Hey all!

Yes I am back from the dead! And let me formally apologize for making y'all wait. I just spent a week in missouri where the bugs in their pools bite and all the waiters refer to you as 'dear' or 'hon' which was totally weird and sketchy but oh well the food was good-ish. Buuuut I did ride Veruckt which is the world's TALLEST FREAKING WATERSLIDE

So a few of you have been complaining about all the angst that has occured of late. I must formally apologize for any pain that I have caused.

Just kidding, I regret nothing. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

But it does get better from here! Um well maybe after this chapter. I think. Pretty sure. Well there is that one part…

You know what? Let's add some Nalu to this chappy. You're welcome. (And by that I mean very welcome cuz it turned out to be a much bigger moment than I anticipated.)

Without further ado, Chapter 15!

Natsu's POV

The guards shove me roughly down several flights of stairs, causing me to stumble and lose my footing several times. I wrinkle my nose as I am taken deeper into the filthy dungeon, feeling my stomach churn at the scent of blood, sweat, and bodies that haven't bathed in years. If there's anything down here that's even remotely pleasant, it's drowned out by the overwhelming reek of human misery.

I peer inside each cell we pass, examining the faces of the imprisoned. I stop myself from staring at the children sleeping on the cold floor.

Finally, after ten flights of stairs, they push me into a cramped cell and bolt the door with a bone-jarring thud.

I'm left alone in the cell, surrounded by concrete walls on all four sides. After recovering from my rather unceremonious entrance, I throw myself at the door with all my might, testing its strength. It doesn't budge. Roaring, I throw my shoulder against it once more, to no avail.

With a sigh of defeat, I shuffle across the cell and plop myself down on the slimy floor. My cell is dimly lit; the only light comes from a flickering torch a few feet down the hall. In that light, I can just barely make out a small chamber pot in the far corner, and a pile of filthy rags next to it. I lean my head back against the wall, wrinkling my nose at the stench. What have I gotten myself into?

"Lucy isn't yours. Lucy is mine, and I won't let you have her. You don't even deserve to call her your daughter. So for all I care, you can take your stuck-up, ridiculous ideas and take 'em to hell with you."

I just told the King to go to hell.

I press my lips together, glaring at the wall. I don't regret anything. He deserved it.

But Lucy….

I saw her expression. She wasn't relieved to see me. She wasn't happy. If anything, my appearance brought her more grief. I guess I can't blame her; our situation isn't exactly looking up. But she should know by now that I'm not going to let her go through this alone.

The next morning, or what I think must be morning, the squeaking hinges of my cell door jolt me from a dreamless sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and stretching out a few kinks, I squint against the blinding light, barely able to see the guards who are reaching for my arms. Without a word, they drag me up the stairs once more.

Before I am fully awake, I find myself back in the council room. It's mostly empty this time; there are only four people present.

I feel the hairs rise on my neck as I raise my head to see the King in all his cruel glory. He sits behind his desk, looking at me with a cruel glint in his eyes. I swallow down the dread rising in my throat.

As the guards release me and leave the room, I take note of the other three people present. There's Hades, looking smug with his neatly pressed uniform -I clench my fist to keep myself from hurling a string of profane insults in his direction-and some young man who I don't recognize, but his eyes match Lucy's own warm brown ones. Then, there's Erza, standing off to the side, and looking like she would rather be anywhere else. Our eyes meet briefly, but she quickly averts her gaze. We both know there's nothing she can do for me.

The king clears his throat, sending me the coldest glare I have ever seen. "Natsu Dragneel. You've given me quite a lot of trouble over the past few months."

I shudder at his tone, but mask my apprehension with a cocky grin. "Trouble? I've given you trouble?! You have no idea what the word means. If you think that what I've been giving you is trouble, then you're welcome, you old bastard."

My words come out a lot louder than I intended. I realize that it's stupid to say something like that to the King of Fiore, but...well, I can't help it.

To my surprise, the king laughs, stepping out from behind his desk. "Impudent. I like you. It's more satisfying to break the defiant ones."

A growl rumbles through my chest. "You won't break me."

