Apricity - The feeling of the warmth of the sun in winter

The air was starting to cool in Fiore as fall was beginning to show its colours, the cool wind hit Levy's bare thighs as she made her way through Magnolia. She didn't mind the cold, she actually kind of enjoyed it, although she did still enjoy the heat of summer and everything that came with it. She just enjoyed the fall more, she liked how the air slowly cooled down from the summer heat and the leaves started changing colours and falling. It was her favourite season if she had to be honest and despite it being the season of big comfy sweaters, she still wore her more summer like attire, the cold didn't bother her and she liked it when it softly bit at her skin.

Her thoughts of the cold had to end though as she entered the guild hall where warmth greeted her, some of which was coming from Natsu's flame as him and Gray were having their brawl which always ended up getting majority of the guild involved until someone, mainly Erza or the master would eventually stop them due the damage they were all causing. Levy stood in the doorway for a little longer as to avoid most of the fighting for a little bit longer as more and more guildmates started getting involved in the fight as it went on, but since people were starting to get thrown through columns, tables and walls already, it was probably going to be stopped soon, which Makarov thankfully did soon enough.

Levy noticed that Jet and Droy weren't there yet so she made her way to Lucy, who was gently rubbing a bump on her head.

"Hey Lu." Levy began as she sat next to her friend.

"Hey Lev." The blonde said while still rubbing her head "I really need to stop getting in between those guys…"

"Yeah, but sometimes it can be really hard, it tends to get really rowdy, plus things thrown around all over the place." Levy laughed softly.

"Including pink haired dragon slayers who don't notice that they just landed on top of you until you're yelling at them for it." Lucy groaned.

"So that's what happened, but hey, at least it wasn't someone else." The solid script mage nudged her friend with her elbow and gave her a suggestive wink.

"Levy! Not you too!" Lucy began "Me and Natsu are just friends."

Levy just gave the blonde a blank look "You might be now, but there's no denying that you like him."

"Yeah, like you like Gajeel? You obviously like him, everybody knows it." Lucy got back at her friend by doing the same wink and nudging with the elbow.

"I don't like him...I mean….I think….shut up." Levy nudged her friend back a little harder than earlier, she did admit to herself that she did like the iron dragon slayer, it was just that she felt like there was no reason what so ever for him to like her.

"If you tease me, I tease you, it's just fair." Lucy laughed and eventually got Levy to join her.

The two decided not to keep teasing each other for the moment and instead started talking about the most recent books they've read, Levy of course, had read a few more than her friend, though both were pretty avid readers and could always recommend something for the other, which some found to be strange because eventually those two would have read every last book in the whole wide world.

While the two talked, most everyone who hadn't been at the guildhall when Levy arrived where starting to show up, except for those who were already on missions. Though Levy noticed that neither Jet nor Droy were there and she was starting to think that they went on a mission without her.

"Hey Lu, have you seen Jet and Droy today?" She had to admit that she was a little worried about her two boys, she didn't exactly mind all that much if they went without her, but usually they would have told her before.

"Yeah, but they were leaving when I came here." Lucy answered her blue haired friend, noting the hint of worry on her face "but I'm sure they'll come back later."

"Jet and Droy went on a mission together that's pretty far east." Mirajane had overheard the two talking while she was waiting tables, she too was a little surprised that they hadn't told Levy. "They didn't tell you?"

"No, they didn't." Levy sighed "Well at least I know where they are now, any idea how long it will take?" Levy just wanted to be sure when her friends should be coming back, since she worried just as much about them as they worried about her...ok not just as much, but she did love the two and only wanted to make sure that they were safe.

"Well it's a rescue mission so it's hard to say, but it could take at least a week, depends on how it goes for them." Mirajane smiled at the petite girl who was starting to look a little less worried "If you'd like, I could set you up on a mission with Gajeel, maybe you two could finally get together then."

