The Princess and her Dragon ( final chapter)

Hey folks! I don´t know what to say, except that I´m terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter! But I have my reasons, which I don´t want to bore you with! So let´s just go on with the story!
Hope ya like it ^^


... and I still don´t own the FT characters ( except the Oc´s )

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Levy opened her eyes to find herself on a bed which was, somehow, familiar to her. She looked around to see that she was in a large bedroom, which had two large bookshelves in it, full of books. On her bed were many stuffed animals, the one beside her was the largest one, which happened to be a dark blue dragon. She took the dragon and looked at it, remembering what happened before she lost consciousness and hugged the dragon tight. Then it dawned on her … she was in her old room .. in her parents castle. She was saved by a prince … he brought her back home … she would have to marry him! … maybe.

.

.

.

It was over!

She clutched the dragon and started crying. Her happy and careless life was over. No daily visits in the library, never being able to go outside of the castle on her own, no Gajeel …

- No Gajeel ...- Levy realized and started sobbing, helplessly. She has lost her only friend and she didn´t know, if he was even still alive or not!

She wanted to go back. Back to the dragon … HER dragon! She didn´t want the title, she didn´t want to marry a prince 'charming' or a knight in shining armor! She just wanted to go back to Gajeel.

She heard someone knock on the door before it opened slowly, revealing her mother behind it. Her face hadn´t changed that much, except for a few wrinkles, which came with her age and her blue hair was longer and pulled back into a neatly made bun ( She could tell, since her mother had very short hair, when Levy was a kid.). She wore a long green dress with light green ruffles.
She had a bright smile on her face and walked towards Levy.

" Oh dear, why are you crying? You should be happy! You were saved by a brave prince, after so many years and you will marry him and therefore become his queen when he becomes the king of his kingdom and-" Her mother went on, when Levy raised her hand to stop her.

" I have to marry him?!" Levy asked in shock, not believing what her mother just told her.

"Of course, my dear! We did promise your hand in marriage for the one who will be able to slay the dragon and rescue you! That was the whole point in putting you into that old castle in Oaktown! Our princess only deserves the strongest husband and, fortunately, it´s even a prince!" Her mother said, cheerfully, oblivious of her daughter´s distress.

Before Levy could say anything, her mother told her that she bought her new clothes, which were in her large closed and that her soon-to-be husband will come to visit her tomorrow and went off. Levy was still sitting on her bed, totally shocked that she REALLY had to marry the prince who had took her away from her dragon, but there was one thing that shocked her the most.

- He slayed him? … Gajeel is … dead?- She couldn´t bare that thought and refused to believe this. He was a strong dragon! He would never die that easily! He couldn´t!And she would definitely NOT marry that prince!

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The next day came, but the princess would not come to meet the prince, refusing to talk to him. Her mother tried to talk some senses into her, but she wouldn´t listen! Her only reply was, always, that she would never marry the prince. After two weeks, the prince was becoming impatient, her mother tried to calm him down, promising him that the princess will marry him in the next two weeks. After talking to the prince, Levy´s mother went to her daughter´s room and told her that she had to marry the prince, if she wanted or not and that the marriage was going to be in a week.

Levy didn´t know what to say anymore. She felt hopeless. She didn´t want to marry someone she didn´t love and she was still angry at him for killing her precious dragon.

The next days she was hardly seen by anyone in the castle, locking herself in her room and always tried to get out of the castle and away from this people she didn´t recognize as her family anymore.

The whole situation made her want to scream until she had no energy left to fight. She flees to the gardens, running barefoot through fountains and flowerbeds, returning only when the guards come to seek her out, silk dresses torn and covered in mud.

One day, a day before the wedding, when the palace was getting prepared for the marriage and the bride had to go to the fitting of her dress, a knight came to the castle, standing in the court the princess so loathes. A large dark horse standing next to him, which he held onto it´s rains.

Servants and other people from the castle started to gather in the court, curious of the knight with dark armor who stood in front of the castle entrance. He didn´t look like someone from Magnolia with his dark, metallic armor, long, black hair, which was kept out of his face with a bandana, the piercings he had along the bridge of his nose, his ears, chin and as a replacement for his eyebrows. His blood red eyes made him look more dangerous, if possible.

The news that a 'dark knight' had arrived and stood in front of the castle spread like a wildfire in the castle and the Queen and prince Jet went outside to see what the ruckus was about. Levy was wearing her semi-finished wedding dress,which looked more like a plain white dress,and ignored the news. She thought that it would probably be a knight, who was in search for work, but when the murmurs became louder and nearly everyone was standing outside, or at a window of the castle to take a look at the mysterious knight, Levy´s curiosity was awakened.

She took a hold of her dress, so it would not get dirty, and started walking to the front yard. When she was outside she saw the people building a circle around the royals and the knight, while they were speaking. She started working her way through the crowd to the center of the circle, when she heard the knight speaking.

