Hi everyone, welcome to chapter 10! Enjoy!

Natsu roared his fury as Lucy was hauled away into the trees. He tried to sprint after her, but more vines rose up and twisted their way around his limbs. They tightened painfully, dragging him to the ground and choking him. He lit himself on fire, burning away the greenery clinging to him, but more took their place so fast it barely made a difference. He could see Erza slicing at the vines, but they slipped under her guard and wound around her hands, effectively immobilizing her. Gray had frozen a shell around himself, stopping the vines from choking him, but they covered the sphere so thickly that Natsu could hardly tell he was inside. Even Happy was being chased by one in the air, weaving frantically to avoid it. He snarled. He couldn't move in any direction; it was all he could do to keep the damn things off him. To make matters worse, he still hadn't seen the mage that was certainly controlling the plants. The way Lucy had been targeted and separated from them was proof that this was the work of another bastard looking for reward money. If they succeeded, Lucy would be taken back to her father. She'd have to marry that guy that supposedly liked to beat his wives and would have her keys taken from her.

Not if Natsu had anything to say about it.

He stopped his wild halo of flame, allowing the creepers to encircle him. Then he focused his magic and pushed heat along each ropy tendril as fast as he could, creating an effect rather like lighting a fuse as vines fizzled away down their length to their end. If the plant was the fuse, then the mage was the dynamite. There was a high pitched scream as the last of the vines burned into nothingness and the remaining heat was pushed onto the man connected to them. He lost his grip on his magic and the remaining weeds fell to the ground, lifeless. Erza and Gray freed themselves and joined Natsu as he hauled the mage up by his lapels.

The man was small and lean. His face was thin, and his close-set eyes were wide with fear. It was clear why the fire had hurt him so badly; the vines seemed a part of his body. He was barefoot and his feet looked rather like roots, some of which stretched away from them toward the clearing. His arms transitioned from flesh to vegetation; where his fingers should have been were vines, splitting into nearly twoscore thick, weedy, ropes. Well, one hand was like that. The other was a burnt mess. As they watched, the plantlike parts of the mage slowly shriveled up and regained human appearance once more. The burnt portion remained as it was, apparently too damaged to return to normal.

Natsu looked him over with the most terrifying face he could muster (he was proud to say a few men had wet themselves at his glare), horns and wings and tail on display, fire flickering over his shoulders and in his eyes.

"Bring Lucy back." he growled. "I know she's on the end of one of your damn weeds."

The smaller man spluttered, white in the face. "I, I, I can't! It's not my vine! Please, gods, don't kill me! We're under orders!"

"Not your vine? You're a fucking vine mage! You expect me to believe-" Natsu was cut off when Erza's hand replaced his own holding the mage up.

"He is not lying, Natsu. His vines have all vanished and none lead to Lucy. Either he has left her in some part of the forest, or there is another plant mage present who has her."

Gray stepped up. "Go, Flamebrain. We got this. I want to know what this fugly bastard meant by 'under orders.'"

That was all Natsu needed. He took off into the woods, Happy streaking behind him. He didn't need his nose to follow the path of destruction left in Lucy's wake. He hoped she wasn't too injured from being dragged like that.

Lucy thrashed, struggling against the vines that held her. It was no use. She'd been yanked into this clearing and hung upside-down by one dainty ankle. Unlike her escape from Natsu's hoard, however, there was no Virgo to help her down. No, another creeper had twisted around her hands and before she could orient herself a man seemingly made of plants had snapped a metal collar around her neck and snatched her keys, snapping another metal circle onto the keyring. All of that completed, she was finally pulled upright, now dangling by her wrists. The man smiled at her, revealing dirty teeth. He bowed mockingly.

"Hullo, Princess. Before you try, the cuff around your keys is anti-magic. Your spirits won't be comin' out on their own. Your collar is the same. We told you probably ain't able to tar-drass, or somethin', but we gotta put that on just in case. Looks good on you." He leered and Lucy silently cursed. She couldn't quite pull off a full stardress yet, but she was close enough to potentially have used it to her advantage. But with the collar that wouldn't be happening. Neither, it appeared, would Urano Metria, her final form "let's-blow-this-joint" spell. Her shoulders throbbed as she hung in the air. A breeze highlighted her awareness of several scrapes left by the forest as it kissed her exposed skin-a lot more exposed skin than she remembered. She looked down and shrieked. Her clothes were shredded! The important bits were covered, but not by much. Looking up, she shrieked again to find the hungry eyes of her captor barely a foot away.

