Hello, readers! I'm Lacy Love and this is strictly a work of FANFICTION! I do not own Fairy Tail, or wish to make a profit from it. This is simply my imagination deciding to up and leave me again. All rights go to their respective owners; with the exception of the characters I've created and the plot.

Xoxo

Lacy

The flowing pink dress held firm against Lucy's bust as she walked down the halls to her father's office. The crisp autumn winds stirred the crimson and mahogany colored leaves outside the glass panes that separated her from freedom. Servants bustled about here and there, cleaning this and polishing that. The usual day, just like the next would be and the one before had been...

She began the steep climb up the grand staircase to her father's study. Already her hair, tightly pinned into an elaborate bun, was giving her a splitting headache. The dress was unbearably uncomfortable and not to mention the underwear she was forced to wear. And yet still, as she looked to the outside world for a fleeting moment, her body eased. Rarely did her father ever ASK to see her. It was so rare that even the servants seemed surprised. The way thaw wind tormented the leaves, and yet they still hung on. If anything. Her father was the cold, harsh storm and she was the small golden leaf.

One, two, three taps on the dark oak door signaled her arrival. She could hear voices, both strange and familiar. 'I waited, waited for the sound that I had almost forgotten, and yet could never forget. That deep authoritative voice, echoing across the room like thunder. The voice that mocked me, the voice that praised me.'

"Come in, Lucy."

Lucy entered the overly large study. With its towering bookshelves and glass wall. Walking as she usually did, tall and confident. She surveyed her surrounding with calm and curious eyes. Her footsteps easily gliding across the floor as if she were floating.

The first thing she noticed was the tall man standing across the desk from her father. He wore and elaborate green suit, and his unusually pale skin made him look sickly. And yet, she could tell he was far from it. The way he held himself, with a sense of purpose and respect. She looked at his freshly shaven face, and the dark black hair, gelled atop his head.

"Lucy, this is Lord Ignitus Hallow." Her father gestured to the man, that had risen upon her entrance. As Lucy dipped into the formal curtsey that to which she had been schooled and breed, she missed the way that Lord Hallows' eyes trailed over body, or the stiffness in his bow.

"It a pleasure to meet you. Lord Hallow."

"Please, the pleasure is all mine." His voice, soft and melodiotic, held a terrifying ammount of authority. When he had risen, i felt my heart speed up like a hummingbirds. Lord Hallow smiled, showing off snow white teeth, as his deep, ocean blue eyes stared at me.

Stared at me.

Swallowing me whole.

Like a raindrop into the ocean.

Lucy P.O.V.

I bolted upright in bed. My breaths came out in ragged gasps. Sweat was dripping from my tangled and messy hair and soaked the sheets. My pajamas were sticking to my skin, making me shiver.

I looked around, my eyes adjusting to the dark. I saw Erza on the couch; snoring loudly. Cana in the chair; hugging that barrel she always seems to have. Mira in a sleeping bag; with a creepy smile on her face as she murmured something about red roses and Galestorms. Then there was Levy-chan asleep next to me in bed; sans all clothing save her undergarments, of which I could still smell the alcohol. I shivered, wondering why they were all here. Why did I smell alcohol?

Oh, that's right, they had all been drinking over excessively at the guild again, and i had offered to nurse their hangovers so that master wouldn't be worried about them getting to the dorms alright.

I turned to the clock, great... 3:19 a.m.

Lovely. 'Note the sarcasm.'

I peeled the sweat soaked sheets off of me and quietly climbed over the girls to my bathroom. Closing and locking the door behind me, I sighed heavily, unbuttoning my pale pink night shirt, and removing my matching sweats and undies. I turned the shower on and was about to step in.

Come with me Lu, let us play a game of chess. Winner gets to pick the nights deserts…

Gasping and shaking my head wildly, I had to steady myself on the towel rack, suddenly finding that the bathroom had become almost as suffocating as a steam room. Finally grasping my bearings I stepped into the shower and allowed the intense heat to wash over me.

I didn't care that the water burned.

I had thought that the incident with Phantom Lord would put my past behind me completely, allow me to break all ties with my father and live my life with the friends I now called family.

Had visiting him one last time to 'get my two cents in' really been worth the unpleasant memories that revisited me now?

I shook my head and bit my lip to hold back a sob.

Of course, once word of my heritage and name got around the guild, I'd heard the whispers. I knew that Gray, Mira and Levy had heard them as well; because whenever someone would bring it up within earshot, they would shoot it down with a glare that could rival Erza's. Natsu was either too dense or too distracted by his childish mind to pay attention to what others said. I envied his ignorance, his blissful bloody ignorance.

'Selfish brat, lived a life of comfort, gave it all up to be an poor wizard, struggling to pay rent like she is always complaining about, a no good worthless princess living a sheltered life with absolutely no experience in the real world.'

I knew that to an outsider; leaving a safe and sheltered home with money and all that i could ever want; that it would seem selfish, uncaring, unheeding of the others struggles around me.

It wasn't.

"It took me years to find the courage to leave that place, to be all that you wanted me to be…...so why mom, why now?" I couldn't control the unrelented sob that escaped me. For once i was glad that the shower was loud.

Hopefully, no one could hear me breaking.