Lucy was the heir to the Heartfilia empire. She had recently been set up to marry the son from the Ainsworth empire so combined could make the most powerful empire of their own.
She often wondered what it would be like to be in a wizard guild, so when she was 10 years old, she'd sneak out into the outskirts of the forest and practice her celestial magic.
She received a key from her mother when she was 6 years old and was sworn to never tell her father about it, or there would be dire consequences. Ever since she had been collecting keys on the down low. Every now and then one of her father's servants would come to her with a golden key. She was up to 7 out of the 12.
One starry night, Lucy was near the forest practicing her hand to hand combat with one of her celestial spirits, Virgo.
Their friendly battle caused literal sparks to fly and shoot through the sky. She was surprised no one from the mansion had come to investigate.
As she was about to leave, Virgo stopped her. "Princess, someone is close by." The bushes started rumbling.
"Come out." Lucy said in her most intimidating voice she could.
Suddenly, a blue cat fell out of the bush, "Geez Natsu, way to blow the cover."
"Who else is in there?" Lucy said with a softer tone.
A red haired girl and two boys fell out of the bush.
How in the heck did they all fit in there in the first place?
"I'm Erza," the red haired girl stood up and dusted herself off.
"Lucy." She extended her hand.
"I'm Gray, and this is Natsu." Said one of the boys with black hair.
"We were curious about what was happening in the sky, so we came to investigate." Erza said.
"Oh, sorry about that! I was practicing my celestial magic with one of my spirits." She scratched her head.
"Don't apologize, it was beautiful." Gray blushed.
"Gray stop flirting," the cat said.
"Wait that cat talks?!"
"I'm Happy. Nice to meet you."
While chatting with the others, Lucy noticed Natsu being extremely quiet. They barely knew each other so maybe he was just being shy.
"Are you okay over there?" Lucy asked, looking at Natsu.
"Yeah. I Just can't shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere."
That night, Lucy exchanged information with the three wizards and bid farewell. When she climbed into her bed, she couldn't stop thinking about that pink haired fellow. Suddenly, she heard something hit her window. She looked outside and saw the boy on the ground, he was by himself. "Hey, come down here a sec."
She climbed down on the rope she concocted to be able to go back and forth. "What's up?" She asked.
"You can't say you didn't feel it too."
"Wha-"
"That we somehow know each other."
"Now that you mention it, you do seem extremely familiar. I felt comfortable enough to come down here and talk to you, letting my guard down completely."
"Can I show you something?" He asked.
Natsu lead Lucy through the forest, hand in hand. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate, she swore she almost felt it jump out of her chest.
He took her to an apartment building in Magnolia. "Does this place seem familiar too?" He asked.
"Oh my…" she trailed. A sudden flashback of her, Natsu and Happy inside the apartment flashed. She was sleeping in the bed, and Natsu came into her bedroom and kissed her on the forehead. "Yes. There's no doubt in my mind that we know each other. I can't put my finger on it but I feel as though you are very dear to me."
He blushed, "I feel the same way too! Let's work together to figure out how we know each other. Can we meet every night and talk, just to see if anything sparks?"
"I would love that, Natsu."
For the second time that night, she got into her bed and fell asleep, with the thought of Natsu in her head.
…
After a few months had passed, Lucy and Natsu had spent so much time with each other that they knew everything about the other person. The only thing they couldn't figure out was how they were so familiar.
She was currently at one of her family's parties. But she was so bored out of her mind that she got completely lost in thought.
Somewhere down the road she figured out that she was in love with him. In the past she had to have been in love with him then, or definitely had strong feelings for him. He almost made it too easy for her. She felt so comfortable around him. She loved everything about him. How he'd always bicker with Gray, or try to fight Erza. She wanted him to have her whole heart, soul and body. She wanted him to run his hands up and down her-
Lucy stopped her brain from continuing that sentence. How could she possibly think that? She wasn't some kind of easy target. Was she? She couldn't let her thoughts get in the way right now, she had to prepare for tonight's party to seal the deal with the Ainsworth empire.
She was dreading this day, even before she met Natsu. She couldn't exactly tell her dad she fell in love with someone else. Let alone a wizard. He would lose his mind. Jude Heartfilia had a history of violence when getting upset and the last thing Lucy needed was an angry father.
"Psst. Lucy." She snapped out of her thoughts and looked around. It was already night time, just how long was she in her thoughts?
"Over here." She spotted Natsu in a bush near the party.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but if my father saw me talking to you, he'd be furious."
"So run away with me."
"Huh? Are you off your rockers, Natsu?"
"What's the big deal? I know your life here sucks, and I don't want you to marry that fancy guy."
Natsu had always been tough to read, but it was very apparent that he was jealous.
"Let's do it." She said and go up to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" She looked behind her and saw the Ainsworth son looking at her in disapproval.
"Please, don't tell anyone. I can't marry you. Neither of us will be happy."
"I'm actually relieved, Lucy. I won't ask questions, but promise we will keep in touch."
She nodded and left with Natsu, hand in hand.
…
"Lucy, you okay?" He looked at her. Even in the dark, you could see his beautiful eyes shining.
"Yeah, I just can't believe I'm doing this. I'm happy to be with you Natsu."
The trees blew in the wind, and let some moon light shine through the leaves, revealing a small blush on Natsu's cheeks.
"Are you blushing?" She teased him.
"No." He said, covering his cheeks.
"It wouldn't be weird if you were." She smiled.
"Lucy…"
He closed the little distance that was between them, and snuck his hands around her waist, pulling her to his chest.
She glanced up into his eyes and felt the urge to connect with him on a higher level. She wanted to give him her body.
Natsu looked shocked. "You really want that?"
She blushed immediately, "Did I say that outloud?"
"No. I just got the same feeling as you. I want you."
As their lips almost connected, Natsu yelped in pain.
Looking down, she saw a sword wedged into his chest. Before she could react to it, she felt a sharp pain in between her chest as well. Because they were so close together, the sword had pierced both of them.
Before she fell to the ground she looked at her perpetrator and couldn't see a face. The amount of blood loss already had started to make her dizzy.
"L-lucy…" Natsu trailed, grabbing her attention, "I love you."
"I love you too." She gathered all of her strength and hugged him.
And in their final moment, Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia passed away together.
Their love forbidden, they laid side by side, two victims of a cruel fate.