(I swear I'll get better at updating one day! T_T Just keep pestering me with reviews to update already haha those get me jumping :p)

This chapter is mildly angsty...hardly...and I could've done so much more with it, but I'm too lazy T_T I typed this months ago, before the filler arc (If you follow the anime); I think now would be a good time to mention this story is not canon (Haha obviously!); I think it officially is an AU now, though in the beginning I tried to follow with the manga as clsoe and accurately as I could. It was inevitable this story would eventually pull away from that canno timeline, and with the manga's direction lately, I think it's safe to assume as much haha

Speaking of which, (Sorry I forgot who!) A reviewer asked if I keep up with the anime or manga; The answer is both, if you wanted to know still. Speaking of which, on an unrelated note, COBRAxKINANA! Cobra has been my favorite character in Fairy Tail since his introduction; I don't even care if it's filler, I'm so fueled on Feels from ep 150! (I'm more excited about 150 than I was for Sabertooth getting animated :p)

Back to the story at hand-! Hope you enjoy, I'll really try to stay on top of these updates, and thank you so much for continuing with this story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing~!


"Tell me about growing up. About your home," Hibiki smiled, watching Lucy down another drink. She snorted.

"It wasn't a home. It was a piece of property I was raised on, with Father...and Mother..." She slurred, sloshing her drink around in the glass, watching the liquid swirl. Hibiki frowned.

"How long were you there?"

Lucy squinted.

"I was raised my whole life there...Heartfilia Mansion...Till I was sixteen," She corrected.

"Hn?"

"That's when I ran away. I walked about a year before I met Natsu, joined Fairy Tail..." She smiled, shrugging, "And now I'm here."

"You ran away at sixteen?" He mused, between being impressed and horrified.

She nodded.

"I tried several times before then, too."

"Several?!"

She laughed, bitterly.

"Oh, hundreds! Once a week, at least. After Mother died...I was constantly trying to break out of there..."

Hibiki watched Lucy, thinking.

"Has anyone moved in?"

Lucy shook her head.

"No one's lived there since Father..."

"Let's break in."

Lucy dropped the glass, clinking against the counter as she turned to face Hibiki.

"Wh-what?!"

"You tried breaking out of there...let's break in."

Lucy looked both horrified at the suggestion, and impressed. Mulling it over a moment, she finally smiled and nodded.

"Alright."


It was a crazy idea and she instantly regretted it the moment they stood outside the overwhelming palace-like structure, only the moon illuminating the acres of empty property.

"Hibiki, I-I didn't think you were serious..."

"Why wouldn't I be?" He questioned innocently. "How do you think we should break in?"

"Wh-what?"

"Well, I could pull up the ground plans through Archive, but I thought, what with you having lived here, you might know all the best entrance points, all the unmentioned secret passages and-"

Lucy tapped at the large front doors, pushing it lightly inward by the golden knocker.

"The front door works, too..."


The foyer was as empty as Lucy remember it. It was late, and the house, layered in untouched dust and cobwebs, was even creepier than Lucy remembered it as a small child growing up and raised in a building where everything seemed so towering and large.

At it's prime, the decor was polished and the gold and bronze finishing's at every corner and table glimmered where sunlight hit them through the windows. A touch of green and color could be found in the floral arrangements that stood at each corner and table in each entrance, and multi-colored lights danced on the carpet and marble from the stained glass windows.

Now, moonlight seeped through the occasional broken glass and any plants that weren't fake were withered, dead, or all together removed. Dust and rust had dulled the metal to a dingy grey, and the floor left footprints in Hibiki and Lucy's wake.

Lucy made to apologize for the state of the house, but then it occurred to her that this house wasn't hers anymore. She didn't need to take responsibility for the lack of hospitality or cleanliness.

Hibiki whistled.

"So, this is where you lived..."

"Grew up," Lucy corrected. There was a difference.

Hibiki smiled.

"Is it anything like you remember it?" He joked, because it obviously hadn't been lived in in years.

"It's exactly the same."

"Where to start...How about a tour?" Hibiki shrugged, still admiring the ceiling tiles.

Lucy, still frowning, nodded.

"Alright, follow me...I doubt much has changed..."


It was several turns and corners and halls before the duo actually reached a room that wasn't a 'broom closet' or 'servant shortcut'.

"This is the kitchen-"

In no way was what Hibiki looking at a kitchen. It was more appropriately a factory, with multiply ovens and counter space that stretched on empty for yards. The whole room was tiled and had few windows. A few rusted and bent pots and pans still laid about, some copper utensils hanging from the ceiling as well. Hibiki saw a few spice jars left unattended to, but doubted they had anything in them, long since expired or sold. He could still smell the faint scents of half the feasts cooked in the kitchen and he could almost imagine the array of vegetables and meats and desserts that were baked and prepared along the counter tops.

Lucy just saw empty counters and cabinets she'd hidden in as a child.

That's the servant's staircase," She pointed off-handedly to a door across the room. "And that door leads outside, to the garden-"

But Hibiki was already making his way to a third door.

"Where does this one lead to?"

"Just the hallway on the other side, which is right outside-" She hesitated, but Hibiki was already through the door.

She prayed he wouldn't notice-

"Lucy, what's this room?"

Too late.

Lucy joined Hibiki through the kitchen's door, stepping right into a hallway dead end that lead to a single door before turning off to round back to the foyer.

Hibiki was standing directly in front of a pair of closed wooden doors that she knew all too well.

"What's through here?"

