The Forgotten - Forgiven? (Chapter Three)

Kyo had known from the start that his father wouldn't approve of his sister coming back for a visit, or the two of them being in contact at all. What he hadn't expected was for their father to tell the head of the family out of pure spite for the twins, nor had he predicted that Akito would agree to it.

So imagine the surprise of the young man when Akito called him to the main estate and actually encouraged him to reinstate the bond between Lucy and him.

"Wait, you really mean that?" Kyo asked, as he heard the news, towards the end of his meeting with the leader of the Zodiacs, and family head. Akito seemed a bit lenient with the question of bringing Lucy back, and Kyo couldn't help but feel as if there was a string attached to that.

"Of course. I do worry about your dear twin cat, after all." Akito said, and the feeling of dread hit a bit harder that time. "She may not be a part of the family anymore, but she is still a Zodiac, and that alone means that she should be here, something I did not understand when she was first banished."

"So then, that means…" Well if Akito was sure, who were they to argue with his decisions? That would mean that Akito would be more forgiving for pretty much everything, right? Layla was dead, and that was a terrible thing, but if it meant that he could see his little sister again because Akito wasn't thinking about her then maybe…

"Lucy is pardoned for each act committed upon her name. Really, only Layla should have been banished, her daughter didn't need to have a reason to come visit. As it is, perhaps it is for the best that she comes and goes as she may please, but this means quite a few things for you."

"Like?" Kyo asked, but he couldn't help a small bit of joy that seeped into his tone, he could only hope that Akito hadn't heard it.

Akito had, of course, but didn't comment. "We will discuss that at a later date. As for now, I suggest you go pick up your sister. Take a few of the others with you as well. Momiji and Hatsu-Haru would be very willing, I'm sure."

"Are there any restrictions on who is allowed to come?" Kyo asked, successfully masking his voice this time.

"Only that they must be a part of the Zodiac. How many of your family members you wish to bring is entirely up to you." Akito said, his tone showing that he was finished with the conversation.

"Thank you, Akito-sama." Kyo said, rising from his spot and making his way to collect the others. He couldn't wait to tell Lucy.

POV 2 -

Akito had been very worried about the situation with Lucy, in fact. The family head was deeply troubled with her actions, of course, but even Akito could admit that something felt off about this whole ordeal. Lucy may not have been able to get quite close with the others, but she had at least known about her curse before she left. The way she was acting now, it seemed as if she'd forgotten all about it.

Unless she never really knew from the beginning, but that was something that Akito didn't even want to bother thinking about at the moment. If that were true, then she should have been open and willing to be pampered by those who were not part of the Zodiac, but young Lucy had strayed away from people like that completely.

As far as Akito knew, Lucy hadn't allowed herself to run into anyone outside of those who were or knew of the zodiac since she had arrived the first go around.

Now was not the time to worry about it however, as long as she was able to get back to the family before anything bad happened.

Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail…

Lucy and the others were able to quickly handle the mission that they had chosen, and arrived back at the guild before they even knew it. Each had to wonder why the reward was so high, as it seemed like an easy job that any of them could have done solo.

Really the only thing that made it difficult was that they had tried to steer clear of making a mess of the place. Gajeel wouldn't have cared either way, but the girls had managed to talk some sense into him. Still, it had only taken ten minutes to actually catch them all… all four.

But, they all split the money evenly, and decided that it would be better to split up the next day, and each went their separate ways to get back to their houses (Presumably to pack). Lucy sat on her bed, eyes closed as she attempted to get a small nap in before the others came to hear the rest of the story. It wasn't that she didn't like telling it or anything, just that something always felt off when she told it.

Her brother the cat, and she always felt her heart go out to Kyo when she talked about that damn rat, Yuki. Even if he wasn't the reason others saw her brother as the lesser of the two, he always treated Kyo with the same cold hearted spite that the others did. Yuki was the only one that ever seemed to be quite that bitter about being an official zodiac, the others accepting the role as it came.

It was a bitter sweet thing to see all the others.

There was nothing wrong with any of them, but Lucy couldn't help but remember the smiles, and the joy that they all shared, and wonder if she could have ever been like that with her family. She was grateful they accepted her, but it was always a small sting when she remembered that she would never be able to share that with them. She knew their secret, and what it meant for her.

She would never be able to get too close, for fear that she would cause greater pain to her brother and cousins.

Not for the first time either, she dreamed of being able to be like them, like her brother, her dear brother the cat.

Just barely out of reach.

