Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this story :) I will try to update this and "We're a Team" on a regular basis.

Disclaimers: Fairy Tail belongs to Mashima

Cover by sawahhh

Story and Setting by LordKronosBG

Chapter 1 Princess and Knight

Princess Lucy Heartfilia checked her appearance in the mirror. It was seven years since she wore her ball gown. It was a pure white long sleeveless dress with golden markings. The tailor had done a wonderful job. It fit her perfectly as if it was made just now for her. Of all her dresses this one was always her favorite. It was worth the trouble to have it remade.
-Is everything to your liking Princess?
-Yes Virgo. You can tell the tailor that I was pleased with it.-Lucy took the small crown that Virgo was holding for her.
-Your math studies start in several minutes.
-I know.-she said as she placed the crown on her head-I wont be late.
She again looked at her reflection. This crown and this gown. She couldn't help but remember the first time she wore them. A faint smile appeared on her face. She then quickly took of the crown and handed it to Virgo.
-Well I am off.
-Until the evening Princess-Virgo bowed as Lucy left her room When Lucy entered the hallway she turned right. The room where her math teacher was waiting wasn't far. This lesson was going to be much shorter , because she had the final routine check for the ball that the kingdom was holding next week. It was the first time that their kingdom was holding it , and her father wanted everything to be perfect. For the past month almost every free moment was used memorizing every single detail for the ball , practicing the classic dances and learning the fourteen different dialects of the neighboring kingdoms. She let out a light yawn. With all the preparations she hadn't gotten much sleep the past few days. Thankfully she was going to return to her usual routine soon.
Lucy passed the stairwell that connected the different floors of the castle. Right before she knocked on a large wooden door , to notify her teacher that she had arrived the noise of something breaking was heard from the lower floor. One of the servants must have dropped something. It wasn't really part of her duties to fix such errors , but she decided to go and quickly see what happened. Her father demanded perfection and as his only child she felt it was her obligation to help in any way possible to that end.
She headed for the stairwell but before she reached it a man running up collided with her. Lucy fell to the ground with her attacker on top of her. At first she couldn't understand what happened. She opened her eyes when several other footsteps could be heard climbing up , but was only able to see a few strands of pink hair.
-Ah crap!
The man who was on top of her got up fast , grabbing one of her arms and pulled her to her feet with ease. Before she could see him clearly , he dragged her into the nearest room and closed the door behind them. It was a small supply room that had barely enough free space inside for the two of them. He placed his free hand on her mouth.
-Shhh Being this close she could not see more then the mans eyes , but she felt the handle of a sword hitting against her. She immediately thought that he was some sort of invader or assassin. Shaking she began trying to find something to hit him with. More people climbed to their floor.
-Where did he go?
-Split up. He couldn't have gone far.
-We'll teach him a lesson about starting fights inside the castle!
They could hear the footsteps moving farther away. The man let out a relieved sigh. At that moment Lucy , who had grabbed a bucket , hit him on the head with it. He immediately let her go and she was able to take a step back. Being able to see him now she was shocked to see that he was actually close to her age and wearing a light breastplate. It had a symbol on it that looked like some sort of tail. She had seen several of the Mage Knights , who were serving her father's kingdom , wearing the same. But why would any knight act like he did.
-What kind of idiot hits someone with a bucket for no reason!-he suddenly yelled while rubbing his head Lucy was shocked. Not only did he kidnap the kingdom's princess , but now he was insulting her? When she was finished with him , the only thing that boy was going to do was cleaning after the horses.
-Listen here...
She took a step forward to put additional strength into her words. They heard some sort of mechanism activating when he heavily stomped on the ground.
-Huh?
Before they could do anything the floor divided into two and both of them fell down screaming.

