Lucy awoke on a beaten, stiff cot, wearing tattered rags. Her first immediate thought was 'What the hell?' followed immediately by 'Oh god, I'm in that book.'

A closer look at her surroundings showed a cramped, barely furnished room the size of her bathroom back home. Every single belonging in the room appeared to be badly battered and falling apart.

"Where am I?" Lucy murmured to herself groggily, trying to stand up without breaking the cot. What she got in response nearly shocked her out of her wits.

"CINDERELLA!"

Wait, what?

Lucy staggered for a moment. Cinderella was that character from one of those silly, romantic fairy tales, wasn't she? And according to the story, Lucy realized with a lurch in her gut, the girl supposedly lived in a room exactly like... this... one...

"CINDERELLA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" The shrill voice blasted again, and Lucy recovered quickly enough to shout back.

"I-I'll be right there!"

A quick glance at the dark, reflective window told her that she still looked the same, which was a relief. Lucy didn't think she'd be able to-

Wait, where was Natsu?

Pushing that aside in favor of the shrieks echoing from downstairs, Lucy stumbled out the door to the source of the noise.

"-slow! You'd think that she was an ugly freakin' turtle..."

"I know, right?"

Lucy rounded the corner to be greeted with the shocking sight of Angel and, (from what Loki had often described to Lucy) Karen. The two stellar spirit mages were giving her scowls harsh enough that Lucy had to avert her gaze.

"Damn it, Cinderella! I told you that I wanted my clothes flawless!" Angel hissed, pointing at the (horribly fit) dress that she was wearing. "There's a wrinkle right... right... somewhere..."

While Angel began to pretty much turn in circles, looking for the nonexistent wrinkle, Karen wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"And didn't I tell you that I wanted you to comb my hair and do my makeup? I want to be perfect for the ball tomorrow."

"Ball?" Lucy echoed dumbly.

"Yes, you scatterbrained idiot," Karen said scathingly, plopping a brush into Lucy's hands and sitting in a chair, motioning for Lucy to brush her hair. As Lucy hesitantly did as she was told (the woman's glare was enough to rival Erza), Karen continued, "don't you remember? You were all excited yesterday when that messenger came by to deliver the news that-" Here, she lowered voice haughtily in what Lucy thought to be an imitation of the messenger- "You are cordially invited to the royal ball."

"Of course," Angel was surly, apparently having given up on the wrinkle, "that was directed toward us, and not you. It's really too bad that you won't have a chance to catch the Prince's attention, like we will."

The two women laughed unpleasantly, but Lucy just continued to fix Karen's hair, her mind already miles away.

Lucy had been forced into the roll of (a slave) one of the main characters; her intuition told her that there was a good chance that Natsu had been cast as none other than the Prince.

She needed to find him and discuss this! Chances were that the idiot would mess everything up, give away his identity and maybe get hurt, knowing how dense he was... Lucy's stomach clenched with worry for the mage, wondering exactly how they would meet up.

"-I said, were you listening, Cinderella?" Angel hissed, breaking Lucy out of her reverie.

"Sorry, sister," Lucy said cautiously, turning her attention from Karen's now-shining hair to the irritated, short-haired girl. "What were you saying?"

"I was saying," Angel snarled, "that you are to help us prepare for the ball tomorrow night, and then stay home to make the home spotless for our return. Do I make myself clear?"

"Clear as crystal," Lucy murmured sarcastically, already tiring of the girl's attitude. Karen swatted at Lucy, obviously irritated.

"Go to your room. We tire of your presence, and Mother will be home from her party soon to help us prepare for tomorrow night."

Not wanting to know exactly who the mother of the two witches was, Lucy scuttled up to her closet-sized bedroom and closed the door.

The second the wood clicked shut, Lucy looked out the window expectantly. Sure enough, the far-off castle lights shone brightly and merrily, contradicting her mood at having been ordered around like a slave.

Not like the two had ever been better as Stellar Spirit mages back on Earthland, Lucy thought sourly. The appearances of Angel and Karen had shocked Lucy, but Angel had not shown any recognition; perhaps this was something like their counterparts in Edolas?

The real problem, however, was finding Natsu. Lucy knew from reading fairy tales as a child that Cinderella had to go through a heck lot of crap before meeting the prince. And even if she did manage to meet up with Natsu, how would they get out of the book?

Natsu... as a prince...

Lucy tried miserably to cover her blush at the thought of Natsu as a prince. Natsu, of all people! Being suave and gentlemanly and handsome and-

Lucy buried her face in the dirty cot, willing herself to fall asleep, and wondering how the hell she could be thinking about Natsu (which wasn't a surprise, because she had to bashfully admit he was in a great deal of her thoughts anyway) actually flirting (which was a complete impossibility) with her?

