*very late, a little short, but i loved writing it all the same. enjoy!

{ what dragons do when they're jealous — two }

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The first thing the king notices when he arrives at Fairy Tail to babysit is that all the kids are in a foul mood, and Natsu and Lucy aren't looking at each other. He frowns as he drapes his cape across the back of the chair between the two of them.

"Everything... okay, Lucy?" he asks his thirteen year old daughter hesitantly. Her bright yellow hair is tied up in a ponytail that swings as she glances at Natsu with narrowed eyes.

"Yup," she says haughtily, clearly not meaning it one bit, and turns her head to scowl at the wall.

"Did... someone do something?" he tries.

She scoffs, her back turned to her father. "I don't know, why don't you ask them? Since it doesn't matter what I think."

Jude blinks at the back of head, clueless. He then turns round to face the pink-haired youth, who's got his arms crossed and is glowering at the wooden table moodily. The frown looks out of place on his usually grinning face. "Natsu?"

The kid glances up, his charcoal eyes greeting him. "Morning, sir," he mumbles, looking back down with a glare.

The king sighs. Teenagers. He tries again, losing all of his subtlety as he asks, "Did you and Lucy have a fight?"

Their reactions are instantaneous; they both look at each other and scowl so similarly that it could have been rehearsed. Jude rolls his eyes. "Alright, what's going on?"

Neither of them says anything, glaring at each other unblinkingly. The chair across from the three of them scrapes out and Lisanna sits down. Jude gives her a warm smile, noticing with surprise that her sudden growth spurt has left her the same height as Lucy. They really grow up fast, don't they? "Hello, Lisanna."

The girl grins. "Good morning, Sire." She takes a sip of the glass of water in her hand, sending amused glances to her two friends, both of whom frown at her appearance, watching her warily. "What's going on?" she asks innocently, a devious smile playing on her lips.

Jude shakes his head dubiously. "I came here and they were like. It's unusual, isn't it? They're usually joined at the hip."

Lucy makes another high-pitched haughty sound. Natsu rolls his eyes when she does, to which she responds by sneering at him. Lisanna's smirk widens. "Lucy's annoyed because Natsu's entering the tournament without her."

Jude's eyes widen with understanding. "Oh, is that so?"

"Lisanna!" Lucy cries, getting up from her chair and throwing the white-haired girl an irritated look. She then storms off to the bar; Cana watches her approach with curious eyes.

Meanwhile, Natsu also gets up, but only to stare after his best friend. "Thanks a lot, Lis," he mumbles dejectedly, sitting back down. "You just made it worse."

"Well, you weren't really doing much to fix the situation in the first place, Natsu," she reprimands him. "Just apologise, how hard can it be?"

"I have!" he insists. "I told her I was sorry but I knew she couldn't enter, and she didn't seem to mind! But then she asked me about what I was planning to do and I told her about the new combo me and Erza are working on, and she just went crazy." He pouts, his charcoal eyes drooping.

Jude's just as confused as he is, to be honest. "I don't see why she's so upset. She can always enter next year when she's of age as well."

Natsu throws the king of look of relief. "Exactly! And it's not as if I didn't want to be her partner or anything! It's just 'cause she's not fourteen yet. I don't get what the big deal is!" He throws his hands down on the table to accentuate the point. "She's just mad for no reason."

"Natsu," Lisanna moans, shaking her head. "Isn't it obvious why she's mad?"

Natsu throws her an annoyed look. "No. Duh."

Lisanna giggles, and Jude's struck my how much wiser she seems than both his daughter and Natsu. No-one could have guessed she was the youngest of the three. "She's jealous, idiot."

Natsu leans back, his eyes widening like saucers. "W-what!? Don't be stupid, what's she got to be jealous of? That's crazy!"

"Hardly," Lisanna smirks. "Wouldn't you be jealous if next year Lucy partnered up with Gray instead of you?"

"She wouldn't do that!" Natsu yells too loudly.

Everyone in the guild hushes and turns to look at him. Granted, only the kids are in right now — it's why Makarov requested that Jude, who was enjoying a quiet day, watch over them while the older members went to the training meet for the tournament — but nevertheless, Natsu goes red and ducks his head while Lisanna giggles uncontrollably. The majority of the gazes return to their conversation, except for, Jude notices, Lucy's and Cana's.

