The Princess's Protector

Chapter Eight: A Fix-her uper

Decided to do a chapter for you all. Merry Christmas!?!?!!!!

The floor creaked under the combined weight of Natsu and Lucy as they examined the beautifully preserved house. Natsu...loved this house. His face was wide with memory, and a deep, deep sorrow.

"Natsu, are you allright?"

He stiffened. Lucy silently cursed herself for overstepping some...unestablished boundary.  "Yes. It's just..."
Relaxing his shoulders, and turning to face her, and replied, softly,

"The last time I was here, was with my mother."

Lucy tugged at the ends of her shirt. "Oh."

"I'm sorry."

"No!" She quickly yelled out. "It's my fault. I brought it up!" The flush on her cheeks grew hotter and pinker as Natsu just shook his head, a crooked grin adorning his face.

"Come on, let's get settled. I don't like seeing his old house with so much dust in it."

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The mood between the two seemed to significantly lighten as they worked in a comfortable silence. They stripped the dust-ridden sheets off of the furniture and floors, gently shaking them outside. Natsu wiped down the kitchen as Lucy organized everything they'd brought with them from their journey from the castle. Just these few things seemed to brighten the house up significantly, as well as the moods of the two people inside of it.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked from the top of the stairs.

"Yes, princess?"

She paused for a second. Washing the clothed in the tub upstairs had given her enough time to think about the situation.
About her father.
About the...pain...of it all. The sickness. She was tired of it.

Lucy exhaled a deep, deep breath.

"Thank you."

Eyebrows slightly raised, Natsu poked his head from around the kitchen corner.

"For what?" His raspy voice replied.

"Saving me. Taking care of me. I...appreciate it, I guess."

Natsu blinked again. His pink hair was held away from his face by his scarf, expertly tied into a headband, and his shirt lay abandoned on a couch nearby.
His mouth cracked into a toothy grin.

"Anytime, princess."

His head retracted around into the corner again and for some reason Lucy was...relieved. For the past day or two his gaze had felt...
Heavy.

Not in a bad way, but in a way she couldn't explain.

She shook her head, physically clearing her thoughts as she turned and explored the rest of the house.

While the downstairs contained he living room, dining room, and kitchen, the upstairs consisted of two bedrooms and a master bathroom. The master bedroom and bathroom, she had already seen, but she had yet to explore the other bedroom; she'd only caught a glimpse of it through the door crack.

For an unknown reason, Lucy's hand just wouldn't seem to turn the cool metal handle beneath her delicate fingertips. Maybe it was because this had been apart of the prince's old life, or because it felt like an intrusion, but--

The larger hand engulfed hers.

Lucy jumped, bouncing forward because of the strong male body behind her.

Looking up at him, Natsu's features were stiff, and not heir usual carefree and playful self; he gripped the handle through her hand, guiding it to squeeze and turn, opening the door.

Her first thought was that it was adorable.

The baby blue walls and fire dragon toys combined with the stacks of red fleece blankets and pictures of Natsu and Zeref on the walls showed how much his life had been changed by the loss of his mother and brother.

Lucy couldn't see his eyes, but she could tell reminiscing in here...pained him. Even though Zeref was back...he was evil.

"Natsu, I'm sorry-- I just wanted to--"

"Lucy."

One word. She was so twisted up inside that a single word could grab her attention, hold her indefinitely, and wind her heart so tight it felt like it would burst.

"Yes?" Her voice as shaky; she didn't know why.

His back was still turned away from her, but she saw his strong shoulders contort and tense as well as relax under her gaze as he still surveyed the room.

"Princess, when I was little, and Zeref and my mother were still here, I was happy. I had everything a prince- or any child, for that matter- would ever want: an older sibling to protect me, a set of beautiful, loving parents to provide for me and give me the keys to success. I had it all."

He half tuned to her, pain in his eyes.

"But it was an illusion," he whispered, more to himself then anyone.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he started, then paused, as if wondering how to say the next few sentences.
"My family was never perfect, and it's not like I'd change that, but...feelings and emotions were hard to come around, and Zeref being so reclusive, like my mother, while my father's fiery temper and rage dominated the house every now and again, I didn't know what to say or choose or feel..."

Natsu pulled at the roots of his hair, furrowing his brows in thought.

"I'm messed up. And I can do a lot of things, but being a good husband isn't one of them."

Lucy just stared and the nape of his neck. She couldn't believe what he was saying...

She smacked him upside the head.

"You really think this is the time to be talking about that?!" She scolded.
"We are literally hiding out in an abandoned building from your long lost brother who we all thought was dead until now and all you can think of to say is that your messed up?"

She turned away from him and stormed through the door.

"Seriously, Natsu, everyone in this world is a little cruel and a little messed up. Your not the only one...I've had to learn that the hard way."

"Princess-"

With a wave of her hand she cut him off, allowing herself to breathe and clam herself before breathing, "You can call me Lucy, you know. We've been through enough together for you to earn at least that."

The tone was so gentle, so soft. Natsu nodded, forgetting his previous statement for a moment.

He followed her out of the room, tenderly closing the door and locking the wild emotions inside.

Where had they come from?!?!

"Natsu, it's up to me to decide whether you could be a suitable husband or not. Hell, I don't even know you yet, but if you want to start by being friends, we can go from there?"

Natsu took a beat to consider, then smiled in response.

"Sure,"

"Princess."