Chapter 5: Almost caught (Part 3

Recap:

"Oh Lissana, what happened to you?"

...

"Blaire, mommy has to go to work today. Aunty Mira will take care of you in her house Kay?."

...

As Lucy was hurrying to the cafe she heard Mira and Blaire shouting out.

"Bye Lu!"

"Bye mommy! I love you!"

Lucy giggled and smiled as she thought

You two are the best.

...

I remember there was some cafe Lissana spoke of, whether it belonged to her sister or whatever. What was its name?

As he mused on it stumbled onto a crack on the sidewalk and tripped. He almost fell but with his huge reflexes, caught himself. Looking from side to side to see if anybody saw him, he caught sight of a building with sleek words written at the top:

'Strauss Cafe'

He realized that was the one she told him about and with a smirk, moved towards it.

Maybe I'll check it out.

...

"Lucy, new customer at table 5"

"Welcome to the Strauss Cafe. May I have your order?"

As he lifted the menu off his face her smile turned upside down and she froze in shock. Seemingly, the person in question did too.

It was him.

...

So, she works here huh? I'll keep that in mind when I want to torment her.

...

So many questions filled his mind about what he was going to say, do or even act but he had only one thought in mind.

I can't wait to meet her

...

"Ready for your VIP clients Luna?"

"You know I am"

She was about to enter until..

"Hold on, I got a call."

...

"What happened Mira? Did something bad happen?"

"It's Blaire! She's gone missing!"

...

Back To The Present:

While Natsu was waiting in the VIP room, the door opened to show..

A pink haired lady wearing a white wool knitted turtleneck dress and the kindest eyes came out. She seemed disgruntled and tired through her appearance. Why he didn't know, but only one thing came to his mind.

This was not Luna.

"Good day sir. I am Luna's Manager, Aires."

Bowing her head, she continued "I'm sorry Mr Dragneel, but unfortunately, Miss Luna Heartfield has an emergency to deal with and so, will be unable to attend to you. Please forgive us for this inadequacy."

With those words his heart fell and he felt a wave of disappointment. He head fell and his hair covered his face, hiding his expression.

"S-Sorry" Aires said, sounding more nervous at this change.

He came up once again wearing a sad smile. "It's okay. I'm sure she has something important to attend to."

After all, this whole ordeal wasn't for nothing. It couldn't be.

As he saw her panicking he patted her on the shoulder "Well, that means I must be leaving now."

Going out of the door he came from he turned his head back and gave a grin with his eyes closed.

"Arigato."

And with that he left.

As he stepped back into the outside world, feeling the air brush his face, he gave a small smile.

I'll never give up.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

With his departure, Aires told the bodyguards to leave as they were no longer needed. When she was all alone she plopped into one of the red velvet

Aires sighed and closed his eyes as she deliberated the past events.

Flashback

"What happened Mira? Did something bad happen?"

"It's Blaire! She's gone missing!"

At that moment, Lucy's world froze. Blaire was missing? No. That couldn't be true. It was impossible. She couldn't live a life without her. Her daughter, her darling...

"I've searched for her everywhere but I couldn't find her!" Lucy was brought out of her thoughts when she heard sobbing sounds coming from the phone.

"Mira." She said, her voice strong even though everything around her was crumbling. "Calm down Mira. Calm down."

But it was like she couldn't hear her. Mira just kept on sobbing out "I'm sorry" repeatedly.

Lucy couldn't take it anymore. "I'm on my way." She said before cutting the call. Suddenly she felt her whole body weakening. Her legs trembled until they couldn't support her anymore as she fell to her knees, her hands covering her face as her eyes welled with tears.

"Luna?" Aires asked, surprised at the sudden change.

"Lucy?" She asked more worriedly, using her real name this time. Crouching beside her, she held Lucy by the shoulders. "Lucy, is something wrong?"

Lucy removed her palms from her face, showing her pinkish eyes and the rivulets of tears running down her face.

Blaire-B-B-Blaires gone missing! "

Aires was shocked and held her friend tightly, trying to console her.

