This chapter's probably going to be reaaaallllyyyyyy long.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lucy Heartfilia or Natsu Dragneel. All to Hiro Mashima
I do own however the plot And Horito, who's an OC So yea :)
This is going to be mostly a 'History Chapter'
Enjoy!
One Year Ago...
"Natsuu!" A blonde female yelled from the distance, waving her arms over her head, trying to capture the attention of a pink haired male. He turned around and flashed a grin, giving a small wave with his hand and waited for the girl to catch up. "Yo, Luce."
When Lucy finally caught up she was breathing hard and tried to bend over, finding out that it was rather difficult to do so in a tight-waisted dress. She groaned in frustration before pulling the red cloak with black lace carefully etched on the sides closer to her. Natsu was wearing long black boots, long brown skinny pants that were tucked in his shoes and a long-sleeved dark blue shirt with white droopy sleeves. Including a black cloak that hung around his broad shoulders.
It was in the middle of winter, not the coldest but not the coziest either. Blankets of white snow were laid carefully on the ground, the sun halfway down the mountains. Splattered blots of red and orange filled the sky as a flock of birds were heading south.
"You cold?" Natsu asked simply, glancing at how little the princess of Fiore was wearing.
She shook her head, "N-no, I'm fine. The s-same question goes for y-you." Instant guilt boiled within her stomach as she heard herself stutter. Natsu lifted an eyebrow in amusement before chuckling.
"C'mon. It ain't that cold, is it?"
"Easy for you to say who, oddly enough always stays warm in such little amount of material wrapped around yourself." Lucy muttered beneath her breath, puffs of white mist escaping through her lips.
Natsu grinned at her retort before continuing to walk through the garden and towards the castle.
"So, what did you want to say?" He asked, eyes staring straight ahead.
"Huh?"
"Weren't you calling me?"
"O-oh, well, I was wondering if you want to go the village's book store that I heard just opened around the corner." Lucy said with a hint of thrill while her eyes sparkled with anticipation. "But I guess, since my father called you over, it's gonna be a No, right?"
Natsu shrugged, "Your father said it was urgent," he narrowed his eyes, "And that Horito was asked to join too." Natsu practically growled the name of Horito Kaname, the prince of Delliago. Lucy rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face before realizing it.
"It ain't funny, you know."
"Jealous much?"
"W-what?!" A pink blush started to appear on Natsu's cheeks, he glanced to the other side. Looking at anything other then Lucy.
"Haha! You are jea-lous! He did confess his feelings towards me a few days ago."
"Ain't not. And he's an idiot, no match for you. Besides, didn't you turn him down? Unlike him I won't go jealous over you."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Lucy said, suddenly narrowing her eyes, staring at him with suspicion. Natsu had just babbled things to himself, saying another topic after another, loosing Lucy in their discussion.
The pink-headed opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say something then decided against it.
He groaned in frustration, pushing his hands into his pockets of his pants except... They don't have pockets. Natsu muttered something about habits, his hands flinging in the air as Lucy laughed at Natsu's sudden outburst.
Her attention elsewhere, she didn't notice that she had stepped on an ice spot on the floor. Giving a yelp of surprise her body twisted in mid-air, preparing to fall face-flat on the ground. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the impact on her face except it never came. Instead she felt her arm being forcefully pulled back, and she bumped against the contact of someone's chest.
"You've gotta be more careful, Luce. You know I won't be there for you every minute." A voice chuckled.
Natsu.
Lucy opened her eyes as she felt her cheeks grow hot. "U-um, yeah thanks." She said hastily, pushing herself away from Natsu.
Wait. Did he just say...
"You know, I am careful enough to take care of myself."
"Yeah. Yeah." Natsu said, shaking his head while waving one of his hand as if trying to wave off something.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Lucy eyed him, trying to give him the death stare but it didn't seem to affect him at all.
"Well, you never know." He added a softly, "Especially with that Horito. He would do anything to-"
"What?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.
