I know its been too long since the last update. We adults know how being adults sucks.
The Guild was bustling with activity for the next week in preparations for Levy's birthday party. They tried to hide it around Levy, but even she got goosebumps from the excitement in the air. They made a big deal of her birthday despite her protests, but Makarov insisted they did something for her for all the things she has done for the guild since she joined as a child.
She just never told Makarov or the others what actually happened before she joined Fairy Tail. Or why her birthday leaves a stone in her gut.
As far as they knew, Porlyusica had found her on a rainy night in the woods looking for Fairy Tail, orphaned on her way to Magnolia. She didn't tell much more than that, never wanted to.
"Are you excited Blue?" Cana pulled Levy from her thoughts, Levy had been a little quieter and withdrawn the closer it got to her birthday.
"It's a lot, you know I don't like everyone making such a big deal about it."
"This is how your family reminds you that you are loved and you are a big deal to us, so we gotta do something to say thank you." Makarov slipped in behind the two ladies sitting on the bar like usual. "So please let us spoil you just a little, Levy."
She sighed in resignation, she could never turn Makarov down, "Just a little."
"Alright brats!" Makarov called out to the guild, "We are pulling out all the stops on this party!" Everyone cheered in response and doubled down on whatever activity they were in. "We love you Levy, this is only a little from us to you." he softly spoke to her, grasping her hands.
"Thank you," she responded, always moved by how much love the guild was able to share. She looked around at all her friends in the hall, so much light and laughter and energy. But when she also noticed the lack of a grumbling slayer she couldn't help but wonder. "I'm gonna go for a walk, that way you can plan the party without me underfoot." Makarov nodded and she slipped out of the building. It was sometimes hard to get out of there by herself, either Jet or Droy, or even one of the girls still tried to go with her, just so she wasn't alone. Sometimes she wondered if Makarov knew more about her than she ever said to him. She knew he had contacts all over the country and within the Rune Knights, so he probably knew something that he kept to himself.
She wandered the city for a little while in silence, just taking in the sounds of Magnolia, then lapped around the city to the shore line behind the guild hall. She sat on the sand and stared out at the water, the chaos that is the life of being a wizard of the Fairy Tail Guild, sometimes sitting down for some peace is helpful.
The Guild was buzzing still hours after Levy left the building. Everyone was rushing to finish decorating and wrapping gifts that were put in a big pile by Levy's usual seat. Cana noticed Gajeel hasn't shown up yet, worried that he won't show up if he doesn't have a gift in time.
"We are almost ready, any idea where Levy got off to?" Makarov asked out to the guild.
"I think I saw her on the beach," Happy called out from the banisters that he was helping wrap in streamers.
"I'll go get her, then get her ready," Lucy called out, Happy following behind. Cana, still with Gajeel's attendance in mind, snuck off while Lucy took care of Levy. His home was close to the mountain side of town, but thankfully she reached it fast enough. She hadn't been there before, Lily had told her where to find their home. She wasn't expecting a steel sided two story house with an outdoor gym on the side. She walked up to the door and knocked on the door, "Gajeel are you still here? The party is starting soon, so I hope you're ready." she called out. After a few moments of silence she banged on the door again. "I hope you're not ignoring me!"
"The hell you yelling at woman?" She spun to see Gajeel on the path she just came up from the town.
"I came looking for you since the party was gonna start soon," She responded.
"I can hear them getting ready from town, so I know already, so why are you here?"
"Like I said to make sure you came on time, and to make sure you didn't come empty handed."
"You want to know what I got for the Shrimp?"
"Inspect, more like" she corrected. He didn't have anything that looked like a present in his hands. "Where's Lily?"
"Either helping with the party or hanging with Shrimp, he already got her something for her birthday." He walked up to her reaching for the door she was standing in the way of. "Can I get into my house?"
"Oh, sorry about that." She stepped aside so he could unlock and open the door. She glanced at the interior and it was an interesting mix of wood and steel furniture while also having a decent amount of natural lighting. She snuck in behind him and closed the door, glancing up seeing skylights in the ceiling. "So what did you get her?"
"I ain't telling you, you didn't tell me what you got her."
"But you did get her something right?"
"Yes I did, now leave. I didn't invite you in anyway," he ushered her out the door of the house.
"Geeze, just trying to help you out," he slammed the door shut behind her. She sighed and started making her way back down to town.
As soon as he got the drunk out of his home, he rushed to his bathroom for a shower. He had been so busy with her present since they got home he barely did anything else. First day or so he was so stumped on what to get her. She already had so many books, plus that would be everyone's default gift so she was about to get probably a hundred more.