Hibiki was already opening the doors when Lucy remarked dryly, "My father's office."

The room was disappointingly exactly as Lucy remembered it. There was a wall of books, shelves of dusty novels and records that she'd never seen touched even when she lived here, and that singular desk and chair that faced their backs to the window.

The desk was clean of anything, save a thick layer of soot.

Hibiki made his way towards the desk, inspecting the chair before sitting in it precariously.

"It's...a bit stiff," He commented, trying to adjust to get comfortable in the chair. Lucy snorted, mumbling something about "that sounds about right..."

Hibiki pulled at a drawer. It was slightly jammed but with a strong enough yank it came free, revealing a small stack of papers.

Lucy, curious, joined Hibiki, peering over his shoulder at the files.

"Oh, those are just some old records of my father's...stocks and interest, accounting and what not..." She shook her head, "It's all rather boring," She announced.

Hibiki, however, gave the papers a more in depth overlooking.

"I find this kind of...interesting..."

Lucy gawked.

"You've got to be kidding!"


After an uncomfortable couple of minutes, Hibiki finally looked up to notice Lucy fidget in the presence of the room. Jumping up quickly and disposing of the papers back into the desk, Hibiki coughed to gain Lucy's attention.

"Show me your room," He blurted, noticing how eager Lucy looked to put this particular room far behind her. Without a word, Lucy nodded and lead the duo from the room, up the wide stairs at the entrance and down several more halls.

Lucy gently pushed at a door, finally, opening to what appeared pure darkness.

"Here we are..."

"Hang on," Hibiki motioned, quickly calling up an Archive screen, purely for the faint glow of light it gave off.

The room quickly jumped alive, now filled with light, and Hibiki could make up the tell-tale signs of a young girl's room.

A princess, canopy bed with fluffy pillows and silk sheets. A desk decorated with pinned pictures of idols and sorcerers, clear cut-outs from old subscriptions of Sorcerer Weekly. Painted images of fantasies and fairy tales running along the wall and ceiling, and a few discarded stuff animals lining the window sills and shelves.

It looked untouched by time, and even Lucy was surprised at how little had been sold off or stored in the attic.

Hibiki crossed the room to the bed, sitting down and judging the spring of the mattress before frowning.

"I...feel like I should bow to you..."

Lucy scoffed, "I was rich, not royal..."

Lucy sighed, taking a seat beside Hibiki and stretching out onto her back. Hibiki, rigid in fear of what he could and could not touch all of a sudden, leaned back after her, trailing his eyes up to the ceiling where the canopy fabric spiraled upwards and fairies danced around the walls.

There was a brief silence before Lucy shivered, curling up against the comforter. Hibiki jumped alive at that, no longer feeling overwhelmed by the majestic quality of everything around him.

"Are you cold? Here, I'll start a fire-"

Lucy laughed.

"I'm fine, just a little...tired-" Lucy yawned, clenching the sheets firmer as she cuddled into them. Hibiki stood up, giving the room a quick look-over before leaning over Lucy.

"Come on, I think I can get a fire going in one of the thousands of fireplaces..."

Hibiki slipped his hands under Lucy, pulling her up along with whatever sheet she clung to. Adjusting Lucy so she was comfortably in his arms, Hibiki made his way through the doorway, attempting to navigate through the halls.


After several miss-turns and stumbles, Lucy finally managed to mumble out directions to a sitting room. Hibiki left momentarily and, through use of a grounds map Archive provided, made his way back to the kitchen. He managed to find some firewood still stacked in the corner of the kitchen, petrified and with mild mold, as well as striking gold in finding an unopened preservative jar with something edible (questionably).

Lucy took one sniff of the processed food before rejecting it, opting for sleep rather.

Dozing off, she barely paid attention as Hibiki prodded a fire awake in the fire place, stirring the flames and wood occasionally with the iron. The flames flickering only served like a lullaby and Lucy found herself fighting to stay awake.

Hibiki, noticing as much, settled down beside Lucy, throwing an arm around her and her makeshift coat of a blanket, coaxing her to lay down into his lap.

"Get some sleep, alright?" He whispered, patting a hand over her head.

Lucy nodded, slowly letting her eyes close.

Strange that after years of living in this empty mansion, and trying so hard to break out of it, that the one night she broke in, comforted in Hibiki's arms by a fire felt the most at home she'd ever felt under this roof.


Lucy jolted awake to the sound of a banging, coming from the front door. Clearly someone, like Hibiki, didn't suspect it was unlocked.

Hibiki jumped awake a moment after her, both ignoring how Lucy was sprawled on top of him as they looked to each other for confirmation on what exactly was going on.

Someone must have seen the smoke from the chimney.

They had broken in, technically.

"Right, that's it for the door!" Lucy squeaked, leaping to her feet as Hibiki followed after her, racing for a servant's exit before whatever law enforcement caught them and questioned them.


A/N: What hasn't been said already...Random Facts: Evr seen Garden State (I believe is the movie; With Natalie Portman and Zac Braff..?) This chapter was inspired off a hazy memory of a scene where, if I recall correctly, the group of friends break into a house and start a fire in the fireplace..? I've actually never seen the full movie, it was a passing moment between commercial breaks on tv :p But just in case you wanted to know..?

Also worth addressing-I didn't realize that alst chapter, I'd forgotten to go through and add in the page breaks! I hope that didn't make it too confusing for everyone, but no one commented about it so I guess they aren't as important as I thoguht :x (But I'll still continue with them because I love them XD)

That's all I can think to say right now-Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry bout the slack as of late!