The two castles.

Once upon a time, there stood two grand castles on opposite cliffs of one another. There had once been a bridge connecting the cliffs but they had fallen during the great wars. Nobody ever questioned why neither of the masters of the castle never rebuilt it, they just accepted that the castles were forever blocked from one another.

Inside one castle was a man and woman, both of blonde hair by the names of Jude and Layla Heartfilia. They had dreamed of having a baby and eventually the wish was granted with the birth of a precious little girl. She had the beautiful golden blonde hair and huge chocolate brown eyes as her mother. She was named Lucy and was loved very much by her parents.

The other castle held a lone old man by the name of Igneel. He had no one. His wife long dead for she had been on the bridge when it fell. He bore no children to inherit his fortunes and every day he felt the depression grip his heart tighter and tighter. One day he went for a walk in the forest, as one last visit before his death. By one of the tress, he stumbled on a bundle. A baby boy with abnormal pink hair had been wrapped tightly in a red blanket. He was asleep and made no noises as the old man scooped up the bundle and carried it back to his home. He named the little boy Natsu and raised him like his own.

A few years later when the children were the age of five, they each played on the separate cliffs. One day the little girl looked over at the impressive castle on the other side, and saw the little boy with pink hair. She stood and ran over to her edge of the cliff. The little blonde watched with amusement, excited to finally see another kid to possibly play with. She screamed at the top of her little lungs to gain the attention of the boy. Natsu had heard the shrill noise of the little girl and looked up from his post where he played with toys of dragons and soldiers. Once seeing the little girl, he looked for Igneel to ask what it was. Lucy ,however, smiled with triumph as he saw her, but frowned and teared up when he ran from sight. She stumbled forward trying to find the boy again, wanting nothing but to befriend him. He finally came back into sight, she smiled greatly and jumped in place. Beside the boy, was what the little girl assumed to be his father.

Natsu pointed at Lucy, and asked his dad what it was. Igneel laughed at his son, then pointed along with him saying it was a little girl. She was similar to him. Natsu looked at her with her shiny yellow hair tangling down her back and the white clothe of a dress she wore. He was still confused. He had never seen anyone but Igneel. The poor boy thought they were alone in the big place he saw everyday. Igneel watched with curiosity as his adoptive son stared at the little girl. The old man couldn't be any happier since he found Natsu. The little pink boy continued to stare as the girl on the other cliff bounced in her shoes with excitement and when she slipped he screamed and raced to the edge of his own cliff. He wanted to go help her as she dangled of the edge, screaming for help. Natsu crawled on his knees wishing the two cliffs to merge. But they never did and he cried tears of frustration. He didn't want this new wonder to fall, knowing it would be bad and she wouldn't be over there anymore. The moment he finally saw another person on the edge, pulling her up, relief washed the little boy. This person looked exactly like the little girl but bigger.

Lucy's mother had heard her child's screams and rushed outside to find her. Dread filled her when she found her on the edge hanging by her little hands. Now the little girl was cradled in her mother's arms, crying her little heart out. Her mother asked her why she was over to the edge, knowing Lucy understood she wasn't suppose to be there. Lucy responded saying she just wanted to see the little boy. Layla just brought the girl back inside while the children simply stared at each other, tears in both of their eyes.

After that day, the two would simply sit on their respective cliffs and stare at each other. They never questioned the need to see one another, just accepted that they were friends in a way.

Then one tragic day five years later, Layla and Igneel both fell ill. Their children stayed by the adults bedside. And when the illness took them, the kids fell deep into despair. Lucy had the comfort of her father for a few days, before he locked himself in his bed chambers then it was strictly the help that was there for her. But there was nobody left for Natsu. When Igneel died, Natsu screamed for hours trying to wake his father. But when Igneel never got up, Natsu wailed and ran outside. He sat for days, not moving hoping the blonde that was always out there to come out and give him some comfort that he wasn't alone. But she never came outside. Natsu's throat was still raw from all the screaming he did, but he didn't care. He returned to his now empty home and sat in the bed he was given years ago.

He never gave up however. Every day he sat in the same place he had for years, waiting for the girl to return. Day after day, month after month, he was outside waiting. After two years, the girl came outside again. She looked different, but he just thought she was growing like he was. She didn't smile as much when she saw him and that's what made him unstable. He had always counted on her smile, unknowingly. He wanted to know why she hadn't been out for two whole years. He wanted to know why she didn't smile. And it angered him that he couldn't ask.

Now that the kids where both in their own way alone, they depended on each other. Natsu spent his days learning to hunt and care for himself, while Lucy tried to get her once loving father out of his chambers, to play with her once more.

Natsu had learned that the sleep Igneel was in was actually death, so the boy wrapped him in clothe and drug him outside. He had heard stories when he was younger about the death of his father's wife and decided that their bodies should remain together forever even when they turned to dust. Know whenever he thought of Igneel, he sat on the very edge, dangling his feet and stared down where he knew his father was. After he visited, he walked into the forest to gather his meal, feeling he had to work for anything he wanted now.