They fell down one giant slide. To Lucy it felt like it went on for ever. She was holding on to the Mage Knight until they reached the end. They flew through a hole in the wall. When colliding with the ground Lucy lost her grip on the mage and fell further away. Upon opening her eyes she saw she was face to face with a big rat. She screamed loudly and jumped back. Scared of the sudden noise the rat ran away.
Lucy looked around her. She had heard of secret escape passages that lead to the dungeons below the castle , but they were all sealed off. This one must have been missed. She then looked at her self. The dress she was wearing was now covered in dust , spider webs and other things she could not identify. Lucy fell to her knees and hit the ground with her fist. The gown looked like it was impossible to be restored. It was her favorite because it was the final gift she got from her mother.
She then switched her gaze to the Mage Knight. It was his fault they were in this predicament in the first place. The least he could do was apologise. The pink haired knight looked like he was going to throw up.
-That was terrible...
He looked around and to Lucy's surprise he just ignored her and started walking forward.
-Wait a minute! Where do you think you are going?
The Mage Knights turned towards her and pointed in the direction he was heading.
-That way.
-Huh?-Lucy had never heard of such a simple-minded answer-Do you even know where you are?
-Not really...but it is the only way to go.
She looked behind her and saw that behind them was a dead end. Lucy felt stupid that she didn't notice this sooner. When she again looked towards the Mage Knight he was already walking forward again.
-Hey wait! Are you just going to leave me here!?
-You are free to tag along if you want.
The nerve of this guy. He was treating her like some sort of annoyance. She didn't really want to follow him , but there wasn't an alternative. She got up and quickly catched up to him. She stayed several feet behind him.
-Anyway...this is an ancient escape passageway. There are many old traps here to keep intruders away. You can't just walk around casually like that...Are you even listening to me!?
It seemed like he was completely ignoring her. Angered she started walking faster to get in front of him. Before she could close the distance between them she heard a noise , similar to the one when they fell. Lucy turned to see where it came from and saw a giant axe blade heading for her. She just froze in place. Just before the blade hit her she felt someone pulling her. When she regained her senses Lucy saw she was in the Mage Knight's arms.
He managed to get to me this quickly? -And you were the one complaining about being careless.
And now he was scolding her like she was a little kid. Well she deserved it at the moment after that careless mistake. Lucy looked at his face and saw he was smiling. He wasn't scolding her. Just having fun with it. At that moment realise that they were too close to each other and took a step back.
-S...sorry about this...
This was the first time she apologised to anyone but her parents. Lucy looked down and saw some blood on the ground behind the Mage Knight. She then looked at him more closely while he was passing her and saw a small wound on his right shoulder.
-You are hurt.
-Hm? This? It's nothing. It will heal up in a day or two.
-It still need to be treated.
-I'll worry about that when we leave. Just follow me. I'll get you out of here safely.
Silently she followed after him. He was dodging every single trap on their way , like it was childs play. Not long they reached old metal stairs that were leading top. The first steps were broken , so the Mage Knight gave the princess a lift so that she could reach the first one. Slowly she managed to climb up. The pink haired mage followed her soon. They ended up in another small supply room.
When they left it Lucy was pleased to see they were at the first floor of the castle. Heavy footsteps could be heard from everywhere. The entire castle was being searched. Most likely everyone noticed that the princess was gone. She couldn't tell how long she was walking with that Mage Knight. It felt like it was a short time but she wouldn't be able to forget it any time soon. A pair of footsteps were heading towards them. Thinking quickly Lucy pushed the Mage Knight inside on of the nearby rooms and closed the door. She remained alone in the hallway.
She saw that the one coming was the Captain of the palace guard.
-My lady! We have been looking for you everywhere. Where were you?
-I fell down a trap door inside the old passageways. Sorry for causing you all trouble-she smiled at him -I thought they were all sealed off years ago. I will deal with this later. For now allow me to escort you to your chambers.
Lucy followed the captain. After a few steps she looked back. At least he had the brains to stay inside until they were gone. If they saw him with her the entire truth would have come out. And knowing her father there was a high chance that the Mage Knight would have been sentenced to death. After saving her life , covering for him and forgiving him was no problem for her. He had earned that much.

When Natsu couldn't hear their steps anymore the Mage Knight left the room. He went in the opposite direction of them.
-Just who was this girl. I feel like I've seen her before.
Who ever she was , it was clear she had some social standing for the captain of the palace guard to be looking for her. Well it didn't matter. He probably wasn't going to see her again anyway. Still it would make a good story at the order house. Natsu stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked in both directions. He had no idea where in the castle he was.