"Nothin'"
Another thick silence hung in the air, this time, it was Natsu who spoke up first.
"You know you still owe me dinner."
Lucy's eyes widened, digging through her memories for the promise she made to the pink-headed. Failing that attempt she eyed Natsu carefully. "Really..?"
He simply nodded, she could tell he was trying to hold back a smirk.
"When?"
"You even lack of memory skills." His lips curving up into a smile.
"Natsu!"
"A few days ago!" He replied to Lucy's previous question, stopping in his tracks, his eyes widening while holding his hands with his palm facing towards Lucy. "Gosh your scary."
"Excuse me?"
Silence.
"Okay fine I think I do remember making such promise to you." Lucy replied, slightly pouting.
Natsu allowed his hands to fall to his sides, he gave a smile of satisfaction to himself before walking towards the castle again. "You better remember, I might use your promise anytime and I don't want to go explaining all over again."
Then it was awkward, really. Lucy suddenly took interest in the cracks that were formed beneath her. She was so intrigued by it that she didn't notice Natsu stopping to stare at a rose bush. His onyx orbs staring at one flower out of all the others. Carefully and fully aware of the thorns he bent over and plucked the rose. When he looked up he noticed that the girl was already walking a few ten feet away from him, staring at the floor.
"Oi! Lucy, wait up!" Natsu shouted, catching the blonde's attention. She turned around and realized how far Natsu was. And something was in his hand.
A rose?
When they both finally got together again he handed over the rose, blushing he looked away and said only two words. "For you."
Lucy stared at it, thorns could be seen near the top of the stem but the other end seemed to be clear of the spikes. She smiled as she took hold of the flower, their hands brushing against each other.
"What's it for?" The blondie asked, putting the rose under her nose as she sighed in the scent of plain nature. Both of her hands held the flower delicately, as if her life depended on it.
"An apology."
Another two-worded answer. But explains enough.
Natsu wasn't looking at Lucy. Which made her feel uncomfortable. She knew what he meant though. Atleast, she thinks she does. "Are you saying sorry for those retorts back there?" She said, holding back a fit of laughter.
"... Shut up already." He muttered, he swore that his face looked like an over-sized tomato, and it wasn't helping much either. Natsu's shoulder's bunched up, trying as much to not look at Lucy or even allow Lucy to look at him from behind his shoulder as they continued their long walk. Lucy softly giggled, slowly walking behind him.
They both finally reached the castle doors. Both of them standing there like dumb fools for a moment before Lucy reached out and knocked. "It's Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel. Allow us in!" A Click was heard, unlocking the door before her butler was standing before her. "Lucy. Your late for supper. In fact you've skipped it, do you understand how important your heal-"
Natsu looked towards Lucy, arching an eyebrow in an how-do-you-deal-with-this-guy-everyday way. She just shrugged.
"Lucy-dono. Are you even listening?"
"I'm sorry Korin, but, Lucy is freezing and by standing in the doorway won't really help." Natsu interjected, smiling.
The butler, Korin, shot a glare towards Natsu. Though he seemed unfazed by it.
Using her elbow Lucy softly punched Natsu and gave an apologetic smile to her butler, mouthing the word, "Sorry."
Korin sighed, using his index finger to push up his glasses before stepping aside, allowing the two to come in. Closing the door behind them, Korin hurriedly caught up to Lucy. "Lucy-dono. Natsu-san has a meeting with your father and Horito-san." Lucy nodded, sighing inwards before stopping. Natsu stopped as well and slightly turned his upper body giving Lucy a questioned look. She gave him a small wave before speaking, "I'll... head back to my bedroom. I don't think my father would enjoy my company anyway. And besides, if it's urgent then... I guess he's expecting you right now." She was about to leave before adding, "You better leave my father a good impression of yourself, idiot."
Natsu laughed, his arm going over to scratch his head like he always did when he was a bit nervous. "Yeah, yeah Luce. You better not go slipping on some floor cause I won't be there for ya!" He teased, quickly turning so his back faced Lucy and gave a small wave with his hand as he strode through the hallway and disappeared around the corner.
