Fire is catching

Chapter 26

Authors Note: I'm sorry…it's been so awfully long since I last updated, so I chose to make this chapter an extremely long one to make up for it! ;) I really enjoy writing this fairy tale within the story, so I hope that you like it as well. Have fun!

This was the last time the princess was seen.

Three years had passed already since she was gone, but the kingdom of Fiore never gave up hope. The strongest soldiers and bravest knights were send out to look for the princess and on the anniversary of her disappearing a thousand men were sent in all directions to seek her whereabouts, but all of them came back empty handed, the lost princess was nowhere to be found.

The loss of their daughter had worn down the king and queen and they always wore a sad face, never getting over the fact that their beloved daughter and princess was gone for good. Although they still carried out their duties as rulers of the country, they were doing it with less enthusiasm and times started to change for the kingdom of Fiore. Everybody suffered under the loss of princess Lucia and nothing was the way it was before.

On the date of Lucia's 17th birthday, Dan Straight paid a visit to the castle, this should've been the date when he proposed to Lucia, knowing that the answer would be an already arranged "Yes I do".

He came in full armor carrying a sword, a grim and determined expression on his face: "My dear king, my beloved queen, please accept my request to go out and search for the lovely princess Lucia. Without her, my life is meaningless and unless I find her, I'll never be able to reach happiness. I'll do everything it takes to find her, even if I have to lay down my life in order to grant her safety, I'll gladly do it. I will defeat the wicked dragon and save the princess, I swear by my pride as the prince!" He looked up after his dramatic speech, surprised to find that the king and queen were shedding tears: "We confirm your request. May God bless and protect you, we're so glad that we chose to give you our daughter's hand."

And with those words the knight left the room.

He rode on his horse through unbearable heat and pouring rain, tirelessly looking for his princess.

One especially dark day, the prince had already stopped to count the months since he left, Dan Straight was confronted by a group of bandits, wanting to steal all his properties. Although he was a strong and brave man, he knew that he didn't stand a chance against the six muscular and rough looking thieves that were towering above him, so he decided to flee. Of course the bandits didn't just let him get away as easy as that, so they started chasing him.

The knight galloped though the muddy landscape until he was cut off by a chain of huge rocks: a dead end. He had no idea where he was, and he could already see the thieves coming in his direction.

Seeing no other solution, Dan straight quickly grabbed his most important items, abandoned his horse and squeezed himself through a thin crack in the rock.

After what felt like an infinite amount of time of being surrounded by cold rock, the knight saw a light and entered an amazingly bizarre valley.

It was surrounded by the high grey rocks, so that it was protected from being seen. A beautiful flower meadow full of different colors and smells covered the whole ground and a bubbling river flowed though the valley. At the end of the area, framed by an alley of cherry trees that glowed in all colors of the rainbow, stood a house, or should it rather be called a palace? It was huge and beautiful, with a big veranda in front of it and a balcony that had the view over the whole valley and on the balcony, dressed in a robe that looked like it was made of real gentle flames was she, the princess Lucia.

But she didn't look like the prince had pictured her. He thought she would be kept prisoner in some old ruined tower, chained to the wall and starving, but in fact it was quite the opposite. The princess sat on the balcony, sipping a drink and enjoying the sun. Her cheeks had a healthy glow to them and she was smiling, the kind of smile that made her big brown eyes sparkle.

As Dan Straight approached the house, her eyes fell on him and Lucia turned ghostly pale. She jumped out of her chair and started running around nervously calling out in a high pitched voice: "Mr. Dragneel! Mr. Dragneel! There's someone coming! MR. DRAGNEEL! HELP ME!"

Adrenaline rushed trough Dan Straight's body, who was this ? He started running down the alley calling out for his love: "My dear beloved princess, I came to rescue you!"

Surprisingly, the princess didn't relax or answer but kept calling out for that mysterious Mr. Dragneel.

Suddenly the sky turned dark and a rumbling noise went through the valley. Although the sound was terrifying Lucia relaxed visibly and a gigantic creature appeared in the sky, casting a shadow that was almost as big as the valley itself. The Fire Dragon landed behind the house, curling around it and roared terrifyingly.

"Who are you to set foot in this secret valley without permission?" the voice of the dragon was deep and sounded like rumbling thunder.

After some moments of being shell-shocked, Dan Straight put himself together, cleared his throat and tried to sound brave and manly: "My name is Dan Straight and I'm the prince, the fiancé and soon to be husband of princess Lucia of Fiore. I came here to save my love out of the grasp of the terrible dragon. My darling, don't be afraid, I'm going to rescue you!"

And with those words, he pulled his sword out of his belt and started to run towards the flaming creature.

