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Of Fire and Fear

Summary:

Fairy Tail has disbanded. Everyone is moving on. Or at least they try, but it’s difficult to accept the way things are now. Without everyone they’ve had to support them, especially with the Tartaros aftermath, it’s not that easy.

Their time apart might be one of the hardest things they’ve ever gone through.

Notes:

I am so so so so excited for this part of the rewrite! Having said that though, PLEASE heed the tags. I’ll give more specific warnings at the beginning of each chapter if applicable, but yeah... this part is going to be very dark

Chapter 1: It’s Fine

Chapter Text

Soft paws prodded at Natsu’s cheek, their pads brushing across his warm scales. “Natsu… please get up. You need to get up.” 

Natsu groaned, his nose scrunching up as he rolled over, dislodging Happy, causing him to let out a quiet Oof.  

“Natsu!” Happy clambered onto his shoulder, and decided to try his luck nipping at his ear instead. 

The dragon slayer growled and shook the exceed off. “Fuck off, Happy,” he grumbled, curling up tighter and shifting his wing so he could hide beneath it. “M’tired…” He was so tired. He felt like all he was capable of was sleeping. 

“But it’s already noon!” Happy protested. “And you didn’t want to get up yesterday either!” 

Natsu forced his eyes open and pulled his wing away, squinting at the bright sunlight. “Not like it matters. There’s nothing to do.” They’d just been traveling, alternating between walking and flying (now that his wing had finally healed enough for it), for almost a month now. It was more than okay for him to take a couple days just to rest. 

“You haven’t eaten, either,” Happy pressed on. “I brought you a fish last night, but I couldn’t get you to get up!” 

“Not hungry…” Natsu let his eyes slip shut again. And truly, he wasn’t. He just didn’t feel like eating, let alone putting forth the effort to go fishing or hunting. And this far out in the wilderness, that was all they could do for a meal. Hell, even if they weren’t days and days away from civilization, it wasn’t like they had the money to pay for a meal anyways.

“I’m worried, Natsu…” Happy admitted. “This isn’t like you.” 

Natsu sighed. He knew that. Of course he did. Somewhere in his head. But that didn’t necessarily mean that he cared. “Just let me sleep today, and we’ll start moving again tomorrow, alright?” he requested. 

Happy hesitated, but eventually said, “You promise?” 

Natsu opened his eyes again, taking in the concern in Happy’s wide eyes, the way his tail tip swished anxiously, his ears pressing against his skull. “I promise, buddy.” He even forced himself to smile at him. 

“Al-Alright, then…” Happy relented, before padding over to force his way underneath Natsu’s arm and curl up against his chest. “You’re hot,” he said. 

“I’m always hot,” Natsu said, his eyes already drooping again. 

“No, I think you might have a fever,” Happy clarified. “Not even you’re this warm.” 

“S’fine, Happy,” he said. “I promise I’m fine.” 

Because he was always fine. He wasn’t any different, and there wasn’t anything wrong with him. 

There just wasn’t. 


“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Gajeel muttered quietly. “You… you did tell them I was with you… right?” 

Levy tried to hide her smile beneath her hand, but by the way Gajeel was glaring at her, she didn’t think she had succeeded. “Yes, I told them I was bringing a former guildmate. I promise you, they won’t mind. Actually, they’re excited that we’re coming by. I think my sister is even coming to stay with her husband and kids while we’re there.” 

Gajeel’s frown deepened, and Levy realized he would probably only be more uncomfortable with more people there. “But did you tell them it was me you were bringing?” he repeated. 

Levy sighed and turned away from him, not wanting Gajeel to interpret her sad expression as pitying him. It had taken a lot to convince him to come stay with her at her parents while they got their futures figured out, rather than being alone in Magnolia, as literally everyone else had left the town by now. And despite her constant reassurances that her family wouldn’t mind having him around at all, he still seemed convinced they would dislike him. “I gave them a heads up that you were part dragon, they’re polite enough not to say anything about it. I can’t guarantee the same about my sister’s kids, though. They are pretty young.” 

Gajeel readjusted the bag slung over his shoulder. “Think I’ll freak the kids out?” 

“Gajeel, you’re not that scary,” she said with an eye roll. 

“Maybe to you, but y’er used to my face and bastards with big fangs and claws,” he grumbled. 

Levy guessed he might have a point. To small children, or hell, to anyone who didn’t know him, she supposed Gajeel probably did look intimidating, at the least. “I’m sure it will be fine,” she assured him. Even if the kids didn’t like him, they would probably get used to him eventually. Or perhaps she could talk to them about it. “It will be fine. Although… please try not to swear in front of them.” 

