Levy's muscles throbbed with every step yet she continued on through the dense woods with the moonlight guiding her every step. She could hear the water in the distance and knew she was getting close to her destination. Blood trickled down her face from a large gash on her temple; she didn't bother to wipe it away; it flowed freely down her neck and onto her heaving chest. It had been one of those days. Levy sighed heavily and pushed her way through the heavy bushes that hid her secret from the view of outsiders prying eyes. The waterfall shown beautifully in the moonlight. She dropped her pack wearily to the ground and began to peel off her tattered clothes gingerly to not upset her two broken ribs. It had been one of those weeks. Her orange dress, which there was no hope in mending, fell into the dirt softly. She leaned down and began to unhook her red sandals one by one; her hair brushing into the blood on her neck. There was already blood caked in it to begin with so she didn't mind the addition of more. Levy inched towards the water; cool and just what she needed on the steaming summer day. She didn't care that her lingerie was still on as she stepped deeper into the water. She didn't care that around her the clear water began to grow murky from the blood and dirt that fell from her torn flesh. All she cared for was the cool water and having, for the first time in weeks, a moment to herself. Levy took a deep breath and pushed her whole body under the water. Her blue tendrils twisted under the water as she snaked her arms behind her back to remove her bra before leaning forward to slide out of her panties. When she swam back up to the surface she turned away from the waterfall to toss her lingerie over with the rest of her possessions. They landed with a wet thump on top of Gajeel's boots.

It was the last time Gajeel went on a mission chosen by anyone other than himself. Ever. It wasn't that he couldn't handle it; he had completed it in half the time requested. The problem was the people. They treated him like the criminal he had been before; they looked at him with fear and hatred instead of giving him the thanks he deserved. His old self would have enjoyed the looks of loathing and fear he had been given. His old self would have relished in the fear that fell off them in massive pools of sweat at their feet. But now; now they had changed him. Now Gajeel cared how others saw him and now he felt mentally drained from his month long mission that hadn't even been his idea to begin with. He knew what would help though; a secret that had been his salvation on many difficult missions before. Gajeel sniffed the air and smelled the sweet scent of the mint leaves surrounding the waterfall before the sound even reached his ears. A smirk crossed his lips as he continued on through the thick woods; turning down the path only known to himself. He dared not share his secret with anyone else out of fear the others would ruin its specialness. Gajeel pushed through the bushes and the waterfall came into view. He took a step towards the large and deep pool of water only to step on something unexpected; an orange dress. Gajeel's body bent down low to the ground. He took the torn garment into his hand and pressed it to his pierced face to inhale the scent deeply. It was her scent but how. Before he could think more on it a wet pile of clothing landed on his boots. Still bent low to the ground Gajeel turned his gaze to the waters where a dripping wet Levy swam; staring directly at him.

Their eyes remained locked for a few minutes; Levy trying to decide if he could see her naked body through the moving waters and Gajeel trying not to look at her obviously naked flesh. He focused as much as possible on her face; bruised and still bleeding from the temple. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. There was annoyance in her tone. "Why are you here?" Gajeel, still crouched down and holding her dress in his hand rolled his eyes. It was his waterfall after all.

"I should ask you the same thing Shorty. And what the hell happened to your face?" Levy continued to tread water as Gajeel stood; still clutching her dress.

"I've been coming here since before you joined Fairy Tail I'm not leaving now." With that Levy dove below the water; ignoring his question entirely. It was the opportunity he needed though and he attempted to take it but she swam too fast for him to peak at her bare flesh. Her head returned above the water after a moment on the other side of the water; closer to the waterfall.

"Well I'm not leaving either." Gajeel finally dropped her dress and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Didn't say you had to. It's big enough just don't bother me and I won't bother you." Levy closed her eyes and soon he realized she was waiting. She actually expected him to strip and enter the water with her. Is she serious? A few minutes passed before he shrugged his shoulders; dropped his bag, and began to remove the layers of clothing that stuck to his sweaty flesh like glue.

Levy opened her eyes just in time to see Gajeel diving below the water with his bare ass in the air. Blush covered her cheeks but she was still too steamed to care about his and her own lack of proper coverage. He surfaced feet from her; treading water and staring into her brown eyes. He studied her but did not speak. So she studied him back. Gajeel's raven hair poured down his back and floated on top of the water. Stubble covered his face and small beads of water traced their way down his piercings. His red eyes shown in the moonlight. Levy dove below the water again and though she opened her eyes, she forced herself to give him some privacy and looked to bottom of the pond instead. When Levy surfaced Gajeel was still watching her but this time he was swimming around the waterfall in what seemed to be no direction in particular. They continued studying each other in silence for the next hour. Each taking their turns going under the cool water and surfacing sometimes closer and sometimes on the other end of the pond. It was Gajeel who finally broke the silence. "Nice tits." Levy rolled her eyes "What it's a compliment." He said with a raise of his pierced eyebrow.

