***Author's Note: Hi there! First time writing a fic. Not quite sure where EVERYTHING is going yet in terms of which characters I'll pull in. Most likely Erza, and probably some Levy. :)
I do not own any of the characters in Fairy Tail.
ONE
The morning's first rays were working their way through my blinds and into my bedroom as my alarm went off for the third time. I really need to learn to stop hitting the snooze button, I thought to myself. Groaning, I slowly began the process of waking up, although completely unwilling to start my day if it meant leaving the warm comfort of my bed. Winter is the worst time of year for early morning routines. Shivering, I pulled on my robe and shuffled over to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Somehow, my small apartment in Magnolia was always a lot colder than the huge home my parents owned. I suppose it's because I actually have to pay heating bills now and can't constantly keep my place at a more comfortable temperature. It's funny how you don't think about things like heat and water usage until you have to pay for them all yourself. Regardless, I thought, better slightly cold and free to make my own choices than to have no say in my own life. Still, leaving hadn't been easy.
My childhood hadn't exactly been a bad one. In fact, in comparison to many people, I led a very comfortable life while growing up. For much of my early life, I had two, living parents, who each loved me and tried to make sure I had everything I needed. We lived well in a large home, where there was never a shortage of food, and there was never a need that wasn't met. My father worked long hours at his self-made company to make sure my mother and I had these things, so sometimes he was absent from our daily lives, but my mother always more than made up for his consistent disappearances; she was a constant fountain of love and affection in my life. For hours on end, we would read, play make-believe, and explore the gardens and parks nearby. At night, my mother would hold me close as I fell asleep, recounting stories of strong young girls who conquered the world, telling me I could do and be anything I wanted. And on days when my father had time, we would all go on picnics, my father stoic but always quietly happy, my mother smiling and radiant, and myself a bubbling, joyful little girl. However, much like all else in life, our happy little bubble was burst and my world was turned upside down suddenly and without warning.
My mother's death was completely unexpected to both my father and me. While her demise was obviously hard on me—I had lost my best friend, mentor and mother, all at a very young age—I think it was especially hard father, who had clearly loved her in his own quiet way. While he had always been more stern and reserved, especially when showing affection, my mother's death seemed to flip a switch inside of him. He became more easily angered, worked even longer hours, and began to show less interest in me, unless it was to correct my misbehavior or control some aspect of life he found unacceptable. During the periods of time he was home, the hours were filled with comments on my behavior, my appearance, and any aspect that wasn't becoming to a young lady. Looking back, many of his actions can be explained by the pain he was feeling over the loss of my mother, and amount of her he must have seen in my behaviors and actions. Still, at the time, without that perspective, it took a toll on me. I had gone from a highly loving and nurturing environment, to one in which I found it impossible to do anything right, and shows of affection were few and far between.
As I grew older, my father grew more controlling, most likely trying to stave off the rebellion that tends to come with most teenagers, although this was compounded by criticisms of friends and activities I liked as they weren't "proper for a young lady, especially with our standing". At first I tried to meet my father's demands and live a life he wanted me to live; however I quickly found that nothing I did was ever quite good enough. The praise and love I so desired never came, and if his broader ideals were met, then he would begin to nitpick smaller aspects of my life. "Lucy," he said to me once, "your hair is quite unruly today, do you take any notice of your appearance? You know our family has a certain reputation to uphold, and that includes how we present ourselves outwardly." After this, I slowly stopped looking for my father's approval and began to remember the things my mother had taught me as a young girl: kindness, curiosity, and compassion, but above all the importance of being true to yourself. I started hanging out with friends I had previously cut off at the request of my father, and began to pursue writing—I gained comfort in creating stories like the ones my mother used to read to me. When I was old enough, I started working, saving up money for a day when I could leave and live my own life away from the toxic environment that had formed in our home. Finally, just before I turned eighteen, I moved away to Magnolia to start out on my own. It's been a few months since I moved away; I was able to get a job as a personal assistant to a woman named Erza Scarlett—she works as an editor at a fairly large publishing company based in Magnolia—which helps me pay my bills and gives me some time to work on my writing. It's good work but it doesn't mean I enjoy the early mornings it requires.
After I finished brushing my teeth I shuffled my way over to the kitchen to make some tea and toast for breakfast. After popping the bread into the toaster and putting the kettle on to boil, I gazed out of the window above the sink into the courtyard outside. Most mornings, all there is to see out in the courtyard is a few birds, usually it's just the morning breeze blowing through the plants, but this morning there was a newcomer on the scene. As the sun's rays illuminated the patio, I noticed a blue-tinged cat padding around the fence. That's weird, I wonder where it came from? I thought. I'd never seen a cat with that color of fur before. The cat kept walking around, sniffing at plants, and occasionally stopping to stare at the moving branches of a tree in the corner of the small yard. Suddenly, the tea kettle began screaming, causing me to jump, and I realized my toast had begun to burn as well. Grumbling, I moved around the kitchen getting my, now burnt breakfast, ready to go so I could eat it on the way to work. After getting dressed and grabbing my tea and toast, I took one last glance outside to find that the cat had left. Maybe it'll be back again later, I thought as I ran out the door.