Before the blonde knew it, she was fast asleep, dreaming of pink hair and bright castles.

__________________________

"Please!" Lucy begged through her clenched teeth, dirty hand outstretched.

Angel and Karen, wrapped up in tight corsets and frilly dresses, looked down at her disdainfully, stepping out of Lucy's filthy reach. Lucy barely suppressed a scowl and repeated her plea.

I washed the dishes, Lucy silently fumed. I swept the floors. I polished every glass, brass, and window in this house. I dusted, I did the laundry, and I hung up everything to dry. I helped you prepare for the ball, did your make up and hair, and your response is-

"No," Karen sneered. "Mother strictly instructed you to stay home as punishment for forgetting to rearrange her jewelry. You forgetful wench."

From behind Lucy's crouched, humble figure stepped an old, nameless woman with faded, white hair and a crooked smirk. She made a special effort to 'accidentally' kick Lucy, apologized half-heartedly, and stepped behind her daughters.

"Now, Cinderella, if this house is not spotless by midnight, then you will promptly be punished with no supper. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lucy glared at the floor. You already had me go without breakfast this morning, you heartless-

"Good."

With a shudder and a creak, the door closed in Lucy's face.

Snarling viciously, Lucy pinned her face against the window and watched as the three vain women sauntered into the night (and oh, it was such a gorgeous night, why did it have to taunt her?), into a carriage and drove away.

"Just GREAT," Lucy growled, slamming a fist against the wall. In the books she had read, some weird crap had happened, a magical Fairy Godmother had appeared out of nowhere, and Cinderella had been magically swept away.

But here, alone in the vast house with nothing but dirty rags, Lucy felt vastly alone. All that was there was chores, work, exhaustion... There was no Fairy Godmother, no handsome prince-

-no Natsu, laughing with her, warming her with his smile, staying by her side with that cocky grin-

Frustrated, Lucy let out a wail and threw her fist against the banister of the stairway. The frail thing actually had the nerve to break under her strength (huh, so she wasn't as weak as she thought. That was nice to know), and a rather sizable splinter lodged itself in her palm.

Tears springing to her eyes, Lucy muttered a low curse and moved to bandage the small wound, when a voice shocked her out of her wits.

"Don't cry, you poor thing!"

With an unearthly shriek, Lucy pinned herself against the wall, whirled around, and saw none other than-

"Mirajane?" Lucy's jaw dropped open, her eyes nearly popping out. "No way. What are you-" She cut herself off, her eyes trailing the older girl's body.

"You have wings," Lucy deadpanned. "What. The hell."

"Now, now," Mirajane cooed. "Pretty girls don't have ugly mouths. And as for these," she gestured to the rather flashy wings sprouting from her back, "that's because I'm your Fairy Godmother!"

The two girls giggled girlishly; Lucy paused, seeing the look on Mirajane's face, and trailed off.

"Wait. You weren't serious, were you-?"

"Oh, dead serious," Mirajane smiled angelically, waved her hand, and Lucy watched in astonishment as her clothes disappeared into thin air-

("H-hey! Th-that's uncalled for!" Lucy spluttered, immediately trying to cover all the, ah, important parts. "Why the heck-?")

-and a split second later, a beautiful, lacy gown adorned her body. White, thin layers of snow-white fabric that was well fit, with a tight bodice, and her hair cascading in gorgeous curls around her face. Lucy looked cautiously down at her hands.

The dirt was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Wuh- You're kidding me, right?" Lucy blinked, recalling the tale of Cinderella. (Yes, she knew that Cinderella had a Fairy Godmother appeared out of nowhere and gave her pretty clothes and all that- but seeing it happen right in front of her?)

Lucy almost fainted, right there and then, but Mirajane chuckled and grabbed her arm, pulling her forward and into the night. As the blonde took a step, she realized that she was wearing glass slippers.

Well. She supposed she mustn't be surprised after all the crazy crap that had just happened.

Outside, Mirajane sent Lucy to gather all sorts of random baubles ("Oh, yes, Lucy, that pumpkin over there will do. And those mice, how adorable! Bring them over. Oh, don't make that face, they're perfectly safe-"), all the while prattling like the normal Mirajane ("And I heard the prince really was a handsome man, oh, I'm so excited for you! Imagine what your babies would look like!")

A mere five minutes later, Lucy found herself staring at a pumpkin carriage and mice-horse-things. Mirajane was still prattling ("And then he might even take you into his arms, whispering softly into your ear- oh, that would just be so romantic!")

