Closer: Disenchanted

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This whole world belongs to Christopher Paolini and part of the title belongs to My Chemical Romance.

Arya gently slid her hands across the rough scales of her green companion. The dragon, whom she had named Eridor, was sitting comfortably in her lap, gnawing eagerly on the bones of a long-dead hare. He was only a few days old, but his stubbornness and audacity were already quite apparent. Despite that, Arya knew that her dragon was a good one; he had already proven to be a fierce and loyal partner. He knew they would make an unbeatable team once he was old enough to fight.

She couldn't help but smile as she thought back to three days ago- though it seemed so long ago- when Eragon had entered their camp with a look that could only be described as bewildered. She, Roran, Eragon, and Saphira had been on their way to Helgrind to rescue Roran's fiancée, Katrina. They were a few days away from their destination and Eragon had ventured out to search for some water, only to return with anything but that.

He had dramatically pulled out a large emerald dragon egg and placed it calmly next to the fire. Arya couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it. At first she thought it couldn't be true; how on earth could they have received the third and final dragon egg?

Eragon told them he had ran into the one person she knew he never wanted to lay eyes on again: Murtagh.

It seemed Murtagh and Thorn had been assigned by Galbatorix to guard Helgrind with the Ra'zac. Galbatorix had correctly assumed that Eragon would be on his way to save Katrina and he wanted them to capture Eragon and Saphira and bring both of them back to him.

Before Murtagh left, however, he was able to steal the third egg. Murtagh had told Eragon that, for brief periods of time, he was able to free himself from Galbatorix's hold, and it was during one of those times that he was able to successfully hand over the egg to Eragon without Galbatorix finding out.

Eragon had handed her the egg first. He had told her to keep hold of it throughout the night and to wait to see if it would hatch for her. It hadn't; at least not that night.

When they woke up the next morning to a still intact egg, Arya had told Eragon to give it to Roran.

"No," he had said, "Keep it a little while longer."

It was a good thing she did. Right before they were to leave camp, the dragon hatched. They stood in awe at the miraculous sight. The tiny emerald dragon cautiously poked his head through the broken egg, and then stared directly at Arya. She slowly crouched down and stared at him in utter disbelief. Behind her, she could hear Saphira excitingly shuffling her claws into the ground.

And then she touched him.

Arya stared fondly at the small silver opal that had formed on her left palm: the Gedway Ignasia. It still felt so strange to see it there. She wasn't quite sure she had even fully grasped the fact that she was indeed a Dragon Rider.

She could already sense her and Eridor's connection. She felt his emotions and earlier this morning she had even thought she heard him say her name. She knew that he already understood her in ways that nobody ever had. He could hear her thoughts and sense her emotions just as easily as she could herself and she found herself constantly sensing his presence in the back of her mind.

Arya glanced over to the small fire where Roran was quietly soothing his very tired and confused fiancée.

Eragon, Roran, and Saphira had successfully saved Katrina, and destroyed both of the Ra'zac, with Murtagh's help. Arya had reluctantly stayed behind at their make-shift camp a few miles away from Helgrind after Eragon and Saphira had both decided that it would be in both Arya and Eridor's best interest to stay away from the Ra'zac, as Eridor was not strong enough to fight yet. He also did not want to risk anyone finding out that Arya was a dragon rider, particularly Murtagh, who, although unwillingly, would most likely be forced to give up her identity to the king.

They had returned late last night and were quite the mess, but luckily all alive. Eragon had been briefly knocked out by one of the Ra'zac and had a large and bloody incision on his forehead that he was too weak to fully heal. Katrina had been unconscious and it was clear that she had been through horrendous abuse. Black and white bruises covered her body and newer and bloody wounds were scattered throughout her very tiny and starved form. Roran had made it out with only a few minor cuts, but a Lethrblaka had torn up a small portion of Saphira's wing.

Arya managed to heal her wing and with Saphira's help, as well as the small amount of power that Eridor offered, she was able to heal Eragon and, in turn, Katrina.

Katrina woke up the next morning, shocked and confused to find two Dragon Riders, their dragons, and her fiancé staring down worriedly at her. It took awhile to calm her down and explain the whole situation to her.

A familiar voice broke through her thoughts.

"How's he doing?"

She turned to see Eragon sitting down next to her and glancing at the subject in question. She nodded in greeting and looked down at Eridor who was now staring rather oddly up at Eragon.

"He's doing well," Arya said quietly, softly petting her dragon's back. Eragon smiled and playfully flicked the dragon's snout. Eridor snorted and glanced at Eragon, irritation written clearly all over his face.

