Chapter 11

Hey guys! So I realized that many of you have pointed out that in one of my earlier chapters I told y'all that Lisanna was dead…then accidently brought her back to life in chapter 9 bc I couldn't remember if she was dead or not. Just to be clear, she IS dead, guys. Sorry about that, I hope I didn't seriously confuse anyone!

Phew! So I'll fix that. Shoutout to everybody who pointed that out!

I sincerely enjoyed writing that last chapter. What author doesn't like to write a kiss scene?

Anyways, lets get back to Nalu. Here's chapter 11!

Lucy's POV

The sun rises over the Dragneel estate, setting everything aglow with fiery light. I flop over on the mattress, shoving my face into the pillow. Is it morning already?

I groan as light floods my bedroom. Even though the nights are starting to get longer, with the arrival of fall, it doesn't seem like I'm getting any more sleep.

The clock reads 6:30. I groan, slump out of bed, and land on the cold floor. I'll have to talk to Natsu about heat. Still half-asleep, I make my way to the closet and throw on a sweater and jeans.

It's been four months since that fateful night in the forest. The military is still searching for me, but I'm not worried. Even when they come here, they never think to search the castle.

I get the furnace going and start a small batch of scrambled eggs. The fire warms me up, and I let out a sigh. That's better.

Natsu is never one to just idly lie in bed for very long. He should be coming downstairs right about…now.

"Morning Lucy!" I hear. Natsu trudges down in a pair of shorts, looking like he's raring to go.

I smile. "Tone it down, Natsu, geez. Normal people aren't so cheerful first thing in the morning."

He grins and steals a coal out from under my frying pan, eating the flames off of it before snatching up another.

"Natsu! Stop it, I need those!" I protest. "Go get your own fire!"

He laughs and steals one more, before I move to block him from the fire with a groan. "Natsu…."

"Aw, come on, Luce. Lighten up, I can always just light another one." He says, finishing the flaming coal with a gulp.

I shake my head and cross my arms. "You can't just go around taking people's fire!"

"Whatever you say, princess." He chuckles. "But your hair is a mess, by the way."

"So? I haven't had time to brush it yet." I say, running my hands through to untangle it.

"Whatever, me and happy don't care." He says, coming behind me to wrap his arm around my waist. "I don't know about the rest of the kingdom, though."

"Thanks a lot." I mutter, leaning into his warmth.

I have to say, these past two months have been maybe the best two months of my life. After what happened between us in the alley, things…changed. I don't know what to call it, because saying that we're dating seems so flippant. But whatever it is that we have, it's good.

"Natsu?" I say softly.

"mm."

"I love you."

He chuckles softly. "Well, what a relief."

"I mean it." I say, twisting around in his arms to face him, and momentarily forgetting about breakfast.

He smiles, flashing a set of sharp canines. "I know."

I roll my eyes and let him sneak in a kiss. "What do you want to do today?"

He shrugs. "I don't care. Anything goes."

A boom resounds throughout the castle. I jump, accidently squeezing Natsu's arm way too hard, and we exchange a look of surprise. The noise comes again, and I realize that there's someone at the door, and that someone isn't very happy.

Natsu's green eyes flash. "Go hide, Lucy. I'll see what it is."

I nod, swallowing hard. These kind of things don't happen very often, and it still makes me nervous every time. I scurry up the stairs to crouch at the banister, where I can still get a good view of what's going on in the entry hall.

Natsu looks around for anything that might give away my presence. Satisfied, he goes to open the door.

Has fate finally caught up to me? I don't know. But standing in the doorway, with a scowl on his face, is none other than General Hades, my father's first military advisor and the man in charge of the entire Fiore military. And behind him, armed to the teeth and looking equally intimidating, is a force of twenty men.

"On the decree of his Royal Highness, King Jude Heartfilia the fourth, you, young man, are under arrest for the kidnapping of Princess Lucy Heartfilia." He says. His deep voice resonates through the stone hall and hits me like a punch to the gut. Natsu is under arrest?

"What are you talking about? I've never seen the princess in my life!" I hear Natsu protest. He's facing away from me, but I hear his voice waver a little bit. Smoke is starting to rise from his palms.

The general clears his throat, looking very much like he has just won a million dollars in a gamble. "And you, for you are Prince Natsu Dragneel, if my suspicions are correct, will be tried and executed for your crimes against Fiore."

How does he know? I ask myself, looking around in a panic. There. How could we be so careless? The Dragneel Emblem hangs proudly just below the banister that I'm hiding behind. It might as well be screaming his identity out loud.

A knot settles in my stomach. I have to do something, fast. But before I can even form a plan, the men overpower Natsu, bind his wrists, beat him and drag him, shouting profanities, outside the castle.

