Well... Hehe, this is not an update for my regular fic. I just got this idea of an AU story from a dream I had. Since the characters of FT were there and I couldn't get it out of my head... I decided to write a one-shot about it :D
You can blame the war movies I have seen recently... And my current laziness of writing the next chapter of The Dragon Festival... But no worries it'll be up this weekend ;)
In the meantime, enjoy this little NaLu one-shot.
Warnings: It's rated T mostly for language, nothing more.
Pairings: NaLu with glimpses of the rest.
Anyway, enjoy!
The Dancing Princess
The Dragon War started out as a petty argument between the leaders of the countries of Earthland. These leaders were nicknamed the Dragons due to their attitude and the way they dove into problems and spats almost everyday. However, this particular argument regarding the trial of the Black Dragon's son Zeref for committing seven murders ended badly and escalated quickly into an international war between the forces of Acnologia and those of the country of Fiore. To tell the truth, Mirajane could say that she didn't really know much about the details.
During the long years of the war, she had held a bar near the city of Magnolia that every so often became packed with soldiers of the country of Fiore. Since her brother and sister found themselves involved in the war (Elfman was a soldier while their little sister, Lisanna, was a nurse), she decided to welcome soldiers in order to give them some relaxation time and, in her own way, help her siblings go through this incident.
She was particularly welcoming to the battalion which her brother formed part of. This one earned the nickname Fairy Tail since its members were surprisingly stubborn to survive the battle in order to "chase their next adventure". Mirajane found them rather amusing since they seemed to fight every so often, but they also were loyal to their comrades to the core.
"Hic… The usual Mira… Hic."
Mirajane snapped out of her thoughts to look at one of her regular customers. This one was not part of the military, but Mira knew that Cana liked coming on these particular nights to gather information concerning her "shitty father" who was one of the generals leading the war.
She smiled at her friend, "Cana, you've already had the usual five times."
Cana fixed her violet eyes at her before a smile crept across her face, "So? Some asshole over by table seven said that he wouldn't talk because he doesn't think I can't do another five. I'll show him and his pretty blond hair."
Mirajane chuckled, but she knew that look, so she started mixing the drink for the brunette.
"Pretty full today," Cana whistled, "You sure you can handle it?"
Mirajane shrugged, "I don't mind. Sometimes soldiers need to have a good time too."
Cana scoffed, "If you ask me they're having too good a time… Besides, you know as well as I do why they really came." Cana grinned at her and continued, "It's because of that show. They came to see the Dancing Princess."
"I still don't get why I need to come. I definitely don't want to see any of your dumbass faces any more than I have to."
Gray decided to hold his tongue and punches as he forcibly pulled his pink-hair comrade into the bar. Gajeel came afterwards but instead of following Gray's example, he was already tired to hear the flamethrower user's incessant whining.
"Trust me, Salamander," Gajeel began, calling him by the nickname they gave him at the battalion due to his particular choice of weaponry, "I don't think any of us want to see your sorry face anytime. So shut your fucking mouth and enjoy the view once in a while."
Natsu glared at him and if Gray hadn't been pulling him, he would've punched the iron sword user. Gray just fixed a tired glare at Gajeel, he didn't want to keep babysitting Natsu but he especially didn't want to start a fight in an establishment he was so fond of.
"Besides," Gajeel continued, "Can't have you back in the barracks alone because the Titania doesn't want you there since you burned one tent down."
"Hey! The flamethrower turned itself on! It wasn't my fault!"
Gajeel rolled his eyes.
"Anyway," Gray started, already getting a headache from hearing that particular argument from Natsu, "There's no use for you tirelessly waiting at the barracks in order to catch the General to start discussing battle tactics with him. Erza already is annoyed for you disrupting the Master too much, and you already know how she can get when she's annoyed."
All three soldiers shivered as they recalled their redheaded companion (or commander as they referred to her since she gave half the orders most of the time). She might one of the few women soldiers in the battalion, but she was a woman that could wield a variety of weapons and that's besides the fact that she had a mean punch.
Gray shook his head to discard that nightmare and continued as he waved to a couple of his companions by the bar, "You need to relax every once in a while. It's one of the reasons you have such a nasty temper."
"As if you were any better, pervert. How can I relax when my father has been kidnapped by the enemy?!" Natsu fixed him with a fierce glare and, although Gray understood the situation since his own parents were killed during the war, he also knew that it didn't help his friend to be mulling about it constantly at night.
"Tsk," Gray turned to look at Gajeel as he spoke, "Suit yourself." Gajeel was also pissed off since he was also looking for his father in this war, "Either way, I'll be over there ignoring you two since just by being near you I can already feel my damn brain turning into mush."
Both Gray and Natsu made indignant yelps as Gajeel snickered and disappeared into the crowd. Natsu was about to go after him, but Gray grabbed his collar and forced him to sit at a table just below the bar's stage. He managed to notice a certain small blue haired woman walking that direction as well and he could already imagine the real reason why the iron sword user wanted to be in that particular side of the bar.
