It was an early sunny morning that Levy woke up to. At first, she didn't know why she awoke. Then, at the sound of someone knocking on her door, Levy stumbled out of bed and over to her door. 

   "What are you doing here?" Levy mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eye. Gabbriel stood at her door, a small bag on her back as she rocked on her heels, waiting. 

   "Come on, I'm taking you to a place." Is all the taller wizard said. 

   "Huh?"

   "Get dress, something you can walk a while in. I'm getting Wendy and then we'll meet up with Gajeel."

   "W-what?"

   "I'll be back in a little bit. Be ready."

Gabbey walked away, leaving Levy blinking in confusion. 

   "What just happened?" 

🌹🌹🌹

Roughly an hour later, Gabbey, Gajeel, Wendy, Levy, Daella, and Pantherlily were on a train. The group casually talked with each other, not a pause of silence between the small friend group. Something Gabbey almost considered a family. 

Not that she would say it out loud.

   "So, Gabbey," Levy asked, receiving a hum from said woman.  "Where are we going?"

   "We are going to a meadow," Gabbey started. "So I can show you guys something important."

   "How important?" Daella questioned curiously.

   "Very. You can't tell anyone of this. Or else."

There was a tense silence before Gajeel snorted, pushing the bond in amusement. "You make it seem like it's life or death,"

   "Good," Gabbey smiled. "It's not life or death, it's just important to me."

   "So, the life or death of your pride?" Levy teased. 

   "Har, har, har, very funny."

   "I thought it was a little funny," Wendy giggled, making Gabbey gasp. 

   "Not you, too! Look what you've done, Levy! Corrupting my apprentice like that!"

The group let out a laugh, as the train slowed to a stop. Daelle suddenly perked up, a grin on her face. 

   "Why don't we play a game?!"

   "What kind of game?" Wendy asked. 

   "Just a get-to-know game. You've guys clearly known each other for a while. Lily and I barely know anything about you guys!"

   "It would help strengthen our bonds," Lily thought out loud before nodding. "I agree."

   "Sure! Besides, with Gajeel and Gabbey only knowing where we're going, we might as well," Levy winked at the twins. Gabbey elbowed Gajeel in the ribs discretely, a smirk on her face as a rush of affection ran through the bond. 

   "Alright, who starts?" 

   "I will!" Daella sat up straighter and cleared her throat. "Hello! My name is Daella, but people call me Ella for short. I love to explore, meet new people, and have a lot of friend! My favorite color is pink and my favorite food is fish! Next!"

   "Okay!" Wendy grinned. "My name is Wendy! I love to learn, talk to my friends, and eat sweet foods! My favorite color is blue, like the sky!"

   "My name is Levy. I love to read, learn, shop, and go to the spa. My favorite color is orange, and I love sweets as well!"

   "My name is Pantherlily, Lily for short. I love to practice sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat, and the color black. I love kiwis."

   "Gajeel. Eating metals, fighting, sleeping, and I like the color black."

   "Good one, Gajeel," Gabbey snorted. "I'm Gabbriel, Gabbey for short. I love the color red. I like cherries, piercings, shopping, and reading. My favorite metal is zinc."

   "What does zinc even taste like?" Daella asked curiously. 

   "Huh. . .It just tastes like metal? But it's a good metal taste. A bit sweet." Gabbey tried to explain. "Each metal has a different taste."

   "Like the air!" Wendy proclaimed. "Depending on the air quality and area, some air tastes sweeter."

   "Yeah," Gabbey nodded. "It's kinda hard to explain."

   "Well, I'm never going to eat metal," Daella made a face.

   "You'd probably break your teeth trying," Gajeel snickered. 

Gabbriel scoffed, shaking her head. "Yeah, I wouldn't even let you try, Daella."

   "It would be unwise," Lily stated, a small smile on his face. "But, you have done a lot of unwise things. Like--"

   "Don't!" Daella squeaked, covering Lily's mouth with her paws. "Don't say it!" 

   "Say what?" Levy grinned slyly. "What did you do?"

   "Nothing!" Daella denied, just as Gabbey reached forwards and grabbed her. "Hey!"

   "Continue," Gabbey smiled as if nothing happened, holding tightly onto Daella. 

   "Lily!"

   "Well, one day Ella and I were walking around the castle. She was eating an apple as we talked, of course about anything we did. When she was done, she saw a guard standing at the corner of the hallway, and chunked the apple at him!"

The group started to crack up in laughter while Daella groaned and covered her face. "I thought he was a trash can!"

   "H-How do you mistake someone for a trash can?" Wendy giggled. 

   "I saw him at the corner of my eye! I wasn't really looking!"

   "I'm sure you weren't," Levy laughed, making Lily start to snicker some more. 

  "It was a funny scene, seeing Ella try to apologies to the knight for thinking he was a trash can."

   "How do you even apologies for that?" Gabbey giggled as well, her grip on Daella loosening. The sandy Exceed quickly slipped out of her grasp. 

   "Oh! But that's not as funny as the time Lily-"

   "Ella! Daella, no!"

For the rest of the train ride, the group of Fairy Tail members shared their funny stories, some of them down right embarrassing. But it was the time of their lives. 

🌹🌹🌹

Half a day later, two full stops, and a small picnic at the edge of the forest later, the group was hiking into the woods around them. 

Daella and Lily sat on their partners' shoulders, not wanting to fly as long as they did anymore. Gajeel and Levy were a few steps behind Gabbey and Wendy, who chatted about the little things.

   "How come you know Dragon Slaying magic and Maker magic?" Wendy asked curiously. Gabbey hummed, watching the invisible trail ahead. 

