#gajevyweek17

"It's been so crazy the last couple of months." A faint smile graced her lips before she started telling the shenanigans that the twins had been doing.

This was something she did every time she came to this place. A part of her knew there was no need to talk about the things that happened at the guild or at home because everything that occurred on Earthland could be seen and heard from above. Still, it brought peace to her mind to talk as if her audience was right there with her in the physical plane. Words were always a comfort for her; words helped her go through the worst of the first days, when this gravestone was put up and engraved.

So, she talked. An hour passed and she kept talking. She spoke about how Shutora mastered her rune spells in record time. She bragged how proud Yajeh looked like after finishing his first solo-mission. She explained how Lily got an especial assignment from the Council regarding the official registration of every Exceed as a citizen of Fiore. And she recited the last chapter of Lucy's novel.

Levy laughed lightly while mentioning how the guild kept getting new members, most of them being the children of her closest friends.

"The guild is rowdy as usual but you already knew that, don't you?" She giggled. "Natsu and Gray's kids have some sort of rivalry but I truly believe that Nashi has a slight crush on Silver, even when she doesn't want to admit it." The mirth left Levy's eyes when she remembered something else.

"The twins keep asking me about you and I tell them what I know. I tell them stories every night of what you did and how you were when you were around. Still, they get sad that they didn't have the chance to meet you in person." A tear escaped her eyes and her shoulders started to shake trying to keep down the sob threatening to leave her lips.

"I… I try to be strong for them-" Her voice cracked. "I'm really trying to be strong for my family but i-it's too hard. It's too hard not having you here with me. And I-" a sob broke past her lips and she finally let the tears fall freely from her eyes.

"And I really miss you."

She placed a hand over her mouth trying to conceal the heartbreaking sobs that she let out. She finally allowed herself to cry like she hasn't cried since that day. Everything that had happened recently at the guild and at home brought back painful memories, memories she couldn't keep bottling up. That's why she came to the graveyard today. She felt like drowning in her own sorrow and Levy just needed to let it all out.

A hand on her shoulder made her notice that the rain wasn't falling down on her anymore. She didn't have to look up to know who was responsible for that. He always knew where to find her. She placed her own hand over the one on her shoulder and squeezed it in gratitude.

"I'm sorry I made you worry." She said and she truly meant it.

"Ya should at least have taken the umbrella with ya." A warm jacket was draped around her shoulders and just then she looked up to thank him for the gesture.

With an umbrella on one hand, Gajeel knelt down beside her and placed his other arm around her shoulders. It was his way of showing her that he was there for her. That she didn't have to go through this alone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't wanted to be a burden." She honestly said and he just hugged her tighter to him.

"Ya're never a burden, Lev. I'm always here fer ya, got it?" She expected him to yell at her for being so reckless by trying to catch her death in this unforgiving downpour but he was acting calmer than usual and much more understanding of her feelings. She was incredibly grateful for that.

"Thank you." She rested her head on his shoulder and they stayed like that with their eyes locked to the gravestone in front of them.

"I was just telling them about Yajeh's last mission." A smile crept into his face and he looked down at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the gravestone.

"He's so badass like his father, am I right?" She nodded in agreement and giggled at his modesty. "Did ya tell them about how Shutora is even smarter than her mom?" His voice showed the fondness he held for his kids.

"Yes, I did."

"Probably it's thanks to them that the kiddo will be the smartest girl in history, gihi."

She laughed and her smile reached up to her eyes. "Yes, it probably is."

She leaned further into him and he rubbed circles on her back soothingly. It was so like him to not know how to deal with emotions and painful feelings, but he always managed to find a way to be her emotional support whenever she felt the world crumbling down around her. That's just one of the many things she loved about this man.

It worked both ways. She had been there when Metallicana vanished after the battle with Tartaros and she had helped him cope with the loss of his foster father. And now, he was here showing her his support in front of her parents' gravestone. She sighed content with having such a wonderful person as her husband.

"Ya okay?" He asked her with concern and she smiled up at him.

"Yeah. I will be." And she meant it. She squeezed his hand one more time and finally tore her eyes from the gravestone and turned to her husband. "Let's go home."

He stood up and helped her up. Then, hand in hand they headed back to their home.

This day would always be hard for her. It didn't matter how old one gets, you would always miss your parents. Levy had lived her life without them since she was 11 years old. But now, on the anniversary of their death, she at least had Gajeel for emotional support. It would never be easy on her when this date would come around, but the burden will be less painful in her heart and soul. She knew this and that's why she smiled up at her loving husband.

