Chapter 5

'Mama! Mama look at what I got!' ,exclaimed the young girl with shoulder length golden locks and a bright smile stretched wide across her small face. In her excitement she caught her dainty foot on a tree root and found herself falling towards the ground.

'Lucy! Be careful!' Layla Heartfilia scolded gently whilst catching her daughter and steadying her back onto her feet. Lucy merely smiled up at her mother and giggled whilst showing her now crumpled flower in her hands. Layla's eyes softened at her young daughter before she scooped her up in her arms and began tickling her. Lucy's joyous laughs filled the wide space around them. After a few playful moments Layla relented and placed herself down with Lucy still in her arms under the great cherry blossom tree that stood tallest amongst all the tree's in the Heartfilia grounds. It was a perfect summer afternoon, the heat of the day had begun to cool with the gentle breeze that blew across the acres of land that stretched before the two blondes.

"Mama can I see one of your keys again?" Lucy asked her mother with her pleading brown eyes. Layla sighed, she knew at some point Lucy would ask this just as she did everyday. Reaching to her side Layla pulled out one of the Golden celestial keys that hung in a purse at her side at all times. She did not need to look to know which to pull out, she knew all of her keys as well as her own body. They were part of her from the moment she touched each one of them. Silently placing the gleaming key in her daughter's small hands she watched as Lucy's face beamed with happiness.

"Aquarius!" Lucy loudly said. Lucy now too knew all her mother's keys by heart. Ever since Lucy's birth she had always been fascinated with Layla's keys, always trying to grab them at the first sign of opportunity. When Layla first summoned the celestial spirits to show her daughter, Lucy had been completely mesmerized before she proudly exclaimed that she too wanted to be a celestial spirit mage. She was only two at the time. Layla knew that when the time came to part with her spirits they would be greatly cared for by her daughter, although she knew Aquarius may disagree much to her amusement. At the thought of what Aquarius was now saying in the Celestial realm about Lucy holding her key Layla couldn't help but laugh at loud. Her daughter looked up at her clearly puzzled, but Layla just shook her head and gently took the key from Lucy's reluctant hands.

"Okay that's it for today little Miss, time to go back inside. Remember we have guests arriving today and they have a son that you can play with" Layla said.

"Not yet! I still need to find more flowers for the princess".

"And why does the princess need more flowers?" Layla questioned her daughter whilst placing her hands upon her hips.

"She's getting married!" Lucy happily exclaimed.

"Oh? And who is the lucky groom? A prince?" said Layla.

"No!" Lucy yelled clearly offended at the idea, "She's marrying a dragon!".

Layla stared in astonishment before she loudly began laughing at her young daughter's proclamation. Of course her child would want to marry a dragon but Layla knew that if a real dragon stood before Lucy she would quickly change her mind, after all Layla knew exactly how gigantic and intimidating the dragons were.

"Ah yes, of course how silly of me. Well I do hope they have a long and happy marriage" Layla chuckled. Lucy beamed up at her mother before she took off down the grassy hill in search of more flowers. Layla smile remained as she continued to watch her daughter. Lucy was her world, she brought brought a ray of sunshine beaming into every aspect of her life ever since became the centre of Layla's life five years ago on the day she was born. Layla would always protect her treasured daughter ,even if it costed her life, she would do everything to keep that smile upon her face.

The little girl stared in wonder at the small creature in her hands. Whilst searching for flowers for her "wedding" she had discovered a small insect nestled between the petals of a pink rose. On closer inspection Lucy realised it was the bug from one of her bedtime stories, Mrs Ladybird .The miniscule creature scurried around her hand before it's wings emerged and it took flight.

"Wait! Wait for me I want to go on an adventure too!" Lucy cried reaching towards the sky to no avail. Slowly lowering her arms in disappointment that she could not fly after the insect, Lucy sat herself down on the grass sulking before finally throwing her arms up in frustration and threw herself face down in the grass. As big as their land was at the Heartfilia mansion, Lucy wanted to know what was beyond the great white gates that encircled the entire property. Her family owned the land all the way to the mountains in the distance but Lucy was never allowed to leave the main grounds. There were no children for Lucy to play with, and although the servants and her tutors were always kind and loving towards her they could never play with her for more than an hour before they had to return to their own duties. Of course Lucy had her mother whom she treasured her time with the most but she too also had things to do. The only times Lucy saw her father was at evenings when he would leave his office to attend dinner. Her father was a stern man but Lucy could tell that he loved her mother very much and often would give Lucy beautiful gifts. However she still wanted to see what was beyond those gates, see all the different kinds of magic in the world with her own eyes.

