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AU - The Princess and the Dragon

The princess ran desperately through the woods outside the capitol city limits, the castle looming over her as if to watch her every move. She was hoping to avoid the guards and soldiers her father had sent after her, no doubt he had forced her own guard to join in the search for her as well, even though she had known the princess was going to do this eventually. She refused to be the submissive daughter he required any longer and did the only thing she could think of to get her out of what he was demanding. She didn't care if she no longer held the life of luxury and extravagance she was used to or if she was forced to give up her crown. If being Fiore's princess was to be a life of subjugated misery she wanted no part of it. She envied the poorer couples who lived happily with their children in the run down parts of town. Each of the families working hard to just barely scrape by while she had everything she could ever want, need, and then some graciously handed to her. Yet despite their hardships, those poor families were happy and enjoying what little they had together. She wanted that. She wanted to find a love as pure and soul consuming as her dear friend and personal guard had. Though not poor, her red headed friend had fallen in love as a child to the man she had eventually married, and it was that love that motivated her to defy her father and forge ahead to find her own soul mate.

She gasped as a protruding branch from the bushes snagged her silk evening gown, ripping a large gash along the side and drawing a slight amount of blood. Bending down, she gathered the material up in her hands and took off again, doing her best to avoid the branches and underbrush. The sound of the pursuing men reached her ears and she turned to look over her shoulder, knowing that the city's guards weren't far behind. She could only hope that his men hadn't joined in the pursuit as well, but she wouldn't hold her breath, she had never really been that lucky.

Not paying attention to where her feet were landing, the blonde princess's foot was caught on the root of a large tree and a squeal of surprise left her as she went down to her hands and knees, drawing attention to her location…and then she heard it, his voice breaking through the trees and ordering his men toward her direction and it sent a chill up her spine. HE sent a chill up her spine. Quickly scrambling to move forward again, she pulled off the small moderate strappy heels she had been forced to wear and dropped them aside, she wouldn't need them. But she knew at this point that there would be no out running them, her only option was to hide and hope that neither he nor his men were expert trackers.

"Wait. Who is he?"

The woman stopped in the middle of her story and starred harshly at the salmon haired man that had interrupted her. "I'll get there."

"What's the Princess' name?"

Again the woman looked to the shirtless man next to the first and sighed, she really didn't care to be interrupted. "I don't know; she's just a Princess. I never really thought to give her a name."

"I believe you should call her Lucy, since Lucy is the only blonde woman here."

Smiling, the story teller nodded with a mischievous grin on her face as she turned to look at said blonde, a blush staining her cheeks as she leaned against the chest of the dark haired man behind her. "Very well. The princess will be called Lucy."

Forcing herself to move faster, Princess Lucy pushed her way through the thick brush to the lake she had seen from her private balcony at the palace, the lake she and her best friend had always talked about finding their way to. With a surprised gasp at the sight before her, Princess Lucy tripped and landed on her hands and knees, unsure of what her next move should be. Sitting contently near the water's edge was the large grey dragon that she had seen flying over the castle and city countless times. His…

"Dragon? It's Igneel! Come on Mira, tell me it's Igneel!" The man jumped up, waving his arms in the air in excitement as he spouted fire in the air in his excitement.

The man sitting next to him reached up and jerked him back down to his seat on the ground before he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "No you fire breathing retard, she said the dragon was grey! You said Igneel was red."

"He's right Natsu, if Igneel is red then this dragon cannot be him. Now…which of the dragons is grey? It needs a name as well. Mira, is this dragon male or female?" The man thought to protest before he caught the look in the armored woman's eye and obediently kept his mouth shut.

"He is male."

"Grandeeney is white…and a female."

Everyone's gaze moved from the youngest dragon slayer to the oldest before he shrugged his shoulder as if didn't care about what any of them were saying, yet he sat there listening to the story the demon had taken upon herself to tell. "Don't look at me, my magic came from a lacrima. Besides, I would assume that dragon was yellow or something…you know, lightning and all."

