[chapter one]


"Make it stop," she whispered, pounding at the door. Her words were not granted any response except for the continuous wind that has been plaguing her dreams since the age of six.

"Please…please make it stop. It hurts…" she pleaded as tears pricked at her eyes. She waited for the voice that always came…every time…it came to lift her free.

"Please!" she begged, still pounding her hands against the door as the wind stung at her skin. Blood was starting to rise up and some dripped from her face. Everything hurt…she just wanted it to stop…please…she just wanted it to stop.

Her legs gave out and she fell to the knees with her hands still against the door that would just not open. The wind was picking up speed and she wondered where the voice was. Where was it? Wasn't it…late…?

"Stand up. You have to stand up…stand up!"

It was back. Her savior voice. Finally…finally she was free once more from the nightmares that plagued her almost every night.

"Thank you," she whispered as the wind ceased. Her fingers gripped the door handle and she pushed against it, opening it just a bit letting some light come in…she smiled and—

As always, Lucy woke with a start. She blinked, adjusting to the light streaming in from the small openings in the curtains. Her head turned and there was a loud popping noise from her neck. Lucy groaned as she sat up, rubbing at her neck.

It's still all the same routine, she thought miserably, bringing her feet down from the bed so that she was touching the cold ground.

She stared at the ground, trying to figure out why she had an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach…and then it hit her.

Exactly twelve years ago, her mother passed away.

Today was the twelfth anniversary of her mother's death.

Lucy hated that it was called an anniversary. She had always associated anniversaries with happy things like weddings and special occasions…not with deaths that tore apart one's life.

Tears pricked at her eyes but she forced them back.

No.

She promised herself six years ago that she would no longer cry.

She had to be strong.

"Miss Lucy?"

Lucy's head snapped up and her gaze met with her long time personal maid, Rain.

"Good morning, Rain," Lucy said, forcing a smile and standing up. Rain's gaze trailed to the floor, and Lucy suspected that Rain knew what today was. Of course she knew. She loved Layla as well.

"Good morning Miss Lucy…I have set the bath for you already, and when you're in it I will organize your chambers," she said.

Lucy sighed, always and forever hating the formality Rain showed her no matter how many times she told her not to do it. She suspected it was because Rain was afraid of what would happen to her if Jude, Lucy's father, caught her.

Lucy only nodded and walked towards the bathroom with a breathless hush of a "thank you, Rain". Rain smiled sadly and soon got to work. Yes…she knew what day it was. She just started cleaning.


"Lucy, today your studies will be shorter because today we are going to have a visitor," Jude informed Lucy at the table during breakfast.

Lucy sighed, and nodded. She heard these words at least twice a week. This week, it was the third time a visitor would be coming.

There were always so many visitors…ever since then.

Her father never told her to her face, but after a while of meeting boys always within five years of her age, she began to suspect why she was forced to meet each and every visitor.

They were all possible candidates for marriage.

She was curious, however, as to why she had to meet them. Lucy knew that even if she disliked a certain man, if her father thought him as a worthy heir to the Heartfilia throne, he would arrange it, regardless of Lucy's wishes.

So far, none of the men have particularly appealed to her, and she held no special feelings towards any of them…that is… except him.

Natsu Dragneel, she thought with a grimace. Yes, her feelings towards him were clear indeed.

She hated Natsu.

She absolutely, and utterly completely loathed him.

He's only ever visited six times over the past eleven to twelve years, but each time just got worse and worse.

They just could not stand each other.

If there were ever two individuals who could just not get along any less, it was them.

He hated her, and she hated him.

That's all there was to it. She did like Makarov…she thought of him as a funny old man who seemed to be always smiling, unlike her stern father. She would trade her father for Makarov any day, and that was another reason she hated Natsu.

She didn't think that he appreciated him as much as he should be and yeah she was a little jealous he got such an amazing guardian, but that was just one of the reasons!

Before Lucy could go on a rant in her head about all the reasons she hated Natsu, he father broke in.

"Today's guest is Dan Straight and he comes from a prestigious family who owns a franchise of restaurants. Not a very noble business, but he has enough money to be considered for well…I think you should know by now," he said before taking another bite of his eggs.

Lucy stared at her food, keeping still.

She wanted to say so much…of how much she didn't want to get married, how much she wished she was just a normal girl, and how much she just wanted to travel the world and discover what she wanted to be in her life, but all that could come out was, "Yes, Father."

She was pathetic.

Jude nodded, pleased with her answer as always, and once again the silence came.

Lucy hated it.


"Hahahaha! You deserved it! Hahahaha!" Natsu laughed as he dodged the second pan. The head cook, Mistress Lei, continued to scream at him, throwing with all her might.

"You uncultured, spoiled brat! Get back here and clean this up! I don't care who you are and I don't care that your adoptive father in my boss! You get over here right now and pick all of this up!" With one more throw of, this time, a pot, Natsu started to laugh harder. He picked up a tomato lying near the table and picked up, grinning widely.

"Sorry…" he started to say, edging back with careful, deliberate steps, "I gotta run this one errand and well see you!"

He threw the tomato right at the wall behind Mistress Lei, surprising her and making her even more infuriated.

Natsu took the chance to escape out the kitchen window and towards the gardens. Mistress Lei rushed towards the window, with some of the tomato that splattered on her after hitting the wall and screeched at her loudest, "GET BACK HERE NATSU DRAGNEEL!"

Natsu just kept running with a huge smile on his face.


Natsu was trying to stay firm in regretting nothing. Makarov, his adoptive father, was, at the moment, lecturing him on being a proper man while a smirking Mistress Lei stood in the background, arms crossed.

