Hi everyone!
This is my first Fairy Tail story and I'm really excited about it. I had the idea for a while and I just want to see how the idea would be taken. Please let me know what you guys think and if you want me to continue with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I'm also half using the idea of from a book I read called, 'Lux'. The basics are all from that, but later chapters will be completely different and I'm going to focus a lot more on other characters and obviously change a lot of things too.
If you have any questions or suggestions don't hesitate to tell me :)
Also, sorry for the bad summary, I hate doing them.
Other couples besides Nalu are Gajevy/Gale, Gruvia, Jerza and some extras you'll have to read to see.
Enjoy!
"I guess this is it. The start of my new life, a life I didn't even ask for."
Lucy Heartfilia sighed at the sight of the large amount of still fill boxes that made home on the floor next to her queen-sized bed. The visual was more than a little unnerving. She had spent the last two days and the better part of her morning unpacking the seemingly never-ending piles of belongings she had brought with her.
Yet here she was, still overloaded with luggage and little room to spare. Lucy had no idea how this had happened – having brought so much stuff. When she had been packing her things, she had promised to bring only the necessitates, things she couldn't live without, such as in her clothes, of cause her laptop, school supplies and a couple notebooks. That was it! How was it possible that even after bringing less than half of what she owned, she was now struggling to make space in her new room?
Admittedly, her new room was much small than her old one, probably less than half it's size. It was still frustrating though.
With a defeated sigh, Lucy stomped over to her bed and let herself flop onto the comfy mess of blankets and stray pillows. The pressure instantly left her body at the soft feeling. She was pretty sure that she could even go back to sleep if she tried hard enough. She really should continue unpacking, but her motivation was decreasing every day and there was almost nothing left to work with this morning.
A buzz from her phone on the nightstand had the blonde groaning in self-pity. She knew who was texting her without having to look at the screen. Her father. He had been sending her messages none stop ever since she left. It was yesterday night when she decided to stop answering immediately. Unfortunately, the angry buzzing wasn't helping with her attempt at a relaxing mood. Unwillingly, Lucy rolled over onto her back, her hands reaching up to brush through her sunny mane, only to get caught in the knots.
Lucy frowned and startled to work through the knots to little success. She knew that she should have tied her hair up before going to sleep last night. It always turned into a nightmare when she didn't.
Eventually when the concept of fixing the tangled strands was proving a failure, the blonde girl gave up and instead stretched out over the bed, a tired sigh leaving her lips.
Day three and she was already not in the right frame of mind to continue life. Was that normal?
As if the universe decided that the annoying buzz of her phone wasn't enough for her, a sudden, angry gust of wind sounded outside and Lucy stiffened at the responding creak of the house's walls. It was the stuff of horror movies. Lucy would have taken a moment to appreciate the uncanny nature of it all – the fact that her new house was situated pretty much in the middle of nowhere, close to the woods, just like a true horror setting – if it wasn't for the fact that she hated the genre. At least it was daylight, the past two nights had been a struggle to get through, she had barely gotten any sleep, which was probably why she was struggling to find motivation to do anything today…
Another, loud shudder ran through the house and Lucy clenched her eyes shut in an attempt to block it out. She thought about the day she left, only a couple days ago. About how unwilling she had felt, but kept her smile on for the benefit of her father – not that he would have changed his mind if he knew just how unhappy she was about leaving.
This wasn't the first time she had been here, this house. There was a time when she and her parents had spent many summers over here. Memories of hot, soft sand and the feeling of the cool ocean spray ran though her brain and she had to bite her lip to keep her emotions in check. It had been her late mother's wish to spend so much time here, the place she had grew up in. It was for that reason why Lucy had at a time, loved coming here too, the fact that she got to explore the place her mother once called home. It had been five years since her mother's death and even more since the last time they had last been here. Her father didn't want to travel with his wife being so sick and ignored all her pleas, not that Lucy couldn't understand his choice. Her mother's death had been hard on her, more so on her father and the man had changed. For a long time, Lucy only ever saw him at dinner, sometimes not. He said he was busy with work, that he had to keep up with the companies demands.
Lucy didn't argue, she had been grieving herself at the time and let him go. Maybe their strained relationship now was her own fault because of that. Maybe she should have reached out to him more, they could have healed each other.
