AN: Hehe, told you I'd return ;3
Chapter 19 - Warmth
Levy felt … warm.
For the first time in weeks, she only felt warm, velvety black enveloping her like a soothing blanket, no shaking, crying, sleepless tossing and turning, cold sweat and no dreams of swirling maelstroms of screams, runes, faces and fear. Something was bothering her, however - the weight on her chest and side. The itch in her nose too. Now that she was waking up, the calming feeling of black velvet subsided, giving way to more impressions of the outside world disturbing her peaceful unconsciousness. A hard surface was pressing into her hipbone and she could hear some weird noise in her ear, prompting her to open her eyes slowly, squinting against the faint light.
Her awakening turned rude when the itch in her nose grew stronger, making her sneeze suddenly.
"Well good morning to you too." The dry chuckle in her ear, paired with the breeze from a sudden exhale were enough to wake her up, she whirled around, frightened at what might await her. When she realized what did actually await her, the night before came back to her, giving context to her surroundings and removing the haze of sleep.
"You know what, there are worse sights to wake up to than you crying, but it is very high on the list."
It hadn't been dust or her hair tickling her face. It was his hair, as warm and black and velvety as her sleep. His arm had been the weight on her side, his warm breath the noise in her ear.
And it was his warm, rough hand that cradled her face to wipe away the tears dripping from her eyes. She sniffled and tried to speak, but words had escaped her and all she produced was a whimper of relief before throwing herself at him and sobbing into his chest. Levy had always prided herself on being calm and collected, rarely losing her cool, but the emotional toll had been too great, the danger too close for comfort and the floodgates burst the second realization hit her. A tiny sceptic part in her told her this was too good to be true, it must be a hallucination to weaken her spirit and break her morale. She didn't care, holding on was all she could do as the tears kept flowing uncontrollably, like a monsoon after long periods of drought she could feel the outburst cleansing her, washing away the buzzing, painful pressure of anxiety, fear and tension that had been clouding her thoughts for so long.
It felt like days, but only a few minutes must have passed when she gathered herself again, soothed by her outburst and the gentle hand rubbing her back in slow, steady circles.
Gajeels hand.
Before she knew it, his lips had touched her forehead and he leveled a lopsided grin at her.
"Yer early."
She laughed at that, feeling the first genuine joy in weeks and grinned back at him.
"I read all of his books and got bored, so I decided to leave."
"Ah, beginners mistake on his part. See, that's why I have so many – a Dragon's hoard for my queen."
The word Dragon rang a bell for her, and she felt her heart drop.
"Oh no! How long did I sleep?"
"Only some hours, you were here late last night. Why're you asking?"
"Listen, I… I had some help to escape Erkar, but I have to get back to them soon."
Gajeel frowned at that. "They didn't come with you?"
"No, we didn't want to raise a commotion, they're rather… unusual."
"Unusual? Ain't no way in hell I'm letting you outta my sight again, you haven't even told me what happened yet either."
"There's nothing I'd rather do right now, than just talk it all out with you, trust me, there are also a few things I want to ask you, but this…acquaintance is a bit impatient and I don't know what they'll do if I don't show up. They do want to meet you though, so I guess it'd be for the best if you could come with me."
Gajeel gave her a tentative nod, but before Levy could ask about what had happened while she was gone, the tent flap opened, a familiar tall figure blocking out the light of the rising morning sun.
"Gajeel, we need to…" the Exceed stopped abruptly in his words and step, as if frozen in time for a second as his eyes first grew large, only to shrink again when he furrowed his brow in confusion.
"how…?"
Levy smiled wearily. "It's a long story. I'm glad to see you Lily."
"L-likewise milady. I'm glad to see you safe and seemingly healthy."
Gajeel grinned proudly, putting his arm around Levy and pulling her closer "Chose good, didn't I?! No damsel in distress, got herself outta there like a true champion!"
"Truly a marvelous feat!" Lily gave Levy a scrutinizing look and she realized she must have fallen asleep as soon as she'd arrived in Gajeels tent, still wrapped in dirty rags and mud everywhere. The night on a straw mattress hadn't helped much and she suddenly felt very vulnerable. Fortunately, Lily being a master of nonchalance simply went to business.
