The Dragon and the Princess

In hindsight, Princess Lucille Heartfilia realized that running away wasn't like she had imagined it was going to be. Blame her pampered lifestyle, or all the books that she had read putting romanticized versions in her mind, but this running away thing was no easy business. It had taken nearly six months to plan and required the help of her personal maid and the captain of her guard. Loke had argued repeatedly with her about allowing him to accompany her upon leaving, and she had finally relented a month ago. The princess felt guilty when she fled the palace without informing him, knowing full well that her father would punish him severely if they were caught and she could not allow that to happen. She had escaped west from the palace grounds, timed her movements with the patrols as planned, all dressed in a loose tunic and trews given to her by Loke and a sturdy rucksack slung across her back.

Things had gone as planned the first two days into the journey from the only place she had ever known as home. Day three had brought an unexpected down pour that soaked her to the bone and caused her to lose all sense of direction. Day four consisted of the princess huddled against a large tree, shivering so violently that she had bitten the inside of her cheek. Day five saw her wandering the forest, barely seeing five feet in front of her with the rain and fog that had settled under the cover of the trees. Night was closing in as the sky darkened. She was helplessly lost. If she had only been able to see the stars. She would have been able to find her way, be able to navigate her way through the forest as ably as any sailor using star charts upon the open seas. The rain, the clouds, the cold… everything was preventing her from finding her way, however. A loud clap of thunder caused her to flinch, the flash of lightning blinded her momentarily and left spots in her vision for many minutes to follow.

Her vision had just started to clear when she heard – no, felt – a resonating, deep rumble that wasn't caused by the thunder. It sounded like a growl, only multiplied exponentially. Another round of thunder and lightning had her running through the forest. The blonde swore that her eyes were playing tricks on her. Her eyes told her that she had seen red, a scaly red, among the trees in that last burst of lightning. Fear crept in. A deep fear the likes of which she had never experienced before. In her panic, she tripped over a tree root and tumbled headlong into a thick patch of ferns and into the mud. Tears mixed with the rain upon her face as she curled into a ball on the forest floor. Her thoughts jumbled, as she lay there, disoriented. She should never have left the palace without Loke, perhaps should not have left at all. The princess was shivering in the mud, eyes clenched tight, when she heard the growl again. Her eyes snapped open wide, long enough for her to see a large scaled face looming in the darkness before her. Deep brown eyes locked with reptilian ones the strangest olive green/gray color she had ever seen. Shrieking was the last thing she remembered before the world went black.

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The dragon, for that is obviously what the creature in front of the princess was, did not know how to react. He had smelled a human in the forest. The scent of human wasn't overly common, as most knew the legends and stayed out of forest and away from the mountain that he had made his home. He had tracked the two-legged one for over a day, moving with unnatural silence for one of his size. The rain helped to mask his scent, which even a human could pick up on if he were close enough. It wasn't until the human had become so utterly lost that he moved in close. Dragon fear, a natural occurrence that deterred other beings from getting too close, caused the human to panic. He was the reason the human would become even more lost in his forest, and he needed to do something to herd the creature out. What he hadn't expected was the human to trip, his sensitive hearing picking up a panicked yelp as it fell down. The human was female.

Something stirred within the dragon, caused him to move in as she lay crying on the ground. His growl rumbled again as he smelled her fear. She looked at him, truly looked a dragon in the eye which caused the dragon fear to consume her. The shriek she let out rattled his bones in a way nothing had ever done before. The dragon knew he couldn't leave her there, knowing how fragile the soft skinned ones were and how susceptible to the cold they were. He let out a huff of hot air, steam rising into the misty air. The dragon looked at his talon-tipped claws, and back to the human woman. He huffed again. He couldn't let her die out here. There was only one option for him, one that he didn't care much for, but he had to do it.

