The trees swayed with the wind, making a peaceful rustling sound as the small blonde picked flowers from by the creek. She knew she shouldn’t be there, so close to the dragons den, but this was where the flowers were the prettiest, she thought.
She hummed to the tune of her mother's lullaby as she weaved the flowers into a crown. She smiled and placed the crown around her exceed’s neck, Happy, who was an unusual cat. He was blue, given to the small girl at birth as an egg.
Said cat meowed annoyedly and sneezed as he breathed in a flower.
The girl giggled and began weaving another crown, using brightly coloured flowers.
Behind the grand oak trees lining the forest, a little dragon sat against a tree, nestled in a too big scarf and slowly falling asleep to the humming.
“Lucy?” a familiar voice called, Lucy’s head peered over the small hill to see her mother, the peach dress she wore being carried in the wind.
“Mother!” Lucy exclaimed, running happily to her mum. Her smile was soft as she welcomed Lucy with open arms, picking her off the meadow floor.
Lucy relaxed in her mother’s warmth and smiled brightly, holding up the crown she had made.
“I made you a crown! It’s not as pretty as yours, but…” she muttered, Layla chuckled, taking her crown off and switching it to the flowers.
“I love it, it is so much more beautiful than mine. I’ll wear it till it withers.” she hummed, kissing Lucy’s cheek. Lucy giggled and hugged her mother. Layla held her close, as she was the dearest thing in the world to her
Behind the trees, the young dragon gazed at the two girls, taking in the view of how happy they were.
He growled and ran back into the forest, determined to have that same moment of happiness.
“Igneel! Igneel!” the young boy shouted, running over to a humongous, fire red dragon. The dragon looked at his son and smiled, lowering his body as low as he could so he could look him in the eye.
“Yes, Natsu?” he chuckled, breathing a cloud of smoke into the boy’s face. He coughed and giggled as he climbed on his dads head.
“I made you this,” he stated, placing a flower crown on the rough scales of his dad’s head. The crown was made poorly compared to the one he saw the girl make, but he stood proud as he hopped off the giant dragon and looked up at him.
Igneel plucked the flower crown off of his head and examined it. He sighed, but smiled and placed it back down.
“You’ve been watching that girl again, haven’t you?” he said softly, Natsu blushed and shook his head, dismissing his dad.
“Do you like it?” he questioned, Igneel chuckled, using an overly huge talon to ruffle Natsu’s hair.
“Yes, I like it, son,” he answered, waiting for his son’s next move. Natsu was beaming, but only for a moment before plopping onto the dirt floor of the forest floor. Igneel peered at his son as his face crumpled into a disappointed frown.
“Why doesn’t it feel the same…” he muttered, but Igneel heard it, with his heightened dragon ears. He scooped up the young boy into his hand and pulling him over as he laid down,
“What doesn't feel the same, Natsu?” he asked, though he knew the answer. Natsu sighed relaxing on his dad's neck as he peered at the dense forest treetops, shading them from the afternoon sun.
“That...feeling she gets. The girl with the blonde hair. She always sits at the creek and makes flower crowns or plays with her dolls,” he began. Igneel listened closely, “When the older version of her comes, they always have this...feeling. I don’t know what it’s called,” he explained, remembering the young girl, around his age, with what looked like an older clone of her.
“For starters, the older one is her mother.” he laughed, Natsu looked at him in confusion, and Igneel sighed, “A mother is the one who carries the child before they’re born. Think of it as a female version of a dad. You can’t have a mother without a father.” he spoke quietly, as Natsu listened intently. Igneel could see the cogs turning in his head as he was thinking.
“Then...where’s my mother?” he muttered, Igneel froze at the question he longed to never answer. He looked at his son, smiling lovingly and sighing.
He would have to tell him one day, but today was not that day.
“You’re mother disappeared when you were a baby. You wouldn’t remember her,” he lied, perching his head on his hand. Natsu nodded solemnly, and though he knew his father was lying, didn’t push any further.
“How about tomorrow you try and befriend the girl? She lives close by and it would be nice for you to have a friend your age,” Igneel suggested, changing the subject. Natsu looked up to his dad and smiled brightly, his sharp teeth poking through his parted lips.
“That’s a great idea Igneel! I bet she’ll want a gift, being a noble and all. What should I get her?” he ranted, pacing as his little head thought over things he could get the girl. Igneel watched in amusement as Natsu was hit with an idea and ran off into the forest.
His little feet pounded the dirt floor as he ran, so fast he kicked up dust, leaving a trail behind him as he sped off towards a creek. He stepped into the water and waited. And he waited for a while before a school of fish made their way through the clear water. He lowered his body close down to the water and held out his hand.
As a fish swam under his small body, through his legs, he swooped down and caught it in his hands. He held it up and looked it over, frowning at its small size.
“No good...hm…” he mumbled to himself. He let the fish go into the lake and set his eyes onto another, waiting for it to get just close enough for him to catch.
He went in, again and again, throwing fish across to the grass when he thought maybe they were big enough. He heaved a big sigh, a puff of fire coming from his mouth.
He left the water, propping himself against a tree and taking a breather. That is until a flash of blue caught his eye.
He looked over and on the other side of the creek, the cat sat, wings out, peering at the fish.
In a blur, the cat swung his paw into the creek and pulled out a fish. Not a big one, but big enough to feed the small cat.
Natsu watched in awe, knowing who the cat was and stepping closer.
“That was cool! Lemme try!” he grinned, getting back into the water and readying himself. He tried replicating the cat’s move, using one hand to swipe at the fish.
He was disappointed when all that happened was water being splashed. He grumbled to himself as the cat chuckled.
“You’re her cat, right? The blonde girl’s?” he questioned, the cat nodded and walked closer, watching Natsu as he continued trying to catch a fish.
