The muffled sound of music and the happy chatter of hundreds of the air sounded through the air and into Natsu's ears. He strolled through the tournament grounds in his jousting armor, barely noticing the stares and whispers he was getting through the slit in his visor. His tent was just up ahead and when he came to it he ducked inside, seeing the young Romeo sitting in a chair. The tent was sparsely furnished with only a table, chair, and an empty armor stand inside it. Romeo glanced up when Natsu entered and stood up saying, "Are you sure you want to do this Natsu?"

Natsu took his helmet off and his unruly pink hair spilled out of it, a frown decorating his face before saying, "Yeah. Don't worry about it, it's not like I need someone to squire for me, I got along fine without one."

The younger boy frowned as well and snapped, "I'm not talking about that! You know what kind of position you're going to put the king in if you win!"

Natsu's gauntleted hands clenched into fists and he said, "I don't care. This should have been done a long time ago."

Romeo sighed and turned to pick up the kite shield lying on the table with a black leather cover on it, "You could at least go as yourself. There's no need for the black knight ruse."

Natsu laughed grimly, "I don't want him to know it's me until I'm standing in front of him. I want to see the shock on his face when I take my helmet off."

The dark haired boy groaned as he handed over the shield, "I'm surprised he puts up with you. You're not the best out there with a lance anyways, I doubt you'll make it to the finals."

Natsu grinned as he flipped the shield around and slung it over his back, "You just have to believe Romeo. You just have to believe."

Romeo shrugged and said, "Your funeral. I left a horse for you in the stables, stall number three."

Natsu asked him, "Are you sure it's a good one? I don't want to lose because I couldn't use my own horse."

Romeo snorted, "Do you remember who my father is?"

The pink haired knight laughed as he put his helmet back on and his voice echoed out of it, "Good point. Alright, I'll see you after I win this thing."

He stepped up to the boy and ruffled his hair before turning and exiting the tent. He looked around until he spotted the stables and walked over there, entering and moving back to stall number three where his horse was supposed to be. He reached it and his eyebrows rose slightly at the horse in front of him and he whistled softly, "Damn, that is a fine horse."

He grinned and went over to put a saddle on it, cinching it tight so that it wouldn't come loose during the joust. It nickered at him and he went over to hug its head, speaking softly to it, "It's alright boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Me and you are going to win this whole thing together, so let's get to it."

He led it out to the artificial streets created in the tournament ground and towards the jousting arena. He went to the small waiting area for the participants and looked around, noting how difficult the tournament would be. He saw the emblems of many renowned knights and grinned, thinking, 'There's sixteen of us here, so I need to beat four of these guys to win? This will be tougher than I thought.'

He heard a horn sound that indicated the joust would be starting in five minutes and a roar of sound as people cheered and hurried to find seats in the arena. A page came and said, "Sir Conbolt and the unknown Knight are to be the first joust, please make your way to the arena."

Natsu chuckled as he mounted his horse and muttered, "Sorry Romeo, but it looks like I'm going to be knocking your dad out of this tournament early."

He nudged his horse and it cantered out of the waiting area and into the arena, moving towards the far side as was custom when deferring to a more respected knight. Of course, everyone was more respected than an unknown Knight, but that didn't bother Natsu. He got to the end and turned putting his horse on the opposite side of the short wooden fence that separated the two knights. He saw Macao raise his visor grab a lance from his squire. A page came up to him and handed him a lance before quickly backing away. Both knights looked towards the king's box where King Jude Heartfilia sat. Next to him was Princess Lucy, and behind both of them were two armored guards. Natsu could see 'Beast Arm' Elfman, and 'Black Steel' Gajeel standing stoically behind the Princess and smirked, 'Bet those guys want in on the action.'

The King stood up and said in a booming voice, "This is the competition we have been waiting for, the joust! Ride well brave Knights."

He sat back down and a crier stood up near him and announced, "On the near side is the famed knight, Sir Macao Conbolt! Known as the Purple Flame Knight! He was once co-commander of the King's cavalry an earned a fearsome reputation on the battlefield. He has since retired from that position, but that does not mean that he has forgotten the skills that brought him glory!"