Lucy kept muttering to herself "My baby, My baby, my baby" over and over again

Aires started stroking her blonde tresses "Lucy, we are going to fix this."

Like a switch turned on, Lucy stood up and was walking to her costume room.

"Lucy!" Aires exclaimed, also standing up walking toward her. "What are you doing?"

Lucy turned around, her eyes filled with fear and worry but there was determination "I'm going to go look for her."

"B-but the VI-"

"Cancel it." She said before turning around and walking to the costume room.

At the sound if the door shutting, Aires sighed and muttered "I was gonna do it anyway."

End flashback

Aires sighed. She had never seen Lucy like that. Sure, as one of her closest confidantes, she had seen Lucy breakdown so many times, especially after a dance. But she had never seen her look so...broken. Just seeing her like that would have made her cancel the whole thing, consequences be damned. She sighed and closed her eyes and silently prayed for Blaire's safety.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

Quickly she removed her dance clothes and changed back to her regular clothes, which consisted of a sweatshirt and joggers. Quickly taking her bag, she rushed to meet Mira.

When she got to Mira's house she saw her crouched on her lawn, sobbing. Her white tresses were scattered, and the usual band holding her bangs were gone, leaving them free to stay on her forehead. She felt a stab of sympathy as she was going through the same motions. She came to Mira.

"Mira its Lucy."

Mirajane looked at her, her eyes red and swollen. Soon the shock left Mira's and her face crumpled up again, hugging Lucy tightly. She started speaking through her sobs.

"L-Lucy I'm so S-s sorry."

She comforted Mira. "We'll find her." Her voice full of hope.

"I-ive c-c-called the p-the police. They said- they said they'll l-l-look into it" Mira was hysterical at this point.

Lucy kept on comforting her. At least Mira took precautions. A bitter feeling rose up from her. How ironic. She was the mother and instead she was the one doing the comforting. She quickly got that thought out of her head however, as she heard the next words Mira said.

" i-its all my fault. L-like back then." She sobbed

Lucy knew what she was talking about. Mira had told her of the day she lost her baby sister and she was later pronounced dead due to finding no trace. It wasn't until several years later though, that she was found, safe and healthy. At least physically.

Losing her sister though took a toll on her. Lucy never had siblings but she knew that it was similar to how she felt when she lost her mother. Mira cared for Blaire as though she was her own too. So her past trauma with this was not easy.

"Its not your fault. Its not anyone's." She said.

Quickly she stood up and made Mira stand up. She then spoke "All hope is not lost. This is a small neighborhood. Surely we will be able to find her.

Mira's chin trembled but she wiped her tears and nodded, her eyes alight with hope now. " Yes, we will."

"Good." Lucy smiled halfheartedly. "Then let's start looking."

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

Blaire shivered in the cold, the tears streaming down her face. She was lost and afraid. She wanted to be back home. She wanted her mommy!

"Mommy? Auntie Mira?" She called out, but like the many times she'd called them, there was no reply.

Squeezing her eyes she crouched down crying, her arms covering her face as she bent down to cry. She felt like it had been forever when she heard a voice "Oi kid"

She raised her head up, still in the same position, to see tall and big man with short dark hair looking down at her with a frown on his face. She couldn't see his face clearly and she shivered in fear.

The big man smiled.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

They searched everywhere they could, asking people wherever they where, but it still yielded the same results: Nothing. Lucy and Mira were tired, drained and were all out of options when they heard a sound.

Mira's phone started ringing and she answered it in a rush after seeing that it was the police station she called before.

After the phone call was cut off, Lucy looked at Mira in worry. "Lucy, what did they say?"

Mira sighed in relief "they said they found her."

Lucy's spirit were lifted "Oh thank goodness!"

Mira nodded, the same relief shown in her eyes. "I'm gonna head to the police station now"

"No, I'll do it." Lucy intervened.

Mira nodded in agreement "I'll be in your apartment, awaiting the good news." She smiled at this.

