400 Years Before Rimuru's Reincarnation

Perhaps Y/N shouldn't have promised Veldora they'd come back as much as he wanted. She didn't expect him to like it that much. She swore she could memorize every name of the ever changing streets and describe every house ever built and torn down in the last century.

"Hurry up!" Veldora impatiently rushed as he approached the cavern that Y/N had made her home. A little over half a century ago, Y/N had agreed to Veldora's (desperate) requests to at least make a den in the Jura forest so she could return more often. The tsundere True Dragon had said that since she had just begged him to, he would help carve out a nice large cavern for her to live comfortably in. For the record, Y/N hadn't said a single word other than a 'sure' to living in the forest.

"Veldora, we literally just went to the human town yesterday..." Y/N sighed as she quickly changed to her human form. Veldora had arrived in his; he apparently really loved it, even if he insisted at first that it was a disgrace for him, as a True Dragon, to take on such a weak and measly form.

"Yeah, but..." Veldora trailed off, unable to find a refute. Y/N sighed as she could practically see Veldora's tail droop in sadness behind him. She hid a smile behind her palm as she gazed upon the dragon warmly. Despite his proud personality, he was really just a big softy that simply melted her heart.

"Fine. Just give me a second."

Y/N waved him off as he perked up immediately. His golden eyes lit up as he quickly nodded. Another smile escaped out the female dragon as Veldora rushed out the cave, tripping along the way and spinning around to check if she had seen. Of course, to protect the proud dragon's sanity, she had quickly averted her gaze and pretended to be oblivious.

Soon after they arrived to the town, it didn't take long for Y/N to forget her annoyance that they had just visited yesterday. Today, the entire town seemed more lively and there was joyful chatter all around them. More food stalls had made their appearance as well, and Y/N wasted no time in dragging Veldora to the nearest one. The male dragon followed obediently, his head practically spinning in circles as he tried to take in all the extra bustle of today's street. What was going on that was so exciting? He had to know.

"Y/N, what's that?" Veldora asked when he finally found what the masses of people were chattering about. Many of them had been pointing to the large building with a cross on it, especially the women who seemed abnormally excited. Y/N spun around to find what he was gazing at and landed on the church. The church doors were wide open, giving the two dragons a clear view of the ceremony.

"Oh, that's what all this is about." Y/N turned back to the merchant, handing the man some coins from her pouch and receiving two skewers of meat in return. He thanked her with a large smile on his face which she returned albeit without the same enthusiasm. "That's a wedding. It seems like it's open invitation.

"An open-invitation wedding?" Veldora repeated, tilting his head slightly in confusion. Y/N nodded, handing him one of the sticks. He subconsciously grabbed it and began eating. "What's a wedding?"

Y/N blinked, staring at him mid-bite into her meat skewer. Slowly, she lowered the morsel and raised an eyebrow at him. "All this time, you've never known what a wedding was?"

"O-of course I do!" The proud dragon huffed in defense. "I just need a refresher..." Y/N rolled her eyes at him, but replied anyways. She had grown used to his ways of talking since she started bringing him to the human cities. At first, she had often gotten offended at his weird ways, but after multiple instances where he had clumsily apologized to her (albeit still speaking in his roundabout way), she had learned to interpret his words normally.

"It's basically a ceremony where humans vow to love another. They dedicate themselves to the one person and vow to protect them until they die."

"A ceremony of love..." Veldora trailed off in thought. Y/N glanced at the chapel, then at Veldora. A smirk slid onto her face as a plan came into mind.

"Let's finish these quickly. What's a better way to truly refresh yourself on what a wedding is than to see one in person?"

She nudged his skewer with his, an indication for him to eat quickly as she devoured her own. Quickly, the two cleaned their mouths off and threw the empty sticks away before Y/N grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back seats of the church.

To say the least, Y/N found it to be a beautiful ceremony. The bride's father walked her down the isle in a beautiful traditional dress before handing her off to the groom who stood waiting on the right side of the alter. He smiled at her like she was the world to him. The bride's family was in tears in the front row and the bride herself could only laugh at her relatives when she saw the state they were in.

Y/N was so mesmerized as she indulged herself on the joyful occasion that she didn't see that Veldora had been looking at her through the whole ceremony.

~~~

"I haven't been to a wedding in so long," Y/N swooned, holding the single rose from the ceremony. The bride apparently worked in a local flower shop and had decided to give each of the attendants a single rose. Y/N received a beautiful pink rose that she held onto dearly.

"Was it that entertaining?" Veldora huffed, staring at his own red rose. It was just a standard red rose to him.

"It's not about entertainment, Veldora," Y/N sighed disappointingly. "It's about the feelings that go into the ceremony!" Y/N did a small spin, her (f/c) kimono fluttering outwards as she stepped forward and stopped directly in front of Veldora. He gulped slightly as she stared up at him with a scolding look and flicked her (h/c) hair over her shoulder. "How could you not even feel the passion from the two lovers? It was like she was the only woman in his eyes."

Y/N continued gushing on about the beauty of the wedding. Truly it would have been spectacular had Veldora been focused on it. Instead he had been focused on...

Veldora flushed, shaking his head violently. No way.

"Here," Veldora interrupted. Y/N stopped mid-sentence, looking to Veldora who was holding out the red rose to her.

"Hm?" She tilted her head slightly in confusion, but Veldora refused to meet her mesmerizing (e/c) eyes.

"The flower, take it," Veldora said, waving the flower slightly. "How dare they only give me such a small present? They should be offering their firstborn child to me!"

Y/N giggled slightly at the embarrassed dragon before taking the red flower from his grasp. She placed it in her hand right next to the pink one she had received and smiled brightly at the male dragon beside her.

"Thank's for the present, Veldora," she said gently. "I'll treasure it."

Veldora flushed red as she giggled, her gaze drawn to the two flowers in her palm. This tinge in his chest he had been feeling for just over half a century... was it possibly...