A cheer rose up for the famed knight. Another crier stood up and gave the time honored introduction for a black knight, "He comes as nobody, but could be anybody. Only in defeat is his identity revealed. The black Knight rides for glory."

A smaller cheer was let out for the black knight and then the King shouted, "Begin!"

He watched as Macao lowered his visor and set his shield into position. Natsu swung his own shield off of his back and set it firmly before spurring his horse on towards Macao as the older man did the same. They simultaneously lowered their lances and Natsu aimed for the dead center of Macao's shield, hoping that a lucky blow would unhorse him in one hit. The moment before they hit his eyes closed of their own accord and he felt the twin shocks of a lance hitting his shield, and his lance hitting another shield. He was slammed back against his saddle and nearly thrown off but kept his position.

His eyes opened as his horse slowed and turned and when he looked back he saw Macao on the ground and his horse running free. He grinned and held up the shattered stump of his lance in victory as cheers resounded throughout the arena. He glanced at the king's box and could see the surprise on the King's and Princesses faces at the fact that he'd unhorsed such a famous knight in one tilt. He laughed as he nudged his horse into a canter and left the arena, heading back towards the waiting area.

When he got there he dismounted and tied his horse up before heading towards the small tent they had for competitors to wait in in between rounds. He ducked in and nearly ran into Grey Fullbuster. The dark haired man looked at him and murmured, "I know that style, I've practiced against it many times. What are you up to with the black knight disguise?"

Natsu grinned beneath his helmet and only nodded to Gray before moving past him into the tent and sitting down next to the only other knight with his helmet on in the tent. He saw out of the corner of his visor the knight's head turn to look at him but then turn back forwards. He settled in to wait for his next bout, closing his eyes as the cheers of the crowd from the arena heralded the entrance of the next contestants.

An hour and a half later he trotted his horse back into the Arena for the fourth time. He'd had to defeat Lyon Vastia in the second round and barely done so, unhorsing him on the third tilt. The third round he'd gotten lucky against 'Lightning Bolt' Laxus. The large man's shield had apparently been faultily made and so Natsu's first strike with the lance had shattered it and thrown Laxus off.

Slightly behind him was the knight he'd sat next to earlier, the one that had kept his helmet on the entire competition, just like Natsu. He grinned, 'Keeping your identity secret just like me eh? Your helmet comes off first.'

Natsu's horse cantered down towards the far side of the arena and he turned, grabbing a waiting lance from a page. A crier stood and shouted, though his voice seemed to be going hoarse, "We have two unknown knights in the finals, truly an unexpected result. They come as nobody but could be anybody. Only in defeat will one of their identities be revealed. The black knights ride for glory."

Natsu noticed over the roar of the crowd that his opponents shield didn't have a covering over it and chuckled slightly, 'Idiot. That's not another black knight. That's a knight with no land, not even an emblem. He's such an unknown or such a new knight that he hasn't done anything worth painting on his shield. This should be interesting. If he took down Fullbuster, then I know he's good.'

The king boomed, "Begin."

Natsu spurred his horse forward and it took it. He lowered his lance, aiming it for the center of the other knight's shield, hoping that his opponent wasn't quite set how he should be. The moment before impact his eyes involuntarily closed and the twin shocks of lance upon shield hit him. He found himself levered out of his saddle and flew through the air before landing roughly on the ground. His first thought was, 'Damnit! Not again! I didn't make it this far just to lose!'

He didn't hear a roar from the crowd though, only stunned silence. He opened his eyes and sat up to see both horses running wild and the other knight also on the ground. He shakily stood up and threw his broken lance stump away; checking his shield to make sure the covering was still intact. He saw the other knight standing up but wondered, 'What the hell do we do now? Both of us were unhorsed but both of us can't lose.'

He looked up to the king and saw him standing at the edge of the box. He spoke, "It seems we have two worthy knights, each unhorsing the other in the joust. I have decided that this will be settled through a show of swordsmanship. Let these two knights compete in another time honored tradition."

