Without the author's note, this was a total of 11 pages in google docs holy cow. Sort of a filler chapter, but I had ideas that I needed to work into the story that wouldn't fit in anywhere else in the story, so I had to get it done now. I'm a little happy with how it turned out (for now), and I hope it's okay for you guys!

Also, regarding the title since I don't really know how it fits in with the story: it's from a song/score called Blackheart by Thomas Bergersen. I love listening to film scores and such, and this song was what sort of sparked the idea for this story (along with super long-haired Natsu). I suggest you give it a listen! I've made a spotify playlist for this story, and this is the first on the list haha. They're all songs that inspire these chapters! (Last chapter, though, my inspiration was the Fairy Tail Main Theme - both the regular and slow versions).

Thank you so much for your feedback! I love reading your reviews - they make my day and give me a huge incentive to write! You guys are amazing! Let me know what you think!

Eight Years Ago

Lucy had always loved the smell of the flowers and foliage in the royal gardens. She and her mother would sit beneath the large central tree on the stone bench and talk about anything that came to mind, or they would just sit in content silence.

Now, however, silence was all that she would have, and it was nowhere near content.

Even a year later and Lucy still wasn't used to not having her mother sitting next to her, and she may never get used to it.

And now, to top it all off, last week her father had taken her Zodiac keys that her mother had given her and threw them into the Calm Sea.

She was alone.

"I miss you," Lucy whimpered, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her arms and letting out a sob. She wanted her spirits back. She wanted her mother back. She had nobody anymore.

"Princess? Are you here?" Lucy's head shot up and she quickly wiped at her eyes furiously in attempt of drying them.

"Y-yes, I'm here," she said, trying to level her voice. When she looked up, she found Plue standing before her, a worried expression on his face.

"Princess, were you crying? Are you hurt?" Lucy shook her head.

"No, I'm okay," she said.

"If you're okay, then why were you crying?"

"It's nothing," she said somewhat sharply. She really just wanted to be alone right now, but it didn't seem like that was an option. She saw his shoulders sag a little, and he looked down.

"I miss her, too, you know…"

"Plue?"

"Queen Layla was a good lady. I miss her a lot. It feels like just yesterday she was teaching me how to read and write." Lucy blinked, eyes widening slightly. Of course he missed her. Her mother had taken Plue in after finding him living alone in the streets with no family or place to call home. Given that he was only a year younger than her daughter, she knew she couldn't turn her back on him. And so, at the age of five, Plue found himself in a new world with a home, a mother, and a sister.

King Jude was not fond of the idea, remarking that orphanages existed for a reason, but Layla was having none of it. She took the boy under her wing and raised him as her own alongside Lucy. Even so, Plue felt that he had no right to call Layla his mother and Lucy his sister, as he was not royalty, and Layla often wondered if it was because he felt intimidated by Jude, or if he had said anything to the boy.

"I… I'm sorry, Plue," Lucy whispered. Plue raised his head quickly, eyes wide.

"Wh-what for, Princess? I promise, you didn't do anything wrong!"

"No, I mean… I was selfish. I thought I was the only one hurting. But I never thought about you," Lucy said shamefully.

"That's okay!" Plue said quickly, worried he had done something to truly upset her.

"No, it's not. My mother was like your mother, too." Lucy scoot over on the stone bench and pat the area next to her.

"Oh, Princess… That bench is for you and Queen Layla. I couldn't -"

"I want you to," Lucy said.

"But -"

"As Princess of Fiore, I order you to sit up here with me." Plue looked at her for a moment, torn with indecision. Eventually, though, he climbed up next to her. She was the princess, after all. The two leaned their backs against the tree and sat in silence.

"I'm very sorry about what happened with your spirits," Plue said after a while.

"Me too… I don't know why Father did that. Maybe they just reminded him too much of Mother."

"Still… It wasn't fair of him to do that." Plue then stiffened, worry etching into his features. "I-I mean… I don't mean that against His Majesty! I -"

"It's okay, Plue. You're right. And nobody is going to report you for saying that. I'm the only one here and I would never do that." The boy seemed to relax, sighing softly. "Where's Michelle?"

