Heir to the Throne

A Stone fit for a Fairy

"Will you marry me?" Natsu knelt in front of Lucy; coffee in hand, she paused as the cup graced her lips but its contents never made their way into her mouth. She lowered her cup back down to the table, setting it down gently as she thought about what to say.

"Aren't we already married?" Lucy was sure that's what Grandeneey said.

"Yes but that's in Dragon King terms; it's not like the kind where we sign papers and have a cake with guests and speeches that we have everyone give because they've known us for God knows how long." Lucy couldn't think of anything more romantic. Natsu wanted a ceremony to celebrate their commitment, something she hadn't thought about.

"Then yes, I will marry you Mr. Dragneel. It would be my pleasure." Lucy smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"The marriage is going to signify that not only you are my wife but you are the queen of the magical people. You also have to start training." Lucy creased her forehead. 'Queen training?'

"What? I have to do training to be a Queen; why exactly do I have to do that?" Lucy didn't want to think about teaching again after she left school. Her days at school were all about studying.

"Yes, you have royal blood but remember that you weren't brought up as a princess. Mom said she wanted to help you with it seeing as how she went through the same thing with Dad." Natsu started searching through his pockets.

"Your mother was a candidate for Queen? Does that mean that your dad was supposed to be King? Why didn't he become the King?" Lucy seemed to bombard him with questions that the only answers he had were what his parents told him.

"Yeah, my mom and dad were supposed to be the next King and Queen but dad he didn't want all the work that came with it. I always felt like there was more to the story but it seemed like they didn't want me and Wendy to know. If you look through the documentation of the hierarchy to the throne, dad and mom are there, well dad is there but mom was a candidate for queen." Natsu pulled a ring out of his pocket.

"This is yours, by the way, this is your engagement ring. It has a spell of protection on it, so don't lose it; in case I can't get to you in time, the ring will be your soldier in my stead." Lucy smiled, feeling like a queen already the way Natsu was taking care of her.

"You know that you're spoiling me. You know how to make a girl feel special Dragneel." Lucy rubbed the stone of the ring and admired the color, it was Fairy-like. It seemed to glow and everything, leaving Lucy mesmerized by it.

"Lucy?" Natsu shook her leg, glad that she loved the ring he had given to her. He picked it out himself, a bit nervous about how she would take to it but maybe it was the fact that the stone of the ring was a type of stone found in what the fairy kingdom used to be.

"Yes, sir? How may I help you?" Lucy smiled as she looked up, she felt close to the ring as if it was a part of her like she'd known it even before Natsu had given it to her.

"Let's go, mom wanted to start her lessons as soon as possible. The turn of the Millennium is about to come and they thought it would be the perfect time to crown the next king." Natsu pulled Lucy up and dragged her along with him to the main house.

**********

"You know you eat as you've already been trained to be a queen? Are you sure you weren't taught how to do everything already?" Grandeneey complimented Lucy on her mannerism and knowledge.

"Maybe my mom was training me all this time and I never knew it. She had always stressed manners and being a lady. The way she talked. The way she walked. The way she did her daily routine. The way she loved was completely different than everyone else; I and my friends had always seen it, and their parents had always complimented how regal mom was." Lucy thought back to her mother and mentally thanked her for teaching her the right things.

"Layla was always the eye-catcher in a room. Her presence was always unmatched by anyone else, even the queen of all magical beings herself. She was so young but always classy and always sophisticated." Grandeneey remembered meeting her for the first time, Layla had just started working for Igneel and Grandeneey had been away for eight and a half years for school.

"Yeah, she was like that. I used to love it when she came to school for Parent-Teacher conferences, it was fun watching all the other parents gawking at her." Lucy still loved to think about those days when everyone admired her mother.

"You must be glad to have her stone then," Grandeneey spoke up. Lucy looked up at her with a confused look on her face. Natsu hadn't told her.

"Her stone? My mom has a stone?" Lucy looked down at the ring and then back to Grandeneey.

"Natsu didn't tell you, did he?" Grandeneey was going to have a talk with Natsu later and give him a piece of her mind for not telling Lucy.

"No. My mom never had any type of jewelry besides her wedding ring and the necklace I have." Lucy looked down at the necklace; it had no resemblance to the ring she wore on her finger.

"The stone has a history that belongs to you, Lucy. The stone is your lineage and whenever you're ready to take it back, tell us." Grandeneey was sure that Lucy would want to know, especially seeing as how it was Dragneel's company that distributed the stone to only the people that the stone chose.

"My lineage? The stone is my lineage? How does it define me?" Lucy was curious about it even more now.

"Story time. When the fairy kingdom had just started, they were known for forging jewels, most of the jewels you see that are rare and hard to find were made by them. Thousands of years ago, they used it as a currency to buy among themselves. That's a history lesson by itself and irrelevant to your one in specific. You're one was designed by your mother when she debuted at her coronation." Grandeneey got up and picked up a book off the long bookshelf.

"A coronation? Like a real princess coronation?" Lucy smiled, imagining her mother in her dress and crown.

"Yup. As a tradition, each new princess must design a stone that will be made its mark in the kingdom. Hers chose its owner and would shine for that one person, if it were to go to any other person the stone would be dull and lifeless. This stone chose you because you're the owner and you love your mother so much just like the way the stone loved Layla." Grandeneey opened the book and started looking through it, coming across a picture that Lucy would enjoy.

"How do you make it? The stone, I mean." Lucy wanted to hear more from Grandeneey than anything else.

"Power. You have to compress your power until it's solid and then it's planted to grow in a special chamber where the jewel is tended to and nurtured by slowly adding more power. Your mother's stone was the most unique of the collection." Lucy wanted to do that. She wanted to carry on a tradition for her people and her kingdom.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Lucy jumped out of her seat.

"Unfortunately, that's something you have to ask a fairy. Only a fairy can do that, only fairy magic can be compressed and solidified. Ask Igneel, I believe that Layla must have left something for you." Grandeneey smiled, seeing the determination in her eyes.

"Really? Thanks so much, Grandeneey!" Lucy hugged her and ran up the stairs to see if Igneel was home.

Grandeneey watched as Lucy ran off, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She thought to herself that Lucy would've made one hell of a ruler of the fairy kingdom if it were still around. She was glad Natsu had found her before anyone else had asked for her hand. Thinking about Natsu, she needed to have a talk with him about him not telling her the stone's history.