Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for all the love for this story. It started as a random idea and just kind of morphed into this massive undertaking, but I'm really excited to continue it!

So we are delving more into the background for the story with this chapter, but after this we will get back into some more action and the like, so stick with me!

To answer a couple questions I've gotten in reviews:

- Yes, eventually I will give this a romantic spin. As with all my stories, it will not be the focus until so much because I am way more interesting in finding ways to challenge Lucy and her strengths. But I do love romance so it will be in there eventually.

- Will I ship Lucy with a Pradesh Brother? We will see how the story develops, I like to kind of write until a pairing becomes apparent to me instead of starting off with the intention of pairing a specific couple (unless it's a one-shot, or a ship week, or both) because it seems more genuine that way. In reality, though, the Pradesh siblings in my head are hot as hell, so... it's fairly likely she will end up with one of them.

- Will this be a Laxus/Lucy story? As with the question above, I'm not sure yet. If you've ready my one-shot 'Assumptions', you know that I love that pairing. And Laxus as a character, just, ya know, in general, but it will all depend on how the plot develops.

If you have a preference, a pairing you really want to see? Drop it in the reviews :) I'm not ruling anyone out at this point so if you want to throw me ideas, that'd be alright!

Oh, and reminders:

- Desna owns the Pradesh Family, I just get to play with them!

- Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, and same as above.

- My Beta is the greatest thing since sliced bread (GoddessxNyte2)

I love you all for reading. And reviewing.

Enjoy!


Lucy woke up with significantly less pain than she'd fallen asleep with, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude at the fact that when she sat up, she found that moving her left leg was possible once more.

Being able to breathe was nice, too.

She was alone in the infirmary and the darkness outside told her it was evening, but she could still hear a dull roar of countless voices through the doorway and smiled slightly. She had looked up to Fairy Tail as a child, even as a pre-teen when she'd first escaped her father's house to join the military, she'd had far away dreams of becoming a guild mage. Going wherever the wind took her and helping whoever needed it, free from the expectations of high society, from her father, hell, even from the military where orders were to be followed and independent thought was frowned upon.

She'd often told herself that in some other life she would have been able to follow that dream.

No matter, that path was well and truly gone for her. Now, she had responsibilities and a nation to protect, and several unruly demons to destroy.

Sighing, she decided she could no longer put off speaking with Fairy Tail's master. It was well known that a majority of the council despised Makarov Dreyar, but despite that, he'd always held a reputation for being kind and fair, even if a bit irresponsible and lecherous.

Lucy pulled the blankets from her person and stood up gently, testing her weight on her left leg. Finding it a little weak, but not painful, she took a few steps to the table holding her keys and called Virgo.

"Punishment, Princess?" Lucy only smiled.

"Virgo, could you get me a change of clothes? I'll buy you more fabric later, I promise, but this…" She pinched the thin material of a hospital gown with distaste, "Is… not going to work."

Disappearing in a flash of gold, and then reappearing in the same way, Virgo responded, "I believe this will suit you fine, Princess. Punishment?"

The maid spirit held out a pair of black shorts that were… entirely too short, and a purple tank top that was short enough to bare her midriff and expose her lightly outlined abdominal muscles to the world. "T-t-that's...very, um… revealing…"

"I am glad you like it, Princess," the spirit gave her a mischievous smirk (well, it wasn't much of a change at all from her standard features, but Lucy had long since discovered the secret to reading her face) before blinking out of Earthland of her own accord.

"...Fuck."

Lucy took slow steps toward the door to the bathroom, favoring her left leg only slightly, to change. She never wore anything in public that wasn't her council attire, but she couldn't exactly put that back on with any sense of authority. The council was gone, and besides, she didn't want to ask Virgo for another favor. She already felt like she was taking advantage, a bit, because Virgo had used her own celestial fabrics to craft the outfit she held in her hands instead of fabric Lucy had purchased and provided to the spirit.

Lucy took a few minutes to shower, now that she could move more freely, and took stock of her remaining injuries. Her leg was sore, but mended, her arm seemed mended as well. She could breathe now, and her ribs hadn't been smarting painfully, so she imagined that pesky little bone problem had been taken care of as well. She still had a few remaining bruises, chief among them a large purple bruise on her thigh that would be visible while she wore the shorts, and while it was healed, the two large lacerations on her side had scarred. They would also be visible with the clothing she'd been provided by her spirit. She sighed heavily as she exited the shower.

Piled on the small table in the bathroom were toiletries that hadn't been there when she entered the shower, and Lucy had to smile at that, 'So that's why I felt Virgo out earlier. I thought she was just finding something in that disgusting guild hall to clean.'

Lucy gripped the keys on the table and sent a 'thank you' through the connection the key provided to her spirit.

She quickly brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, got dressed and secured her old, worn belt over her hips, securing her fleuve d'etoiles, keys, and her ornate golden dagger to their rightful places on her hips.

