A/N: Aww, there was a little bit of a moment between them! Well, depending on how well Lucy takes his 'change', there might be some more moments in store for them.
(As I warned in the last chapter, Natsu's language gets a little rough here.)
He didn't know I was the Princess. Lucy watched as the man collapsed onto the ground. She wasn't sure what was more shocking: his ignorance about whom she was or the fact that he had fallen to his knees and now seemed to be having a seizure. Was he hurt?
She stepped forward, reaching her hand out to touch him, but he must have sensed her movement because he snapped his head up. "Don't touch me!"
His voice was rougher than it had been a second ago, but she wasn't worried about that. He was obviously hurt, and she was the only one around who could help him. "Just let me help you. Your house is somewhere near here, right? Let me help you get there." She came forward again, placing her hand on his arm.
He flinched at her touch, or maybe it was her hand that flinched, because his skin felt like it was burning. She ignored that too, however, her instincts to help him pushing through. She leaned down and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and stood. Holy hell, he's heavy.
"Just lead the way, we can make it together." Lucy watched as he clenched his eyes shut, his body bowing into itself, but he nodded softly and started walking. Ok, progress.
She let him lead her feet, and she concentrated on not dropping him. It felt like he was burning with fever, and his body would tremor every few minutes. Did he get wounded in the fight? Was he getting an infection?
Lucy had to stay focused. "So, will you tell me your name now?" She heard the man grunt, whether in pain or in anger she wasn't sure, but he didn't say a word. "Come now, I've told you everything you want to know. I'm only asking for your name."
He was silent, save for the tremors and small gasps, for a few more minutes as he led her further up the path. Finally, they hit an incline, and he looked up at the cliff face they were heading towards.
"My name is Natsu." His voice surprised her, sounding even more gravelly, but she smiled anyway.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He looked over at her, his eyes strangely bright, his face covered in a slight sheen of sweat.
Just then, her feet leveled out, and she looked ahead of her. She saw the opening of a large cave, its depths lit up slightly by what had to be multiple torches. This is his home? A cave in the middle of a mountain?
He groaned again, and she cleared her head of all thoughts and hurried her feet. He needed to get inside, and she needed to figure out what she could do to help him.
As she entered the mouth of the cave, however, he lunged out of her hold, causing her to fall onto her side on the dirt floor.
The man, Natsu, apparently, started stumbling through the halls, ripping off his cloak and slamming into the cavern walls every few steps. Lucy picked herself off the dirt floor, intent to follow him.
"Leave!" His voice stopped her before she had stood, sounding as if he were forcing his words through a raw throat.
"I can't leave; I don't even know where I am!" She picked herself up fully and started forward, just in time to follow him through another bending hallway.
"Just-..just go! I don't care where; just get the hell out of here!" She watched as he all but collapsed into a room, holding his entire weight with one hand on a makeshift door frame. His entire body was shaking, and the closer she got, the hotter the air seemed to be. In fact, she felt as if she were looking at him through a heat wave, his frame shimmering back and forth like a mirage.
Lucy took a few more steps, reaching out to touch him. "You're hurt, please. Just let me help you. You saved my life, now let me help you-"
"I said, GET OUT!" He turned on her so quickly she barely had time to withdraw her hand. She gasped, a lick of pain flaring in her hand like she had been burned, but the only thing running through her mind was the pair of glowing eyes glaring at her. Natsu was panting hard in front of her, breath sawing in and out of an open mouth that showed pointed canines, eyes burning like fire. He took a few steps back, and she let him create the distance.
Suddenly, he groaned, falling to his knees. "I don't want to hurt you…please...leave." His voice was tortured, and she felt a stab of sorrow. Then, his body began to shake.
Fire suddenly erupted around him, ON him, and the heat wave blasted Lucy's entire body, forcing her to shield her face with her arm. A ripping sound erupted through the cavern, and when she lowered her arm, she saw something she knew would haunt her dreams forever. Massive red wings shot out of his back, wings she had only seen in drawings of demons and dragons. Natsu threw his head back, and then she saw a tail, red as blood and topped with lethal spikes, wrap around the front of his knees. Fire danced in random spots across his skin, but it never showed to be actually burning him. His sinister looking wings fluttered gracefully in the air before resting against back, and his tail whipped back and forth slowly.