In a flash, pain erupts through my stomach, and I double over, barely recovering before he brings his knee back once more to strike. I'm tough, I've been bruised and beaten plenty of times. It will take a lot of effort to put me on the ground.

I take a shuddering breath, standing slowly. I look him in the eye steadily.

My hands are behind my back, secured with cuffs. If my hands were free, he would be dead by now. "Hitting a man while he's helpless? I knew you were a scumbag, but really..."

"Oh, but you're not a man," He grunts. "You're not even human."

With the last word, his fist slams into my jaw, making me stumble. I suppress a few curses, controlling my temper quite effectively. I won't give him any satisfaction.

"You may have convinced my daughter," He knees me in the stomach yet again, sending me to my knees. My abdomen aches, and at the moment I want nothing more than to curl up in a ball. "-but I see through your deception. You are a monster. You aren't even worthy of the human shell that you wear to disguise what you really are."

My gut twists angrily at his words.

"Are you sure you aren't-" The breath is stolen from me when he buries a punch in my chest, and I wheeze to get air in my lungs. "-describing...(gasp)...yourself?"

He raises a hand, and I prepare for the next blow. "I do what's best for my country. Fiore will be made great again, and it will have Jude Heartfilia to thank for it!"

Pain blossoms in my ribs. I'll admit, he's surprisingly good at this. I didn't think he would even know how to punch.

I'm vaguely aware of Erza watching, concerned, from the side of the room. I don't expect her to interfere, and she doesn't. We both know this is my problem to deal with.

How many times has he hit me? I've lost count. But more imminent in my mind is the thought that this is the man that Lucy grew up with. How many times did he hit her? How many tear-filled nights were spent hiding from the man who killed a whole race?

Even though my mind is clouded by pain, I don't lose sight of the one ray of hope that tells me we'll get out of this, together. Always together.

I stare numbly at the wall. It's all my fault, I guess, thinking that I couold fix all my probems just by running away. I should've known from the start, that no matter what I do, I'll always end up back here.

I lie down atop the fluffy feather cushions, which are way too lightweight and don't give me any comfort at all. I find myself missing the simple quilts from my bedroom back home, with Natsu and Happy and Fairy Tail. Except that now, none of that matters anymore. I can never go back for fear of giving them away.

A lump forms in my throat. I'm sorry Natsu. I didn't thank this would happen. Thinking of him, all alone, injured, and imprisoned somewhere in the palace, makes my heart hurt.

Twin tears roll down my cheeks. In a few days the engagement will be settled, and I'll prepare for a new life-without Natsu.

And I wonder, what will it be life? To lose everything and start over, still carrying the memories with me for the rest of my dull and unhappy life. Without him, I'm not the same person.

I would rather die, but I can't. Not with my friends depending on me to protect them all.

So resign myself to my fate, knowing there is nothing I can do to change it. But that still leaves the matter of making sure everyone I love is safe.

I don't have a clue how I will free Natsu, but I will. I can manipulate father into releasing him, then somehow convince the dragon-prince to leave without me and never come back.

I only hope he can go on living for both of us, because as soon as I say "I do," the rest of my life will be spent in a foreign land, where no one wants me and where I will be expected to perform all the boring royal duties expected of a Queen.

I hate him. My father. The man who ruined my life.

Someone knocks at the door. Maybe a servant, come to bring tea or something.

"Come in." I say without really caring either way.

The doors open, and in walks the one person I need to see right now. My brother.

He pauses just inside the room, looking me over with a slightly concerned gaze. "Hey, sis."

I don't wait another moment; I jump off the bed and nearly tackle him with a hug, holding on tight and burying my face in his chest, crying like I did when we were younger, and I was scared of the dark or upset about some trivial dispute. Only now, it's grief that I'm feeling, and it's tearing me apart from the inside. There is no stopping it, and these emotions are raw, human, and horribly real. He just hugs me tight and lets me cry, stroking the top of my head in a soothing manner.

Finally, the tears stop coming. I break away, looking up at the only real family I have left in the world. He looks sad, but also angry. Very, very angry.

