A/N: guysguysguysguys oMG I JUST HAD A STORY IDEA POP INTO MY HEAD SCREECHES — and yes i know i should be updating my other fics bUT i'm reaally fired up for this one!

oops i should admit i haven't been watching the latest fairy tail episodes because well uh i guess you can say i've been caught up on other things — pfft who? dan and phil? /laughs nervously/ uhhh w-who're they /trips and dozens of phan photos fall out/

summary: Lucy Heartfilia isn't your ordinary princess. Instead of being known as 'Lucky Lucy Heartfilia' she'd much rather prefer being known as 'Just Lucy.' However, when walking down the streets of Magnolia one day, she bumps into a commoner — er, a rather handsome commoner. And everything changes for her from that point on.

setting: AU

/clears throat/ anyway well here we go! i hope you like it~

enjoy :)

I.

the beginning

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It's nearing 6:30 AM, and a certain blonde teen named Lucy Heartfilia is deeply asleep on her desk. It seemed as if she was working on something, for the countertop is littered with crumpled pieces of paper, and it seems as if she's fallen asleep on a sheet titled The History of Magnolia.

Her hair's a mess. It used to be in a bun, but that hairstyle was now long gone, replaced with a load of messy, curly, blonde hair that nearly covered the teen's face. It doesn't seem as she had noticed this, because there's a pile of rubber bands next to her signifying that she probably undid it on purpose.

A few moments passed, and the blonde made no sign of movement, except the slow rise and fall of her chest. It would've been peaceful enough, but then the clock next to her started beeping obnoxiously loudly.

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

The teen shrieked as she bolted awake, waking up with such force that she sent all the papers on her desk flying.

"AAAAH!" She yelled as she flung backwards, causing her to fall off her chair and crash onto the floor, which was luckily carpet. Her gown completely covered her face, leaving her cursing and struggling with pain as she pulled that part of the dress off her face so she could breathe.

Footsteps came rushing to her door, and she was still trying to think of a good excuse why she ended up like this until they swung open quite dangerously. Stunned, the blonde could only stay there stupidly as she gaped at the person standing in the doorway.

It was one of her fellow maids, Virgo. Her expressionless face peeked through the doors as she saw Lucy sprawled on the floor. "Your Highness, did you hurt yourself? I believe I heard you just now."

"Oh!" Lucy said, laughing nervously. "Uh, well ... This is my morning routine, Virgo. Nothing to worry about. It's perfectly fine. I'm okay."

Virgo didn't look convinced. "Should I tell Your Majest — "

"NO!" Lucy immediately said, eyes widening. She shot up as she waved her arms in desperation. "No, no. You don't need to tell Father. It's okay. I'm okay. Don't worry. Nothing to stress over about." Her father would kill her for this if he found out anything.

The pink haired woman cocked her head to the side. "I see. Would you like to punish me, Princess? I'm sorry for intruding on your morning routine."

Lucy shook her head. "No, no. Virgo, it's fine. You may be dismissed."

And with that, she bowed and left Lucy, closing the doors behind her as the blonde breathed a sigh of relief. She returned to her desk, which was covered with piles of paperwork and groaned loudly.

At least her clock was shut off now. Lucy grumbled to herself as she cleaned up the mess she made, and frowned at the paper she'd fallen asleep on, The History of Magnolia. Well, one of the benefits for being a princess was studying on her own.

Lucy wasn't exactly happy with it though. Sure, there were almost unlimited stuff she could get because of her royalty. But she didn't want to be seen as a sophisticated princess who thought wealth was everything. Lucy preferred reading over dancing over that matter.

And don't even get her started on her singing lessons.

It was hopelessly cliché enough for her to know that there were a lot of stories where the princess wants to be an actual person people could find normal, and not a rich princess who wanted everything. It was like a fairy tale.

Yeah, she'd been outside before. It wasn't like she was stuck in a castle throughout her whole life. She'd gotten a few odd glances from people that seemed as if they recognized her, but at the same time they didn't. After all, princesses don't go out in the common world as much. It made her relieved. She didn't like being swarmed around people.

With that, Lucy did her best to fix her hair. She couldn't really leave it the way she wanted to that much, after all royalty did have its limits. She sighed as she placed her hair back into a bun and fixed her nightgown, hoping it didn't look as bad as she thought it was.

