Mini-fic for all the NaLu fans out there! It's uncharacteristic of me to write about this already perf couple, but I wanted to put my two cents into the contribution. So here you have it! Hope it is enjoyable. :)
Everything Will Be Alright
What was it that made him unable to tear his eyes off her? What was it that made his heart thump like wild whenever she was near? What was it that made him so utterly attracted to her like a stray pup?
He absent-mindedly twirls the petal of a yellow rose between his fingers, silently contemplating if he should just come clean with it all to the girl. It would definitely take a load off his shoulders, he never was the type to do tons of thinking. He was more of a charge-straight-ahead-questions-asked-later type. That strategy usually plays well in his favour, but he gets the feeling that he should refrain from doing that this time.
Who knows if his ignorant attitude may crush his already fragile heart? Enough scars had been etched, enough pain felt and tears shed. He refused to willingly allow himself be subjugated to that sort of agony once again.
Besides, who am I to her? She's the princess and I'm just a guard. He breathes out an irritated sigh, runs his hand through his salmon hair. A glance to the side shows the discarded petal, its bright colour reminding him of the girl's own blonde locks, causing a blush to rise to his cheeks.
I want to tell her.
But I'm afraid of getting hurt.
If I don't tell her, she'll never know and I'll be stuck here all alone as she moves forward.
What am I supposed to do?
~.~.~.~
There is hardly much to do as the guard of the princess. She has two others, the holy knight Erza Scarlet and the cool warrior Gray Fullbuster. He himself was Natsu Dragneel, known as the 'Salamander' for his fiery style of fighting. At any given time, at least one of them would be guarding the princess regardless of her location to ensure her complete safety.
Her closest friend in the whole palace is a white mare named Plue, the next in line are her rows of books. Out of her three guards, he could proudly say that he was the one closest to her, for he knew her likes and dislikes, knew her habits by heart, how to brighten the smile on her face.
She is beautiful. For him, the most ignorant fool on the planet (courtesy of his rival Gray). To notice a lady's beauty and fall head over heels for her points to very serious matters. Either the world was ending or he wasn't as ignorant as people made him out to be. Perhaps her beauty was the only one he could see, for it is dazzling, much too bright to be perceived by normal people.
He grins a wide toothy grin when he sees her, for his heart soars and he wishes to see her own dazzling smile in return.
~.~.~.~
The first time they met, he thought that she would be another one of those stuck-up princesses. The ones who treat everyone beneath their status like dirt marring their highly priced shoes. Oh well, he could care less. As long as he attained enough money to keep a roof over his head, eat as much as he wanted to and splurge on the occasional flea market hot item, it was bearable to him. If anything, a snot-nosed princess was much easier to hate and serve compared to one who had a heart of gold.
He didn't know that day, he drew the short stick. She was kind, caring to all her subordinates no matter their status. She even had the gall to fight against her own father, the king, for the rights of the townspeople before. Never in his life, ever since the death of his biological parents and the death of his adoptive father, has he ever respected someone as much as he did for her.
For some unfathomable reason, as the leaves on the trees change colour, so did his feelings for her. Somehow, he had started falling for her simple charms until the point that his heart ached whenever she wasn't near. The respect he had for her in the beginning morphed into deeper feelings, feelings of (dare he say it) love.
Now, he just has to find a way to say it.
~.~.~.~
Loke was his name, a prince from a neighbouring country who came for an official visit.
The princess got along swell with him, the both of them could mostly be found chatting their time away in the well-trimmed gardens. Naturally, one of the three guards had to be with her during those chats, and he dreaded his turn with much gusto.
They need not stand right beside her, but must always be in the vicinity, which meant that he had to listen to all of the prince's ramblings and boasts. He perches himself atop a sturdy branch high up in the eaves of the oak tree, focusing only on her sweet voice and gusts of tinkling laughter.
If he focuses hard enough, sometimes he could imagine the one sitting opposite her as himself.
~.~.~.~
She cried, tears streaming steadily down her cheeks, leaving wet trails. Plue, her best friend was announced dead yesterday due to a strange illness which no vet could find a cure to. She saw this coming a long way ahead, yet her heart ached painfully, she could not control the faucets from running.
Watching her in that state made his own heart throb with pain and anguish. Tears did not suit her, she should always be smiling, happy, carefree. He hated, hated, seeing her cry.
She did not lock herself in her room, nor did she carry a storm cloud with her wherever she went. It would be better if she did. She was the type of person who tried their hardest to conceal their true feelings from the crowd, too considerate to show their own hurt.
He wondered for a time what he could do for her. He wondered if she would smile again.
So he took it upon himself to make that statement come true.
The next day, she finds a bouquet of messily tied yellow roses at the foot of her bed, a note saying that everything will be alright. Involuntarily, the corners of her lips tug upwards.
~.~.~.~
She is with Loke again, the both of them inching closer and closer towards each other.
He feels jealousy for the first time, a hot fire licking at the edges of his stomach, making him petty and irrational. His friends see this, instruct him to cool off before his emotions fly out of hand. He ignores them, calls them names out of his childish behaviour and heads into the alleys of town to let off some steam.
After several bouts of punches, kicks, scratches later, he feels much better. He returns to the palace with all his worldly envies suppressed only to be chewed out by both of his fellow guards and a worried greeting from the princess.
He plans to brush off his meagre feelings. Surely it was not worth getting hurt for.
~.~.~.~
A couple of robbers, not trained, not skilled in the slightest attempted to raid the royal carriage. He idly wonders if they are desperate or plain stupid. He and Gray make quick work of the small fry, bearing not even a scratch from the light scuffle. That is, until one of them pulled out what seemed to be a reworked grenade and tossed it straight to the carriage where she sat.
His body moved on its own, the sole thought in his mind was to only protect her regardless of what injuries he may inflict upon himself. His legs pushed him forward, his arm reached out to catch the grenade, his eyes saw the image of himself reflected upon hers, wide and scared.
No matter what, he wanted to shield her away from the pain of the world.
Even if it meant that he had to sacrifice himself.
Even if it meant seeing her happy with someone else.
As long as she smiled, so would he.
So he flashed her one of his toothy grins, hoping she would understand his message. Everything will be alright.
~.~.~.~
She lets slip a curse as the teacup crashes onto the floor, a million tiny pieces of it flying everywhere. Her attendants file in swiftly, cleaning up the mess she made. They sweep the shards, wipe at the brown liquid so as to not stain the floor.
Lucy thanks them, a silent whisper, for she cannot muster the energy to thank them any more than that.
In the space of such a short life, she has lost her mother, she has lost Plue her best friend and now she has lost her confidant, the only person she ever trusted. Possibly the only person whom she had ever opened up to.
She glances out the high windows into the gardens, spots the yellow roses blooming vividly in the soft sunlight. The tears start, she can't stop them nor does she care to.
Natsu, you said everything was going to be alright...
Liar.
Thank you for reading!
(*Note: Will update Yoshiwara Kaleidoscope as soon as I have a school holiday peeps, very sorry for the delay. )