Before I run off on my mini family reunion, I thought I would update this one. Let me know your thoughts. :D
Chapter 3
The ride back to her new home had been uncomfortable for the blonde. She sat in relative silence while the two adults tried to make small talk by asking questions about herself. Though, when Lucy wasn't able to answer seemingly simple inquiries like what her favorite food was or what she liked to do in her free time, the two adults finally gave up. The rumbling of the engine filled the awkward silence as they drove down the paved road.
Apprehensive chocolate orbs darted from one place to the other when the vehicle finally came to its final halt and Lucy was able to exit the spacious SUV belonging to her new adoptive parents. The blonde's jaw slightly unhinged when she took in the overwhelmingly large residence that was situated in front of her.
The blonde openly gawked at the large structure that was to be her new home. Never did she ever consider herself living in a house this spacious ever again.
Then again, Lucy didn't think she would be lucky enough to be adopted either since her older age made her less desirable to prospecting adopting families.
A feather-light brush against her arm caused the astounded blonde to jump from the gentle contact. The teen twisted around, bringing her arm up slightly to cover her face in an involuntary attempt to shield herself out of habit; only to be met with apologetic cerulean crystal eyes.
The diffident woman removed her hand before putting it behind her back, a simple gesture to show the girl that she didn't mean any harm by the movement. The older female tilted her head to the side, causing her long pale sky colored hair to bounce back and forth in its place tied in a bun high on her scalp.
"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to startle you." The blonde timidly glanced away embarrassed by her involuntary reaction, only to have her eyes dart back toward the vehicle when the SUV door slammed and booming laughter startled not only the teen, but also the pale haired woman that had been trying to console her.
"What are you two doing just standing there? We have to introduce Lucy to the rest of our weird family!" The long blonde haired teen shied away from the over-exuberant man before he was able to get too close to her.
While Lucy found it nice that he was so enthusiastic about having her around, she couldn't help the small flashbacks of other men that had also been delighted by her company for other vulgar reasons in the not so distant past. The blonde haired girl knew in her current state she was not yet stable enough to trust, no matter how nice the pair before her seemed to be.
It was to be expected from someone coming out of a situation such as hers, after all.
While her sexual abuse had almost always been dealt by the male gender, most her physiological and emotional abuse was inflicted by a woman. A woman so evil, that she alone had caused most- if not more- of Lucy's traumatic life-altering experiences.
The blonde shuddered at the thought.
Though she kept telling herself that she didn't need to trust these people- her new adoptive family- and that she needed to stay guarded at all costs, Lucy couldn't keep the voice of the lost and confused little girl that had been ripped from her at such a young age from screaming out at the chance to take hold of the opportunity set before her. Her inner child begged to be part of an actual family again.
The small lingering thread of her lost innocence wants parental figures in her life, she wants to have a chance at a normal childhood, no matter how fleeting the moment might be for her already more adult-like personality and physical appearance.
The little girl she used to be longed so much for the comfort of an actual family that Lucy practically ached for loving parental figures, even if they were not of her own blood.
The blonde girl let out a fearful squeak when the unruly redheaded man closed in on her, causing the teen to shrink in closer to her new adoptive mother while the older woman put her hand out to stop the laughing male before he could get any closer to the apprehensive girl.
"Igneel, would you give the girl some room to breathe! This is a lot for Lucy to take in. Let her go at her own pace!" The look on the heavy built male made the blonde almost crack a smile. The goofy grin that seemed to stay ever present on his face dropped to be replaced by sad puppy dog eyes and a fake pout. It was comical, to say the least.
"Okay. In that case, I'll just go make sure the heathen didn't destroy the house while we were gone." The dejected male practically drug his slumped over form to the door, causing Lucy to watch in mild amusement while she wondered just who this heathen was that he spoke of.
"Lucy, how are you feeling dear?" Dark honey brown eyes moved from the entryway of the house where the redhead had disappeared then back to the woman standing beside her.