She walked over to her bed, noticing that there were stacks of books on the sheets. Lucy realized that they were the ones she was planning on reading at one of her best friend's recommendations. All of her friends came from different kingdoms — they were all very kind and understanding.

Some of the ones she could name at the top of her head were Erza Scarlet, Levy McGraden, Juvia Lockser, and Mirajane Strauss. All of them had their own weird personalities, but hey — they were her dear friends. She was grateful for having them in her life.

Lucy brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she observed her room, which was pretty clean now. Her room was pretty spacious and so was her closet, even though Lucy didn't much wear all the fancy gowns and dresses in there. Her desk was close to the giant windowpanes so Lucy could see what was going on outside of the castle and out to view Magnolia.

There were lots of rooms in the castle, and most of them were for the maids and servants and whatnot, but Lucy always insisted on her cleaning after herself. Sometimes they do need a break from cleaning and tidying up.

Her mother had died years ago, when Lucy was still a child. It had greatly saddened both Lucy and her father, Jude Heartfilia, for Layla Heartfilia were both dear in their hearts. However, Lucy's father changed. He became harsher and colder to Lucy, maybe because she reminded him of his wife.

Lucy knew that her father loved her, but he was just still suffering from heartbreak. He didn't have to take all his anger and sadness at her though. It was the only thing Lucy found unfair to her. But she still respected her father even though he brought her to tears most of the time.

She turned her eyes to the clock on her desk. The time read 7:00 AM. Lucy was about to hit herself with her book until she realized today was Saturday, meaning that she was free to do anything as of now.

All her previous feelings of being exhausted and miserable ebbed away and was soon replaced with a newfound joy as she pumped a fist into the air. "YES!" She yelled excitedly as she took the bun out of her hair and instead placed it as a side ponytail with a pink ribbon on it.

"No lessons today!" She exclaimed happily as she opened the closet doors. What should she do today? Maybe she'd go outside. It's been a while since she's felt the Magnolia breeze. Lucy was allowed to leave the castle on her own, even without permission from her father. It was because she'd already reached her teenage years, meaning she was clearly responsible for herself.

Lucy wasn't allowed to be out until after 12:00 midnight, meaning that if she was — her father would literally send out every soldier and guard he had to go and look for her. Which would be embarrassing enough. So of course, Lucy obeyed.

She picked the clothes that would most likely have her blend in with the crowd. A simple pink turtleneck sweater with a cherry red plaid skirt was good enough. She chose brown leggings to go with the outfit and pulled on her chesnut brown boots and studied herself in the mirror.

Not bad. This'll do. It was one of the things she'd read in one of her favorite books on how to stay undercover. Dress lightly, don't stand out. She nodded, pleased with herself, and made her way out of the room before pocketing her cellphone.

Lucy hummed to herself a tune as she made her was downstairs and into the large dining room, where her father was already at the long end of the other side of the table, seated in the most defined chair, staring seriously at his daughter.

"Lucy. You're going out today?" He asked, his voice cold.

Lucy took a seat on the other side of the table, into the Princess's chair, as she nodded. She looked up to meet her father's eyes. "Yes, Papa, I'm thinking of going into Magnolia today."

Lucy remembered her manners and began to eat delicately, like she was taught to. It kind of annoyed her, but well it was out of respect and politeness. Her father nodded and made no conversation as the two of them continued on consuming their meal.

Lucy then stood up after she finished, and she bowed to her father. "Good day, Papa. I'll be back before midnight tonight." She said as she picked up her purse and pushed in her chair.

"Good." He just said as he waved his hand to dismiss her, the servants cleaning up after her quickly. Lucy nodded as she made her way to the entrance, where a guard opened the castle doors for her.

The sight was amazing.

Even though it was just plain Fiore, this was still pretty breathtaking. The rows and rows of houses before her just made her feel excited about them. There was a slight breeze, and Lucy was happy she'd brought a sweater to keep her warm. It made her beyond happy about what she was going to see today.

"See you soon, Your Highness," one of the guards said — Capricorn — as he turned and gave her a smile. Lucy grinned back. She trusted Capricorn, he was one of her father's right hand men when it came to combat. She curtsied to him even though she wasn't wearing one of her gowns — and got into the carriage waiting for her.

Excited, she texted Levy — "Hey! No lessons today. Going out to Magnolia! I'm super excited!" — and watched the scene through her carriage as they made their way to the destination.