"I think she's still training with Flare in the kitchen," Plue said.

"Oh? I'm surprised you're not in there, too," Lucy teased, winking at him.

"H-hey! Don't do that! Flare's almost twenty!"

"I wasn't talking about Flare, dummy!" Lucy said, rolling her eyes. Plue suddenly flushed bright red.

"I-it's not like that! She's so young!"

"Michelle's only a year younger than you!"

"S-still!"

"You liiiiike her," Lucy drawled out, grinning widely.

"Sh-shut up! I do not!"

Lucy continued to tease him like that for the rest of the time they spent in the gardens. It was nice when Plue shed the formalities and allowed himself to be more of a brother to Lucy than a Heartfilia servant - something he only did when the two of them were together with Layla.

And it felt as though Layla was with them then, watching her children play and tease each other.

Present Day

Lucy sighed and sank further into the tub, the water resting just below her nose. She hoped Plue and Michelle were all right and that they weren't getting into any trouble for being unable to prevent what had happened. Though, if she knew Plue, he was probably taking part of the blame himself and wanting to help with finding her.

Of course, he's seventeen now. He probably has no choice in the matter.

Please don't be true… Stay at the palace, Plue. Don't get yourself dragged into this. Please, Lucy thought, more tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping into the bathwater.

The last two weeks had been insane. First she met the man she was most likely going to marry, then she got kidnapped and put in a tower by a man claiming to be the infamous Dragneel who said he was protecting her from a group by the name of Avatar that wanted to use her to bring the world to elysium by means of sacrifice. She was heartbroken to learn that Flare was not quite the friendly maid she grew up knowing, but instead a member of this Avatar team.

Not only that, but she had almost completely left her world of royalty and regular humans and entered the world of dragon-like people, fairies, and pixies.

In the week following her re-encounter with Flare, Natsu had seemed to ease up on her a little, and Lucy personally found it a little weird; though, she had lightened up as well after that night and seeing the way he looked. Last week when Natsu had prepared the bath for her, she had turned up her nose and refused to use it because it was cold. When he angrily offered to warm it up with his fire, she scoffed and said she would rather go without, despite how disgusting she felt by the end of the week.

She felt guilty after she found that this bath was much warmer, unsure of the work he put into making it so, especially with having to haul the water into the tower in the first place.

Lucy had also formally met Gajeel after only really seeing the back of his head (and wow she was not expecting what she saw. He and Levy were complete opposites, but they seemed very happy with each other, despite Gajeel's attitude), as well as Jellal, the fairy who had caught her. As it turns out, he is both Erza's husband and the prince consort of the fairies, the two having wed after Erza was already named queen (Lucy tried not to feel disappointment in finding that he was taken). She met again with the others - Gray, Juvia, Erza, and Levy - though they all seemed to be keeping things from her, always glancing to Natsu before they spoke to her as though they needed his approval for what they would say to her.

It was annoying, to say the least, but she figured she wouldn't anger anyone by demanding they tell her what was going on.

Sighing, Lucy splashed water over her face to wash away the drying tear stains and stood, reaching for the towel to dry herself off, then picked up the spool of bandaging and carefully wrapped it around her arm that was still in the process of healing.

She poked her head out of the washroom and looked around to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone and hurried into her room, closing the door behind her. When she turned around, however, she found a man standing at her window and let out a scream. The man, who had been facing the window, let out a surprised yell as he turned around, and Lucy found her body encased in ice from the neck down.

"Oh… Hey, Princess," the man said, and Lucy recognized that said man was actually Gray.

"Gray? What the hell are you doing in my room? And why am I in ice? It's freezing!" She'd really like to return to her lukewarm bath now.

"Oh, sorry," he said. With a wave of his hand, the ice disappeared, leaving Lucy stunned and clutching tightly at the towel around her body. "In my defense, though, you scared shit out of me."

"Wh-what did you just do?"

"What?"

