She would go to school tomorrow.
She had to.
It was time to change. To be herself.
It was time to bring back the real Lucy Heartfilia, the one she had hid for so many years, too afraid to make a move, to contest the authority of her father. This time, she wouldn't let him touch her, hurt her, insult her.
This time, she would fight for what she loved until the end. She wouldn't sob in a dark corner like a coward. She wouldn't try to make him happy by dating some random boring dude she wasn't interested in the least.
It was time to be the real Lucy Heartfilia.
The one that didn't like to show off skin, and dress in slutty clothes.
The one, that hated to go to stupid frat parties.
The one that loved to play video games since she was born.
The one that couldn't be beaten at any.
The Lucy Heartfilia that loved romantic movies and wrote stories.
The Lucy Heartfilia that dreamed of her prince charming…
Not some douchebag standing on its horse, not someone she barely knew, not some stupid jock that only was interested in sex, not some knight in shining armor writing her longs poems she would later on find out were just taken out of the internet.
No.
A real prince charming. A gamer, with a wide smile and gentle manners. Somebody that, with a simple touch would make her fuzzy and warm inside. Someone who would love her for who she really is, that would take all of the broken pieces of her heart and reassemble them into a whole. Somebody who's smile would be so big it would practically take his whole face in length…
Determined and inhabited with a new train of thoughts, Lucy did the first thing that came to her mind.
-X-
It had probably been a decade since she had set foot in the old looking arcade, but she still remembered the pleasant memories she had of this place. When she was just a toddler, she would enter with her mom and they would challenge each other at various games. Lucy always won, even though later on she would find out her mom was giving her chances…
Her mom. She had been the queen, the master of the peculiar arcade. Her pseudonym was written all over the place. She was unbeatable.
That was until she passed away, in a car accident ten years ago.
Since then, new games had appeared, new people had scored higher than her and soon, she had disappeared. Erased and forgotten, as if she had never existed.
That's when her father, heartbroken had slowly changed into the monster he was now and had set his mind into transforming his daughter into the perfect future wife he would marry to some rich family.
But that was the past, meant to stay behind. She had to move forward.
Slowly coming back to her senses, Lucy went to the first game she recognized. It was centipede. As she looked closer to the scoreboard appearing on the screen, she noticed a certain "Igneel" in the first position. Beside it, she had to admit, the amount of points he had earn were certainly quite impressive. Even though she was a little bit wired, she knew that with a little practice, she'd be able to beat it.
And with that challenge in mind, she pressed the start button.
Lucy played the whole evening and stopped when, finally, her name was on the top of the list. It had taken her more attempts than she had thought, but still, she had accomplished her goal! The centipede scoreboard bore the word Bloomsbury in big shining letters beside the first-place sign.
Content with herself, she left the boutique without noticing the owner smiling weirdly in her direction.
-X-
The last customer surely was picky, but Natsu had finally convinced him into choosing what to order. His work shift finished, he grabbed a hamburger quickly already marching his way directly to the arcade. Gulping it down in two bites, he quickly entered the boutique, greeting Gildarts as always with a quick wave of his hand.
This time, he must admit, the look on his face was creeping him out a bit. It was a mix of a smirk and a perverse gesture contorting his facial traits. In brief, he couldn't identify what the heck the guy was trying to express with such a weird facial expression. But, before he could say a single thing, Gildarts blurted out in one single rapid line: There's this girl that left about fifteen minutes ago. A hot chick and guess what? She beat your score at centipede in less than three hours. It took you two days to get to that gigantic amount of points! She truly is gifted!
Surprised, Natsu went to the said machine and observed with his own eyes his pseudonym appearing in second place. Competition and ego rose into his heart as he couldn't let somebody beat him at a game.
"It will take me only a few minutes to gain back my position" Natsu assured Gildarts confidently as he sat in front of the giant screen and started playing.
-X-
Natsu, we are closing! , Gildarts said.
"Oh c'mon, give me five more minutes, I am sure that this time I will beat it!"
"You said that a hundred times before. Just face it. You can't beat this new video game prodigy!"
"Yes, I can! I just didn't play my best today. I'll come back tomorrow and you will see! This time my name will come back to its rightful place! Natsu exclaimed.
"Sure thing! See ya tomorrow!" Gildarts responded right back.
"Bloomsbury huh! Prepare to become second place!" Natsu said, as sparkles started illuminating his eyes as he considered a new challenger.
And a strong one at that.