Once upon a time, as most stories start, there was a fairy king named Gildarts. He had two daughters named Cana and Lucy who were fair and kind, but this story is not about them. His third daughter was named Levy and she was small and sweet with hair like the clear sky and eyes like the rich earth.

The fairies -who would usually live in peace and harmony - lived in fear of a mighty dragon that lived just on the horizon of the Fairy Kingdom. None had heard or seen the dragon but words went that he had teeth sharp enough to slice the hardest of iron, poisonous scales and scarlet red eyes. Why none had seen the dragon was because that even how far and wide the fairies traveled they couldn't seem to reach the Dragon's home as it continuously stayed on the horizon of the Fairy Kingdom.

However, one day the dragon met young fairy Levy in the forest. Or rather, Levy met the dragon in her father's forests…

~O~O~

It was a dream. It was always a dream, but not a dream; the dream. It was the same dream; she had had it before, over and over again. It was quite peculiar a dream because compared to her other dreams – filled with sunshine and laughter and maybe cats – this dream was silent and cold and gentle. It would stay in the back of her mind for many days later, as if it was trying to remind her of something important. Something she had to unite with.

Sometimes she could only remember small parts of it, the shimmering of something shiny, the cold yet gentle touch against her forehead. Sometimes she remembered more, her reflection on sleek metallic scales – brighter than that on fish and armors – a deep voice chuckling into her ear, the tickling of foreign hair on her neck, the gentle caress of hands on her hips.

It was always the days after the more vivid dreams that Levy found herself being distracted and restless. It was on those days that talking to her was pointless and she – much to her annoyance – never got anything done. She would always find herself wandering across her father's endless forests.

No one was in those forests, that is; no one was in those forests except for that day. Maybe it was fate playing her tricks or destiny leading them there, but on the night before the day arrived Levy had a dream so clear and unforgettable that she left for her father's forests at sunrise.

No matter how much Jet and Droy pleaded, she refused plenty to return to the castle as she only felt calm deep in the forests. In the forests she pondered and replayed the dream a thousand times, the gentle and deep laughter, shining scales, a soothing warmth and kisses placed on her forehead. By the time she looked around her, it was already sunset.

The sun was sinking into a glowing lump by the hills to the south, as the moon was rising in the north. This was how the fairy kingdom worked. The moon was golden and big and warm and welcoming like always.

At least compared to the moon of humans, Levy thought with her nose pointed up and her eyes set on the golden warm moon that was quickly rising up.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Because no matter how many times Levy had walked through her father's forests and how well she knew them, it didn't stop her from tumbling over a spontaneously raised root by the spontaneous tree and tumble down a slope.

She fell with an "Oufh!" as the wind knocked out of her and she finally came to a stop at the bottom of the slope. The trees around her swayed and rustled despite there being no wind; they were laughing at her.

With a huff and a frown, Levy scrambled up to her feet and proceeded to dust off her dress and straighten her wings. That was when she heard it, the chiming of metal and… a laugh?

It was gruff and deep and low, like metal grinding together, but it was definitely a laugh. A laugh Levy felt such a familiarity to that despite her own reasoning mind, she slowly made her way past the trees and bushes to the source of the sound.

As the laugh grew louder and the chiming clearer, Levy's breathe hitched with each step she took through the trees and bushes that seemed to be agreeable enough to make way for her.

Her rationality told her to fear whatever lay before her. Her rationality was right, because beyond the swaying trees and rustling bushes; the source of the chiming and grinding metal was the feared dragon living on the horizon of the Fairy Kingdom.

He was lying on his back, snoring and grinding his teeth while little puffs of metallic smoke escaped his sharp teeth together with mumbling and laughter. Levy was well aware that no one except for herself and the people of the royal castle were allowed into her father's forests, especially not the iron dragon.

For a splitting second Levy could only think of how she would fly off, back to the castle and as far away from the dragon as possible. For a splitting second she believed she could get away unnoticed. The splitting second passed with Levy holding her breath, a shudder run down her spine and a piercing red eye freezing her entirely.

She couldn't get herself to move as the dragon opened his wide jaw in what seemed like a yawn, rolled over onto his stomach and froze her to the spot with two sharp red eyes. She couldn't even get a squeak past her lips as she had taken to press them together into a firm white line out of fear.

The dragon continued to stare at her with a sense of wonder, almost as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He shuffled closer to her, blinked and yawned again; giving Levy a front seat view of all his shiny and sharp teeth.

Oh god, she was going to die. That was at least what she thought until the dragon spoke.

At first it was just the metal grinding that could be heard, and then came what Levy guessed to be laughter.

"Gihihihi, what does a fairy do in these forests?" The dragon asked as he tilted his head in curious wonder and brought one of his eyes closer to Levy, studying her, before he tilted his head back into a laughter so strong that it shock the ground Levy stood on. "You're even smaller than the other fairies! So shrimp, tell me, why are you here?" The dragon asked as the laughter from his chest died down and the earth stilled.

"I-I-I-I'm not a shrimp!" Levy stammered out while fear was still tingling in her fingers. However, she was far too stubborn to run away now (and her wings were limp from fear). So to show this, she stomped her feet on the ground and huffed for good measure.

"Gihihihi." The dragon laughed again as he leaned down to sniff at Levy. If she hadn't dug her soles into the ground, she would have tumbled away by the sheer force of the dragon's breath.

"Gihihihi I like your courage, shrimp." The dragon laughed again. "Tell me your name."

"I am Levy McGarden, King's Daughter the third." Levy spat out impulsiveness. Later she would question herself as to why she answered the dragon's question so easily, but she was filled with adrenalin and fear which gave a reasonable answer to that question.

"And I am Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon of the horizon." He answered, this time with no laughter in his voice as he locked eyes with Levy.

Then he started to rise from his lying position, the earth rumbled under his shifting weight and flickering tail. He stretched his large wings, readying to take off; but before he took to the sky, he looked down upon Levy again and said. "I like you, next Thursday I will come and get you."

And before Levy could do as much as open her mouth to protest, the dragon smiled down at Levy (if showing a huge row of very sharp teeth could be called smiling) while his crimson eyes shone in the sun. And then, just like that, he took to the sky, leaving the roar of his wings and a tumbling Levy who had to braze herself to one of the trees.

Levy could hear properly for a long while after that, as the buzz from a roar so strong it seemed like it opened the sky haunted her hearing.

~O~O~O~

First chapter of the gajevy exchange with beautiful black2sun2. See her fanart of this on tumblr.