Fated to Love You
notes: i looooove mermaid aus so i had to try my hand at one. this time, natsu's the merperson and lucy is, well, a princess, which is nothing new really. i quite like this au and i have more written but no actual plot yet. lemme know what you guys think. should i make this au its own story with a full plot or just write random drabbles/oneshots in this universe? also, don't forget you can request an au! i'd love to know what universes you guys would like to see! :)
/to fly through the sea
Imagine a girl, blonde-haired and brown-eyed, dressed in the finest silks and crowned with the most brilliant jewels. She's regal and proper, elegant and gentle. She's a beacon of grace. She's a princess.
Now take that image and toss it out to sea. Imagine instead the same girl, only she's crouching barefoot in the sand, searching for seashells by the water's edge. Her hair is a windblown mess and her gown is drab and worn. She's plain, almost dirty, and looks like your average commoner. But alas, she's a princess.
Princess Lucy Heartphilia, the exact opposite of the girliest, most stereotypical princess to ever walk the earth.
That's me.
My fingers sift through the warm sand, seeking shells. This is my favorite pastime and it's such a lovely day to be by the beach. The sun shines warmly down on me and I feel a hopeful stirring in my chest. As if something will change today.
My fingertips brush over something smooth and solid. It is, to my delight, a cute little conch shell. Beaming, I sit back, burying my toes into the sand, and hold the shell up to my ear. The sound of crashing waves echoes through my head and I hum in satisfaction.
The songs of the ocean are my favorite music.
Still humming along to the waves, I let my eyes wander across the endlessness of the sea. The water sparkles, blue-green, in the sunshine. The waves are soothing and peaceful and I have never felt more at ease.
Suddenly, a spot of color draws my gaze. It's pink, bright pink, a color I never thought I'd find in the sea. Frowning, I sit up and watch as it bobs closer and closer.
Wait.
My eyes widen. Is—is that—is that a—
I spring to my feet and quickly strip down to my shift. I run into the water and launch myself forward, never more thankful that I'd managed to convince my father to let me have swimming lessons years ago.
I swim in the direction of the head—the head, it's a head, someone's drowning—and pray that I won't be too late. It's more difficult that I had thought to swim in my shift; it's oddly heavy, pressing against my chest, and my breathing grows labored.
My arms tire and lose speed and my legs weaken in their kicks. I struggle for another breath, scratching at my chest, when I finally realize that I'd forgotten to get rid of my corset.
Of course.
I yank at it, trying to loosen it, but the laces are so tight and knotted that I can't untie them without help normally, let alone underwater. I try to pull it apart at the seams, but I'm so tired and my lungs are begging for air and dear lord, am I going to die? I wish I'd at least saved the drowning person first.
The last thing I see is a pair of dark, curious eyes.
I wake coughing, hacking up sea water from my lungs. It's painful and my throat quickly becomes sore.
"Are you alright?" a husky voice questions curiously.
I look up and see a man—a boy, really—with that bright pink hair and deep onyx eyes staring at me with his head tilted cutely to one side.
I try to force my voice out of my throat but end up coughing violently instead. My entire body shakes with the force and the boy reaches an arm to my back, patting me calmly.
Eventually, my coughing fit subsides and he retracts his arm. "Thanks," I whisper hoarsely, clearing my dry throat with a grimace.
I look at him again, to study him, and it is then that I notice exactly how shirtless he is, aside from a scaly white scarf of sorts. I squeak and scoot away instinctively, my cheeks burning and my eyes averted. "Where—where are your clothes!?"
"What are clothes?" He sounds genuinely confused.
"You know, like..." I gesture towards myself.
Except I'm not clothed.
Oops.
I squeal again and wrap my arms protectively around my torso, sure that my face is on fire now. "I-I-I-I'm so sorry! I have no right to criticize you when I myself am unclothed! Oh, please don't look!"
He snickers and I'm sure I cannot face him again.
My fingers tug at my shift and I discover the absence of my corset. Surprised, I look up at him again and ask, "Did you take off my corset?"
His eyebrows furrow as he considers my question. "I dunno what a corset is, but I got that thing off you so you could breathe better." He points at my feet and there it is, my godforsaken corset, shredded apart like some monster had clawed through it.
There's a dark triumph behind my words. "Thank you. It had been weighing me down when I was swimming and—oh my goodness, are you alright? You were drowning, weren't you?"
I scramble towards him and he jerks back in surprise. I look him over frantically, trying not to linger too long on his beautiful sculpted muscles or his glistening tail.
Wait. Tail?
My eyes snap back to his and he returns my gaze with amusement.
"I'm a merman," he declares with a smirk. "We can't drown."
