After cigars and brandy, Dan creeped his way into Lucy's suite intending to seduce his bride to be and satisfy is unhealthy desire for her. But he did not find her in her quarters, waiting for him in her dressing gown and robes, ready to show her naked body to him and to pleasure him. In fact he didn't find her there at all. He then went to Jude's suite and asked if he had seen her but he did not. Neither father or fiance knew where she had disappeared to. However Dan did spot Levy, Lucy's loyal servant and best friend sneaking down below deck.
"She probably knows where she is." He thought and he ordered his bodyguard Blooodman to follow her.
Just as Dan had suspected, Levy ended up leading Bloodman exactly to where Lucy was. Down in Third Class, dancing and laughing, drinking, and falling into the arms of Natsu.
"Okay it looks like you've had a little too much." Natsu chuckled, helping her keep steady.
"I'm not drunk." She assured him.
"I know but you're on the verge of it."
"Miss Lucy!" Levy gasped, having never seen her mistress in such a state.
"Hi Levy." She giggled. "What brings you down here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." The maid said. "If your father ever caught you down here and like this-"
"What Father doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Still I think it would be wise to get you back."
"Not yet. Just one more dance."
"But Lucy-"
"Dance with me Levy!"
Before she could object, Lucy grabbed her by the hands and pulled her into a chain of passengers, linking arms and whirling around and around the deck. Soon Levy was smiling as she observed her mistress's actions and behavior. She had never seen Lucy so happy and carefree before. A real happiness, not just the fake kind she put on to please high society. It pleased her so to see her this way.
"Mind if I cut in?"
Levy was then in the arms of Gajeel, the two dancing and laughing, like a couple of teenage sweethearts sneaking off from school to mess around.
"Remember the first time we ever danced together?" She asked, resting her head on his chest.
"How could I forget? I ended up stepping on your toes and tripping over my own big feet." He answered. "I told you I was a horrible dancer."
"But I didn't believe you, cause someone who has such a wonderful voice must surely have wonderful steps to match. Which you do. See how well you're dancing now?"
"Ah that's just the luck of the Irish, my bonnie, Norwegian lass."
"Speaking of luck." She added, stepping back to let him twirl her. "Looks like your little sister is getting lucky in love."
"What do you mean?"
Levy pointed over to a corner where Juvia and Gray sat, talking to each other and through out the conversation, neither one could take their eyes off one another.
"Hmm..." He thought suspiciously. "What do you think he wants with her?"
Levy chuckled at her lover's obliviousness.
"He's falling in love with her, you daft man."
"Falling in love or trying to get her into bed?"
"Gajeel you have nothing to worry about from Gray. Lucy talks about him all the time, he would never take advantage of lady. He's a perfect gentleman. And a very lonely one."
"Lonely in what way? Lonely as in I have no one to talk to or lonely as in my bed is always cold?"
"Well let me put it this way. Long ago I once asked Gray, why he never considered courting Lucy since they were such good friends. And he told me that when his father met his mother, the moment he touched her hand and looked into her eyes at the same time, there was this instant connection and he just knew she was the one. Gray never had that with Lucy and that's what he's looking for."
"That's not how love works."
"Oh no? Didn't you tell me your father fell in love with your mother at first sight?"
"Yes but that's different."
"Different in what way?"
"In the way that, I know what kind of man me Da was so I know it really was love at first sight when he saw me Ma. But I don't know this man. I don't know what his intentions are."
"Well you're the one who mentioned finding Juvia a husband."
"That doesn't mean I want her to just marry anyone. She deserves the very best."
"Gray would make a fine provider. He's rich, educated, well-liked by high society, and his looks don't hurt him either."
"All that might make him the very best for other women but not for my baby sister."
"Then what does?"
"He has to love her the way I love you."
Levy was suddenly stunned silent.
"Levy I love you so much that not a single day goes by where I don't think of you. I spend countless hours trying to think of ways I could make you happier than you ever dreamed of, thinking of ways to keep you safe from anything or anyone that could harm you, thinking of ways to make sure you'll never cry again even though I know it's impossible. I'd give up anything, even my very life for you. And if someday you decided to leave me, I'd die of a broken heart but at the same time I'd be more than willing to let you go if only you were leaving me for something better. Something that could make you happier than I ever could. Your my whole world, my life. Your happiness and well-being is mine. That's the kind of love I have for you and that's the kind of love I want a man to have for Juvia. She's someone who needs to be loved, and without me to love her, if she has to go through life unloved, she'll die."
"Oh Gajeel." Levy put her hands over her heart, completely touched by how loving he was. Oh she always knew that he was a very loving man. One who had more love in his heart than most people would suspect. But she never comprehended before now, just how much.
"I love you so much." She sighed. "So much."
"I love you more than anything in the world." He responded. "More than even my music."
And to prove it, the next time Gajeel was called to perform, he dedicated a song just to her. An old, 16th century, Irish folk song of love and before performing, he and Juvia told the story behind the song.
