AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

So, right, well, I wrote this today. Literally. This idea has been bugging me for almost a month now, so I wrote it. I actually wrote something. Yay! Anyway, if you haven't read Life on Repeat, you might want to? It explains a lot, but you can read it after this. It really doesn't matter the order, this is just a sort of 'bit in the middle' (you'll understand by the end of this, if not, read Life on Repeat, it explains the idea behind this and what Gajeel is talking about in this). Life of Repeat could be considered a prequel as much as the start (although, if you've read it, you'll realise that 'start' is the wrong word for it). There will be a AN at the end of this, for those interested. You don't have to read it.

Anyway, enjoy!

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed as salt water soaked into the rough tabletop. The sounds of the storm covered the heaving sobs racking the tiny frame of the girl. It had been mere hours since the stoning. The heavens wept alongside her, grieving the loss of her loved one. How could people be so cruel? How could she be expected to deny them?! How could her family force her to deny her love? Just to save her life?! She should have been stoned too. How could she go on without the one she loved, no matter how forbidden their love?

"Shrimp?"

A stark shadow flashed across the wall in front of her as lightning struck the ground once more. She watched the wall, her breathing halted. A sudden gust of wind blew her candle out as lightning flashed again, revealing the shadow to her. There was someone crouched on the window sill. Slowly, she turned on her stool, wiping her tears away with her forearm. She gasped as another flash lit the little room. How could someone be up here?! In her window?! This was not the ground level!

"Shrimp... I'm sorry." A gruff voice offered, pulling at something slumbering deep within her memories. "For yer loss." It added, the cloaked figure shifting uncomfortably. "She seemed like a good woman, that friend of yers."

Levy glared at the figure, baring her teeth in anger. How dare he?! How dare this man climb up to her window to mock her?! She shoved the strands of long, wavy blue hair that had come loose from her high bun back behind her ear as she stood defiantly from the stool. She would not cry in front of this stranger. She would not hide her sin. Love was not a sin, no matter how forbidden.

"She was not my friend," she began, her glare fierce, "she was my love."

"I know." The man answered. "That's why I came tonight."

"Tonight?" She frowned, her eyes narrowing on the strange, cloaked figure.

"I came to take ya with me, Shrimp." He answered softly, a note of affection in his voice. "I can't protect ya here – I don't belong in this place anymore."

"What are you talking about? I-I do not understand?" Levy demanded, taking a step back from the suddenly giant seeming figure before her.

"We keep finding each other, or ya keep finding me anyway." The voice seemed to grin. "I got taken from this place a good decade ago now, so ya can't find me." He explained, stepping down from the window sill. "I've come to take ya to where ya finally get yer happy ending."

"I am not going anywhere with you." She stated, keeping her voice firm.

"There's nothing left for ya here, Shrimp." He sighed, his shadowed hood looking away from her. "Yer girlfriend's dead and yer family had ya deny yer love for her to protect themselves from shame – if ya stay, the people will eventually learn that ya lied and ya'll be stoned for loving a woman."

"That does not mean I will suddenly walk out of my parent's front door with a strange man I have never met!" Levy exclaimed, throwing her clay cup across the room at him, watching in irritation as it smashed off the wall almost a foot from the cloaked figure's head.

"Gihe, it's just as well yer aim is better in the next life, Shrimp." The figured laughed, his hood shaking almost fondly at her failed attempt to injure him.

"Next life?" Levy frowned, fighting the urge to gulp as she took another step back.

"Yeah, sorry, Shorty, but it ain't the front door I need ya to walk out..." He sighed, regret ringing in his voice as he turned to look out at the crashing storm.

"The window." She murmured, looking down at her sandaled feet. "You want me to walk out the window. You want me to kill myself... My father sent you, did he not? He sent you to persuade me to take my own life, rather than have to live with the shame of watching his daughter stoned for loving another woman."

"No." The man answered, taking a step towards her. "I've never met him and never want to, not if he'd want me to make ya do that. I'm here so I can protect ya and we can have that happy ending we never get, trapped in an endless fucking cycle."

"Fucking?" Levy frowned, confused by his unusual vocabulary.

"Shit, it's been a long time since ya ain't told me off for swearing!" He laughed, leaning back against the wall as if he were merely a part of the furniture.

"Someone will hear you, you know..." Levy muttered, pursing her lips as she glared up at him. What was so funny?!

"They can't hear me, Shrimp... Only you." He replied, his gruff voice soft with some strange form of emotion. "I told ya, I got taken from this place over a decade ago. Now I need ya to come with me or we ain't gonna find each other again."

"Why would I be looking for you? I have never met you before tonight!" She exclaimed, getting annoyed with his riddles and strange way of speaking.

"We've met many times over many lifetimes in many universes." He answered, his tone causing her to imagine a sharp-toothed grin. She stumbled back, started by the realness and familiarity of that grin. "I always remember and ya always find me. Ya always recognise me, but never remember why..." he added, his voice becoming full of grief, "and then ya always die."

"What?!" Levy gasped, scrambling to put the table between her and the giant, cloaked man.

