"Romeo! Bring more beer!" The brunette from the Magnolia, Cana, shouted across the tavern. They had accompanied the dragons all the way to town, and were joining them for a drink before setting back out. " Oi Alberona, he aint yer beer runner!" Gajeel shouted, though his second youngest, being the little gentleman he was, brought the brunette another tanker of beer. Gajeel snorted as the dark haired boy eagerly brought the ladies anything they asked for. " How long until your ship is repaired?" Erza asked as she took a swig from her rum, an arm around Miras waist, who was settled on her lap. " Another three days." Gajeel grumbled as he drank his own rum. They had already been in port for two days, and he was eager to be on the sea again.
" We should be long gone by the time the navy arrives." Lily said quietly from beside him. Gajeel nodded as his eyes swept scroll the tavern, looking for a certain head of blue hair. He found her, sitting with Lucy and Natsu, an old leather bound book in her hands. He frowned slightly as he watched her, his head throbbing slightly. " You alright boy?" Lily asked quietly so he wouldn't be heard by the two women. Gajeel grunted slightly, turning back to his beer. Anyone else, he would have left it at that, but Lily was his closest and most trusted friend. " It's weird Lil'," he murmured. " Every time I look at that fae, or hear her name, my head hurts." Which, over the past three days, had been a lot.
Lily chuckled slightly,"Maybe your trying to remember." "Eh?" He questioned, raising a studded eyebrow. " informed me, when we first found her, that she knew you when you were a boy. Most likely before your accident. Maybe your mind is trying to remember her." He said quietly, looking to the fae in question, who was now on her way over to their table.
" , I have a question for you." She said with a smile, sitting across the table from them. " What is it ?" He asked with a smile. " I meant to ask the other day, but I forgot." She grinned sheepishly. " Where did you learn to play the violin?" Gajeel looked at his friend, whose face softened with remembrance. " I wasn't always a pirate my dear. I used to be part of the East India Trading Company." She stared at the man wide eyed. " Then what are you doing with this brute?" She asked, pointing towards Gajeel. " Oi, fairy!" He shouted but he was ignored.
Lily chuckled softly. "Oh Gajeel isn't my first captain. Iv been sailing with him for, what, six or seven years? No my first captain was a real beauty. A tall thing, almost my hight, long pale blonde hair and eyes as gray as a stormy sea." He said fondly, smiling as he pictured her. " Her name was Shagot, and she was one of the kindest pirates on the sea." Levy gasped slightly. " I know Shagot! She rescued me from my island, she raised me for about five years before I left to join the gypsies." She said with a grin and Lily chuckled lightly. " I thought I recognized that sword technique. She was a strange one, that captain. You know, the first time I met her, she was actually robbing our ship. She left our food, and even accompanied us back to shore." He suddenly laughed. "She saw my violin and asked me to play, then she did what she called an Irish Jig. She pulled others in to dance with her, and she spoke kindly to everyone. By the time she left us at port, we had forgotten she got away with all our goods." He chuckled, Levy laughing with him.
" I saw her again about three months later, in a tavern in town. She was just as beautiful as the first time I saw her, and I knew that I wanted to go with her. I went straight to the Company and handed them my resignation and went to Shagot with nothing but the clothes on my back and my violin." He smiled absent-mindedly. " It didn't take much to convince her to let me join. Those were the happiest ten years of my life." His smile turned sad and Levy frowned. " What happened?" She asked quietly, Gajeel shot her a glare my Lily waved him off.
" We were ambushed by the navy, the entire crew was arrested except for me. I told them to arrest me as well because they were my crew, but Shagot immediately said they had taken me hostage, and why would she ever want someone like me on her crew. I could tell by the look in her eyes how much it hurt her to say it, but she didn't to save me. The next day, my entire crew and the captain I loved, we're swinging from the gallows." He finished quietly, immediately downing his tanker of beer. Levys eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him. "Lily, I... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-" He waved her off and grinned. " My dear, that was seventeen years ago, there's nothing to be sorry about." He smiled softly and she tried to return his smile but she was feeling her own sadness. She loved Shagot, other than Gajeel, she was the only family she ever had.
" Levy!" A voice called from across the bar. She rubbed her eyes and turned to look toward the table that now held Cana, Lucy and Juvia, "Come drink with us!" Lucy called with a grin. Levy turned to the men, Lily grinned and waved her off. She smiled softly and hurried to join the girls, abandoning her book with them.
" Small sea, ah?" Lily said with a small smile while he watched the fae. He slid her book towards him and casually flipped it open, ignoring Gajeels stare. " You never told me about Shagot." He finally said after a moment of silence. " You never asked." Lily said with a smile while he continued to stare at the book. Across from them, completely forgotten, Mira giggled while Erza planted a soft kiss on her neck. " Oi, take it back to your ship!" Gajeel shouted, though he was completely ignored, so he turned his gaze to the fairy. She was losing terribly to the more drink savy girls as they downed their drinks, and she was barely on her second tank.
He watched her for a long time, thinking about what Lily had said before she joined them. Did I know her? He racked his brain trying to shake loose any memory of her, but nothing came. " Gajeel, come get your woman!" Cana shouted at the scowling captain as she gestured to the fairy, who was now laid out flat on the floor, her legs still on the bench. Lily laughed at the grumbling man as he stomped over to the inebriated fae. He unceremoniously tossed her onto his shoulder, " Gajeel -hic- put me doooown! " she whined, weakly pounding on his back. He chuckled, " Gihee, for a pirate yer a light wait shrimp." She puffed out her cheeks, slapping his hat off his head. " I'm not a -hic- shrimp." She muttered as he caught his hat, keeping a firm grip on her legs so he wouldn't drop her.
As the drunk fairy continued to grumbled on his shoulder, he stalked towards their inn. He decided then, that he wanted to do anything to remember her.