The blonde took the moment to take in the older woman's features. Though her face was obviously weathered by time with small fine lines across her face, Lucy still thought she was still was breathtaking. Her stunning crystal eyes pierced into what felt like the girl's very soul while the pale azure-haired woman's smile shifted into a worried line the longer the blonde took to speak.
"Just drained, honestly." The teen left it at that. This morning when she woke up, she would have never believed she would be adopted. The blonde didn't have much to her name, so packing had been relatively easy, but emotionally she felt like she had been on an exhilarating roller coaster.
Which had the teen wonder, why did they adopt her in the first place? The foster facility had plenty of children to choose from, they were allowed to view their potential adopted child's files, so why would they choose someone with a history such as hers?
The brown-eyed girl jumped once again when the door to the home was flung open to reveal a long white haired teen just a little older than Lucy. Lucy observed as the girl's sapphire eyes lit up when they landed on the older woman still standing beside her.
"Grandeeney! Igneel said you two had a surprise for everyone!~" The white-haired beauty's eyes glanced from the pale haired woman beside her to hone in on the confused blonde. A high pitched squeal left the teen before she ran back inside, slamming the door shut. Lucy could hear indistinct yelling and footsteps as if multiple people were running around inside the house.
"Oh, dear. It looks like we've been found out. I swear none of the men around here can keep secrets." Lucy looked back to the woman while she let out a defeated sigh before her smile found it's way back on her face, causing the skin beside her blue eyes to crinkle just a bit.
"Was that one of my new siblings?" The blonde deadpanned while she listened to what sounded like screaming before a loud thump sounded from somewhere inside the large house. Lucy felt a sweat drop form on her forehead.
"They're over enough that they might as well be. We are a very large intertwined family. We always have teenagers- and boneheaded men that still act like teenagers, for that matter- running around the house, but no, we didn't adopt all of them. You could say that she's more like your cousin." Grandeeney's smile faltered when another yell was heard from the house along with a crash while a string of colorful male curses was heard.
"I see. Do I even want to know what's going on in there?" The blonde shrunk away from the noises coming from the seemingly chaotic household. She hadn't even set foot in the house yet and Lucy was finding herself wondering if she would be able to stand all of the eccentric commotion.
"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, it's always a mystery." The pale haired woman giggled while bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. Grandeeney knew that their blended mix of both parental figures and children was a little overwhelming, but all the kids were as sweet as could be. They might all be a little over exuberant, but that's what made their lives fun.
"Would you like to go in, Lucy? If Mirajane is here, then that means that you have a special visitor!" The blonde looked up at the pale-haired woman, Lucy's heart thumping at an alarming rate at the mention of a 'special visitor'. As far as the blonde knew, no one was to know who she was. She was not Lucy Heartfilia, and she wasn't Ashley of the Brothel anymore. She had a new identity, this was a fresh start for her and no one should know of her life from her former household or of her brothel alias.
The blonde felt a tight squeeze on her heart while a pained thought slipped into her mind like an electric shock, sending her back to reality.
Was this all just a set up? Had she been lured into yet another brothel by the false hopes of a family?
The blonde felt like she was going to be sick. Her body shook violently while her head spun from the shock of likely being tricked out of the system so easily. Was it that easy to adopt children? Could child abusers really take kids out of the system that easily?
Lucy felt her heart throb painfully against her ribcage while bile rose up into her throat, before she registered what she was doing- the blonde was kneeling on the lawn, the contents of her stomach emptied themselves onto the freshly manicured grass. Her long hair curtained around her face while the ends pooled onto the green grass she was currently clawing into to keep herself grounded.
"Lucy! Are you okay!?" The blonde dry heaved while she tried to bat away the hands of the older woman.
She would not be taken back into another house to live under another evil woman and service vile men.
She refused.
The young teen let out an alarmed shriek when Grandeeney wrapped her arms around the blonde's middle, terrified the woman was going to haul her inside the house against her will.
"Lucy, it's okay! Please, calm down!" The blonde didn't listen, she wouldn't listen to her sugar-coated words of pure poison. Lucy would run, all she needed to do was get out the pale haired woman's arms. It wouldn't be too hard, she was younger- frail and weak from malnutrition, but still younger. Surely, Lucy could work her way from Grandeeney's grasp.