Lucia climbed over the balcony, and to the terror of Dan she jumped down and landed on her feet elegantly. She stood in front of the dragon and stretched out her arms protectively which made it impossible for the knight to strike the dragon without hurting Lucia.

"Princess, get away from that beast."

"NO!" She closed her eyes and shouted out the words in a not very princess like manner.

"This dragon is my friend, he is my companion, if you want to hurt him, then you'll have to kill me first!"

"Princess! Come back to your senses! This dragon is a monster! Don't you know through how much pain and sadness your parents went? Your parents and I, we all need you!"

Lucia sighed deeply and took a step toward the knight, her eyes filling with tears: "I'm sorry Dan, but I'm not fit to be a princess. Those three years in which I lived here, were the best ones of my life. I learned so much and lived through so many adventures. Dragneel didn't kidnap me, he saved me. He heard my wish for freedom and came to save me. Of course I'm sorry for my parents and Fiore, so if you could please give them a letter from me and tell them that I'm fine, I would be very grateful. I'm sorry, but I'm not going anywhere."

She took a few steps back and climbed up the arm of the dragon until she stood on his back, the light of the flames reflecting in her blonde hair and framing her with a golden hallow.

The prince walked towards the dragon clenching to his sword: "Like hell, I'd leave you like this. Do you have any idea how long it took me to find you? If you don't want to come with me, then I'll simply have to force you! Once we're married and I'm the ultimate king of Fiore, you will be thankful, just wait and see." A wicked grin spread over his face.

"Listen filthy human. If you swear to leave this valley and never come back, I'll let you go unharmed, but if you dare to take my Luce against her own will, then I will hurt you. In all those years, I never forced her to stay. She had the possibility to leave whenever she wanted to, but she didn't, so leave us alone!"

"YOU ARE INSANE; BOTH OF YOU! Be gone, evil dragon!" Dan Straight started running towards the dragon, his sword held up high, but before he could even land his first strike, princess Lucia had already jumped down her friend and let out a cry of anger: "LUCE KICK!", she screamed and kicked the prince ignoring the jolting pain that went through her leg as her foot hit the hard metal. The knight flew back from the kick and landed in the dirt, immediately knocked out. "And the first kick took him already; I'm getting better at this, right Dragneel?"

The dragon seemed to smile and nodded with his large head: "Indeed, my dragon princess."

Lucia grinned contentedly and pumped her fist in the air: "1:0 for the girl and the dragon!"

As the knight in his scratched silver armor came back to his senses, he found himself in a small room with grey stone walls. He was tied to a chair and sitting in front of him, a smirk on her face, sat his supposed to be future wife.

"Dan, I really appreciate that you went all this way to look for me and I'm sorry for the misery I put my parents and my kingdom through, but I believe that everybody has a place in this world, and this is my place, this valley at the side of my best friend Dragneel, this is where I belong and you have to accept that. I'm sorry, but I can't be your wife, I guess you'll have to find yourself a new princess. I have one request: please leave this place, never come back and don't tell anybody where I am, but please give this letter to my parents and tell them that I love them, this is all I want. If you really love me in any part of your heart, please do this for me."

After a long silence Dan sighed and agreed. The princess let him go and he left the valley to head back to Fiore and the secret place was quiet again, as if he had never been there.

Lucia sat on the back of Dragneel and enjoyed the warm sun that tickled her face. The rising and falling of the dragon's chest calmed her.

"Hey Luce?" the dragon murmured softly.

"What is it?"

"Why did you reject that dream prince charming just in order to stay with a moster? I mean, he's a handsome young man coming from a rich family. You could marry him and rule over the largest kingdom in the new world. You could've had a perfect life."

Lucia turned around to face her friend: "Because I don't want a castle, or pretty dresses, or a crown and a prince charming, I want this valley and this house and the magic cherry trees and the wide meadow and..., and you. "she added shyly and flushed scarlet.

"You're a funny girl Luce. Will you really stay by my side?"

"Yes of course I will! You're my only friend Dragneel!"

"Forever?"

"Forever."

That being said Lucy sat herself up and climbed from the back of Dragneel to his head, sat on his forehead and looked into the big deep black eyes of the dragon, she could see herself in them and in this moment she knew. This dragon was the one, the one most precious to her. They had talked and laughed so much together in those last years that they knew each other through and through.

Lucia smiled kindly and placed a kiss between his eyes: "I will never leave you, Dragneel."

And suddenly Dragneel started to rumble under her, his whole body vibrating, like an earthquake. The rumbling got worse and Lucia couldn't hold her balance and fell of the dragon's head, straight to the ground, what on earth was happening?

