"Mistakes"
By Dark Shining Light
Pairing: Lucy and Natsu
Rated T
Hurt/Comfort/Romance
Summary: one-shot. When an evil king steals the dragon's treasure, a city suffers Natsu's wrath because of it.
(I do NOT Own Fairy Tail)
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"So…how did you end up being here…with…him?" Gray quietly asked the blonde. Currently the large dragon was curled up, sleeping as Lucy rested against its snout. At least that's what Gray hoped.
It had been three months since Gray and his comrade Loke had stumbled upon Lucy and the dragon (which would have killed them if the blonde hadn't shown compassion towards the other humans) and was now their fourth time visiting. Loke decided he would sleep on top of the tree in fear of being squashed by a rolling dragon, even when Lucy claimed Natsu stays in one place when he's asleep. They would have been asleep too if it wasn't for Gray's curiosity.
Maybe he visited them to make sure that the beast was as tamed as Lucy made him seem to be or maybe it was something about the girl that puzzled the ice mage.
"I'm going to be honest. I don't remember much of my life before I met Natsu." She whispered back, careful not to wake up her friend. "But I do remember that my father was important and my mother had died when I was younger. Though I don't think that answered your question.
"Well, it all started out when I was around 10. It was dark and my father and I were traveling in a carriage through the forest when we were pulled over by some bandits." The girl looked away from the royal knight and wrapped her arms around her knees. "They threatened my father and….then one of the men pulled me over to the side…"
The corners of her eyes started to water and quickly wiped them away. "Sorry. Ah, so this guy dragged me into the forest just before I hear a gunshot from the carriage. The man didn't seem affected so I kind of knew what happened…to my father that is…" Gray frowned but continued to listen to her tale. "This man tried to pull my dress off. I screamed and next thing I knew, the guy was on fire.
"I looked over behind him and saw a dragon." She smiled a little bit after that, unconsciously rubbing Natsu's nose. "He wasn't huge; maybe around your height at the time but he was strong enough to drive all the bandits away. I was so scared when I saw him; I mean, come on, it's a dragon. But then, he turned away and started walking in the opposite direction. It was night and I knew I had to decide in staying in forest by myself or following him."
"And let me guess…you followed him." Gray concluded.
Lucy smiled. "Of course. I knew that if he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it right then and there…but he didn't so I knew he meant me no harm."
"You have a strange way of thinking…" The male commented before the blonde protested. However, that only made him chuckle.
"I have a theory." He spoke. "Brace yourself for this…" He sighed. "I think you're Fiore's lost princess…and before you say anything," Gray said as he watched her open her mouth to comment, "There's a lot of evidence leading up to it; plus looking exactly like our last queen, Queen Layla, is a big part of it."
There was silence and Gray didn't know what she was thinking. Then finally, the girl spoke.
"And what if I am?"
He was surprised by the question but none the less answered. "Then I hope you would come back with me and Loke. The kingdom needs you."
Unbeknownst to them, the dragon his tightened his eyes and dug his clawed talons into the dirt. Lucy was quiet again. Both knew she had to be thinking. Then the girl motioned for Gray to come closer and he did.
"I'm going to tell you a little secret." She whispered. "Natsu is cursed. He's actually a dragon slayer turned into a dragon by a dark mage who thought it would be funny. And I promised Natsu that I would stay with him and help him break the curse." The brown eyed teen smiled gently at him. "And I don't break my promises."
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As he drew his attention away from the civilians and watched the flames devour the houses, Gray knew he should have tried harder to prevent this disaster from happening. Now, he could only stare in horror at the scene with a guilty conscious.
He made the mistake of speaking about Lucy and Natsu with Loke in public. It was a careless mistake to believe there weren't any spies loyal to their king.
The moment he saw her in a net that had been pulled by a horse and dragged from the forest to the castle, he should have fought his comrades and taken her back to the dragon.
But he didn't. His final chance at preventing all this was by stopping the problem at its source; discontinuing the king's plans with force since words hadn't worked.
"You don't know what you're doing!" He had yelled. "She's a dragon's princess! The dragon will come and try to find her."
And he would never forget the confident smirk King Faust gave him as a response.
"That's what I'm hoping for."
Somehow that old corrupted bastard persuaded him that he could defeat the dragon. Over the years, the people's loyalty was shifting and some claimed that King Jude was a better leader and hopefully his daughter was still alive. Fear of being overthrown led him to this; the need to keep his throne caused the male to take a dragon's princess in hopes of defeating it and proving to his citizens that they needed him.
The King was confident that his generals and with the help of his secret weapons, two dragon slayers, could kill it.