He winced. "Shut up!" A vine forced its way between her teeth, muting her screams. Another one wrapped around her leg, slowly climbing its way up. The man stepped closer.

"My vines are part of me, Princess. I feel what they do, if I wish. An' right now, I want to feel this pretty leg of yours." Lucy fought the vines, but suspended in the air there was nothing she could do. She refused to give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing her fear, so she stared him in the face defiantly, trying to ignore the ever rising tendril. Another one wrapped around her shoulders and traced across her chest, pushing her breasts together. The mage leaned so close she could feel his putrid breath wash across her face. Despite herself her eyes squeezed shut, horror overtaking her.

A rush of heat bloomed against her cheeks, and the stink of the man vanished. Her eyes flew open as the plant mage howled in anger and threw Natsu back across the clearing.

"Detach!" he snarled, and the vines holding her looped around a tree limb before breaking away from the rest of him, effectively holding her captive while leaving him free to fight. Natsu was an inferno, his entire body blazing as he charged the plant-man. The mage's face twisted in pain as flames licked along the vines, but he was apparently well-hydrated, and the greenery didn't catch fire the way Natsu'd been hoping. He tried pushing his heat into the creepers again, but this man was stronger than the last, and they merely charred halfway up the length before petering out. A tendril tightened around Natsu's ankle and pulled him upside-down, like Lucy had been only minutes before. A pair of thick, heavy vines swung across the clearing, building speed before they slammed Natsu across the chest. He choked in pain, weakly hitting out to block them as they whipped at him again, but their flexibility meant they just bent around his arms and smashed into him anyway.

The plant mage laughed, and turned to wink at Lucy as she tried to scream at him to stop through her gag. The moment he turned his face away, a blur of blue streaked across the glade and charged into his chest, knocking him back several steps. Before the man could fully regain his balance Happy was at his throat, clawing and biting. The mage screamed in pain and turned one hand fully human to grab Happy and throw him. Hard. Happy spun through the air and hit a tree trunk with a crack, slumping to the ground.

Natsu. Exploded.

White hot flames consumed him and Lucy felt the heat press into her skin like a living creature. The vines holding him up were reduced to ash and he crossed the clearing like an avenging demon, leaving scorched earth in his wake. The mage sent seemingly endless projectiles at him, but Happy's deep scratches caused blood to flow down his face and into his eyes, blinding him. Natsu had no trouble contemptuously slapping aside his last few poorly aimed tendrils. Then, in a fully justified role reversal, he threw the other man through the air and into a tree. With the mage unconscious, Natsu's first move was to run to Happy, extinguishing his fires as he went. Gently, he ran his hands over his fur, then pulled both eyelids open, one at a time. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"No broken bones from what I can tell, he's breathing normally, and his pupils both respond to light. I don't think it's anything life threatening. We'll have Wendy handle the concussion when we get back." He took off his vest and nestled Happy carefully onto his side on top of it. Now that his buddy was as ok as he could make him, he turned to Lucy.

Lucy watched Natsu from where she hung, still bound. His devotion to his friend was touching, and she greeted the news of his health with relief. Then Natsu stood and turned to her. His eyes swept over her battered and bound form, and she thought he'd be furious. And he was. But his eyes had turned dark and smoky and the growl that bubbled up from his throat was full of possession. She realized that she was half naked and helpless in front of a man who'd spent the entire first week of their acquaintance attempting to seduce her, while keeping her chained to a post. His gaze was making her squirm, but not with disgust. Trepidation, yes, but also anticipation. He stepped forward, still devouring her with his eyes. He leaned down and his breath whispered across her ear. One hand wrapped around her waist, barely touching her. The other came up and traced ever so lightly across her cheekbone, where she had a scrape. That hand moved up to grasp the vines holding her arms, and Natsu's eyes narrowed. The vines heated against her skin, but did not burn her. A moment later they withered, and she realized his heat was evaporating the water inside the plants, drying them up and stealing their life. She fell as the plants pulled away from her limbs, and Natsu's arm around her waist was there to catch her. She leaned into his chest, listening to his breath, ragged in her ear. When he spoke it was rough, and sounded as though he were under a strain.