"You—you have a—a tail—" I mumble faintly, feeling lightheaded. "Oh, I must be dreaming. Did I hit my head? Or no, I drowned. That's right, I must be dead. Oh goodness."
He laughs, and it's a wondrous sound. I might possibly like it even more than crashing waves, and that is definitely saying something.
"Nope, you're alive. I saved ya." He proudly puffs out his bare and very nice chest. "So now we're friends , right?"
My eyebrows shoot up. "Friends?"
"Aren't we?" He looks at me imploringly and I can't deny him.
"Er, well...if you'd like to be," I allow cautiously and he whoops, rolling on the hot sand. I giggle, and he immediately freezes and stares at me.
"Was that your laugh? 'Cause it sounded really cute and I'd really like to hear it again."
Lord, have mercy!
His voice is so sincere that I actually have to touch my cheeks to make sure my skin isn't burning up in flames. "Don't just say things like that!"
"Why not?"
"Because it's embarrassing!"
He laughs again and yes, I really do like the sound of it more than anything other. "You're weird. Hey, what's your name, weirdo?"
"I'm Lucy. And I'm not weird!" I pout.
"Yeah, you are," he chuckles. "So Luigi, huh?"
"Lucy!"
"Right, right. Well, I'm Natsu. It's great to meet ya!" He grins at me widely and I can't help but grin back. "I've never met a human before. My dad told me humans were bad but you're nice. Are all humans as nice as you?"
My eyes flick down to his tail and I stare, mesmerized by all the colors. "No, sadly, they aren't. The world would be a much better place if they were. Uh, Natsu, I hope I'm not being too forward, but would you mind very much if I touched your tail?"
He seems surprised by the question, but he just shifts his position so that his tail is closer to me. His fins nudge my thigh encouragingly.
Slowly, carefully, I reach down and place my hand partway up his tail. It twitches at the contact, but aside from that, he doesn't move.
"Is this okay?" I as, softly stroking the smooth scales.
He nods, his eyes drooping closed. "Mm. Feels nice, actually."
My hand glides down his tail to his fins, which I rub gently, admiring their silky texture.
He exhales loudly, and when I look at his face I realize he's actually falling asleep. "Natsu? Natsu! Don't fall asleep!"
"Wha-huh?" He shakes his head and blinks drowsily before yawning. "Oh sorry. Your hand was makin' me feel all sleepy."
I giggle, pulling my hand back and carefully lifting his tail away from me. "I could tell."
We sit quietly for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence and basking in the sun. He's surprisingly easy to be with, comfortable, and I don't want to leave but I know I must eventually, so I stand up and stretch. Looking down at myself, I suddenly notice that I'm still dressed only in my shift and quickly cover myself again.
"I'm sorry, please give me a moment," I squeak before running off to where I had left my clothes. I quickly pull them on before making my way back to Natsu, who's rolling around and laughing at me. "Don't laugh, that was embarrassing!"
"Aw c'mon Luce, no need to be so shy!" He snickers uncontrollably. "Mermaids don't cover themselves at all, ya know?"
"They don't? Nothing at all?" I imagine what it would be like to walk around without a scrap of cloth on my person and immediately I blush red. How indecent it sounds! "Well, I-I'm not a mermaid! Um, anyway, I think I must go now. It is getting late and I'm sure my tutors will have given up searching for me by now."
"Did you run away or something?" he asks, playing with the sand.
I nod. "Lessons were extra boring today and it was such a beautiful day out that I couldn't just stay indoors. I'm glad, though, because I was able to meet you." I smile shyly at him. "Princesses aren't allowed many friends."
"You're a princess!?" he exclaims, suddenly wide-eyed. "Wow, that's awesome! I'm a prince!"
"Are you really?" I laugh. "What a coincidence!"
"Yeah, I should probably get back too or Erza will scale me alive for 'shirking my duties' or something." He rolls his eyes as if the thought is totally absurd. "I'm glad we met too. You chose a good day to almost drown!"
My eye twitches and I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. "Um...oh, I never thanked you for that! Thank you so much for saving me, Natsu. I...I...if you hadn't been there..." I shake the thought away quickly. "Anyway, I'm indebted to you. If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."
"Anything, huh? Well..." He contemplates. "You could...meet me again tomorrow?"
"You...would like to see me again?" A slow smile grows across my face.
He nods eagerly. "Of course! So you will?"
"I'll do my best to escape again!" I beam at him. "Tomorrow, then!"
I curtsy and turn to walk away, hesitant, before running back to him and pecking him softly on the cheek. "Thanks again, Natsu," I whisper into his ear, and then I take off without looking back, slapping my cheeks and trying not to squeal.
© Copyright 2015 by The Siege