"Well, what about Metallicana?"

All eyes moved to the young blonde woman as she looked up to the man whose legs she was sitting in between. Shaking his head, he leaned back against the tree before he wrapped his arms around the front of her waist. "No way, you ain't bringing my dragon into this shit. He already made it perfectly clear to me that he don't want no part in any foolish human entertainment."

The man's resolve started to falter as the blonde poked her bottom lip out in a pout. The only thing that saved him from caving was the voice of the storyteller jumping in, though later he might have wished that he would have caved. "That's alright, this dragon already has a name. You'll learn it eventually." She turned her gaze back to Natsu and Gray, her eyes narrowing dangerously at the two of them. "Now, I want no more interruptions!" Both men gulped as the woman's deep demon voice filtered through, replacing the soft sweet voice they had come to associate with the motherly-like barmaid. "Good."

The dragon watched the woman with his large warm red eyes, careful not to make any sudden movements lest he scare her away. He didn't know what it was, but he recognized her from what he liked to call his daily stroll across the countryside before flying back over the capitol city to his mountain. She was always standing on her balcony with a small blue-hair woman by her side, looking wistfully out over the lake. How could he not notice her, with her bright blonde hair and warm smile she was like the sun that shined over the kingdom. He watched her closely, about to stand to leave as he heard her heart rate pick up and her breath faltering in fear. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him. He halted his movements and paused when he watched her look over her shoulder with a broken sob, so quiet that with his enhanced hearing he barely heard it.

His head moved abruptly to the trees behind her as the voices and movement from those following her reached him and he growled lowly at the smell of the man leading them, it was a very familiar smell. He turned his eyes back to the girl, understanding why she was so terrified now. She was being chased. Though why wasn't his concern, nor should why she was so scared of them catching her. But for some reason that he couldn't possibly imagine he was concerned with it. The woman was beautiful, and as a dragon, he tended to want and hoard beautiful and shiny things. He knew she wasn't a thing, nor something to be possessed, but he still wanted her; yet he wouldn't take her against her will. With a tilt of his head he motioned for the girl to come near him and was surprised when she easily complied with his demand, as if she had been waiting for the invitation to approach.

Cautiously advancing toward the large dragon before her, the princess tentatively reached her hand out to brush against his cool scales, marveling at the feel and texture of each of them as he lowered himself for her. She had seen the dragon on many occasions and had always been enamored with his beauty, the way he gracefully glided through the skies of Fiore as if he hadn't a care in all of Earthland. But never had she thought she'd be able to get this close to him, for him to allow her to touch him.

Letting out a dissatisfied huff of air out from his snout, the dragon brought his tail around behind the woman and nudged her up onto his back. She let out a surprised yelp as she grabbed onto him and pulled herself up. The satisfied smile she gave as the dragon stood and spread its wings as he came barreling through the tree line and into the clearing with the lake didn't do her relief and overwhelming joy justice. Lucy couldn't be happier, she had hoped for nothing more than the dragon to give her some form of protection and drive away her pursuers so she could go about her way, leaving him in his peaceful reverie.

As the prince's voice ran through the night as he called out to her, promising to have her, the dragon beneath her growled lowly. He would have none of that within his territory. This woman, despite how much he wished to keep her himself, would choose who she would go to; and at the moment he was full of pride as she willingly went with him.

Lucy laughed as she flew through the air on the dragon's back, loving the feeling of freedom that came with it. She couldn't count how many times she had envied the dragon for his freedom and grace, how she had wished daily that she could join him in the sky and be able to fly amongst the stars at night. "Friends of yours?"

She shook her head and laughed at the notion that she would make friends with that type of man. He radiated evil and cruelty and sent shiver down her spine, she wanted no part of that. "No, he's…" The woman looked down to the large dragon underneath her with wide eyes as she heard the deep booming voice in her head. Granted it wasn't every day that she got to ride on the back of a dragon, but she hadn't expected him to speak to her. "…you can speak!"

