She still remembered the day they met. It was in July, the weather was perfectly warm and the sky was perfectly blue. She often spent her summer nights in the forest, against her fathers wishes. He truly was a dreadful man to begin with, anyways. She remembered the way the pond sparkled, and she remembered suddenly seeing the man sitting on a tree branch, hunched over and staring at her. He was wearing baggy black pants tied together with a ratty looking rope, and no shirt (she also remembered how red her face got when she realized that). She also remembered his vibrant pink hair- which was extremely rare to see.
"Hello ?" She would call out, looking directly up at the strange boy. He didn't budge. She remember how angry she got that he was ignoring her whilst looking directly at her. "Speak to me." She would then order, but it wasn't returned with words. Instead, he jumped out of the tree and onto the ground, his eyes still piercing her. "Why do you ignore me ?" Her eyes stared right back at him, she didn't really know if it had the same effect his glare did.
She remembered standing and walking over to him, holding her gown up to stop it from dragging in the swampy grass. "Answer me." He eyed her with a look that made her think he would dart off, like a scared animal. "The woods are dangerous," he muttered, standing up finally- and he was tall, towering over her. She felt weak, but not intimidated. "You must be the princess." She's never been allowed in public, so its obvious he was guessing by her attire. She then realized this was the first person- who hadn't worked or lived at the palace- that she had met.
"You are ?" Her eyes were cold, but he gave off a warm aura. She kinda liked that. "A dragon." He commented as he stretched his arms out casually. She took a step back, for a moment she was beginning to think he was a tad bit nuts. "Dragons exist in fairy tales, dragons are not real." Her voice was almost amused. He smiled down at her, and she didnt know what that meant. "A peasant meeting a princess, is that not also from fairy tales ?" He sounded calm, confident maybe. "May I ask the princesses name ?"
"Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the King." He nodded, satisfied that he was right. Somehow he seemed discouraged though, like he didn't really feel like talking to royal blood. "Natsu Dragneel." He took her hand from her side a shook it, which she found strange- and then funny. She remembered how warm his hand was. "Do you live here in the kingdom of Magnolia ?" She pulled her had away from his awkward grip. He nodded, and when a blue cat landed on her shoulder she had concluded that this was all a dream or hallucination. Especially after it spoke.
"Who's the blonde bimbo ?" She remembered how her jaw fell open and her eyebrows ruffled. It was as if she had forgotten it was a cat and was just straight up pissed at it. "This is Lucy." She liked how he referred to her by her name instead of her title, she was rarely called by her regular name. "This is Happy." He gestured towards the cat. She didn't remember exactly what she said, but it was something like 'I already don't like this cat'. It grew awkward between them as they realized they really had nothing to talk about- Lucy wasn't exactly the most skilled when it came to speaking to people, she hasn't done it much- and Natsu wasn't exactly the best at being respectful towards people.
She remembered how they sat together by the pond, just watching the sun make the water sparkle. "What's the town like ?" She would ask, not taking her gaze away from the beautiful sparkling water. "You're the princess, you don't know what your own kingdom is like ?" He gave her a quizzical look and she sighed, slumping her shoulders down. "I'm not allowed off of palace grounds until I take the throne, i've never been anywhere but these woods and the castle." He seemed sympathetic for her. "That's awful."
She remembered turning her head to meet his gaze, and like that their eyes clicked. They stared at each other, no words necessary. They examined each other. She remembered the way his nose went down to his lips. He remembered the deep color of her brown eyes, and the way her mouth pressed together as though she was thinking really hard. What she remembered the most was the urge she had to take his hand and just dance elegantly through the warm day. He remembered the urge to press his lips against hers. It was as if they were getting to know each other without actually speaking as they played the scenes out in their heads.
It could have happened, too. He was close to just going for it, but the fact that she was a princess held him back. She would have grabbed his hand and waltzed around if she weren't so damn shy. When she realized they were staring at each other, her face grew hot and she snapped her vision back to the pond. "I'm sorry." She was quiet, but he was still staring at her; now absorbing her side view. He was trying to burn the imagine into his eyes. She really was beautiful. He eventually looked away. "It's amazing in some kind of way." He looked away. She gave him a confused look.
"The town. It's amazing, lots of kind people. Beautiful cherry blossoms along the roads, rivers and what not. Its a great place to live." She smiled and looked down at her hands. "I'm glad to hear that, I was worried I was working myself up over it." His eyes trailed back to her, and they lit up. She turned to him, feeling his intense gaze. "I could show you," he grinned. It was the first time she saw his toothy smile, and she decided she liked it. Then what he had said sunk in. "I couldn't, I'm not allowed- just by going into these woods I'm lucky I'm not being caught." Her face was concerned, she frowned at the boy. "Besides, how do I know I can trust you ?"
He just smiled and looked back at the pond. "I guess you're right." He said nonchalantly. She was somewhat disappointed, maybe she wanted him to convince her. "How about tonight ? I could sneak out," she pushed forward, scooting herself an inch closer to him- but he noticed. He grinned again, and she felt herself getting lost again. "I'll be here." With that they shook hands, and she went back to the palace feeling more bashful than ever.