Lucy POV

I found myself in a field of flowers, my hair done up in a fancy up-do braided together with the flowers that littered the grass beneath me and vibrant green vines. I noticed I was dressed in a long, white gown that cascaded down my body, and left my arms bare. I looked down at the beautiful white tool and noticed small pink flowers intertwining with the fabric, giving it an alive feel.

Then I noticed long back swirls twisting together down my arms and across the parts of my chest that were exposed. They wrapped themselves in an extravagant pattern along my pale skin and almost seemed to shimmer in the sunlight.

"Lucy." A very strange, but somehow familiar, voice said from behind me. I whipped around and noticed a tall, gorgeous man standing casually surrounded by the flowers of the field. My breath hitched in my throat. I had never seen someone so breathtaking before in my entire life.

He wore simple back pants and a button up white shirt with a few buttons undone at the top, a suit coat draped over his shoulder and his feet were bare. His hair, a salmon-y pink color, looked as if he hadn't bothered to cut it in a few months with the length and how it spiked in every direction. A hairstyle like that normally made me think of immaturity and childlike behavior, someone who was lazy and didn't care, but on him it was professional and nubile.

I took a closer look at him and noticed I could see the same swirling lines that were on my body peaking their way through the thin cotton of his shirt.

My eyes continued their search of him and I noticed his tanned face was turned toward me, a brilliant smile lighting his features. I took in his face, the hard line of his jaw, and rosiness of his cheeks in the heat, completely captivated. Then I found his eyes and my heart skipped a beat. His eyes were such a dark green they were nearly black and when they held mine they were joyous and vibrant with something else I couldn't quite pick up.

Those eyes held me there.

I continued to stare at this stranger and couldn't help but think that everything about him seemed familiar. It was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind and I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't notice when the man started coming closer to me until he was right in front of me, staring at me with those dark, dark eyes.

"I've been waiting for you to get here, Lucy. I can't explain in words how much I've missed you." His voice was as smooth as silk as he grasped my hand in his. I looked down to out intertwined fingers in awe. His hands were large and tan with the swirling pattern making its way down to his scarred knuckles. His looked to be that of a hard worker with callouses and scars while mine were delicate and soft, never having worked in my life. I compared his hands to my petite pale ones. They looked as if they didn't belong holding one another but the feeling that blossomed in my chest at the sight of them told me they were meant to be.

"Where have you been?" I asked him but the voice wasn't really me. It sounded like my voice but I wasn't the one making it sound. "What took you so long to return to me?" The strange voice of mine asked while I looked into the man's kind eyes.

They absolutely took my breath away. I had never seen someone look at me with such kindness before. Such love and adoration, such devotion, were in those eyes and I realized, it was all for me.

He grabbed my waist in his other hand, drawing me closer to him until out chests were pressed tightly to one another. "I'm sorry, my love, I had many things that needed my attention. I would have come sooner if I could." My body stiffened at the words 'my love'. I had never had someone call me that before.

"It's alright, Natsu, as long as you're here now." Natsu leaned down our foreheads and noses brushing against one another making my breath hitch in my throat from anticipation. And then his lips were on mine. I felt my body melt into the kiss, unraveling my hand from his as I wrapped my arms around his neck, fingers twining into his incredibly soft hair. A low groan sounded from the back of his throat as he wrapped his other arm tightly around my waist, joining its twin. The sensation of our lips together was indescribable. My mind searched for something to call all the new feelings I was experiencing but nothing came.

"I love you, Lucy Heartfilia." He said as he broke from the kiss. I smiled up at him. I didn't know why but I loved this man with all of my heart. He was my sun, my breath, and every beat my heart made. It was confusing but it really was absolutely amazing. I had never felt something so pure before.

It was an unforgettable feeling.

"And I love you, Natsu Dragneel."

I woke up from the pain cascading down my body, a low groan escaping my lips as I rolled onto my side in a feeble attempt to make it better. My head pounded from the movement and a sting of more pain came from my arm. God, I felt like death. Correction, I felt like death that got hit by a bus.