“I’m Natsu! I wanna get her a fish, y’know, so we can be friends!” he chuckled, as yet another fish slipped through his grasps.
“Aye!” he heard, and his head shot up to see no one but the cat, no person to be seen.
“Did...did you just talk?” he stuttered, looking the cat up and down. The cat smirked and scratched behind his ears.
“Aye!”
“What the hell!?” Natsu screeched, falling back into the water and staring wide-eyed at the blue cat, as it howled with laughter,
“Never seen an exceed before?” the cat giggled, pacing back and forth, but never taking his eyes off of Natsu. The boy watched in astoundment as the cat sprouted wings and flew a few feet off of the ground.
“Woah...that’s so cool!” he exclaimed, standing up and draining his pants of as much water as he could.
“If you want to get Lucy a fish, I suggest you do it fast. She has to return to the mansion in an hour.” the cat spoke, before soaring past Natsu's head and through the forest. Natsu gasped and went to chase after the blue furball. He glanced at the pile of fish he gathered and snatched up the biggest of the bunch, pushing the rest back into the water, and began to sprint after the cat.
He tore through the bushes and broke through the forest’s line, the sunlight harsh on his eyes, but warming to his skin.
“Where’d you go…” he grumbled, his eyes adjusting to the bright sun and scanning the meadow. He grinned when he saw the cat duck into some tall grass and ran after him.
“I got you now!” he yelled, pulling the grass aside and staring at the sight before him. He gasped as he realised what, or rather, who, he was looking at.
The blonde, who lay on the grass, seemingly cloud gazing or something similar stared at him in wonder. He was frozen in fear, as her deep brown eyes stared him in the eye. In her eyes, there was no fear, only curiosity.
“I...um…” he stuttered, stepping back and letting the girl stand up. She looked him up and down, eyeing his scaled wings and tail, not in fear, but in curiosity.
Natsu flushed pink as he remembered what he was doing.
“I brought you this!” he screamed, flinging the fish in her face. She jumped at his sudden movement, but smiled, taking the fish from his hands.
“You have my gratitude, Dragon,” she said softly, kissing his cheek. Natsu flushed bright red and stared at her in amazement. She smiled at him, a small blush creeping up her face as she joined her hands behind her back.
Natsu felt the sudden rush of heat in his face, it was burning like wildfire. The blonde giggled at him and that was it.
“I’m gonna go get another fish!” he roared, smoke coming from his small body. He ran away, towards the forest as his hair and pants became charred, giving him small burns.
The girl watched in amusement as the dragon ran from her, leaving a path of small, charred footsteps in his wake.
“He’s the one who watches you, Lucy,” Happy purred, rubbing against the girl's legs. Lucy nodded and sat back down, smoothing the blue fur on her companions back.
Happy sighed in relief as he felt his muscles relax under her touch. Soothing and warm, just how he liked it.
“I wonder if he’ll come back,” Lucy wondered, lying on the grass and gazing at the clouds. She watched as the clouds seemed to form the shape of a dragon, and a smile crept up her face. “I hope he comes back…” she mumbled, closing her eyes and thinking about the young pinkette.
“Igneel! Igneel, wake your fat butt up! I need to tell you something!” Natsu shouted, making the crimson dragon wince and groan. He slowly sat up, yawning and letting a puff of fire come from his mouth as he did so.
“What is it Natsu?” he mumbled sleepily. Natsu jumped up onto his leg, trying to get higher up to him. Igneel saw this and held out his clawed hand for Natsu to climb onto. Natsu did so and stood up to face the dragon.
“The girl! I saw the girl! And she- she kissed my cheek, Igneel!” he ranted, Igneel roared with laughter as his son pouted, puffing out his chest and crossing his arms, “what’s so funny!?” he growled, Igneel took a minute to regain his composure and smirked at his son.
“I’m sorry, Natsu. So she kissed your cheek? What happened next?” he questioned, Natsu sighed and plopped down into Igneel’s hand, using his arms to prop himself up from behind.
“I didn’t know what to say, so I told her I was going to get her another fish and ran away,” he explained, Igneel scoffed and leaned down to be at eye-level with the boy.
“You know, she’s a princess. Princesses don’t have much use for fish, Natsu,” he chuckled, Natsu scrunched his face up in confusion,
“But it’s food! You can’t not have enough food!” he said, utterly confused. Igneel sighed and softly put Natsu back down to the ground.
“Son, why don’t you get her something a little nicer? She’s a beautiful young lady, she deserves something worthy of her, not a fish,” he explained, Natsu shrugged and sat down on the dirt floor.
“She seemed happy with the fish. She said ‘you have my gratitude, Dragon’. Doesn’t that mean she likes it?” he questioned, Igneel sighed, shaking his head.
“She probably meant that she appreciated the gesture. I’ll teach you more about her and her life as the princess tomorrow, okay?” he grumbled, lying down and resting his head on his hands.
“Okay, but what should I get her in then?” Natsu wondered, “something pretty…”.
“Natsu, do you remember how those crystals by the lake glow when exposed to magic?” Igneel asked, Natsu’s eyes went wide as a lightbulb lit up in his head. He began to run towards the lake, leaving his father to himself.
“Thanks, Igneel! I’ll see you later!” Natsu shouted, before disappearing into the woods. Igneel sighed in relief and smiled to himself.
Disgraced knight with a particular skill set Bickslow has never been fond of Fiore's royal family, and when the naïve princess of his former kingdom seems to almost come stumbling into his hands, he's not interested in being respectful. But when it turns out Lucy needs his help getting home, he can't say no to the reward. He just has to remind himself it's only for the money.
Pairing: Bickslow/Lucy
Rating: T
Genres: Fantasy/Romance
