Chapter 7: The Heartfilia's
Gajeel had ended up joining Fairy Tail yesterday dragging Juvia along with him after he was interrogated by the council and explained to them why he had to do what he did. She, Gajeel, Lucas, and Laxus had ended up staying in a room that hadn't managed to be destroyed in the battle, not wanting to bring Lucas somewhere else and miss her parents when they arrived. The council had offered to escort Lucas home, but Lucy had told them she would feel better if she could deliver him to his parents directly.
Most of the night had been spent in a fitful rest that had only ended when Laxus ended up dragging her in closer to him and cuddled with her last night. Her fear of seeing her parents and them recognizing her had her really worried, and only his comforting presence seemed to calm her down.
The rest of the guild had been honestly shocked when Gajeel introduced himself as her older brother to the guild, and then went to tell them that her full name was Luciana Redfox. Master had appeared skeptical of him being her older brother, but he seemed to let it go when she had said that he was and that she couldn't find him before. Laxus still didn't trust him though and Freed had told her that Laxus was afraid that Gajeel was messing around with her because she didn't have any memories. This led to her telling them a bunch of random facts about Gajeel that she wouldn't know without having known him for a while. That made most of the skeptics let it go.
The others were still sleeping in the somewhat airy guild. Master had already removed all of the metal bars and it made it so that even with the holes boarded up that the guild hall itself was freezing. Even though it had been a pain in the ass last time Lucy couldn't wait to start rebuilding the guild to the way it had been before. Plus this time the building would be more peaceful since Loke's many girlfriends wouldn't be trying to kill her this time.
Carefully sliding out of under Laxus's arm Lucy had to smile at the frown that appeared on his face as his arms tightened in his sleep and reached out for her. Luckily he didn't wake up though and Lucy found herself wandering off to stand outside. She wished it was still night time so that she could look up at the stars and gather courage from their twinkling lights. It had been over eleven years since she had last seen her parents if she factored in the other time line and Lucy was terrified of seeing them again. Terrified because of the pain she had put them through when she hadn't returned home and allowed them to think she was dead.
At the same time she knew if she hadn't that her mother would have died. She still hadn't had a chance to show Gajeel her arm although he had raised his brows in confusion when he had noticed the arm bands. Her look of terror and the way she clutched to the fabric seemed to tell him that she couldn't say anything considering that they had been surrounded by the rest of their guild at the time. So he had given her a look that told her she would be telling him all about it later when they weren't surrounded by people who had no idea about their past.
Everyone had awed over Lucas last night and Master had even told Lucas that when he was older Fairy Tail would have a space for him. Nobody but Gajeel knew how much that offer meant to her and luckily no one else had noticed how it had affected her the first time he had called her Lucy-nee. She was scared about how her parents would react to their son calling a mage Lucy-nee, and even more terrified of what would happen if they saw her key ring. It's not like she could ask people to hide that she was a celestial mage without them wondering why she wanted to hide from the Heartfilia family.
Lucy had only been outside for half an hour before a sleepy Laxus had come to find her telling her that Lucas was looking for her. After that she had summoned Virgo for some clothes for Lucas since Romeo was a lot shorter than him and there was no one else his size in Fairy Tail. The clothes Virgo had given him made him look like a little prince and had Mira squealing when she had saw him. Mira had also discreetly told Lucy that she thought Lucas somewhat looked like her and Laxus's child which had her sending the juice she had been drinking into Mira's face much to the other woman's shock.
"Hey Lucy-nee when are momma and daddy coming for me?" Lucas asked a sad expression on his face. It must have been hard on the poor thing being kidnapped and still not being able to see his parents right away.
"They should be here soon sweetheart, your home is probably too far away for them to get here quickly," she told him adding on the probably bit as a reassurance. It would seem weird if she knew where the Heartfilia Mansion was after all.
"Oh ok," he said his eyes downcast and he looked like he was fighting not to cry.
Hugging Lucas to her tightly she whispered reassurances in his ear. Telling him that everything would be ok and that his parents would be here as soon as they could it ended up taking her summoning Plue to calm him down again. He had seen her summoning Plue as a reason to summon his own Nikola which he had called Steel saying it was because Gajeel had given it to him. Gajeel had actually blushed after hearing that, although the blush could have been because of the smile Levy had sent his way.
Gajeel was lucky this time around since his relationship with Levy wouldn't be as difficult. Master and a few others had been sort of angry at Team Shadow Gear and Gajeel for their deception, but when they had been presented with Lucas's fate they had agreed that it was with good intentions even if they could have found another way to do it.