I groaned again and opened my eyes the dream I had just had slowly disappearing. A feeling of emptiness began to form in my chest.

Everything ached. My back, my arms, my shoulders, my ribs, my neck, and more surprisingly, my heart. I focused on everything besides the organ realizing nothing else felt any better.

Just what had I done? Did I actually get hit by a bus?

Sudden memories positioned themselves at the front of my thoughts. Ah, yes. The worst day of my life had happened. Made sense as to why I was so sore.

I broke my hand and fell out of my window, got attacked by the ruthless vampire guild that was trying to take me and turn me into a vampire, and then got my hand re-set by our nurse. I wondered how long I had been sleeping. I knew I had passed out a few different times when she re-set it, and Gray had been there the whole time-

A heated blush rushed up the back of my neck and onto my cheeks, a horrid expression dancing onto my face. I had screamed and cried in front of the stranger. Screamed and cried. I had never even cried in front of Levy before.

I stared at the white ceiling above me thinking about the moments before I had passed out for good. I had squeezed Gray's hand the entire time, leaned my head on his shoulder for assurance. If he was human I probably wouldn't have broken his hand with how hard I had clutched it. I remembered his words of comfort and encouragement. He had been so kind and understanding.

I was so embarrassed.

I was always so careful with my emotions. I always calculated my reaction to any predicament I would go through and adjusted myself accordingly. I didn't even understand why I had acted the way I did. It wasn't like I had never broken my hand before. It wasn't the first time people I knew had died.

But it was the first time I had seen someone die. It was the first time I was almost kidnapped. I was the first time I had ever punched someone so hard that it broke my hand.

My emotions had been everywhere this past week. Ever since my father had received that letter from Sting, I felt as if I were over-emotional about everything. I guess the stresses from the last week had just finally broken through and came out in that painful moment. And Gray was just the one around to witness.

I needed to talk to Gray and Gajeel. I needed to piece together everything that had happened. And I needed to figure out everything that happened while I had been out.

Slowly I sat myself up into a sitting position, wheezing and grunting with the pain coming from my ribcage. Had I broken ribs to?

I thought of the moment Rufus had grabbed me from escaping out my window and remembered feeling the loss of breath and the jabbing pain as his embrace crushed me. It made sense if I did break them. He was stupid strong.

"How are you feeling?" A familiar but strange voice asked from the corner of the room. I felt as if I jumped out of my skin and nearly screamed. My eyes focused to the voice and I saw Gray sitting on a small wooden stool, blue eyes staring intently at me. He looked at me as if I was the most interesting thing in the world, as if his eyes left me I would disappear.

His gaze made me feel naked. I almost looked down to see if I really was naked but something made me stop and continue to stare back at him. I had remembered him shirtless, bloody and bruised, and a broken arm, but this Gray had none of those things. He wore a simple long-sleeved black t-shirt and dark pants. His hair was almost a shade darker than I remembered making me think he had taken a shower not long ago.

"You're not as beat up as I remember." Was not what I expected to leave my mouth, but apparently it was as I watched Gray close his eyes and chuckle light-heartedly. I felt a blush rise up my neck. I had totally ignored his question. I knew I had a tendency to do so, but I felt like I was being rude when I did it to him.

"And I'm feeling really sore, but fine." I rushed out before he could say something.

"I'm glad you feel okay." He said simply, crossing his arms over his chest. I stared. He was way too good-looking to be real.

Stop these thoughts right now young lady! It was no time to be thinking about how good-looking he was.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. Staring at him closely, I noticed fading bruises around his jawline and a few more on his exposed collarbone.

He has a nice collarbone.

Vampires make me a pervert. It's official.

"I'll be one-hundred percent in another few hours." He flashed his white teeth at me. I felt my brows furrow together in confusion.

"So you have, like, super healing powers?" It sounded silly but it was definitely a possibility. He stood then, raising his arms high above his head in a stretch, causing his shirt to rise just enough I got a glimpse of the pale skin underneath.

God, if he keeps this up I'm going to die from a nosebleed. I had been too emotional and crazed to appreciate his shirtless body beforehand and now I was too focused on everything to not appreciate his covered body.

