~How to Train a Princess~

~I'm so sorry if this chapter is boring! Next chapter won't be ^.^ I hope everyone likes this chapter~

"What?!" Lucy's eyes bugged as she stared uncomprehendingly at the smiling Dragon. "Go to Fairy Tail? Your home?" Lucy said, shock flowing through her. Natsu nodded, "Aye!" Lucy's mind was racing. Could she really do that? Could she really find a way? Lucy looked up to see the Dragon talking animatedly about his home and all the people there.

He looked so happy.
He eyes looked so...sad.
You miss it so much, don't you?
Lucy thought with a soft smile.
A part of her couldn't believe that he trusted her so much to invite her to where he considered his safe haven.
Another part of her knew she was crazy. Crazy for something that she thought she would never do.

Oh, but she wanted to.

"Okay, I will go with you." Lucy said in a split second decision. Natsu paused and stared at her with wide eyes. Lucy smiled, "I will go with you to Fairy Tail!" Never had such happiness and a sense of adventure coursed through the Princess. She found herself excited and nervous at the same time. But, as she watched as Natsu jumped around with excitement, she knew she wouldn't have said anything different.

"Alright! Alright!" Lucy called, laughter mixed in with her demanding words. "Stop moving around, you are going to reopen all of your wounds." The energetic boy sat back down, but he was practically humming with the need to move. To express his feelings of excitement. "You're really gonna like Fairy Tail, Lucy!" He told her with a bright grin. "We have the best food, drinks, and-oh! We have the best stories about adventures and monsters!"

If Lucy didn't know better, she would have said that Natsu was glowing. With each word he said he emphasized it with wild hand movements. His eyes were glowing with memories of the past, a permanent smile on his face. Lucy listened to him with a smile of her own. Her hands made quick work with bandaging him up, and, soon she was finished.

"There," she muttered, tucking in the last bit of gauze into place. "All finished. Now, if I see you picking at any of the bandages, no matter if you think it's healed or not. I won't get you any of Mira's cookies." Lucy threatened, smirking at his horrified look. "Damn, Luce, and here I thought I would get some sympathy." He pouted.

Lucy rolled her eyes and started to put away her emergency supplies that were left over. "Well, that's all up to you," she told him, getting up from the floor. "If you-"

A rough hand around her wrist cut her off and she was suddenly being pulled forward. To her upmost surprise, Natsu leaned forward, and placed his forehead on her own. It was like the world left her. Her ears became deaf to everything. Her eyes could only see him. Time did not exist.

In that moment, it was just the Princess and the Dragon.

"Thanks, Lucy." Natsu smiled, his eyes closed. "For patching me up."
Lucy could only stare at him when he finally pulled away. Her cheeks were burning and her face felt like someone had splashed her with lava. She knew if she spoke now, her voice would crack and be as quite as the wind.
Lucy nodded, still dazed.

A meow sounded beside her, drawing her eyes. Happy stood there, face tilted up, a smug sort of look on his furry face. Then, he started to purr.
That cat knows something, Lucy was sure of it. I'm on to you, cat.

Warm fingers brushed against her cheek, almost causing an embarrassing yip to escape her.
"Ya have a cut on your cheek." Natsu informed her, reaching for the small, white kit in her hands. He rummaged around in the box for a bit and produced a square bandage.
"You may think I know how to dress wounds," he chuckled. "But I don't." He snapped his fingers, "I just make a mess of it."

Lucy laughed and grabbed the small bandage from him. "I got it," she told him, getting up to look in her mirror to make sure she put in on right.
"Argh, Loke and my Father are going to throw a fit when they see this." She muttered, her face going pale. "Specially, Loke..."

Lucy felt Natsu come up behind her and she let him take her arm when he grabbed the limb. "You also have bruises," he added, tracing a nasty purple one gently. Something dark and sad came to his eyes as he whispered, "Humans are so...fragile."

Lucy's eyes went downcast, "It's not your fault." She told him softly. "I shouldn't have left. I should have fought better." Suddenly, his head jerked up, his eyes bright once more.

