I'm standing on a bridge
I'm waiting in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
Lucy finally came to a halt from her desperate running on a bridge, panting and steadying herself up against a bus stop station. The ubiquitous brightness of the city reflected off the murky water, bathing her in a rippling light.
Her backpack over her hoodie and down, winter coat ached on her shoulders, and she shrugged it off with a thump to the ground. Lucy had managed to fit in everything she thought she'd need… at least for now. Just her laptop with all her writing, its charger, two changes of clothes, toiletries, canned food, a filled water bottle, a blanket, an old book of fairy tales her mother used to read her, and the little keychains that her mother used to collect. The money Lucy had earned herself that she'd just withdrawn was shoved in a wallet and down the front of her shirt to avoid thievery.
In the back of her mind, she knew, she'd been planning this for a long time.
She hugged herself tightly, still too much in shock of what she'd just done to think. Lucy had actually done it. Actually run away. After all the years of oppression and neglect of her father, she'd finally had the guts to leave.
In the back of her mind, she knew, there was that one, hopeful, weak part that was hoping her dad would follow her. But if he had, he would be here by now.
There's nothing but the rain
No footsteps on the ground
I'm listening but there's no sound
Feeling wetness on her face, it took her a few moments to realize she wasn't crying, but it had started to rain. Grimacing, she moved to the inside of the bus booth, sitting in the corner on the bench.
It had been the worst fight yet, shouting back and forth about her life and where he wanted to push it. Mother would have told her to be happy. She would have told Lucy to chase after her dreams until her legs gave out.
And Lucy had decided that if she were to do so, she couldn't let Jude stand in her way.
After that hour long of arguing, Lucy had finally lost it, yelling out, "I'm going to leave!"
"Then leave," was all he'd said. "Come back when you can be worthy of the Heartfilia name. Or when you finally realize how much you need me."
"I have never needed you," Lucy had snarled. "And I never will." She'd slammed the door, and she'd ran.
Lucy let out a derisive snort, curling up with her backpack in her lap. He'd basically told her she wasn't welcome there - of course he wasn't coming for her.
Only people that are loved are chased after.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It was that thought that hit her right in the chest.
Her servants had been ordered away a years ago - her punishment for making friends with them. They were far too 'lower class' for the Heartfilia heir.
Her tutor had despised her from the start.
Mother was gone.
Lucy's hands clenched on her bag's straps as her eyes widened. There was truly... no one in this world that loved her.
Home was supposed to be where the heart was, but her heart was still wandering, searching. No one was there for it to land on. No one was trying to find her. There was no home. There was just her. In this little bus stop. The sound of rain.
Lucy finally knew the true tragedy of being homeless. It wasn't having no place to sleep, to eat, that hurt. It was that no one cared.
She'd never been sure of God, but then, she prayed.
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
Lucy didn't know how long she sat there, shivering with the cold of the rain surrounding her, face buried in her backpack as people passed, not even glancing her direction. Just another homeless person going insane on a bench.
Finally, there was a screeching sound, causing her to look up. A bus had just pulled over by the station, people flooding on or off. On a sudden impulse, Lucy stood, making her way to the doors as if in some kind of a trance. She just knew… she had to get on this bus.
It was warm. After paying the small fee, she filed down through the rows, finding an empty seat near the back where she took a spot and gazed out the window.
"This stop is the train station," the driver said over the speaker, snapping her out of her zone that she'd been in for nearly an hour.
Again, she felt this kind of tug in her chest - this was where she had to get off.
I don't know who you are
But I... I'm with you
I'm with you
Lucy scanned the map of Fiore for several minutes by the ticket booth. It was already cold here, in the south, but she didn't care; she wanted to go north. The farthest place away from her father. At the very tip of the country, she saw a place, one labeled Magnolia.
Her eyes wandered to the pamphlets in the racks by the map until she found the right one. At the sight of 'Magnolia', Lucy snatched up the paper and read. It was apparently another city. The pamphlet listed of meaningless attractions and sights; Lucy liked the look of the place, people smiling at vendors on the cobblestone streets, and surely there were plenty of warm places to stay.
Feeling the most reckless, yet the most free, than she ever had, Lucy pulled out her wallet by the ticket booth. "One way ticket to Magnolia, please."
I'm looking for a place
I'm searching for a face
Is anybody here I know?
It had taken a full day by train to reach Magnolia, and it was night again. When she'd stepped off the creaky train, Lucy had instantly been assaulted by a wave of frigid air, causing her to gasp at the freezing feeling in her lungs and pull her scarf up over the bottom of her face. Rubbing her gloves together, Lucy glanced around quickly. Strangers were bustling about, on their way to a hotel or house. Lucy was just longing for a piece of ground to sit for a while. While it did look like a nice place, it was still a city, and she knew shady people, possibly in gangs, could be lurking about.
After squeezing her way through several crowds, Lucy had managed to find a small alcove, dark and warm. It was near the entrance, and there were several garbage cans, but at this point, Lucy wasn't picky. She settled down on the ground, spreading her blanket over her and using her backpack for a pillow. But she didn't sleep.