Lucy was about to run up to him and smack him right on the head but he seemed to have disappeared way too quickly.
He must've saw it coming.
She smiled before turning to the right and disappearing into another hallway. The butler walked with dignity towards the opposite direction where Natsu headed, down to the kitchen.
Natsu kept walking, waiting for the hallway to end and then enter to a room with wooden doors to the left. As he walked in the room was dimly lit, curtains pulled and only a small desk-lamp was lit in the corner of Jude; the King of Fiore or also known as, Lucy Heartfilia's father's desk. He observed the room, shelves located on both sides of the room filled with random books. A carpet was laid perfectly in the middle of two single-chaired sofas with a tea table in the middle. Natsu quietly closed the door behind him, obviously the two had chatted while Natsu took his time to arrive. Jude looked up and stared intensely at the newcomer. Horito, who was sitting on the single-chaired sofa to Natsu's right, didn't bother to look up and acknowledge Natsu's appearence.
"Well, join us." Jude's voice was low, ripping the silence in half. Natsu simply nodded and walked towards the chair to his left and sat comfortably. Horito kept his attention on Lucy's father, not glancing at Natsu for the time being.
"We were just speaking of you-"
Natsu twitched.
"And your kingdom." Jude finished, looking over at Horito and nodding at him. Indicating that the prince of Delliago should carry on from now. Natsu relaxed, realizing that his identity as a mage was still hidden.
"We heard that your kingdom does not believe in solving things the violent way, am I right?" Horito said, breaking the train of thoughts of Natsu's. Looking up, he sees that Horito was finally looking at him eye to eye.
"Yea- I mean Yes."
"Well, we were wondering if you could change things a bit there."
Natsu arched an eyebrow, "No. It's simply just there, or more like a tradition, and it's meant to be untouched." He said disapprovingly.
Horito looked at Jude, then back at Natsu. His purple eyes narrowing down with disgust. "Then what's the meaning for an army?"
"Simple defense."
"Scaring the enemies by-"
"Brute Force." Natsu finished the sentence before Horito could.
A flash of frustration could be seen in the purple-haired male, but he quickly dismissed it.
"Physical, huh? No killing and just major injuries." Jude finally inquired, looking at some papers on his desk.
"I'm sorry but asking me questions to violate my own kingdom's years and years of tradition and not even mentioning the reason is actually... discomforting." Natsu said, his voice suddenly dropping.
"Oh. Right. We forgot." Jude said, a smile surfacing from his old features on his face
Horito sighed with frustration, his hand running through his hair as he sat back in the chair. "War." He muttered.
"Excuse me, sugarplum fairy?" Natsu retorted. Obviously effected by the sudden tension in the air.
"You better leave my father a good impression of yourself, idiot."
Shit.
He looked at Jude, expecting an angry, wrinkled face looking back at him but no. It was completely the opposite. His eyes twinkled with expectation and... excitement maybe?
Horito said more determinedly. "We're raging on towards an Era of War."
Silence hung in the air. Except not complete silence. Beyond that wooden door, a rose had dropped on the marble floor. A blonde female couldn't help but mutter out, "Oh Sweet Earthland, No..."
What happened to Lucy after she and Natsu Departed in the Hallway
Curiosity was getting the best of her.
Lucy hated the fact that whenever there was something suspicious, she couldn't help but become nosy with things and discover the secrets laying beneath.
She glanced behind her shoulder, not seeing neither her butler or anyone else she decided to go to her father's study room where the meeting was held and listen to Jude, Horito and Natsu's conversation. Heck, might as well barge in and give a surprise to them all. Wait. No. Her father would scold her. But.. whatever they were talking about shouldn't be too serious, would it? Dismissing anymore questions she turned around and started walking towards her father's study.
