Ciel waved goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Fullbuster after they dropped him off at the shabby apartment building he lived at. Once they drove away, he took a deep breath and went inside. Most children look forward to going coming home to their parents but not Ciel. His parents Giles and Mary Hughes were just horrible to him.
His father was always out gambling or here beating the crap out of him. He was a very mean and angry man who would be set off by anything. Ciel shoes being left in the hall, a spilled glass of juice, bad hand writing on his homework. And whenever he was set off he would get physical with the boy. However he was always careful to keep his bruises hidden.
His mother Mary was no better. For one thing she was a crack addict who hardly paid any attention to him. She claimed that she loved Ciel but it was all an act. An act to keep him from running away, you see Mary only wanted children to keep Giles from leaving her. She adored her husband and felt that she couldn't live without him but she had absolutely had no motherly love for Ciel.
As expected he came home to find his father gone and his mother too high to notice that he was there.
"Mom I'm home." He told her.
"Where have you been?" She asked.
"I told you this morning that I was going to be at my teacher's house for tutoring."
"Why do you even bother with this tutoring? You're too stupid to learn anything."
"My teacher thinks that I'm very smart you know."
"Well then she's stupider than you.'
Ciel glared at his so called mother and went to his room. Before crawling into bed and falling asleep, he pulled out his two most prized possessions. A toy penguin and a blue blanket. He wasn't sure where they came from but whenever he held them close he felt loved. He slept with them every night and he would have the most wonderful dreams. In his dreams he had a father who wouldn't hit him but would always smile at him and make him laugh. He had a mother too but she was one who would always hold him and sing to him. A real family that loved him.
...
Lucy couldn't stop thinking about Natsu. The last time she had seen him he looked so angry and scared. She knew better than to meddle but she wanted to know if he was alright. Later that week she saw him and Nashi again at the park while she was walking Plue. As expected, as soon as she saw Plue Nashi went over to pet the puppy.
"Hi Lucy." She said.
"Hi Nashi. How are you?"
"I'm fine."
"Where's your dad?"
"He's walking. He always does that when he's stressed."
"He's stressed?"
"Uh-huh."
"What about?"
"I don't know."
"Nashi has your dad been getting hurt a lot?"
"No. I mean I don't know. He had a black eye once but he said he got it from a fight at work."
"A fight at work? He told me he got it from a car wreck."
"What car wreck?"
"The one you all were in. He told me that you and him and your mom were in a car wreck."
"No we weren't."
"Are you sure?"
"I think I would know if I was in a car wreck or not." Nashi stated as matter of factly.
Lucy spotted Natsu sitting down on a park bench.
"Nashi can you do me a favor? Can you watch Plus while I talk to your dad?"
"Sure!"
She excitedly took the Leah from Lucy and ran back to the playground. Lucy then walked over to the bench where Natsu sat.
"Hey." She greeted.
"Hey." He greeted back. "Look I'm sorry about how I acted the other night."
"It's okay."
"I really shouldn't have gone off on you like that. You were just worried."
"Yes I was." She said. "Natsu has...Has someone been hurting you?"
"What? No. Why would you ask me that?"
"Because Nashi said that you had gotten into a fight at work."
"Why would she tell you that?"
"Natsu what's going on?"
"Lucy I don't want to talk about this with you. Why do you even care? We broke up seven years ago."
"That doesn't mean I'm okay with someone hurting you or that I...That I don't care about you anymore. Natsu before we dated we were best friends, we told each other everything. Now I don't expect us to be as close as we were back then but you can't expect me to not be concerned about you when you get hurt."
"Lucy I know you mean well but this...This is none of your business. You don't have to worry about me. I'm a grown man."
"There's nothing wrong with asking for help. If some criminal or crazy co worker is hurting you why don't you go to the police? Think about your family? What if this nutcase goes after them?"
"It's not what you think Lucy."
"Then what's going on?"
"Lucy let me ask you something, what if our roles were switched? What if it was me budding into your business? Would tell me anything?"
Lucy looked down at her feet, answering his question.
"Natsu."
The young man jumped upon the sudden appearance of his wife Touka.
"Hi you must be Natsu's wife." Lucy greeted with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Touka looked at Lucy as if she was the bane of her existence. Like she was the most horrible thing in the world but then she smiled although it seemed fake.
"So you're Lucy." She said. "My daughter talks a lot about you."
"Really? That's nice. You know she's a wonderful girl."
"I know she's my daughter. Mine and Natsu's."
"Yes I'm aware of that."
"If you'll excuse me I would like to have a word with my husband."
Touka pulled Natsu aside so they could talk privately. Lucy sat down and continued to watch Nashi play with Plue. An hour later Natsu came by telling Nashi that it was time to go home but he had a busted lip.
"Natsu what happened?" She asked him.
"I walked into a tree." He lied.
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be sure?"
"Natsu are you...Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"No! I'm fine!"
"You're not fine. In fact you're worrying me. Please tell me what's wrong?"
For a moment he said nothing and he looked conflicted about what he wanted to say. Then just when it looked like he was going to confess Touka appeared again.
"Natsu we're leaving now." She told him.
Lucy saw him tremble a little before following her and their daughter into their car which drove away. Lucy felt a terrible suspicion rise up inside of her. She didn't want to believe it but what she had seen proved other wise and she decided to look into it. An old friend of hers Erza Scarlet who was not only a district attorney but she was also a counselor for battered women who had been abused by their husbands. However she suspected that roles were swapped in Natsu's marriage. She quickly called up Erza and the two made plans to meet and talk.
"Thank you so much for coming Erza." Lucy said when they met the next day. "I know how busy you are."
"Oh I'm never to be busy to see an old friend." Erza said with a smile. "So what brings you by?"
"I need to discuss something with you. Do you remember my old boyfriend Natsu Dragneel?"
"Yes."
"Well he's married now and he has a daughter and he seems to be doing well but recently I've seen him with a lot injuries, scrapes, bruises."
"Was he mugged?"
"That's what I thought at first but...I...I think his wife is abusing him."
"Lucy that's crazy. A woman abusing her husband."
"He shows all the signs that I've seen on battered women. Physical injuries, lying about how he got them, showing intense fear and nervousness when his spouse shows up."
"Is it possible that she could've been defending herself from him? You know he tends to pick fights when he's drunk."
"Yes with men but not women. I know Natsu and he would never beat a woman."
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
"I want you to educate me on how to tell when a spouse is abusing another spouse. I want to make sure i'm right about this before I do anything else."
"Alright. But I'm not sure about all this."
"Neither am I."
