Dragon Prince

Chapter 5

Jambo fellow readers

There will be a proper apology and explanation for the delay later.

For now, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 5
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Lunch.

On a normal day, the bell that announced this midday meal was met with a very loud cry of joy as a particular pink(salmon) haired student bolted down the hall toward temporary freedom, and more food than any other person his size could eat. And today was nothing even resembling an exception.

Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, and Erza were all still in the old man's office discussing strategies for controlling Natsu's more aggressive or questionable urges, and keeping him calm or bringing him back down in certain situations.

When the bell (FINALLY!) rang, he instinctively rushed out the door and through the halls, completely missing Erza's telling him that they weren't done yet, and Makarov's stating that they could use a break anyway.

As the young student weaved his way through the crowds that were already beginning to form in the halls, he thought over the meeting. They had been in there three whole class periods discussing strategies and new habits that he would likely form, and quite frankly, while he knew that this was important and they all cared for him, it was an embarrassing and awkward subject.

Hearing how he needed something with her scent on it, had to follow her around, would probably need a good picture of her, he sounded like a creepy stalker that they based horror movies on. He had purposefully not teased Gajeel with any lines like that in hopes that karma wouldn't come back to bite him on the ass. Gray was the one who did all the teasing, heck Natsu actually defended the studded freak on a few occasions. But in the end, Gray's life worked out perfectly while he was screwed.

Damnit! He had missed some golden opportunities for nothing! Well, he did get to see Gajeel bash Gray one good time.

Hey! Maybe if he played his cards right that could happen again!

Putting that thought aside for now, Natsu's mouth began to water as he smelled the cafeteria. He made his usual entrance of nearly kicking the doors of the hinges, and as a testament to how common it was, absolutely no one looked up from their food.

Ignoring the twinge of hurt at being ignored, he walked over to the line, taking deep breaths of the intoxicating scent of Fairy-Tail High's cafeteria food as he went.

After a karate tournament held at Phantom High (Fairy-Tail kicked some Phantom ASS of course.) the senior had really come to appreciate just how lucky they were to be at Fairy-Tail High, especially after he heard from a kid from Quatro Cerberus, that there had been multiple accounts of acute intestinal problems with many of the students from other schools.

Natsu shuddered, quickly pushing back the memories of that student's, (way too detailed) descriptions of some specific cases before he lost his appetite.

The cafeteria line was pretty much an all you could eat buffet, depending on how much food you could cram onto your plate. At Fairytail High, you paid for each trip you made up to the counter. Rumor had it, according to legend, a long time ago, that people used to say that the lunch line was, at one time, truly all you can eat. That, of course, was before Natsu was enrolled.

Though he vehemently denies it, the story goes that Makarov, who was well aquatinted with the pink (salmon) haired boy, changed the custom upon sending out Natsu's acceptance letter.

All this for naught, it seemed, as the young man became an immediate authority on the best food stacking methods.

As he finally got through the line, he had only a little difficulty seeing over the bounty on his platter.

Making his way through the crowded cafeteria, looking for a place to sit, he froze for a moment, sniffing the air. Vanilla and strawberry. It wafted through the caf, like some sort of homing device that he'd been hardwired for. And like earlier that morning, he felt bound to answer the call.

Her blonde hair seemed to glimmer as he approached her from behind, and his heart leapt as he saw the empty bar stool style seat to her right. Levy sat to her left on one side of the table, and Lisanna, Cana and Juvia sat, in that order, on the opposite side.

As he closed the distance, he heard her melodious voice as she chatted with the other girls.

"So, have any of you guys seen Erza?" She asked, "I haven't seen her since before class started."

Seizing the opportunity to make his presence known, Natsu casually plopped into the open seat like it was the most natural thing in the world. (A move he was very proud of later.)

"Erza's got Student Council Meetings during the first lunch of every month," Natsu told her, starting in on his own, working from top to bottom.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, though Natsu wasn't sure whether it was because of his sudden appearance, or the fact  that the pile of food he was dismantling was just slightly shorter than Levy.

Aside from Lisanna's raised eyebrow, which Natsu decided to ignore, none of the others at the table reacted to either his presence, the size of his plate, or the fact that he was sitting Lucy, the only one at the table who he didn't know. Though he knew that he would get grilled on it later, unless Lisanna, Cana, and Juvia heard those stupid reports, in which case, there was still Levy to deal with.