"You shouldn't tease him, Eragon," Arya said, trying to hide a smile, "he won't be small forever."

Eragon grinned and stared up through the small clearing they were in and into the small patches of sky visible through the trees. He seemed to be entranced by it and Arya could tell he was clearly lost in thought.

She stared at him curiously, hoping it wasn't herself he was thinking about. Arya knew that, despite that fact that he had promised not to pursue her any longer, she was still constantly on his mind.

At the same time, Arya couldn't help but be pleased with the fact. She knew that she carried feelings for Eragon. How deep those feelings were, she did not know, but she knew that they were there and that they were strong. She had known ever since she had left Ellesméra after the Agaeti Blodhren. But could she call it love? She did not know the answer to that either. All she did know was that a romance between them would be a distraction to both themselves and their people. She did not care about the age difference, anymore, though she would never let him know it. No, they simply could not be…At least for now.

"I can't believe Saphira was this little once," Eragon said, distracting her once again from her thoughts. He glanced lovingly over to Saphira, who was sleeping off her meal that she had caught earlier.

"It seems so long ago," he continued.

"It was," Arya said, looking over at him. Their eyes locked and she went on, "You are a changed man, Eragon. You are not the boy from Carvahall who found Saphira's egg. You are truly wise beyond your years; I think anyone will attest to that."

Eragon turned quickly away. She could tell that he struggled to hold in his emotions as he let out a long sigh.

"Thank you, Arya Svit-kona." He nodded in acknowledgment and then abruptly stood up.

"We should start to clean up camp," he said, "Katrina looks able to travel and we should get back as soon as possible." He turned on his heel and headed over to Saphira, where he started to irritably shuffle his things together. She knew he was having a hard time trying to keep himself from showing his affections for her and decided to just let it be.

She turned away and stood up, gently placing Eridor on to the ground. He stared up at her curiously. She just smiled and motioned for him to follow her.

Arya.

A very quiet voice called to her. She turned quickly around and looked over at Eragon, who she thought the voice belonged to. He was still packing his things and seemed to be in a conversation with a now awake Saphira.

Arya.

There it was again, this time much clearer. She glanced down at Eridor, who was staring at her with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Eridor?

Yes.

He had a deep, yet smooth and relaxed tone to his voice.

You can talk now?

I have learned much over these last few days.

She stared down at him incredulously. It was amazing to hear him finally speak. She noticed Eridor looking wearily over at Eragon.

He is a troublemaker, that one. Eridor said.

Arya laughed and glanced over at Eragon.

He's not so bad once you get to know him, she said, kneeling down next to Eridor.

He let out a snort as he continued to stare down Eragon.

Thoughts of him are constantly flowing through your mind. You dream of him and you wonder why. You have strong feelings for him, but you think you cannot admit it to him. He troubles you like no other has before.

Arya stared at him, shocked at his wise, yet rather aggravating words. She did not know what to say. Eridor kept on talking, though, as he moved on to a different subject, leaving that matter alone for the time being.

I do like Saphira, though. She has beautiful scales. Sapphire. Like her name.

Arya nodded, not fully hearing him, as she distractedly played with the hem of her cloak. She wished that Eridor had not brought Eragon up. Now thoughts of him would never leave her mind and Eridor would most likely bother her about it over and over again until she could take it no longer.

She glared over at Eragon who was now helping Katrina and Roran prepare their things. She couldn't help but notice how tight his shirt seemed and how perfectly formed his forearms were as he casually lifted Saphira's heavy saddle onto her. His disheveled hair and the slight stubble on his chin were all the more attractive and she soon found herself wanting to take him all for herself and kiss him senseless.

She groaned, trying to rid her mind of those thoughts, and strutted angrily over to Saphira, on whom she placed her pack. Roran and Katrina had mounted a horse that Roran had managed to retrieve in Aberon. Eragon and Arya would have to ride on top of Saphira, while Arya held on to Eridor, who was not quite ready to fly along Saphira.

The thought that she and Eragon would be in such close quarters aggravated Arya to no end and she found herself scowling as she took her position on Saphira. Eragon sat behind her, hesitantly placing his arms around her waist. Eridor took his place in her lap.

"Are you alright, Arya?" Eragon asked quietly.

"Fine," she answered curtly as Saphira took off, "just fine."

A/N: This is gonna be my first multi-chaptered fic! I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully you all like it so far. This story is originally called Disenchanted, but there's another story on here by that name and I don't want to confuse anyone!

I originally planned on this story being a short fic, but it's turned out differently. Oh yeah and I should warn you, there is gonna be a lot of Eragon/Arya fluff coming. SO if you hate them together, well, then don't read.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!