The next morning Natsu once again earned himself a good amount of coins with his entertaining fire tricks with the ring. This morning's haul was especially great because one of the coins was made of the purest gold.

"Breakfast will be really good this morning." He thought as he entered the market place with Happy.

Per usual, the market place was bustling and full of merchants hawking about their wares.

"Buy a pot! A fine pot in brass or silver!" One shouted.

"Sugared dates and figs! Pistachio nuts and melons!" Another one shouted.

"Fresh fish! We catch em! You buy em!" Came a third merchant.

This was all routine to Natsu and he barely paid the merchants any mind, unless of course they were selling meat. But to new comer that entered the market place that morning, it was quite an interesting display. She stopped to smell the spices of one stand and then to admire the pottery of another stand. It was all so simple yet at the same time, so exciting to her.

"So what should it be this morning Happy?" Natsu asked his cat, as he headed down one direction of the street. "Eggs? Sausage? Or both?"

The newcomer was coming down in the opposite direction, and she was so distracted by all the sights, and he was so distracted by his own stomach, that neither one paid much attention to where they were going. Which led to them bumping into one another.

"Oh!" They both cried out startled.

"Please excuse me." The girl said.

"My bad." Natsu replied.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Nothing to get-"

But upon recovering from the mild crash, Natsu quickly found himself face to face with the young lady, and he couldn't help staring. Maybe it was her big brown eyes or her cascade of silky blond hair or just...Her. He couldn't look away, and a strange new feeling occurred inside of him. He had seen many pretty girls before, peasant maids were a lot more fair than the wealthy and royal would suspect, and he had gotten many glimpses of harem girls here and there, but none of them had ever made him feel like this before. There was something different about this girl. She was somehow special.

"Why do you stare at me so strangely?" She asked him.

Natsu suddenly blushed.

"Oh was I staring? Sorry!" He quickly tried to change the subject. "First time in the market place, huh?"

"What makes you think it's my first time here?"

"Well the solid gold earrings are a bit of a give away." He chuckled. "No one from around here can afford those."

The princess in disgusie put her hands to her ears, realizing her mistake.

"I guess it is kind of obvious." She said while avoiding eye contact.

"Lucky for you though, I know this place like the back of my hand. Mind if I show you around?"

"Not at all. I'd like that very much."

"But Natsu, what about breakfast?" Happy whined.

Natsu ignored his cat and proceeded to lead this very pretty and attractive young woman on a tour of the market place.

"Over here you have your spices, nuts, melons, figs, and dates." Natsu explained at one stand. "Speaking of dates-"

"This isn't one." Lucy was quick to deny.

"And over there is where they sell jewelry that folks in this part of the city can actually afford. To the left you'll find a fish stand and to the right, you can watch guys sit on beds of nails and sleep on hot coals. Crazy, if you ask me."

"Have you lived here long?"

''Was born and raised here. Where are you from?"

"No where important."

"Okay so you're not local, you're trying to hide your face in a cloak, and you don't want to tell me where you're from. I'm guessing you're a run away?"

She looked down at her feet.

"A perceptive one, are you?"

"Not always. Usually it's just toward things and people that I like."

"Does that mean you like me?" Lucy giggled in a teasing manner.

"Maybe." He smiled at her in the manner.

Happy rolled his eyes.

"So if I may ask, what are you on the run from?"

"My father." She answered. "He's forcing me to get married against my will.

"That's awful. Sounds like you have the same problem as the princess."

Lucy started to get nervous. Oh no, did he recognize her? At some point in her life, did she meet him and then forget, while he kept the memory?

"Do you know the princess?"

"Yeah right." He laughed. "I'd be lucky if I ever saw her, let alone met her."

She let out a breath of relief.

"Are you okay? For a moment, you looked a little pasty."

"I'm alright. But just out of curiosity, what do you know about the princess?"

"Only what the palace guards have said, How she's expected to marry soon, how she's rejected every suitor that's come to call, how all men are forbidden to never look upon her without the sultan's permission."