Levy sat in front of the vanity while Lucy's celestial friends helped get her ready for the party. Cancer kept trying different updos and down looks, all looked nice but not just right. Meanwhile Lucy was discussing with Aries and Virgo on outfits for Levy to wear. Lily and Happy were there too, for moral support. Happy was hovering around the outfits while Lily was glancing at the books in the room between Cancer's haircut reveals.
"You have quite the collection of a library in here Levy," Lily commented, he hasn't been in her apartment before but it was appropriate.
"Thanks Lily, if you want to ever borrow any just let me know." Levy replied, she still couldn't decide on the hairstyle Cancer gave as an option.
"Are you excited for the party?" Lily asked her.
"I am," Lily could tell by her tone that it was an automated response and not the whole truth.
"Come on Levy, let's get you changed, these are my two suggestions," Lucy popped behind Levy and directed her to the bathroom to get changed.
She could never get over just how over the top her guild could be sometimes. There were streamers from every exposed beam in the building and a huge banner that read out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEVY!" and all her guild mates were popping off confetti poppers as she walked by them. Her eyes watered at their efforts. It may be from hanging in the background too often, but when all their love is in full view it couldn't be denied and had her heart swelling with warmth.
"You guys, this is amazing!" Levy cheered out through happy tears.
"You deserve all this and more," Makarov smiled.
"Thank you Master."
Makarov turned from Levy to the rest of the partygoers and bellowed, "Now, Let's get this party started, Fairy Tail Style!" Enticing a round of cheers.
Erza guided Levy to a seat by the stage to begin the stream of presents awaiting her. Levy could see all of the main floor from her seat that was decorated for the occasion with streamers and glitter. While some of her friends were getting the music and food going, others made their way into line to present Levy her gifts.
There were many new pens, inkwells and bookmarks. Of course her guildmates would get her new books, both new publications and some harder to find old copies she hadn't got her hands on yet. Lucy had gotten her the newest model of her magic speed reading glasses. Levy couldn't help but laugh when Happy had given her a fish wrapped in a bow, she loved it still. Natsu had a side comment of Happy upstaging him since he had gotten her a fishing rod to teach her with. She always enjoyed their antics growing up, and considered it a good thing that despite what he and the rest of the guild had gone through in past years they always were able to be cheerful and full of life.
From the other side of the hall by the kitchen she heard what sounded like the starting of singing of the Happy birthday song, which took some effort to identify since it was mainly off key and some members were already half drunk. Leading the path and the song was Erza holding a cake shaped like a pile of books, she brought it to Levy and placed it on the table beside her.
"We did some math and you are 24 now thanks to our time on Tenrou. So there are 24 candles for you to blow out and make a wish on." Erza informed her, "Also it's our favorite flavor," Erza added in a hushed tone. She and Erza both enjoyed strawberry shortcake, so Erza would always make sure it wouldn't be harmed by partygoers. She looked around to all those around her with appreciation for this being the family she found for herself, noticing a few people haven't made their appearances yet. She closed her eyes and made her silent wish and made sure to blow out all 24 candles in one breath.
She watched everyone cheer around her as the smoke from the candles swirled and felt Cana drop her arms on her shoulders from behind, "Happy Birthday Blue!" Cana exclaimed, barely heard despite being next to Levy's ear thanks to all the cheering.
"Where have you been?" Levy asked Cana who was still hanging on her shoulders.
"I was making sure a certain grump didn't miss the activities," Cana pointed with her eyes to one of the upper floor banisters. Following her, Levy looked up to see Gajeel and Lily in the midst of a conversation. The cake was being cut and distributed by Erza's care and Cana dangled a wax sealed envelope in front of Levy's face, cutting off her focus from Gajeel. "Happy birthday, this is my present, Blue. You can open it later if you want, no rush," Cana winked knowing what Levy would rather deal with first.
"Thanks Cana," she took it absently. She was also handed a plate with her slice of cake as she made her way through to the stairwell.
"Oh hello Levy" Pantherlily greeted, giving Gajeel a chance to turn around, he stood there blankly for a moment and blinked a few times before Lily spoke to rescue his friend. "Did we miss the cake?" Levy looked down to see the cake still sitting in her hands with the envelope beneath it.
"Erza cut it a few minutes ago, there should still be some left."
"Then I will go get us some," Lily flew down from the railing, Gajeel muttering his breath to the cat.
"Hey," Levy attempted weakly. Suddenly aware of how alone the two of them were.
