The next day was bright, warm, and sunny, a perfect day for fishing. Natsu and Happy took Lucy down to the creek where they spent most of the day catching fish. Natsu would cast his line, Happy would bat his large paws at the fish, and Lucy would watch with a smile while cooling her feet in the water. They talked for hours and then the line to Natsu's pole caught a bite. He reeled in a very large fish, wrapping it up in his satchel.

"Now you try." He told her.

He carefully placed the fishing pole into her hands and kept his own gently over hers, Hisarms were also around her but she showed no sign of fear or disgust at touching his scaly skin. Yet just like with his sister, the scales did not feel sharp to Lucy. They felt as soft as goose feathers.

"Now you just draw back a little." Natsu instructed. "And then you let the line fly."

He moved her arms to draw back and together they through the fishing line into the creek. She caught a fish much sooner then he had.

"Beginner's luck." He had chuckled.

"You're just jealous because mine is bigger." She teased.

After catching about six fine fishes, they returned to the house where Natsu taught her how to gut the meat and cook it. Now being a princess, this was something that Lucy had never been taught to do, and at first she was a little skittish about cutting a fish and ripping out it's bones, but she found the cooking part quite fun. However cooking didn't come as naturally to her as catching a fish. First time she tried it by herself, she burned it up.

"Sorry." She said looking down at the meat that had been charred black.

"Don't feel bad." Natsu told her. "It took my sister and myself an entire year to cook anything right and we didn't have anyone to teach us."

"I still can't believe the two of you, as small children, managed to survive in the forest alone for all those years." Lucy said.

"We weren't alone. We had each other and we had Happy."

"Yes but no mother, no father, no one to guide you."

"It was difficult but where there's a will, there's a way. Funny thing though, when our mother was on her deathbed she told us that on earth or in Heaven, she would always be there to watch over us. My sister believes that our mother's spirit is protecting us both, and that's how we survived as long as we did."

"If you don't mind me asking, what were your parents like? Do you remember?"

"I was very young when I lost them. But I remember. My mother was beautiful. Her hair was silken and pink with azure highlights. Her skin as was fair as moonlight and her eyes were as blue as a monarch butterfly. My sister looks almost exactly like her. Our father says that he met her when he was out hunting and he was going to shoot a swan. She stopped him because that swan in particular had a mate and seven goslings. He was just about to open fire when she ran out from the bushes and pulled his gun back."

"They weren't hurt, were they?"

"Not by the gun. Mother's intervention shocked Father so much that he fell over himself and sprained his ankle. Mother felt bad and she wanted to make up for it by helping him walk home and tending to his wound. At the time Mother had no home and no family, she was an orphan who lived by her wits. And because she was so kind, and so beautiful, Father allowed her to live in his house as a servant. She did her work well and when she wasn't working she would play music for him on a flute."

"Like you do?"

"Yep. She would also dance for him and tell him stories of what went on in the forest. She would share her wages with the less fortunate and during harsh winters she would plead with my father to grant food and shelter to any lost or starving soul. It's not hard to see why my father fell in love with her. Though he never understood what it was about him that won her over. Father was rich and owned land but he was very clumsy and shy, and not the most well-read fellow like myself. But Mother said that he was gentle, considerate, humble, and he made her laugh. My parents...They were really something special."

To this day, it still made Natsu's heart ache to think about his dear mother and father, and he could no longer be with them. Apart of him would never know peace until he learned what became of his father after he and Juvia escaped all those years ago. He was almost certain that their stepmother had killed him, but those suspicions had not been proven so he was constantly tortured by the what if.

"My mother was something special too." Lucy said. "When I was little she would read me picture books that told stories about the constellations in the night sky. It was my favorite thing to do with her, and what I wouldn't give just to do it with her one last time."

"I have trouble learning to read." Natsu confessed. "The other children would make fun of me and call me stupid. But my parents assured me that I was not stupid, reading was just something that didn't come easy to me. They always said that everyone has something that doesn't come easy to them, and they're right. Reading and writing doesn't come easy to me but hunting, fishing, climbing trees, tracking, I'm a natural at that."

"So I've noticed." Lucy said. "But I'm sure you eventually learned to read and write properly."

"Not exactly." He replied, feeling embarrassed. "I can read and write some, but my learning was interrupted by my stepmother's curse and over the years I haven't had much time to continue with my schooling."

"Well if you'd like, I could teach you."

"Could you really?"

"Of course. We can start after dinner."

And when they finished eating their final meal for the day, the princess began to reeducate the dragon-like man in reading and writing. Because it had been so long, he struggled a great deal but she did not mind and found herself enjoying such an activity.

Soon the evening became much darker and Lucy found herself becoming very tired. She dozed off on the chair and Natsu graciously carried her upstairs to her bedroom, carefully laying her down on sheets of lace and linen. Yet as she was sliding out of his arms and into the bed, she felt something as soft as goose feathers instead of sharp scales and she so very much wanted to continue feeling them. She unconsciously clung to his arms, and although hesitant at first, Natsu eventually allowed desire draw in him to lay next to her.

It was the most warm and soft sleep that the princess had ever known. Not even the downy bed of silken pillows and sheets in the castle where she once slept, could have given her more blissful slumber. And as she slept, she dreamed of a man, a handsome and muscular youth whom took her into his strong arms and gazed upon her with eyes of pure love. She knew nothing of this man though she returned his love and proved it by giving him a kiss.

When she woke in the morning, she was alone in bed and had no knowledge that someone had slept at her side the night before. Still she yearned for that same warm and soft feeling, and for the sweet dream of that man.