[FTAP]
A Dragon's Need to Keep Up
[FTAP]
Outside of Hargeon Town, Fiore, Ishgar, Earth Land, July 2, X784
'This is just terrible.' Lucy Heartfilia thought to herself despairingly, considering she had to run as far away as she could from the Rune Knights with the same wild child that got her into so much trouble in the first place.
Earlier in the day, she was just looking for directions to the Fairy Tail Guild when she was hoodwinked along with a lot of other women in Hargeon by a pompous con artist who planned to brand them all as "merchandise" in Bosco's slave market. Thankfully, before they could brand anyone, a pink-haired boy of all things fell from the sky, and in spite of the weird case of motion sickness he had on the ship as well as his young age, he was able to fight off Bora and his thugs with a Lost Magic he called Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Not wanting to feel left out, Lucy took out her Celestial Spirit Keys and helped out as well. Unfortunately, the two Mages more or less took it too far in terms of public damage which attracted the Rune Knights and before Lucy could figure out what to do, the boy grabbed her by the arm and prompted her to run with him.
Once they were out of Hargeon, they stopped for a bit to catch their breath followed by the boy showing a toothy grin at her. "That was a great fight, Anna! I don't know why I fell from the sky, but I'm glad you're here." He then appeared curious. "But where's Igneel and the others?"
Although she had half a mind to berate him for roping her into practically becoming criminals on the run, Lucy was more curious herself. "Who's Igneel and Anna?" She asked finally.
Now the kid looked stumped, but before he could ask questions of his own, he decided to sniff Lucy over which made her uncomfortable until he stopped with a gasp. "You kind of look and smell like Anna, but you're not her exactly. Are you from that Heartfilia Clan of hers?"
Lucy's eyes widened and couldn't restrain an exclamation. "You know about my last name?!"
After that outburst, they fell into a long discussion that led to Lucy learning about the existence of Dragons and relatives of hers she hadn't known of before just as she told the kid, Natsu Dragneel, about her own troubles with her father. Once they both concluded, Natsu decided to help Lucy out with her estranged father and in turn, Lucy promised to help him in settling in the greater world.
[FTAP]
Originally, I thought about making this a challenge story in the likes of the earlier parts of Dragon Ball and Naruto, if you know what I mean, but decided to make it an Alternate Path for good measure. Since Natsu starts as a ten-year-old here, I was thinking his love interests would be either Sherria, Yukino, or a non-Fairy Sphered Wendy among other female characters that would be applicable. Trust me, I like Lucy, and I have nothing against the yaoi fans, but there should be more stories where Natsu is paired with a female character that fits the story, which doesn't always have to be Lucy. I have quotes on my FFN profile that fit my thoughts perfectly, so to speak.