Lucy held her breath as she hurried out of the castle, hugging Happy tightly to her chest in fear that she would get caught. She was bringing the cat to Natsu as promised, and her skin tingled with excitement just at the thought of seeing him again. This was the one moment of the day she looked forward to the most, something that not even her looming wedding with Loke would bother her.

"Natsu!" She called, panting. The dragon lifted his head from where he had rested it against his giant paws, and his eyes shone at the sight of her. "I've brought you something!"

She set Happy down carefully. The cat sniffed the air, and Natsu sniffed Happy back. She giggled as she watched them, trusting that Natsu wouldn't hurt her friend. Soon, Happy had weaved himself between the bars, and was trying to paw his way up Natsu's back.

Lucy felt a pang of jealousy. She wished she could climb onto Natsu like that and sit on his warm back in the lazy afternoon sunshine.

"I see he likes you," she commented with relief, watching fondly as her two friends interacted with each other. Natsu puffed out a warm breath that tickled her cheek, and she wondered subconsciously whether cats and dragons could communicate in a language she couldn't understand.

Maybe she could write a novel about it, she mused...The Dragon and the Flying Blue Cat. She'd always imagined Happy to have wings. Don't ask her why.

As Lucy had no real friends besides her servants, the only other hobby she had was reading. Soon she had already read every novel and text in her castle by the age of seventeen, yet it still wasn't enough. She wanted more. In the end, she decided that the only way to satisfy her craving for adventure would be to write her own - not that she would let anyone else read them - and she'd sometimes write stories about princesses who ran away from their kingdoms and met handsome princes in magical forests.

But even then, it wasn't completely satisfying. Because those princesses weren't her.

Happy mewled to her then, and Lucy saw that he was holding something shiny in his teeth. "What's this?" she asked curiously, taking the object delicately in her hand. It was small and pink, and when she angled it towards the sun, it flashed brilliantly in the colors of the rainbow. "Wow," she stared, unable to tear her eyes away.

Natsu shifted behind her. She held up the object to him, and realized what it was with a jolt of surprise. "A dragon scale?" she asked. Natsu dipped his head to her in confirmation. "You...you're giving this to me?"

No one had given her a gift before - the extravagant things her father gave her in an attempt to make her happy didn't count. This simple act caused a tear to trickle down her cheek, and Lucy hugged the scale to her chest. "Thank you, Natsu. I will always treasure it," she whispered, smiling radiantly at him.

Natsu grunted happily, unable to erase Lucy's smile from his mind. She might not know now, but dragon scales had magical properties and were extremely rare artifacts. He hoped it would be able to protect her when he wasn't able to.

Happy crawled into Lucy's lap and purred.

"Oh!" She took out the hairpin from the bun that she had hastily put together before escaping from her room, and slid it between the bars that took away Natsu's freedom. With her hairpin gone, her smooth blond hair cascaded down to her chest.

"I want you to have this. You probably won't have a use for it, and it's not as pretty as what you've given me, but it's a sign that you're under my protection," she said, her voice thick with emotion. It was only the second time they had spoken - it was more of a one-sided conversation, really - but Lucy was already becoming attached to her new friend. There was something about him, about the way his head lowered in thought, the way his onyx eyes flashed towards the mountains sometimes, that told Lucy he was lonely and sad.

He was just like her. Two strangers, alone in the world, with no one to care for them except each other.

"No one can hurt you as long as I'm alive. I might not be as important as my father, but I still have a little power here and there," she mumbled sheepishly.

And once she had her wedding and became Queen...she would order the dragon's freedom. It was the only thing that helped her look forward to her impending marriage to Loke.

But even as Queen, she would still be her father's puppet.

Lucy scoffed. She would write a story with a powerful Queen next. A Queen that disobeyed her father and had a mind of her own.

Natsu looked at her questioningly. "I'm fine," she reassured him, playing with the scale in her hand. She would get Capricorn to fasten it into a necklace later so she could keep it close to her heart. "I've talked enough about me. Would you like to hear a story?" she offered.

She told him the story of the Beauty and the Beast. It was one her mother often told her before her bedtime, and Lucy had loved every moment of it. She had always thought that the young lady was so loving and kind to fall in love with what others believed to be a monster.

Maybe that would happen to her, too, and maybe Natsu was really a prince in disguise.

She huffed at the idea. Like that could really happen to her.

When the story finally came to an end, and her voice trailed off into the silence, Natsu reached a paw out toward her, his eyes imploring her for more. His paw bumped into the iron by mistake, and Lucy jumped when sharp electricity buzzed through the cage.

