"It's that girl!" the man shouts, creating a scene. "I swear! The girl who murdered my friend when he was on duty with me! I saw her that day on the castle walls! She killed him!"

Huh? What are they talking about? I can feel eyes death stare at me. What is going on?!

The old lady next to him widened her eyes. "That girl?! She… She was the one who killed my son?! Why… Why is she with the prince?!"

People begin to crowd around us. Natsu looks back at me and then at the crowd. I can feel tension building up in my lungs. It is hard to breathe.

"Lucy?" Natsu says. I can hear his shaky breathes. "This isn't true… right?"

I can feel my shoulders tense up. The crowd around us seems to get larger and larger. "N-Natsu…"

"Lucy, they're wrong, right?" he says with a weak smile. "You didn't kill one of my people, did you?"

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I want to scream and tell him that it was self-defense, but all this pressure from the crowd is getting me. I can't move. I'm frozen.

Mom… Dad… I'm scared.

"See! She isn't saying anything!" I hear someone from the crowd shout. "She's guilty!"

Natsu doesn't say anything. He just looks down at the ground, eyes widened. His warm hands gradually become cold fists. I begin to tremble in fear.

I just lost his trust.

My legs feel like lead.

"Get her!" I hear a man shout.

I spin my head around. Suddenly, a whole mob of people begins to run toward me in all directions. My heart starts pounding. I can feel adrenaline run through me. I have to run.

A huge man is leading the mob. He reminds me of Elfman back when we were trainees, recklessly charging at me. I stand in the same stance as I did as a child. The man looks about two-hundred pounds. He probably runs about eight miles per hour, which means that he'll probably get to me in four more seconds.

Two seconds.

I dodged to the left as he tried to punch me from the right. Quickly, I raise my hands up and use the person in front of me as a boost to jump over her. I push on her shoulders, making her lean forward, and step on her back, launching forward.

I step on many people's backs as I run. And… I cry.

Why am I crying? This isn't my country anyway. I don't belong here.

I just don't belong.

As I get to the end, my tears are blinding me. I lose my balance and fall on the ground, right outside the crowd. My face slams into the sand. Quickly, I get up, wipe the salty tears out of my eyes, and sprint.

I make a right and hide behind a large wagon. The crowd chasing me earlier runs past me. I make a soft sigh in relief but my tears won't stop falling. Why? A soldier like me shouldn't be crying. I'm not supposed to have emotions like this. Stop it, Lucy. Stop.

Out of curiosity, I slowly crawl back to the scene. Natsu is still standing where I left him. He seems too shocked to move. He is trembling. I want to run back to him, hug him, hold his hand. But I can't. Those eyes he used to look at me when he heard about my murder of his guard… They were full of hatred.

I want to tell him that it was out of self-defense. The guard was going to kill me. If I didn't murder him first, I would have been the one who died.

But then again, I was the one who invaded in the first place. The guard was only doing his job.

It was me who was wrong.

But where do I go now?

Maybe I should go back to Fiore. I should go home.

I sprint toward the walls that lead to the outside. But then I stop a guard at the entrance. He doesn't seem to open the gate unless I have a license. Crap.

Suddenly, I hear a faint sound of wheels rolling. I look behind me and see a large merchant's cart rolling down the street. Perfect. I can hide behind that.

I step to the side and wait for the man driving the cart to roll past me. When he does, instantly, I jump inside, laying my body down and hiding under his products.

"Hello sir," I hear the guard say in a gruff voice. "May I see your id?"

The merchant brings out his id and then I feel the cart roll through again. I escape the Dragoon Kingdom successfully. Once I am far enough, I quietly jump off and run back to where I left my horse when I first invaded this kingdom.

I jump on my horse and pet her mane. "Sorry for the wait," I whisper.

I make a loud whistle, a signal for my horse to start.

I'm heading home.

I guess that I am homesick. But for my home at Fiore… or my bedroom in Natsu's castle?

What am I saying? Of course, I miss Fiore. I miss my king and queen, Prince Gray, and Levy. I miss all my trainee friends. I should be happy to be home.

But why do I seem to miss Natsu even more?

I just saw him only moments ago, but already I want to be held in his arms again.

I want him to kiss me on the forehead again.

I begin to break into tears again.

"You will fall in love with me and accept my proposal," Natsu said with confidence. He made a large smirk. "You can count on it."

You idiot, Natsu.

Idiot…

I already fell for you a long time ago.

But now it's too late for me to accept your marriage proposal.

You don't trust me anymore. I killed one of your people.

I'm a criminal in your country. Do I still have the right to love you?

I'm sorry… but I love you.

- End of Chapter 11 -