Yep.. I know I said I'll update last weekend.. I'm so sorry.. as much as I would like to continue writing I was just too tired. But here's the next chapter.. I hope you like it..Don't forget to tell me your thoughts! I'm always looking forward to hear from you guys.. lovelove!
Jellal is standing in front of Lucy, elbows on the balcony railing with one hand hoLding a beer. He's watching the bLonde sitting in front of him eat Like a bird, small bites then there's a long pause after every bite. When she's about to finish almost half of the food he brought, he broke the silence.
"So, how did you find out?"
Lucy, who is slouching while playing with her food using a fork responded in a small voice.
"He told me about it."
Jellal raised an eyebrow confused. "Who's he? How?"
Lucy put the fork down, she straightened her back looked at him and explained "Natsu. He asked me to trust him then showed me the photos."
"You're husband?" he chuckled "he had a lot of…"
He was cut off by Lucy who's now leaning on the backrest of the chair while looking down.
"I want to be mad at him. I want to hate him... but oniisan... do I even have the right to? What you said earlier... That is true... This... this marriage… What we have... it's not real..."
She's been hoLding back her tears all this time but now she's too tired to fight it. Tears fell and she continued with her voice shaking "I'm not in the position to question him of who he wanted to be with… I... I'm... I'm onLy his wife in paper... But why does it hurt so badly?"
His heart is breaking seeing her like this. She was always bright and smiLing, she's brave enough to face whatever's being thrown to her head on and never wanted to cause trouble for anyone... Every day she is showing her game face like everything's fine. But deep inside time wasn't able to fuLLy heaL her wounds. He wanted to comfort her badly but right now as her older brother he'll have to say the things that she needed to hear and realize.
"Because I think you've crossed the line Lucy. It looks like you were expecting too much from him." He sighed and continued "My dear I just wanna remind you, this marriage was decided by your parents. You wanted it to work because that's what your parents want. But you failed to consider if your husband wants the same thing. And also is this what you really want for yourself in the first place?"
Lucy bit her lips trying to control her small cries.
"You're right I wanted it to work coz I don't want to fail them again and I just thought that since he agreed to this marriage, maybe at some point, he would also want this to work. But I guess I'm wrong." She wiped her tears using her hands. "Before… I wanted to redeem myself but right now I just want to give him his freedom so he can be with her."
Jellal frowned. Her statement means that she's willing to disobey her parents by asking for a divorce and he's confused. Why would she do that when all her life she's been careful not to defy them again?
"What changed my dear?" he asked but before she can respond a realization hit him. He took a few steps to Lucy, he slightly bent forward then held her chin so she's looking at his eyes "Lucy, are you in love with your husband?"
Tears started to fall again and he can clearly hear her sobs.
"Am I allowed to oniisan? Am I allowed to follow this..." she clenched her shirt near her heart... "Is it ok for me now to decide something for myself?"
Her questions struck him hard. He placed the can of beer on the table, wiped her tears using his thumb then he pulled her close to him and hugged her tight.
"Of course little sister. There's nothing wrong with it. Don't think that you deciding for yourself means disobeying your parents." He said while tapping the back of her hair gently. "And please, don't let your past ruin your future."
He freed her from his embrace, cupped her face with both hands and wiped her tears again. "You have to value yourself more Lucy and you need to know what you really want."
Lucy placed her hands on top of her brothers and smiled. It was genuine though she still can't stop her tears from falling.
"I'm really lucky to have met you. I'm glad that you became my big brother."
He smiled then held her hands. "If you're really glad that I became your big brother then make me proud Lucy. Free yourself from the past and start anew."
He straightened his back and reached for his back pocket to get a handkerchief and gave it to Lucy. He stepped back then lean on the railings again.
"Can you do that Li'l sister?"
A cold wind blows and she shivered. She hugged herself and answered with a small smile on her face.
"I'd like that oniisan. But I don't think I can start fresh with him. He want someone else."
Jellal chuckled and crossed his arms on his chest. "I'm not so sure about that my dear."
Knock. Knock.
Gray did not wait for Natsu to answer, he barged in to his office and saw a piLe of papers in front of his friend whiLe Mira is across his tabLe expLaining his schedule for the day. It was the third day since the news came out and even if Natsu wanted to fix things himself, it doesn't mean that he will not do anything to help.
Natsu glanced at his watch then looked at Gray who's now standing beside Mira.
"Whats up? You're earLy." Natsu asked.
Gray handed Natsu an envelope before responding.
"Well I heard that you're spending a Littile too much on security detail for princess.." he smiled pLayfuLLy and continued "I already arranged security for her before I left but you requested for additional and more visibLe ones."
"She won't call me if anything happens so its better to have more people around her who can come to her aide in case there's an emergency." He explained then raised the envelope Gray handed him "What's this?"
"Open it."
Natsu opened it and took the photos out. While Natsu is looking at the photos Gray said
"Since you're too concerned about princess, I took the liberty to ask those security near her to take a picture every now and then."
Gray chuckled when he saw a small smiLe from his friends lips.
Natsu looked at him shaking his head
"You're always one step ahead of me when it comes to this kind of things. Thanks."
Gray just shrugged his shoulders then turned his back.
"Don't expect me to buy you a present for your birthday. That's my gift for this year."
Natsu chuckled and said "This is the first ever birthday gift I received from you Gray. I wasn't really expecting for anything. So thank you."
"Anytime." Then he walked out of the office.
