Being a Chang

Chapter Seventeen

Turns out taking jobs with Gajeel wasn't so bad, though he did seem to be a bit too overly protective of me. Something I believed the guilt he felt towards me played a role in.

Thankfully, the job itself was simple in dealing with finding a thief who had been stealing from the towns people. With the help of Gajeel's nose and Asmodeus tracking and trap magic, we were able to complete the job with ease in little time.

Something the people were thankful for.

Though I could not lie that there were not moments when Laxus crossed my mind and that of his confession. Especially as I knew by the time we returned he would be gone.

As he had said, he needed time to heal and deal with his issues.

Part of me was truly sad to see him leave even if another, larger part, understood how he needed time to find himself and heal from all he's been through. I knew in the end he'd be there in a heartbeat if I or the guild needed him.

Though I had a feeling we wouldn't see him again until Tenrou Island.

That was another issue I was stuck on.

Mainly since as S-class I would have to be there to test those trying to gain the title themselves and was the reason I knew we'd see Laxus again by then.

Knowing we'd be stuck in time for seven years worried me.

"You did good," praised Gajeel with a smirk breaking me from my thoughts as I focused back on the here and now. "I didn't think you'd be able to take them out that quickly."

"I'm not weak, Gajeel," I sighed out while giving the other a look of warning. "In fact, our fight could have ended differently if I wasn't holding back on top of working to keep Droy and Jet safe. I did earn my S-class status fairly you know."

It rubbed me the wrong way that he made it sound like I couldn't fight or keep up with him.

Even if deep down I knew he hadn't meant it that way.

Though I knew it wasn't easy for him to think back to that attack.

"I didn't mean it that way," choked out Gajeel with wide eyes as he threw his hands out making me stop in place. "Trust me, I know you're strong, Levy. I just didn't know you also had speed is what I meant..."

Seeing him scramble to fix what he believed was his blunder was almost amusing.

"It's fine," I offered with a light laugh to put the other out of his misery. "Just know that I take my training and strength very seriously. It's a bit of a sore topic for me."

Mainly as I was still beating myself up for holding back.

A lesson was learned that day.

Then again, it was my fault for not taking the fight seriously on top of snapping at him right now over his simple comment. Though I had an idea as why I was so sensitive today.

There had been so much going on that I felt out of sorts.

"I'm sorry," I sighed out before he could offer anything else while I reached up to rub at my face before grabbing his hand to tug him along, it'd be a long walk back to Magnolia. "Laxus is leaving for a while in order to deal with some things. It's got me a bit depressed."

Which even then didn't give me a good reason to take it out on him.

Man, I felt like such a bitch right now.

"Don't worry about it," waved off Gajeel as he reached out to tug me against his side as we came to a halt on the side of the road. "I get it, I've lost my temper and raged against others when I first realized Metalicana had taken off."

Really, he was too understanding.

"Thanks," I breathed out with a small smile.

~ Time Skip ~

Time moved on from there, with me taking more jobs with Gajeel than alone, that before I knew it the Edolas Arc had arrived. Lucy had swung by briefly after the whole Tower Arc with Erza being dragged along causing us to have a girls night.

A time that I even invited Evergreen, Cana, and Mirajane to.

"What the heck?" I grumbled as one moment I was speaking to Lucy about celestial spirits and past jobs I took, and the next moment I'm squished against Lucy and a wall.

Right, because it was thanks to Horologium that Lucy didn't get turned into that lacrima in Edolas. Though this time it seemed he had also grabbed me as well.

I have never felt closer to Lucy than now.

And I wasn't exactly pleased by it.

"What happened?" breathed out Lucy after Horologium disappeared back to the celestial world allowing us to see the empty space where our guild building had been.

"A rift," answered Mystogan in my place as we turned to see him walk towards us.

I'll be honest, I sort of spaced out his explanation of what was happening and the fact that he came from a different parallel world of Edolas.

"Thanks," I breathed out as I accepted the candy like object that would allow me to use my magic in Edolas along with the bottle. "We'll make sure to find the others."

Well, the ones not stuck as lacrima anyway.

From there we were on the move as Mystogan helped us make our way through the rift and into the other world. And really, the place sort of reminded me of Avatar that one movie with the aliens concerning the world itself.

Not that it was easy to find anyone at first either.

"Leviathan," I called out when we finally ran across Natsu and Happy with Edolas Lucy in town being surrounded by soldiers. "Help me deal with this."

Mainly as he has a poison that could knock people out.

Something that'd be useful right about now.

"How can you use your magic?!" shouted Natsu as he rushed over towards us with Happy flying above him, though I also took note of Edolas Lucy and Lucy meeting.

It must be weird to see oneself with a different personality.