Summary: Lucy was always considered a 'Lucky' girl, even when she was young. She thought otherwise. Even long before she joined Fairy Tail, things never really went her way. One day, after accompanying her father on one of his trips, she gets barreled over by a pink haired boy, caught up in a dispute that had nothing to do with her. Not only gets lost, but also is a victim of a run away carriage. But hey, that's the very day that started it all.
A/N: This plot I imagined had taken place during Lucy's childhood. Right around the time she was saved by a mysterious mage from Fairy Tail which caused her unhealthy obsession to joining said guild. The ending portion was taken within the OVA 'Memory Days' time period.
Of course I know that his hadn't happened exactly, but it's basically what I thought did :
Disclaimer: Characters (setting, plot, etc.) within Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima and their rightful animators.
The Day That Started It All
Deep in Fiore, at the heart of the Heartfilia Property, a tiny blonde haired child around the age of eleven, picked at the wild daisies that grew in the lawn. Her smile was wide as she hummed a nostalgic tune. Behind her was a tanned man with six, rather large crab legs that protruded from his back. A permanent, concentrated frown etched his lips as he pushed his yellow tinted sunglasses higher on his nose. His hands professionally weaved the child's hair into different styles before he gathered half of the golden strands, gently pulling them to the side and tying it off with a pink ribbon.
The blonde child paused in her work and turned her head to look at the man over her shoulder.
"The usual?" She asked sweetly, her bright brown eyes filled with curiosity.
"Are you not satisfied, Ebi?" The man asked, his frown deepening in concern.
"No, no!" The girl quickly denied, a sweet smile pulling at her lips. "I love it, Cancer-san." Her smile turned a little bittersweet, "Just like how Mama used to do it."
"Thank you, Ebi. You can call me Cancer," The tanned man corrected gently and then bowed gratefully, the pair of scissors glinting in the orange glow of the setting sun. The blonde child frowned in confusion and Cancer had noticed this, "You are my owner Lucy-sama, I do not need honorifics, Ebi."
"I will be your friend, not your owner," The girl, Lucy, returned in a slightly harder tone, "If I am going to call you Cancer, then you will also call me Lucy."
For a brief second, Lucy could have sworn she saw a small smile cross the Spirit's lips before disappearing quickly.
"I'm honored, Ebi."
"Lucy-sama!" A plump, elderly woman called from the edge of the clearing. Her hands cupped around her mouth so she could be heard. Lucy turned just in time to see a carriage pull up behind the woman. "Hurry! The Master says we are departing!"
"I'm coming, Spetto-san!" Lucy called back before accepting Cancer's offering hand to stand. "Thank you again, Cancer-sa-" The blonde cut herself off, blushing as she lightly dusted her dress, "Cancer. Thank you. You may go back now."
"I'll be waiting for your call, Lucy," Cancer announced before bowing again, his body disappearing into bright, golden flecks. Lucy smiled gleefully as she patiently stood there, waiting.
She was not disappointed. Right before the spirit completely returned to the spirit world, he had uttered the one phrase she had so patiently anticipated; 'Ebi'. Turning around at another one of Spetto's calls, the blonde child quickly sprinted towards her family's faithful servant. With a childishly wild smile, Lucy brushed her hands and gently brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"Are you going to ride in the coach with us, Spetto-san?" Lucy asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity.
"I shall be sitting up front, with the driver. You shall sit alone," Spetto paused and smiled warmly, her eyes gleaming hopefully, "With the Master."
The blonde child smiled and nodded obediently, but as she turned away, her smile saddened. Clasping her hands in front of her, she silently stepped up to the wooden vehicle. The young girl purposely chose to bitterly ignore the last part of Spetto's sentence.
Because either way, Lucy rationalized sullenly, It would not make a difference.
"Spetto," A stern voice firmly stated from inside the carriage.
"Y-yes, Jude-sama," Spetto hesitantly stuttered out.
The servant straightened immediately and grasped the handle and opened the door slowly. She gently led the blonde child into the dark cabin before shutting the door, blocking out what little light was inside of the carriage. Never knowing why, her father always hid behind the curtains of the carriage. Unless they traveled by moonlight, she had not once ridden with her father and enjoyed the scenery as they flew past.
"Lucy," Her father's deep voice grated as the young heiress settled close to the door, "I expect you to behave accordingly when we reach Mangolia tomorrow."
"Of course, Father," Lucy replied obediently.
Even in the darkness, she could see her father tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose. It was times like these when Lucy actually worried for her father's health. Despite their rocky relationship since Layla, Lucy's mother, had died, she still concerned herself of her father's wellbeing. However, advances on such weren't taken well.