“The kids? Fine,” he muttered. 

“No, my entire family,” she requested. “They uh… they don’t like it.” 

“They don’t like swearing?” Gajeel threw his head back and cackled. “Fucking hell, Lev. That’s fucking ridiculous. Who doesn’t cuss?” 

Levy knew she couldn’t expect Gajeel to completely cut out swearing from his vocabulary. “Maybe just don’t say fuck? Just like… stick to hell and damn, alright?” 

“I said I’d try,” he said. “Gods, they really are gonna hate me, huh?” 

“Maybe they’ll think you’re a little… strange,” she admitted. “A little rough around the edges. They really don’t know anything about magic or the ways that guilds work, I don’t think they even watched the Grand Magic Games, but they won’t hate you. If anything, they’ll be overly curious. If they ever get to be overbearing, though, just let me know, and I’ll get them off your back. Now come on.” Before she could overthink it, Levy grabbed his hand and tugged him after her. “It’s just down the road, let’s go!” 


Gajeel honestly wasn’t sure what he was expecting from Levy’s family. Maybe it was a bunch of small, blue-haired, knowledge-obsessed individuals. Then he realized that he didn’t know how families were normally supposed to look in general, not just Levy’s. Hell, Levy was the only person he actually knew with a normal family. But from what he knew, families were supposed to look like each other, right? (The Strauss siblings certainly shared some similar characteristics). 

So he really wasn’t ready to see that Levy was still a foot shorter than her parents, or that neither one of them had blue hair. 

Honestly he was a little disappointed. 

James and Laura McGarden were two of the most normal looking people Gajeel had ever seen, which he supposed wasn’t saying much, but was true, nonetheless. He supposed if he squinted, they did share similar features with their daughter. Levy had her father’s nose, her mother’s eye color, that kind of thing. 

He just really hadn’t expected the other McGardens to be blond. 

“Oh, sweetie, it’s so good to see you!” Laura exclaimed as she grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a hug. “We read about that— that awful guild you fought against and we were so relieved to hear you were okay!” 

“I’m fine, Mom, I promise,” Levy said, melting into her mother’s touch. She reached her hand out and pulled her father into the hug. “I’m okay.” 

Gajeel took a slow step back, feeling for the step that led off the front porch. He really shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have come to meet Levy’s family, or at the least, he should have waited for her to have some time with them before he was here hovering over them. His wings curled around his body, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. 

Unfortunately, it was too late to bolt now. Even if they hadn’t acknowledged him, the McGardens had to have noticed him. He wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. But, he also didn’t care if they thought he was rude (because he was rude), so he turned on his heel and prepared to leave the McGardens little countryside house. 

“And where do you think you’re going, young man?” 

Gajeel froze, his shoulders hunching, before he frowned, and mouthed the words Young man. “You talkin’ to me?” he demanded, looking over his shoulder at Levy’s mother. 

“Gajeel!” Levy growled, crossing her arms and glaring at him, probably realizing what he’d been about to do. 

“I… uh…” For some reason, the way Laura was looking at him made him feel extremely guilty. She didn’t seem phased by the dragon bits at all. Or any of the rest of him. 

“Levy told us she was bringing a friend,” James said as he rested his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “We’ve actually never really met any of the people she knows, we were excited to get to know you.” 

Gajeel let out a breath and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Right…” He doubted anything he said or did was going to display Fairy Tail in the best light. 

But then again, that didn’t really matter, did it? Because Fairy Tail had disbanded. “Well, name’s Gajeel Redfox. Thanks fer… putin’ me up for a while.” 

“Oh, it’s no trouble. We’ve already got the guest room set up and everything,” Laura said with a wave of her hand. “Come on, come inside.” She held the door open, ushering for him to come in. “Make sure you take off your shoes.” 

“Uh, alright.” Gajeel steeped inside, kicking off his boots as he went. 

Levy smiled at him, and patted his arm as he walked by, doing her best to reassure him. But Gajeel still didn’t think he should be here. 


Minerva nibbled on a piece of bread, knowing she needed to get something in her stomach. She genuinely couldn’t tell if she felt ill due to not taking care of herself, or if it was her guilt. 

“Minerva,” Rogue said quietly. 

She forced herself to look up at him. “What?” 

“You know why I’m here,” he said. 

“Well I didn’t ask you to be here!” she snapped, though there was no real bite in her words. “Go back to the guild.”

Rogue just sighed and shook his head, before getting up to come sit next to her on the bed. “Can I open the curtains?” 

