Hello boys and girls. I want to tell a story.

So, yeah. This has been a long time coming. I've had a busy 2018. There really hasn't been time for me to write. And even when there was, I just couldn't get into the writing mood. Thankfully, I finally got this out.

I suppose I'll keep this brief and get right into the feature presentation.

V is for Valentine's Day

There is one happiness in life: to love and be loved ~ George Sand

Gajeel is a creature of routine. He would get up at the crack of dawn, take a shower, eat some scrap metal lying around the house, then go to the guild to find a mission. There are very few deviations from this. Even when he started dating Levy, the one change was that he wheeled towards Fairy Hills and walked with her from the guild, indulging in conversations of books that she recently read. Whenever Levy talks about books, her face lights up and her eyes twinkle, like fireworks. It's so fucking adorable. Gajeel may not always have a grasp on what she is talking about but gods, she's so cute.

This day started off just like any other day. Gajeel stops by Fairy Hills as Levy exits the building. She jumps and pecks him on the cheek, causing the Dragon Slayer's cheeks to tinge pink. Today, she's talking about some fantasy novel that she just finished last night. The long-haired man makes pointed insights whenever he remembers a detail from Levy last night. This makes the blue-haired girl happy that her boyfriend would remember such a detail.

Their peaceful conversation is interrupted when the two of them finally enter the guild to see Natsu and Gray fighting first thing in the morning. Just looking at the two of them makes Gajeel's fists itch with the prospect of putting them in the ground. A feral grin creeps along his face.

"So what are they fighting about this time," the Iron Dragon Slayer chuckles.

"Please don't get involved, Gajeel." Levy pleads, even though she knows that he will anyways.

"No promises, Short Stack," Gajeel gives the Solid Script mage a lopsided grin and an affectionate pat on her head.

Levy sighs. Boys will be boys and all that. "At least try to be nice."

He looks her in the eyes. "For you, I'll try," Gajeel smirks.

Levy and Gajeel walks towards the table where Lucy and Juvia are sitting, watching the fight.

"Morning, Lu-chan, Juvia," Levy greets the two women. Lucy and Juvia returns the greeting. "So what are they fighting about this time?" Levy is curious about the fight. Natsu and Gray stops their fighting when they hear Levy's voice.

"Good. An independent judge," Natsu yells.

"Now we can settle this," Gray quips.

The two men run towards Levy. Gajeel moved in front of Levy protectively. "What do you want?" The Iron Dragon Slayer's gruff voice doesn't deter the two Fairy Tail mages.

"We want Levy to settle something for us," They shout in unison.

The pierced man scowls. "Why don't you have Juvia or Bunny-girl do it, whatever it is?"

Natsu and Gray glare at each other.

"Apparently, this isn't something that can be decided by either of them," Natsu answers. "Even though my Lucy is totally trustworthy."

"And you are saying that my Juvia isn't" Gray yells. "She isn't a liar."

Levy smiles in exasperation. Lucy looks at her friend and shakes her head.

"You shouldn't get involved, Levy-chan," Lucy tells the Solid Script mage.

"Juvia agrees," The water mage sighs. "Even though Juvia believes that it is Gray-sama, she knows that getting involved will cause more trouble.

"Well, Natsu has his moments," Lucy giggles. "But I agree with Juvia. It's better not to get involved."

"Moments?" Flames erupt from his mouth as Natsu roars his disbelief.

Levy put a hand to her lips. "Okay, now I'm curious. What are you fighting about?"

"We are trying to decide who's the most romantic," Natsu tells her.

"Hothead thinks it's him while I'm trying to tell him that it's me," Gray snaps at his frenemy.

Levy closes her eyes, deep in thought and ignores her friends' shaking their heads.

"Oh, that's easy." Levy's smile is courteous on its surface. But underneath, there's a challenge there. "It would be Gajeel."

"Gajeel!" Natsu and Gray shout in unison.

