Gajeel raced down the street in the direction he'd seen Levy fly, shouting, "Shrimp! Levy, where'd you go? Levy!" Then he froze, realizing he heard excited shouting from nearby, and a knot twisted in his stomach.

     He ran around the corner to see a small crowd gathered in the street, all of their backs turned towards him. But he heard someone shout above the commotion of the others.

     "I caught it! It's mine!"

     Then another voice shouted back, "But that's my net you caught it with, so it's MINE!!"

     "Succubi are worth over 200k jewel, I need that money!"

     "Give it here!"

     "I'm not giving it to anyone! I caught it, so that makes it belong to me, fair and square!"

     Gajeel saw a jar held by a rough hand in the middle of the crowd, waving wildly in the air. And clearly, sitting inside of it with a terrified expression, was Levy.

     Anger surged through him, and Gajeel shoved through the crowd, "Get your hands off of her! Let her go!"

     Someone grabbed Gajeel's arm as he tried to push through, holding him back, "Let it go, are you crazy? It's worth a fortune!! This succubi is going to the king."

     "I don't give a damn about the king, just let her go!" punched him in the face, pulling free, but the crowd started grabbing at him to pull him back. He couldn't pull free, and continued to shout over the din of the crowd.

     Levy, who was banging her fists against the edge of the jar, saw Gajeel struggling against the crowd, trying to get to her. Her eyes widened as she saw how fiercely and desperately he struggled.

     The jar shook again, throwing her back.

     Gajeel heard her cry out as he stomped on a man's face, but two people grabbed each of his arms, holding him fast. He saw Levy banging against the lid, and apparently the man holding the jar did too, because he shook it furiously.

     Gajeel winced at her shrieks of pain and tried to struggle free, but the men were holding him back too tightly.

     "Gajeel!" Levy cried, and the man holding her shook her again, "Quiet, succubi! Now I've gotta take you to the king and receive my reward!" he gave her another shake to unbalance her, and Gajeel saw blood smear the glass as she slammed her forehead against it.

     And he realized she was crying.

     Something came over Gajeel, some sort of powerful, vengeful sensation spread through him. His crimson eyes blazed as his mouth moved with words he didn't know why he was speaking, "The power of Metalicana, the great Iron Dragon, blazes brightly. Iron Dragon..." he threw his head forward, shouting with all his might, "Roar!!!"

     Levy eyes got huge as the greenish gray flame roaring from his mouth, shot towards them. People shrieked, some ran, others turned to face Gajeel, who was now free.

    "He's a sorcerer!" someone shouted, and Gajeel, blood still boiling with anger, shouted, "Iron Dragon Lance!" and the nearest buildings were demolished instantly, crumbling around them. "Iron Dragon... Quake!" he slammed his hands onto the ground, and a shockwave shot through the dirt, hurling everyone backwards.

     A man with a sword ran forward from behind Gajeel, raising it as he charged.

     "Gajeel!" Levy shrieked, squeezing her eyes shut as the sword came down on his neck. But there was a loud clang followed by a dead silence. She opened her eyes to see the man staring in shock at Gajeel, the sword still against his neck. But covering his neck and part of his face were silver scales. Iron scales.

     Gajeel grabbed the sword, solidly kicked the man away, then loomed over the man who had the jar with Levy in it. "Give it," he snarled, his voice raspy and metallic.

     The man panicked, and pitched the jar into the air as hard as he could. Silvery dragon wings spread from Gajeel's back, and he took off into the air.

      Levy shrieked, tumbling around in the jar as it barreled towards the ground. Then it suddenly steadied, and she looked up to see Gajeel holding the jar close. Then his eyes suddenly rolled back as his consciousness left him, and they hit the top of the trees above the forest, crashing through the branches.

     The jar broke and Levy flew quickly out, waving her hands so the plants grew thick but spongy beneath Gajeel as he hit the ground.

     She transformed into a human, wiping blood from her forehead and eyes as she scrambled towards him, gasping, "Gajeel! Gajeel, please wake up! You have to wake up, please!"