"Mira! Mot you too!" Levy couldn't help the slight blush that was starting to tint her cheeks "First Lu and now you."

"Trust me, it's not just us two." Lucy began "Everyone can see it."

"Just like how everyone can see that you and Natsu have a thing for each other?" Levy tried getting back at her friend.

"Yeah, when are you going to make a move Lucy?" Mirajane now directed her attention to the blonde.

"It's not like that, we're...just friends, is all." Lucy couldn't help but look away from the other girls, a futile attempt to hide her blush.

"Friends can make the best lovers sometimes, but you two better start being honest with each other, because those boys are too stubborn for their own good to do anything about it either." And with that, Mirajane went back to working. Leaving the two girls to think about her words.

"I guess we should talk about this…" Levy scratched her cheek, her head was telling her to just give up on her feelings for the Iron Dragon slayer, while her heart was telling her to strut over to his corner and just start making out with him right then and there for everyone to see. She mentally noted not to listen to her heart at that moment.

"Yeah...just not here for everyone to hear, and my place is out since it's pretty much an open house for everyone at this point." Lucy groaned, whenever she went home, at least one of her guildmates were there, and most often it was Natsu with Happy in tow. She didn't exactly mind all that much when he just showed up randomly, but she still needed her privacy sometimes.

"True, but my room at the dorm isn't exactly the best place either, by now it's more books than room." Levy admitted, she probably should do something about it, but she kinda liked being surrounded by books when she slept, and as long as it didn't bury her alive, she was good.

The two of them started thinking of a place they could talk about their little boy trouble but most places they could go to were public or cost money, and those weren't exactly the best options. But they weren't gonna give up that easily, what kind of Fairy Tail mages would they be if they did.

"There's an easy fix to your problem girls." Cana placed her barrel on the table, slightly startling the girls as she did so "You invite me and we can talk in my room, simple as that."

The two just looked at each other, of course it was an easy fix, but they had no idea what kind of advice Cana would give, though they knew that they could trust her, and she could be really insightful. She was a card mage after all and so she knew a thing or two when it came to life problems and solving them.

"It's settled then, we'll go to my place later tonight!" Cana went back to her drinking but didn't leave the table, which of course got them all involved in the conversation that was going on between the other guildmates, though most of it was about who could outdrink who and who was stronger. But it was a nice change of pace, after all, this evening it would be time to get Levy and Lucy to finally admit their feelings for their own respective Dragon slayers.

"Anyway, I probably should clean up a little bit at home." Cana finished her barrel and let out a satisfied sigh. "I'll see you two later." She patted Lucy's shoulder and made her way out of the guild with a slight sway, though it was barely noticeable.

Natsu decided that this would be the best time to show up and sat next to Lucy while happy flew above them. Levy just smiled at her pink haired guildmate and at Lucy's shocked reaction of his arrival, the two were as close as she was with Team Shadow Gear if not more. Levy often wondered if she could ever be this close with Gajeel, but she kept telling herself that it probably would never happen.

Levy watched the pair talk with the occasional remark coming from Happy, it was obvious that they certainly did care for each other, it was very normal for Fairy Tail mages, they were all family after all. But for those who had known Natsu since he was a kid could easily tell that he was different around Lucy than anyone else, and Levy believed that she knew Lucy well enough that she could tell that she was also different around the Dragon slayer.

Levy couldn't help but glance at the direction of Gajeel's corner, where he was sitting with Pantherlily, she noticed they were talking about something, but seeing as she couldn't read lips, she had no idea about what. She could have sworn though that Gajeel glanced at her a couple of times.

The blue haired mage started taking part in the conversation after Lucy had gotten her to answer a question about what kind of missions were the best. Of course Natsu loved the ones where he could go all out, Lucy enjoyed the more intellectual ones but she also loved the ones that brought her to new places, Levy on the other hand absolutely adored translation missions and book related ones.

As they kept talking to each other, they lost track of time and before they knew it, it was probably time for the girls to head over to Cana's.

