CeruShimRu15 here! ^_^ thank you all for the lovely reviews and I promise you, it's not over yet guys! We still have two chapters left of this story to go. Since a lot of you had always asked, "Where's Natsu?" you all get a little fluff within this chapter :3 and it's the longest out the story by far I do believe. Remember to review because I have a surprise for you all at the end ;) Also let me know if you notice any typos. I went through all the old chapters and fixed a lot of them.

"Natsu…." Lucy repeated the name so she could embed it into her mind. She raised her hand up to her cheek and placed it over Natsu's hand. A smile came to her face. "But why did you lie to me about your real name?"

"Because I didn't think the spell would be broken," he confessed. Removing his hand from the princess's cheek, he sat up and began scratching at his head. He glanced over at Loke with an annoyed look in his eyes before folding his arms. "What are you staring at?"

"Because you just turned from a dragon into a human," Loke replied calmly. "I think anyone would stare if something like that happened before them."

A tiny growl escaped from Natsu only to be interrupted by Lucy.

"But what spell are you talking about Natsu? And why did you choose Igneel as a name?"

The boy scratched his head again in embarrassment before laughing. "Well to be honest I don't really remember a lot of things before I got turned into a dragon," he admitted. Suddenly he frowned and continued on in a more serious tone. "But Igneel was my father. I didn't know what else to do because I wasn't sure if I could trust you so much. The lady that turned me into a dragon…I thought I could trust her because she claimed she would help me find him and she had once seen dragons, but she turned me into one instead." He looked up and smiled. Taking hold of Lucy's hand he began spinning her around. "And so here I am! So I thank you Princess for lifting the spell."

"Stop it!" Lucy squealed as she continued to spin. At once the boy let go of her hands and spun for a few more seconds before tumbling onto the ground. Natsu let out a gasp while Loke quickly rushed over to her side.

"Are you hurt Princess?" Loke demanded. He noticed the tears that were brimming at her eyes and he quickly turned on Natsu. "You idiot! How dare you hurt the Princess –"He paused as Lucy grabbed hold of his arm and he quickly looked down.

"I'm not crying from that," she sighed, wiping at her face. "I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm happy that I have two of my nakama in front me."

Both of the boys glanced at each other before frowning. They held out their hands and helped the girl back to her feet despite their growing aggravation of each other.

"I'm really sorry about that Princess," Natsu apologized.

"It's nothing to worry about Natsu."

"Well, there is something to worry about," Loke pointed out. The two teens looked over towards the strawberry blonde boy whose arms were folded and eyes closed. He opened one to glance at Lucy as he continued. "Something tells me you're not going to come with me so easily out of the tower now, aren't you?"

"Well, I –"

"We can have a rematch!" Natsu interjected. Suddenly his fist broke out into flames which caught Lucy by surprise. "I could fight you even better now that I'm smaller!"

"Something tells me you'd fight the exact same."

"Then I'd easily beat you!"

"Enough!" Lucy snapped pushing herself between the two warring men. She let out a sigh. Something told her that none of this was going to end well. "According to my father, the prince who defeated the dragon was the rightful person to have my hand in marriage."

"And this boy isn't a prince," Loke sighed.

"I never said I wasn't!" Natsu growled. His hands were still engulfed in flames. "I…just can't remember anything to say I was or wasn't one at all."

The princess let out a sigh. This was getting them nowhere with all this arguing. "Okay! I'm changing the rules. You two will have your rematch since Natsu doesn't have his full memory. Whoever wins will take me back to my father, does that seem fair?"

Loke and Natsu exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement. The group settled on meeting 2 weeks from now. Lucy hoped by this the time the two boys would possibly forget about the entire situation but she knew it wouldn't happen. Sighing, she helped Loke out of the tower just to see him off. Going back inside the tower she found Natsu nowhere in sight. The princess scowled at this; where could he have gone?

Her first stop was the kitchen which was completely empty. Now that she thought about it she hadn't eaten at all today and decided to fix a few sandwiches for herself and Natsu. She remembered how he had liked them as a dragon. She smiled fondly at the memory. Placing them neatly on a serving dish, she gathered them up and began the smell trek up to her room. If she remembered hearing correctly from some of the few servants of the castle, food was the way to lure any man.