The crowd roared in approval and Natsu grinned behind his helmet. A page ran up to him with a longsword and he took it, testing its heft and finding that it would work quite well. The other knight also had a longsword and so they stepped towards each other until they were about five paces away. Natsu saluted the other knight, and a moment later he did the same. The king boomed from above them, "Begin!"

With a shout Natsu leapt forward, swinging his sword in a powerful overhand arc. The knight raised his shield and knocked his sword away before thrusting low at Natsu's legs. Natsu had to leap back to dodge it but as soon as soon as the sword was retracted he was back in, swinging strike after strike at his opponent. The man didn't have time to counter attack this time, put solely on the defensive by Natsu's attacks. They fought around the arena for a minute and Natsu thought, 'This guy's pretty good. But I haven't gone all out yet.'

With this thought he feinted a low thrust and the knight took the bait. He suddenly looped his sword around into a horizontal strike directly at the knight's head. His opponent ducked but not in time. Natsu's powerful strike hit the top of the man's helmet and somehow busted the strap holding it on because it flew off and landed in the dirt a few feet away. Natsu was stunned for a moment though because when he knocked the knights helmet off, long scarlet hair came cascading down out of it to fall to the middle of the knight's back. A feminine face with a look of anger on it came into view and Natsu gasped out, "You're a woman!"

She spoke for the first time and cursed, "Damn you for revealing my identity right now!"

The crowd was muttering and Natsu heard the king say, "This is outrageous, how did a woman get into the arena!"

Natsu slowly lowered his sword and shield to his side but the woman spat out, "What? Won't fight me now because I'm a woman!"

He ignored her question and asked, "What is your name?"

She looked at him curiously and then said, "I am Erza Scarlet."

He could hear the angry mutters from the crowd and the king giving orders to stop the match and arrest his opponent. He said, "Quickly, tell me why you risked death to compete in this tournament."

She said, "It is my dream to become a real knight. When I win this tournament I will ask as my one request to the king that he make me a real knight and let me join the castle guard. From there I will work my way up until I can join the Princess's guard. If I can do that then I will know that I've led a worthy life."

He stared at her, shocked by her revelation, and then a grin slowly spread over his face. He reached up and pulled his own helmet off and the arena went deadly silent when his pink hair and grinning face were revealed. Erza stiffened her eyes widened slightly in shock. He ripped off his shield covering, revealing the roaring red dragon that was his emblem. Whispers from the crowd of "Salamander" began to echo throughout the arena. Natsu said, "This is your lucky day then. I am Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, commander of the knights that guard the Princess."

Natsu brought his sword and shield back up into position and shouted, "Come then! Prove to me that you are worthy of fulfilling your dreams!"

He saw a faint spark of hope in her eyes as she charged forward to attack, showing more power and speed than she had before. Natsu grinned as he countered all of her attacks and shouted, "Good! Show me your strength!"

He backpedaled as she attacked, glancing up at the king to see a look of complete rage on his face. Natsu inwardly sighed, 'If he would get over his prejudice against women knights they wouldn't be outlawed and we'd be able to double the size of our army.'

He turned his attention back to the fighting just in time to duck a sword stroke from Erza and backpedal again. Whispers began to sound throughout the crowd.

"She's amazing, she has Salamander on the defensive."

"He's the best swordsman in the country though; there can't be anybody else that good!"

Natsu heard this and decided enough was enough. He quickly disengaged from his opponent and said, "Alright, play time is over. If I keep this up you're going to ruin my reputation."

Her mouth opened and she started to say, "Wha…"

But Natsu had charged forward blindingly fast and swung at her. She barely blocked and her eyes bulged and her knees almost buckled at the power Natsu had put behind the strike. He quickly sent half a dozen strikes at her that she was barely able to defend against but the last one knocked her off balance and left her open. He used his shield to send her crashing to the ground and a moment later he had his sword at her throat. Erza's face had a look of surprise on it but it quickly turned to utter defeat as she croaked out, "I yield."

The crowd roared and he raised his sword and held it high in the air in victory, making them cheer louder. He slung his shield over his back and reached a hand down to help Erza stand. A look of surprise came over her face but she accepted his hand and he quickly pulled her up. He smiled at her, "You're very good. It was unlucky for you that we unhorsed each other and the King chose to have us fight with swords."