"Father, are you unwell-"
"Lucy!" Jude cut his daughter off harshly.
The blonde child flinched back, both parties stiffening at the pregnant silence that followed. The older blond let out a long sigh before he spoke again.
"Lucy," he ordered, forcing his tone to soften, "No talking. I need nothing but silence."
In response, the blonde child downcast her eyes and forced herself to do as her father said. The silence was incredibly suffocating and tense, but inevitable. Despite the small, surprised squeals that were caused by rough terrain, the entire ride to the outskirts of Magnolia was quiet. Neither had gotten much rest during the travel and continuously sat in the boredom of silence. However, Lucy was able to secretly watch both the orange hue of the sunset and the pink blush of the sunrise before having to close the curtains completely.
Other than that, the duration of the trip was entirely uneventful.
"We are here," The Coachman called from the front of the carriage, however, Lucy considered the announcement unnecessary.
She could hear the bustling noise of the town long before the driver had spoken. She only waited in anticipation to step out and completely enjoy an entirely different experience to the meaning of 'busy'. Compared to the urgent rush of the servants in her home, this was warmly welcomed.
"Spetto," Jude nodded as he passed the servant.
The carriage rocked as the man swept out with the gracefulness that only he could pursue. Meanwhile, Lucy wiggled in her seat, kicking her feet back and forth in uncontainable joy. She would make the most of her childish excitement while her father's presence has temporarily left. Spetto had closed the door on her but she could hear the low murmurs between her father and her dearest servant. She knew better, they were definitely talking about her.
"Lucy-sama," Spetto called, opening the door.
Lucy found that her father was currently walking into a building, away from the carriage. Meaning, she would be staying inside of the cabin until they reached the hotel they were staying at.
Yeah, I don't think so.
"Yes, Spetto-san?" Lucy replied sweetly, her eyes thinning at the heavy contrast in lighting.
"We are going to head towards the Hotel now," The elderly woman smiled.
"Okay," The blonde child smiled back, "Thank you, Spetto-san."
Spetto's heart both warmed and broke at the young girl's immediate obedience, "Do you want me to sit inside with you?"
"It's okay, Spetto-san," Lucy shook her head, her smile still on her face, "It's only a short ride right?" The servant nodded. "Then I'll be okay. Thank you."
"If you say so," Spetto muttered hesitantly before closing the door.
Lucy's smile dropped immediately. She waited until she felt the rocking of the carriage, indicating that Spetto was climbing on, before she swiftly stood up and walked towards the opposite side of the cabin. The Coachman clicked his tongue right as Lucy pulled the door open and slipped out quietly. The clack of the horses hooves easily concealed the already silent click of the door and the tap of the young heiress's sandals as it hit the cobbled sidewalk.
The horses to the carriage whined loudly, causing the blonde to freeze up. When neither the carriage or the horses stopped, she silently let out a cheer, spreading her arms up in her accomplishment. However, it was short lived when she was suddenly barreled over. There was a flash of pink, white and red before her vision temporarily blacked out. When she regained her vision, she swore that she had seen stars shining in the vast, blue sky.
"Owie," a clearly male, albeit high pitched, voice complained.
Sitting up quickly, Lucy's brown eyes locked on a boy sitting on the floor next to him. What immediately stood out wasn't the fact that he was obviously the culprit that knocked them both over, nor was it the fact that he seemed to be around the same age as her. Or the fact that the red flash earlier was his shirt and the white was his scarf. Even the fact that he was wearing a scarf in this kind of heat! No. All of that slipped her mind. What she immediately took notice of was his hair.
And it was pink. Pink!
Of all the colors in Earthland! Lucy thought as she rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head.
Sure she had met some blunettes, red heads. Heck! Even green haired people! But this pink haired boy seemed to strike her to silence. In her defense, she met people with pink hair, but they were usually girls. And even if they weren't, guys dyed their hair that color. This looked extremely natural.
The boy must have noticed her staring at his hair because his, equally pink, eyebrows furrowed down. He must have taken her silence and her staring at his hair badly because he jabbed his index finger in her direction.
"My hair is Salmon," he inquired, pointing his finger at her. Lucy just reared back, her eyes skeptical. "Not Pink!"
