As Lucy told Natsu all about her interests and hobbies, Natsu lead her through the city and introduced her to more exciting sights. He showed her more shops and stands, bought some fruit, nuts, and bread from one stand to have for lunch later on, and then he took her to a part of town where people were performing. There were men juggling swords, belly-dancers, contortionists, and other exotic displays of talent that the princess had never seen before.

"Hey check this out." Natsu pointed over to a basket where a man was playing a flute. A snake rose out of the basket, dancing to the rhythm of the flute's music.

"Eeep!" Lucy cried before clinging to Natsu in fear, which led to the young man blushing.

"Uh...Are you okay?" He asked her nervously.

"I'm scared of snakes." She squeaked.

Hearing this Natsu quickly led her away from the show.

"Here, watch this."

Using the ring, he sparked a fire on his finger, swallowed it, and blew out a huge flame that was like a dragon's breath. The crowd was amazed but not nearly as much as Lucy was.

"That was incredible." She clapped for him.

"Thank you."

"How did you do that?"

"Sorry it's a trade secret."

After that they went to sit down somewhere, eat their lunch, and continue conversing.

"My mother was the one who got me interested in painting in the first place. When I was little, we loved to paint the walls together. We'd create our own world where color would come to life." Lucy told Natsu. "After she died, I used painting as a means to cope but then my father became terrified of the world, and tried to keep me away from it. So my method of coping turned into my only way of seeing the outside world. I painted what I couldn't be apart of."

"What kind of things did you paint?"

"Landscapes, plants, animals, but my favorite thing to paint was always the sky. The endless void of blue with white fluffy clouds at it's side, the pink and orange of the sunset, and the most lovely of all, the black night adorned by twinkling stars."

"That does sound pretty. Why is the sky your favorite?"

"I can't tell you. You would laugh at me."

"No I wouldn't."

"Yes would. My own father laughed at me when I first told him."

"I won't! I swear!"

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Stick in a needle in my eye."

"Okay." She sighed and waited in silent hesitation before giving her answer. "The reason why I love painting the sky is because I...I want to fly."

"Fly? As in, fly like a bird?"

"Yes. Ever since I was little, I thought that it must be so wonderful to be able to lift off the ground and soar high above, seeing everything from down below. To me, flying would be the ultimate freedom. I know it's impossible and that it's a fool's dream but, sometimes I can't help but wonder what it would be like."

Natsu didn't laugh at her at all. She appreciated that more than he would ever know.

"What about you?" She asked him. "Do you have any dreams or impossible wishes?"

"No. Nothing like that for me. I'm a simple man who leads a simple life. As long as I got a roof over my head, food on the table, and Happy here, I'm a happy guy."

"You are so different from the kind of boys and men I've met."

"Really? What are they like?"

"Real different. They were always getting on my nerves and not ever listening to me. Yet my father insists on me marrying one of those boorish men."

"Why is he trying to marry you off anyway?"

"Because he thinks I can't make it on my own. He thinks I need someone to take care of me. He's so afraid of something bad happening to me, the same way it happened to my mother. It's infuriating."

"I can understand that. But at least you still have him. Both my father and my mother are long gone."

Once again Lucy felt a deep sense of compassion for the person she was speaking to.

"I am so sorry. May I ask, how did they pass?"

"It was an epidemic that hit the city shortly after the war. The poorer parts of Lazan couldn't afford proper care or a physician." As Natsu recalled the tragic memory, an awful and familiar sadness was reawakened in his heart. "I was little when my parents got sick, and they told me to keep away so I wouldn't get infected. At a distance, I had to watch them suffer a slow and agonizing death, and hear them sob about how guilty they felt about leaving me an orphan. It was the worst experience of my life."

Happy rubbed his head against Natsu's legs in a comforting manner.

"I lied. I actually I do have an impossible wish, and it would be to have my parents back just for one moment. Just so I could tell them how much I love them and how they didn't need to feel guilty. It wasn't their fault I was orphaned, they were dying, there was nothing they could do."

Natsu didn't cry, but Lucy could sense he wanted to. She slowly moved closer to him and took his hands into his own.

"I'm sure they know." She tired to assure him. "Love has a way of helping you know things without being told. That's what my mother used to tell me."

Lucy's eyes met with his again. Suddenly Natsu couldn't speak, couldn't even move. Strange feelings raced around inside him, feelings so strong they made him dizzy. Who was this mysterious girl?

"Can I ask you something?" He said when he recovered the ability to speak again.

She nodded.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

In that moment, Lucy became flustered.

