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Peach
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Chapter 14
It had been a long ride back to Magnolia. Gajeel had waited until Crocus was out of sight before he slowed Lily to a walk. His horse was tired and on the cusp of injury. They had traveled all day yesterday, and again all day today, stopping only for water. Gajeel mumbled his apologies to his friend, promising rest when they reached the Kardia Ruins. Juvia would be able to shelter them for a night.
Levy was all he thought about the entire trip. There was no way he could deliver her to the tortuous fate that surely awaited her in the capital. While he would not have cared if it was one of his men, she had helped him, specifically. She had been kind and tolerant. It was only a matter of time before he split from Fiore's steward, though he would have preferred it happen later rather than sooner. It couldn't be helped. He had to get out.
He nearly shouted with joy when they came over the crest of the hill and saw the wreckage of the cathedral sprawled in the valleys and slopes beneath them. He kicked Pantherlily into a gallop for the final stretch and jumped down from the moving horse when they approached the hidden hovel. Juvia called to him from a distance away, carrying a pail of sloshing water. She waved to him, but since he didn't see his watchman with her, he waited for her to approach him.
Juvia changed course, instead taking a footpath to her little stable disguised in the back, where he decided to follow her.
"Juvia sees you made it out in one piece."
She meant her comment in jest, but it was a very real threat, hence the reason he went alone.
"Where is she?" he questioned, looking around for his watchman's signature blue hair.
Juvia had entered the minuscule shack, setting her bucket on the ground and retrieving a soft brush with which to bathe her horse. The water ran off the animal's sleek hair in streaks of grime and sweat. His own horse was probably worse and in dire need of care.
"In the field. Juvia was teaching her to ride."
Gajeel looked to where the woman gestured, noticing that Pantherlily had disappeared. He took to the hill in her direction, tiredly stomping up the incline. When he reached the top, the field below stretched into the formation of a bowl, and circling the center was his watchman.
He looked on with curiosity at first. She had obtained a new horse in his absence. A mare, by the looks of it. Levy sat proudly astride the animal's back, cuing signals with booted feet. She shone brightly as the beast obeyed her, but what struck him odd was the lack of leather. There was none to be exact. She used no saddle, no bridle, and no reins to guide the animal, yet she weaved recognizable figure 8's and circles in the tall grass.
Patherlily approached their arena, curious about his master's newest addition. His horse stuck out in the tall grass, a hulking black giant. He watched on as the little girl greeted him, stroking his ears from atop her new height. The wind carried her soft hellos in his direction, her voice sweet in its sincerity.
Grass swished underfoot as Juvia approached him from behind.
"Forgetting something?"
Her hand entered his peripheral and he took the yellowed parchment from her, reading over the elegant calligraphy.
"What is this?" he questioned in confusion, his expression darkening.
"She finished," she answered brightly, "She was up all night with it, actually. Juvia thinks you should go thank her...maybe?" her last words were caught in a breeze as she walked back to her stable.
He read the lines once more. The characters not fully registering. He turned the page over, looking for more words to clarify the prose. There was only the short verse.
He paced a few steps towards the house, then stopped. He was tired, so maybe he wasn't reading it clearly. The sun was still up and he tilted the page to catch the light. To his disappointment, the lines did not change.
The words were suggestive, hinting. The amount of writing on the paper he had given her suggested a lengthy letter, if not a strong paragraph.
With crimson eyes look straight to see.
He looked up at the sound of laughter. Pantherlily was teasing her, nipping at her legs and goading the roan into a chase.
She had tricked him, lied to him, toyed with him. And she had stuck around to watch her handiwork play out.
He crumpled the document in his fist, stalking down the hill to confront her. He would do more than just that.
Levy paused her practice when she saw Gajeel coming down the hillside. A slight smile alighted her lips until she noticed the murderous expression he wore. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as fear ripped through her. She slid off the roan horse, walking around the still animal to meet him.
Every line in his face told her he read it, and as she predicted, it wasn't what he wanted to see.
"Gajeel, I—"
"What is this," he interrupted, holding the ruined parchment up for her to see.
She eyed him warily, choosing her words carefully, "It is your translated message."
He snorted, "It's short."
She didn't answer right away. She felt her words would spark his growing irritation, but it seemed her lack of response only angered him further.
"Sometimes, there are words in old verse that are meaningless. They do not cross over into our modern language because we already incorporate them into other words. So it comes out...much shorter."
She heard a thunderous rumble reverberate in his chest, his eyes taking on a dark shade.
"This is a riddle," he stated quietly.
She couldn't help but nod. It was the truth.
He charged her, his outstretched hands taking hold of her linen shirt as he lifted her off the ground to his eye level.
"Do you think this is a game?" he growled menacingly, jostling her, "I saved you. You—"
His sentence was cut short. Sheer surprise had immobilized him; blind-sided him in a way that he would never fully recover from. His red vision had clouded in swirls of angelic, cobalt colored hair. But what had derailed him was the pair of soft pink lips that successfully interrupted his accusations by pressing them to his own in an attempt at a kiss.
She was trembling. He could feel her practically vibrate. She was afraid and tense.
But she had spunk, he would give her that. With his mind now wiped clean of anger, he recovered from his shock only to dive into the opposite spectrum of emotion she had drawn out of him.
He kissed her back and her lips softened with surprise, moving against him in an unfamiliar and strange way. Her mouth parted in astonishment that her improvisation had worked, but he took it as an invitation to deepen their kiss. When she felt his tongue expertly slide along hers, she gasped and jerked back, shoving him away.
She pushed rather forcefully, and he let her pull away, quickly dropping her. She staggered a step back, bracing herself against the shoulder of her mare, who had managed to not move an inch. Her pale cheeks blossomed with embarrassment, and he finally remembered himself, straightening his shoulders.
She brought her hand to her mouth, gingerly touching her lips and pointing a shaky finger at him with her other hand.
"You kissed me," she uttered, her eyes wide with comprehension.
He quirked a single brow at her, "I believe it was you that kissed me."
She stood gaping and panting. She was physically struggling to find words to fill the silence, but Gajeel had a different plan. He bent over and picked up the wadded translation. He unfurled it, trying to smooth the wrinkles out with his large fingers.
She saw pain flash in his eyes as he reread the words on the page, inspiring her to speak.
"Who gave you that message?" she asked.
He looked away from her, from the page. She sensed a wall had come up, cutting her off from him.
"Doesn't matter," he answered.
He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, walking back to the little cottage, and folded the crinkled document into his belt. He was still wearing the same clothes from two days ago, she realized.
"I can help," she spoke, softer than she wanted to sound, but he still heard her.
"No. Go home!"
He was angry, but not at her. She suspected he feared he would not be able to achieve closure from the note and whatever it's message meant to him.
"Gajeel?" she called.
He stopped mid-stride and looked at her. She had grown used to the intensity of his blood red eyes, but his expression held such a deep despair and darkness that she did not realize she had moved towards him until she placed her hand against his studded forearm, an attempt at comfort.
"I can help. I don't know what it means, but I can still help you," she pleaded.
She would stay with him of her own accord. She did not think she would be able to forgive herself if she were to leave and not give it her best try.
She pulled her hand away, fisting it against her nauseous stomach.
He deliberated, searching his thoughts before aiming his eyes at her.
He grunted his approval, completely missing her lovely smile as he trudged back up the hill.