All rights to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 2: Heliodor

Known as the 'stone of the sun,' said to contain the energy and warmth of the sun, used to deter dark forces

As Natsu pushed off his balcony into the night air, another small child rests just as fitfully as he previously did. This child was usually full of light and life, constantly questioning and always attentive. She was eternally graceful and always, always saw the good in people, even if they didn't see it themselves.

She forgave easily and loved on a whim giving her whole heart if she deemed the person worthy.

However, this young girl knew that life was short. Too short. For her mother, Layla, was dying. The Queen of the nation was slowly withering away before her eyes, and there was nothing that she could do about that fact. No one could. Her father, King Jude, had sent for healers and all manner of doctors of the past few months, to no avail. The only person who wasn't devastated at this turn of events was Layla herself. When she heard the verdict, her eyes only expressed acceptance, as if she had already known what would happen. That was hard for Lucy to see, it was almost as if her mother refused to fight it.

And that was what was on her mind this evening. The fact that she wouldn't have much more time with her darling Momma, whom she loved above all else. The tears just wouldn't come anymore, her small body having drained itself of all its weeping earlier in the evening.

Her father was pulling away from her already, immersing himself in either the upkeep of their small, but peaceful kingdom of Astralis, or searching for some type of miracle to cure his wife. His work was almost more important that his daughter or spending time his darling wife would be dust and ashes soon enough. He couldn't cope with the fact that Layla was leaving him all alone, but her almost complete body double would still live.

Lucy could feel it, the pain that her father's gaze contains when his eyes would catch a glimpse of her, she just looked too much like her mother. She used to be compared to Layla, but now it brought nothing but the remembrance of Jude's hurt expressions. So she hid away, either by her mother's side, reading stories and singing lost ballads in a language long since dead, or in the training grounds at the back of the expansive castle, learning to use a bow and arrow under the tutelage of the head knight of the army.

That was just her little secret, she could only wonder what her father would say if he caught his six-year-old daughter in the middle of notching another arrow and not learning to cross stitch properly, or practicing her lute.

She despised the lute.

He would say it was a waste of time and that a lady of her stature shouldn't need to lift a single finger and leave the 'war arts' to the men.

Lucy would never do that, though. She would never send men and boys out into a battle, or a raid as it where if she wasn't even willing to throw herself headlong into the same war with everything she had. Her mother had taught her long ago about the value of life, whether human, spirit, animal, or plant. Everything and everyone had a place in this world and an equal standing when they were born. Just because she was brought onto this planet as royalty, doesn't mean that she was above everyone else. It might mean that she would always have a full stomach and a warm place to sleep, but it also came with other responsibilities that others may not have.

So here little Lucy sat, six years old and desperately alone. She sat on her balcony, wrapped in a bundle of blankets, slowly and methodically naming the constellations in the glittering night sky. It was something that her mother and she did almost every evening but hadn't in so long. Lucy would keep up the tradition, though, for herself, and for her mother if nothing else.

Queen Layla held all twelve of the Zodiac keys, the most sought after keys that could summon celestial spirits to the holder's side, either in battle or as a companion and friend. The ability to summon the Twelve Great Keys is passed down in the royal family of Astralis, the ledged being that the Celestial Spirit King actually appeared on Earthland and gifted a great ancestor of Lucy's with the amazing ability to create gates between worlds at will. But that was only rumour.

Lucy knew that when her mother passed into the void, her keys would be inherited by the little Princess herself, as everyone knew without a doubt that she was a Celestial Spirit Mage. She also knew that her father would do everything in his power to take away the Zodiacs, lock them away from her, but that problem was for another day reserved for a future version of Lucy that would hopefully know of a solution.

Lucy sniffled slightly as the breeze blew through her golden locks, how had her life already amounted to this? Her mother was almost gone, her father was destroying his relationship with his only healthy kin, and she was so, so alone. Not a single being in all of the castle – aside from her almost comatose Momma – cared even an iota for her wellbeing. Sure, the servants may see to her every whim, but none would offer her a hug, or a tissue when she couldn't stop the tears from running down her face, or a kind world to keep her chin up in the face of hard times.

She questioned the stars and prayed that they would offer up an answer to her pleas.

