Fairy Tail Furious

Chapter 49

Seeing Juvia sleeping like the dead on her little bed, both hers and Gajeel's blankets and pillows supporting her body with plush and warmth, made him remember that Juvia is not the toddler who followed him around the house like a baby duckling. She's not the same kid who would hold the umbrella to shield them both from the rain while he carried her around, or the one who would crawl into his bed with all her stuffed animals and hog his spot, waking him up once or twice to have him sing her the song of 'Shooby-do-bop'.

But, she's still the little sister who has her moments and her struggles.

Recalling how Levy saw her own cousin on the floor and how Gajeel would see how scared Levy was for Juvia, it made him think that there were actually more in the know of how his family works to survive and try to remain strong. Granted, Levy and Juvia have never been able to spend large amounts of time together because of their...well, gang bosses, but Gajeel could definitely tell that Levy worries for both her blood-relative and her boyfriend.

Reaching out to check Juvia's forehead with the back of his hand, he felt her temperature becoming more regular and breathing more clear and relaxed as she slept. Gajeel watched her shift under the piles of blankets at being touched, rolling over the other way and sighing deeply at the major effort to move, as if it was a major exercise; he made a mental note to get her to drink water and take those iron pills Gray had given her...

Gajeel frowned.

No, Juvia was definitely not the little, chubby-cheeked baby who liked to dig through his backpack and chew on his Hotwheels and shoes (Metalicana would get on his ass about picking those up back then). As much as Gajeel really hated to admit that his baby sister was lovesick for the stripping racer from Fairy Tail, having crushing on his since she first saw him when she was about sixteen, he also knew that the other end of the party felt the same. Well...Gajeel guessed that Gray Fullbuster liked his sister, but he was also just another guy, and Gajeel knows what guys think when they see a pretty lady walking in shorts and barely a cover over her chest.

How do they think Levy got him to pay attention in what she wanted for their first anniversary?

From what Levy has said through their secret get-togethers and little dates on how Fairy Tail's S-Class racer in the icy-blue car would get flustered whenever she brought up Juvia or how he would get caught readying his bike to drive off to the city and try to get into the bar to check on her, Gajeel took enough to think surely that the young man felt something for his sister. As much as it pained him to even agree with it, Gajeel knew that Juvia couldn't depend on her big brother forever.

"Fuckin' Stripper," Gajeel grumbled, careful not to wake Juvia from his brooding.