of golden connections
by caandle

There's a dragon in there.

Lucy can feel it. The way the surrounding air crackles with heat and magic is the first telltale of a magic beast and the amount of power that's seeping through every crack means it can't be anything but a dragon.

She's never met a dragon before but she knows the stories – everyone knows the stories – and there's no doubt in her mind that she's right at the entrance of a territorial dragon's den. Her mother spun golden tales that flowed against the classic "Dragons are dangerous beasts that steal princesses" that her father instilled in her, and Lucy's not exactly sure who to believe right now. She's not exactly a princess (just a high-ranking noble's daughter) but you never know.

If she enters and her mother is wrong, well there goes her escape plan and her life. She's got nowhere else to run and there's no doubt that the King's men are hot on her trail, hunting for her. It's either be eaten by an angry dragon or dragged back to the kingdom kicking and screaming, forced to be wed to a man she's never met.

Lucy eyes the cave warily, gaze darting back and forth between the rocky entrance and the forest's trees. Damnit, Loke never told her that the only way out of the kingdom was through a damn dragon's den!

If she survived whatever outcome awaited her, she was going to throttle that jerk.

Lucy cursed her rotten luck. Of course, the only way out besides the main transporting docks was guarded by a dragon. Her fingers itched to tug on her golden hair in frustration but she resisted, because she already looked bad enough as it is. Running through a forest had left her expensive, puffy dress ripped and caked with mud – not to mention the dirt covering most of her bare skin because fleeing via forest was hard, dammit!

She desperately needed a bath. That was another thing she'd do if she came out unscathed through this whole deal.

Possibly (most likely) be burnt to death by a dragon or go back home to her life as a business prospect...

Lucy groaned loudly.

It was now or never, she supposed. Lucy bunched up what remained of her larger-than-life skirt and walked right into the dragon's den.

The first thing she noticed was the sweltering heat – if she thought she was sweating before, it didn't even compare to her now. The second was the way the air around her crackled with visible strains of magic that made her mouth open in awe. She held up a hand and watched it dance around her dirty fingertips, eyes impossibly wide.

The third thing she noticed was the lava.

Lava.

There were little sprouts of the fiery liquid, bubbling and hissing, that lit up the cave. The only possible explanation for why she hadn't noticed it before was most likely due to strength of the magic barriers protecting this place – or the fact that she was blind.

Whatever it was, Lucy couldn't believe her eyes. There was a tiny waterfall of lava right in front of her! Well, that explains the heat. It must mean it was a fire dragon, if she recalled correctly... hopefully this dragon wouldn't burn her alive...

Dragon magic was strong, she knew, but just wow. She also suspected the fact that her body wasn't burning to a little, burnt crispy was also due to dragon magic.

Lucy let out a shuddering breath, wrapping her arms around her torso despite the way the heat made her skin uncomfortably damp and slick with sweat. Maybe it wasn't too late to go back. She'd just have to find another way to get out of the kingdom. Loke could try to smuggle her out -

Or not.

The devastating, sound-barrier breaking roar that echoed throughout the cave rattled every single bone in her body. Clacks of sharp claws followed by heavy, loud thuds quickly followed.

The dragon was aware of her presence and was now coming for her head.

Lucy made a move to stumble backwards, to escape and run for her life, but found she couldn't move. Her body was locked in place, frozen even with the surrounding heat. Paralyzed.

Her entire being was screaming, begging, for her to just run.

Lucy only stood there, mind running a mile a minute whilst shutting down simultaneously, with legs shaking like Spetto's homemade jelly.

The thuds were getting louder with every breath, the surrounding rock shaking and rumbling from the magical beasts' heavy weight. The air crackled with magic before but now it was electrifying. If she wasn't so terrified for her life, she'd be blown away with the way the magic lit up the cave even brighter than the lava could ever hope to.

It was so physical in a way that her mother had only described before. It was absolutely breathtaking and Lucy lamented the fact that she was going to die before she'd be able to admire it properly.

The dragons (pink?) head poked around the corner, and she swore the slits it had for eyes widened at the sight of her. A rumble of clicks, clacks, and indistinct chatter bounced off the walls – dragon speak, Lucy dimly thought under her fearful haze – and a tendril of smoke escaped the dragon's snout as it huffed.

"Sorry, forgot you humans can't understand me."

Lucy's jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out, full of incredulous disbelief. A dragon – a gigantic, powerful, magical beast – just... spoke to her?

Her mother had often whispered to her during story time, when she was but a small child, that dragons had the ability to speak to any animal but hearing and seeing it was completely different.

"What a weird human." The dragon snorted.

"P-Pink!" Lucy gasped before immediately clapping her hands over her mouth, petrified. Her stupid mouth was going to get her killed... even more than she already was.

"Salmon." The dragon snapped irritably, upturning its snout like a petty child. "Salmon."

"S-Salmon," Lucy choked out, mumbling multiple apologies.

Lucy was talking to a dragon. A real life, powerful, potential princess-stealing dragon. Hopefully he didn't have interest in noble's daughters if that was the case...

"So, tell me... human." The dragon ducked its large, salmon head to peer at her with inquisitive eyes. "Why have you entered my den?"

