"Shall we meet again here tomorrow?"

"But I have to attend the meeting with Thelua's–"

"It doesn't matter."

When he said that, I am sure he was smiling at me. I am sure he took my hand and placed a brief kiss on the back after he said that. I am sure we were making a promise. Because, then, he said–

"I will wait for you."

A Tale from Thelua

[16] forgotten

She had been sitting there for a while. Her horse was left alone, the reins were tied to a tree branch not far from her, and she was gazing at the sky. The clouds were drifting lazily as the wind gently blew, making leaves rustled against each other. Lucy couldn't help but thinking, then; what a long morning she had. It felt like the time ticked with an agonizingly slow pace, as if it mocked her. Lucy wanted to take back all the compliment she had for today's weather. Today wasn't a good day for her.

It wasn't as if her encounter with Zeref left her with a bad taste in her mouth. It wasn't that. If all, she should be feeling happy to be able seeing him after a long time. But that was impossible, and she didn't want to deceive herself. She was tired of playing pretend. Once, just once – she wanted to be a little selfish.

Seeing Zeref should be easy. Talking to him should be as easy as talking with Natsu. They were siblings. There was nothing to be afraid of. But she should admit it; it was uncomfortable. Even if the way he talked, the way he gazed at her managed to calm her, she couldn't help but feeling uncomfortable still.

Why? Because he broke our promise? But it was already in the past.

The promise. The promise that he broke; it was nothing major, actually. True, she had been looking forward meeting him again, but she remembered not being too dejected when he didn't come. She had anticipated it because she knew he risked his place to see her. Because she was the princess of Feliose while he was the knight of Thelua. A princess and a knight from the opposing country shouldn't be able to meet so casually.

Maybe because seeing Zeref brought memories to the surface, and it was so intense that she couldn't handle it at once. Everything came in a blurry motion; the memory of him laughing, talking with him, meeting him for the first time.

Oh…

She forgot one major thing. Zeref was the first prince of Thelua, an older brother of Natsu and Wendy, the one who should be taking the throne. Why did he become a knight?

"I am just a knight who guards the border for the conference's sake. But I do wonder what business does a Feliose's princess have in this forest, hm?"

He was such a lowly knight when he introduced himself to her. Yet, even in her disguise, he could tell she was Feliose's princess. She knew he wasn't just an ordinary man from that time. It was just that she never expected that he was the Flower Knight.

The title of Flower Knight was already bestowed upon him the moment she first saw him, but he never once mentioned it. Lucy learned that when she was attending the meeting as the delegate from Feliose. Even behind the mask of the armor that he wore when he stood behind Makarov Dreyar, she could tell that it was him. Why didn't he tell her?

The promise they made was to meet after the conference ended, but at that conference was the last time she saw him. He didn't come, no matter how long she waited.

"This sounds like a novel Levy would love to write," she laughed. "Or maybe I should write one myself."

"Write what?"

Lucy almost yelped when a voice suddenly broke the pleasant silence she had. She didn't need to turn her head to the owner to know whose voice was it. She knew it very well, it was just that she wasn't expecting him to be here.

"Natsu Dragneel, you are going to cut your wife's lifespan short every time you did that," Lucy sighed.

The man was leaning to the tree where she rested her back on. With arms crossed across his chest, he continued staring at her as if studying her.

"I didn't know you can ride a horse," he finally said, offering her a hand to help her stand.

Lucy took it immediately and replied, "I wasn't called Feliose's Stallion for no reason, of course. Now I know where your attention was when we were out for horse riding on our celebration party."

"Are you the type who hold grudges?" Natsu asked.

"Usually, no. But I can if I want to."

"Looks like I am a hot topic in your hate list."

Lucy looked at him. "Why would I place you on that list?"

Natsu brushed a leaf from her hair. He held her gaze before replying. "You know very well what the reason is."

Lisanna. The duchess' name popped in her head immediately. She had forgotten about Natsu and the internal argument she had with herself regarding him. Lucy could swear; all of this was going to give her a severe headache, Natsu and Zeref.

While she was partly irritated for having her peaceful morning disturbed for the second time, she was actually relieved for having Natsu here. She wasn't sure how she would react if Zeref was the one who appear. She wasn't sure if she would be at today's mercy if Zeref made his appearance once again. She started regretting on going horse riding.

