Hello Minions!

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Please note that finals are rapidly approaching so updates will be delayed. Just be patient - I promise its coming.

ALSO! I have a little surprise that is coming up in a few chapters - I REALLY hope you like it.

Show my beta's some love for putting up with me - kiss-me-khaos and fairytail-ships

(And as always, Review or message me! - I LOVE READING ALL OF YOUR WONDERFUL THOUGHTS! I value everything you have to say - I also promise I will not bite.)

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Enjoy!

~All my Love~

Peach

Chapter 15

Early morning fog crept along the ground and clung to the sloping hills of the Kardia Cathedral Ruins.

Gajeel reached the edge of the forest where he dismounted from Pantherlily. He retrieved his gauntlets and knotted them with tight success, testing the blade reactions before sheathing them again. He unbelted the heavy saddle and slid it off the animal's back, dumping it to the ground. The mist hid it well enough, so it wouldn't be found.

He moved to Pantherlily's head and unbuckled the bridle, slipping the bit out of his mouth. He gave the dark horse a distracted petting as he shook off the missing weight.

He left while Levy and Juvia were asleep. They had become comfortable enough with each other to share a bed, which made sleeping arrangements easier for Gajeel. He suspected it was Levy who had slept on the ground before him because no matter where he turned to in the bedding near the fireplace, all he could smell was her: sunshine, new grass, and lavender.

He couldn't distract himself long enough to banish her from his thoughts, so he had risen early to hunt. It wasn't that they needed the food, but the solitude might be what he needed to drive the lingering sensations of her kiss out of his mind.

He could still feel her: her surprise and her caution. He did not know how hard his subconscious was fighting to keep himself from wanting her until she had delivered the fatal blow to his defenses with a single kiss. A kiss that felt as soft as flower petals.

His heart pounded furiously in his chest just thinking about her. He let himself reminisce, but no further.

The gods must be laughing at his misery. She was untouchable, a cloister member, and a flower for all intents and purposes. To put someone so beautiful and pure within his sights, only to keep her out of reach was the worst sort of cosmic joke he had ever heard. The fact that it was she who kissed him first only made things worse. Like she was gloating over that fact.

"Oi," he addressed his horse firmly, "yer bait. Act like it."

The horse bobbed his head in a nod and pretended to limp as he walked into the thick of trees. Gajeel shook his head snickering.

Damn horse was a good actor.

He waited for a number of counts before climbing a nearby tree and following the horse's path below him.

It wasn't too difficult, having to move in the branches. Spring time made the trees swell with water, giving them added strength to hold his weight, not to mention the leaves provided the camouflage he needed to avoid being seen. Lily was a few meters ahead of him and had already attracted a pair of tracks in the soil.

The time of day was right for the hunt and judging by the size of the print, he would guess a wolf, which was quite lucky.

He leapt to a nearby trunk, landing on silent feet. His horse had laid in the ground beneath the upended roots of a tree for a dramatic rest. He was smart and knew he had been followed.

Though Gajeel could see the tracks, he couldn't see the beast that made them. And that made him worry. He was about to come down out of the tree until a strange noise had him crouching to hide.

"Nyx! Eos! Come out!"

A small girl-child with hair as dark as midnight water emerged from her hiding place in the fallen tree where Pantherlily lay. A pair of Northlandic wolves heeded her call and revealed themselves to her. Gajeel watched with growing horror as he recognized the beasts from the day before. So they really were being followed.

The girl approached his horse and proceeded to affectionately pat him, possibly looking him over for any injuries. He cursed himself.

Y'ain't gonna find any, brat. He thought.

He wracked his brain for a solution other than calling for his horse. He would get caught and they would both end up wolf chow.

Gajeel held perfectly still as the scene below him unfolded. He was high up enough to keep his scent off the ground, but there was something about the girl that Gajeel found familiar.

A strong whistle from a great distance away drew the girl's attention to the south. She straddled the larger female wolf, Gajeel only now noticing the harness over the animals' shoulders, and left in a great hurry.

Gajeel would not return with food this morning for the child took off in the same direction as Juvia's home.

He couldn't tell if the paranoia over leaving José's circle was getting to him, but he wasn't going to take any chances. If they were from the Phantom, they would surely take Levy and kill her if nothing worse came to mind.

Gajeel was certain Juvia could handle herself, but Levy was not her responsibility. Gajeel dropped onto the ground, some few meters down, and mounted his horse who had sensed the situation and ceased the play-acting.

They rode until their first stop to collect the discarded tack, then barreled through the hills at high-speed. His jaw clenched, determined to get to Levy first.

The sun peeked over the horizon and spilled orange-red rays of light into the valley. He didn't think he had traveled so far away, but time seemed to move at a crawling pace.

When the cottage came into view, he breathed a sigh of relief. Levy was stringing laundry up on a line and Juvia appeared to be in the stable.

He had a terrible view of the valley from his vantage point, which meant he couldn't see the wolf-child or others incoming. He wasn't left with much choice. They would have to leave.

Levy hooked a heavy basket of wet sheets over her hip, moving down the line to toss the next bedding corner over the wire to dry.

Juvia had been up far earlier than Levy and had completed washing the bedclothes Gajeel had stayed in. Being so close to the hearth, ash and dust tended to accumulate rather quickly. But Levy was eager to help earn her keep, so she took over for Juvia.

