Chapter Text
Magnolia. For centuries all noblemen have pledged their undying fidelity to this kingdom, in hopes of climbing the ranks of knighthood and becoming the King's second in command and most trusted comrade. Natsu Dragneel, though just a local, scrawny, 14-year-old village boy, planned on becoming the right hand. With pink hair and his (supposed) father's scarf, he'd come up from having nothing--no home, no family-- to serving a purpose and protecting others. He could finally be useful and not shunned but admired, so Natsu had to become the King's right hand and nothing would get in his way.
That was until... he was sent to the palace for an unexpected reason.
"Natsu Dragneel," The king's voice boomed. Despite having such a cheerful face, the intimidation he sends through you is similar to picking a fight with a starving lion.
The boy stands still and keeps his mouth shut, too nervous to speak.
"Don't be scared to speak, boy, I heard you know Gildarts?" King Heartfilia bellows.
"That old man? Yea, I knew him for a while..." Natsu says very quickly and scratches the back of his head.
Is he being too informal?
"...your highness." He adds on with an awkward smile.
The king strokes his blonde beard and stares into Natsu's soul.
"Natsu Dragneel, I would like you to become my daughters' knight, to protect her, to stay by her side and keep her from harm's way. Do you accept?" The King says, breaking the silence
Natsu didn't have a say.
Who is he to oppose the king's wishes?
He just nods and whispers, "Thank you, your highness."
The pink-haired boy frowns, he could never climb the ranks stuck in a position like this.
He then spots a blonde girl peeking from behind a large door.
"Come now darling, meet your new friend."
She stepped out in a golden dress, perfectly matching her hair and fair skin. Her attire was lovely and warm much like her countenance.
"Hello," She walks up to him. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia."
Natsu holds back a scoff and replies through his teeth.
"Hi, I'm Natsu." He looks to the side suddenly becoming extremely self-aware of his clothing compared to hers.
Other guards look at each other in dismay when they hear the way he spoke to the princess.
"Thank you for agreeing to protect me... I wouldn't have had it any other way..." She flashes a smile.
"Yea... uh thanks," He looks at the King and then back at the girl, "...Your highness..."
Much to his surprise, the King looks like he's stifling a laugh "That's Gildarts alright," He chuckles.
One of the guards walks up to Natsu and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll take him to his quarters now, if I may, my liege," The Knight says.
Natsu stares at the man in curiosity. He's blonde with a scar on his eye. The shiny metal chest plate, the boots, the sword on his belt. He's so cool...
"Yes, yes, be off then." The King waves his hand, "And Natsu, think of this castle as your new home. I do hope you feel welcomed, you'll begin your knightly training tomorrow."
Natsu is escorted to a wide staircase that gets narrower each floor level he reaches.
"Most knights sleep downstairs but since you're the princesses' you get a room right across from her in case of an emergency."
Natsu frowns. Already different from the rest of them...
They reach these giant double doors and the Knight looks at Natsu in all seriousness.
"Never forget, we are loyal to our King. Every time you see a member of the royal family you must bow, you must bow when entering and leaving a room with them in it, you must refer to them with their given titles."
Natsu just stares at the guard.
"You'll never be a Knight if you keep acting like whatever that was, got it?"
"Can I at least know your name?" Natsu asks.
"I'm Laxus, but you can call me sir, since I'll be the one teaching you how to be a Knight,."
Natsu gets a shiver put down his spine,
"Mann... but you seem like a real stickler," The boy sighs.
"What did you just say?" Laxus growls.
He was about to yell but noticed someone walking down the marble-floored hallway.
"My Princess..." He bows.
Natsu bows too, glancing up at the girl.
She gives the pink-haired boy a good look before going into her room which is, as the knight said, right across from Natsu's.
When she closes her door both boys rise.
Natsu opens the door to his room and is surprised at how nice it is.
A king-sized bed against the wall in the middle of the room, a fireplace right across from it. There is a giant window with curtains that stretch about 40 feet tall.
Natsu smiles.
"This place is really nice," He turns to Laxus who's looking at him with annoyance.
"Just go to sleep squire, your outfits' on the bed, I'll see you tomorrow."
The blonde closes the door.
"Squire..." Natsu repeats with a frown.