"Nice ass then." Levy smirked as she swam closer to him; not caring now that they both were nude. It was obvious they both had seen everything the other had to offer.

"Yeah, you got that too Shorty." Levy blushed but thankfully Gajeel changed the subject before she could make another quick remark. "Where are your dumbass sidekicks?"

"They don't know about this place. No one in Fairy Tail does aside from me and well, now you too I guess." They were now only feet apart and both leaning against the edge of the pond near the side of the waterfall. Levy closed her eyes and pressed her chest into the rocks. She winced slightly as pain shot out from her ribcage. "I like having this place to myself too." When she opened her eyes again Gajeel was right next to her. Before she could move away his hand was on the side of her face cradling her cheek. She leaned into his touch as though second nature. His hand felt soft and his touch gentle as he pushed his thumb across her cheek to wipe away the blood that was falling from her gash. Why is he being so kind to me?

Gajeel held her face in his hand for longer than he knew he should and eventually pulled it way with much difficulty. He placed his blood stained thumb into his open mouth and let his tongue enjoy her sweet taste. Her blood tasted like sweet metallic heaven to his taste buds. "Why not tell others about this place. Aren't all Fairy Tail wizards friends?"

"Sometimes I need time to myself so I come here. Guess I'll have to find a new place now though. And come on you're not my friend Gajeel. You can't stand me remember?"

Levy started to swim away but she could hear him following after her. Within her, her heart began to race at the idea of him swimming after her. Bad idea. This is a really bad idea. You may have thought of him like that from time to time but I doubt he thinks of you as more than just a short nuisance.

Levy dove below the water and turned around just in time to open her eyes and see Gajeel gazing at her from below the water as well. Their eyes remained locked until slowly, together, their eyes traveled downwards to take in each other's bodies. He was covered in piercings she noticed and tired not to focus on his member which was rather excited; even in the cold waters. Gajeel couldn't help but smile as he took in her body too. Though she was heavily bruised she was more well-endowed than he had previously thought. When they both resurfaced Levy broke the silence with laughter. "Well now that we got that out of the way lets swim." Levy dove back under the water and left Gajeel feeling excited and confused. Why does she think I can't stand her? She didn't give him much time to think though because without warning his leg was pulled with enough force to pull him under the water.

A wicked smile crossed Gajeel's face as Levy resurfaced and winked in his direction. Did she just— With that he began to swim after her. Despite her head start she was no match for his sheer speed and soon his arms were wrapped around her from behind; trapping her from swimming away. She could feel his bare flesh touching hers and his excitement which matched her own. "Not getting away this time Shorty." Levy reached back and placed her hands on his hipbones. The piercings felt oddly warm to the touch and she pressed her hands on them slightly sending a shiver down Gajeel's spin. He pulled away from her and tried to remember that he was human. More or less. And over all his need to keep his animal nature inside and out of sight. "Sorry." He said and swam back a bit further to get her more space. Did Gajeel just apologize to me? Levy looked to the sky and wondered if she was dreaming. Many she had lost more blood than she had originally thought. "So what happened?" She looked back into his red eyes and realized he was being genuine. The look reminded her of when he had volunteered to help her with the S Class trials. Levy reached her hand out of the water and touched her head carefully. When she pulled it back and examined her fingers she could see there was still a significant amount of blood coming from the wound. "Let me look at it." Gajeel moved closer and Levy leaned her head into his hands without a second thought. He took her face once again and she felt a sense of calm engulf her soul. As Gajeel moved his fingers over her temple to examine her injury in the moonlight she began to speak and he listened as though ever word she spoke was important because unbeknownst to her it was. For some time now he had felt differently about the small script mage but because of their difficult past he kept his distance as much as he could. Yet, whenever she was near he found himself watching her, listening to her small talk, and imagining what it would be like to get her alone. Now he found himself inches from her wet, naked flesh and he was just inspecting her head injury. Though he had gotten multiple eyefuls already and he wasn't disappointed.

"Jet and Droy wanted to prove to me that they had grown stronger over the last seven years we have been gone. They only grew more reckless. We took a mission to capture some train robbers."

Gajeel laughed and let go of her face. Her wound was not infected thankfully and was slowly starting to clot. "I was going to take that when I got back. What the hell where you three doing on a mission like that?"

"My point exactly." Levy tried to laugh but her side hurt too much. Her hand moved to her side but Gajeel's beat her there. Slowly he began to work the muscles around her broken ribs and she let out a small moan of satisfaction before closing her eyes and biting her lip to stop herself from more embarrassment.

"Don't stop for me. I don't mind." Levy opened her eyes to see Gajeel wink down at her. Blush crossed her cheeks but she didn't care; his touch felt too good. "Being thrown off of a moving train isn't fun."

