A/N: Happy (belated) Holidays! I'm sorry this is so late…

A side note: the characters look the way they did after Tenrou Island.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor Cinderella.

Levy awoke to a cool hand on her forehead.

"Mira, you should be more careful. She's already emotionally stressed. You only made it worse."

"Oh! She's coming to!"

Opening her eyes, Levy looked around groggily. Three young women were staring down at her.

"Hello, Levy!" one of the women greeted Levy. Even though she looked young, she had long white hair. "I'm Mirajane."

"Wha-?" Levy asked intelligently.

"We are the goddesses of this world. I, Mirajane, am the deity of the heaven and what lies below."

"I, Lisanna, am the Queen of the Animal Kingdom." Lisanna was a woman with the same white hair as Mirajane, but in a short cut. She wore a wreath of flowers in her hair.

"And I, am Lucy, the goddess of the stars." Lucy was an attractive young woman with golden hair and sparkling eyes. She wore a midnight blue dress sprinkled with diamonds. It gave the appearance of a starry night.

Levy was a bit awestruck. "Whoa…"

"We came to help you Levy!" Lucy said, clasping her hands. "Now, let's get you tidied up."

With a flick of her wrist, all the water and grime on Levy vanished, appearing in the manure pile near the stables. Levy looked on in shock.

"Hmm… now we need a dress…" Lisanna murmured. She twirled her fingers, and Levy's ruined ensemble transformed.

Levy looked down at her hands. They were covered in white silk gloves. She lifted her hand to her face. It was covered with a cobalt masquerade mask. She ran a hand over her skirts and found that they were a beautiful sky blue color. And then she lifted up her skirts. On her feet were the most beautiful dancing slippers she had ever seen. They were slightly heeled and they fit perfectly. But that wasn't all!

Standing in front of the estate was a gleaming wood carriage that looked… slightly pumpkin-like. Jet and Droy, both dressed in a sharp black uniform, waved at her. Bisca and Alzack, Jet's prized horses, stood proudly in front of the carriage, their coats shiny and brushed.

Levy gasped, tears filling her eyes. "Th-thank you…"

Mirajane just smiled and pulled Levy into a tight embrace. "Anything to help you, my dear."

"Wait! What about the cleaning?" Levy asked, nervous.

"That's what I'm here for, child." Mira winked, a mop and bucket appearing beside her.

-o-o-o-

Gajeel was bored. He fiddled with his mask. The party was fuckin' boring, and meeting all the "eligible young ladies" wasn't something he planned on doing. He had seen enough eyelash-fluttering and awkward flirting to last him two lifetimes.

"Duchess Evergreen. Duke Strauss." the herald announced the arrival of new guests. "Lady Lockser. Prince Gray Fullbuster of the Frozen Lands."

Gajeel groaned. More people?

Suddenly, the room went silent. A girl walked in, clad in sapphire-colored skirts.

"Miss McGarden." the herald announced.

The crowd tittered. No title? Who was this Miss McGarden? And why was she being held back?

Gajeel decided to find out. He ditched the girl-Lady Coner? Cooper?- with too much makeup on and headed towards the mysterious figure. She appeared to be arguing about something. As he came closer, he realized she had blue hair. Blue!

But anyways, Gajeel strode forward and saw that she was being held back by one of his councilors. He frowned, and when he approached him, he heard her.

"Let go of me!" she pushed the old man's hand off her forearm. "I'm an eligible, too, you know! I'm eighteen!"

The councilor was having none of that. It appeared he was trying to shoo her away.

"Prince Gajeel doesn't want anything to do with scum like you. Crawl back to where you belong, Miss McGarden." he sneered, emphasizing her non-existent title.

"Councilor Porla. Didn't you always tell me to treat ladies with respect? You should follow your own advice." While Gajeel wasn't a knight in shining armor, something about this girl made him want to protect her. Maybe it was because she was so small. She didn't look eighteen at all, more like twelve! Gihi.

He clamped his arm down on the councillor's shoulder, being sure to squeeze.

"A-ah, Prince Gajeel! How do you like the ball? I was just escorting this filthy peasant out of here." the councilor said nervously.

"Who was invited to this ball?" Gajeel asked without bluntly.

"Well, all the young eligible ladies!" the councilor said, twisting his hands together.

"She's eighteen, she's eligible, why aren't you lettin' her in?" Gajeel motioned towards the girl. He tightened his grip on Councilor Porla's shoulder. The man cringed. Gihi. Gihihi.

"Ah- well…"

"That's what I thought." Gajeel released the nervous man, shoving him backwards, and stepped towards the girl. Extending his hand, he said gruffly, "I'm sorry he," he jerked his thumb at the offender, "was being rude. As an apology, may I have this dance?" He bowed low as Lily had trained him to do. In his corner, Lily watched the encounter with a smirk.

There was a short silence, but then her face lit up in a smile. Even though she was wearing a mask, he could see her eyes sparkle. "Yes." She curtsied, and they walked onto the floor and the orchestra started playing a waltz.

At first, he had offered to dance with her out of courtesy. He felt bad that she was treated rudely and wanted to apologize. But one dance turned into two, and two into three, and soon they were resting on a balcony after dancing the night away. He found that she was good company, and enjoyed her presence. She felt refreshing. All the other women in the room made him feel nervous, but she helped him relax.

"Hey, shrimp?" And he could be himself around her.

"I'm not that short!" Shrimp pouted and puffed out her cheeks, annoyed. "Is that my new nickname now?"

"Yup."

"…Do you give nicknames to everybody?"

"Nah, just people that are actually my friends." Gajeel looked up to the sky.

"For example…?"

"You know the Prince of the Endless Desert? He's Flame Brain. That kid is a pyromaniac. He almost set my head on fire! I don't think his dad ever taught him that, oh, I don't know, hair is flammable."

Miss McGarden giggled, covering her mouth. "Oh no, not the hair!" she reached out to touch his locks.

Gajeel looked away, ears on fire. What was this feeling?

They both looked up at the stars.

"Wow, they're really pretty tonight!" she exclaimed. "Look, I can see Lyra!"

Gajeel grunted.

"Mmm. Prince Gajeel-"

"Just Gajeel." He interrupted. "Titles and shit like that don't suit me."

"O-okay… Gajeel. Then, call me Levy." Levy -Shrimp- blushed.

"Nah, I think I'll stick with Shrimp."

"Hey! ...Well, thanks for tonight. I really had fun." Levy smiled shyly.

"Hmph. No prob." Gajeel nodded. They both looked at each other and his gaze landed on her lips.

Holy sh-! Gajeel thought, startled.

Suddenly, they were inching closer… and closer… Levy closed her eyes...

. The clock tower chimed, ringing the hour. Eleven o'clock. BONG. BONG. Levy's eyes flew open. BONG. BONG. Levy jerked back, and ran off of the balcony.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Gajeel cried. BONG. BONG.

"Home! My… mother wants me home by midnight!" Levy called back, rushing into the ballroom. "I'll see you in two days' time!"

. BONG.

The last ring echoed out, and Gajeel was alone.

A/N:

Thank you for reading Chapter 3 of this story. So sorry for the delay! *bows*

Also, I am neither a horse enthusiast nor historian, so tell me if I made any mistakes.

Questions? Comments? Editing advice? Please drop a review!

Signing off,

Miss Quiet Writer