Natsu woke up with a jolt, sitting up straight in his bed. Wherever he was, it felt like the entire ground was moving. Oh no... Natsu leaned over the side of his cot, his motion sickness getting the better of him. He took in his surroundings; there were sleeping people in cots just like his, and the walls and floors were made of wood.
With very little strength, Natsu crawled from his cot and up a set of stairs. When he got to the top, he was hit by a warm breeze, calming his motion sickness for a moment. He used the doorway to help himself up, but he wish he hadn't. All he could see was blue; whether it be sky or water.
"Prince Eric! Nice to see you up so soon." A stocky man came up to him, smiling.
"Y-yeah." Natsu said, not sure what else to say.
"Prince Eric, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just a little sick." Natsu pressed all of his weight into the door frame, trying to keep himself steady.
"Oh, you'll get used to it. Although, I must say, I've never seen you look this sick before." The man looked concerned, but that concern quickly turned into fear as an explosion rocked the entire boat, making Natsu even sicker than before. The boat began to split underneath Natsu's feet, making him stumble backwards.
"Prince Eric!" The man tried to catch him, but it was too late. Natsu hit his head on a piece of wood. The last thing he saw was the murky water, taking him prisoner.
Lucy saw the explosion, and how Natsu fell into the water. Her heart sank to her feet; or tail, rather. Lucy dove back into the water and swam towards the sinking ship. She searched frantically for Natsu, calling his name, even though she knew he wouldn't answer. Finally, she saw him, sinking further into the murky waters.
Narrowing her eyes, she swam with all her might to him, wrapped her arms around his warm body, then propelled them to the surface. Lucy carried him to shore, setting him down gently on the sand. She placed her hand on his chest, watching it rise and fall with his breath. As she was about to pull away, his hand shot up and grabbed hers as he sat up, sucking in air. He looked terrified.
"Natsu..?" Lucy almost pissed herself; that was something out of a horror movie! "Natsu! Calm down!"
At this, Natsu, looked into her eyes, his own softening.
"Luce?"
"That's me." Lucy smiled at him, then instantly blushed. Last time she saw him was in Sleeping Beauty, when he had kissed her. Natsu began to blush, too.
"W-well, I should get going. I need to go lose my voice but gain some legs."
"W-what?" Natsu, as if for the first time, stared at her tail, eyes widening. Then, he broke out into his signature grin. "It's a good thing Happy isn't here."
Lucy giggled, the thought of the little blue Exceed trying to bite her tail made her feel warm.
"Well, Natsu, I'll see you here later, okay? Besides, I don't want your dog to bite me."
"Dog?"
"Yeah, Prince Eric has a dog." Lucy said, slithering back into the water.
"W-wait, Luce!"
"Yeah?" Her brown eyes stared into his onyx ones, which were very serious.
"About the kiss fro-" He was cut off due to barking in the distance.
"Natsu, I need to go. We'll continue this later." Lucy promised, diving into the water.
She didn't understand what was going on inside her head. Whenever she was with Natsu, it made her feel warm and tingly inside. Whenever she was away from him, she felt lonely and sad for some reason. When she had learned that he had went through with the kiss, she didn't know what to feel. She honestly liked the idea of it, but when she had opened her eyes, he looked shocked and confused, as if he didn't like it.
Sighing, Lucy went to see Ursula, to get her legs and meet Natsu on the beach again.
Lucy entered the dark cave, an unsettling aura weighing her shoulders down. She could hear the octopus chanting something followed by a poof.
"My dear, do come in." Ursula's back was towards Lucy, so how could she see her? "So, you and Prince Charming, eh?" She laughed, shaking the entire cave.
"Y-yeah." Lucy hated this place, and she really wanted to leave. But, if she did, she wouldn't be able to go through the fairy tale.
"Well, then, let's get down to business." And with a great bound, the giant octopus came over to Lucy, holding out a vial. "Drink this."
"What's the catch?"
"Catch? My dear, you know this business well! In turn, I want your voice." Her breath smelled of rotting meat,
"Okay, let's just get this over with." Lucy took the vial, popping off the cork. Tossing her head back, Lucy downed the contents in one gulp. It tasted kind of like... Strawberries.
Lucy felt her vocal chords go dry, almost. Then, she was surrounded by a tornado of water and the sound of the octopus laughing.
"Remember, dear. You have three days!"
Everything was a blur of white, then blue. She was staring up at the sky, her back hot on the sand. Sitting up, Lucy looked around, then down at her legs. Her naked legs.
Oh no, I need to find clothes before Natsu gets here!
"Oi, Luce! Is that you?"
Lucy tried to scream at him, but her voice was gone. So, she scrambled back into the cold water, hiding herself as best she could before turning to see a confused Natsu. Lucy pointed to his shirt, wanting to put it on.
"Luce? What's wrong?"
Again, Lucy just pointed at his shirt, but Natsu didn't get it. So, Lucy put her hands over her eyes, trying to get Natsu to do the same.
"You want me to close my eyes?"
Lucy nodded her head, and Natsu did as she wanted.
Slowly, Lucy got out of the water, making sure Natsu wouldn't open his eyes. Then, she tugged at his shirt, which apparently wasn't the right thing to do. Natsu's eyes opened, and Lucy blushed, her hands still wrapped up in his shirt.
"Luce? What're you doing?" Natsu didn't take his eyes off of hers.
As if trying to answer, Lucy pulled on his shirt again. She felt her eyes pricking with tears. She was really embarrassed.
"Do you want my shirt to cover up with?"
Lucy nodded, taking her hands off of it. He slid it off, handing it to her. His toned skin looked really hot, but Lucy forced her eyes to look away as she slipped on the shirt, making a dress out of it. Lucy smiled as if to say her thanks, then they just stood there in silence.