"Gi hi," Gajeel smirks victoriously. "Got a problem?" Eager to prove it through violence, the long-haired man pounces into the dogpile.

"Levy-chan," Lucy gasps, ignoring the testosterone-fueled fighting. "Why did you do that? Also, how is he romantic?"

Levy smiles mischievously. "Oh, you'd be surprised."

Lucy and Juvia are shocked. "What does he do for her?"

Soon, Elfman, eager to prove to Evergreen that he loves her, jumps in and attacks the three guys. And, strangely enough, Erza didn't even bother stopping it. After hearing why the four guys were fighting, the woman known as Titania blushes and moves to the other girls, saying something along the lines of "All is fair in love and war". So it falls to Mira to end the fight.

"Settling who's the most romantic man in Fairy Tail with fists will not work," the barmaid says with a smile. "There's only one way to do that."

From under the bar, she pulls out a banner and unfurled it. "I give you FAIRY TAIL'S MOST ROMANTIC MAN CONTEST."

Gajeel really wants to question when, why, and how the Demon Takeover mage would have such a banner ready. But something tells him that he's not going to really like the answer.

"The rules are simple," Mira smiles. "Each man must come up with a way to spend a romantic day with his respective girl. However, the girls cannot give ideas to the guys in any way shape or form. And just to make it interesting, the most romantic man will win two tickets to the Strata Beach Resort for seven days and six nights." Mira ends her speech with a smile and a wink.

"But who is going to judge," A voice calls out.

"Well, I am, of course," Mira continues smiling.

Natsu bristles at this. "Isn't that giving Elfman an unfair advantage?"

"Oh Natsu, do you think I can't judge fairly?" Although the words come out as cordially as possible, every man can feel the faint aura of "Don't mess with me" that she emanates. Gajeel sees Salamander shiver in fright. Mira is not one to be messed with.

"Just you alone? That sounds like a lot of work." It appears Gray is much smarter than Natsu.

"Gray is right," Erza says confidently. "I will help judge as well. That way, the match can be decided." There is no one who will challenge the redhead's right to judge a competition.

"And I suppose I will as well," the sand mage Max grunts. "After all, I have been a judge before."

"You were an announcer before. It's not the same thing," people grumble.

With Mira, Erza, and Max acting as judges, the contest was underway. The barmaid calls upon Freed to make runes that prevents the girls from talking about the contest. That way, it will be all on the guys to come up with a romantic idea. With that out of the way, Mira closes the guild, shooing everyone out.

With nothing left to do and unable to take missions, Gajeel and Levy leave together and decide to take a stroll in the park.

"Well, this will be interesting," Levy sighs. "I never thought such a disagreement would turn into a contest."

"A contest I'm gonna win," Gajeel laughs, slapping his bicep.

"Such confidence." Levy's teasing lilt gets her boyfriend riled up.

"You doubt me?"

Levy smiles and says nothing. This make Gajeel frown.

"You do," he accuses. He grabs Levy gently by her shoulder and pins her against a tree. "You lack faith in me."

Levy brushes her fingers against his face. "Never."

"I'll show you who's romantic," he challenges. "I'll romance you so hard that you'll never forget how awesome yer boyfriend is."

The blue-haired woman smiles. "I look forward to it."

It's all fine and good for Gajeel to talk a big game to his girlfriend. But now, as he paces around his house, he must follow through. After all, his claim of being the most romantic is on the line. And he refuses to lose. It's not just that he wants to beat those idiots (though that is a sizeable part of it). Whenever he and Levy go out, people give them looks. It's not the "oh look how cute they look together" look. It's more of a "why is she dating him; she can do so much better" look. And he hates that because they're right. She CAN do better than him. Even so, she chose to be in a relationship with him and he will do anything to make sure she doesn't regret her choice.

