When Lucy woke up, she was staring at a bunk above her. Looking around the room, she saw that it made of wood. A cabin? There were two small dressers in the room, and that was it. So I must be poor...
Lucy crawled from her bed and peered into the bunk above hers.
"Natsu?!"
His eyes fluttered open as he yawned.
"Hiya, Luce. Why do you look so young?"
"Young?" Lucy looked down at her legs, noticing she was closer to the ground than normal.
"Hey, Natsu, you look really young, too." His face was gaunt, like he hadn't eaten in awhile.
"Luce, you look hungry. Wanna get some food?"
"Y-yeah."
They walked towards the door, but stopped when they heard yelling. Exchanging looks, Natsu and Lucy pressed their ears against the door.
"Then take the children into the woods and leave them there! Don't kill them!" A woman shouted.
"But I love them! Just because we have financial problems, that doesn't mean we should just get rid of our children!" A man shouted back.
"Do it, or I'll leave you!"
"But, sweetheart. Isn't there another way?"
"No, there isn't. They eat too much."
"They hardly eat anything at all!"
"That's not my problem. Get. Rid. Of. Them!"
"Fine!" The man yelled, walking in the direction of Natsu and Lucy's room.
"Natsu, pretend to be asleep! Quick!" Lucy said, scrambling into her own bunk.
Natsu did as he was told, and the two waited in silence for a few moments before the door gently swung open.
"Hansel, Gretel, it's time to get up." The man sounded kind, no longer full of anger.
"Papa? What's going on?" Lucy asked, playing her part.
"We're going to take a walk in the woods to gather some berries for tonight."
Natsu and Lucy got out of bed, changed, (which was weird, since they were in the same room. Lucy made Natsu face the corner.), and met their father outside. The day was warm, and the sky was a beautiful blue. Not a cloud was in the sky.
As they made their way into the woods, they heard birds chirping and felt a warm breeze caress their face. The deeper they got, though, the quieter everything became. The breeze became cold, and the birds stopped singing their beautiful tunes. The trees were all dead.
"Stay here, I'll be back in a moment." Their father said, walking away. Lucy, however, knew better. He was leaving, but he'd never come back.
"Natsu, we need to go." Lucy said. It was getting dark now, and she was cold.
"Where to?" Natsu looked around. "Wait... Do you smell that? It smells like... chocolate!" Natsu bolted in the direction, Lucy chasing him.
"Natsu! No, get away from that house!" Lucy tried to pry him away from the house of gingerbread, but she was too late. Natsu had already started eating the house, not noticing the old woman coming out of the chocolate doors.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" She cackled, grabbing Natsu and Lucy by their wrists, forcing them into the house.
"Oi, oldy! Get off!" Natsu shouted, trying to pry the woman's hand off of him. He was too weak from hunger, so every attempt was futile.
"You, little boy, will be dinner. And you, little girl, will be my slave!" She cackled, throwing Natsu into a room of iron; no way to escape.
"Luce! Run!" Natsu screamed, but Lucy was just as weak as Natsu was, so there was nothing she could really do.
"Little girl, can you cook?" The witch got close to Lucy's face. She smelled like death, and her teeth were rotting and yellow. Her skin was wrinkled, like old fruit.
"Y-yes." Lucy said, trying to get her face as far away from the witch as possible.
"Good. You're to cook your brother meals, to fatten him up for my dinner. And, if you refuse, I'll just kill both of you now."
"Fine. I'll do it." Lucy said.
"Such a good girl. Now, get to work! I'm going to go take a nap." The witch lumbered up the stairs, and Lucy ran over to Natsu's prison, trying to open the door.
"Luce, get away while you can." Natsu begged her to run, but Lucy refused.
"Natsu, I'm not leaving you behind. I never will." Lucy managed a smile. "Guess I'd better get cooking."
"What're we gonna do?"
"In the story, Gretel does as the witch asks, but she'll ask to feel your finger, to see how fat you are. When she does that, use the bone of a chicken, so she thinks you're still really skinny. When she turns on the oven, I'll kick her into it, and we'll run away to our father."
"This is too confusing. Where am I supposed to get a chicken bone?"
"From your first dinner. I'll make roasted chicken."