Once she entered her room she found this was where the boy had disappeared to. She was shocked at how he had found his way around the tower already when it had taken her the entire first month of being there. Natsu glanced up from his place on floor; he held Leon in his hands with an unpleasant frown on his face. It began to disappear when he noticed the tray of sandwiches in Lucy's hands. A soft smile came to the princess's face before she settled down on the floor across from him and placed the tray between them.

"I thought you might be hungry after all that fighting," Lucy began. She stopped, noticing Natsu sniffing at Leon. "Natsu, what are you doing?"

"It smells like him," Natsu muttered holding Leon away from his face.

"It smells like him….? Oh! You must mean Leon smells a bit like Loke."

"Yeah I mean him! Why do you have this when it reeks of him?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Remember Thanksgiving Day?" she questioned. The boy nodded his head in agreement. "Well a few years ago Loke gave me him, Leon, as a gift. He said he would always protect me."

"A lion can't protect you like a dragon," Natsu said, standing up smirking as his hands became engulfed in flames. He heard the princess let out a gasp of alarm and quickly extinguished his fire. "What's wrong Princess?"

"I…uh…" she stammered for the correct choice of words.

"Are you just being a weirdo again?"

"I am not a weirdo! I just don't understand why you're able to light your hands on fire."

"Oh!" Natsu exclaimed giving her a huge goofy grin. "That's easy. I'm a dragon slayer so I can light just about any part of my body on fire. Wanna see?"

"I rather not….can we just eat in peace?"

Natsu slid back to the ground, folding his arms. "That's no fun."

Taking hold of a sandwich, he began to eat. The princess watched him finish it before she took one for herself. The two sat in silence for a moment, savoring over their taste of the sandwiches. It didn't take long for Lucy to have her fill from just two and left the rest for Natsu to devour. As she watched, she finally developed the courage to ask the question that had been bugging her.

"Natsu," she started. "Can you really not remember anything about you before becoming a dragon?"

The boy looked up at the sound of his name with a full mouth before swallowing the rest of his snack. He began scratching the back of his head in thought. "Hmm….not really." He grabbed another sandwich.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nope."

"But doesn't it bother you?" she pressed.

This got Natsu's attention. "I guess it bothers me a tad…" he said as he finished his fourth sandwich. "The only thing I can remember is Igneel's name, him being my dad, and me searching for him. Then there's that evil lady who turned me into a dragon and of course that Loke guy had a scent on him I recognized."

"A scent?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure why it's so familiar though." Natsu scratched at his head again before falling onto his back in frustration. "I hate this! I can't remember anything about my life."

"Perhaps you were a prince?" Lucy suggested leaning over him. Her expression dropped as Natsu quickly shook his head to dismiss that idea. She sighed and lay down beside the dragon slayer. Well there was something about his clothing that all the princes that had showed up seemed to have in common. She decided to turn the topic into something happier. "Why don't you tell me about Igneel? I'm sure you remember a little about him."

At this a smile came to the boy's face. "I did tell you he was my father," Natsu said glancing over towards the princess. She nodded encouragingly. He thought for a moment before the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Well, Igneel taught me everything I knew about everything from food, to reading, cultures, and magic. He made me into the dragon slayer I am today." A content sigh escaped him. "But he disappeared one day."

"That's so sad…"

"Yeah…but he was one of the best dragon parents any dragon slayer could ask for."

The princess stared at the dragon slayer for a moment in utter shock. "Natsu…did you just say your father was a dragon?"

"Yup!" Natsu replied, rolling over to grin at her. "How do you think I knew so much about dragons?"

Lucy stared at him dumbfounded before getting to her feet. "I think I'm going to go take a bath," she announced before hurrying towards the bathroom. She heard Natsu call after as she closed the door in a rush. She placed her back against the door, holding her head from what all had happened today. This was getting out of hand! This cannot be happening, she thought. First he turned from a dragon into a man. Now he says his father is a dragon. What has this world come to?! She sat there in silence until she noticed her thoughts were answered in silence. Did she finally have her mind back to herself? A feeling of excitement rushed through her only to be quickly filled with a twinge of loneliness. She had gotten used to Natsu pushing his way into everything he heard her think. It was going to take her sometime to get used to not having a second voice within her head. Sighing, she grabbed her towel and began to run her water.

