And She Held Me Close
Her laugh hissed through him. Made his ears tickle, like always. He didn't really like it, but she was happy, and he did like that. Even if he hurt a bit.
"You keep fallin' like that, you're going to break your ass, little boy."
"Break..." he rubbed his tail bone while she chuckled.
"Yeah! It's already cracked almost in two! See, mine's not like that. What'll you do if it cracks all the way through?!"
His eyes were wide as he looked up up up at her from his place on the rocks.
"I don't want my ass to break!"
She hissed, and he scratched his ears. "Then get back up and don't trip this time, you silly brat. Remember to protect your ass!"
He nodded, putting a hand over the crack. He really didn't want it to break.
"Can you fix it?"
"Nope. You can only fix your own ass crack, that's the way the world works."
"Can I fix it?!" he was beginning to panic.
"Maybe someday," and then she laughed a lot, rolling onto her back. Her hisses filled the area, making him angry.
"But what if my ass breaks in two, like you said!?"
She kept laughing.
XXXX
"You could have died, you stupid brat. You're still too little for monsters like that." Her nose was cold against his face.
"But big monsters are more fun!"
"You stupid brat, you could have died! Are you not listening to me? I told you not to mess with those bastards, and look what you go and do. Stupid. What would you have done if I hadn't shown up? Eh? Died, that's what you'd have done."
"What's died?"
His whole body vibrated with her laughter, her mouth was so close to his bones. The sound was low, and off-tone. He'd never heard her laugh like this before. "It's like going to sleep forever. But first being thrown off the mountain. And not being able to eat anything. And also like that time you got hives. Scratchy and painful. All at one time. And it means I'll never get to see you again, and that ain't one bit of fun, don't you think?"
"Eh?! I was almost like that?" He scowled, "But I wasn't on the mountain, so that couldn't be true."
"Well, we can go to the mountain tomorrow. Then, I can throw you off. How's that sound? Eh? I'll throw you off tomorrow, or you promise never to do shit like that again, okay brat?
"Mmm, never..." he thought never was a long time, and that maybe he couldn't do never.
She smacked him, hard, and he decided that promising was better than died.
Never still seemed like a long time. Fighting those things was fun!
XXXX
"You smell."
"Do not!"
"Don't backtalk me, you brat." She yawned, rolling her face around with a giant sigh. "Get to the river, now. Don't come back for an hour. And don't smell."
He muttered a few foul words, which she ignored, and "you smell, too," which she didn't.
Her grin was fierce and sharp. "Maybe I'll go with you then, eh, little boy?" That laugh. That laugh that made his bones buzz. On and on she laughed; he took a step backwards. "Ah, is it that my dear little boy is afraid to go to the river by himself? Or does he need help washing his back?"
"Am not! Do not! FINE! I'll go. I'll show you, stupid old hag. I'll show you!"
Marching off, stomping as heavily as his small legs could manage, he headed for the river. He hated baths.
"Stupid brat," he heard her say.
He glared, but didn't look back. She'd just tease him.
Stupid bath.
XXXX
"We're moving!" she was excited. He didn't understand why. Moving sounded like a lot of trouble.
"Why?"
"Cuz I said so," she turned almost too fast for him to dodge. He ducked and rolled and hit a tree.
"Ow!"
"Ow? From just that? This is why we're moving farther up into the mountains. You're too damn soft down here. Gotta toughen you up, little boy."
He grumbled but knew better than to complain out loud.
XXXX
When she sang to him, everything in the world was perfect. He'd seen how birds would sit in their nests and sing, but they were nothing next to her.
They lived near a demon nest, and she regularly tested him against it. It was tiring and sometimes he got hurt, but she would always sing to him after. And let him sleep curled against her belly, looking up at the stars.
She was signing a song now about a man and his cow and how they traveled the country hunting ghosts. Then the man fell in love with a butcher's daughter, so he and the cow had to part. The cow went on to be the best exorcist ever in the history of ever.
It was his favorite. He sang along on the chorus parts, even though he wasn't as good at singing as she was.
After, she nuzzled his hair while he curled up to sleep. "I love listening to you sing, little boy," she told him. He chuckled into the softness of her belly.
Getting hurt was worth it.
XXXX
"Dumb brat." She was angry. He could tell she was angry by the harsh posture and the glint in her eye.
"I'm sorr-"
"You're not sorry. If you were sorry, you'd do better. One day I won't be there to save you."
"I know." His head felt heavier than the mountain. His eyes burned.
She softened, and that was unexpected. Dropping down to the ground, she curled around him and put her nose close to his. "You need to be stronger. To live, you have to be stronger than anything. Get me, brat?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
Her snort was so forceful that he was knocked against her side. Would have broken his ass on the ground if she wasn't there to keep him from falling.
"That smart-ass mouth sure isn't going to get you very far."
"Smart ass mouth? But...my ass and my mouth are..." it took him a second, but he guessed that it was probably an insult.
"Yup, you all around, my smart-ass brat."
"I'm not a smart ass!"
"Ah, ah, you're right," she bumped him with her nose and grinned. "Dumb. Dumb-ass brat; that's what I meant!"
"Am not!"