It took her quite a while to find the room with wooden doors, even if she grew up in this castle she would often get lost in it. Lucy could feel her heart thumping against her ribcage, she knew that this was wrong but she was eager to know what the three were talking about. To come to think of it, her birthday was coming up soon! Would it be about her? Likely not, but there's still a possibility. She leaned against the door quietly, careful not to make any noise and heard what she came here for.
"I'm sorry but asking me questions to violate my own kingdom's years and years of tradition and not even mentioning the reason is actually... discomforting."
That was probably Natsu, gosh he actually sounds like someone from high-class, for the first time.
The rose still held gently in her hand, she began fiddling it nervously. Lucy started zoning out, thinking of a food that she needed to tell the chef to prepare for the dinner she owed to Natsu.
"Excuse me, sugarplum fairy?"
Lucy jerked at that insult that broke her train of thoughts. Most likely, Natsu again. That jerk, just after she told him to put a good impression in front of her dad. She waited for Jude's rude comment that would surely come after but, it never came. Instead it was Horito who answered Natsu's retort.
"War. We're raging on towards an Era of War."
The blonde's hand suddenly became sweaty causing the rose to drop, her mind went blank, she thought her knees would give out on her any moment. War. War. If she had heard correctly, people who she deeply cared about would go on a battlefield and fight for their lives. "Oh sweet Earthland, No..."
"With whom."
She heard the stern voice, belonging to no other then Natsu.
"With a land from faraway, Xenede."
"That's insane. Xenede is the largest land out of all and of course with the a good amount of supply for war. King Jude, it's only a suicidal mission."
"It's not only King Jude whose going to the war, you know, Natsu-kun."
"What?" He was confused, that much Lucy could tell. But she dreaded for next few words that were about to come out of Horito's mouth. She dared not to listen. Damn Curiosity.
"My Kingdom, Delliago. King Jude's Kingdom, Fiore and Your Kingdom, Natsu, Lekita. Would go raging on to war with Xenede."
"And you think they won't have any other alliances to help them?"
The answer was too muffled for Lucy to listen. She took deep breaths, her heart threatening to leap out of her throat. Slightly shaking her head she was about to pick up the rose when she heard footsteps coming this way.
Shit.
She bent down to pick up the rose but heard a small snap that came from the back of her dress. Immediately she stood back up, her eyes widening in shock.
Shit.
Lucy stared at the flower as the footsteps rang across the hallway, coming nearer and nearer. She could just leave it... but no. Using her high heels she tried picking it up. Using the pointy edge of her shoe she slid it underneath the stem of the flower and lifted her foot.
The rose was lifted by just one end.
High possibility of failure.
Just keep on lifting, and I should be able to grab it. Come on... keep.. going..!
The rose fell back to the ground.
Lucy groaned in frustration, not noticing that the footsteps had stopped and a person wearing a black suit and black pants stood on the side of Lucy.
"Lucy-dono. I thought you were heading back to your room."
She couldn't help but yelp in surprise. Her focus on picking up the flower had blocked out the footsteps that were causing all of this situation. Her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water she sighed in defeat and explained, "Sorry Korin."
"What are you doing here then?" He asked sternly, narrowing his eyes behind his pair of glasses. He was holding a silver tray with a tea set on top.
"I needed to ask my father about some situation." She calmly lied. Then she pointed her finger at the rose that lay in front of her on the floor. "I-I can't reach it. The dress's kind of putting on a limit to how much I can bend down..." Lucy placed one of her hand on her back, remembering the little snap that had happened earlier. Relief flooded her as she felt no holes on her dress. The butler eyed her suspiciously before placing the tray on the ground and bent down to grab the flower before handing it back to Lucy.
"Thank you." She replied, taking the flower and clutching it to her chest. Nodding her head to Korin once more she hurried off. Lucy wasn't sure if she wanted to go to her room just yet, her mind filled with questions and anxiety. Glancing around as she kept walking she turned a sharp right and decided to go to the balcony.