"What are you doing?" an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind her.

Lucy gasped and quickly whirled round onto her feet, where her large brown eyes laid upon a unfamiliar boy. He looked slightly older than herself and had dark chestnut hair that was dishevelled and uneven, but it was his eyes that Lucy found interesting. She had never seen such an unusual colour turquoise on a person, it was beautiful.

"Who are you?" the tiny girl demanded at the stranger before her whilst trying to make herself look taller and more intimidating.

"Phftt" the boy giggled at her. She tried to stand more upon her toes in hopes to reach his height but instead lost balance and stumbled making the boy laugh even more at her.

"Stop laughing at me!" Lucy shouted puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

"S-sorry it's just that you are cute and funny" he replied with obvious effort to stop his chuckling.

A tint of red coloured Lucy's cheeks at what the boy had said and before she could retort something back at him she saw her mother approaching her. Quickly scarpering past the strange boy Lucy ran into her Mother's open arms.

"Mama look there's a weird boy" she said not all too quietly into Layla's ear.

"Hey i'm not weird!" he defended, in which Lucy shot him an incredulous look.

"Now Lucy that's not very polite thing for a young Lady to say, apologize" Layla gently scolded her daughter. Feeling embarrassed at having been told off Lucy looked off into the other direction before she murmured her apology.

"A proper apology young Lady" Layla sternly said setting Lucy down on the ground before the older child. Lucy felt the tears begin to form in her eyes, but she felt more annoyance at the stupid boy that had caused her to get into trouble with her Mother.

"It's okay Mrs Heartfilia, I don't mind" the boy grinned at Layla.

"Oh well that is very kind of you Kei, Lucy you should take heed of his manners." she smiled back at him. Lucy just merely stared at him unsure at why he had just helped her.

"Now Lucy I want to introduce you to Kei Haruki , he is the son of a family friend and he will be staying with us for a short time. He is three years older than you, so I want you to be respectful to him Lucy", her Mother spoke behind her.

The boy, Kei stepped forward to Lucy and gently took her dainty hand within his own.

"Let's be friends!" he smiled at her ,in which Lucy's responded back with her own beautiful smile.

It had been nearly a week since he and his parents had arrived at the Heartfilia mansion. The gigantic house itself was breathtaking but Kei found his solace in wide open space that surrounded it, from the wide open plains of grass to the tall hedges of the maze where you could spend hours lost within it's viney walls. He has been apprehensive at first being told by his parents he was to accompany them to a business trip where they would have to spend a week at a stranger's house where they only had one child who was not only younger than him but also a girl. However from the moment he met the small blonde child who had tried to make herself taller at the sight of a stranger he was completely taken with her. Within a day he and Lucy had become fast friends and she took delight in pretending to be on adventures with him and showing him her mother's key's when Mrs Heartfilia permitted it. He gave her the nickname Luce, which she seemed very pleased with. Luce wasn't at all like the other girls he knew, who Kei thought were silly and stupidly immersed in their own world of pretty dresses and tea parties. Luce didn't care if her dress got torn and muddy as they climbed trees and rolled in the mud. Luce didn't cower at the prospect of being lost in the maze forever, instead she seemed enthralled by the idea of it. He was always amused by the expressions of annoyance she wore when Kei would always outrun her, it was like watching a little kitten think itself a the first night Kei had arrived she had taken to sneaking into his room hours after they were meant to be asleep with mountains of books stacked in her dainty arms. She would topple them all over his bed and Kei could clearly see from the covers they were books about far distant places filled with mythical creatures. The majority she still couldn't read so Kei had become chief storyteller. Luce seemed especially interested in Dragons and would happily talk about them til the sun rose up behind the mountains on the edge of the Heartfilia residence.