Which, in a roundabout way, brings him back to this contest. Gajeel needs an idea that screams "Creatively Romantic". But not just that, it must be tailor-made for Levy. So none of that Hallmark nonsense. It's gotta stand out, as a testament of the Iron Dragon Slayer's love for the Solid Script mage.

Gajeel's nose picks up the scent of his Exceed partner. "Lily."

Lily floats down to Gajeel's eye level. "I heard that the guild is hosting a contest."

"A romantic man contest," he guffaws, banging his fist against his chest, "and I'm going to win it."

Lily smirks. "If you say so."

"You doubt me too?"

Lily shakes his head. "I merely am curious as to what your plan is."

Gajeel's eyes narrow and his lips purse. He feels like he's being accused of something bad. "I haven't gotten that far yet."

Lily says nothing and Gajeel feels like he's being judged a failure as a boyfriend. He stomps off to his kitchen to find something to eat when his eyes landed on a book. Gajeel immediately recognized that as one of Levy's. "Never would have thought the shrimp was absent-minded." He picks it up and opens it. Red eyes scan through the pages. Immediately, he realizes that this is a book of riddles and brain teasers.

The gears in Gajeel's head start to turn. This might be a good avenue to explore.

"Oi, Lily. Find me a map of Magnolia."

Gajeel spends the night before and the better part of the next day setting up his gift. Brain teasers aren't really his forte. Still, he wanted it to be absolutely perfect for Levy, so he really put his all into it. When he was finished, Gajeel had to admire his handiwork.

"I'm really impressed with this," Lily nods his approval.

"Gi hi."

"But how is this going to work?" It was a valid question. While Gajeel's puzzles are quite ingenious, how he would get Levy to stay on the path he designed was another thing all together.

Gajeel closes his eyes and folds his fingers together. When he opens them again, a metal corsage appears. He admires at his handiwork before tossing it to the side. Suddenly, an iron rod shoots out of the ground.

He picks up the corsage and hands it to Lily. "Make sure she wears this. This way, she will stay on her intended path." The Iron Dragon Slayer watches as the rod disintegrates.

"You're gonna hurt her," Lily warns.

"They aren't designed to hurt her," Gajeel snaps. "They aren't sharp and they will activate prior to her passing through the out of bounds areas. But I get where you're coming from. I have an idea."

February 14th comes in with a whisper as Levy wakes from her sleep. The azurette was a bit bummed because she didn't get to see Gajeel yesterday. Most likely, he was preparing his entry into the Valentine's Day contest.

"I hope he isn't taking my teasing seriously." Levy somewhat regretted leaving things the way she did with Gajeel the other day. The azurette never meant to say she didn't believe he was romantic. She still stands by what she said to Lucy and Juvia. Gajeel can be romantic.

"Somehow, I feel like this day is going to be cranked up to eleven." Sometimes it's better to rip off the Band-Aid quickly rather than a bit at a time. So she completes her morning rituals and gets dressed. Not expecting to go anywhere fancy, she puts on a simple green tank top and khakis, beginning her day.

She sees Lily floating outside Fairy Hills, holding something very peculiar in his hands (paws?).

"Good morning, Lily," she smiles brightly.

Lily can't help but smile back when Levy beams at him. She is so good for Gajeel, a bright ray of sunshine.

"Good morning, Levy," he returns the greeting. "Gajeel has prepared your Valentine's day event. I am suppose to give you these two things." The black Exceed hands Levy the metal corsage and a note.

The Solid Script mage is a bit confused by the corsage, but she must admit that it is beautiful. And it fits perfectly around her arm. After affixing the corsage, Levy reads the note.

RAGTAG OPAL KIMONO

The Solid Script mage furrows her brows at the note. It doesn't make any sense.

"The rules are simple," Lily explains. "Follow the clues and stay within the bounds of the game arena. If you do not-" there is a distinct pause, almost as if saying the words pains him "-the corsage will activate a trap."

Levy eyes him curiously. "Trap?"

"I can't say any more," he sighs. "But don't worry. You aren't in any real danger."

