Chapter One

Lucy Heartfilia woke up in a chilly cave, her back aching terribly. She couldn't recall why or how she was here. In fact, she couldn't remember much of anything. A sharp pain shooted in her torso that reminded her that she had been attacked beforehand.

That's right, she thought, her mind flashing back to yesterday. The blonde had been walking by herself when a group of thirty-year-old men started bothering her. When she tried to resist, they started getting physical. Meaning, somebody must have cut her when she tried to make her escape from the situation.

A shiver went up her spine as a guest of wind blew through the dark cave, sending her hair flying. Her entire body was extremely sore and there were deep claw marks on her right shoulder. Her head was pounding and although she tried, she could not seem to get up.

"Ow, that stings." She mumbled to herself.

"Yo, are you okay?" A male voice asked, causing the long-haired blonde to look up in curiosity. She screamed at what she saw.

A medium sized red-scaled, fire breathing dragon. She backed away in panic, every move she made making her body hurt tremendously. The dragon shook his head, "No, no!" His body began to glow a flaming red and he became smaller, his form shaping into a new one. Until he had become a teenage boy.

"I don't use this form pretty often." He admitted, running to the girl's side, "And I certainly don't bring humans home every day."

"What are you doing? Get away from me!"

"Damn, you're beat up pretty bad. Those guys must have done a number on you, what'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" She shouted, "Now please, get away from me!"

"Maybe I could call Wendy over here… she could heal you."

"What happened to me? Why am I here? Why did you hurt me like this? I didn't do anything to you!"

"And I didn't do anything to you! I found you passed out somewhere around here. Why the hell were those guys attacking you like that?"

"It's nothing of your concern."

"But—"

"Let's just say that I'm pretty popular right now. That's all I wish to say for now."

"I still don't understand why those guys were after y—"

"That's all I wish to say for now."

Taking the hint, the teenager walked a few inches away from the girl, "What's your name?"

"Lucy."

"Lucy… what?"

"Just Lucy." She looked at him out of the corner of her chocolate colored eyes, "I should be asking who you are. Better yet, what you are planning to do with me."

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, and I promise I am not planning to hurt you. I was just lookin' out for ya, alright? Look, my friend Wendy'll be here tomorrow and then you can go back home."

"No!" She shouted, tears stinging her eyes.

"You can't be serious. Don't you want to be with her parents? I would kill to see my Father again." His eyes softened when he saw the blonde crying. Her tears angered him for some reason, he hated seeing her hurt. He wasn't sure why, but he did.

"Come on." Natsu said gently, lifting the clearly exhausted girl and helping her to the warmest side of the room. She was tired, cold, and afraid. He knew that this small amount of heat wouldn't be warm enough to keep her strength up through the night.

He gathered some wood and created a fire to warm the young girl up. Then, keeping his distance, he transformed back into his dragon form and decided to take a rest himself. Peeking one eye open, he let out a growl before falling asleep himself.

"I'm glad you called me, with this many wounds on her body I'm surprised she's even alive."

"So, she's going to be alright?"

Lucy felt weird. A strange tingling went through her body, her eyes slowly opening, and she screamed at the sight of a little girl, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Wendy, a friend of Natsu's. You don't have to be afraid, just be still so I can heal you." The girl's hands were glowing from her magic power as she concentrated hard on the mission at hand, "Tell me, how did you get this many wounds in the first place?"

"I wouldn't prefer to get into it right now." She mumbled.

"Oh, right! Of course, sorry."

"It's fine. I just..." The blonde admitted, "I suppose now is the time I should be thanking Natsu for saving me. Although frankly, I wouldn't care if you hadn't. If I had died… than this would all be over."

"You speak as if you don't value your own life." Wendy observed.

"That's not it at all. It's just, if it all comes down to it, I would take my own life if it meant that I would never have to be returned to that horrible place." She said through gritted teeth, "In fact, I kind of envy you, Natsu."

His eyes widened at that comment, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nevermind." She managed to raise herself up with the help of the little girl, who looked exhausted. Her healing spell had taken a lot out of her and had canceled her human transformation as well. Wendy was now in her true form, a light blue dragon that wasn't half as scary as Natsu. In fact, she was kind of cute.

"Oops." She said, her voice just a little bit lower than it originally was, "My transformation's off. I'm sorry if I frighten you, Miss Lucy. Natsu told me that you like our human forms better." The dragon peered down at the young girl, causing her to back up, "You should try to get some rest."

"No way." She humphed, turning to the side, "I don't need rest, I need to get the hell outta here!"

"What are you still afraid of us? I already told you-"

"That's not it, you idiots!" She shouted, "I'm freaking pissed! I need to get out of here!"

"Thanks a ton for your help, Wendy." the Fire Dragon said, ignoring the blonde's pleas.

"No problem! I'll come by and check on her in the morning, if that's alright."

"Totally! See ya then!"

When the Sky Dragon flew away, the teenager ran to the blonde's side and sat down right next to her, reaching out to grab her hand before she slapped it away.

"I don't need your sympathy." She spat, "I don't need any of this. I need to leave."

"No way!"

"For as long as I can remember I was told that the dragons were extinct." She mumbled softly, "I heard of their evil ways. I know what you can do to me, you only healed me so you can kill me yourself."

"You are mine, Lucy." He whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to his chest, "I may be a dragon, but I'm not a monster."

She squealed in surprise, cheeks turning pink at the sudden contact- had he seriously just called her his? She wasn't a piece of property or a mangy old mutt! Even so, she was too exhausted to argue. Even though her injuries had healed, her magic power had been drained the other day during her fight with Phantom and she still needed to replenish it. The blonde's eyes drooped closed and she didn't even notice the sudden change in Natsu's appearance. All the sudden she felt warmer and moved closer to the heat source in her sleep.

Halfway through the night Lucy heard something that made her jolt right up out of her slumber. She hit her head on one of Natsu's giant wings, which had been wrapped around her as they slept. It was an echoing in the distance that was just faint enough to hear. She knew who it was. The dark guild that was searching for her.

Gently lifting the wing off of her, she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, trying to find a way down. No matter what Natsu said she couldn't stay here. She didn't believe the dragon's lies and knew that he was definitely going to kill her at one point or another.

Time to head back.

Lucy knew that Phantom Lord, the Dark Guild that was after her was nearby, so she had to make sure to sneak around without anyone catching her. She spotted Jose, the Master of the Phantom Lord guild roaming the streets, although she knew that it was just a projection. Still, having him spot her was extremely dangerous.

As she peered through the bushes, she noticed the Wanted posters with her picture on them hung up throughout the city. Hell, there was even a two million Jewel reward for her capture! Had her Father really gotten that desperate?

"What do you think you're doing?" A Male voice said from behind her, making the girl jump in surprise, "I told you you were mine."