Definitely a pervert.

"Something like that." He chuckled out and stepped close to me. He kneeled down in front of me and placed a gentle under on my casted one lifting it up a little. The motion made me suck in a sharp breath. I hadn't even looked at my hand yet. I glanced down at the plaster cast that encased my left hand and wrist. It was simple white with something scrawled in black ink over the knuckles. It looked to be in a different language so I couldn't figure out what it meant.

"You broke four bones in your hand." He said casually, gazing intensely at the white plaster.

"What does this say?" I asked pointing to the strange inscription. A smile teased the corners of his lips.

"Nam et ego obducam enim cicatricem tibi et a vulneribus tuis sanabo te dicit Dominus." The words rolled off his tongue in an alluring purr. "It means, 'For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord.' It's a verse from the Bible. Jeremiah 30:17 I believe." His eyes took on a dreamy look as he stared at the beautiful calligraphy. "My brother used to always say that passages from the Bible had special effects on others. This one is meant to heal which is why I wrote it on you. I want you to heal quickly and properly." His eyes focused on mine then and completely took my breath away. His eyes held such deep, powerful sincerity in them I couldn't think. All I could do was stare.

"He's a lot better at remembering the important passages than I am. He would have given you something more meaningful and powerful, but I just wanted to do something nice and this was the first passage to pop into my head." I didn't understand it, but I could understand his sincerity. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.

He turned my arm over, carefully and gently. I couldn't help but think that was the gentlest anyone had ever handled me before. I realized everything I knew about vampires may have been one-sided. The one side that I was fluent with was all disaster and destruction. Did anyone know of their gentleness? Of their kindness?

He rubbed his thumb over another passage on my palm in the same unfamiliar scrawling. "Itaque nolite timere, quia ego tecum sum; ne declines, quia ego Deus. Ego tuus confortavi te et auxiliatus sum tibi, Sum tui et suscepi te dextera iusti mei So." He said, voice low and simple. "This one is for strength. It says, 'So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.' Isaiah 41:10."

"Do you believe in their words?" My voice left my lips barely above a whisper. I thought he didn't hear me at first but a thoughtful expression came over his features.

"I do to an extent." His thumb stroked over the script, eyes far away as he thought of something I would never understand. "When you grow up like I did, it's hard to find things to believe in. Everything you want to believe in lets you down or takes advantage of you, but my brother is very adamant about God, though he doesn't necessarily believe in the Bible."

"Then why does he believe passages from the Bible have special effects?" Gray looked to me again.

"Hope and belief." He answered plainly. "Everyone needs these in order to survive, otherwise without them what else would there be?" He paused as if waiting for an answer. "The answer is darkness and helplessness. Hope is what keeps the races living and belief is what keeps them hoping."

"I've never believed in God." I said soberly. Gray shrugged nonchalantly keeping his eyes on my hand.

"Then it is not where your hope and belief come from." I thought about his words. Belief and hope. The two words were so simple yet they held such deep meaning. Gray was right. Without either, where would any of them be?

A sudden thought hit me and I remembered the dream I had just had. Natsu had been my hope. I was sure of it. The love and devotion I had felt for this non-existent person felt like what I imagined hope felt like. But, why did I have such deep emotions for someone who didn't exist? Unless... He actually did.

"Do you know someone by the name of Natsu Dragneel?" I watched Gray's body go rigid all over, his eyes hardening with the question.

"What did you say?" His voice came out almost as a growl.

Suddenly I was nervous. Did he actually know someone by that name?

"I had a dream." I explained. "And there was a man by the name of Natsu Dragneel. It just seemed like such a different name that I didn't think I made it up." I left out the part with us being deeply in love and Gray seemed to relax a little by what I said.

"Natsu Dragneel is the Prince of the vampires." I froze and felt all the blood drain from my face, a sudden dizziness washing over me.

WHAT?!

"Why did I have a dream about the Prince of the vampires?!" I nearly screamed. My body was completely panicking, my brain going a million miles an hour. Why the hell did I have a dream about the Prince of the vampires and why was he my lover in the dream?