Soon, Lucy was dropped off, and after waving goodbye to her carriage, she began her quest in exploring Magnolia. Sadly, her friends couldn't quite make it today with her but she didn't mind.

She tried many things — there was a lot of great food in Magnolia, and she made several notes to give some of the recipes to the cooks back in the castle for they were just really magnificent.

Lucy had gotten a few strange recognition glances at her, some did a double take and shrugged as they continued on walking, but the blonde was nervous that someone would recognize her as who she really was. She was constantly asked what her surname was, and she stuttered and made up a fake one.

They were suspicious, but it soon stopped entirely. Lucy just wanted to spend the whole day not being bombarded with papparazi and commoners asking for her autograph.

She was just Lucy. Well, she wanted to be known as "Just Lucy." She didn't want to be "Lucky Lucy" of the Heartfilia royal family known for her good looks and peppy personality — she wanted to be a Lucy everyone would see her as she truly was, a daydreamer and wannabe author.

It wasn't possible. Not everyone knew what the real personalities of each royal family member were. They had to basically have a secret identity. It was complicated enough for her. All this royalty stuff made her sick.

Lucy was thinking this as she watched the sunset before her. It had been a long and exciting day for her, and she was glad for this experience. She'd bought souveniers for her friends and a few of the desserts and food that she was planning on sharing later.

Lucy was told that the sakura trees here were really beautiful at night, and since this was one of her rare days out, she decided to go ahead and sit under one, wanting to see how beautiful they really were.

The blonde was trying to find one of the trees when all of a sudden, she literally bumped into the person who was walking the opposite way.

Lucy fell on her butt as she squealed in pain as the other person yelped and seemed to land backwards as well. Judging by their voice, they seemed like they were a male.

The bag of sweets in her hands she were holding dropped out of her grip and crashed besides her, leaving her staring at them, a wave of shock and sadness washing over to her. But she attended to him first.

"Ack! I'm so, so sorry —" Lucy stuttered.

The other person chuckled. "No, no — it's fine —"

They both looked up at the same time, and both of their eyes connected.

It seemed as if a spark lit up between them, and that made them both not look away from each other right away. What was this connection? Lucy didn't know, but it made her a bit self-concious about herself. Sometimes people gave her this look if they recognized her.

But ... there was something different about this glance. It seemed ... As if she saw stars reflected in his eyes. Wow. Okay. That was weird. They immediately cut off their glances, embarrassed.

Lucy sheepishly stood while the latter stood up more quickly. She faced him and apologized. "I'm so sorry. I guess — I was walking too fast." She bowed her head shamefully as she cursed herself on the inside.

She studied him some more. He seemed to be just a regular commoner. He had pink hair, goodness! She'd never seen such bright pink locks before. But it suited him well. He looked a year older than her and had a muscular built. He was donning a white scaly scarf and had a very warm smile. His onyx eyes glittered.

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she glanced at him again. His eyes were really distracting, and she found herself staring into them as she flushed with embarrassment before turning away.

He seemed to be more relaxed about the manner. When Lucy looked up again, he was smiling gingerly. "No, I should apologize about the sweets." He pointed to the now destroyed bag. "I'll buy you some."

"What?" Lucy gasped. "No! I don't want to trouble you —"

He laughed as she stared, worried. "It's fine. I want to repay you." He held out his hand. "By the way, I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. And you are ... ?"

Lucy panicked. She wasn't used to introducing herself to commoners so easily. But for some reason, Lucy knew she could trust him. It was like that unspoken air that confirmed it.

"Uh ... Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia —" she stopped as she watched his expression, which morphed into surprise, bewilderment, shock, confusion, surprise, then back to normal again. He laughed out loud.

"No way," Natsu said, pulling at his scarf. "There's no way you could be the Lucy Heartfilia, of the Heartfilia family."

She pouted. "But I am! But ... why do you think otherwise?"

"This Lucy," Natsu grinned. "she's more bashful and shy rather than manipulative and cunning. It's like you two are the same person, but at the same time you're not."

Agitation rose. "Is that really what everyone sees me as?" Lucy grit her teeth. "See, this is what I mean! I hate this, people really don't understand — "

"Aha," Natsu interrupted. "But I do. I know the real you now, and we've just barely met haven't we?" He smiled at her. "Don't worry, Princess, I've got you covered. I'll pay for the sweets."

Lucy stayed there, absolutely stunned, as she gaped at Natsu. She huffed as she shook her head and sighed. "Well ... Thank you I guess. And just call me Lucy. Just Lucy would be perfectly fine for me."

