Hello my lovely readers!

Sorry for the wait but with Spring Term Finals going on and Summer Term just starting I've been swamped and stressed out trying to meet deadlines and unreasonable essay demands... Like, seriously, who the hell demands a minimum of eight pages, single-spaced research paper covering three topics where the cover page and works cited pages DON'T count as part of the eight pages?

Professors are dicks guys...

Once again, I gotta be a meanie and say updating it gonna be sporadic due to classwork and other issues... I really wish I could devote my entire life to writing for you guys. Your reviews literally make my day.

As Always, I love you guys and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Stay safe and indulge yourself in the little things that make you smile!

~ BlackRose999

"Just" Friends?

Chapter Twelve: Karma's a Bitch

Lisanna sat in the office-like interrogation room, staring at her nails absent-mindedly. She'd had them painted in an ombre tone, white to pale blue with a silver outline… They'd chipped when that brute had shoved her in the back of his car. 'He'll end up paying for that when my lawyer gets here.' She decided smugly.

A rap on the door warned her of their entry, and she was astonished to see Elfman and Mira walk through the door. Mirajane looked close to tears, but there was a fury there she'd never been subjected to before.

"Tell me it isn't true. Tell me you didn't try to murder two people." Mira snarled quietly, pinning her baby sister to her seat with her daggered blue eyes. "Mira I'd never-" Elfman slammed the door shut and cut her off. "Don't lie!" He shouted at her as she cowered.

He stalked toward the table, ignoring Mira's warning hand, and leaned over her. "Tell us the truth Lisanna." Lisanna looked from Elfman's furious face to Mira's and then back again, realizing she'd have no support from either; she felt herself turn icy again.

"I cut her fucking brakes."

Mira felt the blood drain from her face and watched Elfman tense, her sister… Her baby sister… Tried to kill two… no… Three people. Lucy was pregnant, she counted as two. Mira closed her eyes and took a breath, compartmentalizing everything away for later. Elfman stood and walked out of the room, not trusting himself to say another word.

"Who are you?" Lisanna was startled back to the present, eyeing the openly hateful look her sister was giving her. "I asked you a question, Lisanna. Who the fuck are you?"

She didn't understand the question. She was Lisanna Strauss, youngest sister of Mirajane and Elfman, a high-end model and the former lead vocalist of Fairy Tail. Mira knew who she was…

"I'm your sister?"

"Are you? The sister I remember was kind and honest and wouldn't hurt a fly! You tried to kill your ex-boyfriend and his pregnant fiance!" Lisanna felt her heart stop. No… No Lucy wasn't… She couldn't be… She wouldn't have tried to kill them if she'd known! Tears dripped down her face, her hands beginning to shake.

Mira looked at her, eyeing the pallor of her skin and the genuine horror on her face. "You didn't know. The baby is fine. Elfman filled me in on the drive over here, he's their doctor. He was the one to pull them from the wreck." Lisanna clenched her fists. "... stop…"

Mira clenched her teeth, "Stop?" She parrotted, "You want me to stop telling you the consequences of your actions?" She strode forward and got in Lisanna's face, anger radiating off her in waves. "Your actions caused three broken bones, a dislocated shoulder, and almost broke her fucking neck!" Lisanna recoiled, trying to push Mira away and shut her out. She was in the right! Lucy had stolen what was rightfully hers!

Mira was still screaming at her, telling her more than she wanted to know, and suddenly something snapped within her. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lisanna shrieked and launched herself at her elder sister, wrapping her slender hands around her pale neck she squeezed as hard as she could. A startled squeak escaped her throat before Lisanna silenced it, she didn't see Mirajane under her or hear Elfman burst into the room and rip her off of their sister.

She envisioned Lucy beneath her fighting for air and thrashing.

"Lisanna stop!" Elfman's voice cut through her like a knife, and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She was screaming and wrenching herself out of his grasp and up against the wall, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She howled when Elfman reached out toward her, unsure of what to do.

She sank down and curled up in a ball, sobbing and shaking as her siblings stared at her, "don't touch me…" She begged quietly.

Mira and Elfman shared a look as Lisanna rocked herself against the wall, then they quietly left the room. "Mira… That's… There's something going on there." "I know. I'll ask Porlyusica to look at her… Maybe she can tell us what's going on."

Lucy had finally been cleared to leave the hospital, Natsu had left in a cab a while before she'd been released. Elfman stood beside her as Natsu pulled up in his mustang. They were sad about Lucy's car, but it wasn't their only one. She stared at the passenger seat in front of her, feeling her stomach tighten from nervousness.

"Luce… You don't have to sit there. Sit behind me." She looked at him gratefully and allowed him to lead her to the other side. Elfman gave them his personal number and told them to call if they needed anything, she merely smiled and kissed his cheek as a thank-you.

The drive home was tense, every turn made Lucy shiver and her death-grip on the door pocket had turned her knuckles white. Natsu watched her through the mirror and felt his heart clench, he'd… No, SHE did this to her. Taken away something Lucy had loved ever since she could drive, speed. Now they would be lucky if she could get in a speeding car without having a panic attack.