It wasn't a moment later that she felt a pull from the other side of their bond, one that only they could use. Lucy almost cried in joy, it had been such a long time since she had been able to feel Kyo's emotions like this. The bond was clearer than ever before, and the years of not using it, or Kyo blocking her, felt like nothing.

Kyo was happy, excited, even a bit impatient.

After a moment of sitting in silence, Lucy decided to try, as they had been when she left, to project herself through the bond. She couldn't, but figured it was worth a shot. Her brother sure found it amusing, laughing loudly at her from the other side of the connection.

'You still can't project Little sis, but nice try.' Lucy frowned a bit as his voice echoed in her mind, processing not only what he'd said, but the slight pain it brought to her head from the sheer volume of it. Now that she thought about it, his laugh had been a little too loud as well, but then she had been laughing as well.

'No need to yell in my mind, Kyo. And I'm not that much younger than you, dear brother.' She could feel the slight wince, and his immediate guilt, but didn't get a chance to comment on it before he spoke again.

'Sorry about that, just a bit antsy. I think I might go stir-crazy if I stay here much longer.' Lucy laughed at her brother's comment, and she could tell by the way his own emotions shifted that he had heard it too.

'Well no wonder. You've got that damn rat to put up with, meanwhile I consider myself safe with the Fairies.' Even as she said it, Lucy's mind took a dark turn that almost added 'for now' to her sentence, but she managed to stop herself. There was a moment of silence, and Lucy wondered for a moment if she had said something wrong anyways.

'...Did you just lie to me?'

'What?'

'I asked if you just lied to me…'

'No. Why?' Lucy could hear him sigh from his side, and wondered for a fleeting moment what made him think she was lying.

'You said you consider yourself safe with the fairies, but your mood went down when you said that. There's also something you're not telling me, that much I know.'

'Well that's a lot of things to figure out from a sentence and my emotional state.'

'Well I know you better than that. What happened with Fairy Tail, and do I need to come down there and kick some punks ass? Cause I will, so don't ever worry about asking me too. My pleasure, really.' Lucy let out a breathless laugh at the last sentence. Of course it was his pleasure, she knew how he could get, especially when he had more than one reason to be mad at a person.

'You will not be kicking the ass of any Fairy Tail member, if need ever arises, you will be the first to know. Anyways, nothing happened with the fairies, it's just…'

'Just what?' Kyo asked, as Lucy struggled to find the right word to describe the guild at the moment, or even the right way to say this without him getting upset or suspicious.

'They're all going through something right now, one of their own came back from the dead almost, and they're celebrating.'

'Well then that makes two families.' Kyo said, his voice taking on a more gentle tone as he said it.

'...I didn't mean to worry you all, Kyo. I'm sorry for that.' Lucy truly hadn't thought that joining the guild would pull her out of their world, literally. She knew that her family would suffer, and feel as if they had lost her the same way that they had all lost Layla. 'I promise I'll come visit soon, if for nothing more than to reassure everyone I'm fine.'

'Nah, don't worry about it. Wouldn't want to get you into any trouble, but Akito gave me permission to come bring you back to the estate for a while. I think you'll be staying with Shigure like me and Yuki, but I could be wrong. My guess is that Akito will tell us when we get back. Make sure it's fine with your guild master though. We won't keep you too long, but it is a long way here."

'I'm sure he won't mind too much. A few of my guildmates might be harder to convince, but I'll let them know what's happening. Other than them, I don't see any problems. Is anyone coming down with you?'

'This is our family we're talking about, of course a few others are coming. Momiji and Hatsu-Haru were suggested by Akito when I make the trip to pick you up. Kagura caught wind of it when I was talking to Momiji about it, and she insisted she would be coming. Kisa and Hiro, and then Ayame might be coming. Yuki is not invited. Shigure maybe?'

'Nah, you guys are gonna overload my house already. Six if you don't include the adults. I'm fine with the others though, roll call real quick though. You, Momiji, Haru, Kagura, Kisa, Hiro, possibly a seventh with Ayame, but not likely. It should definitely be a surprise for Shigure though, I'm sure he'd love that.'

'His first words to you are gonna be him calling you a princess and how we missed you.'

'Probably. I should get going, guests to entertain tonight and all that.'

'Love you, sis.'

'I love you too, Kyo. Goodnight or good morning, I'll talk to you soon.'

'Goodnight or good morning, Little Lucy. May the stars be forever with you.'

'Cheesy, but sweet.'

'Celestial magic. Figured it fit you. Talk to you soon.'

With that, Lucy opened her eyes and got to work making space for her friends that would be coming over later that day. She would tell them about her trip tomorrow, when she approved it with Makarov.