Series: Fairy Tail.
Pairing: NaLu.
Rating: M - brief explicit content, language.
Genre(s): Romance, Fantasy, Adventure.
AU: Bodyguard/Royalty AU.
POV: Alternates | Natsu.

True as Steel: Very loyal and dependable.

A/N: Yes, it's me. Back from hiatus (I know, right? About time!). Anyway, after spending a good year plotting and drafting my novel, I'm diving back into fandom with a mini-series! It's much faster-paced than I would normally write, with romance blossoming right away. The entire series will be uploaded by the end of tonight, so keep an eye on those chapters dropping! I love you guys so much. Thanks for everything.

Summary: Seven years ago, two brothers decimated the land, dividing Fiore's kingdoms in a siege of unholy power. They called it the Dragneel War.

Deep in the south, driven out by Zeref's savagery, a lone princess fled the terrors of Alvarez and found refuge in Magnolia's castle, where Natsu Dragneel awaits his brother's return. Exuding magical power, Lucy was given an ultimatum: train to become Natsu's bodyguard, or live a life on the run.

Natsu is hiding something behind his joyful smile, and Lucy would do anything to find out what. If only she hadn't fallen in love first.

CHAPTER ONE | HER VOICE

Oh, 'cause I keep digging myself down deeper.
I won't stop 'til I get where you are.
I keep running when both my feet hurt;
I won't stop 'til I get where you are.
Oh, when you go down all your darkest roads,
I would've followed all the way to the graveyard.

It took seven years to finally hear her voice.

Natsu dropped his belt as quickly as he'd grabbed it, the buckle clattering hot against the stone. He almost lost his trousers in the process, prompting him to take an abrupt seat on his bed.

"What did you just say?" he asked, fixing his buttons.

Lucy stood in his doorway, dark eyes a haze of mystery. Sunlight glimmered on her steel armour, lightweight mail and cloth hugged tightly against her hardened figure. She'd cut her hair so short it barely held in the ponytail at her neck. It was nice, he thought, seeing her face unburdened by all those blonde tresses. She removed her scabbard and set it against the wall, the hilt of her sword bound in vibrant gold silk. It looked expensive.

She didn't speak as she approached, barely taking three steps before she eased back on her heels, gloved hands threaded behind her back. At ease like a soldier without orders.

Could he have imagined it? Lucy hadn't spoken a single word since arriving at Magnolia castle, not even a breath of a whisper. Igneel had said she was suffering a trauma, and that the trauma was so deep it would take years to release her from its cage. Despite this, Natsu's father had convinced her to stay, and now she wandered the halls silently, reading books and sneaking off to train with the knights like a beautiful ghost. Erza was—according to Igneel—doing her best to hone Lucy's battle skills.

Something about her didn't seem to belong in a war. Lucy was blindingly beautiful and carried herself with an authority that didn't suit her calm demeanour, giving her an air of importance that made him want to protect her. He wouldn't drag her into his fight.

Comfortable with her silence, Natsu had spent the past seven years by her side, leading her through secret tunnels and testing her patience at every corner. No matter what he did, what he said, Lucy never answered back, never complained or cried. She just carried on, like a leaf blown free, torn away from its tree and accepting its fate among the wind. It wasn't until recently that he realised she'd been holding back.

"I am to be your guardian," she said, in a voice so clear it rang a warning knell in his heart.

Natsu leapt from his bed. "So you can talk!"

She smiled, but it was a smile that said, Don't interrupt me. Natsu bit his tongue. Something about her expression doused his awe and replaced it with something cold and quiet. He let her finish.

"From now on, I will always be by your side."

Natsu grimaced. Always? Was she a guard or a babysitter? He'd gone to war at just eighteen years old, fought his brother, claimed the magic of dragons and used it to spare his people a cruel demise. What good was an Alvarez runaway going to do him? Of course, a lot of that was unknown to his father and his people, and so Natsu had to suffer their pandering every day.

Lucy had barely escaped Alvarez with her life, showing up at the castle drenched in rain and blood. Why would Igneel try to make her a knight?

"I don't need protecting," he said.

"Please," she said, and it was as sincere a plea as any he'd ever heard. "Please don't turn me away."

