Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

A/n- May 25, 2015: Woo! That was quite the response I got for the last chapter. They were encouraging enough for me to start writing chapter 3 almost immediately. All right, so I've decided to start taking my time with these chapters as I want them to be as perfect as I can get them. Okay, so you guys wanted it, here is chapter 3! Well expect more frequent updates, I'm off for 3 months!

Recap: Things are beginning to unravel as the instability of the country grows. Natsu becomes more frustrated and realizes that marrying Lucy may be his only chance of achieving stability. He's stubborn though, but his best friend Gray convinces him to try and at least get to know the woman with whom he may have to spend his life with. The day arrives that the two meet and...


Chapter 3: Fated Meeting?


The journey on horseback was an annoyance. Not only was the ride out to the Heartfilia's old country manor almost half of a day's ride from the capital, but they'd had to cross towns where Natsu was clearly not a welcome sight. But no one tried anything too bad, the most audacious ones having only spit in his direction. After putting up with this for months, Natsu's nerves were frayed to the point where he just let it pass. There were more important matters to attend to, like coming face to face with his potential bride. Yes, he would rather drown in his so-called subjects' spit.

He behaved though, as Gray was behind him on the right and his other most trusted friend, Jellal Fernandes, was behind him to the left. With those two around, no one dared try anything. One swift stroke of their blades and their heads could be clean off. No one dared risk it.

A nearly 12 hour journey, with only one stop to eat and rest, was an annoyance to everyone. Natsu tried not to show it, but it was unusually hot for the autumn and not to mention that his bottom was starting to hurt from sitting on a horse's back for too long. So when he could not take it anymore, he groaned out a, "How much longer?"

Gray sighed, "Not that much longer. Maybe a half an hour or so. Calm down, we'll get there."

A half an hour more of this? He suppressed a groan. Why couldn't he just summon her to court? She would've had no choice but to obey, especially if she wanted to keep her life. But no, he couldn't do that. She had supporters all over the country. If she had traveled, who knows what could've happened? He did not want to think about the possible consequences. Men drove themselves crazy when they over thought these things.

But what he couldn't escape was thinking about all of things that could possibly go wrong with this meeting. What if everything said about her was a complete lie? From her defiant personality all the way to her beauty. His stomach lurched at the very idea of her being an ugly hag. But then what reason would the men have to lie about that? Or worse, what if she was pretty but even more insufferable than he'd heard? Thinking about it all made his head spin, but he couldn't stop thinking off all of the ways this could all go sour.

He was snapped out of his nightmarish thoughts by Jellal's voice announcing, "There's the manor. Try to smile, Your Grace."

He looked up ahead and from the corner of his eye he could see the line of people waiting. He couldn't see them properly as there was still some distance, but he could bet that Lucy was probably in that line. He had to keep it together and not lose it.

He smiled, granted it was incredibly forced, he was trying and no one would dare question it. It wasn't long before they reached the front of the manner. Half of him wanted to look at the line, to see what the young woman that was about to be forced on him looked like. The other half didn't dare and that side won. He could be hopeful for a few more minutes couldn't he?

"Your Majesty," was what Natsu was greeted with the second he got off of his horse. "It is an honor to have you here."

He smiled and very politely said, trying to keep his eyes away from the line, "Thank you, it is nice to be here."

But that didn't last long because almost immediately after his words of thanks he heard, "May I introduce you to the Lady Lucy Heartfilia?"

Natsu heard slow, cautious footsteps come forward and finally he brought himself to look in the direction of the footsteps. What he saw almost made him have to take a few steps back. He couldn't help it, he drew in a sharp breath. And the first thing to cross his was, 'Gray was right.'

"Your...Majesty," was the first thing he heard come out her mouth as she lifted her head to look up at him, showing her face properly to him for the first time. If he thought Gray was right before he took that back immediately. To describe this girl as a beauty did not do her looks justice at all. She had blonde hair that went a little past her shoulders and wide, dark brown eyes. She was dressed in a plain, light blue gown which had a low cut neckline, revealing the tops of her rather generous bosom. The gown accentuated her figure in all the right places, especially the soft curves of her hips. Natsu had to keep himself from gulping at the sight. In the city she'd be considered a classical beauty but Natsu couldn't help but disagree. She was definitely some kind of goddess. He was sure of it. Well it was a relief in that guard he supposed.

