A Minatu The Terrible Story:

Summer, Fall... and finally Winter came to the bustling town, and everyday, Natsu passed by the Heartfilia mansion when returning home from a job. His blue cat always following him around with a big smile on its face. When Natsu looked up at the mansion, he would see the light blue curtain pull back slightly to reveal a princess. He always passed by at the same time, and at the same time, the princess would pull back the curtain and wave at him. The first time this had happened, Natsu had stopped in his tracks to look around and make sure she was waving at him. Natsu felt a smile spread across his face as he lifted a hand to return the gesture as he did every time.

It was already winter, and he'd only known of this princess for two months. He never saw her come out when the Heartfilia family threw a festival on the same day every winter. She was kept locked inside as fireworks burst into the air. Why? This princess was beautiful beyond words, even Natsu, for he was terribly dense and didn't tend to notice these things, was stopped in his tracks and awestruck by her. Within that luxurious house, she was kept like the Beast's magic rose, slowly withering.

The princess, Lucy, grew excited everyday when it was time for the boy with salmon hair to pass by the mansion. He was the only thing she looked forward to everyday. She would tiptoe down the hall into the empty study to peer out at him. He was the only person that waved back at her, and his reaction when she waved for the first time was so funny! He was a rowdy looking boy, and she wanted to know him more than anything, but she wasn't allowed out. She had to be kept safe until her husband was decided. Her mother had a huge festival every year for her though. There were fireworks that Lucy could watch from this window. That was what had caused her to see the boy for the first time. He hadn't gone to the festival, which was strange. Her mother told her that everyone went, so she was safe to go to the window during that time. Was Lucy sheltered?

It was true that she'd never seen a boy before, and she knew she was supposed to be excited about being married off and going to move with her husband where they'd live happily ever after. She'd read so many novels though that involved an underdog, like the boy she saw everyday, falling in love with someone like her and stealing her away. Then they'd go on an incredible adventure that ended in their being together forever. Lucy really wanted something like that to happen.

So, her longing blossomed. She went to the window to wait for him to come by, only to wave. She couldn't gather the courage to open the window and tell him to help her, and maybe, novels were simply fantasy. Surely the boy simply waved back because he liked her too?

Her longing began to flower. She grew sadder with each passing day until all that made her happy was seeing the boy smile at her and wave. She would sit in the empty study, looking out at the world through the translucent blue curtains until she noticed motion upon the sidewalk in front of the iron gates to her house. As strange as it was, she didn't want what she had. She'd heard many people fawn over how wonderful it would be to live in the Heartfilia mansion and wear fancy dresses like Lucy. Lucy would be happy to hand it over to someone else. She wasn't happy. She was so lonely and sad, hanging onto a frivolous hope like the rowdy boy coming and rescuing her from her predicament.

Surely she couldn't just run away. She'd tried to once, a few years after her mother had passed; she couldn't even find a way out of the colossal gates. They towered over her and were impossible to climb, especially wearing a floor length dress. Nor did she even know how to unlock the gate door. It seemed magnetically powered. Thus Lucy began to wait, as patiently as she could will herself to wait.

"Lucy, what are you doing in here?" her father asked her, fatigue showing in his voice. He had been working himself as hard as he could again. Lucy turned to her father blankly.

"I'm just sitting. I feel at-"

"Whatever, just don't you dare looking out the window until the day of the festival," her father replied, brushing off her words since they truly held no importance to him. Lucy felt tears nip at her eyes and she stared down at her feet. Does Father hate me?

Natsu walked down the street as the festival's usual fireworks were released into the sky. He caught the princess gazing at them, transfixed by the brilliance. A thought floated into his mind as he began to climb over the iron gate. Maybe I should take her to see them; they don't look as pretty from this distance any way. He jumped onto a tree limb and walked to the window, crouching directly in front of her. The only thing that separated them was the glass in the window. She stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and surprise. She jerked open the window.

"What are you doing? That's dangerous!" she cried. Natsu laughed in amusement.

"You think this is dangerous?" he chuckled, wholeheartedly. Her eyes widened.

"There are more dangerous things?" she inquired, seeming almost frightened then. Natsu straighten, sighing softly. Man, princesses really are sheltered.

"Nah, this is as dangerous as it gets," he reassured her kindly.

"Oh..." she sighed in relief. Natsu softened. The princess was so incredibly pure hearted. He stuck a hand out to her.

"Would you like to see the fireworks up close?" he asked. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"But... I don't even know your name!" she protested, blushing slightly. Her dreams were finally seeming to come true.

"I don't know yours either. Besides, it'll be fun!" Natsu encouraged without a thought to her words. The princess reluctantly took his hand, and he hoisted her out of the window and placed her on the tree limb gently, almost as if she might break if he was too rough.

"Your dress is a bit long for a piggy back ride so..." he reached out thoughtlessly to tear part of the skirt off and her eyes widened.

"Wha-what?" she gasped, blushing profusely. She pushed his hands away quickly.

"You're going to ride on my back while I climb down. Your skirt will just get in the way, so if I tear it..." he elaborated quickly.