He quickly changes into his new clothes. A long-sleeved collared shirt and long brown pants.
"Fancy..." he whispers to himself
Natsu jumps into his bed.
So this is his new life....
"Sure beats being on the streets, right Happy?" He winces when he realizes what he just said.
When he was escorted to the castle they took Happy, his blue little companion, he heard he was put in a dragon cell in the castle with a whole bunch of other creatures.
He needs to find him.
But he doesn't know his way around this place.
"Shit," Natsu curses.
As if on cue a knock sounds at his door.
"Yes?" Natsu says, then realizes that may be rude.
He gets up and opens the door to find Lucy standing there in her pink nightgown.
"Hi, I feel like we haven't met quite properly yet." She smiles and lets herself in, "I'm Lucy H- are you even paying attention?" She purses her lips.
"Youuuu know your way around this castle right?" Natsu stares at her with determination, "Care to go dragon hunting?"
Her eyes widen.
"Uhm... I'm not supposed to be out after-"
"C'mon it'll be quick," He grabs ahold of her wrist and leads her out the room," Super quick, I promise."
Lucy scowls at the boy and whispers
"Fine." but only because she wants their bond to grow.
Natsu's smile grows and he closes his door behind him.
"Alright... where to first," He says excitedly.
"Shhh, if the guards catch us out you'll surely be taken away for interrupting my beauty sleep," Lucy flaunts.
Natsu takes a good look at the girl,
"Pshh, what's beautiful about it," he spits out.
Her eyebrows drop and she gives him the death stare.
"What was that??"
The boy raises his eyebrow.
"I said, what's beauti-"
"On second thought, maybe I could just go back to bed..." Lucy starts to walk away.
"Wait! Wait please help me... my friend is stuck in that dragon prison or whatever-"
"-you mean the stables-"
"I need to find him. I promised I would," Natsu confesses.
Lucy walks up to the pink-haired boy and grabs him by his scarf. Though they're about the same height it sure feels like she could pack a mean punch. She inches up close to his face and whispers
"You better not pull any more funny comments, or I'll have you executed."
Natsu shivers. Seems like the perfect princess he saw earlier today was just an act. He gulps and nods slowly.
"This way," She motions and walks toward the stairs.
The squire follows silently.
Lucy's blonde hair bounces wildly as she runs down the stairs barefoot. Natsu follows close behind her, excited to see his small companion again. After many twists and turns and ups and downs and...
"Jesus, how big is this pl-" Natsu starts, hushing when Lucy puts a finger up to his mouth.
She puts her hand up to her ear as if telling him to listen.
Natsu hears footsteps coming down the corridor. He widens his eyes and looks around frantically as if saying 'What do we do?'
Lucy pulls the pink-haired boy into a tight space between two stone walls, placing a hand on his mouth just in case he decides to speak again. He frowns when he realizes their proximity; he can feel her chest rise and fall on his. The footsteps grow louder and the blonde shut her eyes tight.
Despite her tough-guy act she really doesn't want to get caught...
The footsteps get quieter and Lucy releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"You okay?" Natsu asks, wondering if she'd still be able to continue the mission.
Lucy notices how close they are to each other and immediately leaves the space.
"Why wouldn't I be," She frowns.
Natsu rolls his eyes slowly, then a sneaky grin appears on his face.
"Your heart was beating pretty quickly back there, what were you scared?" He teases.
"The more you talk the more I don't want to help you, like ever again," She says as she walks down the hall to wooden double doors.
"This is it," She gestures.
Natsu walks up and pushes it open.
The room is giant with a ceiling he could not even see.
Inside were multiple cages with dragons of different color, shape, and size residing in each of them. A lot of them were sleeping and some were flying around. But overall it's surprisingly quiet. Torches illuminate the area.
"Each knight gets a dragon of their own, I'm kinda surprised you already have one..."
"Yeah, mine is special though."
"Oh really?" Lucy replied sarcastically.
"Happy," Natsu whisper-yells, "You here?"
His voice echoes through the room.
"Natsu? Natsu is that you?" The two humans hear a voice.
Lucy is startled when she hears an answer.
The pink-haired boy runs toward his friend's cries, Lucy hesitantly follows.
