I broke my promise to Rita, after all.
As soon as Lucy returned to us, and we all reassured her that no one blamed her, we found ourselves surrounded by Rune Knights. They took us to a military post, and we had to go through a week of interrogation. And I was at the end of that week, because I spent the next four days paralyzed in a bed in the guild's clinic.
Seriously, I could not move! My limbs felt heavy as lead, thanks to Loke my left eye was swollen shut, and my right seemed to be glued from fatigue. I wasn't always asleep, and could talk, but for the most part, I was basically comatose.
Of the guild, Cana came by first, and was scolding me for what felt like forever.
"This is why you don't do what you did! The only one stupid enough to try that without training is Natsu! I hope this teaches you, baka!"
Mou, it felt like she'd never shut up. I swear, she only left because Macao forced her to.
Then Loke came by. He apologized for hitting me, and, of course, I forgave him.
"Loke, we won in the end, and Lucy is safe. And since I can't move my arms, I guess I can let your black eyes slide."
I think he smiled at that.
"Jeanne, would you please not say anything? About..."
"Es-tu sérieux? You know what, I take it back. I'm giving you black eyes after all." I forced my right eye open. "Do you even know how long I've known? Since you first joined. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew."
"How?"
I shifted.
"I don't have much longer on this world, at least tell me, please."
Oh, quel diable? What's one more person?
"Montage View."
"Huh?"
I sighed and closed my eye again. "I call it 'Montage View.' Around everyone, I see an aura, and if I look into it, I see their worst moments. The parts of their lives that would kill them if I brought it up. The day you arrived, I saw the times you saw that Blue Pegasus chick torture your Spirit Friends, the days you forced yourself to remain in our world, and the day Master Bob told you your owner died. And a few things you did afterwards. All in less than a second."
He was silent for a while, before saying, "The day I arrived?"
"I'm sorry, Leo."
I felt him jump in his seat.
"Gomenesai! Je suis désolé! I didn't mean it, it just slipped! Hontōni désolé!" I panicked. If I could've, I would've moved myself into fetal position, or run away. Probably the latter.
"Jeanne, calm down! You just startled me, that's all!"
I breathed deeply. More than once, when I was younger, little things like that would slip, and I'd immediately have to run away to avoid getting pummeled by the bitches whose secrets I just spilled.
"Do you know other secrets?" he asked in a low voice.
I remained silent, knowing that that was answer enough.
"I see. So, I guess that means you can already be trusted to keep them." I heard him stand up.
"Secret for a secret, Loke," I whispered. "Please don't tell."
"Wild horses couldn't drag it out of me," he said.
WWW
So, yeah, it was actually quite a while before I could finally take Rita out for ice cream. After Mira finally allowed me to be released, and the Rune Knights were finished questioning me (and it wasn't like I had much to say, anyway), everyone was trying to rebuild the guild. I tried to offer, but was turned away. I wasn't the only one not working, of course. They were turning down a lot of volunteers, insisting that they fully recover before attempting to do heavy duty labor.
It was the middle of next week when Rita and I were walking down Strawberry Street, a lemon ice in my mouth, and a root beer one in hers.
"I'm also making you take me out Saturday, Nee-san," she warned me. "As punishment for breaking your promise."
"Ouais, ouais," I said, giving her a quick one-armed hug. "Actually, what if I took you and Maman to a spa, instead?"
Rita thought a bit. "That might be good. Maman definitely deserves it."
Suddenly, something blonde caught my eye.
"Lucy-san!" I called out, waving at the young lady just locking her front door.
She turned to me with a smile, pulling up the straps on her purse.
"Good morning, Jeanne-san, how are you feeling?" she said, concern genuine in her eyes.
I shrugged. "I've been better, but on the mend. How 'bout you?"
"Just bruised," she replied.
I gestured to my little sister. "This my sister, Marguerite."
"Rita," she corrected, with a little glare at me. I smiled triumphantly. She hates being introduced as her full name, and I'll do any little thing to get her to talk to others.
Lucy smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you, Rita-chan."
I eyed her purse. "Are you going on a trip?"
She looked away sheepishly. "I'm going back home. To talk to my father."
I nodded. "Okay, see you soon. Have a safe trip."
Lucy looked up in surprise. "You're not upset?"
"...Why would I be upset?" I asked, a little confused. "You're coming back, right?"
"Of course!"
"Good. You just want to set your father straight, right?"
Lucy looked determined. "Yes."
I smiled. "No reason to be upset then. Good luck talking to your father."
Rita and I started to walk away, before Lucy asked, "Why are you so understanding?"
I turned around.
"How can you understand? Have you had a similar situation?"
"No, not from experience…" I paused. "No one has told you about my family, yet, have they?"
Lucy shook her head in denial. Rita and I shared a look. She was going to find out sooner or later.
"I'm the oldest of thirteen children. Rita's the fourth. The baby, Ambroise, has just turned a year. And Maman's pregnant again."
Lucy's eyes were wide, and her jaw was dropped. Typical reaction.
"No, Lucy, I don't understand from experience. Papa loves all of us very much, even though we don't see him a lot anymore. But I know about yours, nonetheless. And I'm sorry. We all are. Like Master said, we share things to a certain extent. And how many times am I going to have to tell you anyway?" I walked over to her, and held her right hand. "You are now Lucy of Fairy Tail. Screw the Heartfilia Konzern. You don't need such a heartless bastard for family. We can take care of you."
I smiled. "I trust that you wouldn't go back to such a lonely life, especially after we just fought so hard for you. So," I released her hand, and began to walk away. But right as I reached Rita, I turned, and pointed to the sky with my left hand, showing my guild mark with pride. "I'll see you later, Lucy of Fairy Tail."
Lucy smiled brightly, returned the gesture, and walked off toward the station.
Something clicked in my head. "I hope you plan to tell your team what you're doing!"
"I left a note!" she threw over her shoulder.
That's good. Erza, Natsu, Happy, and Gray would not be happy to learn where she's going.
