Hello there! I'm a little hesitant to post this up here...I'm a newbie to the world of fanfiction and this is my first story. The characters are not perfectly portrayed, which is a little disappointing, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. I have a few chapters written up, so I should be done editing (although really, I'm a terrible editor) them soon. In the meantime, please review, because I always love positive criticism and encouragement.

Oh, and just to throw this out there...disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters.

I sighed and shifted uneasily in my chair, trying to subtly adjust my dress so that I could sit somewhat comfortably. As a younger child, I dreamt of wearing these long, elegant dresses, where the skirts would swish around my ankles and the top would be studded out with brilliant sequins and jewels. But now, as I sat awkwardly in one of my many "beautiful" dresses, I just felt out of place.

I poked at my food before drawing my attention back to the conversation between my father and some rich merchant that was invited to dine with us. I stifled a yawn, trying to hide my boredom with my napkin. They were talking about trading and the market, occasionally dropping mocking statements about the lower merchants that sold poorly made products. But beneath the façade of festivity and openness, there was a layer of conniving coldness. I could see it in everyone's eyes.

Sneaking a glance at the one of the servants at the door, I saw that he was staring at me.

Well, I thought. Might as well have some fun while I'm here.

I flirtatiously winked at the servant boy, biting my lip before staring back down at my lap. Hey, what can I say…I may be uncomfortable, but I know that I look good. I looked back up and saw the servant look around nervously before rolling back his shoulders and glancing at everything but me. I pouted. He was no fun.

"Ahem" my father's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see my father's disapproving face glaring at me. His message was clear to me: stop being so childish. I smiled weakly and returned my gaze to my unfinished plate of food. The dinner was delicious, but as a lady of the Heartfilia household, I couldn't scarf it down like I wanted to. Actually there were a lot of things that I could and couldn't do. I had to eat sitting straight up. I had to leave some food on my plate, because, star's forbid, I'll look like a barbarian if I ate a whole plate of food. I had to participate in conversations about subjects that I had no interest in, with people who had no interest in me, except for my father's money. I had to dress and walk and live under the thumb of Jude Heartfilia, "king" of the trading market in Magnolia.

I smiled sweetly, before standing up and bowing slightly to our nameless guests and my father. "I'm afraid that I must retire for the night, my lords. I thank you for the lovely conversation and I await until the next time we meet."

I layered on a few more compliments before exiting the room, eyes rolling to the ceiling. I wanted fresh air. The servants barely had time to open the doors before I breezed through, barely giving a glance to the servant boy that I was toying with before. I heard the doors shut behind me and I started yanking the pins out of my hair, letting the blonde locks fall to my shoulders. When I almost rounded the corner, I heard the doors open with bang and my father's voice rang out.

"Miss Heartfilia."

Gasping, I tried to scramble my hair back into its tight bun before turning back to him. I failed miserably, but then again, the last time I really cared about my father's opinion was before … was before she died.

"I need to talk to you after dinner."

I didn't like the look that he was giving me.

"Yes" I said stiffly, before turning around and leaving. I really wanted to say, "You want to talk to me? Or do you want to lay down more rules on me, trapping me more to your mansion?" But I had learned quickly that saying my mind in front of my father was not an option, so I held my tongue.

I was seething by the time I reached my room. I practically yanked off the dress, leaving it on the ground to rot. I quickly changed more comfortable clothes: a blue, pleated skirt and a random shirt that matched it. Throwing on some long black socks and shoes, I ran to my balcony with my belt and keys, grinning back at my door. Someone was knocking impatiently at my door. Probably wanting me to go back and talk with my father.

Eh, it can wait. I thought, before scrambling down the vines to the ground. I started sprinting away, laughing at the frantic yells that I heard behind me. These past few nights were like these. I would escape somehow and run into town to visit … well I didn't know anybody in town really, other than my friend Levy, who was busy tonight. I would visit with whoever was there to visit. Sometimes it was taverns, other times it was a late night party. Anything with lots of noise and laughter.

I sped by the last few remaining tree and brushes, spying the front gate far ahead. Even though I've lived here all my life, I still can't believe how massive the Heartfilia property is. Running away takes a lot of effort!

I slammed into the fence, looking behind me to see if anyone was running after me. No one seemed to be trailing me. I searched the fence, finding the spot that I had hidden. There was part of the fence that was run down, but hidden from the path by foliage. It wasn't a huge gap or anything, but if I sucked in my breathe and tilted my hips a certain way, I could get through.