Lucy had given up on seeing her father again and spent her days now sitting on Layla's grave, talking to the headstone. She also watched as Natsu sat on the edge of the cliff staring down. The sight saddened her. What if he was planning on plunging down? It hurt that she didn't know anything about him and that everyday he looked so sad. Was he alone now? Then she watched as he stood and walking into the trees.

When Lucy was eighteen, a horrible feeling crashed into her. She didn't know why but it did. She ran through her home and stopped abruptly in front of her father's door. She had had enough with this door. She marched to the old servants' room and grabbed the master key. The help had left the year before, leaving the Heartfilia family alone to themselves. Lucy forced up the door to her father, and instantly knew why she had that feeling earlier. The feeling was telling her she was all only up on this cliff. Her father had passed away the night before. She ran outside to her old childhood spot, hoping for him to be there, but he wasn't. She had no clue where he was now and the tears sprang to her eyes. She needed some feeling that she wasn't alone, but that's all that was around her. Lucy tugged her legs in front of her and rested her hands around them then let the tears roll free.

Natsu who had been hunting like always, came around and saw the girl in the somber position. He felt his heart go to her and his old anger came back because he was helpless to the distressed girl. He slowly walked to the edge and sat where he could be closest to her. She had grown to be stunningly beautiful, and the tears and frown she wore never felt like they belonged. He saw things through her he never even thought about. Once he turned thirteen, he didn't care that he was alone. He would live alone forever because he didn't need someone there for him. At least that's what he believed whenever he didn't see the girl across from him. Now he felt that empty pit within himself, and seeing her said and just as alone made it worse. He didn't care what he had, but for her, she didn't deserve to be alone.

He wanted to find a way to help her, but nothing was coming to him. But then it did. He remembered the stories of the bridge. It was how Igneel lost Grandine and their unborn child.

The pink haired man stood and disappeared, Lucy unaware that he was just there. She didn't know that he had stalked away with purpose. Until she heard the crashing of trees falling. Her head snapped up at the sound and her hands wiped the water out of her eyes to see what was happening. She saw the boy doing the impossible, dragging fallen tress to the divide between them. Fear froze her heart, knowing exactly what he was trying. She screamed at him to not attempt something stupid. Yet he kept dragging. One by one he laid them side by side until there were five laying on the ground. The boys body rippled as he chopped branches of and pulled twigs, making clear logs. He left into his castle that was running to the ground, some places already crumbled in the corners. He returned with ropes then joined the ropes as one. She rushed to the edge, screaming again for him to please stop. She didn't want the only other person she somewhat knew to die in front of her. She didn't want to lose anybody else. But the boy wouldn't listen to her pleas. He knew he could do it. He had been taught at a very young age how to build things and how to figure out to make them work correctly. It surprised him that he still knew the information giving it had been eight years since he last had a lesson. When all the logs were securely tied, he brought a rope around the knot he just finished and threw the other end around a high up sturdy looking branch, creating a pulley. Now he jumped on the rope and tugged down, lifting the makeshift platform.

The higher the wood got the more fear pooled into Lucy's stomach and the more tears fell. Once it stood straight up on the very edge, the boy tied the other rope end to the base of his leverage tree. He marched over to the logs and gave a slight push so it was leaning over to gorge. He knew that this could go either way. It could either reach the cliff he desired or it would fall deep into the water below, becoming a raft. But it was the chance he was going to take. He made his way back to the rope and with one swift moment, he brought a blade into the tree cutting the rope. The bridge of trees fell and landed safely on the other cliff like he wanted it to. He felt his spirit soar into the sky. He had did it. He connected the two. But who knew for how long. Natsu wasted no time with rushing over and giving a few good kicks at it. When it didn't plummet to the ocean pass below, he gathered his courage and ran onto it. Lucy screamed when he stood on it and buried her eyes into her hands, not wanting to see him fall. And she stayed still, crying into her hands until a pair of strong, warm arms circled around her.

" Please don't cry anymore."

This was the first time she ever heard his voice. The head of blonde shifted to look up at him, finding her head in the crock of his neck, his head planted on her shoulder. She placed her hands on the back of his head and pulled back to look at him. For all these years, she had only known he had the strangest pink hair, but now she could see it all. His strong bone structure, his brilliant black eyes, where the sun had kissed his skin gently, and where he had managed to scar his skin in several places. She pulled her hands to the front of his face, tracing the image unsure if he was really there. After all these years, it just seemed impossible for him to be there. While she examined him, he explored her. He noticed she was soft to the touch, her eyes sparkled with life giving them the warmest chocolate color he had ever seen, and her entire being gave off this radiance like she was an angel. She looked tiny and delicate in his arms, but he liked the feeling of her there.

" What's your name?" she asked him softly, her voice like sweet bells ringing in his ears.

" Natsu."

" I'm Lucy."

And from that moment, the castles were rejoined and the two young adults were never alone again. They spent their days side by side, talking, telling each other all the things they couldn't before.