Natsu followed to the guard as he introduced him to everyone else in the line, but he was barely paying attention. He nodded his head here and there, but from the corner of his eye, he was only looking at Lucy. How could he not? Every man was looking at her. But there was something wrong. She wasn't smiling or frowning, she just stood there with a deadpan expression on her face. It didn't suit her face. She was the kind of girl that needed to have a warm smile on her face.

And that's when Natsu had to hit himself mentally. What did he care if she was smiling or not? Even if she would possibly become his wife one day, she was still the daughter of his enemy, making her his enemy by default. Then again, what if she was pleasant? He didn't think that was very likely. Now that one thing about her was proven true, the likelihood that everything else was accurate was very high.

Still though, she had seen his face for a split second. A small part of him just wanted her to look at him. She wouldn't...


Dinner was loud, louder than Lucy would've liked. Since she'd come to stay here, she'd been accustomed to eating with just Levy and Erza's company. But now with the King here, everyone in the manor was present at the table, with the obvious exception of the servants. Lucy was feeling sick to her stomach. All the kissing up everyone was doing to Natsu, all the fake laughter. it was all just giving her a headache. But he probably wouldn't let her go. And to make matters worse, no matter who Natsu had been talking to, she could feel his eyes on her the entire time. She never felt so uncomfortable.

It didn't help that her ladies were just as uncomfortable as she was. Levy wouldn't even look up, because in doing so she would easily show how disgusted she was. She was the type to silently fume and Lucy had decided earlier that it was probably for the best. Lucy had heard quite a few things about this man. That his temper was fiery and small things could set it off. In order to keep all of their heads, she'd have to tolerate him for however long he intended to stay here. She prayed it wouldn't be long.

Erza, however, wasn't looking down at all. She was trying to be discreet and to everyone sitting around them, she probably was. But Lucy had known her a very long time. She knew Erza almost better than anyone else, so she definitely caught the looks she was giving the man on Natsu's immediate left. Lucy tried her hardest not to nudge her friend and tease her about it. If there was one thing Erza hated more than anything else, it was being teased. But Lucy shrugged it off. No one else seemed to notice and it was perfectly normal to be staring at a perfectly handsome man from the corner of her eye.

But Erza wasn't much of a concern. Natsu was looking right at her now. She gulped silently and continued to pick at her food. Her appetite was lost. Not like she had much of one to begin with. The food here was unappetizing on a normal day. It was only this delectable because the King was here and even then she could barely touch it. She started playing with the meat left on her plate.

After a few minutes, she was beginning to feel light headed. This wasn't going to end well if she didn't excuse herself immediately. What could she do? She couldn't just get up and leave. That could spell possible consequences that she wasn't prepared for. Consequences she wasn't prepared to let her ladies face either.

"Lady Lucy, are you not feeling well, you're looking extremely pale," Lucy's head was feeling so light that the voice appeared to be coming from miles away. Suddenly all chatter ceased as all eyes turned to stare at her. Her face was starting to turn red from embarrassment, but if it appeared that she was coming down with a fever that was fine too. Anything to get out of there.

"Is she sickly?" she heard someone murmur. No, no she wasn't.

"Perhaps she's been poisoned slowly? Wouldn't surprise me, the King does need to have her out of the way..."another whispered, loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"Shut up, you fool! If the King hears you..." and Lucy stopped listening. She really didn't care. More like she didn't want to care.

"Gray!" she heard Natsu's voice. She turned her head slightly to see Natsu looking right at her. There was no emotion on his face nor in his eyes. No concern for her whatsoever but definitely better than hatred. Well she was safe, she hoped. "Escort Lady Lucy to her rooms. We can't have her fainting in the middle of dinner."

And for the first time that night Levy's head snapped up. "Pardon me, Your Grace, but may I be the one to..." but Natsu held his hand up.

"Gray can do it. You are to stay here. That is an order," his tone had a hint of irritation behind it. Lucy looked over at Levy, the look in her eye ordering to stop protesting. Levy understood right away and silenced herself almost immediately.

"Of course, Your Grace," Lucy looked up a moment later to see a shadow towering over her. She looked up to see the Gray holding out his hand. Like Natsu he had no expression on his face or in his eyes. But if he was escorting her away, she had no problem with that.


