Present

He would never admit it, but Natsu liked her the best like this. Her long blond hair was half up, half down, the half that was up bound in a small ponytail on the side of her head. She wore a blue skirt and simple tank top with leather boots. Aquarius always made her wear these dresses that reminded him just who she was, but many days she got to dress herself and this is what she went with.

He never wanted to teach her how to fight. It didn't make sense to him. It was only when she appealed to his kind of reason that he allowed for her to start fighting. Though she appreciated the use of a strange, magical whip that Virgo had somehow managed to procure (he didn't want to ask), Natsu made her fight using all of the other weapons, too, to give her plenty of training.

Besides the whip, she appreciated use Erza. Erza was at one time the infamous captain of the Palace Guard, and she had been the first one to volunteer to be enchanted as a servant of Fairy Tail Keep. However, when she learned that the princess was beginning to train, she insisted on making sure Natsu didn't train as poorly as he had. Tch. That Erza could be so scary! And mean! One of Erza's special abilities was to morph into swords of different length, weight, ability, and type. So Lucy got plenty of practice on many different swords based off of Erza's whim of changing. Lucy twirled Erza now in her grasp as she looked at Natsu.

He felt scales dusting over his face as he began his transformation. "Are you ready for me, Luce?" he asked, smiling as his canines lengthened.

He heard her heartbeat kick up a notch as adrenaline set in. "Always."

Natsu's smile widened as his chest broadened out and his wings burst from his back. His scarlet-ruby-crimson prismatic scales burst out of his skin all over as his whole skeleton changed to accommodate his large dragon form. Now full grown, Natsu was an intimidating fifteen-feet tall and even longer. His broad tail emerged, and the transformation was complete so he immediately swept his tail around with surprising speed, hoping to sweep her off her feet.

Naturally, she leapt up, avoiding it as casually as if it were a skipping rope. Her eyes gleamed with determination as she made her move, running towards him with the Erza held back, drawing her at the last moment to make a slashing cut at his right shoulder. Sparks flew across as the blade attempted to break the impenetrable red scales; the resultant shriek of metal on scale would make anyone wince, but the princess and her dragon were accustomed to it.

Lucy drew back with a triumphant smile. "That's one for me!"

He roared in response, totally unharmed by the hit. They never set out to injure, which is why Lucy never went after the softer scales of his stomach (not that he'd ever let his guard down enough to let a combatant get close), and he was always gentle with her, using taps and gentle nips to indicate that she had been hit. He used an incredible amount of control with her. It helped that his instinct was not to harm her as she was the object of his protection.

He bounded up to her retreated form, and she raised Erza in defense, quickly running to meet him. As she leapt up to try a similar attack on the side of his neck, he caught her by Erza in his claws, leaving her gasping as he raised her to the level of his eyes. The princess still grasped the sword with both hands, shaking in frustration to try and loosen his hold. He grinned, chuffing lightly.

"Yeah, yeah, that's one of you, Flame Brain. Now would you put me down?"

Shaking his head, he brought her close to the ground and dropped her when she was six feet off the ground. She rolled into the landing on the floor, already looking roughed up when she stood again, raising Erza with a determined grin.

"Alright, time to break the tie!"

Lucy sat in her room after the morning exercise, bathing in the spicy oils that Virgo retrieved from Mavis knows where. As she did, her wash basin, Juvia chatted excitedly with her. "And then, and then, Master Natsu brought Gray into the room, and Juvia got to stare at him for a full five seconds!"

The wash basin was working herself into such a frenzy that she began steaming up, fogging the windows as she did and making Lucy unsure of what to do. She was referring to the magic mirror, Gray, formerly one of King Jude's favorite messengers whose power was now to show Lucy or Natsu anywhere in the kingdom and inform them of important events. When she had been human, Juvia, one of the Palace laundresses, had been positively obsessed with him.

Because Lucy had been young, she had very little understanding of why the woman was so enraptured by the messenger, but now she was older. She thought about things like love and the patience Juvia had waiting for months to see Gray only to have him back for a day then shipped off on another mission for her father. Thinking about being gone from Natsu for that long made Lucy sad.

She sighed loudly, and Juvia stopped mid-sentence, her glassy surface icing over immediately. "Juvia is sorry that she has bored your Highness."

Lucy sat up, waving her hands apologetically. "No, no, no! Not at all, Juvia! I was just thinking about… well, love."

Juvia iced over further, growing so frigid that Lucy started shivering from where she sat a couple of feet away. "Your Highness is also in love with Gray?"

"No!" she said, mildly terrified, waving her hands even more frantically. "Never, are you kidding me? Why would I be in love with a mirror?"