"Well?" Lucy asked, breathlessly. It wasn't exactly every day that one of her best friends became a literal fairy (not to mention her godmother, how the hell did that work?), she was turned from a slave into a princess in the blink of an eye, and pumpkins were carriages. Things just didn't work that way.

(Then again, Lucy reconsidered after recalling Natsu's fire-eating habits. Learn something new every day...)

"Well, off you go!" Mirajane smiled, all but shoving Lucy into the carriage, which quickly snapped into action and sped away.

Lucy poked her head out the window and waved to Mirajane, "Thank you for your help, Mira!"

"Oh, it's really no problem," Mirajane chuckled to herself, waving back. Then, a blink; she lowered her hand cautiously. "How did she know my name...?"

Another blink, and then Mira gasped frantically, eyes wide open.

"Ah! I forgot to tell her about the stroke of midnight!"

_______________________

The ride was swift- for what were formerly mice, the horses seemed extremely efficient. Lucy, her foot bobbing, one crossed over the other, frowned.

It felt like she was forgetting something.

But try as she might, Lucy simply couldn't concentrate on what she could be forgetting. All she could think of was the lack of heat by her side, the missing hothead who was her comrade, her best friend, her-

"Don't even go there," Lucy whispered to herself as the carriage rolled to a stop. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out, careful not to break the delicate heels of the glass slipper, and entered the castle.

Even though she was in a tight situation, and her heart was clenching with the absence of Natsu, Lucy couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the looks she was receiving. Stuck-up, pompous fools that were probably of similar status to her father... looking at her like she was a woman, rather than a little girl who was harshly rejected by her father.

Lucy felt her self-satisfied smirk droop a bit on the side; brushing the thoughts away, she swept the room, looking for a head of fiery-pink hair, perhaps a glamorous announcement that a prince was about to enter. Certainly, Karen and Angel wouldn't be able to recognize her in all of her made-up glory!

All she received were stares and whispers of gossip. Lucy frowned in disappointment; here she was, in a glamorous ballroom that was polished to the point of perfection, dressed like a princess despite the slave work she had done, and Natsu was nowhere to be seen. There was a bit of childish disappointment there, and Lucy felt as if she had spent hours preparing for a prom dance, only to have been stood up.

What if something happened? Lucy wondered, her heart dropping to her stomach as two thrones at the front of the room caught her attention, seating who she could only assume as the King and Queen of the Kingdom. Natsu could have been caught off guard, he might have attacked or something, and thrown in jail, and then-

"Luuu-cy." A voice suddenly spoke behind her.

Stifling a shriek for perhaps the third time that night, Lucy felt a familiar, calloused hand brush her arm, and immediately relaxed.

"Y- you-what-y-w-Natsu!" Lucy stammered, and had to refrain from throwing herself into his arms and giggling like a schoolgirl. Turning to meet his eyes, which stared confidently back down at hers, she almost felt like they hadn't...

...well, fallen into a magical book, got stuck in a random, twisted tale, and were separated for a day.

"So you're okay," Natsu grinned boyishly, and Lucy had time to appraise the dragonslayer. His apparel was formal enough, but didn't exactly seem princely- but that was typical Natsu- he still kept his scarf, which seemed impervious to the dirty looks people kept giving the scruffy thing. Lucy regarded the scarf with affection.

"Of course I am," Lucy groaned, reaching up to rub her temples. "Don't ask stupid question! I was so worried about you, and-" Lucy pressed her lips together, wondering exactly how Natsu would react if she began to rant about how she couldn't get him out of her mind, for crying out loud. Instead, she launched, "how do we get out of here? All I remember was opening the book, and poof!" She pouted, waving her arms. "We're in this stupid fairy tale."

"I-it's not stupid," Natsu quickly said; Lucy looked up in surprise, and had to do a double take. Was Natsu... blushing?

"Igneel used to tell me all sorts of stories," Natsu continued, looking everywhere but at her, flustered. Lucy bit back a smile- who knew that the battle-hungry Natsu had a soft spot for fairy tales? "And, well, I kinda figured-"

"You realized where you were?" Lucy couldn't stop the smile this time. And to think she had been worried about this. "But Natsu, how do we get out?"

She was answered by one of his nonchalant shrugs, and a careless grin. "I dunno. But we're here now, and we might as well do something..."

The two turned awkwardly to look towards the couples dancing on the floor, and Lucy looked shyly back to Natsu.

"Y-you mean... dance?" She squeaked, pushing her arms together nervously. "W-wait, are you serious? I mean, w-we, we can't possibly..."

"Dance?" Natsu laughed boisterously. "Heck no! Look at that huge buffet table! Let's go eat, Lucy!"

