Hi!

I recently began watching the anime Fairy Tail, and I really really liked it! Unfortunately, I couldn't get the manga just yet, but I absolutely adore the Natsu x Lucy pairing. I don't know if something like this has been done before, and I'm sorry if this seems way too corny. My muse forced me to write this so... =)

This only goes up to the Grand Magic Games/Eclipse Arc, because I thought if I made it longer, it would get boring. Sorry if it's horrible!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima.

Natsu woke with a start, glancing around him. He was (as usual) on Lucy's bed, with his arms wrapped around her. Somehow, she had gotten used to him barging into her home, and stopped trying to kick him out - mostly because he always came back. Lately, she didn't even protest when he climbed into bed with her. He hoped this was a sign that she was more comfortable with him now.

Lucy herself was still asleep; she had been up till three working on her almost-complete novel. He gazed at the top of her head, thinking back to when he first met her. All the times he had saved her, or when she had saved him. They certainly got into a lot of trouble, didn't they?

He remembered the first time he met her, accidentally breaking the charm that fake Salamander had been casting on her. Unknowingly, they had formed a bond then, one that would take them through ups and downs, together.

Oh no...he sound like a sappy fool in love.

Wait. In love? Where did that come from?

He instead focused on all his memories of her. The first ever job they went on together, where she had actually gone and bought a maid costume! He'd never tell her, but she actually looked pretty cute in that.

Or when she had been captured by Phantom Lord. He felt his stomach tighten, remembering her falling, looking so vulnerable. He didn't even remember what he had been doing at the time. He just felt that Lucy needed him. If he hadn't gotten there in time. If he had let her fall...his pulse quickened, and his embrace around her tightened.

Or when she got turned to stone? He had wanted to punch Laxus' smug face so badly...That was when he realized that if anyone ever touched Lucy Heartfilia, they'd have him to answer to.

She had been so brave throughout everything. Throughout fighting the Oración Seis, and going up against Nirvana, and Zero, and just everything. Perhaps he was biased, but she was simply on of the bravest people he had ever met.

When he had gone to see her on the day of the festival, and she said she was sick...He couldn't even enjoy himself at any of the games because he was too busy getting anxious about Lucy. In the end, he had gotten exasperated.

"If she can't come to see the tree, I'll make the tree come to her!" He said, and, one way or the other had made it float down the river he knew her bedroom window overlooked. And it was worth; her smile made him feel happier the ever the next day.

When they had gotten sucked into Edolas, he had felt himself worrying all the time. Where was Lucy? Was she okay? Could she use her magic too? He had been so happy to finally see her, even if she was in the middle of a fight.

And then, on Tenrou Island, when she was being tortured by the Hikaru idiot, he had felt his heart break when she had told him she wasn't running away. Break. Into tiny little pieces.

Then to come back from seven years of being in stasis, only to find out that her father was dead. He desperately needed to know she was okay, but he knew she needed privacy.

When she had gotten trapped in the infinity clock, he just panicked. Until that moment, he had sort of taken it for granted that Lucy would always be there, complaining about her rent or yelling at him for destroying stuff. When she was taken, he realized how desperately he needed her.

And it scared him.

What if she didn't like him back? If she liked someone else? Or thought he wasn't sweet enough, or was too dense, or...And then, just when he thought she was going to be okay again, that after they won the Grand Magic Games everything would go back to normal, she died.

Well, not this version of her, but it was Lucy nonetheless. Lucy, with her warm brown eyes and soft golden hair, and suddenly Lucy's smile was gone, and she was just...dead. He stood there as she took the fatal blow, and he couldn't do one single thing about it. Not one thing. That was when he snapped. All of it, the Eclipse and the Games, and just generally anything, it got to him.

He broke.

If your partner throws herself off the top of a tower, trusting that you'll catch her? Face a crazy strong dark guild, and then after you just want to rest, having an ancient walking city try to destroy the world? He'd be on it, pronto. Your best friend falls sick on the day she was looking forward to? Natsu Dragneel knew how to deal with that. Getting sucked into a different world, not knowing where she is, if she's safe? Seeing your partner tell you that it's always more fun together, even though her head is being squished by a beach ball with limbs? Have your Nakama taken away from you (again), and being betrayed by someone she thought was her family? Pshaw, he dealt with worse every day.

But having your best friend, your comrade, your guildmate, die in front of you - even if it's a future version of here - how do you deal with that? He was so grateful that at least one of her still existed, because if both of them died, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

However, in the end, it didn't really matter, did it? Because he had always saved her. And he always would. He would protect his princess, his Lucy, from whatever the world threw at them.

Gazing sleepily at the top of her head, he smiled.

Lucy Heartfilia had gotten herself into a lot of trouble in her lifetime, and would almost certainly get into a lot more trouble in the future. That was okay, though, because he'd always be there to save her. No matter what.

"Love you, Lucy." He whispered, and sunk back into a deep sleep. Next to him, Lucy smiled knowingly.

In retrospect, this isn't such a good piece, but I decided to go ahead with it anyways. Please, review so I can improve my writing - or even if you just want to hate. I don't mind :)

- random103