Natsu stared at the photos of his wife taken the previous day during their medical mission. He's glad that she isn't sulking but somethings different.
"She doesn't have the usual smile in her face." Mira said while peeking at the picture he's holding.
He glanced at her and said "Her husband failed her.." he looked at the photo again and continued "so its just normal that she won't have her bright smile."
"You did not fail her Natsu. This is just a misunderstanding and I'm sure this will be fixed in no time."
"Yeah I hope this will be fixed soon."
Mira smiled at him. "It will be. Anyway, you have a meeting that will start at 11AM. Its the final presentation for our current project. We need your full attention during this meeting.."
"I understand Mira." He placed the photos of his wife in the left side drawer of his table then put his hand on the papers in front of him. "But for now, I'll have to finish signing all of this right?"
Mira laughed at him and said "Yes and I'll leave you for now."
"Thanks Mira."
She just slightly bowed her head and left the room.
Gray leaned on Miras' desk while waiting for her to finish her discussion with Natsu. He saw a picture displayed on the desk, he grabbed and looked at it; it was Mira and Lisanna. They are sisters but their personality is so much different from each other. Mira is responsible and selfless while Lisanna isn't really the responsible type and can easily ditch things, also for her it's her happiness that matters most. He just sighed remembering his conversation with the writer and photographer the other night, he doesn't want to believe it but there's no reason for them to lie about it. As he was putting the frame back to its original place, Natsus office door opened. Mira walked towards him and stopped just a few steps away from him.
"Gray..."
"Did you tell him?" Gray asked in a plain voice.
"I'm still waiting for the perfect time to tell him…" she responded with a heavy sigh
"Mira, we both hate lying to him and he doesn't deserve to be kept in the dark regarding this."
"I know that… It's just that…"she hugged the documents she's holding then looked down.
Gray frowned and he did not let her finish her words.
"Don't you trust him that whatever it is he'll be rational about it? And it's Lisanna we're talking about. Do you really think he's capable of hurting her?"
Mira looked at him and she's also frowning
"Of course not. That never crossed my mind Gray. I never thought that he'll be able to hurt Lisanna or any of us." She said with a firm tone but it softened when she continued "I'm just so ashamed of what my sister did… and it's not something that's easy to say... especially to Natsu."
He sighed then walked towards Mira and tapped her shoulders.
"I understand how you feel Mira but the longer you wait, the more it's gonna be hard to tell him."
He walked past her and continued. "I can't promise that I'll be able to keep this from him any longer but Lisanna is still part of this family so I'll wait for you to do it."
Mira turned her head to look at Gray who's walking to the elevator.
"Thank you Gray. I promise I'll tell him soon."
He did not turn to look at her or even responded. He just raised one hand and disappeared on the lift.
Lucy just finished her morning schedule for the medical mission and was resting under the shade of a huge tree. She sat then leaned on her hands and closed her eyes while remembering her conversation with Jellal last night.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked while wiping her tears with the handkerchief that Jellal lent her.
Jellal who's leaning on the railing turned his head to the side and he seemed to be looking for someone out there.
"Well, I've been seeing a lot of well dressed men in the area and I had a chance to talk to one of them an hour ago. Looks like they're here to protect a certain person."
He turned to his sister and continued "He did not mention who that person is but judging by the pin on his suit, seems like they're here as per Dragneels order."
Lucy just stared at him, eyes still quiet blurry from the tears earlier. She knew Gray did arranged on for her but supposedly, they shouldn't be too obvious.
"Gray arranged the security detail for me." she said in a low voice.
"Ah.. so that explains it.. but how about the part wherein your husband told you about the news right after he saw it?"
"What about it?" she asked confused.
"Not every one have the guts to admit their mistake especially mistakes like that. You know little sister, if you knew how far his connections is, you won't think that he's lying when he asked you to trust him."
"So what if he have all the connections in the world?"
"That news can easily be scratched Lucy. Like it never happened. And people like Natsu, trust is a big thing."
Lucy glared at him and asked "and how do you know that he's capable of that and why do you sound like you know him personally?"
Jellal laughed at her expression "I know a thing or two about him.. them to be exact."
"Care to tell me about that?"
"Not now li'l sist. Right now, you have to fix yourself."
She slouched and look down.
"Right.. I almost forgot." She forced a smile "but I'm not sure if he still want to fix our marriage."
Jellal pulled a chair and sat across Lucy, he hold her hands and look at her eyes.
"Lucy, did you forget what happened years ago? Why until now, you're still trying to redeem yourself?"
She shook her head.
"Can you remember that it was the media.. paparazzi's.. who made it worse? Writing articles that's too exaggerating not even bothering to research if what they're writing is the truth?" He caressed her hands with his thumb and continued "History is just repeating itself dear.. But this time, you have a choice. You can either believe them without even finding out the truth or you can talk to your husband and hear what he have to say and if you're still not satisfied after that, then that's the time that you can make a decision. To either stay.. or leave."
Lucy opened her eyes and heaved a sigh. She knew Jellal was right. It's not fair to judge Natsu because of an article and photos, she knows how it feel to be judged because of false information so she decided to hear him out.
She reached for the phone in her pocket then frowned upon seeing that there's a very weak signal in the area. But she still searched for his number and hit the call button, she placed the phone in her lap not expecting for the call to connect. She's still not sure of how she'll talk to him, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath then she immediately opened her eyes when she heard her husbands voice. She was stunned for a few seconds, she wasn't ready but she don't want to chicken out now. She picked up her phone..
"Natsu.."