"...Oh. Right." Lucy almost smacked herself for her stupidity- leave it to Natsu to choose food over a dance with a pretty girl. And to think she had gone through so much trouble just to come here, and when she was looking so nice, too-!

"I'm just kidding," Natsu smirked, breaking into her thoughts. "It happened in the fairy tale, right? Where the guy and the girl dance together? It'd be kind of cool, living out the fairy tale. Wudduya say?"

Lucy smiled a bit, putting her hands in his, and trying not to be disappointed that he hadn't said something more like, 'Of course, who wouldn't want to dance with the prettiest girl in the room?', or 'Just kidding! Wouldn't it be more romantic for us to dance together?'

But of course, that was completely out of character. Lucy allowed herself to be content with just this; Natsu pulled her gently to the center of the room, and the two swayed side to side with the music.

"You can dance?" Lucy spoke to his chest (had he always been so tall?), hoping that the blood pounding in her heart wasn't rushing to color her face.

"Sorta," Natsu grinned as she twirled under his arm. "Erza made Gray and me learn how to when we were preparing for some infiltration mission..." The boy shuddered, and Lucy couldn't help but feel sympathy. She could just imagine it: the fiery redhead standing threateningly in front of the two boys, forcing them to hold each other awkwardly in the other's arms while swaying to the beat of Erza tapping her sword against the floor.

"You're good," she laughed in response, curling back towards him, and almost hitting his broad chest in the process. The two paused for a moment- Lucy felt the blush for sure this time, and she quickly pressed her face against his chest in hopes of hiding her face.

Thump, Thump. Thump, Thump.

His heart, Lucy realized with a goofy smile. His heart was beating just as fast as hers. Quite suddenly, Lucy couldn't help but wonder if the boy was as oblivious as he seemed, because at the moment, their eyes were locked on the other's, and his heated stare made her feel like she wasn't wearing anything at all.

What came next was the most disconcerting shock of the night.

A trumpet wailed melodically from the front of the ballroom, and the king stepped forward to announce in a booming voice, "And now, the Prince of the kingdom!"

As deafening cheers erupted around the room, Lucy gaped up at Natsu. "You. You're not the Prince?" For a split second, her heart stopped beating all together.

His eyes blinked back in surprise, almost sheepishly. "Well, I never said I was-"

"Natsu!" Lucy groaned. She could barely hear herself over the high-pitched keening noises that came from a crowd of girls surrounding who she could only assume to be the Prince. "That's important information! Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not like we have to live out the fairy tale exactly," Natsu replied, pushing his lower lip out in a pout. "We're not really important characters in the story, right? We could make our own ending..."

Natsu was suddenly too close for comfort; Lucy flushed a lovely crimson, pressing her palm against his chest. "Natsu," She grit out. "I'm Cinderella, Natsu, you dolt."

Natsu appeared to have gone momentarily deaf, tactfully ignoring her. Then, a sullen, "so what?"

"That means..." Lucy paused, suddenly hit with realization

It's not like we have to live out the fairy tale exactly...

"That's it!" Lucy burst out suddenly, attracting the attention of several onlookers. "Natsu, it's a book, right? And if we're in the book, and we happen to be in one of the book's chapters, then all we have to do is read it to the end, right?"

Natsu gave her a blank, emotionless look.

"Natsu," Lucy tsked impatiently. "If we finish the chapter, then we can probably move on. Meaning, all we have to do is act out the story!"

"Lucy," Natsu frowned, suddenly serious, and Lucy suddenly felt rather unsettled. "Don't tell me you're going to go to that bastard prince and-"

"Didn't you say it would be cool to act out the fairy tale?" Lucy bit back hotly. "Why do you have a problem against it now?"

"I-I don't have a problem," Natsu suddenly scowled deeply, pushing his face into his scarf, and averting his gaze. "Just... go do whatever. I don't care."

Before Lucy could say anything, Natsu had turned and gone to eat.

What was with his attitude? Lucy let out a little huff of her own and went to approach the huge crowd of women swooning over the Prince.

"E-excuse me," Lucy said quietly as the sea of women parted to look at her. Most of them seemed envious, and despite Natsu's reaction to the idea, Lucy felt a burst of pride being regarded with so much admiration. "The Prince?"

"Right here, my Lady. And what a beautiful Lady you are." A silken voice came from right behind her, and touched her shoulder lightly.

Lucy felt herself freeze. No way. No way, no way, no way-

The girl turned to see Loki, smirking smugly at her tight, fancy dress, his trademark shades absent, and his usually shaggy hair cleaned up nicely.

