*For the record, I don't own Fairy Tail at all, but I do really enjoy it. Its real owner, Hiro Mashima completes my life though.*

Seven Years Ago…

"Are you sure that she will be safe here, Igneel?" a cloaked figure asked his companion. In his arms was a sleeping girl, probably no older than nine years of age with bright blond hair. They traveled along an unmarked road in the dead of night, not even daring to risk lighting a torch for fear of discovery.

The ancient wrinkled wizard turned to the figure with a gleam of seriousness in his eyes. "There is no safer place under the stars for her. I raised this dragon myself. He isn't my blood, but I consider him as my own son. He is fierce, loyal, and powerful. Though he is young, it makes him perfect for the job. I promise if you put Layla's daughter there, he will grow up knowing nothing but his job to protect her until the right person comes along to rule the kingdom with her."

"He will have to be strong. Only the best may claim the prize of being by her side," the figure said fondly as the two men arrived at their destination. In front of them was a moat a quarter mile wide filled with bubbling, hissing lava the gently glowed and radiated its immense heat in the men's faces, gleaming off the cloaked figure's dark brown eyes.

With a wave of his hand, Igneel caused a stone bridge to rise from the molten rock that was just wide enough for them to pass over comfortably. As they did, the girl continued to sleep peacefully in the cloaked figure's arms, though her small fingers clenched even more tightly over the golden key on a thin necklace chain in her hands. As the reached the other side, the stone bridge collapsed and plunged back into the hissing pit of lava, spitting up scalding drops of the molten stuff as it did.

Before the men were the intimidating gates of a dark castle, the stone it was cast in was black, gleaming obsidian so polished it could reflect the stars shining on it from above. It was small compared to the grand royal palace of Heartfilia, but it still loomed over the men in a way that couldn't help but strike awe in the cloaked figure's heart. Relief washed over him as he realized that his chief wizard Igneel had delivered for him as he always did.

The wizard muttered a spell that caused the dark gates to open and revealed a small figure standing in the courtyard. He had tousled pink hair that caught some of the meager light still being provided by the lava moat. His mouth had been in a grim line, but as soon as he saw his foster father, the boy broke out in a familiar smile complete with two sharp canine teeth. At twelve-years-old, he wasn't the largest or certainly the most intimidating. The cloaked figure felt doubt once more as the three converged.

"Igneel! I was beginning to think you weren't coming!"

The chief wizard looked at his son sternly. "Of course we were still coming! We had to be careful is all. And where are your manners, anyway?"

The boy looked up in surprise, turning to the cloaked figure. Seeming to remember himself, he bowed deep. "My apologies, your Majesty."

The cloaked figure sighed, drawing back his hood to reveal his war-haggard face and the top of his battle-weathered armor. His beard was unkempt and tangled as was his hair, but sitting atop his head was a dully gleaming circlet. King Jude of Heartfilia never thought this day would come. "So you are Natsu Dragneel, Protector of Fairy Tail Keep?"

The boy nodded, his eyes gleaming. They were so dark a grey, they could be mistaken for being the same shade as the obsidian of the castle. "At your service, your Majesty."

"No," Jude said sternly. "You are at hers."

At his words, Natsu's gaze shifted down to the girl still asleep in his arms. Her white dress had road dirt on it as well as some soot from the surroundings, but her face was clean and peacefully smooth as she slept. Her long dark eyelashes fluttered a little, and the warmth from the lava brought two rosy circles to her cheeks. Natsu didn't know much about girls, but this one seemed special… even outside of the fact that she was a princess. He looked back at his king, nodding once curtly and holding out his hands.

Though he knew the moment was coming from the moment that he left the battlefield to deliver his daughter to safety outside of the warzone to really leave her, the king wasn't prepared for the stab of pain to his heart as he looked down on her. It was what he had to do though. It was for his country, for Layla, and for her. So he gently placed his little girl in the boy's arms. The king was afraid for a moment that Natsu would drop her, but the boy was deceptively strong, placing one arm under her knees and the other wrapped protectively around her back so that her head rested gently in the crook of his neck.

King Jude brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen in her face before kissing her forehead gently. "I must go to rebuild the kingdom that those rebels stole from me. Though it won't bring back Layla…" he paused, tears forming in his eyes. "I must get back the kingdom for my daughter… my little princess… Lucy."

Igneel stepped forward. "I have arranged everything inside. No other soul save you two will ever inhabit this castle. Most of the objects inside are servants of the Palace in Heartfilia who have willingly become servants in this place in magical form so that they don't require sleep or food. They are here to serve both you and the princess. You are to protect the princess with everything that you have because only the one who could defeat you in battle will be worthy of the princess' hand. It is he who will come to join the king in fighting the rebels or, if the king has already succeeded, be strong enough to lead by the princess' side as her husband."

Natsu nodded again, his strong jaw clenching a little as he looked at his foster father. "Does this mean I'll never see you again?"

The old man looked at him with a small smile and sad eyes. "Perhaps not in this lifetime… but you are truly my son, a dragon. You are built so strong and enduring that many will fear you and most could not dream of fighting you… that is what the princess is counting on. You must be her protector. My destiny and yours may not intertwine anymore, but yours and Lucy's are bound as surely as the stars are to the heavens."

With that, King Jude of Heartfilia drew his hood onto his head again, and he and Igneel retreated out of the gates, reforming the stone bridge and crossing it. Natsu watched them as the faded into the night until even his sharp dragon vision couldn't detect them anymore.

A sparkling blue light hovered around Natsu's ear. "Jeez, she looks pretty heavy."

Natsu narrowed his eyes, turning his head. "Tch, Happy. You can't say that about princesses… even if it is true."

The blue light giggled. "She looks funny."

"You think all humans look funny."

"Well don't you?"

Natsu looked down at the girl again. Lucy was her name, but he would only ever call her Princess or Your Highness. There was something about her that he couldn't shake… and something about her that Igneel had said that stuck with him. Their destinies were entwined now. In the future, men would come to prove their worth and fight him for her hand. His hands tightened instinctively around her. He wouldn't let that happen. Only the most worthy of men would ever best him and get to her, and he would never make it easy. She was his princess… she needed to be protected. And a dragon always protected what was in his Keep.

"Don't you?" Happy asked again.

"Come on, little buddy," Natsu said, jerking his head towards the castle and then walking up the steps. "We need to get the princess to her chambers and then get to sleep. I have a feeling that she'll have questions when she wakes."