The celestial mage looked in the mirror, and blushed. She'd never shown that much skin in public. Ever. She'd been raised as a debutante, all long dresses and conservative formalwear, and then moved directly into the military, where everyone wore the same thing and it was far from risque.

She did have to admit, though, looking at the way her weapons dangled from her belt and her scars and bruises shone out on her pale skin… she looked like a badass. She just wished she had a little more coverage.

Having no choice, she left the bathroom that way and made to leave the infirmary. She had her hand on the door when she saw it. Slowly, she stepped away from the door, "Lahar…" she whispered brokenly.

On a chair next to the bed she'd been staying in, was her brother's signature blue and pink-trimmed coat. He'd been wearing it that day, the day he died. He'd lost it in the initial fight, discarded it for some reason or another while he battled with Jackal. She'd found it near his body, the right sleeve torn off at the seams, the left burned and frayed at the wrist, the whole thing soaked in Lahar's lifeblood.

She'd snagged it from the rubble before snagging Doranbolt and gate-hopping just outside the building just before the entire building went out. Crying, she'd summoned Virgo and begged her to keep it.

Seeing it now, Lucy realized that her maid spirit hadn't just kept it. She'd cleaned it, repaired what she could without replacing any of the material, and had resized it so it would fit Lucy. So the celestial mage could keep something of her brother with her always.

The blonde splayed her fingers over the material, overcome with emotion. With shaking hands, Lucy slipped the coat on over her outfit. Her right arm was left bare, the left exposed at the forearm where Virgo had trimmed off the charred fabric, and the coat was long enough that it fell down to brush over the back of her calves. When she tested it out to see if she could still easily reach her weapons, she saw that her pink-haired maid had sewn her brother's captain patch into the inside of the jacket, out of sight but resting right over her heart.

Lucy gripped the material there, and with the other hand reached back to her keys and summoned her spirit once more. Virgo didn't even have time to ask for punishment when Lucy had enveloped her into a hug, fighting tears and whispering, "Thank you," over and over again.


It was an hour later before Lucy had the nerve to leave the infirmary. Though it was obviously late at night, or at least evening, the sounds from the guild hall hadn't lessened. At all.

In fact, she was almost certain they had increased in volume.

She steeled her shoulders and exited the infirmary, still walking carefully but her confidence in the state of her leg a bit higher.

"Lucy!" she heard her name being called as she took her first step down the stairs, and was accosted moments later by a hyperactive Wendy, "You shouldn't be up!" the healer pouted, moving to support the celestial maiden's side while she gripped the handrail tightly.

"Really, Wendy, I feel much better, thank you," she said, giving the girl a genuine smile. She was annoyed with her caring when she'd first arrived, but now she couldn't help but be happy about it. Very few people showed such consistency in caring for perfect strangers.

"Good to see you smiling, Major, but she's right," Cristoff's deep rumble spoke out, taking the steps up to meet both girls on the stairs, "Especially taking stairs on that leg."

Now, the concern was getting a bit much, "Oh, relax, Captain, I'm really fine. I've had worse as a child than this!"

She said it offhandedly, but Cristoff frowned. He'd known that, actually. The story was written in her bones, and in the long-since healed scars that presented themselves on her body. He wanted to ask her about it, but decided against it.

He barely knew her, he couldn't exactly push her to tell him all about her sordid past.

"That may be so," he stated with a smirk, adopting her same lighthearted tone, "But that doesn't mean I will allow you to unnecessarily tax the healing I've done this time around."

With that, he easily plucked the smaller mage from the stair she was on and tossed her - gently - over his shoulder, ignoring her protests, carrying her down the steps and sitting her next to Laxus at the bar.

"Hey!" she slapped at his hands as he went to check her over again for injuries, "You quit that! I can tell you aren't at full magic, so if there is some other random issue you've not yet healed, we will deal with it tomorrow. Understand?" she shot him a scathing glare, but there wasn't much heat behind it. He could actually see her fighting off a smile, but as there were so many people now directing their attention toward them, Cristoff doubted he'd see much of the more playful side of the Rune Knight officer.

She seemed… uncomfortable around people she didn't know. And she hid that discomfort behind excessively professional behavior and a stern attitude. Cristoff rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair, deciding if he wasn't going to challenge her behaviors, probably very few would.

Looking to his left, he decided he was likely the only one who would challenge her, as Doranbolt was passed out drunk, laying over one of the tables.

"I'm surprised you're awake, actually," he commented, taking a seat at her other side, effectively trapping her between himself and Laxus so she couldn't escape.

Lucy was busy reassuring a distraught blue-haired healer that no, none of the injuries on her torso were bothering her after Cristoff's manhandling of her person, and that yes, she would be fine sitting here with the two large males, and no, she wasn't too uncomfortable. Eventually the girl just sighed and made a shooing motion at Wendy.

