In a land far, far away from any know to this day, there is a certain custom. A girl born of royal blood must at her 16th birthday, be taken away for as long as a couple days to three weeks. She'll be taken away by what the society refers to as 'dragons'. Dragons went extinct about one hundred years before, but the tradition still remains. Young men about the same age as the girl ,that is born of dragon blood, must be their captor. The tradition states that another young man of also royal blood would come and save the young lady, they would return to the man's castle and live happily ever after in marriage. The 'dragon' would grudgingly trudge off to his home, recover from his defeat for a week or two, and then continue the cycle again. The tradition still continues to this day.

Lucy grudgingly looked out the stone window of her over-sized bedroom. It was July 6th, five days after her birthday. Her 16th birthday, that is. And a certain person was supposed to pick her up so she could marry her prince. Lucy really, really didn't want to go through the week or so process until her prince defeated the 'dragon'. She heard from her older friends that those several days were torture. At least for them. Lucy was sure she would not enjoy spending a week with a dragon blood. They were often rude, wild, and over-all not like the royal bloods at all. She was getting so tired of waiting. If a dragon blood wasn't here in a week, she'd...she'd...she didn't know what she'd do. Lucy was always told she was impatient.

Lucy pulled her head inside and slowly sat on the window sill. She glanced at the bundle in the corner, untouched. It was for her trip she was supposed to be taking right about now. Maybe the dragon blood hadn't come yet because she was sort of unknown. She liked to think of it as an undiscovered jewel. Or someone destined for greatness, but not known for now.

There was a soft knock on the door. Probably one of the maids Lucy guessed.

"Come in." Lucy sighed as she remained on the window sill. A timid maid opened the door and softly set her lunch tray on the small table.

"Your lunch, ma'am." The maid said softly and scurried out of the room, closing the door behind her. Lucy groaned and slid off of her window sill. She really didn't feel like eating right now. But if she didn't, her father, mother, and the staff would worry too much. She sat on the cushioned, wooden chair in front of the table. The meal was...usual. To a normal peasant it would be a feast, but to Lucy it was just usual. Steak and potatoes. With an assortment of vegetables and greens, a small desert on the side, and a heap of salad for her...appetizer. Lucy's father made sure her meals were at least three course if not more. Lucy wearily dug into her potatoes and stared out the window wistfully, hoping that maybe tonight she would finally start her way to her true love. Or...prince. She was really unsure if the prince would be her true love. Or her true love a prince. But things always worked out, right?

Natsu stuffed the last thing into his beat-up bag. He secured it shut and slung it over his shoulder.

"Okay I'm leaving!" He shouted over his shoulder. No response. Natsu rolled his eyes and headed out the front door. He had quite a lot of ground to cover, so he went as soon as possible. Thee sun was just barely peaking over the surrounding mountains. If all went according to plan, he would be there at about ten PM. This was his first time as a dragon blooded captor and he hoped it to be his last. Frankly, he thought it was utterly stupid. It really wasn't fair for anybody but the prince. All he had to do was beat the 'dragon' to a pulp and ride off with the hot babe. Unfair. The dragon just had to go back and do it again, and again, and again. He had somehow convinced his guardian to maybe let him quit after just one.

As for the princess he was capturing, he was actually a bit late. He had accidentally remembered he needed to go get her four days after her 16th birthday. In a rush, he left the next day. Now, here he is now slowly making his way to the small, obscure village with a princess named Lucy.

Natsu really, really wanted this to be easy enough. He hadn't heard anything about Lucy and what she was like, because she wasn't a very well known princess. And that was the problem. A prince might not come for weeks, let alone one that could beat him. He was going to have to get used to this royal blooded Lucy.

The sun was slowly setting on the small castle as Lucy one again stared out her windows. She was already in her night dress, but not quite ready for sleep. Lucy huddled under her covers in the blazing heat of the setting sun. She slammed her head into her many pillows and squinted up at the ceiling. She was way too tired of this room. She wanted to go somewhere else. Anywhere else. By now, it didn't even matter. She was even starting to think the couple weeks with the dragon blood might even be refreshing.

The last of the sunset spilled over her room and then started to fade. It was almost nine thirty, when Lucy usually went to bed. She slowly closed her eyes and drifted into a deep, deep sleep.

