Forgotten Memories (A Gajevy Fanfic)

A Heart Filled Gift

When Levy finally returned to the picnic sight, the sun had gone down significantly. Gajeel and the twins were enjoying light hearted conversation, and Levy halted to watch them for a moment. She had just gotten through a very long discussion with her best friend, who had been forced to tell her everything she knew. The only thing Lucy absolutely refused to reveal to her was who Gajeel was exactly. She was apparently supposed to ask the man himself. There was definitely a certain familiarity about him, and the way he looked next to her children just seemed so natural. It was too natural. She walked closer, and both of the dragon slayers were the first to glance up - catching her scent in the light breeze.

"Gajeel, Shutora, Yajeh, get up and stand shoulder to shoulder with Gajeel in the middle," Levy ordered with authority.

The three on the ground paled instantly, but did as they were told. Gajeel - his arms crossed defensively in front of his chest - and Yajeh were the same height, but the former had a bulkier build due to many more years of fighting. Shutora and Gajeel had exactly the same eyes in color and expression. Levy then recalled the research she had done on her daughter's abilities having the potential to be inherited from a parent.

She no longer had any doubt who this man was and why he cared so much for her children. They were right. She felt terrible. The father of her children was a wonderful man and had been forced to miss out on their whole lives. He had been trying desperately to get to know them as soon as he found them. Her knees felt weak with her guilt, but she had already come up with a plan. Coming to stand directly in front of Gajeel, Levy glared into his eyes and tried her hardest to remember him. He looked terrified but still no more than the man she meet just a few short months ago.

"Um... Ma? Let's just call it a day, okay? Yajeh and I will make dinner and the two of ya can talk," Shutora suggested, interrupting her parents' staring contest. She was having a hard time with the tense silence. Levy looked at her daughter, softened her expression, and sighed.

"Okay, sweetie. Let's go," Levy agreed and turned to lead the group back home. Gajeel was still frozen though so Shutora grabbed his hand to persuade his legs to move. She gave him an encouraging smile while Yajeh gathered the remnants of the lunch date. Among the supplies, the teen found the little paper bag that Levy had brought along with her.

"Hey, Mom. What's with this bag?" Yajeh inquire. Levy came to a sudden stop, and the three behind her could practically feel the heat coming from her face.

Without turning around, she answered while trying to keep her voice from betraying her embarrassment, "uh... It was intended as a gift for Gajeel. As a thank you for spending so much time with you two." Gajeel blushed as well, and Shutora gave him an impish grin.

"Hurry and open it Yaj! Gihi," she exclaimed, darting over to see what was inside the bag.

Before either Gajeel or Levy could make a move to stop the twins, they opened the bag to reveal a metal chain with a round, flat metal tag attached with the word, "iron" punched into it. The O had been replaced with a heart. Gajeel could only stare at the trinket, his throat tightening.

"I... I had the head blacksmith mold it in secret. Lucy told me to have it designed that way, and I provided the iron with my script magic," Levy explained, her face completely red. "It didn't make sense to me at the time, but Lucy was being so pushy about it so I just went with it." Through her embarrassment, Levy also felt curious as to how Gajeel would react to such a gift. She watched him intently.

"No offense, Mom, but I doubt any self respecting man would wear something so girly. Are you sure Aunt Lucy didn't mean this for Shutora?" Yajeh asked, eyeing the necklace doubtfully.

"Aunt Lucy understands that my taste for girly things only goes to a certain extent. She knows that I'd never wear this," Shutora retorted wryly.

"But -"

"I'll wear it," Gajeel grumbled, causing the twins to jump in surprise. They had not been aware of his approach. His expression was hard, almost angry, as he gently took the necklace and put it around his neck.

"Al-alright then, it's settled. Now can we go? This whole thing is very uncomfortable for me," Levy urged and started walking without them to escape the awkward moment. She was unexpectedly happy that Gajeel had accepted the gift. Her blush never left her face the whole walk home.

***

When the group finally made it back to the house, Shutora grabbed her brother's arm and dragged him into the kitchen before he could protest. Gajeel and Levy glanced at each other briefly before sitting down in the living room a comfortable distance apart. After a short, tense silence, Shutora returned with a tray of hot tea for the two of them.

"Here. We're startin' on dinner now so the two of ya have plenty of time to talk. I promise we won't listen in," Shutora stated in a business-like manner. She set the tray on the coffee table between her parents and marched back into the kitchen.

"She's a force to be reckoned with sometimes," Gajeel grumbled, trying to break the ice. Levy shot him with a piercing stare.

"So you're their father?" Levy did not want to waste any more time. She wanted answers.

Gajeel had to swallow before replying, "that's what I'm assuming, not that I can deny them if I tried." Gajeel gave an involuntary smirk before continuing. "Unless you had any other love interest after the accident."

"I didn't. I woke up in the hospital already pregnant and very confused," Levy admitted. "And you're right. I'm a little ashamed that I had not seen the resemblance before."

Gajeel shook his head, "it's not like ya could have expected to just happen upon their father by chance. Hell, I had never even heard of this village before Blondie sent the S-class job my way."

"Lucy told me about her plan."

"All of it?"

Levy blushed, "yes."

Gajeel leaned his head back in his chair so that he was staring at the ceiling. "Well, then I can probably assume that this little confrontation caused a bit of a set back in my progress."

Gajeel sighed. Levy's blush deepened as she thought about his words. She did not agree that he had lost progress with her, but he needed some punishment for keeping her in the dark so she decided to let him believe that.

"I-in any case, I still don't remember anything so that doesn't matter right now," she replied. He tilted his head back up to look at her, his eyes showing the slightest bit of hurt. Levy immediately wanted to reassure the man but kept silent. They were at an impasse.

Gajeel had not been idle on their walk back to the house, however, and had regained some of his bravado. He cocked an eyebrow at Levy. "That just means I'll have to work a bit harder now, doesn't it?"

The renewed blush on Levy's face pleased Gajeel greatly. Now that he no longer had to hide his intentions, the challenge of winning her back sounded kind of fun. He was mainly looking forward to the reward.

"J-just don't get your hopes up," Levy retorted, flustered by Gajeel's words.

"I tricked you into falling in love with a degenerate like me once, didn't I? I think I can do it again. Gihee," Gajeel flashed his sharp canines in a mischievous grin, remembering what Lily had told him when he was freaking out about the date. Levy felt her heart nearly explode at the comment and quickly got to her feet.

"I, um, I'm gonna go help with dinner. You stay here and finish your tea," Levy stammered as she stormed out of the room.

"Yes, ma'am!" Gajeel called after her. This was definitely going to be fun. He would have to thank his partner later. The date had ended in disaster, but that seemed to have been a good thing. He felt much more confident in his abilities now that they both knew what was on the table.

The rest of the night was spent with good food and honest conversation. Gajeel openly teased and flirted with Levy the whole time which annoyed Yajeh and delighted Shutora. They finally felt like a real family. It was especially evident when the twins started to bicker with each other, and their parents both snapped to silence them at the same time. There was a pause for Gajeel and Levy to glance at each other in surprise before the whole table erupted in laughter. It was a good ending to a very eventful day.