Levy nearly balks at that but goes back and reads the note again. "Ragtag opal kimono? What could that mean?" She bites her bottom lip. "This is a clue, which means that there must be something in it that tells me what to do?" Her mind begins to race. Ragtag and opal aren't part of Gajeel's main vocabulary. So he must be using them for something.

"An anagram," she murmurs to herself. The azurette pulls out her light pen and writes out the clue in the air. She rearranges the letters in the air. The letter K is unusual, so she tries to think of words that have K in them. That's when a flash of brilliance hits her. "Park." Next, she works the M, deciphering what word can be made from it. "Magnolia. Magnolia Park." Now, with only a T, a G and two O's left, she easily finished the rest."

"Go to Magnolia Park," the petite woman exclaims after solving the puzzle. "I have to say that I'm impressed. Would have never thought Gajeel was capable of this." She makes her way west towards the park. However, she feels her corsage vibrate, making her stop in her tracks. Immediately, five iron poles shoot out from the ground, preventing her from taking the direct route.

"What in the…" she trails off.

"Sorry, Levy," Lily apologizes, "but going directly to the Park is outside the game's parameters. You are going to have to find another route."

"Did he…." Levy wants to ask if Gajeel really did dig up the roads in order to keep Levy in the game but, knowing his competitive nature, he almost certainly did. "Okay, I'll follow his game."

Levy cautiously walked around the city in order to get to Magnolia Park with Lily following behind. Each time an iron pole shoots from the ground, the azurette takes another path. This continues until she reaches an Iron Wall.

"Okay, Gajeel went overboard," she huffs. She moves closer to the walk and examines it. She notices a combination tumbler lock in the center with ten tumblers. Above it is two sets of numbers.

1210

3211000

"Numbers? What could this mean?" Levy rubs the tip of her chin with her thumb and index, deep in thought. She wants to ask Lily but she's pretty sure that Gajeel swore him to silence. "Well there are four digits in the first set of numbers: 1 zero, 2 ones, and a two. The second set has seven numbers: a three, a two, 2 ones, and three zeroes." The Solid Script mage takes out her light pen again and writes out the numbers in the air. "There has to be significance to the way the numbers are written out."

Lily watches, almost as if he can see the gears in her head turning. Again, he has to be impressed with Gajeel's ingenuity to come up with something that speaks to Levy's strengths, her intelligence.

"Well, there is one zero in the first set and three zeroes in the second set." Levy's eyes widen. "Wait a minute. One zero and one is in the first position. So it's basically telling me that there is only one zero in the set. And there are also two ones in the set and two is in the second position. There is one two in the set and one is in the third position. There are no threes in the set and zero is in the fourth position. It's the same with the second set." The eureka moment shines in her eyes. "This is an autobiographical number. So the ten digit code has to fit the pattern just like the two sets above."

Once again, using her pen, she writes out numbers. After some trial and error, she finally comes up with the solution.

6210001000

Inputting the code causes the wall to crumble and disintegrate. In its wake, Levy spies a note. On it is written a blue 10 "How did he plan all of this?" She was already impressed with the anagram and more than a little bit disturbed by his iron poles to keep her in the game. But this wall…. "Amazing." That's the only word that describes this game.

Lily smirks. It's great that Levy appreciates the effort Gajeel made into this game. He honestly can't wait for her to continue.

Levy's game continues. Iron rods prevent her from veering off her path. And every so often, she runs into a puzzle she must solve to move on. One is the classic "Fill a five-liter jug with water using that and a three-liter jug". When she finishes and puts it on the scale, the scale disintegrates and leaves behind a note with a green 27. The next puzzle is a puzzle where she must slide numbered tiles from one to fifteen in order in under a minute. When she solves that, a note with an orange 19. The fourth puzzle is untangling a massive knot of red string so that it's one long string. When she does, it morphs into the number 25. The fifth puzzle is a logic game known as a zebra puzzle where she must deduce the color of five houses, the nationality of the owners, their preferred drink, and their brand of smokes. When she susses it out, a not with a purple 7 is revealed. There is one more puzzle that she must solve. On an iron wall, there is a note that reads "Write down what you would call a fish with no eyes".

