Various X Readers

Gajeel X Child! Reader - Hope

  'Today was a good haul,' you thought as you walked to your little hideout. You were carrying a bag on your back and it was full of food you had stolen. When you got to your temporary home, you put the bag into a hidden chest and locked it. You didn't want anyone or anything to get into it, now did you?

You were an orphan and this was the only way to survive. Steal food and clothes then when you had enough, move onto the next town over. Sometimes you went back to a town and sometimes you didn't. You only went back if they had good enough food. This was one of those times. Magnolia was your favorite town to be in. You didn't know why, but you felt at home there.

Now, there were some things that you wanted to do. You wanted to forget about your horrible past and to learn magic. You knew a tiny little bit of magic, but didn't have any control over it at all. The magic you possessed acted up at random moments. Sometimes it helped you and other times it made everything worse.

One moment you would be visible with both of your feet on the ground and the next you wouldn't. It annoyed you greatly but could come in handy. Especially when you were being chased. By the people you stole from. Naturally.

Sighing, you flopped onto your little bed of rags and put your arms behind your head. Soon, you fell asleep. It was a deep sleep, something that you didn't usually allow yourself to do. This time though, you couldn't help your self. It just happened. And it was the wrong thing to do.

---

You woke up to your arms being grabbed roughly. Eyes shooting open, you immediately started to fight. You managed to free one of your arms and land a hard blow on your attackers jaw. For an eight year old, you could hit pretty hard.

You fought hard, but your strength soon wore off. The soldier put your hands behind your back and kept them there with some sort of binding magic. You were walked out of your hideout and towards a woman. An ugly one at that.

"Is this the girl that stole from you ma'am?" The man gripping your arm said. The woman took a good look at you and soon nodded.

"Yes. She's the one!" She said with a smug look on her face.

"Alright. We'll take her down to the local jail."

"Is she going to stay there?"

"For the night at least," the soldier said.

"She needs to stay in there for a longer amount of time," the woman said. "She stole from me! And most likely other people too!"

"Ma'am, I cannot tell you how long she's going to stay in there." The woman ignored him and stomped up to you.

"How many other people have you stolen from brat?!" She yelled. "How many!" You looked up at her with a blank face and didn't say a word. This woman wasn't worth wasting your breath.

You not saying anything made her even more furious than she was before. Not listening to the soldier, she grabbed your hair and pulled you closer to her face. When you still didn't make a noise, she pulled harder and fisted your hair. You hissed quietly in pain but she heard you and smirked.

"Answer me brat," she said. You stood your ground and spat at her. Her face was so funny you almost laughed out loud. You held it in though, face void of all emotion. The woman went to hit you but right before the blow landed, a hand grabbed her wrist. You opened your eyes cautiously, wondering why you hadn't been hit yet.

Looking up, all you saw was a mane of unruly black hair and red eyes. Your [e/c] eyes widened as red ones narrowed. The woman that you stole from pulled her arm away from him, slight fear written on her face.

"What gave you the right to grab me?" She said, fear pushed aside.

"What gave you the right to hurt this little girl?" The man countered. She tried to find words but ended up just spluttering.

"I thought so. I'm taking this girl with me." At those words, your heart rate quickened. The soldier did nothing to stop him as he made him undo the binding spell. After that was off, he took your shoulder and started leading you away.

"Wait!" You cried.

"What?" The man said, slightly annoyed.

"I need to get something." You started running in the opposite direction but didn't get very far before the man stopped you.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to get my things! Now let go of me!" You yelled, trying to pry his hands off of the back of your shirt.

"The stuff you stole, you mean?"

"I stole it, but not for me." He turned you around and looked at you.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't steal that stuff for me," you said. "I had enough to get out of town. That stuff was for the other orphans that live here. Now let me go."

"You stole for other people?" You crossed your arms and let out a puff of air.

"Yes. How many times do I say that? Jeez," you muttered. The man dropped you and you landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Go get your stuff," he said. You looked at him, surprise in your eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to go with you. So don't try to run."

"Deal." With that, you both walked to your old home. You grabbed your stuff and walked out. As you followed the man, you decided to ask him some questions.

"What's your name?"You asked him.

"Gajeel."

"That's a funny name!" You giggled.

"What's so funny about it?" He asked, raising a studded eyebrow.

"It sounds funny."

"What's your name?"

"[Y/n]," you said. Gajeel Had wanted to make fun of your name, but when he heard it, he didn't want to.

"That's a cute name." That slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He expected you to yell at him, but just the opposite happened.

"Thank you!" You said with a giant smile. "Nobody has said that to me before."

You asked him more questions as you continued walking to your destination. But before you went there, you had stopped at another place. The place where the kids living on the streets stayed at night. You gave them the food and clothes, the feeling of content flowing through you. After that, you began walking once again.

---

It had been a couple years since you had joined Fairy Tail. You had been taught how to control your magic and you could now use it with ease. You weren't the most powerful mage nor did you have the coolest magic, but it was better than nothing. And besides, you did what you wanted to do. You forgot about your past and you learned magic. It was also pretty great that you had a new family too. They might not have been blood related, but they were close enough. You were finally happy.

Gajeel, the man that saved you, became your beacon of hope. He made sure that you were never abandoned again. He may not look like it, but he's a total sweetheart and once he gets his mind set on something, he will get it done. And that's exactly what he did.

He was your best friend, mentor and the closest thing you had to an actual brother. You sometimes thought about what would have happened if Gajeel wasn't there to save you. Would you be in jail? Would you still be on the streets? You didn't know and you didn't care. All that matters now is that you were finally home. You were home and that home was full of hope for the bright and promising future.