The rain finally gave away as some rays of sunshine shone down into the wet ground. One ray of light shone brightly, illuminating the engraving in the grey gravestone.

'Oliver and Maura McGarden. Loving friends and parents.'

Author notes:

Say what? Yes, Gajeel's alive. I couldn't bring myself to kill him, it was just too painful for me to bear. What do you think of this story? (I must say that I love English since it's pronouns helped me greatly in this story ['you' could be interpreted as Gajeel but it was meant for Levy's parents]; hope I didn't mess up something. English isn't my first language hehe)

So finally I finished up all the prompts for Gajevy week (still, Living together will come around in the Council series, you'll just have to wait a little while for that one). Thank you to everyone that has supported me either with a review, favorite, follow, like, share or even just reading. Thank you so much!

I know I haven't answered a lot of reviews on ffnet and I will get to do that soon (promise). Still, wanted to let you know that I have read each and every one of your reviews and they make my heart swell with pride at knowing there's people out there enjoying my writing.

On the side note, 'Grief' was the prompt that inspired me to participate in Gajevy week 2017 and I find it poetic that it's the prompt with which I conclude my participation in this amazing project.

To those who are still waiting on the epilogues of 'For whom do you stand for?' I will get to write those down soon. Thank you for your patience and I hope I'll be up to your expectations.

Follow me on tumblr for updates and news about my next stories (I have several plots lined down but I have to find the time to put them down into words) I'll probably take some request if I get stuck with writer's block but I'll let you know.

Again thank you so much and I hope you'll stick around for more of my stories.

Another grunt, but at least this time it was followed up by a more descriptive answer.

"Yeah, what about it Shrimp?"

Levy rolled onto her side, staring at the muscles in his back as he worked. She would never admit it, but she loved watching him.

"Well... are we going?"

He sighed, spinning around in his chair to look at her. He obviously wasn't getting any more work done.

"Of course we are. Guild parties always end in a fight, and that gives me the chance to beat the absolute snot out of Natsu again."

Levy sighed, of course Gajeel wanted to go solely to start fights in the guild. She had to be grateful that he was never actually starting the fights, and just either joining in or, more likely, making them worse. Still, if she wanted to get her own way she needed to do it subtly. If Gajeel knew exactly what she was gunning for he was going to fight it more than if he thought he figured it out by himself.

"Talking of Natsu; him, Lucy, and Happy are going as pirates, that's pretty fun, right?"

Gajeel scoffed, turning back around to his bench and picking up whatever he was working on again. Levy swore under her breath, she was losing his attention and she didn't have time for that. She had to bring up something that would pique his interest.

"Bickslow and Lisanna are going as all one hundred and one Dalmatians."

The idea of Bickslow trying to control ninety-nine souls all evening had amused everyone at the guild when he had so proudly announced it, maybe it would amuse Gajeel too. Lisanna was convinced he wasn't going to be able to do it, but he had assured her he was more than capable.

"Is Lisanna gonna straight up murder a puppy?"

Levy paused, trying to work out what on Earth Gajeel was going on about when he decided to clarify of his own accord.

"Cause she has to kill an animal to claim it's soul and I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a dog one already."

Levy stared at the back of Gajeel's head. She hadn't even thought of that. Lisanna had been moaning at Bickslow for it being unfeasible, but it was intriguing as to what she was going to do as well. She stared at the back of Gajeel's head for a while longer, before realising that she still hadn't convinced him. And she was running out of couples.

"Freed and Mira are going as Victorian vampires. I don't know about Freed but Mira looks incredible!"

Gajeel scoffed again, starting to curl the metal around and around in the shape of a cone.

"That's unoriginal as fuck. Mira can transform into literally anything and she chooses something as boring as that. And Freed dresses up as a Victorian vampire literally every day."

Levy groaned in frustration, falling onto her back again and staring up at the ceiling. She had one more shot at this, and that was it.

"Gray and Juvia are going as Ariel and Eric from The Little Mermaid, but I'm not sure how she's going to cope with being mute for the whole party… it'll be fun finding out, though! She usually can't keep quiet."

Gajeel didn't even turn around but sighed as he dropped his head on the table.

"Shrimp. I'm kinda busy here. Did you have a point to this?"

Levy sighed, rolling out of the bed and heading to get some clothes. Gajeel was an insufferable arsehole most of the time, but today he had really taken the cake.

"Don't worry about it Gajeel. I'm heading to the guild, I'll see you later."

She dressed quickly, throwing on a dress and not even bothering to dry her hair before she stormed out of the door. Hopefully, there was an interesting translation job at the guild to take her mind off what a dick her boyfriend was.