Now that she was here again, Lucy found herself stunned by how different everything seemed. There were still some constants, obviously, but it didn't feel as homey as it did before. She defiantly didn't remember the house being so creepy, that was for sure. To be fair, the house was only really scary at night time and was actually very pretty and well kept – all thanks to it's owner. However, if you're a girl with a low tolerance for fear and once you've experienced the terror that is surviving a night in this house, it was a different story.
"Lucy! Come down here please!"
Turning her head towards the door, Lucy gave a replying shout of, "Coming!" and then proceeded to hop off her bed.
A rush of wooziness overtook her senses and the blonde heiress had to steady herself on the nightstand's corner, before leaving her room and walking down the stares. Yip, she also lived upstairs in the overall creepy house – that was right next to the woods, was that great or what? All she needed now was a few creepy paintings and a broken down, picketed fence!
Halfway down the stairs and the smell strong, welcoming smell of eggs and fresh coffee overpowered her nostrils and Lucy practically ran down the rest of the way to the kitchen.
"Hmm, it smells like paradise in here," Lucy hummed, her nose high as she continued to sniff the mouthwatering scent in the room.
"If your paradise consists of scrambled eggs and tofu, then yeah – sure."
Lucy smiled at her new guardian who was still busy with the eggs on the stove. The sun was shining brightly through the closed windows in front of the sink and Lucy took a moment to admire the way it made her favorite aunt's long, light blue hair almost glimmer.
"Morning, Aqua!" Lucy grinned at her aunt and hurried over to take out two plates from the cupboard and place them on the table. There were a lot of negatives about moving here, but one plus was getting to stay with her aunt Aquarius. Well, she says aunt, but they don't have any real relation. She had been her mother's childhood best and was the one that actually owned this house.
"You know I hate that name," the blue-haired beauty scowled down at the eggs, but there was no bite to her words. Lucy now knew better than to get on the women's nerves after getting plenty of scoldings and smacks throughout her previous visits. She liked to think they were passed that stage now, but considering how bad her aunt's temper actually was, she still tried to be on her best behavior. After all, she was living under her roof now.
"Why?" Lucy faked a horrified gasp, when she turned to watch her aunt frown at the cooking eggs. "It's got so much charisma. You know a lot of girls in the city are changing their names to things like that, but here you are, already so lucky."
Aquarius huffed out an amused laugh, before lifting the hot pan off the stove. "If you think your argument involving scatterbrained city girls is going to make me like your bad choice in nicknames, think again," she said, walking over to scrap out a huge portion of eggs onto one plate.
"You love it," Lucy said in a sing-song voice, only to receive a pinch to the cheek by her aunt. "Ow-y!"
Aquarius huffed again at the pout, before placing two slices of bread on the plate. "For that, you can do the dishes. Eat your food before it gets cold."
What did I do..." the blond mumbled sulkily, but did as she was told. Reaching over for the jam, Lucy began to smear it over her toast when she noticed that the other plate was still empty. Looking up, she saw her aunt fiddling inside her handbag. "You're not eating?"
Aqua spared her a glance before strapping the handbag over her shoulder. "No," she sighed. "I have an early shift at the hospital."
"Oh...I thought that today was your day off?" Lucy asked, taking a bite of her jammy toast.
"So did I, but they are short staffed today," Aquarius reached for her phone and put it in her bag, before rolling her eyes and walking into the living room. Lucy laughed in sympathy as she continued to hear the older women rant in the other room. "Apparently nobody ever thought about calling one of the other damn nurses. Or hey, maybe not letting off so many staff members at the same time."
"Yeah! Preach sister, life's tough!"
"You know, I think my bathroom needs a good clean too!" came the mocking tone of Aquarius's voice, but Lucy still pressed her lips together at the hidden warning.
Instead of replying, Lucy returned her attention back to her plate of untouched scrambled eggs and the leftover toast and reached for a fork to take a mouthful of the latter. 'Yum!' Even though they had a private cook back in the city, Lucy still preferred the homey taste of Aqua's food. Luckily, the blue-haired women hadn't minded Lucy's food-lifestyle, something the blond had been nervous about at first. It had been such a long time since she had last seen her mom's best friend that she couldn't remember what she liked to eat. It was a relief when she discovered that, like herself, Aquarius was a vegetarian.