She began to run over a list of things that would need to be done now that Natsu was a dragon. For starters she would have to find a room for him to stay in. Her room had been her only sense of privacy when the dragon slayer had always been in her head and she wasn't giving that up now. Perhaps there was another bedroom lying around in the tower. Next she would tend to his wounds. She had noticed them while they had both been lying on the ground together talking and he hadn't brought any attention to them at all. She was sure there was a first aid kit lying around. Finally they would have to find him more sets of clothes. He couldn't live in that one outfit forever. Bringing her attention back to her bath she turned the water off. Yes, she would do all of this just to make sure Natsu would feel at home. But why do I care if he feels at home? The princess blinked in confusion at her thoughts before submerging herself within the water.

The sight Lucy found once she entered her room caught her completely off guard. She hadn't expected to find Natsu in her bed….completely. The boy had managed to become quite comfortable underneath her pink sheets and was busily snoring away. The princess sweat dropped at this. What was she going to do now with the mage in her bed? This was going against everything she had planned. Muttering to herself she walked over to her bed, sitting on its edge before rocking the boy gently on his shoulder.

"Natsu…" she whispered.

"Nhh..?" Natsu muttered as he opened one of his eyes to stare at the woman. A yawn escaped him. "Did I do something?"

"You're asleep in my bed. Of course you did something."

Natsu slid over slightly before propping himself up on his elbow. In response, Lucy grabbed one of the many pillows on her bed and threw it at the boy's face. It landed with a loud thud, before bouncing off onto the ground. The mage shook his head to clear it from the shock.

"What was that for?!" he demanded. "I moved over to give you room!"

"That's not what I meant! I want my bed for myself!"

"For…yourself? But where am I supposed to sleep?"

"On the floor I suppose…or perhaps there's another room within the tower."

"But….I'm tired!" the dragon slayer's voice grew to a whine. He noticed how agitated the princess was becoming. "Plus…we slept together before."

The princess's eyes grew wide in shock. "We did no such thing!"

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the princess. "Don't tell me you're losing your memory too. Don't you remember the night under the stars?"

"T-that was different," Lucy stammered. There was a slight blush to her checks as she recalled the memory. Sure, it had been harmless and it hadn't bothered her since she had slept outside with a dragon, but now that she knew he was a human, it completely disturbed her to no end. She noticed that Natsu was still staring at her with a confused look in his eyes before she finally let out a sigh, realizing there was no way around this. She was tired and this had been a very long day and she would have to just live with this. It was just for one night after all, right? Sitting down beside the dragon slayer, she turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Just don't get any ideas, okay?"

"Okay…" Natsu replied, blinking in confusion as the princess began to lie down in front of him. Grinning, he took hold of the covers as she pulled them up before wrapping his arms around the princess's waist, pressing his nose into her hair. "You know, your hair smells like food."

"I-it's shampoo." The princess pried his hands off of her. She glared back at him only to see him giving her a feeble smile. Sighing, she pulled the covers further up towards her shoulders to help her block out his existence. She could already feel this was going to be a long and unsettling night.

"Good night, Princess!"

Lucy sighed. "Good night, Natsu…."

"Oh Princess."

Lucy pulled the sheet over head at the sound of her title. She wanted to sleep just a bit longer, was that just too much to ask? She was still trying to recover after the shock from yesterday with Loke and Natsu….Natsu!The girl quickly sat up, or really attempted as she felt a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her waist. At once, she sweat dropped at the sigh as she hadn't expected his arms to be there after she had told him to stop the previous night. However, the boy was still asleep which didn't make sense to the voice she had heard calling her name. Flinching with apprehensive, she slowly turned her head to find the pink hair of Virgo.

"Virgo!" Lucy shouted in alarm.

This was loud enough to awaken Natsu, who finally loosen his grip upon the princess. Sitting up, the mage rubbed at his eyes before letting out a yawn. "Morning Princess," he grinned. His gaze fell upon Virgo and he tilted his head in confusion. "What's the pink haired lady doing here?" He scratched his head at this. "What was her name again? Victor? Virginia?"

"It's Virgo, Natsu…"

"I'm sorry for interrupting something important, Princess," Virgo stated, bowing her head. "I was just following your father's order in my check in and became worried when the dragon wasn't to be found, so Taurus is now guarding the place. Do you wish me to leave you and your Prince and tell your father of your upcoming return?"

"Prince?!" Lucy yelped. She quickly stood up from her bed and pointed wildly at Natsu. "He is no such thing! Virgo, Natsu is the dragon!...well, was the dragon! You were interrupting nothing!"

"I'm sorry for my misunderstanding, Princess. You can punish me as you wish."

"Absolutely not!"

