Title: Stormdancer
Character: Wendy Marvell-centric, Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel
Words: ~780
Rating: K
Summary: Other people were afraid of storms, but she dances in the cutting winds and is unafraid.
Notes: Totally inspired by Maddy02's story Gale Force Winds (Ch 14) of her amazing fic Fairy Lore.

Stormdancer

Her dark hair swirled across her face as she danced with her eyes half-closed, pupils drawn into dangerous slits, small, sharp teeth curved back in a feral grin.

The storm was coming.

The wind had brought its taste to her a week before, and she had waited patiently as the weather cooled and the barometer dropped and finally, the wind picked up. She had watched with a wordless yearning as the wind turned from lazy zephyrs to teasing drafts that pulled on people's hair and faces, and finally to exultant howls that snapped and tore with glee at the slow buildup of power.

She reveled in it.

Her friends hid in the comfortable warmth of the Guild Hall, protected by its strong beams and tightly battened windows. She didn't mind. How could they understand the grandeur of dancing with winds that had seen the world, that had kissed children in their cribs before tearing across thrashing oceans and sinking ships? They would never be able to understand the allure of the four winds in their untamed ferocity slinking across her shoulders and over her bare skin before exploding into their true fury with a roar of power. They wouldn't appreciate the omnipotent, unconditional embrace of the wind as it wrapped its cool arms about her with a comforting murmur, wicked the tears away from her face with feathered fingers, buoyed her weightless in a cocoon of whispering air. They wouldn't understand the dizzying ecstasy of the rising thermals as they ascended into heaven itself, or the ebbing flow of the cooling downdrafts as they turned endlessly around each other to birth a hurricane.

They wouldn't understand.

But she did, and this glory was all hers, because she was the goddess of the sky and there was no one who could challenge her in this wind-ravaged domain. She inhaled deeply and power rolled along her throat, singed her lungs as she swallowed, filled her heart until she thought she would burst as it eddied through her, crackling along her veins. She raised her head and roared, and the current of her magic burst in a turret up to the sky, blasting her hair skywards before sending it whipping around her face in night-edged tendrils of blue.

She danced through the storm, heels beating out a steady rhythm on the wet ground, arms arcing out to spread like wings as she twirled and dipped, cutting a current of calm through the delirious joy of the gale unleashed. She was heedless of the rain, listening only to the ethereal singing of the wind as it flowed, pure with power across her rain-kissed skin, rejoicing at the rapture in the voice of the storm.

When the storm finally broke, she was left utterly drained, but brimming with magic too powerful for her small body to contain. She smiled a faint goodbye at the retreating thunderheads as they swept across the sky, and the dark clouds turned and roiled as if waving a farewell to her as well. She turned to return to her Guild, the blaze of power slowly easing away from her eyes, leaving them clear and friendly again.

To her surprise, two figures waited for her at the gates.

Gajeel gave her an appraising nod, leaning casually against the arching gateway with his arms crossed and his dark hair slicked back. If he hadn't been utterly soaked, he would have been the utter picture of cool, she thought, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth upwards.

Natsu, while dry, looked the very picture of misery, clutching himself and shivering so hard that his teeth (and knees) chattered. Still, he brightened when he saw her and gave her his biggest grin. Wendy beamed back, her heart overflowing with gratitude.

They understood.

She held her hands out to them, and was both relieved and happy when both her fellow Dragonslayers accepted. Squeezing their large hands in her own, she swung their linked arms back and forth, a huge grin breaking out on her face. Gajeel looked like he wanted to protest, but he took one glance at her wide, content smile and shut up instantly. Natsu just laughed.

Wendy skipped happily the rest of the way into the Guild with her two dragons in tow, calling out greetings as the door opened for them and the irrepressible sun spread itself over a storm-chased sky.

Later, Reedus would present them with the picture that had outlined itself in his head as they had walked into the Guild – Three dragonslayers, framed in the light of their shared happiness. What everyone would notice was how the smaller figure in the middle took precedence, shining, beautiful, sky-lit.

A/N - Wendy really got the short end of the stick, in my opinion. She's a dragonslayer too, but instead of getting epic fights, she gets to play support in the background? What, 'cause she's a girl? PSH. Gimme a break! She has the potential to be the strongest dragonslayer out of all of them (puh-leaze, unlimited air element?) and she's playing white mage? Not in my book! She deserves to stand right up there with Natsu and Gajeel in terms of firepower. Go Wendy!