"Yes, what," she said, then waved her hand erratically. "What did you do with your hand?" Gray looked down at his hands, then back up at her with a puzzled expression.

"I… melted the ice?"

"I see that, but… how?"

"I mean, I can't really explain how, I just do." Is he just messing with me? Lucy thought. He quickly caught on, though. "Oh! Guess I never really told you. I'm an ice mage."

"An ice mage?" To answer her confusion, he flicked his wrist and a light flurry of snow began to materialize out of nowhere, falling from the ceiling. She stared at it for a moment in amazement, then stiffened. "Cut that out, it's cold!"

"You should probably put some clothes on, then," he said, and she glared at him. She didn't talk to him too much, but if he turns out to be like Natsu, she would very much like to keep their interactions to a very low minimum.

"I planned to, but didn't count on someone being in my room. What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, making her way to the wardrobe and pulling out a simple, comfortable-looking dress. Thankfully, Levy had insisted that Natsu give her a changing screen, but before she went behind it, she twirled her finger at Gray, who rolled his eyes, but turned around. Typically, Lucy would be appalled at the idea of a man being in the same room as her while she changed, but Natsu didn't exactly seem to have a very large sense of privacy, so she was somewhat used to it at this point.

"Flame-brain went back to Fairy Tail with Erza and Jellal to talk to the rebels she'd been dealing with."

"Fairy Tail? What's that?"

"The fairy kingdom. I mean, technically we're in it now. All this land is Fairy Tail and Erza and Jellal reign over all of it."

"But Natsu and Levy live here, and they're not fairies."

"It's not exclusive only to fairies, and we're all friends of Erza's, anyway. Gajeel, Juvia, and I live here, too."

"Wait," Lucy said, stepping out from behind the curtain, "so why are you here in the tower, then?"

"Because I was put on babysitting duty," Gray said, turning around after assuming she was finished and leaning against the windowsill, arms crossed over his bare chest. Wasn't he just wearing a shirt?

"What happened to your shirt?" Lucy practically squeaked, her face flushing. She already had to deal with Natsu being half naked all the time, and even that was too much sometimes. Gray looked down in surprise, then cursed.

"Aw, what the hell?!"

"Wait… babysitting duty? I don't need a babysitter."

"Maybe not a babysitter, but you need someone to keep you from trying to escape again," Gray said, and Lucy narrowed her eyes, then sighed and looked away.

"It may be hard to believe, but I don't plan on trying to escape again," she said softly. While she is still mostly in the dark about what was going on, she was still hit with the reality of what was her role in everything was. Either she was to be protected, or sacrificed, and she'd rather live, thank-you-very-much.

"Yeah, it is hard to believe, which is why I'm here. Don't look at me like that; it's not like I want to be here. There are plenty of other things I could be doing right now."

"Oh?" Lucy inquired, crossing her arms and and raising a brow at him. "Like what?"

"Like… I don't know. Anything other than this."

"Like… taking Juvia on a date?" Gray's eyes widened at her teasing words, his brows furrowing.

"Wh-what?" His face flushed lightly. "What the hell kind of an idea is that?"

"I don't know," Lucy said, shrugging. "You two seem close and she's pretty attached to you. I guess I just figured you two were together. Aren't you?"

"We aren't," Gray said, his voice softer.

"Why not? You don't like her like that?"

"What's with the inquisition?" Gray snapped his eyes to hers and she nearly cowered, but she was still curious. She looked at him defiantly, and he sighed. "It's not as easy as it seems."

"Why not?" Lucy asked. Juvia seemed rather possessive over Gray, and the man didn't seem to mind her words of affection or how she clung to him at times, and she wanted to know what was keeping them apart.

"Because it just isn't. I can't ruin what we have by pursuing a relationship. That, and she deserves better than me." Lucy opened her mouth to again ask why, like an annoying child, but he spoke again, eyes cast downward to the floor as though he were replaying memories in his mind. "I nearly killed her. I tried to kill her. Long ago."

