With the fourth week coming to a close Levy yawned loudly on the couch next to Gajeel. "You tired already Shorty?" he asked as he glanced at the clock which read a bit past eleven at night. Levy shook her head but her eyes felt heavy. "Sleep if ya need to; don't fight it." She couldn't argue with his logic and when sleep finally reached Levy she felt her body and mind disconnect. Levy opened her eyes and found herserlf no longer in the safety of the cabin but on an unknown street alone. Her bare feet connected to the cold cobblestone below. When she looked down she realized that she was alone. Levy held her hands to her face and looked through them; her heart beginning to race. She opened her mouth to call out for someone, for anyone, to come and help her but she stopped when screams in the distances reached her ears. Before her mind had time to decide what was the right move to make her feet were already running towards the chaos. From somewhere unknown a voice called out through the fog "This is what it means to be a Fairy Tail Wizard. You run towards the insanity. Even now you can't help but charge into battle. Soon you will see." The voice disappeared confusing Levy even more but it was right. She had to help even though she had no idea what she was heading towards. Though the streets were unknown they felt strangely familiar and as fast as her legs would take her Levy twisted and turned down the side streets as the screams echoed off the tall buildings. Why does no one else here this!? Isn't anyone else going to help!? When the clearing came into view Levy came to a halt; her heart racing. This can't be real! Before her Levy saw herself attempting to get off the ground. Blood dripped from her forehead into the grass as the battered Levy strained to get up. Levy tried to reach out and touch herself, to help herself, but her hand passed right through. "Can you hear me!?" she yelled but the other Levy paid her no mind. Her focus was elsewhere. Around her the voice called out once more. "Watch and learn." Levy watched; tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes.

Her injured self's legs shook from shock as she stood from the rubble and burnt grass. Across the field lay two broken men covered in pools of blood. Their bodies bent and broken. "Hey asshole" the unknown man turned around and wickedly grin spread across his face, his sharp teeth shining so brightly it was all she could see as other Levy swayed on her feet.

"No get away from her!" Levy called out but she could not make out the man in the darkness. Even as he came closer his features were too hazy.

"Oi, I thought you were gonna be the easy one. After all you're a small bitch." Levy stood her ground as he creeped across the grass towards her. At her sides her fingers moved in integrate shapes as she silently casted her spell. "But hell" he stopped a few feet away from her and leered at her tattered clothes "Guess this means we can have more fun." With his next step he was shot into the air with an electric jolt from her unseen ruin wall. He was a skilled fighter though and turned his body, midair to land on his feet fully recovered from the attack. "Well, well, bitch's gotta bite."

Levy smirked back at him as she wiped the blood from her view "Come and get me if you can." She taunted. Levy looked at herself. So confident even within an obvious battle that she was to lose. She was bloody, exhausted, and afraid but none of that showed; only her strength.

The man took the invitation and eagerly charged towards her enchantment. Despite his best efforts as time passed Levy's ruin wall only seemed to grow stronger with each attack. After a few minutes, he stopped his advancements and stood just inches from her; knowing now where the unseen line she had produced stood. In the moonlight Levy could now see her opponent more clearly. Beads of sweat trickled down multiple piercings across his face and arms. Other than exhaustion there were no physical sighs that he had been in a fight; not like her and her team. He stood tall before her and licked his lips at the sight of her blood. "Had enough?" Levy asked, her eyebrow arching and chest heaving from her overuse of magic.

He laughed, his head cocking back mockingly "Hell no—" When his face came back into full view Levy screamed when realization finally reached her. It was Gajeel; so kind and sweet to her yet here and now she was helpless and watched as he continued to beat on her. She crumbled to the floor of her mind and closed her eyes tightly not wishing to see anymore. Sadly though, she could still hear his voice ringing through her mind from every corner. "By the end of tonight you will beg me to stop. You will be screaming my name. 'Gajeel' might just be the last word you speak." When Levy dared to open her eyes again Gajeel was walking away and she could see herself and two other men nailed above to a tree.

She covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a scream but the voice was there once more; calming, soothing. "I needed you to see that sometimes the past can hurt but it will help for what is to come."

Levy's body shook as she turned her attention to the source of the voice. To herself nailed to the tree staring down at her translucent form. "You—you can see me? What's to come? What did you mean?"

The memory Levy smiled weakly as blood began flowing from her mouth from the injuries her memory self had sustained at an alarming rate. "I have little time left but you must remember this memory. You must remember how much pain we have felt so that you can accept, truly, how much love we deserve."

Levy opened her mouth to try and ask more questions but she was yanked away back to the waking world. Gajeel stood above her shaking her small body in his arms. "Levy wake up I think you're having a nightmare! Levy!" When she opened her eyes the sight of Gajeel terrified her with the memory still fresh on her mind. She raked her fingernails across his arms, trying to pull free but he held her down on the couch. It was difficult to his surprise and with each touch of her fingers pain vibrated through his veins. "Hey Shorty it's me you're fine!" He pulled her tightly into his chest and waited for her breathing to return to normal. "What the hell were you dreaming about?"

"I—I don't know it felt so different." Levy wiped at the tears on her cheeks as she sat up from the couch. She had fallen asleep on Gajeel. He looked down at her with worried eyes but nodded his head; accepting the fact that she would not explain further for now. Slowly the pain began to subside from his veins.

