Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

"And so, having slayed the dragon, the brave hero took the beautiful princess on his horse back to his castle. There, the two of them were married - and they lived happily ever after."

Lucy closed the book she'd just finished. The blonde closed her brown eyes, smiling as she thought about the tale she'd been reading. It had been a gripping story about a young princess being captured by a fierce, hungry dragon - only to be rescued by a handsome prince

"How romantic…" Lucy sighed. "If only my life could be just like that. I think I'd fit the role of a beautiful princess perfectly…"

The Celestial Wizard opened her eyes again to gaze out of her apartment's window. She saw the moon high up in the starry sky, reflected on the ocean below. It was ironic; her life was very much filled with incredible stories thanks to the Guild she was apart of - which had a similar name to what she had just been reading.

"I do love being a part of Fairy Tail…" Lucy whispered thoughtfully. "But what if my life was like a fairy tale?"

"Heeeeeellllllp! Save meeeeeee!"

Princess Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to attract the attention of anyone who could come to her rescue. The young girl in a pretty pink dress could do nothing to escape the danger she was in. She was chained up to a large rock - and face to face with an enormous, terrifying-looking dragon.

Lucy trembled in terror as she gazed with wide eyes fearfully at the giant reptile.

The dragon grinned menacingly at the princess before him, showing her his razor sharp teeth as licked his lips.

Lucy screamed again, praying that somebody out there could hear her cries.

"Heeeeeellllllp!" she hollered. "Won't a handsome princess come to rescue me?!"

At that moment, something flashed by in the air, passing right above the dragon's head.

Lucy peered up to see what had just arrived at the scene of her peril - before letting off an astonished gasp upon seeing two figures she recognised all too well.

"Natsu! Happy!"

Sure enough, the blue cat was hovering in the air, flapping his white wings. Clinging to his small body was his pink-haired owner, who sent an assuring smile down towards the princess.

"Have no fear!" the feline called. "Natsu and Happy are here!"

"We'll save ya, Lucy!" Natsu called.

Lucy beamed. She'd had a feeling that Natsu would be the one to come to rescue her - although she hadn't at all expected him to arrive the way he did. Most heroes arrived on horseback, not hanging in the air from cats.

Natsu let go of Happy to come down to the ground. He landed in front of the princess, spreading his arms outwards defensively to shield her from the giant scaly predator.

"My hero!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "I knew in my heart you'd save me, Natsu! Hurry and get me out of here before that dragon-"

"Aww! Are you hungry, big guy?"

Lucy's smile vanished, her jaw hanging open in disbelief.

Natsu had stretched his outspread arms towards the dragon - to start playfully rubbing its tummy. The enormous beast rolled onto its back. It happily accepted the affection from the hero - who was making no attempt to slay it.

"Boy, you sure have a lot of fire inside you!" Natsu remarked as he felt the dragon's abdomen. "Even more than me, I'll bet! You and I could make up a huge firestorm together."

"Um, excuse me?!" Lucy burst out. "You're supposed to be taking out that monster!"

"Aww, don't say that about him!" Natsu frowned at Lucy. "He's no monster! He just wants something to eat! Don't ya, big guy?!"

"Well I'm not gonna be on the menu!" Lucy insisted. "I'm too much of a pretty princess to eat!"

Natsu turned back to the dragon. "If I find ya something else to eat, will you leave the grunt princess alone?"

The dragon nodded its large head.

"Good boy!" Natsu smiled and rubbed the huge creature's stomach again. "You wouldn't like to eat her anyway, pal! With her attitude, she'd only give you an upset tummy!"

Lucy growled, clenching her teeth irritably.

"So whatcha going to give him to eat, Natsu?" Happy asked, lowering down to hover alongside his best friend

Natsu turned towards his furry companion - and a broad grin instantly spread across his face.

"Aha!" he said, reaching towards his cat. "The perfect meal for a hungry dragon!"

"Natsu?!" Happy cried, alarmed. "What are you doing?"

Knowing what to give the dragon to eat, Natsu stretched his hand towards Happy - and grabbed the bag that was hanging from around his neck.

"Noooooooooo!" Happy wailed. "Not my fish!"

Diving his hand into the bag, Natsu pulled out all the fish which Happy had gathered inside it. He flung it all towards the dragon - much to the dismay of his cat, who instantly broke down in tears.

The dragon caught all the fish in his mouth. He munched away on them, contented with the fish supper he'd been given - which he didn't spare a bit of for the feline it was meant for.

"There, that's that!" Natsu grinned. "That takes care of him."

"Greaaaaat!" Lucy drawled sarcastically. "Now how about taking care of me!"

Natsu turned back to the blonde. He had almost forgotten about her from watching the dragon happily eat the fish. He unchained her from the rock before escort her from the predator who would now do her no harm.

Away with brave hero went, leading the indignant princess by his one hand - and carrying his bawling cat under his other one.

The sun was starting to set by the time Natsu had gotten Lucy and Happy away to safety. He had brought them to a hill which was overlooking the sea. The sun was sinking beyond the horizon, leaving the land in a beautiful atmosphere for the three, who had all calmed down after the ordeal with the dragon.

Lucy gazed up at Natsu gratefully. She was very thankful for him coming to her rescue. He may have succeeded to get on her nerves - but he had also managed to save her, and that was what counted.

The princess wrapped her arms around her rescuer. She locked them together in an embrace as she gazed into his eyes, her own twinkling at him.

"My hero…" she whispered, pulling herself towards him.

Natsu smiled. He was just bracing himself to lock lips with Lucy - when Happy leaped up onto her head, smiling teasingly down at the blonde.

"He likes yooooooou!"

"SHUT IT, CAT!" Lucy exploded, lifting one arm above her head and angrily bringing it down towards the cheeky feline…

…only for Happy to leap out of the way, resulting in her hand brutally hitting Natsu on the head instead.

"OW!"

Natsu could only cry out loudly in pain as he crumbled to the ground, knocked out by the very princess he had just rescued.

"Oops," Lucy said meekly, gazing down at her fallen hero as she realised her mistake. "Sorry…"

"Oh my!"

The last image she'd been describing to herself made Lucy snap out of her fantasy. The young blonde made a face over how she'd imaged how her life would go if it were anything like a fairy tail. It wouldn't be quite as romantic as the story she'd read - especially if she were to depend on Natsu and Happy to rescue her. Perhaps she was more suited to being a strong Celestial Wizard who could take care of herself instead of a damsel in distress who required a hero to save her.

"Maybe I'm better off being in Fairy Tail," she decided, "instead of being in a fairy tale."

"You're not kidding! I don't want you to beat me up after I went through the trouble of saving you from being devoured by a dragon!"

"And I don't want that dragon to eat my precious fish!"

Lucy's jaw dropped. She swung around to face to figures who had just spoken from behind her back. She rubbed her eyes, wanting to be sure that parts of her fantasy weren't still lingering around.

This was definitely not her imagination.

There in her apartment was the very pink-haired hero and his furry friend who she'd just been thinking about.

"GET OUTTA HERE, YA MORONS!" Lucy screamed as she angrily kicked Natsu and Happy in all her rage - as she always did whenever the boy and his cat let themselves into her home.

THE END