"Mama, look! You see those stars right there?" Lucy tilted her head as she lifted her arm to point out the small group of stars. "They look like a lion. Don't you see?"

Layla, who lay on the grass next to Lucy, gave a small laugh. "Yep, you're definitely my daughter. You have a great eye."

Excitement bubbled up within her, and Lucy sat up quickly. She grinned down at her mother and clapped her hands together before demanding, "So you see it, too?! It is a lion!"

Nodding, her mother turned her gaze back to the stars. "Not just any lion. That's Leo."

Returning to her position on her back, Lucy repeated the name slowly. "Leo."

"Yes, dear." Taking Lucy's smaller hand in her own, Layla used Lucy's index finger to trace the shape of the lion. "Leo was the strongest lion to ever have existed. His fur was indestructible; no weapon, no matter how powerful, could inflict harm on it."

Smiling at the image of a bunch of nomads in shock as their arrows bounced off the mysterious lion, Lucy inquired, "What happened to him?"

"He was eventually killed by Hercules, son of Zeus."

Shocked, Lucy jerked her head to stare at her mother indignantly. "Killed? But why would Hercules want to kill him?"

Layla smiled sympathetically and patted her head affectionately. "The lion did a lot of bad things. He was endangering many lives, including women and children. Hercules had no choice, just like your father would have no choice if someone was endangering you."

Lucy returned her gaze to the lion, the stars twinkling mysteriously. She wondered if he was listening to their conversation from the Heavens. "Well, he couldn't be that bad if he's with the stars now. Maybe he just didn't know any better, ya know? I'm sure he didn't want to hurt anyone."

Her mother was silent, and as Lucy turned to her questioningly, she swore she saw a great sadness within her eyes before Layla cleared her throat and faced the sky once more. "You always see the best in people, Lucy. I hope you never lose that gift in a world full of so much hate and jealousy."

Lucy frowned at her mother's negative words, but before she could question her, Layla sat up and turned towards her daughter with a wild grin. "Hey, Lucy. It's almost midnight."

Immediately distracted, Lucy leaped up in joy. "Mama, we gotta go get papa!"

Laughing, Layla scrambled up and began running towards their mansion on the hill, shouting over her shoulder, "I'll race you!"

Giggling, Lucy turned towards the sky and spoke quietly, "If you were here, Leo, I would definitely invite you. My 6th birthday is going to be the best one yet."

With that said, Lucy raced towards her home, already having lost sight of her mother behind all of the pine trees.

Behind her, Lucy suddenly heard the growls and panting of some kind of predator that brought chills up her spine and the hair on her body to stand up in alarm. She forced her legs to go faster.

Twigs and branches slapped at her face and the cold air stung her skin, but she couldn't slow down. Why did her mother leave her?

Even as her house came into view, Lucy didn't slow down. She sprinted up the back porch and threw the doors open. Immediately, she was hit with the sense that something was terribly wrong. There were no lights on, and it was eerily quiet. Where were her parents?

"Mama? Papa?" Forgetting about the predator, Lucy stepped into her home quietly, nervousness bubbling up within her.

Hearing a small creak from within the kitchen, Lucy swallowed her fear and began walking towards the door. Reaching, she slowly pushed it open.

Her mother, a dark silhouette, swung limply from the ceiling, rope digging into the flesh of her neck.

Lucy stood frozen in shock for a brief moment and then spun around at the sound of a menacing growl directly behind her.

It was a lion, large and fierce. In her daze, Lucy marveled at his beauty. Smooth skin, full mane, harsh hazel eyes.

Delirious, Lucy blinked. "Leo?"

The lion pounced.

—

"MAMA!" Lucy screamed, flying into a sitting position in her bed with her legs tangled in the sheets. Panting heavily, Lucy wiped her sweat and tear drenched face with the back of her arm.

Placing her right hand over her heart, Lucy took deep breaths until she felt her heartbeat slow down.

