Konnichiwa, minna!! I'm back!! Please don't kill me!! *covers her face with her hands pitifully* I swear I didn't mean to be gone so long, it just sort of happened. I wasn't really motivated to finish this story honestly, and I actually wasn't planning on it, but then I realized I was being a hypocrite. I hate it when authors don't finish their stories and there I was doing the exact same thing. Plus, lately one of my irl readers gave me the inspiration to write this again. So here I am. I'll try not to do that again. Thank you to all of the readers who have kept up with me, and if any have left, I'm truly sorry about that. I hope you'll come back. Thank you to all of my new followers for following me as well! I will get to following all of you back as soon as possible. And to any new readers, welcome to my crazy world! So, as reassurance again, I do plan on finishing this story, because if I don't I won't be able to hold up my head as not just a writer but also as a fanfiction writer. So rest easy. I hope I'll be writing more frequently now as well since spring break starts when school lets out tomorrow. Yay!! Finally!! I thought I was going to explode. So, I would rant on, but you're not here for me, you're here for the chapter! So, here you are! Chapter 24! It's a bit short, just a warning. I am currently working on Chapter 25 so rest easy.  

     After having eaten their cake, which Erza never ceased to rant about, they thanked Kinana and Erik and left. Levy had somehow come back to life by that point and they were on their way to the bookshop. As soon as Levy and Lucy stepped foot inside, there was no going back. They spent about two hours in there and Erza had to drag them out to finally leave. Levy bought like twenty books, well Lucy forcibly bought them for her, and Lucy bought around ten. Poor little Levy was so overloaded all you could see of her were her legs, and her small hands on the edge of the books.

     "Levy-chan, why don't you let us help?" Lucy asked, sweat dropping at her friend's position.

     "Don't worry, I can carry it," Levy's muffled voice came from behind the wall of books.

     "Why don't we just drop them off at your house?" Erza suggested.

     "Yeah, that's a great idea, why don't we?" Lucy asked.

     "Lu-chan, could you step into my office for a second please?" Levy said.

     Lucy felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards and walked behind the massive wall of books.

     "You're not just a pair of floating legs!" Lucy exclaimed happily.

     Levy rolled her eyes at her and whispered, "Aren't you forgetting something important about what's in my house?" she whispered harshly.

     Lucy flinched at her tone but thought about it before she exclaimed, "Oh! Gajeel!"

     "Ding, ding, ding! Erza can't know about him!" she whisper shouted.

     "Don't worry, I'll handle it," Lucy assured her.

     She stepped out from behind Levy's "office" and went up to Erza.

     "Erza, you know, I'm really craving that heavenly cake we had earlier. That really was the best cake place in Fiore. Could you go get some while I accompany Levy to her house to drop off her books?" she asked, inching closer with every sentence.

     "Of course! I would be-wait I cannot let you accompany Levy alone," Erza said, crossing her arms.

     "Oh, come on, Erza. I'll be fine, I have my sword, and I can take care of myself," Lucy said.

     "I can fight too!" Levy's voice came to them.

     "See, we'll be perfectly fine," Lucy said.

     "I'm sorry, I can't Lucy. It is my duty to-"

     "The frosting was so light, it melted as soon as it touched my tongue," Lucy cut her off. "And the cake has the most perfect texture and-"

     "I'm coming for you, cake!" Erza yelled as she dashed off zigzagging through the streets.

     "Mission accomplished," Lucy smirked. "You know, for possibly the strongest soldier in the whole royal army that was too easy."

     "Yeah, but what can you do? Erza is Erza," Levy said.

     "You got that right. Now, let's go meet Gajeel!" Lucy declared.

     Lucy somehow managed to help Levy navigate the busy streets of the city, of course not without any cuts and bruises, but they managed. By the time they got to Levy's house, Lucy was pretty sure Levy had some sort of concussion from the number of times her tower of books had fallen on her on their way there, and she made some weird comment about seeing two of Lucy, so she probably needed to rest...

     "Hey, one of you two Lucys, please grab my keys from my purse," Levy said.

     "Levy, there is only one of me. You know what, when we get inside, you're sitting down," Lucy said.

     "That's probably a good idea. Now get the keys out and unlock the door before I fall over."