Natsu felt his grip on the wheel tighten and mentally forced himself to calm down. She didn't need to see this right now. She needed stability, strength, and calm. He could save his anger for later. Levy and Gajeel were outside waiting when they pulled into the driveway, the former of the two rushing out to help Lucy from the backseat.

"Lu!" She gasped when she got a good, long, look at her casts. "What… Oh gods, Lucy, what has she done to you?" Lucy gave her a brave half-smile, one that didn't quite touch her eyes. "I'll be okay Levy, I break bones all the time, remember?" Levy shot her a venomous glare. "You break bones on purpose and occasionally by accident. It's entirely different when someone blatantly tries to kill you!" Lucy flinched as her voice raised, prompting Natsu to step forward.

"Levy. Enough."

He ignored the glare Gajeel was threatening to level him with and turned toward Lucy, eyeing her shaking hand. Slowly he reached forward and took it in his. Tentatively, as though she was afraid of him, she let him entwine his fingers with hers. He helped her into the house, and Levy and Gajeel sat with her on the couch as he cleaned up the house. He'd broken some glass a day or so ago, and he didn't want her to see it. Slowly he went through the motions, doing laundry, dishes, and cleaning out the fridge. Before long their friends were leaving to go home themselves and they were left alone.

"Natsu?" He turned to see her standing behind him, an embarrassed look on her face. "I need to shower… Can… Can you help me?" He softened, she needed him now more than ever, and he wasn't going to let his own brooding hurt her. He was genuinely afraid she'd think he resented her. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He helped her undress, gently working her shirt over her head and off her cast, thankfully they'd removed everything but that, and eased her into the tub. He didn't want her to actually shower, so she'd compromised and offered a bath instead.

He sat behind her on the back ledge near the window; she had one of those spa-like jacuzzi baths… and poured some water over her by using a cup. He was careful to avoid getting her cast wet, he probably should have wrapped it up but he hadn't thought of that. He worked the shampoo into her hair, smiling when she left out a soft sigh of contentment. When she was done, he dried her off, helped her wrap her hair in a TurbieTowel, and put her in comfy clothes for bed.

Climbing in behind her he let her curl up against his chest, holding her as she finally began to fall apart. Here, in her home, she wasn't afraid to show how she really felt inside. He wasn't going to tell her it would be alright, offer her soothing words, or try to make her smile. She needed to cry, to get it out, and he could do nothing but help her weather the storm.

Two months had passed, and now he sat in her hospital room watching Elfman gently remove her cast. Her skin was dry and flaky, it looked like a cracked desert. Lucy bent her arm a little, testing the bone, and winced. "Easy Lucy, it'll take some time before the pain actually goes away when you bend it. Don't rush it."

She bent her arm again, slower this time. Natsu relaxed when he saw her smile softly, looking at him with an emotion he hadn't seen for so long. Unadulterated joy. Her hand drifted down to her now-evident bump, rubbing her thumb across the side. This made his heart lift, for so long she had been protective of the baby. She wouldn't let anyone touch her stomach in some cases, not even him.

He'd actually had to talk her into going to a prenatal appointment and allow the nurses and her doctor to check on their baby… Lisanna had made her so paranoid. Truthfully that disgusting woman made him violent inside, Lucy was everything, and their child was everything to him. Lucy laid back on the bed, her hand tightly clasped in his. Yukino, their pediatric doctor, gently moved the ultrasound machine over her gelled belly. After a moment, she smiled and turned the computer screen toward them. "There's your baby." His breath caught at the same moment hers did.

The picture moved as the baby moved, making Lucy reach out and touch the screen where the head rested. "Would you like to know the gender?" Natsu looked at Lucy, who was still lost in her moment of bliss, and he smiled softly. "Luce?" She slowly looked up at him, tearing her eyes away from the image of her baby. "Hm?" "Do you want to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Lucy looked at the picture and smiled, "Yeah… I want to know." Yukino turned the screen back toward herself and moved the sensor a bit around her stomach. "There we go… Looks like… a boy!"

Lisanna didn't comprehend the process of being formally booked and charged with two counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, time seemed to move around her as she was fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in jail. She'd been denied bail because Natsu's lawyer had convinced the judge she was a flight risk, truthfully she was, but she didn't believe the whole thing was necessary since she wouldn't have been able to leave anyway once the fucking public got the news…

Which probably already happened as those asshole cops had arrested her in the middle of a highly-televised fashion show.

Because of her "mental break" in the interrogation room, they'd also put her in an isolated cell with no other bunkmate.

She was alone. She was forced to listen to the sounds of people screaming, cries of false imprisonment, and the disgusting sounds of people using the metal toilets in their cells.

She wasn't allowed to leave her cell, "For the safety of other inmates", they'd said. So she was confined to her tiny cell with just enough room for a barred window, her rock-hard bed, and the metal toilet and sink.

Was this going to be her life now?... What had she done to deserve this kind of treatment? It wasn't like they'd actually died!

She was in the right! She was innocent!

'I'm innocent… It's their fault I'm here. I didn't deserve this.' She thought woodenly.

"I'm innocent…" She murmured aloud in a reassuring tone. "I'm innocent."