Over and over again, she had the same nightmare. It began as a memory but then took nasty different turns after their conversation about Leo. In real life during that fateful summer ten years prior, Lucy had fallen asleep to the buzz of crickets, birds, and lightning bugs. She had woken up in the morning to an eerie quietness in the house, and when she went to look for her mother, she found her father instead.

She could still remember his grim face as he told her Layla had left and wasn't going to be returning.

Lucy flinched. She had tried for years to not believe it, but after so long, she was forced to realize the hard truth. Her mother had left her.

Lucy flopped back on her bed, staring at her ceiling forlornly. When she woke up that dreadful day, she had noticed lit up stars littered around her ceiling, all in the shapes of her favorite constellations. Leo was centered.

It had been almost like a farewell gift.

Growling, Lucy leaped up in a rage. How dare her mother abandon her?

Jumping, Lucy yanked the stars from her ceiling one at a time, hurtling them at her walls where the small glass figures shattered.

Who did her mother think she was?

The pieces continue to fly from her hands until only Leo remained, his stars still glittering mysteriously.

Her eyes began watering and Lucy felt the telltale signs that a breakdown was coming. Why was she so weak? That was probably why her mother left her.

Once again rage filled every cell in her body. Her mother was supposed to love her, to cherish and nurture her. Yet hers had abandoned her.

She yanked down her favorite stars with a ferocity so strange, she surprised herself. Holding them in her hand, she crushed them with her fingers. The pain of the glass cutting into her fingers was slightly refreshing, and Lucy stared at the small amount of blood dripping onto her hard wood floor.

Blinking, Lucy whispered the words she heard her father say so often. "Hey, Layla. Fuck you."

And damn, they felt good.

—

Breakfast, lunch, and now dinner were all the same. Lucy was placed on one end of their long dining table, with her father at the other. No words were spoken except for her hushed thanks to the servants who brought them their food.

She pushed her mashed potatoes around her plate with her fork silently, already wishing for her warm bed with her dog, Plue. She had cleaned up the mess in her room shortly after her outburst and patched up her cut up fingers with small bandaids.

Not that it actually mattered, anyway. Her father wouldn't ask.

Sighing, Lucy forced herself to swallow a piece of her steak and grimaced at the dry texture. Their cooks definitely weren't the best.

Her mother used to do all the cooking, and every meal had been wonderful. Now, the servants were still scrambling to be half as good of a chef she was.

Her father cleared his throat, and Lucy froze. Her eyes flew to his face uncertainly, and her heart skipped a beat when she noticed his nervous expression.

Could it be that he remembered?

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Lucy dismissed it bitterly. How could he possibly forget that this was the day Layla disappeared out of their lives forever? Never mind the fact that it was his daughter's birthday.

"Lucy," he began, and Lucy stiffened at his gruff tone. Her body was still sore from his beating two days ago, and she didn't know if she could handle another punishment.

After she simply blinked at him in question, he rolled his eyes and dismissed her with a flick of his hand. "You should go to bed." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. "You have a big day tomorrow."

Ah, so he didn't cancel the meeting, afterall. Her eyes flashed angrily, but she bit her tongue. Their last argument ended with her a bloody limp mess. So instead of giving him a piece of her mind, Lucy nodded her head stiffly and rose to go to her bedroom.

"Oh, and Lucy…" Her eyes met his once more, hope blossoming in her heart at his soft tone. Just say the words, she begged silently. "Your dog is dead."

Happy birthday to me.

—

Lucy held back her tears until she had reached the safety of her bedroom, and she slowly closed and locked the door.

Sinking into her window seat in the corner of her room, Lucy unlocked the latch and threw open the window doors. Tears silently slid down her cheeks as she studied the open night sky before her. In the far distance, between lit up skyscrapers, she could see the clock tower. It looked smaller than the palm of her hand, but Lucy knew better. Her mother had taken her there when she was just five, and Lucy had been in awe at the magnificence and size of the monument.

That was also the same year she had been given Plue. He had been her best and only friend for so long, Lucy was unsure how she was going to go on without him.

