In Secret (Sequel to Behind the Scenes)

Innocence

Gajeel's P.O.V.

As soon as the shrimp smiled at the kids the sour stench of fear flooded the building. Ah shit, I should have told her. I'd somehow forgotten she was such an innocent. She wouldn't know that nice means unsafe to kids like this. I was gruff with the brats, but fair. They'd stopped being as afraid of me that first day because they understood me. Give me their obedience and I'd protect them. That's how it works for kids like us.

I was just about to open my mouth and say something to her when she abruptly walked toward the stack of books. She pulled one out carefully and sat down, seeming to have forgotten anyone else was here with her. As she did this and began reading a story aloud, I saw the orphans settling down. One or two at a time, they sat on the floor at her feet, their rapt attention on the tiny woman. I looked up, realizing I'd been sucked in too, not even remembering sitting on the floor. Ryos was lurking nearby, trying not to be interested in the story, as were one or two other older kids. Fitz stood nearby too, though the redhead wasn't sulking. He was just continuing to be watchful of his family as he listened.

I'd never heard this story before, but it felt pretty fitting for our situation. The poor beauty being scared of her captor, being too nice to put up a fight. Ha. She fell in love with him? Like that'd happen in real life. Not with the way he treated her. Her voice was musical. I don't think it would have actually mattered what she was saying, I would have listened all day. It was as if she had cast a spell over us. But, I felt the peaceful feeling fade as I realized she had stopped speaking. I opened an eye just enough to gauge the room, and saw her gazing fondly at the brats.

A warm feeling settled back into my stomach, and I smiled to myself. I stayed where I was, not drawing any attention to myself, and listened to her bargaining with the kids. That was good. They'd trust a bargain over something free. I listened for a good while, thinking how much Dad could have learned from her about teaching. He'd never been all that gracious with me.

I heard Ryos lurking still, and pushed myself silently off the ground. I tugged his sleeve as I walked by and murmured, "come with me." He jumped a little and just stared at me, but followed without a word. I was only a little surprised when I saw that the sun was setting. My body had already been telling me it had been several hours since my sandwich at the cafe, and I didn't even know if the munchkins had eaten today. I looked at the sullen boy next to me, and told him we were going to grab some grub for evening.

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Levy's P.O.V.

I looked up from my students, realizing they were starting to struggle from poor lighting, not just the new letters. It had grown quite dark in the huge room, and there was only one small lamp on the table. I looked around for Gajeel to ask him for another, but couldn't see him anywhere. Huh, I wonder where he ran off to? And when? What time is it even? I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed my light pen.

"Hey guys, let's take a break for a minute. Want to see something?" They all set down their papers and stared at me, the few older kids who weren't participating tried to look disinterested. I grinned and lifted my pen, "Solid Script: Light!" I uttered the word as I wrote it, focusing my magic to put just so much in. The word "light" began to glow softly. I didn't want it too bright yet, not with the children staring at it. My grin turned into a smile as I saw the wonder in their eyes. I quickly wrote the word once more and then directed them both into the open air above me. "Okay, now everyone, look away from the letters for a minute. You don't have to close your eyes just don't stare at the words I just wrote."

I waited until most of them looked down, and decided the rest would just have to learn to listen to me. I directed more magic energy into the words, and the light flared up, shining as brightly as the sun had been when I got here. I heard gasps and a few yelps, as the ones who had been staring directly at the words slapped hands over their eyes. The kids who'd listened to instruction laughed at their friends, and I giggled with them.

"Miss?" I stopped laughing as a young redheaded boy called to me. He hadn't been one of the children sitting around me learning; he was probably the oldest one here. "Yes?" I replied, keeping my face as neutral as possible as I walked over to him. I still didn't know what had scared the littles earlier, but I had been trying really hard not to do it again.

