AN: So here I am with another AU no one asked for. LOL Sorry about that but with the final Season of Dragons: Race to the Edge (from the How To Train Your Dragon franchise) which was AWESOME, I had to write something (I have been wanting to write about it for YEARS, actually). LOL No, but really, watch the show on Netflix if you liked the two movies. It is set between 1 and 2 and the final episode was FULL of references to lead to movie 2 and it was AMAZING). I laughed the whole time, it's GREEEEEEEEEAT!

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Dragon Heart

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They had spent their whole lives at Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. In a word, sturdy. And it's been there for seven generations, but, every single building is new. There has fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets.

The only problems were the former pests. Most places have mice or mosquitoes. They had… dragons. Most people would leave. Not them, they were Vikings and they have, stubbornness issues.

They had fought dragons for generations until they began training them after Natsu Dragneel tamed a Monstrous Nightmare, which is a fearless and proud dragon that could set itself on fire. Of course Natsu would try and tame it instead of learn how to kill it (as any young Viking would), hating it the slaughter of dragons since he was a kid, taking Gray, the chief's son, down with him.

It wasn't… easy but they managed to teach other Vikings to see reason after defeating the Red Death on dragonback.

They were fifteen years old, then, and now, with twenty, the whole of Berk had changed to function perfectly with Dragons.

Gray's dragon, Avalanche, was a Stormcutter; a dragon that resembled owls and displayed two pairs of wings that form an 'X' when flying. Stormcutter dragons walk on this second set of wings and their hind legs. The wings can also come close together so they can be like one main pair. They have a very muscular and sturdy build. Their face has two long spines that branch off their brow to the side and they have a "smashed" face, kind of like an owl. They are intelligent, proud, and confident but can be sweet and friendly. They can be aggressive and are also quite curious. Very much like Gray, Avalanche was the perfect dragon for him.

Training the others had been a little difficult, but after five years, they had amazing Riders, who worked as protectors of Berk and its surrounds.

A few months after the beginning of training, a couple of former enemies, Berserkers and Berkians had been in war since Jose Porla became Chief but now peace was restored, appeared on Berk and after proving themselves trustworthy, they too, started to train after they, by coincidence, bonded with dragons.

One of them, her name was Juvia, as the Vikings didn't believe on naming their children nice things – instead, parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls so she was named her after the rain, after a storm, – she was special to the Chief's son.

Juvia bonded with a deep blue Titan Wing Raincutter she named Bozu – they were known to be extremely loyal and grateful to their riders and once Juvia had cut it free from a Hunter's net, it didn't leave her side, no matter what, not that the blue haired girl minded. She became a rider and just like the others, it seemed, after a couple of weeks, as if she'd had been born for it.

For some reason Gray could only wonder, Juvia Lockser was in love with him and had no intention of hiding it from anyone, Gray himself included, much to his father's amusement.

They build a small hut for her and another for her friend, Gajeel Redfox, just at the outskirts of Berk and hers was much smaller than her friend's, since as Silver Fullbuster, chief of the Hairy Hooligans, said she's probably marry into a family sooner rather than later.

Gray couldn't help but to notice a little sparkle of mischief in his father's eyes when he said that; the chief liked Juvia and as the years went by, he'd drop more and more hints about Gray settling and finding a wife of his liking, otherwise he'd have to choose one for him.

The thought of being married off to some unknown girl made Gray sick. Viking women were usually tough and resilient, yes, but not every woman could fight with a double spear as if it was an extension of her body or could ride a dragon. Juvia could do all of those things, but that was the first thought that came into his mind, he had other friends who were warriors.

And then, the young Riders moved to The Dragon's Edge, an isolated island a couple of days flight far from Berk and at, well, the edge of the archipelago so they could monitor and protect the dragons from Dragon Hunters.

What could go wrong on an island with a bunch of unsupervised young adults prone to trouble, huh?

Their chosen leader, Erza Scarlet, who rode a Razorwhip, just like Gajeel Redfox, had the idea for each to build their own hut, with their own kinks and needs; alongside with a common place and a stable for their dragons for whenever they needed it. Juvia claimed the space next to Gray's hut and he had to pretend to be annoyed, but… it had been three years since they met, they had been through a lot together and… he wasn't completely against the idea of getting their huts together.

"That way, Gray-sama, you can visit Juvia anytime you want." She winked at him and he felt his cheeks grow hotter.

The first time they kissed it was after she almost got herself killed during a rescue mission of a few Deadly Nadders, getting saved by Bozu at the very last moment. His heart almost stopped when he saw her free falling to the sea, wrapped on a net, while he was way too far to catch her. Apparently, the moment she saw a net flying in the direction of her and her dragon, she knew they couldn't outmaneuver so she did the first thing that came to mind, got up from her saddle and, even with Bozu's growl of protest, threw herself in front of him and got hit instead, slowing the net down, giving Bozu time to be able to get out of the way to not get hit.

