Jane sighed and slumped up against a wall of the castle, staring out at the garden. She had just finished a game of bandyball with Jester, Rake, and Smithy; Pepper cheering on the sidelines. She and Smithy had won by a skillful shot right when Pepper called for the midday meal. Man, was she tired. Jane closed her eyes. Maybe just a little nap before her knightly duties wouldn't be too bad . . .

"Why hello there, Jane!" Jester shouted loudly, sliding up beside her. He hesitated before sitting down in the dirt. Did he really need to get his perfectly new, blue pants dirty? Gritting his teeth, he sat down. Jane is worth it. Jane is worth it, he repeated over and over in his head.

"Hello, Jester," she muttered tiredly, eyes still closed. Taking in a deep breath, she looked up at him and smiled. The silly new hat of his could always make her smile. That, along with the rest of his jestering outfit, was a birthday gift from his parents last week.

"That was quite the shot there in the game. With your strength, you could definitely . . . maim."

Jane laughed at his terrible ballad. "If you truly want to become the castle's fool, you do need to work on your rhyming," she advised.

"Like you could do better, than the amazing, good ol' Jester!" He smiled down at her, eyebrows raised in question.

"Better and Jester do not rhyme," she said in between giggles.

"Well they should! Let me try again," he pleaded.

"Just once more. I don't know if I could handle too many more bad ballads before I explode."

"Ha!" Jester laughed sarcastically. "You're hilarious, Jane. Have you ever thought about becoming the court's jester?"

"Just get on with your song before I get bored."

He cleared his throat dramatically. "There once was a lady in waiting who was so very plain. Ah, let's call her Jane. That girl wasn't ordinary, for she liked things not soft, but scary. She was so bright, seeing as she wanted to be the first lady knight, but she was friends with people like Jester who just kept on being a . . . pest to her." Jane coughed, obviously trying to cover her laughter. Jester rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're right," he said. "I'm a terrible rhymer. How will I ever make it to be the King's royal court jester?"

"You'll figure it out. I'm sure of it," Jane promised, placing a hand on his arm reassuringly.

Jester stared at it for a while. She had never touched him before. Well, not like this. He could feel the blush rising to his cheeks as he looked up into her eyes nervously. All too soon, she pulled her hand away. "I got you something," she whispered. His skin tingled where her hand lay moments ago.

She pulled out a small box from behind her back and handed it to him. He stared at it incredulously. "My birthday was last week."

"I know, but all I got you was a silly little card. You deserve something more, Jester. Something special."

"But, Jane-" he started, but she interrupted him quickly.

"Just open it!"

He sighed and lifted the lid revealing a small bracelet fitted for his wrist. "Wow," he muttered, trying to act as if he were excited. "A bracelet."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Not just a bracelet. Here." She picked it up out of the box and turned it around. He could see small engravings on the inside of the bracelet.

"J+J=BFF," he read. "What does that mean?"

"Jane and Jester, best friends forever," she said, grabbing his hand and pushing the gift onto his wrist.

Jester smiled and stared at the bracelet. Turning to Jane, he tapped her on the nose and whispered, "Forever and ever." His smile widened as she giggled and snorted just like always.

Jester truly thought they would indeed be best friends forever. For a few years, it seemed that way. They were constantly together, practically attached at the hip. They took walks together. They were always on the same bandyball team. Whenever Jane needed a shoulder to cry on, Jester would be there. Whenever Jester needed someone to take the blame for his idiotic doings, Jane would be there. Jane would watch all of Jester's performances. Jester would practice sword fighting or archery or whatever kind of knightly thing Jane felt like practicing that day (Jester was quite the dummy anyways).

Everything seemed fine until he showed up. Yes. He as in Dragon.

The day seemed perfectly fine. Jane and Jester were sitting on the swings, their legs swaying, their voices carrying throughout the courtyard. Suddenly, Rake came running towards them at top speed. He doubled over, gasping for breath with his hands on his knees.

"Rake, what is it?" Jane asked worriedly, standing up from the swing and rushing over to his side. Jester followed suit, patting the poor gardener on the back.

"He . . . he . . . he is missing," he panted in between deep breaths.

"Who is missing?" insisted Jane. This was her chance to shine. This was her chance to show everyone that she could be a knight, even if she was a girl.

"The . . . the . . . the prince." Jane gasped and looked at Jester with wide eyes. "You . . . you are needed . . . in the Throne Room."

Jane and Jester glanced at each other one last time before racing towards the Throne Room, leaving poor Rake panting and alone. Pepper would not have been pleased.

Racing into the Throne Room, they found the king sitting on the edge of his seat, head in his hands. The queen stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders to try and make him relax, but it did not seem to be working. Sir Theodore paced back and forth, back and forth, in front of them. Jane's parents stood in the corner, whispering to each other worriedly. The king looked up when he heard Jane and Jester enter the room. They bowed respectfully.

