Chapter 2

"Heartfilia?" Erza tapped her chin with her index finger in a thinking posture. She was half sitting, leaning against a desk at their meeting room. Call it a meeting, but they never really sat properly like a meeting should be anyway. It was just their way to be informal in such things. "Somehow that name sounded familiar."

"I was thinking the same thing. But she won't say a word," Gray agreed, hands folded on his bare chest with his back against the wall.

"Gray-san was awfully harsh," Wendy complained, frowning a little too cutely.

"What?" Natsu scowled, sitting cross-legged on a table, one hand propping in his lap. "What the hell is your problem with her, you stripper!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up, flame brain. I wasn't being harsh at all."

"Should we ask Levy about it? She might know something," Mirajane suggested. Levy wasn't a warrior, but she was their Advisor. She was almost like a walking encyclopedia with all the amount of knowledge she practically stored in her mind, making her the best choice to consult to.

"Yeah," Erza nodded in agreement, voice wavered absentmindedly before recollecting into a more convincing tone. "Yeah, let's do that."

"I really think we should be extra cautious," Gray blurted.

Natsu jumped, standing from his sit immediately. "Hey, if you have a problem with me, stop pestering the girl and give it to my face, you coward!"

"Huh?" Gray untangled his arms, picking himself up to meet Natsu's glare with a growl. "I do have a problem with you. You can't possibly think I'm scared of you, can you?"

"Bring it on," Natsu seethed.

Makarov sighed as the two indulged into a fist fight that did not involve magic, thankfully. One of the thing he really didn't want to take care of whenever he held a meeting with his Five Guards—The Glacier and The Salamander. He wasn't even sure why they kept fighting. Maybe it was because of their contrasting magic, or simply because they were both hot headed. Either way, they were never compatible. Obviously.

Lucy shifted on her bed, blinking a few times before rubbing her eyes sleepily. She felt much better now with all the amount of sleep she got. She curled under the blanket, staring into nothing. She remembered the days she had been through being the hunted, running away from warriors trying to catch her. It had been an awful experience for someone like her. She was fighting against death—don't even mention the lack of sleep—each second of the days and for a split second, Lucy thought death probably would be better.

She gasped at the thought. No! Her late mother had clearly said she has to keep on living. Not to give up with the hardships and keep a gentle heart. The memories of her gentle mother smiling so warmly was still very clear in her mind, as if she was still alive. But no matter how many sleeps she had woken up from, the reality persisted that her mother was no longer with her. She had to accept, no matter how much it hurts.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucy felt something nudging her.

She opened her eyes, turning her body to face the pink haired man, looking towards her in concern.

"You look like you're in pain. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Her lashes fluttered close. "Not physically."

Natsu frowned. "What was that supposed to mean?"

"She meant her heart hurt, idiot!"

Natsu glanced back then scowled at the raven haired guy standing at the door. "Why are you always here, ice-tard?"

Gray shrugged. "Unlike you, I'm not that gullible."

Natsu groaned in annoyance. "Look, I really don't want to pick a fight in front of a girl now so back off."

"Not until we clear up her identity," Gray refused.

"I'm a commoner—" Lucy started.

"Who got chased by a warrior of the west?" Gray quickly added, successfully shutting Lucy down. He saw her fidgeting in her seat, and his eyes darkened.

"Warrior of the west?" Natsu frowned. "What do you mean? How do you know she's from the west?"

Gray casted down his gaze towards Natsu. "I told you, I'm not as gullible as you," he snickered. "By the way, Lucy—or whatever your name is—"

"Her name is Luigy!" Natsu protested.

Lucy stared at Natsu incredulously. "It's Lucy. He was right."

Natsu blinked dumbly. "Really?"

Gray facepalmed himself. His nakama can be really stupid at times. "Whatever. We are currently looking out about you from our advisor. You do know what that means right? It's just the matter of time before we find out your details."

Lucy squinted towards Gray. "I somehow have the feelings that you really don't like me. Hate, maybe?"