Lucy's hands shot up into a 'no-shoot' gesture. However, before she could even open her mouth to say something, another boy, thankfully with normal dark hair, ran towards them. His eyes were filled with urgency that Lucy had never experienced. The blonde, once again, found herself rearing back in surprise when the dark haired boy stopped by them and hit the salmon haired boy on the head. The force was enough to cause the boy to crumple forward, holding the spot that the dark haired boy hit.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"What are you doing sitting here, molten for brains?" The dark haired boy hissed angrily.
The salmon haired boy stood up quickly, his eyes narrowing in fury. Lucy could see a hint of confusion in his eyes. Confusion may have not been the right word. This boy seemed a little lost at what the dark haired boy said, which in turn, confused the blonde. But that confusion was quickly lost in what the salmon haired boy said next.
"I don't know what 'molten' means but it sounds like an insult!"
"Why am I not surprised?" The dark haired boy sighed before shrugging, "I forgot how much of an idiot you were."
"What'dya say?" The salmon haired boy asked furiously, the air heating up around them.
"You heard me, flame-brain!" The other boy hissed, the air around him dropping in temperature. "I forgot that you're such an idiot, I actually need to use insults that you can understand!"
"You wanna go?!"
"Yeah!"
As the two boys were butting heads, Lucy found herself strangely stuck between freezing and sweating. She had to feel her head to check if she was sick but found herself perfectly fine. She looked back at the two who were currently locked in combat, a cloud of dust flying around them. For some reason, she felt drained just by watching the pair.
"NATSU! GREY! PREPARE!"
The two immediately froze in their brawl, their eyes snapping over to someone in the distance. As the figure got closer, Lucy saw that this person was definitely somewhere around their ages. But once again, she couldn't help but stare. And for the third time in the last thirty minutes, she found herself shocked into silence. Two things were definitely wrong about the girl that was heading towards them. Firstly, her hair was red. Not just any red, Crimson Red.
Secondly, she was clad in armor.
The girl's shoulders were covered with leather leaflets but her chest was completely covered with iron or some kind of hard metal. If it wasn't for that fact that she had long, girly hair, Lucy wouldn't have even noticed that she was female. Oh yeah, and she was completely immersed in a deadly aura. The blonde shivered in fear. Taking a quick glance at the boys, they were immediately locked into what seemed like a forced, friendly embrace.
"It's not working," the dark haired boy muttered softly, but Lucy heard it clearly.
"Why not?" The salmon haired boy muttered back, a shaky smile on his face, "What did you do this time, Ice princess?"
This immediately riled the dark haired boy. The temperature suddenly dropped again as he glared at the other boy. This caused the salmon haired boy to glare back and soon enough, they were butting heads again. Lucy was once again subjected to the shift in temperatures.
"What did I do?!" The dark haired boy hissed, "More like, what did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything!"
"Neither did I!"
"You must have done something really bad if our act didn't work!"
Act? Lucy questioned in her head before sighing again. That must explain why they looked so friendly only seconds after they fought.
"Wait!" The dark haired boy shouted, shocking both the forgotten Lucy and the salmon haired boy before glaring again, "Didn't you eat Ezra's cake?"
"No-" The salmon haired boy started to protest before he cut himself off and thought. "Oh yeah."
Lucy and the dark haired boy sweat-dropped. By this time, the red head, Ezra (Lucy assumed) was mere feet away from them. The deadly aura back then was nothing compared to the extremely dark aura she currently wore.
"Ah, crap!" The salmon haired boy cursed.
"Run!" The dark haired boy yelled, pushing the other boy before taking off quickly.
"Wait for me!" The salmon boy yelled, taking off after his... friend?
"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER! NATSU! GRAY!" The red haired girl yelled after them.
Lucy squeaked in surprise when a sword magically appeared in the red head girl's hand then ran after them. The blonde haired girl continued to sit on the cobble sidewalk, her eyes wide. She was beginning to think that the dark haired boy was the only normal one out of the dysfunctional group. Well... at least until he started to strip.
Too soon, Lucy thought through a sweat-drop, Is everyone in Magnolia like this?
As she looked around, there were people who looked scandalized at the scene that just materialized in front of them. Others looked amused and some just ignored it. A few people actually had the decency to ask if she was alright. One even walked over to her and help her up. That at least returned a little bit of faith back into the townspeople of Magnolia.
Must just be them, Lucy sighed, brushing off her dress. It'd probably be better if I just pretended this never happened.
The blonde used both hands and gently slapped her cheeks. She dug into the pockets of her dress and found that she had a decent amount of jewels on her. At least enough to pay the carriage fare.
This isn't how I imagined my day to turn out, Lucy thought, making her way to the corner of the street. Maybe I should just find my way to the hotel...