"I swear, I will kill that man. Look what he's done to you!" He growls. It seems like I've heard those exact words from Natsu before.

I nod, not daring to speak. After several shaky attempts to compose myself, I manage a few words. "He has Natsu."

"I know. But your friend will live. He's got a few bruises, a few broken bones, but he's still just as loud and mouthy as he was when he arrived."

Another person enters the room, a guard. I narrow my eyes in suspicion. "Who's that?"

Malachi turns around. "Right. Lucy, this is a friend of mine, Captain Gray Fullbuster."

Said friend nods his head in my direction. "Highness."

I stare him down skeptically. "Gray Fullbuster? As in, Gray Fullbuster?"

"Of Fairy Tail, yeah. The one and only."

Malachi looks back at me. "Look, Lucy. He and I have been forming a plan to…" He looks behind his shoulder, and lowers his voice. "We've been planning to overthrow the king."

"What? How?" I gasp. I never thought Malachi would ever be capable of stepping even just a bit out of line.

He frowns, "We'll tell you later. For now, there's someone you might want to see."

My heart starts doing cartwheels in my chest. Natsu.

They take me down more flights of stairs tha I've ever been before. Malachi occasionally uses his authority to deter a few curious guards, but we finally arrive at a set of heavy metal doors.

"What is this?" I ask. We're on a very deep, dark level of the palace, deep underground. Nothing but torches light the passage.

Gray grimaces. "It's a dungeon. Haven't you been down here before?"

I shiver, shaking my head.

Malachi turns a key in the lock, pushing the doors open with a loud creak Light floods into the dark room beyond.

I look inside, and catch my breath, Inside are two very large iron cages, like the kind you might fit a huge beast in. The rest of the room is filled with tables, each hodling an assortment of wicked instruments.

I turn my attention to the first cage, which holds a pink haired figure, slouched in the far corner like a ragdoll.

"Natsu!"

With a groan he lifts his head, but as soon as he sees me, he gets up and grips the bars with white knuckles. "Lucy!"

My feet carry me forward so that I'm kneeling in front of him, tears streaming down my face. "You look awful. What did they do to you?!"

And he does. There's a nasty bruise on his right cheekbone, and he's clutching his ribs like it hurts to move. No doubt his old wounds have reopened.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"No, you're not fine. Have you even done anything to fix yourself up?" I exclaim, exasperation mingling with the worry that only grows bigger with each passing second.

"The idiot badmouthed the king and got himself beaten up for it." Gray says helpfully.

"Gray! You're here too?" Natsu looks up with a grin that's just a little less bright than normal.

The guard looks at his friend with tired, concerned eyes. "I'm here. Where I'm actually supposed to be."

I hear the click of a lock as my brother opens the cage door, nodding in my direction. "Well, I'll let you fix him up. Gray, a word?"

As the two companions retreat to the other side of the room, I grab a wad of bandages and a tub of healing salve.

"Idiot." I mutter as I sit beside him on the cold iron floor.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've heard that this week." He grunts, eyeing me carefully.

I place a hand against his cheek, examining the bruise. He tries to cover up the grimace on his face, but only ends up sucking in a breath and squeezing his eyes shut. "Ow."

"Maybe if you used your head for once, it wouldn't hurt so much." I dab at some of the dried blood with a damp rag.

"Since when have I ever used my head?" He forces a laugh. "And besides, I've been waiting to say some of those things for ten years. Do you really-Ow, that hurts!-think I'd give up the chance to give him a piece of my mind?"

I shake my head in defeat, unrolling a few feet of bandage to wrap his black and purple abdomen. "You're just making more work for me. And don't you dare go getting yourself killed, since you seem to love pissing off important jerks."

He chuckles, which quickly turns into a wheezing cough. He leans his head back against the bars, closing his eyes, exhausted. "Where would I be without you?"

"Not here. Don't lie to yourself, Natsu. If it weren't for me, you'd be safe back home, and no one would ever have disturbed your life. No one would want you dead. No one would be hunting you down." I snap sharply, feeling my eyes start to fill with tears again. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be in this mess.