"Next time you let someone tie you up, it had better be me."

Then he lowered her to the ground, and scooped up Happy and placed him in her arms. Before Lucy could get over her shock, he'd grabbed the still knocked-out mage's ankle and started towing him out of the glade, clearly expecting her to follow. She gaped after him for a moment, then scrambled to her feet and followed, cradling Happy to her chest.

They came out of the woods nearly fifteen minutes later, giving Lucy enough time to thoroughly dissect every second of the encounter, and become more confused than ever. First he teases her for a week. Then he backs off and is friendly. Then he acts possessive when Erza mentions her hair. Then he says he 'values their friendship' after she throws herself at him. Not a day later, he's giving her sex eyes and whispering kinky things to her before leaving her behind as he drags some guy through a forest!

Lucy decided then and there to make some more female friends. Men were too confusing.

She squinted as she stepped out of the gloom of the trees into the sun. After a moment she saw Natsu join Erza and Gray, dumping the mage down beside-she blinked. There were two of them? Hopefully the other one hadn't been as creepy as hers had. Although it didn't look like Erza had castrated anyone, so she supposed not. As she approached the group, Erza stepped forward to meet her with a serious look on her face.

"Lucy. We need to get back to the guild as soon as possible. These men were sent by your fiance. We'll discuss the rest once we're safe at home."

Several tense hours later, they were back in the guild hall, prisoners successfully delivered to Laki for safekeeping until the Council's knights could collect them. Wendy had taken Happy to the infirmary, and the rest of the team had sequestered themselves in the Master's office.

"So the mages were sent from the prince? Specifically him? That strikes me as odd." Makarov's brows were drawn together in concern. "The image presented to the world at large is one of companionship-your father and fiance working together to bring a beloved princess home. We know that instructions to bounty hunters are less loving, but they still act in concert. Why would these men have instructions to bring you to Tristan and Tristan alone? It is worrying."

Lucy's eyes were on her hands, twisted uselessly in her lap. "The prince is known as having a...forceful personality. What he wants, he gets. There are also whispers of sadism. Nothing proven."

Gray jumped in. "A sadistic prince is a big deal. If there's only whispers of it, he's either way scarier than he looks or he's really good at hiding it. Either way, sounds sneaky as hell. Whatever he's doing is probably under wraps."

Lucy grimaced. Gray was right. "The treaty between our countries hinges on the marriage. If they don't find me, it could fall through. It's likely that both Tristan and my father are looking for a plan b to the treaty. My father will likely try a diplomatic approach and will speak directly to Zenada's king. That would cut Tristan out of the picture. He's the younger brother-his only chance to rule is through marriage. That's probably why he's putting so much effort into this. Having me delivered directly to him would give him a strong hand to play at the negotiating table. I'm his only trump card, really. My father has plenty of other things he can offer Zenada. His main goal getting me back is his image. For Tristan, it's personal gain."

The room was quiet for a moment after she had finished painting the bleak picture. Then Natsu stomped across the room to kneel in front of her chair, raising her chin to pull her gaze away from her endlessly worrying hands.

"You're not a card, Lucy." His eyes burned into hers, demanding her attention. "You're not a pawn, or a hand to play. You're a person, and they should be trying to find you because they're worried about you, not because they're embarrassed or need you to rule." His mouth lifted in a small smile. "I can see why you ran away from that. Good thing you found us to show you what a real family is like."

The Master spoke. "He's right, Lucy. You're part of our family now. No one here will betray your location and we will fight to protect you, as you would for us. That said, I think you ought to write that abdication letter we discussed. Perhaps you could send it to your father first-it would save him public embarrassment, and allow him to pursue other options for the treaty. He can then break the news to the prince. Once you are no longer a path to power, he has no more reason to send men."

