"We're going. Now." The queen said.

"Yes, your highness." The driver of the carriage responded.

It was morning. The queen had been adamant about leaving as soon as possible to see her husband once again and insisted that she and her most trusted guard would leave as soon as her weekly duties were complete.

"Your highness, I really do not believe that this will be good for you to witness. Our former King would have returned had he remembered you by now. This visit will put too much stress on his mind and—" Loki was interrupted.

"He was in town, Loki. Why would he come all the way into the town of the castle when he lives so far away? Magnolia is not close to Acalypha, not in the slightest. There have not been any notable events in this city that tourists would come for, nor are there many products that this city is in possession of that others are not, excluding the castle of course, but the castle doesn't host tours or allow unidentified people or people without purpose within it. I highly doubt that a person who has no memory of their life would visit such a place." The queen rested her cheek in her palm as she watched the passing trees through the window.

"I suppose you are correct, your highness."

"I'm going to rest, wake me when we near Magnolia."

"Of course." Loki responded as the queen fell asleep.

Loki looked at the queen, worried for what might happen.

"Your highness, we will be arriving in Magnolia very soon." Loki lightly tapped the queen's shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes, and nodded to reassure Loki that she understood. She cautiously straightened out her casual dress.

"Now, your highness, you may be alarmed, but the placed His Majesty is a pub."

"A pub? My treasured husband... In a pub... Is that not a hostile environment? I have heard stories that people fight in such places! Loki, you said he was in safe care!" She worried, wriggling in her seat.

"It is somewhat hostile, yes, however, the people who run the pub are very kind and always stop fights once they get to be too rowdy. They would never let His Majesty be harmed." He assured as he rested his hand on her shoulder.

"If he is injured—"

"We have arrived, madam!" The driver shouted from his seat outside of the carriage. The queen jumped in her seat. The driver hopped down and opened the door for the queen and her guard.

"Your highness, he is perfectly safe here. We may go see him now, if you would like." Loki stepped out of the carriage, offering his hand to the queen to assist her.

The queen hesitated. She would be able to see her husband after mourning his death for an entire year. She firmly grasped Loki's hand and cautiously stepped down from the carriage. Loki smiled.

Not long after arriving, the queen and her guard found the bar which was strangely called "Fairy Tail."

The queen commented on the name, "are they aware that they used the wrong word for 'tail?'"

Loki laughed, "it was intentional, your highness."

She nodded, still suspicious.

There were loud noises coming from the isolated building, and a chair had been thrown out of a window.

"I'll protect you, your highness." Loki stepped in front of the queen and entered the pub, the queen following closely. The two reached the back where a barmaid was cleaning glasses and occasionally pouring drinks for customers.

"Miss Mira, good evening." Loki said to the barmaid.

"Oh, Loki, I'm surprised to see you here. You've been so busy as of late, I was beginning to think you forgot about us." She joked. She expertly dodged a glass thrown in her direction. "Are you here for a drink?" She grabbed a freshly cleaned glass and tilted it in his direction.

"Heyyyy, Loki, you wanna' 'ave a contes'?" A woman seated at the bar slurred, drinking rather inelegantly.

"As much as I would love to, I cannot."

"Ahh? You're boriiiing." The drinking woman slouched in her seat and nearly fell over.

"I need to see someone. I can't be drunk in that person's presence."

"Ooooh... She's a pretty one, yeah? Tryin' to have a roll in the hay tonight, mister?" The woman smirked.

"No, the person I need to see is married."

"Are ya' with a cheating woman, Loki? Get outta' that, the husband'll get mad and wanna' fight ya.'"

"The person is male."

The woman's eyes widened. "So... You swing that way, yeah? I could hook you up with a bunch of guys that—"

"Cana. Please, shut up."

"You must have a huge stick stuck up there." The woman mumbled, sipping from her glass.

"Miss Mira, I need to see Him."

"Oh! He's upstairs, he's taking a rest." She pointed to the stairs. "Second door on the right once you get up there."

The queen immediately rushed to the stairs, not waiting for Loki.

"Woah, look at that woman! I didn't even notice her until she got that look on her face and ran off. She's gorgeous. I'd love to have some time alone with her. Hey, Mira, did ya' see those knockers?" Cana commented and leaned over towards the barmaid to nudge her in the side.

"Sorry, Cana, she's married." Loki said, following after the queen. "Thanks, Miss Mira."

"The pretty ones are always taken, eh?" Cana grumbled.

The queen was standing still in front of the door. Loki quietly stepped next to her. She peered over towards him. He nodded. She breathed deeply.

The queen knocked softly on the door. There was no response. Slowly, she turned the handle and opened the door, cautiously stepping inside the room. She gasped when she was fully inside. Loki closed the door behind her, letting her have privacy. He looked downwards, but straightened and held his hand to his sword after a few moments, watching for anyone walking by.

The queen walked towards the sleeping man. He was drooling. "You haven't changed." She whispered, kneeling at the side of the small bed. After a few minutes of staring, she reached for his hair and started twirling random strands. He mumbled, and she paused. His eyes fluttered open, revealing olive irises.