The next morning, I noticed the cat outside in the courtyard again. Wondering if it was possibly a stray, and whether or not it might need food, I rummaged around in my pantry, looking for something edible for a cat. Eventually I found a stray can of tuna fish, so I put the contents into a small bowl, wrapped myself up in my big fluffy robe and slippers, and took the dish outside with me. At first the cat almost bolted, and not wanting to startle it, I slowly placed the dish down and backed away. Tentatively, the cat stepped towards the bowl, sniffing at the air to suss out what was in the dish. Finally deciding whatever I had put down wasn't going to hurt it, the cat walked over to the small bowl, took a final sniff, and began to eat. Smiling, I sat down at a small table I had in the courtyard to watch it eat. Again, I wondered at the color of the cat's fur; I had never seen that kind of coloration in a cat but it looked beautiful. A brisk breeze blew through the patio, causing me to shiver. I wonder if this little guy has a home, I thought. It was pretty chilly out today, and the weather report called for even lower temperatures the rest of the week. I didn't like the idea of this cat being stuck outside when it was cold enough to snow.
When the cat had finished his breakfast he looked up at me questioningly. "I'm sorry, I don't have any more for you." The cat continued to stare and licked its lips before standing up and sauntering over to my chair. The cat meowed quietly at me, as though it were checking to make sure I didn't have any more tuna fish, "Really, I don't have any more, there's no need to be rude." I reached down and began scratching its ears. "What's your name little guy? Do you have a home or are you on your own like me?" I got no reply but the cat began to purr and wind between my legs. I sat watching him for a few minutes before he eventually gave me a final glance and walked to the edge of the courtyard. As he scrambled over the fence, I walked back into my apartment, hoping that the cat had somewhere warm to stay. I didn't like the idea of it being stuck outside in the middle of winter. I'll have to get some more tuna, I thought, as I got ready to go to work.
This routine continued over the next couple of days; the cat would show up in my yard in the morning, I would take it a bowl of tuna, I'd pet him for a bit, and eventually he'd hop the fence and leave. It was nice having the cat in my life, lord knows I hadn't made a lot of friends yet, but I was starting to get more concerned about whether or not the animal had a home to stay in. Each morning was colder than the last and even those were warmer than what the temperatures must have been at night. The forecast called for snow over the weekend too. I should pick up some supplies, just in case, I thought. I was quickly growing fond of the cat, and I didn't want it freezing to death just because it didn't have a place to stay.
The next morning, seeing the cat out in my yard, I grabbed its usual bowl of tuna fish and opened the door. The cat looked up at me and meowed expectantly. "Yes, I know you want your breakfast, but today you'll have to come in here to get it," I said, as I lowered my hand so he could see inside the bowl. He quickly plodded over to me, and as he approached I took a couple of steps back, "Come on, if you want the food you're going to have to come inside this time." The cat tentatively sniffed around my doorway before stepping inside. Smiling, I placed the bowl on the floor and closed the door behind him. While the cat continued to eat, I got dressed and prepared my own breakfast. As I munched on my toast, he finished up his tuna before walking over to me and meowing expectantly. "No, you can't have any more right now but maybe if you're good I'll give you some more when I get home."
I brushed the crumbs off of my hands before scooping up the cat and inspecting him for a collar. I hadn't seen one in the previous days but I didn't want to keep him in my apartment if he actually had an owner. Not seeing one, I carried him over to the bathroom. "See this? I've got a litter box for you in here," I placed him down on the tile of the bathroom and he sniffed at the box in the corner.
"I have to go to work, but when I get back I'll give you some more food okay?" He meowed at me and stalked off, presumably to find a warm place to nap, so I gathered my things and left for work. I really hope he understands how the litter box works. I don't need my landlord coming after me about a cat pee smell stinking up the place, I thought as I walked out the door. My air came out in little cloud puffs as I walked, and I was glad I had decided to keep the cat inside—it was way too cold for him to be stuck outside all day and night. I supposed he might have found a warm enough place to stay on his own, but I was also glad for the company, even it didn't speak. I hadn't made many new friends yet in Magnolia and my life had been pretty lonely because of it.
That night when I got back, it had started to snow and I was even gladder I had decided to take the poor thing in. As the snowfall got progressively harder, the cat and I watched the flakes whisk past the window and listened to the howling wind. Absentmindedly I began stroking its head.