"What the hell is going on out here? I heard screamin'." The blonde stilled in the older woman's arms while her wide tear-filled honey brown eyes glanced up to the voice that came from the entrance of the household.
Through unshed tears, the long blonde haired teen could make out a blurred vision of rusty brown hair as the figure of a man came to kneel beside her on the cool ground. Lucy could still feel her heart slapping relentlessly against her ribcage while she watched a whole crowd of both young and old form from out of the house to watch her frantic melt down.
"Hey there, kiddo. Nice to see you made it into the family." Lucy didn't know if she should cry from the anxiety or laugh from relief when Detective Clive moved to help both she and Grandeeney up from the lawn.
So, she did neither- instead Lucy felt a calming darkness wash over her while her body went lax before she fell back down to the cold hard unforgiving Earth. Her heart still trying to recover from the frantic pace it had set for its self. She felt her eyelids close as she was lulled into unconsciousnesses by the sounds of multiple adults calling out her name in panicked concern.
"All I said was that she had a special visitor. I'm such a fool." Grandeeney slumped down further into the couch, her legs underneath her body while she used her arms as a cushion for her head on the armrest. Of all the things she could have said, she said something that triggered her new daughter. What a terrible mother she felt like right now.
"It's not your fault, Grandeeney. Lucy's fragile, anything could set her off. We don't know what will bring on bad memories for her. It will take a little while for her to adjust and trust people again." The pale haired woman felt tears stream down her face while the rusty-haired male pat her head.
When Gildarts had mentioned he knew of a girl that needed a loving and caring home, both she and Igneel had jumped at the idea of allowing another lost child a place in their home and a second chance at a having a better childhood.
But now?
Grandeeney was terrified she wouldn't be able to do right by the blonde haired teen, and not because she didn't want to- no, the exact opposite in fact. The pale haired woman was so worried that in her attempts to help the still healing and obviously traumatized young teen, she would end up setting her off. She didn't know what was going to bring on another anxiety attack like that. She couldn't even fathom what was going on in the blonde's head when she had said those words to her.
Probably something horrific, she was sure.
"I just want to help her. I'm so scared I am going to fail her." Cerulean eyes glistened with unshed tears blurring her vision while strong tattooed arms moved to wrap around the weeping woman in an attempt to comfort her.
"We will do everything we can to make Lucy feel safe here. She has a huge family now with a lot of uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, and sisters- whatever she wants to call us. We may not all be blood, in fact- most of us really aren't, but that doesn't mean we aren't a family. We love each other and are there for each other when we need it and that's what truly makes us a family." Grandeeney moved one of her hands to grip at Igneel's forearm while he comforted his distressed wife, neither of them paying attention to the various other adults still in the room.
"Yeah, don't go worryin' so much, Grandeeney, we all know if anyone is capable of raisin' a troubled lil' brat, it's your ass." The pale haired woman sent a playful glare across the room to the long dark brunette haired male with the foul mouth.
"Though I don't particularly care for his crass way of saying it, Metalicana is right." Azure blue met ruby red orbs while Skiadrum sighed from his spot in the recliner, the ebony haired male made a point to send his actual blood-related brother a pointed glance.
"We will all have talks with our children tonight, fret not Grandeeney. Lucy will feel welcome in any of our homes, just like all the other children." The pale haired woman moved her eyes from the two dark-haired brothers that were currently giving each other a stare down, both their wives rolling their eyes at their respective husband- to look at the white haired male sitting on the other love seat with his wife, who nodded with a small smile.
"Thank you, Weiss. Thank you, all." Grandeeney moved to wipe away her tears while her husband kept his arms firmly clamped around her. Her eyes moved from the front door, hearing all the kids outside moving around the house to the backyard then glanced at the stairs leading up to the second story.
