"T-tomorrow?" Lucy asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Despite the rigorous preparation, she was still nervous at the thought of appearing in front of the king to deliver Zeref's request. She'd never been well-received at court, and she was sure her time with the dark mage hadn't endeared her to the nobles any more.

"Are you scared?" her husband asked as he cut at his lunch. His voice was neutral, but Lucy had learned to hear the ever-so-slight intonations that betrayed his emotions. In this case, he was teasing her.

She said nothing in return, refusing to admit to her cowardice. Instead shook her head as she took a bite of food and chewed regally.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him smirk slightly.

"It's only natural to be nervous," he said, with a half-hearted attempt at sounding supportive. "But you've practiced this a thousand times at least. You're ready. Just remember to hold yourself with confidence. It will say much more than your words."

"I still don't want to go alone," she said almost pathetically.

"You know why you must." Zeref's dark eyes looked right at her and she averted her gaze.

She did know. If Zeref himself were to appear at the castle, he would only incite more trouble, tempting the king to send his men to capture him. It was also certain to make Lucy look like a well-trained house pet that he had to keep on a leash. By appearing alone, the people would better believe that she acted of her own volition.

"Besides, you won't really be alone. Natsu will be with you." This time he definitely smirked, the budding friendship between his wife and brother not escaping his notice.

Lucy ignored his insinuation.

"He's just as wanted as you," Lucy said. "What will keep them from trying to capture him and ruining the whole endeavor?"

"Just flex his power a bit, let them know that they don't stand a chance against him, because they don't, and make it clear that he's under your command. He's the best demon I ever made, and it would take a true fool to provoke him before he attacks. If they've any sense at all, they'll choose to listen to you over burning to death."

Lucy shivered slightly. Despite the numerous times she'd been forced to stand humiliated as the court refused to hear her out, she hated the idea of the king listening to her under duress. It wasn't the way she wanted to do things, but then again, this was much more important than anything she'd ever done before. It was much more important that he hear what she had to say.

"And if he rejects the treaty?" Lucy asked, turning her eyes timidly back up to Zeref's.

He looked at her fiercely, confidence blazing in his dark eyes that contrasted starkly against his pale skin.

"He won't."

"Do we have to travel in that stupid cube?" Lucy asked with a pout.

Natsu grunted as he tried to lug her trunk out of her room, not getting very far. The box was heavy even for a demon, and he found himself wondering what all she put in there.

"I suppose you could walk instead, but you'd be an old lady by the time you got there and I don't think that's what Zeref's going for."

"You could fly us!" she suggested. She really detested the dystopian-looking flying contraption and all the demons it took to run it; the fire dragon demon was still the only one she got along with.

Natsu snickered. "No offense, Luce, but there's no way I can carry you and this box of bricks you packed. What's in here, anyway?"

"Just the essentials…" she said, trailing off in a guilty way that only made the demon more curious.

He turned and began unlocking the trunk.

"Natsu! It's not proper to go through a lady's things!" she protested, trying desperately to close the trunk as he opened it.

"I'm a demon, there's nothing proper about me," he grinned, turning his bright green eyes down to see what it was she'd packed that had become the bane of his existence. His face descended into a picture of horror. "Sweet Mavis, Luce. Really?!"

Books. Lots and lots of books. Way more, in fact, than any sane person could need for a two day trip. At the top was a thin layer of clothing and an extra pair of shoes and, y'know, the kinds of things one was supposed to pack for a diplomatic trip. The rest was (what felt to Natsu's back as) her entire library.

"Well, I don't know what I'll be in the mood to read while I'm gone, and I'm going to be nervous so I wanted to make sure I had all my favorites with me just in case," she said, twirling her hair around and avoiding all eye contact with the increasingly irate demon.

"This is stupid. I'm not carrying this one more step," Natsu declared, stepping away and crossing his scale-dusted arms dramatically.

"Natsu!"

"Nope. This is demon abuse. If you want to take your entire book collection with you to Crocus, you'll have to drag it yourself," he said with a huff.

"Fine, then! I don't need your help!" Lucy said, and she took hold of the trunk's handle, pulling hard to no avail; the thing didn't budge.

"…"

"Natsuuuu!" she begged and he gave her a hard look. "Y'know what, fine, I don't need you!"

She dug into the trunk and removed her key ring with all its glittering silver and gold keys.

"Open gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" she called, and a shimmering golden portal appeared with a pink-haired woman in a maid outfit stepping out.