"I expect you to clean the whole kitchen, top to bottom, and oh…don't forget the place where the tomato hit," Makarov informed him sternly. Natsu just nodded, ashamed and determined to keep his inner wits.

"I only did it because—" Natsu started to say, but Makarov didn't let him continue.

"I don't care why you did it. I care about the fact that you are almost a twenty-year old still behaving like a six-year old!" he exclaimed.

"You didn't even know me when I was six," Natsu grumbled. Makarov frowned.

"Just clean it Natsu, and then I want to see you after you're done in here. Do you understand?" he asked. Natsu pursed his lips, refusing to answer, but when Makarov's glare only hardened, a reluctant nod came from Natsu.

"Fine," he said, turning to leave.

Natsu quickly left the room, and Makarov watched with a grim expression on his face.

"Are you ready for marriage Natsu?" he wondered aloud.

He was worried about it, but he was more worried if Natsu was prepared to take care of someone else, when he still couldn't take care of himself.


Lucy was at a crossroads between deciding if Natsu annoyed her even more than Dan, or if it was the other way around.

Her decision was actually leaning towards Dan being the more annoying one.

Lucy, however, couldn't just get up and leave, and so far she's "gone to the bathroom" five times this entire visit. The good thing was, Lucy was sure her father didn't like Dan all that much either.

"Your beauty is of one that not even the oceans could describe its size!" Dan exclaimed with a very, very wide smile on his face.

Lucy scrunched up her nose at the weird wording of that sentence. However, she just smiled and let him continue ramble on.

Jude was watching from down the table with a hidden distaste that only those who knew him well could identify.

"I'm sure that we will have a wonderful life and it will just be wondrous! I will be anything you want Lucy darling including…." Lucy completely zoned out, focusing on nothing of great importance.

Right now she'd rather study the tiles on the floor than listen to all of this ridiculousness.

"Excuse me Dan but I'm afraid I need to use the restroom once again," Lucy cut in, standing up. Dan stopped talking and kept that enormously large smile on his face.

"Sure thing! I'll be waiting for you when until you get back! In fact I would wait forever for you! I'm sure that your father and I could have a good time talking!" he suggested, turning towards Jude who looked absolutely horrified. Lucy smiled in spite of herself.

"Yes, I'm sure you could," she said, before escaping from him and his endless smiles.

Lucy headed, at first, in the direction of the bathroom, but as soon as she was out of sight she bee lined towards her room. She needed a break.

She needed a break from everything really.


When she finally returned to the dining hall, she was surprised to see Dan gone. Her father was just closing the door with a fake smile on his face, and Lucy stood, frozen.

"What happened?" she asked, pleased. Jude huffed.

"His father came to pick him up early. Apparently something urgent happened and it required Dan's assistance…thank heavens. I did not like that young man. He was too irresponsible and too talkative. I think it is safe to assume that we will never see him again. Well not that it really matters anymore since everything's already been planned…" Lucy stiffened.

What did he mean by that?

Jude walked back to his chair and took a seat, making sure he had Lucy's undivided attention.

"Lucy…I think you know what all of those visitors were for…and I think it's time I finally told you who I think is best suited to become your husband and heir to this corporation," he said.

Lucy could not move…she was terrified of the answer and she was terrified of what she might not say.

"So…he will visit once more and at the time we will arrange everything. We also plan to go public about it in almost two weeks time."

Lucy noted how her father was obviously trying to avoid telling her who it was, but she wouldn't let him get away to easily.

"Who is it?" she whispered, terrified.

She didn't want this.

She didn't want to be married at only the age of eighteen.

She didn't want this, but of course…she couldn't tell her father.

She could never bring herself to tell her father how she felt about all of this. She didn't know why. She just couldn't.

Jude sighed at her question.

"You will be marrying Natsu Dragneel. He is the best candidate out of—"

"No! Please! Anybody but him!" Lucy protested before he could go on.

It was the unthinkable!

Out of every single man he father liked, why did it have to be the one she hated the most?

Jude frowned at her protesting.

"You will not argue with me young lady. You will marry into the Dragneel enterprise. It's been settled since the first day you two met, but it wasn't quite official just then. However, Makarov and I have finally talked it over and we both think it best that you two are to be married. Plus, it will be a great advantage towards both of our corporations."

Lucy wanted to cry.

She didn't want this.

This wasn't fair.

All her life she did as she was told, and no matter how much she knew she should fight back now, she didn't.

Instead, she didn't utter a single word as she stood up and left the room, without bothering to even look at her father. Her father didn't protest at her actions.

He knew she had accepted it, or that in time she would.

It's for the best, he thought.


"FUCK NO!" Natsu exclaimed, standing up abruptly causing the chair to fall over.

It was noon and he after he had finally finished cleaning the kitchen he went straight back towards the main hall like his stepfather had asked. Then Makarov sat him down and told him. He didn't sugarcoat it either.

He simply said, "You are going to be marrying Lucy Heartfilia."

Natsu ran a hand through his hair, irritated and incredulous. He could not believe that this was happening.

"She's a little brat! A spoiled know-it-all bitch! I don't want to marry her and I sure as hell think she doesn't want to marry me, so NO!" Natsu continued to say.

Makarov was not in the mood today. He just stood up, groaning a little bit as his muscles loosened.

"You're going to marry her Natsu, and that's all I'm going to say. Sorry kid, but it's final."

And with those few words, he left. Natsu stared at his disappearing form, pissed off beyond belief.

Finally, he slammed another chair down and stormed out of the room while screaming at his fullest, "I DO NOT WANT TO MARRY LUCY HEARTFILIA!"


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