Taking another forkful of eggs into her mouth, Lucy's mind ran back to the very reason why she had moved in with her aunt: Ever since her mother's death, life had grown difficult, something to be expected and when her father got more and more involved with his company, Lucy had started to feel like an invasion of space. Apparently, so did her father. About a week ago, he had called her into his office. At first, Lucy had been nervous because he usually doesn't like to be disturbed. It was then that he told her that the company is going to be expanding – good news, that's what she had thought, but then he said that the reservations were going to take a long time and he would hardly be around to look after her, since he would be traveling a lot – something she didn't understand why he was worried about, because she barely saw him anyway. Her father decided that he didn't want her alone at home without him and preferred it if she were to go somewhere more stable.
And that's how she ended up here. Apparently, Aquarius had even been the one to reach out and over her home. Her father had been planning on sending her off to some boarding school or something, but after a long phone call, he had accepted Aquarius's offer.
It had all happened so fast. Lucy had only known she was moving for three days before she was brought here. She didn't fight against the move, knowing that whatever she had to say would be overturned, but she had been dreading it. All her friends were back in the city, her school, everything.
Swallowing, Lucy laid down her fork absentmindedly and breathed. She Still had a few days before school started and she planned to enjoy the free time as much she could, before becoming the new girl. Who knows? Maybe she might even like it here?
"So, I'm going to go, try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone."
Lucy jumped at the sudden voice, before forcing her eyes to focus in front of her, to see her aunt walking back into the kitchen, her hair now in a well-styled bun. It reminded Lucy of the crappy state her own hair was in.
"Lucy? Did you hear me?" the voice came again and Lucy blinked to find Aquarius staring down at her with a hint of worry.
"Wha, oh – yeah, absolutely," Lucy replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I mean it's me we're talking about."
"That's why I'm worried," the blue-head smiled. Lucy watched as her aunt made to turn, but hesitated, instead only stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"I'm fine, really," the blonde reassured and made a show of biting into her toast, moaning happily at the taste. "I've got food and TV. I'm all sorted."
Still, the owner of the house looked hesitant. "...I know, I just don't like the idea of you here all by yourself."
Lucy didn't care much for the idea either, but there was no point in making her aunt worry. "What's that?" Lucy asked, cupping a hand over her one ear and pretended to listen. "Sounds like the cries of all those suffering patients because they don't have a certain pretty, blue-haired nurse looking after them. Poor things. I think you better get over there."
Lucy couldn't stop the guilty giggle when she saw how her aunt was glaring at her. Too far?
"Brat, clean those dishes," Aquarius order, but allowed the small smile to form on her face, before walking out of the kitchen again. "Oh! And can you head to the grocery store and pick up some more milk and eggs? I ran out thanks to your special breakfast!"
"You eat the same as I do!" Lucy shot back, but the only reply she got was the sound of the front door closing. And just like that, she was alone.
The rest of the morning went by quickly for Lucy. She finished up her breakfast, gathered up the strength to do the dishes – and even packed them away! Was she a good niece or what?
Now the busty blonde was going through the clothes in her closet to find something to wear for the day. Luckily she had started unpacking her clothes first, so she didn't have to scratch through boxes for an outfit. Eventually she settled on a white-colored top and a denim mini skirt to match. She didn't have to worry about fashion today, it was just a trip to the grocery store.
Fitting into a pair of brown, ankle boots and fixing her hair up into a bun – unfortunately not as neat or as fancy as Aqua's, Lucy was ready to go.
Grabbing her bag, Lucy hurried outside the house, making sure to lock the door before leaving. It didn't matter if she wasn't in the city anymore, the idea of leaving your house unlocked was till taboo and she expected Aquarius wouldn't appreciate it either.
It was only when Lucy made it to her car that she realized that she had no idea where the grocery store even was in the town. To be honest, she wasn't really sure which way the town was either.
She was about to reach into her bag for her phone to call her aunt, when the sight of the only other house besides hers caught her eye.
Much like her current home, the neighbors house was a two-story, old fashioned settlement, but had a different feeling to it. It seemed way more forbidden – if that was even the right word, maybe mysterious, but not in a spooky way. Both the two house were beautiful homes, but Lucy couldn't help but feel that there was something weird about the house.
