PAPER DANCES
PROLOGUE
Hello, ^_^.
I forgot to mention that this story will follow the series. I know some people don't exactly like this, but I personally really like having a character right there with all of the Canon Characters, participating in the story. Of course, because I have added Andromeda (and a few other minor characters) to the story, it will now have a few changes, some may be minor and other may be big. The story won't be exactly that same, so I suppose it is AU-ish. (There will also be new scenes as well, Andromeda won't be with them every step of the way.)
Also, Andromeda is a bit of a potty mouth, so there is also going to be some adult/bad language. Just a warning for those of you that do not like it. I will admit I was messaged on another website, for another fanfic (One I Might finish, I'm still not sure) and there was a bit of backlash for that. So, I have learnt to warn people about these changes, no matter how minor they are, lmao.
Andromeda Shaw is a quite girl with an expression that never changes and a book always resting in hand. She had never been one to speak to strangers or really anyone for that matter, but the blonde girl with the blue bow in her hair sitting across from her was adamant on conversing.
"So where are you from?" she smiled, shifting in her seat to get more comfortable, the gold and silver keys sitting at her thigh clanging together with a soft ring.
"The Cliffs." Andromeda stated, her eyes not leaving the creamy pages of the book resting on her open palms. It was obvious she wasn't all that interested in talking right now, but the blonde girl seemed in dire need of a girl to girl conversation, so Andromeda being the kind of person she is, replied with simple and bland answers out of the minimal amount of generosity in her heart.
She didn't care if she was being rude, frankly she probably wouldn't even notice if she was being rude or not, but she knew that it would be nice of her to pay a little attention to the blonde girl with unique looking, probably magical keys.
"Woah." the girl gushed in awe. "I heard one of the richest families live there, I can't quite remember their name though." she tapped her chin in thought.
"The Shaw Family," Andromeda glanced up over the pages, her green irises glistening with a hidden secret. "They run the mining business, SMC. It's how they made their fortune." She knew the facts like the back of her hand.
The blonde girl snaps her fingers. "That's it!" she smiled. Her eyes widen in a sudden realization. "Oh, I'm Lucy by the way." she grinned, eyes closing and head tilting.
"Andromeda." she nodded, sliding her bookmark in the correct position and sliding the novel into the confines of the brown leather satchel sitting beside her.
Lucy Heartfilia, she thought. Daughter of Layla and Jude Heartfilia. Mother and Fathers 'enemy', as they put it.
It hadn't been hard for her to put the pieces together. Lucy was an exact replica of her late mother, the only noticeable difference in them was the sense in fashion.
Andromeda had, had a sneaking suspicious that Lucy was of Heartfilia lineage, she looked like a mirror image of the deceased Layla Heartfilia and with her confirming her name, it had only made the mere assumption the clear truth.
"So, what book were you reading?" Lucy asked. "You look like a lover of literature, like me."
"The Thirst. I was gifted it before I left my home." she stated blandly, staring at the ever so slightly unnerved Lucy.
Andromeda had spent most of her life in her family's library, reading and rereading every book there. She had been alone for practically everything, and she only saw her parents for about ten minutes every night for dinner, even then they were both sitting on the opposite side of the table, which was impossibly long, she sometimes had trouble making out their faces.
"Really? I've never heard of that, is it good?"
"Yes, the way he writes is very ... descriptive and the tone he writes for the main character fits her perfectly and elegantly. I find her character very likeable."
They both lapsed into an awkward silence unsure of what to say, more so for Lucy than Andromeda, as the white-haired girl was never been very good at identifying emotions or expressing them in conversation or in life in general.
The only sound surrounding them was the quiet murmur of people talking to one another in their seats surrounding the two girls and the continuous clicking and clacking of the train rolling across the tracks.
Andromeda, bored with this quiet and boring situation turns to look out the window and watch the massive blur of the outside world with a passive expression. "Miss Lucy?" she says after a few minutes of complete silence.
"A-ah... You don't have to call me that, Andromeda." she waved her hands left and right, sweat dropping. "But, yeah? What is it?"
Andromeda turned to look at the blonde girl once again. She looked incredibly serious, like this situation meant life or death. "Miss Lucy. . . Your underwear is showing." she pointed to the pleated dark blue skirt the had gotten caught in the waistband of her pink stripped underwear.
Lucy froze and like a rusted robot in need of an oil, looked down to confirm the horrifying truth. Her face turns bright red, glowing in embarrassment, her mouth dropping open in shock. And a shrill scream rips through her throat and startling the passengers around them. She quickly ripped the piece of blue fabric from her underwear and covered her face with her hands. "Please don't tell anyone about this!" she pleaded.
"I'll have no one to tell." Andromeda said truthfully.
"Just Promise!" she demanded, hands still hiding her red face.
Andromeda sighed, placing a hand over her heart. "I swear never to tell anyone that your skirt got stuck in your-"
"S-SHUT UP!" Lucy lunged forward, covering Andromeda's mouth.
"But you said to-"
"I know what I said! Someone could here you!" she hissed, her face still alight in a red hue. Lucy aggressively chewed her lip in embarrassment, eyes flitting back and forth between the rows of people around them. "How long has it been like that?" she asked hesitantly.
"Only since you returned from the bathroom, before the train left the station." Andromeda shrugged, hands rifling through her backpack.
Lucy deadpanned. "And you didn't tell me?!"
"I just assumed you knew or that it was a new commoner fashion." Andromeda blinked, not entirely sure why she was angry at her now.
