Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

A/N: I do realise that this chapter seems a bit rushed, and I apologise for that.

After informing Levy that she was leaving and borrowing the books, Lucy entered the carpark with Minerva, Yukino and Sting. "Sit in the passenger seat, sweetheart. Sting and Yukino can sit in the back," Minerva offered, opening the door for Lucy. Lucy hesitated, but then nodded and sat down in the passenger seat.

She was getting nervous. Very, very nervous. Extremely nervous. Minerva sat in the driver's seat and started up the car. Then, she started driving.

It was silent for a good few minutes before Minerva said, "It's a bit quiet. Let me turn on some music for us to listen to." She took a CD from a compartment in the car and slid it into the CD player.

The second the music started playing, Lucy knew what song it was. "This is-!" She exclaimed. "It's..."

Her mother's melodic voice sang, "I tried but I can't so I'll just have to try again, and again, and again~!" The song was sung by Sayuri Heartstar. That was Layla Heartfilia's stage name. Layla was a singer, but she retired when she found out she was pregnant with Lucy. When Lucy was 3, Layla was brutally murdered. Lucy was only a toddler, so she didn't understand what had happened, and did not know the exact details of Layla's death, but she was sure of one thing. The killer was never found.

"Wh-Why... do you have my mother's album?" Lucy asked, strong feelings of sadness and anger clashing with each other in her heart.

"Lucy..." Yukino whispered sympathetically.

"Why don't I have it? I was Sayuri's manager, after all. How awful that such a beautiful singer with a wonderful voice died, right?" Minerva said, loving the suffering look on Lucy's face. "She was kind-hearted too, and loved each and every one of her fans."

Lucy shut her eyes tightly and her grip tightened on the book she was holding. "Can you please just drive, Miss Minerva?" Minerva did not reply, but she kept quiet for the rest of the ride.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Heartfilia Mansion. Much to Lucy's surprise, she saw maids and butlers bustling about. It was noisy as the maids and butlers shouted things to each other. Lucy tapped on the shoulder of a passing maid. "Excuse me, what's going on?" Lucy asked, staring at the high pile of paper that maid was carrying.

"We're planning the wedding for Sir Jude Heartfilia and Lady Minerva Orlando," the maid informed her. Then, she scurried off. Standing in the middle of ithe chaos was Jude, talking to a maid about some arrangements.

They were planning the wedding already?! Didn't that mean it would be too late to talk her father out of it?!...No, she wasn't going to give up that easily. Before Lucy could walk over to her father, Minerva rushed past her and gave Jude a hug. "My love, I missed you. We're going to make this wedding perfect," Minerva gushed. Then, at a softer tone, she said, "Let's sleep in a hotel tonight to celebrate our engagement."

Unfortunately, Sting, Yukino and Lucy all heard her. "Ugh," Sting commented. "Why is my mother always like that?" Yukino giggled.

Jude seemed to have (finally) noticed the three teenagers standing at the front door, and motioned for them to follow him and Minerva to his study. Even though it was as noisy as a construction site on the ground floor of the Heartfilia Mansion, Jude's study, located on the floor above, was as silent and peaceful as ever.

Jude told the teenagers that they could sit down on the couch, and Sting and Yukino did, but Lucy remained standing.

Jude sighed. "I know that this is all very hard to take in, but I hope you understand Lucy. I did this for us. You and I need to move on from Layla's death, and accept reality. I'm sorry that I kept this a secret from you, but I knew you wouldn't be able accept it right away, so I had to," Jude said.

"You told Mother that you would love her forever! Why are you betraying her now?! That stupid woman you're re-marrying is not even worth to be the wife of a beggar!" Lucy shouted angrily.

"Lucy!" Jude said forcefully, standing up. "I will not have you saying bad things about Minerva! It is not her fault that your mother died! I wanted to be understanding but you've left me no choice! Go to your room, young lady! Supetto, escort Lucy, Sting and Yukino to Lucy's bedroom. Lucy, you'll be sharing your room with Minerva's children until the maids manage to have two rooms ready for them."

Before Lucy could protest, Supetto, who heard Jude's command, escorted her out of her father's study. Once they arrived at Lucy's bedroom, Supetto left, but not before saying, "Lady Yukino and Sir Sting, your luggages shall arrive here shortly. And Lady Lucy? ...I hope you do not act that way to your father again."

There was a long, awkward silence once the three were left alone. Lucy had her back turned to the two, not wanting to show them the depressed and resentful expression on her face. When Lucy finally calmed down, she forced a smile and turned around.

"Sorry for saying bad things about your mother. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing. My bed is big so Yukino, you can share it with me. I'll have one of the maids send a mattress here for Sting," Lucy said.

"Lucy, it's fine if you insult her. We don't really like our mother either. All she does is sleep with different men and have their babies. We're siblings, but we're from different fathers. So that things wouldn't be confusing, we used our mother's last name as our last name," Sting said gently. Yukino went over to Lucy and held her hand.

