Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

AN: Another fic that was sitting in my files for a long time. I finally finished it.

Where is she? Laxus thought as he scanned the guild from his spot on the second floor. He saw Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel insulting and throwing punches at each other. Juvia was behind a pillar, cheering Gray on and catching his clothes when he stripped them off. Erza was sitting at a table near the bar eating strawberry cake happily with Levy, reading a book at that same table. Mira was behind the bar, serving drinks to Cana and his grandfather. The Thunder Legion were sitting at the same table he was, each doing their own thing. He saw almost everyone except for the one person he wanted to see.

Guess she's not coming in today either, he thought, feeling slightly grumpy at the fact he could not see her. It's been a few days since Fairy Tail's resident celestial mage last came to the guild, and he couldn't help but be worried about her. It wasn't like Lucy to not show up to the guild after a few days. However, since her team was not panicking or scrambling to search for her, he had to assume everything was fine. He placed his head on the table and sighed.

Evergreen, noticing his grumpy mood, gave her two cents. "If you want to know where Lucy is, all you have to do is ask her team or Mira."

Laxus quickly shot up from his position and gave her a pointed look. "You know I can't do that." The Thunder Legion were the only ones who knew of his affections towards the celestial mage. Time and time again, they encouraged him to ask her out on a date, but he stubbornly refused. Saying that he was content with the way things were between them.

"Why not?" She opened her fan and fanned herself. She wanted Laxus to ask her out. Lucy was a good person for Laxus to be with. Plus, she noticed the way Lucy looked at him as well, so she was confident that she liked him as well.

He gave her a different look this time. One that said you know why. If Mira found out, she would forever annoy him and Erza might skin him alive. He preferred to be in one piece. Plus, he wouldn't want to make things awkward between them if she didn't like him back.

Evergreen was tempted to smack the man in front of her with her fan. "Ugh. You're hopeless. If you like the girl, just ask her out." She had a feeling that Lucy was waiting for Laxus to make a move.

Bickslow stuck his tongue out in agreement. "Yeah, Bossman. Stop stalking her and start talking to her."

Laxus sputtered a reply. "I'm not stalking her. I just like to observe her. It's not my fault she falls into my line of sight."

The Thunder Legion gave him a deadpanned look. Freed responded. "Ever's right. If you like her, ask her out. How long are you going to wait? Lucy's a highly attractive woman who's on the market. Some other guy might come along and steal her away from you."

Laxus was just about to respond to Freed when he froze at the mention of Lucy's name downstairs. He made a shushing gesture to his team so that he could listen in. Having dragon hearing in these types of situations was a huge perk since he can easily eavesdrop without no one knowing. He was concentrating hard on the conversation between Mira, Erza, and Levy.

Levy closed her book and looked at Erza. "Hey Erza, Lu-chan hasn't come by the guild for a few days. Is everything alright? I know that she's not working on her book because she already gave me the chapters."

Erza finished her last bite of strawberry cake and wiped her mouth with a napkin. She responded, "She is in Crocus at the moment. The Princess wanted her help with something, so she left today. I don't know the exact details of the job, though."

Mira was wiping glasses behind the bar. She knew that Laxus was listening in on the conversation, so she spoke a little louder than usual. She put her hand under her chin and sighed. "Huh, I didn't think she would accept that job. I guess she couldn't refuse the princess."

Erza turned to Mira with a surprised look. "She told you about the job?"

Mira smiled brightly at them. "Yep. And I wouldn't call it a job, per se. More like a meeting. Specifically, a marriage meeting." She internally smirked when she heard Laxus almost choking on his beer. Hook, line and sinker.

Erza turned red and stuttered. "M-m-m-marriage. Oh, my." She fantasized herself wearing a wedding dress and marrying the man of her dreams. Steam came out of Erza's ears as she started thinking about her wedding night and her honey-moon with a certain bluehead.

"Why is Lucy attending a marriage meeting with the princess," asked Levy. Levy already knew of the situation since Lucy told her everything. She acted like she knew nothing, since Laxus was most likely listening in. It was high time for the man to make a move, so she and Mira conspired to get the two blondes together. All they had to do was make the man misunderstand the situation as much as possible.

Mira responded. "I heard she needed Lucy to attend the meeting with her. The meeting is with a prince from the country of Desierto. There were negotiations happening in the capital between the two countries and met her there. He claims it was love at first sight and sent a marriage proposal. Since it may become a union between two nations, the King is also attending the meeting."

"A prince!" Levy gushed at that and sighed dreamily. "How romantic. Lucy's very lucky to have a prince courting her. You think she's going to say yes?"

Laxus's heart sank at that. A freaking prince. Of course, she'd attract the attention of a prince. She's certainly caught the attention of a dragon. Laxus groaned. This whole situation sounds cliche. He felt hopeful when he heard Erza's next comment.

Erza went back to her usual self and replied. "I don't think so. However, I don't know how she's going to refuse a prince. He might not react well to it since things are still tense between the two countries. He might threaten to declare war or the King might tell her to say yes for the sake of uniting the two kingdoms."

Levy gasped at that and got a little teary-eyed. She deserved a freaking award for her acting. "Poor Lu-chan. She might get forced to marry a man she doesn't love. Someone has to save her before the meeting starts."

Laxus internally agreed with her and got up from his spot. Yeah, someone needs to save her alright. No freaking pansy-ass prince was going to take his woman away from him, he thought. He was going to charge in there and tell the man that Lucy is his and he can't have her even if it meant going against the King and a prince of another nation.

He ignored what his team was telling him and went downstairs to the bar. He marched up to the ladies and slammed his hand on the table. "Where's Lucy," he asked in a dark tone.

The girls were startled at his sudden appearance. Then they noticed the dark aura he was emitting.