Ah, so that was it. This was the ultimatum, the reason Igneel had spent so long caring for Lucy. She was to be his guard or be turned out. It wasn't like his father to turn a blind eye to suffering, but war brought darkness to even the brightest hearts, and they couldn't rescue everyone. He thought Lucy's magic was too valuable to waste and too dangerous to keep without reassurance.

Was Natsu her charge or her test subject? With all that magic and no outlet, Lucy was a lone candle left to burn in the middle of the woods. The slightest disturbance could set the trees ablaze.

"Do you think you can protect me?" he asked. "Will you charge into battle on my command, even if it means you die?"

"Yes."

Natsu inhaled a sharp breath. "Then prove it. I can't just—"

Natsu hit the ground before he could blink. His back hit the rug, and Lucy was upon him instantly, straddling either side of his waist. He swallowed. Hard. She oozed magic now, gossamer threads of it tickling his bare chest, tracing the muscle in his exposed stomach.

Definitely a test subject.

She leaned in close to his face, her breath hot on his lips. "Natsu Dragneel, you are now in my care."

Natsu froze. The slightest sprinkle of freckles had emerged on her nose and cheeks. Lucy was breathtaking in the summer.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. I got it."

She seemed at peace with that, and then suddenly Lucy blanched, her expression transitioning from cold white to hot red. She stood with a squeak, covering her face in her palms. Natsu stifled a laugh.

"Finally remembered that I'm your prince, huh?" His brows tented.

Lucy bowed apologetically. "I let our friendship best me."

Friendship? So that's what she called their odd relationship? Natsu eased himself off the floor, sitting crosslegged. He hadn't had a real friend since Zeref abandoned him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having her by his side a little longer. Her intellect could serve him well in the long run, if he let her in on a few of his secrets.

"Did you hear from my father?" he asked.

Lucy helped him stand. "He returned this morning. The messengers you sent to the breach were all dead."

Natsu flinched. For years messengers were able to cross the breach and come back alive. It was the single remaining border between Magnolia and Alvarez that wasn't plagued by Zeref's people. For seven years now it had been safe to cross. It seemed there wouldn't be an eighth.

"We don't have much time," Natsu said.

Lucy studied him quietly. "You believe he is on the move?"

"Yes... No. I don't know. But I know my brother. I thought I did, anyway. He's smart, Lucy. He wouldn't murder my messengers for no reason, not without sending word back to me." Something in his heart crumbled, and Natsu swallowed the pain down into the fiery pit of his stomach, where it turned again to ash and dust. "Unless that was his message."

"Natsu..."

"That stubborn bastard." Natsu clenched a fist. "I just wanted to help him."

"Get dressed," Lucy said.

"Is that an order as my bodyguard?" he asked.

The grogginess of a long night's sleep still weighed on him, and Natsu didn't much feel like roaming the castle yet. He hadn't done his morning training yet, either.

Lucy smiled. "There's something I want to show you."

Now that caught his interest. She grabbed her sword and Natsu dressed as she ushered him through the eastern wing, stepping through lengthy corridors and deep into the grand vestibule. They passed the indoor fountain, water streaming from granite fairies, and crossed into the western wing. Lucy led him to her room, where she produced a key and deftly unlocked the door. He'd never seen the inside before.

Rows upon rows of books littered every wall, squeezed tightly into shelves so narrow only Lucy could find what she needed. Small lanterns hung from brackets in each wall, and a small round table occupied the middle of the room. She walked him to a seat and sat him there, on the left side closest to her bed. Sheer canopies fluttered in the cool wind, her bedside window held ajar by a thick book.

"You wanted to show me your room?" he asked.

Lucy's expression flashed through waves of contempt and amusement. He saw in her eyes the briefest moment where she wanted to kick him.

Maybe they really were friends.

"This," she said, pulling a small journal from a drawer in her desk. She set it on the table and sat opposite him. "I think you should read it."

Natsu hesitated. "I'm not the best..."

"Oh. Oh! Right."

He wasn't totally illiterate. He could read if he concentrated, but he lacked the focus, and the essence of his magic left him weak in areas untouched by its prowess. That was how magic worked in Fiore. The stronger your power, the more it took from you.

Lucy flipped open the journal and said, "It belonged to Zeref."