"I didn't know about that one. Is that really true?"

"Yep. Apparently the princess is so pure and virtuous that no male outside the palace is worthy enough to look at her face. So the sultan decreed if any looked at her without permission from her father, he would be...Well you know." He moved his finger across his neck in a throat slitting manner.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! The sultan must be mad!"

"Shhh! Don't let anyone hear you say that. You might lose your head."

"I can assure you the princess herself would not approve of such a law. In fact she would say that it's the dumbest law her father has decreed."

"Sounds like you know her pretty well."

"I...I am a royal hand maid to the princess." Lucy lied. "We talk very frequently."

"What's she like?"

"Stifled, and very unhappy with her life."

"Really?" He said feeling surprised. "I mean, I know everyone has their own problems but I thought someone like her would at least be happy with how she lives."

"Someone like her?"

"You know, someone who lives in a palace who has servants and valets."

"You mean people who tell you where to go and how to dress?" She sighed.

"Hey it's better than spending your days scraping for food and sleeping in a dirty, cramped, hovel."

"But you'd never be free to make your own choices. Being in that palace can make you feel..."

"Living on the streets always makes me feel..."

"Trapped." They said at the same time.

Their eyes met, and they smiled.

"He loves you!" Happy taunted, which earned him a glare from his human companion. The girl followed the young man's annoyed gaze, finally noticing the cat.

"Oh you have a kitty!"

She bent down and held her hand out to Happy. He sniffed her fingers with caution, and once her scent told him that she was a good person, he started to rub up against her and purr.

"He likes you." Natsu said.

"He's so cute." She said rubbing his ears with one hand and using her other hand to scratch under his chin. "Is he yours?"

"Not exactly." Natsu said. "He lives with me, I feed him, I groom him, and he pals around with me a lot, but I don't own him of anything. We're just friends who look after each other."

"He's a very beautiful specimen." She said. "And his coat is so fine. You'd never think that he was an alley cat."

"People have told me that he's good looking enough to sell him to the palace as a royal pet, but I couldn't sell Happy for anything."

"Happy? His name is Happy?"

"I named him that because he always makes me so happy. He's my best friend in the whole world you know?"

"Animals can be a wonderful source of comfort. The birds in the royal gardens have lifted the spirit of the princess many times. In some cases she would much prefer to hear the songs of birds rather than listen to arrogant princes boast about her beauty."

"Eh, she's probably not that pretty anyway."

She gave him a look that indicated that he had insulted her.

"How can you say that? You've never even seen her and many of said that she is most pleasing to look at."

"You have a point, but I don't need to see her to know that she can't be as pretty as you."

Now she was blushing, and gazing at him in a coy fashion.

"You're probably ten times more beautiful than the princess could ever be."

"Oh stop it. I bet you say that to all the girls you meet."

"Not really, considering I haven't met many girls in my life." He said. "I've seen many, but you're the first one I've ever actually talk to."

A confused expression appeared on her face. She was the first and only woman he had ever met? How could that be? Sure he was poor but he was also polite, funny, and very dashing. More dashing than any prince or nobleman she had seen. There was something about his humble, good-looks that she found very attractive. She liked how he was dressed as he was instead of putting of just getting carried away with expensive clothes.

"So what do you like to do?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She responded.

"What do you like to do for fun? Do you have any hobbies? Do you spend time with a specific subject of study?"

"You really want to know?"

"Isn't that why I asked?"

Lucy was surprised. For once someone was actually making an honest effort to get to know her as a person. None of her suitors had ever done that before. Usually they would just come barging in, speaking of how they would run Lazan and what kind of wife she was expected to be. They never asked her what her likes and dislikes were or what she liked to do. This man's approach was new and refreshing. It was what she had been wanting someone to do for Heaven knows how long.

"Alright." She said with a pleased smile.

And so Natsu and Lucy talked long into that morning, enjoying each other's company very, very much.