Korin picked up the tray, his raven hair getting in his vision as he straightened himself. Sighing he knocked on the door, hearing a muffled Come in, the butler pushed down the handle of the door and walked in the room as a sudden gush of cool air collided with him. "Your tea, sir." Korin said, placing it on the tea table located in-between Natsu and Horito.
Jude nodded for Korin to leave, and so Korin did.
"I don't think it's necessary to go off into reckless war." Natsu said, continuing where they left off.
"Well, Natsu-kun. Might we inquire something before you reject our request." Jude placed both of his hands together, clutching tightly as rage flickered in his eyes.
"They plan on overtaking Fiore." Horito stated, "And if they do, we're unsure of what they will do to Heartfilia-san."
Lucy.
"What does that mean." The pink-headed growled, "She has nothing to do with this." He indicated, suddenly standing up and glared angrily from Horito, then to Jude.
"What he means is that they might want her to marry to ano-"
"And why would you care?" Natsu pointed out without realizing it.
Crap. With whatever Lucy had told him to do, he was really bad at it.
"Excuse me?" Jude asked, his voice threatening.
A shiver ran down Natsu's back, glancing at Horito he could see a smirk forming on his face. That Creep.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't think it was possible for them to invade the whole kingdom... Just for Lucy." Natsu sighed, sitting back down.
Jude's eyes relaxed a bit before frowning, "They not only target for my daughter but also for my land."
The pink-headed was left with no words, his mind throbbing as information circled through his mind. Clutching his head in distress, they all stayed quiet for a while.
"May I be excused?" Natsu interrupted, he was worn out, and all he wanted to do was speak out all his troubles to Lucy. But he couldn't.
Jude opened his mouth about to say something, then dismissed the thought. "Of course. We'll continue this tomorrow some time. For the time being, I require you two to stay in my castle. I much prefer that instead of you both running back and forth. It's quite bothersome, really." He added, shaking his head while waving off the two. "Do Not tell Lucy about this, once the day arrives she will realize what is happening but for the time being I wish not one word about this out from both of your mouth."
The pink haired stood up, turning around and walking to the door, opening it then closing it. Oh how he wished he could've slammed it, but was it really going to fix anything? No. And Natsu knew more then that. They left him no other choice then to obey, he understood that by the look of their eyes. He felt like being backstabbed a million times when they said that Lucy was even involved in this. Hell no would he allow them to get Luce betrothed to another. "Over my dead body." He growled before walking down the hallway, in search for Lucy.
The tea, was left untouched.
God. Damn. It. Where in the world is she?
Once Natsu had escaped Jude's study room and Horito's unappreciated presence he had gone in search for Lucy. He knew the girl wouldn't be stupid enough to go back out outside. Especially when night has fallen and snow had picked up. This wasn't helping, he had asked everyone who he crossed with. Every single maid, the chef, the servants and even her butler could only shake their heads saying that they did not see the princess anywhere.
So where could she be?
He had opened each door that was unlocked, he could've even explored Lucy's room without her knowing. But he wasn't such an idiot. If she came back and saw him in her room, she would've thrown her very own shoes at him and maybe break a window or something.
But even so.. He had checked every room, including the kitchen, dining room and even the ballroom. Natsu even made sure to check every bathroom. So what was he missing...?
As he passed by the same hallway where Jude's study room was again, he walked by another skinny hallway. Stopping he slightly tilted his head, squinting his eyes as he saw a figure beyond the glass door. How could he have not noticed this pathway? But that figure... Could that be? Natsu began to walk, anger yet relief boiling within him as he realized who it was sitting on a bench on the balcony. Quietly opening the glass door, there sat a shivering female looking at the scene before her.
"Lucy!" Natsu called, rushing towards her not bothering to close the door behind him.
Her face was pale, eyes clouded with misery and frustration. The white parts of her eyes were slightly pink as if she had been, crying.
"Luce..." He whispered in worry, "Have you been crying?"
The blonde stayed quiet, shaking every now and then. Her cloak was still wrapped around her but with such insufficient amount of clothing it was not enough for the night. "Lucy." Natsu repeated more sternly.