She hadn't gotten the chance to meet the neighbors, having been so busy with her unpacking duties. She hadn't even seen them or worried about them until now. Now that she thought about it, Aquarius hadn't even mentioned who was living there and Lucy knew that somebody was living there because there was a car parked outside it. When she had first got to her room, Lucy had noticed that her bedroom window stared directly into one of their windows, but theirs had been closed and blinded, so Lucy hadn't thought too much about it.
Now though, she wished she had introduced herself to whoever it was living there two days ago. They must think she's so rude for not even bothering to go over and say hello, being the new girl and all.
She wondered why Aquarius hadn't sad anything. It was possible that she had also forgotten, it had been a busy two days for the both of them.
Without a second thought, Lucy started to walk towards the house, her determination set in stone. Now was as good a time as any for introductions. At the same time she could ask for directions too. A win – win.
Steeping up close to the door, Lucy braced herself with encouraging words before gently knocking on the door.
Nothing.
Frowning, the blond straightened up and knocked again, this time a little harder and stood back waiting.
Nothing.
"Hello?" Lucy called out, stepping up close to knock again.
Nothing.
Was it possible that she had been wrong and nobody was living here? That couldn't be right though, then whose car was standing out there? Unless they were out? They could be at work too, maybe they had a spare car?
With a defeated huff, Lucy moved away from the door and was about to go back to her own car when she heard the sound of door opening behind her. Despite her surprise, Lucy started turning back around and what she saw had her eager smile disappearing and felt her mouth falling open in shock instead.
Leaning against the now open door frame was probably the hottest man she had ever seen in her life – and he was shirtless!
Rock hard abs were what first greeted her view and the startled blonde almost let out an embarrassed "eep!" from the sight. She could already feel the rush of warmth spreading across her cheeks. The man was lean, but sturdy and muscular. His skin was tan, like he bathed in the sun and there was a strange, red tattoo on his shoulder. When she forced her eyes away from the glorious structure, she took in the chiseled features of his face, the strong jawbone and full lips. What really caught her eye though was the shockingly bright colour of the man's hair.
'Pink hair?' Lucy stared in wonder. It was a popular colour in the city, but she had never seen it on a male before. Even so, looking at this guy, Lucy couldn't deny how much the colour suited him.
"What do you want?"
The raspy voice forced Lucy out of her dreamy state and the blonde had to blink a few times to make sense of the situation. Concentrating on the strangers face, Lucy couldn't help but take note of his eyes. They were dark, almost black, but she swore she saw a flicker of...yellow-gold?
"Okay, door's closing if you don't say anything," the now annoyed voice declared and suddenly Lucy's view of the mystery man was being blocked by the closing door. She snapped out of her haze.
Panicking, Lucy quickly reached out and grabbed the door, pulling hard to keep it from shutting closed. The closing did stop, but she wasn't able to pull it open wider. This guy was strong.
"W-wait! I'm sorry, that was really rude. Please, I just need to talk to you."
To her relief, the man took pity on her and gently nudged at the door. Lucy let go of the door and watched almost mesmerized as the man opened the door fully again and went back to lazily leaning against the doorway.
"Heh," the pink-head snickered, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Lucy couldn't help but catch the way the toned muscled flexed at the movement. "So, she does speak? Is she going to tell me what she wants now?"
The question had the blond blushing again and Lucy scrambled to find something to say. Too bad her tongue felt tangled.
"Weh-uh..I-"
"Don't tell me you lost your voice again," the man chuckled and despite the raspy tone, Lucy felt a twitch of annoyance.
Was he making fun of her?
Clearing her throat, Lucy tried to force the bright flush of her cheeks away. "S-sorry um, I didn't mean to disturb you or anything, I was just hoping if-"
"Well you did," the stranger interrupted, his smirk gone from his face and an almost bored expression was now on his face. "I was having a good dream too."
"I'm sorry, but you know that it's almost ten? I didn't think-"
"Look, I don't like making a habit of talking to strangers so if you could get to the point."
Lucy frowned at the rude tone, her anger spiking. "I'm not a stranger, I'm your new neighbor and-"
"I know who you are. What's it got to do with me?" the pink-head yawned out and Lucy's grip on her handbag tightened. If this guy interrupts me one more time.
"Look, I just wanted to say hi and if you could tell me where the closet grocery store is?" the blond managed to grit out. 'Keep it together Lucy, keep it together.'
