All's Fair In Love & War

Prologue

When her father told her that she was going to be to another school, Lucy really expected some fancy, private one with a high level of education. After all, her father longed for her to be a fancy lady some day, just like her mother.

And yes, she was happy about the change. To be honest, she never liked her old one.

Since it was a girls only school, it was full of envy and gossips and nasty comments on how other girl tied up her hair or how much of red lipstick she'd put on that morning at six am. It was an overwhelming part of the students, which left the nice ones in the shadows, waiting to be their next target.

Not a study mood at all, and not even the library was safe anymore. Even if she used to spend her free time there, walking around and feeling the rough texture of old books against her fingertips, and smelling that drug scent of a new book. Oh, how she loved going there. It was truly sad when more girls started to go there, and not for a good reason.

But something that she'd miss from there was the nice Math teacher that had enough patience to explain the same exercise to her like three times before she could do it alone. Where would she find such a sweet person? God bless Mrs. Audrey.

And she'd also miss throwing herself over the bed on her room after a really long, tiring day of school.

Because her father wanted to sent her to a boarding school.

"I'm so going to miss you!" Michelle cried into her shoulder, squeezing life out of Lucy. The blonde smiled and patted her cousin's head.

"There, there, it's not like I'm going to leave to another country or something," Lucy reasoned, but the girl kept crying.

"But… but I'll still miss you!" Michelle continued her soap opera, sniffing her nose.

Lucy tried to get away, grimacing at the thought of snot over her favorite shirt, but she was still trapped. "You can visit on weekends," she tried.

"R-Really?" Michelle said, looking up at her with teary blue eyes.

Lucy rolled her eyes, and putting her hands over her cousin's shoulders, she pushed her back. "Really, so it's not a big deal that I am leaving."

Lucy smiled at her, before her eyes drifted between some butlers of her father. Leo, Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, all of them with little tears at the corner of their eyes. And then there was Aquarius, who glared at Lucy with so much hate it made her step back.

What a nice farewell party it was, indeed.

Lucy bit her lip and accommodated her bag over her shoulder, as she tightened her grip on her suitcase, reminding herself of her promise not to cry. Despite what she told Michelle, she was going to miss every single person that lived in the mansion. From maids, to gardeners, to chefs, to the butlers, to her cousin and her father. Everyone was important to her, and she held them all close to her heart.

But she must not been hiding them very well, because Aquarius scowled at her and said, "Pathetic."

Finally, Jude came in, only his head popping out from behind the wooden door. "Lucy, dear, it's time to leave."

She hugged everyone again, one last time, and even Aquarius let her wrap her arms around her waist.

"Have fun," Aquarius whispered in her ear.

Lucy grinned at her before following her father's steps out. A lot of employees waved at her from the corridors, all while she said goodbye to them. The nice atmosphere that so many years to build after the death of her mother was finally bearing its fruits.

Finally they made it to the limo waiting for them. Jude had insisted to go with her to the school, as he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her, since he was not sure if he could visit her in any near weekend. It was a gesture she appreciated a lot, after their rough relationship when she was young. It was nice that he tried his best to make it up for her.

She smiled as the driver put her bags in the trunk. Following her father, she sat next to him on the backseat. Now they had at least half an hour of a drive until they finally arrived to Fairy Hills.

But after only five minutes into straight road, her father cleared his throat, effectively gaining her attention when she turned her head around to look at him.

He was wearing an expensive suit, even when it was September and still too hot to have a button up shirt to his neck and a tie around it. It didn't look comfortable at all, but as a businessman he needed to keep his appearance, it seemed.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, as he didn't speak.

Jude gulped down, his eyes looking everywhere as he seemed to come in terms with himself before he spoke. Finally, he sighed, and locked eyes with Lucy's wide ones.

"Lucy… I never told you," Jude started, "But Fairy Hills is the school your mother attended."

"What." Lucy said, unable to believe such a thing all of sudden.

"I'm so sorry I never told you. She wanted you to go there, but… it brought too many memories to me, so I didn't…" he buried his face in his palms, his shame too obvious in his voice.

Lucy blinked a couple of times, the information slowly sinking in her head. That was, for sure, something she'd never expected to hear now.

"I'm sorry for being selfish," Jude continued. The sorrow was so heartbreaking, Lucy didn't want to see it anymore in his face.

She threw an arm around him and drew circles in his back, trying to be some kind of comfort. "It's fine. I kind of understand. So it's okay. I'm glad you told me now, though."

"You're so kind, Lucy." Jude said, finally looking at her with a sad smile. "You're just like her."

A lot of people had told her how similar she was to Layla, and maybe they were right. She had inherited her mother's silky, golden hair and big coffee eyes, as well as her body. Perhaps it was not exaggerate to say she was a replica of her mother.

"And Anna, your great grand mother, created the school," Jude said.

Was it fun to throw a bomb after another?

Lucy's eyes widened at him, unable to believe that. But, in fact, it was true that the women of the Heartfilia's had always took the path of teaching. And it was Lucy's dreams to become a Creative Writing teacher at college, besides publishing her own books, too.

"That's… actually amazing," Lucy confessed.

"You're fated to be amazing," Jude smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'm still sorry for not telling all of this to you sooner."

"It's okay," Lucy smiled sweetly. "I just can't wait to arrive."

"That's the spirit," Jude ruffled her hair.

It took only fifteen more minutes to arrive at the huge building. Or should she say, two buildings.

To the left, there was a huge building with about three floors, looking classical and old and neat, with wooden doors and windows. The front of it was delicately adorned with blossoming flowers, giving off the view of a rainbow. A stone path lead to the front door. Behind it, another taller building stood, and Lucy guessed it to be the dorms.

Separated with big shrubberies, at the right, another building stood tall. It looked newer, with crystal doors and windows instead of the wood. It give off a more modern vibe, and just as its neighbour, it had a dorms building behind.

"We arrived," the driver said.

Both Lucy and Jude got out the car and stood in front of the old-fashioned building. Lucy's eyes weren't enough to take in the beauty of the structure and its decoration. Did her family really created it?

"This is Fairy Hills, " Jude explained, and with his finger then he pointed at the other place. "And that's Fairy Tail, another boarding school. Expect it's for boys."

Lucy giggled, her father was so overprotective sometimes. "Oh. I can't believe you let me study near boys."

"I was a bit reluctant at first," Jude admitted. "But I heard good things about the security here, so it's not like boys can get into girls' rooms at midnight."

"Yeah, you're right," Lucy smiled, shaking her head.

But soon she'll realize that boys, in fact, can get into girls' rooms at midnight.

Word Count= 1453. Hope you like it! Reviews are highly appreciated ^^