I remembered the way his eyes held mine with such adoration and tenderness. I remembered the way his hand felt in mine, the way his body felt against mine. The kiss we shared had been earthshattering.

There was no way.

"You probably heard Max talking about him in the past week and it incorporated into your dream, Princess. It's probably nothing." He sounded so calm and sure of what he was saying, but I didn't. I had never heard Max say such a name before. Not consciously at least. Maybe I had heard him in my subconscious and that was where it had come from. Yeah, maybe…

But that didn't explain what he looked like.

"That's probably it." I didn't believe what I said. There was something about it, something that just didn't feel right. "I just don't understand where I got the image of him from though." Gray raised a brow at me.

"What did he look like?" He questioned. Suddenly, I got the feeling I shouldn't tell him. He was a stranger after all, but he was a stranger I was supposed to trust. What if this dream meant something? I couldn't ignore it and I couldn't figure it out by myself. He was the one who could give me the best answers so why was I hesitating?

"Well he was tall, tan, masculine, with pinkish hair that spiked all around and really, really dark green eyes." I watched as Gray's face paled considerably. He looked as white as a sheet and I couldn't help but think I was right.

I stared at Gray, watching as he tried to mask his emotions. To others he would have succeeded, but to me it was like reading a book. He was completely freaked out by what I had said.

This Natsu was very, very real.

And Gray knew him.

Gray opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the door opening. I watched Gajeel walk into the room hands on his hips.

"Did I interrupt something?" He asked the other vampire. Gray slowly shook his head and grunted.

"We were just talking." And then he stood up and left Gajeel and me in the room. I watched him go wondering just what he knew. Obviously, he knew who I was talking about otherwise he wouldn't have had that reaction. So, why was he keeping his knowledge from me?

Maybe I shouldn't have told him. Maybe I should've kept it to myself, but then I wouldn't know if he knew. And boy, oh boy, did I know.

"Princess?" Gajeel's voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked to him. He was no longer in his blood splattered clothing, which I was thankful for, and instead was in a long-sleeved dark grey shirt with blue jeans. It was a simple look and looked extremely nice on him.

Damn perverted thoughts.

I can't help it, sue me.

"Yes, Gajeel?" I was always impressed with myself when my voice came out strong and authoritative-like. Made me feel good about myself, especially when I looked like I had the living hell beat out of me. It reminded me of my mother.

"Your mother and father would like to speak with you." He held the door open for me and I just stared at the open space.

I was expected to walk all the way to the study?

Well, fuck.

I gritted my teeth together and tried to stand, pain shooting up through my body. I groaned loudly, feeling sweat already form on my temple, but made it into a standing position.

If you could call it standing that is.

My back was hunched over from the pain and my knees bent trying to keep my balance.

I totally got this.

I noticed Gajeel standing right beside me, a warm hand on my back for support.

"I can carry you, Prince-"

"No." I cut him off. "I can do it myself, thank you." My voice came out a little harsher than I wanted, but I was not some weak little girl. I had to fight for myself.

The first few steps were agonizing, each step I took shot pain up my legs and each breath I took had my ribs screaming. We were slowly going down the hallway, me grunting with every step and Gajeel watching me like I was going to pass out any second. I wondered if I was going to actually pass out. It kind of felt that way.

"I need a second." I gasped out leaning against the wall for support. Gajeel stood close to me in reassurance.

"I can carry you the rest of the way, it will be no problem." He stated, worry laced in his words.

"I'm a big girl, I told you I can do it myself." I said through gritted teeth. Gajeel chuckled and shook his head.

"You're one stubborn bitch, you know that?" I grinned at that.

"Damn right I am and don't you forget it." I started walking again with more vigor than before. I was a stubborn bitch and I wasn't about to let this get the better of me. How was I supposed to lead a country if every time I got beat up I needed someone to carry me around? I had to do this for myself.

A good ten minutes later we finally entered the study and I winced thinking I probably looked like I had just run a marathon. Sweat had my black shirt sticking to me uncomfortably and my hair plastered to my face.