Natsu snatched it from her hand. She was right. Pages dusted with gold paint revealed letters of neat loops and smudged ink. This was definitely his brother's handwriting. He flipped through the pages, the writing become more disjointed and scratchy. Had he shared this with somebody else?

"Where did you get this, Lucy?"

"While training with Erza." She folded her hands on the table. "We visited the breach."

"You went to the breach?!"

"I-I didn't really..." Lucy chewed her lip. "I barely stepped onto the bridge."

Natsu suppressed his anger. How could they be so stupid? Lucy wasn't even a fully trained knight.

He took a breath. The breach was living proof he'd failed his people. A single crater in the ground, so large they'd built a fortified bridge across the ruined earth to cross it and salvage the remains of his war. But now Zeref was putting a stop to any transportation, and Natsu still didn't know his plans. Or how to save him from...

"Did you find anything else?" he asked. "Anything shiny?"

"Shiny? Like a sword?"

A lacrima, he wanted to say, but the very word was a forbidden fruit in his throat, and Natsu had swallowed the poison long ago. Lacrima were smooth, round crystals the size of eggs. And they were, in a way, a precious form a life. Dragons didn't breed like the stories said. They created lacrima, a form of raw magic, and that magic in turn created the dragons.

But Fiore's dragons were now a myth and no one could ever speak of them, so Natsu hadn't. And then he had, because his brother had pestered him for days about his odd behaviour. So Natsu had told him about that stupid cave in the woods. And about that weird egg he'd found in the darkness, drawn in by the very light it created. So they'd visited it together eight years ago. And in one year they'd fallen apart enough that the gap between them had become a war.

There was so much he wanted to say. So much he couldn't reveal. They'd call him crazy, he knew. They'd stop him from researching the lacrima, from saving his brother.

Would she believe him?

Of course she would. She'd hang onto every word like a dying man finding water in the desert, desperately soaking it all in. The temptation to talk was suddenly too much.

Natsu slapped the book closed and said, "We shouldn't read this."

"It might show us how to stop him," Lucy countered.

"You mean kill him."

Lucy faltered. Her brows knotted with concern, but she remained steadfast.

"I don't think he will come willingly." She looked like she wanted to say more, but instead retreated to a comfortable silence.

"Maybe not right now," Natsu said. "But with your help, maybe I can bring him back. He's not himself, Lucy. I can't explain it. He just isn't."

"Even if you save him, what will you do? He's a traitor and a murderer. He will be killed for his crimes."

Natsu shook his head. "I'm a murderer too."

Lucy reached across the table for his hand. Natsu withdrew his own under the table. Rejection weighed in her eyes.

"You talk a lot for someone who didn't speak a word for seven years," he said.

"I wasn't ready to speak then. But I am now."

"Why now? Because your place here is secure?"

Lucy seemed uneasy with his words, but whatever argument she had settled along with her nerves. She placed her hands flat on the table and offered him her sincerest smile. "I got tired of hearing you talk all the time," she jibed.

"Anyway." He flashed a brief grin to show his amusement. "Now that you're my bodyguard, you'll have to go along with what I say."

She seemed to consider that seriously. "I'm sure I can talk you out of anything foolish."

It seemed odd thinking about her talking at all. And yet, somehow, he'd already gotten used to it. It was as though he'd been listening to her voice all along.

Now that she talked, Lucy might prove to be a nuisance. Even in silence, she'd always had a way of dropping his guard, making him vulnerable. There were times he'd almost told her everything. Maybe it was the security of knowing she couldn't repeat his words, not without writing them down and exposing herself in the process.

"Well, Lucy. I'll be off on my adventures. Don't hurt yourself trying to keep up with me."

They stood as one. Natsu blenched. Damn it, was she really that attuned to his behaviour?

"I take it you're coming?" he acquiesced.

"Actually, I must visit your father before I can join you for good. Now that you've accepted."

Accepted? Like he had a choice! "Want me to come with you? My old man isn't great at taking things seriously." Then again, neither was he.

Lucy dismissed his offer with a quick shake of her head. "I will go alone."

"Leaving your charge alone? That's terrible—"

Someone grabbed him in a headlock. Natsu yelped, but Lucy didn't come to his aid. Damn it. He'd recognise that strength anywhere, which made his struggle all the more obsolete. Natsu stared at the ground in defeat.

