Hey guys, here is Chapter 2, thanks for the responses in the last one, hopefully I can keep it up. R&R

The fully armoured palace guards were swift and unquestioning in carrying out the orders of their Princess. This speediness had been instilled in them during their rigorous and intense training. It made them fearsome exterminators, unhesitating in pursuit of a kill, as was so often expected. To be unquestioning however was not instilled by training. Quite the opposite in fact! They were encouraged to ask questions – find out as much information as possible within reason of course when faced with time constraints.

It was a sense of fear and survival on this occasion that made them unquestioning. They were aware of the very real consequences of questioning crowned Princess Azula – if they valued their continued existence they had to be totally obedient. They dared not question Azula's order that the unknown boy should be taken to her chambers. Many were thankful that she was also of a mind to order him clothed since anything he had been wearing had been cremated during his entry into the palace grounds

She had also ordered that the boy should be placed in restraints: steel cuffs and shackles to bind his arms. This was ostensibly for his own safety of course:he had after all started to thrash around unconsciously when they were clothing him so he had to be restrained. Those guards who had had their helmets and armour dented by the boys apparently immense strength were only too happy to oblige their lady.

Within ten minutes, the Princess's orders had been carried out, but she was unimpressed to say the least. The boy should have been delivered to her chambers, clothed and trussed in far less time. She restrained herself from scathing criticism though as she was aware that many of the guards were occupied with the damage to the palace - some delays were to be expected.

"Very good, put him down on the bed, then go assist with the repairs. I will handle things from here." Like always her orders were acted upon instantly. Now she was alone with the unconscious boy. She settled herself into one of her recliners as she pondered on the days' events and the pink haired oddity in front of her. As she contemplated the boy, she began to appreciate his very unusual physical characteristics. For one - pink hair? Nowhere in the world was that considered normal, not even in the most extravagant provinces of the empire.

And why were there no signs of any injuries on the boy, given his violent entry onto the palace grounds? There were no burns or bruises to be seen. His body should be riddled with both, given he had fallen from at least ten metres above the ground and yet barely a scratch. He must be incredibly hardy to have survived she thought. He was surely a mystery and she did not enjoy the feeling of ignorance. She had to satisfy her curiosity.

She thought on how to awaken the sleeping boy and soon an idea clicked. Rising from her recliner, she walked over to one of her incense burners. The overwhelming scent of the incense was an excellent stimulant and was often used to rouse heavy sleepers. It should work well here.

She positioned the burner directly below his nose and held it there. Almost instantaneously, the incense worked its magic: there was a loud yell as the boy's nose coiled back, trying to escape the odour. His brown eyes shot open as his brain tried franticly to figure out what was happening. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" His voice was a combination of disgust and anger. He couldn't believe someone would do something so cruel. His poor nose!

Azula merely smirked at his reaction and discomfort: "Lower your voice when addressing royalty commoner." She snarled coldly. "Now tell me who you are and where you have come from." If she kept him on the defensive throughout this conversation he'd learn to respect her position and fear her.

Or so she thought. His response was far different from what she was expecting. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself to me? After all that sneak attack you pulled was totally unfair!" he tried to bring his hands up to tend to his sensitive nose only to find they were restrained. He glared at her resentfully.

"My name's Natsu, Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail! Best guild in all of Fiore!" he said this with a huge amount of pride in his voice and why shouldn't he? His comrades had fought hard to make their guild number one during the Grand Magic Games after all. "Now that I've told you who I am you should tell me who you are and where I am." He just didn't seem to understand the gravity of his situation, had he missed the part when she said 'royalty'?

Azula planned to impress upon him the situation. "I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. Now tell me about this Fi-"

"Fire Nation!? That sounds awesome! Are you like a country which only uses fire magic or something?"

Was he mocking her? Not only had he interrupted her, he claimed to be ignorant of the Fire Nation? Everyone in the world knew and feared the Fire Nation!

"But I can't stay here, I've got to get back to Fiore!"

Azula leaned back into her recliner as she continued to look at the boy, considering what he had said. "You're not going anywhere until you answer every one of my questions. Now how did you get here?" Azula's command made Natsu frown for a moment before he shrugged and answered.

"I was riding on…" His face turned green for a second and his cheeks bulged before he recomposed himself and continued "a the train back from my last guild job when I was attacked, or at least I think I was attacked I don't remember much. Maybe some of those dark guild punks managed to get away before I caught them – Did you see a blue cat with me?" Blue Cat? What's a Cat?

"Nothing came with you, well nothing except for this scarf." Azula held up the scarf which he had come down with, she'd removed it while he was being dressed. He saw it and instantly outstretched his hand to receive it.

"Can you give me that back please?"

She handed it back while formulating her next question, though she was once again interrupted. This time by the sound of a rumbling stomach, his. "Heh, sorry I haven't been able to eat for a while"

"Hmm, you've been very disrespectful to me, perhaps you shouldn't receive food." Azula smirked for a second when she saw the boy instantly get on his knees and kowtowing to her in apology, though it would only last for that second as she saw something disturbing.

The manacles that had been around his wrists were gone, left behind Natsu on the tiled floor of her chambers she could see the still glowing cuffs melted through. Not even her flames could do that so quickly and how hadn't he been hurt by the heat!? What sort of bender was he?

"Please! I'm really sorry, I just need some food!" his pleas brought her out of the stupor she'd been in.

She pointed at the cuffs and demanded: "explain how you broke loose!"

"I used my Dragon Slayer magic."

There was a stunned silence. 'Dragon Slayer?' this boy who'd fallen from the sky must be insane! But on the other hand he had just fallen from the sky, so maybe there was something she was missing.

"Very well Natsu… I think you've earned yourself some food. Come with me."