But he was foolish and all were defeated in a few hours. In his heart, Gray knew that there was no way they could stop a raged dragon.
'So why didn't I try to stop this?'
A mighty roar broke the knight's train of thoughts and frightened the evacuating citizens. More flames filled the streets of Magnolia, turning more running people into ashes.
He looked away from the scene with a sickened expression. "Keep moving!" He yelled at the citizens.
Once the street was empty, the black haired teen watched as Natsu flew closer to the section of the city he was in. The dragon landed on some houses, crushing them with his weight and Gray knew anyone in there would have most likely not survived.
The gigantic creature picked up a fleeing blonde woman. Natsu studied her before a clear look of frustration appeared on his face when the screaming female wasn't Lucy. Angrily, he tossed her aside and into the air.
'Shit.' Quickly, Gray created an ice slide that would cause the woman some bruises when she landed but at least saved her life.
"Are you okay?" The knight asked the blonde but she was too traumatized to speak. Cursing his luck, he picked her up and took her to a clear area that was further away from Natsu.
Once she was safe, Gray looked back at the beast and felt a sense of dread in stomach as he watched Natsu's tail slice through more buildings.
However, guilt over took the fear when he saw Natsu's expression turn into a worried look.
"Lucy…" The dragon rumbled.
'He's ONLY looking for Lucy.' The ice mage realized. For the last couple of hours, he thought the dragon was exacting his revenge. But now that he thought about it, the generals did attack the dragon when he was flying over the city. Natsu probably thought Lucy was being kept somewhere close by, which is why he continued to roam all over Magnolia. He's been looking for his beloved friend this entire time and probably had unintentionally killed all those people.
'This has to stop…'
Somehow, he couldn't see the dragon as a raging monster anymore. Don't get him wrong, he was still afraid but at least now he had the courage to do the right thing.
He threw a giant chunk of ice at him.
The attack hit Natsu on the side of his face. The dragon sharply turned his head to his opponent. A flash of recognition passed through the creature's eyes when he saw Gray. Then he glared.
He snarled at the human, no doubt preparing to attack but Gary continued to stand in front of the four legged beast.
"If you want to find Lucy, then you should know she's not here stupid!"
Natsu released another roar, causing the smaller being to hold up his arms to block the sound. The dragon launched a fire attack but Gray quickly created an ice shield to protect him.
The fire caused the ice to illuminate but luckily held up. That's when the tail broke through his shield and stuck him from the side.
Gray painfully landed on his back and before he could lift himself up, a giant talon pushed him back into the ground.
He looked up to see Natsu staring at him viciously. There was no doubt in his mind that this dragon would kill him if he didn't cooperate.
"Where is she?" The dragon growled.
"King Faust took her." Gray breathed. "She's in the castle-"
Natsu released him; he spread his wings and took off in the direction of the castle. The knight continued to lay on the ground, content with the fact that the innocent weren't going to be harmed anymore; only the corrupt king who started it all.
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…..
They took his Luce.
Those pitiful excuses of living beings took his treasure and he wanted nothing more but to turn them into ashes.
But maybe if he hadn't left her to catch their breakfast; maybe if he had stuck to an animal that was in their area and not in another section of the forest, then perhaps, no for sure, she would have not been taken.
He remembered waking up this morning in the mood for a Vulcan. This may or may not be a big deal for some people, but it was for him because he kept it from Lucy. As far as his princess was concerned, he only hunted rabbits, elk, boars, and other animals along those lines.
But when it came to Vulcans, they brought this dark sadistic side of Natsu that he would never dream of showing Lucy. He killed other prey quickly and easily, especially when he hunted in front of the blonde, but with these large take-over creatures, well, let's just say they suffered how dragons play with their food. He loved watching them try to fight him; as if they stood a chance. Then, when they realized they were about to be eaten, they made the best horrified faces and Natsu would eagerly tear their bodies to bits.
He did feel guilty; not for killing but for having this dark seed inside him. He knew that if Lucy ever caught him, he'd be so ashamed. He couldn't even imagine how frightened she would be after that; which is why he always hunted far away, far away where she would never accidently stumble in and discover his dirty little secret.
But maybe if he didn't have this dark habit then his princess would still be here next to him.
The dragon shook his head; there was no time for that. He needed to focus and find his Luce.
As he approached the castle, a wave of arrows shot into the air and in his direction. The dragon merely increased his speed; hardly feeling the arrows hit his scales. Was that supposed to hurt? He smirked as he watched the solders panic and order a second row. As if that would stop him.
Natsu flew closer to the group, the gust of wind so fast that it knocked the archers over. He circled the castle, looking for the best entrance when he spotted the enormous stained glass window.
'Perfect.'