"Punishment time, princess?" she asked.

"Punishment time? I wouldn't have expected you to be into that sort of thing, Luce," Natsu teased, and Lucy blushed at the accusing look he gave her.

"I didn't tell her to say that!" she defended but Natsu just watched her with silent amusement. Lucy huffed with frustration that the demon secretly found adorable. "Virgo, I need you to carry my trunk to the ugly cube. It seems the big bad demon here can't do it."

"Neither can you," the big bad demon muttered under his breath.

"Of course, princess," the maiden said, bending down to grab the trunk. The pink-haired woman gave one tug on it before standing up and bowing politely.

"I apologize, princess, but this trunk weighs as much as Earthland. Moving it will be impossible." With that the maid poofed in a shower of golden sparkles back to the spirit world.

Natsu smirked victoriously as Lucy attempted to pick up the shards of her shattered pride off the floor. She felt a twitch in her eyebrow as she glared at the fire demon.

"Fine! I'll repack! Happy?" she glowered.

There it was again. That word: happy. Natsu had believed he'd forgotten what it meant after all these years, but this past week had proven him wrong. Each night as she ate dinner, Lucy would call Natsu into their room and they'd talk. Sometimes it was about more serious things, but most of the time they were just silly conversations. The replaying of memories or debates over things that didn't matter. For a noblewoman, Lucy was weird, but the demon didn't mind. He cherished the way she looked at him, not like he was a monster, but like a person. Even more than that: like a person she liked.

Distantly he knew he was playing into Zeref's plan, but he couldn't bring himself to care. When he was with Lucy, he felt normal. He felt happy.

"Yeah, Luce. I'm happy," he said in a tone that shook Lucy out of her mock-anger. She blushed at the sincere look in his green eyes.

"H-help me put these books back," she ordered, turning to the trunk to hide her flustered composure. "And try not to burn anything!"

Natsu chuckled. "You know, there's no need to be nervous. I'll be there the whole time, so you don't need all these books."

The pair of them began restocking her shelves with the leather-bound treasures. Natsu didn't understand what she liked so much about reading, but then again, in all four-hundred odd years of life he'd never been particularly academic. To the side, Lucy frowned slightly.

"I know, I just… There's so much that could go wrong. What if we're attacked before I even get to speak? What if everyone just shuns me out and thinks I'm brainwashed? What if I'm making a huge mistake…"

"Hey," Natsu said, reaching a clawed hand out to gently lift her chin so their eyes met. "It'll be okay. You're doing what you think is right, that's more than most people can say about their lives. And like I said, I'll be there the whole time. If somebody tries to hurt you, I'll rip out their heart and eat it whole."

Lucy chuckled lightly. "I thought you said you didn't eat people," she reminded him.

"I could make an exception," he grinned, showing off his pointy teeth.

They continued to stack the books away, volleying sarcastic banter the whole time. They didn't even notice the pink head that spied on them from the doorway, an amused smile plastered on the young maid's face. Meredy slowly walked backwards, not wanting to interrupt the budding couple. She set the tray she'd been carrying down at the foot of the door and headed off down the hall to her room, her mind turning over what she'd seen.

It was an odd friendship to say the least, and yet it was growing faster than a wildfire. The young maid couldn't pinpoint any rhyme or reason, but something about them being together just seemed natural. It was a friendship that left all logic in the dust.

Back in the room, Natsu smiled wider than he could remember since his time with the dragons, and Lucy laughed as she hadn't since her mother died. It was painfully obvious to anyone who saw them that what they thought was mere friendship was edging closer and closer to something forbidden and taboo. The young princess and centuries-old demon, connected by her marriage to his brother. It was so wrong on so many levels, but neither one would be the first to stop it. Their minds warned them about trust and hope, about the dangers of getting too close, and knew they were doomed and that to love was to be vulnerable, especially around a man like Zeref.

But as they laughed and teased, none of that mattered. He was Natsu and she was Lucy, and together it felt like things might actually be okay.

Lucy's heart pounded as she watched the land of Fiore pass underneath them. She'd requested that they stop a few miles outside of the capitol, not wanting to intimidate anyone with the flying cube that was known to hold some of Zeref's fiercest demons. Luckily the others had readily agreed to the proposal, and so it was that as the Crocus skyline came peeking over the horizon, the large vehicle came to a stop.

Beside her, Natsu stood stiffly and let out a sigh of relief as they stopped moving. It was midday, and they'd been traveling for hours with Natsu looking queasy the whole time.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked for the thousandth time, and Natsu nodded warily.