"You tried to kill her?" It didn't make sense. Normally when someone tries to kill another person, they don't harbor intense romantic feelings for their attempted murderer. Gray scratched the back of his neck, still looking down at the floor.

"I didn't always have ice magic, and Juvia is the reason I have it." He wasn't born with magic? That's impossible. I mean, imagine a world where magic is learned and obtained rather than implanted in a person's DNA? Preposterous… Lucy thought. "She's a water siren -"

"A water siren? But she has legs," Lucy interrupted. Gray glared at her.

"She can alternate between legs and tail, now if you want to hear this, you really need to stop interrupting me." Lucy flushed and nodded.

"Sorry… This is just all new to me," she said, moving to the bed to perch herself on the edge of it.

"It's fine," Gray said. "But isn't not interrupting people something you royalty learn early on?"

"Hey!"

"So anyway," Gray said, repressing a teasing grin before looking down again and turning more somber. "She's a water siren and she has water magic. She used to have both water and ice, but… she ended up splitting her magic and giving half of it to me in order to save my life."

Lucy's eyes widened and she had to try hard not to question anything, hoping he would tell her more. He seemed to fall further into his grim demeanor in that moment.

"When I was about ten, my parents were killed by someone. Or more, because of someone. I was completely broken. My village was destroyed and I was completely alone. I ended up finding myself at a harbor and snuck onto a ship. When we got out into rough waters, I lost my balance and fell overboard, hitting my head on some of the ice in the water before falling in and blacking out. When I woke up, I was in some sort of cave. I didn't know it then, but Juvia was the woman who was there taking care of me. Long story short, I freaked out when she tried to tell me about what happened, then I took off.

"I eventually found a woman and another kid who had ice magic and they offered to help me learn and control my own, though I didn't tell them I wasn't born with my magic. Then I heard news of the creature that had destroyed my village and murdered my parents, so I went to try and fight it. I was so stupid… My mentor had, at that point, become like a second mother to me, and thanks to my impulsive ways and hunger for vengeance… she died. Trying to save me."

Lucy's heart was breaking. It was too tragic of a story for a young boy below the age of fourteen to endure.

"After that, I was furious. Now three people that I cared for were dead, and this time around, rather than blaming the monster, I blamed the woman who turned me into this ice-wielding freak - which is how I thought of myself at that point in my life. And so, I set out to find her once again." Gray was idly fiddling with the sword pendant that hung around his neck, his eyes glazed over as he spoke with an empty voice, almost as though he didn't know he was speaking at all. "It was years before I found Juvia again, but once I did, I unleashed everything I had on her. I was determined to kill her, and didn't give up until I nearly killed myself in the process with exhaustion. Again, she took care of me, but I was helpless to stop her. At that point in time I wanted her to just let me die. I had nothing anymore. Hell, I had nothing when I met her the first time, and yet there she was, saving me again."

Gray blinked for the first time in a while, looking up. He cleared his throat and straightened himself, dropping the pendant against his chest and crossing his arms, becoming more aware.

"Anyway, after that, I stuck with her. She helped me, and, in return, I ended up helping her with some trying times in her life. I still owe her more than my life - more than anything I could ever offer. And, yeah, I know of her feelings for me, but granting myself such a happiness with her is nothing I deserve. That's why we can't be anything more than what we are now." Gray shook his head, giving a soft, bitter laugh. "I don't know why I told you all of that crap. I barely know you."

"No, it's okay. I understand… sometimes people just need to talk about things to people who don't quite know everything that happened. I was the same way when my mother died," Lucy said, and Gray finally met her eyes once again. "I'm… I'm so sorry about all of that, Gray."

"It's all in the past now. It can't be changed."

"No, but… Well, it's not exactly my place to say this, but I feel I should. I understand why you think that denying yourself such happiness is a way of punishing yourself for your wrongdoings towards Juvia, but… don't you think it's rather selfish of you?" Gray's eyes hardened.

"Excuse me?"