The boy looked a little shy as he spoke to me, his eyes looking anywhere but at me. "Thank you for coming today. We, uh, we don't have any jewel to pay you for your lessons." He finally blurted out, slurring the last few words together. In the new light, I could see the blush that was tinting his face. I smiled, though he still wasn't looking at me.

"Oh! That's fine! I wasn't expecting any jewel as payment!" At this he did look at me, his eyes widening, fear and something else lingering in them. Was that anger?

"I'm payin' her, from the jewel ya gave me, kid. We'll work out how much ya owe me later. Now go eat." I jumped at the rumbling voice that was suddenly right behind me. As the boy scuttled past me to the table, I whirled around to see Gajeel standing a foot away with his arms crossed over his chest, showing off his muscles and the studs embedded in his forearms. I pulled my gaze away from his well defined arms to see him glaring at me. "What?!" I squeaked out.

Faster than I could see, he took hold of my arm and pulled me into a room nearby and I felt my pulse spike. I didn't try to resist, I knew it wouldn't make a difference. He shut the door behind us after he made sure we were alone. He's a guild mate now. He won't hurt me. He's a guild mate now. He won't hurt me. As this ran through my head, he took a deep breath, as if he needed to calm down. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I ain't gonna hurt ya." He murmured in a low voice, raising his open hands to show me empty palms. I could feel myself shaking, and tried not to flinch.

"I'm sorry Shrimp, I'm just screwin' this up all over. Look, I just needed to explain somethin' without the bastards around." He gestured back towards the room we'd been in, then took a few steps away from me and looked around the room. When those intense eyes, cold and beautiful, looked away from me, I relaxed a little. Glancing around, I realized we were in someone's living quarters. I stepped over to a bed and sat on the end and pulled my legs up to my chest. "Okay. I'm listening." I was proud of myself for not having a shaky voice. 

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Gajeel's P.O.V.

The smell of her fear was so thick I could almost taste it, especially in such a small area, and I cursed myself for causing it again. I looked around the room to let her calm down, but my eyes weren't really taking anything in. All of my other senses were on her and the kids in the other room. I heard them exclaiming over the food Ryos and I had brought back. Some of it we'd paid for. Some we hadn't. I also heard the Shrimp's racing heartbeat start to slow down a little. The rank scent of fear was still lingering though. 

"Okay. I'm listening." I heard her clear words and looked at her again, a strange ache in my chest. She appeared so vulnerable sitting on that bed that I fought the urge to put my arms around her. No, idiot. That'd probably make things worse. "Look, Shrimp, I did this wrong. I'm sorry. I shoulda warned ya. Bein' nice is dangerous around these kids. Not that they'll hurt ya, I mean, but to them, nice is dangerous. And no one does nothin' fer them fer free, either. If someone doesn't want money as payment, their usually lookin' fer, uh, well, somethin' else." I mentally kicked myself for taking away some of her innocence as her eyes widened, but she needed to know. "They ain't scared of me, 'cause they know where they stand with me when I'm sharp like with 'em. I'm the head boss, they do what I say an' I don't punish 'em. Not that I would anyway, really, but they ain't figured that yet. Someday they may trust ya. I dunno. But I ain't lettin' anyone get at these kids, and I ain't lettin' 'em join a guild that'll change 'em into monsters like me." I bit out that last comment, not really meaning to share that much. The shock and revulsion I'd seen in her face softened, and I could see her thinking quickly, trying to process everything.

"I understand, Gajeel. Or at least, I'm beginning to. Thank you for explaining it to me, I was stressing out about how scared they were of me. I think I'll go grab some food now, and try not to be too nice." She hopped off the bed and brushed past me, and I felt a little pat on my arm as she did. I stayed where I was for a minute, not looking at her as she left. The tiny woman stopped at the door and turned back. "And you didn't turn out so bad, really." I whirled to respond, to snap at her and ask how almost killing her wasn't so bad, but all I saw was the door closing behind her. She couldn't possibly be forgiving me?