"Victory!" I whispered to myself after I squeezed through. I started to leisurely walk back to the road to town, looking up at the sky, drenched in the last lights of sunset. Soon the stars would peek out and I would be able to do a little bit of stargazing, my favorite nighttime activity. As I kicked a stone on the path, I saw a horse carriage come careening around the corner. Next thing I knew, the wheel of the carriage hit a rut in the road, causing the wheel to splinter and the carriage to crash to a standstill. The horses whinnied in confusion and the carriage tilted until it crash-landed on its side. I gasped and began to jog over to the fallen carriage.

"Hello?" I called out. "Hello, is everyone okay? Hello?"

"Oy, Ezra!" a guy's head popped out of the wreck. "Anybody ever tell you that you're a terrible driver?"

"Oy, Gray," the red head at the horses' reigns yelled back, rotating her arm to see if her shoulder was okay. "Anybody ever tell you to shut up?"

As I came closer to the crash, I began to recognize the red head, or Ezra as the black haired guy called her. She was affiliated with … actually I have no idea who she was affiliated with. But I remember seeing her face on the Heartfilia property before. Oh! She was the head of security here! She was recently hired after Harley, the old head, retired. He's currently taking a trip around Fiore with his wife, now that I think about it.

Gray kicked the door open and pulled himself out, jumping down to the ground and began to dust off his white jacket. He turned to face the upturned carriage, as if he was waiting for someone to come out.

"Miss Heartfilia?" Ezra asked hesitantly. We had met a few times earlier, but honestly, we didn't know each other that well.

"Lucy," I automatically corrected her.

Ezra squinted at me, as if she was trying to figure out why I was there. Gray glanced at me before loudly complaining about a crick in his neck, presumably caused by Ezra's wild driving.

Ignoring Gray, I asked Ezra, "Are you two okay?"

I walked over to the carriage, inspecting the busted wheel before turning back to face them.

"Yes, Miss Heartfilia," Ezra said, slightly bowing before turning to Gray. "We're okay, aren't we Gray?" I couldn't see her face, but I felt this dark cloud of ominous tension emitting from the red head. Gray froze in midsentence, sweat almost visibly rolling off his forehead. "Yeah," he choked out. "We're just fabulous."

"Liii…arrr" a voice croaked from the inside of the carriage. I yelped, jumping before turning to face…whatever made that noise. A hand shot out, gripping the edge, followed by a head of pink hair. A green-faced guy tried to pull himself up and out of the carriage, but failed midway, so he hung, half still inside the carriage, half out.

"Natsu's feeling sick again," a voice sang out. A blue cat with a green knapsack launched out from the depths before settling on Natsu's head. He patted Natsu's hair, saying, "Natsu, we're here. Time to get up!"

He jumped down, padded over to me and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Lucy Heart – " I cut myself off, before starting again. "My name is Lucy."

"Lucy" he said slowly, as if he was rolling around the name in his mouth. "My name is Happy!"

I squatted down, reached my hand out and pet Happy's head. He gingerly moved out of my hand's reach and said "Hey! You're messing my hair!"

"Ah, sorry," I said. What a weird cat.

"I didn't think that Mr. Heartfilia would let you out without bodyguards." Ezra said, pulling Natsu out of the wreckage and practically throwing him to the ground. He lay there in a heap, moaning. Pathetic, I thought as I watched him. I tried to ignore Ezra's comment, slowly inching farther from the carriage and closer to town.

"Ah!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "You came to meet us at the front gate! How nice of you!"

"No, uh, I" I waved my hands frantically.

Too late.

"I never thought that Mr. Heartfilia would be so nice," Ezra said, practically pushing me back towards the mansion, "and to think that he would send his daughter out to meet us. I will talk to the security team though. They really shouldn't have left you alone, especially during this time of evening. There are muggers everywhere."

I couldn't read if she was really being flippant, or if she figured out that I snuck out again. Ezra's strong grip on my hand pulled me back to the gate, the other hand beckoning the group to follow. "Let's go, we got a meeting to catch."

Gray grabbed the back of Natsu's black shirt, dragging him and following Erza and me. "Flamebrain," he muttered darkly, "making me drag you around." Natsu tried to make Gray let go of him, but resigned to being a lifeless sack of potatoes being dragged through the dirt.

Next thing I knew, I was standing back in the mansion's entryway, with the head of security, two random travelers and a talking cat.

This is exactly how I imagined my night would go.

Maybe if I leave them here now, I can sneak out and –

"Miss Scarlet, you're late" my father's voice interrupted my thoughts. He was briskly walking down the corridor, some papers in his hand. He looked at his watch and gruffly said, "I thought we were to meet at eight sharp. I hired you to protect and serve, not to hinder my work."

"I apologize," she bowed respectfully. "We ran into some trouble with the carriage."

"I will not tolerate any excuses. Do not be late again. Come."