"Um… um… Good evening, Gray-sama."
Gray turned around to look at another particular blue haired waitress, one that has been attending him ever since the first time he showed up at this bar. He sometimes got the faint sensation that she followed him around and looked at him behind pillars, but Juvia was a nice girl once you got her talking and not blushing.
He smiled at her (causing her to swoon), "The usual for me, and a Firebreather for my friend here."
Juvia looked at Natsu as if she just noticed him for the first time. Natsu raised his eyebrows at this and sniffed, not liking being ignored because of a certain dark haired perverted stripper next to him.
"Oh… yes," she glared at Natsu and he got the distinct feeling that she was trying to figure out the relationship between them. He decided to shake his head as if negating whatever she was thinking and he must've done the right thing because she smiled satisfied and continued talking. "…As you wish Gray-sama. Juvia is always happy to serve you."
After staying staring at Gray for a few moments, she hopped over to get her drinks. Gray turned to look at Natsu's teasing grin... Uh oh… This was never good.
"So… What's it gonna be Gray-sama? What are you really doing every time you come out here, pervert?"
"Shut up, flame brain. I think all those gasoline fuels are affecting your thinking since it's the only reason why you can be so stupid."
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
Suddenly, the lights dimmed in the establishment, effectively distracting the two men who were about to jump at each other. Both of them turned to look at the stage and spotted a light brown haired man standing in the center of it.
"Wow Natsu," Gray whispered, forgetting the fight momentarily, "You are one lucky bastard if you get to see this the first night in."
"What? Why?" Natsu asked confused, "And who the fuck are you calling a-"
Gray rolled his eyes as he interrupted him, "Just shut up and watch." He grabbed Natsu's head with one hand and forced him to turn to look at the stage. He quickly retracted it when Natsu was about to slap it away.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the man at the center of the stage began, "My name is Loki and I'm here to present to you a very special treat."
He grinned at them and Gray got the impression of a lion waiting to pounce on something.
"Allow me to present a beauty like no other. The dazzling princess kept away at this bar despite her light feet. You know who she is. The one, the only, Dancing Princess!" He gave a mock bow and retreated to the side as the curtain started open.
Natsu was starting to grumble to Gray, since this all seemed so stupid to him. How exactly was a show so special if it was just dancing? He didn't really get why moving around a stage flailing limbs was considered an art. However, his train of thought stopped once he got a look at the person coming onto the stage.
To put it frankly, he had never seen someone so beautiful as that woman. She wasted no time to start dancing, and her white dress flowed with her like water as she moved gracefully in different directions. This was definitely no flailing of limbs. Her blond her was tied up with some delicate blond locks framing her face, but it seemed to glisten in the limelight (stop it, Natsu, you're embarrassing yourself) as he gazed at it. Her face was what was most interesting, her eyes were sometimes closed, sometimes opened, but they seemed to convey a certain emotion in every single step. Natsu hadn't seen someone with such an honest expression in a long time.
Suddenly, their eyes locked, and Natsu could feel himself sinking into their brown depths. She started dancing towards him and stopped twirling when she was right in front of him. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as surveyed the scene. She kneeled down and looked at him for a moment. He could feel himself turning slightly pink but before he could say something stupid (he was sure anything that came out of his mouth at this point would just sound stupid) she smiled at him and handed him a single white rose before standing up and twirling away.
Natsu looked at the rose for a long time, ignoring the gasps from around him. Beautiful and pure, like her.
All too soon, the show was over and she disappeared behind the curtains of the stage, Loki came back up to thank the applause and the cat calls her performance received. Despite all the noise, Natsu was still looking at the rose dumbstruck.
"I can't believe it," Natsu snapped out of his trance to look up at Gajeel who was suddenly by their table, "She supposedly only gives that rose in some of her performances. It's always to a soldier that she chooses to be worthy of it." He turned to look at Natsu, "You are one lucky bastard to get that from Bunny Girl."
"Bunny Girl?" Gray interjected, seeming to snap out of his trance from what had just transpired in front of him.
"Meh. She jumps and twirls around. Looks like a bunny to me." Gajeel said simply.
They both started to discuss the exact similarity between the dancer and a bunny but Natsu paid them no mind. He excused himself, which surprised the both of them, to get some air outside.
Why couldn't he get the image of her sad expression out of his head? He looked at the stars above him. Why did she have to dance so flawlessly but with a tinge of loneliness to it? And, most importantly, why was he so concerned?
"For the last time, Loki. I won't give you one!"
"But Princess!" A voice whined.
Natsu turned around to see a woman with a cloak that had intricate star constellations etched onto it and Loki squabbling. Natsu probably didn't recognize the woman's voice, but he could remember that blond hair anywhere.
"Hey," he began and the both of them turned to look at him in alarm. He quickly relaxed his stance since something about it was making them rather nervous. It must've been the uniform, he thought. "Are you the Dancing Princess?"
