Bound By Hate (Gale) {Book 1 of the "Bound" Series}

Epilogue

I sat at the small round table in my back yard, soaking in the warm sunlight as it settled on my skin like a blanket. I was reading the evening paper, and couldn't help but chuckle to myself. “Those Fairy Tail hunters sure do cause a lot of trouble, don't they?”

“Mommy! Mommy, look!”

“What is it, Silas?” I asked, smiling at the look of excitement on my son's face.

“I found a kitten!” He cried, holding up the small white cat. “Can we keep it, mommy, please??”

“Sure,” I nodded, knowing how much he loved cats.

“Thank you!” He screamed, hugging the cat. He ran into the house with it, going on about finding the perfect name for the kitten.

I gave a small chuckle as I watched him disappear. Next month will be six years since I left Fairy Tail. The morning I boarded the train, I had every intention of going to the hunters' sanctuary and having my memory erased. That is, until I had felt a sharp, burning pain in my left wrist. Then the mark had appeared. Black, just like Lu-chan's. I knew immediately what that meant, and I couldn't bring myself to go through with my plan. I was going to have Gajeel's baby, and I felt sick at the thought of living under the lie that the child could belong to anyone else. I didn't want to have anyone else's child. So, I got off the train at the next stop, bought a ticket, and went West.

Every time I looked into my son's red eyes, and brushed through his thick black hair, I was reminded of Gajeel. Every once in a while, the pain of being away from him threatened to consume me, but I always fought through it. For Silas's sake. He was my entire world, and I loved him a little more every day.

I felt guilty for never contacting Gajeel and telling him about Silas, but I knew that was for the best. He believed I had forgotten about my past life as a hunter, so I just let him continue believing it.

Besides, I thought, staring up at the blue sky, Gajeel has done such great things while I've been gone. I would only hold him back.

Three years after I left, Gajeel had managed to bring the council's crimes into the light, exposing the awful things they had been doing to women who had been marked. While they let the public believe demons kidnapped and killed the half-breed children, they had devised a special unit of hunters to perform the dirty task. After that, the guilty council members were all arrested and stripped of their titles, and a new council was elected—Gajeel being one of those elected.

Never in a million years would I have imagined Gajeel Redfox as the leader of the hunters' council, but I was happy for him. Unfortunately for the other council members, Gajeel refused to play by anyone's rules, and continued to take jobs as a hunter for the Fairy Tail organization. He left a path of destruction behind him on every job, so I knew the other council members must have given him hell all the time. It made me smile, thinking about how well he was doing.

He had changed several laws, and made it legal for dragon slayers to marry humans—declaring that they were half human, so they should have that right. Of course, Natsu and Lucy had been the first couple to get married. Their daughter had been the flower girl at their wedding. Since then, they had become representatives for an organization Gajeel created with Natsu to help other half-breeds like them. So many had escaped the old council that I was actually surprised. As it turned out, most half-breeds appeared more human than demon. This made the public accept them much easier than they might have otherwise.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, and I sat the paper down onto the table.

“I'll get it!” Silas announced, running for the door.

“Silas, wait,” I called. I never let him answer the door, always afraid it would be my past catching up to me. Today, that's exactly what it was.

“Hello!” Silas said, throwing the door wide open.

I couldn't move as I stood just inside the living room. But, how did—

“Wow!” Silas exclaimed, looking up, then back at me. “Mommy, look! Look at his face! He has red eyes just like me!”

“Gajeel,” I breathed, still only able to stare at him. His large frame took up my entire doorway, and he seemed just as shocked as I was. He stared down at Silas in complete silence, as if trying to piece something together. After an agonizingly long time, his eyes lifted, meeting mine.

“What's his name?” He asked.

“I'm Silas,” he told Gajeel.

Gajeel looked back down at the boy, slowly reaching out to place his hand on the top of Silas's head. “Hey, Silas.”

“Guess what?!” Silas grinned, never the shy type. “My mom just let me have a cat! I'll go get him!” He ran up the stairs leading to his bedroom, leaving Gajeel and I alone.

“How did you find me?” I asked, still in shock.

Without saying a word, he crossed the living room, reaching out and grabbing onto my arm. Suddenly, I was against his chest, his arms wrapped firmly around me. “I'm the leader of the hunters' council,” he chuckled, “I can find anyone I want.”

“Why are you here?” I asked, burying my face in his warm, familiar chest as I cried.

“Because I'm selfish,” he sighed. “I tried letting you go. Believe me, I did.” He pulled back and looked at me, “but I can't. I refuse to let you go, you hear me? Especially not now that I—“ He swallowed hard, falling silent.

“Gajeel—“

He pressed his lips to mine before I could say anything more. In that one moment, the six years we had been apart seemed to fade away. I still loved him as much as I had the day I left Magnolia, and I could tell that he felt the same.

When he pulled away, he held me tightly. “Please, don't ever leave my side like that again, Shrimp.”

“S-sorry,” I cried, not realizing truly how much I had missed him over the last six years. Even that awful nickname. My heart throbbed painfully when he said it, reminding me that it had been so long since I had last heard it.

“Promise me,” he said. I could have sworn he was crying, but I never looked up to check. Instead, I squeezed him hard and pressed my cheek against his chest.

“I promise.”

THE END