Lucy rushed around the diner, serving customers their food. Wait, wasn't I just dead? Lucy paused, trying to remember what happened from the previous tale. Wait, if Natsu broke the curse, then does that mean he and Belle..? Lucy's eyes widened, tears threatening to fall. Natsu... How could you?! After you kissed me like that, too...

"Tiana! Get back to work!" Called a fat chef from behind the counter.

"S-sorry!" Tiana?

Lucy rushed to serve the food once more, unaware of the prince outside playing his ukelele.

~Later~

Lucy was in her childhood friends' room, wearing the pretty blue dress she had lent her. She was on the balcony, staring out at the stars. By this time, Lucy had already figured out that she was in The Princess and the Frog. Looking out at the star, LUcy decided to make a wish. I wish that Natsu and I could get out of these fairy tales. Too bad her wish wouldn't come true anytime soon.

Lucy looked to her left, seeing a little frog sitting there. Natsu... Lucy was filled with boiling anger. She felt betrayed by him, and didn't want to see his face.

She turned away from the balcony, heading back inside.

"Luce! Wait!" The little frog called out, hopping after her.

"Go away Natsu."

"But don't I have to kiss you? This is the Princess and the Frog, right? And you're the princess, right?"

"No, I'm not a princess."

"W-wait, then what are we supposed to do?"

"In this version of the fairy tale, the frog, which is you, kisses Tiana, which is me, and then she turns into a frog. Then we have you kiss my best friend, but that doesn't work until in a few days, when she becomes a princess. But it doesn't work because we don't get to her in time. Then you and I get married, we kiss, the curse is lifted we live happily ever after, blah blah blah." Lucy said, unamused.

"Then why don't we just get married now?"

"Because, I don't want to marry you." Lucy said, her back to him. She was still really upset about what happened in Beauty and the Beast.

"Why not, Luce? We've done it before."

"Doesn't mean I want to, Natsu." She turned to face him. He was sitting at the floor near her feet.

"Luce, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just kiss me so I turn into a frog." Lucy said, bending down. Even though she was mad at him, this was one of Lucy's favorite fairy tales, and she wanted to experience it first-hand.

"No." Natsu said, hopping away from her."

"Natsu, just do it. It's part of the tale."

"No."

"Natsu."

"What?" He turned to face her, which was his mistake.

Lucy grabbed him, pressing her lips against his gross froggy ones. They were slimy and smelled like a zoo.

"Luce, what the- Luce?"

When Lucy opened her eyes, she was enshrouded by darkness. She squirmed out of her dress, Natsu looking confused.

"There. That wasn't so bad, now, was it?" Lucy said, dusting herself off. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Y-yeah?" He had been staring at her, which Lucy found weird. But she also wanted to ask...

"How'd you break the curse in Beauty and the Beast?"

"I didn't. Belle did. I guess she had fallen in love with me, but I didn't really feel the same. And, Luce, about that... I'm sorry. I should've protected you from the Gas guy. If I had known that that was going to happen, I would've been with you, not Belle. I'd choose you over her anyday."

"N-Natsu.." Lucy could feel herself blushing, but hopefully the green color of her skin hid it.

"So, what now?"

"Well, we should probably go see Mamma Odie. She'll tell us about breaking the curse and everything."

"Okay, let's go!"

~Later~

Natsu and Lucy travelled through the bayou, making their way towards Mamma Odie's. Somehow, they befriended a trumpet-playing crocodile and a lightning bug who kept talking about his lover, Evangeline.

"There it is; Mamma Odie's. Okay, can we go now?" Asked the crocodile.

"No, we have to hear what she says." Lucy said, hopping off of the raft.

When they were all inside, they were met with the smell of incense and horrible soup.

"Well, hello there, children!" Said an old woman in a peppy voice.

"All right, let's get this over with." Lucy muttered.

Everybody was patient with Mamma Odie as she sang her song, telling them what to do in order to break the curse.