With her free hand, Minerva clutched at the quilt wrapped around her shoulders. “I… yeah, you can open the curtains.” There was no real reason for her to be wallowing in the darkness like this. Sure, she had been having difficulty sleeping as of late, it seemed demons tended to be nocturnal, and having the blackout curtains drawn made it easier to trick herself into being up during the day, like she needed to be. But that just meant it was dark literally all the time. 

Rogue nodded, and got up to open the curtains. 

She bit back a hiss as sunlight flooded into the little room. She’d been forced into staying with Sting and Rogue after the Tartaros incident. She hadn’t exactly been paying rent on her own place after the Grand Magic Games and she’d gotten involved in Succubus Eye and then Tartaros, and obviously her father was no longer around, so his house wasn’t either. 

If she actually went to the guild and picked some jobs, she’d have enough for a down payment for her own apartment within a couple weeks, but… 

That was why Rogue was here with her, rather than at the guild himself. 

“You should come to the guildhall,” Rogue said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “It’s been a month now.” 

“I… I can’t,” she whispered. 

She didn’t think it would be this hard. She didn’t regret coming back with Sting and Rogue, but the first day after they’d gotten back, she’d tried to go to the guildhall, and everyone had just… stared at her. 

It wasn’t hostile, not quite, a few Sabertooth members even tried to make small conversation with her. Elfman Strauss had been particularly friendly, assuring her that he didn’t care at all that she was a demon, after all, his sister had demonic powers and could be comparable to one of the creatures herself. 

His reassurances did nothing to make Minerva feel any better, however. She’d gotten up, and fled back to Sting and Rogue’s while he’d been in mid sentence. 

She had no idea how she was going to do this. 

If they had looked at her with anger, she would have been just fine. She knew anger, she liked anger, it was easily understood. 

If they’d looked at her with fear, she wouldn’t care either. It was only fair for them to fear her. Never mind how she’d treated them all in the past, but now she had horns sticking out of her head, menacing black markings, claws on her fingertips, and a mouthful of fangs. But they hadn’t been scared of her either. 

No, they’d all been looking at her with pity.  

Minerva clutched at the blanket so tightly the fabric tore beneath her claws. The last thing she wanted was pity. She’d rather die than be considered pitiful. 

Sure, she’d made some mistakes, she’d fucked up, all in the name of power, and now she was stuck with this damned body. 

But that didn’t mean she wanted them to look at her that way. 

The only ones who didn’t were Sting and Rogue. 

“You have to eventually,” Rogue said, coming to sit by her side once more. “Come on. You don’t even have to stay very long. Just get a job, maybe a meal. It can be a solo job, or just one with me, and it can be one away from civilization. But you can’t just stay here all the time. That wasn’t the deal. You said you were going to try, that you were going to be a member of Sabertooth, but that’s not what you’re doing now.” 

Minerva bared her teeth in a snarl. “I’ll go when I’m ready!” 

Rogue narrowed his eyes. “I’ll give you another week, Minerva. And if you still won’t leave this apartment of your own volition, I’ll get Sting, and we’ll drag you to the guildhall by force if we have to.” 

Minerva haunched her shoulders, but could grudgingly admit that Rogue… did have a point. It wasn’t like she could just stay here forever. And… and she did want to rejoin Sabertooth, she really did, but… 

But she just hated the way they looked at her. 

“Hey, look at me,” Rogue coaxed. 

She huffed, but looked the dragon slayer in the eye. 

“Just prove to them that you’re as strong as ever,” he said. 

“How the hell did you—?” she began. 

“Slayers are relatively good at sensing emotions,” Rogue said. “You’re more frustrated than anything. And guilty…” He shook his head. “And I’ve known you for a long time, Minerva. I can read you fairly well. And if you don’t want them to pity you, stop hiding and start acting like your regular self.” 

“I’ll think about it,” she relented.

Rogue looked far from pleased with the answer, but gave up pressing her for the time being.


“Auntie Levy!” two little girls exclaimed, rushing towards Levy and clinging onto her legs. 

Levy giggled and leaned down to hug them. “Hey, girls!” 

Gajeel took a deep breath, and watched Levy ask the girls how they’d been, what school was like. They couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. 

He’d only been at the McGardens for about two hours, awkwardly conversing with her parents, when Levy’s older sister had shown up with her kids. Evidently her husband ended up being unable to come, some work thing or something, Gajeel didn’t really care, he was just glad that meant there was one less new person for him to get used to. 

