Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Summary: What if Layla Heartfilia had survived her illness, and instead it was Lucy's father who had died? What changes would this bring about, growing up in a household where your surviving parent wasn't so reluctant that you learn and strengthen your magic?

Enjoy!

"Lucy!" Layla Heartfilia called, pulling her beautiful blonde locks into a simple bun. She heard footsteps racing towards her, before there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Come on in, sweetie."

With that, the door opened, and Layla turned to face the little blonde girl who looked exactly like her mother, even at three years old.

"Mama!" Lucy cried with a wide grin, launching forward to give her mother a hug. She had been so very worried about her mother, who had fallen ill with a terrible sickness, but then Layla had miraculously gotten better, and the family doctors swore up and down that the sickness wouldn't come back.

Layla returned the hug just as tightly, leaning down to swoop her daughter into her arms, straightening up and twirling the little girl in a circle, reveling in her daughter's delighted giggles.

'I'm so very lucky.' Layla thought to herself, closing her eyes as she hugged her daughter even tighter. 'To think, if I had gotten worse, I probably wouldn't have had much more time with her…'

Layla's spirits looked down upon the heartwarming scene from the Spirit World, relieved that their friend and mistress wouldn't be taken from them any time soon.

Four years later…

Lucy cried silently as she watched her father's coffin being lowered into the unforgiving ground.

Jude Heartfilia had been traveling to another city to negotiate a contract for the family business, but his carriage had been attacked by bandits, and had been killed trying to protect the young daughter of one of his business associates.

Michelle Lobster, the young girl in question, had been inconsolable, and the two girls had bonded over their grief for Lucy's father. Lucy almost wanted to hate the girl who her father had died protecting, but her parents had taught her better than that. Instead, she decided to embrace the other girl, wanting to keep her safe as her father had tried to do.

Over time, the Heartfilia family became close friends with the Lobster family, unaware of the changes that that one connection might bring.

Far away, three young children cried out for their missing parents, not knowing that they wouldn't see them for many, many years to come.

"Come on, Michelle!" Lucy shouted with an excited grin, laughing as she teased her best friend. The two were played tag around the Heartfilia property, and Michelle was currently 'It'.

"Lucy!"

Lucy stopped immediately, alarmed. Michelle's shout had been rather urgent, and so the blonde raced towards her friend, and followed the other girl's gaze to see what had caught her attention.

It was two children, one of them a few years older than they were, and the second a few years younger. The two had blue hair (in different shades), and one of them had a strange red tattoo under his right eye.

The worrying part was that they were unconscious.

"Shellie, go get my momma." Lucy said, once she'd come out of her shock at the scene. Michelle ran off towards the house as quickly as she could…

"Girls, this is Jellal and Wendy." Layla introduced the children. "Jellal, this is my daughter, Lucy, and her best friend, Miss Michelle."

A few hours had passed since the girls found the other children unconscious, and once Layla had gotten to them, she had brought them inside, having the family physician look to make sure that they were alright. Immediately, the family seamstress had put together a few outfits for the children, who were wearing old, threadbare clothes that had clearly seen better days, and had fed a light lunch to the thin children. Apparently they had been living on their own for a while.

"Hello, Jellal." Lucy greeted the boy with a kind smile and a graceful curtsy. She would have done the same to Wendy, but the girl had quickly fallen asleep after she ate, and none of them had the heart to wake her. "It's nice to meet you!" Michelle repeated the sentiment.

Jellal nodded uncertainly, glancing towards Wendy and biting his lip.

That was how the Heartfilia household found themselves with a new permanent resident: Wendy.

Jellal had explained to Layla, or Miss Heartfilia, as he insisted on calling her, that he had a job to do, and that he was worried for Wendy's safety, as the job was a bit dangerous. He had been considering taking the little girl (who it turned out was not his kid sister, as they had initially assumed) to a magic guild, but upon meeting Layla and Lucy, and seeing their interactions with each other, realized that a structured household might be better for her.

Layla immediately agreed, saying that the both of them were welcome to stay, but Jellal had work to do. So, with tears and much reluctance from all of them, especially Wendy, he left, with a communication lacrima so that he could keep in touch, along with some money and a bit of food for the road.

That was the last time the girls would see him in person for many years.

Please Review!

Yes, Michelle Lobster is the girl that...well, she's a canon character. If I say pretty much anything, I'll spoil it. So yeah, she's an actual person, though she isn't a mage.

We'll see more of Edo-Jellal/Mystogan later, I promise. He'll be a bit more present than in the anime, at least.