"Where are you off to today, my dear?"
Lucy cringed at the sound of Jude's voice. He had been so much like a father lately, guiding her and being encouraging, taking an expressed interest in her activities. It made her sick. He'd been bringing her to meetings, spending time in her office, and generally trying to make up for his shitty behavior for the last twenty years.
Lucy wasn't having it. "Out. I have a few personal matters to attend to. I should be back by dinner." She kept her voice flat, hoping he'd notice her disinterest in talking to him.
He didn't. "That sounds fun." There was something in his voice that had Lucy turning to face him. He was looking slightly to the left of her, and Lucy followed his line of sight to see he was looking at a picture frame on Lucy's desk. It was of a young Lucy smiling with her mother. Layla had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at her young daughter, who was grinning with a smudge of icing on her face. It was from Lucy's seventh birthday; the last one Layla had come to.
"She'd be proud of you, Lucy. Very proud." Lucy looked back up at her father and saw his eyes were shining. An unwelcome pang of pity enveloped Lucy's heart, and she smiled sadly, nodding in agreement.
"I think so, too, Father."
/
Lucy stared at the large metal door looming in front of her. "He's in here, Ms. Heartfilia." Libra stood next to her, looking as severe as the last time they'd met. She had a clipboard in her arms, and Lucy could imagine her whacking wayward prisoners with it. "I will enter first, as I've met with him once today already to tell him you were coming. I'll explain about the parameters of your visit, then I'll leave you two alone." Lucy ignored her suggestive smirk and watched her walk through the door.
As Libra took longer and longer, Lucy felt more and more nervous. What if Capricorn had been right? What if Natsu had truly forgotten all about her? She remembered when she had run to the pub from Jacob; he had looked right through her in his drunken state after only days apart. What had months of nothing but fighting and beatings done to his memory of her?
The door clicked back open in the middle of Lucy's musings. Libra looked slightly shaken, and had the scent of smoke on her. 'Smoke?' "I just got a call, Lucy. You can take him with you when you leave." Lucy's heart jumped. She held the door open for Lucy, who entered against her better judgement.
The door clicked shut, and Lucy looked around the room. It wasn't unlike the interrogation rooms she saw on crime shows. There was a large window spanning an entire wall, which she guessed was two-way, and was probably where Libra was. There was no other decoration. The walls were pure white, though, different from the gritty cinderblock on TV.
At the table in the middle of the room sat Natsu. He didn't look up as she walked over to him, instead staring at something in his hand. He hardly twitched when Lucy's chair made a scraping sound when she pulled it back, or scooted back toward the table.
They sat in silence for a minute, and Lucy took the time to look him over. His hair had gotten much longer, some strands falling in his eyes or brushing the tops of his bare shoulders. There was dried blood crusted in his hairline, on his face, and on his torso. He had gotten more muscular since the last time she'd seen him, too, a blush rising to her face as she traced the lines of his body.
Coughing quietly, she decided to make the first move. "Hey," she murmured softly, trying not to startle him. His eyes flicked up to her, and Lucy felt all fear of Capricorn being right drain away. His eyes were tired, but warm and familiar. His lips twitched as he stared at her.
"Hey," he croaked hoarsely. Moving as one, they both stood up. Lucy scrambled across the table and jumped into his arms, which immediately closed around her and squeezed all of the breath out of her. Her eyes stung with tears at the familiar solidarity of his chest. She hiccuped when his arms tightened again, and she looked up to see him smiling like an idiot.
Lucy choked out a laugh through her tears. "Why are you smiling?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Why're you cryin'?" He chuckled at her pout and ruffled her hair. "You gettin' me outta here or what?" Lucy laughed and nodded, still too shaky to trust herself to speak. Natsu followed behind her, but made a panicked noise and ran back to the table.
Lucy looked back to see him swipe something off the table before rejoining her. "What was that?" she asked. Natsu gave her an uneasy look, but pulled out a small lighter from his pocket. Lucy stared at it, knowing she had never seen it before. It was a small red lighter, thicker than others she had seen, with a black outline she guessed was a salamander curling around it. She darted her gaze back up to Natsu, who was watching her carefully.
"It's a lighter," Lucy stated, hoping he was going to explain something. He smirked at her and shrugged, shoving the lighter back in his pocket. "Yeah, and I hope I won't have to use it. Now, can we go?" His voice took on a whiny pitch, and Lucy laughed once more. She was glad his time here hadn't changed him all that much; he was still the same goofy idiot she had grown to love.
"Yes, you dork. Come on." She grabbed his arm and started dragging him out the door, listening to his amused chuckles. She couldn't wipe the stupid grin off her face as she listened to him pester her with questions; he was back.