Lucy beamed at the wizened man, not-so-subtly brushing a tear away at the thought of belonging somewhere. "Of course! That's an excellent idea. I'll draft it today and we can send it with tomorrow's post."

The Master smiled at his newest child. "If you would like any assistance, I'm sure either Levy or myself would be happy to help."

Erza stepped forward. "Until this letter is received, Lucy is still in danger. We all know you're a capable mage, but no one can be on guard 24/7. I'm afraid apartment shopping will have to wait; it would be best if you stayed with someone for now." She gripped Lucy's hand hard enough that the bones creaked in protest. "I offer myself as a guardian, Lucy. We shall have sleepovers and strawberry cake and dispense justice to thugs and perverts!" Her eyes shone with fervent light as she pulled Lucy toward the guild's main room.

Natsu jumped in front of the door, spreading his arms to stop them; no way in Hell was he letting anyone take his Lucy! He narrowed his eyes at the charging Erza, and then his world went white. Vision clearing a moment later, he found himself looking up at the fiery redhead from the floor with a sword at his throat.

"It is improper for Lucy to stay with you, Natsu. Do you have a problem with that?"

He inhaled, ready to hit her with a Fire Dragon's Roar, when Lucy stuck her head into his field of vision. "Natsu, it's alright, really. It'll be fun to have a girls' night! How about I go with Erza tonight and then come back to the hoard tomorrow? All my things are there anyway." She placated them both with years of diplomatic experience.

Gray had followed the little group to the hallway. "Natsu's place is probably as safe as it gets. But I'm curious, how did you two end up staying together? Neither of you mentioned it."

Natsu and Lucy both paled. While Lucy had told the master about their circumstances, she got the feeling Erza might actually kill Natsu. "And I can't let her kill him before I get to taste those abs-I mean, get my stuff." she thought. "Maybe this girls' night will do me good!" She hurriedly changed the subject. "We just happened to bump into each other and he helped me out!" she squeaked, to Natsu's unutterable relief. "So, um, what does one do on a girls' night? I've never had one!"

Erza was completely sidetracked, although Gray narrowed his eyes at Natsu suspiciously. He noticed that the slayer now seemed wholeheartedly behind the idea of girls' night if it meant getting Erza off his back.

Levy was more than happy to look over the letter for Lucy. With her extensive reading of politics, history, and diplomacy, she suggested several edits to the draft and they ended up with a professional document in a few short hours. Lucy signed it and set her seal to it in wax, after digging out her royal seal from her bag. She caught Natsu eyeing it covetously and quickly shoved it back to the bottom of the pack, warning him away with a look. Natsu grumbled about it, but he didn't really mind. She was coming back to his hoard, after all. Which meant the trinket would end up inside his walls anyway.

The letter was done early enough for the post office to still be open, and Happy (thankfully recovered, due to Wendy) dropped it off just before the workers sent off the last truck of the night. Hopefully it would reach her father by the following morning. Several copies sat in the Master's safe, awaiting publication in a week or so after King Jude had had the chance to consider other options for the treaty. Much though the majority of the guild thought public humiliation was the least Jude deserved, they had to admit that doing so might not be the smartest move they could make. Letter sent, Lucy was bundled off by the girls to Fairy Hills for a promised night of hot chocolate and hair braiding.

Natsu sidled over to the door, eyes locked on Lucy's departing figure. She hadn't been out of sight for more than a few moments since they'd made amends and he was acutely uncomfortable. Despite knowing she'd be fine surrounded by some of the guild's strongest members (who was he kidding, she ranked right up top, too) he was scared something would happen. He took a step out the door, fully intending to spend the night protecting her from the shadows and maybe catching a peek of her while she changed into pj's. Barely a foot away from the guild, however, a hand gripped the back of his neck and yanked him back inside before hurling him across the room and into a pillar. Before he could sit up, a bolt of electricity crackled down and knocked him unconscious.

