Lucy could hardly believe the two weeks had already come and gone so quickly, as she stared out from the balcony. Worse of all, she wasn't sure why this time she had chosen to watch Natsu and Loke battled it out against each other. The princess was just sure about an uneasy feeling within her heart. It bothered her greatly as she gazed at the two boys below her. Sighing, she rested her head against the railing. Just be safe….

"So you still want to go through with this?"

Natsu smirked back at Loke before stretching. "Of course!" he called. "I'm all fired up and there's no way I could lose to you."

A chuckle escaped from Loke. He glanced up to where the blonde gazed down at them both before turning his attention back towards his opponent. "Well then," he began. "How about you go first?"

A small chuckle of excitement escaped Natsu before he suddenly leaped back. "I like the sound of that!" he called. He took in a deep breath of air, his cheeks filling up to an enormous size. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Opening his mouth, he released a large stream of fire from his mouth heading straight towards his opponent.

In response, Loke began taking on the stance he had done in their previous battle. Bending his right arm, he grabbed its bicep with his left hand before throwing his clenched right fist into the air. Timing the attack, he began to spin his arms in a circular motion as a large mass of light began to form from them. "Regulus Blast!" he yelled as the beam of light shot forward to collide with the dragon slayer's fire. The two attacks made a large explosion upon impact, sending them both back a few yards. Loke stood up straighter once the smoke cleared. "Remember Natsu, I have attacks that can counter your every move."

"So what?!" Natsu demanded, unfazed by the blast. He wasn't going to give up in this fight this easily or early. He quickly ignited his feet into flames and began to propel himself towards Loke. "I'll just use every move I got!"

"Lion Brilliance!"

Loke took on his famous stance yet again, letting out a large amount of light from his body that began to take over a wide radius. This caught Natsu off guard, stopping him in flight and the boy began to cover his eyes to shield himself from the bright light. Loke quickly took his chance of the opportunity and dashed forward, stopping just in front of Natsu before landing a punch to the boy's face. Natsu quickly shook his head, stunned from the mass amount of light and from the hit. Growling, the boy's hands broke out into flames.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he snapped, and began swinging to and fro at his opponent. Loke began to dodge the attack furiously only for one to finally hit him across the jaw. Natsu smirked only for the smile to wipe from his face as Loke began to punch back at the same force, his hands covered in a giant sum of light. Natsu remembered the attack from their last fight and began using an increase speed in his punches. "Fire Dragon's Fist!" His punches landed swiftly only to be blocked and countered by Loke's own with immense speed.

Meanwhile, the princess stared down at the sight below as she was just beginning to recover from Loke's giant light beam. "Those two are so strong," she murmured as she rubbed at her agitated eyes. Opening them back up, she watched in uneasiness as the two continued to punch at each other furiously, only to sigh. "And evenly matched…." Suddenly, a large yell caught her attention. Looking up she saw Natsu leaping into the air once again as fire began to develop on both of his eyes. Her eyes widen in alarm.

"With a flame on the right hand," Natsu shouted into the air as hands became engulfed in flames as he chanted. "And a flame on the left hand; when you combine the flame together; Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"He then joined both of his hands together as he finished the incantation, creating a larger flame. The dragon slayer then hurled the fireball at his opponent.

Loke quickly took his familiar stance, calling on light to develop on his right hand before releasing a bright light from him hand. "Regulus Beam!" The two attacks hit with tremendous power, Natsu's fire causing a rather large explosion. Once this one cleared, both boys stood, panting as they continued to stare each other down. "This is getting old…"

Natsu wiped at his face, scowling. He glanced up at the princess who looked on in fear before uttering his next set of words. "Let's hurry this up then!" he growled. At this, the boy became engulf in a frenzy of flames only for sparks of lightning to surround him as well. His keen sense of hearing caught the gasp that escaped the princess. He could only guess she was remembering his fight with Laxus when he had first learned how to call on this mode. Glaring back at Loke, the boy began to prepare himself for the attack, fire seeping from his mouth. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!" Releasing the spell, a large sparking blast shot forward, creating an immense amount of light.

"I remember this," Loke muttered. Taking his stance, he opened his right palm and began gathering as much light as he could. Finally he closed it tightly into a fist and it collided with the flame. At this, his punch took on the shape of a large lion's head. The lion opened up its mouth, releasing light to strike even harder at Natsu's attack.

