Once upon a time, there lived a dragon, a maiden and a prince.

The dragon terrorized the kingdom until a sufficiently pleasing virgin was offered to him.

At which point the valiant prince would arrive, to slay the dragon and then marry the girl.

This is not one such story.

Here, the dragon falls in love with the maiden. And the maiden finds the dragon more charming than the prince.

And what happens to the prince, you say?

Well...

~o~

The process was so gradual you barely realized it had already begun.

Just months ago you were thinking how blatantly plain, boring and unappealing she was, just like the life you used to live with your parents.

You watch her smile as she lovingly prepares that pudding for you. "Here you go, Sho-chan!" She giggles.

It bothers you for a bit, that you feel nothing but apathy towards this scene, as if there were a lingering taste of unsatisfaction.

Then you shrug it off. She's not that important anyway.

One day though, you hear something interesting. "Tsuruga-san's latest movie just landed on the theaters as a box-office hit. Oh my, Japan's Number 1 seems to be in danger as this guy is sprinting all the way to the top!"

For all you care the newscasters could praise and fawn about the bastard all day. It's nothing to you, until you hear similar the blasphemy from her as well.

"Hmm. He certainly looks cool," she says from beside you.

The remark was so innocent, it shouldn't be taken seriously.

But your mouth involuntarily ticks a little, and you cock your brow. "Oi oi. His face looks as if he's got no talent at all! All of his so-called fans are just blinded!"

She stops, looks at you with wonder. "W-Well of course! Sho-chan is the coolest!" she gushes.

"Tch," you say. How typical of her. Yet you find it unsettling that her offhanded comment irritates you, even for just a moment.

And suddenly months turn to years and the years are filled with emptiness.

It surprises you, that the girl you thought you've always known turned out to be a complete stranger. And yet, she is still her.

And you?

What about you?

You could only stand there, watching her, mouth agape as she passes down that red carpet hallway.

Her smile was so radiant; her cheeks dashed with a hint of a blush… and her eyes… her eyes spoke of nothing but love.

… But it's not for you, not anymore.

Immediately you think, that this is all a bad nightmare - that this isn't how it's supposed to be.

You want to say something. Anything. It's hard to swallow. You can't find your voice, nor your courage.

Before you know it, she was already standing before him.

You just happened to be in a wrong spot, at the wrong time.

You happened to make the wrong choices.

"Oh. Shoutaro," she says as if noticing you for the first time. "You came," and then she smiles.

It's genuine, from the pleasure of seeing you there as a childhood friend. That's why it hurts even more.

Wasn't it just yesterday when her whole world was consumed by you?

"Yeah," you reply. It was all you could muster.

"Ah. Fuwa-kun" said a man to your left.

"You have something to say to my wife?" his tone was inquiring and gentle, not at all threatening like before.

You whirl around, a retort forming on your lips. "What wife? You're not married yet! You cocky bastard."

But you can't bring yourself to say it. It's just a few more minutes till that became a reality anyway.

So why did you bother showing up in the first place?

You don't know.

Maybe you don't want to know.

Like an insecure little child, you ask something else entirely random, the way a kid would to provoke a playground fight.

"You're fucking blonde?"

The other man brushes this aside. "Ahh, yeah." Then he chuckles good-naturedly. "Actually, this is my real hair-color, so…"

His elation was so clear, something that you didn't need to ascertain.

You could fully seduce Kyouko the moment he leaves. You can convince her to forget the wedding… to remember Kyoto… to love you again -

Is that why you came?

This is a very real possibility. But he certainly does not find the prospect fearful.

"Anyway," he says "I'll see you both later," fixing his eyes gently at Kyouko. His gaze spoke volumes, and then he turned to leave.

Shou's lip slightly twisted into a bittersweet frown. It was so obvious.

He has fully taken hold of Kyouko. There was no way for you to step-in anymore.

So again, why did you come?

She too was confused, her face expectant.

But really, without asking yourself you probably know the reason why.

You just didn't want to believe it till the last minute.

"As your lifelong friend," you begin, despite the stab you put yourself through "I'm still so dumbstruck that the boring you could be this- this- beautiful."

She huffed indignantly, her haughty nose in the air. "Boring? - Sheesh, Shoutaro. Don't be an ass on my wedding. But because you said I was beautiful, I'll forgive you."

She smiles yet again.

You've seen her smile so many times, seen her get angry, shout, cry - a multitude of other expressions. But right now, there was a different bliss that danced on her face.

Despite yourself, you can't help but smile too.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck, on your married life."

There. A wish of happiness for her - the simple truth.

You instinctively reach out, crush her in a last desperate embrace, the silence echoes with all the words you wanted to say, never got around to, and probably never will.

But that's alright.

She understands.

Love. Longing. Regret. Forgiveness. Happiness. Sorrow.

You could only curse yourself for taking too long to realize.

~o~

Once upon a time, there lived a dragon, a maiden and a prince.

The prince set out to destroy the dragon, dragging a poor maid behind as a sacrifice.

As he dallied too long with the ale and the merriment, he failed to realize that the dragon turned about and secured his hold on the maiden once more.

He walks at first, dumbstruck. Then he jogs trying to catch up.

Finally he scampers desperately as the dragon begins to flap his wings.

And then he falls, gloriously; his arm was outstretched.

He gets up, stares at them flying off into a distance beyond his reach.

And the prince could only stand by watching helplessly, as he realized that the dragon he hoped to slay had already taken hold of his heart, and won.

[A/N: If you're still reading till this point, I'd just like to say: "Gaah. Sorry if you were expecting a continuation for Chapter 2 here and didn't receive so… but I decided to make the continuation an entirely different fic [separate from here.] Anyway, I hope you'll read that too. Thank you."]