"Go, go, spend time with your guildmates and recuperate. You're exhausted. We can catch up tomorrow before I leave," Lucy told her. When Wendy looked ready to protest, the blonde brought out her most stern expression and crossed her arms.

The little healer soon relented and walked away glumly, and Lucy chuckled very lightly at the way she pouted as she turned on her stool to face the bar.

"So, as I was saying, I'm surprised you're awake. Your injuries were pretty extensive, we used a lot of magic to heal you. Most would be sleeping for the next few days," Cristoff commented, assuming that he now had her attention.

"How much do you know about celestial magic, Cristoff?" Lucy asked him, without looking his way. She also gave Laxus a short, but rather cheerful greeting - to which Laxus gave a surprised grunt of acknowledgement - while Cris thought it through.

"Honestly, more than most, because I spend some time at the Academe Cellestine - I'm the lunar dragon slayer so some of the magic is pretty similar, it's a good place to research - but still, as far as summoning magic goes… there's just not a whole lot of information out there. And there hasn't really ever been a summoner I cared enough for to ask them about it." he admitted.

Lucy frowned at this, "I've always dreamt of going to the Academe. My mother wanted to send me, but… well anyway, I never went."

"You seem to be doing okay on your own, Blondie," Laxus chimed in unexpectedly, and Lucy gave him a bright smile. He choked on his whiskey. 'Holy shit, is this the same person from this morning?' he thought to himself as he cleared his throat.

"Thank you for saying that, Laxus. Or, well, can I call you that? Or would you prefer Mr. Dreyar?" she asked him sheepishly, ashamed she'd been so familiar with the man.

"Laxus is fine," he grunted. Ever the eloquent one.

"R-right. Well anyway, Cris, my point: Celestial summoning magic is about compatibility. Well, mostly it's about respect and caring for your spirits and not being a douchebag, but the actual technique involved is compatibility. My magic doesn't have the option to resist other magic types - if I want to contract with multiple spirits my magic has to accept other magical types easily."

Cristoff nodded, but still looked confused, "What does that have to do with mine and Wendy's healing?"

"Ah, well, because I have to be versatile, my magic kind of just… embraces foreign magic. I'm pretty resilient to magical attacks in general as well - they still cause damage, obviously, but my magic doesn't repel it or reject it as harshly as other mages do, so it's less effective. So when you and Wendy healed me, my body never worked to fight against the foreign magic. Most mages do. Just like how it is easier for a non-mage to accept magical healing than it is for a well-developed mage to do so." Lucy clarified.

"I see," Cristoff said thoughtfully, placing his elbows on the bar, "That is actually pretty fascinating. I never considered that."

Lucy nodded happily, then proceeded to jump out of her skin when an excited voice behind her chimed in, "Major Heartfilia! Does that mean you also have an easier time completing a unison raid?"

'Oh no…'

She turned around slowly, dreading the conversation to ensue, "Oh, uh. Hello Mr. Justine. I haven't had an opportunity to attempt such a move, but I suppose in theory that would be the case, yes," hesitating only slightly, she added, "and… you can call me Lucy, if you would like."


Lucy found, much to her surprise, that she rather enjoyed speaking with Freed. He was polite, but more lively than she would have thought, and his frequent scathing comments about his team (that went largely over their heads) were infinitely amusing. Her snarky side decided it loved him.

He had dragged her away from her Laxus/Cristoff sandwich (a thought that made her blush as an accompanying image popped into her head) and over to a table that held the rest of the Thunder Legion.

All three mages had thanked her for her assistance with the battle the week prior, and then the other two mages had been ignored entirely as Freed launched into an in-depth discussion of her magic. She'd even almost summoned a spirit or two to introduce them to help quench the rune mage's thirst for information, but each time Cristoff had magically appeared by her side and glared at her until she agreed not to expend magic so soon after having nearly depleted it.

She caught a ginger-haired man eyeing her uncomfortably from a few tables away multiple times throughout the evening, but wrote it off as a general distaste for Council mages. It wasn't exactly an uncommon opinion, by any means, so she didn't think much more on it.

Three hours and two guild brawls (which Lucy got through without incident due to Freed's immediate deployment of protection runes) later found Freed and Lucy sitting at a table alone, the latter having never found the guildmaster to discuss the current situation with Tartaros, and everyone else in the guild either gone or passed out in random locations throughout the hall.

Laxus and Cristoff were the only other mages still conscious, and when Cristoff made his way to their table, Lucy knew she her evening was over. Cris had a look in his eye that was oddly reminiscent of an overprotective mother when he informed her that it was "time for bed".

She snorted at the fact that he'd seemingly assigned himself the role of her parent, but conceded anyway. She was still tired, and since she'd been pulled away from her actual task of conversing with Master Makarov Dreyar, she would have to do that tomorrow before leaving the guild. She'd need to rest up if she was going to make it through that conversation.