"Well it wasn't real." Levy looked into Gajeel's red eyes and for a moment she could see the wicked grinning man from her mind sitting before her instead. No that couldn't have been a real memory. Levy nodded and picked up the book she had been reading before she fell asleep. Why would he have nailed me to a tree anyways?

Gajeel watched as Levy returned to her book as though nothing had just happened. He sat on the couch next turn her and turned the sheet of metal between his fingers absentmindedly. He could feel her heart, still racing next to him and it left him unnerved. Before he could stop himself and use better judgement he reached over, snatching the book from her hands, and tossed it across the room. "Hey! How often will I get to read my favorite book for the first time again!?" Levy yelled out in annoyance as she attempted to stand from the couch and retrieve her book but Gajeel snaked his arm around her waist, careful to avoid the remaining stitches, and pulled her back into him. Her body shivered under his touch and he smirked with pride before his mind returned to where it should be.

"Alright, I'm only gonna ask this once. What the fuck are you thinking about?"

Levy, with her head resting on her crossed arms that were propped on Gajeel's chest, turned her face to study his. Her brown eyes locked with his crimson orbs for a minute and he began to wonder if she would ever speak. "Well you really have a way with words." Levy paused again "How am I supposed to remember anything if the key to unlocking my memories is to feel love?"

"This again?" Gajeel asked as he brought his hand up to her head and shuffled his fingers through her hair playfully. "Told you that shit don't matter."

"Yeah well, who's going to love someone who doesn't even know their last name?" Levy stood from the couch and crossed into the kitchen. Gajeel watched as she moved, his eyes constantly fallowing her for any signs of distress. If he was honest with himself though he had been watching her long before she had come into his care.

"It's Redfox." He said as he hopped off the couch and charged into the kitchen.

"Really? Levy Redfox? I like it." Levy beamed as she took the beer form Gajeel's outstretched hand; the cap already chewed off.

"Yeah me too, has a nice ring to it." As Gajeel brought the beer to his lips his mind danced at the sound of her name with his. Levy Redfox. Levy Redfox. Yeah, I could get used to that.

"What's your last name?" Gajeel almost choked on his beer.

He brought his gloved hand to his mouth to stifle his cough as his mind raced to think of a quick lie. He settled on the truth. "Redfox."

"You suck at lying you know." Levy said as she pulled herself up onto the counter to sit; her feet kicking off the edge. "You wish you had a cool last name like mine." Gajeel moved his body to the edge of the counter between her swinging legs. They stopped and pressed into his; her muscles tensing at their closeness.

Slowly he bent down so his face was inches from her own, her lips temptingly close before he turned his mouth to her ear and whispered "Guess we'll have to share the name then. You be my Mate." Levy could feel his hot breath trace down her neck before moving slowly back from her to gaze at her blush stained face. She brought her beer eagerly to her lips and drank the cool liquid to calm her nerves and ever growing heartbeat.

"Fine. We can share it." She squeaked out between sips causing Gajeel to turn and laugh though the turn was more to hide his own growing excitement at the idea of having her all to himself. Not right how she is now. I won't take advantage of her like this.

"Well are you ready for bed?" Gajeel chocked on his beer again. He gazed at her, highly confused as she took his beer from his hand and placed it down on the counter. "Come on. You keep sleeping on that couch and you'll get a neck ache."

"Seriously the couch is comfy Shorty I don't—"

"No excuses now you get in bed with me or else." With that Levy took his hands, which had been waving in the air defensively, and started to pull him towards the bedroom. Her upper body strength did little to move him. "It's just sleeping anyways and I really don't take up any room. Besides I've been here how long now? I'm pretty sure you don't bite."

Gajeel laughed and let her think she was moving him and they crossed the threshold into the bedroom. "Not much."

"Can you hear me please?" Gajeel awoke to the sounds of Levy's whispers. He rolled over in bed and look at her small frame; her chest rising and falling as she breathed; her body covered in cold sweat. He could have sworn he had heard her speak a moment before but now; now that he looked at her so silent and still he knew it had been a mistake. As he turned to roll over Levy's hand grabbed his wrist and held it tightly. White hot pain shot out from her touch yet despite trying to pull away he could not remove himself from her grasp. He looked at her face still calm and asleep until her mouth began to move. "I don't have much time." Gajeel opened his mouth; recognizing that it was Levy the real Levy who was speaking, but she cut him off. "I can't find my way out. She is too close and I am not strong enough anymore. I might have a way out of this but I don't know if it will work. If I can be whole." Gajeel felt confused and was thankful that his wrist had gone numb from the pain. "Gajeel I'm so sorry you are involved in this now. I'm trying I am so close but I—" Levy's face turned to Gajeel, her eyes wide open and filled with nothing but a blinding white light. A twisted smiled spread across her cheeks as her back arched off the bed. Soon only the top of her head and tips of her toes remained on the mattress as Gajeel pulled himself free from her touch; his wrist burnt and raw. Levy still smiled at him as her body began to glow. Her mouth opened wider than he thought humanly possible before she collapsed back onto the bed again and he heard her normal voice return as her eyes closed. "No, no we are not free yet. I won't let you free." With that Levy fell still and returned to sleep. Gajeel stood gawking at her for over an hour before inching out of the room as silently as possible; deciding that he should not sleep ever again in the same room as her. What did she mean by find a way out and a way to be whole? He pondered on this well into the morning as the sun began to rise and he sipped his spiked coffee on the back porch.

Sorry I took so long for the next chapter but over Thanksgiving I should have a lot of time to write! Please let me know what you think!