"Oh we probably should get going Lev." Lucy looked at the clock on the wall, noting how late it was getting.

"We should." Levy looked at the clock "Time certainly does fly."

"Where you guys going?" Natsu asked his blonde partner.

"We're going to….uhm…" Lucy began.

"We're going to the dorm, she's going to be getting some of my books." Levy quickly finished for Lucy "I really need to get rid of some."

Lucy agreed and thankfully, Natsu bought it so he didn't question it any further, of course he would have like to be around Lucy a little longer, but he knew not to sneak into the girl's dorm, it usually wasn't a very good ide.

"You better be telling the truth about giving me some of your books Lev." Lucy whispered to the shorter of the two, letting out a soft giggle.

"Fine, after we're done with Cana, alright?" Levy answered and the two casually walked over to Fairy hills.

The closer they got to the dorm, the more nervous they both became, they knew that they were probably going to have to admit their feelings and most likely were going to get a lot of advice on what to do to get the boys to make their move. That is if Cana wouldn't convince them to make a move first, which was very likely that she'd at least suggest that they would do.

The two went inside and stopped in front of Cana's door, both swallowing the lump that was forming in their throats. But before either of them could knock, Cana opened the door and invited them inside, or pulled them inside more like.

"I hope you don't mind that I invited Juvia as well, seeing as she might have some inside knowledge on a certain tall dark and handsome." Cana winked at Levy and nudged her with her elbow.

Juvia was sitting on the floor by the little table and waved at the two obviously nervous girls. She knew that she wasn't exactly an expert on relationships but she had been in a few before and she was very open about her love for Gray, so Cana knew that she could be of more help than just with Gajeel.

They all got comfortable around the table with Cana bringing a few snacks and some beers, she also had some juice for those who didn't want any alcohol, though that would run out quickly since she didn't really buy much of it in the first place.

"First thing's first." The card mage began "Admit it." She playfully glared at Lucy and Levy, knowing full well that it would make them a little flustered. She had to admit that she liked it when people got flustered, she found it cute.

"A-admit what?" Lucy tried to play dumb, though she knew exactly what she meant. Meanwhile Levy just fiddled with her dress.

"Nonononono no, none of that, you know what I mean." Cana leaned over the table and poked the blonde's nose. "Juvia, give them an example." Juvia nodded.

"Juvia loves Gray-sama." She said with ease, she practically said it every day so it was nothing new to her, though as much as she wanted to say more, she had to bite her tongue since tonight was about Lucy and Levy.

"See, Juvia can admit it easily, honestly, she embraces it, but we'll get to that later, now it's your turn." The dark haired girl looked at the still slightly flustered girls, waiting for them to finally admit that they liked the Dragon slayers. Frankly their denial was starting to frustrate her.

"Alright fine, I like Natsu." Lucy finally said, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"Be specific sweetie, do you just like him, or like like him." Cana teased.

"You know what I mean!" Lucy spat out, but she had to admit that she did feel like a weight had been lifted off of her.

"Alright, alright, sorry." Cana laughed "But now it's your turn Levy." And the attention moved away from Lucy on to the shortest mage there.

"I...I guess I like Gajeel…" Levy kept fiddling with her dress, she already knew that she had a crush on Gajeel, but she just couldn't imagine him actually liking her back in that way.

"You guess?" Juvia asked the other blue haired mage.

"Ok I do like him, I really do." Levy admitted with a bittersweet smile.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Cana to swig out of her beer and slammed it against the table "Now, the boys." Cana looked at the girls mischievously, she was determined to play matchmaker and she sure as hell was going to get Juvia to help her.

"Even Juvia can see that they like you back." Juvia also had a mischievous glint in her eyes, love was amongst the most beautiful things in the world to her and she wanted her friends to be happy and to be able to feel love as well.