The manor wasn't that big so it wouldn't be too long till she arrived at her chambers. Even so, the walk to her room didn't lapse in the silence that she had hoped for.

"Well don't you seem better," Gray taunted, observing her carefully. She neither pale nor beet red anymore. In fact, she looked as fine as she did this afternoon. Lucy didn't much care for his comment so she ignored it.

"Anything to get away," she mumbled, but the words were coherent enough for Gray to understand. He laughed. And that made Lucy stop walking.

"And just what is so funny?" she demanded. The way it came out, she sounded like a 12 year old who had just said something ridiculous while trying to act like an adult.

Gray shook his head, "Well that was smart of you. Though I will have to tell you, Natsu wasn't fooled for a second. He was well aware that you weren't sick. You just needed to get out of there. Strange, do crowded rooms give make you anxious."

Lucy sighed, "A room full of charmers and kiss ups sickens me to no end. I've always had a sixth sense for sniffing these kinds of things out."

Gray didn't say anything, rather his eyes widened for a second. He was clearly impressed, "Well then, that's a great skill to have I guess."

Lucy rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for whatever Gray was playing. He was closer to the King than anyone in the country. He must've had some inkling as to why he was here, "So why did the King decide grace this decrepit country manner and this fallen princess with his presence?"

The icy, biting sarcasm in Lucy's tone couldn't be more apparent, but Gray found it amusing. He would've told her but, "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to tell you that. Natsu made sure to tell us not to breathe a word to anyone. But I can tell you this, you're not on the chopping block."

Lucy smiled bitterly. While there was a certain relief in finding out that she wasn't going to die, that made things all the more bizarre. "That's...great."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let Natsu send you to the chopping block. My intended would never forgive me if she found out that I'd allowed her friend to be executed when I had the power to be able to stop it," Gray answered. He smirked inwardly as Lucy's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Your...intended?" were the words that came out.

"Juvia Lockser," was all he had to say to make Lucy turn her head and stare right at him. So many emotions were going through her at that moment. Anger, confusion, sadness, a bit of joy, but a lot of confusion.

Gray felt a bit bad about that, "Yeah, that's why she was called from your service. The situation was getting to precarious for her family. They did what they had to ensure their safety. So they came to me, promising me their daughter and heir's hand, and we spent a few months getting to know each other. Simple as that."

"That's understandable,"she said sadly before regaining her composure. "I hope she makes you happy then."

Gray just chuckled, "Funny thing is, when I met her, she was the most insufferable woman I'd ever met. But..." And at that he blushed. Lucy didn't need hear anymore.

They were swiftly approaching her rooms and before they went back into silence, Gray turned to her and said, "I didn't like her and she didn't like me either. But after I got to know her, I really can't see myself with anyone else. It's strange, but I assume something like that happens to everyone. If you want my advice for if you ever get married, don't completely count the person out until you've gotten to know them. They may surprise you."

And very soon after, she was left on her own in the privacy of her rooms. The words echoed in her head. What was he talking about? Why was he telling her all that. It didn't make any sense. She wondered all the possible reasons as she got herself ready for bed. And even as she got into bed and started drifting off to sleep, the words weren't making much sense. She felt a bit stupid. Normally she was able to figure things like this out. It would continue to bother her until she fully understood what Gray's words really meant. That is if there were any reasons at all...


Jellal didn't like feasts. In fact, most of the time, if he could help it, he stayed as far away from them. The company of a few people, yes that was what he liked. But unfortunately, being one of the two men that the King trusted, he couldn't avoid them. It was one of the many disadvantages of this position.

But tonight was different, right after the feast, Natsu decided to retire into his chambers. It wasn't like him at all. Usually he would delight in whatever entertainment awaited him afterwards. No, this time he just decided to stay out of the whole thing altogether. While Jellal was slightly concerned, he decided not to worry himself too much with what the King did. He was probably tired and understandably so. He had spent the whole day day riding and being abused by the people whom he was supposedly governing over. Jellal was glad that he wasn't the King for once.