'Cause nothing's going right
And everything's a mess
And no one likes to be alone
She'd been awake for several hours, with nothing to do but think about what a huge mess she'd gotten herself into. While she'd lived taking care of herself most of her life, she had always had a place to stay and food supplied for her. She supposed she could find a job or two, but there was no guarantee she could make a living off of minimum wage and still have an uncertain future of writing. Without a high school or college diploma on top of that.
Either way, Lucy refused to allow her father to be right. She wouldn't need him.
Still… even if he'd ignored her all these years other than to direct her life, he'd been her only company. Now she was completely, unfathomably alone.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
"Seriously, I don't know why you insist on doin' these rounds. Homeless kids know where to come by now."
Lucy was snapped out of her reverie by a deep voice of a boy, maybe her age, passing off in the distance. The station's population was thinning, but she could see the figures of two males lounging up against a pillar, and hear them over the waning clamor of the trains.
"This is a train station, Gray; new people that need help may know nothing of us," spoke up the other boy. "Just one round, okay? You go east wing; I'll take left."
"Fine. One round - I'm exhausted."
"Eh, stop your whinin' and move."
"Don't tell me what to do, pyro!"
"Then get your ugly mug away from me, stripper!"
"Dammit, how did that happen? Ugh, I'm gonna buy a new shirt. Stay strapped."
"Yeah. You too."
When Lucy squinted, she could finally see that the 'Gray' boy was indeed not wearing a shirt. He wandering off to the nearest gift shop.
It was several moments until Lucy finally noticed that the 'pyro' boy was coming closer in her direction.
She scrunched up against the brick as flat as possible to stay out of sight; why hadn't she figured that someone would find her and tell her to beat it eventually?
But he passed, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep, she drew out her book of fairy tales, using the light of the flickering overhead in the main hallway to make out the words. Of course, she'd memorized nearly all of them by now.
"Whacha readin'?"
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
Lucy let out a shriek, jumping slightly in her seat and dropping her book. Apparently the boy hadn't completely gone away, and he was now peering into her little alcove curiously. She hadn't been able to tell from that far away, but she noticed that his hair was… bright pink? He was plenty handsome, but was wearing a leather jacket, red shirt, and some black jeans that had a chain dangling off of them, heavy boots. Surely a kid in some kind of biker gang.
She backed away slightly, eyes wide. Lucy cursed herself. She should have known to cover her hair up better, her figure. Surely creepy guys would gravitate all around and take a chance at snatching her up from the streets. And she knew absolutely no way to defend herself.
As he neared her, Lucy backed ever the further away, but all he did was lean down… and pick up her book. Gently, he brushed off the dirt and examined the cover with raised eyebrows. "Fairy tales, huh? Aha, how ironic… What are you doing?"
In her gloved hand was clenched one of her food cans, ready to be launched at him any second. "Give it back and leave!"
He blinked big, innocent, dark eyes. Slowly, he began to smile, then let out a short laugh. "I'm not gonna hurt ya, you weirdo!" Lucy remained stiff as he inched forward, hands raised, and slid down the wall beside her. "I promise, I won't hurt you. Look, I'll even give ya these."
Lucy nearly screamed when he opened his jackets to reveal two guns strapped to either side of his torso.
Well, now she knew what Gray had meant by 'stay strapped.'
He carefully drew them out of their holsters and set them on the other side of her. Then he took out a switchblade from his pocket and handed it to Lucy, leaving her staring at it blankly.
"There," the boy said with finality. "I'm unarmed. And you're not."
Lucy only stared at him. Either he trusted people far too much for his own safety, or he was just really stupid. Or they could be the same thing, in a city at night. Had he ever thought of how she could be some psycho that would kill him with these?
"So," he began casually, leaning his head back against the brick. "I'm Natsu. Who're you?"
It came out of her mouth before she wanted it to. "I'm Lucy."
"Ooo, like the Beetles' song?" he asked, seemingly excited.
For some reason, even though she had recently become a hungry, desperate homeless person, Lucy found herself letting out a laugh. "Yeah, like that."
"Nice. Whacha doin' readin' this in a train station?"
She bit her lip. She didn't respond.
"You have a place to sleep?"
Yes. Here. In this small corner.
Lucy shrugged, grabbing her book back from him.
"Lucy," Natsu said, drawing her attention to the sound of her name. "Why are you sitting here?"
At that question, Lucy finally broke, eyes overflowing and a sob raking through her body. She clamped a cold hand over her mouth to get a hold of herself, but it was too late. Everything became too much. Unable to help herself, she reduced to incoherent sobs, burying her face in her knees and crying so hard she could barely breathe. She hadn't cried like this since her mother had died.
She felt a warmth that made her shudder and draw a breath. Natsu had scooted closer and put an arm around her, squeezing her tightly.