Sniffling, she turned her gaze to the constellation she had deemed her guardian angel. Many nights, when she wasn't talking to Plue, she poured her heart out to the lion in the sky. "Leo, what shall I do? Tomorrow I am going to meet the man my father is determined for me to marry."

As the words left her mouth, Lucy suddenly realized the reality of it all and panic swallowed her whole. She leaped up from her seat and began running around her room in a frenzy, grabbing random clothes and objects and throwing them on her bed. She yanked up a book bag from the bottom of her closet and shoved the small pile into the bag.

However, as soon as she zipped it close, she realized the absurdity of running away. She would have no where to go, and in a city as big as London, that was dangerous. Living with her father was terrible, but she wasn't naive enough to think it was the worst thing out there. There were real monsters out there; rapists, murders, arsonists.

No, Lucy couldn't run away. As she returned to her window seat, leaning against the wall and wrapping her arms around her curled up legs, she looked to the sky with a bitter finality.

She would stay and marry the man her father presented to her, but she would spend every waking day saving up money. Once she had enough gathered, she would run away to the land of freedom and opportunity- America.

Despite her conclusion, tears continued to slide down her cheeks.

She missed her mother, Plue, and the man her father used to be.

Closing her eyes, she began to dream of what her life could have been if her mother had never abandoned them.

—

"Pun, puuuuun."

Lucy felt something wet and slimy slide against the side of her face, and she blinked groggily. Had she fallen asleep?

"Puuuun, puuun."

Gasping, Lucy's eyes flew open at the sound of her dog. Sure enough, his small white face was peering directly into hers curiously. A grin erupted across her countenance, and she threw her arms around him happily. "Oh, Plue! I thought you were dead-" She stopped in confusion. That's right, he was supposed to be dead. Pulling back to study Plue, who simply licked her face again in excitement, she decided that he definitely wasn't dead. Irritation swept through her. "Of course he would lie about you being dead."

"Pun, pun."

"You got one weird dog."

Lucy gave a small scream at the strange masculine voice coming from her room and clutched Plue to her chest protectively. She squinted in the darkness, but since it was a new moon, she could see nothing but shadows. "W-Who's there?!" She demanded in what she intended to be a firm tone but came out in a squeak anyway.

The person chuckled. "A weird dog for a weirdo, I guess."

Narrowing her eyes, she snapped, "Listen here, you intruder! If you don't show yourself right now-" Plue suddenly began struggling within her hold wildly, and Lucy dropped him in surprise when his claw scratched against one of her many bruises. He raced into the darkness of her room, and Lucy, panicking, scrambled after him. For all she knew, her unwanted intruder could hurt her dog.

She followed him to her bed but just as she reached out to grab him, he leaped onto her mattress and into the hold of a pink haired boy around her age, who was sprawled out on her bed not even a foot in front of her. Lucy paused, her heart skipping a beat as she looked into his charcoal eyes. He grinned, small canines poking out over his bottom lip, and Lucy blinked in realization- the intruder!

Lucy gasped in shock, clambering backwards only to trip over a shoe and fall on her butt. Her face lit up in flames as the boy guffawed, clutching his stomach and her dog as Plue panted and jumped all over him happily.

"How dare you- Who do you think you are?" Lucy demanded, crossing her arms over her chest angrily.

He wiped what she guessed were tears of laughter from his eyes, and still chuckling, he stood up and placed Plue on her bed. After patting the dog's head, he took a step towards her and crouched down to her level where she still sat on the ground. Holding out his hand for her to shake, he gave her another grin. "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

Glaring first at his hand and then at his stupidly attractive face, Lucy narrowed her eyes in irritation. "Let me rephrase that." Ignoring his proffered hand, she stood and towered over him as she attempted to appear intimidating. "Why are you in my room?"

"Ah, that," Natsu shrugged, standing up as well. Lucy pouted briefly when she noted he was a good five or six inches taller than her. How could she be intimidating if she was so short? "I saw some man leave your dog chained up out deep in the woods. I walked up to your dog, and he asked me to bring him back to you, so I did."