"C-crocus," stuttered Levy, feeling intimidated by the dark aura Laxus was emitting, including his domineering height. "T-they are meeting at the Blooming Bliss hotel at 6." The design of the hotel was based on a Ryokan; a Japanese-style inn, but Levy doubted that Laxus was interested in information like that.

Laxus nodded with gratitude. "Thank you." He glanced at his watch and noticed that the time was 5:45. He could easily get to Crocus with his lightning teleport, however finding the hotel was a different story. If Laxus wanted to make it in time, he had to depart now.

Laxus scurried out of the guild outside to teleport to Crocus. After hearing the sound of lighting come from outside, Mira and Levy stare at each other with a gleeful smirk, giving a thumbs up.

At Blooming Bliss

Lucy let out a tired sigh, leaning her back against the door she just closed. She smoothed the skirts of her tea length dress to calm her nerves. The dress was quite adorable, if she did say so herself. It was a white dress with pink flowers that had a ruched bust and puff sleeves. Lucy decided on going simple with her makeup and leaving her hair down in curls.

To her relief, the talks with the foreign prince were going well. When the princess first came to Lucy with the request, she was not sure what to make of it at first, but was happy to help the princess out. The request did include the well-being of her country as well and a union between not only two countries but two people in love. Currently, they were taking a break, so Lucy decided to come out and take a breath of fresh air.

Lucy was admiring the view from the balcony when a loud boom caused her to jump in place and turn around frantically. "Eep!" She was surprised to see Laxus looking at her with a serious expression. "Laxus! What are you doing here?"

Laxus marched towards Lucy and grabbed her shoulder, looking at her from head to toe and making sure not a hair was out of place. She looked extremely pretty, but now was not the time to look. He had to hurry up and get them out of there. "Thank God I made it in time and that you are alone. Don't worry Lucy. I'm here to help you escape. Mira and Levy told me everything. That you are being forced to marry against your will. Don't marry a man you don't love!"

"W-what?" Lucy finally managed to get a word out when Laxus tried to pull her towards the stairs. "I can't leave!" What is going on? Why is Laxus here?

"If you are worried about the repercussions from the kingdom, Lucy, don't worry. I will protect you with my life," stated Laxus passionately, holding Lucy's hand in his own, staring into her pretty brown eyes. The current situation made him feel bold and lose his usual awkwardness. It was now or never. He had to tell Lucy how he felt. "I've liked you for a while, but never had the courage to say anything. But I couldn't just stand by and let you marry someone against your will."

"Wait, a minute! Who said I was getting married," asked Lucy, interrupting Laxus from his rant. His confession made her feel flustered, but happy at the same time. He did have an interest in her. However, it seems Laxus has no clue about what is going on. "I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"There's a prince in there, right? And the princess is making you attend this meeting and talk to him, right? Marriage talks are happening, right?" Laxus started to shoot questions left and right.

"Yes, yes, and yes," answered Lucy in rapid succession, placing her arms on Laxus's shoulder to calm him down. The sight of his red ears made her smile. "But not for me. I'm not the one getting married." Lucy explained she was there to translate and mediate between the couple. The lady's father wanted a female chaperone to be in the room, so Lucy was selected alongside with the princess who was hosting the meeting, making sure things were going well.

Laxus let out a soft oh. The realization of what he just did made his cheek tinge with pink. He just confessed to the girl he liked. Feeling slightly awkward and embarrassed, Laxus looked away from Lucy. "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry," murmured Laxus, his hand covering most of his red face. "Please forget I said anything." He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. Anything to get him out of this situation.

"Forgive me, Laxus, but I can't do that." Lucy gently removed his hand from his face, giving him a gentle smile when he opened his eyes. "That would mean acting like I didn't hear your confession." She clasped the hand in her hand with her fingers, gently squeezing it. "I would have to hear your confession to acknowledge your feelings and accept it, of course." Lucy felt herself get embarrassed and her cheeks flushed red at her bold statement.

Laxus's eyes went wide when he realized what Lucy was saying. However, he still wanted confirmation. "Wait. Does that mean…"

Lucy gave him a tiny nod, her cheeks burning brighter. "Took you long enough," she whispered softly, however Laxus was still able to hear it.

Laxus was about to respond when he heard some shuffling from behind the door. Without even thinking, he grabbed Lucy and hid the both of them behind a pillar. His arms were wrapped around Lucy, her face rested against his chest. Laxus was sure Lucy could hear his heart pounding.

"Lucy," Princess Hisui called out, her footsteps coming close to the pillar they were hiding behind. Laxus clutched Lucy closer to his chest with Lucy wrapping her arms around his back in response. Now it became a matter of not getting caught by the princess, since it seemed too late to come out. "I could have sworn she came out on the balcony." The sound of her footsteps started to fade as she went to check the other side of the balcony.

Damn it. I wasn't thinking straight. How am I going to explain to the princess the reason for my appearance? The last thing he wanted was to explain to the princess that he misunderstood the situation, almost committed treason, and confessed to Lucy.

"Laxus," said Lucy softly, causing him to loosen the surrounding arms. She glanced up at Laxus with a tiny smile. She stood on her tippy toes and brushed a chaste kiss against his left cheek, causing him to freeze in place. "Let's continue this back home when I'm done." Lucy removed herself from Laxus's arms, missing the warmth already, and headed back into the room.

Laxus stood still for a few more seconds, trying to process what had just happened, and his face burst into a grin. Gathering his magic, he teleported back into the guild, waiting for his princess to come back home.

Lucy let out a tiny smile when she heard the sound of lightning, greeting the princess again when she came into sight.

"Huh. Was it supposed to rain today?" The princess wondered out loud. This is the second time she heard lightning in the vicinity, but no rain. She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed Lucy's arm as they headed back into the meeting room.