At Gajeels request, Levy decided to stay in Farkesi for some more weeks, much to the surprise of Lucy and Natsu. When the new couple told them the reason for her prolonged stay, both of them were overjoyed, even though they voiced their surprise at the sudden blossoming of a relationship. Lucy, while hugging Levy even went as far as threatening Gajeel directly, promising to hurt him in every way possible, should he break her best friend's heart. After assuring her that he had no such intentions, he received a hug from the very happy woman as well, Natsu kept his congratulations to a pat on the back of the other man and a hug for Levy.
When the time for Natsu and Lucy to return home rolled around, Levy and Lucy shed many tears over their approaching separation, and hugged each other for quite some time before Lucy stepped into the carriage to make the long drive home with an already sick emperor at her side.
Gajeel and Levy used the opportunity of having the townsfolk gathered, to announce their relationship to the people of Farkesi, and therefore Terya. Gajeel, not wanting to overwhelm Levy, made clear that their announcement did not contain any marriage plans and that she was to be treated respectfully, but not extraordinarily.
Albeit having chambers to her own, Levy spent most of the next four weeks in the library or wandering around the garden, usually accompanied by Gajeel, who enjoyed doing work far more when his sweetheart was around. Sometimes they'd ride out into the landscape, Levy falling more and more in love with Teryas wild nature and its wild king. They'd explore the old forests together, visit starstruck farmers on their fields and even walked on the beach, something Levy thoroughly enjoyed, as it reminded her of her home, the isles of Mrithar. The collection of seashells and rocks from this day were now proudly displayed in her chambers.
Currently, the two lovebirds were riding onto the castlegrounds after their latest trip outside castle walls, Gajeel as usually on Scenja, Levy this time on Shiro, a young white stallion, who had become her usual ride since Lily had become busier and she couldn't keep Tinto any longer. Her training the young horse just meant that the two of them couldn't go full speed on the regular races on their way back, so she'd gotten used to losing to Gajeel and Scenja. So, as usual, Gajeel arrived first and had already hopped off when Levy and Shiro came barreling after him.
"Darn, I hoped we'd catch up to you this time!" she called out and reigned the horse to a stop. "You almost did! You guys really got faster, maybe you'll beat us next time!" Gajeel answered and held his hands up to her in an attempt to help her down from the tall Shiro. She swung her leg over Shiro's head and all but jumped into her lovers arms who took the opportunity that she was on his height for a kiss, hugging her tight to her chest and capturing her lips with a soft smile before he sat her down on the ground.
They had been quite shy about kissing at first, especially Levy hesitated to kiss Gajeel whenever they were around other people, but after a while they'd gotten used to it and Gajeel loved sneaking kisses from the petite woman, if only to make her flustered.
"Now you're over-exaggerating, he's going to be fast someday, but he still got a way to go." Levy remarked when she was back on the ground and gripped Shiro's reigns to lead him back to the stables. "Well, he's gonna do amazin' if you continue training him!" Gajeel answered and was about to follow her with Scenja when other hooves came galloping up behind him, prompting him to hesitate. Levy stopped as well and both of them turned towards the gates, where Lily now raced in on Tinto, looking positively shellshocked.
"Lily? Thought you weren't due to be back until tomorrow? What happened?" Gajeel called out to his friend who barely managed to stop Tinto from barreling into the Iron King.
"We have a problem Gajeel. A big one!" the large cat yelled and jumped off of his horse, almost collapsing to the ground.
"What? Lily, take a breath, it can't be that bad."
"Oh it IS that bad. You remember the report about strange behavior that came in from the guards tower at the border to Erkar? Well, when I arrived the situation had gotten worse. Apparently Erkar is sending a huge amount of troops to the border and I'm pretty sure that they will invade us very soon."
"WHAT? I thought they had close to no troops? Our last reports were that they're still recovering from their hassle with the plague!" Gajeels mind was racing, he tried to think of a reason why their neighbor would try to provoke Terya like this while wondering how they got so many troops so quickly. The two neighboring countries had been involved in conflict time and time again in their history, a conflict that culminated when Erkar supported the rebellious usurpers in hopes of getting the throne for themselves. Alas, the war ended with the Teryan royalty and its supporters on the winners side and Erkar simply vanished into the shadows once more. Their involvement was never official and couldn't be proven, so they couldn't be held liable for a peace treaty either. Erkars border had been on constant observation ever since, precisely for a case such as this.
"I have even worse news." Lily had finally recovered and stood up straight. A servant had already led Tinto away and was now approaching Levy. She thanked him before giving him the reigns of Scenja and Shiro. When she walked up to the two men, Gajeel laid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side, without so much as looking. She leaned against him and continued to listen to the conversation.
"I don't know how they got back on their feet so quickly, but I'm assuming they either did it in secret or worse, probably found our spy and sent false reports. I have no idea what exactly they want from us, but I assume they think we're too weakened to fight back. And the only thing I can think of to recover strength that quickly is magic. Strong magic."