Lucy bid Freed goodbye and begrudgingly accepted it when Cristoff scooped her from the bench and carried her much smaller form in his ridiculously large arms up the stairs and back to the infirmary bed she'd be resting in.


"Cristoff?"

"Lucy? What is it?" he asked her while he checked over her injuries one last time before he left for the evening.

"I'm sorry. For the way I behaved earlier. I am ashamed to admit I was in a bit of a crisis mode, and did not handle myself well. I normally have better control over my emotions-"

"Lucy. Stop. You literally escaped a war zone, jumped into the middle of a battle to save perfect strangers, and woke up in the middle of an unfamiliar room with your entire world shifted. Having control of your emotions in a situation like that is a bit… ambitious."

Lucy laughed lightly.

"Also," Cris continued lightly, "You can stop being so… formal. It's unnerving. You're much easier to get along with when you're relaxed."

Nodding, the celestial mage agreed, "I… I know that. It's just, after nine years in the military, it's hard to turn it off. You know?"

"Nine years?" Cristoff looked confused, "That would mean-"

"Yeah, it means I joined the Rune Knights when I was twelve. It's… a long story."

The lunar slayer digested this information, going quiet as he gave it thought. He couldn't help but wonder if some of those old injuries had something to do with her 'long story'. He, again, decided against asking about it. She seemed vulnerable enough in that moment, he didn't feel the need to pry further.

"Anyway, achieving rank when you're barely fifteen… it isn't exactly a walk in the park. Older soldiers and mages found it rather… challenging to follow me, and my orders, so to counteract that I developed a tendency to not allow myself to show any weakness, even with my emotions. It clashes with my own natural personality most days, and I hate it, but most days I think it's the only reason I've survived this long."

Cristoff looked at her curiously, "If it was so difficult, and you hated it so much, why didn't you leave? Aren't commision commitments in Fiore six years? You've obviously accepted an additional service contract since your first."

Lucy averted her gaze, "It was better than what I'd be going back to," she said quietly, "And Lahar," she coughed to cover her whimper, but Cristoff heard it, "Lahar, he 'adopted' me, took me in when I didn't have anyone else, became my brother, and leaving the Knights meant leaving him behind. Probably to never see him again, and I just couldn't do that. Even if I was willing to accept the other consequences of returning to my father."

"I don't think I understand," Cristoff answered, "Why wouldn't you see him? If you were family? And why did he adopt you if you have a father out there?" Weren't adoption laws in Fiore like in Bosco? No one would dream of separating him and his siblings. Not ever. And he wouldn't dream of leaving his father, for any reason.

"He didn't officially adopt me, not legally, he couldn't. My father still had custody. Technically, still does."

"What?" Cristoff was even more confused, "Aren't you over twenty years old now? How does your father have custody of you, you're a grown woman!"

Lucy laughed without humor, "You'll find that Fiore isn't quite as progressive a country as most people believe it to be. If I were an ordinary citizen, you'd be right, but among Fioran nobility, the laws are different. Every attempt to change them has been thwarted by old, entitled men who think controlling their daughters is the best way to get ahead in their stuffy world. And I guess, here in Fiore, they aren't wrong. We are like property to be bought and sold, bargaining chips for business deals and increased social standing. My father, not that he was ever much of one, will have custody of me until I turn twenty-five, or until I marry. And if I marry? I'll be in the custody of my husband until the same age, or until I bear an heir. Some bullshit laws they keep avoiding to change in the name of 'noble bloodlines' or some stupid shit like that."

Cristoff was stunned. Bosco hadn't had laws like that for centuries. It was archaic, "That's… Horrible. Is that why you joined the military? And your father was okay with that?"

Lucy gave him a victorious smile at that, settling in further into her veritable mountain of pillows, "There were a lot of reasons I joined, and why I did so at the age of twelve, but the gist of it is - that's the one place my father can't control me. The one place where the law is on my side: noble families are subject to military service, specifically nobles with rare skill. The royal family can compel rare mages of any age to serve, and the noble families are required to accept, at the very least, one six-year term commission. Oh, how furious my father was when found out…" Lucy chuckled at that, smiling brightly.

"So, the king demanded the military service of a twelve year old girl? Because you have a rare magic type?"

"Don't sound like that, Cris. He did it because I asked him to."

"But why?"

"I… think that is enough soul-bearing for one day, don't you?" She asked him, shutting down the conversation and waving in a dismissive gesture.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll go. Hey, Lucy?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me some of this. I know it's not easy, all things considered…" he trailed off, fighting the urge to activate his magic to soothe her emotions. She wouldn't take that well this time, he was sure.

Lucy gave him a freshly brightened smile, "Thanks for being trustworthy."