Her face stiffened and she whispered, "The king is going to have me killed."

Natsu sighed and was about to say something when four guards were suddenly surrounding them, grabbing Erza and detaining her. He turned to see that the King, Princess, and their guards had made their way down into the arena. Natsu went down on one knee when the king approached and the man said, "Rise, Sir Natsu. As is the tradition since the founding of our great country, since you have won the tournament you may request of me anything."

Natsu stood and the crowd went silent. He saw Princess Lucy behind King Jude with a grimace on her face and shaking her head minutely. Both Elfman and Gajeel behind her were doing the same thing. Natsu glanced back at Erza who was being dragged away limply and then looked the king dead in the eye, "My request is that this woman, Erza Scarlet, be named a knight and appointed to the sixth spot of the Princess's guard."

The king looked shocked, as did the princess and both of Natsu's friends on the guard behind her. King Jude sputtered, "Preposterous, it simply cannot be done."

Natsu said quietly with an air of menace in his voice so that the crowd couldn't hear, "Will you deny one of my rightfully won requests a third time king? If you do, I will have the right to challenge you to a duel of honor, and you will have no choice but to personally accept. Those are the traditions of Fiore. If you do not have the honor to fulfil my rightfully won request, then tradition demands that I show you the meaning of honor."

The King looked at him with fury on his face and stood still for half a minute and then said loudly, "Very well. Erza Scarlet, approach."

The guards let her go and she slowly walked up next to Natsu and looked at him with wonder before going down on one knee before the king. He drew his ceremonial sword and quickly tapped her on both shoulders saying, "I anoint you a knight of Fiore. In addition I name you to the empty sixth place on Princess Lucy's guard. Rise, Sir Erza Scarlet."

She did but before she was even up the King had stormed out along with his two guards. Erza looked at him and said, "What the hell was that Salamander!"

He grinned, "Well, a bit more thankfulness might be in order. I just saved your life and made your dream a reality in one fell swoop."

Erza's mouth opened but not a word came out as Natsu turned to look at Princess Lucy who had walked up to the two of them. She scolded Natsu, "I can't believe you did that! Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

Natsu laughed sheepishly, "Don't worry about it Luce, the old geezer would never dismiss me, I'm the best."

Erza slapped him on the side of his head and hissed, "How can you address the Princess so casually you idiot!"

Lucy turned to Erza and said, "Don't worry about it, he can't follow the rules anyways."

Erza quickly bowed to Lucy, "Your highness, I'm sorry for the trouble that I have put you through. I will resign and leave the kingdom as soon as possible."

Lucy laughed and said kindly, "Nonsense, you will do no such thing. It will be nice to have a woman guarding me for a change, as opposed to these muscle heads. Sir Natsu will take you to the castle and get you set up in my guard's quarters. Right, Natsu?"

Her last sentence was said with a glare at the pink haired knight and he grinned, "No problem Luce."

She blonde princess shook her head and then turned and swept away, her two hulking guards following, but not before Gajeel commented, "Gihi, Salamander. You sure go a long way to get laid."

Natsu waved him off and then headed out towards the waiting area yelling over his shoulder, "Follow me Erza."

She did and when he got to the tent he turned to say something to her but was met with a gauntleted fist to the face. He fell to the ground and grunted, "What the hell woman!"

She stood over him glowering, "If you think that just because you saved my life, got me knighted, and put me on the Princess's Guard, that I'm going to sleep with you, I will end you."

Natsu stood up and glared at her, "That's not it at all, damn that Gajeel. He's been saying crap like that for almost a year now. I did this partly for me, and partly for you. I didn't really want you to be executed and I needed something that would force the king to try and deny my request. This just happened to do both of those."

She said quietly, "So you're saying you only did this because you wanted to get back at the king for something?"

He sighed, "Yes. But don't worry; you are more than good enough to be on the guard. You beat Fullbuster with a lance and from your swordplay I can tell that you're better than most."