Lucy giggled as Juvia braided her hair into an intricate side plait. Wendy sat between her knees, allowing Lucy to twist her hair into Princess Leia buns on either side of her head. Lisanna gave Mira and Erza simultaneous pedicures while Erza polished a delicate throwing star. Cana passed everyone a mimosa under the critical eye of Carla. In the center of Fairy Hill's lounge, on a pile of pillows and munching on a chocolate bar, Levy regaled them with a romance novel she'd pulled out of her endless stacks of books. Lucy thought she'd never been so happy.

Natsu woke up groggily. His head was killing him. He tried to reach a hand up to rub his temple and found himself chained to the pillar he'd been thrown into earlier. Looking up, he found himself surrounded by the majority of the men in Fairy Tale, minus the master and Gildarts. The lightning had clearly been courtesy of Laxus and the chains from Gajeel. The parts of the pillar that had cracked under his velocity, he noted, had been reinforced with ice. Three guesses who that was. He glared at the men surrounding him. They stared back with what he slowly realized wasn't malice, but...confusion? Bixlow stepped forward. "Natsu. We talked it over, and we have to know. How the fuck did a guy like you snag a babe like Lucy?"

Lucy sighed in bliss. She hadn't expected Fairy Hills to have a mini spa and jacuzzi! The girls melted into the steaming water. Scented candles lit the area and soft music drifted through the air. She squeaked when Levy turned on the jets, but the streams of water hitting her back unknotted muscles she didn't know she had. She sighed, closing her eyes lazily. The mimosa had made her a little tipsy and she was just so happy. When Mira drifted over and slipped an arm around her shoulders, she turned her head to grin sloppily at the demon barmaid, not noticing the rest of the girls closing in. "Lucy, we're all just so curious to learn more about you; why don't you tell us more about how you and Natsu met?" Lucy hummed in thought. Why not? These were the first girlfriends she'd ever had! They'd spent the night catching her up on guild gossip and lightly teasing each other about their crushes and boyfriends. Maybe they could give her some insight? She was sure Natsu would understand, and besides, it was a pretty memorable meeting. She giggled. "Well now that you mention it, it's kind of a funny story...but you can't tell Natsu I told! He'd be so embarrassed!"

Natsu was growing more and more pissed off. Steam started literally coming out of his ears as the guys took turns questioning him, usually with a jab or two. "C'mon, man, we know you didn't charm her or something. She's way too good for you!" "I mean, sure, girls might go for the famous Salamander for a night, but there's no way a princess would hang out with you for more than two days!" "Just tell us what you did, Flamebrain!" "Yeah, clearly she's got a weakness for something and you know what it is! Sharing is caring, man. We should all get a shot at her, too!" The last one set him over the edge. No one else was getting a shot!He exploded into an inferno that forced even Laxus a step back. The ice on the pillar evaporated, allowing him space to slither out of the chains. Scales rippled up his arm as he threw a punch at Elfman, sending the large man into Laxus. Freed took offense at that- "You could've stopped yourself! Laxus, are you hurt?! Elfman, how could you!"-and hit the takeover mage with a rune that hung him upside down by his underwear. Natsu was already busy throwing Wakaba into Max and tripping Macao so he fouled up Gajeel. The brawl quickly spread out of control, every man for himself. Fists and magic flew, tables were smashed, and bruises sprouted. Natsu's voice rang out over it all. "NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU FUCKERS IS GETTING ANYTHING ABOUT LUCY OUTTA ME! HANDS! OFF!"

After Lucy finished her story, catching the girls up on everything that had happened from the day of her escape from Argyle to about ten minutes before they'd all left for Fairy Hills, the only sound was the bubble of the jacuzzi and the soft strains of classical jazz drifting out of the music player. Then they exploded. "Sooo CUTE!" squealed Mira, hearts in her eyes. "Good thing you kicked his ass, Lu. Looks like he's really trying to make up for everything. Your very own sexy dragon protector!" Levy sighed, clearly wishing for her own sexy dragon protector. Cana sat in a corner, cackling. "Jump him, Lucy! Men don't know what they want til you show em!" Erza, about to go chop Natsu into tiny pieces for kidnapping a woman, was halted in her tracks as an intense blush took over her face. "Is it true? Would Jellal enjoy being jumped upon so forcefully?" the redhead pondered. Lucy was bombarded with questions and advice. She was beginning to sober up and considered that tipsily admitting to finding Natsu attractive and going into a detailed account of every smouldering look was maybe not her best idea. Especially since they'd all promised to beat the living hell out of him tomorrow, however friendly the two were now. But hey, she was at least getting some solid insight into his character. And a whole lot of sex advice from everyone except Erza and Wendy; she was feeling a little awkward about it, frankly. Poor Wendy's eyes were big as saucers and Erza was by herself in a corner, muttering something about jumping. Lucy decided to just go with the flow and picked up another mimosa.

