Late and tired they reached a warmer part of the mountain. They had to search for a good spot. Rose was weakened so they had to get away from the snow. They had found her yesterday but she is barely awake. Levy and Gajeel only wake her up when she needs to eat. Levy even has to feed her.
They set up camp in the middle of the day. They had two sleeping bags but Gajeel offered his up for Rose. He was gathering firewood while Levy stayed near Rose, watching over her as she cooked up a meal for three. Rose was still fast asleep. She needed the rest.
Levy cherished her sisters cheek. Her sister been through a lot and this time she looks worse than the last time she was freed from that same mountain. But how did she get there in the first place?
Levy noticed a scar at her left wrist. Poor thing.
Gajeel got back fast, his arms full with food. 'Did she wake up already?', he asked her when he noticed the boiling pot of soup. Levy was currently taking bread out of the backpack.
'Not yet', she placed the bread on a plate and opened the tent. 'Rose?', she asked in a gentle voice. 'Are you hungry?', she shook her shoulder.
Rose's eyes slowly fluttered open. Levy needed to help her sit straight. 'It's some soup'. The soup in question was steaming so she had to blow the spoon to cool it down. 'It's still a little hot. But it will do you good'.
'Thanks', Rose presented a soft smile. Afterwards she asked Levy: 'Where is Gajeel?'
'Outside', Levy decided to answer honest.
Her sister rolled with her eyes and ate a few more bites. After that she got more sleep. Levy wished to get home as quickly as possible so Wendy could heal her.
Gajeel was still eating at the fire. 'Did she eat?', he asked with his mouth full. Levy sat beside him and warmed her hands at the fire. She decided to lean against him. 'She did...', it was silent after that. Levy was eating her portion of the soup and bread.
'I'm going to the village in the east of here', Gajeel said after a while. 'Food is running low. Going to grab some grub'.
'Let me go', Levy looked up at him. 'Rose has nothing but a dress to wear. She needs a coat and pants and I bet you don't know her measurements'.
'What if she wakes up?'
'I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps until tomorrow morning. Tell her I'll be right back if she wakes up. Is that fine with you?'
'Sure'.
'I should go quickly. Don't want to stand in front of closed doors', she quickly ate and stood up. Carefully she opened the tents, not to wake Rose. Her bag was next to the entrance.
'I think I'll be back after an hour', she pecked Gajeels lips. And smiled as her hand rested on the cheek. 'Thank you'.
'For what?'
'Everything', she felt the need to give him another small kiss. 'Want something from the store?'
'Kiwi's. Lily isn't around so I had to do without. Starting to miss it'.
'Lily or the kiwi's?', she winked.
'Both', he slapped her butt playful. 'I thought you wanted to get to the stores before they closed'.
'Be right back', she swung her bag over her shoulder with an exaggerated swung to hit him in the face. She flashed a quick grin. Revenge for the slap against the but.
---
Gajeel was leaning against a log, staring at the sky. Levy left about half an hour ago. She was probably searching between the clothes rack at this moment.
A soft complain came from the tent. Gajeel looked at it and listened. Perhaps he misheard, perhaps it was mumbling in her sleep. But he knew it wasn't because that's not interesting to write in a story.
Rose mumbled another time. This time he could hear it clearly, using his enhanced hearing. 'Levy?', she asked. 'Levy?'
'Levy will be right back'.
A short silence. '...Gajeel?'
'Yeah'.
Another silence, but this time longer. Gajeel thought she fell back asleep or wanted to igno t65re him. He was wrong. After a while she called out his name again.
'Yeah?', he grumbled, trying to sound as nice as possible.
A question, softer than a whisper, reached his ears. 'Sorry?', the dragon slayer stood up and made way to the tent. He opened up. Rose was avoiding eye contact. 'When is Levy coming back?', Gajeel noticed that her voice regained a bit of strength back.
'Will take half an hour, maybe a whole hour. Depends'.
'Half an hour!?', her eyes widened. Unease was written all over her face.
'What is it?', he crouched down to look at her. It was his way of trying hard to make her feel at ease. 'Shrimp is fine. I promise'.
'Levy... Not shrimp', Rose shivered.
'She went to a village for some food and clothes'.
The injured didn't reply. She still denied any form of eye contact. 'Levy is fine', Gajeel repeated again. He noticed that Rose was shifting uncomfortable in her sleeping bag. 'What is it?', he tried to ask her. Too cold, too hot? Sick? How could he know if she didn't talk.
