That morning, Levy awoke once again to the sound of a nearby bird chirping despite the fallen snow that lay thinly along all the paths, grass, and bushes. She glanced up to see a slice of blueberry cake on the nightstand beside her, and her eyes lit up.

      She picked up the note that lay beside it, and scrawled across the white paper in Gajeel's familiar but messy handwriting was:

     "Went out real quick to grab some things, be back soon, help yourself to cake, I already had a piece. Shouldn't be gone long, so see you in a minute.  — Gajeel "

     Levy blinked, wondering what he'd gone to get, then she picked up the plate with the bluberry cake and a fork, taking a bite of the cake to taste it. It was AMAZING. She'd never had better. She hasn't even known Gajeel could cook, let alone that he was so good at it.

      She took another bite, suppressing the urge to scarf it all down at once, wishing to savor it. "Aw, man Gajeel, if you were here right now, I'd kiss you!"

     What she didn't know was that Gajeel had just opened the door behind her as she spoke and was now frozen, staring at her in complete shock.

      Part of him was frozen, part of him was rationally saying that she was joking, and another part of him wanted to say, "I'm here. Kiss me." And of course, the larger part of him was running around his mind screaming, bringing new meaning to the phrase "Inner turmoil".

     Then he dropped the bag. Accidentally.

     Levy startled, then recovered swiftly, "Ah! You're back! Where'd you go?"

     Gajeel looked away quickly to hide his blush, stooping to pick up the bag, "Er, just went to the market to grab a few things. Like Flintstones, knives, and a few snacks 'case we get hungry."

     "Oh, okay. And thanks for the cake!" she beamed up at him as she took another bite, "It's awesome! You're absolutely amazing, Gajeel."

     He smirked loftily, crossing his arms, "You're finally catchin' on, shrimp." 

     Levy rolled her eyes, "Sure, Gajeel. Now as soon as I finish, we need to go to the library here, find your parents names in the history logs, which should tell us whether or not your father had magic."

     "Yeah, let's go," Gajeel shrugged, pulling on his jacket.

      Twenty minutes later, they found themselves inside of a vast, magnificent library. Describing it fully would take a long time, but there were tiled floors, glass ceilings, thousands of books on each carved mahogany shelf, each book a different shape, color, and size.

     "History documents," Gajeel reminded Levy gruffly as he saw her shifting towards an aisle of thick action novels.

      "Right," she gave a brisk nod, "On it."

     "Hurry up. We ain't got all day," he growled as she scanned the bookshelves that lined true history aisle.

      "Here!" She stopped, pulling down an armload of books that made her stagger under their weight, "Help me carry these to that table over there, okay?"

     Gajeel took the books she was struggling to carry with ease, tucking them easily under one arm, "Any more?"

     "Yes. This one," she stacked a book on top of the pile in his arms, "And this one, and this one, and this one, and this one looks important!" she reached up to pull one from the higher shelf, but she was just too short to reach it.

     Gajeel smirked at her. Her lack of height was almost cute. 

    Still smirking, he set the books down on a table beside them and reached up, easily plucking the book from the shelf. He pushed it into her arms, "There ya go, short stuff."

      "D-don't call me that, it's insulting!" Levy protested, giving him a small shove, but he didn't budge.

     "Gihi," he patted her head, "Now get to work, shrimp. Sooner you start, sooner this gets done."

     Levy picked up a book, flipping through it, "These are all men's names. Okay, so your father should be under Redfox.... the 'r' section. Oh wait, here it is!" she smoothed the page out, and Gajeel read over her shoulder.

    " GAEL REDFOX

    Status: Unknown              

    Location: Unknown

   Married to Kali Carsena with child in Hitherdale. Served as the feared and well known knight in Carpagia, known as Metalicana the Iron Dragon due to his hard core tactics and metalcraft. Received this title by the king shortly before his marriage to Carsena."

     There was more information, but nothing about him using magic. Then Levy read aloud the end, "Redfox vanished some time after his wife died as he tried to protect his child from the anti-magic attacks. Tabs were lost on the child, but possibly moved to Magnolia."

     Levy shifted through the stacks of books, "And here's the one on your mother, Gajeel." she flipped through it until she found the page she was looking for, and her face paled as she read aloud:

     "KALIANA CARSENA

Status: Dead.

Location: X

     Usually called Kali, this woman was a talented witch, specializing in the art of spells, mostly illusions. Lost track of for awhile, found with two children in Hitherdale Forests, and persecuted due to anti-magic law passed twelve years past. Children were protected and moved by possible father, Gael Redfox, who disappeared shortly afterwards. Killed by a soldier hunt, led by Julio Gracielle of Valerium."

     "Mom...was a witch?" Gajeel stared at Levy, "But she never told us...right?" he looked slightly hurt though he tried to hide it.

      Levy sighed, scanning the rest of the page, "Julio Gracielle again... Hm...."

     "Why wouldn't she tell us?" Gajeel glanced up at Levy, "I mean, that explains why those bastards killed..." he trailed off, staring at the page with uncertainty.

      "There's something going on behind the scenes," Levy treaded her finger across the page, thinking. "And to answer your question, Mom always wanted to keep us safe. She was killed for having magic. True, she probably knew you would have magic, but wanted to keep you safe. She was still protecting you."

     "Guess so...." Gajeel muttered, dropping his gaze as he thought it over, "But you'd think she tell me, at least."

     "Hey," Levy gave him a small smile, "Don't worry about it. We now know you got your magic from your mother, so half of the mystery is solved. But now we need to go to Carpagia."

     "Uh, why?" Gajeel frowned, getting to his feet.

      "We're gonna go find out where your father went." Levy said firmly, "True, he could be dead, but if not, I want to talk to him."

     "But you have no clue where he lives, if he's still even alive." Gajeel scowled, organizing the books into a neat stack again.

     "We only know the info Hitherdale's book gave us. Hitherdale records what happens in Hitherdale. Since your father was a Carpagian knight, there's probably more information on him in Carpagia." Levy said logically, heading for the door with Gajeel following close behind, "We've found what we need here, so let's go to Carpagia."