Gajeel frowned "You shouldn't do missions with those two. They'll get you killed."

"Yeah? Who should I do missions with than?"

"Me. I'll keep you safe Shorty." When Levy opened her eyes again their faces were only inches apart. She hadn't even realized his hands had stopped working her side nor that the pain has subsided completely.

"Thought you hated me?" Levy finally said which broke both of their concentration enough to allow for them to swim apart.

Gajeel frowned "Oi. What made you think a stupid thought like that?"

"You nailed me to a tree?" Levy moved farther away.

"It was business. That's all." Gajeel tried not to let the disappointment show on his face but he knew she would be able to see it. She could always see through him and she did.

Levy sighed and turned to swim closer to the waterfall. "You ever wish we hadn't lost seven years of our lives? I mean, do you ever wonder where you would be?" Gajeel swam after her; thankful for the change in subjects. Her bare ass shone brightly through the water in the moonlight to his enjoyment.

"What like have a kid by now like those two gun lovers?"

Levy smirked back at him "Yeah, why not?"

"Who would be the Father than? Droy or Jet?" Gajeel teased her but also asked out of his own curiosity and frustration. Since joining the Guild the two men had stuck to the blunette like flies to honey and he hated every second of it. She wasn't his but he didn't care. He wanted her to be his.

"Neither." With that Levy lifted her body out of the water and walked across the rocked through the waterfall. Gajeel's mouth fell open at the full view of her dripping wet, naked backside in the moonlight. "Come on. If I'm not shy neither should you be." She called through the falls. Gajeel followed behind quickly and pulled himself out of the water and through the falls. He had never gone in before but it was clear that Levy had; numerous times. Within the confines of the waterfall was a huge cavern and as far as he could see Levy's possessions illuminated by hundreds of candels. "Like I said I'm the only one that knows about this place other than you. I've been coming for years and sometimes" She turned and tossed him a dry towel as she wrapped her own around her waist. "I like to pretend I'm on a mission and just hide out here for a few weeks and recharge." Gajeel smiled at the sight of her stacks of books, small pile of clothing and towels, food, water, and liquor jugs, and a mattress with pillows and blankets. "Yet those weren't easy to get in. Thankfully I had a shirking spell." With that Levy eased herself down onto the bed and it was then he could see just how exhausted she truly was. He wondered how he looked to her. "You um, might want to sit down too." Gajeel looked down and noticed that his towel was tighter than he had intended it to grow and sat down next to her before his excitement could become more noticeable.

The silence between them was defining. He wanted to touch her, he wanted to make her pain go away and at the same time he wanted to make her ache for days. He wanted to protect her from getting hurt on another mission and yet he was oddly thankful she was hurt because she was allowing for him to be closer to her. When did I start having so many fucking feelings? "Thought you'd be more of the shy type Shorty." Levy looked at him confused. "In the last hour I've seen you completely naked and now I'm sitting in your bed."

Levy laughed and her voice echoed around the cavern. "Guess around you my blood boils too much to care about small things like that."

Gajeel leaned closer; he was losing control of himself but he didn't seem to care. "I make your blood boil?" It surprised him when Levy leaned in closer as well.

"Yeah, one minute you are torturing me and the next you offer to help me reach S class." Gajeel leaned away a bit taken aback. "And all the while you are rude as hell to me and treat me like I'm going to break. I can take care of myself you know."

"Oi! Well hell, look at you! You did break and I wasn't even on that mission." Levy stood, clearly annoyed. She didn't know why she was bring up their past but she knew it wasn't the direction she wanted the conversation to go. Maybe it's because this is the first conversation we have actually had since he joined the Guild or maybe it's because I'm still frustrated with Jet and Droy about the mission. Levy stood from the bed and moved back to the waterfall entrance; the light from the candles moving with her as she left. Suddenly darkness fell and a splash sounded from the pond outside. By the time Gajeel resurfaced on the other side of the waterfall Levy was already in her torn dress; dripping wet and fastening her sandals back on. "Oi! Wait!" he called after her and swam as fast as his body would allow but she was already through the bushes and he was alone. "What the hell!" Gajeel stayed in the water; unsure of what to do. A few minutes passed before he caught her dripping blue hair peering out from around the bushes which hid the waterfall from prying eyes.

Levy looked at Gajeel and let out a weak smile. She could see he was trying. She could tell he did care for her. She knew she needed to try too. "See you tomorrow night?"

A smirk crossed his face "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Levy smiled back before leaving again and shouting over her shoulder. "Midnight Mr. Redfox."

Gajeel could feel his heart racing in his chest as he listened to her footfalls moving farther from the waterfall. Their secret meeting spot now set for another return visit. Maybe this is the chance I need. With that Gajeel drove below the water once more and tried to calm himself before heading back home where Pantherlily was most likely waiting for him to discuss his mission.

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think.

Lots more fun to come!