"Who said you'd be alone?" Erza asked.

"Quit it, Erza! That hurts."

There was a reason they called her Titania. Give her any weapon and she could wield it like magic—that included her fists. She left the other knights weak with envy and longing, her skills rivalled only by her beauty. She was Magnolia's secret weapon.

"Weren't you itching for a fight with me just yesterday? You're such a fickle boy," Erza teased, letting him go.

She wore her new armour, glittering silver steel with adorning white feathers. She really did look like a fairy queen. Her scarlet hair fell in a thick tail down her back, decorated with small beads he recognised from a stall in the market. Jellal must have visited again.

"Did you forget I'm a prince?" he muttered.

Everyone forgot he was a prince. Or rather, they forget they should treat him like one. Maybe it was his own fault. He'd somehow accrued all these "friendships" without ever really meaning to.

Despite her maturity, Erza was the same age as Natsu, with Lucy just a year behind them. They were, as Lucy put it, friends on some level. But neither Erza or Lucy seemed to lack respect for him. They spoke with him fondly, and with a familiarity he didn't mind, but they always snapped back into formality when needed.

"I see you two are as close as ever," Lucy said, though she was staring solely at Erza. It seemed even Lucy was bewitched by Titania's beauty.

"Close?" Natsu rubbed his neck. "Not by choice."

"Only good friends can tease each other like this," Erza said. "You too, Lucy. You are part of the family now." She tapped the Fairy Tail emblem on her chest plate. It was the name of his father's personal squadron.

Lucy grinned.

Again with the friendship? Natsu's belly warmed with a heat that wasn't entirely hostile, but it wasn't comfortable either. Friends were liabilities during times of war. The thought of losing them made his stomach hurt.

"I'm hungry," he said.

Erza squeezed his shoulder. Hard. "Then go to the kitchens. I am your protector, not your servant. Breakfast isn't my expertise, though I am partial to a nice dessert."

"Dessert in the morning, Lady Scarlet?" Lucy giggled. "That sounds fun."

Erza squeezed him in excitement.

"Ow! Okay, okay! Let go, Erza!"

"Come, Natsu," she said, snaking an arm around his shoulder. "I have much to discuss with you after our recent visit to the breach. I'd say some nice tea is in order."

Natsu shot Lucy a desperate glance. Erza marched him towards the door and out of Lucy's protection, who simply shrugged off his plea and waved him out.

It was an hour later that Natsu managed to slip from Erza's grasp, a mouthful of bread between his teeth. He entered the northern foyer and hurried along the stairways, passing old portraits and valuable statues of old Dragneel royalty. The throne room was empty. Had he missed them?

"Thank you for doing this, Lucy. It must be hard doing things so beneath your station."

Beneath her station? As a knight?

Natsu followed the sound of Igneel's voice. He found them sitting in his father's office, a secluded area hidden behind the great throne. Natsu peered through the gap in the door and watched as Igneel took Lucy's hands.

"It is the least I can do," she said.

"My boy needs more than a guardian, Lucy. He needs a friend. Zeref was everything to him; Natsu looked up to his brother, though he's embarrassed to admit it now. Who wants to believe they admired a monster? He needs someone to care about him in ways the others cannot. He hasn't been the same since they were rescued from the caves."

Natsu almost barged into the room. This had nothing to do with Lucy! Not even his father knew the true nature of their "game" in the caves.

During their forbidden trip to see the lacrima, Zeref had somehow cracked it, and the whole cave had collapsed. His father's guards had saved them hours later. They were lucky to be alive.

"They were always going on adventures. I thought they'd fight side by side," Igneel said. "Perhaps it's my fault. Zeref hasn't been the same since he found out the truth."

Lucy nodded reassurance. "You are no less family to him than his blood parents were. You are not to blame for his actions."

Natsu reeled as if struck. He stepped away from the door, nearly toppling over the tasselled red carpet.

Zeref wasn't Igneel's son? He wasn't Natsu's brother?

He returned to his room in a hurry, pulling maps and ink and quills from every nook and cranny. He spread a map of Fiore across his desk and placed black marble chess pieces on areas under Zeref's control. He held the south and was moving into the breach. There wasn't much time before he stepped into Magnolian territory.