"See~" the white-haired girl teases. "So she does have a reason to be angry."

"B-but it's not like— I mean, she's not available! If I had a choice, I would totally pick her!" Natsu defends himself hopelessly.

Lisanna grins wickedly and Jude can't help but feel that the boy's walking straight into a trap. "You'd pick your best friend?" she asks Natsu innocently.

He nods without a second thought. "Yeah, of course I'd go with her."

"She'd be your first choice?"

"Yeah!"

Lisanna smirks, her trap set. "You like Lucy more than anyone!"

"Well, yeah! Of course I do!" Natsu then promptly freezes, realising what he's said. His gaze snaps to Lucy, who's staring at him with wide eyes and pink cheeks. The previous expression of disdain is replaced by an adorable look of surprise that makes Jude want to get the family painter out here right away.

She then runs out of the guild, hiding her blush with her hands as she disappears into the back garden of Fairy Tail.

Lisanna laughs loudly again, and gets up to follow her friend. "Guys, did you hear?" she calls out before she leaves. "Natsu likes Lucy. He liiikes her more than anyone!"

The boy in question hides his pink-haired head under his arms on the table as Gajeel and Elfman catcall from the far corner.

"You okay?" Jude asks kindly, leaning in and trying to wipe the goofy smile off his face. Lucy just looked so cute.

"Girls are crazy!" Natsu whines into the crook of his elbow.

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x

Jude runs his hand across his face, the long night's stubble course against his palm. "Ask them again," he mumbles into his fingers, giving a long sigh that turns into a yawn.

"Yes, Sire."

The guard bows quickly, his shoulders tense and posture shallow, before turning to re-enter the interrogation cell. The heavy door slams shut behind him.

Jude hasn't been to this part of the castle for a long time. Not since Layla's passing, in fact, back when the dangers posed to a ruler were much more of a real threat. But here he is again, nearly seven years later, with another failed assassin on his hands and the impossible weight of the crown bearing down on his shoulders.

Nothing has changed.

In the guard's absence, the king gives into his anxious thoughts and starts to pace. But the holding room is too small to run away from his problems, and the stone floor is not loud enough to block out his mind. When Jude glances out the barred window, the moon looks imposing, like an ever-watchful eye that's impossible to hide from.

He sits down again, turning his chair so its back is to the window. This is how the guard finds him when he exits the cell a little over an hour later.

Jude raises an eyebrow in question.

The guard shakes his head. "No new information to add, Sire. Just the same story."

"His…" He doesn't want to trivialise murder by using the word 'employers'. "Benefactors?"

Another shake of the head, coupled with a frustrated exhale and a glare sent behind. "Claims he knows nothing."

"Target?" Jude has heard this three times already tonight, but it's not enough. It never seems to be enough.

The man in front of narrows his eyes and stands up straighter. He straightens his glasses before quietly saying, "As he says, Sire. He was hired to kill the young princess."

Jude nods, his eyes glued to the stone floor between him and the guard. "I see."

The guard watches the king with narrowed eyes, alert and focused. When Jude doesn't say anything further, he shuffles a bit. "Sire?"

"What did you say your name was, my friend?"

"Lahar, Sire. Of the Castle Keepers, first division."

"Yes. Well, Lahar…" Jude sighs again. His lips twist into a small, bittersweet smile. "It's one thing to catch a man trying to kill his king. That isn't uncommon. But when we have three attempts on my daughter's life in the span of a month… I would say things are perhaps more complicated than they seem. Would you agree?"

Lahar nods without hesitation, his dark eyes narrowing further. "I expect you would have him undergo the same procedure as the others, Sire?"

"Yes, yes." Jude turns to look out of the window. The cold smile drops as he catches sight of the moon again. Nothing changes. "Bury him with the others."

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{ x }

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Natsu doesn't move as she scrambles back to her feet. The white sleeves of her dress are ripped, in parts dotted with red from the grazes on her forearms. Her legs seem to trembling. Natsu's brow furrows. She's panting, her hair covering one eye, but it's all eclipsed by the huge grin on her face, by the loud spark of excitement in her eye.

"Natsu! Again!"