"Hey, Um, happy birthday," Gajeel replied, glancing at her up and down. She had almost forgotten about the new outfit she wore for the party. A gold halter crop top with a dark denim mini skirt, dark tights and her boots.
She took a breath to recenter herself, "How come you're up here?"
"To avoid the crazy down there, do they always do this for birthdays?" Gajeel chuckled like it should have been obvious. He's been with the guild for a while now but she recalled he hadn't seen the extra that birthday's bring, she relaxed a little more and joined him to overlook the chaos that was Fairy Tail.
"They try to, but it's another excuse to party when you boil it down," She leaned over the edge, she remembered how much fun it was to be the center of the party for her birthday. "It's not as noisy up here, its nice."
"If it's too much, why do you let them throw this craziness for you?" Gajeel asked looking over at her, she met his gaze, he was genuinely curious, just like they were in the archives a few weeks ago.
She shrugged, "It's who they are, this is how they show their love. I'm not going to stop them from reminding me how much they care." She smiled, taking a bite of her cake.
"You might be as crazy as the rest of them," Gajeel commented.
"You live with crazy long enough, the crazy rubs off on you." She continued to eat her cake and glanced down to see Lily sitting at the bar with Mira, knowing that cake was not coming soon for Gajeel. Gajeel saw it too, which made her giggle.
"Here," he handed her a small box once she finished her cake. She turned away from the party with her back against the railing. When she opened the box she found a new earring for her industrial two sides were connected by a chain with a charm of the fairy tail insignia in the middle. It was all steel, cold to the touch and very delicate, and the caps had rubies embedded in them.
"Did you make this?" She asked in awe.
"I only found out about the party last week, so it was a rush job," He shrugged it off. While knowing that he's an iron dragon slayer, to think he made something so detailed and delicate reaffirms that he was more than the gruff grump a lot of people saw him to be.
"It's amazing, I love it, Gajeel."
"Really?" He perked up in hope.
"Absolutely," She immediately went to replace the bar she had in with the new one she was just gifted. She gave it a test shake, the chain was taut enough that it shouldn't get in the way of daily activities. "How does it look?" she asked.
"It looks good on you." he smirked, chuckling to himself.
"Thank you, I really love it. Definitely a defining gift for the day."
"Everyone else got you book worm supplies huh?"
"Pretty much, I also got a fish from Happy," Levy laughed.
"Sorry I took so long, here is your cake Gajeel," Lily appeared as he flew over the railing with cake in both paws, handing one to Gajeel.
"No you aint," Gajeel mumbled as he took the cake and shoved a bite into his mouth so he couldn't argue.
"So what's in that envelope Levy?" Lily asked, pointing at the one under her finished plate.
"I haven't opened it yet, it was from Cana." Levy twisted to grab it and began to rip it open. She unfolded the paper inside and took a moment to scan the contents. Her eyes popped in shock, "Woah, Cana really outdid herself this year."
"What is it?" Gajeel asked.
"Every year she makes a trip for my birthday. Apparently she found the location for the Magic library, one of our teammates had found it a while back for those clock pieces. This time I can actually take time to check out its inventory."
"That's quite the gift," Lily praised.
"Yup," Levy agreed.
"I would've thought you'd be more excited, Levy?" Lily asked.
"Just surprised, is all, this is way bigger and longer than most of the trips in the past."
"How long?"
"A whole month, the longest trip we took before was only a week."
"Would you be ok for rent and any other bills?"
"That's part of it, she's covering my rent and all other expenses so I wouldn't have to worry about work. How is Cana covering all this?"
"She did say she was going big for your birthday, guess this is what the drunk meant," Gajeel commented in a gruff defeated tone.
"Maybe Gildarts helped her out?" Levy pondered, racking her brain of how or who could be helping financially cover this. She continues to read the letter and finds her answer and lets out a laugh.
"What's so funny, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked.
Levy glanced sharply at him for the comment but stated, "It's a joint gift, Cana is making it a girls' trip." She turned further to look over the party down below at those who helped put this trip together.
"That sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun, Levy." Lily added glancing at Gajeel.
Levy smirked at the two of them, cause from what they witnessed with the the last "girls trip" to Yajima's restaurant, it's never boring.
Author's notes
So it took a lot longer than I had hoped to finish this chapter, but it is finally written and I can move on to the next chapter. I have been working on fleshing out the plot for this story so fear not it shall not be abandoned if I have anything to say about it. But with all that's been going on in my life in the past year or so, I'm proud of myself for not giving up on my writing.
8/7/2023