The queen quickly retracted her hand.

The man's eyes widened and he shot up from the bed, fell to his knees, and grabbed the queen by her waist to embrace her. "Lucy..." He said softly, burying his face into her neck.

"Na-Natsu..." Her voice cracked, wrapping her arms around his middle. "You..."

Natsu shifted and pulled her into his lap, rubbing her back and rocking from side to side. "I'm alive, Lucy. I have missed you so, so much." The queen cried into his chest.

"I love you, Natsu. I love you so dearly. My heart was in so much pain... They told me you were dead. I was a widow, at nineteen years old. I had such little time to mourn before the council proposed that I re-marry. How could they do something so heartless? You were not even dead, and they knew, yet they wanted me to re-marry." She rambled. He hummed, stroking her hair and pulling her closer.

"I wear your crown in the castle. I wear it to remind myself of you and how happy you were. How kind you were. How warm you were." She continued.

"I still am those things." He chuckled. "I have my ring. That's all I own to remind myself of you. You and your promises. You and your golden hair. You and your shining smile. You and your strength." He twisted the ring on his finger.

"What happened at that time?" She asked after a long period of silence.

"Honestly, I am not too sure. I was on my horse, then I fell. I had been shot by an arrow. It was dark... Then I was in an infirmary. I couldn't remember anything. It took me nearly two months to remember what happened, by then, Loki had already left. He left a note, instructing me to stay here until I had remembered everything. I've been working here since then.

"I finally had remembered everything two months ago, but Makarov wanted me to stay here longer, to make sure I was perfectly alright. I had to visit so many doctors, Lucy. And I have a scar on my torso. I have a cat too! His name is Happy. I want you to see him, but he's probably stealing fish from some vendor right now..." He mumbled the last part. Lucy laughed.

"I'm glad you are well. It seems like this has caused some good things for you, too. Maybe, we should vacation in Magnolia when we have free time." She said.

Natsu smiled softly. "There was one bad thing."

The queen looked into his eyes. "What was that?"

"Not seeing you."

Lucy blushed and buried her face in his chest. He howled with laughter. She groaned.

The door burst open, Loki looking frantic. "Your highness, are you well?"

"Ah, she's fine, Loki. I just embarrassed her a little bit. You should probably go eat, we'll probably be here a while." Natsu waved him away. Loki smiled, seeing them reunited.

Once Loki was gone, Natsu mumbled, "he's kind of panicky, isn't he? A little too stiff, too."

"He's not used to leaving me alone for so long unless it's night time." She reasoned.

"He's gonna' have to get used to it. I'll be around again."

"You're coming back home?" She sat up completely straight.

"Of course! Magnolia is fun, but the people are a little too rowdy for me to be around for so long. I've even gotten into fist-fights." He leaned back on the side of the bed. "I miss Acalypha. Don't say this to anyone downstairs," he lowered his voice, "but I like the food in Acalypha better. There's more variety. That's why I snuck out of Magnolia to go to Acalypha. I needed some spicy food and nothing here compares."

"Was it spicy chicken?" She lowered her eyes.

"What else could it be?" He smirked.

"Well, my love, you can thank spicy chicken that I am here now." Their eyes met.

"Huh?" He asked, peeking up.

"I was in town that day. I caught a glimpse of your hair. I asked Aquarius and Loki about it, and insisted that I come to see you. Loki told me you would not remember me, but I desired to see you no matter what."

"I shall praise spicy chicken then." He pressed his hands together between them and looked up towards the sky. "Ohh, spicy chicken..." Lucy giggled and joined the act. "Thank you for your continual delectably flavored self. You have caused me and my beloved to reunite after a year of being apart." They laughed together.

"The floor is sort of uncomfortable." Natsu said.

"I would not know."

"Yeah, you're sitting on me." He dead panned. "Maybe I shouldn't be king when we get home. I'll just be your throne. It'll be much easier than filling out all of that paperwork and dealing with the elder council member."

"The elder council member was removed."

"What? Seriously?" He grabbed Lucy's thighs as he stood up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He sat down on the bed, leaning his back against the wall.

"We voted. He proposed that I marry the Second Prince of Bosco."

"Bora?"

"Yes."

"Gross."

"Indeed." She agreed. He closed his arms around her waist once again.

"Well, dear, I'm still exhausted and you rudely interrupted my rest. I'm going to sleep." He fell over sideways to land on his pillow. Lucy squealed.

"You gave me no warning." She argued when he looked at her with an amused expression. "Do not drool on me."

They adjusted their bodies to lay comfortably on the small bed. Lucy's head nestled in his neck and Natsu's arm supporting her head, their legs intertwined. His other arm reached for a blanket to pull over them. They made last second adjustments and whispered "I love you" to one another before falling asleep comfortably and happily for the first time in a year.

DONE

How coincidental that Natsu and Lucy met after a year, and it took me a year to update... Hahahaha. Sorry about that, lovelies. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was definitely nice to write again. Maybe I'll actually update soon next time? We'll see. Leave a review, I'd like to see what you think. :)

-BloodyTeddyBear