Frustration welled up inside him. It didn't matter if Zeref wasn't his blood brother, they'd been raised together. He'd been everything to Natsu. A friend. A brother. A protector. He'd made Natsu strong.

Natsu fought off tears. Better to sit and plan than to cry over something he couldn't control. But oh how he wanted to cry. To mourn his wicked brother and curse all the horrible things people said about him. The confliction was eating away at his morals, at his soul. He just wanted this whole thing to be over.

Natsu's murders were excused as heroic while Zeref's war was condemned. But in the end, excuses didn't absolve their sins. It was never okay to kill someone.

It seemed strange that Erza hadn't tracked him down. Something must've come up. He was glad. She was stern and kind, but he couldn't stand the thought of Erza seeing him cry.

He suddenly wished Lucy was here. She had a way of making everything seem okay with just a quick smile.

Ugh, what was he thinking? She'd been hiding things from him all along. Just how much did she know? And for that matter, how much did his father know? She'd shown up at their home in the pouring rain, blood dripping from a tattered dress and broken shoes. The guards had swarmed her, but she hadn't said a word. Just sat there crying.

Natsu rubbed his face and groaned. He set white pieces on the map, with Lucy and himself in the castle. The Knight and the King. Future King, anyway. Igneel might be injured, but he wouldn't relinquish control while Zeref still posed a threat.

A single tear dripped onto the map, staining the old river where the breach now existed. The final fight had to be there, away from the people and their homes. He wouldn't let anyone else die. It would be a brother's brawl, to the death if he had to. Natsu had let his brother get away once, hesitated too long and watched the darkness slip away. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Natsu cried harder than he'd ever cried before, his mask crumbling in solitude. The heaviness claimed him in a sudden wash of slumber.

"Natsu! You found this all by yourself? Great job!"

"I told you, my nose can sniff out anything."

Zeref laughed at that. "You weren't kidding."

Natsu grinned at his big brother. Three years older, Zeref seemed a world away even in their teens. At seventeen, Natsu had grown nearly a head taller, but Zeref still maintained authority. He would be Magnolia's next king. The people loved him, and he did his best for them. He always had.

He liked learning the most, and so he spent the majority of his days in the library doing research. He only ever left the castle when Natsu asked him to.

"So what does it do?" Zeref asked, notably intrigued.

"I don't know," Natsu confessed. "As soon as I saw it I came to get you."

Zeref grinned at that. The smile didn't light up his eyes in the way it used to. Something dark swirled within him, a lure to the lacrima, a fascination with its magic. Zeref touched the crystal, tracing its smooth curves.

"Do you think a dragon really made this?" he asked.

Natsu nodded. "Of course!"

"But how does it make a new dragon? There's nothing in there."

They leaned closer and stared into the egg, through it, to the blur of cave walls on the other side. The translucent shell reflected only their faces and the soft shimmer of light from Natsu's torch.

"Maybe the dragon hasn't been made yet," Natsu said. "It takes time for humans to create life, right? Maybe it's the same for dragons."

Zeref hummed in agreement. "You might be right, brother."

"Do you think the dragon lives here?" Natsu asked. "It wouldn't just leave a baby alone, would it?"

Zeref wasn't listening. Whatever held his attention now was beyond Natsu's comprehension. He seemed entranced with the lacrima, utterly enrapt in its existence. He whispered something, an incoherent babble, as if answering words Natsu couldn't hear. He touched the egg and it cracked, harsh light seeping from its wound.

The cave exploded.

Natsu woke sometime later, his neck stiff, his eyes hot and sore. Something fell off his shoulders. A blanket?

"Are you all right? Do you feel sick?"

Natsu spun in his chair. Lucy was lounging on his bed, book in hand. She no longer wore her armour, instead donning a small gown of thin cotton that dipped low on her chest. Just how late was it?

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm your protector."

"How long was I asleep?"

"The moon is out."

His stomach growled. "Damn it, I'm starving."

"I can assure you that isn't true. With the amount you eat, you're probably fit to live a whole year without sustenance."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Did you eat?"

"Yes."

"Say, Lucy..."

Lucy sat up on the bed. "What's wrong? You look pale, Natsu."

She questioned him now not with duty but with unease—as his friend. They were friends. But why? Because his father said so?

