Missed

Lucy had grown up with him. He had been her hero for a time, back when her mother had still been alive. Her father had been everything to her; he had loved her, had cradled her when she had fallen down, had held her mother's hand as she lay dying…but now… She didn't know what had happened to him. She didn't understand how the sickness that had cost them the life of her mother had also cost her the love of her father.

It had taken months for her to work up the courage to leave, but in all honesty it had been a long time coming. Lucy was just so tired of being unwanted, so tired of her father's schemes for her future, so tired of being ignored. She was just plain tired of thinking she was worthless.

Lucy had pursued her dreams. She had gone to Hargeon, she had met him, she had joined Fairy Tail, her dream guild, she was getting stronger as a wizard, she was getting stronger as a person. Her life was good; hell it was great. It had not been so good since her mother had passed on and Lucy loved her new life, but when she would think back on her old life…she couldn't stop the hurt she felt. She didn't understand where she had gone wrong. Had she been wrong to try and love her father?

Lucy had stood by and watched her guild get practically destroyed. She had watched her friends battle Phantom and felt utterly helpless. And it was all her fault. The reason they were being attacked was because she had run away from him, from her own father, to pursue a life that she wanted. She had been kidnapped, beaten, and bruised by the same people her father had hired to bring her home. As she had sat in her room after the battle was finally over, writing a letter to her mother to try and make sense of everything that had happened, she decided enough was enough. Never again would she feel like this because of him. Never again would she let him make her feel so small. And never again would she let him hurt her family.

It had taken every ounce of courage she contained to leave behind her friends and seek out her father on her own. She had had many, many conversations with herself about why it would be a bad idea to go see him all along the way to her former home, but every time she raised an argument with herself, an image of him would pop into her head. But not just any image…an image of the look of utter devastation and fury on his face when he had seen his home destroyed, when he had seen her beaten and nearly broken in Phantom's tower…and it would strengthen her resolve. It may have taken everything she had to not only tell her father off, but also to threaten him against harming her new family ever again, but she did it.

The next time she'd seen her father, it had been after he had lost everything. He had come to her, had swallowed his pride enough to ask for her help, but she was having none of it. Because what he had asked her for, was money, the thing that had seemed to take a higher priority in Jude's heart than even his own daughter, and she had been furious and told him off for it. She had chased his affections for so long, had wanted to be the daughter he loved once again for so long, that that moment just infuriated her and made her mood sink. So she had told him to leave her alone, and she had meant it.

The next time she had seen him she had raced to what she thought would be his rescue at the guild he had told her he was joining. After all, he was her father, and as a powerful wizard, she knew she could provide him with that help. Only once the smoke had figuratively cleared, he had not even been there. He had still been making his journey and Lucy had felt foolish, but she had also realized that maybe, one day, she might be able to forgive him. She might be able to get back her father's affections and they might be able to be a family again. She admitted to herself that she could hope for that, could want that bond with her dad back again, but she didn't admit that to him. No…instead she walked away with a wave of her hand, but her heart lighter in regards to him than it had been in a while.

Seven years. Seven years may not have seemed like such a big deal to many people, but to Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail, those who had been asleep with her and those left behind to deal with the aftermath, it had felt like an eternity. One of the first things Lucy had done once she woke up was go find her father. She had been rather excited at the prospect since she had believed he would have been worried about her having just disappeared the way she had. It had numbed her when the woman at his guild had told her he had died only a month before. She had known, with a certainty one rarely ever feels, that she should be sad over his death, but at the time, she had only felt numb and the tears just wouldn't come. She had left and gone to visit his grave in somewhat of a daze and had questioned whether or not she was really sad and missed her dad, only to have him assure her that she loved her father, even if she couldn't cry. It had not been until she had returned to her apartment that she learned just how much her father had cared. Her rather evil landlady had dragged her into the building and then explained about the gifts lying on her table, as well as the letters. As she had read the last one he had written her, then she had felt her heart break. He had loved her, well and truly loved her, even if he had been terrible at showing it for so many years and even pushed her away with his actions. She suddenly felt so overwhelmingly devastated and the tears had finally flown as she fully accepted the fact her father was gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah so…this happened lol. I was in the middle of working on Evading Destiny's chapter 5 when this song by Ella Henderson came on and I felt an overwhelming urge to write this about Lucy and Jude. Their relationship as father and daughter is just so utterly tragic and I thought a lot of the song fit with them, so I couldn't help but write it. Disclaimer time! I own neither Fairy Tail nor Missed by Ella Henderson, which this fic is based off of; if you've never heard it, I highly suggest it! It's very good. :) Anyway! They belong to their respective owners.