After chattering with them for a few moments, Levy got back to her feet, and gestured to Gajeel. “This is my friend, Gajeel. Gajeel, these are my nieces, Marie and Ellie.” She nudged the girls towards him. 

Gajeel crossed his arms and stared down at them. They weren’t twins, he didn’t think. If he had to guess, he’d say one was about a year older than the other, though they did look similar. Both girls had short, choppy brown hair, just like their mother, and wide brown eyes. 

Levy’s sister, June, stepped over to whisper in Levy’s ear, “I told them what you told me about him, but you know how they get. I’m sorry if they say something rude.” 

Levy shook her head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” 

The girls stared at him with wide eyes, and Gajeel forced himself to smile. 

Ellie, the younger one, he assumed, gasped and tried to hide behind her sister. Gajeel just rolled his eyes. 

“Say hello, girls,” June urged. 

“H-Hi…” Marie said, offering Gajeel a small wave. 

The dragon slayer squatted down so that he was eye level with them, and held out his hand. “Nice to meet ya, young lady.” 

Marie grinned and took his hand, excitedly shaking it, before inspecting his claws, and running her thumb across the scars all over his fingers. “Look, look Ellie! He’s got cool claws!” 

Gajeel nearly snorted. She was excited over the claws, but not the wings?

Ellie peered over her sister’s shoulder, nervously gnawing on her lip, but she did her best to smile at Gajeel. 

Gajeel ruffled Marie’s hair. She reminded him a bit of Wendy. Or maybe he just missed his little sister too much. 

Either way, maybe he wouldn’t mind Levy’s family as much as he’d thought he would.


Levy had no idea what to think. It’d hardly been anytime at all, and Gajeel was already letting her nieces climb all over him, poking at his scales and wings, his claws. Currently, he was letting them braid little ribbons into his hair. 

“Where did you find someone like him?” June asked as she leaned over the kitchen counter, peering into the living room so she could keep an eye on her kids. 

“He joined my guild almost a year ago,” Levy said. “He’s… he’s—” 

“I admit, I got a little nervous when I saw him,” June said. “Of course, I trusted you, so I wasn’t going to say anything, but he… well, he looks like that. Your heads up really didn’t tell me much.” 

Levy sighed and focused on the potatoes she was cutting up for dinner. She supposed she couldn’t fault her sister, even if she wanted to. Gajeel didn’t even look human. 

“But he seems like a good guy,” she said. “The girls love him already.” 

“So does Dad,” Levy said with a smile, glancing towards the living room, where her father was talking Gajeel’s ear off about something. It was clear the dragon slayer wasn’t actually paying attention, he was more focused on her nieces, but it was endearing, nonetheless. 

“He’s… strangely good with kids,” June continued. 

Levy shrugged. “Well, he has four younger siblings. I guess it makes sense that he would be.” And honestly… he was probably glad for the distraction, or even just people to treat him… normally. She’d noticed the way the girls had fawned over the scars on his hand, not thinking to ask where they were from or anything like that. It was probably refreshing for Gajeel, after so many people had worried over him after the battle. 

“Ah. They all like him?” her sister asked. “Dragons, I mean?”

“Two of them are,” Levy replied. 

June walked to the sink to wash off some tomatoes. “Hey, Lev…” 

“Hm?” 

“I know Mom and Dad never pry about this kind of thing,” she began. “Honestly, I think they’re scared to know what you’re up to most of the time… but… after you came back from the dead, I decided that I… well I started keeping up with you the best I could.” 

Shit… Levy never liked worrying her family. She knew that was impossible to do for the most part, but it would be so much worse if they actually started looking into the things she got involved in. 

“I watched the Grand Magic Games,” she said. “Not in person, of course. And… and then I read all the news I could on that Tartaros guild… Levy, are you okay? You know you can talk to us, right?” 

“I promise I’m fine,” Levy assured her, as quickly as she could without it sounding fake. “I’m much better off than most.” 

Her sister frowned. “You have a bad leg because of it.” 

“Yes well…” Levy sighed and shifted her weight, realizing that her brace was getting uncomfortable now that June had pointed it out. She was also glad that she’d never actually told her family that Gajeel was the one responsible for that. “It could still be worse.” 

She looked into the living room again, to see Gajeel still halfway listening to her father ramble, and handing her nieces new ribbons when they requested them. 

It could be so much worse. 

“Levy! June!” Her mother stumbled down the stairs, balancing her fancy dishes on her palms. “I finally found the good dishware! How close is dinner to being done?” 

“I promise I’m fine,” Levy assured her sister one more time. “Now come on, let’s not do this right now.”