Luckily, Dragneel had been the best combat and martial arts trainer in the world, so she landed on her feet lightly.

She couldn't believe her eyes: A bright, yellow light surrounded the Fire Dragon and he roared deeply, as if he was in great pain, but the most bizarre thing was that he was shrinking.

After an amount of time that felt like forever, the spectacle was over and where the dragon had once stood, laid now a boy, a man actually, his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

The boy had salmon hair and pointy teeth and looked so peaceful and quiet.

Lucy stumbled forward and dropped down next to the boy: "Dragneel? Where is Dragneel?! What happened to him?"

As his eyes fluttered open, Lucia immediately knew it, it was Dragneel! He had the same onyx, deep eyes that glittered lively whenever he looked at her and he flashed a dazzling, pointy-teethed smile at her.

"Yes, it's me Luce", he said still smiling.

Tears started to dwell up in her eyes: "But how? Why are you human now?"

"For years I had a very lonely life, I was chased by knights and soldiers, although I never did anyone any harm. Just because of my appearance, and maybe because I accidently destroyed a few things, I was hated by immediately I thought that I was an evil creature just because I was big and my breath was made out of fire. But once somebody would appreciate me for my character, I would be able to choose a new body."

"So you chose to be a human? A weak, vulnerable human? But why?" I said, tears streaming down my face. I'd been so worried about Dragneel, and seeing him up and well felt like a stone was taken of my heart, I could finally breathe again.

"So that I could be closer to you, my only friend...", he whispered before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep. This transformation must have been very exhausting; it didn't look as if he'd wake up any time soon, so I did my best to carry him inside. I placed him in my bed and tucked him under the blankets. It was still a little weird to see him in his human form, yet I couldn't help but smile. What an unexpected turn of events.

The next days were very amusing; it was as if Dragneel turned into a baby rather than a gown up boy. After he woke up, he had to learn all the basics like walking, or lifting your arms, all the body coordination. He had to get used to his human body and as it was so different from his original dragon form, he struggled with it quite a lot. It took him several attempts to put one foot in front of the other one, but as he finally managed to take his first steps, he flashed a dazzling smile at me; I've never seen anybody look so proud.

We certainly had a lot of fun in these days and after a couple of weeks he was already a master of all the martial arts he had once taught me in theory.

"That's so unfair!", I protested while we were training in front of the house, "How come I train hard for yeas, and you only need a few weeks to surpass me by miles"

He laughed, a big, open laugh in which I could recognize his dragon features: "Well, it's not just about physical abilities, the mind is important too, maybe your willpower isn't high enough." he teased.

I punched his shoulder softly: "Or maybe it's just that you were magically transferred into this body full of muscles while other people have to work to get those"

A crooked smirk sneaked across his face: "Jealous?"

He tried to flip me over his shoulder but I sidestepped the attack and ducked under his arms, he was big and strong, but I was small and fast.

We continued to fight in a friendly way like this and I felt so alive and happy, it was just perfect.

Just as I was about to kick him, Dragneel froze still and so did I: "What's wrong? " I asked, concerned about his worried expression.

He pressed his finger on my mouth: "Shhht, can't you hear it? Somebody's coming."

Although I couldn't hear it, I trusted his sensitive ears. "But who could possibly come here?"

An image flashed up in my mind. A knight in shining armor, coming to save me: Dan Straight.

But that couldn't be, right? He promised me to never show up at this place again. Then again, I couldn't trust this guy and now that Dragneel was human...He still was extremely strong but if Dan came here with a whole legion Dragneel and I wouldn't stand a chance.

"Luce, go inside. I'll go get some weapons, just in case."

I grabbed his arm: "As if I'd simply sit around while we're under attack! I can fight too!"

He gave me a sharp look: "Luce, don't talk back, it's too dangerous."

I made a very unladylike grunting noise: "I lived with a fire dragon for several years, how I could possibly be afraid of anything?"

At that he simply shook his head, but I could feel the smile on his face and knew that I had won.

Just some minutes later we were both standing outside, armed to the teeth, just in case, and that's when I heard it.

The ground was shaking, sending chills up my spine, caused by the monotone marching of a huge amount of people. No, not people, soldiers.

And there they were: Men armed with lances and swords entered the valley, their shields put in front of them protectively and they were carrying the banners of Fiore.

My heart contracted at that familiar sight as more and more soldiers kept flooding the valley.

In front of them rode a single man in perfectly polished silver armor on a strong white horse: Dan Straight, grinning like the idiot he was. The troops made halt as he took a few steps toward us.