Natsu lowered his head, locking his eyes with hers, and a look of disappointment and regret flashed across his face. Several seconds, minutes, hours (who knew?) passed between them before he spoke, softly. "I'm sorry, Lucy. Please, don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."
Hurt me? She was confused. Sure, maybe when freaking WINGS sprouted out of his back, she was shocked. And when fire started dancing across his skin for NO REASON, she was a bit (a lot) concerned. But, as she stood there, staring at his pink hair, his gentle eyes, his (finally) relaxed body, she was anything but afraid.
No, this was definitely not fear she was feeling.
Gods, he had held it back for way too long. His back felt like it was torn, his wings obviously angry that they had been contained and showing their discontent by shredding his skin as they emerged. His entire body was spent; he felt as if, for the first time in his life, the flames dancing across his skin were going to burn him to ash. He knew that the heat inside of his body had finally escaped, because he felt an overwhelming coolness wash over him.
Or maybe the wave of cold that washed through him was his own horror, because the woman he had kidnapped was still standing in the doorway to his room, staring at him with wide, chocolate eyes.
No, the Gods-damn Princess he had kidnapped.
That's what set off his tremors, wasn't it? The shock of learning that he had dragged the Princess of Magnolia out of the town and into the woods, trapped her against a tree and covered her mouth so that her own palace guards wouldn't find her was too much of a mind-fuck for him to keep his hold on his transformation any longer.
Natsu vaguely recalled telling her a few moments ago that he wasn't going to hurt her, but she was still just standing there. Was she calculating her chances of escape if she started to run? Or was she just struck stupid at the sight of a man with dragon wings and a tail?
He sighed, his body falling into a deep exhaustion, the fires around him extinguishing. "Lucy, it's ok. I'm not going to chase you. Just go." He closed his eyes, trying to convince himself that he did so because he was tired, and not because he didn't want to see her leaving.
He should have thought this through. He should have thought, period. Even if she had been just an ordinary woman, grabbing her hand and forcing her to come with him was the worst decision of his life. But, if he were being honest with himself, he couldn't come to regret it. He felt an unexplained magnetism towards her, and he knew he would remember the feeling of her body pressed against his for the rest of his life. She elicited a heat inside of him that had nothing to do with his dragon side.
Natsu was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear the footsteps sound on the floor in front of him, nor did he sense the movement of a hand coming to touch him, until it was too late. His eyes shot open and he moved back reflexively, watching as Lucy withdrew her hand slightly. She was sitting in front of him, her arm outstretched and her hand inches away from his face. Her eyes were still wide and bright, her mouth slightly open.
He was so confused. Lucy was still here, and she was sitting on her knees right in front of him, trying to touch him. He sat paralyzed from that confusion, and Lucy began to reach forward again. Her fingers threaded through his pink locks, and he watched her smile as she combed through them, her fingertips grazing the side of his face.
"I thought I saw pink hair escaping from your hood back in town." Lucy threaded her fingers through his hair again, combing back towards his ears this time.
Natsu could only stare at her. "My hair. That's...that's what you want to talk about right now?" She looked away from the top of his head and back into his eyes, and her face started to turn pink.
"Well, if you want to be like that..." She stood up in front of him, and he was sure she was about to walk away. But she surprised him even further. Lucy looked straight at his wings, and then extended her arm towards them.
Natsu jumped to his feet and backed away from her. "What the hell are you doing?"
She jumped at his sudden movement, frowning at him and placing her hand on her hip. "Well, obviously conversation about your hair is off limits. So I figured I'd just move to the next most obvious trait you have."
"My hair is the most obvious trait I have? Really?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Lucy stood up straight, staring him straight in the eye. "It's not like there's bunch of people walking around with pink hair!"
"There's also not a bunch of people walking around with fucking wings sprouting out of their back!" He was yelling at her now. But she was having no part of it.
"What do you want from me, Natsu? Do you want me to run? To be afraid? Because I'm not! You saved me from those men in town, who were ready to do horrible things to me! You saved me from the palace guards, who would have taken me back to the place I have been trapped my entire life! You have been nothing but gentle towards me since I first saw you in that alley. Yes, seeing you with dragon wings and a tail is shocking, but if you wanted me to think you were a monster then you should have acted like one in the first place! Or even now!" She was shouting back at him, her hands in fists at her sides.
Natsu just stood there with his mouth open, staring at her. He couldn't even come up with a coherent thought, let alone a response. His entire life, he had been avoiding people, afraid that they would treat him like the monster he thought he was. But now this woman was standing here in front of him, calling him good and basically telling him to stop being an idiot, that she wasn't going anywhere.
