A/N: I'm back, minna! :D I've missed you all! T.T And I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story, since I've been back for...over a week now. O.o I've been crazy busy, and maybe just a tad lazy. XD But I promise, I will try to update again as often as I am able! Thank you all for waiting so patiently! :)

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Now, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out to let me know what you think! :)


Chapter Nine – Piano

I resisted the urge to bang my head on the desk as I watched the words swim meaninglessly across the page. We were being given time to free-study in class today for the exam tomorrow, but I couldn't dredge up enough concentration to even get through the first chapter in the unit. My book was standing upright in front of me, and my arm was propped up on the desk so I could rest my chin in my hand. The soft voices of students working in small groups surrounded me, along with the rustling of pages. Sighing, I lowered my textbook to the desk and half-heartedly flipped to the next page.

A crumpled ball of paper suddenly hit me in the shoulder, causing me to glance up in surprise. I couldn't see anyone looking over at me, and Ms. Strauss hadn't noticed anything yet, so I turned my attention to the wad of paper sitting on my desk next to my Humanities textbook. I subtly picked it up and brought it into my lap, where it would be hidden from prying eyes. There, I quietly unfolded it and smoothed it out, revealing the words scrawled across it in blue ink. "What's up with you, Luce?" it read. Immediately, I recognized the pet name that a certain rock star had given me. I couldn't say for sure what had been the turning point in our relationship that made us close enough for nicknames, but Natsu Dragneel had taken to calling me 'Luce' ever since he'd come to my house with the others just one week ago.

My eyes narrowed and I scrubbed the back of my head roughly with my hand in irritation as I recalled the incident. After the rain had come along and ruined everything, the band plus Juvia had been forced to stay at my house for several hours, until the rain let up enough for them to return to their own homes. I still grimaced whenever I remembered the awkwardness of those few hours. I'd hauled my fever-ridden ass out of bed and made myself presentable, and then gone down to the parlor to entertain my unwanted visitors. Never again, I thought to myself in despair as I recalled the painful ordeal. Erza had already found the photo albums in the bookcase by the time I arrived, and it had been all downhill from there.

Now, I turned my head and glanced furtively behind me at the pink-haired boy sitting two desks behind me in the row next to mine. He was watching me with an unreadable expression on his handsome face, his open textbook lying ignored on his desk. On the other side of him, Gray was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, chewing on the end of his pencil absentmindedly as he stared blankly at the textbook. In front of Gray, Loke was "studying" with a girl with long brown hair and a full bust. And in front of Natsu, Erza was not even pretending to study. She had her knees propped against the edge of her desk as she leaned back with a novel in her lap, her textbook lying closed on her desk. It was a good thing that they were behind Levy, who sat in the desk next to mine, or she would've had a fit at their blatant lack of appreciation for this "opportunity to increase their knowledge" and prepare for the test.

I stifled my grimace as I met Natsu's gaze, knowing that I couldn't let on about the truth of what was really going on. Instead, I focused on smoothing out my features into a natural, reassuring smile. "I'm fine," I mouthed to Natsu, nodding my head slightly for emphasis.

Natsu's eyes searched mine for several long moments, until he finally smiled back at me, evidently reassured. Satisfied that he would go back to studying, I turned around again to face forward. My gaze wandered around the classroom, as I still couldn't summon the will to study. Ms. Strauss was typing something up on her computer, a serene expression on her face. A group of students in front of me laughed softly at something, likely not even talking about the imminent test and the material it would cover. "…so jealous," I heard one girl titter. "Is he really going to take you on a cruise in the Caribbean over break?"

I propped my chin in my hand again, already zoning out, when I heard another girl say wistfully, "Well, that's what he said. But my father always promises things and then never delivers. Last time, he said he would take me to the hot springs in Okinawa, but then he ran off with another girlfriend of his."