Lucy could only watch in fear as the two attacks created yet another explosion below her. This time the aftermath traveled up towards her, a gust picking up as it blew at her skirt and other things through the wind. Once it cleared she could see just how tired Natsu really was after his last move, determined not to back down. Loke glared back at the boy, rooted to his spot in challenge and anticipation of the boy's next move. The princess wasn't sure if she could bear watching this any longer. This is what Natsu meant before, she thought to herself, feeling tears welling up in her eyes as Natsu began to tremble on his feet. How can I watch two nakama fight to the end? Silently, Natsu ignited his fist into another flame while the other became surrounded in lightning. Loke raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You still wish to fight?" he questioned, taking note of the dragon slayer's weakness. "You barely have enough energy to keep moving."

"I'm not letting you take the princess away," he snarled only to flinch; he could feel his old wounds acting up. "She once told me she wanted to find love on her own. You taking her away from here won't help her at all. I want the princess to have happiness. As long as my nakama is happy, then I will be happy, but what you're doing won't make either of us happy!" As his anger took over, his fire and lightning began to become even larger. "I'll fight you till death if I have to!"

"Then death it will be."

Natsu prepared himself to charge forward at his opponent only to feel something link its way across his waist. Stopping, he peered down to see the blonde hair of the girl both of them had been fighting over. She began to bury her head against his back, doing her best to stifle her small cries. "Please don't kill him," she quietly wept, pressing herself closer to him. "I can't bear to watch someone else die."

"Princess…" the dragon slayer murmured, extinguishing his hands and dropping them at his sides. "I wasn't - "

"Why do you have to be so careless?! If you continue fighting, you will be dead. You can't handle using all of that lightning power and you know it! I can't lose you too, Natsu."

The boy glanced over at Loke before letting out a sigh and began to rub at the back of his head. The princess loosened her grip, glancing up at him only for Natsu to turn around and face her. Smiling softly, he took her into his arms. "I made you sad again, didn't I?" he whispered. "I can't seem to ever make you happy."

"That's not true," she replied, tightening her grip on him. "We've had some good times where you've made me laugh and cry tears of joy. I just can't lose a nakama to death, Natsu."

Natsu gazed down at her in confusion. He hadn't expected the princess to become so irrational by watching this entire fight. But I didn't want her to see before, he thought to himself. Why hadn't I expected this? Hugging her tighter, he murmured an apology only to look up at the simple applause coming from behind. Turning his head with an annoyed look on his face, he gazed at Loke with a mixture of emotions.

"I guess you win this fight," Loke announced.

"What?!" the pink haired mage gasped. "We didn't even finish it!"

"I can't take the princess away from something she loves even more than me. You'll present her to her father."

"I'll do what now…?"

"We're going home, Natsu," Lucy replied causing him to look back down at her. "You won my happiness."

A large smile came to Natsu's face. "I guess I did!"

Lucy stood in the doorway, staring at the room she had called her own for the past few months. She could hardly believe her time here was already over. A tiny sigh escaped her as she leaned against the door in comfort, Leon held tightly in her arms. Leo had kept true to his words, sending Virgo and Taurus to fetch her and Natsu within a small amount of days. She was finally going home! It would feel great to step back inside the castle again; however, she was feeling completely unsure of the outcome once she returned home. Her father had thrown her away once after all, how could she be sure he wouldn't do it again?

"They're waiting for us Princess."

Lucy turned around in astonishment. "Natsu, you scared me."

"Sorry," he replied cheekily before holding out his hand. A part of him was eager to head back to the castle as well, but something was also bugging him. He just wasn't sure how to tell the Princess. "Come on, I'm sure your father is dying to see you."

"But….won't you miss this place?" she questioned as they descended the stairs one final time. She glanced over her shoulder back towards the doorway she would never enter again. Natsu glanced back at her in confusion. "I mean, we had a lot of memories here, in this tower." They had now reached outside and she began staring at it longingly.

"Nah," Natsu finally replied, shoeing away the idea. "This tower might have let me find you but it also made me lose all my memories."

"But it'll allow you to create new ones."

"Ready to go, Princess?" Virgo interrupted the two as Taurus mounted the front part of the carriage to take hold of the reins.

