The Love of Dragons- Nalu

chapter one- Fairy Tail

POV: Lucy

As we passed down the cobblestone street, people stared. They noticed that each of us had a special mark, one that said that we were wizards, and that we were family. I had initially planned upon going out to lunch with Natsu and Happy to thank them for saving me this most recent time, but somehow practically half the guild ended up coming along! It was me, Erza, Wendy, Carla, Grey, Levy, Juvia, Gajeel, Loke, (who came from the spirit world) Cana, Happy, and finally, Natsu. I had been planing on taking him out to a small buffet restaurant, but with this many opinionated friends, we could never agree. After quite a bit of arguing we split into groups as follows, Happy and Carla, Grey and Juvia, Levy and Gajeel, Loke and Cana. Which left Natsu, me, Erza and Wendy.

“I'll take lunch with Natsu.” Erza said, She kept a straight face, while Natsu paled until he looked white. “If that's alright with you?” she continued, giving Natsu a classic 'Erza' stare that sent him into shivers.

“Oi!” He stammered, “Nothin' better!” he grinned shakily as he took Erzas outstretched hand and let her lead him to lunch.

“So... just you and me, huh?” I muttered to Wendy, I patted her head, “So where you wanna go to eat?”

“I dunno...” she murmured, fidgeting with the bottom of her blue and yellow dress.

“Ok, then.” In a moment I grabbed her hand and lead her off to my favorite cafe.

When we walked in, I was struck with the smell of coffee and breads. The whole place was decorated lavishly, the menus were written in a swirly style on chalkboards. Even the windows were framed with cute, blue curtains ending in delicate lace. Wendy stood frozen, taking in the quaint little place, her big brown eyes glittering,

“Lucy! I didn't even know this place existed!” she exclaimed, then she quickly glanced down and blushed, angling her toes inward and tugging on her dress.

“Hey, what's the matter?”

“Erza wan'ed me to talk to you...”

“About what?” I winked at her, “Relationship problems with Romeo?” I joked

“Waahh!” she cried, her eyes getting huge, she nearly fell into one of the chairs, “There's not, we're not like- hmm...” she looked up at me with the cutest little pouting face I had ever seen.

“It's okay, I was just kidding, what did you really have to tell me?” I giggled, and out of habit put a hand to my key box as I sat across from the little blue-haired girl.

“Well, I don't know anything about it, just what Erza told me, but aparently around this time of year - every year – Natsu gets depressed. We don't know why and he always avoids the question. They've noticed also that he tends to not use magic around this time, Erza's talking to him about it now.”

I rubbed my thumb on the key case, for some reason I was incredibly relieved that this was the reason she had wanted to eat with him.

“She just didn't want you to be worried.” I glanced at Wendy again, there was something she wasn't telling me...

“Well, that was unusually nice of her.” I smiled, trying to achieve that carefree, easy demeanor that Natsu always had.

“No! Once you get to know her she's actually a really good person, and she cares more for the guild than anything else!” the little girl insisted, “She's actually really worried about Natsu... she thinks that he's hiding something dangerous, like-” she clapped a delicate hand over her mouth. She made little sounds of displeasure as she shook her head, pressing her eyes closed.

“Like what?” I asked gently, touching the hand on her face,

“Nothing! It's nothing!” she yelled, drawing odd looks from the other people in the cafe.

“Are you sure?” I asked, scooting closer to her, I let myself tower over her, wondering if I could ever be as frightening as Erza, or if I'd like to be...

“Lucy..? You're scary...” she whimpered, backing away from me.

“Just tell me, what's Natsu doing that's dangerous?” I pressed

“Erza thinks he may be using forbidden magic but she told me not to tellyou!!”

I stood and stared out the door to the cafe, my eyes glazed over, Natsu, using forbidden magic? How could that be possible?

“What are you talking about?”

“Often times when people use magic that's above their level they suffer side-effects, like depression or the inability to use magic for a bit...” She stared at her feet, “I'm sorry, Lucy.”

“I'm going to my apartment...” I patted her on the shoulder and stepped out, almost tripping on the step down. Natsu had always been so honest and seemed way too childish to lie well. What was going on?

* * *

As I neared my apartment, I saw a strange girl sitting on the edge of the stone, with her legs dangling in the water. She had long black hair with one bright blue highlight. From her back I could see a dark, slim dress, she was leaning back on her arms, with heavily tanned skin. I had never seen her around the town before. She turned her head to me, intense gray eyes penetrating into my heart. She had tattoos covering her face, chest and shoulders that seemed oddly chilling. I noticed then that her age was impossible to gander. Her angled face portrayed wisdom and horror, while she was slender with the perfect skin of a girl my age.

“Do I know you?” she had a musical voice that seemed to ring in my ears even when she was no longer speaking.

“I'm sorry, no, I just... you looked lonely.”

“Did I?” she frowned, “That won't do.” she pulled her legs out of the water and stood gracefully just on the edge of the wall, barefoot. Her dress was crossed in the back with torn-looking hems,

“Oh! Careful, don't fall in.” I warned her and went to take her hand.

“I wont.” she jumped straight up, over my head, made an elegant flip and landed with her back to mine, facing my apartment. “So you're Lucy? Interesting.” she sang, and when I turned around, she was gone.

In the middle of the street, in the middle of the afternoon, I was alone.

“Oi, Luce!” or not...

“Natsu!” I cried, having not realized how afraid I was that Erza's assumption was correct.

“Sup Lucy? Did you eat already?” he asked, flashing me a classic Natsu grin.

“No, Wendy told me something odd. And then I saw the most bizarre woman...” I confessed.

“Huh,” For a moment he considered what I had said and then in a way only he could, he brushed it aside, “Wanna get lunch with me then? It's too scary to eat when Erza's around.”

“Of course!” I skipped to him and he wrapped a strong arm around me. His warmth was comforting, familiar.

“Love you, Luce.” He chuckled, and for a moment my breath seemed to evacuate my lungs. I felt my cheeks gain color, and I glanced up at him, but he was smiling pleasantly, he meant as friends...

“You too, flame-brain.” I said quietly, adopting Grey's nickname. I felt him pull me closer, and for some reason the mood seemed to somber, his jovial smile turned down, and I felt his muscles tense, was he scared? He lead me to the same cafe that Wendy and I had gone to,

“I love this place.” he murmured, downcast.

“Me too.” I responded, stepping in front of him and forcing him to make eye-contact. “What's wrong?”

“Wendy told you didn't she? Erza asked her to.” he turned away from me and sat at a somewhat secluded table for two, I followed.

“Yeah, but I want to hear it from you.” I leaned forward on the table, hoping that he would say, Nah, that was just a stupid joke, I'm fine!Then give me his smile and we could go back to the guild, or maybe on a job.