Lucy's eyes widened at the sight: the girl had an aura around her that gave Lucy the idea that the girl wasn't normal… wasn't… human. She couldn't fully comprehend on what she was seeing, whether it was a bright light from somewhere or a mere illusion. She blinked once, twice, three times, but she still couldn't focus. This caused the girl to laugh. Her giggle sounded like bells lightly swaying in the breeze. It was so enchanting to Lucy. The girl noticed Lucy's stare and that caused her to laugh even more before saying, "Am I THAT beautiful? I had no idea. Well, I haven't aged in the past twenty years, so that explains something." The girl conjured what seemed to be a mirror, and she admired herself, pleased with how she looked. Lucy merely scoffed at the vain action, which caused the girl to look at Lucy and crush the mirror, clearly upset: "Excuse me, Princess, but can't I at least admire my beauty? After all, it HAS been twenty years since I have been able to see myself, no thanks to you." The girl pointed a finger at Lucy, and that caught her off-guard. Lucy scoffed at the remark and said, "Why are you blaming this on me? I have nothing to do with you!" The girl scowled at her and an almost guttural sound came out of her throat, causing Lucy to jump: "You listen here, Princess! I have been trapped in a mortal body for twenty years keeping said person ALIVE and THIS is the thanks I get? Unbelievable!"
This caused Lucy to pause and think to herself: "Wait, she said she has been trapped in a mortal body for twenty years trying to keep someone alive. She's blaming ME for it. She can't mean…" Lucy suddenly spoke out, "Wait. You can't mean that…" The girl smirked at Lucy, seeing the wheels turn as she put the pieces together: "Oh NOW she figures it out! Now the little Princess, who I wasted part of my life protecting her for, realizes that we, are in fact, connected. Bravo, Lucy. It took you long enough." The girl crossed her arms and looked at Lucy, who looked shocked at what was just revealed to her and said, "Wait, before this goes any further, tell me something: who are you?" The girl smiled and all of a sudden, the ray of light seemingly shattered, causing Lucy to close her eyes because of how bright it was. When Lucy opened her eyes back up, she saw a sight she hadn't seen in years: the Celestial World.
Lucy gasped at the sight before her: the Celestial World along with all the spirits flying around and going along with daily business. She got up off of her knees and walked over to the girl who had caused this. She tapped on her shoulder and the girl turned around: dressed in a scarlet dress, platinum blonde hair shining, and eyes glowing like the moon. The dress was simple enough: a gown, flowing at the back and above the knee in the front. The top of the dress was embroidered with thousands of crystals in all sorts of patterns, the crystals gradually fading as the dress went on, and simple, white, peep-toed heels two or three inches high. Half her hair was in intricate French braids, with small beaded accents, while the other half was flowing freely down to her hips.
She smiled and said, "Lucy, welcome. I know you have been here before, so why not skip the formalities and get you dressed up." Lucy was about to protest but was pushed towards a couple maids, one of them being Virgo. Virgo gave a small smile to Lucy, and Lucy smiled back, wanting to go and hug her friend she hadn't seen in so long, but she knew now wasn't the time. One maid took Lucy's right hand while Virgo took her left. They both said in unison, "Welcome to the castle, my Princess." Lucy was shocked at what they said and realized she still hadn't been answered as to who the girl who brought her here was. She tried to turn back but was tugged forward into what seemed to be a huge dressing room, made especially for her.
