Dragon to the Throne

Birthday Countdown

Lucy counted the days that she had been with Natsu, she also counted the days until her birthday. It was tomorrow. Ten days spent with Natsu, ten days away from everyone she knew; she was sure that her father had called but she wasn't there to answer the phone. She wondered what her father must have been thinking about while she wasn't there.

"Lucy, come check this out." Natsu shouted from his room, lately his fever had been getting worse and no matter what she tried, it refused to go down. She walked upstairs with his breakfast in hand.

"What's happening?" Lucy walked over to the bed after shutting the door. She set down his food.

"You brought food for me?" Natsu asked, like she hadn't been doing it all the days they had been together.

"What kind of question is that? Now, tell me what's going on; you called me up here like it's really important." Natsu pulled Lucy down next to him and pointed outside the window.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Lucy stared at the sunrise; the colors meshed with each other and streaked themselves beautifully across the sky. Pink, orange, yellow and purple had never looked so beautiful in Lucy's eyes.

"What do you wanna do tomorrow? It's your birthday after all." Natsu watched as she thought deeply but he knew that deep down she would probably want to be home. He felt guilty for have his dragon instinct take over when it did. They both would've been home and he would have invited her to join her for dinner at his house.

"I don't know. I'll think about it and let you know." Lucy got up and leaned over and gave him kiss on his forehead before walking out. Natsu shook his head. He felt his heart jump out of his chest, beating fast because of her gesture.

Lucy was determined to help him get over his fever. She had thought about it rationally for a while and came to the conclusion that dragons need dragon care. Her knowledge was limited to only regular people. She had noticed that there were many books on his kind but she never picked one up, until know. She picked up a stack and walked into the kitchen to stay close to the cooking area. The books were so detailed, describing everything that you need to know.

She picked up a book about rituals, Natsu had mentioned about the one that they all had to go through with their mates. Lucy was still warming up to the idea but she knew that Natsu would be the best mate anyone could ever have. She came across a paragraph that she thought could help:

'The dragon must undergo his sealing. Once the body begins to heat up, he must bind his mate and mark them as their own. Each ritual is the transference of power and must be done within a time period of ten to twelve days; if the ritual doesn't happen, the dragon can lose his life due the of power buildup in the body. The ritual is to take place within a power sealing sphere to contain and keep power between the two individuals taking place.'

Lucy understood the ritual that Natsu had talked about but did the heat refer to his fever or his hormonal redirection. She read the folklores while she cooked lunch. She took up a plate for him and one for herself.

"Natsu, I brought food." Natsu's breathing was ragged. Lucy panicked and set the food down. He was worse. Lucy was scared for his life.

"Lucy, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Natsu croaked, concerned more about Lucy than himself.

"Natsu, you're suppose to worry about you, not me." Lucy began crying.

"Don't cry baby; you're my one and only, I'm suppose to be caring about you more than me. Besides, I don't like seeing you cry, pretty brown eyes aren't supposed to be sad." Natsu panted after speaking for such a short time.

"Hey, you need to eat so you can keep up your strength." Lucy sat him up and stated feeding him.

"Maybe I should get sick more often so you could take care of me." Lucy smiled at his comment.

"I'm a nurse, it's a force of habit; besides I like taking care of people." Lucy was genuine about her feelings.

"Your birthday is tomorrow, whatcha you going to do?" Natsu asked.

"I'll be taking care you Natsu; I'm not going anywhere." Lucy put the spoon in the stew and picked up a large helping and put it in his mouth.

"I mean like what are you going to do for yourself while you're here?" Natsu rephrased.

"Relax, sleep in maybe but mostly relax." Lucy smiled thinking about her already planned out day. She was always off from school when it was her birthday and took the time to enjoy her free time.

"Sounds like a fun day." Natsu was unenthusiastic about it.

"It's my kind of fun so don't criticize it." Lucy laughed at Natsu's pout.

"I'm just saying maybe go on a hike or something. I'm not confining you here." Natsu looked outside. He looked up to the sky and wished he could up there, everything felt better when he was in the air.

"You say that I am your one and only, so you should be happy with what I'm happy with." Lucy thought about what she had read about in the books she had picked up. She looked at Natsu and thought one way to know would be to find out for herself.

"I'm just suggesting something." He smiled and wondered why she was looking at him, staring at him.

Lucy found herself staring at him and leaned in to him; she placed her lips carefully on his and felt herself melt against his heat. His lips were hot but not overpowering in anyway. She moved her lips in rhythm with his; without realizing she had placed her hands on his face and was pulled into an embrace by Natsu. They gripped each other tightly but she pulled away slowly before they completely lost themselves and something happened.