   "Well, Metalicana wanted to only teach Gajeel Slayer magic, so he taught me Maker magic. It was kinda hard, seeing as Metalicana didn't actually know Maker magic, but it worked out somehow. But, after catching Gajeel teaching me Slayer magic in secret, he just thought it be best for me to join in on training."

   "Is that why you don't know as much?"

   "Yup. But Gajeel is still kinda teaching me how to turn my arm and legs into metal extensions," Gabbey glanced down at Wendy. "Kinda like how I'm teaching you how to fight."

   "I've never thanked you for that," Wendy realized, eyes wide. "Oh, I'm sorry! Thank you, for teaching me how to fight!"

   "You don't have to thank me," Gabbey shrugged off the thanks. "You're like. . .a little sister to me, I don't mind it."

   "I-I've never had an older sister before," Wendy mumbled. "I think. . ."

   "Well, now you do." Gabbey stated simply. 

   "Awe, you guys are so cute!" Daella cooed, making Gabbey snort. 

   "Way to ruin the moment."

   "It just brings be back to when Jellal called me mother for the first time," Daella looked like she was in another time. "It shocked me so bad, I dropped the book I was holding." She giggled. "Dropped it right on Lily. He was in shock too."

   "That's cute," Wendy let out a sigh. "I wonder what it's like."

   "You aren't going to worry about wanting to be called mother for a long time," Gabbey insisted. "Not until I say so, anyways."

   "Be careful there, you're starting to sound like a momma bear," Daella teased. 

   "Shut up!"

The three girls broke out into laughter, quietly dying down into a comfortable silence. The hiking group continued on for a while, only coming to a halt when the sun was just below the trees and the five broke out into a huge meadow. 

The grass was tall and green, swaying gently in the wind with the tree leaves. Random wild flowers sprouted up from in between and a lone gray stone rested a little farther ahead. Fireflies were just started to appear as well, giving the place a warm glow. 

   "Wow. . ." Levy whispered. 

  "It's beautiful," Wendy agreed softly. 

   "What are we-?" Daella started, only to stop at the look on Gabbey's face.  It was full of remorse and nostalgia. "Gabbey?"

   "Here," Gabbriel spoke up, making her way over to the lone stone. "This is what we're here for."

The group made its way after Gabbey, Gajeel tailing behind them. When Gabbey stopped in front of the stone and sat down slowly - Levy, Daella, Lily, and Wendy caught sight of what the stone was. 

It was a grave stone, the rounded edges started to wear away from the onslaught of natural weather. Engraved in the stone was a short summary. 

Akemi Porla
Beloved girlfriend, daughter, and niece.
May she rest, knowing we live on. 
x765 - x782

   "Gabbey?" Wendy murmured.

   "This is - was - my mate. Akemi." Gabbey started. Wendy let out a tiny gasp. "She was beautiful, fun, smart, and very kind. Akemi always tried to get me to act kinder, be more attuned to people's emotions, teaching me how to be humane. How the fates made her my mate, I will never know. She deserved better."

   "How. . ."

   "Dark guild," Gabbey answered shortly. "She fought like a warrior goddess, trying to get the both of us out. I wasn't able to recover the body, but I made this grave for closure."

Gajeel gently pushed on their bond, feeling the depression and remorse drip off of Gabbriel's shoulders. Daella sniffled, tears already filling her eyes at the sight. Lily gently put an arm around his best friend, the two of them floating to the back with Gajeel. 

Levy closed her eyes before walking closer to Gabbey and the grave for Akemi. She sat down besides her friend, putting a hand on Gabbey's hand before speaking softly. 

   "Akemi, was it? Hello, I'm Levy."

   "What are you-?" Gabbey trailed off as Levy continued to speak.

   "You must have been an amazing woman for Gabbriel to even want to talk to you," Levy joked. "But, I'm sure it was just more than your charms that got her attention. You must have been really strong as well! I can tell Gabbey doesn't really like to baby too many people.

   "What I really want to say is, uh, thank you. I don't know what you did, or how you helped Gabbey, but I'm glad she met you. Who knows where she would've gone if she didn't met you! She might've not chosen Fairy Tail as her new home, but I feel like it was something you taught her. Thank you, again, for being by her side when I wasn't there."

Levy finished with a small smile towards Gabbey, who stared at Levy in confusion still. What was the point of that?

   "I wanna thank you, too, Akemi-san!" Wendy cried, kneeling on the other side of Gabbey and taking her other hand. "You were important to Gabbey, so you have to be important to me! I'm sure you fought to be by her side, and protected her when no one else could, just so she could live! I don't know the story, but I'm sure you're the reason Gabbey is here, acting like the older sister I need. Thank you!"

   "Thank you, Akemi, for letting me have the chance to be Gabbriel's partner. I have big shoes to fill, I know, but I will do my best to lead her like you would have." Daella sniffed, scampering over to the group of girls and curling next to Gabbey's side. 

Gajeel and Lily stood back, Lily giving the grave a respectful nod. Gajeel, himself, had already made peace with Akemi. A long time ago, before Gabbey even moved on. 

Gabbriel herself felt her eyes prick with tears, but she only allowed one to fall. Akemi's final words echoed in her head, a mantra of sorts. Even when Akemi was dying in her arms, she still managed to smile. 

  "Live on, Gabbriel. Find a new family, make new friends, travel the world! Find love again. Live. Because life if too short for you to keep your head in this past."

With Levy's and Wendy's hands clasped in her own, Daella curled up into her side in comfort, Lily's watchful eyes, and Gajeel's comforting pulls and push of their bond, Gabbey couldn't help but crack a smile. 

This  is what Akemi was talking about.

This is what Gabbriel is going to fight to protect.