It was a tale of a freelance handy worker called Carolan who came across a farmer looking for a farmhand and there was a legend in the area that a white cow was going to give birth to a calf and the first person to drink the milk of the cow would be given the gift of gab, the gift of trade, and the gift to woo anyone. One evening while Carolan was tending to the cattle, the mythical white cow appareled and gave birth to her calf, Carolan quickly drank the milk from her alongside her calf thus giving him those three gifts. Carolan then fled knowing the farmer would be furious upon hearing of this and he found a new job with a cobbler who was making shoes for a young woman called Eleanor Kavanagh. When the shoes were done, Carolan was assigned to deliver them and when he first saw Eleanor it was love at first sight and with the cow's gifts, he was able to woo her and they eloped.
Gajeel's father had sung the song to him and his sister many times but he always changed the name from Eleanor to the name of their late mother. And Gajeel would end up doing the same for the woman he loved.
"Mo ghrá den chéad fhéachaint thú,
'Levy, a rún.
Is ortsa a bhím a' smaoineamh,
tráth a mbím ar mo shuaimh,
Mo ghrá den tsaol thú,
ó mo chéad searc,
is tú is deise ná ban Éireann,
'S a bhruinnillín deas óg,
is tú is deise, is milse póg,
Ach chúns a mhairfeadsa beo,
beidh gean a'm ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn
na gamhna leat,
'Levy, a rún."
The crowd was in quiet awe of Gajeel's voice singing so tenderly, even the ones who did not understand the lyrics he sang. But Levy understood them. Gajeel had taught her how to speak the Irish language and she knew what each word he meant.
"'S bhí bua aici go meallfadh
sí na héanlaith ón gcrann,
'S bhí bua eile aici go dtóigfeadh
sí an corp fuar ón mbás,
'S bhí bua eile aici nach ndéarfaidh mé mar
'sí grá mo chroí is ó mo chéad searc,
'S a bhruinnillín deas óg,
is tú is deise, is milse póg,
Ach chúns a mhairfeadsa beo,
beidh gean a'm ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn na gamhna leat,
'Levy, a rún."
"I love you first look, Levy. It is you I am thinking of. You are more beautiful than the women of Ireland. You are the love of my life. You are the nicest and sweetest kiss. You are my life, my treasure."
That is what he was saying to her in his song.
"'S an dtiocfaidh tú nó 'bhfanfaidh tú,
'Levy, a rún?
Nó aithneofá an té nach gcáinfeadh thú,
mo chuid don tsaol is a stór?
Ó tiocfaidh mé ach ní fhanfaidh mé,
is maith a d'aithneoinn an té nach gcáinfeadh mé,
'S a bhruinnillín deas óg,
is tú is deise, is milse póg,
Ach chúns a mhairfeadsa beo,
beidh gean a'm ort,
Mar is deas mar a sheolfainn
na gamhna leat,
'Levy, a rún."
Everyone clapped and cheered and whistled for him when he finished singing, but Levy just ran to him. She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately over and over again. She kept thinking that she had to be the luckiest woman in all the world to be marrying a man like him. A man who loved her that much.
"Gajeel that was beautiful." She wept with tears of joy.
"I have surprise for you."
He pulled something from his pocket that he kept in a tight fist,then he gently took her hands into his own and slid something on to her finger. It was a silver band with a Celtic knot engraved all around it. Then he slipped another band that matched the first onto his own finger.
"These were Ma and Da's wedding rings and although we're not married yet, I want us to wear them now. So we'll be as happy as they were even before we say I do."
"Yes." She nodded, so overjoyed she could barely speak. "I'll wear it til the day I die."
And again the couple embraced, kissed, and danced to their heart's content.
"As I watched Levy and Gajeel together, I was happy for them and for a moment I envied my own maid." The older Lucy narrated.
She then chuckled.
"Imagine, me. A wealthy aristocrat being jealous of my servant. Father would have thought me so stupid if he knew and I was ashamed because Levy was still my best friend. I had no right to harbor such feelings toward her even if they were only brief. But I guess I couldn't help myself. Like me she was engaged and due to be married once she arrived in the states but unlike me, hers was to be a marriage by choice and a marriage of love. She would have been so happy with Gajeel."
"Would have been?" Rebecca pointed out. "They didn't get married?"
"No. No they got married. I was there, I saw them, and it was the very last time I ever saw them."
"What happened after the wedding? Did you and Levy have a fight or did you just drift apart?" Shiki asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." She sighed and brushed away a stray tear that had formed when she thought of her former friend. "I wanted to spend all night down there. I didn't want the party to end. I wasn't ready to go on back to the stuffy, boring world of first class. But I knew I had to. I was already in trouble for actually going to such an affair, thanks to Dan's wretched man servant. You know to this day, I'll never understand why he put up with Dan all those years. He didn't even like him."
"Lady don't you know by now that people will literally put up with anything for money?" Weisz said.
"True. But I always believed that there were somethings money couldn't buy."
"So what happened next Grandma?" Rebecca said, getting more and more drawn into the story.
"Well Natsu was escorting me back to my room, but we were taking our own sweet time getting there."
"Really?" Weisz said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "And by your own sweet time, you mean?"
"I mean we just talked and dilly-dallied." Lucy responded in a slightly annoyed tone. "With our clothes on."
"Oh..."
"I can still remember the silly little song we were muttering as we were walking back." She mused.