"Well I say you interrupted my sleep," Natsu yawned, interrupting the two as he crawled out of bed. "Princess, you have a very loud voice."

"I do not!"

Natsu quickly covered his ears. "See…? Loud."

Lucy began to fume as she stared at the boy before turning away with a huff. He hadn't seemed so annoying as a dragon, so why was he bugging her now? Maybe because I didn't have to be stuck with him all the time…she thought to herself. Turning her attention back to Virgo, she sighed. "I'm sorry about all of that," she apologized.

"No need," Virgo replied. "Is there anything you wish for me to get you, Princess?"

"Actually…." The princess's gaze traveled back over towards Natsu who was staring at the pair with curiosity. "Could you find a first aid kit so I could tend to Natsu's wounds? Also, maybe you could find another room within the tower he could use."

"I'll see what I can do. As for first aid, Princess, there is one below with Taurus in the carriage. I will tell him to bring it up."

"Why can't we just go and get it instead?" Natsu chimed in.

"Natsu…"

"Come on, Princess. I wanna just stretch my legs. I have to get used to being in this body again if I have to fight that friend of yours."

Lucy stared at the pink haired boy for a moment before finally sighing and agreed. Virgo bowed to announce her departure and left the two alone. The princess ordered the boy to go get cleaned up in the bathroom while she change, adding in to not come out until she let him. While Natsu locked himself in the restroom, Lucy decided on wearing yet another one of her spring dresses, this one being a blue and white dress with an extraordinary design. She was just finishing pinning up her hair when she heard a knock from the opposite side of the bathroom door. The sweat dropped at the sound as she had completely forgotten about the boy.

"Come in!" she called, not turning away from the mirror. She could see his reflection through the mirror as he came inside the room, his back leaning against the door. Now that he was cleaner, Lucy could see his wounds a lot more easily now. Why hadn't she attended to them last night? For all she knew, they could have been affected this very moment. Wrapping her hair in the ribbon, she turned back to Natsu and led the way out of the tower.

Once they reached outside, the princess spotted the knight standing guard around the carriage. It didn't take long for him to notice the approach of Lucy with Natsu and hearts quickly settled within the bull's gaze.

"Princess!" he beamed at the blonde. He pulled her into a giant hug much to the girl's protest as she tried to push him away. "I've missed you so much! You're body is looking extremely well in that dress of yours today!" He paused, noticing Natsu's presences. "Who is he?"

"This is Natsu, Taurus," Lucy replied, struggling to break free again. "He's….currently protecting me."

At this, Taurus lowered her to the ground. "But I protect you, Princess! Don't I do a good job?"

Not with you always on my body…"Of course! It's just when you're away, I need someone else to do the job. You all want me to return to the castle safely, right?"

"So true, Princess! You're mind is wonderful! Just like that body of yours!"

Lucy glanced over towards Natsu for help only to find him busily stretching away. Seeing as she would have no help from him, she let out a sigh. "Taurus, my reason for being out here is I'm in search of a first aid kit and Virgo says there's one around here."

"I think it's somewhere in the back."

Before she could reply, Natsu leaped onto the back of the carriage and wiggled his way inside. In a matter of seconds he reappeared with a white box with a painted red x on the side and a huge grin on his face. He waved it in the air to gain the princess's attention. "Is this it?" he questioned.

"Perfect!" Lucy exclaimed. "We can go fix you up in my room."

"But I don't wanna go yet!" Natsu leaped down from the carriage, grinning playful at the girl. "I'll go in….if you….can catch me first."

"Natsu! This isn't a game. It's about your health."

"I can't hear you!"

With this, the dragon slayer took off at full speed around the tower. Lucy stared after him in disbelief before letting out a yell towards the sky in annoyance. She called after him as she began to chase him. How was she expected to catch him in this dress? As she got to the other side of the tower, he was nowhere to be found. "Natsu!" Lucy growled, looking around wildly for the boy. How could he have so much energy? "Where are you?!"

A snicker came from above. In response, the princess looked up, realizing she was underneath the balcony. Natsu gazed down at her with a huge grin plastered on his face before leaping down in front of her. In response, the princess stamped her rage at the boy's antics. They didn't have any time for this! She grabbed the first aid kit out of his hand, catching him off guard. Natsu's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That isn't fair!"

"What isn't fair is that you're having me chase you when I'm supposed to be working on your wounds."