" … I promise loyalty .. ." He was saying and Levy had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She was right, after all, just another knight who pledged his allegiance to the Queen. She was about to turn around and leave, when she heard the rest of his speech.

" … and to always protect .. princess Levy!"

She froze, eyes widening. The knight was pledging his allegiance not to the prince, or to the person she can hardly think of as her mother, but to her, and when his eyes meet hers

she laughs for the first time since the prince brought her 'home'.

the fire in his gaze as familiar as her own and his blood red eyes which met hers, when she stepped into the circle towards them, were some think she thought she would never see again.

She´d recognize her dragon anywhere.

" … Gajeel ..." She said, quietly, which only got heard by the knight.

Her suspicion was confirmed when he looked at her and a wide smirk appeared on his face, showing unusual sharp canines. The metallic piercings which were decorating his face matched his personality, which Levy learned to love, perfectly with his long black hair.

She couldn´t hold it … tears were gathering in her eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks. He became startled, his smirk gone, but Levy gave him a watery smile, ensuring him that she was okay.

She was holding herself back, trying not to run into his arms and start sobbing like there was no tomorrow. She didn´t care what those people around them would think about her, but she didn´t want to make him feel uneasy with all those people who would be staring at them, if she did so.

She was about to approach him when someone stepped in front of her.

A deep frown decorated the prince´s face as he scowled at the knight. If eyes could kill then the knight would have been dead for sure.

" How dare you … " He said in a dangerous low tone and started approaching the knight. " … proposing to a woman, who´s hand is already promised to another!" He shouted the last part, now standing only a few steps away from him.

Levy jerked at his statement, her eyes moving from the knight to the prince and back.

- He proposed … to me? ...- Her eyes widened in realization.

The knight looked at him unimpressed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, scowling right back at him, which gave him a more dangerous appearance then the prince could ever have. His eyes landed on Levy and his expression changed slightly, as if he was contemplating something.

" Yer going to marry him?" He asked suddenly, startling her.

She was about to say 'No!', but she couldn´t! That wouldn´t have been the truth… although she really didn´t want to marry him. She looked down, frowning, not knowing what to answer.

" Yes, she is!" Came the answer, but not from the princess but the Queen! She stepped forward, her posture showing her position as authority.

" So she´s going to marry a stranger because he is a prince?!" The knight asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"No!" The Queen said, frowning, not liking the way the knight was talking with her. " My daughter shall marry the prince because he slayed the dragon! Only the strongest is suited enough for her!" She explained.

" Slayed the dragon huh ?!..." He scoffed at that and looked back at the prince.

" YES! Now get out of here!" Jet shouted. His hand was resting on the hilt of hid sword, ready to use it, if needed.

" What if I fight him?" He asked the Queen. All three looked at him confused.

" What if I fight him and win against him? That would make me the stronger one, doesn´t it?" He rephrased.

Now he received shocked expressions, which annoyed him badly. Didn´t he make himself clear enough?!

Before he could say more the prince went into a fighting pose and pointed his sword towards him.

" I slayed a dragon! I´m sure that I can take care of YOU too!" He stated confidently.

"Tch! We will se!"

"NO! Wait guys you-" Levy stepped between them, trying to prevent a fight, but was cut off when Jet pulled at her arm to get her out of the way, using more force then needed, which made her let out a small yelp.

The knight jumped forward, furious. " OI, WHAT DO YA THINK YER DOING! DON´T TOUCH HER!" He shouted.

" WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH MY WIF-" Jet was cut off, when the knight´s fist met his face and send him flying backwards into the crowd. All the spectators cleared the place, not wanting to get involved into the fight.

" HOW DARE YOU!" The prince screamed and charged at the knight with his speed magic. He landed a kick onto his chest, but what he didn´t expect was the pain he felt going through his leg and the distinct feeling of a broken bone. He fell to the floor, clutching his leg and howled in pain. He looked up towards the knight, wanting to know how this could happen when he was met with a sight that made his jaw drop. The knight´s skin was covered with iron scales, similar to those of a dragon.

The smug smirk on his face wasn´t making anything better …

" Look´s like ya won´t be able to use yer speed magic anymore, buddy !" He stated, chuckling.

He raised his fist and was about to punch him in the face, but his fist stopped only inches away from his face. The prince had let out a, not so manly, yelp in fright and looked up after a moment when he didn´t feel pain. Gajeel leaned down, his smirk changing into a scowl.

" I won!" He said, leaving Jet no room to question his statement. The prince´s eyes widened and after a few seconds he gave a weak nod, fear written all over his face. He rose to his full height and met the Queens eyes.

"I will take her with me!" He said and motioned for Levy to come to him. The princess had a relieved expression and a bright smile on her face, barely keeping her tears at bay.

