Not so very long ago in the middle of winter, and far, far away in a beautiful kingdom surrounded by lush green pine forests and glistening waters, something wonderful was occurring. At the very same moment, two children were born in the pleasant kingdom of Fiore. The first child, named Natsu Dragneel, was the son of a kind-hearted shoe-crafter and his wife. Although they were poor with only an old cobbler store as their solitary asset, the little family was content with what they have gotten.
Elsewhere on a magnificent estate, the second child born was the predestined heiress of Heartfilia Concern's proprietor and his wife Layla. Upon birth, the little girl was betrothed to the son of Jude Heartfilia's good friend and the owner of Bellrauthienia Corporation. She was given the name "Lucy" and her overjoyed parents loved her every bit as much as the shoe-crafter and his wife loved their son. She would have only the finest: the finest clothes, the finest education, and finest things.
So for the first seven years of her life, tiny Lucy Heartfilia danced in and out of the hearts of all that surrounded her. She vibrated with devotion for many things and people, including her parents and the servants and the enormous mansion that housed them all. A hot-headed rag of a child, our Lucy had inherited neither her mother's genteel manners nor her father's wish for routine. However, she was bright and intelligent. Everybody knew that. Of course, they only knew this because of the many clever tricks she had played on the maids and ploys she came up with over the years.
Her other favourite hobbies, apart from being a little devil, also included climbing the fruit trees in the garden, making new discoveries in secret rooms and chambers that her father had forbidden her enter, running amok from place to place, and pulling faces at visitors. It had become uncertain how well she would fare as the future successor of the family business. Nevertheless, our Lucy was much-loved by all. What a pretty little face she had! And what beautiful golden hair, what sweetness! It was impossible not to give in to those enormous, brown puppy eyes of hers when she pleaded for forgiveness.
On the other hand, however, young Natsu Dragneel was the complete opposite in all respects from our Lucy. While our Lucy possessed confidence, vigorous energy and daring ways, Natsu was easily distressed, fragile and timid to an extent he was afraid of everything… From creepy-crawlies to his younger sister's pranks to old horror stories. Due to this weak character, Natsu was often teased at school by tougher little boys and even some of the meaner girls. As a result he would be seen alone on his own at playtime with no one to talk to.
But home was a different place for young Natsu altogether; it was the only place where he felt like he belonged most. He loved his father, his mother and his little sister Wendy who was three years younger than himself very much. Whenever he was not doing house chores or scribbling homework in an old notebook, Natsu would be out in the workshop, helping his father as a half-trained apprentice. He had learnt the unique shoemaking skills of the Dragneel family that have been passed down for four generations. After all, it was his destiny to take over the shop as the next male in line.
With these two children's personalities so different and leading such different lives with possibly different futures ahead of them, it was not surprising that their paths have never intertwined. But fate decreed they would. And it all began on one fateful Wednesday afternoon in September of the year X624 when Layla Heartfilia took her seven-year-old daughter to meet her childhood friend, Igneel…
~XXX~
"Mama."
Lady Layla Heartfilia, wife of Jude Heartfilia and mother of Lucy Heartfilia, stopped walking and looked down smiling at her child. The blonde haired woman had politely refused being transported in the carriage to their destination when it was offered to her, because she believed it was far more interesting to travel on foot while admiring the beautiful views around them. They had already entered Magnolia city and were beginning to make their way towards Igneel's little store.
"Mama…" the little girl said again, tugging at her mother's arm.
"What is it, sweetheart?" asked Layla, kneeling down beside her.
"Who's this person we're going to see?" said our Lucy, feeling a bit shy all of a sudden.
"A childhood friend of mine, who went to school with me," replied Layla.
"What's his name?"
"Igneel."
"Does he have any children?"
"Yes, two – a son and a daughter."
"Really? Oh, goodie!" our Lucy cheered as she leapt in glee. "I sure hope we get along! How old are they?"
"I think the little girl is only four at the moment, but the boy is the same age as you. Did you know that you two even share the same birthday? Isn't that lovely?" Layla got up and carried on walking, this time slowly so that her small bubbly daughter could keep with her without trotting too fast. "Come on, darling. Let's go. We're almost there."
"Oh, it is, it is!" our Lucy said happily, running to take her mother's hand. "Wonderful! I can't wait to meet them!"
Layla could only smile sadly to herself.
Poor child, she thought, never been able to get the chance to set foot in the outside world. Her whole short life had been spent confined at home, surrounded by adults too busy to play with her. Over the years her father had sent for six of the best governesses in the country, yet all of them resigned from the job exactly after a month, having had enough of her naughty ways. She poured sticky brown treacle on their seats, vandalised their spectacles, hid a toad in their beds, and always went against their orders. "An infuriating child", they called her.
The woman let out a hopeless sigh and stared at our Lucy.