"Natsu!" she gasped as he let out a pained roar. His eyes flashed dangerously, and he gingerly pulled his paw back.

Lucy longed to help him. Why was she so helpless? She couldn't even free a single dragon from a cage that her father set up!

She reached her hand in and laid it on top of his injured paw. She was almost certain he inhaled sharply, but he didn't move from his position. "I"m sorry," Unable to help, Lucy could only whisper an apology over and over again. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

Natsu wanted to hear her say anything besides sorry.

She left his side in haste. Natsu hated that she had to leave him behind each time. Each time, her small back seemed to grow even smaller, and his urge to protect her grew more and more. Not that he could do anything in his current state.

There must be something she could do about his cage...tears burned in her eyes, and she was glad she had gone before Natsu saw her cry. She had to keep up her image for him.

"Whoa, what's wrong, Princess?"

Loke's sly and husky voice stopped her in her tracks.

Oh no. Her mind panicked, but on the outside, Lucy lifted her chin defiantly.

His eyes roamed over her body, the way he was scrutinizing her made her shiver, and he narrowed his eyes at the sight of her battered dress. "What happened to you, poor thing?"

Lucy wasn't a thing. "I was out for a walk, and tripped over the small dip in the forest," she said boldly. "My mind was on...our wedding, so I wasn't paying attention."

He wanted to comment that just tripping wasn't going to make her dress look like that, but stopped himself. As long as she was thinking about their marriage, that was good enough for him. "I wouldn't go out into the forest if I were you," he said darkly. "There may be dangerous beasts out there..."

The only dangerous beast here is you, she wanted to say. She giggled at the thought, and he frowned at her sudden outburst. Maybe he would find her too weird, and willingly back out of their wedding...

Then again, that was too good to be true.

"What's so amusing, Princess?"

You. "Nothing, nothing. I'll be retiring to my chamber now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Excellent, I might just accompany you."

She stared at his rashness. "That won't be necessary, Loke. I will merely be delving into the world of books. It's boring, really." She wanted to find more stories to tell Natsu when she saw him again.

"A woman who reads is sexy," he winked. She blanched in disgust and took a step back. "Who knows, you can read something to me."

Well, if it was the only way to get rid of him...Lucy agreed reluctantly, leading him to her chambers. She changed into her nightgown and plopped down onto her bed, secretly tucking the dragon scale under her pillow for later.

Her hand fell onto the old and dusty volume of Beauty and the Beast, smiling ironically to herself. Who knew she would read the same story twice that day?

Loke lunged next to her as she read, his eyes studying her room. She guessed he wasn't paying attention, not at all focused like Natsu had been.

When she finished, he snorted. "The beast asked for it. It was his own fault those villagers nearly killed him."

"I disagree," she said coolly, slamming her book shut. If he was going to act like this, she was never going to read to him again. "What did the beast ever do to you to make you say such things?"

She wasn't really talking about the beast in the story anymore. What she wanted to know was why he wanted her dragon to suffer so much.

His eyes grew dark, the intensity in them startling her. "You don't know anything, Princess."

What could he be hiding?

Loke stood up and strode towards the door before she could open her mouth to ask. "Enough stories for one night, I think. I look forward to tomorrow, Princess."

Her room grew silent again. Without Natsu's warmth, she suddenly felt cold, and her luxurious room was too empty. She cuddled Happy to her.

"Capricorn!" she called, her voice hoarse from telling stories all day. Barely a second later, her tall, buff servant appeared in her doorway.

"You called, Princess Lucy?" He pushed his sunglasses up his nose.

She smiled slightly. "Yes, I did. I want you to take this and fix it into a necklace for me," she said, pressing the dragon scale into his palm.

She couldn't decipher his expression behind those dark rims, but the way he shifted uncomfortably told her what she needed to know. "Is this...what I think it is, Princess?"

"Yes. Please do not relay our conversation to anyone, Capricorn. I trust that you can keep a secret," she warned. She was excited at the thought of keeping something from her all-knowing father.

He nodded stiffly. "I understand, Princess Lucy." He bowed quickly and left the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

Lucy flopped down onto her bed after picking out a new book that she could read to Natsu. She managed to read a few pages before her eyes drooped, and she let out an exhausted yawn.

It didn't take long for her to fall into the land of dreams.

A/n: here's another chapter! (sorry about the cheesiness, I couldn't help it ;) ) I wonder what Loke could be hiding.. hehehe

I'm so grateful to everyone who has reviewed so far, you're the best! Here's another chapter, just for you~

don't forget to leave a review! Or Natsu will roar at you 8D