The Queen looked at him with fury. " You have not the right to -"

"Stop me." Gajeel cut in daring her to do it, which, after this very short fight, became clear for the Queen that she couldn´t and turned towards his horse.

Levy couldn´t hold herself anymore and started running towards the knight. He turned around just in time and caught the princess when she jumped into his arms, holding him tight and letting her tears flow freely.

" I thought you were dead ..." She mumbled onto his chest. She felt the vibration of his chest, when he let out a small chuckle, before she noticed the warmth of his hand resting on her head.

" I thought it was clear that yer stuck with me, shrimp!?" He said, smirking. He ruffled her hair,wiped the tears from her eyes and helped her on the horse. Her small crown fell from her head and Gajeel bent down and picked it up. He was about to give it to her, but Levy held her hand up to stop him.

" I don´t need that thing anymore!" She said with a hint of relieve in her voice.

" No playing princess anymore?!" He said, smirking.

Levy laughed at that, shaking her head. Gajeel climbed on the horse behind her and took a hold on the rains. As if just remembering, Levy looked down at the horse she was sitting on.

"Where did you get the horse from? I don´t remember there being a horse in the castle before!" She asked, turning her head to look at Gajeel.

He shrugged, averting his eyes. " Found him, before I came here ..." He replied, meekly.

Levy turned back to the horse and saw a scar on its left eye, which didn´t look very old. She turned around sharply, looking at Gajeel with indignation written all over her face.

" You attacked him!" Levy stated, her frown deepening when the man behind her just shrugged.

" He, kind of, was in the way when I was hunting! So I took him in, since I didn´t want to walk all the way here and it would have been strange to fly all the way as a dragon ..." He explained. Levy opened her mouth to say something, but Gajeel had already predicted it and beat her to it. " And, NO, he didn´t have an owner! He was a wild horse!" He went on, with the horse nodding it´s head in confirmation. Levy stroked it´s mane, smiling lovingly at the horse.

"What´s his name?" She asked after a pause, when Gajeel gave the rains a slight jolt, to which the horse started moving forward.

" Pantherlily."

" Huh?" Levy turned around, with a quizzical look.

Gajeel sighed and repeated. " His name! It´s Patherlily."

"Why?"

" Dunno! He just reminds me, somehow, of a panther with his jet black mane and the way he was defending himself against me and that in my dragon-form." He explained.

" And Lily?" Levy said, trying not to giggle, when she saw a slight tint of pink on Gajeel´s face.

" He was standing in a field full of Lilies when I found him and it looked like he liked them .." He said, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

"Awww -"

"DON´T … even start !"

Levy giggled because of his embarrassment, which she thought was pretty cute, but didn´t comment on it anymore. She examined Gajeel´s face for a while, not noticing how long she was staring, when Gajeel caught her in the act, which made heat rise on his face.

"What?" He asked, getting Levy out of her musing.

" Oh, nothing … I´m just not used seeing you as … well … like this ..." She said, pointing her finger up and down his form, making her point clear.

He turned his head to the side, not meeting her eyes." Well, it´s not like-" He was cut off, when he felt Levy´s hands on his cheeks, turning his head to face her again. Her fingers brushed the piercings on his brows and his nose, then the ones under his lips, making him blush even harder.

"I ...I can change back … you know … into a dragon..." He mumbled, feeling more uneasy when her face came closer to take a better look at his face. After a few seconds, she stopped looking at his piercings and met his eyes. She looked into his eyes for a while, like she was thinking about something and then a light blush appeared on her face, which made her avert her eyes this time.

" … no … I think you should stay like this!" She said, sheepishly.

Gajeel looked at her quizzically."Why?" He asked, arching one of his pierced brows.

" Because, if you change back into a dragon … I can´t to this!" She said.

" Do wha-" Before Gajeel could finish his question, Levy had pulled him down and placed her lips upon his, startling him. Levy pulled back, both of their faces as red as tomatoes.

Gajeel just looked at her with wide eyes, his mind trying to understand what just happened. Levy was about to apologize for her sudden action, but saw Gajeel´s expression change from a shocked one into a … pretty happy one, whit a wide grin on his face, shoving his sharp fangs.

" I think that´s a good reason to stay like this for a bit longer, shrimp! Gihi." Gajeel said, before he leaned back down to capture her lips with his, which she happily responded to. They were to busy to take care of the road, but Gajeel knew that Pantherlily would take them home without a problem.

After all … the damn horse had followed him home, without him noticing and didn´t want to leave, which forced Gajeel to keep him …

… Levy didn´t need to know that though …

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A/N

I rewrote this chapter two times! Hope it was good xD And about the pretty short fight between Jet and Gajeel ... let´s be honest! Jet would never have a chance agains Gajeel in a fight! ( He took him by surpise the first time and a dragon´s chest and stomache, as far as I know, is not cover in scales, so he had no protection there ) It would be just like with Laxus and Natsu, One blow and down