Lucy entered the room and looked around at all the dresses and accessories lying around like candy, so tempting to be taken. The maids said something to Lucy about ringing the bell when she was ready to be dressed, but Lucy didn't fully hear because she was still in awe at everything before her. She walked around slowly, analyzing all the dresses and very lightly touching them, as if any sort of strong contact could break them. Lucy saw all sorts of dresses: long, short, modest, risqué, even dresses that weren't even made out of fabric! She couldn't wrap her mind around it. However, her eyes kept popping back to a single dress. As she was admiring it, the girl came next to her and spoke: "Beautiful, huh? It was made for you when you were a baby. We had a feeling you would like it and you might wear it someday." Lucy jumped at the voice and looked back to see glassy eyes. Lucy choked on her words and finally said, "What do you mean by 'we'? Who are you? Why am I being called 'Princess'? Please just tell me what's going on." She was desperate to know. The girl looked back and smiled, patting Lucy's head in a maternal-like gesture: "My name is Sami. That's all I can really tell you for now. But I think we should hurry and get you dressed. It's nearly dinner and I bet you would like getting to know more about why you're here with everyone around to explain." Lucy merely nodded and ran her hand over the dress once again as Sami pulled it from the rack and hung it in the middle of the room on a hook as she went to get a necklace and earrings to match. Lucy just sat down on a nearby ottoman and played with her fingers, looking around while everything was getting ready.
She was awoken from her stupor when she heard Sami say, "Ok, why not get you dressed? I can't wait to see what this dress looks like on you." Lucy stood up and walked over, removing her clothes until she was in her underwear. Sami slipped the dress on Lucy and laced up the back. Once laced up, Sami called in the maids to do Lucy's hair and makeup. Lucy closed her eyes and relaxed. She loved when people played with her hair. She remembered that Natsu would unconsciously run his fingers through her hair in the middle of the night when he would sneak into her bed for an unannounced sleep-over. Lucy didn't mind. She would just sigh and fall back asleep.
She missed him so much. Lucy didn't want to leave like that, but she had to. She still hadn't fulfilled the promise she made: to be stronger and not defenseless. She missed his warm arms when he protected her. She missed his goofy and infectious smile when he was excited. She missed his love for Fairy Tail and the people in it. She missed everything about him, even the annoying parts: like when he tried to cook for her and nearly burnt down her apartment, or when he tried cleaning and nearly tore up everything she owned. The memories of him made her heart ache and her lip quiver slightly, trying not to cry. Sami noticed this and put a box of tissues in front of her, saying, "It's ok to cry. Crying lets us all know that the people we're crying about are real and that they care about us and miss us too." Lucy meekly nodded and reached for a tissue before lightly dabbing under each eye a few times, absorbing any moisture that had happened to leak out.
About an hour had passed and Lucy was ready for "dinner". She turned around to face the mirror and was pretty shocked at what she saw: an angelic face with big brown orbs for eyes lined by a thin line of black, small pink lips, and her skin was nearly glowing. She was wearing a powder blue floor-length strapless silk gown with a layer of white sheer over the blue with a cluster of jewels at the top of the gown splitting in the middle and bending around to the back and creating a small train of the white sheer fabric and crystals. Lucy's hair had brushed out curls, with half of it tied up by a small clip of silver keys, and the rest was flowing freely. Lucy almost reached out and touched the mirror, not believing what she saw: "You look stunning, Lucy." She turned around to see Sami, smiling widely, and the two maids who had helped Lucy were behind her, in awe. Lucy simply smiled in response as Sami grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the direction of the dining hall.
They walked down a long hallway decorated with all sorts of intricate paintings and statues until they reached a pair of ornate double doors. Sami knocked a couple times before peeking her head in and saying, "Father, she's ready." Lucy heard a gruff voice in the background and Sami and Lucy stepped back as the doors opened.
At the table, there was all of Lucy's spirits watching her with a smile as she walked to an empty spot at the table. There were two spots left: one to the left of the Celestial King, and one to the right. Lucy walked over and the king directed her to his left as Sami sat on his right. The king smiled at Lucy warmly and a rush of heat ran through Lucy, as if she felt some sort of familiarity with him. Well, of course she did, but this felt different, like he was closer to her than she realized. Lucy turned her face back to the table as the king was making an announcement. Lucy looked around and felt all eyes on her, and soon she knew why when the king said, "After twenty years, I would love you all to welcome back my youngest daughter Sami, and my granddaughter, Lucy Heartfilia!" At this, Lucy nearly fell out of her chair and had to pull herself back up and look at the king and said, "Me? Granddaughter? What?"