Gaining Courage: The Search for the Lost Keys (a Fairytail Galu story)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Pain Revealed

Recap: Lucy Heartfillia has set out by herself after the War to retrieve Aquarius's key. Taking a S-Class request along the way to retrieve a highly sort after staff she has travelled far and wide to find both artifacts. As she journeyed across Fiore she ran into Gajeel Redfox and teamed up. They both have feelings left over from the War the most pressing is their mutual loss of the mage Levy McGarden. Time however heals many wounds and the two Fairy Tail wizards find themselves growing closer and their feeling becoming muddled.

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Lucy POV:

Finishing supper, I settled down across from Gajeel next to the fire and continued to think about what had been plaguing me all day. What was I going to do when Gajeel decided to call it quits? I knew that I had been lucky up till now that all this time with him had been better than I ever expected when I set out on this quest but what will I...

"Bunny, can I ask you a question?"

Glancing across, I was about to reply when I got a good look at his face. He looked like he was in pain or that something was very wrong. 

"Gajeel are you alright?

Shaking his head, he paused for a second as though second guessing himself. With a sigh he looked back at me with what I swore was regret.

"Bunny are you in pain?"

Looking at him this time in confusion and no little shock, I was about to speak when he continued.

"Sometimes you get this look as if you were hurt even though you haven't been injured. At night sometimes you'll grab your side and wince really bad when you think I'm not looking. Last month when we were at that road side inn you were curled up in the bathroom crying and gripping your side. The only reason I didn't say anything then is because when you came out you were all sunshine and rainbows and shit."

Never in a million years did I think this was what Gajeel wanted to talk about. Taking a deep breath I tried to think of how to respond. As I looked back at him I knew that I could blow him off but did I want to open this can of worms. Looking deeper I could see the worry he was trying to hide and I realised that whether I was ready or not Gajeel deserved to hear the truth. Steadying myself I tried to think about how to begin.

"Gajeel what do you remember about the end of the War. Specifically what happened right at the end?"

Gajeel looked confused for a second and looked like he was about to speak when he paused and gave me a searching look. I continued to looked at him as calmly as I could considering what I was about to reveal.

"I heard what everyone heard that Natsu went nuts turned demon, fought Zeref and almost killed him before you, Stripper, and First Master used that weird Lunine Histori shit and that fucked up demon ice to seal that nutjob Zeref and the First away together."

Nodding I closed my eyes and braced myself as I finally spoke for the first time of my nightmare and Natsu's.

"Alright, at the end everything was chaos. We were trying our hardest just to keep alive let alone make a blow against Zeref. While the others were distracting him it was my job to finish the spell that would contain him only Zeref realised what we were trying to do and sent a dead wave straight at me."

At this point I couldn't look up for I knew what my next words would do and I didn't want to witness the look on his face.

"I didn't see it in time as I was concentrating on the spell, Levy however did. I didn't even know she was anywhere near me, she was supposed to be safe helping with the injured.She pushed me out of the way..."