Children Of Dragons

~Four~

Lucy's POV

I lay in a bed in a hotel room in Hargeon. The inn was called Shepherd's Dreams and was located near the seafront at the edge of town.

After encountering Aisha again, she, Gaia, the rest of the team and I watched the midnight fireworks and checked out a few stalls before heading to Shepherd's Dreams. Natsu got me a red dragon teddy (*makes an ooh la la face at Lu-chan*) - it was ADORABLE.

There was a small kitchen, a living room area attached to that with a sofa bed, a bathroom and a bedroom with two bunk beds. Aisha, Erza and I took the remaining beds in the bedroom (Wendy was already asleep in one), Carla and Gaia climbed in with the two bluenettes and the boys bundled together on the sofa bed, much to Natsu and Gray's dislike.

Now I was lying awake on the bottom bunk of one of the beds, Aisha and Gaia above me, unable to fall asleep. I sighed softly. Memories kept flashing across my mind, keeping me conscious. One recent memory was the one troubling me the most.

"We need your help in the dragon realm, Princess Lucy. Come as soon as you can."

First of all, who was 'we'? The dragons? And secondly, how the heck was I supposed to get to the dragon realm? Even if by some miracle I managed to get there, what could I do to help? Why didn't Stardust call on the dragon slayers? Natsu was way stronger than me.

A memory of me destroying a large rock with a fire dragon iron fist drifted through my mind.

Right. I was the dragon princess, wasn't I?

"Hey, Lu, you awake?" Aisha whispered.

I turned my head a little. "Yeah."

"Remember when we used to sneak out after Nami had fallen asleep and go on crazy adventures?"

"Come'n, Lucy! It'll be fun! Remember that cave we saw behind the waterfall earlier? - lets go explore it!" A ten year old Aisha-nee said.

I slowly nodded, smiling. "Okay, nee-san! I trust you!"

"Yeah. I do."

Silence.

"You know where the dragons are... don't you?"

I chewed on my lip. "They... aren't in this world."

A dry laugh echoed through the room. "I already knew that. I've spent the last decade or so searching Earthland... I found a warlock who slowed my aging down, and an old healer who was cranky as hell, but no dragons... I made friends with a flying wolf and talked to a kraken, but didn't find any dragons... I travelled across the desert and practiced my dragon slaying every day but did I find my dragon mother? No, I didn't! I... I..." By now, Aisha had started sobbing.

Guilt welled up inside me. I crawled out from under my blanket and climbed up to her bed. Gaia slept peacefully at the end of the bed. I crawled past her and sat next to Aisha, who had her back against the wall and her face buried in her hands.

I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. She stiffened, but then returned the gesture. Tears turned my pyjama sleeves wet but I didn't pay any mind to it.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so, sorry..." I mumbled. And I was. Even if my memories were sealed, I left her alone on that island when I returned to Stardust and the other dragons with Nami and went to the dragon realm. I had no idea how to get there, and no idea if I was allowed to tell her about all of my memories about my time there.

My time there...

I went with the dragons to their realm! That means, if I dig deep enough into my memories, I can find out how to get there! I can reunite Aisha, Natsu and the other dragon slayers with their parents and maybe, just maybe, I can help the dragons, since Stardust seemed so insistent on me coming...

"Aisha..." I said quietly. "I think... I think I might be able to get us into the dragon realm..."

One last sob sounded out, before she lifted her head. She wiped her eyes, sniffling, and gave me a small smile.

"That's all I could ever ask for."