A/N: Sometimes I act out the part that I'm writing… is that weird? Also, I feel like I'm better at writing sad/heartsick scenes.

I recently started watching Once Upon a Time… :) And yes, that was an Into the Woods reference, but in some original retellings of the story, the prince does do that.

She ran out of the palace like the devil himself was on her heels. Her bare foot hurt and she lifted her abundant skirts up as she dashed away from Gajeel. Father would be outraged, she thought, but to hell with it! I don't care if Gajeel sees my ankles! Even if it is scandalous.

The blue haired girl leapt into her golden carriage and they raced away. Levy sighed. That was too close for comfort.

The girl looked out the window at the palace. Gajeel was standing on the steps, holding the shoe she left behind.

-o-o-o-

Gajeel strode confidently towards Levy. His plan had worked! He gave a thumbs-up to Lily, who was standing in the shadows. After the last guest had arrived, Lily poured a bucket of pitch onto the steps. He grinned.

"No!" Shrimp waved her hands in front of her face. He paused. Should he really take advantage of the situation like this? What if she didn't love him?

Suddenly , to his surprise, she dashed away from him. He realized only one of her shoes had gotten stuck in the tar and she abandoned it to run to her carriage. The prince stood, shell-shocked on the stairway before cursing.

"Shit! Shrimp! No!" he stared at her retreating carriage, placing a hand on his head. Lily sighed, and Gajeel startled. He had forgotten his friend was there.

"She… she ran. She ran! She ran again! Godammit! What the hell? Why'd she run? Why?" Gajeel bellowed, punching one of the walls.

"Gajeel… she left a shoe." Lily nudged Gajeel, offering him the slipper.

"What? Oh…" the prince took the shoe gently, as if it would break into a million pieces if he was too rough. "Whoa…" On second thought, maybe it would. The shoe was tiny, but that wasn't the most extraordinary thing: it seemed to be made of glass. Thin gold detailing was surrounded by a pearly white glass. It took his breath away.

"Where… where did she get this?" Gajeel breathed, slowly turning the exquisite shoe around, watching as it bent the light.

-o-o-o-

Levy sighed and slipped out of her dress. How come it hasn't transformed back yet?

"Oh well…" she tossed her white dress under her cot and frowned when the skirts poufed out from the sides of the bed.

"Curse large skirts… always causing trouble…" she muttered, deciding to stow the offending item in one of their many, many guest bedrooms. "That was my nice work dress, too!" she tugged on her nightgown grumpily.

"Oh." the bluenette realized that she still had on one of her glass slippers. Then it finally hit her.

"I ran away…" she broke down. I ran away… from the only chance I had… from Gajeel.

She cried the rest of the night.

-o-o-o-

Gajeel pounded his fist into the wall over and over and over again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Yet his chest felt -hurt- more than his fist and he couldn't make it stop. He had fought dragons, battled against Elfman "The Beast" and even dealt with the pain of never knowing his mother, yet… all paled in comparison to this agony. (A/N: Agony!)

He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to cry.

"I-" his voice hitched, "I'm going to my quarters. Do not let me be disturbed." he said to Lily, eyes still closed.

"As you wish." the older man nodded and looked at him worriedly. Gajeel just stomped back into the palace.

Slamming his bedroom doors behind him, he grimaced. He was still clutching the shoe in his hand.

"Fuck, Levy. Why?" he slammed his fist into a small, ornamental table. He picked it up and threw it against the wall. The wood splintered and broke, but he wasn't satisfied.

"Why?" Throw. Smash.

"Why?" Throw. Crack.

"Why?!" he flung the table at his door, and watched as it shattered. He looked at the pieces, mangled wood and gilt lying on his floor, a strange corpse. In a fit of madness, he was stomping on the broken fragments, screaming.

"WHY?!"

-o-o-o-

Levy sniffed and wiped her face. "They'll be back soon. Best get-" her voice caught, "get ready. Minerva will surely ask for some tea."

Even just talking to myself I'm a mess. she thought, sniffling.

Let's go make some tea now, shall we?