But she heard nothing. So she stayed still and silent, and just watched the night turn above her.

Just waiting.

-ooo-

Natsu flew through the calm evening air, searching high and low for the perfect best friend. He stayed far away from Makarov's Kingdom, Domus, as his rival, the stupid Ice Princess resided within those borders.

He drifted for a spell, just enjoying the cool breeze that ruffled his hair and brushed against his wings.

Floating lazily on a warm updraft, Natsu finally spied a promising place to start looking, a large castle like his own, only this one was made from gleaming white rock, completely contrasting the volcanic stone that his own home built from. It was beautiful in the moonlight, and he felt something…right about what he was seeing. The young prince had learned early on in his life to always trust his gut, and his gut was practically screaming at him to begin his search, here at this ethereal place.

He banked to the right and circled the castle in slowly tightening circles, looking for something, anything that would give him a sign that he was on the right track.

And then he spotted something, a flash of gold.

He was immediately intrigued, a feral grin lighting up his young face.

Dragon's love gold.

-ooo-

He was surprisingly stealthy for a half-dragon, alighting on the foreign balcony without so much as a whisper. He finally found just what had brought him here, it was a small girl, with a head of brilliant blonde hair. The strange girl didn't turn around to look at him, she just kept staring up at the stars far above their heads, as if they held all the answers to life.

He watched as a single tear tracked down the girl's cheek. A strange feeling gripped his stomach. He wanted to reach out reassure her that everything was going to be okay because he was there now. And he wouldn't let anything happen to her, ever again. She would never cry again because he wouldn't allow it.

Silently, he sat on the balcony's railing, legs dangling freely off the side, kicking out like a small child without a care in the world. He could lie to himself sometimes, it made the loneliness less oppressive.

Finally, she noticed him. He expected her to cry out, or stutter out something of a garbled question. To his surprise, the girl's eyes found his after she had perused his form for an extended moment, and she sat calmly without flinching as she watched his muscular tail wrap around one of the posts of the railing.

"Hello." Her voice sounded broken, but it held a note of odd curiosity.

"Hi." He tried to keep a level tone that reflected the stillness of the evening.

They sat quietly observing each other for a while, neither moving, neither speaking. Just…watching.

The silence between them was comfortable.

Natsu mulled over all the questions rattling around in his brain. His mouth opened, and words poured out before he could really think about the reason why this question was the most important one. "Why do you watch the stars?"

The little girl answered him with a peculiar looking smile. It was small and slightly…sad? Bitter? It had a sharp edge to it that shouldn't be there on someone so young. "When I watch them I don't feel so alone."

Those words resonated within Natsu's own soul like the ringing of a gong. She was lonely, just like he was. He could see it in her deep chocolate eyes, a melancholy, a sadness of someone who was losing hope in the world. She was so young. Too young for her eyes to look like that.

Natsu decided, purely on instinct, that she was it. She was the one that the fates had brought him too, his new best friend. And his duties were as clear as day to him. He was the one who was supposed to make her smile. A real, toothy smile, one full of joy and happiness. Natsu also wanted to hear her laugh, he was sure that it would be equally amazing.

He jumped off of his seat and quietly padded towards her. She watched him without taking her eyes off his face. He stretched out his clawed hand, and she cocked one eyebrow at him, a sparkle of…something entering her eyes.

"Let's go on an adventure."

The small girl blinked up at him for a minute, just absorbing his odd request. She finally stood up without taking a step towards him. "What's your name?"

"Natsu. Yours?"

"Lucy." She took his hand, mindful of his sharpened nails.

He wrapped his arms around Lucy asking one last question. "Do you trust me?"

Without a moment's hesitation, she shot back an answer. "Yes."

And so Natsu Dragneel, the Prince of the Ignis Kingdom pushed off the small balcony and soared into the cooling night air and smiled as he hears Lucy's breathing hitch slightly. His mission to steal himself a best friend was a success.

-ooo-

Lucy looked up at her extraordinary visitor, the boy…dragon…whatever he truly was and marvelled at her good luck. Those four walls of her room were suffocating her lately, and all she wanted was for someone to take her mind off the fact that her mother would be gone within the next year. An adventure sounded…perfect.