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The first sensation upon waking was warmth, a warmth that was slightly too hot but not uncomfortable to feel. As she reached out her hand she felt that she was on something soft, though the hard ground was below that. She smelled smoke, though not overly heavy in the air. A soft material was draped across her body, and the princess realized that she was unclothed down to her undergarments. Her eyes opened, panic raced through her again. This was most definitely not the forest floor, was likely a cave somewhere. That was when she noticed a figure standing in the flickering shadows of the fire, which she now discerned was the source of the warmth she felt. The figure was male, that much she could make out. His feet were bare, legs clothed in simple white cloth the type a field hand might wear. His tanned and toned torso was as bare as his feet were, his face shrouded in the shadows.

She saw that he had tensed and shifted awkwardly from one foot to another under her scrutiny. The part of her that had lived in high society felt appalled that a man had undressed her, though the rational part of her realized that he had rescued her. He had gotten her out of the rain, given her something dry to lie upon and made a fire to keep her warm. This man had, in essence, saved her life. The princess stared openly at him as he took an unsteady step forward, as if he were unused to walking. Finally his face came into view, and she gasped in shock. His appearance was not what she had expected at all. He looked human, and yet did not. The dark salmon color of his hair was unnatural, to say the least, and she couldn't make out the color of his eyes from the distance he was at.

"I-I had to un... dress you." He said haltingly, his S sounds slightly hissed, "Apologies."

The princess sat up slowly, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. "It… it is all right. I understand that you did this to save me."

The man stepped closer, the fire illuminating his face in a warm glow. "Are you… " he struggled for a moment, "Warm enough?"

"Y-yes. I do appreciate the fire." She hugged the cloth to her chest, "May I know your name?"

He hesitated, not knowing what to tell her. He was having a hard time as it was, just talking to her. It was not in his nature to lie, however, so he spoke. "I am... called Dragneel, by most."

Her eyes widened. She had heard that name before, but it was spoken like a myth or legend. A story to warn children aware from venturing into the woods too deeply. The name belonged to a red dragon. She clutched the cloth tighter. Perhaps it was more than just a story. Memories flashed back to her of red among the trees as she ran, of the eyes she had looked into before fainting; the same eyes that looked back at her now from a face that was registering as human. "Dragneel..?"

"That is my given name." He sat unsteadily down on the stone floor. "You?"

"Lucille." The blonde blurted out, replying automatically. "I prefer to be called Lucy."

The salmon-haired man cocked his head to the side curiously, an odd sight for her to see. "Lu… shi?"

"No, Lu-CY."

"Lucy." He mimicked, "You may call me Natsu."

Lucy could not comprehend that she had just introduced herself to a man that shared a name with a dragon of legend. A man that shared the eyes of the dragon she had seen for herself. "How?" the word slipped out before she could catch herself, and Lucy slapped a hand over her mouth for her impertinence.

Natsu scooted closer to the woman, completely thrown by her. He rarely had contact with humans, mostly lost farmers or knights thinking to earn themselves fame by defeating a legend. He sniffed. She did not smell of fear as she did in the forest, or even as she had when she awoke. She wrinkled her nose at him as she realized he was sniffing her. Natsu found the expression amusing. Dragons were unable to make such expressions with the structure of their bones and maw. He decided that he had better answer her question before she became upset. "I can… change form. Not easily."

"You were the dragon I saw in the forest then?"

"Yes."

"I am talking with a dragon." She reiterated.

"You are."

"Huh." Lucy said, and fainted straight away.

Natsu flinched and then was distracted finding the movement of his facial muscles in this form to be amusing. He moved slowly toward the blonde girl and settled her back down to a more comfortable position. He eyed the cloth that she was upon with something akin to envy. If he were still in his natural draconic form he would not be feeling uncomfortable. Or cold. He eyed the fire suspiciously as if it had betrayed him by not warming him properly. He stood and gathered more wood to add to the flames, which were admittedly dying down. He breathed upon the stacked wood, igniting them once more in a roaring fire. Natsu settled upon the stone between the fire and the strange human girl, wondering why he had decided to save her in the first place as he drifted off to sleep.

Author's note: Well, this has been floating around in my brain for a while now. It had to be done. I don't know how often I will update, nor do I know how many chapters this will be. I do know I intend to finish it. Please drop me a line if you like it, or even if you want to point out errors!