     Levy checked him all over for serious injuries, but there were only scratches from the fall. Once she was are he was okay, she began to think about what had just happened. Magic. That was the only possible way to describe what Gajeel had done.

     But he didn't have magic! He'd never used it before! Where had he gotten it? How long had he had it? And most importantly, why hadn't he told her about it?

     Gajeel let out a small moan, his eyes flickering open.

     "Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed, relief filling both her eyes and her voice, "You're awake!"

     He sat up, rubbing his face wearily, "Y-you okay, Levy?"

     "Baka!" she slapped him lightly across the face, "Of course I'm okay! You're the one who...who... I don't even know what's wrong with you!" she cupped her hands around his cheeks, turning his head from side to side to look fr some sort of oddity on his face, "How did you do all of that?"

     "I...thought you were gonna leave," Gajeel muttered, sitting up.

     "I'm not going to leave you like this!" Levy exclaimed, "I may've been mad, but you're my friend! So I'll always forgive you."

     Gajeel stared at her as she smiled warmly at him. She hasn't smiled at him like that in years. "Sh-shrimp, I... I..." he grabbed her, pulling her into his lap and squeezing the life out of her, "Hell, shrimp! Don't you dare try to ditch me again, ya moron, you hear me?"

     "Ch-choking! Not...breathing..." she managed, smothered by his embrace. Then she realized— he was hugging her. He hasn't hugged her in forever, and she suddenly realized how good it felt, and she relaxed. She closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

     Then Gajeel pulled away, his face going red, "Anyway," he glanced quickly away from her, composing himself, "Shrimp...what the hell happened back there?"

     Levy blinked, "You don't know?"

      He scowled, pacing agitatedly around,"No, I don't get it. I ain't a sorcerer or a wizard. Shrimp, I don't have magical abilities. So how the heck did I do all of that?"

      "I...don't know," Levy, still on her knees, sighed as she closed her eyes, "I'm sorry."

     Gajeel continued to pace around, "I-I mean, I don't think... I don't think I'm a wizard." he scowled with a sigh of frustration, glaring at the ground. "I haven't ever used magic before, so why..." He dropped down on the log beside Levy. He glanced over at her, his eyes round and confused. "I don't understand..."

     Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared at him. Then her eyes softened. "Oh, Gajeel..." she pulled his head to her chest, stroking his raven black hair and resting her chin on the top of his head, "I know... I don't know either. But for what it's worth, I'll help you any way I can."

     Gajeel blushed at the contact, then he slowly relaxed though his mind was still spinning with all the new complications and confusion. She began running her fingers through his hair to calm him down, and it worked like a charm.

     Levy smiled slightly as she felt him relax. Then something clicked in her mind, "Gajeel?" she asked.

     "Y-yeah..." he mumbled, his eyes half closed.

     "What if you inherited your magic from one of your parents? Its quite possible, right?" she said, growing slightly excited.

     "Y-yeah..."

     She rolled her eyes, "Are you even listening to me?"

     "U-uh," Gajeel quickly pulled away, sitting upright as his face turned red, "Uh, yeah, sure. But... Just in case I missed something, could you repeat it?"

     Levy shook her head, "You're such a baka. But what if your parents had magic? Magic can pass through generations."

     "But my Mom didn't have magic. She woulda told me." Gajeel frowned.

     "But what about your father?" a small smile spread across her lips.

     "Yeah," Gajeel stood up, "You ready to go?"

   "You're...actually...asking me?" Levy stared at him, her eyes wide, "But you never do."

     Gajeel patted her head, "Yeah. We got outta touch for a little while back there. So I'll make you a little deal. You can come to me with your problems if I can come to you with mine. How does that sound?"

     Levy leapt up, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, startling him.

     "Sh-shrimp?!"

     "Gajeel, of course...you can always come to me if you need to," she murmmered into his ear, then let go, "Now we need to go to Hitherdale!" she clapped her hands together, "We can go through the documents on our parents because that's where they lived. It'll tell us whether or not your father had magic."

     "Then what're we waitin' for?" Gajeel got to his feet, "Let's go to Hitherdale."