"All right, you two! You can sleep in the guest cabin!" Paul said with a grin as he gestured to a cabin on the boat. Lucy raised a brow.
"Guest cabin?" Paul chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"A few friends like to go sailing with me sometimes. Now...make yourselves cozy and I'll keep an eye on the water, make sure we're safely sailing." Lucy nodded, and approached the cabin, Harry in tow. She opened the door, and the two stepped inside a small, plain room with two bunk beds. The diclonius sighed and sat on the bottom bunk on the left, still tightly clutching Harry, who in turn was digging his fingers into her dress, looking up at her nervously.
"L-Lucy?" The little boy asked softly. Lucy looked down at him. "W-Why are those men after you...?" Lucy sighed. She couldn't keep it a secret any longer...
"Harry...do you remember when I...I killed your uncle...?" Harry nodded. "Well...he...wasn't the first one I've killed..." Harry stared up at her, shock written all over his face. Lucy cringed at the expression, but continued. "You see...When I was a child...People weren't kind to me...I...I grew up in an orphanage...The other kids would bully me because of my horns..." Harry's face turned sympathetic. He knew what bullying was like..."One day I just...snapped, and I killed people... I killed so many people..." Briefly, her mind flashed to the terrible day she had taken Kouta's family away from him. "After living alone on the street for some time..." That reminded Harry of the time Vernon had ditched him in a strange part of town. He was lucky to find his way back after a few days... "I was taken by a corporation that wanted to...to experiment on me...In...terrible ways..." Harry had a feeling Lucy suffered more than he ever did. So, the little boy immediately wrapped his arms around his caretaker's waist.
Lucy blinked in surprise. She had expected Harry to be afraid of her upon learning the truth...but instead he was trying to make her feel better? Then, she smiled and hugged him back. He was so sweet... "...Y-You're not going to do it anymore, right?" Lucy tilted her head.
"Do what, Harry?" She asked.
"K-Kill people." Lucy flinched at the words, but hugged Harry back.
"I won't kill anyone unless I have to." She assured.
"P-Pinkie swear?" Harry recalled Dudley using this on his aunt when she promised him three chocolate bars from the store... Lucy smiled, and the woman and child intertwined their pinkies.
"Pinkie swear." She said with a nod. "We should get some rest now...We'll need our strength." She gently tucked Harry into the bunk, and made to get in the bottom bunk on the other side of the cabin...
"Lucy?" Lucy turned her head when Harry softly called her name.
"Yes?" She asked.
"C-Can you sleep with me tonight?" Lucy looked slightly taken aback, as he had never asked her to sleep with him...but then she smiled warmly.
"Of course, Harry." She climbed in the bunk next to her charge and tucked them both in. She and Harry laid on their sides, looking at each other...and then, Harry slowly, but surely, edged closer to her. When he was confident he wouldn't be hit, he snuggled up next to his caretaker and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Lucy smiled and teared up slightly, happy that Harry was beginning to open up a little more with her. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, leaving his head resting on her shoulder. The little boy adjusted his position a little to make himself comfortable, and quickly fell asleep. Lucy smiled once more, yawned, and joined him. She thought back to what Paul had said back on the docks...
She may not have been his mother...but she kind of wished she was.