Next chapter's here, i hope to get the next one up soon.
Natsu followed the Princess in front of him through the ornate halls of the Fire Nation palace. While he had a bored expression on his face, he was actually quite surprised by the differences between this and the castle at Crocus, the seat of power for the King of Fiore and in which he had resided briefly when he had become King. That castle was constructed of grey and white stone while this seemed to have far darker shades of stone.
Not that he really cared that much about the differences: this castle had a lot more of what he loved - Fire! On every wall there were tapestries embroidered with the symbol of the Fire Nation, illuminated by flaming torches. It was far more appealing to him than the simple magical lights of Fiore. He also noted the wonderful fresh, earthy smell of the great fires that burned just outside of the palace main entrance. This added to the primal appeal of this place that only someone like Natsu could. He'd definitely want to live here if he didn't have to get home.
But perhaps he could come back here some time: the idea of a 'Fire Nation' simply sounded too good to ignore. He wanted to stick around to explore and find out all about this new land he'd never heard of. Maybe He'd learn some new tricks he hadn't come up with! As he walked his nose picked up the scent of heavily spiced food 'the food even tastes hot? I'm liking this place more and more!'
"Are we nearly there? I can smell something good cooking."
Azula turned her head and responded, "Yes we're here. Normally an outsider would never receive such a privilege, but you shall be dining with me. While we eat you will answer more of my questions."
"Sounds good to me!" Natsu replied as he bolted up to the door the food was behind. He burst through the door much to the surprise of those preparing the table inside. They were preparing only for the ever calm and collected Azula since her Father was currently away from the palace. They were totally unprepared for some newcomer smashing through the door.
Before any of them could panic however, they saw their Lady following the pink haired boy. They all bowed their heads to Azula as the head attendant of the group stepped forward to her side. She kept her head low as she addressed the Princess.
"Princess Azula, I apologise but we were not expecting anyone besides yourself. Shall we prepare extra food?"
"Yes, prepare something more." The servant nodded and ushered the other servants out of the room. As she was about to follow them to the kitchens, Natsu yelled, "Make that a lot more!" She stole a glimpse at the pink haired boy. This odd creature had a large appetite then!
Natsu had sat himself down at the rectangular table in the spot closest to the plate of meat. It smelled to him like a very heavily spiced chicken. With his bare hand, ignoring the various utensils arrayed on either side of him, Natsu snatched up a drumstick. He started digging in while his free hand reached for another leg longing to devour the succulent meat.
Azula watched this with a mixture of fascination and disgust. She had never seen anyone or anything eat so voraciously before this moment. He seemed to have completely forgotten she was there in the room with him. She sat herself down at the head of the table and began to eat what little she could before Natsu could lay his hands upon it. She would have to be vegetarian tonight, as he seemed to ignore the vegetable entirely. Luckily the attendants brought in more food as the night went on.
When the meal was nearing its end and long after Azula had had her fill, she had started to stare at Natsu. This continued until he noticed the look she was giving. He had seen this look many times on the faces of Erza and Lucy whenever he gorged himself like this. He swallowed down the food he had been chewing and spoke: "So what else did you wanna know?"
"Tell me about the place you came from, Fiore was it?" As she waited for him to answer she took a bite out of one of the Flame Apples that she had plucked from the fruit bowl.
"You want to know about Fiore? Well okay, it's a small country ruled by the 'Fiore' family. Throughout Fiore and most of the continent there are wizard guilds that take jobs for money. I'm a member of the top guild: Fairy Tail!" his response was both totally innocent and honest, which was troubling to Azula's mind.
There was no county called Fiore! The only countries in the world were the three nations, but from the look on his face she could see that he believed every word of what he uttered. She wasn't going to dismiss the possibility of him telling the truth though', after all, he had fallen from the sky. "Okay, before you woke up here did you ever hear of the Fire Nation?"
He shook his head. "I hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it." He reached for a bowl of what looked like red potato chips. Once again she detected no deceit or hesitation. He could be telling the truth, as he perceived it.