Levy sighed as she walked back into the house, dumping the bag full of translation materials off her shoulder onto the floor next to her. Lily would moan about it later, but she really wasn't in the mood. It was the day of the Halloween party and she hadn't even gotten a costume. Once it was obvious that her and Gajeel would be the only couple not matching, she lost all motivation to do anything at all. She called out but got no response, maybe Gajeel had gone out. It wouldn't surprise her. She kicked off her shoes, walking into the front room and froze.

In the middle of the room was a dress form, made of iron and the perfect replica of her body shape. Hanging off it was simple long, pale blue dress, with a long sleeved white shift underneath and a white apron over the top. Balanced on the top of the form was a simple bow the same material as the dress, and a small note pinned into the shoulder strap. She took a few steps closer, grabbing the note and unpinning it carefully. She saw Gajeel's smooth handwriting, written in Draconic, and read it out loud.

"Put this on"

Levy stripped off right there in the living room, not worrying about anyone seeing her. The house was pretty secluded, and no one would be inside the house who hadn't already seen her in her underwear anyway. She put the dress on quickly, smoothing the apron down on the front and balanced on her tip toes in order to tie her hair back in the bow. She thought her hair would clash against the fabric horribly, but in fact it seemed to set it off well. Gajeel had obviously been hiding some talents from her.

"It would give me great pleasure…"

The voice was deeper than normal, but still unmistakeably Gajeel. Levy spun around, staring at Gajeel who was leaning on the doorframe. He had made his way down the stairs silently, so that she didn't know where he was until he spoke. He was wearing a blue suit trimmed with gold, and the iron cones he had been making yesterday were spiralled on his head as horns. Scales covered his skin to add to the effect, and he bowed down as he continued with the quote.

"… if you would join me for dinner… please."

Levy giggled, making her way over as she continued quoting from her favourite fairy tale. She hoped that Gajeel could remember the correct response, otherwise he could take it the wrong way.

"No, thank you."

He obviously remembered because he swept her up in his arms, kissing her deeply. She returned the kiss as she wrapped her own arms around his neck and pulled him further down. His metal lips were cold and tingled her own, but she still moaned when he pulled away. He produced a book from behind his back, and she could see it was her own copy of the fairy tale. She smiled, popping up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before she heard Lily talk from the left of her.

"It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas, and thinking..."

Levy looked over to see the exceed in his battle form, dressed in a perfect replication of Gaston's outfit from the film. Levy shrieked in excitement, running over to hug him. This was much more than she ever could have imagined.

"Gajeel! These are incredible! Where did you get the costumes from?"

Gajeel smirked as he pulled down a large cloak that she hadn't seen before and draped it over her shoulders.

"I called in a few favours. Did you know Bickslow could sew? I certainly didn't. Come on, we gotta get going or we're gonna be late."

Levy smiled as she pulled the coat around her. This night was perfect.

The guild was in chaos even by the time Levy got there. There had already been a fight, and Lucy had been forced to get changed when her dress had all but been burned away. As soon as it had calmed even slightly Bickslow and Lisanna had appeared, with all ninety-nine small dog figurines in tow. The figures had run amok for around twenty minutes as Bickslow struggled to keep control until he passed out from the utter lack of magic power and had to be revived by an angelic Wendy. Now there was small dolls scattered around the hall as the five dolls that Bickslow could still keep control over whizzed around the hall shrieking. Mira and Freed had dominated the dance floor, and Levy had tried to get Gajeel up and dancing before deciding to cut her losses. She was sat at a table between Gajeel and Lily, Jet and Droy on the other side of the table dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr Robotnik when the door slammed open.

Everyone's heads turned as a huge hulking mass made it's way through the doors and roared. Silhouetted against the night sky they could see curled horns on his head, and he was covered in fur. As everyone's eyes adjusted, after more than a few people had readied attack spells, the form of Elfman's beast soul became apparent, squeezed into a suit that almost matched Gajeel's perfectly. Not long after Evergreen appeared beside him, her soft yellow dress was perfect, as if it had been designed specifically for her. The straps draped loosely over her arms, baring her shapely shoulders, the bodice fitting tightly over her breasts to her waist before billowing out in a bell around her legs. She had delicate gloves which matched the fabric of the dress and had curled hair held up in a high pony tail. She was subject to a few wolf whistles and even Gajeel had to admit she looked good. He turned around to grab Levy's hand, before immediately panicking when he realised she had gone.