Lucy blinked. "Uh.. I'm sorry, he asked you?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty bossy."

Behind him, Plue made a small noise of protest. Natsu waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."

Lucy's mouth dropped open, and she took several steps back. "You-! You're crazy!"

Natsu glared at her. "Am not!"

"You're talking to a dog!"

"You were talking to him, too!"

"But that- that's different!"

"Is not."

"Is too!" Lucy insisted, stamping her foot down in irritation. "He's my dog, and I don't pretend like he responds."

"I do not pretend!" Natsu shouted indignantly.

"You're nuts!"

Natsu threw up his arms in exasperation. "Is this the thanks I get for returning your dumb dog?"

Before Lucy could respond, they both paused as Lucy's bedroom door handle began rattling. Lucy froze, motioning for Natsu not to move. She prayed that it was simply one of the servants and that they would leave after a few moments of silence.

However, a violent knocking came along with her father yelling at her to open the door, and Lucy was left in near tears. Her father was going to kill her.

Plue crawled under the bed, whimpering in fear.

Panicking, Lucy began shoving Natsu towards the window, and spoke in urgent whispering, "You have to leave, he'll kill us both!"

Natsu glanced at the door suspiciously, "Who is it?"

"My father," she responded bitterly. Pushing him onto the window seat, Lucy peered down the window. They were four stories up, and it was a rather long way down.

Her father was screaming at her now, kicking and punching the door in violent rage. "Lucy, open this door now!"

She flinched. She didn't think she ever heard her father be this angry before. Ignoring Natsu's questioning stare, Lucy motioned out the window. "Do you think you can climb down the wall? There's a lot of ivy to grab onto."

Natsu snorted, reaching into the pocket of his black trousers and pulling out a small canvas bag. Shaking it in front of her face, he responded mischievously, "Who said anything about climbing?"

Suddenly, a loud splintering crack reminded them that her father was breaking down her door.

Lucy swallowed before returning her stare to the bag. Near the opening, she swore she saw something glittering from within. "How's a bag supposed to help you?"

Grinning, he opened the bag and lifting his hand, he dumped the contents over top the both of them.

Lucy blinked in surprise, gazing dazedly at the glitter now covering her body. She slid a finger down her arm, marveling at the softness of the strange substance. "What… What is this?"

Natsu stood on her windowseat, offering his hand to her. Glancing at him, Lucy briefly sat in awe. The glitter had a strange luminescence that lit up his face, his deep charcoal eyes focused on hers. He was… handsome.

This time, hearing the door behind them cracking even more, she took his hand.

He pulled her up beside him. "Watch this." Winking, he let go of her, only to fall backwards- right out of her window.

Lucy screamed in terror, jerking forward to grab him. Her fingertips barely brushed against the tips of his shoes. "Natsu!"

She dropped to her knees, leaning over the windowsill as she searched the ground for his body frantically. "Natsu!"

"Yes?" His head popped down from the top of her window, and Lucy gave another scream of surprise, banging heads against his as she scrambled back into her room, falling off the window seat and landing on her butt for the second time that night.

"Owwwwww," she moaned, rubbing her head. At the sound of Natsu laughing, Lucy's eyes nearly bugged out. He was upside down! After he had just fallen out of the window! "How- how- how is that possible?"

Natsu grinned coyly. "Secret."

Lucy groaned in irritation but before she could respond, she heard another splintering crack from the door. Although her father had insisted only the sturdiest doors be used when building their house, they were not impossible to break through. Especially considering he was using some kind of tool.

Lucy glanced back at Natsu, who was narrowing his eyes at the door as if trying to see through it. She sighed, standing up and climbing up onto the window seat. Peering up at the rest of his body, she was unsurprised to see he wasn't holding onto anything. He was simply… floating. She rubbed her temples tiredly. "Man, am I going crazy or what."