"Er, you see Mr. Dragon, sir... I'm trying to get out of the country." Lucy stammered, winging her hands behind her back. Her entire body was alight with nerves and her heart was beating so quickly it was almost concerning.

The dragon snorted. "Name's Natsu, little one."

The dragon – Natsu - crept closer and now his entire body was in view. He was huge. Lucy had to crane her neck at such an awkward angle just to make eye contact and it was starting to get sore. His entire frame just fit inside the mouth of the cave, and she noticed that his scaly tail was lazily swishing back and forth in a pool of lava. He looked threatening yet harmless at the same time, with the way it almost looked like the dragon was smiling (can dragons smile? Her mother had never mentioned it) but Lucy knew that could change in an instant if she made the wrong move.

"What's wrong with Fiore?" The magical beast tilted his head, tongue lolling out of the side. It looked so ridiculous – and rather child-like, which made her question how old this dragon actually was – that, despite herself, she had to stifle a giggle at the sight.

"I'm, uh, running away from my father." Lucy winced at the way his ears perked up, a mischievous glint sparkling in his eyes.

"Runnin' away? Are ya a princess, little human? You look like one even though you're kinda dirty."

"No! No. I'm not a princess." Lucy squeaked, taking a small step back.

The dragon only made what Lucy assumed was a quiet hum, eyeing her shaking hands. "Just kiddin' with ya. I'm not interested in princesses. Too stuffy. That's more that bastard Sting's style, anyway."

Lucy swallowed thickly, not sure if she should be relieved. Maybe she should've said she was a princess...

The dragon huffed and flopped onto his belly, making the cave shake threateningly. "I'm not gonna bite ya, y'know. Most stories say all of us like to take pretty women but all I care about is gold and my family... although you do look like you are golden."

Lucy blinked, confused, before remembering her blonde hair. Was that the gold he was talking about? "It's just hair." Lucy told the dragon, and started to wring her wrists again.

Natsu eyed the golden locks with a look that she couldn't place. He stayed silent, just watching her, which made Lucy shrink into herself.

When he spoke next, his voice was impossibly soft – softer than Lucy would ever of thought a beast of this magnitude could ever be. "Why are you running, golden human?" He rested his head on his ground, which relieved Lucy's neck from the uncomfortable angle.

"My father wishes me to be wed to a man I do not love nor know." She tells him nervously. Lucy could've lied, sure, but there was something about this dragon that a part of her told her not to. At least he hadn't bitten her head off just yet. He'd been actually quite nice, surprisingly. Maybe her mother's stories had more truth in them than her father had led her to believe.

A low, threatening grumble escaped the dragon before cutting off abruptly, noticing her fear. His eyes were remarkably expressive. She could see him warring with two sides of himself, although over what she couldn't tell. "That ain't right." The dragon shook his head after a moment of deliberation, "You gotta choose your nest. Nobody else can do that for you."

Nest? Lucy racked her brain for her mother's stories. Natsu huffed quietly after she took too long to respond. "Your nest, in your silly human terms, is your mate and little ones."

Lucy nodded but before she could speak, the dragon interrupted. "Have ya figured out what ya gonna do when you're... out of Fiore?"

"Er, no, not yet." Lucy said, surprised by his question. Her runaway plan was rather short-notice so Loke and her hadn't been able to come up with much. "My friend was supposed to help me after I got past the first gates."

Natsu became silent once more. He watched her every movement, eyes tracking the slight shake of her hands and the way a bead of sweat travelled across her skin due to nerves and the overwhelming heat. His attention was as intense as it was imposing and nerve-wracking, leaving her to fidget just to have something else to focus on. Lucy stood there awkwardly, not sure if she should say something or just keep quiet.

This entire experience had been weird. The dragon hadn't initially killed her because she had entered his den and even sounded a little concerned for her. Lucy could feel a headache coming on.

"What is your name, human?"

"Er, Lucy?"

"I've decided to keep you, Luigi." The dragon lifted his head, and had what she could only describe as a large, elated grin.

Lucy's jaw dropped, feeling faint. "W-What?" He had not just – keep her? And her name was Lucy, not Luigi!

"You're mine now." Natsu huffed.

"I thought you said you didn't take anybody!" Lucy shrieked. There was no way she was going to become a dragon's human pet!

Natsu's ear flicked, irritated by the sound of her screeching. "You're golden and you have nowhere to go. So, I'll just keep you."

"T-That's not how it works!" Her fear of the dragon abruptly vanished, replaced by bravery and anger. He couldn't just 'keep her'. She didn't escape her father's controlling grasp to fall into dragon claws instead!

"It'll be fun, Luigi!" Natsu's grin only grew bigger, ignoring the way her face went cherry red with anger and embarrassment.

"MY NAME IS LUCY!"

The dragon only laughed.

A/N:

Hi everyone! This is my new Dragon AU fic that originally came from Tumblr. It generated a fair bit of positive feedback which inspired me to transform the suppose-to-be one-shot into a multichapter fic! Speaking of Tumblr, it you came from there, this & the next chapter will likely be very familiar to you. Chapter 3 onward is brand new though! :)

Feel free to check out my Tumblr at caandleworks. It's where I post updates/previews (of fics such as this one!), other bits of writing that may/may not be posted here, etc. If you'd just like to chat, I'm online practically 24/7!