She opened the door, extending her hands. The girl glanced at Natsu before nodding and stepping inside with the help of Virgo. Natsu followed in after her, sitting across from the blonde. Taurus let out a loud moo before they headed off. The ride back towards the kingdom was a silent one. Lucy couldn't help staring at her hands while occasionally glancing up at the dragon slayer who was too busily staring out the window. Her eyes traveled back to his burned hands she had bandaged not too long ago. She began to wonder were they bothering him. Had she bandaged them wrong? Was that why he was completely ignoring her? Suddenly she heard an illogical mutter and her eyes flew open at the sight of Natsu halfway hanging out of the window.

"Natsu!" she yelped, grabbing hold of him and pulling him back into the cart. As she did this, the carriage hit a bump and sent the two flying back to one side. Rubbing her head, she heard Natsu mumble incoherently. She quickly began to shake him to try and gain the boy's attention when the carriage began to come to a stop. A part of her began to fear something was happening outside when she heard the voice of Virgo calling her name.

"Is everything okay back there Princess?"

"It's Natsu!" she yelled. "I think he's sick or something."

"M-make it stop," he stammered in her lap.

The princess took his head in her hands, searching his eyes. What's wrong with you? she asked herself frantically. Suddenly the boy's eyes began to clear and he stared up at her in exhaustion. A sigh of relief escaped her. "He's alright, Virgo!" she called in order to stop the maid from checking on them. Turning her eyes back to Natsu, a tiny frown came to her face. "Are you alright?"

"As long as the carriage has stopped, then yes," he mumbled.

So the carriage made him sick? Lucy blinked in confusion. "Natsu, you wouldn't happen to have motion sickness, would you?"

"Motion sickness? What's -"

Before he could finish his words, the carriage lurched off again and he quickly began gagging in her lap again as if he was going to barf. The princess slide away from him, leaving him to lie on the seat as they continued to move. Well, she was sure there was no way to deny it now but he really did have motion sickness. She just hoped he would recover by the time they reached the kingdom. Sighing, Lucy pulled out her magic book and began reading up on dragon slayer's again. Ever since she had learned what Natsu was, she kept doing her best to learn even more about them, abandoning some of her old studies of different types of magic related to the stars.

Time passed quicker this way and in no time at all Lucy found herself within the kingdom's village again. Placing the book down, she peered out of the window at the many town's folk only to smile. They were so happy to see her that she couldn't help but grin back at them. Occasionally she would wave back to them all. This made her feel at ease. Perhaps her father would truly welcome her back home now. After all, he had allowed Virgo and Taurus to bring her home. It wasn't before long they were just outside the palace and entered through its gates. The carriage came to a stop; the princess sat up, waiting patiently as Virgo opened the door only for the maid's eyes to focus on the passed out Natsu.

"Is he alright?" she questioned.

"He just need a few minutes to breathe," Lucy replied, smiling. As if she was right on cue, Natsu's eyes began to focus on his surroundings again and his gaze fell on her as she began to exit the carriage. He soon slid out after her. "It's good to see you've recovered."

Natsu rubbed his head. "I guess so," he agreed as he followed after her into the castle. Eyes became huge as he entered the atrium, the ceilings high above his head. Every few yards down the hall seemed to hang a different photo. Beneath his feet seemed to be a strange endless burgundy and golden decorated carpet. His mouth hung open agape. "This is where you lived?"

"It looks better than what it really is."

"I will go and tell your father of your arrival," Virgo stated, bowing once before disappearing and left the two alone.

"This is some strange place," the dragon slayer muttered. "I thought the tower had confusing hallways."

"I know these rather well," Lucy replied smiling. She suddenly looked up at the sound of footsteps, seeing the appearance of the familiar strawberry blonde in glasses. "Loke!" The princess raced towards him, grabbing him into a hug. She heard the mage growl in annoyance but quickly ignored it. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure everything goes well," he replied, dropping their embrace. He shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing up at the pink haired boy. "I see you haven't changed.

"Like hell I would," Natsu snapped.

"Boys!" Lucy warned them both. She didn't need them both breaking out into a fight within her father's chambers. He already had a huge dislike towards magic. She could only image how he would react seeing the walls and floors burned. The two continued to glare at each other silently, but listened to the girl's orders.

"Princess," Virgo announced. "Your father will see, both of you."

A tiny smile came to Lucy's face before she grabbed hold of Natsu's arms. The boy hesitated before allowing her to pull him down a few hallways until he began to retaliate. Lucy took note of his struggles and came to a stop in the middle of the corridor. She placed her hands on her hips, gazing at him in confusion. "What's your problem?" she demanded. She thought they had both agreed earlier to go and face her father together. Now he was acting as if he was going to leave her to fend for herself. "Well?"