Natsu did a small flip off her wall and as his body floated in mid-air, he rested his elbows on her window sill as he peered up at her. "Yeah, you probably are."

Rolling her eyes, she lightly shoved his shoulder. "You should go. He's going to break through those doors any second."

Something flashed within his eyes, and he glanced from the door back to her again. He shifted into a standing position, and Lucy stared at his feet in amazement. He was standing on air- it was impossible. It was all just impossible.

He held out his hand expectantly. When she simply looked at him in confusion, he gestured out at the night impatiently. "Well, aren't you coming?"

Lucy froze in shock. "But… I don't even know you."

He grinned. "Guess you just gotta trust me. 'Sides, anywhere has got to be better than that right?" He pointed at the door, where her father was still yelling curses and hacking into the good 6 inches wide worth of hard wood.

Lucy shivered in anticipation. If she stayed here, she would be beaten worse than ever before. Her father would demand to know what had happened, and how could she explain Natsu? She would have to lie, and that never turned out pleasant with him.

Glancing back to Natsu, she studied him. Although he held a mischievous air around him, his eyes were kind, and Lucy was sure he wouldn't hurt her.

Having made up her mind, she motioned for him to wait before running towards her bed. Gently pulling Plue out from under the bed, she unzipped her bag and placed him it. Scratching behind his ears affectionately, Lucy whispered, "Don't worry, we're getting out of here. Just stay put in here for me."

Zipping the bag up, but leaving a small air hole for Plue, Lucy strapped the bag to her back. Taking a deep breath and pushing down all her worries, she went back to the window seat where Natsu was waiting. "Okay, I'm ready."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her bag. "What, were you expecting me?"

Lucy smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Yeah, something like that."

Rolling his eyes, he muttered something about her being a weirdo, before offering his hand once more.

Stepping onto her window seat, Lucy peered down at the ground anxiously. "But won't I fall?"

"Nah. If you believe you can do it then you will."

Lucy tried not to think about the craziness of the situation. Afterall, she was running away with the strangest boy she had ever met, and he was a complete stranger. Shaking such thoughts from her mind, Lucy took his warm hand and closed her eyes. Repeating in her mind that she was simply walking onto firm ground, she took a large step out.

Gasping, her eyes flew open, and she looked down. She could see ground far below her, but she wasn't falling.

Laughing giddily, she squeezed Natsu's hand and pointed towards the ground. "Natsu, this is amazing!"

He whooped loudly and suddenly Lucy felt herself being tugged upwards. She grasped onto Natsu's arm in fear as the ground became further and further away.

"Don't look down, look all around you!" Natsu called down at her, his eyes flickering everywhere.

Lucy glanced back at her home almost guiltily. She was abandoning her father without a word or trace. Just like her mother.

Forcing her unwanted tears away, she focused on all those times he had yelled at or hit her. He wasn't her father anymore. Turning her gaze to focus on the beautiful city of London, Lucy was amazed. Natsu took her right above the tops of trees, and Lucy grinned at the impossibility of it all. Experimentally letting go of his hand, Lucy laughed in glee when she kept soaring. Natsu met her eyes for a brief moment before motioning her to follow him.

They passed over building after building, and Lucy suddenly found herself at the heart of the city. The clock tower.

She hadn't been here since she was five with her mother. Tears came to her eyes at the rush of memories, but as she followed Natsu to the large clock hands, she was delighted as the clock struck midnight. The beautiful, strong chimes were often the ones that had put her to sleep.

Natsu took her hand, pulling her back upwards towards the sky. "C'mon, we're gonna be late."

"Late?" Lucy asked, still marveling at the city beneath her. "But where are we going?"

He turned to give her an ear-to-ear grin, and Lucy couldn't help but smile back in return. "Neverland, of course. Look, there it is." He pointed out at the sky, two stars twinkling brightly. "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning."

—

Author's note; ugh I meant it to be short but when I start writing about Natsu, it's like I can't stop lolll. See ya next chapter :)

-K