After a few more hours, Minerva, Flare and Angel returned in a huff.

"The Prince disappeared! I can't believe it!" Minerva shrieked, throwing her fan in a fit of fury. Levy bent to pick up the wayward accessory, wisely keeping her eyes down. "I was supposed to be the Princess by now! Me!"

"Well, I'm sure he will come around eventually." Angel said demurely, tossing her gloves and coat to Levy. "Levy, steep some tea. And make it extra strong." she rubbed her temples, sighing.

"My dear, why don't you change into something a bit more… comfortable?" Angel gestured to Minerva's ball gown.

"Very well. Come, Levy." Minerva strutted to her room, with Levy trailing behind her.

"Undress me! Put me in the purple nightgown with the bows." Minerva ordered.

"Yes, Minerva." Levy muttered dutifully, undoing the laces and buttons of Minerva's intricate ball gown.

"Say… I don't value your opinion, but I'll ask anyways. Prince Sting was quite taken with me. Which one should I choose? The crown prince or the handsome prince?" Minerva asked.

"Oh, I'd say that you shouldn't even try. You wouldn't have the slightest chance with either of them, Lady Minerva." Levy replied haughtily.

Thwack. "You insolent child! How dare you!" Minerva screeched, backhanding Levy across the face.

"You have no idea how I feel! Begone!" she screamed.

"What, so your other servant can undress you? What other servant? Maybe if you had me share my workload, I wouldn't be such an insolent child!" Levy yelled back, slamming the door behind her.

"Levy, that tea…" Angel said, tapping her nails on the dining table.

"Shut up!"

-o-o-o-

Gajeel yelled. He bellowed. He raged. By the time it was midnight, he had finally cooled down and his room was a mess. There were mangled and broken pieces of furniture everywhere and his fists were cut and bloodied. It seemed the only thing that was intact was the glass slipper. The one she left behind.

"Gajeel. Where-" King Metallicana gasped as he took in the sight of the bedroom. "Oh my."

"What?" Gajeel growled.

"Uh- I was just wondering if you were coming back to the ball, the guests…" King Metallicana trailed off, still glancing around the room.

"Fuck the ball. Leave me alone." Gajeel rumbled.

"Gajeel…"

"BEGONE!" he shouted.

"GAJEEL, YOU'LL GO DRAG YOUR SORRY ASS DOWN TO THAT BALL, OR MARK MY WORDS-!" Metallicana roared. He grabbed the scruff of his son's suit, lifting him up to eye level. "YOU'LL REGRET IT UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE!" Gajeel just looked away sullenly.

"That's my boy." he said calmly. "Now get your royal ass down there."

-o-o-o-

"Attention, my subjects!" King Metallicana called over the crowd. "As you all know, you are here on behalf of my son, Prince Gajeel." the crowd murmured their agreement, "Unfortunately, he has decided to not choose any of you ladies tonight. You may all go home. Good night."

There was quite a bit of tittering from the crowd with a few outraged cries from the ladies. Gajeel was hiding over by the bar, with his group of friends surrounding him.

"Ugh." he sipped his drink, oblivious to the chaos in the ballroom.

"You said it." Prince Natsu sat down next to him, holding a glass of wine in his hand. "Say, where's that girl you're sweet on… um… Lovey? Lacey? No, Levy! Yeah, where's Levy?"

Gajeel growled. "That's Miss McGarden to you, Salamander."

"Whatever. Where'd she go?" he asked dumbly. "Wait… Oh. Ohhh."

"Yeah, oh you dumbass!" Gajeel sneered. The glass nearly shattered in his grip.

"Ah, that's a shame."

"Mm."

"I went through the same thing too, you know. With two girls." Natsu said glumly.

"Oh?" Gajeel's curiosity grew.

"Yeah, Duchess Lisanna and Lady Lucy." Natsu replied, taking a sip of his wine. "Damn, that's good."

"Cheers." Gajeel raised his glass for Natsu to clink.

"Cheers." they tapped their goblets together.

"To runaway women." Gajeel murmured.

Natsu paused mid-sip. "Wait, what? She ran away?"