Levy smiles. "All that cleverness and you end it with a silly joke." She writes down the word FSH. The last wall comes down, leaving behind a note with a yellow 31.

With her tasks finally done, she enters the park. Immediately, a row of iron pillars shoots up on both sides of her. Levy realizes that they are forming a path. So the Solid Script mage follows it. They lead her to a familiar place, the giant tree of bad memories. This was where she was once crucified by Gajeel.

"Why would he want to end it here?" Her musings would have to wait as underneath the tree, Levy finds a safe with a combination lock, numbers from 0 to 39.

"There must be a code." And that's when she remembers the numbers from the puzzle. "The numbers. They were colored. So the colors must give away the order in which I need to open the safe." Another realization hit her. This isn't any old tree. This is the Rainbow Sakura tree. "Rainbow. That's it. Roy G. Biv."

She kneels and puts in the combination. 25, 19, 31, 27, 10, 7

A faint click sounds and Levy opens the safe. There is a note. She pulls it out and reads.

I can't change my past with you. Even so, I want to spend my future with you.

Levy can't help the tears from falling. "Gajeel, you big, romantic dummy," she cries.

Strong arms envelope her. Without even looking, Levy sinks into the familiar embrace.

"Happy Valentine's Day, short stack," Gajeel murmurs in Levy's ear.

"You really did romance me hard," Levy sighs, kissing Gajeel's knuckles. "You are an awesome boyfriend."

"Gi hi."

The guild is bustling with excitement and very satisfied women, waiting to hear the announcement of the contest winner. Mirajane steps onto the stage and takes the microphone.

"Well, I must say that the judges and I are truly impressed with the entries," the white-haired woman squeals in delight. "Who would have thought we had so many Casanovas in Fairy Tail?"

A loud cheer erupts from the guild.

"And now for the results."

Everyone waits on bated breath.

"In third place, Romeo and Wendy with their paddleboat ride around Magnolia River."

Romeo blushed and looked away while Wendy hugged the young Fire Mage joyfully. There is a collective "Awww" from the guild.

"A chip off the ol' block," Macao guffaws, crossing his arms. "I knew my son was a Ladies' Man just like his old man."

"As if, you old goat," Wakaba counters, glaring at his friend. "When was the last time you've been with a woman?"

Mira ignores the fighting and continues. "Romeo and Wendy have won tickets to Barona Amusement Park."'

"Second place goes to ... Elfman and Evergreen with their animal symphony."

"Not bad, huh Ever," Elfman grins, his massive arms hug her small body. "A man always comes out on top in the art of romance. Man."

Evergreen responds by hitting the Takeover mage over the head with her fan. "We were suppose to win first, you idiot," She berates, emphasizing each word with a hit from her fan. "How can you call yourself a man when there was someone who beat us?"

Mira overlooks the painful beating her brother is receiving and continues. "They just won a trip to Vesperia Spa."

Evergreen stops hitting Elfman. "Vesperia Spa? You mean the ultra-exclusive spa that has a nine-month waiting list and cost about as much as 3 S-mission pays?"

"The one and the same," Mira answers with her famous smile.

The bespectacled woman sighs and composes herself. "You know, maybe second place isn't all that bad. What do you think, Elfman?"

Elfman is unconscious.

"And now for first place."

The guild is on the edge of their seats.

"First prize goes to Natsu and Lucy, Gray and Juvia, and Gajeel and Levy," Mira announces. "You three men are really romantic. Even Erza was impressed."

Loud clapping echoes throughout the guild.

"But nothing has been resolved," Natsu whines.