Levy could almost feel Gajeels breath hitch together with her own. Teryans were known for great strength in battle, tough stubborn fighters, but they weren't very versatile concerning magic or strategy. If they faced an opponent who knew to utilize magic in a way efficient enough to build an army, their numbers could decrease quickly. Erkar obviously knew that.
"Alright. Lily, would prepare a room where we can talk in peace and strategize? I need to talk with Levy and then we'll make a plan. We also need to notify the commanders as soon as we have an overview over the situation."
Lily nodded and hurried inside the castle, calling out for several servants along the way. Levy looked up at Gajeel, who seemed deep in thought. She reached out and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.
"Come on."
He let her tug him along into the garden, knowing already where she was heading.
When they arrived, she gently pushed Gajeel down onto the ground next to the willow and he leaned against the rugged bark. She sat down beside him and leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around her and sighed deeply.
"You need to go home."
Levy tensed at his words, but she knew the truth behind them. War was not to be trifled with and she would be safer in Chrate. She knew that very well, but yet, the words coming out of her mouth didn't exactly reflect that.
"No. I won't leave your side."
"Levy, you're the smartest person I know. You know as well as I do that you're not safe here. You need to go back to Chrate, far away from the harm that could be done to you here."
"I know…but I don't want to leave you." She buried her face in his chest and he kissed the top of her head.
"Listen, Lev. I don't want you to leave either. But I'd rather have you leave than to lose you. I can't lose you. You're too important to me. More important to me than myself."
"Don't say that, I'll already be worried sick about you. Your life matters to me, more than you could imagine." His words made her realize something else. She was a liability. Erkar would probably get the information about their relationship and that would not only put her in danger but Gajeel and Terya as well. She sighed, not wanting to be responsible for his possible downfall, she made her decision.
"Fine. I will leave the day after tomorrow."
Gajeel pulled her closer and wrapped both of his arms around his small beloved before burying his nose into her neck to inhale her scent. He slowly came to notice that she had more than a positive effect on his feelings, feeling her warmth and heartbeat and breathing her scent calmed his mind in a way he had never known before.
He was a driven man, ever since he was a boy his thoughts were running and in an effort to quiet his mind he had tried to focus on being as physical as possible. Fighting had been a good way to focus and forget the motor running hot in his head. But after a while or after a war to be more precise, fighting didn't have this effect anymore, it even began to have a completely opposite effect and he'd been left with the whirlwind in his head again. But Levy had the inexplicable ability to calm the storm just by being there, close to him.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
She snuggled closer, hiding her face against his shoulder.
"Anything."
"I know you like to sleep in your own room, but I don't want to be alone right now. Would you wait in my room and stay with me tonight?"
He looked at her when she pulled away, fearing he'd asked too much too soon, but she surprised him with a sweet kiss on the nose and a smile.
"Sure. I'll try to be there for you as much as possible."
Gajeel waved goodnight to Lily and picked up his pace, almost running, desperate to reach his room, and hopefully the salvation named Levy waiting for him.
He shut the door behind him and stumbled to his bedroom where he found his beloved sitting on his bed, reading a book. He walked over and just let himself fall down on the bed face first, pulling her along with him.
She managed to close the book before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snug against his chest. They stayed like this until Levy could feel his heartbeat slowing down and even further until she got too uncomfortable about being used like a cushion.
"I'll put the book away and then I'm by your side again, okay?"
Gajeel just nodded and released her, sitting up together with her. She picked the book up and brought it to the living room, smoothing her dress out along the way. When she returned, she found Gajeel sitting at the foot of the large bed, his hair hanging in front of him, his head hung low, hunched over and defeated he seemed small against the large piece of furniture.
She sighed and walked over to him, wiggling in between his legs she laid her hands on his back and gently pulled his head to rest against her belly. She started rubbing small circles into his shoulders prompting him to relax, his hands came up and sneaked around her to came to rest on her back.
.
.
"I'm scared Lev."
"I know."
"I'm never scared."
"It's alright to be scared."
"Erkar is way too strong."
"I know."
"I don't think we can beat them."
"You're scared for your people."
"Yes."
"You're afraid of losing Terya."
"Yes."
"I'm afraid of losing you."
"I know. Me too."
She took her hands from his back and cradled his face in her palms making him look up at her before leaning down and planting a featherlight kiss on his forehead. Their foreheads touched and stayed like this for a moment, caught up in a conversation that no one could hear, in a language only they understood.
Gajeel opened his eyes and took it all in, her blue curls, the faint freckles on her small nose, her soft lips. The light from the candles she had lit around the room illuminated her and his mind instantly compared her to a fairy again. His fairy, who had granted him the wish he didn't realize he had.
"I love you."
A wet feeling made itself known on his cheeks and he wondered if he might actually be crying of fear. But the he noticed the drops falling onto his face from blue lashes. When Levy opened her eyes to reveal the tears building up inside of them he could see the swirl of his own emotions mirrored in them. He tightened his grip around her and leaned in to kiss the tears away that were now streaming down her own cheeks, but the crying woman in his arms captured his lips in a kiss filled with desperation
"I love you, too."