"Natsu, we've got to get you to Charlotte! Before time's up!" Lucy said, grabbing him by the flipper.

"R-right!"

~Later~

The voodoo man chased after Lucy; she had his necklace.

"Give it back!"

"No!" Lucy hopped faster, the man close behind. "Come any closer, and I'll break it!" Lucy threatened, making him stop in his tracks.

She held it to the side of her.

"Wait, I can give you whatever you want!" The voodoo man whispered an incantation, and all of a sudden, Lucy was her normal self again, wearing a beautiful gown.

She was in a restaraunt, and everybody seemed to be having a good time.

"Really? This isn't what I want." Lucy said, slamming the necklace into the ground, shattering it.

"No!" The voodoo man shouted, grabbing at the pieces.

Lucy was turned back into a frog, and she hopped away from the man. This part freaked her out; she didn't need to see it with her own eyes. Lucy hopped all the way back to where the parade was; it was almost midnight. Charlotte was holding Natsu, putting on her lipstick. Lucy stopped in her tracks.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Charlotte brought Natsu's lips up to hers. Lucy wanted to stop the kiss; she wanted Natsu to kiss her, not Charlotte.

One minute until midnight

Both puckered their lips, and Lucy wanted to go hide in a hole. She wanted him to herself.

"Nat-"

Charlotte pressed her lips to his, and a white light surrounded both Natsu and Lucy. Natsu was wearing a white shirt and brown pants, and Lucy was wearing the uniform for the diner.

When Natsu and Charlotte broke apart, Charlotte kept going on about how they'd have a wonderful wedding. Lucy stood there, unable to talk, unable to move. She felt something wet on her cheeks, and when she touched it, she realized she was crying.

"Natsu! How could you?" Lucy asked, making he and Charlotte turn to face her.

"Oh, Tiana! The prince! He and I are gonna get married!"

"Yeah, I heard. Natsu, how could you do this?" Lucy put her hand over her heart.

"Whaddya mean, Luce? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"No..." Lucy said, more tears streaming down her face.

She turned and ran away from Natsu and Charlotte, away from everything. She felt sick, and betrayed. As she ran, she could hear Natsu following her, calling out her name. So, Lucy ducked into an old, dark building. Why aren't we advancing to the next tale?

As if to answer her question, the shadow man reappeared.

"Wait. I thought you-"

"Died? Sweetheart, next time, stick around to make sure you break the right necklace." He said, pulling out the real one.

"What? How is this possible?" Lucy was terrified; she had no idea what to do. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

The voodoo man backed her into a corner, a terrifying smile plastered on his face.

"N-no.." Lucy mumbled as her back hit the wall. There was no escape.

"Why don't you visit my friends from the other side, huh?"

"No!" Lucy screamed, shielding her eyes.

"Get away from her, you bastard!"

"Natsu..?"

He had knocked the voodoo man to the ground, holding out his arms.

"Luce! Now!"

Lucy ran to the hand that had the necklace. She pried it from his hand, throwing it on the ground.

"No!" The man screamed as the necklace shattered.

"Luce, c'mon!"

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand, pulling her out of the building as spirits came for the voodoo man.. Once they were far enough away, they collapsed on a bench, breathing heavily.

"Natsu, thank you." Lucy said, smiling at him.

"Luce, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"It's okay, Natsu. I was being bratty, and I would like to apologize for that."

"Luce."

"No, Natsu, it was my fault, and I'm so-"

Natsu pulled Lucy over to him by her waist, pressing his non-smelly lips against her. Lucy froze for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck, kissing him back. When they pulled apart, they stared into each other's eyes as the golden light surrounded them once again, taking them into another fairy tale.

Hi, there! I hope you liked this chapter! Now that they've kissed, what does it mean? Was it just a character impulse, or something .. more? On to the next journey!

Leave a review!

~StarCrusader~