The guild was in shambles. Broken furniture was scattered everywhere, pillars were cracked, and someone had raided the bar in the madness. Everywhere lay panting boys, bruised and exhausted. Gray piped up. "Seriously, Natsu." pant, pant. "What happened?" Natsu glared at the ceiling, then sighed. They'd find out eventually. "Well, I, kinda uhm...accidentally mistook her for part of my hoard and kidnapped her for a week…" damn, this wasn't going to be any less embarrassing than them finding out later. He took a breath. "And then she escaped, we fought each other, we fought some other dudes, she pulled my head out my ass, and now we're cool. I promised to protect her and all that. Y'know." The men nodded sagely after a moment. They'd all been in their fair share of weird situations. Everyone spent another minute staring at the ceiling before Laxus spoke up. "If Mirajane sees the bar like this she is going to be pissed." And without further ado they got up to hastily fix the guild up as best they could.

Lucy curled up in her sleeping bag, pulling the fabric over her head. After hot chocolate and a pillow fight (Erza won, although Lucy taken out half the competition by bringing Aries out and wool-bombing her opponents into submission), the girls had thrown a mountain of pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags into the lounge and everyone grabbed what they needed to make a bed. Now the air was filled with the sound of soft snores, sighs, and several people mumbling in their sleep. She distinctly heard Levy cycling through several languages as she dreamed. Lucy was the only one still awake. She huffed. Wasn't there another blanket somewhere? But no, the pile had been picked clean. So she sucked it up and burrowed into the pathetic bag that was supposed to keep her warm, and forbade herself of thinking of the source of warmth she'd been sleeping next to for the past two weeks. All the explicit advice she'd received that evening, along with the assurances that of course Natsu was into her, too, didn't help.

Thus she was very awake when she heard the window open. She froze, extending her senses as much as she could while buried in the bag. So she heard soft steps cross the floor, hesitate a moment, then come toward her. Her mind raced. Another kidnapper? Her friends were asleep and defenseless. Pulling out a lot of power could get them hurt in the crossfire. She clenched her fists, the tension building, ready to spring-

"Lucy?" a hand dropped onto her shoulder, making her thrash. "Shh! Stop stop stop!" the voice hissed, at the same time strong arms lifted her, bag and all. Lucy stopped flailing to escape; she knew that voice. Instead, she focused on trying to find the zipper to undo the sleeping bag, but in her struggles she'd turned herself around somehow and found herself trapped in the darkness. A soft zipping noise followed by light revealed Natsu undoing the bag. He stifled a laugh at her disheveled appearance. Lucy glared.

"What were you thinking?" she whispered heatedly. "Are you insane? I thought you were here to kidnap me!" He dipped his head, making her aware that she was still trapped in his arms. His lips brushed her ear. "Who says I'm not?" he teased lightly.

She couldn't stop a shudder. This wasn't fair, especially after everything the girls had talked about that evening! She pulled her scrambled thoughts together. "You can't kidnap me. When everyone wakes up in the morning they'd see I was gone and assume the worst. They'd kill you when they found out." Nevermind that they were planning on killing him anyway before resurrecting him and pushing her into his bed. Minor details.

He looked deep in thought. "Well, if I can't take you away, I'll just have to stay!"

"You can't stay! This is a girls dorm."

"C'mon, Luce. I'll be gone before anyone wakes up! I just get worried about you. And, eh, I guess I got used to sleeping with you around."