"Are, too!" and she tossed him into the air before catching him and holding him high above the ground. "What about it? Let's go toss you off the mountain, eh, brat? That sound like fun?"
"I don't want to died!"
"Oh, but a strong brat won't died just by falling off a little mountain."
"But! But you said...!"
"I said that to a weak little boy. A weak little boy who needed someone to protect him. You still that boy, or you wanna try to jump?"
"I..." he swallowed, feeling ashamed. "I don't wanna jump. Not now," he corrected, "but I will. Someday. Soon."
Her cheek was cold against his.
"Yes, you will. Cuz my brat'll be strong. A dumb ass, but a strong dumb ass."
"Hey!"
She squeezed him tight while she laughed, and he was happy.
XXXX
One morning he woke up alone. Alone and sick. He threw up a few times before trying to find her. He threw up a few more times. He smelled pretty bad. He went to the stream to clean up.
After he was clean, he sat on a cliff on the side of the mountain, waiting. Far below and far above, he watched. He waited.
One day.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
On day eight, he jumped off the mountain.
He didn't died.
XXXX
He was drenched. His own blood and that of three others washing from his arms. He shook them, slightly disgusted at the feeling, hoping to hurry the cleaning process so he could get out of the water and get dry.
The girl beside him looked on in silence. Her own wounds untreated and dry under the protection of her umbrella.
"You're a dumb ass," he told her.
Her response was a blank stare. He snorted and left her behind.
XXXX
"Let's get this shit straight, old hag. I'm gunna do whatever the hell I wanna do to get stronger. Strength is the only thing that matters in the world, and I got it."
"No, it's not." The old woman's wrinkled face smiled at him, and he hated it. "It's not, and you know it. Strength is important, but what defines that strength is so much more so. Why do you want it? How do you acquire it. For what cause do you use it? These are all the more important than strength itself because strength only for strength's sake is a selfish waste that builds nothing."
"Che. Stupid hag."
"Don't ruin your life. Don't be a dumb ass, boy."
His spine snapped iron-rod straight. "You've got no right to talk to me like that, old hag!"
He left her, then. If he had stayed...
XXXX
His clothes were still smoking as he limped away. Why the hell had he done that? There was no rule, not from Makarov or that creepy bastard that he had to play saint for those idiots. And no one could have blamed him if she got killed.
No way to blame him for that one, at least.
Over his shoulder, he heard her crying. That one would never survive getting tossed off a mountain.
For what cause do you use it?
Stupid hag.
Stupid girl.
XXXX
"That was remarkable!" the little dragon slayer gushed. "I never thought I'd meet a dragon's ghost."
"Did it resemble your dragon?" the white cat asked.
"Oh no," the girl's smile was misty, and his shoulders were tense. "My mom was much more elegant looking. She was soft and pale, and her smile was sweet."
He snorted. "No dragon has a sweet smile."
"Well," she laughed, "maybe not to other people, but my mom's smile was always sweet to me."
"Che."
The little girl laughed. He couldn't feel a thing.
XXXX
She towered over him. He remembered her being big, but this was … how could he have forgotten?
"That was a good job jumping off the mountain, brat."
"..."
"Well?! Come on, I know you've got somethin' to say. So say it."
"...Mom?"
"Eh? Is that a question? You not recognize me? Wow, even dumber than before."
"I am not, you stupid old hag!"
"Are too, you dumb ass little brat!" She laughed, knocking him over with her nose. "Now, we've gotta shit load of bad behavior to discuss, but before that, how about you show me your strength, little boy."
He didn't throw up. Not once. Though he kinda wanted to. He did, however, start to cry. He didn't think of the people around him, his situation, anything. All he had was the way his ears tickled and the ache in his tail bone.
"Stupid brat," she curled around him, and his bones buzzed. "We've got work to do. But after it's over, we'll go back to the mountain. You can get your ass broken by some monsters, and I'll sing you to sleep."
"I'm not a kid."
"But you're still a little brat. Need mama to protect you this time?"
"No. What about you, you old shut in? Can you still even fight?"
She snorted. He held his ground. They both grinned and parted for their separate battles.
"You have to do the whole song," he yelled after her. "You can't just stop when the cow leaves."
"I'll do the whole song."
"Promise?"
"Yes, brat. I promise."
XXXX
Author's Note: I think I'm just aggravated that Metalicana hasn't shown up, yet. That dragon has been stiffed this whole series. We've seen little Natsu, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue with their dragons, but no Gajeel. I CALL BULLSHIT.
I got nothing to suggest his mom might be ... a mom. And not a dad. -_- that made no sense. ANYWAY. Most of the stories I (and other people) write, have Metalicana as a male dragon. Could be. But there's something amusing to me about Gajeel's connection with females (not that he doesn't have male connections too, but still...), and the death of that old council lady really sealed it for me. I wanted to do a long-form on Metalicana as his mom, but then Igneel popped out and ... well balls to that. Metalicana was probably going to pop out in another chapter or two...
Or not. So. Screw it! Writing this anyway! FUCK IT, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Not anything close to the best thing I've ever written, but I woke up with it in my head, so here it is. Sort of like taking my other Gajeel/Metalicana story, "Unwanted" and looking at it from a different direction.
Straight off the presses, no beta, no time.