A/N: Oh man... I don't want this story to end! ::cries:: Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, but it's getting close.
Together they stood, their backs to the large pond that filled the entire back half of their palace estate, their voices raw from the intense arguing that had been going on from the moment he took her from Loke. There could be no convincing him of her true feelings, and there was no changing her mind. More than a dozen of the palace guard surrounded them, ensuring their safety and awaiting the person that had been the center of their arguments.
Finally, when the moon started to wane from the highest point in the sky, there was some noise in front of them. A few shouts later, and father and daughter were suddenly staring at a pink-haired man, who was out of breath and staring at the daughter with relief in his eyes. The father stepped forward, his stance protective in front of his daughter.
"Take not another step forward!"
The pink-haired man looked to the father, his eyes pleading. "Please, I do not wish to cause any more trouble. I only come to beg you of her safety."
The daughter stood behind the father, desperation running through her at the sight of the two men she loves fighting. The father spoke once again: "She will forever be safe in my arms. It is yours that I fear her in."
The pink-haired man dropped to his knees, showing his resignation of the violence that they had all expected. "Her safety is the only thing that has plagued my mind since I had laid mine eyes upon hers. Her safety is the one thing I will always guarantee, her love the only thing I will always seek."
The father seemed taken aback, looking to the daughter briefly to gauge her reaction to his confession. "It is for love, truly?"
The pink-haired man's eyes seemed to shine brighter, his face softening. "Truly, it is love. It has all been for love. She is the sun to my moon, and I hope to cherish and protect her for the rest of my life. Please, sir, allow me the honor of winning her heart."
The father turned to the daughter, his eyes sparkling with tears that had yet to fall. "I knew not that this whole venture was from love. Daughter, if you share his feelings-"
The daughter ran to the father, hugging him tightly. "I do, father, I do share his feelings. I love him, father, as I love you. I wish to share my life with him."
The father hugged the daughter back, and then extended his hand towards the pink-haired man. "Let us cease this fighting, and revel in this young love. My daughter, I am sorry for the pain I have caused. I bless this love with-"
A sharp twist of her arm brought her out of her fairy tale, and Lucy held back a gasp. Opening her eyes, she saw the same clearing in the gardens. She knew the same body of water was at her back, and she knew the more than a dozen guards were still surrounding her. She also knew that her throat was raw, her eyes were painfully and unnaturally dry, and her body was slightly bruised. In this reality, she and her father had not argued: she had been yelling, crying, pleading, but he had not said a word to her. He was not standing protectively in front of her; he had her arm twisted behind her, placing her in front of him at his mercy. And she was not expecting any good outcome when Natsu came for her; her father planned to have him murdered shortly after appearing in front of them, right before her eyes.
It was cruel to think otherwise, but her voice had given out shortly after arriving in the gardens, and her sanity was thin. Recreating her current situation into one of the many romance novels she had read seemed like the only thing that could keep her hope alive. But as she was brought back to reality through another sharp twist of her arm, courtesy of father, she realized that the fantasy had only shoved the knife deeper into her heart. Her father would never accept her love for Natsu.
And that's what it was, wasn't it? It might be small, and new, but she knew it was love. She respected him, trusted him. She knew that her best interests had been his goal since the second he came into that alley. He had been kind to her since the moment he took her hand, and even tried to push her away to keep her from seeing the part of himself that he hated.
It was that part of him that she was counting on now. But that hope was fleeting. Her father had made clear that the moment Natsu stepped foot inside the clearing, he would be pelted by more than a dozen arrows simultaneously. Even with his dragon-born speed, she didn't see how he could make it through.
The only thing she could hope for was the small chance that she could escape her father, and run to stand with Natsu as the arrows descended upon them. If he was going to be murdered because of her, then she may as well join him.
Natsu was running. He didn't hear Gajeel catch up to him, but he could sense the other dragon born behind him. They had made their way out of the bedroom suites and back down the stairs, where they turned to start running towards the back palace doors. The still had to go through the gardens to reach the clearing that the King was holding Lucy, and Natsu couldn't get his legs to run fast enough. Just as the huge glass doors came into view, he could see a shadow standing next to them, peeking outside.
One of the many obstacles he was expecting, Natsu called out his wings and tail, preparing to mow over the person and continue on his path. However, as they got closer, the shadow turned towards them, and then held out his hands.
"Natsu! Gajeel! Stop!" The shadow spoke in a harsh whisper, and Natsu instantly recognized the voice. Recognized, but not respected, so he kept up his speed and kept on his path.
He was inches away from literally running over Gray, when suddenly he felt a jerk on his shirt. The collar ripped slightly, but the action had the effect that was needed, and he was thrown back to an immediate stop against Gajeel.
"What the hell are you doing!? Let me go!"
"If you want to die, then I'll kill you right now. You heard that old man; there are guards sitting in there ready to kill you as soon as you set foot in that clearing."
