Chapter 2
Lucy stood at the gates to the Heartfilia estate, feeling various emotions. Part of her, if only a small part, was happy to be back. The people who worked here had always treated her like one of their own, and since she no longer had her gate keys, this house was the one place left with any trace of her mother.
But mostly, Lucy was scared. And angry. Angry at her father for everything he had done, everyone he had hurt, including her, and terrified to face him again. Lucy took a deep breath, and walked through the entrance way.
The first person she saw was Mrs. Seppetto, a kind old servant, sweeping the courtyard and humming to herself.
"Hello Mrs. Seppetto." Lucy smiled and waved.
Mrs. Seppetto just stared for a minute, before bursting into tears and going to get everyone else who worked in the mansion.
"Mrs. Lucy has come home!" They shouted with glee, and for a second, Lucy was happy she'd come back.
Lucy was almost overwhelmed by all the heartfelt welcomes she received, they all spoke of how grown up she was or how worried they'd been. The chef asked Lucy if she had a boyfriend now, and Lucy's smile faltered.
She felt a small pain in her chest as she thought about Natsu. Surely he'd found her note by now? What would he think of all this? Of course, Natsu wasn't Lucy's boyfriend, but he got so overprotective sometimes, people often mistook them for a couple.
Shaking her head to dismiss the thoughts of the pink haired boy, Lucy forced a smile and continued greeting and talking to the mansions staff.
'They haven't changed a bit.' Lucy thought to herself with a giggle.
A servant approached her quickly and with a polite smile said,
"Miss Lucy, the master request's your presence in his study."
Lucy's smile disappeared.
'I finally come home and he sends a servant to request my presence? He hasn't changed either.' She thought with disgust as she followed the servant inside.
Once Lucy was wearing more "appropriate" clothes, a large, frilly, very uncomfortable pink dress, that had become rather small for her, she walked to her fathers office.
'I don't want to be here.' Lucy's brain screamed. She briefly wondered if it was too late to turn back. She was sure the guild wouldn't be too mad. She could turn around, run away from this house and get on a train and run back to Natsu and the guild and be free of her Father.
She could, but she wouldn't. Not when it would put them in danger again.
She took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
"Hello? Father, it's Lucy." Though she tried to hide the ice in her voice, even she knew how frigide she had sounded. "May I come in?" She said the last part so sweetly it almost made her sick.
"Yes, you may." She heard Jude say from the other side of the door.
Lucy barley got one foot into the room before Jude began scolding her.
"You ran away without even saying a word to me. How could you?"
"Im sorry, I shouldn't have left without speaking to you." Lucy forced out the words, feeling no guilt in the slightest. "It was a decision that I deeply regret."
Jude cleared his throat. "Well, i'm glad you finally came to your senses and left that guild. A lady of your status should not be affiliated with those ruffians. I certainly wasn't looking forward to spending any more of my money on having that guild eradicated."
Lucy clenched her fists in anger as she remembered the destruction and pain her father had caused Fairy Tail, but Jude continued his speech.
"You forced me to go to extremes Lucy. If you hadn't acted so selfishly I wouldn't have needed to lash out on your guild. You're the one who brought trouble to your friends."
Lucy's fists unclenched as her father said exactly what Lucy had been fearing. All that destruction, all that pain. It was her fault. Had she been a good girl and stayed away from them, maybe no one would have been hurt. Lucy suddenly felt like the room was growing smaller. She could feel her guilt strangling her.
But Jude wasn't finished yet.
"As for the reason I need you back, I have arranged for you to marry Duke Schwar, the Ginelle heir."
"I figured as much." Lucy said quietly, hardly trying to hide her displeasure.
The next ten minutes were spent listing all the expectations and benefits of their relationship. The whole time, Lucy wanted to be anywhere but there. Lucy wanted to be back at Fairy Tail.
Jude finished his speech with "Of course, I expect you to give birth to a baby boy, we will need a Heartfilia heir." And Lucy tried not to vomit.
"That is all, you may return to your room." Jude finished, turning his back to her and looking out the window.
Lucy didn't move. She didn't want to obey. She wanted to threaten her father and rip up this dress and get out of this house.
But instead she simply said
"Yes father." And took her leave. Lucy was a few feet from the door when her father suddenly said,
"Oh, and Lucy, please remove that silly guild mark from your hand. Its best if you no longer associate yourself with them. You are a Heartfilia, and you have nothing in common with those peasants."
Lucy wanted to punch the old man in the face, but instead she just sighed and said
"Of course, father." As soon as Lucy was out of the office, she sprinted to her room.
Her head hit the pillows of her obnoxiously large bed, and finally she could no longer hold back her tears.
"Hurry up ice-for-brains!" Natsu yelled as he ran towards the towering gates of the Heartfilia estate.
"Shut up before I freeze your tongue pyro!" Gray yelled back.
"No fighting boys!" Erza commanded as they entered the gates. "We're here."
"Holy cow, this place is huge!" Happy said as he flew around in awe.
Natsu sniffed the air for Lucy, and located her inside the large white mansion at the end of the cobblestone road.
"She's in there." He growled, "We're coming Luce!" He shouted as he ran towards the house as fast as he feet could carry him.
Inside his office, Jude sat, looking out the window at the scene below. He frowned as he saw a pink haired boy with fire on his hands sprinting towards the house.
"What a nuisance." He muttered to himself. "Get Lucy in here immediately." He commanded to a servant, who quickly nodded and left the room.
Jude opened the glass doors and stepped out onto the balcony to look down at the three wizards and, was that a flying blue cat? that were banging on his front door.
He cleared his throat, getting the attention of a young man with black hair.
"Yo, Natsu, up there." The black haired one said to the pink haired one.
The boy, who's name was apparently Natsu, met Jude's gaze with such fierce hostility it took Jude by surprise.
"Hey you! Old man! Give us Lucy back!" The boy screamed up at him, the boys fists lit on fire and he took a step in the direction of the balcony.
The black haired boy grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Dude, calm down thats her dad."
Jude gave them a half smirk that seemed way to content for Natsu's liking.
"Let me talk to Lucy!" Natsu roared at the man.
As if on cue, Jude heard his office door open, and somehow the boy must have heard it to, for he yelled Lucy's name rather frantically.
"Lucy will be out in a moment." Jude shouted down to the wizards rather smugly. He shut the balcony door and turned to face an upset looking Lucy. He gave her a cruel smile.
"It appears your friends are here."
Lucy stood in Jude's office, staring at the balcony door in agony. She fiddled nervously with the single satin glove she was wearing to cover her guild mark. She couldn't bring herself to remove the pink symbol, not yet.
She had cried for almost an hour before a servant came saying her father was 'requesting' her again. She had expected a lot of things, but not this. Not them. She hadn't thought her friends would actually come looking for her, let alone that they'd get here so quick.
Lucy could already picture their faces, looks of anger and betrayal. She wasn't ready, she couldn't do it.
"You know what to say." Jude said coldly, grabbing Lucy's shoulder so tight she knew it would bruise later.
It was a threat of course, Lucy wasn't dumb. Jude opened the glass doors, Lucy rubbed her dried out eyes one more time, and stepped out onto the balcony.
She looked down to the front door, and the first thing she saw was him. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt like crying all over again.
Natsu. Her best friend, he was down there, looking up at her. She had thought she was never going to see him again, but there he was.
His fists were aflame and Gray had a firm grip on both of his biceps, and Natsu looked furious. Lucy feared he was angry at her, but as soon as they made eye contact his anger seemed to fade into something akin to relief. His muscles became less tense and the fire on his hands disappeared. Gray hesitantly let the fire mage go, and when he didn't seem about to try anything else, Gray took a step back.
"Lucy…" Natsu breathed, but before he could say anything else, Happy cut him off.
"LUCYYYYY!" The blue cat cried as he flew up to the balcony to hug her. The cat snuggled into Lucy's breasts and sobbed. "You scared us so bad Lushii, why did you leave?" Happy cried, sounding hurt.
"I…" Lucy couldn't speak, she was so overrun with emotions. She took a deep breath so she wouldn't cry again, and pushed the cat off of her, probably with more force then necessary.
Happy looked hurt and shocked.
"You shouldn't have come here." Lucy said to the wizards below, trying to sound angry. "I left for a reason, and I'm not going back." Lucy tried to sound firm, but even she could hear her voice wavering. It felt as though she'd been stabbed in the heart, and with every word someone twisted the knife more and more.
She looked down on her friends, their faces full of hurt and confusion. Natsu especially. Lucy knew he wouldn't understand.
"Explain yourself Lucy!" Erza shouted angrily. "Explain how you think this," She gestured to the estate with her hands "is the right answer!"
'Im doing it to protect you, I don't want to do this please, please understand. Im sorry, I'm so, so sorry.' Lucy thought.
What she said next shocked even her.
"Im better off here. Joining Fairy Tail was reckless and selfish and I regret it. I should never have associated myself with any of you, i'm from a completely different world." As she said it, though her voice didn't waiver, she couldn't look them in the eyes. She sounded like her father, and it was repulsive. Her friends who had come all this way to save her, and here she was, shutting them out, lying to them. She kept her head down.
"Come on Lucy, think about what you're saying here." Gray pleaded, the hurt in his voice obvious. Natsu stood beside him. Though his fists were clenched tightly, they were not on fire. Natsu looked broken, his body trembled and his head was down. His bright hair casted a dark shadow on his face, he hadn't said anything since Happy cut him off.
Lucy ignored Gray's comment, as much as it pained her to do so.
"That is all I have to say. Now please leave the estate." Lucy turned her back to her friends, and took a step towards the door.
"LIAR!" Natsu shouted, Lucy stopped dead in her tracks. "Happy, fly me up there!"
"Aye sir!"
Lucy realized what this meant, they were coming up, she was going to have to face Natsu.
"Natsu please, don't-" Lucy turned to see Natsu was already there. He stood on the balcony with her, their faces only centimetres apart.
Natsu was scanning her face with his eyes.
'Dammit, Natsu will see right through me.' Lucy thought to herself. She opened her mouth to tell him off, but he spoke first.
"You've been crying."
It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Apparently Lucy's eyes were redder than she thought.
"Have not." Lucy denied, while quickly turning her head away from Natsu. Lucy cringed at how childish her response was. She had done so well at keeping a calm, professional facade, but as soon as she was facing Natsu, it all crumbled.
"Don't do this Luce." Natsu warned.
'Of course he uses that nickname now' Lucy thought, putting all her effort into not bursting into tears.
"I know you don't mean all that stuff you just said. I saw how much you love Fairy Tail, how well you fit in there." To her surprise, Natsu grabbed her small, shaking hands with his own hands. And they were so warm, so comforting, they felt like home. He gave her that big goofy grin she knew so well.
"Look at me Lucy, there's so much we haven't done, so many cool places I haven't shown you. You don't belong here, you belong with me, at Fairy Tail. We're your real family Luce, your dad just wants to use you for money."
Lucy stared into Natsu's eyes for a long time. She wanted to go with him so badly. She craved to grab his hand and run away like they did that day in Hargeon. She didn't want to stay in this prison alone, but she had no choice.
Slowly, she pulled her hands from Natsu tight grip. His grin faded.
"Im sorry Natsu," Lucy said as her voice broke. "but I can't …I can't come with you. Not this time."
"Luce…please. You're my best friend."
Lucy walked to the door of the balcony, steeling her self.
"Im telling you one last time Natsu." She said coldly. "Get off this estate." She looked over her shoulder, her expression blank, meeting his eyes that were full of hurt and loss. "And don't come back." Lucy shut the glass door in Natsu's face, locked it, and ran straight for her room.
"Lucy wait!" Natsu screamed, he pulled his fist back, ready to shatter the glass door, but before he moved his arm, he felt his feet leave the ground. He looked up to see Happy holding him by the collar of his coat, flying him down towards Gray and Erza.
"What the hell Happy? Put me down!" Natsu flailed and kicked.
"We're leaving Natsu." Erza said, as she walked on the ground a few feet below Natsu, Happy flying above her. "Lucy's made it pretty clear how she feels about us." Erza sounded angrier than Natsu had ever hear her sound.
"Like hell she has! You seriously think she meant all that? Clearly her dads got her brainwashed or something." Natsu screamed, unable to believe his friends would give up so easily.
"Shut up Natsu!" Gray yelled, unusually loud. "Just, seriously, shut up."
Natsu looked up at Happy, who's grip on Natsu's coat continued to tighten.
"C'mon Happy, you too?" Natsu pleaded. Happy didn't even answer, he just blinked away tears and continued to fly away from the house. Natsu looked back at the house Lucy was in. He refused to let that be the last time he saw her.
"I'll come back for you Luce, I swear." He promised under his breath, then the gates shut behind them, and the Heartfilia estate was gone from their sight.
Wow okay this chapter turned out way longer than it was supposed to? Oh well. *shrug* Now, I know what you're thinking... an update!? So soon?! what can I say? I was bored and I've got this all planned out in my head, so updates should (hopefully!) be frequent.
Anyway, things start to pick up in this chapter so Im hoping this one was a little more interesting to read :) Though I do apologize for the constant switching p.o.v. i just really wanted to get everyones different emotions in!
P.S: I hope you don't think you've seen the last of a certain fire mage ;)
Check out my Tumblr for info and updates on this fic: a-fairy-tail44
