What were you supposed to do when your kingdom was at war which you were bound to lose? Usually there were arranged marriages, peace treaties and all that stuff. However, if you were like Izumi Yukihira and would rather defend the palace all by yourself than marry someone you don't love, that was simply not an option. In that case you had to settle for the next best thing- dragons.

And that's how Izumi found himself standing in front of a huge cave in the middle of nowhere. He would have been worried that he had got the wrong place if it weren't for the dragon that had flown so close to him that for a moment Izumi had thought it was going to eat him for lunch. Truth to be told, he was quite scared. It was the help of dragons he was seeking so there was a possibility that he might be burned to a crisp or eaten or something equally horrible. But if there was something he could do to prevent a potential arranged marriage, he would do it. He had come so far and couldn't back out now. Besides, he had promised his royal advisors that if he couldn't get help from the dragons he would marry whoever they wanted.

Izumi lit up his torch, took a deep breath and entered the cave. He walked for a while until he reached the end of the tunnel and entered a huge stone hall. There were two sleeping dragons, one red and one black, and a girl between them. He had heard stories about The Mother of Dragons, a girl that raised three dragons since they were babies and who was still living with them, but he had thought they were all myths.

While he was lost in thought, the girl had woken up. She was currently staring at him with her large brown eyes. The girl was wearing a short dress that had been white once, but now it had more of a greyish colour because of all the dirt in the cave, and had long auburn hair that was put in a braid. He could tell she was quite younger than him, at least 10 years.

Izumi cleared his throat and took a step closer. ''Are you The Mother of Dragons?''

She did not move, just blinked at him. ''Yes, I have been called that. Who are you?''

''I'm Izumi Yukihira from the kingdom of Alicea. My kingdom is in great danger and I'm in desperate need of your help.''

''No.'' She simply said and sat on the ground, probably with the intention to go back to sleep.

''What? You're telling me I came all the way here for nothing? Why won't you help me?''

''There's nothing in it for me. And besides, I don't like humans.''

''Aren't you a human as well?''

''Your point? Either way, I'm not going to help you.''

Izumi clenched his fists, this girl was starting to get on his nerves. ''You're a real brat, you know that?''

''That attitude does not make me more willing to help you.''

He sighed in defeat and plopped down on the ground. The girl stared at him in disbelief. ''What are you doing?''

''I'm staying until you agree to help me.''

''You're an idiot.''

''I know.''


When night came, Izumi started doubting his plan. The cave was extremely cold and he was afraid that if he stayed there he would freeze to death. He did not want to give up, not only because of his kingdom but also because his pride would not allow it but he was starting to think that he might have to if he wanted to survive.

Izumi was about to head out when he heard the girl call him. ''You can come here and sleep here. I know the cave is cold.''

The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Izumi stared at her in disbelief. ''You mean… sleep with you and the dragons?''

She nodded her head and patted the space next to her. ''There is enough space for both of us. I don't want you to freeze to death. I'm not as cruel and mean as you seem to think I am.''

''I don't think you're cruel or mean. I think you are a brat.'' Izumi walked towards her and ruffled her hair before sitting down. ''It really is warm here.'' He exclaimed.

She did not seem to like the fact that he had called her a brat, huffed and looked away but glanced at him when he continued talking. ''I told you. Their skin is like a furnace.'' Izumi was about to touch it but stopped himself halfway. ''Go ahead. They won't do anything to you unless I tell them to.''

''That doesn't sound very reassuring.'' Izumi mumbled and touched the dragon's scales with his hand. She was right. They really were warm.

''Well, it's better than nothing.'' The girl was starting to get better with comebacks. That was not good. Izumi had to at least win in the war with words but that didn't seem to likely anymore.

''That's true.''

She lied down with her back to Izumi. ''Just don't try anything funny or I'll have my dragons eat you.''

Izumi's face flushed and he lied as far away from her as possible. ''Why would I do anything? You're a kid.''

No one said anything after that. Both of them tried to sleep but something was keeping Izumi awake. ''Hey, do you have a name?''

''Ugh… what…?'' She mumbled sleepily.

''A name. Do you have one? I need something to address you with and Mother of Dragons sounds too weird.'' The girl thought for a moment then said something that Izumi could not hear. ''Huh? Can you repeat that?''

''Yuka. People used to call me Yuka.''