The stranger seemed to take a moment to size her up, before raising an eyebrow at her and Lucy felt her face inflame for a different reason this time. Just who did this guy think he was?
"You do realize that we only have one stop light around here? Couldn't you find it on your own, kid?"
Lucy almost kicked him, her eyes widening in anger. "Do I look like a child to you!? I'm 17!"
The man shrugged, not even the slightest bit worried about the blond's obvious anger. "Could have fooled me. Ya kinda look like a doll my sister used to have. All big-eyed and blond curls."
Not being able to hold in her annoyance, Lucy let out an agitated sigh and adjusted the strap of her bag. "Okay. I can see that this is a bad time, I'll just call my aunt for directions," she said, already turning to leave.
"Wonderful idea. You should have done that in the first place," the man agreed and Lucy stomped harder to try and control the urge to go back and kick him. It was stupid, but it would at least make her feel better.
"Don't worry I won't be coming back to your door again!" The blond spat, feeling childish for letting a complete stranger get under her skin. This guy was probably one of the best looking guys she's ever met and he was a total asshole. Figures.
"Promise?" she heard him ask and Lucy didn't honor him with a reply, instead walking with exact purpose back to her car, her head held high with dignity. Her old nanny would be proud.
Just before she could open the driver's door though, she heard the man call out to her.
"Hey!"
The better idea would probably be to ignore him, but years of proper manners forced her to at least shoot a glance back at the man, who was now standing outside his house. It wasn't fair how the sunlight seemed to dance over his dark skin, or how bright and fluffy his hair looked right then. Beauty was wasted on some people.
"It's a pretty easy route! Just follow the road up until you reach the first crossroads, then go left! Leads you right into town!"
The blonde blinked at the unexpected instructions and for a while, she only looked at the man, wondering if she should really trust him. Then again, maybe he just wasn't a morning person? He had said that had just woken up, he could just be groggy? She of all people could understand that feeling. Maybe she could give him another chance?
Allowing a small, thankful smile to grace her lips, Lucy waved at the man.
"Thanks for the help. I'm Lucy Heartfilia by the way, nice to meet you!"
To her surprise, her new neighbor looked stunned and confused at her sudden change of attitude towards him, his arms moving to cross over his chest again. She couldn't tell very well from where she was standing, but Lucy thought she saw a strained look on his face. Did she say something wrong?
"Hey, um, you know, if you want to...maybe we can hang out sometime? It would be nice to know someone around here besides my aunt!" Lucy called out, her cheeks flushing at the request. She did mean it. It would be nice to have at least one friend.
Her request seemed to take the man by surprise, but the look was quickly replaced by another smirk.
"Don't think to much into this kitten, we're not about to be best friends or anything! I just don't feel like having the police coming down here when you get yourself lost! Takes away some of my nap time!"
'Okay, never mind. He really is a jerk,' the blonde frowned in irritation and embarrassed, while she glared at the smirking man. How was it possible for one guy to be so infuriat – wait, what? Lucy's mouth dropped open at the realization. Did her neighbor really just call her Kitten? It made he blood boil and Lucy bit her tongue to keep herself from yelling out something nasty back at him. Of cause out of all the neighbors in the world, her aunt just had to have the most typical, jerky type. Ugh.
With an eye roll – which he somehow managed to see and as a result started laughing – Lucy, swung the door open to her car and through the handbag inside, onto the passenger seat, before getting in herself and shutting the door with a bit too much force.
'WHAT. A. JERK!'
Starting the car, Lucy didn't once look back as she took off.
It wasn't very long until Lucy was parking her car in front of a grocery store. It was extremely easy to find a spot too, there were only about four other cars in the parking area. Lucy knew she could get used to that. Looking towards the store, she read the large, tacky sign: 'Fruit & Veg'. 'Catchy,' Lucy thought, turning the ignition off. At least she knew what she could buy here.
With a deep breath to calm her still fuming body, Lucy opened the door, grabbed her bag and hopped out the car. She felt better once the cool breeze hit her skin, cooling down her anger. She had luckily managed to get some out while driving, although driving at that speed might end up with her getting a pretty heavy speeding ticket. Lucy just hoped that there weren't any traffic cameras around.