I know my daughter… I understand completely how she feels. She's not causing mischief just because she wants to. She is demanding for our attention, for us to notice her presence, for us to stop work to look and worry about her. She is not to be blamed.
The poor thing: she's lonesome even though she's surrounded by so many people. It is us grown-ups who are at fault. Both Jude and I are too wrapped up in work that it is impossible for us to cater to her needs. Even Mrs Spetto, and the butler, and the servants, cannot find the time to play with her. There is so much to be done around the house, how could they possibly?
There are no children in the region that we know of… The only ones nearby are the ill-mannered little ragamuffins that I do not want Lucy to acquaint herself with, because I fear she will pick up their bad habits. That's why I am preparing to introduce her to my good friend Igneel's children. I met them only a fortnight ago. They were nothing like children I have ever come across before: kind, polite and unselfish, even though they had so little to spare.
Hopefully my darling Lucy will learn from them…
"Is this it, Mama?" said the girl, interjecting Layla's deep thoughts.
They arrived finally in front of the most ancient building our Lucy had ever seen in her short life. The letters D and S in the peeling white-painted sign, "Dragneel's Shoes", were tilted to the sides and looked as though they were about to fall off and land on the cobblestone pathway any minute. The bricks it was built of were old and crumbly and very pale red. It had a grey slate roof and one small chimney stuck on top like a slab of toffee, and there were two little windows at the front. Each window was no larger than a sheet of tabloid newspaper, and the glass panes looked beaten-down from the many weather conditions it had been through.
Perching on the window-sills, our Lucy peered inside and grimaced a little. The interior was so dimly lit it was doubtful whether you were entering a shoemaker's shop, or a haunted house. Despite not being afraid of anything, the child felt suddenly frightened of this place. Her mother went up to the front door, which was an old thing painted with flaky brown paint and covered in dust. But our Lucy hung back. This building seemed so unreal and remote and out of this world that it was just like staring at a carbon copy of an illustration from a book of fairy tales.
"Come along, my dear," said Layla.
The small blonde haired child followed after her mother and together they entered through the door and into a large, rather dark room. It must have been a long time since the shelves, table tops, lamps and floors were wiped clean for the dust had collected on the surfaces so thick it was like a fine layer of icing sugar. The walls were white but it did not look like paint because when our Lucy rubbed the back of her hand against it, a white powder came off and on to her skin. And on all four sides of these whitewashed walls stood a medium shelf with shoes made of all different types of material sitting peacefully in a straight line like a row of soldiers.
Suddenly they heard the echoing of footsteps coming towards them in the dim hallway. This approaching figure grew bigger and bigger until our Lucy saw that it was a young man whom Layla greeted by the name of "Igneel". The said person had a head full of dark burgundy curls the exact shade of grape wine, and a broad handsome face perfect for wide smiles. He seemed to burn with so much energy and life it was as though he was a flame that can never be extinguished. The minute he saw Layla, his whole face lit up in delight.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, if it isn't Miss Baryon of Baryon High!" Igneel boomed in a strong, robust voice. "Here you are again at my shop! Could it be…? I'm getting much more popular with them beautiful ladies day after day? Eh, I ask you, am I not a lucky fellow?"
Layla chuckled. "As always, Igneel, you are such a flatterer."
"Me? Oh no," the drop-dead gorgeous red haired man said, shaking his head. "It's a celebrated fact. Everybody knows that you were the most gorgeous student within our school."
"Oh my, my, Igneel, you smooth talker, you womaniser. I thought I was the most gorgeous," a melodious woman's voice interrupted behind him. "After all, I was voted as one of the top five beauties of that school."
They all glanced past Igneel where a very beautiful lady stood with her hands on her hips and a mock scowl on her glossy pink lips. Anyone who laid eyes upon her could see that she was definitely worthy of a beauty pageant, as was Ms. Layla Heartfilia here. Her long, smooth indigo blue hair framed her rosy cheeks and curled down past her shoulders in elegant waves. Even the midnight stars could not hold a candle to her pretty grey eyes, which shone with playful humour.
"Grandeeney, is that you?" Layla gasped in surprise. "W-What are you doing here?"
The woman named Grandeeney raised one of her long perfect eyebrows. "Yes, my dear old rival," she grinned with an air of grace and majesty. "It is I, the spectacular Grandeeney Flairx. You could not have forgotten me!"
Layla laughed nervously. "No, no, of course not. How could I? You were one of the most attractive students at school." She placed a hand on her cheeks, blushing. "As for myself, I was just a studious maths geek with coke-bottle glasses."
Grandeeney rolled her eyes, and glowered. "Come on, drop the act, Layla Terjamaine. Stop pretending to be so modest. You know fine well that the title of "Miss Baryon" rightfully belongs to me! Don't go thinking I'm willing to share it with you!"