Lucy looked like she was about to comment on his sudden appearance when Levy, who had been looking at the school schedule, spoke up.

"But she was supposed to be in our other two classes, where was she then?"

"Titania was with us," Gajeel said, suddenly materializing beside the Blue-haired bookworm, similar to how Natsu had appeared beside Lucy, "gett'in her ear chewed off for try'in to take the punishment of students into her own hands."

He said all this with a pointed look at Levy.

Within moments, every one at the table was looking pointedly at the bluenette, who was slowly (as if they wouldn't notice,) attempting to disappear under the table.

She almost made it. When the table was about even with her nose, Gajeel made a snort/chuckle like noise. Grabbing her by the back of her uniform, the studded teen lifted her till she was sitting in her seat properly.

"Oh don't think we'll let you off that easy Squirt."

Levy's cheeks puffed out in annoyance.

"Stop calling me small you oversized, greasy, pincushion! You compulsive, asinine, egotistical..."

She trailed off as she realized that all of the pointed looks she was getting were beginning to turn into slight glares.

"Oh squirt," Cana said, disapprovingly, "you can't change the subject that easily."

Levy opened and closed her mouth multiple times. For the first time since Natsu met her, the girl seemed to be struggling to find words. So much so, the pink (salmon) haired boy struggled to keep from laughing in her face. He only just managed by reminding himself of how defensive of Levy Gajeel was, even given the current state of their relationship. Or lack thereof.

"Come on Levy," Lisanna scolded, "You know that Master can't stand it when Erza tries to take over."

"Levy is also aware that Erza has a difficult time resisting the urge to reign over her fellow classmates." Said the other blue haired girl at the table. " Juvia doesn't think that Levy was being very kind."

"Not to mention she interrupted our meeting with Master, where we were being dealt with." Said Gray, as he slid into his place at Juvia's right.

"And it ain't like Gramps is a slouch, either." Gajeel told her.

"And let me remind you, the only language Erza speaks is Overkill." Natsu finished.
"Like you're one to talk," Levy grumbled through her fingers, as she hid her face in her hands.

"Hey, it's not the only language I speak!" He replied defensively. "Besides, Erza is more fluent than me in it."

"So... Hold up." Lucy said, reminding the others (save Natsu who had never forgotten) that she too was present, "Erza... Went up to Makarov's office.... To punish you, even though you were being punished... And got herself punished for circumventing his authority?"

Natsu wasn't really sure what 'circumventing' meant, but the way she said it sounded pretty, so he nodded.

He really had to get these emotions under control.

"Dang," the blonde continued, "miscalculated on that one, huh, Lev?"

Levy looked as though she wanted to shrink under the table again, but Natsu decided that the blunette had been through enough. "Yeah... What took you two so long to get back here?" He asked turning his attention to Gajeel and Gray.

"Well, Titania was fixin' to chase you down, so we didn't wanna get caught in the crossfire." Grunted the metallic freak.

"Yeah," Gray added, "Be glad Gramps told her to chill out and just let ya go."

"Hey," Natsu said defensively, "LUNCH. Some things are SACRED."

"Hey," Gajeel pointed out, "TITANIA."

Everyone at the table (except Natsu) nodded in solemn agreement.

"What are the odds," asked Fullbuster, "That she'll be one of those 'the bell doesn't dismiss you, I DO' teachers when she interns next year?"

At the mention of the inevitable internship, there was a collective shudder. Natsu stroked his chin in thought before stating, "yeah... But I'd run to lunch anyways..."

"And DIE." Cana reminded him.

Natsu looked at his hands as he weighed the options.

"Lets see, starve to death, or be killed by Erza after I eat. Die without food, die with food. DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!"

"You know," Gray mused, leaning toward Juvia, "He's got a good point..." Juvia was looking at him wide eyed, seeming to take in, just now, just how close to her he was. Seeing her stare, he pecked her quickly on the lips. "Hi honey, how has your day been?" He asked smiling.

"It's better now." She replied, lacing her fingers with his.

Ignoring their sappy exchange, Natsu addressed the rest of the group. "YA SEE?!" He exclaimed, arms out wide, "Even the Popsicle agrees with me!" He turned to Lucy, looking for affirmation.

As he did so, he took passing notice of Gajeel and Levy rolling their eyes at his behavior.

Then the look on their faces changed, rapidly turning from exasperation to panic as they both rose hastily from the table and took a step (or two in Levy's case) back.