"Find the girl! She's somewhere in this place, I can smell her." The General says. That's when I remember that the general himself is a mage, one who betrayed his fellow guildmates to work for my father. He uses tracking magic, so hiding is useless.

Natsu looks back with fear in his eyes, struggling against the guards who are pushing him to his knees. "Run, Lucy!"

Run? No. I won't abandon him.

I dash through the halls, formulating a plan as I go. If I can make it to the tunnels, I can warn the rest of Fairy Tail, but it might be too late for Natsu by then.

I run, my feet slipping on the cold stone floor. I run through the castle, ever aware of the pounding of feet behind me. I'm sure Natsu can hold his own against the few guards left behind to watch him, as long as I lead the rest away from the entry hall.

I make the mistake of looking back, and trip over a loose bit of tile. My body hits the ground with a thud, and before I can stand, a burly pair of arms clamps my arms to my sides and lifts me up off the ground.

"Aaah! Let me down! LET GO OF ME, YOU JERK!" I scream, but my voice doesn't seem to penetrate their ears. Before I know what's happening, they've dragged me outside to join Natsu.

"Lucy? I told you to run!" He exclaims, looking a little bit sick. I meet his eyes as they tie my hands with rope and shove me to the ground beside him.

"SILENCE!" The general roars. "Faces down!"

I hear Natsu's breath grow ragged beside me, as I look down at the ground, panting from my run. I can't go back, I can't go back, I can't go back.

But what worries me more, the one question making my heart thud in my chest, is what will happen to Natsu?

"It took us long enough. You, little missy, have made the king very angry with all of us." Hades booms, crouching down in front of me. "I hope he makes life miserable for you."

Natsu strains against his bonds. "I won't let him lay a hand on her!"

Hades looks at Natsu with disgust. "How cute. How do you intend to do that from the grave, little dragon boy?"

This silences Natsu.

"Throw 'em in the cart." He orders.

Men come forward to lift me off the ground like a sack of flour. I kick and scream, and hear Natsu shouting behind me. They're just about to toss me inside the prison wagon when I hear a sound that chills me to the bone.

A dragon's roar.

I try to twist my head to see what's going on, but I don't need to see it to know what's happening.

Natsu has burned clear through the rope. He stands slowly, fists ablaze and eyes a little more manic than normal. His gaze turns to the General, and I gulp as I decide that I never, ever, ever want to be the recipient of that death stare.

Natsu doesn't take his eyes off the General. When he speaks, he is controlling barely suppressed anger, his tone deadly. "Put Lucy down. Now."

The soldier doesn't drop me, but I can feel his arms start to tremble.

"NOW!" Natsu shouts.

The soldier jumps, and in doing so, gives me a loophole to escape. I land on the ground with a thud.

Natsu's fists flame a little bit more, until it seems like his entire body is engulfed in red-hot flames.

"Lucy." He mutters quietly, meeting my eyes. "Go back to the castle. You're safer there."

I nod, hesitating a moment, then running back into the castle as fast as my feet can carry me. Instead of hiding, like Natsu wants me to do, I crouch by the window and watch.

"If you think you can just come in and take her, you've got another thing coming." Natsu is yelling. "I'll pummel each and every one of you into the ground!"

The general smiles coldly, and says something that I can't hear. It obviously upsets Natsu, though, because the dragon prince lunges at the General with a shout.

I watch as they spar, wincing every time Natsu comes too close to the General's sword. After a while, the other soldiers step in, surrounding Natsu like a swarm of bees.

The fighting goes on for an hour. Natsu easily gets rid of the weaker soldiers, swatting them aside without so much as breaking a sweat. After the first twenty minutes of fighting, He's thinned the soldiers out until none remain but the General and six of his troops. These six, as it turns out, aren't to be underestimated. Each of them appear to be seasoned war veterans.

Finally, I cringe in horror as someone sneaks a light blow to Natsu's torso, opening a thin crimson red streak in his side. He lets out a grunt of pain, clutching the wound with an annoyed expression, but continues to fight on with the ferocity of two dozen men.

Something wet drips onto my knee. I reach up to feel tears streaming fast down my face. Looking away from the fight, I grab a handkerchief to wipe away the tears. Natsu wouldn't want me to cry.

He'll win. He's strong.

I hope.

As soon as the thought leaves my head, I hear a sickening squelch. I cover my mouth to hide the sob that comes from deep within, as I watch a soldier pull a dagger, dripping with blood, from Natsu's stomach.

I'm about to go out and stop the fight then and there, but General Hades beats me to it. "Hold it! Hold it, men. Stop!"

The men step back several paces immediately, forming a ring around Natsu. Natsu stands there, still flaming, but looking like he might collapse.