Lucy got a little more flustered than Levy at that. It was easier for her to believe that Natsu liked her back, but Levy still had doubts, she just couldn't help it. She tried being an optimistic but when it came to certain things, she couldn't help but to be a little pessimistic.

Juvia noticed the look on Levy, but she knew better than anyone that Gajeel did like her more than he'd liked anyone before, Juvia also noticed the change in his behaviour whenever he was around her or even when Juvia brought the solid script mage up, Gajeel always seemed a little happier.

"Juvia knows that Gajeel likes Levy a lot, trust Juvia, she's known him for a long time." The water mage grabbed Levy's shoulder, trying to reassure her. This brought Levy out of her thoughts, she still wasn't sure if Gajeel really did like her, but she Juvia was right, she'd known him for longer than anyone else at the guild so she was going to put a little bit of faith in her.

"Yeah, you're right." Levy smiled at her fellow blue haired mage which earned her a smile as well.

"Sorry to interrupt, but does Natsu really like me?" Lucy was starting to have her own doubts, she could see it, and she did want it, but she was a little sceptical about it all. Maybe she was just seeing things because she had a crush on him, maybe he just saw them as friends.

"Lu, me and Cana have known Natsu since we were kids, and he definitely likes you." Levy reassured her friends.

"Yeah, it's just a question if he knows how to handle those feelings." Cana jokingly said, though they knew that Natsu could be a little oblivious at times, so maybe he really didn't know that he had a crush on her, but for now they'd just have to rely on the fact that Natsu was much smarter than he looked.

"Alright, enough of that, we need to start talking about the most important thing." Cana said, the mischievous smile back on her face.

"Important thing?" Levy asked, she had an idea what Cana was going to say, but honestly, she was hoping that she didn't mean that she and Lucy were going to have to do that in public. In a room with only Gajeel, sure, why not, anyone else, not in a million.

"I'm talking about seduction, you two need to get their attention, make them an offer they can't resist." The card mage crossed her arms proudly, there was no turning away now, those two were going to get their men and she was going to make sure it happened.

"I don't think I can do that." Lucy said quickly, she knew she had a lot of sex appeal, and she had tried to seduce her way out of paying to high of a price, but seducing someone that she liked she hadn't done before.

"Sure you can, you got curves in all the right places and I know that you're no stranger to flaunting them a little, so all we really need to do is aim it at him specifically." Cana said.

"Yeah, but, I don't know how!" Lucy said, throwing her arms into the air to emphasize her point.

"Just calm down Lucy, We'll figure this out, plus you'll have our help." Cana reassured her.

"Juvia agrees, Lucy just needs a little help." Juvia said, smiling at the blonde who was probably more nervous about being rejected rather than having to seduce the object of her desires.

"What about me?." Levy began "I'm short, flat and Gajeel has used my head as a hand rest on more than one occasion, plus I have like, zero sex appeal." She wasn't exactly the most confident when it came to her figure or height, she usually didn't announce it, but it still bothered her.

"Opposites attract, honey" Cana stated "plus you have an ass to die for, don't forget that." She winked at the displeased solid script mage.

"She does have a point there, Lev." For once, Lucy couldn't help but agree with Cana, not only that, Gajeel did seem to like her, so she really didn't have to worry all that much, if only she'd just accept that.

Levy looked at the reassuring looks that they were giving her, and Cana's mischievous one, she wanted to argue but she just couldn't. She knew that Opposites could attract and Gajeel was basically her polar opposites, so she just took a deep breath.

"Alright, fine, what do you suggest we do?" Levy asked, realising that if she could admit her feelings out loud, she might as well make a move as well, especially since she'd have help, so if things went wrong, she could blame someone other than herself.

"Perfect, now, how's your flirting?" The dark haired girl asked the two victims. Flirting was only step one though, and there were quite a few that she'd need to get them through. Lucy at least had some knowledge about flirting, but she'd need to work with Levy a bit more seeing as she didn't have a lot of time to flirt in the first place.