     "Got'em," Lucy said, grabbing them from her purse.

     Lucy stuck the keys in the lock and jiggled them around until she heard a click. The first thing Lucy was met with when she opened the door was a deep and menacing growl, and in front of her stood the tallest person she had ever seen in her life, or rather, tallest ryu she had ever seen in her life. He towered over her at 6.2. He had long, unruly black hair that went past his waist, piercing crimson eyes, tan skin, scars on his arms and torso, metal piercing all over his face; dark, metallic scales decorating his enormous wings, golden horns, and pointy white fangs. His upper lip was curled in a snarl and he was glaring at her menacingly. Lucy was rooted to her spot, unable to make a sound. He slowly advanced towards her, limping quite a bit, until Levy's voice interrupted them.

     "Lu-chan, would you hurry it up! I have a huge stack of knowledge in my arms here, and I'm pretty sure the world is spinning around me..."

     The big brute in front of Lucy looked confused for a second before Lucy snapped out of her petrified state and scurried past the intimidating Gajeel to allow Levy to come in. She stumbled in, her huge stack of books wavering as she stepped in.

     "Shrimp? Is that you, or has your head finally turned into a book from everything you cram in there?" Gajeel asked in probably the deepest voice Lucy had ever heard.

     Lucy snorted and she heard Levy grumble something unintelligible before saying, "Shut up, Gajeel and help me!"

     "Tch, telling me what to do..." he muttered before grabbing the whole stack of books like it was nothing and limping over to the table. Lucy grabbed Levy before she could fall down and closed the door, locking it in the process. She led her over to the couch where Gajeel had settled himself and sat her down.

     "What's up with the shrimp?" he asked.

     "She was hit by too many books on the way here," Lucy explained.

     "Hey, shorty, you ok?" Gajeel asked, turning to her.

     "Gajeel? There are three of you?! This is the weirdest day ever," she stated, rubbing her head.

     "How many books was she hit by?" he asked.

      "Too many to count," Lucy said, shaking her head.

      "So what's your name, Bunny Girl?" he asked, as he shoved Levy's head onto his lap.

      "Wh-What are you?" Levy started.

      "Shut up and rest, Shortstack," he said, glaring at her.

      "Fine," she said and snuggled closer to him.

     Lucy saw Gajeel's cheeks flush as Levy made herself comfortable on his chest. She bit the inside of her lip to resist the urge to squeal. Gajeel cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from the sleeping bluenette.

     "So-So what's your name, Bunny Girl?" he repeated, his eyes glancing back at Levy.

     "Bunny Girl?" she asked, confused.

     "You look like a bunny," he said with a shrug, as if it was a simple fact.

     "Ok... My name is Lucy Heartfilia, I know Natsu. I don't know if Levy-chan told you or not?"

     "She did, I just didn't remember yer name. How's the Salamander doin'?"

     "He's doing much better than before thanks to that salve Porlyusica made, I'm sure he'll be able to walk soon."

     "Did you say Porlyusica?" he asked, looking troubled.

     "Yes, why?" she asked, eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "Do you know her?"

     "No, of course not," he said, still looking quite troubled.

     "Ok... Anyway, we just stopped by to drop off the books, and I guess now Levy," she said looking at the sleeping bluenette. "I'll tell Natsu you're doing okay."

     Lucy turned to leave before she remembered something and turned back around to face Gajeel.

     "By the way, you should maybe tell Levy about your situation yourself, she was pretty hurt when she found out Romeo and I knew, but not her. I already told her but try to fix things with her, ok?"

     Gajeel looked a little shocked, then looked back down at Levy with a bit of a regretful expression.

     "I'll try..."

     "Good," and with that Lucy exited the house with a smile on her face.

I hope you enjoyed that little chapter. Chapter 25 is on the way, I promise. Anyone excited for Loke's appearance coming up? I know I am! Even if it'll be a pain looking up all his pickup lines, I still love him. He won't be in Chapter 25, but he will come. I assure you. And who was happy about Gajeel's appearance? Finally! I know I am. I love Gajeel. He's the best. Alright, my computer's running a little low on battery at the moment , so I'll have to leave you here. Until next chapter my weirdoes!