"You feeling any better?" Mira asked Romeo while pressing her hand to his forehead, and Romeo coughed up a storm.
"No," Romeo said once he stilled, picking up the controller to play his baseball video game. It was the newest game out, and even though it didn't take much mental effort, Romeo knew that it was the only adventure he'd get in a while since he was sick with the flu.
"Guess what? Makarov's here," Mira said, opening up the windows from the infirmary. Light spilled in, and Romeo covered his eyes from the bright sunlight. It had been days since he'd seen it, and he sure wasn't going outside anytime soon. The flu had hit him like a truck and hadn't stopped running him over for the past few days.
"Mira, why does he have to come over? Can't you tell him I'm sick?"
"You're sick-that's why he's here. He always tells the kids stories whenever they're sick. Why, he even did that for me when I was a girl!" Mira smiled and left the room, leaving a tray of soup for Romeo to eat while he had the story read to him.
"Ah, there you are, boy," Makarov said as he came in, and Romeo blatantly ignored the man. It was bad enough he was here-and now the old man was going to pinch his cheek!\
Sure enough, Makarov reached up and pinched Romeo's cheek, and the young man sighed with an eye roll.
"I brought you a present," Makarov said, and Romeo opened it quickly in hopes that it would be something exciting.
"A book?" Romeo asked, confused.
"That's right. I read that to your father when he was a child, and my father used to read it to me, and now I'm going to read it to you, boy," Makarov said, nestling himself down in the chair with a fuzzy blanket and propping open the book.
"Does it have sports in it?" Romeo asked, and Makarov chuckled.
"Ha! Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles," Makarov said, gesturing with his arms.
"I guess it won't be too bad. I'll try to stay awake," Romeo said, turning off his game.
"Very kind of you," Makarov grumbled, and began the story.
"The Princess Bride," he began, and Romeo already felt his eyes glazing over.
Lucy Heartfilia grew up in a small town west of Magnolia. Her favorite pastimes were taking baths and tormenting the stable boy who worked with the horses outside her father's mansion. His name was Natsu, and he liked her over any of the other people at the castle.
"Farm boy," Lucy would call, and the man's pink head would pop up from tending the horses, "Clean my bath. I want to see my face shining in it by morning."
"As you wish," he would always answer, and she would smirk and walk away from him as he watched her.
One morning, she went to the stables and asked for her horse to be fed and watered. "I want him cleaned as well," she said, and when he looked at her with those eyes that entranced her so, she added a 'please'.
"As you wish," he said, wiping the sweat off his brow. Lucy's eyes roamed up and down his body as he chopped the lumber for the fire. Her face flushed brightly, and she turned around before he could see. Lucy ran away, only looking back once.
And she found that he was looking too.
'What is wrong with me? I must have some sort of a fever,' she thought as she ran, and she went about her duties for that day with thoughts of Natsu.
"Farm boy," she called one more time, and was met with focused eyes as dark as the river that flowed beside the farm. Lucy gasped at the sight and stumbled on her words.
"Could you-that is, if you want to-please take my horse out for a stroll? He is lonely and I will be up in my room writing all day." Was that fever catching on again? Lucy certainly hoped so as Natsu's lip curled in amusement.
"As you wish," he said with a slight chuckle, and Lucy found that she liked the sound. As she turned to go back, she found that he was taking her horse out to the pasture to be fed as well.
Slowly but surely after years of working by each other's sides, Lucy realized that when Natsu said, 'As you wish,' he really meant, 'I love you.'
"Farm boy," she asked one morning as she made lunch for the afternoon, noticing that he was leaving the room.
Natsu swiveled around to face her, his eyes dark with the knowing that he needed to get work done. But still, his Lucy needed something.
Lucy's eyes shifted everywhere to find something for him to pick up for her or do for her. She could think of many things that he could do for her, but none of them were appropriate in this setting. Suddenly, her eyes caught a pitcher for him to grab that was close enough to her that he would need to approach her to hand it to her.
"Fetch me that pitcher," she asked, and within seconds he was approaching her. His eyes were focused but dark with the need of her, and Lucy gulped softly. He stared into her eyes with pure lust, and she wet her lips softly. His arm reached in front of her, grabbing the pitcher and setting it down at her feet.
"As you wish," he said, and he kissed her with the passion only love could give. For a few moments, they were swept up in their love for one another.
But this passion could only last so long. Natsu had no money for marriage, so he set out across the ocean to find his fortune there. It was a very emotional time for them. As they embraced, Lucy whispered into his ear.
"I fear I'll never see you again," she sobbed, and Natsu held her as to comfort her.
"Of course you will," he reassured her, rubbing her back. He knew that he had to leave, but at what cost? He wanted to marry her, but her father had said no because of his status. A farm boy could never marry someone of her stature.
"But what if something happens to you?" she asked, and he pulled away to look into her eyes. His eyes gazed on hers intensely, and their eyes conveyed the love that their words could not.
"Hear this now: I will always come back for you," he told her with a slight grin. Lucy flushed at the words, but knew exactly what he meant.
"How can you be sure?" she asked, a tear dropping down from her eyes. Natsu wiped it away with his thumb and held her face.
"This is true love. Do you think this happens everyday?" he said, a brighter smile crossing his face now. She smiled back at him before kissing him goodbye and embracing him once more. Natsu headed off in the direction of the sea.
But Natsu never reached his destination. His ship was attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts, and Lucy was shocked to hear the news. She went in her room and shut the door and didn't sleep or eat for three days. Her father had to force feed her some food during these days, and she vowed to herself that she would never love again.