"Do I seriously have to guard the castle?" Natsu sighed with a cross of his arms. Earlier, the boys had came over to the girls room on Erza's orders. Erza still hadn't felt comfortable enough to allow everyone to sleep in separate rooms, even after two months of being there already, so she had the boys come over and spend the night. She wanted to start having someone to walk around the castle halls and look out for anything suspicious, since they hadn't found any clues in the months they stayed here. Which just happened to Natsu.

"Yes Natsu, you're strong on your own and I can trust you to take care of anyone suspicious." Erza said with a glare. Natsu grumbled and stood up. He called over to Happy to have him come with but Erza stopped him. "I want you to go alone. A flying cat will attract attention. I don't want anyone deeming you as a threat." She muttered firmly. She was even weary of anyone listening on a security lacrima.

"Fine. I'll see you guys later." Natsu scoffed. Erza and Gray nodded, wishing him good luck. Natsu shut the door behind him quietly and began to wander the halls. It was pretty late out, his eyes began to drop when he looked out the window. He really did wish they chose someone else to do this. Like Gray.

Gray doesn't need sleep, Natsu does! And he got bored easily. And boring made him sleeping. He sighed and turned down a hallway. Only to grunt when something collided into his chest. He stumbled back slightly, but he stood his ground pretty easily.

"...Ouch..." a small voice whined. Natsu gaped at the familiar sound. It was the princess! Sweat coated his hands, so he quickly wiped them on his pants and then held it out for her to take. It took Lucy a moment to regain her thoughts before she looked up. She silently gasped when she figured out who it was.

It was that boy from Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel. Her cheeks turned a pink color as she shakingly took his hand. How embarrassing, to knock into the cute boy from Fairy Tail. And even fall over in the process. Once she steadied herself, she went to look up at him. His eyebrow was raised skeptically.

Was he suspicious of her? Of course he would be, she was running through the halls at night! He cleared his throat, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Hey, princess. Shouldn't you be in bed by now? It's pretty late you know?" He narrowed his eyes. Lucy rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah I should be...but I just couldn't sleep." Lucy smiled slightly. He hummed and turned his head away from her. Did this have to be any awkward? But the way she played with the hem of her dress made his eyes travel down to her hands. It was sorta cute. Sorta.

"Maybe it'll make you tired if you walk around, y'know? I have to guard this place for the night anyway, wanna walk with me?" He asked. Why did he ask her that? Of course she wouldn't want to! She was a princess and had a lot more important things to do! She giggled at his faraway expression and nodded her head.

"Okay!"

"Really?"

She tilted her head in confusion at his question. "Of course, if you're sure it will help then I'll try it out. And besides, I think it's time I get to know you all more," Lucy said with a soft smile. He grunted half-heartedly and began to walk. She ran after him and synced into step with him. "Natsu? Will you tell me about your magic?" She asked suddenly.

He smirked. "Yeah, I'm a fire dragon slayer!" Lucy gasped and clapped her hands together.

"Really? So is Gajeel, oh I'm so happy you two have something in common! And I had a feeling from your fangs but I wanted to make sure." He would of thought her huge excited smile was cute, but he was too shocked for words. So that's why he smelled so familiar! He was a dragon slayer too! Which meant...they met before.

"Are you sure about that?" Natsu asked slowly.

"Of course, I've seen his magic myself. He's very skilled with his iron dragon slaying magic. Why do you ask?" Lucy didn't understand what Natsu was trying to get at. Why was he so surprised? If she knew anyone with her own magic, she would be so excited.

"Its just that, Wendy and I came from a village that exclusively learned of dragon slaying magic. So its surprising seeing another dragon slayer other thank myself and Wendy." Natsu muttered. Lucy's eyes widened. Was he being serious?

"Was your village attacked?" Lucy whispered. Natsu froze and turned to Lucy.

"How did you know?"

"After Gajeel's village was attacked, he came stumbling into our garden. But that was years ago..." Lucy trailed off. Natsu sighed and watched his feet as they walked around the empty halls.

"Yeah, I was able to get Wendy and I out of the village when it was attacked. That's when we came across Fairy Tail. Crazy how if we noticed Gajeel, we could of had him come with us." Lucy frowned at his words. She doesn't like that alternate version of their lives. She was glad Gajeel hadn't met them. It was selfish, but she couldn't help it. She loved Gajeel so much, she couldn't imagine a life without him.

"I'm glad it turned out the way it had. He made me a lot less lonely..." Lucy mumbled honestly. Natsu glanced at her from the corner of his eye, watching her smile sadly.

"I am too. Gajeel's kind of a jerk." Natsu snickered. Lucy put her hands on her hips, with a puff of her cheeks. But she was happy the heavy atmosphere between them was gone.

