|Princess|

Her pace quickened as she hurried down the dark halls dimly lit with flickering amber flames, her skirt billowing out in a cloud of white silk. Her breath was frantic as she clambered down the steep stone steps. Lucy knew this was her last chance at happiness, away from the pressures of royalty and away from the heavy judgement of the world. As she quietly slipped through the servants halls she gently ran her hand against the mortar wall, desperately searching for the secret passage that he had promised was there in her letter. As her hand brushed against a small iron handle, she sighed in relief and pushed the door open. Her eyes were met with a void of darkness with only the company of her hammering heart-beat. "Loke, Loke are you there?"

A cool, slim finger pressed against her lips and in her moment of startled panic, he caressed her hand gently. "I'm here my love". Lucy threw her hands out into the darkness and grasped his velvet waistcoat dragging him into her embrace. "Finally" she whispered. Her cheek wet with years of missing him and a tidal wave of pure happiness, she gently pressed kisses to the slim hand cupping her face.

Loke still couldn't believe that he was holding Lucy in his arms. He had been writing to her forever, but the feel of her gentle breath teasing his jaw, the feel of heat underneath her silk gown as he gently caressed her hip, nothing could compare to this. His mind was a whir as he contemplated the dream that was just about to become a reality, the desperately longed for future about to happen this very moment. He hesitantly drew his fingers against her lips, revelling in the soft sensation.

"I'm going to kiss you now" he roughly choked. And with that he bent his head, and for the first time of many, captured her lips in his and bared his whole heart to her in each smooth movement and each flutter. And in that, showed her what true love was.

"How romantic!" swooned Wendy, slightly oblivious to the fuming blonde behind her. With a screech and a slap to the forehead, Lucy sent Loke flying away yelling "Loke, cut it out!"

"But Lu-chan, the story was going so well" pouted Levy. She sighed blissfully as when Loke had told the story, she imagined that it was her running to meet Gajeel, much to her own embarrassment.

"Juvia wants to know what happens at the end! Juvia wishes a prince would come and save me! Gray-sama!" she squealed, clinging on to his arm as he tried to run away.

"If she was a man she would save herself!" Elf-man bellowed, looking quite chuffed with himself for saying something clever. Evergreen scowled and whacked him over his head with her fan. "You moron, you're missing the point of the story!"

"Which is that the prince proved his worth and strength through the heroic quest" Lily interjected. He had been quietly polishing his sword whilst resting on a sleeping Gajeel's head. He found the conversation quite humorous and decided to have a little more fun with it.

"No, I think it was more like the princess showed her strength to leave her family behind in order to marry the prince in secret" Erza said with a firm nod, and took another large bite of her cake.

"Loke, what happened next?" asked Levy-san, more intrigued than ever. Loke strolled up to Levy and tilted her chin up towards his face. With a slight smirk and a wink, he whispered "You'll find out later". Levy's face blossomed bright red, her cheeks heated with embarrassment to Jet and Droy's horror.

"Levy-san" they wailed, hugging each other as Levy yet again was acknowledged my another man other than themselves. Levy rolled her eyes and laughed which caused Gajeel to stir from his slumber. "Shut up!" he yelled, throwing Pantherlily's sword at the boys, causing them to scamper off wailing even louder.

"Enough, please" groaned Lucy out of exasperation. "It's just a story" she said frowning slightly.

"A beautiful one nonetheless" sighed Juvia. It was guild common knowledge that Juvia had a crush borderline obsession on Gray and had always fantasised about him saving her from a battle, their future thirty kids or their honeymoon night in which she found herself blushing furiously at such a fantasy. Gray's face was grim as he noticed the water mage's dejected state and reluctantly pulled a closer. Only to make her happy of course.

As Juvia began to swoon all over again, Mira leaned over the counter with a contented smile. "I think all girls' wish a prince would come and save them at one point".

"Out of all the girl's I think Lucy is the closest to it" giggled Lisanna. Kinana nodded in agreement as she helped Lisanna tidy up the furniture.

"What?!" the blonde squealed as she fought of touchy advances from Loke who now possessed a cheeky grin.

"Yes, Natsu is always saving her right?" Romeo grinned. He sat down next to an Erza who was currently on her fifth plate. She hummed in agreement.

"Erza!" Lucy gasped. To say that she was shocked that Erza would agree with such a suggestion was an understatement. She pouted miserably. "I can take care of myself you know!"

"Let's test that theory!" Lily grinned mischievously.

"Yes! That is manly" yelled Elf-man in agreement as he threw his fist up into the air. Evergreen surprisingly nodded too.

"Stop" Lucy yelled with a slap to his forehead.

"Let's tie bunnygirl up and see if the Salamander comes to rescue her!"

"Stop it I say" she yelled with another smack.