I don't know who you are
But I... I'm with you
I'm with you
Lucy hadn't even seen a situation like this in her books. Here she was, curled up in a small alleyway, being hugged by some random boy she'd met only seconds ago, completely lost and with absolutely no idea what to do.
"S-sorry… I-I'm so-sorry…" she hiccuped out.
"Don't be," he said firmly, straightening her knitted hat. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?"
"N-no," she gasped out. "I-I ran aw-way because h-he d-doesn't want me and… and I j-just want to wr-write but I… I can't go back - please don't ma-make me go b-back…"
"Hey, hey, nono, I won't make you go back there, okay?" Natsu soothed, rubbing circles on her back. "Look, I know a safe place to sleep, and we can get you something better to eat…"
"I-I don't wanna join a gang…"
At this, he began to laugh again. "I'm not part of a gang! Well, I guess the guns make it look… I just carry those for defense. We're more of an… anti-gang, I guess. We try to get kids a place to stay so they don't feel like they have to join one, and protect people from other gangs. See?"
Lucy peeked slightly above her arms. "Really?"
"Really really."
But then, she grimaced. "I-I don't want ch-charity. I ran to sh-show him I could t-take care of mys-self…"
"Oh, Gramps makes you work at his hotel to earn your keep." Natsu waved her off. "There's a job involved with living there. Just cleaning and kitchen and stuff. He won't make you go back to… wherever you ran from."
Oh why is everything so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind
Lucy stared at him. His eyes were open, honest, wild, but gentle. She couldn't help but trust this boy. Oh hell, this week was just full of completely insane decisions…
Thinking she had to be completely out of her mind, Lucy said, "Will you take me there?"
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
He said nothing, but after leaning over to return his weapons to their place and carefully placing her book in her backpack, he stood. Natsu held out a hand. "Come on, then!"
With hesitation, Lucy reached out, and took his hand.
Tugging her up with startling strength, he wrapped his fingers around hers and pulled her off to the doors, where his friend from before was already waiting. The Gray boy looked her up and down, and only gave a small wave. "Hi. I'm Gray. You coming to Fairy Tail, then?"
"Fairy Tail?"
"It's the name of Gramps' hotel," Natsu informed her. "Gray, this is my new friend, Lucy. Let's go home."
Home.
The two boys escorted her through tall buildings and strips of small, cute stores, Natsu gripping her hand reassuringly the entire way. Lucy could see several creepy guys indeed ogling her, but whenever they caught Natsu's death glare, they hurried away. She'd just met this guy, but she'd never felt safer.
After about a half an hour of walking, heart lightening every step as Natsu pointed out different fun places to go and see, the two boys telling her funny stories about all the things they'd done down these streets, they came to a stop by the front of a tall, extravagant building. Like a massive, fancy tavern, standing proudly at the end of the town by the sea. It looked bright inside, and she could already hear the laughter, hear the clink of dishes and cups as if they were eating.
Natsu pushed the oaken door open with one hand, putting a finger over his mouth to tell her to remain quiet as they slipped inside.
Tourists dined along long, wooden tables, the bar full and fiddle music playing. Upwards, she could see stories and stories of hotel rooms. The rafters were thick wood. It smelled of cork, good food, pine, and expensive spirits. Natsu pulled her further by the hand upstairs, where they climbed stair after stair until they finally reached the very top floor. At this point, he let go and beckoned her to a door, which he stuck a key from his belt in and opened to reveal a last flight of stairs.
When she reached the top step, Lucy realized that was another whole, hidden level, though with the middle solid floor rather than a view to the bottom, like the other stories. There seemed to be even more rooms up here than down there, and the center floor had been made into a sort of lounge, teenagers and children alike watching Netflix, getting soda from the refrigerator, doing homework, playing board games…
"What is…?" Lucy said in wonder, and Natsu grinned.
"Welcome to our pad," Natsu said. "Stay as long as you like, but beware… Gramps will make you work and go to school. You'll meet him tomorrow, but we'll get you a bed for now."
"That's… amazing…" Lucy muttered as the others finally noticed her.
"We've got a noob!" Natsu shouted, pointing at her. "This is Lucy!"
They cheered, crowding her to introduce themselves, greet her. She could feel the tears of relief, happiness, slipping down her cheeks. Natsu pulled her from the crowd, telling them to scram so that she could sleep.
"Whacha cryin' for, weirdo?" he asked, concerned. Natsu lifted a hand to dry a tear from her face. She only laughed.
"Nothing. Natsu… thank you."
Natsu smiled, and she knew that tugging feeling from before had led her here. That his smile somehow meant she was home.
I don't know who you are
But I... I'm with you
I'm with you
A little AU oneshot /songfic I wrote up for Fairy Tail Fluff Week Day 7 - Serendipity. Was listening to this song one day and this little story popped up in my head. The song I'm With You here is by Avril Lavigne.
Hope you enjoyed the random Nalu fluff, and for those who read TKOF, sorry about the hiatus. I should have some writing time this weekend, though. :)
Mizpah,
~LoneStorm