She heated up so suddenly that the ice inside of her went instantly to steam, slightly scalding Lucy's skin as she was hit by the wall of heat. "Why not?" she demanded. "He is the most perfect mirror in all of Fairy Tail Keep."

"He's the only mirror in Fairy Tail Keep," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing?" Lucy said quickly, standing and grabbing her towel. "I mean… how could I possibly pursue Gray when I know he already has such a smart and beautiful… er, washbasin?"

Juvia immediately settled to a regular pool of water, and Lucy let out a sigh of relief as her servant launched into another story about a passing moment with her love. As she did, Lucy left her bathing chamber and walked into her bedroom, sighing again much more sadly as she sat on the edge of her bed, absentmindedly drying her hair.

In the middle of their training session, Gray had informed Natsu that another suitor was approaching the castle. He would reach them by late afternoon. Natsu had immediately become his serious Protector self, sending Lucy to her chambers where her boudoir, Lisanna, and her special scissors, Cancer, both advised that she freshen up and make herself suitable to her station.

Lucy didn't like this idea as it reminded her of the fact that she needed to be presentable in case the stranger won. The stranger winning meant… Lucy's hand flew up to the key around her neck, squeezing it tightly enough to leave an angry red mark on her palm. He would be fine. They would be fine. Natsu always won.

Now all she had to was find a dress that would make that idiot's jaw hit the floor when he saw her in it. She giggled, feeling evil as she ran over to wardrobe. As she did, her helpful feather duster, Virgo, appeared. "Is there anything I can get for you, Princess?"

"As a matter of fact there is," she said thoughtfully. "What would you wear to catch a man's eye?"

An hour later, Natsu paced in the ballroom by the entrance to the castle. In his hand was Gray, showing him the an image of the blond haired stranger who was riding towards Fairy Tail Keep at breakneck speed on a black horse. At his shoulder was Happy, who was usually much like his name and energetic, but today seemed more somber.

"... so now all a suitor needs to do is to defeat you to become king," Gray finished his report.

Natsu's scowl deepened even further. King Jude, having reclaimed much of Heartfilia, was now dead. Lucy was the rightful queen. Still, she was sealed here by her father's final orders until the right suitor came. Sometimes the king made him so angry! Lucy could be a queen all on her own; she didn't anyone to be a great ruler! Now though, it only became more imperative that he protected her. Whatever fool she ended up with would be king. She deserved only the best.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of her footfalls on the steps down to the ballroom. He heard Master Makarov, the grand table scoot along the floor to meet her. "Your Highness! You should be resting upstairs."

"Thank you, Master, but I'll be quite fine here until I absolutely must go," Lucy said firmly.

He heard her footsteps drawing closer to him so he shook Gray, causing the image of the suitor to disappear. He turned to meet her, putting on a fake smile that immediately fell away slack as he looked at her. She was in a crimson floor length dress with a full skirt that billowed out around her hips. Her white bare shoulders showed as the bell sleeves fell away to rest off her shoulders. Around her neck was her golden key, and her hair was bound up with a ribbon as red as her dress. She looked stunning.

He almost immediately looked away, feeling stung. She wasn't this dressed up for him. He had to remember that. She looked that way so this… this… person would be as stunned as he was when he first laid eyes on her.

Natsu immediately clenched his fists. He'd never lay eyes on her. He'd pommel this guy just like he pommeled all the rest. Natsu turned away from her again. "You shouldn't be down here," he said gruffly.

He heard her footsteps halt a few steps from him. "And who are you to be telling me what to do? You may be the Protector of Fairy Tail Keep, but I'm still its mistress."

"Natsu, the suitor is coming over the hill," Happy reported, returning from a scouting mission his master hadn't asked him to take.

"It's time for you to go, Princess," Natsu said firmly, looking at her.

When he looked into her eyes finally, her expression changed from its fierce playfulness to concern seeing him. He hated that. She raised a hand to put on his cheek, and he didn't stop her. "Natsu… be careful."

He gave her the grin he knew that she liked best that showed off his teeth and reached up to his eyes. "Don't worry, Luce. You asked me once if I'd protect you forever, and I haven't forgotten my promise."

Her eyes widened in recognition like she couldn't believe he remembered that conversation so long ago. Her eyes softened as the small beginnings of tears welled up in her eyes. "You'll always be here to protect me," she said softly. Suddenly, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Go show that idiot what my dragon is made of."

He was too shocked to respond for a second as she pulled away, feeling a burning spot in the shape of her lips on his cheek. He shook his head, recovering enough to smile at her again. "You bet, Princess."