True to her neighbors instructions, the way to the town was a short one, even without her angry driving. Maybe ten minutes tops. Having been so anger, Lucy hadn't taken in much of her surroundings, but did manage to see some glimpses of the town, before finding this store.
From what she had seen, it was a huge difference from the city – obviously. If she had to sum it up to one word, it would be 'quaint'. It wasn't bad, just different for the city girl, but if nothing else, Lucy was adaptive. Who knows? Maybe she might even find some adventure here, very unlikely, but a girl could dream.
Once the cool air had fully calmed her nerves, the blond pushed the thought of her rude neighbor out of her mind and decided to go through the rest of the day with an open mind. Stay positive. That's what her mother always used to tell her when she was little and Lucy had tried to stick to that ever since.
Walking into the store, the first thing Lucy took in was the stuffy smell that could only be described as a food market. The store, itself, was quite big and roomy. It looked like any other, small town food store. It wasn't that busy and Lucy could guess that it was because of the time of day. Most people would be working right now, but she did manage to spot a few people around her age.
The school holidays were still on and Lucy felt herself fill with queasy nerves at reminder that she would be entering school as the new girl soon. There was a group of teenagers huddled around the corner. One of them was holding two packets of chips – she didn't know the brand. Lucy guessed that they were deciding on which one to buy. A fleeting thought of going over to introduce herself to them ran though her brain, but she decided against it. She wasn't the shyest person around, she couldn't be when her father owned a large company which required them to attend many parties and important dinners. No, Lucy was fairly good at talking to people, not the best, but she managed. Now, however, the thought of walking up to a whole group of strangers didn't sound like something she wanted to do, maybe if there weren't so many it would be different. Today, she just wanted to relax and possibly go home and reconnect with her comfy bed.
With that last thought, Lucy moved on to fetch a basket. 'Orange colored baskets?' the blonde hummed at the style choice. It wasn't too bad, but kinda an odd choice. Picking one up and shrugging off her handbag to place inside the basket, Lucy then made to head to the first section when her eyes caught something on the store's notice board. Furrowing her eyebrows, Lucy walked over to the large, mostly covered board. The majority of it was covered in advertisements for things like Library notices, sport events and specials, but the one Lucy was focused on had the picture of a girl.
MISSING
Mavis Vermillion
Lucy's eyes widened at the printed words, her eyes tracing down to look at the girl in the picture. She was pretty, long, golden hair with dowey eyes and a pretty smile. It was normal to hear about missing girls in the city, Lucy had even been subject to a police warning at school, but she didn't expect such a small town to have things like this.
'Poor girl, I wonder what happened to you,' Lucy shivered at the thought, her hand coming up to trace the photo. Whatever is was, she only hoped that the girl didn't suffer.
Retracting her hand, Lucy gave one final look at the poster, before turning to the fruit's section. She remembered seeing a lack of apples in the kitchen this morning.
Within minutes her basket was stuffed with groceries. Lucy was relieved to find that they had everything she needed. She wasn't really in the mood to find another shop...although this might be the only one available.
Struggling to hold the heavy basket of good as she walked towards the freezers, Lucy mentally scolded herself for not taking a trolley. Jogging was great and all when it comes to staying in shape, but it did very little when it came to building arm muscle.
When she was in front of a the milk section, Lucy sighed and set down the basket. "Huh," she breathed in relief as she rolled her tired arm. She seriously had to consider taking up lifting. The blonde then reached out to open the fridge door and took out a bottle of low-fat milk. It wasn't the tastiest thing in the world, but she had a taste for it, even on it's own.
Just after closing the door, Lucy was about to turn away and pick up her basket when someone called out to her.
"Watch out!"
In a startled daze, Lucy instantly moved out of the way of the stumbling girl, narrowly missing her, unfortunately, in the rush, Lucy's hold on the milk loosened and the bottle of milk dropped to the floor and opened, spilling the white, watery contents near her feet.
"Great," Lucy sighed out in misery, before bending down to pick up the bottle, only to be beat by the other girl's hand.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," the girl apologized, quickly screwing the cap back on the top.