His nose told him she had disappeared down into the depths of the guild's library, and he was about to follow her when he changed his mind. Spinning on his heel he picked up another scent, and ran towards it. He sprang up onto the bar, using the speed to grab a hold of the floor above and pull himself up. Once he was up there he didn't waste his momentum as he ran up the wall and extended iron hooks from his hands to grab hold of the rafters. If it wasn't something he did so often in guild brawls he wouldn't have stood a chance, but he had it practiced down to a fine art. He jumped over a few of the rafters, following his nose until he found who he was looking for.

Bickslow didn't know what hit him. One minute he was sat in the rafters, giggling at the goings on in the guild with Lisanna and the next he was held by his throat, legs dangling in mid air an awfully long way from the floor. His fake tail hung limply between his legs as his ears flopped and Gajeel didn't think anyone had ever looked more pathetic.

"Bickslow you bastard. Why didn't you tell me they were wearing the same thing."

Bickslow choked for air, and eventually one of the babies floated up to join them when he realised Gajeel wasn't even letting go for him to talk. It spoke in it's creepy little voice, and it almost made the Dragon slayer cringe.

"How should I know?"

Gajeel growled, shadows erupting from around him. Levy was upset, and that was unforgivable.

"You had to make those costumes. They're exactly the same!"

Lisanna had already grabbed onto Gajeel's other arm, trying to pull Bickslow back onto the safety of the rafters but ultimately failing. She kept tugging, shouting to Gajeel as she did.

"Elf's suit is his own magic, and I don't know about Ever but there was no way Bickslow would ever make anything for her. He hates Ever! I'm sorry, Gajeel, I should have warned you it might be something they were going to do."

Gajeel grunted. It was a fair explanation, alright. He dropped Bickslow as he transformed into shadows, anything to get down into the library quicker. He didn't even bother turning around to see the Sieth mage fall.

Levy was sat on a small wooden chair in the library, crying into her apron when Gajeel appeared behind her. She didn't jump, simply wiped her eyes and attempted to smile.

"They're the literal embodiment of Beauty and the Beast, Gajeel. She's gorgeous. And look at me."

Gajeel tsked, kneeling in front of her and picking up his cravatte to wipe some escaped tears from Levy's cheeks. She looked beautiful even after she had been crying, and Gajeel just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and take her home. But that would be admitting defeat.

"I thought Belle was supposed to be clever. And I doubt that bimbo could even read a book."

Levy laughed slightly, causing her to hiccough on her tears. Gajeel stood up, pulling her to her feet as he did and taking a step back to look at her.

"Now. What can we do with this?"

He walked around her a few times, taking in everything he could. Eventually he stood facing her again, a grin splitting across his face. Bringing his hands up he ripped the front of his shirt, revealing iron scales underneath covering his chest and torso. Levy gasped at the destruction of such a beautiful costume before he pulled his hair out of the band that was holding it back and held his arms out for her to inspect.

"I thought Halloween was supposed to be scary, anyway. None of those idiots are scary at all. Not like I am. Now, I do need to work on you. Apocalyptic Beauty and the Beast, what do you say?"

Levy nodded, still giggling as he pulled her apron off, and ripped a large slit up her right leg to the thigh. Touching her arms metal bracers appeared over her forearms, and an iron corset fitted snugly over her torso without being too uncomfortable. He clapped his hands together, pulling them apart to form an elegant metal sword, and Levy knew he was expending a lot of magic energy but at this point she was too engrossed in what he was doing to scold him. Her hands wrote quickly, and dirt appeared on the table in front of them. She'd be punished by Mira, but it wasn't that much of a mess compared to upstairs at the guild anyway. She grabbed it and rubbed it over some of Gajeel's exposed skin and into the cloth of his costume before he did the same to her. She groaned as it found it's way into her hair, but after she caught a glimpse of the effect in the mirror she lost all anger. They both looked like they had been through a war, and it was exactly the effect she had been going for. Gajeel came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Come on, Shrimp. Let's go knock 'em dead."

Occasionally Levy would assist patrons at the front desk or enter new books into their classification system and meticulously apply call numbers to the spines, but most days were spent sorting and shelving books—recently returned, newly acquired, and of course, those that had been plunked down randomly somewhere inside the library. Never mind the carts in almost every room of the building for books needing reshelving (and labeled as such).

Some librarians or library aides found this task tedious and boring. Levy, however, loved it.

She’d found a quiet corner not far from the circulation desk, and there she spread out the books, organizing them by call number and placing them on the cart. Once the cart was full, she’d go shelve them, and lather, rinse, repeat.

While she sorted, she couldn’t resist skimming through each book, though she didn’t read them from start to finish, of course. She just scanned them—with the assistance of her Gale-Force reading glasses—making note of books she wanted to check out for herself and gleaning little tidbits of knowledge.