"O-oh," she replied and allowed him to tear it quickly. The fabric fell to the ground below, and Natsu quickly slid her onto his back. She threw her arms around his neck, catching him in a choke hold. Natsu coughed softly.

"Jeez... Try to kill me, will ya?" he coughed out.

"Ahh! I'm sorry!" she cried, loosening her grip quickly. He coughed a little more before running across the shaking branch. The princess squealed and closed her eyes in terror. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...He continued on with his plan regardless, dropping down, outside the gate. By this time, she was holding Natsu quite tightly, yet allowing him to move and breathe.

"You can let go now..." he told her. She slowly touched her feet to the ground before finally letting go of him.

"That was terrifying!" she cried, clutching her hands to her chest. Natsu looked up at the sky, and it seemed like the fireworks show was almost over.

"Well, we've got to hurry," he said, scooping her up like the princess she was and sped off toward the river shore where the main event was happening. The little blue cat scurried after them, more curious as to what Natsu was up to than anything else. It had never expected Natsu to kidnap the Heartfilia princess.

"This is scary too!" she squealed, clutching onto him tightly. Natsu glanced down at her, and it finally struck him as weird that he didn't know her name yet he was doing all this for her.

"So... What is your name?" he asked, stopping in an alley, just outside of the crowd that was captivated by the booming explosions in the black sky. The princess stared at the fireworks in total awe. She had never seen them like that before.

"My... name is Lucy Heartfilia," she whispered after the fireworks had finally stopped shooting into the sky. Natsu smiled at her.

"Well, Lucy, my name's Natsu Dragoneel!" he smiled at her, sticking his hand out to her automatically. Lucy gently clasped it in hers, returning his smile with one full of sunshine. Natsu suddenly felt like he wanted to see that smile a lot more. It was dazzling.

"Thank you so much for taking me to see the fireworks," Lucy told Natsu, her voice full of sincerity, but a strangely sad expression had also taken over her face. Natsu stared at her in confusion.

"Are you... okay?" he asked, trying to look at her face since she'd cast it downward. Then he saw her tears.

"I don't want to go back! This is the most fun I've ever had in my life, and I don't want to return to my boring, old life tomorrow!" she told him without looking up. Her shoulders shook with effort to hold back her own sobs. Natsu was taken back. He stared at her in contemplation as he weighed his options. Funnily enough, the next day was his last day in that town. Then he'd be returning to his real home... which was with Fairy Tail.

"Then you should come with me! And my cat, Happy!" Natsu replied cheerfully. Lucy looked up at the strange boy, her eyes wide but shining with happiness.

"Re-really?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh course! You just better not slow me down," he said switching to a playfully serious tone.

"Oh, Natsu! Thank you so much!" she cried, hugging him tightly. He quickly hugged her back, feeling a new kind of happiness disturbing the usual joy he felt everyday. When they parted, a loud shout filled their ears.

"There she is!" the voice boomed. It was awfully cacophonous and made tears burst into Lucy's eyes once more. Natsu glanced at the guard then grabbed Lucy's hand, taking her in the opposite direction.

"Natsu? What are you-"

"I promise to you that you don't have to go home. I'll keep you safe and sound, so don't worry about a thing,Princess!" Natsu cut her off with a promise. Tears trailed down Lucy's cheeks as a big smile overtook her face.

"Thank you, Natsu..." she replied, sniffing. The two ran through winding alleyways, doing all that they could to escape the men looking for Lucy. When they arrived at Natsu's apartment, he quickly packed his things with the help of his cat, Happy.

"So who's this Natsu? And why are we leaving now?" Happy inquired. Lucy gasped when the cat spoke.

"You can talk?" she cried in surprise. Happy smiled brilliantly.

"Of course. I'm a cat, and cats can do anything!" he replied courageously. Lucy smiled naively.

"That's amazing!" she cheered. Natsu shook his head and dragged the two to the train station, where they narrowly escaped the guards. Then Natsu's motion sickness took over.

"Ohhhh... It's mooovvviinggg..." he groaned. Happy laughed, and Lucy looked incredibly worried.

"Natsu? Are you okay?" she asked, leading him to a seat. He groaned again, curling into himself slightly.

"Natsu has motion sickness," Happy informed the slightly flustered Lucy.

"Really? Is there a way to make him feel better?" she asked worriedly.

"Not that we know of," the blue cat shrugged as Natsu collapsed into Lucy's lap. Lucy blushed bright red.

"You smell nice..." he muttered into her tattered and slightly dirty dress. Lucy turned an even darker shade, which was surprisingly possible to turn. Happy burst into a cute, kitty like laughter as Natsu seemed to recover from his motion sickness a little. Lucy's eyes softened.

"If it makes you feel better..." she whispered, then turned to stare out the window, watching scenes flicker by as the train flew through the world. What an exciting day... I wonder what tomorrow will be like... I hope I get to spend everyday with Natsu. That would be just fine... forever. Lucy's eyes slid closed and she fell asleep against the cool glass.