The Pirate's Princess & The Dragon Jewels

Chapter 22 - A Dragon Slayer's Greatest Weakness

Natsu's POV

"Hey Lucy! Don't you think that was funny?" I asked as I turned around but she wasn't there anymore. "Where did she go?" Gray asked then we notice a white envelope on the ground where she was standing. Erza picked it up and held it out to me. "It's addressed to you" she said as I took it from her. I looked at my name written on the front of the envelope and I knew it wasn't Lucy's handwriting. I opened the envelope and took out the letter.

Natsu,

If you want Lucy returned to you safely, give me the treasure you found on this island. Meet me on the south side of the island at dawn alone. If I see you bring anyone with you, the deal is off.

From Sabertooth's Captain,

Sting

P.S. I think she would make a wonderful personal maid. Don't you agree?

I crushed the letter in my hand. 'How dare he take my Lucy! When I find the bastard I'm gonna...' I thought as I felt my anger rising. "So, what does it say?" Gray asked, "Sabertooth kidnapped Lucy" I said through gritted teeth. "Oh no what do we do?" Happy asked worriedly as Erza took the letter out of my hand. "I'm going to get her back!" I shouted as I started to run towards the south side of the island but Erza pulled me back by my scarf.

"We can't just run into this blindly, lets go back to the ship and work out our options" she said. "I can't wait that long! I'm going to get her back now!" I argued as I struggled against her grip. "You know he won't see reason when Lucy's in trouble" Gray said to Erza. "I agree" she replied and then punched me in the stomach, knocking me out.

When I woke up, I noticed I was cuffed to a pillar in the ship's mess hall with sealstone cuffs. The whole crew was surrounding a table in front of me discussing about the situation. "I think this plan could work" Levy said and everyone nodded in agreement. I had no clue about what they were talking about. "Let me go! I need to get Lucy back!" I shouted as I struggled in the cuffs. "We can't let you go until you calm down" Mira said, "how am I supposed to calm down when those damn tigers have MY LUCY!" I shouted. "Awe he said 'my Lucy'" Mira said and the girls squealed. "Now's not the time to be squealing about that! Let me go!" I shouted as I kept squirming and kicking.

"I guess his dragon instincts are kicking in especially because of the mark. Can everyone leave the room except for the dragon slayers?" Laxus said and the rest of crew nodded. Everyone filed out of the room until Wendy, Gajeel, Laxus and I were the only ones left in the room. "Now that they are out of the way, Gajeel you know what to get" Laxus said. "Right" Gajeel said and ran out of the room.

"What are we doing?" Wendy asked the question I had on my mind. "You're too young and Natsu is newly mated so you two don't know about this yet but this is a Dragon Slayer's greatest weakness" Laxus explained. "What does that mean?" she asked, "a Dragon Slayer's greatest weakness is their mate. Take a mate away from a Dragon Slayer and they will go on a rampage like what Natsu's going through right now. Once the mate is returned to them they will calm down immensely...but there is a way to temporarily relax a Dragon Slayer while their mate isn't around. It's kinda embarrassing so that's why I asked everyone else to leave the room" Laxus explained. "What is it?" Wendy asked but then Gajeel came through the door and shutting it behind him.

"I got it" he said as he held up Lucy's shirt. "That's Lucy's! Why do you have that?!" I shouted and growled at him. "Shut up and smell this" Gajeel said and covered my mouth and nose with Lucy's shirt. Lucy's scent flooded my nose and I felt my muscles relax like my body was turning into goo. I felt like Lucy was with me and I started imagining her bright smile which I couldn't help but smile at the thought. Gajeel dropped Lucy's shirt onto my lap and stepped away. "This is why it's embarrassing. See that stupid grin on his face" Laxus said, I would shout at him but I lost the urge. "While the real thing is the best, a piece of clothing or a cloth with their scent on it will relax a Dragon Slayer into this state for a while" Laxus added as he pointed to me but I was still daydreaming about Lucy, "Lucy" I mumbled. "I can definitely see how embarrassing that can be" Wendy said.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my daydream but I still felt relaxed. "It's Mira and Levy. Can we come in?" Mira's voice came through the door. Gajeel moved Lucy's shirt from my lap to hide it behind me. "Sure, we're done now" Laxus said to the door then Mira and Levy entered. "Wow you calmed Natsu down!" Levy said impressed as she looked at me. "How did you do it?" Mira asked, "Dragon Slayer secret" Laxus answered. "So why are you here Mira and Levy?" Wendy asked. "Oh, we were hoping to explain the plan to Natsu if he was calm and sure enough he is" Levy replied. "What plan?" I asked and they explained the plan to me.

Later that day at dawn, I stood alone on the beach on the south side of the island in front of the anchored Sabertooth ship. I watched with a glare as Sting rowed a small rowboat toward the shore with Lucy tied up and gagged. Once the rowboat arrived ashore, "upsy daisy" Sting said as his picked Lucy up bridal style. I growled at the sight but I knew I couldn't do anything right now and need to stick to the plan. Sting put her down a few metres away from me and put his arm over her shoulder.

"Nice to see you again Natsu" Sting smirked, "the feeling isn't mutual" I grumbled. "Awe don't say that, although I am surprised that she's your mate" his smirk deepened as he pulled Lucy's collar over her shoulder showing her mark. "Mph!" Lucy muffled in surprise by the sudden action. I growled, "anyway, I want the treasure you found on this island in exchange for this cutie" he said as he grabbed Lucy's jaw. I took the rolled map out of my vest, "here, now give Lucy back to me" I said with hate in my voice. "Nnm" Lucy muffled as she shook her head at me. "I've got no choice Lucy" I said, "no you don't, now set it down and take a few steps back" Sting said.

I did as he said and he walked forward with Lucy to where I placed the map. He kept a hand on Lucy's arm as he picked it up. "You got the damn map, now let her go" I growled, "not until I check it, wouldn't want you to give me a blank piece of paper" he replied. He unrolled the map and checked the contents. "Good to see you didn't try to trick me. Here" he said as he gave Lucy a light push and she ran into my open arms. "You're safe now" I whispered into her ear. "See ya later Natsu" Sting said as he put the map in his vest and rowed his rowboat back to his ship.

I took off Lucy's gag and untied the rope she was bound with before heading back to the Fairy Tail ship with her close beside me. As we walked back to our ship, she was looking a little down and was oddly silent. "Are you alright Lucy? They didn't hurt you, did they?" I asked, worried if Sting did something to her. "I'm so sorry Natsu, because of me you had to give them the map" she said apologetically. "I wouldn't worry about it. Besides...that wasn't the real map" I said, "huh?!" she exclaimed.