"I really like having you around little guy," I said. He started purring and rubbing his head against my hand. We sat like that watching the snow for a while longer before I eventually got ready for bed. Glancing out at the snow storm outside one more time I was glad that I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow—there was definitely going to be a lot of snow accumulated and I really didn't want to deal with walking through it all to get to work. As I got into bed, the cat padded into my room and looked at me questioningly.
"Alright, climb up," I said. The blue feline hopped onto the bed with me and together we fell asleep to the quiet roaring of the storm outside.
"HELLO? IS ANYONE HOME?"
I woke up startled, to the sound of banging and someone screaming at the door. I groggily looked up at the clock on my bedside table; it read nine o'clock. It is far too early on a Saturday for someone to be waking me up like this, I thought. Dragging myself out of bed, I pulled on my robe and shuffled over to the front door to find out who had so rudely woken me up on my day off. The cat was sitting by the door looking expectantly at the knob, tail swishing, as if he knew who was outside.
"IS SOMEONE THERE? PLEASE ANSWER THE DOOR IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT."
"Alright, alright, calm down, I'm opening the door," I replied. I cracked the door open and saw a boy with bright pink hair standing in the snow drifts outside, shivering slightly and looking around anxiously. "What do you want?" I asked.
"Have you seen a blue-ish looking cat? He's mine, his name is Happy, and he never came back before that blizzard last night."
At the same time, the cat, whose name was apparently Happy, gave a rather loud and unhappy meow.
"HAPPY!" The boy shouted, and before I could stop him he pushed the door open, reached down, and scooped up the steel blue cat. "Oh man Happy, I thought something terrible had happened to you!"
Annoyed not only by the intrusion into my home, but also by this boy's reaction to finding his cat here, I started tapping my foot, "Funny, I wouldn't have expected an owner who actually seems to care that much about his cat's well-being, considering you left him outside when we were expecting a blizzard." Startled, the boy looked up at me, almost like he had forgotten where he was, or that someone else was there with him.
"Whaddya mean? Of course I care about Happy. He's my best friend, why do you think I was banging on your door lookin' for him?"
"You're kidding me right? For the last week, this cat has been showing up at my place, hungry and out in the cold by himself. He has no collar on to indicate that he actually has a home, and yesterday you apparently let him out, despite the fact that it was already snowing and a major storm was supposed to hit Magnolia last night. Does that sound like a responsible pet owner to you?" The boy continued to stare at me, seemingly dumbfounded.
"But Happy's an outdoor cat. I don't even let him out myself, he has a cat door he uses so I don't have to constantly open the door for him. That's why I was so worried when he didn't come back after the storm last night. I didn't notice he hadn't come back until after the storm had already started. And did you just say you've been feeding him every day?" He started guffawing.
I frowned, "Yes, but I fail to see what's so funny about all of this."
The boy wiped away the tears from his eyes, "Oh man, sorry! It's just… I thought it seemed like Happy had been putting on weight and now I know, it's because you've been feeding him on top of what I feed him!" He turned his attention back to Happy, "So you've been pigging out here, eh Happy? She was giving you fish wasn't she, you're such a sucker for fish."
"He seemed starving, like no one had been feeding him!" I shouted defensively, "How was I supposed to know he had an owner that was already feeding him, he doesn't even have a collar!"
The boy placed Happy down on the ground, "Yeah, that's fair I suppose. I used to keep a collar on him but he always got it off somehow so eventually I stopped trying. This one will always act starving if it means he gets fish though. Some cats have no self-restraint," he said as he crossed his arms and looked pointedly at Happy. Happy stared back and licked his lips. "Yeah, I bet you would like some more fish but that's too damn bad for you."
He looked back at me and held out his hand, "I'm Natsu by the way."
"Lucy," I replied, ignoring his hand and instead walking past him to put the kettle on. "And regardless, I still think it was irresponsible of you to let your cat get outside when the weather was going to be so awful."
"Look, Happy's a regular outdoor cat. He can handle himself and knows when to come back inside. I already told you that's why I was just freaking out. He usually comes back inside when something like that blizzard is going to happen. You're technically the one who's been overfeeding him and cat-napped him."
"Whatever, just take care of your dumb cat from now on okay?"
"Fine, fine, we'll just leave then," he said, picking up Happy and walking over to the door. "What's her problem anyway, huh Happy?" he mumbled as he stepped outside. I don't think he meant for me to hear but it still caused me to slam my mug down on the counter.
Whatever, I thought after the door closed, who needs him or his dumb cat anyways? That cat was only hanging out with me for a few days and it was already costing me a fortune in tuna fish.