Lucy took the time to take get a good look at the girl as they stayed crouched down. She was pretty – really pretty. Lucy would even go as far to say model worthy. The girl had short, silvery white hair which just barely reached her tiny shoulders. She was wearing a soft brown-colored jersey, along with shorts, dark, see through stockings and bark-colored, knee high boots. Lucy found herself feeling embarrassed about her own self appearance when being so close to someone so perfect. The wind must have made her bun even worse than what it had been earlier and she hadn't bothered with any makeup, just a bit of lip gloss. Her nanny had always told her that she didn't need any makeup, but Lucy liked the way it made her look, a bonus was how it managed to hide her faint freckles.
"Uh, here. I think there's still about half still inside," the girl said, offering the abused bottle back to Lucy, a shy smile on her face.
Lucy managed her own, reassuring smile at the stranger and accepted the bottle, before standing up and offering the stranger a hand. She took it and Lucy helped pull her up on her feet. "No worries, I always thought that these bottles were too overfilled anyway," Lucy said and the girl smiled wider at the attempt.
"You're Aquarius's niece, right?" the silver-haired girl asked, her pretty, ocean-blue eyes widening in recognition. "Lucy?"
Lucy nodded at the questioning tone. "That's me, Lucy Heartfilia. I just moved here a few days ago."
The girl's smile grew wider at the confirmation and before Lucy had the chance to blink, she found herself enveloped in a tight hug. Wow, this girl was strong! Is this a small town thing or something?
With one final squeeze, the happy stranger pulled back and allowed the startled blonde to breath.
"Uh, sorry. I'm just really-really excited that you're finally here!" she grinned, only making Lucy more envious of her natural beauty. "My name is Lisanna Dragneel. I'm your neighbor."
"My...neighbor?" Lucy murmured, her eyes widening in surprise. "Wait – you mean you live in that house next door?"
Her question pulled a giggle from the other girl. "That's usually what neighbor means, yeah."
"Right," Lucy smiled, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Yip, I live there with my brother, Natsu. Did you meet him yet? It's hard to miss him. Pink hair?"
The memory of a smirking, shirtless man suddenly flashed through Lucy's brain and she already could feel the anger flooding back. Natsu, huh? Lucy could think of a few more fitting names for him.
"Lucy? You okay?"
Lucy shook her head to get rid of the image and focused on the concerned girl in front of her. "Yeah, um sorry. Uh, I actually have met your brother." Despite her attempt at keeping her voice easy, Lisanna seemed to pick up on the bit of annoyance in her voice.
"Oh no," Lisanna sighed, her hands moving to rest on her hips. "What did Natsu do this time?"
This time? Did that mean that this was a normal experience for most people?
"Uh, it's not important," Lucy waved off with an awkward smile. She didn't really want to bad mouth someone to their sister. It wasn't her fault that he was such a jerk. "It was probably my fault for waking him up anyway."
"Heh, yeah. Natsu isn't the best morning person in the world. One time I threw water over him to get him up for school and I ended up getting dragged all the way down to the river."
"He threw you in the river!?" Lucy gaped in shock, but Lisanna only giggled more at her expression.
"Yip, but I did have it coming and the water was pretty warm too. It just sucked having to go to school in wet clothes," she grimaced at the memory.
"You didn't go back to change?" Lucy asked.
"There was no time," Lisanna shrugged again, before blushing slightly. "And um, I hate being late for school so yeah. I know it's kinda geeky but I'd rather sit though damp clothes then sit through detention."
"I guess we're both geeks then," Lucy smiled and Lisanna looked at her. "I'm all about the early bird too. Gotta catch that worm, you know?" Despite the cringy words, Lisanna giggled and Lucy mentally patted her back. She decided that she liked this new girl, she was nice and friendly. Maybe they could be friends and Lucy would have someone to talk to at school.
"Hee-hee, yeah well. Anyway, Natsu had it way worse than me," the white-head grinned. "He only ever sleeps in trousers or shorts, so he had to go to school with no top, but since that's against school code, he had to borrow my wet, pink jersey. You can imagine how angry he was."
Lucy couldn't help but laugh at the picture. "At least it matched his hair." Both girls giggled at that.
"Piece of advice?" Lisanna grinned, a hand muffling the stray giggles she let escape. "When your near him, rather refer to his hair as 'Salmon'. He gets pretty grumpy if you say it's pink."
Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile at that. "Sure, I'll remember that. So, uh you said that you and your brother lived next door? What about your parents?"