Levy was quite happy to have found a friend in her. She was bright and witty, especially when you moved past the sarcasm, dour expressions, and solemn attitude. There was a lot to like about Juvia.

Then, of course, there was Gajeel. She didn't know what to make of him. A 'friend' didn't seem right, and a 'best friend' seemed far too close. He was an acquaintance who saved her life and kissed her.

Well, that last bit was only true in part because she started it.

Her first kiss.

She huffed, angrily straightening a thick blanket along the wire.

She didn't know what to think. In hindsight, the ultimate purpose had been to distract him; it had worked. But every time her mind wandered, it managed to drift to him.

Her fingers flashed to her lips in remembrance of their fleeting moment of contact.

He had kissed before; there was no uncertainty in his posture.

What was that trick he did with his tongue?

Her teeth unconsciously bit into her lower lip as she thought about the heat he stirred within her, currently turning her legs into jelly.

She wanted to kiss him again, to feel the fire he had ignited in her blood. She had never felt such a rush in her entire life.

She chastised herself for cutting their moment short.

Levy tried to straighten one edge of a stubbornly wrinkled sheet with a hard yank. Her height was making the chore difficult, so she set the basket down in the grass, standing on her toes and reaching up with both hands.

Strong fingers jerked the sheet aside, revealing the same intimidating man with whom her thoughts were obsessed.

She lurched back in surprise. Had her thoughts somehow summoned him to her?

"Get yer gear," he commanded.

He dropped the covering and she heard his heavy boots swish in the dry grass as he walked towards the stables.

Slightly put-off, she abandoned her chore to catch up to him, "Why?"

When he did not answer, she extended her question, "Are we going somewhere?"

He caught Juvia by her arm, muttering something under his breath and out of earshot.

Juvia's eyes flickered to the girl suspiciously, listening to whatever it was Gajeel whispered. Levy, refusing to be left out of what appeared to be a serious situation, interrupted him.

"Did something happen...?"

Her query died on her lips when she circled the pair and saw Gajeel's expression of urgency.

"Juvia will stay and give you a head start."

Gajeel did not object to her decision as she moved out of Levy's line of sight.

"What're y'doing?! I said to get yer gear!"

His bark startled her, and she visibly bristled from his shout. Things were different now and she wasn't going to put up with his bossy nature any longer.

"You haven't told me why," she argued, meeting his glare with one of her own.

"Don't need to, shrimp. Let's go."

He pushed his way into the little shack, taking a set of blankets from a rack and saddling her blue roan mare. She didn't even see where he pulled the tack from.

"Not Juvia's saddle!"

The protest came from behind Levy. Had she been so preoccupied with watching him that she wasn't even aware when Juvia left?

He groaned, growing irritated with the lack of cooperation from the women.

The mare was unsettled by the situation and nickered, pawing at the kneaded soil.

"Then I owe you one," he grumbled.

Juvia tossed Levy's red bag to his waiting hand. He caught it and fastened it to the horn of the mare's saddle.

"You owe Juvia two saddles, Kurogane!"

Gajeel was careful to control his expression and gave Juvia a pointed look when Levy wasn't looking.

If Juvia realized her slip, she didn't show it, and Levy didn't catch it.

"Oi."

His voice made her turn and with the movement, he lifted her by her hips, folding her over his shoulder.

Juvia rolled her eyes, placing a hand on her cocked hip. Gajeel whistled for Pantherlily.

For all of her shouting and wiggling, it was a short-lived trip. He tossed her atop her blue mare, moving her legs to force her to sit properly; Juvia slipped the bridle over the horse's ears. He paid her huffing no mind as he fit each little boot into the stirrup.

She was definitely short, but at least she could ride now. His brows lowered against the surprising rush of disappointment he felt that they would not be riding together anymore.

Her added height gave rise to the fact that he now had a perfect view of her little pert derrière. He envied the leather seat, jealous of its harmless cradle.

Lily made his entrance and Gajeel swung himself up into the seat, gesturing for Juvia to hand him the saddlebags.

"You'll be fine on yer own?" he asked the blue-haired water hoarder.

He thought of her as a little strange, but who was he, a marauder, to judge?

"Juvia will be fine. Juvia will have Lyon with her," she did not address him directly, but instead retrieved her Bardiche from over the door frame, her beloved 'Lyon'. Levy paled at the sight of the heavy weaponry.

Gajeel chuckled darkly, watching her pet the staff lovingly.

"I'm guessing something bad is coming, then?" the short blunette swallowed tightly.

He contemplated the consequences of letting her in on their situation.

"We're being followed," he pointed towards the direction of the forest, but his voice suggested that was as much as he would reveal to her. It was best to keep her in the dark for now.

She nodded in understanding, maneuvering her mare ahead of him.

"Are we going?"

She shot him a teasing look that suggested a race in the making. He smirked, liking the challenge.

He kicked Pantherlily into a steady gallop, gripping the reins between his steel clad fingers. He could hear the blunette's mare not far behind him. When he noticed her hoofbeats increase in pace, he knew he would be overtaken. She strode past with exhilaration brightening her features, her hair bouncing behind her.

Quick learner, he thought as he admired the way her legs clenched the animal under her.

Soon, they were barreling down the hills at breakneck speeds that only fools in love would dare to push for.