The dragon snorted at the princess' delayed reaction to his gruff voice, though he didn't let it bother him too much. "Of course I can speak. What'd you think me some sort of mindless fuckin' beast? I'm the one higher on the food chain here Bunny Girl."

"Y-You're not going to eat me are you?"

The tremble in her voice made the dragon frown, though the prospect of eating her didn't sound too bad either. With a chuckle he continued the flight to his den as he enjoyed the thoughts the woman was sending through his mind. "I dunno, do you want me to eat you? Because I'm sure I can arrange that."

"What?! Of course I don't." The princess paused as she lowered her voice with a slight blush. "…and I never thought you were a mindless beast. I've always found you beautiful and majestic."

Grinning to himself, the dragon glided himself effortlessly into the opening mouth of his cave. He took in the awkward silence and the fidgeting the woman was doing on his back as he walked further back into the cave, deciding to relieve the woman of her discomfort in the silence. "Who was after you?"

The woman let out a defeated breath as tears once again sprang to the front of her eyes. Upon smelling the salty liquid, the dragon stopped in his place as he listened to her ragged and unsteady breathing as she fought for control of her emotions. He wanted to know what had such a beautiful woman upset, worst of all, he wanted to destroy the source of her pain. "He's my betrothed."

"WHAT?!" Lucy jumped as the dragon roared at her. She wasn't scared exactly, but she didn't know what she had said to cause such a reaction from the so far gentle dragon that had saved her from the previously mentioned man. "What would possess you to mate with a thing such as that?" The grey dragon was angry that such a kind hearted woman would willingly tie herself to that dark and evil creature. He could literally smell the evil coming off of him and hear the venom in his words as he flew away with the woman on his back.

"You have my sincerest apologies for upsetting you, but I can assure you that our betrothal was not consensual, at least not on my part. I want nothing to do with the man, yet it seems that I have no choice in the matter."

As the dragon continued down the cave, he paused at a smaller opening…well, smaller than the dragon, to Lucy it was still a fairly large entrance to the back section of the dragon's den. She could see the dimly lit fire further back and could see a few furnishings as well, but what she didn't understand was how the dragon could not only make it back there through the narrow opening, but why he had such possessions in the first place. Climbing down off of his back, she moved forward, curious as to what exactly was further back.

"Everyone has a choice in who they mate with. Even if fate brings them together, they are the ones to decide if that is the one for them."

Lucy turned to look at the dragon, curious as to why his voice went from within her mind alone to actually hearing it. What she saw shocked her. Standing before her in all his natural glory was a tall, tanned, well-muscled man with long unruly black hair and warm piercing red eyes with. Where his eyebrows should have been were six metal studs, three above each eye, his ears were lined with the same metal studs, along with two on each side of his nose and two below his lower lip, one on top of the other. As her eyes moved down his body on their own without conscious thought, she took in the four studs that ran along his forearms, going through his nipples, and one each of his hips. Her gaze moved to the well-toned 'V' at the lower part of his abdomen before his voice caught her attention once again and she forced her eyes back to his before she looked off to the side with a deep blush.

"Enjoying the view?" He couldn't help himself, the fact that the disheveled and dirtied woman had found this form so aesthetically pleasing delighted him and he was thoroughly enjoying the deep blush on her pale checks as he turned her face away from him.

"I-I'm…my apologies, I did not know."

He just chuckled as he walked past her, not even bothering to care about his nudity. Other than the swell of pride at her reaction, he really didn't know how else to react to the woman. It wasn't like he had spent a great deal of time around humans, unlike some others of his kind, and human females even less. But it seemed like his nudity was making the woman nervous and uncomfortable, he felt as if she was more willing to speak with him when he was a giant dragon. Moving to the furthest corner of the room, the man grabbed a pair of loose pants and pulled them up before he moved to stoke the fire, grunting at the woman who was still had her back to him with her flaming red face in her hands. "S'fine."

