Chapter 9

Gingerbread Village

A squeal from the tiny mage in front of him signaled that Levy finally found the road they had previously been traveling. Gajeel trudged at Levy's side, desperately trying to control the warmth lingering on his skin when she grabbed his arm in excitement, and allowed her to take the lead along the pathway.

The smell of oranges lingered on their skin and clothes, but their wet clothing seemed to be drying at a rapid rate. Gajeel sighed, wondering what he had eaten the night before that conjured up the strange dream.

A sudden crash echoed through the forest. The bushes on the side of the road shook and quivered. Levy raised her hands, magic swirling at her fingertips. Gajeel drew his sword and turned his arm into a spinning sword.

"Gajeel-kun!" A squeal came from the bushes.

Gajeel barely had time to return his arm to normal before Juvia crashed into him. He grunted from the impact, dropping his sword, and patted the water mage awkwardly on the back while she hugged him.

"Juvia is so happy to see you! Is Gajeel-kun alright? Why did Gajeel-kun swim in that river?"

Juvia dropped her hold and darted around him, lifting his right arm then the other. Gajeel groaned and looked to Levy for help, but the silly girl simply watched with a small grin on her face. His face heated and he jerked away from the water mage.

"Oi! I'm fine, now stop it!"

Juvia held a trembling hand to her heart. "Thank goodness, Juvia was so worried when Gray-sama said he saw two people coming out of the river."

"Gray's here too?" Levy piped up, drawing closer.

Juvia nodded. "Yes. Juvia and Gray-sama have been staying with the lovely cookies in town. They are so incredibly grumpy, just like my dear Gray-sama. Oh, but let us go, Gray-sama said he would start a roaring fire to warm you right up!'

Gajeel bent to pick up his fallen sword and waited for the girls to begin walking, expecting the water mage to attach herself to Levy. He startled when Juvia latched onto his arm instead, her tall hat bumping into his chin.

"Juvia is so happy that Gajeel-kun is here. And with Levy-san as well! It is so good to see Gajeel-kun and Levy-san getting along so well!"

Levy smirked and followed them along the pathway. Gajeel glanced at Juvia's arm tucked in his and on a whim, offered his other arm to Levy. She stared at it for a moment. Gajeel raised a brow, the side of his mouth quirking.

"I dare ya," he mouthed.

Levy huffed, stuck her nose in the air in that adorable way of hers, and squeezed his arm tightly. Her warmth traveled up the length of his arm and into his chest, where it swirled and bubbled. Juvia cleared her throat, giving him a long, lingering look.

"What?" he barked at the former Phantom Lord mage.

Juvia smiled and shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Juvia is simply curious as to what Gajeel-kun and Levy-san have been talking about during their adventures."

I'm gonna dump a bucket of snow on her head, I swear…

He settled for a grunt and charged forward, earning protests from the two female mages on his arms. A fork appeared in the road and Juvia tugged them towards the right, leading them into a small town. Gajeel stopped in his tracks, dragging the two mages to a halt. His lip curled and Levy laughed.

"Come on now, you can't keep getting surprised with everything you see!"

Gajeel resumed his walk, looking at the gingerbread houses. "At least I recognize this stuff."

Cozy gingerbread houses stood in two straight rows on either side of the cobbled road. Windows frosted with white icing lined the walls and large candies decorated their roofs and yards. Small, cookie shaped people darted between the houses, their frosted frowns looking out of place in the cheery town.

"Juvia has learned the gingerbread people suffer from toothaches. Poor things."

She sniffed, wiping away a stray tear, and led them to a small house near the edge of the town. Three plain looking walls stood erect with a plain, pointed roof on top. Bags of candy, large barrels filled with white frosting, and wooden tools lay in a pile near a back corner of the house. A small fire pit sat in the center of the building, a dark-haired mage standing guard next to it. He lifted his head at their approach.

"Good, you found them." He frowned, gaze wandering towards Gajeel's arm and the tiny mage still attached to it.

"Gray-sama! You have returned!"

Juvia dropped his arm and rushed to the ice mage's side. To his credit, Gray simply sighed and pushed Juvia away from him.

"I was gone for only five minutes." He sat on a blue gumdrop near the fire.