"I-I don't know about this, Princess," the dragon sighed.

The princess tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"What if….what if your father won't accept me." He paused seeing the look in her honey brown eyes before holding up his hands. "Listen to me first! Your father wanted to find you a prince, but instead you're bringing home a dragon. Not only that, but a mage. Your old man hates magic. You told me yourself!"

Lucy looked crestfallen at this. "I never said my father hated magic," she began. "He just banded it after my mother passed away. There's still one guild he will associate with because it serves underneath our kingdom, but that is the only exception he has for magic. However," She stopped for a moment, giving Natsu a brilliant smile to show him she wasn't afraid of what could possibly happen to them. She was too happy about all of this to feel worried now. She had left all of those feelings behind back in the carriage. "If my father truly loves me, he'll accept you."

"I guess that's true…"

The two came to the entry way of the throne room. The princess looked back at the dragon slayer for a brief moment, smiling, before taking hold of his hand and leading him into the galleria. The king sat upon his throne, staring down at his daughter and friend with unblinking eyes. Lucy stopped before her father, dropping her hand from Natsu's. She then did a small curtsy, Natsu following her lead with a small bow of his own.

"It's good to see you, Father," the princess chimed, smiling up at her father.

"And you as well, Daughter," he replied, eyeing Natsu for a moment. His gray gaze fell on the boy with an unreadable expression. "So, is this the boy who out did the rest?"

Lucy glanced back at Natsu. She wasn't sure how she going to be able to tell her Father the truth about Natsu. Had he known he was really a boy after all upon getting him as a dragon to watch the tower? How would he react to this? And what about the worse part that she did not want to marry still? "I guess you could say something like that." She smiled at her father fondly. She heard her father mumble to himself, before waving his hands at Natsu. The princess glanced back at the dragon slayer, understanding her father's actions. She leaned towards him, her voice nothing but a whisper. "He wishes to speak with me alone."

"Will you be alright?" Natsu demanded quietly. Something about him, he still wasn't sure he could trust the king. When the princess nodded, the boy sighed before backing out of the room. He stopped once he crossed into the foyer, leaning his back against the wall as he glanced back into the room.

"Eavesdropping, aren't we?"

Natsu looked up only to gasp in astonishment. "What are you doing here?" he growled as he glared at the strawberry blonde. He already had enough of the boy from their earlier fights. He was just about ignite his hands aflame when Loke suddenly held up his hands to stop him and shook his head, placing a single finger up to his lips. His gaze wasn't focused on him. Natsu narrowed his eyes in return before turning them back to the room where Loke's were resting as well. "So I'm eavesdropping?" he whispered.

"Let's just say we agree on something for once," the man smirked.

The two boys turned their attention back into the room, noticing the king beginning to rub his temple as he sat on his throne. He seemed to be mumbling incoherently until he finally looked up to gaze at his daughter. His eyes held an unreadable emotion within them causing Lucy to have an onset of uneasiness within her. Finally, her father sighed before speaking.

"I sent you away," he began dejectedly. "In hopes of finding you a suitor worthy of taking over this kingdom, and instead -"

"Natsu isn't a bad guy, Father," the princess quickly reproached. "I know he might not be a prince, but he really is a wonderful person once you get to know him. He's loyal and kind; he's taught me the meaning of friendship; he's very protective; he's caring and he's -"

"He's a mage!" Her father spat.

His daughter flinched at his tone. "W-well, yes, but Father you have to understand. Natsu -"

"I am afraid it is you who doesn't understand! Lucy, you know the law against magic in this kingdom and you know best how I feel about mages."

"You can't continue to hate mages if Mother was one too!"

An eerie silence filled the room. Natsu's eyes widen in shock. He remembered correctly and the princess had never mentioned her mother being a mage. She had only spoken how her mother had told her all about constellations and such. What else is she keeping from me? Natsu thought to himself. He was brought back to his sense as he heard the angry yell of the king and gulped.

"Leave your Mother out of this! Lucy, you have failed me, yourself and your kingdom by returning home with this mage, this mere peasant. Have you no shame to even notice to mark on his arm?"

