So chapter four guys! Don't really know what to think of it but things will start picking up in the next chapter, until then.. :)

Chapter Four: Change

Levy walked down the deserted, quiet path alone. It was an eerily silent night, even the wind seemingly held its breath. She picked up her pace and drew the hood of her cloak down further, effectively covering the bright tendrils of blue hair.

This was a mistake, she shouldn't have left the palace, she knew that now.

Her shoes clicked ominously on the cobblestones, an obtrusive sound in the stillness. She threw a furtive glance over her shoulder, fear bubbling up in her chest. The moon shone brightly behind her but it cast far too much in the shadows for her liking.

A soft giggle echoed around her and her breath caught in her throat. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as a whimper escaped her lips. There was a flash of dark red hair before her and suddenly the cold bite of steel dug into her small throat.

"You're in our way Levy McGarden," a feminine voice sang quietly into her ear.

"No," she sobbed "please, no."

"If you think tears will sway me, my dear? You are sorely mistaken," the voice hissed.

The knife bit into the skin of her throat, a bead of blood made its lazy path down Levy's neck as tears dripped from her chin.

A sob racked her body.

"Wake up," she growled at her suddenly, the sing-song quality to her voice sharply replaced.

Levy's vision started to blur around the edges as though a fog had descended.

"Oi! Short-stuff, hey!"

Levy's eyes snapped open and she recoiled in shock as garnet eyes searched her face.

"G-Gajeel!?" she shrieked in horror, "what on earth are you doing in my room?!"

His hands still gripped her shoulders and she couldn't move her legs as they were so tangled in her sheets. Her face blushed fiercely and she prayed the darkness of the room disguised that.

The assassin eventually released her.

"Ye were crying out, sounded like ye were being attacked," he grumbled.

Oh hell, he must think me pathetic, she thought in frustration before quickly reminding herself that she didn't actually care what he thought.

She averted her eyes and that's when she caught site of her door, hanging precariously off of its hinges.

"You broke down my door?!" she shrieked again.

"Thought yer life was a bit more important than yer door's Shrimp," he smirked.

Her heart was still thumping in her chest as she fought to calm herself, the remnants of the dream fading quickly.

"There's a guard posted outside," she hissed at him, "how would someone even get past?"

"I managed."

He smirked again as she scowled up at him. But his brows quickly creased into a frown.

"I thought the idea of a bloody guard was to guard you? There's no one outside."

Sure enough, no guard had crashed into the room. Levy sighed, she wasn't exactly surprised, the guard on duty had quite a tendency to become rather side-tracked around a certain icy guard that was fond of ditching his armor.

"Juvia," she groaned in irritation. "Well what were you doing outside my rooms anyway?" she demanded.

"Not that that's any of yer business, but I was returning to my rooms with Lil."

The large cat raised its head at the mention of its name and Levy squeaked in surprise shocked that she'd failed to notice the massive cat that was stretched across her feet, effectively trapping her in her blankets.

Gajeel chuckled, a rather pleasant noise, "he seems to like ye."

Levy looked at him in surprise, her brown eyes questioning.

"Not that I can see why," he finished, his features pulling into his usual scowl.

"Well I'm not being attacked so you may kindly remove yourself from my rooms now Mr. Redfox," her brown eyes glared up at him as her cheeks filled with color again.

He grumbled incoherently before straightening up and turning his back.

"Nightmares ain't nothing to be ashamed of girly," he tossed over his shoulder.

"Oi, Lily! C'mon."

The cat jumped neatly from the bed and Levy stared at Gajeel's back in confusion. What was with this man?! He had barged into her room, broken her door, insulted her and then reassured her?! He was impossible, completely incomprehensible. And what the hell was she going to do about that door!

A low, angry rumble reached her ears before a distraught Juvia entered moments later, an apology already bursting from her lips.

"Princess, Juvia is so sorry! G-Gray-sama, he-he looked so upset, I-"

"Juvia, please, it's quite all right, I'm fine."

"But if something had happened-"

"Juvia, really, I'm fine, " she grimaced then, "I just can't say the same for my door."

"Juvia will get someone to fix it at once!"

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully at the blue haired guard, "but first, would you mind escorting me to Lucy's?"

Oh Lucy was sure to have a field day with this, Levy thought, attempting to suppress her sigh.

They made their way through the dim halls before stopping in front of a familiar door. Seconds later, a bleary eyed Lucy appeared, her hair tousled from sleep.

"Levy?" her eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey Lu, mind if I stay here tonight?" She took a deep breath knowing she'd have a lot of explaining to do. She wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, more like a thorough investigation.

News of the assassin's break in spread throughout the castle like wildfire and Gajeel was receiving curious looks all morning. He was glad to be finally out from under their scrutiny, but he wasn't sure if this situation was much better.

Irritation roiled off him as he followed Levy and the ginger headed idiot of a guard down the narrow path. He was feeling rather ill after their trip in the carriage, even though he was loath to admit he had motion sickness. Therefore watching the young woman in front of him throw back her little head and laugh and beam at that fool was really starting to wear on his already lacking patience.

It wasn't that he was jealous, Gajeel Redfox did not get jealous. He shook his head as if to clear such pestering thoughts from his head and took in his surroundings.

They were in the worse-off part of the town, evidence of poverty was to be seen all around from the dilapidated buildings to the damaged pavements. Where the hell were they going?

She stopped suddenly in front of a poorly constructed building that was practically in ruins. The left side of the roof had all but caved in and the door hung off its hinges.

This image brought back unwanted memories of the previous night. He'd acted more rashly than usual, but her cries of terror had struck something within him, something he, even now, refused to acknowledge. Without thinking, he'd slammed through her door and cursed rather vehemently upon finding her tucked up in bed. However a sheen of sweat had covered her brow and her whimpers had him crossing the room in a few short strides and the next thing he knew, he was shaking her awake.

Idiot he cursed himself for the umpteenth time that day.

"Gajeel?" her questioning brown eyes flickered over to him.

She was standing in the doorway, her brows lifted. He grunted at her before following her in.

Books lay strewn around the room and shouts of kids reached his ears before the princess was enveloped by them, adoration for her expressed in their shining eyes, She grinned at them happily and greeted each by name. They were a pitiful site to behold, rags hung from their bodies and dirt clung to their skin but even so they seemed pleased.

The princess wasted no time, she picked up one of the many books from the floor, before reading it aloud to the children gathered around her, awe visible on each of their little faces. The idiotic red haired guard stared at her with pathetic, blinding adoration and Gajeel suddenly had the urge to pick a fight with him.

But she caught his attention once more as she moved on to teaching them to recognize the various words.

Teaching them to read, how very like her he mused, such an utterly selfless act. Okay so perhaps she wasn't the spoiled little princess he was convinced she had been.

The image of her in her beautiful orange dress with her hair swept into a loose pony tail as she read to the street children was an image that plagued Gajeel's mind for the remainder of that day.

Get it together Redfox, she's yer job, nothing more, he reminded himself. An Assassin and a Princess? he scoffed at the very thought.