"Yeah, what didja think she did?" Gajeel said, flabbergasted.

"I thought she died!" Natsu exclaimed, equally confused.

"Wait, both of your women died?" Gajeel asked. "Whu-?"

"Well, yeah! If they hadn't I would be trying everything to get them back! Do, do you have any clues, or hints she gave you?" Natsu asked excitedly.

"No, all I have is a damn shoe." Gajeel groaned.

"IDIOT!" Natsu punched the other Prince in the jaw. "That's a clue! You can try the shoe on girls and the one it fits is your woman!"

"STUPID! How do I know it's her? There probably are tons of girls with the same shoe size as her!" Gajeel punched Natsu right back, rubbing his injured face. "And don't hit me!"

"Hey!"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Lady Erza bopped both of them over the head and they fell back, groaning and nursing the large bumps growing on their scalps.

"Dammit!"

-o-o-o-

The next day, Levy was still sulking. She cried and stared at the wall and cried some more.

Both Minerva and Flare didn't try to bother her, but Angel was being annoying. After a shout to do things herself, Levy was finally alone with her thoughts.

"Stupid-stupid-stupid-stupid!" she cried, giving her pillow one last kick.

Why did I run? Why-why-why-why? She had asked herself this a million times in the last hour, yet… it still haunted her.

Was it because of the fact that he's a prince? That I am nothing but an orphan, enslaved by my guardian?

No…

The truth is… I was scared.

Scared of him finding out who I really am. Scared that he would reject me. Him, the best thing that has happened in my life. If I lost him…

-o-o-o-

"Oww…" Gajeel nursed the second large bump on his forehead. He growled at his father, who was standing over him.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Metallicana bellowed, stomping around. "You had her! You had her! Why didn't you trap her, or-! You imbecile! I didn't spend a shit load of money just so your girl could run away!" he glowered at his son.

Gajeel grimaced. Metallicana only cursed when he was seriously angry.

"Yeah, yeah." Metallicana fumed, looking away from his son. "You-" he stopped mid-sentence. "What is this?" his eyes had fell upon the glass slipper. He picked it up, examining the fine workmanship.

"Hey, don't touch that!" Gajeel snatched the shoe away from his father, cradling it against his chest.

"Son… What is that? Where did you get it?" Metallicana said softly, as if talking too loud would make it shatter.

"The- the girl who ran was wearing it. I spread some pitch on the stairs, but only one of her shoes caught on it." Gajeel watched his father suspiciously, still holding the slipper against his chest.

"I… I know that workmanship, that perfect touch. It could only be the work of a fairy, a goddess." Metallicana said reverently.

"I… A fairy?" an image popped into Gajeel's mind, of a small creature with wings and… Shrimp's body?

He shook his head to get rid of the thought. "How is that possible? I mean, I thought they were a myth."

"No, son. You are a product of their magic."

A/N: Dun-dun-dun! Plot twist! This wasn't my original plan, but… the story seems to write itself now.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

Thanks to: irondragonslayer61, ItscalledLove, Lexie and the anime, Guest, AlexuPenguin, FlyingDoll4, MakeItHayle, Fred and George Weasley Twins, Dreamonster11, Animegal712, Moon Devil and Moon Angel, hjbickel, Maikoe, CuriousPunzie, and SaveMeFromFanFics for reviewing!

Irondragonslayer61: Yes! If Happy does have his own human form, that would be sooo cute!

Lexie and the anime: now you know how I felt when I read chapter 396-397. *squeals*

AlexuPenguin: Even though, yes, Gajeel probably would be faster than her, he was caught off guard from her kiss (*fangirls* Even though it's my own story…) and she also is probably better at dodging people. (She's smaller and probably pretty strong from her days hauling stuff to and from the market.)

FlyingDoll4: Yeah, I probably will do that… and yes, that mental image was beautiful. ;)

Super-Special Shout Out goes to Fred and George Weasley twins! I am a huge fan of Fraternising with the Enemy! :D

Anyways, see you next chapter!

Miss Quiet Writer