Woah, two chaps in a day. I had thought about the GaLe meeting a lot, so I couldn't wait to write it I guess haha. This one is a bit angstier, hence the "angst" tag that goes with this story. I don't think it's too bad though. Sort of inspired by recent Fairy Tail chapters, for those of you caught up, sorry if I spoiled it. Hope you enjoy :))

xx

Levy had heard of people going blind when they lose a soulmate, but it had never happened to anyone she knew.

So she had no idea what to do when suddenly her mother screamed, followed by a heaving sob and a waterfall of tears. "M-Mom? What's wrong?" The small girl ran over to her mom and dropped to her knees, so she was down at the older woman's level. Her mom's hands were shaking so hard.

But all her mom did was moan Levy's father's name over and over again.

She didn't even look at Levy.

"I-I'm calling 911!" Levy's eyes were clouded with tears, she tripped several times on her way to the phone.

"This is 911, what's your emergency?"

"H-Hi," Levy's voice cracked. She wasn't even embarrassed, "My m-mom wont stop scr-reaming and she's crying and she just collapsed and oh my god tell me what to do please."

"Miss, please stay calm. We're sending help right now. Where's your father?"

"Uh h-he should be coming home from work soon."

The phone let out a terrifying beep, causing Levy to jump. Another sounded, signaling another call was coming.

"Alright miss, just stay by your mother and get a cold washcloth. Put it over her eyes and try to locate her to a couch or bed. Lay her so that her head is above her heart. Can you do that? Make sure to stay on the phone."

"O-Okay." Another beep. Another call.

She ignored it.

The sound of sirens comforted her as she helped her mom onto the couch in the other room, placing a cold, wet washcloth onto her unfocused eyes. She was still crying.

Still looking into nothing

Even as the doctors knocked down her door, she still brushed through her mother's hair, whispering words of "It's gonna be okay."

However, that night when her mother came home saying that she was blind, Levy realized she had been lying to her mom.

That night when her father didn't come home, she realized she had been lying to herself.

.~*~.~*~.

Levy strolled through the small town's market place, glancing at the shopping list once more. Tonight she was making a big dinner in honor of the fifth anniversary of her father's death, and while she had never been too good at cooking, with her mother being blind for five years Levy had to learn to adjust.

"Corn, corn, corn, corn," Levy glanced around, her steps slowing to a pause. She had walked around every single one of the tents and hadn't found a single kernel of corn. It was her father's favorite vegetable, she couldn't leave it out.

She started to walk around once more, her eyes completely focused on scanning each and every inch of each and every tent. It had always been hard, trying to find separate foods amongst such similar colors, which was why people usually came to the farmer's market with their soulmate. But Levy had yet to find hers, and in such a small town she doubted she ever would. Even though the thought of seeing all of the colors she read about in her books hungered her with a slight temptation to travel around the world, she was content. Happy with her life here.

Levy had never been much of a traveller anyway.

She sighed, about to give up. This corn was nowhere, and her social anxiety would not allow her to embarrass herself in front of a stranger by asking if they knew where some was. Especially since this was such a small town, everyone knowing everyone scared her even more.

A light brush of skin,

A bright burst of color.

"What the-" She heard a deep man's voice mumble behind her, but she didn't really process it. Levy was in deep, deep shock. She had met every single person in this town, probably touched every male in some way. Yet this voice was so unfamiliar, along with the color that had faded from her eyes.

Levy slowly turned around, preparing herself for disappointment.

She was not at all disappointed.

Tall, muscular, dark hair, piercings everywhere. If she didn't know what she wanted before, she definitely knew now.

But what caught her attention the most was that he was in green army pants, and a matching jacket tied around his waist. The rest of his torso was covered in a white tank top. Of course, that's why he was so unfamiliar. There was an army town just a few miles down the road. A few of the soldiers visited from time to time, for reasons uncertain to her. Not that it mattered.

"Oi, who woulda thought my soulmate would be sucha shrimp," The gruff man grumbled, not even hesitating in taking a step towards her.

"The shrimp," She growled, staring up at him in irritation, "has a name y'know."

"Then why don'tcha humor me with it, shrimp." He snickered at the pout forming on her lips. She was short, definitely, she didn't even reach his shoulder, but also very attractive. And that angry look on her face only added to her overall adorableness.

And she had a nice ass. Not that he was looking, but he was.

She huffed and turned around, crossing her arms in irritation. "It's Levy, Levy McGarden."

"Well," He smirked, "Shrimp, I'm Gajeel. Now are we gonna try this touching thing again or what?"

She grumbled something about how she should have expected such an annoying idiot, but hesitantly reached out her arm to touch his again.

"Damn goin right in for it," He winked, "Good to know my soulmate is a bit of a pervert,"

"Oh my god, shut up!" She punched him in the shoulder, or at least tried to. But it came out weak and pathetic, for she wasn't taken aback once more by the sudden bursts of color once more. Everything was so beautiful all of a sudden, she didn't even notice when she took a step closer to him, just so that her fingers resting on his scarred bicep was more comfortable.

"Woah," He muttered, glancing around everywhere as well, until his eyes landed on her. The sparkle in her eyes was enough to make him go a little soft for her, and the way her hair shifted in the wind made him melt just a little bit. Gajeel would never admit it though.

And Levy. When she finally looked at him, she felt chills. Even though his hair was so so dark, it even seemed vibrant to her in some way.

"So, uhh," Her eyes traced his entire body, up and down. She could not look away. "What do you say we, uh, go out for dinner tonight or something? If you're not busy?"

"Well I don't know," He replied. She bit down on her lip, and finally gaining consciousness of where she was in relation to him, she took a step back and started to retreat her hand from his arm. The world's pigment faded. But before her hand completely returned to her own side, Gajeel grabbed it.

Color bloomed before their eyes once more.

"I'm not paying, I'm kind of broke." He smirked at her, his eyes staring lasers into her own.

"Fine." She smiled back.

.~*~.~*~.

It had been one week since one of the best nights of Levy's life. Sure, he seemed like a jerk at first, but after getting to know him she realized she really... really liked him. He was her soulmate after all, so it was to be expected, but it still came as a surprise to her. Gajeel had to leave the next night, he was being shipped off to another state or something. It left her sour taste in her mouth, that he was out doing dangerous things like that. He said he only had one more month of service before he was finished though, and that eased her troubled heart a little bit.

So she went to sleep that night, a small smile on her face. In a month, she would be with her soulmate. In just a month, she would be able to see the future that had seemed so cloudy just a week before.

But what she didn't know was that by tomorrow her future would be very cloudy once more. So cloudy, she would wake up blind.