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Dedicated to Kauia

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The ticking of the nearby grandfather clock fills the large room with the consisting clicking of the moving second hand. The faint noise of birds chirping outside the large library window situated behind my desk reaches my ears as I stare out at the large expanse of the front lawn. From the perfectly trimmed grass to the delicately sculpted bushes and trees meticulousness placed all around the road leading up to the front doors of my home.

Around me, the smell of aged paper and ink as well as lingering dust surrounds my senses. It's a comforting smell. One that has followed me in all the years I've spent locked up in this room doing nothing but work day and night. The very room I used to shelter myself away from her…

After Story 1

The Secrets of Jude Heartfilia

POV: Jude

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

The sound of shifting clothing reminds me that I am not alone in the large room as my guest clears their throat to catch my attention.

"You wanted to see me," the voice behind me asks, sounding strained from the apparent uneasiness of having been summoned out of the blue. I ignore the voice for a moment as I continue to gaze outside the window to admire the vast land that my family has owned for countless generations.

"How is she doing?" I finally ask without tearing my gaze from the bright scenery before me, "Is she eating?"

My guest sits up, apparent from the rushed rustle of clothing and the creak of a moving chair and is about to answer when he is cut off from his visiting companion.

"The princess is doing well this morning. She has eaten a third of her porridge and a few bites of bread, which is a few mouthfuls more than the past few days," Another voice, an inexpressive female one, answers without pause, "She has also begun to make light conversation with most of the staff."

"That's good," I murmur more to myself than to the woman who had spoken, "Continue to keep an eye on her and report to me if anything changes," I order as I turn to look into the blank icy blue eyes of Lucy's personal housemaid.

Virgo respectfully bows before turning to leave the room while my actual guest remains seated in the chair before my desk, looking more nervous as I watch him intently. I wait for the rose-haired maid to leave the room before finally acknowledging the orange-haired male sitting before me who looks as tired and edgy as I feel.

I take a moment to regard his appearance of wild orange hair that never stops annoying me in the many years I've known him with how messy it is, or the tinted blue spectacles he never seems to take off. The young male is wearing an ensemble of black coat and matching trousers that make him look like the refined gentleman he has grown up to be. His visage is the epitome of what the youngest son of a wealthy and distinguished company owner should look like.

Loke Celeste exudes refinement and is nothing more than a gentleman he was raised to be. He is also smart, dedicated, professional, and loyal. He is every bit the man his parents raised to be and more, and it makes me feel proud and honored to have been able to watch him grow up alongside my daughter all these years.

"You used to be such a brat," I blurt out without meaning to, thinking back to when the man used to be a young and troublesome boy.

He never broke anything or made much of a scene, but he did have a mouth on him. One that was never shy in expressing his thoughts freely.

"S-Sir?" the male questions, looking alarmed at what I've stated.

Shaking my head, I can't help but let out a humored chuckle that makes him blink awkwardly at me.

How could I take him seriously when his face looked as if he were standing at the end of my sword when in fact he was only a few feet across from me with a desk in between us. His expression makes me reminisce about the scowling face he used to give me when he was younger. He would always pout angrily at me and his parents whenever we would get after him, and always looked as if he were bored out of his mind. I don't think I've ever gotten a true smile from the male in all the years I've known him.

Those gestures were left for my daughter when he thought I wasn't looking.

Thinking back on the ferociousness the male once used to possess, I have to wonder when it was that he started fearing me. Started to jump when I would enter a room or wince when I looked his way. Reactions he had never possessed when he was a child and when I was at my most vicious.

Perhaps it all started when I met him…

"You don't have to be so nervous Loke. I'm not going to yell at you," I assure the male whose stiff shoulders only relax for a second before tensing up again, looking unsure of himself. He still feels guilty for not being able to protect Lucy while she was under his watch, "Loke," I sigh when I notice the male's eyes darken with self-hate. A very emotion I was familiar with, "It wasn't…"

"Please sir… don't," the male cuts me off before I can tell him what he has undoubtedly been hearing a thousand times since Lucy's recuperation, "Please… just don't say it."

Loke leans forward so that his forearms are resting against his knees. His hands grip each other tightly as his whole body shakes with anger and his teeth clench to keep him from crying out. He is the visual representation of how I have felt the past couple of weeks.

I empathize with the broken male, but that did not mean that I would grant him his wishes.

"It wasn't your fault," I state in the very voice that has caused thousands to shake in fear. The very commanding voice that had scared off my staff and pushed away my daughter. The very voice that had no acceptance for weakness, "Accept the truth Celeste. Accept the fact that it was not your fault that my daughter was taken, but mine."

"Don't do that sir, don't take my blame and place it on yourself," The red-head pleads. His broken eyes annoying me from how familiar to my own they seem.

"Follow your own advice for once," I grunt while turning my body away from the window to face him fully with my hands clasped behind my back, "It was my fault that this whole thing happened Loke. For a long while I knew that Jose was after my daughter, but because of my ignorance I left it alone and kept Lucy exposed. Had I been a better father this whole thing would probably not have happened."

We both grow quiet, uncertain as to what it is that we should do to try to comfort the other. Especially when neither one of us wanted to be comforted for things we had done.

"Was there a particular reason that you called me in here sir?" Loke finally asks after a long pause of silence.