He heard her sigh, then saw her face lose all frustration. She took a few more steps towards him, looking deep in his eyes. Her hand extended once more towards his wings, and this time, he let her.
Lucy looked up over his shoulder, gazing at the part of him he's always hated. However, there was only curiosity and wonder shining out of her eyes. He felt her hand stroke the membrane of his wings, and he closed his eyes. It felt so much better than he ever thought it would.
Natsu heard her gasp lightly, and he opened his eyes to see her smiling gently, and then felt her hand stroke the top of his left wing. He couldn't hold back any longer.
Natsu reached forward and slid his hands up the back of her neck, then watched her eyes meet his. He didn't bother asking for permission before he leaned forward and crushed his lips against hers, the action coming as naturally to him as breathing.
She sighed into his mouth, and his body reacted in a way he didn't recognize. He wrapped his other hand around her waist and pulled her against him, once again relishing in the feel of her soft body against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer to her.
Natsu had never so happy, felt so free. The hand on her waist started traveling up her back-
He let out a huge yawn against her lips.
Lucy pulled back, her face showing shock. They stood there for a few seconds, staring at each other: her with disbelief, him with a small amount of shame.
"Um." She let out a small laugh. "I didn't realize I was boring you."
He was horrified. Especially as his body forced him to let out another yawn.
He shook his head, trying to wake himself up. "I swear to the Gods, I'm so sorry. Trust me, my body wants to be awake so badly, but," he yawned, again. Gods-damnit. "I've never held back my wings that long before, and it has exhausted me."
As good as she was, Lucy smiled at him. "I can believe that. You looked like you were in rough shape before." She traced the side of his face with her fingertips, and he leaned into her touch. "If you need to lie down, I won't think you rude."
"Lay with me?" The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he was thinking. She looked at him, silent for a few seconds, before she smiled and nodded.
He smiled back at her, stifling another yawn, then took her hand and led her to his bed behind them. He started to reach for the ties on the back of shirt, but thought better of it. Yeah, they might have kissed, but seriously: she was a Princess and probably wasn't used to sleeping next to half-naked guys she had just met.
Natsu released her hand and lay down, sliding against the cavern wall so she had room. He looked up at her just in time to see her hands working at the hair on the top of her head, releasing multiple different pins and dropping them on the floor next to her. As she released each pin, more and more of her golden strands fell down past her shoulders, creating a halo around her beautiful heart-shaped face.
As she released the last pin, Lucy looked up and caught him staring at her. "I'm sorry, I'll pick them up, I promise."
He waved his hand at her. "No, that's ok. You're fine." He extended his hand out to her, and she took it then sat down on the bed next to him.
Together, they laid down side-by-side, facing each other, and Natsu let out another yawn.
"So why were you really in town tonight?" Lucy's voice was soft, her breath blowing across his face.
"I told you, I was bartering with a merchant."
"But I haven't seen you carrying any wares or bag."
Natsu fought to keep his eyes open, his thoughts becoming a little more clouded by the second. "I left them when I went to save you. Which kind of puts me in trouble, because this is the second month I've missed our trade."
He couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to see, but by her silence he figured she was looking guilty, which was the last thing he wanted. He yawned again, and she spoke before he had a chance to tell her it wasn't her fault.
"Don't you have any family that could help you get the things you need?"
"My father was the only family I've ever had, and he abandoned me when I was young..." Natsu knew his words were slurring, but he fought against the tide of sleep anyway.
"Natsu," she was whispering now, her voice inches away from his face, "stop fighting your sleep. Please, get some rest."
He was pulled down into slumber not a second later, her name falling off his lips one last time.
I'm so mean. But Natsu was so sleepy! I couldn't force him to stay awake any longer.
(Did you notice that we caught up to the teaser?)
I just want to explain my Lucy real quick. She's been trapped in the palace her whole life, sheltered from anything and everything, not even allowed outside of the gates. Natsu saved her, then protected her from the guards when she didn't want to be caught and taken back into that prison (even though he thought he was just kidnapping her), so yes, she's a little naive and a little too accepting BUT all she's ever wanted was an adventure, and Natsu is giving that to her. Besides, he's been good to her so far, so why would she want to leave?
=) Leave me love, leave me hate, doesn't matter, just leave me something!