Chapter 25

Some hours later, Lucy is still at the hospital. Jude has since been conscious a few times, but only now he is staying awake. Capricorn is outside of the room so the father and daughter can have their privacy to talk.

"But asking me to pick a favorite book of yours is like asking me to pick my favorite child!" Jude says.

"But I am your only child!" Lucy points out, a smile on her lips.

"Oh, good point. I guess that expression doesn't work in this case."

The duo laughs. The atmosphere between them is enjoyable and pleasant. There is no trace of resentment or bitterness from the past.

"Lucy, I think it's time you went home," Jude says. "You've had a long day."

"Says the one in the hospital." She pauses for a moment. "Are you going to be all right by yourself?"

"I'll have Capricorn with me."

"Don't think that I won't come by for more visits."

He smiles. "I'd like that."

Lucy stands up from the edge of the bed, steps towards her father, and lightly kisses his forehead. "Take care."

"You, too."

Waving goodbye, she grabs her purse and leaves the hospital room. When she closes the door behind her, she looks to her right to find Capricorn.

He turns to face her. "Did the two of you have a pleasant talk?"

She nods. "We did. Thank you for bringing me here."

"You are most welcome, Miss Lucy."

With that, the duo makes their way to the exit. They are able to take an elevator down to the first floor and head for the main lobby.

"Feel free to stop by when you please," Capricorn says. "You are welcome at all hours because you are his daughter." Now in public, he avoids saying specific names that can give away the Heartfilia family.

"I'll keep that in mi–"

"Lucy!" a familiar voice shouts with relief.

She nearly jumps out of her skin from surprise. She turns to see Natsu standing at the front desk, looking stressed and haggard. He is dressed in his uniform for Makarov's Pizzeria, but is only missing his hat.

In the blink of an eye, Natsu is rushing away from the desk and heading right for her.

Capricorn is quick to step in between them. Natsu ends up in an arm lock and falls to his knees.

Lucy finally is able to use words. "C-Capricorn! Let him go!"

"Miss Lucy, do you know him?" Capricorn questions, still keeping a hold of Natsu who is trying to process what is happening to him.

"He's my boyfriend!"

Capricorn releases Natsu and helps straighten him out. Then he faces Lucy and bows his head. "My apologies. I saw someone racing for Miss Lucy and just reacted."

"Hey, you should show me how to do that move"-Natsu remembers why he is at the hospital in the first place-"Luce!"

She flinches at his sudden loudness. "W-what?"

He engulfs her in a hug, holding her tightly against him. "I've been so worried about you!" He pulls back to look her over. "What happened? Are you okay? You seem fine."

"That's because I am fine."

"But you said you were going to the hospital! Normal people who are fine just don't randomly go to the hospital!"

Lucy gasps. "Did you think I needed to be at a hospital for medical reasons?"

"What else was I s'posed to think when you text me that you hafta go to the hospital?" he just about screeches. "And then you didn't answer any texts or calls when we tried getting a hold of you!"

"We?" she asks.

"I was asking people if they knew about you from Gray to Levy! And it seemed like nobody knew what was going on!" Natsu takes a very deep breath to calm himself down. "We all thought something had happened to you…"

Raw emotions bubble up and Lucy starts crying. She is not accustom to so many people caring about her well-being. "I'm s-sorry." She is not sure if she is sorry for the pointless worrying she put them through or for crying right now.

"Hey, it's okay," Natsu coos gently to comfort her. He uses a hand to wipe away fallen tears. "You're okay and that's what matters."

She sniffles loudly. "I'm sorry."

Once again, he hugs her tightly. He holds her head against his chest with one hand and uses his other to be around her waist. He smooches the top of her head and does not say a word.

She clutches onto his shirt and cries even harder. All the emotions she is feeling right now are mixing together. She is overwhelmed by them.

"Let it all out, Luce," Natsu says in a hushed voice.

She sobs until there are no more tears. Lucy takes calming breathes, trying to get herself back under control.

Capricorn smiles softly. "I am delighted to see that Miss Lucy is in such caring hands." Then he looks at Natsu. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"Uh, who are you?" Natsu deadpans. "Have we met before?"

"We haven't met before now. My name is Capricorn. I used to look after Miss Lucy when she was younger."

"Like a nanny?" Natsu snorts.

"Something of the sort," Capricorn replies.

Lucy giggles, recalling some fond memories she has of Capricorn. "Nanny is right."

"Hey, feeling better?" Natsu asks.

She pulls her head back to look at him. "I am. Thank you."

He presses a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Anything for you."

