Pretend Princess | A NaLu Fan Fiction

Azure Prince

A month had passed since Lisanna's funeral. The whole thing had been incredibly emotional, but the ceremony made saying goodbye to her easier. It felt odd sometimes, feeling so much sorrow for someone I hadn't known for long, but despite the time being short, our connection felt more natural and much deeper than one would expect.

Lessons, of course, continued as normal. My curriculum had been adjusted for a few new events that would be on the horizon. It had been discussed that one of our allies was sending a diplomat to re-establish a treaty we had together. Primarily a formal event, it coincided with a festival that occurs every year here. This year we will celebrate the re-establishment of the treaty as well as the ancestral festival.

The ancestral festival was always something I had looked forward to. Despite much of it being based on the Dragon lineage, it was about familial ties and the community coming together to celebrate our roots. It always felt like a chance to reconnect with my parents, as there were ceremonies for respecting and celebrating the dead. I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to participate this year, but it was something I was determined to speak to Natsu about.

"Lucy."

I am startled from my thoughts and I look over my shoulder to see Natsu. His casual dress confuses me and I open my mouth to question his appearance when he walks over to where I am sitting beside a window, a book spread open in my lap but unread for how long I couldn't tell. He sits across from me, making me close my book.

"Before you question my attire I must explain I was helping tend my new horse in the stables." My eyebrows raise as Natsu speaks.

"New horse?" I ask, "what for?"

Natsu laughs, "to raise another horse, what else?"

My lips purse, but I nod. "What did you need? You interrupted my reading, it better be important."

He smirks and pulls the book from my lap, much to my protest, and as he holds it up and looks it over he says, "I don't believe you were reading for a second, dear." His gaze meets mine as I am reaching to grab it back from him. Realizing I am putting myself uncomfortably close to him I slowly sit back against the window once more and move my eyes from his, reminders of previous close encounters causing my heart to leap into my throat and blood to rush to my cheeks.

"That didn't answer my question," I return my gaze towards him, the sound of his leafing through the pages of my book drawing my attention towards him again.

He looks up from the pages and sets the book back beside me. "I can see your hesitance in being close to me," he sits beside me on the large window seat and I grab the book into my lap.

I push my lips into a straight line and brush some hair behind my ear, turning to look out the window again. "Can you blame me? It is incredibly confusing, to be so close to you."

"How is it confusing?" His voice conveys a genuine confusion, which I respond to by glancing sideways at him.

"Setting aside the situation involving my parents and yours, Natsu, I am leaving. At least, I will be, at some point. Being near you can be..." I pause, searching my mind for the right thing to say. I don't realize Natsu has moved and is standing beside me.

He leans down near my ear and whispers, "intoxicating?"

The surprise causes me to jerk and as I turn to look at him, my face blazing with embarrassment, it dawns on me that Natsu is within centimeters of my face, our noses almost brushing. I am sure my eyes are wide as I release a shaky breath that I didn't realize I was holding.