The royal soldiers don't look much better. General Hades himself bears several burn marks and bruises, and he clutches his ribs as if they are broken. Neither side looks like they can hold this up much longer.

"I'm calling a truce. For a few minutes." Hades says, and I sigh in relief. At least it's stopped for now. Without wasting any time, I rush out to check Natsu over to make sure he hasn't sustained any lethal injuries.

"Natsu!" I cry as I hurry to his side.

He turns to look at me. His eyes are tired, but they still hold the same manic fire. "Lucy…"

"Are you okay? Lift your arm, let me see how bad it is." I demand, trying to shove aside the growing doubt rising in my throat.

"It's nothing, Luce. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." He says, and even though he sounds confident, he looks exhausted.

"No you aren't. Let me see."

Reluctantly, he raises his forearm, and I hiss. The blood is already starting to dry around the gash, and it doesn't look very serious. The hole just above his stomach is what really worries me.

Instead of focusing on how bad it is, because I can't do anything about that at the moment, I place a hand on his cheek. "Be careful, Natsu. For me."

He smiles weakly, covering my hand in his. "Of course."

I nod, blinking away the tears that threaten to fall, and stand on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. "For good luck." I smile, pulling away.

After a few moments, Hades finishes talking with his soldiers, and steps forward. "It seems we have received a message from the King. He would like to speak with the princess."

"Absolutely not." Natsu growls, but I squeeze his hand encouragingly and, despite his protests, step towards the General.

"On what business?" I ask icily.

"He has a proposal for you." Hades replies. "If I were you, your highness, I would accept his offer."

I glance back at Natsu, who looks furious. "I will hear him out. On the condition that there is no fighting until we are done."

Hades nods, satisfied, and hands me a communication Lacrima. With one wary glance in the direction of the soldiers, I step inside and shut the door.

I set the Lacrima down on the coffee table, in the parlor. With a deep breath, I run a hand through my hair and swipe my palm across the Lacrima, causing my father to appear.

I take a step back without thinking, before realizing that he's only here in hologram form. He can't hurt me.

His empty brown eyes take me in for a few moments. "Lucy."

I lift my chin and meet his gaze steadily. "Father."

His eye twitches at my defiant glare, but he walks about the room a bit, glancing around. "Quite a nice place you have here. I suppose you find it more to your liking?"

I resist the urge to slap his holographic face. "Yes, quite. Now what do you want?"

He feigns hurt. "Why, to see my daughter again. Is that such a bad thing?"

"We both know that's not true." I snap.

He sighs, and runs a hand through his neatly styled hair. "Alright. Listen, Lucy. I don't want to have to use force to bring you home. But I do want you back here. How can I trust my only daughter to the care of a dragon?"

I just cross my arms and stare him down.

His jaw clenches a little, obviously he isn't used to such defiance. "Lucy, our kingdom will fall apart if you don't return. Bosco is already preparing an invasion force as we speak. This is about more than what you feel. Think about the lives of your citizens!"

I step forward, poking a finger into his chest. "Your citizens, don't you mean? I'm not your princess. I'm not anybody's princess. And as for Bosco? This is all your fault. If you hadn't killed off all the mages and dragons, we wouldn't have had to ever see Bosco as a threat because we would have forces of warriors waiting to crush their troops."

He grits his teeth. "I protected our country from those dangerous lizards. You should be grateful. Instead, you ran off and left the monarchy in shambles."

"Well guess what? Your monarchy can go to hell. We'd be better off under the rule of Bosco." I retort in disgust.

My father narrows his eyes, with a calculated glare. "Lucy, listen to me. You care for the dragon prince, am I right? My sources tell me it was Natsu Dragneel who abducted you." He says, his voice dangerously quiet.

I don't reply. The change in my expression leaves him with a satisfied smirk

"I came here to make you a deal. If you return to me and agree to do your duty as a princess, I will spare the life of the dragon. He can live in peace and no harm will come to him." He says smugly, examining my reaction.

I am careful to keep my expression neutral, but I feel myself falter. What price am I wiling to pay for my own freedom? And on the other side of the coin, what price am I willing to pay for Natsu's freedom?

Seeing as I don't have an immediate response, my father grins maliciously. "If you agree to come back, my men will escort you home peacefully, and Natsu will live. You have my word."

My tongue feels like lead in my mouth. Nothing is worth the price of Natsu's life. If it comes down to it, I'll gladly return to the palace if it means Natsu can live, but I still think he can win this fight.

"How nice of you to offer. But my answer is no." I say, squaring my shoulders. "You can take your men and get off of our property, before Natsu obliterates them all. "

My father smirks. "You'll change your mind, after the second or third attack. In the meantime, my offer still stands. You can come home anytime."

"So not happening." I sneer in disgust, swiping my hand through the hologram and dispersing my father. If only I could do that in real life.