"I...I don't know." She said. "I believe in love."

The two smiled at one at another, both desperately trying to hide the blush rising to their cheeks. Happy stared at them, he could smell a powerful attraction developing between them. He wondered if this was how humans chose a mate.

"You know what's funny?" Natsu asked Lucy, unable to tear his gaze away from her.

"What?" She responded with a gleam in her eye.

"We don't even know each other's names yet."

Lucy was so entranced, she barely heard herself answer.

"My name? Oh it's...It's..."

Then she snapped back to reality.  What she should do? He seemed like such an honest and decent man, she didn't want to lie to him. But what if she told him that she was the princess and he started treating her differently.  

"I...I don't know if I should tell you."

"Why not? I'll tell you my name."

"The thing is...I...I haven't been completely honest with you and I'm scared that when I tell you the truth, you won't treat me the way you are now."

"I wouldn't do that."

"You say that but trust me, once you know, things will never be the same between us."

"What do you mean? Are you like a criminal or something? Hey I don't judge thieves. Petty theft is nothing to me."

"No it's not like that. It's more like...Oh I just can't tell you."

"Don't you trust me?"

But she didn't get a chance to answer because in that moment a royal guard passed by and recognized her instantly. Ever since the sultan discovered gone that morning, he had ordered the guards to search everywhere for her and to do whatever it took to bring her home safely. He assumed that she had been stolen away in the night and the idea had him in such a terrible frenzy. So when that guard saw Lucy in the presence of a known thief, he quickly jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Get away from the princess you urchin!"

He and the other palace guards tackled Natsu to the ground

"Hey what's the big idea?!" Natsu asked angrily.

"Stay down and keep quiet! It's the dudgeon for you street rat!" One of the guards told him.

Happy jumped on the shoulder of the guard holding Natsu and tried to bite him, but he was throw off.

"You are under arrest for kidnapping the princess!" The guard told him.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu said with completely innocent confusion.  "I didn't kidnap anybody."

Lucy stepped into the guard's way.

"Let him go!" She ordered. "He hasn't done anything!"

"Princess Lucy are you alright?" The guard asked her, ignoring her words.

"I am fine! Release that young man right now!" She commanded.

"But your highness, he kidnapped you."

"He did no such thing! Now let him go! That's a command!"

"You're the princess?!" Natsu gasped, when his brain finally put two and two together.

Lucy's angry demeanor dropped to one of embarrassment when she saw the astonished look on his face.

"Yes I am." She admitted, feeling guilty for deceiving him.

"But why...Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her.

"She doesn't have to answer to you boy!" The guard snapped.

"As a matter of fact I do owe him explanation." Lucy said sternly. "Now take your hands off of him this instant or I'll report you all to my father!"

"With all due respect your highness we have orders from your father to bring you home immediately without delay."

Lucy sighed.

"Very well, but let him go. I wasn't kidnapped, I ran away of my own volition. This young man is completely innocent, so let him be."

"As you wish."

The guards released Natsu, who looked up at Lucy in disbelief. He wasn't mad at her about keeping the truth from him, in fact he was far more surprised than angry. Surprised that he had spent all this time speaking with the princess of Lazan City. The last person he would ever picture himself interacting with.

"I'm sorry." Lucy told him. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"Don't....Don't worry about it." Natsu said.

"I must leave you now." Her voice now full of regret.

"Leave me? But when can I see you again?" He asked, forgetting how ridiculous such a question would sound to everyone else in the world.

"Never I'm afraid." She answered.

"Never?"

He sounded so sad. It made a terrible ache appear in Lucy's chest. She hated to leave him like this, with his head so full of questions and possibly his heart full of doubt over whether or not he could ever trust her again. But with the guards here, there was nothing she could do. She either went back with them now or this poor boy would pay the price.

"Yes never!" The guard interjected. "She is the daughter of the sultan and is forbidden to be near any common man! Especially not a lowly street rat like you!"

"Stop calling him street rat!" Lucy demanded. "He is a person, just like you or me!"

She then moved pass the guard and gave Natsu a tender look.

"Thank you for today, it was wonderful." Her smile was both soft and sad. "Goodbye."

"Wait!" Natsu tried to protest.

But all too soon the guards pushed him away and the princess was far out of his sight. Once she was gone, Natsu crumbled to the ground, with only Happy as his source of comfort, as usual.

"Leave me." He repeated solemnly. "In that case, she should have let the guards chop off my head."

You see when Lucy had left Natsu that day, she had unknowingly taken his heart with her.