My eyes drifted to the girl who had just spoken. She had wavy lavender hair and a pretty face with sad brown eyes framed by thin, wire glasses. I seemed to recall that her name was Laki, but I didn't really know anything else about her. Her words had poked a stick in my fresh wounds though, and I felt a pang in my chest as my hand absent-mindedly went to the pocket of my cropped leather jacket. Without fully realizing what I was doing, I drew a folded-up square of paper from the pocket and began unfolding it with shaking fingers. I nervously smoothed my fingers across the creases as I stared down at the letter in my lap. Hot, bitter tears threatened to leak down my cheeks, and I bit my lip to focus on the pain in my body rather than the pain in my heart. Even though I had already read and reread this letter all night long, it still hurt to read it now.

Lucy:

I regret to inform you that my business in Paris has been prolonged, so I will not be home for the upcoming holidays. I have given money to Capricorn to buy extra presents for you.

I trust that you are behaving and getting superior grades in school. The servants will be sending me your grade card after the semester ends. So far, they have reported that you are doing well and making new friends. I am pleased that you are doing well, but I hope you continue to do so, or I will have to remove you from Fairy Academy. Remember, friends can make or break you, so only make friends who can walk beside you through life.

Sincerely,

Papa

I hastily swiped at the tear that formed at the corner of my eye. My father sent me a letter like this every year, making some excuse for why he wouldn't be coming home. They grew shorter and more to-the-point each year. But that was okay; I wasn't close to my father, anyways. We never had been, if I was being honest with myself. He had never pretended that I was more important than his work, so it never really came as a surprise. And yet, seeing how easily he pushed me off onto the servants as their responsibility never grew any easier. He won't even buy me his own Christmas presents…he just tells the servants to buy me extra. Another tear dripped from my lashes.

He's always so brusque…no "how are you, Lucy?" or "what's new in your life?" Does he even know my interests, my hobbies? If he does, it's only because the servants are thoughtful enough to include them in the reports they send to him every month. The paper crinkled beneath my fingers as I curled them into fists. He doesn't even know me, and yet he presumes to tell me how to live my life. The words in the last sentence of his letter rang through my mind, echoing in a taunting voice. Only make friends who can walk beside me in life…if anyone else's father had said those words, he would have meant to choose only loyal friends. But my father means for me to only choose friends who can "fit" in my life—rich friends from wealthy families. Friends who could reasonably appear at my side at a gathering of wealthy socialites. My blood started to boil in my veins. I crumpled the paper up in one fist and squeezed until my fingernails pierced the skin of my palm. I watched as dark red blood spread across the crisp white paper, eating up my father's fancy handwriting. Or was it his personal assistant's? I could never tell which letters were actually penned by him and which were only dictated.

That thought made the rage mounting within me threaten to spill over the brink, and I didn't realize I was shaking until my pencil rolled off the desk. Blinking through the dark emotions rising within me, I hastily stuffed the crumpled letter into the pocket of my shorts and leaned to retrieve my pencil. Thankfully, the bell rang just then, signaling the end of the class and the end of the school day. Still shaking with pent-up rage, I swiftly swept my books into my bag and took off for the door before anyone else was even out of their seat. I heard Natsu call my name, but I ignored him as I continued to the door and left the classroom.

I continued my brisk pace all the way to my locker, where I quickly exchanged my things for the books I would need for that night's homework. As I slammed my locker shut and turned to make my way to the front of the school, I slowed. I didn't want to go home right now, I realized. I came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, emotions warring within me. Students grunted angrily and protested the new road-block, bumping into me as they tried to get around me.

"What do you think you're doing, punk?"

I turned irritably to see a large guy standing before me, his thick arms crossed menacingly over his muscular chest. His messy hair looked to be dyed pale blond, judging from the dark roots growing in, and he had a tattoo snaking out from the corner of his eye and across his temple. I returned his glare as I snapped, "Thinking. Maybe you should try it sometime."

He reached out to grab the collar of my leather jacket and drew me up to his face, preparing to lay into me. However, before he could get so much as a word in, I felt another hand rest lightly on my shoulder. I saw the thug's eyes widen as he hastily released me, causing me to stumble backwards into a rather solid chest. The hand on my shoulder tightened as I regained my balance, and I spun to see a familiar—and unexpected—face hovering above mine. A pair of red eyes narrowed as they focused on the man who had originally grabbed me.