Thankfully, the dragon caught her and the mission was almost at the end so Gray barked orders for Bozu to take Juvia back to the Edge and just a few minutes later, the Nadders were released and the Hunters were very sorry to have tried to get them.

The Riders arrived just as Juvia was lying in front of her hut (Bozu's personal landing zone) trying to cut the net with one of her daggers, and Gray was so furious and scared, he landed Avalanche next to the Raincutter, walked right her way, his own dagger in hand and started to help her.

"Oh, Gray-sama!" She smiled at him but he didn't reciprocate, he was too angry to say anything and she frowned at his mood.

"Is everything alright?" Lucy Heartfilia – the daughter of the richest family at Berk, who'd rather fly than stay at home pretending to be less than what she was – asked and both Juvia and Gray heard footsteps.

"Juvia is fine." The blunette answered just as Gray finally worked out the last knot to set her free.

Gray helped her up and before she could even thank him, he hissed at her: "Are you out of your mind?"

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You got caught by a net on purpose and was falling to your death!" He all but yelled at her. "Didn't you follow the plan?"

She felt a bit insulted, then, he could see but it was Erza who answered him. "She did, Gray. She was in position but accidents happen-"

"Did you see what happened?" Gray turned to look at the other Riders, still shaking in anger. "She threw herself into the net."

"Otherwise it would've caught Juvia and Bozu." Erza told him. "It was a dangerous move, but smart."

"See?" Juvia pointed at their leader, not really understanding Gray's reaction.

"You could've died!"

There was silence for a moment until Cana, whom had been friend with Gray since they were in diapers, said: "Alright, let's all give them privacy." Cana, who wore her long brown hair into a tight bun while on a mission, started to steer them all away.

"Why? I want to watch." Natsu always liked to see Gray get into trouble and he hoped he'd get some trouble from Juvia – unlikely, given the girl's devotion to him, but one could hope.

"Because this isn't about the net, babe." Lucy told her betrothed as she pulled them away from Juvia's deck while Avalanche and Bozu each blocked one of the two bridges that connected the huts together to give their humans some privacy from the other humans.

"Gray-sama, what is going on?" Juvia asked, confused. She put her dagger back inside her brown boot, her dark blue coat – the same color as Bozu gave her advantage, since she blended right into the dragon and someone would only see there was a Rider too late – spotless and she pulled the hood away, showing her light blue hair on a perfect single braid, only her bangs falling a little over her beautiful blue eyes.

"What is going on is that you purposefully threw yourself in front your dragon to be caught by a net!"

"Which saved both Juvia and Bozu!" She was clearly exasperated with him. What was going on with her Gray-sama? They had done worse before. "Everyone else was too far away to catch us and if it had caught both of us, we would've fallen onto the water and we wouldn't be able to swim because we were trapped! We would've drown!"

"So your solution was to-" He tried but she didn't let him.

"Throw myself in front of my dragon, trusting he'd pick me up – which he did, by the way – so we could both survive?" She asked. "Yes, absolutely and she'd do it again. Any of you coming to get us could result on the Hunters getting away with the Nadders and that could not happen."

"You…" Gray started to walk from one side to the other like a caged dragon, frustrated beyond reason with her. She always did that, she always put herself in dangerous situations, didn't think much of herself. "You could've-"

"Died? Yes, you've mentioned a few times." She chuckled. "But she didn't. Today went fine, all according to plan, but somethings we can't control." Juvia turned around to open the hatch to get into her hut. "There's always next time, though." She joked and Gray saw red.

He spun her round, her back hit the hatch and suddenly they were too close to each other. Gray barely heard the growling coming from Bozu, who would stop at nothing to protect his human and more growling from Avalanche who would to the same if Bozu attacked even though the two dragons were friends.

"Don't even joke about this." Gray hissed between his teeth, serious and she could finally see he was feeling way more than just frustration for the mission. "Do you understand me?"

Juvia stared at him for a few seconds before she slowly put a hand on his cheek – seeing the gesture, both dragons stopped their growling, noting the female human wasn't afraid or in any danger at all. "Gray-sama." He looked into her eyes. "What's the matter?"

It was amazing how quick she was to just disarm him. Hopefully she hadn't figure that one out yet, but she could calm him down with a touch, a look or even by being close to him and… it threw him off balance every time.

Her blue eyes were worried, he could see and if he weren't so conflicted with himself, he would've laughed: she was the one who almost died and she was the one who was concerned.

"I was too far away to catch you." He finally told her. Gray always felt responsible for her even when he knew very well she could handle herself – Hel, she even beat him a couple of times during hand-on-hand combat. Besides, she was fine, Bozu had caught her just in time, yet he felt so… hopeless. So many 'what ifs' running through his mind. "If Bozu hadn't arrive in time…"

"It's not your job to catch me." Juvia told him, softly, caressing his cheek with her thumb and he leaned on the touch. "Juvia is a Rider, same as you. She knows the risks, the same as you. One day, if she were to fall during battle, she'd go to Valhalla happy to have served the best she could."

