Summary: Fairy Tail, the seemingly magical circus on wheels that traveled all around Fiore, leaving its many viewers in awe. Lucy Heartfilia, once a wealthy heiress, manages to stumble across it after running from her father. Traveling with Fairy Tail, she finds true friends and learns what it means to have someone who cares. A modern circus AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. They all belong to Hiro Mashima.
The night sky was clear and bright, littered with millions of tiny stars. The constellation of Cancer the Giant Crab shone brilliantly on the Heartfilia mansion. It was a peaceful night for many. One of the few clear nights they had gotten in months. Burdened with rain and the glow from city streets on most evenings, nightfall brought a welcome, serene change.
But the calm mood was not reflected in the Heartfilia household. Instead, a melancholy atmosphere flooded the mansion. The cause? The passing of Layla Heartfilia, mother of Lucy Heartfilia and wife to the infamous Jude Heartfilia. The cause of death was not entirely clear. One day she had fallen ill, and seemingly never recovered. Leaving behind a grieving daughter and a mourning husband. Her death affected all that knew her, and some would never completely overcome her passing.
Lucy Heartfilia was only eight years old when her mother left her forever. Intelligent for her age, it broke servants' hearts when she asked why her mother wasn't waking up. When she asked if her mother could play tea party with her. When she asked if her mother could resize the dress she had outgrown. Eventually, Mrs. Spetto had pulled Lucy aside and told her of the horrible reality.
Then began the five stages of grief.
Denial. Lucy refused to believe her mother was dead, as most young children would do. She persuaded the cooks to help her make cookies to make Mama feel better. She barely tolerated dress fittings, claiming them uncomfortable and saying if they got her mother, she could get something pretty and comfortable. The seamstresses only shook their heads in sadness at the child's defiance. The dresses were all black.
Anger. When her mother didn't accept her gifts, Lucy would throw a mini tantrum. Startled, the maids tried to placate her only to be faced with a crying child. Often times, the Heartfilia heiress would cry herself to sleep in front of her mother's room, leaving the maids to carry her to her personal quarters.
Bargaining. Lucy begged the heavens to take her instead. Leave her kind and beautiful mother alone and take her. Layla didn't deserve to go. She's done everything right and Lucy? In her own eyes, she's done everything wrong. She wasn't graceful like her mother. She wasn't quiet and soft-spoken. Lucy pleaded for her mother's life in exchange for hers.
Depression. Before her mother's unfortunate passing, it was rare to see Lucy cry. A joviant child, pleased with the smallest things and accepting when she didn't get her way, most of the time. However, after Layla's death, things quickly began to change. Her smile she plastered on for everyone to see fooled only fooled her father's business associates who came to offer their condolences on Layla's death Maybe she didn't cry on the outside in public, but she certainly cried on the inside. Behind closed doors though, she was a mess. The front of her pillow was usually damp after long days and she only responded to her personal maids. Lucy started to refuse meals, until Mrs. Spetto talked to her.
Acceptance. The day of the funeral had come. As morbid as it sounded, today was the day Layla Heartfilia would be lowered into the ground and leave a headstone in her place. By now, Lucy had come to terms with her mother's death and stood quietly by her father. Every so often, shedding a tear as the eulogy was recited. Neither her father or her had the strength to talk about Layla so soon, and the eulogy was spoken by none other than Grammi Mu, one of Layla's close friends and once was a servant. The Heartfilia heiress wore a black dress that fit her like a glove, yet she still wanted to rip it to shreds. Her mother was gone. This was her mother's funeral.
Over the years, more and more people tried to take advantage of the Heartfilia Conglomerate now that one of the heads of the company had fallen and the other was in despair. As a result, Jude Heartfilia became more and more stressed out, choosing to focus on business instead of family needs and refusing to take a break despite reassurances from his advisors that everything was going to be fine.
At first, his daughter was understanding. Not wanting to lose the company her father and her mother had built together on blood, sweat, and tears, she did everything in her power to help. Lucy attended parties hosted by share-holders to get in their good graces. She graduated from Mermaid Heels' All Girl Academy. She listened to her tutors and learned about business and politics.
But alas, seven years passed, and she became quite fed up with her father. Perhaps it was the fact she was an heiress. Perhaps it was the fact that she attended all those parties when she had been younger. Either way, her father thought she was an item to be showed off to others. Jude Heartfilia had offered her hand in marriage to several suitors, neither of which she had agreed to marry herself. But he had never listened, and instead decided to marry her off to the son of the Junelle Corporation.
And so, Lucy Heartfilia, fifteen years of age, ran away and went missing on July 7, X784.
AN: I'm not claiming to be the first person to come up with this idea, but I do plan on seeing it through to the end, even if it takes me two years 'cause I might update really slowly at times (scratch that, all my updates will be slow, who am I kidding). I'll try to follow main events in the manga, although obviously altered. If you've read this far, you know I changed the years a little bit, though I plan on keeping age gaps the same (with a few major tweaks). I'm also well aware that's not how you spell 'Somersault' but I thought it might fit because Natsu means summer and- well, you'll get it later. Thanks for reading! As usual, constructive criticism is always appreciated, but please no flames. Leave a review or PM me if you have any questions.