Erza looked surprised and said, "Well, thank you I guess."

Natsu grinned, "Don't mention it. The King promoted Lyon Vastia from the Princess's guard a month ago and hasn't named a replacement. I was really tired of all the double shifts I had to pull."

She sighed, "Just shut up and tell me what I need to do now."

He laughed, "Alright. First we need to get all of your stuff moved up to the castle. The personal guards for the princess have a small suite near hers that we live in, so that we're always near her. Secondly, we need to properly introduce you to the guys. Thirdly… well… I'm not really sure but we'll figure out something."

Erza said, "I don't have much stuff. It's actually at an inn near the castle."

Natsu grinned, "Great, let's go get it."

She looked pointedly at him, "Don't you want to get out of that armor first?"

The pink haired man laughed sheepishly as he glanced down at the bulky armor they both wore, "Well, I had my squire help me into it this morning but he made himself scarce so he wouldn't give away my identity, plus I have nothing to change into here, we'd have to head back up to the castle. Why don't you get out of your armor first, then we'll go."

She blushed, "I don't actually have a squire, and all of my stuff is back at the inn."

Natsu laughed, "Well, it looks like we're stuck in the armor for a while then, come on."

They both left the now deserted tournament grounds and headed back towards the city. The grounds were only about 100 yards away from the massive defensive walls that surrounded the capital city of Magnolia. Natsu could see the familiar shape of the castle rising above the walls and smiled. They passed through the gates to the city and made their way through the afternoon foot traffic towards Erza's inn. When they reached it she led him up to her small room.

He looked around her room and saw only a backpack sitting in the corner and an empty armor stand. He laughed, "You really don't have that much stuff."

She went to collect her stuff but Natsu said, "Alright, let's see about getting that armor off of you."

She turned quickly and slapped him yelling, "I knew it! You do just want to sleep with me!"

Natsu glowered at her and rubbed his cheek saying, "No. It will just be easier to leave your armor here and have it collected, trust me. I wouldn't want to walk around in this stuff more than I had to."

Erza looked at him and a blush slowly rose in her cheeks, "Well, then leave. I can handle it on my own."

Natsu rolled his eyes, "Get over it. You wanted to join a male only profession and this is what you get. Besides, when we get up to the castle you'll have to share a room with me. There are three bedrooms, so it's two to a room. Gajeel and Elfman have a room together, and Laxus and Gray room together. That means we'll be seeing a lot of each other so get over it and let me help you with your armor."

She glared at him and then snapped, "Fine, just hurry up."

He walked over to her and she turned around to let him get at her armor. He removed her gauntlet's first. Then he undid all of the straps holding the breastplate in place before lifting it over her head and tossing it onto the bed with a grunt. He then turned back and did the same with the plates on her legs, leaving her in the sweat soaked leather padding that knights wore to protect their bodies from rubbing against the armor. He remarked as he began untying all of the knots in the leather, "This stuff reeks, when was the last time you washed it?"

He smiled at the sigh that she emitted as she was distracted by the small talk, "Far too long. It's hard to be surreptitious about something like that. People ask more questions than you would think."

He pulled the leather from her leaving her in small leather shorts and a tight shirt that was doing a poor job containing her ample bust. She blushed as she saw him give her a once over and then said, "Get out. I can do the rest on my own."

He laughed and gave her a mock salute before heading out the door. He leaned against the wall opposite her room and thought, 'If she gets embarrassed by that she's going to have a hard time dealing with Gajeel and Laxus.'

When Erza came out a few minutes later Natsu's eyebrows raised at her dress. She wore a loose white shirt, a blue skirt that ended just above her knees, and black boots. He remarked, "It just seems like you're trying to piss off the king, I love it."

She glared at him and said, "This is actually very conservative where I come from."

Natsu motioned for her to follow him as he clanked out of the inn in his armor and said, "So, where do you come from?"

They were in the now darkened streets and he noticed that she was looking around surreptitiously before answering, "I'm originally from the country of Crocus to the south. I left about five years ago and have been here ever since."