He hesitates. "Hey, Lucy, maybe we should—"

Her exhilaration quickly morphs into a scowl. "Oh, don't you start. Come on. Get in position."

He does so, but slowly, watching her all the while. "Are you sure?" he calls across, staying in the starting position for his Fire Dragon Roar.

He knows he should hold back. He knows this is probably a bad idea, that they're both going to get in trouble for training behind the king's back. But when Lucy nods at him so wildly, when she throws him a smile so full of sunshine, he forgets it all, just for a moment — just for a moment long enough to tense his legs and let the heated magical energy solidify in the pits of his belly.

His answering grin is just as wild. "Better get ready, Luce! Fire — Dragon — ROAR!"

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x

"Natsu! Again!"

The princess is far worse for wear this time, he thinks. Her exposed legs are covered with scratches, her arms and wrists red and flaking from the heat of his attacks. But she just wipes the blood dripping from her forehead before it can get to her eye, and gives him her typical sunshine smile. "Let's go again!"

It's always the same. No matter how battered and bruised, she always gets back up. Lisanna's words echo in Natsu's mind. She doesn't know when to stop. She's not like us, Natsu. She can't do the things we do, she's too important.

Lucy straightens up from her battle-ready stance. Her smile doesn't waver. "Something the matter?"

He moves forward, thinking he'll try a Fire Dragon Iron Fist next— but instead of pushing the heat to his arms, he finds himself slowing down the closer he gets to Lucy. Do you know how much trouble her dad gets her in every times he comes home covered in scrapes and bruises? The king hardly lets her out of his sight nowadays if he can help it, you know. I know you guys like to train and all, but—

"Natsu."

He looks up, startled, and blinks in confusion to see he's already standing face to face with her. "Oh. Sorry."

"What's wrong?" She places a hand on his arm, which is still raised for his magic attack, looking worried.

He stares at her hand on him. Her hand; pale, smooth, like porcelain, like a delicate doll — and his forearm, darker from days in the sun, coiled with muscle from hard labour, littered with childhood scars. It looks like they come from two completely different worlds. She can't do the things we do.

"Lucy," he says quietly, "maybe we shouldn't."

"Huh?" She just looks confused.

"I don't think… we should train anymore. It's not—"

She recoils from him as if her hand's been burned even though he knows she isn't; he's very careful to control his fire, especially around her. But her eyes glare at him with heat all the same, angry and bewildered — but worst of all, hurt.

He reaches for her as if by reflex. "Lucy—"

She takes a step back. "Why would you say that?"

"It—" He glances behind him, at the guildhall, where Lisanna is bound to be right now. She can't do the things we do. "You're not meant to be doing this sort of stuff, anyway."

"Since when have you cared about those stupid rules? My dad's paranoid, everyone knows that! "

The shrillness of her voice takes him by surprise, but now that he's looked away, it's impossibly hard to look back at her again. Instead, he stares at the ground, and straightens up completely, lowering his hands to his side. Today's training is over.

"Kids my age have been fighting like this forever, right? Even you did last year!" she insists.

He shifts uncomfortably.

"Natsu, look at me. I'm talking to you!" When he doesn't, she just huffs and steps towards him again. "You always do what you want! You don't listen to anyone! Come on, Natsu, this isn't like you," she laughs nervously, reaching forward for him.

This time, it's Natsu who takes a step back. "Lucy, you can't… you can't do the things we do."

She freezes, arm hanging limp in the air for a moment before she lowers it to her sides mutely. He tries so hard to not look at her, to not notice how hard she's trying to mask the hurt that one action elicited.

Her breath comes out in a little gasp. When he catches her gaze, his eyes become huge because she's almost crying.

"Whatever," she hisses, glaring at him. "I'm fine doing it on my own. You're just like them. I thought you were on my side, but you're just like them!"

"Lucy, wait—" He lunges forward and grabs her arm to keep her from running away.

"Get off me! I can train on my own, just fine without you, it's not like I needed you anyway! Get off me—!"

He stops struggling with her and let's go, feeling like she's slapped him. Lucy runs back to the gate in front of the guildhall, up to the path that leads to the castle, her pretty blonde hair quickly disappearing out of sight.

He thought he was immune to fire, but her words bubble in his bloodstream like flames.

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{ tbc }