Carefully peeking over her shoulder, making sure the man was at least decent, she turned to face him as she bit her lip. There was so much she wanted to know about the dragon…man…what the hell was she even supposed to refer to him as? "Do you have a name?"

The man just looked up from his place by the fire with a raised brow. He didn't know whether he should be offended by her or not, in the end he settled with amusement and snorted at her absurd question. "'Course I got a name, do you?"

Her eyes widened as she realized that she had failed to offer her name to him. "Oh yes, of course. I'm sorry, my name is Lucy."

The man quirked his brow again at her unusual behavior. "Gajeel."

"Oi! Why are you bringing me into this story?"

The woman looked at the dark haired man innocently and smiled. "Would you rather have another dragon be Lucy's savior? Perhaps I can turn said dragon black and name him Rogue, or Red and name him Natsu?"

"Ooh yeah! I wanna be in the story Mira!"

"Fuck you Ash-brain, Bunny's mine!" The man turned his attention back to the woman telling the story, waiting for his response. "Fine. You made your damn point…fuckin' demon woman." The blonde next to him giggled as he mumbled obscenities at the story teller, snuggling next to him to escape the cool night chill in the air.

"Well Gajeel, I apologize for earlier…I wasn't aware that dragons could…" She waved her hand in front of her, gesturing toward his now human looking body. She didn't know if all dragons could do that or if it was just him. Was he cursed or only part dragon? How could someone be part dragon?

The man just rolled his eyes at the blonde before him as he leaned back against the stone wall. "Would you quit your apologizin' already? You don't know 'cause us dragons don't want humans knowing that some of us walk and live among them…and you ain't going to go tellin' anyone either."

Lucy shook her head in fascination. There was so much she wished to learn, though she was unsure if it was about dragons or if it was about the being in front of her that she was so enamored with. Though she had never seen another dragon before and she wouldn't know which piqued her interest until she had. "Oh, of course; I would never tell anything that would put you or your kind in danger."

The man just snorted as he reached over and grabbed an old rusted knife before sticking it in his mouth and biting down on it. "I ain't worried about our safety so much as I am the easy way of life I got. I don't want to go back to having to sneak around to get things I need, things I can't get a hold of easily when I look like that overgrown lizard you seem to like so much."

The princess just stared at him wide-eyed as he continued to eat the knife and spoke around the rusted metal in his mouth. "Wh-What things can you not get easily as a dragon?"

Pointing the half eaten knife at the woman that was still standing, he leaned forward with his free hand braced on his knee as he scowled at her. "I'm a dragon no matter what form I'm in, understand?"

"Right, I apologi-I understand."

The dragon nodded his head in approval before he leaned back again and threw the rest of the knife in his mouth, crunching down on it loudly and swallowing before he answered her previous question. "It's easier to get my hands on iron and other metals in this form."

Nodding, Lucy looked around the cave. If it weren't for the fact that she had watched him fly in the cave and had ridden on his back as he ventured deep within the dark confines of it, she never would have thought that they were in essentially in the center of the largest mountain in the country. It was amazing really. It wasn't damp, it wasn't filled with creepy crawlies, and it wasn't gloomy. Despite her heritage and upbringing, she found it rather cozy. With a smile, she took a see opposite him, pleased by the warmth of the fire before her. "Are there other dragons in Fiore? You are the only one I've ever seen?"

Narrowing his eyes, Gajeel almost growled at the thought of the other dragon that had encroached upon his territory. "NO. Other dragons don't wonder around in territories already claimed unless their mated to another dragon. Some do live in groups, most don't. There's a couple of unmated male dragons south of Fiore in Minstrel that share territory and I think there are a pair of siblings that have claimed an area in the east."

"Do all dragons…"

"Enough about me." Gajeel stood over the woman with his arms crossed. "I want to know more about that man you're supposed to mate with. If you're mating with him, why are you running from him?"