"My dear Princess, I have come to free you of the fangs of the dragon. Please come here immediately, so that nobody will be harmed."

"I told you already that the dragon means me no harm. And besides, I was already saved by this handsome and brave man at my side. He defeated the dragon and therefore became my fiancé. So if you would excuse me, I have dinner to prepare."

I could almost hear Dan's jaw drop and Dragneel looked pretty astonished too.

"Fiancé?", he mouthed quietly so that just the two of us could hear it.

I flushed scarlet and murmured: "What? Do you have any better ideas?"

At that he only grinned his pointy-teethed grin and I really would've liked to punch him right in the face.

"Well, that of course is something I didn't know, my Princess, but it doesn't change anything. Your hand has already been promised to me, and I shall take it, whatever the cost. Troops, ATTACK! "He yelled, sending his army forward.

Dragneel and I glanced at each other and took off into battle. That is when my instincts took over. I didn't think of the people behind the metal helmets, I simply focused on my body movements and the things I had learned in the past years.

Although the soldiers were pretty weak, more and more of them were flooding our once so peaceful village. I knew that we didn't stand a chance, I could already feel my muscles burning, it wouldn't take long for me to get tired and then I'd be done for. I looked up to see if I could find Dragneel and I spotted him in the middle of a group of soldiers: slashing and kicking and punching his way through the masses, like a burning flame. But I could also see his grim expression, his exhaustion; he wouldn't be able to take it much longer.

I made my way towards him until we were back to back. "It's no use", he sighed, clenching his teeth, "There are too many of them. If I'd still be a dragon, this would be no problem, but now, in this form, I can't defeat them. I'm sorry, Luce. Please go inside."

Tears started to dwell up: "No! I won't leave you here to die, Dragneel, I won't do that!" I screamed, sounding like a crybaby.

He did an attempt at his typical crooked grin, but it failed: "As if I'd die, Luce. No, I'm talking about transforming back into a dragon."

"Well, that's great! Just transform into a dragon, defeat them and then go back to your human form.", I said, a spark of hope burning up.

"It's not that easy. I could only change my body once. When I go back to being a dragon, I will stay like this forever. I'll lose you."

"That's bullshit!", I screamed, punching his chest " I love you no matter what form you are. Dragon or human, I don't care! I don't care, as long as it's you, I don't care!"

Still he didn't seem any happier: "No Luce, I'll really lose you. Transforming into a dragon will be like a rebirth. I will lose all my memories. I don't know what my personality will be like. Maybe I'll hate humans and want to destroy them, I'll attack and destroy you. I won't be Dragneel anymore. I'll just be some terrible and uncontrollable wild beast.

I gasped in horror. Lose his memories? Rebirth? "No...no that can't be! There must be another way! That can't be the only solution! NO!" I stuttered, completely desperate.

He smiled sadly: "It is, I'm sorry. Now listen to me.", his tone was dead serious. I need you to go back inside and only come out when the battle is over. I'll be weakened at this point and probably fall asleep. Then, you grab all the stuff you need and run away. Run to the next village, and make something out of your life. You have all the possibilities, the world is all for you."

"But I don't want the world! I want this village and this house and...you." Why didn't he get it? Why did it have to be like this?

"Luce, you have to promise me. Please. Please fulfill my last wish; I need you to be safe. Just know that the years with you, were the most wonderful years in my long life, I could never ask for anything more. You made me truly happy, and for that, I am grateful. Now, please keep your promise and go inside."

No..., I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. "O..okay...", I sobbed, trying to hold back the tears that were rolling over my cheek.

I placed a kiss on his lips that tasted of burned wood, a campfire and all the memories that we shared in those years.

"I love you", I whispered, before turning around and running away.

Authors Note: Uuuuuuuuugh cliffhanger! I'm sorry, but I'll have to end this chapter here, see you next time!

Natsu: Multicolored cherry trees? Fire dragons? Dan Straight? There are so many aspects stolen from Fairy Tail in here!

Author: It isn't called stealing, it's called referencing. I made a lot of Fairy Tail references.

Natsu: Ah, really? And you do this because..?

Author: Well, it's because…

Natsu: No! Don't say it, I already know. You use them because you can't come up with anything on your own, right?

Author: Excuse me? That's totally not the way it is!

Natsu: So why do you include things that have already been used? Why don't you come up with your own stuff?

Author: You see, it's because…

Natsu: Excuses…,all the things you say are excuses! You have a lack of creativity and that's why you simply copy, right? Don't try to talk yourself out of it; I've already revealed your intentions!

Author: Why am I even doing this?

Natsu: How the hell should I know? I'm just an underpaid actor.

Author: Just shut up, will you? I'm done, really…