"Why don't you wait until you've made something of your life before picking on others?" Rogue asked in a bored voice that somehow managed to convey intense distain.

The man made a final grunt of protest before angrily shouldering his way into the gathering crowd and vanishing behind the wall of bodies. I turned to look at Sabertooth's bassist again, feeling confused and wary. "Thank you," I said hesitantly, wondering if this was some kind of trick. Last time I had checked, Yukino was the only one in the band who harbored fond feelings toward me.

Rogue grunted and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, already turning away. "Yukino would have been upset if I'd let you get pulverized without stepping in," he said by way of explanation.

My glare sharpened on his retreating back, and I huffed as I spun to continue in the opposite direction. I pointedly ignored everybody's stares as I stalked down the hall, not caring that I was headed deeper into the school now. After all, I had no desire to be home right now. Ducking into the girls' bathroom, I pulled out my phone and dialed Capricorn. As I listened to the ring, I wondered if the servants were going to be concerned if I kept not showing up after school.

"Hello, Miss Lucy, how may I help you?" Capricorn's voice picked up.

"I will be staying after school for a little bit today, so you can go ahead and head home. And don't worry about how I'll get home; I have a way." Before he could say anything else, I ended the call and stuffed my phone back in my back pocket. I felt slightly bad about using such a commanding tone with Capricorn, but I told myself that I would make it up to him. And as for this 'way' I had in mind…well, I could use a bit of exercise anyways.

Nearly twenty minutes passed as I wandered the halls, lost in my dark thoughts. Eventually, I came to a hallway I hadn't been in before, and I curiously turned down it. The hall had only two doors, and I glanced up at the signs above the doors to see which classes these held. The door on my left was the art room, and the door on my right was the music room. I felt a stirring of longing within me as I stared at the door on my right. Finally, a sigh of defeat slipped through my lips and I rubbed the back of my neck. I quickly cast a furtive glance around to make sure that I was alone before twisting the doorknob and pulling it open. I closed the door softly behind me and peered one last time out the window in the door to make sure that the hall was deserted before turning to face the room. Dark blue linoleum covered the floor, and the walls were covered with panels to optimize the production of sound. Rows of plastic chairs filled the room, all facing a mini stage at the front of the room. Various musical instruments were stacked on shelves, but the only instrument that caught my attention was the piano that stood unobtrusively in one corner of the stage.

Without even realizing it, my feet began to carry me all the way to the front of the large classroom, heading straight for the piano. As I mounted the steps to the platform, I imagined what it must sound like in this room when a full symphony of instruments was playing. When I reached the piano, I brushed my hand across the smooth black surface, savoring the familiar texture. A bubble of warmth rose in my chest as I stepped around to the front of the piano and sat on the bench, lifting the cover to caress the keys with my fingers.

Whenever I was feeling low, I would hole up in the mansion's sitting room and play the piano until the servants came to fetch me for dinner. Lately, though, I hadn't had time to play, what with all the catching up to do in school, so this felt like coming home. I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath, savoring the feel of the cold keys beneath my fingers. I could already feel my stress and anger flowing away, lifting a weight from my chest. As I slowly released the breath, I allowed my fingers to coax a new melody from the piano. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to ruin the moment of creating something new with distractions of my other senses. The notes rose up, clear and sweet, drifting through the air like a cloud of perfume. As my fingers wandered across the keys at will, I felt my mind relaxing and being renewed. This melody was sweet and haunting, shifting between moments of pure joy in the major key and moments of dark, bitter angst in the minor key.

The melody continued on for several minutes, consuming me in its haunting embrace. By the time the last notes trailed off into silence, my mind was soothed once more and my soul felt healed. My eyes were still closed, but a small, serene smile played at the corners of my lips. Until my eyes snapped open at the voice that drifted up to me from the doorway.

"Your playing is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard."


Ooh, what do you think, guys? Good, bad? So-so? Let me know in a review! ;D And as usual, favoriting and following is appreciated! :D ...Well, I don't really have anything else to say this time, except that I'm so happy to be back and writing! So I guess I'll see you all next time! :)