NaLu- "The Princess and Her Dragon Knight"

Part 8 - The Trials

Courage. Skill. Spirit. Magical power. These are all the four qualities that a knight will be tested on during the initiation trials. Each knight was currently in the tunnel of the stadium on the Heartfilia royal grounds, waiting for the trials to begin. There are four rounds, one to test each quality mentioned above. Depending on how well the knights do, it will be decided by his majesty and other important nobles who passes and who fails.

The stadium could fit over 50,000 people, and it was completely full of nobles, commoners, and visitors from other kingdoms, some people even needing to stand. The king and princess were sitting on a platform towards the top of one side of the stadium, watching over the trials as they were about to begin. Princess Lucy sat in her seat, waiting for her dragon slayer to come into view. She could feel the eyes of many of the people around the stadium on her. Why are they always looking at me? It's not like they can see my face, she thought as trumpets sounded and an announcer walked onto the stadium.

Announcer: "Hello everyone and welcome to the Nobleman Initiation Trials, an event which has been going on for nearly five hundred years. *explains how it works, yada yada* Without further ado, let's welcome our future dragon slayers in here!"

Each dragon slayer except Natsu (he was the last one) came into the stadium upon the sound of their name, and every single one of them looked at the princess the moment they entered the stadium, of course. Now it was Natsu's turn and Lucy waited in anticipation.

***With Natsu***

As Natsu walked through the tunnel, his nerves were completely on end. He listened as the announcer spoke and thousands of people cheered. Natsu knew he was ready, but he also knew that what was to come wouldn't be easy by any means. As he listened to the announcer call each of the knights out, Natsu focused on his power and felt the answering heat around him. The heat was like an anchor to reality, so he knew that he wasn't dreaming.

"Natsu Dragneel!" When the announcer said his name, Natsu took one last deep breath and left the darkness of the tunnels, only to be blinded by the sudden light. As his eyes adjusted, he couldn't help himself, he was way too curious, so he looked at the princess. Natsu felt himself make eye contact with her, even if he couldn't see her eyes, and came to a complete stop.

This presence, I've felt it before. Is it hers? Suddenly nothing else in the world existed except the princess. Natsu could tell that the princess was beautiful without even seeing her face. Her hair was wavy, all the way down to her waist. Some would say that it was like the ocean, but Natsu thought it was more like his flames. She wore a red and orange dress which flowed around her ankles. Her entire existence reminded him of his own fire. Natsu thought that his fire was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but she was overwhelming him. Natsu was dizzy with emotion. He felt his body heat up as he stared at the princess, even though he wasn't calling on his magic. I smell vanilla and strawberries, Natsu thought. It's kind of intoxicating.

The world that Natsu was in shattered when he heard, "yo, Natsu! You in there man?" Natsu looked over and saw a smirking Sting, looking at him with one eyebrow raised. Then the roar of the stadium sounded in his ear, something he didn't notice before. Natsu realized that he was still just outside of the tunnel. He shook himself and tried not to look at the princess as he walked to the rest of the group, feeling that he would become lost in her gaze again if he had.

As Natsu walked, he heard a lot of girls screaming his name. "Natsu! Look at me!" "Natsu you're so hot!" "Ahh it's the last fire dragon slayer!" Tch, Natsu thought. Then he couldn't help but wonder what the princess would sound like, especially if she said his name, and his body grew hot again. Once Natsu was with the rest of the group, the announcer spoke again.