"I'll have someone tend to a wash basin, some new clothes and a few other refreshments; you must be exhausted. And afterwards I'd appreciate to hear everything that happened since we last saw one another. As much as I'd like to let you rest, we need all possible information you can give us about Hades' objectives."
The promised refreshments were simple, but the clean water tasted like pure starlight to Levy who didn't have anything to drink since she left Erkar and the comfort of the still warm bread almost brought her to tears. And finally, she could get out of the frilly dress and leftover bedsheets into some clothes that were clean, comfortable and easier to move in. It took her almost half of the day to recount her experiences, not just because she tried to give as much detail as possible, but also because Lily had to take notes for later and would sometimes discuss them in depth with her. More than once she felt panic rise in her chest at the memories, but Gajeel would simply pull her into a hug and arrange plans for her to stay in his tent with Lily. His warmth, the safety of his arms around her and the low vibrating rumble of his voice kept her from being swallowed by the pitch black wave of fear she couldn't completely ban from her mind.
When they were done talking it was Gajeels turn, his draconic features hadn't escaped her perception after all.
"So, when exactly did you get decorative scales? And fangs?"
"I also had horns for a while if you can believe it."
"We can joke about it when you told me what's going on with you. You got nervous when I mentioned Hades using that against me, so there is clearly something to that."
"Why do you have to be so damn smart? Look, I… I don't know much about it myself, but most of what he said isn't that far off."
"Well I don't think you're some kind of monstrosity." Levy stated, her cheeks puffed out and brows furrowed in defiance.
"That's because yer a good person." Gajeel pulled her closer, but Lily seemed similarly frustrated as Levy, if not more so.
"No Gajeel, it's because you aren't a monster. You should really put more trust in the people close to you, do you really have that little of an opinion that you think we'd care that much about some kind of monstrosity?"
"Lily…"
"Don't look at me like that. You always tell me to break protocol, so now I do. I've known you since you were just a snotty brat and I've watched you grow into a responsible adult, with all the tries and tribulations that come with that. Do you think I went through a civil war and the death of your father with you just to leave at the next sight of a bit of trouble?"
"Come on Lily, don't make me cry in front of her, that's unmanly."
"Ah, just shut up and go show her the surprise before I get even sappier." Lily grinned and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder.
Levy perked up at that. What kind of surprise could he have prepared while going to war and looking for her?
"Sooooo, why are we leaving the camp?"
"I mean, what kind of man would I be if I can't even prepare a proper welcome back surprise for my future queen?"
"Future queen?! Wait, we haven't talked about that yet!" Levys protests fell on deaf ears when Gajeel merely laughed and grabbed her hand.
"Do you really think I'll ever let you out of my sight again? 'Sides, you'd make a great queen!"
"What? But I'm a commoner, I have no idea how to lead people or a whole country!"
"Nah, you'll do just fine. The only problem might be that you overthink way too hard. Do you know how I know that?"
Levy looked at him quizzically, prompting him to laugh once more.
"We've been standing right in front of your surprise and you're overthinking too hard to even notice."
For the first time since the start of their conversation she looked at her surroundings, and what she saw in the near distance nearly made her heart explode.
"SHIRO!"
The young stallion was grazing with Scenja and Tinto in a paddock not too far from camp, but when he heard Levys voice he lifted his head and looked at to them. She hurried towards the paddock and ducked beneath the fence to make her way over to him, happily surprised that he still remembered her. He trotted over to her, after sniffing her outstretched hand he pushed his head into her chest, asking for some well-missed headpats, which he promptly received.
As Gajeel stood at the crude fencing of the paddock and watched Levy happily pet the horse she'd took into her heart and clearly missed he almost believed in a peaceful future.
Almost.
Then the trumpets in camp sounded alarm.
Of course the peace and quiet couldn't last.
AN: *opens door* *throws new chapter into room* *closes door* "running noises"
Ok so first of all – sorry ^^'
3 jobs and University, I hope that suffices as an explanation. Sorry you had to wait so long and thank you so so soooo much if you're still here :3
That's all for now, I'll go back to writing - finally ;P