Lucy and Natsu fought side by side against the Bonies, but it seemed that Natsu was having a lot more fun than his partner. He had quickly become skilled with the sword he was given, but Lucy was having trouble controlling her magic. She knew that, in order to use it, she had to think of protecting Natsu, but that didn't mean she could control it. The bright blue bursts emanating from her palm were erratic and random, sometimes even missing their target entirely.

They were still on the first level, and she was already panting from trying to fight off all of these rotting skeletons. She didn't know if she'd be able to make it through the whole game.

"Natsu, after we make it up this hill, we need to try to pause the game." She eyed the Bonie creeping towards her, wondering how the hell she got herself in this mess.

"Why? This is great!" He exclaimed, thrusting his sword into the chest of a Bonie, watching as it turned to ash.

"We need to make sure that we can get out of this game if we have to!" She dodged the sword, swiftly giving the Bonie one of her famous 'Lucy Kicks', sending him flying into Natsu's sword.

"Fine..." He muttered, pouting. The last Bonie had been slayed, so they began the rest of their trek up the hill. "Uh, Luce, how exactly are we supposed to pause it?"

At this, Lucy began to think, sitting on the hill, Natsu following suit. "Pause!" She shouted. Instantly, the game froze. They couldn't move from their sitting position, but Lucy, since she was the one who paused, could mover her arms and head. Natsu, on the other hand, could only talk and move his eyes.

A big blue square appeared in front of them, the blonde beginning to scroll through the options. After a few moments, she tapped on one titled 'Message'.

"Dear players," she began, "by now, you've probably already figured out that this game is enchanted! Even so, there are some rules you need to know. If you die in the game, it'll be extremely painful, but you'll respawn in 10 seconds. Don't worry, you won't die in real life! You can't leave the game until you've beaten it. If you're playing two player, then it's even harder! Whoever is playing as the Fairy Princess will need to learn how to control her powers. If you don't, then your partner, the Prince, will surely die several painful deaths! No pressure! Good luck!"

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Lucy stared at the message, feeling hopeless. "How am I supposed to do this...?" She wondered aloud. "Unpause!" She shouted, watching the message disappear.

"You can do it, Luce! Besides, I won't die so easily!" Natsu grinned, standing. He reached out, grabbing his partner's hand, hoisting her up.

She still felt unsure of herself, but nodded in agreement. They looked down the grassy hill, seeing a tall wooden ladder leading up into the sky.

"I guess that's the way we need to go!" Lucy shouted, a smile on her face. Maybe she could do this after all? She grabbed Natsu's hand, running towards the ladder. She began climbing up the ladder, only realizing about halfway up that she was in a dress, and that Natsu could see under it.

"Natsu, you'd better not be looking up my dress!" She shouted, peeking down, eyes catching his red cheeks.

"Yeah, right! Like I'd want to look!"

"Whatever you say, pervert." She continued climbing up the ladder, but stared confused when it ended next the cloud. Cautiously, she stepped onto the fluffy cotton cloud, sighing in relief when she was able to stand on it.

Natsu stepped on it, as well, grinning like an idiot. "This is so cool!" He exclaimed, beginning to run on the cloud. When Lucy saw that he was headed for a discolored part of the cloud, she had a bad feeling in her gut.

"Natsu, watch out!" She shouted, running after him. She made it just in time, grabbing his hand and pulling him back before he could step on the grey portion of the white cloud.

However, her momentum made her fall forward, right towards the grey cloud. She felt her body pass right through it, the wind whistling in her ears as she fell towards the ground, her screams taken away by the wind. She could barely hear Natsu yelling for her. The ground crept closer with each passing second, cutting her scream short as she hit it. Her body cracked loudly; bones were definitely broken. Pain soared throughout her body, but she couldn't make a sound. The pain turned to numbness, and she could barely feel the blood trickle from the corner of her mouth. Her vision faded, turning everything to blackness. Guess her wings were just for decoration.

10 seconds passed and Lucy suddenly appeared behind a weeping Natsu. What just happened? Did I really just die? Her mind felt fuzzy, and she couldn't stop thinking about the noise her body made when it hit the ground. The crack it made reminded her of the sound of several eggs being thrown against a rock.

"N-Natsu?" She whispered, slowly approaching him. At the sound of her voice, he whipped around so fast that she thought he would have whiplash.

"Luce?" He asked, as though he was unsure. His face was wet with tears as he stared at her. Seeing that he didn't believe his eyes, Lucy smiled, walking over to him.

She dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around him. "It's me, Natsu. I'm okay." She felt him wrap his warm arms around her, practically crushing her with his embrace. She shivered slightly as she felt him inhale her scent.

"Natsu, I'm okay, really! Besides, we need to get going if we're ever going to get out of this game." Her partner didn't budge, and she just sighed. When she looked back up, she saw a few Bonies making their way over to them. "Natsu, we've got company!"

"I'll protect you." He whispered, standing up, turning to face their enemies. He charged them, sword glinting in the sunlight. It was over before Lucy could blink, rendering her speechless. She stood up, making her way over to Natsu who just stood there, staring at the ash that blew away.

"That was amazing!" He smiled, his cheeks no longer wet from tears.

"I meant it, Luce. I'll protect you until I die." His statement made her heart race and her cheeks heat up. "Now, let's go!" He pumped his fist in the air. "I'm all fired up!"

xxx

Lucy was slowly starting to get better with her magic, but not good enough. Every now and then, she was successful in taking out a Bonie, but it was like Natsu was made for this game. His sword would easily cut down any Bonie that got in their way, and whenever he protected Lucy from an attack, her heart would stutter and her cheeks would tinge pink. She also couldn't help the thoughts of 'Wow, he looks so amazing' and 'How have I never noticed how handsome he is?' that invaded her mind. He was acting like her Prince Charming who saved her when she needed him.

It was weird.

"Luce, watch out!" Natsu shouted at her, sword clanging against another. A Bonie had backed her up to another grey portion of the cloud, her heels just barely hanging over it.

The Bonie raised its sword, but Lucy wasn't planning on dying again. At the last second, she kicked the Bonie's feet from beneath it, watching as it fell through the grey cloud to its doom below. Natsu easily defeated his own enemy, watching as Lucy jumped over the discolored portion of the cloud to the fluffy white side.

"Natsu, I think we're almost at the end! Let's go!" She smiled, running along the cloud. Natsu was hot on her trail, a small smile on his own face.

They reached a glowing red light, slowing down to study it. Before Lucy could ask what it was, Natsu reached out, touching it. The entire sky lit up in a beautiful rose red, making them shield their eyes. When the light vanished, Natsu was left holding a little red shard.

"Thank you, my Prince." They recognized the Princess' voice as the shard disappeared from Natsu's hand. Then everything went white as they were transported to the next level.

(A/N)

This is hard to write. I feel like I'm not getting enough detail in to help you guys picture what's in my head. It'll get better, I promise.

Leave a review!

~StarCrusader~