Natsu let out a surprised whistle and said, "You left Crocus five years ago? That's right around the time that rebellion overthrew the military government and named its own king."

Erza nodded but kept her lips closed and Natsu gave her a hard look, "I'm going to need the whole story. You may be part of the guard now, but I put you there and I can certainly take you out of it if I think you're going to be a threat."

The scarlet haired woman sighed and said, "Fine, but not in public."

Natsu nodded and said, "Then let's hurry up and get to the castle, this armor is starting to chafe anyways."

He led her to the castle gates only a few minutes away and they quickly made their way through the gardens and then into the castle proper. Natsu took a few back ways and servants staircases to reach the corner of the castle that was the Princess's. They finally came to a long hallway and as they walked down it Natsu pointed to the door at the end, "That's the princess's suite of rooms."

He got closer to a smaller door on the right and opened it up and stepped inside saying, "And this is home sweet home."

When Erza stepped inside she saw a medium sized room with various couches scattered around, as well as a small dining table with six chairs around it. There were three doors, one in each wall and Natsu led her to the one opposite the entrance. He opened it up and stepped inside saying, "This is my room, well, our room now."

She stepped inside to see a small room with two beds against opposite walls. There was a window between them and two small dressers that doubled as nightstands next to the window. The difference between the sides was that one was pristine and had nothing on it, and one was a complete mess. Papers were scattered on the small desk next to the door as well as used plates with particles of food still on them. Clothes were flung carelessly over what she presumed was Natsu's half of the room. He grinned at her as she walked in and set her bag down on her bed and said, "Don't mind the mess."

She glowered at him but sat down on her bed and said, "You wanted to know the full story?"

He sat down in his chair in front of his desk and nodded. She continued, "Fine, but let me get to the end without interruptions."

At his nod she continued, "Crocus was a terrible place five years ago. As you know it was run by the three top generals in the army. All they wanted to do was enrich themselves and so they made slavery legal again when they came to power ten years ago. They were building a huge fortress that they called the Tower of Heaven near the border with Fiore. Now that I think about it, it was probably so that when it was complete they could go to war with you and have a strong defensive position."

Erza sighed before continuing, "I was a slave on their labor gangs for three years building that fortress. Five years ago I tried to escape with some of my friends but we were caught. They took my best friend away and tortured him as punishment and a warning to everyone else who tried to escape. It was then that I just completely snapped. In three days I had organized a revolt of all the slaves at the fortress. We actually won. We took the guards by surprise and killed them all, and wound up with a nearly completed fortress in our grasp. All I had wanted to do was save my friend and I did, but he wanted to do more and so he started to spread the word of the rebellion in hopes to stir up more support and maybe challenge the military."

A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she said, "I helped him do it. All I wanted to do was escape but I couldn't just leave my best friend behind. Word of the rebellion spread and we got more and more support and in three months we were big enough to challenge the army. We fought a battle on the Nicean plains, our slave and peasant army against an actual army. Our army crushed theirs, all thanks to our leader's somehow brilliant military mind. We marched on the capital and took it, and he was proclaimed king."

Natsu's eyes widened and he wanted to speak but she continued, "But he wasn't the same person he was before. He was harder, and colder, and became a cruel person. He made some changes to appease his followers, but in reality the kingdom is still just as subjugated and miserable as it was during the military rule. I tried to talk him out of it and convince him that he was wrong, but he must have seen me as a threat. One night he had assassins come for me, but I killed them all and escaped. That was five years ago, and I've been here ever since."

When she finished she put her head down and let her hair cover her eyes and the tears that were leaking out of them. Natsu whistled slowly and then said, "Sounds rough. No wonder you're so good with a blade."

He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Erza to look up at him. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about any of that now. You've got new friends and a new place in the world."

Erza laughed and said, "I guess you're right. Now here, let me help you out of your armor, I can't believe you sat through that story with it on."

Natsu grinned and said cheekily, "I knew you just wanted to get your hands all over me."

The scarlet haired woman groaned and threatened, "If you even think about going anywhere in that direction I will castrate you in your sleep."

Natsu just laughed and gave her another mock salute saying, "As you say… Sir Scarlet."