But more than that, he was out of it himself. He had kept his expression deadpan and his voice steady so that no one would notice the amount of turmoil that was going through him since they had arrived. Because there, right in front of him, sat the one young woman. Erza Scarlet. The one person he never thought he'd ever see again. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever wanted to see her again. After everything, there was no way that he knew how to face her. What could he say to her that could make anything better? Nothing. So he ignored her that entire night. He leaned back in his chair, his index and middle fingers rubbing his temples. The sooner that Natsu finished up his business the better it would be for him. He just needed to avoid her.

But it seemed that the heavens and fate wanted to be particularly cruel to him that day. Because the second he decided on that he heard an all to familiar, demanding voice right outside of his door.

"I need to see him. It's urgent," Jellal sighed. Erza hadn't changed. Maybe she was older and definitely a lot more beautiful and calm, but she was still demanding and bossy as ever.

And the second he heard his door open, he knew that he needed to find better guards. Or maybe he needed to tell them specifically that he didn't want them to let anyone else in under any circumstances. Probably both. His guards knew him well enough now. He didn't really have time to think of much else though because Erza was in his room and she'd slammed the door shut.

She had a hardened look on her face. That caught him off guard. That was a look he hadn't seen on Erza in a long time. "You shouldn't be here this late."

Erza narrowed her eyes as scowl made its way to her face, "Thank you for stating the obvious. But I need to talk to you. About a few things actually."

But Jellal wasn't in the mood, "I can't give you the reason as to why we're here. We were ordered not to tell."

Erza huffed. Jellal had definitely changed, "Then can I at least get the guarantee that Lucy will not be harmed in anyway. And by that I mean, you aren't going to execute her are you?"

Jellal shook his head, "He means her no harm. Not now anyway. I can't promise anything for the future. That's really based on how she behaves and on Natsu's whim."

That answer wasn't good enough and Erza wasn't leaving until she got the right one, "What's going on here? All of the sudden he wants to meet with her? He couldn't stop staring at her at dinner in fact he couldn't stop staring the entire time he's been here."

Talking out loud helped her put everything together. The sudden interest in Lucy, the uprisings all over the country, the fact that his attention was focused on Lucy only this whole time, and of course him wanting to meet and talk to her privately. It was all starting to make sense.

It must've shown on her face because Jellal nodded his head and said, "So you've figured it out."

"She'd never agree to that. How could the King even consider such a thing?" Erza shook her head. Lucy was too stubborn and understandably so. This was completely out of the question.

"You're not to tell her. The King is trying to get close to her, to try and get know her a bit better. He's not too thrilled with this either, but the situation is such that this seems to be the only solution," Jellal replied calmly, despite of his massive headache.

But Erza was irritated and not just because of the Lucy situation, "What happened to you?"

Her words weren't above a whisper but Jellal still cringed, "Time happened. I did what I had to."

"Jellal..." were the only words that escaped her lips but he just held up his hand.

"No more of this. You should really head back to your rooms. There's nothing else to talk about. As for the issue of the King and Lady Lucy, it'd be best if you remained quiet about it. I realize that she's your friend, but let things fall into place on their own."

Erza glared at him. He was avoiding the subject intentionally, but he was so adamant about not telling her anything more. She hated that. He used to tell her everything, used to want to see her, now...he wasn't the same person anymore. So though she desperately wanted answers, she knew she wouldn't be getting them tonight. And because for the first time in his life, Jellal had a higher position than her. She just curtsied. He didn't look at her and his facial expression didn't change, but she saw him cringe.

And without another word, she left the room. Jellal could only sigh. Never in his life had he thought that Erza would be curtsying to him. And truth be told, he really disliked it...


Lucy's movements were severely restricted now that the King was there. But even then, she had to pretend like nothing had change. But she'd be lying if she said that she still wasn't the least bit bothered by Gray's words. She gulped a bit, because she was doing her needle work and her hands were shaking tremendously. And that's really how the day had gone. Natsu had been there a day and still he hadn't requested any private audience with her. It was rather odd and she was growing more and more apprehensive. Something big was coming, she could feel it.

And that's what had her wide awake that night. She was so restless and would continue to be until the King left. And that's when she decided to take a walk in the gardens. She doubted that anyone would really be awake at this time of night and she really needed some space to think. Think and pray. Think of what to do and pray for guidance. That's all she really could do while Natsu was here.