"You can be so reckless sometimes I feel it should be someone's job to catch you." Suddenly, his heart seemed as if it could burst out of his chest. He got to a point where he couldn't deny it anymore; he didn't want to, not after that afternoon.

Juvia giggled and there were stupid butterflies inside his stomach. "Let's not talk about reckless because you would win that one easily." Gray snorted but had no come back, seeing it was the truth. "But well… if you are offering to try to catch Juvia sometimes if she falls, she might take you up to that offer." The blunette said playfully, and put her hand away from his cheek, pushing him away so she could turn around and open the hatch to her hut.

She thought this was one of their usual flirts where she usually insinuated herself lightly and he'd blush, to her amusement and then they'd leave at that. They had been doing it for years but for some reason, that day Gray had enough.

Gray followed her inside – her hut was very large just in case her dragon decided to sleep inside and Raincutters were quite large and was actually very organized except for the bunch of cloths on the corner where she'd mend and sew the Rider's clothes, she was really good at it – and closed the hatch behind him and she turned, surprised to see him there.

"Uh…" It was endearing to see her thrown off her game for once. "Gray-sama?"

"What if I am?" His voice was firmer than he was feeling at that moment.

She frowned, taking a step back towards him. "What if you are what?"

"Offering to try to catch you if you fall?" Gray asked and Juvia seemed surprised, eyes wide and even her cute mouth was slightly opened in shock.

They stood in silence for a few seconds. "Are you… offering?" Her question was barely louder than a whisper.

It was the moment of the truth, then.

"Yes."

Maybe it was her who moved first, maybe it was him or maybe both moved at the same time, but the next thing either of them knew, their lips met and the world was suddenly right.

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Erza was, to say the least, very strict when it came down to let the young men and women share huts but it didn't mean they hadn't found ways to slip into each other's hut and enjoy. Juvia and Gray, after that first kiss, couldn't stop seeing each other, couldn't stop kissing and touching.

The next time his father subtly asked Gray about his intentions on marriage, Gray told him he didn't need to worry about as long as Silver didn't want for it to happen anytime soon.

Silver was overjoyed to hear his son finally had taken the step to be with his beloved and told him he'd start writing letters rejecting the offers Gray received from various chiefs around the archipelago. Gray nodded in agreement.

Now that he had Juvia, there was no way anyone else would become his wife. Not that he planned on getting married the next moon, but… she was it and he could see it more every day.

The night they took it further than kissing and naughty touches, Gray (whom hadn't spoken about marriage with her at the time) asked if she wanted to continue, if she didn't want to save herself for her husband.

Her answer was to tell him she had saved herself for her husband, it didn't mean they had to be married for it to happen and if they never get to be married, they were in her heart and it was what mattered.

His heart almost burst from his chest as he understood: she chose him as much as he chose her.

After that, it was almost impossible for one to sleep without the other, they always slipped into the other's hut and even though they were certain Erza knew about them and the other couples, they were always careful.

Everything changed, though, when Gray was called by Erza and given a very dangerous mission only he, apparently, could pull off. Infiltrate the Hunters that called themselves Avatar. The mission was so secret, the only ones who knew were Erza and Silver – apparently Gray's story would be about a mutiny, how he hated his father succumbed to loving the dragons instead of killing them.

Avatar was just outside the territory they usually patrolled so they would've heard about the Riders, but wouldn't know Gray was part of it. Which meant he also needed to leave Avalanche behind.

It was a long shot but if they could pull through… The Eastern Dragon Market would suffer immensurable and even break. If the others knew, they would want to help and sometimes too much help had catastrophic consequences.

He begged to at least tell Juvia, but Erza was adamant about it. She'd take care of it, but he couldn't tell her a word.

With his heart in pieces, Gray spent his last night at the Edge with Juvia and when was still dark outside, before he parted, he gave her a kiss on the forehead, pulled the blanket closer to her and went to the stables to say goodbye to Avalanche for the time being.

The dragon, his friend for more than five years, understood Gray would be away for a long time but he would come back. That, the Stormcutter understood. He also understood he'd have to take care of his human's mate while Gray was gone – he asked for it and Avalanche liked the female a lot so it wouldn't be a problem.

After taking a boat, Gray sailed into the night.

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AN: There will be a part II in a couple of days, showing Gray's return. I know this probably won't be read by many, but if you got this far, thanks for reading! Oh, the dragon's descriptions are from the HTTYD wikia, alright? ;)

(I promise the second part will be better haha And I didn't give Natsu a Night Fury because come on, a Monstrous Nightmare is much more his style.)

02/28/2018 ~ BonneyQ