Gross.

"Lucinda, are you alright?" My father asked upon my entering and stood up to come help me.

"You stay right there." I panted out, venom laced between my words, making him stop and stare at me. I had come this far by myself already, I was going to make it the rest of the way as well. Determination flooded through me as I walked into the room and plopped down, very ungracefully, at the large war table.

I looked around at the bodies sitting around the table. I saw my father and mother, of course, Max twiddling his thumbs, a distracted looking Makarov, a sullen looking Gray, and two new bodies. A woman and a younger boy sat between Makarov and Gray. The woman was absolutely beautiful with long white hair and big, blue eyes. She looked my way and smiled kindly causing my breath to hitch in my throat.

Why is she so God damn gorgeous?!

Then my eyes looked to the younger boy. He looked to be about fifteen with a mop of light blue hair and dark blue eyes. He was cute in that little brother sort of way.

I noticed he was wearing a dark blue shirt that said 'Gamers have more fun' across the chest. I couldn't help but smile. This kid and I were going to get along just fine.

"These are two of your new protectors." Gajeel said, taking a seat beside me. "This is Mirajane," He gestured to the silver-haired beauty. "And this is Happy." He pointed to the boy. I nodded in each's direction not really wanting to talk at the moment. It hurt too much to talk, I needed a break.

"She's a little sore so don't mind her if she doesn't speak." Gajeel chuckled out. I shot daggers at him.

"Don't make fun of me." I hissed out, grimacing with the pain that followed. He chuckled again.

I would've hit him if I knew it wasn't going to have me screaming profanities.

"Lucinda." My father said in a warning tone. I looked to him apologetically and waited for the meeting to start. He cleared his throat. "As you all know the attack we had yesterday took a blow on our defenses."

Wait, yesterday? What time was it? How long had I been asleep? I guess I had forgotten to ask Gray when we were talking earlier.

"Because of this Makarov is going to be asking Dragneel to come and help us." My heart stopped and I felt all the blood drain from my face. Dragneel?! My eyes found Gray, who was staring intensely at me. Our eyes locked together and I could almost hear him telling me to keep my mouth shut about the dream.

"He is not due to be back at the guild for two more days so we have Mira here substituting for him." I couldn't take my eyes off Gray. Is this why he was so freaked out by my dream? Was this Dragneel, Natsu Dragneel?

"We will be taking shifts." I heard Max speak. "Gray, Happy, and Gajeel will be taking the night shift while Mira and I will be taking shift in the day. All of us are to be-" I drowned out Max's voice, lost in my own thoughts. The vampire Prince could be coming here. I couldn't get it out of my mind. Why was no one else freaking out about this? Why was everyone so calm about him coming here? Unless, no one else knew what I did…

And then the thought of the love we shared surfaced. I felt a sudden blush begin to crawl up my neck.

It was just a dream right? There is no way the Prince of the vampires was ever going to fall in love with some human like me. It was just a dream, wasn't it?

Suddenly I felt an elbow nudge me in the arm. I whipped my head to the side causing me to grimace, to see Gajeel staring at my curiously. He gestured down to the table and I looked to see a page of paper in front of me with messy scribbling on it. I squinted to make out the words.

What's with you and Gray? I looked around the table, noticing nobody's attention was on us, but instead on Max as he laid out a plan. I should've been listening but my curiosity got the best of me. I grabbed a pen that was beside me.

It's a long story. I wrote back. Gajeel raised a questioning brow at me. I had a funky dream and it freaked Gray out.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? I sighed. How much was I supposed to tell Gajeel? Did he know as much as Gray did? I looked over to Gray and saw he was staring daggers at us. I shrunk back a little. Obviously, I wasn't supposed to tell Gajeel.

You better ask him. And I drew an arrow pointing to the vampire in question. I watched Gajeel look over to Gray. They stared at each other intently for a few moments almost as if they were talking to one another telepathically. Then Gajeel nodded. Maybe they really had talked to each other? I made a note to ask if vampires had telepathy or not.