"Oh dear, Grandeeney," smiled Layla, "how long has it been? Miss Baryon doesn't even mean anything to me. You can have it, for all I care."
"You're right about that! And don't you go thinking after…" She was suddenly cut off when Igneel pulled her in over to him and then gave her a big passionate kiss on the lips, rendering the woman speechless. Melting, she seemed to have forgotten all about the heated, one-sided competition she once had with our Lucy's mother.
Layla's mouth fell open. "I-I-Igneel… D-D-Don't tell me… Y-You two… Got… MARRIED?!"
Grandeeney ceased this act of intimacy between her and her husband and jeered in a scornful way. "That's right, Layla. I am now the beloved wife of Igneel, the most handsome man in the world. Are you jealous?"
"Jealous?" repeated Layla. "Me? Nothing of the sort! I'm just happy for you two. Who would've thought, the most popular girl of Baryon High with the school's #1 delinquent? Most unexpected." She felt a yank at her arm and saw our Lucy looking up from her short height, feeling neglected from the adult's conversation.
"Oh my!" Grandeeney gasped in delight, running over to the blonde haired woman's right hand side. "Oh my, Layla, who is that child?"
Smiling, Layla picked our Lucy up and gave her a big hug. "This child," she said, "is my daughter with Jude Heartfilia. Her name is Lucy. Darling, say hello to Aunt Grandeeney and Uncle Igneel."
"A-Aunt?" the blue haired woman echoed. "Layla, you're making me sound so old: I'm only twenty-nine, for heavens' sake! And she shouldn't be referring me that way. It's not like you and I are even blood relatives. I just happened to be adopted by your family for the time being, that's all."
"Alright, whatever you say," Layla giggled.
"But oh, this child is so adorable!" Grandeeney cooed, tickling our Lucy under the chin until she doubled up in laughter. "Good job, Layla. I sure congratulate you."
Layla raised her eyebrows in a questioning way. "You should see this little rascal at home. Always running around the house with mud on her face and playing petty tricks on us."
"This little gem?" Grandeeney said distrustfully. "I doubt it."
"Mama," our Lucy piped up out of the blue. "I thought I was going to meet Uncle Igneel and Aunt Grandeeney's son and daughter. Where are they? They're not here? Aw, Mama, you promised!"
"Promise? What's this about, Layla?" asked Igneel.
"You see, well… My darling Lucy is always so lonely at home," Layla explained, smoothing the girl's princess blonde hair, "that I thought maybe I should introduce her to Natsu and Wendy. I was hoping they could be friends. Besides, they might be a good influence for this child."
Igneel waved the request aside. "No need to ask, lovely damsel. Drop by anytime. You and Jude and Heartfilia Jr. here are always welcome in our humble little nook. Sorry about the mess, though, but people like us are accustomed to chaos. Just make yourselves at home, eh?"
"Don't trouble yourselves about us," Layla said graciously. "We won't be staying long." She put the little girl down.
Grandeeney breathed out through her nose. "Whatever," she said, trying hard to suppress her inner disappointment. "You can always come back tomorrow. Wendy is at a friend's house for a birthday party, but Natsu is here… Somewhere. I'll get him for you. Won't be a second." She withdrew from the room and went to call for her son.
It took more than a second.
Igneel broke the awkward silence with an uneasy little laugh. "Ha, ha, ha. Uh… How can I put this…?" he said. "You see, our Natsu's pretty shy around people he doesn't know."
Layla smiled considerately. "Is that so? Don't worry, I'm sure our Lucy here can help him overcome that problem. Won't you, Lucy?"
Our Lucy's innocent chocolate-brown eyes shone bright with happiness. "Of course!"
When Natsu finally made an appearance, looking all reserved and hesitant as he peered at the guests from behind a door frame, anybody could see that he indeed was a timid, tearful little thing. The boy truly was the son of Igneel: he radiated with the same vitality and possessed the same handsome, human qualities as his father. Although Natsu was only a couple of milliseconds older than our Lucy, he was much taller even at seven years of age. His hair marked him as somewhat of an oddity: its colour resembled that of the open flesh of salmon fish. It was also nothing like his parents' style. Instead it was spiky, jutting in all directions, perhaps by nature.
But it was his cowardly nature that made our Lucy falter, and she instantly disliked the idea of becoming friends with this weakling. How would she be able to wow him with spooky stories about her adventures in the attics and underground tunnels of Heartfilia Residence without him cringing at the graphic parts? How could he possibly accompany her on hiking trips to Jennima Forest to collect snails and lizards if all he would do is cry and cower? And most importantly, how would he be able to help or save her if she ever needed him?
Crossing her arms, our Lucy put on a frown and took a step back. She shook her head. "He's so... weak," she commented.