He gave her a thumbs-up. "No problem, Just Lucy."

Lucy gave a loud sigh but she couldn't help but suppress a giggle.

He ended up buying her the same sweets again, much to her protests. It seemed as if Natsu didn't mind as much, but Lucy was still stuttering after he gave her back the bags of desserts.

"Just consider it my treat, there's nothing to worry about." Natsu had told her nonchalantly as he gently pushed her money away from him. "It's okay."

Lucy was still desperate to owe him back for his kindness. "I still haven't properly thanked you enough." He looked mildly surprised.

"Come see the sakura trees with me. I haven't been here much, so ... " she said, feeling her cheeks heat up. She looked away, feeling embarrassed once more. But Natsu grinned.

"Sounds good to me! I know a great place where we could see them."

With that, Lucy accompanied her new (friend?) to wherever the heck he was leading her. They were walking up the steps to a balcony and Lucy gasped as she could see the many sakura trees throughout the city.

"They're as beautiful as I thought they would be," Lucy smiled as she stared at one of the rainbow sakura trees, watching them quite intently. She turned to Natsu and grinned. "Thank you."

He waved her off. "I told you, it's no biggie." He flashed a grin towards her. "So, you've never seen these things before? Don't go out often, do you?"

"Well ... I don't have lessons on Saturday." Lucy replied, wondering why she was even telling someone she just met this information. "But when I do, I try to make the most of it."

A blanket of silence took over them before Natsu responded.

"I hope you made the best of it, then."

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, I guess I did." She continued to stare at the beautiful sakura trees, took a couple pictures with her phone, and after deciding that she had enough, she stretched.

"Well, I better head back now. My father'll be worried if I go home late. Thanks again — er, Natsu, right?" Lucy said as she shook his hand once more. He smiled and nodded.

"Mhm. I'm always at your service, Luce." He bowed playfully and Lucy shook her head and fought off a smile, before registering that he just now had given her a nickname.

They stared at each other in silence.

"Hey, uh, Lucy?"

Lucy blinked. "Yes?"

"Will I ... Will I see you again?" Natsu asked as he placed a hand behind his head bashfully. His other was stuffed in his pocket.

Lucy smiled. "I ... I think so."

His eyes lit up. "Can I get your contact number then? I mean, we're technically friends now and everything but I just — " he stopped midsentence. "I just want to see you again."

Lucy probably blushed, but the sky was already dark and she prayed to Mavis that Natsu didn't see her red face. "Uh, of course. It's here ... "

The two of them exchanged cellphone numbers and when they finished, Natsu looked more happier. "Well ... See you next time Luce! It was nice meeting you."

And with that, he left.

Lucy arrived home later that night, and she couldn't really stop smiling. The thoughts pf Natsu were constantly popping into her head, and she found herself stupidly smiling when she imagined his grin once more.

Stop it, Lucy, she chided herself. He's just a regular commoner.

A handsome, regular commoner.

"SHUT UP BRAIN!" Lucy then said out of nowhere as she was coped up in her room. Immediately footsteps approached her door once more and this time, her adoptive sister Yukino Aguria poked her head in.

"Er ... Lucy?" Yukino asked, brown eyes widened in confusion. "Are you alright? I heard you from the other side of the castle while I was doing some cleaning."

"Oh, Yukino!" Lucy said. "No, nothing's wrong, but I have something for you." She reached over for the bag of sweets and gave her a small dessert, smiling. "I went to Magnolia today," she explained as her sister glanced at it with awe.

"Thank you, Lucy," Yukino smiled gratefully as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Lucy smiled. She loved her sister dearly.

She glanced at his name in her contacts. Natsu Dragneel. Why was he making her life so difficult? It wasn't as if she ... liked him or anything ...

Lucy turned tomato red at the thought, and decided she was just having weird daydreams about a guy she'd never have a chance with — wait, what?

The blonde blinked a few times before shaking her head. No. It was impossible. He was just a guy she just met today!

She sighed at herself in the mirror as she munched on one of the desserts she had — er, wait, Natsu had bought for her.

Maybe she'll see him again, sometime ...

A/N: what did i just write holy

okay well this took me three hours to publish and damn there must be a thousand typos in this thing but i'm too lazy to go back and fix it

i hope you guys like it! erza, levy, juvia, etc. will all be coming soon! :-)

-choco