Now, on any normal day, Natsu would have known exactly what they were doing this for, it was routine after all, and properly braced himself for it. But he'd had a rather crazy day and was partially under the impression that "routine"  had completely taken a vacation for the day.

The sound of small feet practically flying towards him from across the cafeteria, quickly snapped him out of this blissful ignorance.

Eyes widening in realization, he did the math and realized that his options were either dive out of the way, and leave Lucy to fend for herself, or act as a shield. His instincts automatically nixed the first idea, so arms still out wide, he squealed "SAVE ME!" And wrapped his arms around Lucy as Wendy came charging up and tackled them both out of the blonde's seat.

They ended up sprawled on the floor, where Gajeel and Levy had been standing seconds ago, with Natsu's arms wrapped around Lucy, and Lucy returning the favor instinctively. Wendy, who still had them in her death hug (as Natsu affectionately called it), then seemed to take notice of the fact that she also had her arms around Lucy as well as her brother, and squealed all the more.
"LUCY! Oh you're here too! I'm so glad!" And she (if possible,) hugged the pair even tighter.

As Wendy continued to hug them, her speech turned to an excited babbling that Natsu could neither understand or keep up with, and he doubted that Lucy was having any better luck. Based on her absolutely adorable confused face, he saw he was correct in that assumption.

He felt that she needed a distraction, something that she could focus on, understand, and respond to. Obviously, Wendy's rambling didn't fit those categories, so he decided to try and help.

"Hi, I'm Natsu." The pink (salmon) haired boy said with a smile, causing the blonde to turn her confused gaze on him. He pushed on as though she wasn't looking at him like he just fell from the sky, "I see that you already know Wendy," he said, nodding to the bluenette currently trying to break their ribs, "and yes, she does this everyday."

Now that she had something to respond to, Lucy looked a lot more comfortable. She visibly relaxed, and Natsu could feel the tension ease out of her (since he still had his arms around her.)

"Ah," she started, a look of understanding spreading across her face. She looked down at Wendy, who was ignoring their conversation in favor of continuing to babble on about Romeo being to slow, then back up at Natsu before continuing.

"She must really miss you."

The young man snorted.

"She saw me this morning when I dropped her off at class. No, no... she just likes to say 'hi' like this."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at this.

"So is this like a Dragneel thing? Saying hi by tackling people? Including new people?"

"To the first, kind'a. To the second..." Natsu tilted his head in thought before continuing.  It took almost all of his willpower to not say "only the pretty ones," but he managed to say, "No, you're the first." Instead.

"I feel so special."

You have NO idea.

"You should. I considered just diving out of the way and letting you take the fall all on your own, but I'm not a cruel person."

"Thank you for your generosity," she said, rolling her eyes, "I greatly appreciate it."

Oh, great, my mate would be a walking dictionary. But then, she is Levy's best friend.

"Your appreciation is duly noted." He replied. He didn't even know those words were English, much less what they meant, but it sounded right, so he just rolled with it.

Lucy laughed, then winced slightly as Wendy's embrace restricted such an action, causing Natsu to decide that the hug had gone long enough.

"Wendy,"he said to get the young bluenette's attention. He was almost adamantly ignored. He tried again, more insistent this time.

"Hey Wen! Air! We still need that!"

This time his words made it through, and the girl released them from her grasp, stammering an apology, mostly to Lucy.

"Hey! What about me? You crushed me too."

Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Oh you're fine. This was the first time I said hi to Lucy like that, you however, are a veteran."

"Doesn't make me immune to it."

"Yeah well you know you like- OOF!"

That last grunt was squeezed out of her by her brother, who had just wrapped her up in a bear hug of his own.

"Oh, I do! I love it so much that I have to say thank you the best way that I know how."

"Natsu! Air! I need it!"

The pink (salmon) haired boy set his sister down, ruffling her hair as she took a recovering breath. She quickly fixed it, sending a glare at towards him, to which he just chuckled as he sat back down in the seat that she had knocked him out of. Lucy followed his example, and Wendy sat in the seat to his right, still mumbling unhappily about his treatment of her hair.

"So Wendy," he said, trying to get her to stop whining, "Where's Romeo?"

"I'm right here," came a new voice.

The whole group looked up to see a rather irate looking 14 year old in the standard school uniform, save for the orange scarf he wore instead of a tie. He had dark purple hair, coal black eyes, and was about 5' 2".