Rose opened her mouth and closed it again. She looked tired.
'Don't need to tell', he was about to stand up but Rose stopped him. She tried to grab his arm but was stuck in the sleeping bag.
'Wait', she got silent yet another time.
'You can tell me', he tried to sound nice again. Levy had this way of talking. He could listen hours to it and he noticed more than once that people could rely on her if something was wrong.
Rose huffed and looked him in the eye, finally. He was surprised when he noticed a light blush on her cheeks. She looked a lot more like Levy if she didn't look angry all the time.
She tried to sit up straight but it didn't work out like she wanted. Too tired.
'I need help', she admitted against her will.
'With?'
Her face became a special kind of bright red. She took a big breath and answered: 'Bathroom, alright? I need to use the bathroom'.
'Ow', Gajeels face became equally red.
'Now...', she added.
Gajeel looked around him. Maybe Levy got back early? He was kidding himself. It was impossible to make the trip within half an hour. 'Do I have to?', he asked, knowing well what the answer would be.
'It's not like I want you to help me', Rose looked away again.
Gajeel grumbled some curses and got up. He helped Rose to zip the sleeping bag open. She was weak and yet she tried to do it herself. 'It's fine', Gajeel insured her. Rose listened for a change and didn't even complain when he picked her up. That was the first time she noticed that she wore his jacket. She was sincerely surprised that he offered up his sleeping bag and jacket for her while he had to stay in the freezing cold. She bit her lip, not knowing how to react to this new information.
'Is this any good?', the dragon slayer mumbled as he put her on the ground behind a bush. There was a branch she could hold on to. They both didn't want the other around while business was taken care of.
'Will do', Rose's voice was still weak and she trembled on her legs. It would be difficult for her. She was already leaning against a tree.
'Yell if you're done', Gajeel waited for a moment before he turned around eventually. A simple task could be an ordeal for Rose at the moment. Perhaps she needed assistance. She didn't call out for help though. Fine with him.
It took her a while to perform the task. She even tried to wobble back to the tent on her own. She tripped over one of the roots however, after walking four meters. 'Gajeel!?', she yelled in a weak voice afterwards. This was embarrassing.
He quickly arrived and picked her up. Rose got carried back in princes-style.
The friendly fire was casting shadows over the ground. It was already getting darker outside and Levy hadn't returned. They were at the wrong side of the mountain so it was expected to be dark quickly.
Levy better hurry up back. No telling which monsters could lurk in the dark.
Rose must have thought the same. 'I hope Levy gets back quickly', her eyes slowly closed. She was getting tired again.
'She will', Levy is a strong mage after all. He thought the last part.
They were back at the tent. Gajeel crouched down with Rose still in her arms. She was light and laid in his arms like an old ragdoll. It was easy to get her back in bed.
'Gajeel?', she asked, sleep driven in her voice.
'Hmm?', he hummed.
'Thanks... for the clothes I mean', she closed her eyes again.
'Don't worry about it', he didn't know how to react to this. It was the first time she had shown some kind of acceptance or kindness towards him.
Rose wasn't done talking. 'I can't believe Levy picked you over me', her eyes still closed. It must have bothered her a long time. To blur it out like that wasn't typical for her.
Gajeel shifted on his feet, wondering how he could explain everything. He sat down on Levy's air mattress, knowing this could take a while to explain. He chose the forward approach: 'That was me. Levy and I switched bodies when Miss Crazy came along'.
Rose didn't speak. There was doubt in the man's mind, did she fall asleep?
He was about to leave her alone when she refound her speech. 'Why did you do that?'
'Levy's idea', his simple answer.
'What for?', a moment of thought. A soft curse followed by: 'I think I know'.
'How did you ever survive? I couldn't even find your cage anymore'.
'Miss Crazy, how you called her, had made a contraption. The cage fell into a cushion-like substance. She brought me to the mountain afterwards. She said something about "resetting" me, I don't know. She brought me a bag full of food afterwards but that was it', Rose forced the words to come out, even if she was too tired to do anything really.
'Wel... I'm glad you're back', Gajeel patted softly on her knee and stood up. It was time for her to rest. They would try to talk some more later.
Rose nodded.
YES, I used the cheapest form of comedy! why? because I enjoyed writing that piece of garbage <3 hope you liked it too