Nodding, Lucy headed to the police station with a new purpose and a new sense of hope.

When she reached there, she saw several policemen in their uniforms, and a black haired man wearing a shirt wide opened. But she wasn't looking at him, but what he was carrying, or to be more precise, who.

Tucked under his arm was a familiar girl, wearing the same flowery dress and shiny blonde hair. Without any doubt, it was-

"Blaire!" She was elated. Her baby was here. It was her.

Blaire turned at hearing her mother's voice to see her mother right in front of her. Both of them feeling relief at seeing each other, both their faces crumpled up in tears. Blaire was let down and both of them reunited with an emotional hug. Nobody said anything as they turned away, not wanting to intrude on the emotional moment taking place.

Soon after, they were both rid of tears and were both smiling in joy with Lucy carrying Blaire. One old police officer came out and scolded Lucy and Lucy took it smiling and apologizing for the trouble. The old man walked away smiling while muttering "Kids these days."

Other people came to talk to her but Lucy didn't keep track. She was just happy that Blaire, her daughter was back by her side. She didn't care about anything else.

She approached the man with black hair smiling. He looked at her questioningly.

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I am grateful" She said, bowing down a little.

His eyes seemed to study her and she felt uncomfortable in his gaze. Soon after he turned away, "It was no problem" he muttered "Just don't abandon your child again."

Lucy frowned a little at that statement. She didn't abandon Blaire! She would have made a retort but another person called on her, successfully distracting her.

After the thanks and apologies, Lucy and Blaire left hand in hand.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

Shortly after they left, the crowd of officers dispersed, and went back to their stations. One of the officers, a young man, went towards the black haired man.

The officer bowed down slightly as a sign of gratitude. "We thank you Sir, we wouldn't have done this without you."

The black haired man rolled his eyes and turned back saying "Whatever"

The officer stuttered as he tried to catch the mysterious man's name

"W-What's your name sir?"

He turned back to the officer "Gray Fullbuster."

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

Lucy and Blaire had dinner with Mira that night. Mira cooked in their kitchen and boy was she cooking. The dinner was served with an array of foods, each with an enticing aroma. It was a wonder what she could do with so little ingredients.

"Blaire, you have to promise me to never, ever GI wandering on your own again."

Blaire's tears had dried long ago, and it seemed like she learned her lesson already from her experience. Giving a remorseful face, she "yes mummy, I'll never do it again."

Lucy sighed in relief. Mira then came out holding the last such if food with a bright smile on her face "Well I'm sure we're all hungry after this all ordeal, so let's eat up!"

After the dinner was finished and the dishes were watched, Mirajane left despite Lucy's protests for her to stay the night. After Mira's exit, Lucy and Blaire prepared for bed. When they were on the bed Lucy said out of nowhere "Blaire?"

Blaire turned to look at her "yes mommy?"

"You scared mommy a lot today. Don't ever do that again."

Blaire nodded, before unexpectedly giving Lucy a hug. "I'm sorry mommy."

Lucy cried a little inside but kept herself normal outside. "Okay!" She exclaimed. "Time for you to go to bed now!"

Blaire nodded and rested back on the bed. She was very tired from the days events so she was drifting off to sleep in no time. Before she lost conscious, her last thought was;

Thank you again Ice Cream Man.

X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

A.N: Hello! Did you miss me?

Wow I haven't updated this fanfic in, what? 4 YEARS! But when I saw it and read it again today, I knew I had to continue. I knew the basic plot and where I was going but because I haven't done or seen it in years, I forgot a few things. That didn't stop me from writing though! I had to change some parts of the plot however and adjusted them to still fit the general setting of the fan fiction. Through the years my writing style had improved a little so I hope you enjoy!

I also want to thank you guys for following this story and for the encouraging reviews. I will not let you down!

I think from now on I'll start updating again. Looking forward to continuing this journey!

NB: is it just me or has Blaire wandered around a little too much? Does it make Lucy or Mira seem irresponsible? I want your honest opinion here.

Ciao

Luluvas