Soon enough Lucy heard the telltale clatter of a carriage outside. She guessed her father had felt too important to take his own train line and had taken a carriage instead. Fear was paralyzing her at the bar where she had been left to her own devices well Lucas played with Plue and Steel. A hand on her shoulder made her look up expecting Gajeel, but instead she saw Laxus looking at her with a concerned look on his face. The glance he had sent to Lucas made her think she was probably going to miss the little boy they had certainly bonded over the last little while. A bond they should have already had.
Lucas's eyes went wide, but he waited until Gajeel stood beside him to walk out with him. Plue and Steel on either side of Lucas looking like they wanted to protect the youngest Heartfilia, and it made Lucy smile seeing how much Lucas's spirit had already bonded with him. Slowly but surely the four mages and two spirits walked outside followed closely by the rest of the guild, as they all wanted to say goodbye to the young celestial mage that they had all helped rescue.
The moment they stepped outside the carriage had stopped and before anyone could grab the door it was flung open. All Lucy could see in that moment was a blur of yellow and white before Lucas was scooped up into the air and held closely to his mother. Lucy could feel her breath practically drain away as she stared at her living mother for the first time in over twenty years. The sickness that had plagued her mother when she was a child was nowhere to be found, and she seemed perfectly healthy to Lucy. Making her even more positive that she had been the reason her mother had died the first time her mother must have been the one to try and seal the curse.
When her mother's familiar brown eyes looked up and back towards the carriage Lucy could feel her arm start to pulse. Just the second of contact with her mother's eyes had made her mark start to burn like it was trying to tell her something, although it wasn't as bad as it had been at Galuna Island. Lucy had to be careful not to rub it not wanting to bring anyone's attention to it.
"Jude get out here Lucas is here," her mother called out tears springing to Lucy's eyes as she heard the voice she had practically forgotten.
Seconds later her father stepped out as well his face not having the harshness Lucy had grown accustomed to. It seemed having his wife still alive and a son had kept her father from succumbing to the pain. Even though she could see the shadows of pain in their eyes showing her that they still mourned her.
"Daddy," Lucas cried out wiggling himself out of his mother's eyes and flinging himself into his father's. The reunion they were having was the reunion Lucy herself longed to have.
Looking around she tried to keep her eyes off her family, but she still found it drawn back to them no matter how much she tried to fight it. A familiar tingling of magic behind her was her only warning before Loke had his arms encircling her ignoring the growls of warning that Laxus was giving him. Obviously her spirits had felt her pain and Loke had decided that he was the best one to come most having already known what would happen today.
Unfortunately the tingle of magic seemed to bring her mother's eyes to her as she approached her with wide eyes. "You you're a Celestial Spirit Mage aren't you?" her mother asked looking almost terrified of the answer. Lucy was afraid for a moment that her mother recognized her, but there was no familiarity in her mother's eyes only fear.
Before Lucy could answer though Lucas had popped back up and was in front of her, "yeah Lucy-nee even showed me how to summon one. This is Steel," Lucas told Layla proudly not noticing the pale looks on his parents faces when he called her Lucy-nee.
"Lucy?" her mother gasped out looking at her with wide unseeing eyes.
"Yeah Luciana Redfox my younger sister, Lucas-kun took to calling her Lucy-nee after we saved him yesterday," Gajeel interrupted before her mother could do anything. Obviously he knew that she wasn't Lucy Heartfilia for a reason.
Jude Heartfilia her father was looking at her a look of pure anguish on his face at being told that she wasn't his daughter. She wanted to scream at them that she was Lucy Heartfilia their Lucky Lucy, but she was afraid, afraid that her mother would try and seal her other magic away and die again. Afraid of the questions people would ask when they realized her new looks weren't reversible because she had no idea how to explain the change. Why had only she changed and Gajeel stay the same when he followed her?
"Oh of course she couldn't possibly be I'm so sorry," her mother rambled stepping away from her a look of embarrassment on her face.
"Its fine Mrs. Heartfilia losing someone can be difficult," Lucy said being careful not to wince at being so formal with her mother. It hurt her to lie point blank to her mother, but she didn't want to lose her again even if it meant they couldn't have a real relationship.
"Momma it was really cool Lucy-nee had a tail yesterday and even though she's a Spirit Mage she could use water magic too. It was so awesome," Lucas babbled with the complete innocence of a child not noticing the tension around him.
Her mother turned to look at her her eyes wide at the implication. Lucy wondered if her mother knew about Star Dress although the blessing from Aquarius was slightly different from it. If she did but had never used it, that would mean that her mother might realize she had Aquarius's key. Actually now that she thought about it considering that Phantom kidnapped Lucas it was likely that her parents had been the ones to hire Phantom to find Aquarius's key holder.