Lucy steps away from Natsu, but stays close to him. She takes the handkerchief Capricorn offers her to use. "Thank you."

"Wait, so what is going on?" Natsu asks, looking at his girlfriend. "Why are you?"

"My father was in a car accident," she replies, keeping her voice low.

Natsu may not know why she does not talk about her father or past, but he is sure she has her reasons. He knows better than to pry sensitive information from her.

"I would suggest speaking in private about any further information regarding Miss Lucy's father," Capricorn suggests.

She nods in agreement and looks at Natsu. "Are you able to take me home? We can talk there."

"Sure. I don't see why not."

Lucy faces Capricorn and hugs him. "Thank you. And take care of him while I'm gone."

"I can promise you that, Miss Lucy," Capricorn says.

When they break apart, Lucy slips her right hand into Natsu's left. "I'm ready."

He gives her a gentle squeeze. "Sounds good."

x-X-x

Now at Lucy's apartment, the duo is sitting on her couch. She refused to tell him anything while he had been driving. Besides, she had to reply to all of the missed texts and calls that she had gathered while her phone had been silenced. But now that Natsu is no longer behind the wheel, his full attention can be on her.

Lucy takes a deep breath before starting. "My last name is Heartfilia. I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

"Okay…" he says with uneasiness, not understanding what she is getting at.

"As in Jude and Layla Heartfilia. She has since passed away, but he is the president of Heartfilia Enterprise."

Something clicks. "Hey, I've heard of that company. It's a pretty big!"

"Known all over the world," Lucy adds.

"Okay, so what if your dad–" He freezes up in an instant before his hands fly up to clutch the sides of his head. "Your dad. Heartfilia. Oh, shi–" Then he grows quiet.

Lucy does not say a word. She does not want to interrupt his thought process.

Finally, Natsu brings his eyes to look at her. It is clear to tell that he is still getting over the initial shock.

"My father is a billionaire," she says, stating the obvious out loud.

"M-million…?" he stutters.

"No, billion," Lucy corrects.

"Oh, I just thought I misheard you…" he says in a shaky voice.

"My father is a billionaire, not me," she clarifies.

"That's still crazy…"

She merely shrugs. "I suppose. But really–" She stops speaking when she notices Natsu is just staring at her. "What?"

"You're so nonchalant about it all," he snorts.

"I mean, it's the truth."

"But you're still Luce."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Even now that I know a bit more about your past… Well, you're still Luce to me. You'll always be Luce to me. That's just how you are."

So what if she feels as though she might tear up? Her boyfriend is super sweet. She clearly did too much over thinking in how he might react to learning about her. In fact, he is handling things more than quite well.

He flashes her a grin. "That's one of the reasons why I love you."

Her heart skips a beat. "Y-you love me?" she whispers.

Natsu chuckles. "I'm pretty sure that you knew that by now. Besides, you said that you loved me first."

Her breath hitches. "Wait, when? I don't remember that." She racks her brain, but no luck. She is completely stumped.

"I figured you don't because you didn't remember telling me about Gonzales or the cakes you made. You said it that night when I tucked you into bed."

Lucy bites her lip. "I'm sorry I don't remember that…"

"Psst," Natsu stage whispers. "This is the part where you say it to make up for it."

She playfully rolls her eyes. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah, Luce?"

"I love you."

He smiles at her, adoration in his eyes. "I love you, too."


A/N Part 1: Omg, it's the 25th chapter to this fic! And it was meant to be a one-shot! :D Can I just take the time to acknowledge how awesome y'all are? Closing in on 650 Followers! Nearly 700 Reviews! Almost 500 Favorites! Gah, that's all awesome :D Thank you all sooo very much for reading this fic!

A/N Part 2: For those of y'all who are into Miraculous Ladybug, I published 2/3 chapters to a short fic called A Litter of Joy! I'm still gonna majorly stick with FT, but I do love me some MLB! I have some more ideas lined up as well. So we'll see when I get around to publishing those :P


Guest: Hey, well now you know about how Natsu reacted to that text XD

Anon: Mostly fluff. Some drama/angst :D Omg, that's funnt XD Well, I'm happy you like this fic so far!

Aya Rose: Totally was the case XD Yeah, I like writing positive Lucy/Jude relationships, even if they had a rough past.

Flamexofxchaos: Hey, but things will be good for Lucy and Jude!

AG: At least it wasn't super sad :P And yay, I'm happy you like this work so far :D But yes, Jude and Lucy will have a positive relationship!

Guest: Woo, I'm glad you think so! More to come for sure!

Guest: Yay, I'm happy you think so :D