"His mark…?" the princess echoed in confusion. Lucy recollected her thoughts about everything she had noticed Natsu upon him turning human. His scarf; his clothes; his pink hair; his pointed canines and…He did have a mark on his bicep, she thought to herself suddenly. She suddenly remembered seeing the red shape, mystified by what it could possibly be but knew it was better to not ask him about it. Natsu had lost all of his memories so she was positive it he wouldn't even remember how he had gotten the mark to begin with. Tears began to well in her eyes at her stupid mistake, her voice coming out as a whisper. "It means something, doesn't it?"

"He's a mage, from a guild," her father replied quietly but she could still detect the venom in his voice. "You were blinded by your love for him to even notice that. I've told you before, guilds are nothing but trouble."

"Bu-but one works for you…the entire kingdom. Natsu isn't any trouble."

"Because they work for the good of this kingdom! You're so blinded, that you're not even paying attention to what you've been taught and only viewing him as an answer for everything." Suddenly, the king got up from his seat and walked over towards his daughter. He stared at her with upmost fury before letting out a sigh. "You have two choices from what I'm about to say. You can either forget about this mage, and return to the tower for the right prince to help you rule this kingdom, or you can leave, forgetting about your royal heritage, giving up your title, and never return."

"But I just can't leave! What about Mother's grave?"

"That will be your only exception to the rule."

Lucy stared at her father, expecting him to change his mind only to see him turn away from her. She could feel the tears beginning to stream from her face now. "You can't keep sending me away to solve your problems," she whispered. "Nor can this family forget the magic that brought happiness into our lives. I'm sorry, Father." She paused, wiping at her eyes before removing the tiara from her head. "But I cannot continue being the Heartfilia heiress. I can't give up the one friend that I've made that likes me, for me and sees past my status."

At her words, the king turned around to face her only to see that his daughter refused to look at him. She held out the crown towards him at arm's length. Sighing, he took the tiara from her. "You are to not return to this kingdom unless otherwise asked," he said.

He glanced once at his daughter, preparing to give her a hug only for her to step back from him. Lucy stared at her father with tearful eyes but racing out the room, passed the two boys who had listened to the entire conversation. Natsu prepared himself to race after her only to feel a hand on his shoulder as Loke held him back. He turned around to see the strawberry blonde shake his head.

"But she needs me!" Natsu objected.

"What she needs is some time alone," Loke countered. He waited patiently for the boy to calm down before releasing his hold on him. He peered back into the throne room seeing that the king had already departed as well. He let out a sigh before resting his back against it, folding his arms. "Well you've really done it now, haven't ya?" He paused when he saw the boy's angered look and chuckled. "I'm kidding. The old man was bound to do something like that some day. The princess has always been rebellious."

"But he didn't have to just throw her out like that."

"Perhaps….but she did make her choice on her own. Its kind funny in its own way," Loke paused to let out a small chuckle. "Most princesses marry a prince, but in this case a peasant."

"I'm not a peasant!" Natsu snapped, ignited his hands into flames and his face began to redden. "And I never said anything about marrying the princess…"

"That's right, you're a dragon. It sounds like a bad fairy tale if you ask me." He stopped, noticing the mage's reddening face. "You're pathetic you know."

Suddenly Natsu's eyes grew wide and he extinguished his flames. He then picked Loke up by the collar, catching the man off guard. "What did you just say?" he questioned, seriousness behind his tone.

"I called you stupid."

"No! Before that; you said something being bad."

Loke blinked in confused only for the reason behind Natsu's questioned suddenly dawned on him. "I said this all sounds like a bad fairy tale…why?"

"Be-because," Natsu loosen his grip on Loke and lowered the man back onto the ground. He then rubbed his neck. "Those words just stick out to me for some reason….And now that I think about it, your scent brings some memory of the word as well."

"There's a reason for that, Natsu," Loke replied, walking over to the boy and began to tap the insignia on his shoulder. Natsu looked up at him in confusion only to cause Loke to smile. "You're mind and heart is just beginning to work out that the words serve as an important purpose in your life."

Natsu blinked, glancing at his shoulder. What does he mean? He questioned himself. In response, he began to see a set of familiar faces flash before his eyes; faces that were beaming with happiness, laughter and support. There was a feeling deep within him as if he knew these people. As quick as the vision had came, it was over. The dragon slayer slowly shook his head. Had that really just happened? He turned to look at Loke who was still staring at him expectantly.

"Well?"

"Fairy Tail…" Natsu whispered, glancing back at the insignia on his arm. "My guild…..it's Fairy Tail."