She chose to continue with the questioning. "You mentioned 'Wizard' what do you mean by that? Do you mean bender?"
"What's a bender?" confusion was evident in his voice. She brought her hand up to her face in a rare sign of exasperation.
"Are you saying that where you come from you have never heard the term bending and don't know what bending is?" He nodded his head, obviously confused at what she was implying. "Well then… tell me about your magic."
He grinned at her the way he would Lucy. "I use Fire Dragon Slayer magic."
Azula was once again reminded, 'Dragon Slayer'. She somehow doubted that the term meant the same to him as it did to her. After all, in the Fire Nation, slaying a dragon was one of the highest honours possible, or at least it was, until they became extinct. Her Uncle had been the one to slay the last dragon long ago. Natsu was far too young to have possibly killed a dragon.
"And what does that actually mean?" she pressed.
"My body has taken on the qualities of a dragon. I have Dragon lungs to breath fire, dragon scales to dissolve fire and Dragon Claws for attacking with it."
"Those are quite bold claims. Only a handful of people in the world can say that they managed to kill a dragon."
Natsu took a final bite out of the last chunk of meat, devouring it perhaps a little slower since his appetite was now sated. "I haven't actually slain a dragon. I was taught this magic by my Dad, Igneel."
Azula nodded, pondering as she gradually came to understanding. So the term 'Dragon Slayer' referred to the breed of magic he wielded. "Your father sounds like a strong man, I'd enjoy the chance to speak with him."
Natsu leaned back in his chair, his stomach bloated from the meal as he replied to her "Oh my dad isn't a man, he's a giant dragon."
Silence. Then laughter and finally tears very nearly came to Azula's eyes as she let her amusement show. This was too much! Maybe she could accept that he was from some land unknown to the Fire Nation and maybe she could believe he had some power beyond bending which prevented him from being hurt by the impact earlier, but to be fathered by a Dragon?
Yet, when she saw the serious look in his eyes, making them shine gold in the light of the flame torches surrounding the table, she could see he believed every word.
"Hay! Don't laugh at me! My dad's a real dragon!" Natsu yelled indignantly as he stood up abruptly. Somehow his bulging stomach had shrunk back into its normal muscular form as though he hadn't eaten anything.
Azula slowly managed to reign in her laughter as she raised her hand in a calming gesture, "Very well, I'll believe it until I see evidence to the contrary." This seemed to placate the dragon slayer so she continued with perhaps the most important question.
"Now, what are you going to do? Obviously I cannot just let you leave as you could be a massive threat to the Empire."
Natsu didn't even hesitate. He knew what he needed to do and this princess wouldn't stop him. "I need to find a way back home. If I fell out of the sky, then it could have been an… erm Anima, I think. I'm not good with the portals and other worlds crap."
Azula raised her right eyebrow in contemplation: "Would you even know where to begin? There is every possibility that the only way for you to go home is the same way you came here."
"I'll figure something out! I have to." It seemed to Azula that he wasn't going to back down from this. She pondered for a moment before letting her curiosity get the better of her.
"How about this? I'll have a Royal Decree sent out for the citizens to be on the look out for anything that looks like the portal you came through. It will be reported back to me and I'll tell you. Meanwhile, you stay here in the Palace beside me. This is far more likely to succeed than you striking out on your own."
Natsu wanted to protest to Azula's plan but it made far too much sense. Also he really liked this place. It was no Fairy Tail but for some reason he felt at home here. Perhaps it was something to do with the fire.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea to me."
Azula smiled, this would indeed be interesting. "Alright then, since that is agreed, I'll have you shown to your chambers while I go to the edict centre and have this decree sent out."
With that she had Natsu seen to his room while she scribed the orders. She pondered why she was helping this odd boy. It was not normal for her and anyone who knew her knew, that she wasn't the kind of person to be charitable. "But it isn't about helping him; it's about finding a new sort of challenge. Finding more land to conquer and control. It's an opportunity to improve myself for the role of Fire Lady. This after all could be the next great step in Fire Nation history."