"Just - hear me out, okay? Juvia clearly cares for you, and from what you told me, I can only assume those feelings aren't only romantic. She cared enough to split her magic with you, then take care of you once again even after you tried to kill her. You say you don't deserve her affection, but do you consider her? I don't know much about magic, other than that it's something that is soulbound. In your case, though, she must have actually ripped her soul apart to split her magic and transfer half of it into you. I don't know how it would work, but the idea of it sounds painful itself."

"I've heard that it's excruciating, which is all the more reason for me to be in her debt."

"Refusing her feelings and denying your own is no way of repayment, Gray. It will only cause more pain for the both of you. Do you really think Juvia deserves to live out the rest of her life pining over you and not knowing how you feel?" Lucy pressed, fighting the urge to get up and walk to him.

"I've told her I don't -"

"And she can see right through your lies - I just know it. She wouldn't stick around you like that if she believed you didn't feel for her. She's being patient with you, Gray." Lucy looked down at her hands somewhat nervously before looking at him again. "I am very sorry, as I know this is not my place. I have only known you all for a couple of weeks, and I have no right to be meddling, but… after all she's done and all she's been through just with you, don't you think she deserves a straight answer?" Gray huffed.

"Now you're sounding like Erza," he muttered. Lucy didn't know what that meant, but she figured she would use it as leverage.

"Well, if you have multiple people telling you this, don't you think it's time you at least start reassessing your feelings and reasoning?" She saw his shoulders slump a little, as though he were admitting defeat, but said nothing. Instead, he turned towards the window.

"You're right. It's not your place. And you have no right to meddle," Gray said, and Lucy lowered her head shamefully, though she already knew that.

"I sincerely apologize," she whispered.

"But," he said, and Lucy looked up at him in surprise. His voice was softer now, almost as though he were talking to himself, "maybe you're right. I suppose I have been a little selfish in my thoughts towards Juvia. I'm not promising change, but I will think about some things." Gray suddenly turned around to face her, eyes narrowed, and his cheeks tinged with a hint of red. "But don't go thinking it's all because of you, all right? I've been needing to do this, and the others have spoken to me, as well."

"Right, of course," Lucy said, smiling softly. She didn't want to take the credit, anyway. She wanted him to do this because he wanted to do it. She may not know him very well, or Juvia, for that matter, but if what he told her was true, then she could clearly see that it was near torture for him to not pursue Juvia romantically. She then blinked.

"Wait a minute… How old are you?" Gray turned around, a brow raised.

"That's a pretty rude thing to ask," he said, though his voice held a slight teasing tone.

"S-sorry, but… Unless Juvia was about your age when she saved you… how do you two look so similar in age?"

"Well, magic tends to slow down the aging process of some people who wield it. Juvenile years pass normally, but once you reach the physical age of about twenty, you more or less stay the same. Sometimes you stop aging altogether. Though, there are some who stop aging at a much higher age. I stopped aging around twenty one, which is the same age Juvia stopped aging." That makes sense, since his magic is actually hers, Lucy thought. "As for how old I actually am… well, let me think. I believe I'm going on about two-fifteen."

"You're two hundred and fifteen years old?!" Lucy shouted before she was able to stop herself.

"Almost, yeah," Gray said nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders. "Juvia's about four-eighty."

"Wow," she breathed. Her head began feeling foggy and light as she took in this information.

Does that mean… I'm going to stop aging?

Am I going to be Queen of Fiore forever?

Will I reign endlessly over a country full of people who will live and die, while I just continue to exist?

"Whoa, Princess, are you okay? You don't look too good," Gray said, but his voice did not register in her whirling mind.

Is this why Father is so eager to have me as queen?

What about a husband?

Will I never truly find love because he will age and die as I stay young?

"Hey, snap out of it!"

Everyone I know and love will die.

I'm going to be alone…

Forever.

"LUCY," Gray yelled, and the blonde finally broke out of her trance. She blinked and looked around, realizing she was now in the center of the room and on her back, but in Gray's arms, as though she had fallen but he caught her just in time.

"What… what happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. You looked like you were freaking out, then got up and began pacing before tripping over yourself," Gray said, eyes looking over her features in hopes of knowing just what the hell had happened.

