Gajeel takes a dangerous mission

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Living in the Fairy tail guild was never boring, from the fights about the most stupid and insignificant things to the gossip and to the different levels of friendship and witnessing different teams together- all sorts of powers came from this guild and you were very proud to be apart of it.

You had been there since the start, back when you and Natsu both joined together since you were best friends. Some people actually waited for the two of you to get together since you guys were so close but you understood that Natsu would never like you like that- but it was okay because then that would practically be the equivalent of dating your brother.

You were always there, ever since more people joined- like Gray Fullbuster; the Ice Mage who also became your great friend. Being the cheeky person you were, you liked to standby, watch and commentate the duels between fire and ice- cheering for who you think would win- giving them an extra reason to fight and prove themselves of a greater wizard.

But then they got a bit annoyed when you would giggle and ran away, hiding as soon as Erza came in to stop their quarrelling after half the guild hall would become pretty much destroyed. Nevertheless they would both approached you while shoving elbows into each other and huge lumps on their heads, asking who won the fight in a drunken-like manner.

You always answered saying it was a tie, or maybe to get what you wanted- you would chirp out that one of them actually won, leaving the other to angrily stomp away but you always made it up to them.

Soon after you became friends with Lucy Heartfilia and Levy McGarden. These girls were the greatest and allowed you to have a break from all that testosterone.

Then after the whole Jellal conflict with him being possessed by Zeref and trying to resurrect the demon God by using Erza- you got two new guild members; Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox.

Both of these wizards used to be part of the Element Four, in the Phantoms Guild but after they were beaten they decided to join Fairy Tail, most likely for the missions so they could get money- nevertheless you were always a tiny bit cautious around them. Juvia often threatened you and called you her love rival since she was majorly lovestruck by Gray.
And Gajeel sort of intimidated you with his emotionless expressions and his dark nature.

It was quite unsettling when the thought of him actually gave you butterflies. No matter how hard you tried to ignore it, it never worked and it was even worse when Mira and Levy always teased you about it.

Months later, however- you finally admitted the fact that you had a full blown crush on the Iron Dragon Slayer. Not at a level 'Juvia' though but basically everyone knew- but him. He was so damn oblivious but sometimes his actions made you think different. Like- yeah he was still oblivious but maybe he somehow returned those feelings you had for him?

Some things confused you but other things definitely made you excited at the thought of you two soon confessing.
Like when Gray was fighting Natsu- again, and he swiped his hand across- lowly to hit Natsu off of his feet but then Natsu quickly jumped and dodged it with led the Ice mage to strongly slap your behind because you just happened to be behind them at the bar with Mira.

Every one stopped as your butt began to sting because of the force of the hit and you suddenly swung around, back-handing Gray across the face as he apologising profusely. Lot's of people- including Mira, noticed the way Gajeel was watching with a stone hard expression- his eyes piercing through the Ice wizard.

Gasps were heard when Gajeel stormed towards him and then stopped- his arm turning into iron when he suddenly punched Gray straight in the gut making you and everyone cringe at the sight. Gray chocked and passed out, no one moving as Gajeel screamed at everyone else, his toned and muscular back facing you.

"Don't! Touch! (Y/N)!"

You jumped as your cheeks turned cherry red and then when you went to thank Gajeel, he was already walking out the door. His flushed, red cheeks going unnoticed by you. Everyone said that, that was a clear indication of how deep his feelings were for you but you didn't really believe that such a powerful and strong man could harbour those types of feeling towards a girl like you.

Later on when things died down after a few days, Gajeel told Mira he was going on a mission- you read it over his shoulder secretly; probably not as secretly as you thought because he was a Dragon Slayer, and noticed that he had to get rid of some sort of two headed monster that ate everything alive it could find.

The thought of losing Gajeel to a monster like that made your heart stop. What if he never came back. What if you never told him how you felt?!
Without a functional thought going through you mind, you raced upto Gajeel just when he arrived at the train station- ready to leave Magnolia for his mission.
In a haste movement your hand gripped his arm to force him to your direction as he growled, about to yell at whoever it was before he choked on his breath- seeing it was you.

Standing there with tears in your eyes while sucking in your bottom lip.

He couldn't deny how beautiful you looked even if it was a pretty devastating moment for you, but he got knocked out of his staring when you finally yelled at him- surprised, he forcibly shoved your hand off of his and then re-furrowed his eyebrows with his jaw clenched.

"Gajeel! You can't go, it's too dangerous!! Let me come with you!"

He strongly gripped your two shoulders now, squeezing tighter as he looked down, avoiding eye contact when he spoke up, "No. You could get hurt, you can't come- I will do this and come back... To You."

You gasped, blinking and letting tears fall down your face as you liked to believe that Gajeel was looking down to prevent you from see his blushing face. His words made you heart thump wildly as your trembling hands made their way onto Gajeel's that were still on your shoulders.

"If you got hurt- It would break me, so you have to stay here." He muttered, his croaky voice only just reaching your ears.

"Promise me.. Promise you'll come back to me, Gajeel." You muttered, still trying to look into his red eyes, admiring the many piercings all over his body.

"I Promise."

- Time Skip -

It's been almost a month since Gajeel left for that mission, everyone carried on like normal; not believing that a monster like that could take down an iron Dragon Slayer. You wanted to think like your Guild but your feelings and other negative thoughts got to the best of you. What if the monster ate him and you had all been sitting here doing nothing the whole time?

You wanted to have faith but you were too god damned scared. Gajeel meant a lot to you, Natsu could see that- actually everyone could, and that was why Natsu wouldn't leave your side except for little missions that only took a day. Despite the constant butting heads of Gray and Natsu, both of them put that aside to help you, make you feel better and keep your mind off of the negative things.

One day though, you were slumped in your chair at a vacant table in the busy guild hall with Natsu on your right and Gray seated in front of you. They were both eating lunch- Natsu was actually heaving it down like it was his last meal but that was normal and people were chattering to each other when suddenly a loud and farmiliar bang shot through the building, everyone looking towards the sound as Gajeel himself limped into the Guild, carrying his luggage and his reward of 600,000 jewel.

You were too sad, thinking it was just another wizard when Gray stared wide eyed behind you while muttering your name, "(Y/N)."

You looked at him, bags under your eyes before you noticed Gray's shocked expression and turning around to see the sight that made water well in your eyes. Gajeel had come back and he was staring- or more glaring- at the two boys that were with you.

He simply limped to you, turning his arm cut up arm into iron and shoving them straight into both Natsu and Gray's stomachs- effectively knocking them out.
You gasped, watching both your best friends fall asleep on the floor as Gajeel took his seat beside you, helplessly leaning his head onto your shoulder and taking deep breaths in pain.

"I came back for you."

You smiled, despite everything that happened before and cupped his rough and warm face in your smooth and smaller hands- directly his gaze into your as your noses touched lightly.

"You did." And with that he took the opportunity to kiss you- causing you to almost instantly melt into the kiss, feeling his arms encircle around your waist and bring you closer while you overheard everyone else in the guild cheering and whistling at the sight of you two finally getting together as Natsu and Gray coughed awake from the noise and stared in disgust but smile nevertheless because you were finally happy.

Breaking away from the amazing kiss to catch your breath, he reached up to kiss your forehead while he muttered out, "I've been wanting to do that since I first met you."