"Uh, do you wanna go back to the castle? We have more clothes there.." Natsu wouldn't stop staring into Lucy's eyes, making her feel like her heart was going to pop out of her chest.
Nodding, Natsu led her towards the castle, people staring at Lucy as they went. She was a little shaky on her feet, so she had to lean on Natsu for support.
When they arrived, she was greeted by many nice people. Some girls took her away from Natsu, much to his disapproval. The girls dressed her up in a nice pink dress, her hair brushed and straightened.
After that, she was shoved into a dining room with Natsu and the King, and she shyly did a curtsey. s they sat down to eat, the King kept asking Lucy questions she couldn't answer. So, Natsu had to explain that she was a mute, to which the king was surprised. So, from then on out, Natsu kindly answered questions about her. He surprisingly knew a lot.
That night, Lucy had a hard time sleeping. Day one was out of the way, so she only had two more days to make Natsu love her. Which was absolutely hopeless.
The next day, nothing really happened. All Lucy did was wander around the town, windowshopping. So,, it really surprised her when, after dinner, Natsu proposed they go on a boat ride. He had motion sickness, so why would he propose such a thing? Before they left, Lucy saw Natsu take two small blue pills.
"For motion sickness." He said, grinning. Lucy nodded and smiled back, and they were off.
The fireflies seemed to dance around them as they paddled throughout the lagoon. The crickets hummed a song only they knew, and the air was warm.
Natsu stopped rowing, and the two sat there in silence.
"Luce, you look really nice." Her eyes met his, and he was closer to her than she thought. She could practically feel the heat of skin. His eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight.
"..." Lucy tried to say his name, but nothing came out. Oh yeah, I lost my voice..
"Luce.." Natsu began to get closer to her, their noses only inches apart.
Lucy felt her heart race, she didn't know what to do in this type of situation. She was sure he was about to kiss her, and she didn't have any idea what she was supposed to do!
"Luce, you have something in your teeth." Natsu's eyes were serious, and Lucy's face felt as hot as fire.
"...!" Lucy mouthed the words 'Lucy Kick' as she kicked him into the water. She was fuming with anger.
"Luce?! What the hell!" Then, Natsu had a wicked grin plastered on his face, which completely frightened Lucy.
He swam towards the boat, his sharp canines glistening in the moonlight.
"Pay.. Back!" Natsu tipped the boat over, and cold water met Lucy. When she came up for air, she splashed water at Natsu, who returned the favor. Natsu laughed as he and Lucy crawled onto shore, both laying on their backs. 2 days down, 1 to go...
Lucy woke up feeling refreshed. Last night was so much fun, and she wanted to see Natsu again. She quickly brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, got dressed, and spritzed on some vanilla perfume. Today was the last day.
Lucy walked out into the hall, looking for Natsu. When she saw him, she was overwhelmed with joy. However, that joy quickly turned to fear. On his arm was a beautiful girl. She had black hair, her eyes like coal. Walking over to them, Lucy smiled, but the two pushed past her, as if they didn't see her standing there. Lucy tried to call after Natsu, but she couldn't.
But... Last night... She thought about how much fun they had together.
Lucy ran up in front of Natsu, stopping him with her hands. She felt tears well up in her eyes. She looked between the two, asking with her expressions what was going on.
"Hi, Lucy. Do you mind? We're busy." Lucy felt hurt. He had never called her Lucy unless there was danger around. He always called her Luce.
The two pushed past her, the girl smirking. Ursula! Lucy watched as they entered a room. She pressed her ear against the cold door, listening to the conversation.
"Son! Is she really the one?"
"Yes, father. I love her." Natsu said it like a robot. He had no emotion behind it.
"Oh, this is great news! I'll alert the Kingdom! The wedding will be at sunset!"
Lucy's heart throbbed inside of her chest. Wedding?
Before anybody could come out of the room, Lucy ran out of the castle and towards the beach. She sat there, crying her eyes out. Natsu... Lucy knew that wasn't really him, but she still felt hurt. I know, I'll make him love me! Lucy looked up, determined. She only had a few hours.
Lucy watched Ursula walk down the aisle towards Natsu. He looks so... robotic...
Lucy wanted to scream out to Natsu, but he began to blink profusely. He looked confused. He looked around, as if he didn't know where he was.
5 minutes...
Natsu looked towards Ursula, who looked back at him with a disgustingly sweet smile. Then, Natsu looked down at his outfit.
4 minutes...
Lucy swam out into the water, hoping Natsu would see her. Unlike in the fairy tale, the wedding was on the beach.
3 minutes...
Natsu looked up at Lucy, who was waving her hands at him. He smiled and waved back.
2 minutes...
Then, it hit Natsu. He looked confused about what was going on, and he began to walk towards Lucy, earning strange looks from everyone.
1 minute...
Lucy began to run towards Natsu, and he began to run towards her too.
"Too late." Ursula snickered.
"Luce! No!" Natsu dove for Lucy's hand.
Time's up...
Lucy tried to grab his hand, but she went right through him. Her heart shattered at the realization; she was becoming seafoam. Just like in the dark version of this fairy tale.
Natsu sat in the water all by himself; Lucy vanished. All that was left was the dress she had been wearing.
"No!" Natsu screamed, tears pouring out of his eyes. "Luce!" But she was gone.
Then, a golden light enshrouded Natsu, blinding him. Then, everything was dark.
I hated writing this. I hated it so much. I couldn't stop imagining how heartbreaking this would be in real life. But, I suppose that's why I wrote this. Not all fairy tales can have a happy ending. But does Natsu finally realize his feelings after this tragedy? We can only hope!
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~StarCrusader~