She thought she saw the lightest tinge of pink on his cheeks in the darkness. Hell. How was she supposed to say no to that? Besides, she was finally warm, cuddled against him like this. Mutely, she nodded and was treated to his grin. Carefully laying her back down, he ignored her squeak when he unzipped her sleeping bag the rest of the way and slid in next to her. Zipping them back up, they were both confronted with the lack of space. While they'd continued to share a bed, Lucy always insisted they stay on opposite sides and build the stupidest thing Natsu had ever heard of, a pillow wall. All it did was take away pillows from his head, and by the morning the wall was destroyed and he was draped all over Lucy anyway. So what was the point? But now they were stuck. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and nuzzling her hair.

Lucy's heart was going a mile a minute. He was so close! And was he...nuzzling her? This was not helping her wayward thoughts. Not at all. She squirmed a bit, but stopped when his response was to pull her even closer. Clearly there was no winning. And she was so comfortable. Despite her raging hormones, her eyes slipped closed and she drifted away to dreamland.

She woke slowly, feeling sluggish and happy and warm. She snuggled into the hard chest in front of her, feeling arms tighten around her and one hand come up to cup the back of her head. She sighed lightly. This was perfect. About to drop back off, she heard a click. Then another. Tuning into the world a little bit, she heard whispers and more clicks. What on earth? Blinking in the morning light, she turned her head and froze. They were surrounded. Wasn't Natsu supposed to have left before anyone woke up? Levy giggled and Lisanna poked her. "You're so gross, Lu-chan! Doing naughty things in a sleeping bag with everyone else here!"

They could have cooked an egg on Lucy's face. "It-it's not like that! He was just worried and wanted to make sure I was alright! So he slept here!"

"Noble as that may be, Natsu has encroached upon female-only territory on girls night. Aside from which, I believe we owe him a punishment." The girls parted for Erza to step forward, and Lucy saw that they were all putting away cameras and rolling up their sleeves. Clearly there was only one thing to do. She eased out of the sleeping Natsu's hold and gently shook him awake. His eyes fluttered open, and in a husky voice asked, "Luce? Wass goin' on?"

"Some people want to talk to you about how we met, Natsu." And she stepped out of the way. Natsu took one look at the avenging angels surrounding him, then made a break for the window. He jumped out, followed by a veritable Amazonian hoard. Lucy poked her head out the window and saw him high tailing it down the street. Just before he turned the corning, one of Levy's scripted vines tripped him up and they were on him. Lucy shook her head and began cleaning up the lounge. Maybe they could all get breakfast at the guild.

That evening, King Jude sat at his desk in his study, reviewing a proposal for farming subsidies in the northern part of his lands. Papers were piled on the desk, stacked neatly and organized by region and priority. During the day, several secretaries and advisers shared the room with him and helped with the colossal task of running a country. But now, with the sun's final rays crossing the carpet, he was alone. Or was, until a single knock came at the door, followed immediately by a tall, spare man walking in without waiting for permission. Jude scowled.

"I assume this is important. Is it Lucy?"

The man bowed in apology for the intrusion. "It is, your highness. She has sent a letter. No one has read it, but it bears her crest." He offered the envelope to Jude, who nearly snatched it. He opened it and scanned it once, then twice. Closing his eyes, he offered it to his advisor.

"Read it, Namvere. You know our country as well as I do, and my daughter perhaps better."

Namvere took the letter from his king's grasp and looked it over. He couldn't say he was surprised. Jude interrupted his musings. "Did she send this anywhere else?" He shook his head. "No, my lord."

"Good. We will send a team of the best to get her back. Word of this cannot get out. Once she returns, we will announce the marriage and complete the treaty-"

"Your Majesty."

"-Yes, Namvere?"

The advisor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not going to be easy. "Lucy has every legal right to abdicate the throne. It is entirely likely that she has set up failsafes to get that letter to the press should she be brought back. I think she sent this to us first as an offer of peace. It allows us to find alternatives to the treaty and spin this to our benefit as much as possible when we announce it to the public. Dragging her back would only create a scandal. Lucy is much loved and you could lose support from the people. Other countries would see it as a weakness, and we cannot give them that."

The king slammed a hand down on the desk. "But how could she do this?" he cried, "Lucy knew she would have to get married for the state! She knew what her duty to this country was! She was preparing to be its queen!" He was nearly apoplectic with rage. Namvere took a breath. He would have to be delicate to help Jude understand.