"He just doesn't like people who annoy him. He'll get better, I promise." She sighed with a small smile. He turned to her and grinned back at her. Natsu was feeling a lot better about the princess. He could even seeing himself being friends with her.

"So," he said airily. "what were you actually doing up. I can tell you're a terrible liar." He smirked. Lucy squeaked and put her hands to her burning cheeks. She couldn't believe she was caught. She glanced up at him and gave him a once over. Only Gajeel and her father knew of her secret. Could she trust Natsu to keep it?

"You promise not to tell?" Her heart began to best faster as she waited for his reply. She felt so risky doing something like this. But what could she say? She was excited to tell someone else of her secret. Natsu stared into her eyes. They danced with excitement.

"Yeah, why not." He shrugged.

She squealed quietly and stopped her walking. "Okay! I'm so excited," he chuckled at her reaction and watched her calm herself down. "Well, I have magic!" She whispered to him. His eyes widened. She has what?!

"What!" He yelled particularly loudly.

"Shh! Don't attract attention!" She frowned. But her grin came back pretty quickly. "And yes, I am a celestial mage," she fumbled with something under her dress. Something seemed to be attached to her leg. Natsu's mouth hung open as a small blush coated his cheeks. Only to sigh in relief when she grabbed a key ring. "See? I use keys of the zodiac to help me fight. They're the gold ones. The silver ones are the other constellations that are also pretty helpful. But if I had to choose the most helpful one, I'd say Horologium would win." She rambled.

Natsu pursed his lips. He had no idea what she was going on about. Horologium? The hell was that? "Woah woah woah," he stopped her. She looked up at him. "So you use these keys to call out spirit like things then? How in the world did you learn magic, and get those keys? Last I heard, princesses are forbidden to learn magic." He raised a brow with a cross of his arms.

She pouted, her bottom lip sticking out. "I thought you would be more impressed..." he shook his head with a sigh, she may not be like any old princess, but she still carried some of their traits. "My mother was a celestial mage. Before she died, she gave me hers. Since then, Gajeel picks up any of he finds any. I've gotten ten of the twelve zodiac so far, I'm pretty far along!" She said with a prideful tone.

"So Gajeel knows too- and the king?" Lucy nodded. He sighed, then smiled. "You're such a weirdo, princess. Feel like I learn something new every day." He let out a short laugh as her brows knit together.

"You've called me that twice now! I'm not weird!" Lucy yelled in a low voice. He turned around to walk away, not allowing her to see the smile lingering on his lips. They fell into silence once more, but it was definitely more comfortable. "Is Fairy Tail fun?" Lucy squeaked. His smile became wider when he thought back to the guild.

"Hell yeah, we're always gettin into fun fights and I love goin on jobs with my little buddy Happy!"

"Happy?"

"That blue cat you saw when we first met. He's my best friend." Lucy hummed in content.

"It sounds really fun. Maybe after all this is over, I can visit Fairy Tail sometime?" Lucy asked thoughtfully. Natsu rolled his eyes playfully.

"I don't think a dingy guild is really your style, princess." He laughed. She stopped walking and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll have you know that I've been apart of many fights in my past. Even me and Gajeel have gone at it a few times. And you know, I won sometimes. So I can definitely handle your guild." He looked back at her angered expression. He was surprised to know that about her, but it made being with her so much more enjoyable. Just knowing she can hold her own against a mage sent a shiver down his back. Which he chose to ignore. Because finding someone's physical strength attractive was weird.

"You're pretty cute when you're angry." He blurted out. Lucy gasped, her face becoming a shade of red. She crossed her arms and turned away from Natsu. He couldn't help but find that cute as well. What was going on with him? Well, this wasn't the first time his honesty got him into trouble.

"Ye-Yeah, whatever," Lucy spit out in a flustered state. "The point I was trying to make is that I would fit right at home with your guild!" This surprised him. Did...did she want to join Fairy Tail?

"Do you want to join Fairy Tail or something?" Her eyebrows raised as she turned to him with wide eyes.

"Where would you get that idea?"

"Well, you just really seem to want to convince me that you're a perfect fit for our guild. It sounds like you really want to join." He smirked. She rubbed her arm and bit her lip.

"Well, I guess I've always wanted to join a guild. Not specifically Fairy Tail, but I've heard stories about how they treat their members. It's like a huge family. I just feel it would be a nice thing to experience..." She sighed with a tilt of her lips. Just thinking about being in a guild excited her. Even though she knew it was never going to happen.

"The rumors are true," Natsu said. "Most of us don't really have blood family anymore so we treat each other as family. Erza, Levy, and Wendy are like my sisters. Gray is like my brother. Sometimes I forget were not related." He chuckled.

Without realizing it, tears stung the corner of her eyes. "That sounds really nice..."