Gray scoffed. "I don't hate anyone." He paused before bending a bit to level Lucy's eyes. "I'm a warrior. In this world where power is everything, it is necessary for me to protect my territory. Magnolia is ours. And it surely wasn't a pleasant news to know that the Rain Woman had invaded our place. Did you really get chased after? Or were you the one bringing that woman here? Was it part of Jose's plan?"

Lucy almost cowered at the intense glare. How did he know it was the Rain Woman who attacked her? Was he there? No, Lucy was dead sure that Natsu was the only one there when she ran into him.

"Rain Woman?" Natsu spoke her thoughts. "You mean the Rain Woman of the Elemental Four from Oak Town? How do you know she's here?"

Gray kept his glare on the blonde for a few more seconds before he straightened up, folding his arms again as he rested his back on the wall. "You said it yourself, Natsu."

Natsu blinked, pointing to himself. "I did?"

"You said she dispersed herself into water," Gray reminded him. "There's only one warrior in Fiore who can change the embodiment of their own being."

Natsu's frown remained as he processed the information. Then his eyes widened significantly as it finally sunk in. "It was the Rain Woman!"

Gray whacked the back of Natsu's head. "The last person to notice this among the Five Guards. Idiot!"

"What did you say?" Natsu rubbed his head angrily, snapping back to face Gray.

Lucy was supposed to feel intimated, or pressured at the very least with all the weight of suspicion put upon her. But she had not experienced such rowdy scene since her mother died and she couldn't help this nostalgic feeling creeping up inside her heart. She felt warm. As if she was being embraced securely. And in a castle where the warriors resided, she felt safe—much safer than her own house.

It was ironic. In that place where she was supposed to be a stranger, she found herself at home. Slowly her lips curved into a smile, watching the two boy bickering about some stuff that she couldn't even comprehend—or maybe she could but she wouldn't care anyway—before letting out a hearty chuckle.

Natsu and Gray both paused from their brawl when they heard the laughter from the blonde. Natsu was astonished to see her finally smiling. She hadn't done that since the first moment they met. And even after she had woken up, she didn't even smile. Right now though, she was laughing like all the worries she had just vanished into the air.

"Oi, oi, you do realize your situation here, don't you?" Gray's face contorted in annoyance.

Lucy tried to contain her laughter, her index finger reached up to wipe out the tears at the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry, but the two of you are so funny, fighting over pointless stuff like that."

"It's because this dude is so immature," Natsu pointed out.

"Who the hell are you calling immature?" Gray's voice rose again. And they went into another brawl that neither would want to back off.

Levy tucked her glasses as she read through the thick book in her hand. Her brows furrowed in concentration. She hummed unconsciously, bending forward sharply as if she was about to dive into the book. The table in the castle's library was forgotten.

"So the sun is the most important celestial character, huh," she drawled. "It was considered the very source of everything—the embodiment of light and warmth. It was the place where stars were born, and then they emerge from the dark sky with innumerability. While the moon was portrayed as the evil being of the sun—the chaos of darkness—to which people usually offer sacrifices to the full moon. It dominates water, and also the symbol of death." Levy huffed as her eyes kept on reading. "Why does the moon sounded like a monster eating up all the people and the stars here?"

"What are you babbling by yourself there, Levy?"

Levy jumped, putting down the book as she turned towards the scarlet haired warrior. "Oh, Erza. I was reading about the celestial being mythology."

"Mythology?" Erza frowned, approaching the blue haired petite lady.

"Yes," Levy nodded, eyes dropping down to the book again while shrugging. "You know they have this belief of interdependence of the celestial and weather phenomena—day and night, wind and rain, light and darkness, warmth and cold—"

"Like Natsu and Gray?" Erza interrupted.

Levy blinked, brows furrowed as if she was thinking very hard. "You think it was Natsu and Gray?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you know," Levy was flipping the pages of the book, trying to find the quote she was trying to point out. "They believe that above all that, there is only one heaven—one above the sun and the moon. When they achieved that 'heaven', apparently the world is yours."

Erza snickered. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She was never one who believed in heaven anyway. "Besides, Natsu and Gray would never make the entities of a heaven. Far from it, in fact."