"I… I don't know what happened. I apol-"

"Hey, frostbite, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Both jumped and turned their heads to see a draconic Natsu standing in the window, eyes narrowed. Gray seemed to relax and he rolled his eyes, getting to his feet and helping Lucy to hers.

"Relax, pyro, she fell. I wasn't just gonna let her hit the ground," he said.

"Unlike someone," Lucy muttered, and Natsu's eyes cut to hers.

"Hey! You're the one who pulled my hair and kicked me! It's your fault you fell!"

"And you let me!"

"I was gonna catch you!"

"But you didn't!"

"Because Jellal beat me to it!"

"You still hesitated!"

"I didn't hesitate!"

"Then wh-"

"Wow," Gray said cooly, and both princess and dragon turned their glares to him. He raised his hands in surrender. "Right. Anyway, Natsu, what did you learn?"

"With the rebels?"

"No, with the fucking dolphins," Gray said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Watch it, pal," Natsu growled, though Gray looked rather pleased with himself. Natsu sighed, crossing his arms. His eyes cut to Lucy for a second before returning to Gray. "Things were as we suspected."

"I wanna say that's unfortunate, but they deserve a good ass kicking, and I'm more than happy to deliver it."

"I hear ya there," Natsu muttered, and Lucy saw the way his brows furrowed thoughtfully. Gray sighed.

"Well, since you're back, I'll get going. Babysitting is no easy task. I need a nap," he said, shooting Lucy a teasing grin before leaving through the door.

Meanwhile, Lucy thought it was nice that she and Natsu had somewhat returned to their arguing, even though it was known that they didn't truly hate one another. However, things were just weighing too heavily on her mind at the moment, and she made her way over to her bed and sat down, her fingers pressed to her temple as if to keep her thoughts at ease, but to no avail.

"Uh… You okay? Gray said you fell," she heard Natsu say. She gave him an empty smile.

"I'm fine," she said.

"You don't look fine," he said, crossing his arms over his bare chest. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'm just… thinking." She saw Natsu's tense shoulders drop a little and he watched her silently for a moment.

"We're doing all we can to figure everything out. All we need is for you to stay here so that you aren't taken. Otherwise, everything should be fine, okay? Don't worry too much about it," he said softly. How can he say that? Her life has completely changed in such a small amount of time, and one wrong step, be it herself or someone else, could plunge the world into destructive darkness.

But she didn't want to not do anything.

"No," Lucy said, looking up at Natsu, whose eyes widened at her statement. She stood, but kept her arms hugging herself. "I don't want to just stay here and do nothing. I want to help."

"And how do you think you're gonna do that?" Natsu asked, a brow raised.

"Leo told me about the star dress," she said, and a slow, knowing grin worked its way onto Natsu's lips.

"Very well. But we won't start training just yet," he said, and Lucy's eyes widened.

"What? Why not?"

"Gotta build up some trust, princess," he said, winking. "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook for that stunt you pulled last week."

"But -" Lucy stopped herself at the look Natsu gave her, then sighed. He was fair in his point, she knew. "Fine… but I could still just train with my spirits. They're the ones who will give me the power, anyway."

"Yeah, you could, but while your spirits are training you, you're gonna need someone to fight."

"Y-you want me to fight you?"

"Not just me. I'm sure the others will want in on the fun, too," Natsu said with a grin. Lucy nodded softly, rubbing her arms with her hands.

"So… when will we begin training?"

"When I say," Natsu said, still grinning. Lucy puffed out her cheeks and narrowed her eyes at him. He was going to make this hell for her.

In a way, however, she was a little eager for it.

Another author's note, sorry! I just wanted to say that I plan on writing the background between Gray and Juvia (in a separate entry, not as a Blackheart chapter), so if you're interested, be on the lookout for it! It was an idea I had almost immediately after coming up with the idea of this story and really wanted to work it in somehow, but I figured it was too much to put into a story I want to base mostly around NaLu. Just letting you guys know! Thanks for reading!