Kei was currently walking along the edge of the house boundaries, where tall white gates fenced him in. Luce was inside the house attending one of her many lessons her father made her take, it was in these hours when she was away that Kei felt a horrible loneliness away from her. He missed how just by her being near him, everything seemed brighter and cheerful. Looking up at the now setting sun Kei guessed the her lesson must nearly be over, and when he heard the fast approach of someone behind him he knew he had guessed right.

"Kei! Kei look!" her sweet musical voice called from behind him. However before he could turn to meet her properly the small blur of blonde attacked him sending him and her both toppling to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for Luce?" he laughed whilst rubbing his now sore head. As he sat up she shifted herself to sitting beside him.

"Look!" she responded whilst placing something small in his hand. Kei looked down at the tiny object which was two daisies intertwined together to make a ring.

"Wow Luce, it's really pretty, is it for me ?" he asked smiling at the younger girl.

"Yeah! And look I have one too. Spetto showed me how to make it! So now we have one's like Mama and Papa do, so you can be my husband" she cheerfully exclaimed.

Kei's face turned red at her declaration, and he quickly turned his head from her so she could not see. He knew that she didn't really know the true meaning of what she had just said, after all she was only five but Kei having been lectured on the importance of marriage and the fact he would have to marry for his family's benefit couldn't help but take what she had just said as something like a proposal. He felt a gentle tug on his sleeve and turned to meet the warm brown eyes of Luce.

"Don't you want to be my husband Kei" she sadly asked him.

"Of course I do Luce!" Key boldly declared "but you know when were bigger we can get real rings and really be married" he said whilst patting her head.

"You promise !" she said excitedly whilst holding up her pinky finger in which Kei responded by intertwining his own with hers.

"Promise!"

"Kei?" she said. Lucy looked at her old childhood friend who now wore a warm smile across his face. He had matured ,his childlike features were replaced with a sharp jaw and straight nose. Kei still towered over her, but now had a toned physique. His hair was still the same colour and still disheveled and slightly uneven but now he wore a black headband to keep his hair from his eyes. However his eyes had not changed at all, they were still as beautiful as ever and had a gentle expression as he looked at her. She couldn't believe that he stood in front of her now. It had been over ten years since she had saw him, the last time being at her Mother's funeral.

"How have you been Luce? I've missed you". Lucy was unsure of how to respond. In truth Lucy had not thought of her childhood friend in a long time. When her mother had died Lucy had completely shut herself off from everyone. She remembered the time Kei came to visit again before he and his parents had to leave for another country for business. She was so furious back then at him for leaving her and going off on a adventure whilst she had to stay locked up in the house where her Mother no longer brought happiness to her life and where her father ignored her. When he had knocked on her bedroom door she had screamed at him to leave her alone and when he had tried to reason with her all she responded was that she hated him. He soon left after that with his parents and Lucy never heard from him again. Gradually the happy days she spent with Kei were locked away into a place in Lucy's mind where she kept her joyous and blessed days with her mother and she never thought of him again. However now that he stood before her they all came rushing back. Staying up all night reading adventure books and re-enacting them the next day in the grassy plains and great maze at her childhood home. Ruining the majority of her dresses and causing the maids a heart attack every time she returned from her "adventures". Sitting safely in her Mother's arms while she explained each and every Celestial key to Lucy over and over again. Reminiscing about these peaceful times brought a sad smile to Lucy's lips.

"Kei ,what are you doing here? How did you find me?".

In response Kei simply held up a copy of sorcerer magazine, where Lucy was faced with a picture of herself with Natsu,Erza,Gray and Happy on a mission they had finished only a few weeks ago.

"I was really shocked when I realised it was you Luce. I had never imagined that you would join a magic guild. Let alone Fairy Tail, what happened with your Dad? How did you manage to convince him to let you join Fairy Tail?".

Lucy felt a pain in her chest, it still hurt when she thought of her Father.

"Well maybe we should go for a walk, it's a long story but first why are you here?" said Lucy

"Why do you think? I have come to get my wife" Kei simply replied with a grin.