Dragon Boy and Princess

Chapter 3

Lucy took one step onto her balcony and shivered. It was cold out tonight. She hoped Natsu wasn't too cold, he had a blanket but still... Well, she would just bring him another one. She slipped back inside and took off her night gown. She rummaged through her chest of clothing before pulling out black leggings, a pale pink sweater, white leg warmers, and her boots. She put everything on except for her boots. She couldn't wear those just yet. She pulled out a big brown sack that had been neatly folded and tucked away in the space between her two chests. The she tiptoed out of her room, her boots and the bag in her hand. She tiptoed through the hallways, hiding whenever there was a guard patrolling until she arrived at the kitchen. She slowly inched open the door. When she didn't see any light, she fully opened the door, and went inside. She grabbed a basket from a corner and placed all the food she felt she was capable of carrying in it. She had put in lots of meat, bread, cheese, chocolate, cake, fruits, and whatever else she could find that would fit. She covered everything with a cloth, and tied another cloth around the whole thing so that nothing would slip and fall out. She then carefully placed the basket in the big bag.

She stepped out into the hallway and opened another door, the storage closet. She pulled out two blankets, two torches, and a box of matches, and put them in the bag. She pulled the drawstrings, effectively closing the bag, and slung it across her shoulders. She retraced her steps, following the exact same procedure until she entered her room again. She pulled on her boots and opened her balcony door just wide enough so that she could slip out. She closed it behind her, and made sure that no guards were patrolling the area before swinging over the balcony rail, and starting her descent. She had to go slower because of the extra weight, but she eventually made it down. Again making sure that there were no guards that were suddenly going to pop up and see her, she sprinted into the forest.

She heard growling before she even entered the clearing, and when she did, she saw Natsu standing up and leaning heavily on the trunk of the weeping willow. When he saw her, he instantly calmed down, and slid down the trunk of the tree. She ran to him and dropped her bag next to the tree.

"Stupid," she scolded. "you shouldn't be standing up yet."

He ignored her and sniffed the air as she adjusted him so that he was now sitting against the tree.

"What?" she asked. He gestured toward something behind her. She turned and saw the bag. She looked back at him, and heard his stomach growl.

"You could smell the food?" she questioned disbelievingly.

He nodded ecstatically and stared the bag down before looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Ok, ok. You get the food, let me get it out."

She pulled the bag over to where they were sitting and pulled out everything she had put inside it. When she pulled the basket out, he was practically drooling. Poor guy, he hadn't eaten all day. She felt a pang of guilt even if there had been nothing she could do about it at the time. She untied the cloth from around the basket and uncovered the contents of the basket with a flick of her wrist. She held the basket up in front of him, and said,

"Go ahead. Eat as much as you want. Its all for you."

He looked at her like she was some sort of goddess, which made laugh, before digging in ferociously. Lucy watched in wonder as he scarfed everything down. EVERYTHING. He ate EVERYTHING. Once he had finished, he observed her before saying with a big grin on his face, "Arigatou!"

"You-you spoke!" she said surprised.

"Yeah. I figured it's ok since you brought me food."

She sweatdropped, "Not because I patched you up, and didn't attack you?"