No, that wasn't fair. Lucy wasn't faking her sincerity now.

Natsu grabbed his fallen blanket and climbed onto the bed beside her. Sensing his intent, Lucy relaxed against the headboard once more. She'd really been planning to sit and watch over him the whole night. He was almost grateful.

He pulled the book out of her hand and sat beside her, his head falling gently against her own.

"Did you have a bad dream?" she asked, growing visibly warmer.

Natsu sighed. "It's not a dream when you lived it."

Lucy's arm slid around his back, and Natsu sank against her, his head a perfect fit on her shoulder. She smoothed his hair and sighed. They'd sat like this so many times before, back when she'd first moved into the castle. There were times when he just craved her warmth.

Meeting her seemed like a window into a new life. Before now, Natsu had never really spent time with anyone outside Magnolia. Strife between the two kingdoms hadn't ended with their ancestor's truce, though it had been safe to traverse Fiore for a long time now. She hailed from the kingdom his war had destroyed. He owed her this friendship, if nothing else. No, he wanted it. To be with someone human, someone who wasn't enchanted by his world.

"I was supposed to meet her, you know. The princess of Alvarez." Lucy tensed beneath him. Natsu found that strange until he remembered her wounds on the day she'd arrived. "Crap. Sorry. I know Alvarez is a sore subject for you."

Even when she'd been mute, Lucy hated hearing the very name of her kingdom. It set a rain of gloom about her otherwise sunny demeanour. She wore that gloom now like a cloak, hood casting shadows on her face. He smiled, and Lucy relaxed, but there was something vacant in her gaze now. Was it because he'd mentioned the princess?

"My father was coordinating our meeting before the war."

"Really? Well, I'm sure she would have liked you." The way she said it made her seem so certain.

"Did you ever meet her? I mean, did you ever see her outside the castle? I heard the rumours, that the princess often wandered the streets and visited the sick. She was really loved. Even my people share stories of the Heartfilia heir."

"I had no idea," Lucy said.

"About what?"

She cleared her throat. "I mean, I never met her. Never saw her. I had no idea she was supposed to meet Magnolian royalty. The two kingdoms haven't seen true peace since our ancestors fought over those silly crystals. There's always a lingering fear that someone will attack Alvarez and try to take remnants of the old war back with them."

Natsu's blood rushed to his ears. She knew about the lacrima? There were crystals in Alvarez? He was about to ask her when something else popped into his mind. "I never even knew her name."

"You never thought to ask your father?"

"No. He said to let him handle it. He's a believer in destiny, and thinks the less you know a person the easier it is to love their present self. The past can corrupt your judgement. He said my only task was to introduce myself properly and..." Natsu couldn't quite place the word. Seduce seemed too strong. Court seemed too noble. "Win her heart, I guess."

Lucy jerked upright and Natsu fell into her lap. He groaned against her bare thighs. "Seriously, Lucy? What's up with you?"

Her legs were so soft, though he could feel her well-trained muscle tense under all that smooth skin. He'd touched a nerve.

"What did you say?" she asked him.

He turned his head in her lap. Natsu read something unfamiliar in her face, a touch of horror, or surprise, like this information should have been given to her sooner.

"What did I say about what? Oh, the princess?"

"Yes. The princess," she said.

Natsu waved it off. No big deal. Except that it was. And now he was about to tell the only southerner he'd trusted since the Dragneel War ended.

Natsu sat up and gazed long into Lucy's eyes, suddenly embarrassed at what he had to say. He sometimes wished the exchange had never happened. That his father hadn't betrothed him to someone he didn't know. If he was going to love, he wanted it to be someone he cared about, someone who made him comfortable, whole. He wanted to be her best friend, not her asset.

Someone like...

A sliver of something distant gripped his chest, and Natsu considered lying for a moment. Why did he even bring this up? The story erupted like word vomit, no control, the after-effects sticky and hot like bile in his throat.

He found himself wondering if this news would hurt her. But why would it? She was his guardian. His friend. There was nothing to be sorry about. Even so, the acidic burn in his throat spread evenly across his chest. He knew this feeling well, an emotion so violent it sank its teeth into his heart and wouldn't let go.

Guilt.

"I was supposed to marry her."