Thanks for the love, readers.

I own only the plot of this story.

Later that evening, Lucy retired early, telling her father she was tired from all the excitement following her engagement. In reality, she really needed some time alone to sort through what had happened after she'd agreed to marry Gray. Her reaction had shocked her so much that she hadn't been able to breathe, hadn't spoken in the few seconds following her answer. Gray had been hugging her and talking to her, but she hadn't heard through the buzzing in her head.

The pain and discomfort had thankfully faded before he pulled away, but she still didn't understand why she had reacted as she had. While she had never thought about marrying Gray before today, he wasn't a bad choice and her bodily response had felt unnecessarily violent.

Her maids came in shortly after she did to prepare a bath for her. Once she stepped into the warm water, she focused on loosening all of her muscles, from her toes to the top of her head. The water was deliciously hot, and filled with her favorite vanilla bath salts. As she sank into the water up to her neck, she forgot for a few minutes that she had any problems at all. Now that she had a fiance, her father had informed her that the rest of the week was open to her to do as she pleased. He'd gone so far as to inform her that he was putting together an escort so that she could go into town the following day. A day away from the castle and an open week had been the best news she'd had since coming home.

For a while she thought about nothing but the heat, the smell and the water that surrounded her. When she glanced at the window after a time, she saw that the sun was setting. Natsu would be showing up soon enough and the water had cooled, so she called for her maids, who helped her put on her robe and cleaned up the tub. Ten minutes later, she was sitting at her vanity brushing her hair as the door shut behind her maids for the last time that night. A small noise at the other end of the room was her only warning as, suddenly, she found herself in a bruising embrace.

Even though she couldn't see, the heat surrounding her could only be one person, so she tried to focus on breathing as Natsu clung to her. She wasn't sure how long he held her, but eventually he pulled away and started checking her over, moving the robe away so he could see her skin.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" She pulled the halves of her robe together as he tried to part them during his search. As she looked at him, she finally realized that his skin was pink everywhere that she could see it. Glancing at the windows again, she realized he shouldn't be here yet. There was no way he could make it from his cave to her home in the short time since the sun had gone down. "Natsu-"

"I felt it," he whispered, his voice breaking. "I felt that you were in pain and I couldn't do anything about it in my stupid cave." He pulled her close again, reassured that she wasn't hurt. "I was so scared that something had happened, I couldn't sleep."

"Natsu, how did you get here already? What happened to your skin?"

"I… I couldn't wait for the sun to set. I had to make sure you were okay."

Lucy blinked as she felt something wet and hot seep into her robe where he face rested. "Natsu…" She hugged him as tight as she dared with his burned skin. "Natsu, I'm okay."

"But you weren't, and I wasn't here. I'm a terrible friend."

"Natsu, that's not true, don't say that." Lucy pulled back suddenly. She studied his face, his too pink skin spotted with blisters, his eyes wide and wet with tears. "Wait, what do you mean you felt it? You felt that I was in pain?"

"Yes, some time in the afternoon I think. I wanted to come to you then, but the sun was too high so I couldn't leave the cave."

"Natsu, that isn't normal."

"It isn't?"

"No." Her brain hummed as she thought about the conclusions she'd come to about her dreams. "Has that ever happened to you before?"

"No, but I've never had a friend before."

"That's not a part of becoming friends." Lucy's mind raced. She had to talk to him about the dreams. There had to be a connection. First, she had to do something about his burns. She carefully took his hands as she stood. "I need you to sit and be quiet for a moment, okay?" After he nodded, she led him to her bed and then moved towards the door to the hall.

Lucy opened the door, finding two guards situated near her door, one on either side. Thankfully, neither of them was Bickslow, and neither tended to ask questions when given orders. "Hey, I need a favor. I need one of the big tins of aloe from the healer's room, and I also need a big portion of supper brought up. As soon as you can, please." After one of them nodded, she shut the door and returned to Natsu's side. He'd managed to lay down in her bed, sprawled out on his back with his face turned into her pillow.

"Natsu, I have something I need to talk to you about."

"What happened earlier? Why were you in so much pain?"

"That's actually part of what I want to talk to you about." She sat next to him after tightening the belt on her robe. "Natsu, how long have you been a dragon?"

"What do you mean? I've been a dragon my whole life."

"Are you… sure?"

Natsu thought about the dream with the mage, the one in the cave where he watches her burn him. "As far as I can remember. Why?"

"I haven't known how to bring this up, and I still don't, but I think it's time. I don't know how, but I think that you and I, or at least my family line, are connected somehow."

His eyebrows pulled together over his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I have been dreaming about you for years, or rather, who I suspect you use to be. Since I was young, I've had dreams about a man who looks just like you when you look like this," she said with a gesture. "I'm not me, exactly, but I look close enough it's probably a relative. I don't think that they're just dreams, I think I've managed to somehow inherit memories from one of my ancestors and that my family may have had a hand in turning you into a dragon, but I have no idea why."

Natsu stared up at her with wide eyes, his mouth opening and closing without making sound. As he floundered, there was a knock at the door and Lucy went to answer it. One of the guards had a tray loaded down with all the things she'd asked for. As he tried to bring it in, she thanked him and took it, quickly shutting the door behind her.

She carried the tray over, setting it on the bedside table as she noticed Natsu was still spacing out, his mouth moving but not appearing to make any words. Lucy picked up the tin of aloe and started carefully rubbing it over his skin. After covering the skin of both arms, Natsu finally managed to regain some composure. "You think I'm not a dragon? How? I mean, why?"

Lucy continued to smooth the aloe over his skin as she told him about some of the dreams, leaving out the ones where they did anything more than hold hands, and also about the conclusions she had drawn. By the time she was done talking, she'd pulled off his shirt and was spreading more aloe across his back. Apparently his clothing hadn't helped protect him at all. He didn't say anything as she finished his back and moved to his front. As she smoothed the cream over his chest, she was distracted from his defined musculature by the confused, almost scared look on his face. He spoke before she could, saying words she never expected to hear.

"I… have had dreams, too."