Nubilous
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. I own the way this story unfolds though.
A/n: On to chapter 2. Please enjoy.
Chapter 2: Starlet
I am not going to cry. I am not going to cry. I am not going to cry.
Lucy continued to chant in her head. She currently sat on the ground, head down, eyes downcast and hidden, and cradled one foot in both hands. Tripping had not been pleasant, but she was not going to broadcast that she could not handle it.
Plus, someone was laughing at her.
Someone was yelling at the person laughing at her.
Neither one was trying to help her up, despite having watched her fall.
"Miss Lucy, are you alright?" It was Virgo Maiden, her new handmaiden.
The little blonde girl looked up at her help. She sniffed once, she was not crying, and nodded. The young child was too shy to admit that her toes hurt. Plus, it was hard to know whom to trust in this strange, new world she had been thrust into.
Sensing she was not going to receive the most detailed of answers, Virgo tried to be brief, but understanding. She did not want to seem unsympathetic, hurting the cause of her and her master, yet she also did not want to pressure the young girl. At the beginning of their new relationships, not just hers and Lucy's but also between Lucy Heartfilia and the whole household, they all had to find the right amount of push and pull that would hopefully become the balance for the future.
"Do you need my help, Miss Lucy? Or would you like me to get Master King?"
Lucy quickly shook her head. She did not need help exactly, the pain in her toes already fading. What she needed was not to be left alone with these two boys.
"C-can you just stay in here?" Lucy timidly asked with uncertainty.
Virgo knew what the subtext of the question was telling her. She gave a curt nod, but then followed with a gentle smile.
"Miss Lucy, I will be right by the door, waiting for anything you might need of me." With one more glance at the other occupants of the room, Virgo went over to stand post at the door.
The little blonde girl's fear and pain were fast giving way to anger. A small frown developed on her round face; she wiggled her toes experimentally, but the frown did not deepen. She pinched her eyebrows together just a bit tighter instead. It did not seem fair to her that she should have to trip on a ripped, old carpet, hurt her bare toes, and then be laughed at for her clumsy accident. Maybe she should call the handmaiden back for a hand up so that the young blonde could stand up and compose herself. But Virgo was not looking this way anymore.
Why would he not stop laughing?
"You're mean," she whispered. Suddenly the laughter ceased.
"Huh? What'd you say?"
How could he have heard her? Yes, she wanted to say it to him, but had only meant to vocalize it to herself. Lucy wavered between her shock at his sensitive hearing and her shock at the end to the laughter. Having been caught, she had to decide what to do next, anger and indecision struggling to take control within her mind.
He was standing over her now; the other boy was not far behind him. She had to think fast, her heart pounded at her. But before her brain could catch up with her, the fledgling girl scrambled to her past painful feet.
"Ummm,…I said, 'you're mean'," she stuttered out in explanation.
Looking up at him through blonde lashes, she expected him to start getting angry. Instead, the boy with the wild pink hair that stood across from her had a puzzled appearance on his face.
"Why?" was his answer.
Okay, if he was not going to get angry, then she was. "You laughed!" Indignant even.
"Well, you fell. It was funny! And, I saw your panties! They were blue." It was stated so matter-of-factly.
But then the other boy had to put in (this one had hair that was black and spiky), "No, they were pink!"
"Blue!"
"Pink!"
"Blue!"
This appeared to be the continuation of what the black-haired child had been yelling at the pink-haired one that was laughing; the pink-haired child must have said some things in between his chuckles to start it all anyway. How could they just argue like that? And about the color of her panties, no less?
Was her brain finally catching up to the situation?
"Wait! That's not the point!" she had to shout to butt-in. "Stop talking about my panties!" Lucy whined. She waited a few seconds, only to be ignored. But then, fang-toothed grin spoke.
"Hey Blue, tell stupid-face here what color your panties are. That way he can see that I'm right and he's wrong. Maybe you should just show him since his eyes are so droopy, he probably didn't get a good look the first time."
"My name's not Blue! It's Lucy! And you're Pinkie! And I'm not showing anyone my underwear!"
"Weirdo." He acted like her sense of decency was abnormal compared to his strange desire to prove another stranger wrong in the battle of panty color.
Argh! The small blonde girl clenched her fists. "It's Lucy!"
"And, I'm Natsu!" suddenly declared the young boy with the coal-colored eyes. "Not Pinkie, either."
He beamed at her.
But then he went back to his fight with the other pint-sized boy.
"I don't have droopy eyes! You have squinty eyes!" shouted shirtless kid.
"Droopy eyes!"
"Shut-up, squinty eyes! I'm Gray, not Droopy Eyes, her panties were pink, and I'm gonna beat your ass!"
With the last declaration made by Gray Fullbuster, there began an exchange of fists and feet instead of words. It was scrappy fighting; they were children and as such, fought with hair-pulling and face-grabbing alongside punching and kicking. They almost started to roll around on the floor in a small dust cloud.
So intently focused on their skirmish, the boys, at first, missed what the blonde was up to. She had begun with a giggle. Then she let it evolve into a chuckle. That is when Natsu's keen hearing picked up her sounds and he stopped mid-kick, his right hand half in the other boy's mouth as he yanked on a cheek. Gray looked over at her too.