"Natsu! Help me, it's cold in here!" Happy whimpers
"Oh stop overreacting," He smirks as he steps in front of the small cage his friend is trapped in. Blue with wings and... looks like a cat? Lucy takes in the size of the dragon compared to the 50-foot tall ones sleeping next to him.
"Guys we should get out of here" She whispers, eyeing the sleeping creatures around her.
"Don't worry it'll take a miracle to wake these guys up, dragons sleep like bricks. I can confirm, I am DEFINITELY a dragon." Happy says sarcastically, "I'm Happy, nice to meet you. Can you please get me out of this cage?" The blue cat rambles.
"I'm Lucy... Princess Lucy Heartfilia of the-"
She stops when Natsu looks at her with uninterested eyes, then pulls out her master key and unlocks the cage. Happy flies out and hugs Natsu with a big smile on his face.
"Finally! Let's get out of here!"
All three misfits start towards the exit, then they hear a growl.
{So he can leave but I can't?}
Happy turns around slowly and sees a purple dragon, who's not much taller than Happy, whispering next to him.
"Whaddid he say bud?" Natsu asks his small companion.
Lucy gulps and eyes the purple beast.
"That's a girl but nothing important, let's go," Happy says, unbothered.
{You wouldn't want me to wake all the other dragons would you?} The purple one hisses.
Happy freezes and turns to Natsu.
"She's threatening to wake all the dragons up, since I'm the only one who gets to leave..." He explains.
"What? No! I'll be in so much trouble," Lucy whisper shouts, "Tell her to knock it off!"
"Hey listen here pal, You knock it off n be quiet, that's an order from the princess herself!" Natsu walks up to the purple dragon's cage and stares her down.
"I meant Happy... She can't understand you, idiot" Lucy pinches her nose bridge.
{Please don't, we really just want to leave peacefully} Happy pleads
{Let me out} the dragon growls
"She wants out," Happy looks at Lucy this time.
"mmm... well, I suppose if she'll be quiet... will she be quiet?"
{If you're quiet we'll let you out} Happy bargains
The purple dragon nods slowly.
Lucy quickly opens the cage and the purple girl flies out.
'kay, come on let's-"
*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
A loud screech emits from the purple dragon and all the others start waking up.
All the dragons start screeching and roaring
Lucy's jaw drops.
"What?! You traitor!" Natsu yells.
"LIIARR" Happy wails, barely noticing when Lucy grabs both his and Natsu's hands to run out the exit.
But it was too late.
five castle guards stood at the doors, weapons ready.
"I've alerted Laxus-" One guard starts, then he sees the kids. "Princess..."
"Are you responsible for this?" Another guard glares at Natsu unkindly.
Natsu looks at the ground and starts to nod.
"No sir, it was me." Lucy stepped in front of Natsu and stated, "I insisted on showing him around the castle and since he's my knight he came. None of this would have happened if it weren't for me." She lies.
Natsu just stares at her, dumbfounded.
The guard sighs.
"You know I'm going to have to tell your father about this, right?" He states, the dragons still screeching in the background.
"Yes, I'm aware," She frowns. "Also inform him that I'm keeping this blue cat-dragon."
"Uh... yes, your highness."
... The next morning
The King sits on his throne with bags under his eyes.
"Do you know how important it is for a King to sleep? And how difficult THAT is when dragons are screaming at 2 in the morning?" He bellows.
Natsu and Lucy both stand side-glancing at each other.
"You should have known better," He points at Lucy then at Natsu "And you, it's your first day here and you already let her get into trouble... don't forget your job is to protect the princess."
Natsu bows his head very far down.
"I'm sorry, your majesty."
"I sentence you both..."
Natsu starts to sweat. A sentence? Is he going to jail? Is he going to rot in jail for the rest of his life? Is he sentencing the princess to a lifetime in prison?
"... To work in the garden for a few hours," The King finishes.
Natsu breathes out a sigh of relief and Lucy groans.
... That day, in the afternoon
In the garden, the royal herbalist tells them to pluck the weeds from the flowerbeds with the other workers.
They are both wearing tan pants, a brown shirt, and gloves.
"I'm sorry Lucy," Natsu apologizes while plucking a weed and getting dirt on his cheek, "I got your dad mad at you,"
"It's okay... " She looks around to make sure no one's listening in, "Honestly, I had loads of fun, I've never done anything like that... sneaking out and stuff. My heart was beating so fast!" She whispers.