With a deep sigh, Lucy lowered her head for a moment before she looked up at him again. "I don't want to marry him, my father is forcing me to. All he can see is more power and more gold coming out of this transaction. That's all my life is worth to him, more land and more gold. As if he doesn't have enough gold. He should be more worried about the economy of his kingdom."

Gajeel knelt down in front of the woman as he finally realized who she was and he smiled to himself. Not only had he brought back a beautiful woman to his lair, but she was the princess no less, worth more than the kingdom itself…or in theory. If what she was saying was true then her father didn't find her worth much at all if he was willing to sell her happiness. But regardless of what the king thought of his only child, she was the most valuable woman in all of Fiore. The question he had to ask himself was WHY. Why did he want her? "I don't like him."

She cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out who the dragon was speaking of before a she failed to suppress a large yawn. "Who do you not like?"

He sneered as he thought of everything he sensed from the man, this time he was unable to suppress his growl of discontent and it had the poor princess staring at him with wide eyes. "Your intended mate; he's pushing his limits by being in my territory." The dragon tilted his head to the side, indicating the bed on the far side of the single open cave room. "Get some sleep."

Pushing past her exhaustion from everything that had happened within the span of a few hours, Lucy looked at the dragon that was now moving around the room. She took in each of the hard well-defined muscles of his back, at least that of what she could see with his long black hair hanging down loosely. "So when you say invading your territory…"

He just looked over his shoulder at the blonde, knowing that she would easily pick up his meaning if he continued on this conversation any further at the moment and he was unsure if he wanted that just yet. Despite what his instincts were telling him, his brain was making him question whether or not he could trust the blonde princess. "We'll discuss it in the morning, when I've figured out what to do about it."

With a nod, the blonde stood and made her way over to the bed. "Where will you be sleeping?" She was eternally grateful that he was willing to house her when he could have just as easily left her in the clearing for her mate…fiancé. "Gajeel?" She turned to look at the man that was making his way out of the cave room, purposefully ignoring her question of his sleeping arrangement. She smiled at him as he turned to her with his brow raised in question. "Why do you keep calling him my mate?"

"That's what it is for dragons. We mate and it's for life. Once you bond your life to a dragon there is no going back, it cannot be undone." He turned his back and walked out of the room into the dark cave entrance before she could ask him any more questions. He needed to think, needed to focus on what he was going to do about this aggressive dragon that had threatened to encroach on what he claimed as his. But what was more disturbing was he was now thinking of the beautiful blonde as his as well.

Pulling off the loose pants he had thrown on for the princess' comfort, Gajeel turned back to the form of his dragon and curled up in front of the opening to the cave room where his princess was sleeping. He had a few choices. He could take the woman back to her father and her intended mate, which would be allowing the other dragon permission to take residence in his claimed land and he sure as hell didn't intend to share; neither his land, nor his princess. His other option was going to be protecting her from the opposing dragon, but keeping her from her family in the process. What he needed to know was what Lucy wanted, that would make his mind up on what exactly his actions would be. One thing he knew for sure though, he wasn't sharing his land and if the woman decided to go back to her castle and kingdom she would go without being forced to mate with that bastard.

Lucy's eyes drifted close as the exhaustion of the evening bore down on her, the coming of age celebration, the decision of who her father had chosen as her husband, her overwhelming fear of the man, her tears and anguish at losing her chance at love…then she ran away, met her dragon, was comforted by said dragon, and…wait…her dragon? She hadn't realized when but at some point during the evening she had made her own claim on him, whether it was during his rescue of her, or part of his teasing she didn't know. But she knew that she didn't want to leave.

Her eyes shot open as Gajeel's words and hidden meanings drifted to her. His hatred for the man she was to marry, his anger at him being in his territory, and his referring to their marriage, that she refused to let happen, as a mating. The man wasn't a man at all; the prince her father wanted her to marry was a dragon himself. She had met another dragon and she wasn't interested in getting to know more about him, instead he provoked a fear deep inside of her the likes of which she had never felt before. No, it was just Gajeel that she was interested in, her dragon.