I'll talk to him after this. How are you feeling? That was a good question. How was I feeling? There were too many emotions roaming around my mind, but my guess was he meant physical and not emotional.

I hurt like Hell, but I'll live. Gajeel chuckled. How long was I asleep? I asked before he wrote something down. I had lost time I knew that much.

About eighteen hours. My eyes widened. That was the longest I had ever slept before. We expected you to be asleep for at least another day with how beat up you got. I snorted.

Take me for a weakling, do you? Gajeel grinned.

Not at all. I looked to Gray again and noticed he was engrossed in his own thoughts. I bit my lip thinking just how much I could get away with telling Gajeel.

How much do you know about Natsu Dragneel? Gajeel's eyes widened at the question.

That he's a ghost. Why do you ask? So Gajeel either really didn't know anything or was keeping what he knew from me. I didn't know what to think about it. I looked over to Gray again. I needed to talk to him more about it since he did know.

Just wondering. I heard Max say that name a few days ago and just wondered what it meant. It was a total lie but I didn't think telling him about my dream was a good idea yet. It had been too real, almost as if it were a memory instead of a dream. I remembered having dreams like that in the past, but this was the first one with that boy in it. Or I guess I should say vampire.

He's the vampire Prince. We were talking about finding him and Makarov decided against it since no one knows what he looks like. But I knew what he looked like. And so did Gray.

Then how do you know his name? I guess I could get as much out of him as I could.

The prophecy. The 'what the fuck' expression was on my face causing Gajeel to chuckle. I'll explain later. I sighed. This was frustrating.

So, tell me about this Dragneel guy. Is he like you and Gray? Gajeel looked up to my father then.

"I understand, Your Highness." I hadn't even realized my father was talking to Gajeel. Good thing he was keeping up with it.

"Good. Now that adjourns the meeting. I hope all of you understand your responsibilities. Gajeel, will you please take my daughter to her room?" My father asked. Gajeel nodded respectively.

"Come along, Princess." He said as he took the sheet of paper we had been writing on and shoved it in his pocket.

He helped me onto my feet and I wheezed from the movement.

God, Gray put a healing passage on my hand, can you make it work on my whole body to? I prayed up above. I didn't know why I talked to Him when I didn't believe, but something always soothed me when I did. Maybe, I did secretly believe?

"So, you didn't answer my question." I stated as Gajeel and I exited the room and headed down the hall to the stairs. Gajeel chuckled heartedly.

"I can't explain what he's like, Princess. You'll just have to wait and see." I wondered what that meant. Did he know more than he was letting on? Did he tell me that because he knew this guy was Natsu?

"Just know this," Gajeel began speaking. "He's not someone to trust like the rest of us. He is someone who doesn't care what happens to you." I furrowed my brows.

"Then why is he coming to assist us?"

"Makarov has his brothers held hostage here." My eyes widened.

"What?!"

"It is insurance to make sure Dragneel takes care of you and this city." Gajeel replied simply. "They know why they're here and they have agreed to it as well."

"Who are his brothers?" I asked as we reached the stairs. I looked at them with a hard stare. Just the thought of climbing them was making my stomach twist painfully.

"Gray and Happy." My jaw dropped, quite literally.

"Wow." Was all I could say. I guess it made sense that those were the two. Maybe. Not really, nothing made sense. Those two looked nothing alike.

"Just know Princess," Gajeel looked up the stairs, eyes far away in thought. "Dragneel is someone to watch yourself around. Just because he's been sentenced to help you doesn't mean he won't make your life Hell while doing so." He turned to me. "Be prepared." And with that Gajeel lifted me bridal style and carried me the rest of the way to my room.

Two days.

I had two days to prepare for this.

Gajeel bid me farewell after he dropped me off in my room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I was so exhausted but too wound up to sleep so I laid on my bed thinking about my dream. I was honestly nervous to meet Dragneel. What if he was the Dragneel in my dream? I didn't know how to process anything. I couldn't think straight. And the pain that came with every breath I took sure as hell didn't help me.

I stared at my ceiling. Two days wasn't a very long time to worry.

Review! BYe, loves:)