"Motion sickness," he muttered out, using all his remaining strength to resist melting into a pool on the floor. That wouldn't do anything good for his reputation.

"Motion sickness?" Lucy repeated, a shit-eating grin spreading across her face. "A big, scary demon like yourself, brought to his knees by motion sickness?"

"I'm not on my knees," he said defensively.

"They're buckling a bit," she pointed out.

"Are not."

"I dare you to let go of the wall then."

"…"

Lucy laughed, and Natsu tried to ignore the way his whole body heated up at the sound as it caressed his ears. She pulled on his arm and let him away from the wall and back to her "room" while he stumbled around behind her.

"Centuries of mages fighting you, and to think, all they had to do was get you on a carriage!"

"You're having way too much fun with this," he groaned.

"Of course I am. I mean, sure, everyone's got to have a weakness, but who knew yours was so humiliating!" she said cheerily, pushing him down to sit on her bed as they entered the make-shift room. It was very bare, nothing but cold stone walls, but it was a place to relax away from the other demons.

"I have wings. I rarely ever have to travel on this thing," he said weakly.

"I offered to let you just fly us," Lucy said, remembering that she too had been less than enthused about riding the stupid cube.

"Next time I'll take you up on that…"

Lucy yawned lightly as she sat down on the bed next to him.

"You should sleep. We'll leave for the palace in a few hours." Natsu moved to get up, but the blonde quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him back down. His wings fluttered lightly at her touch and he turned his head to look at her.

"Don't leave me," she pleaded. "I-I don't trust the others."

Natsu smiled, showing off his sharp canines. "I'm not going anywhere, just giving you more space. I don't trust them either," he confided.

Lucy blushed as his green eyes danced with her own before moving to lie down completely. She knew she was playing with fire here (literally), but she couldn't help the minute flirtations that passed between them, even if he was her brother-in-law. Her extremely handsome, scaly, winged brother-in-law.

He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, adjusting his wings so they weren't cramped.

"Must be hard carrying those around everywhere," Lucy said drowsily as she watched him squirm about.

"Heh, yeah, not the most convenient for everyday stuff, but I can fly, so I think it breaks even."

Lucy smiled gently as she listened to his deep voice. Somehow through hundreds of years of war he still had a kind of boyish quality about him that was comforting. Maybe he's a virgin?

"What?" the deep voice asked, and Lucy's eyes flew open just in time for her to realize she'd spoken out loud.

"Uh…I…whoops…I mean, it's nothing to be ashamed of if-if you are…I'm also, y'know, and, well, not that you are, but…uh…I really should get some sleep, so…bye." Lucy turned bright red as she flipped over and curled into herself.

Great going, Lucy, she chided herself, internally this time.

Natsu let out a gruff laugh, his cheeks positively flaming. Was it that obvious? he wondered, as he leaned back in the chair and listened to the girl's racing heartbeat. He found that he really didn't mind. It was true, after all. He'd never found anyone that interested him like that. For a while his brother had tried to play match-maker, even going so far as creating demons specifically to sate Natsu's more instinctual urges, but to no avail. Despite all of Zeref's efforts, Natsu wasn't a creature of lust, and so he had resigned himself to a life of solitude.

Gradually he heard Lucy's heart slow down until it settled into a steady beat, accompanied by her slow, steady breaths. The room was dark, only a single candle burning on a table, yet her hair somehow managed to catch all of the light and shine it back in a shimmer of gold. She was beautiful, and for the first time Natsu began to entertain the thought of not being alone.

He felt like he was waking up from a bad dream, like he'd spent the past four hundred years asleep and now it was time to live again. In truth, all those years were a blur of flame and blood and screams, none of it committed to memory. Somehow, he knew, he'd managed to shut himself down, letting his mind hideaway while his body carried out his brother's atrocious orders. He'd smothered his humanity and compassion, everything that made him Natsu, with fierce desperation.

So what was it about this pampered princess that made him want to wake up and rejoin the world? He knew it wasn't beauty alone. No, it was something much deeper, something the eyes couldn't see and the hands couldn't feel. Something instinctual and ancient and stronger than any of them.

He grinned silently in the lowlight

"You fool," he chuckled to himself, reaching out to gently stroke her hair.

He was a fool. He was a fool for thinking about her, dreaming about her. He was an even bigger fool for talking with her, getting close to her. And for falling in love with her, he was the biggest fool of all.