Levy chuckled at that, secretly agreeing to the statement.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you about something," Erza decided to drop all those heavy mythological talk.

"What's that?" Levy put away her book, taking off her glasses as she faced the warrior.

"When Natsu went for his guard duty a few nights ago, he met a girl by the name Heartfilia. Do you know anyone by that name?" Erza went straight to the point.

"Yeah," Levy nodded without even a slight of hesitation. "They're the nobles—the duke to be more precise."

"Well, you see—" Erza was about to proceed when she registered the answer, whisking around to stare at Levy in shock. "Wait, what? A duke?"

"Yes. Why are you staring at me like that?" Levy frowned a bit.

She saw how Erza's mouth gaped like a fish, opening and closing silently as if trying to say something but nothing came. Levy's frown deepened.

"What?" there was a slight irritation in Levy's voice.

"The Lucy of the Heartfilia is here," Erza managed to say in between her incoherency. "I mean, here in our castle."

Levy blinked. "Why is she here?"

Erza took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and straightened her own thoughts. "I don't know. Natsu said she was attacked by the Rain Woman so he brought her here for shelter."

Levy tilted her head. "The Rain Woman?" Another pause. "Wait. The Rain Woman? The Elemental Four Warrior from Oak Town?" she saw Erza nodded. "Why is someone from the west travelled here? And why is a noble being attacked by a warrior?"

"Exactly the same question I had in mind," Erza pointed a firm finger towards Levy, as if the blue haired lady had hit the red spot.

"Isn't the noble supposed to be in the Capital of Crocus where warriors were supposed to be on truce? Is Jose out of his mind? He might lose his land and power if the duke knows about this," Levy argued.

Erza shrugged. "The Heartfilia seems a little unstable since she woke up. But it seems like we will have to push the details sooner or later. I'll see what we can do."

Levy bit her lips, eyes staring into nothing as she pondered about the recent news. Her brows furrowed deeper. Something is not right. If she remembered correctly, the Heartfilia is one of the most notable families in Crocus. Why would Jose risk his everything upon a family that might bring him down to the deepest depth?

"I think I'll go look into the details of Heartfilia family in the mean time," Levy suggested quietly.

"Yeah, that would help a lot. Thanks Levy," Erza pivoted her heels to leave. "I'll inform the other warriors about it. The Heartfilia seems to warm up around Natsu and Wendy. We might get something from them."

"Wow, it's so beautiful," Lucy gasped just as she reached the roof of the castle. She extended her arms to her side, stretching freely.

The stars were twinkling brightly on the dark clear sky. The fresh night breeze fanning across her face, making her forget the worries she had for days. Just how long hadn't she been able to enjoy a moment like this? She couldn't even remember. Letting herself drown in the tranquility, Lucy took a deep breath.

Natsu chuckled at her reaction, hands shoved into his side pockets. "This is my favorite spot for stargazing. You like it?"

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed, opening her eyes with a huge smile. "I can't believe I could still see the stars."

Natsu frowned at that. "You haven't seen the stars?"

"Eh?" Lucy turned to the man. "It had been constantly raining lately. I didn't really have the chance to look at the stars."

"Huh? You must have traveled through the bad weather then," Natsu's face contorted slightly.

Lucy froze, realizing what she had just said. She couldn't bring herself to tell him that the rain wasn't natural. She had been constantly chased by a lot of warriors, and the Rain Woman being one of them. She wasn't sure why but the rain just wouldn't stop around that woman. Lucy hated how it constantly raining. She felt weak under the heavy clouds. Somehow the stars gave her more strength inside.

Lucy chuckled awkwardly. Thankfully it was Natsu here; he won't suspect anything. If it was that Gray guy, he probably could have figured how she had been constantly chased. That raven haired guy seemed pretty sharp.

"Do you believe in celestial spirits, Natsu?" Lucy decided to change the topic.

"Nah," Natsu shook his head dismissively. "Warriors of Magnolia aren't ones who believe in spirits."

"Really? That's a waste," Lucy smiled. "My mom said the dead spirits reside there."