After Lucy had passed out, Igneel had picked up the exhausted child and carried her to one of the empty rooms they used as a guest bed, which would eventually become Lucy's permanent room. The rest of the adults had been able to keep the other children from following the two adoptive parents of the blonde as they went to settle her into what would be her new room.
The pale blue-haired woman sighed. Lucy would wake up in an unfamiliar place, but she wouldn't wake up alone.
The woman moved to stand before tossing a look back to the rather large group of adults. They had all been friends throughout their teen years and school life, she knew these people and trusted them just like a family should.
"I'm going to go wait for Lucy to wake up, it shouldn't be long now." Grandeeney made it to the staircase before two separate hands belonging to two different men grabbed her arm. The blue-eyed woman turned to look at both her husband and Gildarts. It was probably wise for the detective to be there when the blonde woke up, anyway. Giving a small silent nod, they ascended up the steps together.
"Did you get a good look at her? Natsu, your new sister is a total hottie!" The pink haired teen growled while lunging at the teasing blonde, Sting had been getting on his nerves all day today and this was just the icing on the cake. He hadn't been able to get a good glance at the blonde girl before his dad had carried her into the house.
Natsu and Wendy had both tried to follow their adoptive parents, but were stopped by everyone else's.
"Oi, shut the fuck up light bulb. You didn't see her either." Natsu snickered when the long ebony haired boy smacked Sting on the back, causing the said male to growl from the force of the blow.
"To be fair, none of us really got a good glimpse at her except for Mira when she went outside to check on Grandeeney." The younger white-haired girl spoke up to the group, causing all eyes to land on the longer snowy haired teen. A deep smirk slipped across the gossip of the group at the chance to dish out all the details to anyone who would listen.
"She really is gorgeous. She has long golden hair that fades into pale blonde down her back, big brown eyes, cherry pink lips. A Nice body, too" Mira winked and giggled while she confirmed to all of the other curious teens, they all wondered what the new addition to their mismatched family would be like.
It had been a complete surprise for all of them, they had no idea that Grandeeney and Igneel had decided to adopt another kid, it made both Natsu and Wendy more excited than the rest.
Natsu because he got another sister and friend to protect, and Wendy because she got a big sister she can still spend time with when everyone else goes back home with their respective parents.
"Hey hey hey, don't be talking 'bout her like that." Natsu yelled up to the sky while throwing a random punch which just so happened to deck Gajeel.
"A real man doesn't care about what a woman looks like, anyway!" Elfman joined the improv fight while landing a hit on Sting in the process, thus pulling the more than willing blonde into the fray.
"Oi, Rogue. Put the damn book down and help a buddy out, will ya'? The blonde haired teen yelled at the boy currently sitting under the tree, who waved him off with a flick of his wrist before turning to the next page in the novel he was currently reading.
"Let me finish this chapter, and then I'll think about helping you." The ebony haired teen smirked while not even giving the blonde a glance, however, a loud annoying laugh did get the red-eyed teen's attention enough for the boy to let out an irritated sigh.
"You know damn well Ryos ain't puttin' that book down anytime soon, light bulb. You're on your own just like the rest of us." Gajeel's odd cackle was cut off when a blur of blue knocked him off his feet.
"Nuhh uhh, only you and Sting are alone here, Gajeel! I have Natsu's back." The small blue haired preteen smiled as she danced around the long ebony haired male's body, sidetracking him. Even the girls had been pulled in now.
"Okay, enough all of you, break it up. Break it up!" Groans echoed throughout the now dog pile of teens as everyone tried to remove themselves from the tangled mess they had got themselves in. Skiadrum and Kyla broke up the bunch of children, only to notice that theirs was not in the large pile of teenage angst.
"Rogue?" The russet-haired woman called, looking for her son amongst the now sprawled out bunch of youth while her husband removed the blonde haired male teen from the pile, a smirk on his face at the rowdiness of the youth.
"Over here, mom." The ebony haired teen stood from his spot before dusting off his backside, making sure no dirt clung to his clothes. He noticed that all of the other parents had filed out of the house and started nabbing up their respective teens.