Natsu folded his arms in annoyance before letting out a grunt. Muttering to himself, he followed after the princess. Lucy called a goodbye to Taurus as they headed up the stairs back towards her room. There was no sign of Virgo yet which didn't seem so pleasing to Lucy. Sighing, she opened the door to her room and ordered Natsu to sit on her bed while she got out the needed supplies. She wasn't sure how long this was going to take but she knew he had taken a lot of damage during his fight with Loke. When he was a dragon he had always been able to do most of his healing in the lava pit, but that wouldn't be any use now that he was a human.

She made her way back over towards Natsu, bandages in hand, and began wrapping some around his hands. She had noticed how his palms had been cut across the middle. She was amazed at how Natsu had made any complaints about any of his wounds. He's a mage, Lucy. He's probably had worse wounds then this. She continued her work in silence as Natsu stared on quietly. Eventually she had both of his hands wrapped, part of his leg, and some wrapped completely around his head. As she had worked, she even sprayed and cleaned out any minor wounds she came across. Sitting back, a sigh escaped her as she rubbed at her arms.

"Am I all done?" she questioned. She was going through this all from memory of all the wounds she had seen.

The dragon slayer gazed at her for a moment, moving all his areas that were wrapped in bandages for a moment. "Nah, you missed a spot," he replied. When the princess blinked in confusion, he moved his hand in a flash and quickly flicked her on the nose. A laugh escaped him while the princess began yelling at as she covered her nose.

"Natsu! What was that for?!"

"We gotta have some fun in this, Princess."

"Healing you is not fun. It's work!"

"Then make time for fun."

At this, the princess abruptly turned away. The grin from Natsu's face faded only to be replaced by another playful smirk. "Oh Princess!" he called. His grabbed a pair of loose bandages and hid them behind his back.

"I'm not playing with you, Natsu."

"Okay, okay, but I know some place where you missed." He smiled sheepishly as she turned to face him.

"…where?"

"That head of yours. Let me try and fix it." Natsu reached for head with the collection of bandages only for Lucy to put her hands up in protest. She began trying to push him away, her hands grabbing onto his wrist to hold him back. It was all fun and games for Natsu, but he knew he was a lot stronger than her. Grinning, he over took the girl and pressed her back against the bed and loomed over her. He gazed at her triumphantly. "I win!"

"This wasn't a game," Lucy pouted, gazing up at him. Suddenly, she realized her placement between him and her bed and a blush came to her face. "Now let me go!"

"Only if you let me fix your head…"

"NATSU!"

The princess began struggling beneath him causing him to laugh. Finally, Natsu dropped the bandages on top of the girl's head and loosen his grip on her. This allowed Lucy just enough time to move her hands and remove the bandages from her face. She glared at him with annoyance. She didn't understand how he could even view any of this funny! Suddenly, Natsu took notice of the look on her face and stopped his laughter. His eyes lowered and Natsu slid off of the princess, allowing Lucy to sit up. A sigh of relief came from the princess as she sat up. She had begun to worry what was going to happen while she was in that stance. Glancing at Natsu she noted something seemed completely different about him as if he had just become distant to her.

"Natsu?" she asked; her voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

He glanced up at her from his position. "Do you hate me, Princess?"

"Hate you?! Why would you think of something like that?"

"Because, you treat me differently than how I was as a dragon!"

Lucy held her breath. She hadn't realized she was coming off that easily to Natsu. It was true, she felt a little awkward being around him now that he was human, but she could never bring herself to hate him completely. Her gaze lowered as she placed her hands in her lap before shaking her head. "I could never hate you Natsu," she replied.

"So why are you so….different?"

"I guess because it was a lot easier talking to you asa dragon." She rubbed at her arm in embarrassment. "I couldn't always see your face and you knew most of my thoughts so I couldn't feel judge by you, however…." She raised her head, looking into the boy's onyx eyes. "Perhaps my trust in you is a bit challenged now that I know you practically lied to me."

"But I told you my reason!" Natsu objected. "And I didn't lie to you about everything!"

The princess held up her hand to stop the boy from continuing his protest. "And your reason was a good one," Lucy agreed. "But, I just might need some time to get used to you being human…"Glancing away, she got up from the bed. "I guess you could call me strange..."

Natsu chuckled at this. "I always called you a weirdo for a reason."

A blushed stretched across the blonde's face. "I am not a weirdo! Just be glad you're not a giant lizard." She quickly turned away, folding her arms to hide the redness in her face.

"Dragon's aren't lizards!"