"You train?" He asked her hurriedly.
"A little." She replied hesitantly.
"How often?"
"Almost everyday, whenever my teacher has time to spare."
He was talking too fast, firing off each question in a matter of seconds.
"How fast are ya?"
"Fast enough?"
"How powerful are your hits?"
"Enough to hurt?"
"How good are your reflexes?"
"Good enough so I don't get hit?"
A grin broke across his face, "I'll teach ya, Lucy! How good are you at hand to hand combat?"
"N-not that good."
"You will be good soon. Amazing even!"
Lucy paused, "How do you know?"

Natsu smiled then, a fanged tooth smile so wide that it forced his eyes closed, "Cause, Luce, it's you."

~The Next Morning~

The morning was beautiful. Soft, warm sunlight flittered into the Princesses room, tickling her eyelids. Birds were singing a sweet melody outside her window, waking her up softly, coaxing her eyes open. There wasn't a cloud in the clear blue sky overhead. Yep, this day was absolutely, positively-"Terrible."

Lucy snarled from underneath her covers. She was glaring at the clear sky from a small hole she had made from within her covers. She snarled at the birds outside until they flew away. She cursed at the blue sky for not having any clouds floating around.
When Lucy opened her eyes that morning, her first thought of the day was, Mavis, help my soul.

Lucy couldn't believe that she had agreed to this. To this insane plan.
An insane plan that she knew would somehow backfire. Already, her heart was hammering its way out of her chest. She pulled her knees up to her chest and pulled the covers closer to herself.

"I'll teach ya, Lucy!"

She should have said no. She should have told him that she already had a wonderful teacher of her own. But...Lucy sighed and shook her head.
"Then I would make him sad." She said to herself. She shifted and threw the covers off of herself. Her muscles ached a bit, but that was all.

Lucy had tried to tell Natsu that they should wait a bit before they started training. But oh no! That hyper boy already wanted to start. "I'll be fine, Lucy. I heal fast!"
"In one night?" She asked the empty room as she got up from her bed.
"I don't think-"
Lucy paused.

Empty room...

Lucy spun around, her eyes quickly taking in the, yes, very vacant room. Her hands curled into fists at her side.
"Oh, and look at that. He's gone!" Lucy shouted hysterically.
"Of course he's gone! Why wouldn't he be? He can't give me one morning where I don't wake up almost having a heart attack?"
Damn that boy...
Lucy quickly started to get dressed.
Not listening to me...
She hopped on one foot to get into her loose fighting pants.
Wondering off alone...
She slipped on her shirt and shoes, grabbed her whip, and backpack, then she was out the door.

"When I find him!" She snarled, stomping through the halls. And she knew just where to find him, too. It only took her a few moments to get to the kitchen before she threw the door open. "Natsu! I know you are in here and when I get my hands around you I'm going to-!" Lucy stopped mid yell when her eyes found the smirking face of MiraJane.

"You're going to do what, my Lady?" Mira asked with a coy smile, stirring a bowl full of white mixture absentmindedly. "N-nothing." Lucy fired out, avoiding looking into Mira's calculating eyes.
"My, my, if my Lady is looking for, Natsu," Mira's eyes flashed with knowing. "He said that he would be out in the secret gardens."
Lucy's body stiffened, "How did he know about that place? Only I know of it..." She said to herself. Her Mother had showed her the garden's secrets long ago.

Now only herself knew.

MiraJane shrugged and turned back to her cooking. "I hope you two have," The head cook paused and looked over her shoulder at Lucy. "Fun, now."
The Princess made a choking sound as she fled the kitchen. Away from Mira's matchmaking powers. Thank Mavis that Lisanna was not there also. Lucy sweatdropped, The little sister has caught the disease as well...

Lucy managed to sneak out of the castle and out to the backyard without being spotted. Along the way she passed by Elfman, the brother to Mira and Lisanna, who was in the barn, tending to the animals. Lucy also caught sight of Juvia, who took care of the garden, and sent her a wave.
"Good morning, Lucy-Sama! Juvia hopes that you have had a wonderful day so far!" The blue haired woman called out.

