Once upon a time in the magical land of Alvarez there lived a good king called Igneel who ruled wisely and fairly however he was a sad and lonely king because his beloved queen had died giving birth to their first child. One day he remarried again but shortly after the wedding he died of a mysterious illness leaving Alvarez under the rule of his second wife Irene. But she was an evil queen who ruled with an iron fist. Selfish and cruel, she feared that one day her stepson Prince Natsu would marry and she would lose her throne forever.

And so when the prince reached marriagble age she did everything in her power to prevent him from ever finding true love and sharing true love's kiss. Laxus her lackey who was infatuated with her would keep the prince busy by releasing trolls and other types of monsters into the kingdom then Natsu would hunt them down and capture them along with his best friend Happy a talking cat with wings.

"Look out below!" Natsu shouted as the troll he captured fell to the ground with standing triumphantly on him.

"Amazing sire." Laxus said. "Your tenth troll this month. You must be very proud."

"I guess."

"You guess? Is something troubling you my lord?"

"It's nothing."

"Not true." Happy said. "He's upset because he wants to get married."

"Married?!" Laxus said. "Now? Sire it's much too early to consider marriage don't you think? And don't you enjoy troll hunting?"

"Troll hunting does pass the time but I've grown bored with it. I want to settle down and take a wife."

"But sire all the beauties in the kingdom are already married, all that's left now are old hags and ugly women."

"Surely there must be one beautiful unmarried maiden out there."

"Believe me there are none."

That was a lie but it was Laxus's job to make sure Natsu never married.

"What shame. Oh well we better get back to the castle I hear a storm is coming tonight."

The prince, his servant, and his faithful animal companion made their way back to the palace when suddenly and without warning a horrible storm broke out. Thunder clapped, lighting fladhed, rain poured and flooded, and powerful wind currents blew. They were halfway home when one incredibly strong wind blew Happy away.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted trying to grab his friend but he couldn't reach him and poor Happy was blown out of his sight.

"We have to save him!" Natsu declared.

"No Sire! Not now! We must wait until the storm clears or we'll most likely be washed away." Laxus objected.

Natsu didn't want to wait but his servant insisted so reluctantly he went into the castle and waited with baited breath for the storm to clear up unfortunately the storm didn't end until morning.

As for Happy he had been blown far out, deep into the forest where a beautiful maiden called Juvia lived in a small cottage with the animals. Though she enjoyed living the quiet and peaceful life with her animal friends she often dreamed of one day falling in love and living happily ever after just like in the stories she would read as a child. This morning when she went down to the river to do her laundry she found poor Happy lying by the bank unconscious and dripping wet.

"Oh you poor thing!" She gasped when she found him. With great gentleness and care she picked up Happy and listened for a pulse. His heart was still beating and he was still breathing. "Oh thank goodness you're still alive. I better get you inside and warm you up."

When Happy woke up he was laying on a soft cushion wrapped up in a warm blanket.

"Huh? Where am I?"

"In my cottage." Juvia said. "I see you're awake. I hope you feel better."

"Who are you?"

"My name's Juvia."

"How did I get here?"

"I found you passed out by the river and brought you here to warm you up. I hope you're hungry because I've got your breakfast right here."

She served him a bowl of milk and a plate of fish his favorite. He immediately began to devour the fish and slurp up the milk.

"I see that your appetite hasn't been effected by your little mishap." Juvia giggled. "Do you have a home? Or are you homless?"

"I live with Natsu."

"Who's he?"

"He's my best friend and he's the prince."

"He's the prince? Wow I've always dreamed of meeting a handsome prince, falling in love, and doing the most romantic thing a couple could ever do."

"Feed each other fish?"

"No silly. Share true love's kiss."

"So you want to settle down and get married?"

"Oh yes! I dream about it all the time."

"Interesting." Happy thought for a moment. "This girl might be the one Natsu has been searching for."

"So would you like to stay here until your friend finds you? Or maybe we should look for him?"

"No he has a strong sense of smell so he'll find me in no time."

"Oh well if guests may come over, especially royal guests then I better make some tea."

She went into the kitchen and began to prepare the tea. Then there was a knock at the door. It was Natsu, as soon as the storm cleared he began sniffing out Happy's scent until it lead him to Juvia's cottage.

"Happy are you in there?" Natsu called from behind the door.

"I'm right here pal." Happy replied.

Natsu opened the door, rwn into the cottage, and grabbed Happy into a huge hug.

"Oh Happy I was so worried! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. This nice lady found me, warmed me up, and gave me fish. She saved my life."

"Really? Then I should thank her and reward her for her service. Where is she?"

"In the kitchen."

"Okay." He walked in the kitchen where Juvia had her back turned and was making tea at her stove. "Excuse Miss, I apologize for entering your home uninvited I was just extremely concerned over my friend Happy."

"Oh that's alright I can understand." She started to turn around. "I know how scary it can be to lose a-"

But she found herself unable to finish when she saw how handsome Natsu was. He was also speechless having become stricken by her beauty.

"Oh my gosh...You're...You're really the prince huh?" She said blushing.

"Yes I...I am...And you are?"

"I'm who? Oh! Sorry I'm Juvia."

"I...I wanted to thank you for taking care of Happy."

"It was no trouble at all your highness."

"Please call me Natsu after all formalities are not needed between a husband and wife. That is if you'll have me?"

"Oh yes I will!" She cried happily.

"We shall be married in the morning!" He announced.

Juvia was so happy. After waiting for so long her dream of true love and getting married to a prince was finally going to come true. Or at least that's what she thought because unknown to the both of them Natsu's stepmother Queen Irene was spying on them using her magic.

"So this is the little forest rat who thinks she can steal my throne." She sneered. "NEVER!"

With that flaming roar of anger the evil queen made it her mission to rid Alvarez of Juvia.