~Later~
Lucy had been feeding Natsu everyday, and he kept using the chicken bone to fool the witch.
"This isn't getting anywhere!" The witch cried. "Girl, turn on the stove. And clean it out. I've waited long enough."
"Yes, ma'am." Lucy said. "Uhm, I've never done this before. Would you mind showing me how?" Lucy asked innocently.
"Stupid girl. Watch." The witch crawled into the oven with a scrubbing brush. "See? You just do it like this."
"Oh, I see." Lucy said. She then kicked the witch's butt, making her fall all the way into the oven. She shut it and bent the handle so the witch couldn't get out.
"Natsu, we gotta go!" Lucy picked up the set of keys the witch had dropped, opening the door to Natsu's prison. He wasn't fat, but he looked a lot better than before. "But first, we need to find her treasure."
"Why?"
"So our father can have it." Lucy explained. She ran up the stairs and into the bedroom. Opening the closet, she found the remains of other children. She gasped, immediately shutting the door, an overwhelming sadness washing over her.
"Luce! I found it! Let's go!"
Lucy and Natsu ran out of the house and into the woods, but Lucy stopped abruptly. Something doesn't feel right...
"Luce, what's going on? Come on!" Natsu seemed flustered.
"Natsu, how did you know where the treasure was?""
"Huh? Who cares? Let's just go!" He grabbed her wrist, but he felt cold.
She ripped out of his grip, turning back to the house.
"Natsu! Where are you?!" Lucy called. The oven...!
Lucy ran into the kitchen, opening the oven. Natsu crawled out, covered in black. Lucy felt relief flood her. Thank God I didn't turn it on.
"Geeze, Luce! What took so long?"
"We need to go. Now!" Lucy screamed, grabbing him by the hand, this one being warm.
They ran out into the woods, the witch close behind.
"Come back, little girl!" She screamed. Her arms were stretched out in front of her, the moonlight reflected off of her wickedly long black nails.
Natsu and Lucy ran as fast as they could.
"Hey, Natsu?" The witch was right behind them. "Do you think that if we die in here, we'll never get out?"
"Luce, we'll make it! I promise!" Natsu said, determination in his eyes.
"Yeah!" Lucy seemed to run faster, pulling Natsu with her. She could see the sun beginning to rise, and when the first ray hit the land, the witch cried out in pain, stopping in her tracks.
Natsu and Lucy stopped, watching her burst into flames, leaving her smoldered cloak and a little treasure chest.
"Natsu, we did it!" Lucy cheered, throwing her arms around him.
"Yeah, we did, huh?" Natsu returned the hug, burrowing his face in her neck. She smelled like vanilla.
"Let's get outta this fairy tale." Lucy pulled away, smiling. But her smile quickly turned to confusion. "Hey, Natsu, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Yeah?" They stared into each other's eyes.
"Why... did you kiss me in the last tale?"
"It just seemed like the right thing to do." He answered.
"What do you mean?" Lucy was thoroughly confused.
"Luce, I don't know why, but I like kissing you." Natsu said, a blush appearing on his face.
"W-what?" Lucy didn't expect that.
"Hey, shouldn't we get out of here?" Natsu looked away, embarrassed.
"Natsu... Y-yeah, I guess we should." Lucy said, picking up the little chest. "Let's get out of he- Eeeeek!"
"Luce?!" Natsu turned to face her, wide-eyed. "What's wrong?!"
A cold hand was wrapped around her wrist, and Lucy kept trying to shake it off. Natsu chuckled, prying the hand off of Lucy, who was pouting.
"You know, Luce, you're cute when you pout."
"Huh?" Lucy's cheeks rivaled Erza's hair, making Natsu chuckle more.
"C'mon, let's go." Natsu said, taking Lucy by the hand.
Natsu said he liked kissing me, then he calls me cute? What? What's this feeling? Am I... Am I falling in love?
The two reached the cabin, surprising their father. Turns out, the mother had left him anyways. When Natsu handed him the chest, the golden light showered the duo once more, and they were on their way into another tale.
Hi there! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to add more fluff, but I thought it would be weird, considering how Hansel and Gretel are siblings. But I promise, there will be more romance to come!
Leave a review!
~StarCrusader~