Natsu struggled against Gajeel's hold, staring past Gray at the doors. "I can handle them. Just let me go. I have to save Lucy."
Gray stepped in front of him, his face somber. "Do you want to take that chance? Do you want to risk dying in front of her? Because that's his plan. And if we want to really save her, we need to have one too." Natsu stared at the black-haired prince, not wanting to see his point, but falling victim to it anyway. He stopped struggling, and Gajeel started to release him slowly. "Trust me, I'm ready to run in there and slice apart every single person standing in that clearing, the King included. But we need to think about this practically." Gray's eyes sparkled with danger, and Natsu wondered just what exactly had changed since they had split apart.
He walked to the doors and stared out into the gardens, gauging how far the distance was between him and Lucy. "So what's the plan?"
Gajeel walked forward to stand between the two of them, crossing his arms and staring out of the doors. Gray turned and started pointing in the distance. "I just scouted the area from the room above, and I've seen movement on both sides. They've split up, and from what I could tell, there's seven on the left, eight on the right. I thought I saw movement close to the King and Lucy, but so far I've only seen a circle surrounding the clearing. Their armor is giving them away. They must've doubled up in preparation for you, because they're moving an awful lot."
Gajeel grunted smugly. "So basically, not only do we need to be stealthy, we need to avoid the armor, and avoid them making too much noise after we get to them." He turned his head towards Gray. "Going for the kill?"
"Incapacitate." Gray and Gajeel both turned towards Natsu. He looked back at them, his eyes resolved. "We are the higher beings here. I'm not stopping down to his level. We are not to kill. Incapacitate, take their weapons, destroy their weapons, whatever. Just keep them alive." He stared at the two of them until he saw them both nod their heads.
"Gajeel, you take the left. Natsu, follow me on the right, and help me take out a few. Then hold back and wait for our signal."
As he opened his mouth to ask what the signal would be, Gajeel spoke up. "Listen for my wings. They're tipped in metal, when I call them out you'll hear the rush of wind and the spikes scraping across the ground. That'll be your signal to go."
Natsu nodded, and then the three of them stared out into the gardens for a few seconds of silence, before Natsu leaned forward and slowly opened the doors.
It was getting hard to breathe. The moon wouldn't stop moving across the sky, the wind wouldn't stop blowing across her face, and her father wouldn't relent. She had began hoping that he would get tired of waiting, that he would call the plan off and he would just take her away, far away, and leave Natsu alone.
But she was still here. Her legs were tired, her arm was burning, and her will was giving out. The scene that was sure to happen kept playing prematurely in her head, and she wasn't sure her heart could break anymore. Of course, once it happened in real life, she would be proved wrong. But the only thing she could use to reassure herself was the fact that she wouldn't be alive for much longer afterwards. The Gods knew by now that she would not succumb to her father's mental breakdown any longer.
Lucy closed her eyes again, and tried to go back to her fantasy. For some reason, her mind couldn't concentrate. She kept hearing distant sounds, sounds she couldn't quite place. Maybe the Royal Guard was getting restless. She knew they were covered in armor, and had been ordered to keep their arrows nocked. It had to be tiring.
The sounds were very quiet, very spread out, but she had been concentrating on the silence for so long, she knew they were really happening.
Her father must have noticed the difference in sounds as well, because he suddenly forced her against him even harder.
"Do you hear that? That's the sound of your dragon nearing his death." The first words from him mouth since they had entered the clearing, and they still sent shivers of terror down her spine. Lucy wasn't sure who this person was, but it was no longer her father. She realized she had never really known him growing up, but she never knew of him to be this cruel. Perhaps it was just always hidden from her. Perhaps her running away had triggered this monster inside of him. Whatever it was, she had never been more afraid in her life.
They waited for a few more moments, and Lucy noticed the sounds becoming closer. A rush of adrenaline sped through her as she realized they were happening almost simultaneously on each side of them. This wasn't the guards becoming restless. But it couldn't be Natsu either. Does he have help?
Hope sprung up inside of her. He has help. He has to. They were taking out the guard that was surrounding them. Natsu has a chance.
Her father's growl behind her shocked her. "What the hell is going on?" His whisper was harsh, cruel. But she couldn't care enough to be frightened anymore.
Just as he was speaking, Lucy heard a sound to the right of her that sounded like metal scraping across the ground, and then, just like out of a dream, footsteps sounded in front of her.
Lucy's eyes started to water as she watched Natsu coming towards her, his steps fierce and calculated, his eyes sharp and dangerous. She could feel his heat reaching her from all the way across clearing, and she suddenly felt more alive than she ever had before.
Tears she didn't know she still had formed in her eyes, and the choked sound fell out of her mouth in shocked relief.
"Natsu..."
I planned for this chapter to be the climax of the Jude/Lucy/Natsu situation, but I just can't help keeping you guys on your toes. Hehe.
Leave me love, leave me hate, doesn't matter, just leave me something!