"Don't say that, Luce. No one forced me to do anything. It was my choice to get involved and I haven't regretted it for a moment." He reaches to gently wipe a tear from my cheek. "Besides, I'm not gonna let you spend the rest of your life married to some jerk."

I give him a sad smile, tying off the bandages around his ribs. "There's nothing either of us can do about it. I'll….I'll become queen of Bosco. I'll convince the King to let you go. You and everyone else can go live somewhere far away from his reach."

"Like hell I'm gonna let that happen." He growls.

I don't meet his eyes. I'm afraid that the passionate inferno that I'll find will completely shred my resolve, like it's done so many times before. "It's the only way."

"It's not the only way. We'll find another." Natsu murmurs. "I love you, Luce. I can't let you go like that."

I don't speak. My tongue can't form the words to put what I feel into speech. So I just nod, letting him plant a firm kiss on my lips. We might as well savor the time we have. There's no convincing my dragon prince that it's over, that there is no possoible way for us be together. So I don't try. I just wrap my arms around him, as the tears begin to fall and the uncontrollable sobs begin to wrack my shoulders. His arms wrap around them and hug me tightly to his chest.

Just one more day. Is that too much to ask? One more day back at the estate, one more day to just be. Him and me. Natsu and Lucy. A dragon and a Princess. Who would've thought?

Something wet drips onto my forehead. I look up to see that Natsu's crying too, silently. It hits me that I've never seen him cry.

"Natsu…."I begin, looking up at him. My voice trembles slightly, sounding incredibly weak. We're running out of time. "I'm...I'm scared."

He shuts his eyes tightly, pulling me closer without saying a word. I feel his body shaking with silent sobs. So I stay there, letting him hold me, because this will be the last time.

The last time. No more carefree days spent on the beach, or in the town. No more joking around. It's time for me to let go of this dream and go back to reality, in which I'm a princess and there is no knight in shining armor, in which nothing is fair and happy endings aren't possible, in which I'm expected to wear awful, stiff dresses and have tea with boring old delegates who make a habit of staring down young womens' bodices.

"You'll find someone else, when I'm gone." I whisper into his chest. "You'll get over it. Please, promise me you will."

He doesn't respond.

"Natsu, please promise you'll do at least that." My voice shakes, and I'm afraid I'll break into incomprehensible blubbers. "I'll feel more at peace if I know that you've moved on. There're plenty of girls out there, maybe you could-"

"Shut up!" He hisses. "Shut up! I don't want to hear any of that shit! If I'm freed, I swear, I will spend the rest of my life getting you back. Even if they lock me up and you marry that man, I won't give up until I've gotten you away from here. From them. From the whole damn country."

He scowls down at me, his cheeks still streaked with tears. "So don't you dare talk like that, Lucy Heartfilia. You're mine, and no one else's. Don't go giving up hope on us."

Our lips clash in a matter of moments, and I revel in the way we're totally synchronized. The taste of his lips on mine. The smoky smell of his hair, his clothes. The way he holds me close to him like he never wants to let go. There is no doubt in my mind that he is, and always will be, the one man I can ever love. And there is also no doubt in my mind that my heart will be torn into two pieces when we're seperated forever. He'll always have that piece of my heart.

"I love you." I whisper when we break apart, foreheads still touching.

Somewhere in the background I hear Malachi telling me that it's time to go. Somehow I find it in me to nod, making my legs stand and move away. But all I can see is a head of rosy pink hair.

As we leave the cold, dark room, the last thing I see is the doors closing and Natsu watching us go.

IT's DONE! CHAPTER 15, AFTER LIKE A WHOLE YEAR! Sorry for going MIA on y'all, I will just say this took me so much effort and self-motivation. But I did it! Only….um…*mentally tries to count remaining chappies* *fails because of mental retardedness after not having school for a month*

So has anybody been reading the manga? Chapter 494 just came out and omg just omg I can't handle anything that Trollshima has been throwing at us. I mean, this latest hapter wasn't nearly as bad as the others, but still….and no spoilers but who/what is Rakheid!? What the heck is going on here?!

-end rant-

Until next time, my dudes!