"I didn't want this..." She quietly whispered, puffs of mist forming as she spoke.
"What?"
Frustration boiled in the depths of her stomach, there was so much she wanted to say. Her vision becoming blurry because of the water building up in her eyes but she forced herself to hold back her tears as she spoke.
"Y-your going to... To War!" Despite her determination to not cry, that was when her emotions spilled out. She hated it when the people around her, especially the pink-headed could see her weakness, see her crying because she was utterly scared for loosing Natsu during the upcoming war. Lucy covered her face with her hands while her tears spilled out, she was freezing, and she was mentally breaking.
Natsu felt his heart twist as he saw the girl in front of him break down into tears. Truth be told he wasn't as scared as her, he enjoyed the adrenaline pumping in his veins for the sake of his nakama and his own being. But a part of him was dreading this moment, if he couldn't make it back then what would become of Lucy? He shifted closer to the blonde, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. She felt frigid, shivering to the core but her shoulders were jolting from crying. He placed his hand on the back of her head, gently brushing her hair with his fingers. Lucy's palms were against Natsu's chest, for some reason him hugging her gave her comfort, a warm feeling flooding within. She felt extremely safe within his arms, even though tears were flooding out she could also feel anger surging and pouring out.
Her hands turning into fists, she started punching Natsu on the chest, though because the lack of strength she knew it would cause him no harm. "You jerk!" She cried between weeps. "Don't you Dare leave me behind! Natsu Dragneel!"
He could feel her fists making contact with his chest every now and then, he somehow understood that the blonde had obviously overheard what he, Horito and her father were talking about and it made her downright furious. Natsu couldn't blame her, he too was shocked and angered by the sudden situation but he was forced to swallow it whole. "I won't, you weirdo." He whispered softly. Lucy could see him smiling as he said that, his joking attitude could, weirdly enough, slightly put her at ease but that didn't stop the tears flowing and the hiccups following after that.
"Ya know, Natsu Dragneel doesn't know how to die." Natsu added, softly laughing as he held Lucy closer to him hoping that his body would give off enough heat for the blonde. Upon hearing the girl laugh he felt instant relief. Relaxing his arms around her, he watched her as she sat up from where she was a few moments ago, a faint smile upon her face. "Idiot." She simply said, tear streams still there on the surface of her cheeks. Using the back of her hand she wiped away the remaining tears before placing her head on his shoulder. Neither Natsu or Lucy said anything as the scenery unfolded before them. The moon was lit, high up in the sky as stars twinkled like decorations on a christmas tree.
A soft cold breeze whispered by, giving Lucy a shiver and an additional sneeze.
"Oi, we should go back inside.." Natsu insisted, glancing in the corner of his eyes staring at the shivering blonde. A faint hint of pink was colored on his face, realizing that this was what couples would normally do, with the head-on-shoulder thing. They weren't really couples, were they? They were just friends, really close friends, that was all.
But for some reason it kind of stung if he put it that way.
"Y-yeah, that would b-be a gr-reat idea." Lucy nodded, "B-but, promise me something." She sat back up, staring at Natsu as he watched her, wondering what she was going to say next. "Yeah?"
"Come back. Please." He could hear her voice crack at the end, but as if she had a lot of practice with holding back her emotions, tears were not flooding down. Only a single tear drop slid down her face, he reached out his hand cupping her cheek and rubbing his thumb across, wiping the tear away. "It's a promise."
Unfortunately, that was a promise that even he could not keep.
Haha, this is only Part 1 of What Dwells in the Past
I'm sorry if this was REALLLYYYYY long, I just had to clear things up since my friends were confused with the first chapter :) The second part might be a bit shorter, I'm unsure but don't worry, I'll try to keep this story lengthened and well-based 3
Hope you enjoyed it! And yes NaLu MOMENTS BECAUSE WHY NOT?
Reviews, Comment, Suggestions? All Appreciated!
Until Next Chapter!~
Iz.