"Shall we dance?" He asked flirtatiously, bending down to kiss her fingers lightly. From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Angel and Karen, their jaws wide open. Oh, revenge is sweet.

"I would be honored, my Prince."

The two made their way to where she and Natsu had been only moments before, and Lucy couldn't help but compare them.

Of course, she smiled lightly. Loki would never compare to Natsu's heat, the stubborn boy.

"Your smile is lovely," Loki cooed to her, and the blonde immediately felt the aforementioned drop from her face when a loud, not-so-subtle cough sounded from behind the swaying couple.

Someone 'accidentally' knocked into Loki, stepping on his feet in the process.

"Natsu," she hissed lowly, knowing that the dragonslayer's finely tuned senses would pick up on her tone. And hopefully, my murderous intent, too. "What are you doing?"

Loki- well, the Prince- gracefully turned to Natsu with disdain; the pink-haired boy was dancing with another woman (who was giving him admiring looks, all of which he ignored in favor of Lucy), and offered a saccharine grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, the sarcasm making it clear that he wasn't sorry at all. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," Lucy growled, cutting off Loki, who was about to respond. "In fact, we're having an amazing time, wouldn't you say, Loki?"

"Th-that's right...?" Loki tried, confused. "Hey, wait. How did you know my name? No one knows my real-"

"That's wonderful," Natsu shot back, unable to hide the snarl in his voice this time. "But did I ever say that I cared?"

"No," she snapped back, an abrupt anger driving her. "You didn't."

The two turned huffily back to their dancing partners, oblivious of the odd looks they were receiving.

Suddenly, the clock struck twelve.

Lucy's mind pricked, trying to remember what she was forgetting before-

When the clock strikes twelve, the magic will wear off.

"Oh, crap," Lucy yelped, shooting away from Loki's arms and down the polished marble. Something was hindering her journey, however; the glass slippers on the blonde mage's feet clacked irritatingly, and she was unable to move as she usually did. Irritated, she chucked the glass slippers off and onto the staircase, jumping down three steps at a time.

"Wait, lovely maiden! Please!" Loki's voice sounded from behind her, and she had to stifle a groan at the overly cliché lines.

"Stuff it, boy," she cringed. "I'm just trying to find my way out of a magical book of nightmares, thanks."

"Lucy!"

That voice, however, made her pause.

Lucy couldn't resist Natsu, especially when his voice was so... pleading. When had Natsu actually been pleading? Despite the familiar feeling of magic swirling around her, and the feel of her beautiful dress turning into rags, Lucy paused.

Natsu, who easily overtook a gasping Loki, skipped the stairs completely, hopping off the balcony with his scarf billowing behind him. He landed with a light tap on the ground in front of her.

"You forgot these," he said lowly, handing her the glass slippers she had dropped.

"W-wait... the beautiful girl from before," Loki gasped from behind the two, "she's a lowly peasant?"

"Shut up," Natsu and Lucy simultaneously intoned. Loki sulked.

"The slippers," Lucy bit her lip, feeling her previous rage at him ebb away. "Ah... thanks. For getting them, I guess." She put one on, and paused, fingering the other hesitantly.

"Let me guess," Natsu smirked. "Someone else has to put that one on for you."

"In 'Cinderella', it was the Prince," Lucy laughed. "You're hardly a Prince."

"No," he disagreed smoothly, snatching the slipper away with uncharacteristic gentleness, and ducking down to face her feet. "I'm a dragon. And I'm ten times better."

"H-hey!" They heard Loki stammer from behind them, but Lucy couldn't bring herself to care as Natsu slipped the cool glass onto her feet, his teeth flashing widely.

"A perfect fit," he quoted from the story, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"No, duh. I was wearing them earlier."

"Don't ruin the story," Natsu mocked right back. Lucy did a double take- Natsu was starting to glow an ethereal shine, and a glance at her own hands showed that she was too, as well.

"You kind of already ruined the story," the summoner chuckled. "We kind of skipped the whole 'search throughout the kingdom' part. And, y'know, you're not a Prince."

The magic was tugging on them now (from behind them, Loki had fallen into a rather unbecoming faint; Angel and Karen could be heard squawking viciously along with a number of other people), beckoning them into the next chapter.

"Yeah, well, you're not 'the most sweet-faced, forgiving woman in the kingdom'."

Well, she mused to herself as she half-heartedly swatted at Natsu (who ducked), we were never really the type for conventional fairy tales, anyway.

She could have sworn she heard Natsu murmur a quick, "Sorry about earlier," but when the girl looked up, all that was evident was the fire mage's trademark, triumphant grin.

Lucy stuck out her tongue, but couldn't resist answering Natsu's grin as they were swept into the second chapter.