"The dead spirits?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded a bit before looking up to the stars again. "When people die, their spirits would fly to the sky and remain as stars. My mom said that's where they watch after their descendants," she paused, darting her gaze back to Natsu. "It's kind of relieving to know they are still here for us, somehow."

Natsu stared up. He had always loved the starry sky, but it was more because of the feelings it gave him. He never really heard about the celestial spirit. He felt his heart skipped a beat. Was Igneel there? He could feel the painful tug at the memory of his foster father. He was suddenly feeling utterly conscious about the dragon muffler wrapping around his neck. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Do you have someone you'd like to watch up there?" Lucy asked, noticing the distant look in his eyes.

Natsu blinked twice, lips curving into a sad smile. "Well, that just reminded me of my late foster father." His father, his teacher, his memory.

Lucy gasped softly. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Nah, don't fret. We are warriors. Death is inevitable," Natsu chuckled. "I'm not the only one, so it's not really that pathetic."

Lucy couldn't really understand. After all, she was raised in a mansion where death wasn't that common. That was the reason why her mother's death gave quite an impact for her. Her mother was very kind and loving, someone worth respecting. She remembered how cold the mansion was, and her mother had always hugged and kissed her, making her forget all the cold looks from the people—as if radiating something so comfortable. Something that disappeared together the moment her mother was buried into the grave. She remembered how much she had cried during the rainy funeral—wailing over the lost that could never be replaced.

I will never let anyone harm you, Lucy.

Lucy closed her eyes at the memory, feeling something stinging behind her lids. Her mother had always protected her. Not even a single mosquito can bite her when her mother was around. She was like a princess showered with love. Too bad she lost it at a very early age. Well, not really early. It was just a few months before, but still, she was young. She still craved for the warmth of love and protection.

"Ne, Natsu," Lucy opened her eyes. "Why did you help me?"

"Huh?" Natsu stared at her in confusion.

"Gray would probably be right. I might be an enemy, or someone the west sent to invade and take over your land or something," Lucy said hesitantly.

"Are you?" Natsu asked.

Lucy frowned. Seriously? If she really was some kind of secret agent and lied to him that she wasn't, would he believe her? "I don't know. Would you even believe me?"

"Gramps said it was up to me."

"Huh?"

"Gramps," Natsu repeated, scrunching his face to show small eyes with wrinkles as if to impersonate Makarov. "He said it was up to me."

"I know what you said," Lucy exclaimed exasperated. "I was asking what does that mean?"

Natsu shrugged. "An enemy isn't something people had to tell you. It is something you decide by yourself. That's what he said." He looked towards Lucy's direction. "At that time, my heart decided you weren't an enemy. That's why I helped you."

Lucy could feel the familiar warmth spreading in her heart again. She had been alone for months, with no one to cling onto. Alone in all the hardships she had been through. She had to run away from the mansion she called home, for it not being safe for her anymore. She was betrayed and tortured—physically and mentally. She cried in the darkest nights thinking of what her life would be. And here he was—a stranger—offering his help telling her she was a friend.

She never thought she would have the chance to feel this warmth again. And just because of that, Lucy stepped forward absentmindedly, reflexively throwing her arms around Natsu's neck, burying her face in his muffler.

Natsu's eyes widened, totally wasn't expecting that. His hands held her rear, flabbergasted. "Are—are you okay?"

"Thank you," she was sobbing, Natsu could tell. "I don't know how to thank you enough. Just—thank you."

Something inside him was torn at the very image of a girl crying on his shoulder. He wasn't sure why she had thanked him. But it must have been something really sensitive for her to cry. He decided to let her lean on him, standing awkwardly among the innumerable blinking stars—she hugged him, crying out her loneliness she kept inside, as if she was confiding to the sky.

A/N: If anyone are interested and wanted to read more of what Levy was reading, you can read the Chukchis mythology. But it wouldn't make too much difference anyway as I will be telling the tale throughout the story LOL. Thank you for those who supported and commented this fic, I really appreciate it; MidnightBase142, WaterDragonMaverick, PurpleRose328, yamatokukai, ProjXPsyClone and Tobyandsally.