"Time to head on home, Rogue. We have things to talk about." The ebony haired teenager just nodded his head while his father came to stand before him.
"Oi, Uncle Skia, Aunt Kyla, can I come over?" Sting popped his head out from behind the brunette woman, a large smirk on his face. Rogue just shook his head when his father gave a shrug of his shoulders.
"Gotta ask your mom and dad first."The blonde haired teen groaned while letting them know he would catch up with them later, knowing well enough that his father wasn't going to just let him run off when he had promised to help him with yard work earlier that day. The dark-haired family watched the blonde run back into the fray to find his own parents before setting off toward their own home.
The walk took no more than 5 minutes seeing as they lived right down the street. The band of merry adults had moved into a cul-de-sac long ago when they first started to get married and come into the world as adults after finishing out their teenage years in high school. They had always stayed close, even when growing up as kids, so it made sense for them to all live by one another.
Grandeeney had been adamant on getting a large enough house so they could all live together, but her dream had been easily tossed aside when most of the men agreed that it would be best for the individual families to have privacy of their own. Well, that and prices for large multi-family homes were outrageous in Magnolia.
It's not like it mattered, everyone was always gathered at each other's homes always, and it got even worse when they started having kids or adopting.
The ebony haired teen took off his shoes in the entryway before making his way to the table, where he placed his book while his mom and dad followed him.
"Sit down, Rogue. We need to have a chat about the new girl." Kyla sat at the table, patting the space next to her. Crimson irises observed as his father sat on the other side without a word, an indication that he should do as he was told.
"What new girl?" The male teenage sat in the vacant seat, confusion slipping across his usual passive face. Rogue knew that there had been commotion earlier in Natsu and Wendy's front yard, but he hadn't got up to investigate since he was too engrossed with the new book he had purchased yesterday to care.
"Kid, you really need to start paying attention to your surroundings." The ebony haired man deadpanned, a tanned hand coming to rest on his temple while his wife stared wide-eyed at their oblivious and seemingly perplexed son.
Did he really not have a clue what was going on?
"Stop staring at me like that! It's a really good book, okay?" The teen moved to stand up out of embarrassment but a pale feminine hand moved to grip at his wrist, keeping him firmly in place.
"Okay, I get it, Rogue. Sit back down, this is important." Crimson eyes narrowed in on his mother face, taking in the fine lines that formed between her brows. Seeing how important it was to both his mother and father, Rogue sat back down in his chair.
Wide chocolate and deep onyx eyes gazed at the serene blonde currently situated under a thick comforter. After all of the others had left, Igneel allowed the two kids to peek in at their newest sibling. However, their quick glance slowly morphed into stares of fascination as they watched the golden-locked teen sleep.
"Wow. She's so pretty! Just like Mira." The wide-eyed bluenette giggled while Grandeeney pushed the two out of the room, worried that so many people crowded in the room would frighten the poor girl if or when she woke up.
"Yeah, I guess so." The salmon haired teen turned away while a rosy blush dusted his cheeks. When it came to Snowy haired beauties, there was only one girl that would slip into the forthright of his mind, and that was Mira's younger sister- Lisanna. Though, Natsu definitely couldn't deny that the blonde now dubbed as his newest younger sister was quite the looker as well.
A groan found its way out of the older teen's mouth while he walked with the long-haired girl, catching her attention. The thought of all the potential fights he would have to get in to protect the long blonde haired girl at school from perverts both excited and frustrated him at the same time.
While Natsu loved a good brawl, he just couldn't afford being suspended from school this coming year. Especially since Principle Makarov threatened to hold him back because his grades were positively terrible as is. Having a sister, especially a pretty one, going to the same school as he would seriously put him in the hot seat in the principal's office almost daily, just like Elfman. That guy was a beast when it came to defending his sisters' honor, and he had three! Two blood related- Mira and Lisanna and one related to his adopted father Gildarts- Cana.
"I'm so screwed this year!" Natsu held his head with balled up fists, a mop of unkempt crimson hair peaked out of the door of Lucy's room when the teen's obnoxious wail penetrated the walls.