"Oh, they're work out of town. We don't really see them very often." Lucy couldn't help but feel that that answer sounded rehearsed.
"Oh."
Lisanna then bend down to pick up Lucy's forgotten basket, and the blond noticed how the lithe girl didn't have any problem with the weight – that or she was just very good at hiding her struggle?
"Here, why don't I help you with this and let me pay for the bunch?" Lisanna offered, her smile still in place.
"Oh-no, you don't have to. I couldn't let you do that," Lucy shook her head, but the other girl already started to walk towards the tills.
"Don't be silly, I was the one that spilled it after all. If I don't make it up to you, I won't be able to forgive myself!"
"That was just the milk though!"
"Details, Lucy! Details!"
Lucy easily caught up with the determined silverette and the two were already close to the first til when Lucy managed to stop her.
"How bout this? I can tell that I won't win here so why don't you buy pay for the milk and we call it even?"
Lucy watched at the silver-haired girl pouted for a second at the request, before it changed to an excited smile.
"Fine, but only if you promise to let me make you some tea when we get home?" Even though she said it as a condition, there was a strange, nervous hesitance in her voice and Lucy found herself wondering why. Did she expect a rejection?
With a fake sigh of defeat, Lucy nodded her consent, earning a surprised and excited squeal from the other girl. Why not? This could be a good opportunity to get to know her and become friends. Her bed could wait a little longer.
"That's a deal then!" Lisanna announced and the girl twirled around to face the til, but accidentally bumped into an older women who had moved to the til at the same time.
"Oh, Sorry. I didn't see-"
"How dare you," the women scowled down Lisanna, her nose scrunched up as if having Lisanna touch her was disgusting. "Don't you ever look where you're going, useless girl."
The women's words had Lisanna shrinking slightly, an embarrassed flush covering her face and Lucy felt her annoyance swell. What was this women's problem, treating someone like that?
"Hey, she didn't see you, miss. It's not the end of the world," Lucy stepped up, one hand moving to rest on the down girl's shoulder. She didn't miss how the women's squinty eyes narrowed at the action.
"You're that new girl, aren't you?" the women asked, her voice less angry, but now she was only looking at Lucy, almost pretending that Lisanna wasn't there.
"I am," Lucy frowned, not really wanting to talk with someone so rude. Whoever this women was, she probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
"Hm," the women huffed. "Then let me give you some advice: Stay away from this one." The women's chin tilted in Lisanna's direction. "Her and her family, they're trouble. If you have any sense in that blonde head of yours, you'll keep your distance."
Lucy felt herself getting more and more impatient with the stranger. "Why should I listen to you? I don't even know you."
Her words had the older women frowning deeper and Lucy watched as she scoped up her own basket, before giving a meaningful look her way. "It's bad luck to hang around with their sorts. Don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, the women stormed off to another til, all the way on the other side of the store. Lucy watched with confusion at her retreat.
"That was...weird," Lucy whispered, her eyes leaving the women and falling back to where Lisanna was staring down at her shoes. "Hey, what did she mean by bad luck?"
Lisanna bit into her bottom lip before forcing herself to make eye contact with Lucy again, her expression nervous. "Nothing, um. I don't really know. Just some silly town rumors. It's kind of a problem for my family...I...understand if you don't want me to talk to you anymore."
Lucy blinked in surprise at the suggestion and a rush of anger went through her body. How could that women treat someone as nice as Lisanna like that? She couldn't imagine how anyone could not instantly like her.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lucy said, her shoulders slumping and Lisanna peeked back at her through her silver bangs. "You still owe me that tea, remember? If you think I'm letting you off, you're crazy."
Her words managed to have Lisanna pull down her protective wall and just like that, the girl was grinning happily again, relief clear on her face.
"I would never!" Lisanna giggled and both girls went to pay.
Afterwards, while they were walking out the store, Lucy's mind went back to how weird that old women had acted with Lisanna, a strange feeling building inside her. She didn't believe that there was anything weird about the overly happy girl – except being too pretty, but Lucy couldn't shake the feeling.
Well, whatever it was, it didn't matter. She liked Lisanna and having a friend around her would make her life a lot easier. At least she had managed to meet her neighbors now.
Too bad that Natsu guy wasn't as welcoming as his sister.
PS: Sorry about Natsu. I know he's out of character, but he'll get better ;D
Review please!