He started up the staircase at a brisk clip, forcing us to jog up the stairs. Ezra quickly followed, her armor clicking as she followed him. Gray glanced at me before following Ezra. He kept tugging at the collar of his jacket, like he was itching to take it off. Natsu looked bored, but said quietly, "Happy, let's go". Happy said "Aye, sir!" which received a glare from my father. Then he sprouted some white wings and began to hover a few feet off the ground. My jaw almost hit the floor.

But it quickly snapped shut when my father reached the top floor. He turned to me and said, "Miss Heartfilia, I requested your presence a while ago."

"Yes sir" I said. When I didn't make a move to start up the stairs, he said, "Don't keep me waiting."

"Yes sir."

I trudged up the stairs, wondering what my father wanted from me. The last time I had been summoned by him was when he had shipped me off to boarding school after … My hands balled into a fist, willing the tears to not spring from my eyes.

By then my father was quite a ways down the hall, conversing with Ezra about security maintenance and procedures. Crime had been skyrocketing up these past few months, for an unknown reason. He wanted to make sure that the mansion was safe because, star's forbid, his wealth shouldn't be shared by some nameless thief. I know got a good look at Gray and Natsu. The former was walking a little ways behind Ezra, looking around. He wore black simple black pants and shoes, with his long white and gray coat. What a boring fashion sense, I thought. No colors, all monotone. He seemed to be suspicious of everything, or maybe he was nervous being here. Not that that would have been surprising. No normal person is comfortable in a mansion with so little light and happiness.

Natsu, on the other hand, looked as relaxed as he could be. He strolled along, hands interlaced at the back of his head. His black waistcoat softly hit his white, knee length trousers. A white, scarf hung around his neck. Happy chatted animatedly next to him, albeit in hushed tones, so that he wouldn't irritate my father.

We arrived at my father's study, and stood around his desk. Natsu sat down on the ground, looking uninterested. Erza glared at him, but he ignored it, choosing to stare at some candles that were lit around the room. I might have been mistaken, but I think I heard his stomach growl.

"I have deemed it a necessity to start upgrading our security protocols," my father stated, eyes landing on me. "With all the vandalism and attacks lately, I can't afford any mistakes. I'll calling for further increases to security detail and other procedures to make sure that our mansion is secure. Especially with the merchants coming in next year for the World Expo, I need to make sure that everything goes according to plan."

"Security detail?" I interrupted my father. "What do you mean security detail?"

"Miss Heartfilia, I know all about your transgressions with the … townsfolk." He spat out the word like they were a pile of trash. "I simply cannot allow you to go philandering about, especially with our image on the line."

"Excuse me," I snapped furiously. "Philandering?! How dare you assume – "

His eyes flashed with irritation. "Do not interrupt me!" he thundered. Coughing a bit, he stood up and pointed at me. "Every night you sneak out, without guards. Do you think that I do not know what goes on in my house? You spend my money on filthy drinks and those despicable clothes. Next thing you know, I will have to shell out more time and money to some kidnappers who abducted you because of your vagrant actions. When did you become so impenitent? You do not deserve to carry the Heartfilia name!"

"Maybe I never wanted the Heartfilia name!" I yelled back. "Did you ever once think about what I wanted? Do you think that I want to be trapped in this hellhole? You're a monster! Maybe that's why Mom died! She couldn't take you!"

I suddenly slapped a hand over my mouth and a heavy silence fell in the office. These types of arguments weren't uncommon between us, but I never threw Mom's death into the picture. Once the words flew out my mouth, I felt that I had just tainted her name. Her memory wasn't supposed to be used with words of hatred and anger.

It was then that I finally remembered that we weren't alone. Embarrassed, I turned away from his desk and marched to the door.

"Miss Heartfilia."

Stars above, why couldn't he just say my name?

"We are not done talking."

My hand clenched the door handle, deciding to turn back to the conversation or to run away. I huffed, and turned, arms crossed. "Well you may not be done talking, but I am."

"Then you stand there and listen. You will be under a new security detail, with a new bodyguard. You will not complain. You will follow his orders, and you will be the lady that you were brought up to be."

I gritted my teeth together before deciding to break my rule of silence. "Who is he?"

My father's eyes slid to Ezra, who had stepped a few feet back from his desk, as if she was trying to blend in with the walls. She jumped to attention before pointed to the pink-haired visitor sitting on the floor.

"Him?!" I blurted out. "That pathetic idiot?"

"Hey!" Natsu said.

"Trust me," she said to my father. "He'll get the job done."

I scoffed and opened the office door. "Fine, whatever. Give me a babysitter. Do whatever the hell you want."

The door slammed behind me.

My father thinks he can trap me in this stupid plan. Let's just see how long Natsu can last.

A little long, but thanks for reading!