When Lucy reached her room and the captain left , she quietly sat on one of the chairs. She had trouble believing all this happened. It was like some of the stories her mother used to read to her. But this was reality and this was the fairy tales ending. Soon Virgo entered the room.
-I am glad you are safe Princess.
With her help she took off the white gown and put on another the maid had prepared. She hated relying on others for dressing , but these dresses were impossible to handle by yourself.
-Please see if this dress can be restored.
-I will do my best. But you need to hurry. Lady Beatrice is waiting.
Lucy was not looking forward to this. Lady Beatrice was highly strict , and even if it was not her fault she was now late for the final routine check. That old woman was going to make her suffer for this. She quietly nodded to Virgo and left her room first.
It was just as she thought it would be. The sixty year old lady , who looked remarkably well for her age , was scolding her for fifteen minutes about the values of responsibility , self awareness and security. For a second she actually believed that it was her fault that she was late.
-That is enough wasting time on this incident. But because of that we will have to change the schedule. I need to visit the kitchens to see if everything has arrived for the dinner after the ball.-she pointed to her chest with her cane-You will remain here and practice the four traditional dances by yourself until i return. And don't even consider slacking off. I will know.
Gracefully the old lady left the ballroom. Lucy knew far too well that even if the thought of slacking off came to her Beatrice would know. It happened twice already. Lucy was considering the possibility that she was a hidden mage. But there was no point in thinking over this. She had to begin her punishment. Lady Beatrice was probably going to stay in that kitchen for several hours forcing the chef to prepare her various sweets. It was going to be a long day , dancing with the fake mannequin. Silently she began with the first and longest dance.
Everything in the ballroom was already prepared for next week. It was a large round room. Across the room the stage for the musicians was put up , covered by red curtains. On both sides there were round tables with chairs for the noble families that will come. The entire middle area was for dancing. There were four chandeliers each with several lacrima that would light when the sun sets. The ball lasted for fourteen hours after all.
While observing her surroundings she got distracted by an item on one of the tables and tripped in the mannequins feet. The princess quickly got back on her feet and walked to the table that caught her eye. There shouldn't be anything on them at the moment , yet someone had put a black sphere on one. It was possible one of the servants simply forgot it there , but she felt like she had seen it before. She leaned forward to take a better look at it. The sphere let out some sort of smoke. Lucy tried to hold her breath , but the smoke quickly surrounded her. It seemed like it was following her. Unable to hold it any longer she inhaled some of it and she collapsed on the ground.
When Lucy woke up she saw that everything around her was on fire. The black smoke made her cough hard. She could barely see anything around her. One of the chandeliers had fallen next to her. It's light lacrima must have started the fire. But why was she on the ground? She couldn't think clearly because of the smoke. Lucy tried to scream for help , but her voice was so weak she barely heard herself. Such a fire should have been noticed long before it could escalate to this. Then she remembered. For additional security the windows were shut in permanently and a new door that could withstand almost everything was build. If that door was closed nobody would have noticed anything. She slowly began to lose consciousness again.
Just as Lucy was loosing any hope she heard the door of the ballroom opening. The princess tried to call out but she had inhaled too much smoke to be able to say anything. There was no way anyone would be able to find her. Then something she could barely believe happened. A male figure passed through the flames , completely unaffected by them. Maybe it was just a hallucination but it almost looked like that along the way the fire was weakened...eaten by that man. He kneeled next to her and she tried to get a better look at him , but her vision was too blurry to see anything about him. She even barely heard his words.
-Hey , are you ok? Hang in there.
At that moment she completely lost consciousness. But Lucy could feel that she was safe.

When the princess woke up she was in her bed. She wasn't sure just how long she was asleep but it was night. The only light in the room were a few candles. Virgo was there folding some clothes. When the maid saw the princess was awake she went to her.
-Are you feeling alright princess?
-Yes...i am just tired. The fire?
-It was completely extinguished before it could spread.
-Good. And the one who saved me?
-You were alone when the guards found you just outside the ballroom. Who ever rescued you must have left.
-I see.
-Rest now princess.
-I will.
Before sleep caught her again she wondered who was that man who rescued her. Her memory of the incident was vague right now , but that man had powerful magic.

King Jude Heartfilia was sitting at his desk. There was a large stack of papers before him and he was placing the royal seal on them. The door to his chambers opened and Prime Minister Jose Porla entered.
-I have received news from the other kingdoms. Everyone agreed to postpone the ball until everything is repaired.-the king just nodded in approval-And on the other matter. I believe that this was no incident. It was an attempt on the life of princess Lucy.
King Jude stopped his work and looked at Jose.
-Do you have any leads towards who the culprit is?
-Unfortunately no My Lord. But he has to be someone inside the castle. For the sake of the princesses safety i recommend that for the time being we assign someone as her personal bodyguard.
The King resumed his work.
-Handle it. I am too busy to take care of something like this.
-Of course Sire.-Jose bowed-I believe i know of the perfect person to undertake this task.
A mischievous smile could be seem on the Prime Ministers face , but the King did not notice it.

The next day Lucy was waiting in the throne room. Even though she was the princess she rarely entered this room. Right now there were only two guards in front of the door and her. But when her father was there it was always crowded. She took a look at the two thrones when the Prime Minister entered.
-A pleasure to see you are alright princess.-he bowed -I have a busy schedule Jose. Please tell me why you summoned me here.
-Always right to the point. Just like your mother.-Lucy never could understand why , but she hated when he spoke of her mother.-Very well them. Please enter-he turned to the door.
The door opened again and Lucy could barely believe when she saw that pink haired Mage Knight from yesterday entered. He seemed just as surprised as she was.
-Princess Lucy Hearfilia.
Princess!? -the Mage Knight was shocked -Allow me to introduce to you sir Natsu of the Fairy Order. Your personal bodyguard.
-What!?-the two of them said at once.