Lucy began to giggle at this. He really was the real Igneel, even if he was now a human. Natsu watched her with curious boy was completely lost about what had just happened and was still agitated over the fact she had called dragons lizards again. Suddenly, Lucy turned to face him; the blush completely gone from her face and a smile had taken its place. The dragon slayer blinked in confusion as she held out her arms.

"We're still nakama, right?" she inquired.

Natsu's eyes stretched wide in astonishment before softening. He returned her smile with a grin of his own. "Of course!" Standing up, the boy took her into her arms and embraced her as she had offered. However, it didn't take long for pain to seize him as she held onto his waist and he winced. In response, Lucy slacked her hold, looking up at him with an accusing glare. The dragon slayer chuckled in embarrassment. "Perhaps I did forget about one wound."

Unfortunately, Virgo hadn't been able to find another bedroom within the tower. She had offered to fetch multiple bedroom supplies from the castle, but Lucy quickly dismissed the idea. If she was going to work to get to know the real Natsu, she rather have him nearby and now many floors or doors down. The princess saw her two servants off, promising she would return soon. She knew without a doubt the words were true.

Natsu had managed to fall asleep in her bed, yet again by the time their day had finished. She had decided to leave the mage to his sleep while she bathed. A nice relaxing bath helped her clear her mind and she knew it would even help her sleep as well. Once she was done, she entered her bedroom in her nightgown only to find Natsu standing over at her desk with a few papers in her hands. She quickly dashed over, grabbing the few papers out of his hands, collecting the rest off of the desk and held them protectively against her chest.

"Did I do something wrong?" Natsu inquired baffled by the princess's act.

"I thought you were asleep!" she challenged, ignoring the question completely.

"I was." He stretched his arms. "But I got hungry so I went and found some of the left over sandwiches. Then…I came across these -" He pointed towards the papers at Lucy's chest only for her to pull away. He snorted in annoyance. "What was that for?"

"You went through my stuff!"

"Princess, it was out in the open."

"That doesn't mean go through it!"

Natsu groaned before scratching at his head, searching for a way to explain his actions. Lucy had turned back to putting the papers in order, stacking them up neatly on her desk. He knew she was going to ignore him completely if he never came clean. Sighing in defeat, he continued. "Okay, I was wrong," he muttered, folding his arms. "But! You know I feel the same way…..about Igneel, you know?" He noticed the princess pausing. "Remember?"

"Of course I do," she sighed, clutching the papers tighter to her chest. "It's just…writing to my mother makes me feel happier. It lets me know that I'm not alone."

"But you're not. I'm your nakama so you always have me."

He pointed at himself before grinning widely. Lucy smiled back at him softly before finishing the last bit of papers. She walked passed him, glancing over shoulder. "I'm going to bed," she announced. "Just don't read my letters again, okay?"

The dragon slayer followed after her, waiting silently as she crawled into bed before slipping in after her. "I won't, Princess," he promised. "Just promise me you won't think you're alone?"

"Promise you?"

"Settle a promise with a promise." The boy snuggled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She would be happy when he learned to stop doing this every night. "Whatever you say, Natsu, I promise. Now, good night." She closed her eyes, preparing herself for sleep to overtake her when she suddenly heard a strange rumble coming from behind her. Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Natsu…are you purring?"

"What?"

"Purring. It's that sound that's coming from your throat."

The boy was silent for a moment before answering. "I thought it was more of a hum," he defended. "And I thought you were asleep."

"No one falls asleep that fast."

"Sorry…"

A tiny giggle escaped the princess. "Was it something Igneel taught you?"

"He always did it when he was happy and it helped me go to sleep. I just remembered it actually."

So his memories are coming back...that's a good sign. "I'm glad to hear that," she replied with a smile. "As long as you're happy and it keeps you happy then I say continue it, but officially this time, good night Natsu."

She closed her eyes as she heard the boy utter the words back and began humming again. The sound was somewhat hypnotic and she could feel herself slipping into sleep. Perhaps she could get used to having him around as a human. She believed she was already beginning to adapt to him. But…what if he's not around forever? Lucy glanced over her shoulder, noticing Natsu drifting into sleep as his humming began to fade. The only way that would happen was if he lost the fight against Loke, but she didn't believe she could marry him. Really, she didn't believe she could marry either men. Of course, Natsu did know her wishes so perhaps he would leave her alone if he did win. Sighing, she turned back around to face the rest of her room.

"Why do I feel so confused on this?" she whispered.