Lucy finally got it now. "You liiiiiike each other…" she smirked.
After getting over their initial shock at having such a small little thing, a blonde girl in a big dress, say those words, Natsu and Gray abruptly let go of each other to share a look.
"Get her!" they yelled, giving chase to the little blonde. (She let out a brief "Eek!" before quickly running in the opposite direction.)
But no matter how hard or fast they ran, she always danced out of their tackles.
"She's really graceful, ya know?" commented Gray.
"Yeah," confessed Natsu.
Lucy should have known not to run around a house she was only newly getting herself familiarized with. Before she realized, her attempts to escape had brought her to the threshold of a very large door with big brass doorknobs. As she was glancing behind, watching out for her two spikey-haired pursuers, the small girl missed the appearance of Virgo. The handmaiden tried to shout out a warning, but had not been fast enough this time. Lucy tumbled through the door with her inescapable momentum; she was a tangle of limbs that came to finally rest at the feet of an amused pair of adults and a confused pair of older children.
Natsu and Gray skidded to similar stops just behind the girl, whom they had followed through the door.
"It seems we won't have to collect them ourselves, after all," stated a regal looking woman with short hair and twinkling eyes.
The older man with the unique facial hair chuckled in agreement as Lucy, Natsu, and Gray got to their feet hastily.
"It's time to go, Gray, and Natsu," Queen Ur told the two boys. "I have settled things with Mr. King concerning Natsu's stay with us, requested by his father, Igneel; and the two of you visiting Miss Lucy every so often so that you may all study together. We're going to return to our temporary home for the night. Say goodbye to Lucy and Mr. King."
As the adults suddenly turned to go, young Lucy had a change of heart. "Wait!..." shocked into shyness by her outburst, she almost did not get the next part out. "Can Natsu and Gray stay here tonight?...Please?" she hesitated over.
"If Gray's staying here, so am I," Lyon, the light-haired boy at his mother's side stated haughtily.
"You can't stay at my friends' house!" countered Gray.
"This is Mr. King's house," the collected Ultear provided.
If there was going to be shouting again, Lucy was just going to take back what she said. She did like peace and quiet. However, it had been kind of fun and exhilarating to be chased around the house by Natsu and Gray. As long as she had been here (which was not long), she had not seen anyone else this close to her age. How was she supposed to have an adventure without partners?
Luckily, having the senses of a mother, Ur began to pick up on the young blonde's distress signals. The queen pulled her eldest son back and tapped her youngest son on the head; Ultear retreated closer to her mother when she realized what was happening.
"Oh, shut-up. Would you two? Miss Lucy asked if Gray and Natsu could stay; not you, Lyon. I think she'll have enough trouble with those two, no need to add you to the mix." Then she twinkled a little mischievous smile Lucy's way.
"Is this what you want, Lucy?" questioned King Spirit in his strong, yet gentle voice. He realized he finally had a chance to grant her a selfish wish instead of trying to guess what would make her happy.
It took her a moment, but she answered in a firm tone. "Yes."
It had been decided that the three of them would bunk in the library. There was not enough room for all of them in Lucy's new room, and the library was the best room out of the way of main traffic, but still contained comfortable floors and perches. There was the added bonus that the librarian, Capricorn January, had his room attached via a secret passage behind a bookshelf. He could keep an ear open for any mischief the three children might get into.
But he had fallen asleep with an ancient tome precariously perched in his lap.
"Aren't you two scared?" Lucy whispered, clutching her hands together tightly.
"I've never been scared in my entire life!" Natsu vehemently proclaimed.
Sensing her nervousness, Natsu took one hand, and Gray, the other.
"But what if we get caught?" her voice dropped even lower.
"We won't," stated Gray, simply. The two boys were pulling her forward in equal strengths.
Lucy went silent after that. She decided to believe in them and make the journey without words. Their hands clasping hers did much to lower her anxiety levels. She hardly even noticed when they made it to the ladder that led to the special balcony that was their final destination. It was a place meant for airing out the room, not for three small children in the middle of the night. (There were other open-aired perches for reading just outside the library that had actual stairs leading to them scattered in other corners of the vast room.) But these three would not be deterred now, so Natsu took the lead and Gray took the end to climb the ladder. The blonde between the boys only said one thing the entire way.
"Don't look at my panties, Gray."
They thought it might be a little trouble opening the window, but its panes made no creaking sounds and they skirted by unnoticed. They also quietly shut it behind them when they made it out onto the balcony.
Finally, the three young ones lie in a row, side by side, with Lucy still clutched in the middle by two spiky-haired boys' hands.
Charcoal eyes, caramel eyes, and midnight eyes starred heavenward.
"I love stars," little Lucy murmured reverently.
And for once, Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster shared something, matching full-faced grins turned toward their new friend between them.
"Then you can have 'em, Lucy," replied Gray, using her name for the first time.
"Yeah," Natsu followed. "Keep 'em safe for us. Okay, Luce?"
A/n: It got longer than it originally was, just so you know. Hope you liked it; feel free to share your thoughts.
Be seeing you on the other side of the rain,
-ROMS
