The gardens were quiet when the two figures appeared. Everyone was asleep, having enjoyed their celebration to the fullest. One mysterious figure bounced from person to person, her bright light threatening to wake even the soundest sleeper.
"Mavis, please…" he whispered, snagging his wife by the back of her dress.
"But they all look so cute!"
"That's what you say about everyone." He walked to the far field, his hold firm as his wife cooed at the sleeping mages and made no attempt to walk on her own.
They finally made it to the open field where the young dragons lounged against one another. He could see the bright hair of the princess tucked next to the silver dragon they had met years ago, a large black cat at their side. A red-haired knight sat on a nearby bench, her head nodding dangerously close to the sword she held. Zeref held back a snort, dropped his hold on his wife, and positioned the knight more comfortably on the bench. Humans had such strict rules about decorum and chaperones.
Mavis flitted from dragon to dragon, her small hands clapping in delight. "Just look at them! So young but so strong! Ahhh, doesn't he look just like his father? The white highlights are exactly the same!"
Zeref rolled his eyes. "Yes, they are. And why do you want to go and mess that up?"
Mavis pouted and huffed at him, which he secretly found adorable. "I'm not messing anything up! You saw how well it worked with the iron one."
Zeref looked at the dragon in question, a content smile on his snout even in his sleep. "He certainly worked hard to accomplish his goal."
"And the others will work just as hard too. Especially since I saw how a certain red dragon was looking at a certain lady-in-waiting." Mavis giggled and Zeref wished she would stop trying to be mysterious and start using their names. It wasn't as if she had been keeping her plans a secret. She had been gushing about her new idea ever since Gajeel first appeared before them.
"Are you ready, dear?" she asked, bounding over to him.
Zeref sighed. "I'm still not so sure the wisdom behind this. Rogue will definitely have a problem with it too, seeing as he's been complaining about how exhausting humans are."
Mavis rubbed her hands together, a twinkle in her eye that he both loved and feared. "He'll get used to it soon enough, so why don't we start with him?"
He sighed and followed his wife to the shadow dragon's side. He settled his hands next to hers and the dragon began to glow. As their magic covered the sleeping dragon, Zeref had to admit:
He was looking forward to seeing what the dragons would do next.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it...it was a ton of fun trying to think of all the characters I could plug into this AU that I created. Lots of cameos, lots of research to remember how everyone's magic worked. Stay tuned for another GaLe story in the next couple of weeks! I'm currently writing it and have the first few chapters done, but I like having my stories mostly completed before I post anything...ya know, in case I want to change something later lol. Thanks again for reading The Iron Knight and see ya next time!