A/N: Hey everyone! Here's my next update. Fast right? Hahahaha. I couldn't help but to upload as soon as I can once I read all the lovely reviews that I received from you guys so far^^

The Princess and the Dragon Slayer

Chapter 5

Dinner went by better today. I could see more of Lucy's smiles and even hear her laughing as she conversed with her friends. Seeing her happy made me surprisingly happier. When our eyes came into contact, I seriously swear that I froze in my seat. I don't know what has come over me. Then suddenly the earlier scene at the garden flashed back in my mind again.

What the hell was I doing? Why did I have the urge to raise my hand and touch her delicate cheek? I seriously wanted to bang my head on the table. Maybe it has something to do with my power that has been building up, technically reaching its limits since it's been too long that I have released it. I could feel its enormous power actually. Yeah, that must be it. The overflowing power in my body is causing me to act all weird.

I need to find a way to get rid of it!

After we were done with dinner, Virgo was attending to Lucy so I decided to use this time to sneak out from their sight. I decided to walk down the halls and find if there was any hidden place I could release my power. I was actually thinking of heading back to the woods to do this but how am I going to sneak away from the castle? I have responsibilities in this place now and besides that, I know it wasn't going to be that easy.

I was just aimlessly walking down the halls as I thought on how to figure this out that I didn't realized someone was calling my name.

"Natsu!"

I think there has got to be a room that is available and hidden right?

"Natsu!"

Yeah, I just I got to wait for everyone to sleep so I can scout this place clean. Maybe when they sleep, I can even head out to the woods for a quick one.

"NATSU!"

I stopped and turned around. I saw Lucy was running towards me. It seems she suddenly has caught hold of me that she stopped in front of me and caught her breath.

"Why were you running Luce?" It took her a while to steady her breaths before she answered me.

"Geez Natsu! I called you twice but you didn't hear me." Her face is all flushed. She looks cute. Argh, stop Natsu, snap out of it.

"Sorry Luce, I was thinking about something."

Lucy waived me off. "I'll forgive you this time." She looked around before continuing. "So why did you leave the dining room without me?"

Huh? I just gave her a questioning look. Are we supposed to leave together?

"Excuse me?"

"Look Natsu, I know you're not that dense but certainly, you don't know how to make your way back to your room right? So I thought you will wait up and we could talk while we walk back." Lucy was looking away when she said her last part of the sentence and it looks like…

"Are you blushing?" Okay, I didn't expect those words to leave my mouth.

"Wait, what?! No, I'm not!" Lucy now looked at me as she retaliated back. "Who says I'm blushing? You got it all wrong N-A-T-S-U D-R-A-G-N-E-E-L." And she was using her index finger to poke my chest as she said every syllabus of my name.

"Okay fiesty… Geez, I was just asking." I just gently put her hand down and let out a cheeky smile. I was mocking her on how she said 'geez'.

She just pouted and held her hands to her sides in fists. After a while of glaring into each other's eyes, she gave up and looked away and folded her arms.

"Hmph, whatever. Don't come and look for me anymore if you need help." With that, she stomp my foot and walked away.

"OW!" I held my feet up as I tried to rub the pain away. Damn, that woman and I thought here she was a ladylike princess and all.

After rubbing my feet for a while ensuring that the pain has subsided, I stood up back and couldn't help to look down the hall where Lucy has just walked down. I was contemplating on whether I should follow her but at the end, I decided not to this time and instead turn around and continue to where I was. That is, finding a spot that I can unleash my power.

I think I was covering much of the castle because I managed to pass by my room but decided not to retire for the night yet. At least, I recognize some parts of the castle now. I don't know how much I have been walking but I decided to leave the castle and take some fresh air outside. My legs were taking me to the horses' stable where the horses were all peacefully asleep.

It was dead quiet and I myself have to say it was kinda creepy. I decided to u-turn and leave the horses' stable but only landed myself in tripping upon something. I took a look back down and saw the hay was all over the floor. Hay? That can't be good enough to make me trip so the curiosity got the better of me. I crouched down and brushed away the hay and was actually surprised that there was a big ring etched on the floor. Hmms, it looks like it can be pulled and I did.

Okay, so it seems that this is a hidden door so I decided to flip it open fully. The door slamming opened cause the dust to appear which send me on a coughing spree. After waiving off the dust, I looked down and saw that there was a flight of stairs. I looked around to check if the coast was clear before taking a step down.

After walking a bit further down, I stopped as it was getting dark because there was hardly any light coming through. That's when I looked down to both of my fists and took a deep breath. I concentrated my power within me to travel to both of my fists and light them up.

I brought my hands up and looked at them. Fire… It felt so good to finally use my power once again. I looked ahead and could see the fire igniting from my hands were giving off a good light source so I decided to continue walking down the flight of stairs until I reached a flat ground.

I walked ahead and couldn't help but to observe the drawings on the left and right side of the wall but these stopped once I entered a big cave.(A/N: Imagine the cave that Natsu, Lucy & Gray went where they found at that island) It was huge and somehow there was light in here so I extinguished my flames. The ceiling was high enough for a big dragon to stay in but not enter in as it seems where I came from was the only entrance and that was just enough for only a human to walk through.

I walked deeper where I saw water, like a pond actually. I crouched down and saw my own reflection in it and only to destroy it once I cup the water in my hands and rinse my face. I stood back up and took one good look of the place again.

Awesome, this is what I definitely need. Nothing can go wrong in here. It's deep below the castle walls, it's spacious here and most importantly, there's water. I sprung back, away from the water and took my stance. I lighted my fists again and let the power in me to bottle up. I could feel the adrenalin rush going through my veins and I just needed to roar.

Flames were surrounding my body and I have never felt so fired up! God, I missed this feeling. I jumped up and did all my moves so the power and energy in me will deplete. After a while, I crouched down as I tried to catch a breath. I couldn't help but to grin so widely. I then started to laugh as I raised my right fist in the air and jump, shouting "Woohoo"!

I continue to release more flames and once I felt that it was enough, I decided to stop as I know I have to retire for the night. I took one good look of the place again before walking back up to the horses stable. At the hidden passageway entry, I peeked out to see whether the coast was clear again before eventually coming up and quickly closing the door. I got the hay to cover the ring again before leaving the place.

I guess working at the horses stable or even for the castle, is not going to be that bad after all at least I found a place that I could unleashed my power without any issue now.

A/N: And that's it for this chapter people! I know this chapter is a bit boring because there isn't much NALU activity but I assure you that you will see the link to this chapter in the next few chapters. Besides that, please leave a review before you go thanks!(: