Time went on. Winter turned to Spring, Spring began it's slow changes into Summer. Lucy's friendship with the boy in the fireplace continued and many a servant within the Mansion came to believe the Young Lady's friend was a ghost. The gem she had revealed the day he'd given it had baffled them for weeks before coming to this decision.
The sudden way they chose to explain the strange occurrences was upsetting for Lucy, aghast at how their smiles turned to humored confusion. Despite keeping it secret from her Father while believing it was a mere game created in her loneliness- even she could read the stares they gave her with ease. Worry, concern: fear.
Lucy knew they believed she was abnormal and the little blonde girl withdrew further into herself, opening up to her happier smiles only during the night as the fire glowed- even in the heat of summer.
"Won't they get mad?" Natsu asked her once, worried the extra heat would have her taken away from the fireplace, but she shook her head, fingers tapping on a newer book she had just begun to read to him.
"It rains so much." She explained, smile not reaching her eyes. "And it's only for a little while so they don't mind." Or dare to tell her otherwise, she thought. Time passed on and she grew a little older day by day- and Natsu soon appeared before her in cleaner clothes and happier complexion.
Well taken care of. The orphanage that had a foyer much like her own, seemed intent to make Natsu a proper little boy before long. His smiles never changed despite the time going by and he still managed to tear holes in his pants or get dirt upon them with each new garment. Horse play, he had called it- the other boys (and his brother) often teased him and small fights would break out. The tales he would tell her always sounded like he was surrounded by bullies, but the smile never faded.
"Nah, they're my friends- sorta." He explained. "Not like you. You're special! But we're all here tryin' to get new parents- and Miss Anna always patches us up after! You should see the Scarf she's been … err.. Sewing? I dunno what it's called, but she uses these big sticks and-"
"Knitting." Lucy answered for him, smile faltering just slightly. Other children had come to join him, all without parents, but somehow together all the same. It made the hollowness inside her own heart clench just slightly, a small seed of envy growing in the pit of her stomach. "She sounds like a wonderful lady. I wish I could meet her… "
She refused to water that seed, it wasn't Natsu's fault she was stuck, unable to see others. The closest to friends outside of him were the children who sometimes came along with their parents for visitation. Play dates, she had heard them all. All dressed in frills and taught the same as she, but none of them broke the mold of that life, none of them argued it.
They accepted and spoke as if she would one day be their wife. (As her Father only ever let her meet the young sons of these families, never the girls.) It made her wish, quietly, that she would never age.
"You know," Natsu continued, playing with a new tear in his shirt, "Miss Anna looks sorta like you. You even have the same last names! - but when I asked her about having family in a fireplace, she just looked at me funny."
"You dummy!" Lucy giggled, attention falling back on the other as she squinted through the flames at him, "Of course she look at you funny. No one has family in a fireplace!"
He pouted, arms crossed as he stubbornly stuck his tongue out, "If you're over there, then why not?"
Lucy had just been about to explain how it would be impossible (though, even she wasn't altogether certain her opinion was correct) when she finally registered what he had been saying earlier. "- Well, because, fireplaces aren't usually connected to other- … actually, now that I'm thinking of it, I used to have a great Aunt Anna, but I've never met her…."
"Really?" This sparked the boys interest, eyes lighting up eagerly, "Why?"
"I - " Lucy paused, eyebrows scrunched together in her attempt to remember. "No one really told me. She didn't pass away like Mama, I don't think, but… they always talk like she just disappeared."
This revelation only made Natsu more excited, "Then she really COULD be Miss Anna!"
"No, that's not possible!" Lucy's denial was obstinate, a strange, almost apprehensive feeling boiling into the pit of her stomach, but her friend didn't notice, excitedly waving his arms about. "Natsu, it's not- that was before I was even born, she'd be REALLY old if she was your Miss Anna!"
He froze, lips frowning as his eagerness died like an ember. "Oh, well, that's no fun… it would have been great if you were related."
"What makes you say that?"
Natsu shrugged, responding without a second to think, "'Cause it would mean there's a way for me to actually see you."
The little girl didn't have a reply. The former boiling inside her had changed to fluttering and her face warmed. Natsu as very good at making her feel butterflies, often blushing from the simplest of phrases. To her luck, the boy never noticed, thinking the redness on her cheeks was merely from the fire and nothing more.
This time was no different, but her fingers shyly rung together on her lap and she shyly glanced back through the small lashes of her eyes. His own cheeks seemed to darken in response, but the smile never faded.
He was just like that at times.
The closest it came to the next winter, it became more difficult to sneak out at night. Her responsibilities were growing- the times Lucy would awaken each day: earlier. Her Father and tutors were preparing her for something, but she couldn't glean a hint from a single person. Each night she would sneak out to the fire place, her time to stay grew shorter and Natsu began to notice, becoming increasingly more disappointed each time.
Lucy began to wonder if perhaps one of the servants had told her Father, and he was purposefully keeping her busy to ward off ill rumors. The thought made her feel sick, unwilling to even imagine a time when she couldn't visit him.
"You need more sleep." He told her one morning, watching the little blonde yawn over her breakfast, head nodding each time her eyes slid shut. Lucy's constant yawns caused a crease in his brow, eating calmly despite the tension in the air. "Should we look into sleep medication, again?"
The mere thought made the sleep leave her eyes instantly. A memory resurfacing of the time just after her Mother's funeral- screaming fits and inability to sleep, often ended in being made to drink a bitter substance that had her sleep for hours on end. She shook her head, "N-no, I'm fine Father, I'm not having trouble sleeping."
She still wasn't willing to try to explain Natsu's existence and a sudden comment from the butler had her staring wide eyed, silently begging he wouldn't give it away. The man in question, gulped and nodded his head, offering to refresh the morning tea instead. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, never noticing the observant stare Jude had given her.
Lucy clung to the crystal Natsu had given her that evening while she snuck from her room. Over the last year the small item had become a charm for her. She felt as if it gave her good luck and courage each time she kept it close and Natsu had smiled as if it were his own birthday the night she had told him these feelings. He liked the idea as much as she.
"Maybe it'll get so lucky that you won't have to keep going to bed early!" He stated, minutes after his visage had appeared within the flames that night. Lucy could only hope i would come true, biting back another yawn.
"If it does that, then I'll believe you're magical." She admitted, sleepily, eyes nearly fluttering shut as they had that morning. A loud clap from the other side startled her into waking and she blinked towards the boy- his expression worried.
"Lucy…" He murmured after a time, inching closer to the flames until she could hardly discern where he ended and the fire began. "You don't… you don't HAVE to come down here if it's gettin too hard. You need sleep-"
She knew he meant well, and adored him for it, but shook her head. "I'm fine! It would be so lonely if I didn't get to see you. You're my best friend!"
Natsu's chest puffed out a little, smile full and bright, "You're mine too- that's why I don't want ya wearing yourself out just for me. Not that I don't want ya here, I just…" Want you to be okay. He never finished his sentence, words trailing off while they stared at one another.
Their conversation that night seemed almost solemn, Lucy even forgot to bring a book to read. Her favorite one telling the most beautiful of Fairy Tales. She had wanted to share all of them and Natsu had grown to look forward to every new story she told. Not that night. Instead they spoke in hushed whispers while he urged her to sleep, 'Even if down here! I can watch you until the fire dies!'
Lucy continued to refuse. Times were changing and she could feel it, the little girl was being called a lady, her education becoming all the more complicated. She knew what that meant for girls in noble families. Though she silently hoped her fate would not be the same Or, at the very least, she could have just one more year before being considered an adult.
Just one more year, that's all she asked. Sighing, she realized, almost too late, that she had begun to nod off again and quickly moved to sit on her knees, scowling at Natsu. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Sorry, but I didn't wanna try and wake ya again if you dozed off for good."
"You should wake me every time!" She huffed! Clenching the gem within her pocket once more. A small idea began to form into her head then, lips quirking at the plan. "Do you remember how I said I would find you the perfect gift?"
His smile lessened to a curious head tilt as he slowly nodded, "Of course I remember. Cause I gave you my Mother's crystal. You don't HAVE to give me somethin' though-not right now, at least."
The gears in her head were working over time through her sleepiness and with a lethargic, contemplative movement, she slowly reached for a small necklace chord that she kept around her neck. It was a long, rope necklace she couldn't wear during the day and it dangled down beneath her night dress, hidden from view on most nights.
A tiny, bronze key, weathered from age- she held it close to her chest even as it was removed from her neck. "I keep this hidden most days," She admitted quietly, fingers running across the small item, "- but it was my Mama's, too. She called it a skeleton key."
"What's that?" Natsu asked, eyes wide, "it sounds pretty interesting-"
"It's supposed to open any door." Lucy answered, staring at it fondly before taking in a deep breath. She stilled for a second, as it to prepare herself, before her small arms tossed it through the Flames. "Catch!"
She heard it tink on the floor and the boy gasp as he scrambled to grab it, cursing quietly as he went. "Shi- I mean, hold on, I'll get it, no wait, it's here-? Damni- no, I mean. Aww, Miss Anna is gonna be so mad if she knows I'm talkin' like that! Ah! Got it!"
Natsu sprung back in view, triumphantly holding up the small corded necklace, grinning widely at the small key. Lucy smiled in relief, giggling at his antics and pretending not to have heard his potty mouth. She would let it slide, and let Miss Anna deal with him if it continued. Her laughter came out like tiny bells, echoing off the wall and Natsu's own laughter joined hers.
A sudden loud slam of a hand on wood shocked them from the moment, Lucy's heart leapt into her throat , entire body alert to the noise. Turning around, brown eyes widened as she looked upon the entry way, eyes meeting the harsh, angry, gaze of her father. Jude stood in his own sleep clothes, a lit candle in one hand: eye twitching as his hand slowly slid from the wall.
"Lucy!" He barked, glancing about the room, "Is this what you've been doing all this time? You're too tired to learn because you're laughing at the walls?!" Shriveling back, the tiny girl felt all her happy feelings escape her body, limbs feeling heavy like stone. Jude stomped his way through the room, eyes narrowed and a terrified gasp escaped her-
"I-I'm sorry!" She cried, legs wobbling as she tried to move to her feet. "I Just- I- " Natsu! Yes- fingers pointing towards the fire, she tried to explain herself. "Father, you wouldn't believe it if I told you during the day, but I have a friend, right there! That's why I'm up- !"
The sudden strong hand that gripped her arm made a surprised whimper escape, pulling yanked towards her feet as the much taller man hissed at her to shut her mouth. His eyes glanced once towards the fire, but flickered back towards her not a second later, cold fury bunched in in his tightened jaw. "Enough! Your Mother filled your head with inane stories when she was alive, but you should be over this by now! No more talking of boys in fire places!"
It was like a bucket of ice had been dumped down her spine. He knew. He knew after all. Someone had told him, but when? Who? Hot tears stung at Lucy's cheeks as she tried, once again, to make him notice the fire. Why couldn't she hear Natsu? Why wasn't he saying anything?
"- It's not talk, he's really there- !" Eyes casting upon the fireplace while feet slammed to the floor, trying to hold her place even as Jude began to pull her form the room- little Lucy met the surprised, stunned eyes of Natsu, through the flames. Hope surged within her, "He's here! Just- look! Please! He's right there!"
"Lucy-?!" Natsu questioned, voice strangely matching the hissing of the flames, face paler than she had ever seen it before. "Lucy! I'm here, can you hear me?! Let Lucy go, you're hurting her!"
His voice, rising over the roar of flames, did not meet Jude's ears. His grip tightened as Lucy's body was forced into the hall and a servant called to dispel the flames. Worried shrieks escaped her mouth as she reached for the door frame, desperate to stay in place. To prove her point. Could he not see Natsu?
"Let her go, let HER GO!" The boy was hissing, hand reaching out as if to reach for her, but reflexively yanking back as the fire licked at his fingers. "I'm going to save you, Lucy! I will!"
Save her? It was all a blur, she couldn't understand, but the tears stained her cheeks and she nodded, body going limp as Jude finally wrestled her into his larger arms, carrying her up the stairs.
"I will NOT have a daughter speaking to walls and fires! This is the last straw Lucy!" He admonished, trudging up the stairs while his daughter's eyes watched the flickering embers be dispersed- Natsu's voice echoing even as the wall slowly reappeared.
"Finishing School. As soon as possible. No more late nights for you!"
To Lucy's horror: he meant it.
"LUCY!"
Stay Tuned For Chapter 4: The Sealed Wall!