The Dragneel Affair | NaLu

Chapter 6 - Valentine's Day

Lucy smiled as she stared at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a white and light pink satin dress with a wide, pink ribbon wrapped around her, right under her breasts. Her hair was in tight curls and wrapped in a bun at the top of her head. She stared at the white pearls that hung close to her neck and blushed. She remembered the night she found the necklace on her bed and the note that called her princess (that's what she was known as, but it still put butterflies in her stomach thinking about it). She giggled silently and covered her face with her hands, feeling like a teenager experiencing her first crush.

"Princess?" There was a knock at the door. "The ball starts in ten minutes."

"A-alright! I'll be out in a minute!" Lucy said. As she turned from her mirror to the bedroom door, her eyes caught a glimpse of a small tin on her dresser. She stared at it for a moment before walking towards it and picking it up. The tin was round and purple, it read, "natural rouge," on the front in gold, curved letters. Inside was a red, thick, cream that shined due to the fact that it was new and had not been used.

Levy had bought her the tin days earlier from the shop that opened next door. "I thought you might want to try it," she said. "It's supposed to make your lips and cheeks turn into a rose color." Lucy stared at the red makeup then at her reflection in the mirror.

She sighed, "I suppose there's no harm in trying." She stepped closer to the mirror. She rubbed her finger on top of the cream and rubbed it onto her lips. It smelled horrible but she pushed that aside as she noticed the difference in color. She looked around her room, trying to find something to rub the extra rouge off. She sighed and lifted her skirt, rubbing the substance onto her leg. Before finally leaving the room, she pinched her cheeks. Her skin blushed as blood raced to that area of skin.

• • •

Natsu leaned on a white and gold wall in the ball room. He was dressed in a white uniform with silver detailing and red cuffs and collar. His leather boots were cleaned and shined from the lights in the room. He had arrived with the rest of his troop. Makarov was standing next to him, holding a glass of red wine.

"Something on your mind, boy?" He asked, swirling the purple liquid around in his cup.

"Yes and no, I don't know. I'm thinking about so much that it's just silence in my head."

"Understandable," Makarov took a sip of the drink as the orchestra at the front of the ballroom began to silence. People also became quiet and turned their attention to the front of the room. A man dressed in a navy blue uniform stepped out. Natsu recognized him as one of Count Heartfilia's assistants, Hans. Hans pushed his bifocals up his nose and cleared his throat. Natsu couldn't pick out much of what he said. Possibly because of the echo in the room and the fact that Natsu's Austrian wasn't the greatest.

He was able to pick out, "Heartfilia," which perked him up out of his daze. He watched as Jude walked down the staircase with Lucy by his side. He noticed Lucy wasn't dressed in white, like many of the other young ladies in the room. The pink in her dress worked well with the white also in her dress along with her golden hair. His thoughts led him to think about how his pink hair would look well with her's, he scratched his head in embarrassment of the thought and turned his attention back to Lucy.

The two were already at the end of the stair case. Jude was making his way towards a British general with a smile on his face and a glass of alcohol in his hand. Lucy rolled her eyes and scanned the room for Natsu. Once she found him her face lit up like a candle lit Christmas tree. He swore it would be one of the cutest things he had seen all month. Lucy quickly walked towards him, ignoring an invitation for a dance.

"Hello," Lucy said cheerfully, "are you having a good time?"

"Are your lips darker?" Natsu asked.

"What?"

"Your lips look darker than usual," he stated. Lucy blushed in embarrassment and looked off towards the other side of the room.

"Levy found some makeup and she wanted me to try it. It had been sitting in my room and I thought, "Why not try it tonight?" Does it look bad?"

"Not in the slightest." Natsu gave her a reassuring smile. Lucy smiled back as the orchestra began playing a different song. Lucy smiled and took Natsu's hand.

"Dance with me, please? This one is one of my favorites," she asked. Natsu chuckled.

"Sweetheart, you need to give me a reason to dance with you." He regretted calling her, "sweetheart," but it didn't seem like she heard him say it. She pulled him to the dance floor. She took his hand held it up in the air, along with her's, and placed her other hand on his shoulder. Natsu placed his empty hand on the small of her back as she began moving along with the music.

Lucy tried to focus on the music she had memorized when she was four and the steps she learned when she was eight. But the calming sound of the violins and the flutes went over her head as her eyes focus of Natsu's face. She wondered how she never noticed how beautiful his eyes were. They were green and grey, mixed together only slightly. You could pick out the dazzling emerald green and stormy grey. It was so different but it seemed so comforting. His skin was tanned and felt warmer than normal. She found a scar on his neck, it was large and prominent. But it was trying to hide under his collar. He was tall and strong. His smile could put a light in even the darkest man. He could make her smile even through her tears. He was oh so handsome.

"Lucy?"

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

"Yes,"

"Are you sure? You keep staring at me and stepping on my feet."

"I'm okay." She said, still in a daze. She snapped out of her thoughts when people began to applaud the orchestra. Before she could join in, Natsu took her hand and pulled her out of the ballroom and onto a balcony. It was covered in snow and it was freezing cold. Lucy shivered as Natsu closed a door behind her. "Natsu? What's wrong?" She asked.

"I want to try something."

"What?"

"Close your eyes."

"Alright," she closed her eyes. She felt his hand on her chin.

"And bite me if you want me to stop."

"Why would I-?" He kissed her. It was her first kiss. She imagined it would last longer until he pulled apart from her. He lifted his hand to her lips and rubbed off the rouge.

"That doesn't taste good."

"I know, I could've warned you."

"No, that would've spoiled the moment," he said sarcastically. Lucy giggled and brought her hands around his neck.

"Want to try again?"

"Please," he whispered. Lucy brought him down to her level, kissing him. It was different from what she thought it would be like. His lips were rough and chapped, her's were soft. The differences seemed to only make it better. She realized she was falling for him. He realized he was falling in love.

***

Author's Note:

I'm sorry this was updated late again. I was stressing about finals last week and couldn't bring myself to really work on much else. But I hope you're happy with this chapter and I will do my best to update on time next week.

I want this story to be shorter than The Demon and The Princess, which was around 40 chapters. But also longer than His Cinderella, I think that one was 17 chapters. The minimal number of chapters I want this to be is 20 so if something feels rushed this is why.

Until I write again,

~Lucy