"Next time I see ya, I'm still gonna be pissed and heartbroken, Shrimp. I need ya to forgive me." He continued, sounding as if his heart were breaking at that very moment. "I ain't gonna be a good guy when we finally meet again, but ya'll turn me good again. It won't be easy, but once ya do, I'll protect ya as long as I fucking live, Levy."

"I do not understand. I am not going with you! You are a madman!" She screamed, trying desperately to overturn the heavy, wooden table, wanting to put a barricade between her and the terrifying cloaked man by her window.

"I ain't mad, Shrimp. I finally reached the end of the circle and it ain't pretty for me, but we got our happy ending." He pressed, kicking himself up off the wall to tower over her. "I need ya to come with me or we'll never find fairy tale."

"You want me to go looking for a fairy tale by jumping out my window? You truly are a madman!" She cried out, her back slamming against the wall as she tried to get further from him. Maybe this was just a horrible nightmare?! It had to be!

"I ain't mad, Shrimp!" The painfully familiar voice exclaimed. How could she think his voice familiar?! How could she picture his smirk?! "Please...?"

"O-Ok." She sighed. He was right. She truly had nothing left. Her one true love was gone from this world. Her love had been stoned only a few hours earlier. Everyone would know the truth if she took her own life. She would leave her family in ruin. But they had not stood by her. Perhaps this stranger was right and she would find her fairy tale ending? Maybe she would find a family that would stand by her and love her for her? Maybe, out that window, there was something worth fighting for. "I am probably as crazy as you, but maybe there is a fairy tale ending out there for me... but since you are clearly from my imagination, I must already have been mad. How else would I recognise your voice and be able to imagine your smirk?"

"Because we've met before, only I'm pretty sure I'm ancient and ageless now. Gotta get this right though." His voice grinned, taking another casual step towards her. "I promise there'll be no pain. I'm by yer side."

"Can I at least see your face...?" She whispered, stepping around the table with an outstretched hand, reaching for his hood.

"No." He answered firmly. "There is nothing to see anymore. Ya wouldn't recognise me like this. I need ya to remember something though, Shrimp... Just one thing." He continued, seeming to gulp as he finished. "I need ya to remember my gloves."

"Glov-"

A skeletal hand reached out, palm up, almost apologetically. The skeletal hand turned over, showing her the back of it. Showing her the maroon, fingerless gloves that adorned them. Showing her the silver-coloured metal plate that ran along the edge of his knuckles. The bolt heads that stuck out of the plate. It made a fist, the glove tightening as if flesh and tendons still wrapped around the bones shining white. It opened again in offering, reaching out for her.

"Remember my gloves, please... It's all I've got to make ya recognise me now..." He explained remorsefully, as he held out his hand for her to take. "I can see ya don't fear me in this form, but ya will when ya see me as a human... I promise I'm just bitter and heartbroken, Shrimp... That's the only reason- the only reason I attack ya..." he trailed off, his head turning towards the window as another flash of lightning struck. A solid, plain, white lower jaw bone glowed for a moment before disappearing back into shadow. "When I see ya, I won't want ya recognising me like ya usually do... because I'll think yer not the same Shrimp I fell in love with... The Shrimp I had to go on living without. I need ya to forgive me and show me ya're still the short, intelligent, compassionate, bookworm I fell for."

"How can you be here...? You are just bone...? How can you take me to a place where you will harm me and expect me to forgive you? So we can fall in love and have a happy ending?" She murmured, gently taking his offered warm, skeletal hand.

"Because I'm a Reaper, Shortie... and yer my Pocketwoman. I can do anything when it comes to ya..." He answered, squeezing her hand gently, comfortingly. "I finally paid the price of being a bad guy, but even as a good guy, I hurt a lot of people. Doesn't matter that they were bad guys. Killing someone, even to protect the one ya love, is a sin ya have to pay for." He sighed, leading Levy towards the window. "I only hope that if I serve long enough, they'll let me join ya upstairs."

"Upstairs?" She frowned, looking up at him as she stepped up onto the ledge.

"Upstairs, Shrimp." His voice grinned. "Remember the gloves." He repeated, looking out at the city as he raised his other hand. Levy gasped as his scythe came into view, no longer hidden behind his tall, broad frame. How had she not noticed it before?! "I love ya, Levy McGarden." He finished.

"But my name is not Levy McGarden? It is Levy D-"

He released her hand and pushed her out the window, wishing he could close his eyes as he watched her fall, listening to her short scream.

"Say hi to Makarov for me." He stated, staring down at her motionless form. He jumped down and ran his scythe down through her broken body, leaving no trace of its blade. "Sorry I'm gonna be such an asshole when we meet, but the kids'll be worth it... Promise."

"What's your name, child?" An elderly voice asked gently, rousing her from her sleep. She shivered as coldness seeped into her bones, her eyes opening to a landscape only just becoming spring.

"L-Levy D- Levy McGarden." She answered through chattering teeth as the old man helped her sit up. That was what the Reaper had called her. Where was she? She rubbed her arms with her tiny hands. She frowned, holding her hands out. Child's hands. They were the hands of a child. What had he done? Where was she?! Why were her hands so small?!