He would have said more but the guild doors slam open, revealing Master Makarov, face so dark that it's difficult to know what he is feeling.

"Good afternoon, Master," She greets with a smile. She isn't oblivious to the heavy atmosphere, but she plays dumb.

The Master doesn't acknowledge her greeting as he makes his way to the stage. Everyone was silent as the Master cleared his throat. "You damn brats," Makarov yells at his family. "I was just talking with the mayor of Magnolia. You brats went overboard again."

The men of the contest gulp.

"Alzack, you riddled the memorial wall with bullets," He starts. "Elfman, your wild animals are still on the loose. Romeo, you put a crack in the Magnolia dam that had to be repaired. Natsu, you burnt half of the forest and uprooted the other half of the trees. Gray, your ice melted and flooded the market square. Gajeel, you tore up 37 roads with your iron."

Each of the men hang their heads in shame.

"And yet, I am so proud of you," The old man smiles. "The children of Fairy Tail go all out with their feelings. I was very proud of each and every one of your ideas. It warms my heart to know that the feelings that all of you have are strong enough to manifest like this."

A loud cheer emanates from the members. They congratulate each other when a middle-aged balding man enters the guild and hands Makarov a piece of paper. The old man clutches the paper and then his chest.

"15 million jewels for damages?" He yells at the top of his lungs.

"Everybody, haul ass." Natsu yells.

Everyone runs out of the guild in all haste lest they face the wrath of their tiny master.

Gajeel decides that it's for the best that he and Levy stay away from Makarov's wrath. So he offers an invitation to his house for his blue-haired girlfriend. This makes her smile. Her smile makes him discombobulated.

"Did I tell you that your idea was amazing," Levy asks. "Because I heard from the other girls what their boyfriends did. Let me tell you. It wasn't even half as good as yours."

A feral grin crosses his face. "Is that so?"

Levy nods, her wavy blue hair bouncing so deliciously that Gajeel forgets to breathe for a minute. How is it that this girl can transfix him with the simplest of movements?

"Where did you get the idea?"

Gajeel figured that she would ask this question. He reaches into his coat and pulls out the book that she left at his place the other day.

"I was looking for this," she exclaims.

"You left that at my place." His comment is dismissive, not unusual for Gajeel. But Levy notices the faint blush on his cheekbone. He's also frowning, a telltale sign that he's trying to prevent himself from being embarrassed. The Dragon Slayer can feel her eyes on him. "What? So I borrowed some of the puzzles in the book for the game," he grumbles.

"I didn't say anything to that effect. I'm just very happy you went through all of that effort for me." Levy takes his big hand into her small one and intertwines their fingers. "It means the world to me."

Feeling the warmth of her hand is enough for Gajeel. "YOU mean the world to me." And then he leans down and kisses Levy, using his free hand to cup her chin. After the lip embrace, the Iron Dragon Slayer stands at his full height. "Now com'n. I'm feeling hungry. How 'bout I make something for dinner?"

Levy allows her boyfriend to lead her to his house, satisfied in the knowledge that Gajeel loves her fiercely.

Word count 4,444

And that's the end of that chapter.

This is one of my cross post events in my series: The Romantic Man contest. I haven't written the Natsu and Lucy one yet but if you want to see Gray's entry, read Chapter three of my Gruvia fic: C is for Competitive. If you want to see what Romeo and Wendy did on their day, read my standalone fic, The Not-a-Date Date.

Coming up with these puzzles were very difficult. It's why I only showed the first two. This could have easily passed 10k words and you probably would have been bored. (Or not. I don't know.)

So, liked it? Hated it? Have no opinion one way or the other? Leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you.

Here's the prompt for the next chapter.

Gajeel feels itchy in this attire. He's not a big fan of formal wear. But today is a special day for him...and for Levy. And as he waits by the altar, he knows that it will be worth it when the two of them are officially husband and wife.

Real easy what the W word is.

Four chapters to go.

Until next time,

A. Angel