"What's all the yellin' about, kid?" A grin plastered on Igneel's face causing the skin next to his eyes to wrinkle.
"Just tryin' to figure how I'm going to survive sophomore year." The salmon haired teen ignored the giggle from the 12-year-old girl while his father reached over to ruffle his already messed up mop of pink locks.
"You still got a month left of summer vacation, kiddo. No reason to worry about that now. I need you two to come with me downstairs. There are some things we need to talk about before Lucy wakes up." Both of the youths looked from one another to their dad before following the tattooed male down the stairs. Silence fell between them while they made their way to the kitchen table, it was only once they were all seated did Igneel finally decide to speak.
"Like a lot of the kids that have been adopted around here, Lucy has gone through a difficult time. However, Lucy's situation is.. Different. I wanted to let you two know now that it might take her more time to warm up to everyone. She might be scared, shy, and unable to trust, just know that this is all normal for a girl coming out of her type of situation." Bright green eyes regarded the youths. When it was clear that neither of them had any questions or need to voice their thoughts, Igneel continued.
"I know you two will treat her like family, but I am just asking you to be patient and kind with her, even if she isn't with you at first. It's probably been a real long time since she's had someone to trust. Wendy, you can go ahead and go. I need to talk to Natsu for a second." The blue haired girl smiled while she nodded her head, leaving her older brother and father alone while skipping back up the stairs to her room, ideas of how to make her new sister feel comfortable forming in her brain.
Natsu and Igneel watched the 12-year-old as she bounced up the stairs until she was completely out of sight.
"Look, Natsu. I'm telling you this now- man to man, and I am sure that all the other kiddos are getting the same lecture one way or any other, but since you are her brother you need to know exactly what is going on, because I won't be around her as much as you will." The pink haired teen gulped, the usual playful glint that lights up his father's emerald eyes were replaced by cold resolve. Igneel had the boy's full attention now, Natsu nodded his understanding- knowing that his father was about to drop the bomb that he couldn't when Wendy was still in the room.
"You know the type of work Gildarts does for the station, right?" Igneel watched and waited for the salmon haired male to confirm what he was asking.
"Uh, yeah. He is an undercover detective, right? Sometimes spies on people for months before collecting the data and evidence the rest of the force needs before an operation can be set up, yeah?" Igneel hummed his approval.
"You're correct. Well, Gildarts happened to meet Lucy during one of his undercover investigations. You see, Lucy is a victim of a human-trafficking organization." Natsu looked back at his father. The male was one to make jokes and pull pranks, but the salmon haired youth could tell by the hardness in the man's emerald green eyes that there was no joke to his words. What he said was the cold hard truth.
"I..I.. I honestly don't know what I should say.." The teen rubbed the back of his head. In all honestly, Natsu didn't really know what it meant to be a trafficking victim. Sure he's heard of human-trafficking, especially since his father and most of his uncles and aunts were part of criminal justice and the police force, hell they even covered it in school just a bit, but he was a teenager. Most youths didn't care to think or even believe that something like that could happen to them, so they wrote it off.
Igneel watched the confusion on his son's face morph into uncertain sadness and guilt. Of course, Igneel wasn't expecting the 16-year-old to completely understand what it meant to be a trafficking victim, but he knew Natsu was resourceful. If the pinkette wanted to know something he would ask or find out on his own.
"It's okay, Natsu. All I'm asking of you is to watch over her, and make sure no one tries to take advantage of her. She was only Wendy's age when she was first introduced into trafficking. I'm not so sure if she knows how she should act in the outside world, and we are concerned that could make her a target for bullies or people that'll try to use her naivety against her." The red-haired man moved to stand up, figuring that if the pink haired boy had any questions he would ask.
"I understand, dad. I'll protect her." The grin returned to the tattooed man's face while he reached his large palm up to smack the teen on the back. A bellowing laugh filling the silent kitchen.
"I never doubted you wouldn't." Natsu let his own grin mirror his father's. It would seem that the teen had a few things to look up before his new sister decided to finally wake up.
