

Levy then jumped out of my hold and socks me in the arm.

"What the hell?"

"That's for calling me by name when I'm only in danger!" she shouted on tip toes.

"Sorry, I slipped," I grinned down at her. "won't happen again."

"Solid Script: Fire" Levy whispered in a huff, lighting up the tunnel once again.

We walked until the tunnel turned and opened up into a spacious room. I look up and see icicles encompassing the border of the cave. Unlike a few scattered in the center, these ones illuminated the room, dripping crystal clear water down from their peaks. That's when I noticed the water hidden in trench form. The moonstones laid underneath the surface, circling the room. Both Levy and I start to wander the cave, looking at all the unique stones in different shapes and sizes.

I kneel down and find an obscured stone from a small form of ice protruding through the ground. It was as if it was drawing me in. I smoothed my hand over the silk like stone and lifted it from the water. As the ice around it dissipated, I could see the moonstone was in the shape of a heart.

…

I reach for a stone close to the cave wall that was in the perfect form of a circle. The hexagon outlines imprinted on the surfaces of the stone gave off a small light that reflected on top of the water's surface. It's too far away as I try to reach it. I kneel on one leg crouching down and extend my arm to retrieve the perfect stone. The moment my hand touches it I lose my balance and fall into the icy cold water. The rocks underneath me scrape at my knees, but nevertheless I keep a firm grasp of the moonstone our client had described in grave detail and pull it out of the ground. I slowly turn around, trying to avoid any sharp ice obstacles in the water, and sit up to find Gajeel looking right at me.

"You're really trying to push this hypothermia thing aren't you Bookworm."

Cold water drips from the ends of my hair as I shake my head at Gajeel's question. Grabbing onto his hand he lifts me out of the water. My body is hit by the cold air around us and my entire body starts shaking. Gajeel quickly pulls off his jacket and gives it to me, instructing me to sit at the center of the cave floor. The back of my legs and bottom lay on the cold surface, making me instantly regret sitting down. Gajeel's jacket was doing a crap job right now but his scent that lingered on the cloth relaxed my mind, no matter how tight my muscles felt at the moment.

When the tarp and firewood are brought over I set it on fire without delay, scooching the closest I could without getting burned. All of a sudden a warm arm surrounds my waist and lifts me up. "Whaaa..!" I'm then settled on top of Gajeel's lap.

"You'll never warm up if your body is in contact with the ice."

Before I could argue Gajeel wraps his other arm around me. I feel his chin rest on my left shoulder as he starts to fiddle with something in his hands. I look down and see the same trinket I noticed him working on the night before.

"What's this?" I ask curiously, trying not to think of his closeness.

"You'll see, I need your help though." I look up at him like he had just grown another head. He wanted my help? With something that dealt with iron? "My hands are too big to fix this one part and I need your small hands Shrimp." Figures.

I started working on the small fixture while Gajeel told me what to do and held it in his hands to keep it steady. A permanent blush settled on my cheeks from the realization of Gajeel's entire body surrounding mine to protect me from the cold. The contact alone kept making me mess up on the difficult braid that flattened out on the metal surface. Having a hard time focusing I tried to concentrate on what the actual pattern of the design was.

I began to get the hang of the pattern without Gajeel pointing at where to move next. Once I moved the last bar of iron into place Gajeel bent the tip, and I proceeded to tuck it into the bottom of the contraption.

"Done?" I asked, looking confused of what the small bent iron bar with an intricate design was supposed to be used for. He then grabs something in his bag. Two small black snowball like objects are placed into my hands. Taking one at a time, Gajeel melds them to the iron band on the opposite sides.

"It's an ear muffler for Lily, so the sound of lightning isn't as loud and doesn't scare the shit out of em'." Gajeel smiled to himself.

I was speechless. I turned my head smiling up at him. He nodded his head back in response and started to fiddle with the trinket until putting it back into his bag.

"Thanks Shrimp."

"Anytime."