"We'd better get you inside before you freeze to death. It's just as well I had the urge to take a walk tonight." He sighed, helping her to her feet which wore strange things on them, her sandals replaced with some strange, hardened cloth. She preferred her sandals. She would buy some, when she finally could. "Where are your parents?" He continued, beginning to steer her down the path that lead to a town not far off.

"They are st- They are gone." She answered, turning her head away. Her family. How were they now? Did they mourn her? Or rejoice from not having to look after a daughter that loved another woman? She looked back at the elderly man walking beside her with a thoughtful expression across his face. How small was this man? She was about the same height as him! In fact, how old was she? Perhaps she was tall in this life? "Whe-Where am I?"

"Where?" He frowned, looking back at her. "This is Magnolia." He answered, his face friendly as his tone held a note of curiosity.

"Where...is Magnolia?" She pushed gently, turning her head away bashfully.

"Magnolia is in East Fiore-"

"Fiore?!" She exclaimed, rounding on him. "What year is it?!" She rushed, trapped between excitement and horror. She had not travelled far, but perhaps it was not distance but time she had travelled? Perhaps he had rushed her death so he could bring her through Time. But why was she so young? Surely she should have been reborn? She had been born of her parents in her previous life? Yet the Reaper had told her that they had met before? Perhaps this time was different? Perhaps, rather than let her be born somewhere randomly in time, he had somehow placed her here? Just younger, rather than reborn?

"It's X777? It's March, if that helps?" He continues, his brows narrowing.

"I am sorry..." She mumbled, looking away as she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. She did not even know how old she was! She had been born in March in X367? Perhaps she was ten now? That would do... but that would mean she had lost seven years of her life...? No, regained seven years of her life. Why could she not be seventeen in this life? How long would it be before the Reaper's human self hunted her down to hurt her? When had he died and become a Reaper for that matter? Assuming he was about her age now and that people lived into their sixties... He must have become a Reaper and travelled back over four hundred and fifty years! Then again, the man next to her was clearly much older...

"Levy?" He elderly man coughed, trying to regain her attention.

"I am sorry!" She squeaked, jumping slightly. "I-I-I have been travelling for longer than I thought and when I got lost, I did not know what to do... I had no idea the place or the year... or that I had grown so old..." She mumbled, explaining as best as she could, staying as close to truth as possible. Young. She could never explain that she was younger. How had he reversed her age? How had he brought her here? Why had he brought her here?

"It's no problem at all. You're safe now." He smiled brightly as they came to a stop.

"Safe?" She frowned, cocking her head to one side.

"Welcome to Fairy Tale." He replied, as if that were all the answer she needed. She was almost sick of hearing people mention fairy tales. "I'm the Guild Master, Makarov Dreyar."

"Guild Maste-" She cut herself short as she looked up at the towering door they had stopped outside. She gasped as she read the rough, wooden sigh. Fairy Tail. She had found Fairy Tail. The place the Reaper had told her to. Gloves. There had to be someone inside with his gloves! She moved to step towards the door and froze. He was going to hurt her. The Reaper had warned her that he was going to hurt her because he was heartbroken... She could not go in.

"Welcome home, Levy McGarden." Makarov grinned, throwing the door open to reveal chaos as what seemed like strangely companionable fights occurred throughout the giant hall. "Welcome to the guild where everyone is family, the place where everyone has each other's back, no matter who they are or where they came from."

She stepped in through the door.

Yonde kurete arigatō, min'na!

This is really just a continuation of Life on Repeat that connects it to Fairy Tail. I'm not sure if I'd write a sequel to this, since it would really just be an exact copy of Fairy Tail but with added background thoughts, which I'm sure you could add for yourself while you were reading/watching Fairy Tail. I might write a little one-shot for what happen to Levy and Gajeel between Life on Repeat and Don't Fear. Some of you are probably curious, but I could be mean and leave it to your imaginations. It's clear from this that Levy died and Gajeel had to live on.

Just to clarify, I don't support suicide. Which is very hypocritical of me, but I'm not up for everyone going out to kill themselves. Please try to get help. Friends couldn't help me, but from the moment I held my eldest nephew, I knew I had to live on to help him. I was still suicidal when I walked into that hospital room and I was very confused when they started handing me this baby. I didn't deserve to, I'd taint it, it would never know me, I'd be long gone. Those thoughts stopped. It's been almost two years.

In this, Gajeel seems like he's asking Levy to kill herself, but he's actually just asking her to come with him. He pushes her out the window. He decided to kill her to save her soul, rather than her. She still died, but she hadn't taken a life - Gajeel points out in this that having killed people is what made him be trapped in 'service' as a Reaper, while Levy ended up 'upstairs'. The idea here is that if she had killed herself, she would have taken a life and that she wouldn't have gone 'upstairs' like she had at the end of their last timeline together (the future to the Levy in this, but the past to the Gajeel in this). His hope is that eventually he'll get to see her again later in the Afterlife, having served his time as a Reaper.

The explanation to the inspiration for all this is in Life on Repeat, but the specific idea for this came from listing to Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. Hope you enjoyed this.

Stay safe, stay strong,

Sketcher1994