"Yep. This is it." Natsu thought as he stood in front of the castle. It would be rather easy to get in and find the princess. Carrying her would be the problem. He would probably wake her up and make her walk once they were out of the city. Natsu strolled into the courtyard and choose to go into a small door on the side of the castle. He opened it and found himself in the kitchen. He was in. He slowly and softly made his way through the kitchen and into a hallway. He went with his instincts and headed up. Parents usually kept their princesses in the highest part of the castle. He got to the very top and came to two doors. Natsu opened one, a closet, and then opened the other. There lay Lucy, the princess.

"Well, this was easier than thought," Natsu mumbled under his breath. "This castle's security is crap." He approached Lucy's bed and picked her up. Slinging her roughly over his back, Natsu managed to grab Lucy's bag in the corner and head out. Luckily, Lucy was a heavy sleeper and was only slightly disturbed by Natsu's inconsiderate handling.

He made his way once more though the castle and out to the courtyard. Natsu dragged through the small, sleeping town. The weight of his...victim wasn't as much as he expected, but the bundle really weighed him down. He wished she could just wake up already.

Lucy was sound asleep, resting comfortably in her bed, But after a couple hours, her rest was slightly disturbed. She was...being picked up? Lucy couldn't quite tell since she was technically still asleep. He eyes fluttered open for a second, but then closed once more and she fell back into a deep slumber. But only to be awoken once more. This time, she woke up fully. She gasped and at first struggled. The questions quickly flashed through her head: Where am? Why am I not at my castle? Who's carrying me?

"Geez, you're finally awake," Natsu growled, "You're a really deep sleeper. You'll have to walk now, You're getting too heavy for me." Lucy's mouth opened and closed as her feet touched the rough ground.

"Okay, who are you and why are y-" Lucy yelled but then stopped. Her mouth hung open in shock.

"Y-You're the dragon blood that's supposed to come?" Lucy stammered excitedly. Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" Natsu said, suspicious. Lucy squealed with joy.

"So...I can finally go? This is it? I'll finally get to meet my prince?" Lucy gasped in awe and excitement.

"Um..yep. This is it," Natsu said, shrugging, "Anyway, why are you do excited? I always heard princesses shouted and demanded to go back!" Lucy smirked.

"Yeah, well I've been kind of looking forward to meeting my prince," Lucy said sheepishly, "And since you were late, I got really tired of waiting!" Natsu groaned.

"Okay, fine I'm sorry. I just forgot." Natsu said, rolling his eyes. There was a couple minutes of silence. Lucy had waited so long for this moment, Well not this moment exactly, but close, that she really had no questions. She nervously bit her lip.

"By the way...what's your name?" Lucy asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Natsu. Its Natsu." Natsu replied, "Also, take your bag."

"Oh! Yes, my bag! You got it?" Lucy said quickly.

"Yes. If I didn't, you'd probably make me go back and get it." Natsu sighed and threw the bag onto Lucy. She caught it with a bit of trouble and the slung it over her arm.

"Um, how far away is the tower.?" Lucy asked as she checked the contents of the bag.

"Not far," Natsu replied, "About an hour away. Hope you like walking." Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"So...um why did you decide to.." Lucy trailed off looking for the right word.

"Capture, kidnap, abduct?" Natsu suggested maliciously.

"Well, um no." Lucy decided, reading Natsu's bitter behavior, "More like..rescue?" Natsu laughed.

"What, I'm not rescuing you!" Natsu laughed, "That's not my job. I capture princesses not rescue them! That's the prince's job."

"Well, um that wasn't my question in the first place." Lucy sighed, "Why did you capture me? I mean why me and not any other princess?"

"Ah, well, you're easy. This is my first job, so I needed an easy princess." Natsu explained. Lucy was slightly ticked off.

"What do you mean by 'easy'?" Lucy Growled. Natsu had to restrain from laughing again.

"I meant that your easy to capture." Natsu snickered, "You have like zero protection. The only problem is that a prince might not come for you right away." Lucy groaned.

"You know what, I really don't want to spend a week or two with you." Lucy whined, "You're already getting on my nerves."

"Hah, well you're not the best company either." Natsu said, rolling his eyes, "You're gonna have to deal with it, princess."

"Hey, don't call me princess!" Lucy shouted, "My name is Lucy." Lucy crossed her arms with dissatisfaction. It was going to be a long, long week.