"She does love Argyle and has its interests at heart. She was prepared to marry for the good of the state. But you've got to recognize, Jude, that she couldn't put that above her own health and safety." Jude looked over at him, eyes narrowed. Namvere had been in his service for decades and he trusted him absolutely. It was why he allowed the man to use his given name with no title. But it was rare that the advisor did so and the king knew it meant he was deadly serious.

"What do you mean by that? Her health?"

"Jude, you spend everyday working yourself to the bone for the good of your country. And it has blossomed under your care. But I can't help but think that perhaps sometimes you are so focused on the good of many that you forget that we are a country made of individuals, and it is for each individual that we work. Lucy is one of your subjects, as we all are. Although her marriage would have furthered the good for many, the prince is a cruel man. Twisted, somehow. I don't know, but when I speak to him something is not right. Lucy had heard the rumors, she knew that to marry him was to accept her fate. But she also knows that Argyle needs this treaty. So she ran away, ambiguously enough so that Zanada doesn't realize she rejected them, and sent us a private letter renouncing her claim so that we could explore other avenues and maintain peace."

The king's head had bowed while his advisor spoke. He sat like that for a long moment, deep in thought. Then, quietly, "Perhaps you have a point." He straightened. "Do you think there is a way to bring Lucy back to her rightful place as heir to the throne, were we to break the engagement and create a separate treaty with Zanada? I trust your judgement of the prince. The last few times we have spoken I've felt uneasy. I thought perhaps it was the situation and pushed it away for the sake of the treaty. Pushed away the individual for the many, I suppose." He let out a bitter laugh. "When Lucy comes home I will choose a better husband for her. Perhaps she can help."

Namvere didn't voice his thoughts: that she wouldn't be coming home. He'd already pushed the boundaries of his position. Instead he put his head together with his king to plan out alternative treaties to offer the king of Zanada.

Neither of them noticed a fly buzz across the room and underneath the door.

The fly whizzed down the hallway, staying to the shadows. Across one wing of the palace, two floors up, and down an opulent hallway. The fly slipped under an imposing set of double doors at the end of the corridor and entered a richly furnished sitting room. Prince Tristan sat in one of the plush armchairs with a second man, deep in conversation. The fly landed on a third chair. It arched, quivered its wings oddly, and a moment later a man sat on the cushion where the fly had just been. The prince raised a brow.

"Has our host left his study already? Usually he stays later than this."

The newly transformed fly bowed his head. He was a man of middling height and weight with dark hair and entirely average features. His voice was a bit rough, retaining echos of the fly's buzzing wings. "My lord, he remains at work. But I deemed it more important to tell you what I learned now so you could prepare."

He quickly summarized the letter and conversation. The prince's face darkened in rage. "He seeks to cheat me? Him and his stupid whore of a daughter?" he hissed. "If that little bitch hadn't run away everything would have been perfect! She'd rather give up her throne than marry me? I'll kill her! I'll kill them all!" The second man sat forward, placing a firm hand on the prince's shoulder. He was large, with long purple hair in a low side ponytail. His eyes were a deep grey, cold and hard as iron. He had the air of a warrior. When he spoke it was with a deep baritone and left no room for argument.

"Do not act hastily, Prince. Our plan can still come to fruition. The girl did not send the letter to the public, and the king wants to keep it that way. If we can get her, we'll have a strong card to play. If Jude rejects her and us, then we can quietly kill him and the ambassador. You marry the princess and take the throne. All we need is the girl."

The prince was nodding. "She's evaded our men so far. I don't like it. Linnaeus-he gestured to the fly man-and I will remain here, gathering information and planning. You will pick one or two others and bring her back yourself. Do not fail me." The warrior bowed his head. "Of course, lord."

The prince leaned back, smiling lightly. "Good. Now leave, both of you. I need to relax. Vent some frustrations. Tell the guard out front to send me a girl."

As they left, he swallowed down the remainder of his wine. By the end of the month, he'd have a new wife, a country, and all the power he could ever want. And he would make them all pay.