"Kyaaaaaa" she screamed as she felt herself being hoisted up into the air. With a "gihi" Gajeel threw Lucy up into the guild's scaffolding, her wailing screech echoing throughout the entire structure. Lily quickly flew up and with a rope lent to him by a sniggering Mira, he tied her to a beam.

"Guys aren't we taking this a little too far?" Levy mumbled. Like the obedient lap dogs they were, Jet and Droy nodded vigorously in agreement. "That's out Levy-chan!"

"Erza help!" shrieked Lucy, he legs kicking in frustration.

"No. You must prove your strength as a princess and escape yourself!" she replied firmly, nodding her head in unmoving conviction.

"No, Natsu must prove himself a true, selfless warrior and soldier!" smirked Lily.

"Why me?!" she wailed. As she reached down for her keys, her hand froze. "Where are my keys?!" she squawked. As she looked down, her eyes focused on a rather smug looking Loke who held a pouch of keys up. He held up a hand to his face and sniggered cheekily.

"You're feeling really brave today Loke" she grumbled as her irritation began to grow. Her pulse on her forehead throbbed.

"Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" yelled Loke as he thrust the key into the air.

"Eh?!"

Virgo appeared through a fresh hole in the guild floor. Her eyebrows raised in surprise as she glanced at a smug looking Loke holding her key. "You're not princess" she stated. "Time for punishment?"

"Virgo up here, come save me!" moaned a fidgeting Lucy. Everytime she struggled to free herself, the ropes tightened further.

"Actually, I summoned Virgo, so I'll ask something off her" Loke deadpanned.

"EH?!"

Loke promptly ignored Lucy and turned to Virgo. "Virgo if you could, please change Lucy into suitable princess attire. She will soon be saved my Natsu, who is playing the role of the prince".

"Is this a form of punishment, princess?" Virgo turned her face up to the scaffolding in which Lucy was still wiggling in the tight bonds.

"It sure feels like it" she murmured, yanking at a particular tight part of the rope. Virgo blushed in excitement quickly disappeared into the spirit world. Not a moment later she reappeared with a selection of dresses.

"Oh how beautiful" Wendy breathed, her fingers grasping the soft material of a deep blue velvet gown.

"Yes they are quite pretty" Charle agreed.

"Let's have a fashion show" Mira clapped happily.

"How about no!" shouted Lucy down to the excited crowd of mages, all of which ignored her objections.

"I will be the host, all females who want to model a dress, meet backstage in five minutes" Mira announced, her excitement getting the better of her.

"Gajeel, Gray, Romeo and Elf-man you will be the judges! Lily and Charle, prepare the stage and the lighting, Virgo go help the girls get dressed! It's show time people let's not let Lucy down!" instructed Erza as she continually brandished her sword at people.

"No, please let me down!" sobbed Lucy.

Within a matter of minutes Levy, Evergreen, Wendy, Erza, Juvia, Lisanna, Cana and Kinana had lined up on the stage in a rainbow of velvet downs and silk dresses. They posed dramatically in "damsel in distress" positions, trying to create the image in which Lucy would look when Natsu came to save her.

As Mira collected the results from the judges, all of which had nosebleeds, she smiled. "The top 3 finalists are, Levy in third place, Erza in second and Juvia in first!"

The guild roared and hooted as Juvia stepped forward, modelling a pure white chiffon ball gown, with layers of lace and diamante embroidery on the corset. Gray found his cheeks warming slightly at her shy expression.

"It looks like a wedding dress" cooed Mira.

"Too far!" yelled Lucy.

After a while, the guild had quietened down as they waited in boredom. Virgo has returned to the spirit world with the rest of the dresses much to the dismay of the girls. Natsu had not been to the guild all day. Even Happy was nowhere to be seen. The guild had settled into a subdued silence, many of the members asleep, too stubborn to leave and miss the rescue mission. Lucy smiled gently, as much as she was tired and fed up, she loved her guild mates, despite their craziness. A creak of the guild doors caught her attention and she turned quickly, only to find Natsu staring confusedly at the mass of sleeping mages.

"Natsu" she hissed urgently. Natsu's ears perked up at the sound of his nakama's voice, and looked up to find Lucy tied to the scaffolding. With a shrug, he climbed up one of the wooden columns, deftly jumping from one to another. When he reached Lucy, he leaned in close inspecting her face. She flushed brightly and squirmed. "Just get me out of here, quietly. I've been up here all day".

Natsu grinned with an eyebrow raised in question. He lit his fist on fire and preceded to burn away the ropes. Wrapping his arm around Lucy firmly, he began the descent down, Lucy blushing slightly from his close proximity. Her body felt worn and tired and by the time they reached the guild floor, she had nuzzled her face into his neck. Natsu held her closer and smiled as they left the guild.

"Let's go home princess".

AN:/ So instead of updating my other fanfic, i decide to write a drabbly one-shot which is terribly written and probably has a lot more grammatical errors that I did not care to notice. Oh well xD It was fun writing it.