I take the Lacrima in one hand and step outside once more, feeling a sense of growing unease. If my father is going to keep sending soldiers, we can't keep this up.

Natsu is sitting far away from his opponents, with a heavy scowl. He brightens a little when I emerge, but frowns again when he sees my expression.

I guess I'm not as good at hiding emotion as I thought.

I hand the lacrima to Hades, and the man takes it smugly. He knows everything that went on in there, I'm sure of it.

"Well? Did you enjoy your chat?" He asks mockingly.

"No. No, I did not. Don't ask stupid questions." I snap. "I should let you know that I didn't agree to his proposal, so you don't get to turn me in today."

As I turn to join Natsu, an iron hand clamps around my arm. "Not so fast. I'm getting paid by how many days it takes me to capture you, so I'm not going to pass this up."

I stare incredulously at his hand around my arm. "Let me go!"

He laughs menacingly, and another man grabs my other arm.

"You heard her! Let her go! What happened to fighting fair and square?" Natsu growls.

"Mm, no. We'll just be leaving now." He says.

I struggle against them, and look at Natsu in panic. He meets my eyes, and bursts into flame. "I'm not done with you yet. Come here so I can beat you to a bloody pulp."

As if on cue, I wrench my elbow out of Hades grasp and swing it upwards, hearing a satisfying crack as I connect with his nose. He howls in pain and covers his face with a hand, blood dripping out from underneath. When he removes his hand, his nose is oddly bent.

"Damn you wench!" He screams, and raises a hand to hit me. I feel the smack against my cheek like a thunderclap, sending me reeling back to Natsu.

He catches my elbows to steady me. I can feel the tremors going through his muscles, like a deadly spring coiled to strike. He takes my face in his hands, examining the stinging bruise that has already begun to form. A low growl comes from deep in his chest, and, when he releases me, I slowly back toward the castle.

"Bastard! NO ONE HURTS LUCY!" He roars, his body becoming more and more engulfed by flames.

I watch in fascination as the boy I know and love changes into something out of a fairy tail. Scales appear on his skin, his fingers grow into claws, horns grow out of his head, and he grows. A lot. A huge dragon now stands in the middle of a small group of men, who don't look so scary anymore compared to Natsu.

Slamming his huge front feet into the ground, Natsu lets out a roar, shooting a column of blazing white fire into the sky.

I guess the men have never fought against a dragon before, because they cower behind anything they can find—a fencepost, a tree, a rock. Still, the General yells at them to hit him with everything they've got. I hurry to get out of range of Natsu's fire. I can't recognize any sign of humanity left in his eyes, and for the first time, I feel a twinge of fear. If he can't control it, what's to stop him from incinerating me along with everything else.

A blur of blue fur flashes in the corner of my vision. To my great relief, I find a cat flying toward me. "Happy!'

"Lucy! Natsu can handle these guys, but you need to get out of here." The cat says, dodging a bout of flame spewing from the dragon. "Hurry, inside!"

I oblige, watching over my shoulder as Natsu does away with two men easily.

It's at this point that General Hades realizes he can't win. "Retreat! We'll be back another day."

And just like that, the fight is over. Of course, Natsu doesn't realize that. He chases them all the way down to the city, then flies back up to where Happy and I stand. I expect him to eat both of us alive, but he just lands in the middle of the front yard, sending up clouds of dust.

His dragon form lets out one final roar, and then it's just Natsu again, standing there, dripping blood onto the cobblestones.

"Natsu!" I rush to catch him as he slumps forward. "Talk to me, Natsu."

He groans. "Are they gone?"

I look down the road. "Yeah. They're gone. But they'll be back."

With that ominous statement, he nods his head slightly, coughing up blood. "Of course. I hope they don't mind getting roasted again."

I tell him to be quiet, or he'll waste all of his energy, and begin the task of bringing his half-conscious body inside. All the while, I can't help but remember the words that my father spoke.

You'll change your mind after the second or third strike. In the meantime, my offer still stands.

I shudder. We barely managed to defeat them this time. I don't know how long we can hold out for.

Once more, you have succeeded in stealing both my sleep and my homework time. How could you.

Just kidding, I actually write better when I'm tired, so there's that.

Guys I got tired of waiting for the next dub episodes to come out so I broke my resolve and continued watching Fairy Tail in Sub….can I just say, Tartaros is breaking my heart. A lot. And the scary thing is, I'm almost done with it, and I don't know what I'll do once I'm all caught up. Then I'll have to wait just like everybody else.

Sooooooo, yup, there's that. I've been working on my other fanfiction, (I'm debating between calling it Vengeance or something cooler) But I don't plan on publishing it until after I'm done with Dragon's Blood. I don't want two fanfics to update every week.

Have a great life everyone.