"What has happened?" questioned Jane.

"Cuthbert is missing," King Caradoc exclaimed, standing up from his seat abruptly.

"But . . . how?" she asked.

"A dragon." Sir Theodore spoke for the first time since their entering.

"A dragon?"

"Yes. Dragons are ancient and dangerous creatures. I have not seen one for many years, but there indeed is one left. He swooped down, grabbed the boy, and took off towards the East Mountain. I along with the other knights are heading off as soon as possible. Sir Ivon is getting the horses ready as we speak," he told her.

Jane was speechless. What was there to say, really? Sir Theodore started pacing again, leaving her in her silence.

"Jester!" King Caradoc yelled loudly.

"Y-Yes, my lord," he stuttered, walking quickly up in front of the monarchs.

"Entertain me. Keep our minds off of Cuthbert."

"Yes, my lord." He cleared his throat. "Uh, what did the apple say to the strawberry?" Nobody spoke. "Nothing! Fruits can't talk!" Once again, the Throne Room was silent. "All right then. No fruit jokes." Jester glanced over his shoulder, trying to look at Jane for support but she wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere, actually. Good God, that girl was going to get it if she went galloping off towards that gruesome green giant. Ha! His rhyming might need work but he sure could work with the alphabet!

"How 'bout some juggling?" he asked. The king nodded and waved his hand in approval. "I'll be right back." Running out of the Throne Room, he headed towards his room to get his juggling rocks. He was so distracted by his thoughts, that he almost didn't notice when he bumped right into the person capturing his attention. "Jane!" he exclaimed.

"Be quiet," she hissed, pulling the reins on her horse a little tighter.

"What are you doing?" Jester asked even though he was almost positive he knew the answer.

"I'm going to save Prince Cuthbert. What does it look like I'm doing?" She hefted herself up onto the saddle and stared down at him.

"But how did you get the horse? I thought Sir Ivon was taking them all?"

"He is, but one part of being a knight is being stealthy, Jester."

"But you can't possibly go all by yourself?"

"This is my chance to prove that I can be a knight. I must go by myself. And who else would go with me, anyways? You?" She laughed. Once seeing the red on his cheeks, she controlled herself and said, "No offence, Jester, but you can't fight for your life."

He sighed. "I know, it's just . . . " He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Be careful, Jane."

She smiled. "I promise." She patted his head - the bells on his hat jingled quietly – and trotted off towards the mountain. He stared after her.

"JESTER!" The king's scream focused him back to Earth.

"Coming!" he yelled back, running off towards his room to get his juggling supplies. Maybe some marionettes as well.

"HURRY UP!" Definitely some marionettes.

After that day, nothing was ever the same between Jane and Jester. Jane became a knight's apprentice and best friends with Dragon. Jester seemed to be pushed to the side.

No longer did they take long walks in the forest together.

No longer were Jane and Jester always on the same team. They hardly even got to play bandyball anymore. Jane was always training or patrolling. Even when everyone had some free time, she didn't find it very fair that Dragon was not allowed to play the game.

No longer did Jane need Jester to cry on. No, Dragon was always there. Whenever she had trouble of any kind, she ran to Dragon for help. Not Jester. Dragon was there to give a comforting word or a shoulder to cry on.

No longer did Jane take the blame when Jester got in trouble. She was hardly even there to see him get in trouble. Oh no. She was far too busy looking at dragon runes or patrolling. Sometimes, Jester would ask if he could come along. Jane's response was always the same. "Dragon gets a bit scared when having more than one person flying on his back. It weighs him down, you know? Maybe next time." There never was a next time.

No longer did Jane watch all of his performances. He just juggled and joked for the royal family. Sometimes Rake, Pepper, Smithy or all three would watch from the sidelines, too. But was Jane ever there? No. No she wasn't.

No longer did Jane need Jester to help with sword fighting. All Dragon had to do was hold up a shield and Jane could go at it. Shoot! He didn't even need a shield! She could just swipe at his stomach and he'd be perfectly fine.

No longer were Jane and Jester best friends forever and ever and as long as Dragon was in their way, they, sadly never would be.

So this is actually my very first Jane and the Dragon fic. I've never actually done a fic for a TV show before, just for books, so I hope it wasn't too bad. Also, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen like all the episodes yet so if I have some information wrong or the characters are OOC, I'm really sorry. And I don't own Jane and the Dragon or anything else, really.

Thanks to the always amazing Chesty's Superbest Friend for betaing this for me even though she's never seen the show! Love ya!

I'd really like to know what you thought. The good stuff, the bad stuff, what you ate for breakfast this morning, whatever! Just review!

:) Jordan