"Why are you here?" She asked, changing the topic. "How about your paperwork?"

"Wendy told me about you riding alone and that I was a failure of a husband if I continue working instead of seeing you," he sighed. "Can't afford to lose my wife's affection now, can I?"

Lucy turned her head to Natsu. "Hm? How much of affection do you think I have for you?"

Lucy had forgotten that she was – had fallen in love with this man beside her. The thought didn't send her any 'racing pulse' or 'butterfly in the stomach' as how it was described in 'Estelle and Jules'. If she had to describe anything about this moment, she would choose the word 'nothing'.

But, then, he smiled and Lucy had to admit that she liked it when he smiled.

"On the scale of ten, I would safely assume three."

Three. No more and no less. The number was small, but it might be the perfect number if Lucy could measure it. The thing was that she wasn't even sure about it herself.

"You don't really have to go here, actually," Lucy finally said, remembering her main purpose of horse riding. "I'm still on the lord's field so it's not dangerous."

Natsu sighed, reaching for her hair and played with it. "Still, you should at least have Gray with you. You know that you shouldn't be wandering around alone."

"Well, actually the first prince–"

Why did I mention him?

Natsu looked at her, confused as to why she stopped talking. "What?"

Lucy looked at Natsu's finger. The motion, twirling her hair, playing with it, stopped. It wasn't on purpose – Lucy never wanted to mention it to him. She wanted to forget their encounter and the fact that she knew him. But Natsu wasn't a fool. He would notice something if she didn't talk.

"Your brother was here," Lucy said.

Natsu tilted his head. "He was?"

"He was here to find Wendy and get her to her class with Sir Larry. I left him shortly after Wendy left to continue horse riding." She didn't know why, but she wanted to skip all that was happening between her and Zeref.

I don't want to remember it.

A water fell on her cheek, and on her hand. She looked up to the sky. It had filled with grey clouds and water started spilling from them. Lucy took a step back so her back was touching the tree as she continued watching the grass grew wet. Her view was blocked suddenly and she found herself ducking beneath Natsu's arm as he stretched his cloak to use it as a shield from rain.

"It may be a slight drizzle, but you can still catch a cold," he said as he glanced at her.

"I know," she replied. "I hope this won't change into a heavy rain."

"It won't," he said.

The conversation ended. The sound of the water hitting the trees, leaves and grass were the only sound Lucy could hear. They stayed in a long silence. There wasn't much that she could do beside watching puddles that slowly formed and the water droplets from the edge of Natsu's cloak. She glanced at him and stared at him from a low angle. He was looking straight at whatever he was looking at, undisturbed by her gaze.

"Natsu," she called, somehow feeling unnerved by the silence. "What are you thinking right now?"

He had to drag his eyes away from the wet tree across the clearing where Lucy's horse took a shelter. His onyx eyes met her warm chocolate and she found herself comparing him and Zeref before she could stop it. Natsu has a lighter eye color.

"We will have a welcoming party for the knights in three days," he started. "I was wondering if you have any specific person to invite."

Levy. She had missed the blue-haired authoress because she had yet to send her a letter or receive any letter from her. She could bring along her daughter so they both can busy themselves with entertaining the baby. But, of course, she couldn't do that in reality. She had guests to talk to and she knew it wouldn't be good if Levy received all of her attention.

And about Lisanna–

"The duchess of Livre," Lucy decided, "you can invite her."

"Why?" He asked. I thought you don't want to, was left unsaid but she knew from the way he gazed her.

She smiled a little, closing her eyes. "I trust you, Natsu."

I will trust you.

When he didn't reply, she added, "She will look bad in other's eyes if you didn't invite her and I don't want any new rumor to arise."

He gave her a nod and Lucy smiled. "Natsu, can I ask another thing?"

"What is it?"

"If one day," she whispered, "if you and I were to be separated for a long time, would you hug me when we finally see each other?"

Natsu gave her a glance, confused. "I can't pass this one, can I?"

Lucy shook her head.

His expression was unreadable. Impassive. But, he replied her. "Maybe I will."

Lucy glanced back at the puddle near them, it was reflecting the grey sky. It didn't look like it was going to clear up any soon. She didn't like this. This, and the fact that there was something that tugged in her chest, and somehow, the weight on her shoulder increased. She exhaled softly and closed her eyes.

Is that so?