"I have been doing just fine this morning, Juvia! I wish you well!" Lucy replied as she moved on. She entered the Royal Garden and began to make her way to her and her Mother's secret place. Off to the very edge of the Garden, there was a small opening in the brush. It was low to the ground and you had to crawl through to get to the other side.

"How on EarthLand did he find this?" Lucy muttered as she bent down to part the leaves and branches aside. After a moment, she started to crawl through. A few stray branches whacked her in the face and scratched her cheeks, but she fought through them. Once, she had to stop when her bag got caught on a stubborn branch. But she kept on after she had wrenched her backpack free. It was so dark underneath the thick brush that Lucy was forced to carefully inch along.

After what seemed like far too long, light could be seen breaking through the darkness. A sigh of relief tumbled from the Princess when she finally broke free. Lucy got up from the ground and wiped off her hands that were stained with dirt. She was about to call out for Natsu, when she heard faint barking in the distance.
"Pun! Pun!"

Lucy's eyebrows rose, "That would be, Plue." She followed the unique barking until she found herself in a spacious clearing. She spotted Plue, who was barking and playfully pawing at Happy, who was whacking the dog's orange nose with the tip of his tail. Lucy giggled but stopped when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye.

It was a form that held no color or features. How could it? When it was moving faster than sound. The shadow was incredible fast as it ran around the clearing. When it passed by Lucy, the wind, which had been building up from the force of the shadow, whipped through her blond hair harshly. Lucy's eyes couldn't keep track with the fast movement that the shadow had. Suddenly, the shadow paused, and its features could finally be seen.

Wild pink hair, dark eyes, and a fanged smirk. He was up in the air in the next second. Twisting and turning against the backdrop of the blue sky. His arms were outspread, the wind tossed his hair wildly, his back was to the sky as he came crashing back to Earth. Lucy couldn't make a sound, her eyes were locked on his falling form, it was like she had been hypnotized.

Lucy knew Natsu was fast and agile, but she didn't know it exceeded to this level.

In mid air, Natsu managed to flip, so now he was facing the sky. He was dropping at a rapidly fast pace. If he didn't turn around then Lucy was terrified that he would shatter his spine. When his shadow fell upon the ground, Lucy broke free from her silent state, and screamed his name. Despite the wind blowing in his ears, he could hear her cry.
His eyes snapped open and dilated.
With only a second to spare, he flipped again, and landed on the ground in a shower of dust.

Natsu had landed in a crouch and now he straightened, shaking his head to get rid of the dust that coated his hair. "Yo, Lucy!" He called out to her, once he had gotten rid of most of the dust, he beckoning her over with his hand.
"Ready to battle?"

Lucy could only stare at him with wide eyes, finally she managed to sputter,
"W-what the hell was that?!"

Natsu looked up to the sky as he hummed, "Oh? That was to loosen up my muscles."

Lucy blinked.
Once.
Twice.

"You know what?" Lucy said a little crazily. "I'm just going to drop it. Because, I shouldn't be so surprised." She rubbed at her temples as she began to mutter things under her breath. Natsu's eyebrows shot up as he witnessed the Princess loose it for a few seconds. "And you always look so surprised when I call ya a weirdo." He grumbled, rubbing at the back of his head.

"Alright! I'm good!" Lucy said, a determined look taking over her face.

"Doesn't look like it." Natsu supplied.

"Shut it, Dragon."

He chuckled, and, (if Lucy wasn't seeing things) she could have sworn that Happy joined in. "What are we going to do first?" Lucy asked, already she was feeling frustration nip at her nerves. Add that with the nervousness she was already feeling, things didn't look too good for her.

"I've come up with a name!" Natsu declared, walking over to her.

"What?" Lucy looked up. "You are naming my training sessions?"

"Yep!" A boyish grin curled up the sides of his lips. "I'm calling it; Operation: How to Train a Princess!"
Natsu told her, punctuating each word with a push of his hand in the air. Lucy pursed her lips to keep from laughing, "Okay. Operation: How to Train a Princess, is ago!"

After a devastating kidnapping attempt, the Princess has seen that she needs to get stronger. Thankfully, she has her Dragon to teach her.

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Let the Adventure Continue!

This chapter is for
candy_lover_yay