Lucy found herself fiddling with her shirt not even realizing she had revealed Aquarius's tattoo until her mother gasped. Her eyes were wide and unfocused as she stared at Lucy's collar bone where the tattoo that the mermaid spirit had given her rested. Even her father's eyes were wide as he recognized the tattoo from the mermaid spirit and a glint of hope was still in his eyes.
"Do you hold the key to the water bearer?" her mother asked finally looking like her life depended on the answer. Most of the people in the guild seemed confused at the sudden question, and Laxus's hold on her arm told her he was concerned about the randomness of it.
Sighing Lucy found herself walking to the water front instead of answering. There was no way that she could lie now and have someone realize she held the key later on, actually Levy already knew that she was the holder of Aquarius so she would end up being suspicious. Sticking the key into the water she grimaced as Aquarius came forward her eyes for once kind as she looked back into the eyes of her former owner.
"Hello Layla," she said breaking the silence before her mother flung herself on the mermaid with tears.
"Aquarius please tell me she's alive please tell me my baby is alive!" her mother begged clinging to the mermaid spirit. Lucy could see the pain in Aquarius's eyes as she looked down at the owner she had always told Lucy she had preferred over her.
"I'm sorry Layla Lucy Heartfilia no longer exists in this world," Aquarius replied not truly saying she was dead. Here Aquarius had hidden her from her mother by using her gift of word play to make Layla think the worse. Because it was true Lucy wasn't Lucy Heartfilia anymore she had been Lucy of Fairy Tail for a long time and her last name didn't matter.
Layla screamed out in pain looking like her world was crumbling beneath her feet. If it wasn't for Loke and Gajeel having suddenly standing behind her at the last minute Lucy was certain she would have fallen on the ground from hearing her scream like that. Her father rushed over to her immediately clinging to his distressed wife, although he looked just as upset. Her parents were finally going to let go of Lucy Heartfilia no matter how much pain it would cause them to do.
Aquarius looked conflicted on what she should do to comfort her old owner knowing that Layla was more fragile with her here. Sending a sad smile over to Lucy Aquarius closed her gate leaving behind the devastation her misinterpreted words had given. Lucas was looking at his parents concern shining in his eyes as well as confusion making her realize they must have never told him about her. The pain must have been too much for them to answer their son's innocent questions about his older sister.
"Maybe you should take your son home now. I am sorry you didn't get the answer you were looking for," Master Makarov said laying his hands on her parents shoulders.
Both of them stood up soaking wet from the water, but didn't seem to care. Instead they listlessly approached Lucas and with a slight bow their way they were gone. Lucy watching them leave and feeling her heart crumble more as they walked away from her wishing that she could be a part of that small family and wipe away their pain.
When they were finally out of sight Lucy found herself being dragged away. Gajeel's hand was on her arm and a sad look on his face, as he pulled her into the forest away from everyone else. Clearly he knew she needed to rant and was getting her away from other people before she could truly let go of her sadness.
The second they were out of view and hearing of the others Lucy found herself collapsing on the ground the tears she had held in released as she finally let her sadness go. Gajeel hugging her too him tightly rocking her back and forth as he just allowed her to cry. Him the one who hated tears just allowing her to cry on his shoulder even though he always felt rusty after tears landed on him.
"I killed her Gaj in the other time line I killed her my own mother. She tried to seal it away," she cried as she pushed him away ripping the arm band off of her arm and for the first time since she had gotten it she showed off her devil slayer mark to someone other than her spirits. By the wide and slightly scared look that Gajeel gave him she knew that he had never even considered her being a devil slayer.
Both of them terrified about what would happen when her magic matured. If her mother had sealed the mark in the first time line it obviously meant that she had never wanted Lucy to know about her other magical side. The question was why, but the only one who could answer it was highly unlikely to ever give her the answer she wanted.
"Oh Bunny Girl you didn't kill her," he told her with a sad smile. "Layla Heartfilia chose to die to protect you from this life. This time though we will protect everyone else, I promise that we will save them from the heartbreak we will have to endure!"
"I'm scared Gaj," she whispered.
"I know Bunny girl so am I, but you are Lucky Lucy Heartfilia now Luciana Redfox you can fight anything."
What neither of them noticed though was the person scurrying away from them their sorrow keeping them from paying attention. Having heard their entire conversation even if the person didn't fully understand it, but they still had knowledge the two never wanted anyone to have.