"Mine too!" Natsu smiles, then tries to contain himself by frowning again...
He doesn't wanna get too chummy with the Princess.
Lucy looks at him then goes back to work.
A silence took place. Until Natsu broke it with something that's been eating at him.
"Hey, why'd you do what you did back there?" Natsu asks.
"What do you mean?"
"You defended me..." he lowers his eyelids
"I'm the princess, the worst I'll get off with is a slap on the wrist, who knows what they would've done to you." She shrugs.
Natsu stares at her for a moment.
"Thanks," He smiles.
"Don't get used to it," Lucy smirks.
Natsu suddenly gets the feeling that getting chummy with her wouldn't be TOO bad...
"Hey look!" Lucy plucks up a pink wildflower, "It looks like you,"
Natsu frowns... it looks so messy and unkempt.
"Oh yeah? Well, this one looks like you," He picks up a bunch of weeds and dirt then snickers.
"I was trying to be nice!" She argues with him and flicks dirt at the boy.
And so began a beautiful friendship.
Natsu got pulled out for knight training not long after
a few hours later, he trotted back to his room with twigs in his hair and dirt on his face.
He was surprised to see Lucy sitting on his bed talking to Happy.
"Oh hey Natsu!" Happy smiles and waves.
"Wow... what did they do to you..." Lucy stops herself from laughing but she was too obvious. Natsu scowls.
He plops on the floor and sighs.
"Knight training sucks!" He growls.
"Don't be like that Natsu, you're gonna be the best-" Happy starts but then shuts his mouth when he sees the look the pink-haired boy shoots at him.
Lucy raises her eyebrow.
The boy runs to the bed, grabs Happy, and brings him to the corner of the room.
"Not in front of Lucy," He whispers.
"What's not in front of me?" Lucy asks, standing right behind them.
Natsu jumps and looks to the side suspiciously.
"Noooothing..." He coos.
Lucy rolls her eyes and jumps back on the bed.
"Where are you guys from anyway... My dad said he knew your dad or something?" The blonde twirls her hair in boredom.
"Gildarts? He's not my dad... uh I don't really know how the King knows him," Natsu says as he takes a seat next to her on his bed.
Happy flies into Lucy's lap, ready for storytime.
"I grew up in the forest of familiars. Raised by the beasts and elders until I was five and they sent me away deeming I could 'live on my own'... I thought I was alone but then a blue baby Exceed followed me out." Natsu smirks at his small companion
"Exceed?" Lucy tilts her head.
"Happy's not actually a dragon we were just messing around. He's a rare species living in the sky called Exceed," Natsu explains, and "So how could Happy understand and talk to the purple dragon?" Her curiosity rises.
"Exceed's speak most languages in the world." Natsu looks at the roof.
Lucy nods. Despite the way he acts, he seems pretty smart.
"Anyway... outside of our own circle, We had nothing. So we... had to steal food from the kingdom to live. I know! I know, that's illegal-"
"That's ironic, now you work FOR the kingdom," Lucy chuckles.
"Yeah, I guess..." Natsu shrugs.
"That's okay! One day we got caught by a man named Gildarts... Natsu was only nine years old, and-" Happy chimes in.
"Hey, I'm telling the story bud."
"Sorry..."
"Yea, this scruffy middle-aged guy took us in and raised us. He taught us about magic, how to fight, and survive on our own without relying on thievery. We lived in a forest about two hours away by foot, in a Lil hut." Natsu then lowers his eyelids.
"One day, the old man... left for good. Never explaining why"
Lucy stares at Natsu's sad face. She's learned so much about him in just one day.
"I'm sorry..."
Natsu sees the pity in her eyes and grimaces.
"Yea, whatever we're much better off without him anyway," He jumps off the bed then changes the subject. "I'm starving, what's for dinner?"
Happy seems much more interested in this topic and he smiles "I could go for some fish."
"You could always go for some fish," Natsu teases.
Lucy looks out the window at the setting sun.
"Has it been that long already? I've got to go!" She runs out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"What a weird girl," Natsu hums and pulls out of his pocket the flower that she gave him earlier.
"Aye..." Happy agrees.