''Yuka.'' Izumi tried it out to see how it sounded from his mouth. ''That's a really lovely name.'' He turned around and grinned at her. ''Thank you for letting me sleep here with you, Yuka.''

Yuka did not hear him, though. She was already asleep.


Sometime during the next day the three dragons went out and Izumi was left alone in the cave with Yuka. She was currently trying to braid her hair and Izumi was watching her.

''Can… can I try?'' He mumbled.

Yuka turned to look at him. ''You want to… braid my hair?''

He nodded his head. ''I've never done that before and was wondering… how it was done and… Ugh, forget it.''

She chuckled and moved to sit in front of him. ''You can try. I doubt you'll be able to do it though.''

''We'll see about that.'' Izumi muttered even though he knew she was right. He tried his best to copy what she had been doing before but it looked a lot less pretty than hers.

''Sometimes I think about cutting my hair. Long hair annoys me sometimes.'' Yuka sighed.

''No!'' Izumi exclaimed and Yuka glanced at him from behind her shoulder, he was beat red. ''Umm… long hair really suits you… umm…''

Yuka blushed as well and looked forward. ''T-then I guess I'll keep it that way. It's a bit inconvenient but I quite like it as well.''

Izumi continued trying to braid her hair but he did not seem to be getting any better. ''You said you don't like people. Why?'' Yuka looked down at her lap and fell silent. ''Ugh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to.''

''When I was young I used to live in a village far away from here. The people from that village… they burned me.''

''WHAT?!'' Izumi jumped up but then realized he had pulled her hair and sat back down. ''Sorry.''

''It's fine.'' Yuka bit her lip and continued. ''They thought I was a witch so one night they set my house on fire. Before I realized what was going on it was too late.''

Izumi's hands started shaking and his attempts at braiding became even worse. ''But… you are alive?''

''Yes. I survived, even I don't know how. Maybe I really was a witch. I don't know.'' She shrugged. ''I had three dragon eggs from my grandmother. When the house burned down, there was nothing left except for me and three small dragons. They must have hatched from their eggs because of the heat.''

''What happened after that?''

''The villagers did not try to kill me if that's what you're asking. They were too afraid to try again. They did kick me out, though. That's how I found myself here.''

''And you've been living here with your dragons ever since?''

Yuka nodded her head. ''You're the first human I've seen in years.''

Izumi let go of Yuka's hair and wrapped his arms around her. Both of them turned red in the face. ''W-what are you doing?''

''I had no idea you went through something like that. I'm sorry.''

''Don't apologize. There's no way you could have known.''

''I'm still sorry.''

Yuka did not know what to do. No matter what she said he continued to apologise and held her for a long time. She got so used to the feeling of his arms around her that she missed it when he let go.

Maybe humans weren't so bad after all.


Izumi had made a decision the moment Yuka had told him about her past. There was no way he was going to continue asking for her help, not after he had learned what she had been though. It would be selfish of him to do that.

When he woke up, Yuka was nowhere to be seen and so were two of the dragons. The third one, however, was still lying next to him. Yuka must have told it to stay and keep Izumi warm. She could be really nice if she wanted to. He would miss her.

Izumi made his way out of the cave but when he exited it, he saw one of the dragons making circles in the air with Yuka on its its back. When it saw Izumi, the dragon flew closer to the ground.

''Where are you going?'' Yuka asked.

''Home. Now I understand why you don't like humans and I can't keep asking for your help.''

Yuka bit help lip and looked him in the eyes. ''I have decided to help you.'' She declared.

Izumi could not believe what he was hearing. ''What? Really?''

She nodded her head, her cheeks read. ''You aren't too bad… for a human.''

Izumi smiled at her. ''And you aren't too bad for a brat.''

Yuka held out her hand for him, he took it and climbed on the dragon's back behind Yuka. ''Now let's go save your kingdom.''


Basically Yuka is a weird mix between Daenerys Targaryen and San from Princess Mononoke. I don't know how that happened.

This fic will definitely have a second chapter that will focus more on the romance between Izumi and Yuka. Then (at some point) I'm going to write a sequel, which is an A Song of Ice and Fire!AU I've wanted to write for quite some time, way before I even thought of this fic. I don't know when that will be because I'll be quite busy with school and I also have other fics I want to update but it WILL happen.