The woman looked at him with those brown eyes of hers straight into his onyx ones. It was as if she was trying to read his intentions.
"Yes?" She asked cautiously.
"Well," he showed her the flower, "Why did I-"
"Ohhhh… So he's the one."
The woman turned around to see Loki's teasing smile and Natsu couldn't help chuckling a bit when she turned pink and hit him in the arm. It seemed so ironic that the so-called Dancing Princess had a short fuse.
"Not now, Loki. Go inside, I'll catch up with you later."
"Of course," He bowed down and kissed her hand, but she gave it no importance since she waved it off, "Anything for my princess." And with a wink to Lucy and a nod to Natsu he disappeared into the bar.
"So…" Natsu began after a moment of silence, "Why the rose?"
The dancer huffed and looked at him as if insulted, he wondered how quickly her mood changes actually were, "You don't like it?"
Natsu chuckled, "No, no, that's not it… I mean, why did you give me one?"
The blonde stared at him for a while. "…Why do you ask?"
Natsu shook his head in annoyance. Why was she being so stubborn? "Because, it's the very first time someone's ever given me a rose with that sad expression in their faces. Usually it's a very happy one."
He waggled his eyebrows at the implications of that and was happy to see that she flushed slightly pink and stammered before steeling herself and raising an eyebrow. He looked at this all amazed; she really was like an open book.
"Is that so?" She turned to look at the stars, as if debating whether to tell him the real reason or not. She glanced at him, but looking at his expression she guessed that he probably wouldn't leave without some answers.
"A couple of years ago," she began, "I lost my father to the war."
Natsu stared at her seriously, and the Princess took this silence as an encouragement to keep talking.
"Before he left, he plucked a single white rose from the flowers I recollected that day and promised that he would return it to me when he came back… So, now I sometimes give white roses to soldiers with the shameless hope that at least one of them would be able to return safely. None of them have done so, though."
She turned to look at Natsu who was regarding her with a curious look. After a moment of him staring, she started to turn slightly pink.
"… What?"
"You're a weirdo."
The Princess blanched, here she was telling the story of her life and all the soldier had to say was that she was a-
"I mean," Natsu continued when he saw the expression on her face, "There's no guarantee they'll get you the same flower back to you after all those months in battle. That's just stupid."
The dancer scoffed indignantly, "It's supposed to be symbolic, you dope. It doesn't have to be the same rose."
"Then that settles it."
The Princess looked up at him in confusion, trying to ignore the way that his smile made her turn pink.
"I'll return here with seven white roses, one for each month that I'm on the battlefield, and give them back to you."
He suddenly grasped her shoulders, and all she could think of were his honest eyes, filled with promise and determination. She hadn't seen eyes like that for a long time. So maybe… Just this one more time…
"What do you say?" He asked.
"…Fine."
Natsu smiled at her, "Well then, whom am I making a promise to? I can't keep calling you princess, it's just not my style."
At least he was happy to see that the comment earned him a laugh, "My name is Lucy Heartfillia," she answered with a smile.
"And mine's Natsu," he replied as his grin expanded on his face.
Seven months later
Mirajane moved excitedly around her bar. Today was the day the Fairy Tail battalion returned from their leave and everything had to be perfect.
She heard the door open but she didn't look up to see who it was. She guessed it was Cana trying to get a drink early on the day.
"Cana, I'm still not done with the preparations. So, could you-" She stopped once she saw who it really was. She was surprised to see a pink head instead of a brunette one.
"Is Lucy here?" The soldier asked, he looked out of breath.
"Huh?" Mirajane still couldn't believe that a soldier was here this time of day. He looked so tired, and his clothes weren't mended. His bandages were still evident around his arms and he had some cuts on his face. It was almost as if he had stepped into town, bought a set of white roses that he had in his hand, and ran straight to the bar.
"Is Lucy Heartfillia here?" he repeated.
"Oh! Um… Yes. Lucy!" She called.
She heard the blonde's footsteps coming near.
"What is it, Mira? Did something ha-"
She stopped once she looked at the guest and brought her hands to her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes.
"Natsu… You came back… You really came back!"
The soldier (Natsu, Mirajane supposed) chuckled, "I told you I would, weirdo. Didn't I make a promise to you?"
Even Mirajane couldn't help but smile at the way Lucy launched herself into his arms screaming "idiot" and "what took you so long".
Cana chose this moment to appear. She sat down and suddenly noticed the couple.
"…Did I miss something?"
Mirajane laughed. "Not really. Just that I don't think we'll have the Dancing Princess here tonight. I think she'll be rather busy entertaining a special guest."
Cana shrugged. "Whatever, guess that means that I'll have to improvise."
They both laughed. This was a sign. A sign that the war was finally coming to an end.
And there it is... :) Hope you enjoyed it. Any comments, ratings and stuff, review! :D This will probably stay as a one-shot... Probably.. hehe.
See you soon :)