He dove right in, shattering the glass and making it rain on the people below him. All those inside the throne room panicked.
Aristocrat families that had gathered in the castle for shelter screamed in terror, shoving each other of the way as they raced to the throne room's door. Some knights quickly began to evacuate the rich folks while others prepared to attack.
However, Natsu continued to search for his beloved princess amongst the crowd.
"Natsu."
The voice was hoarse and desperate. It was her.
The moment he found her, it seemed like the world had stopped. A guard had one of his hands roughly in her hair and the other cuffed both her wrists. Her face was bruised and small cuts had sliced her beautiful face. The same pattern of injuries was located on her neck and shoulders and he could assume this was case for the rest of her body. Her skin was dirty and her usually warm eyes were red- she had been crying.
A roar of rage echoed inside the room; so powerful that even the walls shook.
Natsu marched towards the girl, not letting the crowd of running people stop him. All that mattered was Lucy, nothing else. He didn't even notice that he barely fit in the room while he was on all fours.
The moment the guard realized they were being followed, he let go of the blonde princess and ran away with the rest of the aristocrats.
Lucy collapsed to her knees and the dragon flung himself over to her, catching her with his talon fingers.
"Luce…" He mumbled worriedly, gently trying to examine her.
But the girl grabbed onto his 'thumb.' She hugged it before looking up at her companion. "Natsu." She smiled. He grinned back as nuzzled his snout close to her. "Luce…" He breathed.
"Kill the dragon!"
Both individuals turned around to spot the king with a sword, shouting orders at the knights that were too far away.
"Your majesty it's too dangerous!" They cried out.
"Kill the beast you spineless worms. It's right there!"
"But the princess-"
"Kill her too! I don't care! Just make sure to kill the beast as well!"
The grip on the girl tightened and Lucy could only look up with a worried expression. "Natsu?"
Unfortunately, the dragon's attention was solely on the white haired man in front of him.
"King Faust took her…"
So this was the fucker who had not only taken her while he was away but hurt her as well. This was the bastard who had stupidly taken away a dragon's treasure.
The red dragon growled. Just like when he hunted Vulcans, he wasn't going to let this man live much longer.
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Feeling her dragon nuzzle against her skin had brought her more relief than you can imagine. 'He's alive.'
She knew this was her fault. After waking up this morning alone, she had foolishly decided to look for him instead of waiting for him to return; this wasn't the first time he's done this after all. But curiosity had finally won over her and she wanted to know why Natsu disappears like he does.
That caused her to wonder off too far from their home. Unfortunately for her, a couple of knights spotted her before she could turn around. She tried running back but one of the guards used a whip to strike her down. When she was on the floor, the royal soldiers tied her legs and wrists together. Then, the leader of the group placed her in a net and tied it to the back of his horse. They dragged her to the castle like a dead animal.
By the time they arrived, the blonde was feeling too much pain she couldn't even move. She remembered hearing Gray's voice and nothing else.
Then imagine her surprise when she woke up in a throne room, with the king telling all the royal and rich people of the kingdom that he had found the missing princess but they found her working with an evil dragon. He spread lies about her luring people into the forest, taking them to her dragon where he would eat them without hesitation. She had ignored the yells directed at her and did her best to defend her best friend.
No one believed her and King Faust declared that the dragon would be destroyed by his best wizards and generals.
That's when she began to fear for her dragon. Natsu was powerful but she didn't know what these dragon slayers were capable of.
So now, feeling his 'hands' around made her and taking in his warmth brought her so much relief and happiness. 'He's alive…' She continued to chant.
However, then she heard King Faust's voice again. He was threatening her Natsu.
The princess felt his grip on her tighten. "Natsu?" Lucy inquired, feeling a bit anxious.
Then, his giant tail lifted up, breaking some of the ceiling before slamming down behind the king. She unconsciously gripped his thumb harder, closing her eyes as the ground shook and heard the knights screamed.
Lucy reopened her eyes when it was silent. She looked up and saw that the side of the room where the king had been standing had been destroyed. A large pile of stone stood behind the kneeling man, meaning he couldn't escape if he tried.
Natsu released his hold on the girl and stood up. He positioned himself to stand in front of Lucy, still on all fours as his back leg blocked her view.
King Faust got up, pulling the sword with him. "You…you stupid monster," He bellowed. "You're destroying my castle."
The white haired man charged towards the dragon but Natsu merely used the back of his hand and slapped him away. Though Lucy didn't see it, she flinched when she heard the body hit the side of the wall.
"Natsu…"
He didn't response and she decided to walk around his foot, placing her hands on his talon. She peered over to see the sword away from the man. She watched as Natsu used one of his claws to break the sword.