With one of their own working at the library, many Fairy Tail mages popped in and out more routinely to see Levy. Sometimes simply to chat and socialize, but often to get assistance from their resident bookworm. She’d push her red reading glasses atop her head and do her best to help her guild mates, as quickly and quietly as possible. She was under no illusions about the destructive capabilities of Fairy Tail, and Levy wanted none of that within the hallowed walls of a library. She was still embarrassed for even being present for the damage done to the Magic Library tower.

Some guild members she was stricter with than others. Natsu had been banned long before Levy began volunteering, but she made certain it was enforced. She had no desire for him to get “all fired up” around all those books. Gray too had been banned prior to her tenure, and she suspected it was related to his rather unfortunate habit of indecent exposure, no matter the location. Cana had recently been barred from the premises after she spilled one of her myriad alcoholic beverages not only on some library books, but also another library patron. Juvia—after an incident involving Gray, a perceived “love rival,” and a minor flood—was also politely asked not to return. Ever.

Erza was allowed, but with the understanding that if she threatened another person at sword point, she’d join her guild mates in their permanent ban. Gajeel was under a similar edict—if he nibbled on any more carts or shelving, he would no longer be welcome, much to Levy’s dismay. In an attempt to prevent this, she often provided him with a little solid script snack whenever he came by.

Unsurprisingly, Wendy and Lucy were frequent visitors to the library and posed no threat of destruction to it or its books. Surprisingly, Laxus and the Raijinshū were oddly respectful of the premises, as were the Strauss siblings—though more often than not you could hear Elfman’s “manly!” echo throughout the building, immediately followed by a “Shhhhhh!” from librarians and his siblings (or Evergreen) alike.

On this particular day, Laxus and Bickslow were researching something for an upcoming job. Or rather, Laxus was, and Bickslow was intermittently helping him and pestering Levy. In the span of an hour, he’d already upended her meticulously sorted book cart, added an extra fifteen books to her table after proclaiming that they were close but not quite right for what Laxus needed, and his babies had nearly knocked over more than one Magnolia senior citizen.

She was ready to tear her hair out. I’m sorely tempted to solid script up some rope and hog-tie his ass until Laxus is done. Gods, please let him finish soon.

She picked up the most recent book Bickslow had deposited on the table, noted the bar code, and was about to skim it when she nearly swallowed her own tongue upon seeing the title.

Tantric Sex and You: Achieving Nirvana in the Bedroom.

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and knew she must be as red as her glasses. Placing the book on the “to be shelved” cart without so much as a second glance, she then turned to glare at Bickslow.

“Grow up, Bickslow. Isn’t Laxus done yet?” she asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.

He shrugged, tongue lolling out of his mouth in his signature goofy grin. “Not a fan of nirvana, hmm?”

Levy ignored him and returned to her task, her flush abating after a couple innocuous, albeit boring, books. When she grabbed the next on the pile, the title caught her eye. A History of Tattoos, Piercings, and Body Modification. Her lips curved up slightly as she thought of her favorite dragon slayer. Though technically nothing more than friends at the moment, she hoped eventually they’d be something more.

Speed-reading through it courtesy of her Gale-Force glasses, she was surprised by the number of images of tattoos, piercings, and other body decorations in the text. When she reached a section about certain…below the belt piercings, she felt the flush return to her face.

It was impossible not to notice Gajeel’s facial piercings, but…

Does he have matching piercings elsewhere?

The book slipped out of her suddenly sweaty hands and bounced a little ways from her chair. To her dismay, Bickslow oh so helpfully retrieved it. He regarded the cover and then angled his head to—she could only assume, given the visor—look at her.

“What’s got ya all hot and bothered there, Levy-chan? Surely a sweet girl like you wouldn’t be thinking anything naughty…” He trailed off and smirked as his babies floated around him chiming in, “Naughty! Naughty!”

She was saved from answering by Laxus’s arrival. The blond jerked his chin toward the entrance, indicating that they were leaving.

“Arigatō, Levy. Hopefully this idiot hasn’t been keeping you from your work.”

She shook her head, unwilling to give Bickslow any further openings, and Laxus gave a quick wave over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

Bickslow tossed the book he held to her. “See ya around, Shortstuff. Try not to drool on any books…” He cackled as he followed Laxus.

Levy sank back into her chair, stuck the offending book into its appropriate spot on the reshelving cart, and tried to put the whole concept out of her mind.

Still, later that night as she lay in bed, willing sleep to come, she couldn’t stop her mind from revisiting her earlier question.