Levy skipped to a pink gumdrop and sat down with a sigh. With a glance around the sparse room, Gajeel chose a red candy near Levy's side of the fire. He glanced at the mage from the corner of his eye and scooted his chair…gumdrop closer.

What do you think you're doing, huh?

"Hmm," came a noise from the opposite side of the fire.

Gajeel startled, glancing up with a protest on his lips, but froze when he saw Gray staring at the fire with a frown. The fire popped and sizzled, sending small puffs of white smoke into the air. Gray slapped his knees and stood.

"I think I need to find more firewood. Some that doesn't have powdered sugar on it."

"Juvia will help, Gray-sama!" Juvia bolted out of the room in hot pursuit.

Gajeel chuckled and heard Levy do the same.

"I'm glad she's adjusting well," he murmured in the silence.

Levy nodded in agreement. "Me too. She really helped Team Natsu a while back, so I'm glad Master Makarov let her join the guild."

"Yeah, she's a great teammate," Gajeel agreed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "A little mopey at times, but I haven't seen her without a rain cloud for this long before. She seems happy."

Gajeel smiled in the direction the two mages left. He always had a soft spot for the gloomy water mage. He and Juvia joined Phantom Lord nearly at the same time and, being the youngest members of the dark guild, practically grew up together. They trained together, joined the same team as S-Class Mages, and always tried to share missions and assignments. He rested his chin on his hand, humming to himself.

Maybe I had more friends than I thought…

"What about you?"

"Huh?" he twisted on the gumdrop to look at Levy.

"What about you? Are you happy?"

She stared at him, long and deep, and he knew she wouldn't accept one of his one-word answers. He shrugged, looking back at the fire.

"I guess so."

Three words…good….

"Were you happy back at Phantom Lord?"

He snorted before he could help himself. "Ya kiddin'? There wasn't much to be happy with. Lots of fighting, always jostling for the highest position, wonderin' when someone's gonna stab ya in the back. I did get more iron than I could eat, though, so that was nice."

"You eat iron?" Levy scooted her gumdrop closer until their knees almost touched.

Gajeel smirked, leaning forward to bump her with his shoulder. "I'm the Iron Dragon Slayer, remember? 'Course I eat iron."

Levy pursed her lips. Magic swirled around her fingertips and Gajeel realized she was using her magic to write in the air. The magic solidified, dropping a small piece of literal I-R-O-N into his lap. He twisted the piece of metal in his hands, noticing the circle in the center of the O was in the shape of a heart.

"Thank you. For getting me out of the river."

"Anyone woulda done the same thing," he mumbled, taking a small nibble out of the tasty treat. "'Sides, ya helped too ya know."

"And for what it's worth…"

Something in her voice made Gajeel lower his snack. She looked at him like she always did, but there was something…different. And he was going to get himself in trouble very soon if he tried to figure it out.

She placed her small hand on top of his. "I'm glad you joined our guild. And I hope you find a reason to be happy."

Her smile was the warmest and brightest yet. Gajeel sighed deeply, hanging his head.

"What was that for?" A bubble of a laugh lit her voice and the warmth of her hand disappeared.

"What was what for?"

"That sigh. It was pretty heavy. Was what I said that cheesy?"

"It's…that," Gajeel grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?"

He lifted his head, gesturing to her. "That. What you're doing. Ya need to stop."

"Wait," she stood from her chair, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Am…am I doing something wrong? I don't under–"

"I'm warnin' ya now, Shorty." Gajeel jumped to his feet, making Levy startle, and she backed up with every step he took. "If ya keep smilin' at me like that, talkin' to me, touching my arm, fillin' my head with all this, this…warmth!"

They backed up to the edge of the gingerbread house and Gajeel placed a steadying hand on the wall next to Levy's head. Her eyes were wide and dewy, her rosy lips parted slightly as she stared at him. He cupped her cheek with his free hand, tracing her rising blush with his thumb.

"If ya keep lookin' at me like that," he whispered, barely holding back his desire to see if her lips were as sweet as sugar, "then I'm gonna fall in love with ya. And I'm pretty sure ya wouldn't like that, now would you?"

The words might have been true, but they still left a bitter taste on his tongue.