She was six years old, for goodness sakes, some days she just wanted to be silly and have too much sugar and run around like crazy until her legs would collapse. Or chase fireflies at twilight, or get dirty and muddy while jumping into puddles after a rain, or swim in a pond looking for tadpoles.

But she was a Princess, a lady, one that shouldn't do anything but act like a stupid little doll, incapable of making a personal opinion and bowing down to every man in her life.

This Natsu however, was like a breath of fresh air. She felt like she could finally breathe after months of being buried alive by the silence of her once lively home. She was just Lucy with him. Not Princess Lucy Heartfilia, heir to the throne of Astralis.

Lucy looked towards the horizon, and she couldn't help but take in everything that was passing before her very eyes. They were flying so high up, higher than she had ever been in her life, and it felt like she could touch the stars and swim among the Milky Way.

Natsu's wings banked suddenly, but Lucy felt no fear. She felt safe in his arms, as they clutched her close to his chest. She hadn't felt a warmth like this in so very long, even though he wasn't technically hugging her, this was the most human contact that she had received in almost a year.

Lucy relished in it.

His voice broke through her jumbled thoughts. "You ready Luce? We're going to have some fun tonight! Hold your breath!"

And then he dove.

The feeling of almost freefalling was exhilarating, and her heart felt like it was trying to pound its way out of her chest, and her lungs couldn't get enough air, but it was amazing. She laughed out loud only once before she followed Natsu's instructions and plugged her nose and took a deep breath.

She could see that they were close to a surface that was…reflecting the night sky? Lucy was confused for half a second before she realised that it was the lake that was a day's ride from the palace.

Natsu let her go – not too far away from the water that she would be injured – but far enough that she could feel the gravity pulling on her body. She was suddenly submerged in the cool lake, making a large splash. Swimming to the top, she caught the tail end of Natsu's own dive.

She could hear him cackling merrily before his head fell below the water. After he had emerged above the surface, he shook his pink hair out and smiled at her, paddling over towards where she was floating. "So Luce, what do you think? Exciting enough for you?"

Lucy laughed at her new nickname, her heart light and carefree. "That was so much fun Natsu. I've never flown before. Or been dropped into a lake either."

"No? Well, you're missing out." She watched as Natsu's eyes filled with light. "Come on, there is so much we have to do!"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the lake towards the rocky shore. She smiled at the silly boy, and all her worries fell away. "Natsu! What happened to your wings?"

Natsu had dropped his half Dragon just before he had hit the water. "Oh, that's only one of my forms. I'm most comfortable like this." He gestured down towards his human body. Lucy only nodded, she wasn't one to judge the appearance of others. Personally, she liked the look of his Dragon side, it was very…different. And exciting.

They spent the rest of the night running within the reeds catching toads and the odd salamander, capturing fireflies in a forest clearing filled with night blooming flowers, laughing at each other and with each other, skipping rocks, and sword fighting with willow branches. Natsu showed Lucy his fire abilities, and she talked about the Celestial Spirits.

Hours had passed, and the two newly dubbed best friends found themselves lying in the dense, long grass staring up at the sky as the night slowly drifted into dawn.

Lucy explained about her mother, Natsu talked about how he was adopted by Igneel. Lucy cried over her father's distancing, and Natsu held her hand.

Neither one felt the loneliness that had been plaguing them for so long.

As the sun crept up above the far off mountains and the last of the stars disappeared, Lucy yawned quietly and nudged a snoozing Natsu with her shoulder. "Natsu, I need to get back to my house. I can't be away from my Momma too long."

The dragon's only response was an understanding nod, letting his half form overtake him again. He gathered his best friend in his arms and swept his wings out from behind him. He angled himself towards the gleaming towers in the distance.

-ooo-

Natsu dropped slowly onto Lucy's balcony outside her room, alighting quietly to not awaken the sleeping girl in his arms. He chuckled a bit. Lucy was weird, and he liked it, she was different and exciting and surprisingly good with a fake sword.

The pink-haired boy dropped the blonde onto her bed and haphazardly covered up her body with a white and gold comforter. He thought the colours suited her. Innocent, but with a surprising splash of colour.

Lucy blinked up at him groggily as she felt his warmth leave her. "You'll come back, right?"

"Yah. Luce. As much as I can."

"You promise?"

"I promise."