"You're not alone, Lucy. You can share your pain with us," Yukino said comfortingly. Lucy gave them a genuine smile. Sting and Yukino are good people, that was for sure.

"Thank you. I feel so much better now," Lucy thanked gratefully.

For the next few hours, all of them introduced themselves, adding details such as the friends and enemies they made at school, their strengths and weaknesses, etc.

Sting and Yukino's luggages arrived when they were in the middle of their introductions, along with Sting's mattress, but they still continued to talk.

"I also have a senpai named Angela. Her little sister, Akari, attends Akiba Girls' Academy," Yukino said. "And then-" she began.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Akari and Angela?" Lucy interrupted. "As in, Takada Akari who attends Akiba Girls' Academy?"

Yukino seemed a bit surprised that Lucy knew her senpai's last name, but she nodded. "Yes, that's right. How did you know...?"

Takada Akari. Lucy's former best friend, and the one who ruined Lucy's life. She never wanted to ever hear that name again. A tear slipped down Lucy's right eye.

"Lucy, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Yukino asked worriedly. "Did I say something to make you sad?"

Lucy blinked and snapped back to reality. Realizing a tear had escaped, Lucy quickly wiped it away with her hand. "Oh, it's nothing. I just got some dust in my eye. You can continue with your introduction, Yukino."

Although Yukino was still a bit worried, she continued talking about her friends. The three of them chatted till late at night, and when they finally decided to stop to let Yukino and Sting start packing, it was already half past ten.

"Are you sure you should be packing? Wouldn't it be troublesome to move your things once two rooms are ready for you two?" Lucy asked as she helped Sting place a few sets of folded clothing into an empty drawer.

"It's fine. I heard a maid say that we would be staying here for two weeks so it'll be troublesome if we don't pack our stuff into the drawers now," Sting assured.

Once they finally finished packing and taking a bath, Yukino laid down on the bed, exhausted. "I'm so sleepy. Mind if I sleep first, Lucy?" Yukino asked, yawning.

"Not at all. Go right ahead. I'll go to sleep once I finish reading this chapter of the book I borrowed today," Lucy said. Once Lucy said that, Yukino fell asleep in seconds. A few minutes later, Sting, who just got out of the bath, walked over to Lucy as he dried his hair with a towel. He bent down till his face was right beside Lucy's and looked over her shoulder.

"Let me see. Is the book that interesting?" Sting said curiously. Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. Her cheeks heated up. She could feel his breaths on her skin, and he was so close...

"U-Um, you could just sit on the chair beside me, you know," Lucy suggested. At least it was better than having him so close to her.

"Ok, then I will. The book does seem to have a nice story," Sting said, oblivious to Lucy's embarrassment. When he sat down, he noticed a photo frame that was set on Lucy's desk. It was the only photo frame, and since it had a golden lining, it stood out. In the photo frame was a photograph of Lucy's mother carrying 3-year-old Lucy with her right arm and holding a microphone in her left hand. Lucy's mother was dressed like a popstar, and Lucy like a mini-version of her.

As Sting tried to reach out and touch the photo frame, Lucy grabbed his arm. "Don't touch it," she hissed harshly. Once she realized what she was doing, Lucy quickly let go of Sting's arm. "I'm sorry. I just..."

Sting shook his head. "No, it's all right. I won't touch it. Your mother is a very important person to you, isn't she? ...I used to have an important person in my life too."

Lucy closed her book and slid it into her bookshelf. As she was doing that, she asked, "'Used to'? Did something happen? It's fine if you can't tell me..."

"I can, really. This might sound kind of weird, but my father was really important to me. My real mother died giving birth to me, so he managed on his own. But he was 18 when I was born, and when the chancellor found out my mother was pregnant, my parents were kicked out of college. My father struggled a lot because of that, and he was jobless for a long time, but he always smiled when he was with me. No matter how bad our financial situation was, he was always, always smiling. But then one day, his smile changed. He was still smiling, but it was a different kind of smile. He was in love. That was when he met my stepmother, Minerva. I was only 14, but I was the one who usually checked the water, electricity and credit card bills. I noticed that huge amounts of money had been spent on female clothing and jewellery. I confronted him about it and after much pressing, he told me about Minerva. I yelled at him, saying that wasting money on a woman was pointless if she was going to hurt you. I was referring to my real mother, and about how her death badly affected him. He slapped me and swore. The next day, he disappeared. I didn't see him for 2 whole months. All he left behind was his credit card and his wallet. Then, Minerva came to take me in, saying my father was dead," Sting said. "I blamed myself and even tried to commit suicide twice, but Yukino managed to stop me."

Lucy was at a loss for words. She barely knew Sting, but he seemed like a nice person. To attempt to commit suicide...twice? Lucy gently patted Sting's back, hoping it would comfort him. That night, neither Lucy nor Sting managed to sleep well.