~~~

Despite having long returned from the human town, Y/N stayed in her human mimic (though she removed the concealment on her branching horns) when she returned to the cavern she called her home. She conjured some water to bore a long, narrow hole into a rock on the side before she filled it up with water and gently placed the two flowers inside.

For a few moments, she sat and just stared at the red flower that Veldora had given her. It wasn't much, but it meant a whole lot to her. The flower was a nuisance to Veldora, so he had given it to her, but it was still the first proper gift she received from him all this time.

"What do I do..." she whispered as she poked the flower gently. "I'm falling deeper and deeper..."

Truthfully, when Veldora had offered her to stay in the Jura Forest which he reigned over, she had been overjoyed. The dragon she met briefly just two centuries ago was a pain to deal with at first, but then he piqued her interest. Through her travels around the world, she simply couldn't forget him. So, she returned to the Jura FOrest after a century, a mere short months for dragons with lifespans as long as theirs.

When she returned, his eyes glimmered with an emotion that told her that he had been waiting for her return, and she couldn't help but find herself even more curious. He had been waiting for her. The reason she traveled the world as she did was because no one was waiting for her anywhere. She could go anywhere she wanted, but it was terribly lonesome at times. But he had been waiting.

So, she had decided to show him a little bit of fun by bringing into the human town. She often disguised herself to enjoy the various towns around the world, both human and monster alike. She had visited Dwargon which wasn't too far from the Jura Forest as well as some monster villages on the edges of the land. Her short visits were nothing to her but brief moments when she could surround herself with others and forget that, as a dragon, she traveled alone. Thus, when Veldora had been drawn into the city and had eagerly toured the city with her, she couldn't help but feel proud that she made the choice she did. His eyes filled with childish wonder and excitement floated around him like flowers in the wind.

Y/N wouldn't call it love at first sight. It was more annoyance at first sight since he had been one of the reasons they had been hunting her. Dragons, albeit rare, were seen as dangerous creatures. They were especially weary in the forest town closest to Veldora's little hideout, which she concluded was a result of the dragon's numerous moments of boredom and arson. But it faded quickly into what was interest and then love.

She admitted it to herself, she loved Veldora. Of course, she wasn't ready to tell him at all, but she tried her best to subtly test out whether or not he reciprocated her feelings.

Sometimes, while guiding him around the city, she'd take his hand and pull him along, accidentally 'forgetting' to release it when they got to their destination. He'd never pull away, but he also never initiated contact, but she hoped that it was a positive response

Sometimes, while eating, she'd attempt to feed him a bite of her food like she had seen other human couples do. Most times, the receiver would blush and shyly take the bite, but Veldora clearly didn't think much of anything as he would happily accept the food and then cheerfully go back to his own meal.

Sometimes, while shopping, she'd ask him for his opinion on clothes. She'd been interested in some human fashion and had pulled him along to a seamstress who gave her a few samples. He didn't have much of a reaction to her changing her outfit at first, but then he eventually grumbled that she looked best in her traditional kimono style. His response was quite normal and he clearly didn't think much of it, but Y/N had ended with a flushed face and five new orders of kimonos while the seamstress was giggling beside her.

She got no real results from her tests, and she only found herself falling deeper for him with each small thing he did. Veldora was simply someone that you couldn't help but like despite his tsundere nature.

Y/N sighed, giving the red rose one last gently touch before rising and reverting back to her larger dragon form. The (f/c)-hues scales glimmered in the light of the magic ore that had begun sprouting in the cave due to her lingering presence. She would bet that Veldora's cave had even more.

What would you do if I told you I loved you, Veldora? Y/N whispered to herself, closing her eyes slowly as she laid down to rest. Her words remained unanswered, but a small rumble sounded; it was almost like a comfortable purr. I guess I'll find my answer when I confess.

What she didn't know, was there was a red-faced, blue-hued dragon sitting outside her cave.

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Question of the Chapter: Do y'all like short chapters (<1000 words),  medium chapters (~1000-2500 words), long chapters (~2500 to 5000 words), or super long chapters (5000+ words)? 

For reference, this chapter is approximately 2200 words long and takes about 10 minutes to read according to Wattpad. My other anime fanfictions, if you've read them, are usually 5000 words minimum.

Hey hey hey!

Sorry for the super long wait on this; I spent more time studying than usual this quarter so I could finish finals off strongly! I hope everyone of y'all did well on finals and are starting to enjoy your summer breaks!

For my answer to my question, I like to usually have on average at least 1500 words per chapter when I'm reading and 2000 words minimum for writing this story, but I do understand that some stories are meant to be written in a super short style. My own chapters are extremely long, some of them going up to 9000 words in some of my other stories. I do feel my chapters may be a bit excessive in length sometimes, but I did start separating out the longer chapters into multiple parts to try to help with that... 

As always, let me know what you think of this chapter! I always appreciate feedback on it! I'd also love to hear what y'all think is going to happen :) Of course, I will neither confirm nor deny any of it, but it's interesting to see what y'all think the direction is heading toward... <3 Also, this entire book is unedited so far, so please excuse me for any mistakes and feel free to point them out!

Stay safe and healthy
ThePurpleDragon