The manor was completely quiet, save for the loud snores of some of the guards who had passed out drunk. Lucy rolled her eyes, how incompetent these men were. If she cared enough for what happened to him, she would've advised Natsu to get better guards and soldiers. It was disgraceful. No wonder the people didn't respect his authority. He really didn't seem to know what he was doing.

The air was cool tonight. And she loved it. Winter was setting in and it didn't get quite too cold in this country. But it was comfortable. And Lucy didn't have to worry about catching a cold. She walked the path that led straight to the garden and she looked right up at the clear sky. It was so beautiful. But the stars were twinkling again, brighter than they had just a few days earlier. She was sure that they were trying to tell her something. That coupled with Gray's words just a day earlier.

"Isn't it a little too late for a lady to be wandering about this late?" Lucy nearly jumped at the voice. It wasn't Erza or any woman's voice. She knew that voice and she flinched as she turned around to come face to face with the King himself.

He was leaning against the manor wall, his arms folded, and he was looking right at her. She couldn't read his face or eyes at all. That made her severely uncomfortable.

But she kept the mask of composure, "And why is the King wandering around so late? Shouldn't he be in the comfort of his own rooms or is his bed not to his liking?"

Lucy knew that the condescending way in which she spoke was probably the worst idea of the night, but Natsu shrugged, "I've slept on worse. I just wasn't tired and didn't particularly feel the need to be entertained tonight."

Lucy didn't say anything, in fact she turned around. She didn't have anything else to say to him.

"Don't you know that it's rude to turn your back on your king?" Natsu mocked, and Lucy felt her face go pink. Not from embarrassment, but from slight fury.

"I know full well. I was once a princess you know and now thanks be to you I'm not," Lucy bit back. She didn't care at the moment. She was getting angrier by the second.

And though Natsu wasn't showing it, he was amused. It seemed like everything that he'd heard about her was true. She was beautiful but she had a bit of a temper and nothing more than a little gentle teasing seemed to bring it out of her. Maybe it was just him though. Either way, he would have his fun.

"I'd tell you to mind your tongue but I doubt that you would. Anyway, I thought that now would be a better time than any to talk to you. You know, the message I sent. I wanted to speak to you privately," Natsu said, finally getting to the point.

Lucy blinked. Now? In the dead of night. With no one to supervise or hear them? She gave him a tiny smirk. Well played King Natsu, well played. But if he was planning on trying anything with her, she knew how to fight back.

"If someone sees us, they will talk. Unless that was your plan all along, to ruin my reputation," she continued to push his buttons. She was as close to her enemy as possible and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it either. That and she had absolutely nothing to lose.

Natsu huffed. Though he couldn't blame the girl for being suspicious, it was getting annoying. He just wanted to talk to her is all. But judging from how she was reacting he probably had to backtrack a bit. He couldn't just propose to her. Not that he wanted to. He'd only been talking to her for 5 minutes at the most and his first impression of her wasn't a good one. But he was never one to go on first impressions. He'd give her a chance. If Gray could find happiness and contentment with a girl he previously disliked, Natsu would be damned if he couldn't do the same. His rule depended on it.

"I would've summoned you to court but that seemed to impersonal. The reason I decided to come here and meet you privately is because I would like to get to know you better..."


I like cliffhangers. Well...I was going to publish this originally on Friday, but I had a lot of stuff happen in my personal life so I couldn't quite get to writing this chapter. Rather finishing it, I started working on it the day after I published the last chapter. And then I decided on last night, but I had to sleep. So I'm doing it today. I had to add the Jerza moment because according to my Tumblr dash, it's Jerza week. And they're my other other Fairy Tail OTP. So why not? Ugh this chapter was a bit of a cluttered mess and I'm sorry I saved the actual NaLu stuff for the very end of the chapter.

Okay so a few things. I may publish the Jerza and Gruvia backstories separately in two different stories. They'll sort of be prequels for a lack of a better word for this one. Both will explain what happened before Natsu rose to power and also why he did though the reasons will be touched on in this fic. But those'll go more in-depth. I don't know, what do you guys think? I'll go ahead and do them but opinions are nice.

Okay as usual, please review. I love the amount of love all of you have given me for the first two chapters and hope you'll continue to do so. I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP! :*

november-drops