"How would I have known?! And commoner fashion? What do you mean by commoner?" Lucy bombarded her with the questions, pointing an accusing finger in her face.
"I'm not from a poor family, Miss Lucy." Andromeda said, pulling out from her cream coloured backpack, what appeared to be a photo album. "Actually, we were just talking about my family, but a few moments ago." she stated, flipping through the pages, seemingly searching for the right picture. "Ah hah!" She holds up the album, opening it for Lucy to see.
Andromeda was fully aware she shouldn't have told such things to a stranger.
"A-ah? Are you okay?" Lucy sweat dropped.
Instantly, without a second thought Andromeda dropped back into her blank faced, emotionally clueless character. Slowly raising the photo album to Lucy's face, she starred down the confused blonde girl across from her.
Sitting stoically on a throne like chair, between a just as stiff looking man and woman, was a pigtailed child version of Andromeda. A large castle like mansion sitting above them on a cliff. The infamous Cliffs Mansion.
Lucy made a sound Andromeda could only compare to that of choking, her big brown eyes bulging from their sockets. "You're Andromeda Shaw!?" she hissed under her breath, starring unbelieving at the picture displayed before her. Although shocked by the sudden revelation she knew shouting something like that would only gain unneeded and unwanted attention. "But the papers said you were dead!"
"Dead?" Andromeda looked slightly amused, momentarily pausing her search through the album. "That's new. Last time they said I was just a servant girl, yes?"
"So, they have been lying this whole time." Lucy gasped her voice barely above a whisper. "Why would they do that?"
"Well, I've always been hidden from the lime light, when my parents realised I didn't want to live a life of luxury that had been planned out since before my birth, they understood that it wasn't for everyone and decided to keep my existence a secret. But of course, a reporter found out when I was twelve. They made up a lie, saying I had been a mere servant girl that worked in their home, to repay a debt they had never payed back to my 'parents'." She said, a nostalgic look flashed in her forest green eyes. "That lie lasted three years, longer then we had expected. At the time I had felt bad, causing all this trouble for my parents, who had a hard-enough time running their mining business. But oddly enough, they were fine with it, keeping me a secret. That may sound harsh to any other child's ears and heart-breaking to others, but it warmed my heart. They were willing to help, to hide me because they knew I was never going to be happy if I lived that life."
"I wish my father was like that." Lucy sighed. "He never cared for what I wanted. Just what would help our company."
"Oh," Andromeda nodded in agreement. "Not a lot of children are as lucky to have parents capable or willing to let their child have what they wish for."
"If only." Lucy said with a hopeless sigh.
Andromeda didn't know why she had opened up so easily to Lucy, she'd never told anyone the truth about her family, ever.
"Do you use magic?" Lucy asked, a new light of interest shinning in her eyes.
"I... guess." Andromeda was unsure of how to answer.
"You guess? What does that mean?"
"I am able to use magic, yes. But I prefer not to."
The shine in Lucy's eyes glowed brighter. Andromeda's half-baked answer seemed to intrigue her more. "What kind of magic do you use."
"..." she didn't want to answer, in fear that she may just loose a possible friend.
The only person I can call a friend is Lacy, she thought. It would be nice to have at least one other.
"Oh," Lucy said understanding her reluctance. "You don't have to tell me!" She grinned. "Besides even if you use some kind of dangerous and deadly magic, I know for a fact you're not a bad person."
A powerful thump of her heart hit against her ribcage. A harsh blush flushing her cheeks, her green eyes widen in shock and she felt as if she were going to tear up.
I'm not a bad person, she muttered in her thoughts. She said I'm not a bad person. How can she say something like that? We've only just met... No one has ever said something like that to me.
A shadow cast its self over her eyes, hiding any expression that had flickered through them. Her hands clenched around her black skirt, her knuckles turning white. "How?" she whispered.
"How, what?" Lucy asked.
"How can you say that, when we've only just met?" Andromeda hissed through clenched teeth.
There she went again, showing unnecessary amounts of emotion to a girl she hardly knew. She wanted to kick herself, she wasn't acting like herself.
"Well that's easy!" Lucy stated cheerfully giggling. "Because no matter what, I can see the good in you. Because even if you're a clueless, emotionless, teenage girl with obviously no social skills. You're still a good person! I can see it! It's as clear as day!" She concluded happily. "And your someone I want as a friend."
"This is bizarre." Andromeda said, rubbing her eyes roughly of the unshed tears and clearing her throat of the lump that had formed in it.
"Hmm? What's bizarre about this?" Lucy said.
"It's unheard of, Heartfilia's and Shaw's were never meant to be friends." Andromeda said with a dullness that seemed to fit her more than the angry emotional girl beforehand. "It's something no one has ever spoken of or tried, an unorthodox view, really."
Lucy chuckled. "Well I never understood that stupid business rivalry." She waved it away like a bad smell. "And besides, neither of us are taking up the family businesses, so what does it matter?"
Andromeda's mouth opened as she tried to make any kind of sound that resembled an answer.
No words were formed.
This was new, in only half an hour this girl had managed to shock, anger, and accept Andromeda, quicker than anyone had ever done. Not even Lacy was so generous as to accept all of Andromeda's flaws.
"So," Lucy held out her hand smiling brightly at the shocked and frozen Andromeda. "What do you say? You want be friends?"
Slowly, unsure of this ridiculous situation and her own ridiculous acceptance.
Andromeda took her hand.
"Okay." She said. "Let's be friends."