Typical of him to be eager and to the point about things. The only time he beat around the bush was when there was a topic he did not want to talk about or made him feel uncomfortable.

"You love my daughter, don't you," I ask, catching the male off guard who doubles over as if I had punched him in the stomach

He stumbles over his words, looking erratic in the way he tries to gather his thoughts as if I were again holding a spear to his heart. It's almost comical in the way the male tries to find words to speak and I entertain the idea of teasing him more, but time has become to be short for us all. I can feel it in the way the air no longer moves the same way in my home, or even the world outside our front door.

Time is running out.

"Why…Why would you ask that?" The orange-haired male finally breathes out, looking dazed and out of sorts. When he doesn't receive an answer from me he sighs heavily and looks back down at his hands that are stilled clasped in front of him, "You know I do," he murmurs without looking at me.

"I'd have to be completely blind to not have noticed," I reveal.

Years of side glances, comforting gestures, and sweet words noticed by myself as well as the boy's parents have not gone unnoticed. I was no stranger to the showings of coquettish advances as well as 'romantic' musings.

They way Loke expressed his devotion towards Lucy was the exact same way I had charmed Layla all those fateful years ago. To protect, love, and cherish Layla had been the only meaning to my existence. She had been my world the way I am certain Lucy is to Loke, and I knew that the male would do anything to keep my daughter happy.

Even if it meant hurting his own heart in the process. A feat I unfortunately needed the young male to do.

"I need you to do me a great favor Loke," I tell the young man while looking down at the scattered paperwork on my desk. Documents filled with the various incident reports that never seemed to end.

"Anything sir," Loke loyally says while straightening up in his seat, "Whatever you ask, consider it done."

"So quickly you are to give away your happiness?" I ask, mournful at what it is that I want to ask him, "Be mindful that what I am about to ask you will in no way be an easy task to fulfill."

"Whatever it is I'll do it."

"Even if it means forfeiting a future with my daughter?" I ask causing the boy to gape at me speechless, "Because that might have to be a requirement," I answer while looking back up at him as he continues to remain silent.

"Do you mean that you do not want me and Lucy to be together?" Loke asks after finally regaining his voice, "Is this my punishment for being so careless with her?"

"No," I reassure him, "I only say it because Lucy might choose a different partner. Especially if she is sent to go live with the king in Crocus."

"With Natsu? But… why would you send her there of all places?" Loke asks, alarmed.

He looks taken aback at the mention of the name meaning summer. Remembering a moment where a promise had been made to never speak of that boy or the thing we had done to him ever again. It was a secret that was never supposed to come into light or be mentioned to Lucy it if could ever be helped. We had hurt her enough and I wanted nothing more than for my sins to remain in the past as I continued to search for ways to fix the future as well as the bonds with my daughter.

"Things are not working out as well as I had thought," I tell Loke while pushing a few of the incident reports towards him, "Jose keeps striking our project up north and soon he'll get tired of it and probably come to attack us directly. I need to make preparations if that time comes to keep Lucy safe, and the only place I know she'll be safe is with him," I tell him while still childishly refusing to utter that boy's name.

"How do you ever plan on getting her to live there? We can't just assume that the king will accept Lucy into his home and keep her protected. He doesn't remember her and he hates you. What favor do you ever dream of receiving from him?" Loke asks skeptically, "How do you plan on making this work? Also… Why are you already planning your own death? Isn't there anything we can do to keep this from happening?"

"This is only a plan in case something does happen to me," I reason, "Besides, I've already made arrangements to talk to a friend I have within the castle. Someone who owes me a favor and is willing to help. We will be meeting with her tomorrow in town to discuss my plan further," I let him know, "So my question is, will you help me?"

Loke remains quiet for a good while. Appearing pensive and at war with his thoughts, but deep down I know he wouldn't deny in helping me. Not if it meant that Lucy would be sheltered in one of the safest places in all of Fiore. A place where I hoped her friendship with the Dragon King would reawaken. A friendship that should have never been broken.

"You said that I might have to forfeit a future with Lucy? Do you expect her to end up with Natsu instead?" Loke asks, and I know that he still wonders if I do not want him and my daughter to be together.

"My daughter's future from here until the last of her days is in her hands Loke," I tell the male while turning to walk back towards the window where a bright sunset was setting the sky ablaze, "If she and the king decide to remain together, it is up to her to make that choice. As well as it is her choice to stay with you, or with someone else completely."

Unsatisfied with my answer, Loke simply sighs.

"My daughter's future is in your hands as well as the hands of the rest of my staff who will learn about all of this if the plan ever comes to pass. If something ever does happen to me, I hope that you will stay and care for the company until Lucy is ready to take over it herself one day." I tell him while continuing to look out into the empty gardens where a young boy and girl once used to run to and from the woods lining the edge of the grounds. A feat they had thought had gone unnoticed for so many years.

A feat I would never reveal to have been aware of to anyone.

"I'll do it," Loke finally says after a long pause of silence, "Anything for her."

Smiling grimly, I turn and join him at the desk to continue talking about the work that awaited all of us.

Tomorrow we would convene with Juvia and I would pray from today and on that this plan of mine would never come to pass.

So here is the beginning of the After Story I promised you all.

I want to give a great big thanks to all the reviewers who left their suggestions for the upcoming prompts.

I hope you all enjoy and remember to Follow, Favorite, and Review!

Until next time my lovelies!