Title: The Hedge Maze

A/N: This is a remake of a story that I made for a friend in Tumblr a few weeks back.

The royal banquet had returned to its lively vibe without a hitch right after Natsu made his "grand appearance" a few moments ago. The initial shock from the entire audience who saw the fiasco soon faded as the night went on, continuing on with their eating and merrymaking. As for the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, however…

"Wait, wait! Natsu, where are you taking me?!"

"You'll know when you get there, Lucy!"

"Well, slow down, would you? I can't really run well in these shoes, you know!"

"Don't worry about it! We're almost there anyway!"

Natsu, stripped off of the king's crown and robe, quickly dragged Lucy out of the dance hall the moment the royal knights let him go. He brought her through the long and winding corridors, and out to the back gardens of Mercurius Palace, finally stopping in front of a huge hedge maze.

"Okay," Lucy panted, trying to regain her breath from all the running they just did. "We're finally here, so what did you want to show me all of a sudden?"

Natsu grinned and pointed her direction to the maze's entrance. "Wanna go in?"

Lucy looked at the entrance, and then back at Natsu confusedly. "Wait, so you dragged me out here just so we could get lost inside a maze?"

"You'll just have to see to find out!"

And so, the two went inside the maze, with Natsu guiding Lucy the whole time. As the pair walked in a more leisurely pace than earlier, Lucy looked around the maze, paying attention to all the details in their surroundings: the antique-looking gas lampposts found at the sides of the garden, the sweet scent of the white flowers floating around the air, the numerous stars sparkling down on them in that dark sky above. It all seemed so magical, she thought, for lack of a better word.

"We're almost there, Lucy! Come on!" Natsu said as he started running again. Lucy, as much as she could without tripping on her heels, followed suit. When she finally reached the center of the maze, her eyes grew wide at the sight of a gazebo, with vines of ivy hanging down its red roof, and bushes of red roses surrounding it, and Natsu sitting on top of the railings.

"Lucy! Over here!"

She quickly made her way inside the gazebo, right beside where Natsu was sitting. "So this was what you wanted to show me, huh?"

"Pretty neat, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled as she leaned closer to the railing. "This place is beautiful."

The two of them stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying each other's company and watching the stars as they twinkled in the night. Finally, without thinking much about it, Lucy broke the silence between them.

"I haven't really seen you much around here since we got inside the palace. Were you here the whole time?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, during the party a while ago, I asked Happy where you've been and he told me that he had no idea either. That's a bit odd coming from you, Natsu."

"Yeah, well…"

"Natsu, is there something on your mind?" Lucy looked at him, very concerned for her friend. "Does it…" she paused, unsure of what would happen next if she finished her question. "Does it have to do with what happened a few days ago?" she finally asked with a careful tone in her voice.

Natsu didn't even have say anything back to her, but she knew from the moment his body tensed up at her question that her suspicions had been confirmed.

"Natsu," she told him gently, "Natsu, you can always talk to me about it. I mean, the whole thing was just so overwhelming that-"

Without warning, Natsu quickly got off the railing and stood right next to Lucy.

"Natsu? Are you-"

He then pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I don't want to lose you again, Lucy" he finally told her, his voice faintly shaking with each word. "Especially after what happened to-"

Lucy could only hug him back in return. "I know, Natsu. I know."

"I'm not gonna let anything bad get to you again, I promise."

"I'm sure you won't."

The two of them continued to embrace each other after that. Then all of a sudden, the lampposts in the garden started turning off one by one, darkening the entire area. Lucy started to slowly let go of Natsu, and broke off their embrace. "It's getting dark out here. We should really get back inside."

"Yeah…" Natsu took a deep breath before he grabbed Lucy's hand. "Come on," he smiled at her, "I'll help you find a way out of here." .

"You sure you won't get us lost along the way?" she asked him playfully.

"I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, remember?" he grinned as he made a fireball with his other hand. "I'm pretty sure I can help you get out of here!"