Natsu turned towards him, a grin spreading across his face.

"Hey Romeo! What took you so long?"

The young teen looked pointedly at his hands, drawing everyones attention to the two trays he was balancing perfectly.

"Your sister left me holding the food. You honestly expect me to keep up with her in a crowd like this without making a mess? The girl runs like the wind!"

Natsu's grin widened, "And hits like a tornado. You should have eaten her food, taught her a lesson."

Wendy shot her brother a scandalized look before glaring at Romeo.

"Don't you dare."

He only chuckled, "Well I don't know... You did get the last of the Hawaiian pizza, and you know how I feel about Hawaiian..."

He was cut short by the youngest bluenette practically flying from her seat to directly in front of him, grabbing her tray, and then sitting back down, fast enough to cause a stiff breeze that ruffled his hair.

Everyone at the table laughed as the boy rolled his eyes and took a seat beside Wendy, who was now ignoring him in favor of the small mountain of food on her own plate, no where near the size of Natsu's, but much more than you would expect a girl her size to eat.

The pink (salmon) haired student turned to Lucy, quite happy to have an excuse to talk to her.

"So Lucy, how do you know Wendy and Levy and everyone else, but I've never met you before?"

Said blonde, who had been gawking at Wendy's burst of speed instead of joining in on the laughter over the situation, shook her head before turning to face the young man beside her.

"Oh, I met Levy at the Library. Then she just started introducing me to the girls."

Why was he not surprised that she met Levy in a library?

Well... Really there was nowhere else that you could meet her, but that was beside the point. However, it did answer a few questions.

"Oh! So you're the 'Library Date' that Wendy wouldn't stop gushing about!"

Lucy's blush was not only an affirmative enough answer for him, it was also incredibly cute, and he silently vowed to do what he could to make her do that as often as he could.

"Ah... I guess so... Anyways, I just transferred here for this year after a fiasco at my last school convinced my dad that I shouldn't go there anymore."

"Ah, so they told you about Fairy-Tail High, and my glorious awesomeness, and you had to come see for yourself?"

The young woman tapped here chin thoughtfully, " I think their phrasing was more along the lines of ' Total Screwball'...." At this, the rest of the group exploded into laughter, excepting the pink (salmon) haired young man.

"Ok, I was expecting something like that," Natsu admitted, "but still, your delivery... OUCH! You wound me!"

"Awww, did I huwt yoor feewingz?"

Oh no... She DID NOT just.... Ok, if she wants to play, I will play!

"Aw, is that what our babies are gonna sound like? Oops, did I just say that aloud?" 

There was a collective gasp.

"Hey, I play to win. Ya shouldn'a gone there, overkill is my middle name."

Lucy blushed all the same, and Natsu wasn't sure which of her blushes he liked better: Cherry Blossom, or Tomato of Surprise. Both were adorable.

Before Lucy could respond, Levy carefully, "accidentally", spilled the entire contents of her tray all down the front of her friend's uniform.

"Oh Lucy! I'm so sorry!" She said in the second most unrepentant voice Natsu had ever heard, "lets go get you cleaned up," she continued, standing up and pulling the confused blonde with her. As they walked away (or in Lucy's case, was dragged), she looked over her shoulder at the pink (salmon) haired boy and smiled.

"We should play again sometime." She said before they disappeared into the crowd.

"Anytime" Natsu whispered to himself, before turning around to the stunned faces of his friends, who he had unfortunately forgotten were there.

"Oh crap..."

"Natsu," Cana was the first to speak up, "can I ask you something?"

"I'm suddenly very uneasy." Was his only response.

She took that as a yes. "Were you just...flirting?"

He buried his head in his hands before answering.

"Not on purpose."

Gajeel's signature "Gehii" drew everyone's attention.

"Kind'a instinctive ain't it, Salamander?"

Natsu only nodded mutely as Lisanna and Wendy both squealed excitedly.

"I'm gonna have a sister!" Wendy giggled.

"I thought you two would be perfect from the day I met her!" Lisanna said happily. 

How come my relationships are always the center of attention, Dammit?
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First things first.

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!

Between work, driving, (I live an hour away from EVERYTHING) trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, and my car troubles, this really fell on the priority list.

Not to mention that this dialogue was the hardest that I've written up to this point, the rest was done in about 1-2 weeks.

Thank you all for the reviews! Please leave me more!