"The right words can get you laid, and they can get you your man." Cana poked Levy's nose teasingly.

"But what if I don't want to get laid?" Levy tried defending herself, she had to admit though that she kinda wanted to with Gajeel.

"Then you don't need to get laid, it's your choice." Cana said.

"And Gajeel does know the difference between a yes and a no, so Levy has no need to worry." Juvia added.

"That's not what I meant, but thank you." The solid script mage knew that they were only trying to help, but she did kind of feel like she was forcing herself to do this, that it wasn't something that she'd normally do. But she did like Gajeel, and she did enjoy being around him, so this could help them get along, that is if things wouldn't go horribly wrong and they'd never speak to each other again, and she really didn't want that.

"Levy, all you really need to do is get his attention, and there are a lot of ways you can do that." Cana patted Levy's shoulder and kept talking "We're telling you what we know, but it's all up to you, but you better make a move, it's not like you're getting any younger."

The girls kept talking until it was very late, Juvia and Cana trying to get the other two to make a move on the dragon slayers, once they knew what to do, they'd do great. At least they hoped they would, the boys liked them for who they were so they'd just need to spice it up a little bit.

After Lucy had left and everyone else had gone into their own room, Cana cleaned up a little bit, which mainly just meant throwing the empty bottles into a corner and ignoring it until some time later. Now all she could do was wait for both Levy and Lucy to make a move, and that they let her know about everything that happens between them.

Meanwhile, Levy was lying in her bed and staring at the ceiling, she had no idea how to get someone's attention in a seductive kind of way. She knew she was cute, but sexy? That really wasn't her forte and she wasn't sure if Cana was of much help since she just made her embarrassed, so Levy decided that she'd go to the library, first thing in the morning to see if there were any books that could help her.

Meanwhile in another part of Magnolia, a certain Iron Dragon Slayer was pacing around his apartment, while his cat looked at him worriedly.

"It can't be that bad, Gajeel? Can it?" Lily asked Gajeel.

"That's the thing, I have no idea, I've gone through this before, but never like this." Gajeel stopped pacing and crossed his arms, it was almost time for that dreaded month and it was the first time he was really worried about it.

"Like what?" Lily prodded, he'd been with the man for a couple or so years now, but this was something very new to the exceed, Gajeel tended to keep his composure most of the time. So to see him pacing around due to nervousness wasn't something that Lily knew how to handle.

"With her, usually I can control myself, but with her around…" Gajeel couldn't finish, this only happened every other year, and Gajeel had been lucky enough to have met the blue haired mage some time after the last one. But now he knew that he liked her and that she was obviously meant to be more than just a friend, but how could he tell her that. It's not like mating is a human thing to do.

"I'm sure she'll understand if you explain." Lily said.

"That's the thing, I'm not going to explain, I'm gonna keep away from her until it all blows over." The slayer dropped down on a chair and sighed "The less she knows the better, besides, I don't deserve her."

"Because of what happened between your old guild and Fairy Tail?" Lily asked, Gajeel had told him most of what had happened, but Lily knew that there were a few things that Gajeel kept to himself, and Lily wasn't going to prod.

"Something like that…" Gajeel answered while looking out the window. As much as he wanted to just tell how how he felt, he couldn't, not after what he had done to her. All he could do to make up for it was to protect her, and keep his promise of making her big, so that's what he was going to do.

Lily sighed, he knew that the dragon slayer liked Levy a lot, and that he was much different around her than he normally was, but he knew that Gajeel was trying to force himself not to like her. The exceed could never know what went inside the iron fools head, and he wasn't going to start prodding now, but he knew that if he wouldn't do anything about his feelings, he'd only end up getting hurt.

"You know." Lily began "It's alright to forgive yourself." Lily went out for his evening flight then, leaving Gajeel alone with his thoughts.

"If only it was that easy…" He said to himself and decided that he really needed a shower to cool off.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading!

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