Mira looked over at Lucy who had fallen asleep against her mate's chest as she stopped in her story. Several of the people listening had fallen asleep and she could understand why, she had been going on with her story for more than three hours, it was late. She stood as she collected her younger sister from where she had fallen asleep against Natsu. "We'll finish this story another time. I believe we should all get some sleep tonight. Several of you have to be well rested tomorrow for your S-Class Trials, we don't want you too exhausted to focus."

"Awe come on Mira, you can't just leave us hanging here."

The elder Strauss sibling just smiled at the tired fire dragon slayer as she guided her sister to their tent. "Don't worry Natsu; I'll finish this story another time. You just have to be patient."

"Yeah right, I don't think that idiot knows how to be patient." Gray lifted Juvia up and carried her to the tent she was to be sharing with Levy. No, he wasn't being a gentleman about it, she was just sleeping on him and he couldn't get to his own tent with her on top of him like that. He had been so engrossed in Mira's story that he hadn't even realized when the rain woman had lain against him.

Jumping up full of energy, the salmon-haired dragon slayer grinned as he lit his fists on fire. "You wanna say that again Popsicle Dick?"

"Natsu!" The man paled as the firm unwavering voice called out to him, his fire going out before he quickly ducked into his and Happy's tent. With an approving nod the woman turned to the iron slayer who was getting up with Lucy in his arms. "Thank you Gajeel, you can put Lucy in our tent if you don't mind."

The man stopped mid step before he turned his hard red gaze to the woman. "No offense Titania, but after hearing a story where another dragon tries stealing away what's mine, I'm keeping her within my reach. She's stayin' with me and Lily in our tent tonight."

"Gajeel."

Ignoring her harsh call for him, Gajeel stepped into his tent and laid the blonde down on his sleeping roll before he stuck his hand out of the front of the tent, a single finger extended as he pulled the zipper down to shut the rest of them out. "Ain't no way in hell I'm parting from her tonight."

"You're over reacting Gajeel."

The man looked over toward his cat and scowled. "Shut it or get out and go sleep with Natsu and Happy. She's stayin'." The cat just chuckled as the man crawled into the sleeping roll with the blonde pulling her close and burying his face in her blonde locks the urge to mark her almost sending him over the edge.

"I guess I went a little too far with that story?" Mira stood next to her childhood rival with a smile on her face. Despite the rules that had been set for this camping trip, she was happy that the man loved Lucy enough to defy Erza and take her with him into his own tent.

"Leave them be." Both women looked up to the lightning dragon slayer that had been put in charge of this event in his grandfather's place, afraid to leave the guild alone as he had last time. "It's a dragon slayer thing. He's afraid that someone is going to take her."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Erza stared hard at the tent the man had disappeared in with her tent mate, unhappy with the current turn of events. She didn't think it was fair that he was able to take the girl in his tent when others couldn't have their significant other with them. "Lucy will be just fine with all of us here."

"It isn't about that. While he trusts us, he doesn't trust us." The blonde looked at the tent, a crease in his brow as he thought about what was coming and he didn't know how he felt about it. "He'll mark her soon. It's inevitable. Unless she tells him she doesn't want it, the longer he waits, the harder it will be for him to control his inner dragon. If anyone went in and tried to take her out of there he would probably kill them at this point."

The red head sighed and shook her head as she turned to enter what was supposed to be hers and Lucy's tent. "Then I suppose there is nothing to be done about it." The further away she got from Mira and Laxus, the more Erza smiled to herself. With Lucy in the tent with her boyfriend she got the entire tent to herself and she could take up as much room as she wished without the blonde complaining like usual.

A/N: Okay, please don't be mad at me for not putting as much in here. As I was writing this there was so much going through my head that it was too much to put into one chapter. Then I realized that I didn't want to. I plan on taking this concept and making it a story of its own. So keep an eye out for it. And thank you all again for your kind words and encouragement. ~Libra