Seven Years Ago

The blond haired girl woke up when the sun peeked through the window and straight onto her sleeping face. Her eyes cracked open through the sticky dust surrounding her eyes. Usually her eyes were only this crusty when she cried, but she didn't remember doing so. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she realized with a start that she was not in her room at the Palace any longer.

Her room's walls were dark, slick obsidian, but the rest had been done up to look as much like her room as possible - in a girly pink color with a fluffy bed and beautiful antique furniture. On the far wall, there was a writing desk that seemed to beckon her, but she kept surveying the room. When she saw a boy in the corner sitting on a low chair, sprawled out snoring with his head hanging back towards the ceiling, she let out a small yelp of surprise.

The boy remained unresponsive, still snoring loudly. Lucy stood up, curious, and walked over to the boy. He had pink hair, the likes of which she had never seen before. She was tempted to reach out and touch it, but she remembered that was rude. Because his mouth was hanging open, she could see his sharp teeth, and her breath caught in her throat. Humans didn't have those kinds of teeth… what was he?

Now a little bit frightened, Lucy opened the door to his left and took off running down the hallway in her white nightgown.

Natsu heard the opening of the door and felt the faint wind on his face followed by the swift little pitter-patter of feet running away from him, and his eyes opened immediately, looking over at the bed. Not finding the princess there, he scrambled to his feet. He ran over to the still open door and followed the sound of footsteps until they tapered off and he could hear only strange, soft hiccupy sounds.

Slowing his pace down as he walked the obsidian halls, he ended up outside of the armory door, which was slightly ajar. He pushed it open softly and followed the strange sound to the back corner of the room, between a rack of swords and javelins. There she sat on the floor, her tiny fists covering her eyes as wetness escaped from them and stained her cheeks with streaks.

"Ehhh?" Natsu said, frightening the little thing into looking up with a hiccupy squeak and jam herself further in the corner. "Why are you crying?"

To this, she simply sniffled even louder, closing her eyes and burying her face in her drawn up knees. "I want my mommy!" she yelled, as muffled as it was coming through her knees.

Natsu's heart sank a little. Of course her first request of him was one that he couldn't fulfill. "Um… well, your Highness, the Queen isn't here. It's just me!"

"Who are you?" she questioned, her tears quelling as she looked up at him suspiciously, her hands still drawn around her knees.

"I'm your dragon!" he announced proudly, sweeping into a bow. "Natsu Dragneel of Heartfilia, son of Igneel, Protector of Fairy Tail Keep."

Her frown deepened. "You don't look like a dragon."

He stood, spluttering. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I'm a dragon! Here, I'll show you!"

Natsu closed his eyes in determination, feeling his face elongate into a snout and his fingers extend to claws as he chest widened and his spine lengthened, shooting out of his back to form wings and a massive tail. When he opened his eyes, he was a seven foot tall, crimson red dragon. He swiveled his dark eyes towards her, only just then realizing that if she was scared before, a dragon appearing in the room may not help.

He was surprised to see that she stood, wiping away the last of her tears and stepping forward to look him up and down. He felt suddenly shy at her appraisal. After a minute, she finally said, "You're awfully small for a dragon."

His eyes narrowed as his gaze went level with the little girl's. "Hey! That's not fair; I'm not even fully grown yet!"

"Yes, but how will you protect me when you're this puny size?" she asked, walking around him.

He resisted the urge to twist in order to face her so he didn't sweep his tail out and injure her. "I can protect you at any size!" he boasted proudly. "I am a dragon, and that's what we do!"

She came back around to his front without speaking and poked him lightly on the scaly stomach repeatedly. He tried to resist, but after a moment… "Bahahahahahaha!" he exclaimed. "Stop that! It tickles!"

Seeing his response, she grinned determinedly, redoubling her efforts to tickle the dragon's stomach, much to Natsu's dismay as he began backing up, swaying his tail from side to side as he tried to twist out of her reach. As he did, he knocked over whole racks of swords and bows that fell to the ground with might crashes. Lucy giggled.

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAATSUUUUUUUUUU!" a voice growled from deep within the pile of fallen swords.

Natsu froze immediately, catching the princess' small hands delicately with his claws. The princess stopped giggle as he did so and watched in amazement as a sword more ornate and beautiful than the rest rose from the pile with a red aura surrounding it.

"Ah… hi, Erza?" Natsu said weakly.

The sword turned its deadly sharp edge on the red dragon, gleaming wickedly. "Natsu Dragneel, how many times must I tell you not to transform in the armory?!"

"Just the once?" he said uncertainly, shimmering back into a boy. He still held Lucy's hands, gulping as the sword twisted in the air. "Er, Princess, I think it's time for us to run!"

With that, he yanked her away and towards the door as the large sword pursued him with unreal speed all the way to the door of the armory where the two kids spilled out gasping for breath as Erza the sword slammed the door behind them. Lucy turned to Natsu with a broad smile.

"You're silly!" she announced.

He smiled back. "Yeah, well you're nosy!"

She giggled then stopped, looking at him curiously. "Are you really going to protect me forever and ever?"

Technically, it would only be until a suitor claimed her properly, but she was a little girl. She didn't need to know that. Besides, just looking at her, something welled up inside of him. It was probably just dragon instinct because she was like a treasure he had been given, and everyone knew how possessive dragons were about their treasure. Still, he found himself saying, "I will always be here to protect you, Princess. No matter what."

Her face scrunched up a little. "You shouldn't call me Princess or your Highness. It makes me feel really lonely. Call me Lucy!"

He opened his eyes wider in surprise. "I can't do that! Nobody can call you Lucy but the king! It wouldn't be right!"

"Okay, so call me something else instead," she suggested.

"Like what?"

"Like… like…" her face brightened suddenly. "You can call me Luce!"

The rest of the day, her dragon followed her. She explored the library and the ballroom, the grand study and the guest bedrooms. She didn't ask what they were for since they wouldn't be hosting guests, but she figured that they were just a part of making it feel more like her home.

Whenever she felt terribly lonely, she just looked over her shoulder and there he would be. While she was taking in these things for the first time, she knew because he told her that he had been here for a couple of weeks to adjust to his new role and prepare for the day that King Jude came to leave her here. He was always looking intently at her when she looked back, a dutiful dragon ready to complete his mission of protecting her. She liked that, and she liked him.

Kids her age would typically look at her as the princess, someone untouchable and out of reach for them. He looked at her like they were already friends. It left a warm feeling in her heart.

He still wouldn't tell her about her mother or father, and she figured that was because he didn't know anything about them. It made her sad, but if she was going to be here, she was going to try to be strong for them. She reached up and clasped the golden key necklace she wore, still wondering why she had it. It was her mother's, and she didn't remember it being given to her. It was still nice to have a piece of home though.

She turned back to Natsu as they made it back to the ballroom after her inspection. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"This place is called Fairy Tail Keep, right?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Huh?" he asked, a look of confusion crumpling his features.

"Why do they call it Fairy Tail Keep? Do fairies even have tails?"

His face looked contemplative for a moment. "I don't know," he finally answered. "But it sure would be a fun adventure finding out."

At the word adventure, Lucy felt her face lighting up. "An adventure! Can we go find out some day, you and me?"

The only way she would leave this castle would be with someone else, not him. The thought made him remarkably sad because she looked so excited about the prospect of going on an adventure with him. He thought it would be exciting, too. If his job was to protect her, then right now it had to mean from her future because it would only make her said. So instead, he nodded. "Of course we can, Luce. I promise."