It was at this point in time that the king looked frightened. His eyes landed on the girl, raising a hand in her direction. "Help me," He commanded.
The giant creature snorted. "As if I'd let you touch her again."
King Faust tried to crawl away but Natsu picked him up with his talons. "What made you go and steal a dragon's treasure?"
The dragon held him up to his face, glaring at the man who was screaming and thrashing around in his hold. "You know what? I don't even fuck'n care. My only question is what to do with you?
"Should I burn you to a crisp?" He drawled. "No, too easy. Or maybe drop you from the sky and watch you splatter?"
"You can't do that! I'm the king!" The man said weakly.
Natsu laughed. "And I'm a dragon! Guess who wins." The red dragon smirked. "Or maybe I should tear your body piece by piece, and then you'll see who's really in charge."
King Faust looked horrified and Natsu's smirk got a whole lot bigger. Then Lucy couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop it!" She screamed, surprising her friend. He looked like he had forgotten she was there. "Stop it! Just stop it!"
She ran towards his front arm, collapsing on one of his fingers. "I don't like this! Please Natsu just let him go." She cried, burying her face on his scales. "I just want to go to the river and take a bath…and then cook something to eat before taking a long nap on your snout. Please Natsu…." She cried softly. "I just want everything to go back to normal…"
She heard her best friend sigh, and heard him place the man on the floor. The hand she was on moved and Lucy straightened up, watching it wrap itself around her and bring her closer to him.
"Stop crying you weirdo," He muttered. The female only laughed, wiping away her tears. "Only if you take me home dragon boy."
He smiled softly and held her close to his chest. Natsu opened his wings, breaking the side walls before destroying the ceiling with his head. She closed her eyes as the rubble began to fall and she knew that that section of the castle would be completely destroyed once they left.
She couldn't hear the king's cries of pain though all the noise, not that she wanted to anyways. All she focused on was the hands wrapped around her, holding her close to a warm scaly chest.
The girl sighed in relief as she thought, 'We're alive and that's all that matters.'
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"Stop it Natsu. I think you've healed me enough." Lucy whined as Natsu licked her again. She tried to lift herself up from the ground, holding onto his folded arms in front of her as she did so. The dragon merely pouted. "But Lucy, I just to make sure you're okay."
The blonde sighed. "You've licked me like a 100 times already. I'm sure I'll survive."
"Hmmmm….okay. But if anything starts hurting you let me know okay?"
Lucy nodded before leaning against his now resting head. She ran her hands through his scales, smiling softly when she heard a purr.
"How could you not be afraid of me?" He muttered.
"Should I be?" The princess whispered.
"You saw what I almost did to the king. I was about to rip him to pieces in front of you. How you still stand right here, so close to me and pet me like you do without being afraid?"
"Because if you wanted to hurt me, you would have done so the first time we met. You've never once hurt me over the years; only heal and protect me. Why should I be afraid of someone amazing as you?"
It was quiet; all they could hear were the birds chirping and the sound of the river flowing.
"I love you," Natsu whispered.
Lucy smiled. She kissed the dragon on his snout. "I love you too. And once we break your curse, we'll live that happily ever that we've talked about."
Natsu sighed happily, rubbing his snout against her cheek. "Yeah…"
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Behind a couple of trees, hidden from the odd couple's view, were Gray and Loke. They knew the dragon probably already smelled them but for some strange reason hadn't attacked them yet. Maybe he sensed that they weren't there to bring them harm.
"Did that answer your question Gray?" Loke asked as he leaded against the tree.
The black haired knight rolled his eyes. "Yeah, seems like she hasn't changed her mind. Oh well…"
He began to walk back to the city as Loke followed right after. "We'll just have to wait for the princess to come on her own time. Maybe then she'll have her own knight instead of the dragon."
Gray laughed. "Somehow I doubt that. Even if he's human, that guy will always be a dragon."
Both knights continued to talk, agreeing that they were going to make no more mistakes that would lead to the star cross lovers' unhappiness…or their city to ruins again.
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A/N: Finished! I'm finished! So happy that this is done! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I love dragon Natsu and Lucy stories so I hope I did a good job writing this.
Fun fact; this was actually supposed to be much shorter because it was going to be told through Gray's point of view. As I wrote, I realized there wouldn't be as much Nalu if I did it that way. That's when I decided to give Natsu and Lucy their own POVs. I think that made it better.
If you didn't understand some things that be sure to let me know and I'll add a summary at the end of the story.
Also, if you're in the Nalu mode I did upload two other one-shots today. Feel free to check those out or any other Nalu stories I have ^^
Thank you for reading and please leave a review.
Your friend,
Dark Shining Light