Igneel ruffled his son's rose-pink hair affectionately, and laughed. "Ho, ho, ho, little one! Don't judge him by the way he looks! Natsu may not be as tough, or assertive as you are, but he's a nice little lad. He's even brilliant with them ropes and tools, our Natsu is. You never know, he just might come in helpful someday. What'd you say?"
Yet still our Lucy remained unswayed by emotions, and turned away indifferently. Why should I be friends with a cry-baby like that? she asked herself. Look at him! He's so pathetic, and stupid! It's his own fault that he doesn't have any friends. How could he? He probably gets bullied everyday, looking like that! They probably even laugh at him, too! If I became friends with this scaredy-cat, then people will bully and laugh at me. I don't want that!
Natsu, for his part, pursed his lips together miserably and looked up at his father and mother with sadness swimming in his large black eyes.
"Oh dear, Lucy!" said Layla. "You've made Natsu cry now, see?"
But our Lucy refused to look and continued to sulk. Sighing in defeat, Layla crouched down low next to her daughter, then placed a hand on the child's little golden head. "Darling, please," she pleaded. "Don't be unkind. Natsu is very lonely at school and he doesn't have any friends. He's always so sad. He needs someone to be nice to him."
"I don't care," our Lucy mumbled. "He's not my problem."
"But sweetheart, you're very lonely yourself, aren't you? You should know better than anyone else, that feeling of being alone. The feeling of having nobody being with you, to keep you warm when you are cold. It hurts, more than anything in the world. It's not a feeling anybody would want. You do know that, don't you, love?"
Our Lucy's own chocolate-brown eyes began to water. Her lips quivered as a tear or two cascaded down her flushing cheeks.
"Yes," she said, her voice shaking.
"Natsu feels that too," her mother said gently. "He wants a friend who will be there for him, just as he will be there for her. It isn't right to judge people, darling. You should accept others for who they are: be they pretty or plain, rich or poor, clever or dull. This is what life is all about. Life is more than just having lots of money, more than just beauty in the face, more than just hate..." She cupped our Lucy's face with both hands, and looked straight into the child's eyes as she breathed: "Life is to be lived by loving people. Do you understand?"
The small girl nodded and her mother gave her a cuddle.
"There's a good girl. Now come on, darling. Make the most of it," Layla smiled, pushing her daughter gently forward.
Our Lucy refused to let her pride get the better of her, so she went up to the door frame where the pink haired boy stood. She landed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he crouched down in fear and averted his glance down to his shabby shoes. He flinched violently when she took a hold of his hand, but she would not let go. It was abnormally warm, and felt full of kindness and life... Nothing like she had ever felt before. She gave it a sympathetic squeeze as she inched her adorable little face closer up to his.
"Hello Natsu," she said smilingly.
He didn't say anything, just continued to stare at her dazedly.
"My name is Lucy Heartfilia," she went on. "I'm seven years old, too. We even share the same birthday. 1st of July. Isn't that cool? That way we can celebrate our birthday together every year. And I also want to say... Um, I'm sorry. I was very mean to you just then. I shouldn't have judged you like that. I don't have any friends either, so I was thinking... If you would like us... To be friends."
Blinking three times, Natsu felt confused and even a bit frightened. Why did this pretty little girl want to be friends with someone as unpopular as him? Did she truly mean it, was she being absolutely sincere? Perhaps she was. Perhaps this really was reality, not a dream. Somebody really did want to be friends with him. It was a point-blank statement, not a question. It was neither a demand, nor a request.
Both the three adults and the girl watched, in relief and fascination, as Natsu Dragneel's lips formed a wide toothy grin as he answered: "Sure!"
When our Lucy was about to leave the Dragneel family's little shoe-crafting store with her mother, she gave Natsu a special wave. "I will be back tomorrow, Natsu! Wait for me!" Behind the counter the boy's solemn dark eyes stole a peek at her upbeat pretty face. Smiling broadly, he wriggled his fingers and a faint blush coloured his cheeks when she responded with a wink.
As soon as mother and daughter were out of sight, walking hand in hand, Igneel roared with laughter and ruffled his eldest child's hair. "Ha, ha, ha! You liiiiiike her!" he teased, prompting Natsu to blush some more.
"It's not like that, Dad!" he protested, pushing the man's hand away.
"Ohhh... Really?" his father jeered, twiddling his eyebrows. "Come on, kid, you might as well propose to her tomorrow if you like her so much!"
Even Grandeeney found her son's reaction to her adopted sister's child amusing. She giggled. "Aw, stop it, darling. You're embarrassing him."
Natsu himself rolled his eyes at his parents' silliness and retreated to his tidy little room upstairs. Exhaling, he collapsed on the bed and tried to bury his face with as many pillows as he could, trying not to think about that beautiful little golden haired girl again. She was a blessing in his life, and his first love.