"Why did you give up Umidjon?" I asked my father. The tall man sat across the coffee table from me on the blue couch that looked two times too small for him. He was so shocked when he saw me standing at the door, he took the chair I should have sat in and gave me the large loveseat. Natsu was slouching against the wall. He insisted that he should come with me, and I allowed him as long as he didn't say anything. This was something I needed to work through on my own. So far, he's kept his promise.

"How did you find out about him?" my father asked, flabbergasted.

"Do you remember the wizard you hired us to defeat all those months ago?" I asked. "The one that was giving everyone nightmares?" He nodded his head. "That was Umidjon. That was my brother that you gave away and never told me about!" My voice got louder with each word.

At least this man across from me had the decency to look down. "I never wanted you to know about him," he admitted at last. I was livid. I stood up abruptly, causing the tea cups on the table to rattle.

"I HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW!" I yelled. "I HAD THE RIGHT TO KNOW WHO MY BROTHER WAS, AND YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO GIVE HIM AWAY!"

"You don't understand," Jude Heartfilia said. I laughed hysterically. Bad Lucy! This was exactly what I didn't want to do! I wanted this to be a somewhat calm talk, where I could get answers and give my father a chance to explain himself. Too late for that now. Natsu didn't budge from his spot in the corner.

"Oh, I understand perfectly. You thought you could sell off your own daughter to some rich family and join two companies together. You didn't think a son was worth having!"

"Stop it. You don't know anything," Jude said darkly.

"I know all of it! Umidjon told me everything right before he died in my arms!" I yelled. Tears bubbled in my eyes. Natsu pushed off the wall, about to walk over to me, but I shook my head and wiped my eyes angrily. This wasn't the time for tears.

"Umidjon is dead?" he whispered.

"Maybe if you hadn't given him away, he'd still be here!"

"I SAID YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND!" my father thundered, standing up. I shrunk back out of habit before standing tall and throwing back my shoulders. This man couldn't hurt me anymore. I wasn't the desperate little girl I used to be. "Umidjon was my son and I loved him dearly! He was Layla's and my life! We loved everything about him!"

"THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE HIME AWAY?"

"We didn't! He was stolen from our house when he was five years old!" He fell down onto the couch and rubbed his face vigorously. I sat down hesitantly. I waited for him to explain.

"We never planned on telling you, but I guess now I have to. Umidjon was five years old when your mother was pregnant with you. She hated being pregnant. She complained constantly that there was nothing useful she could do without somebody telling her it wasn't safe for the baby. So a lot of her time was spent sleeping, or walking around the gardens outside of our house.

"I was really stressed at work at the time. I was quite harsh with both Layla and Umidjon. On one particular day, I was on the phone with one of my employees. We were speaking about how horrible the new man I hired was. 'He is useless!' I said. 'When can I finally get rid of him?'" He laughed bitterly at himself.

"I didn't realize at the time that Umidjon had heard me speaking on the phone. I think he may have thought I was talking about him. One of the servants told me later that they saw him running away from my office crying. It wasn't until the next day that we found he was missing. Your mother was frantic. Doctors advised her that too much stress may hurt the baby inside her, and she snapped. She didn't understand how anyone could possibly think she was anything but stressed. Her son was missing! I called guilds to help, called my workers and sent out search parties, but we never found him. Later, we learned that one of the servants in the house was also missing. He'd packed his bags and nobody had seen him. At last, we had to give up our search and assume that the servant had kidnapped Umidjon.

"When you were born, your mother and I decided not to tell you. We let everyone in the house know. We packed away his leftover toys and clothes and any pictures that he was in. It hurt, but we didn't want our new little girl to grow up in pain because of her missing brother.

"I am ashamed of this now, but after your brother was taken, I tried to put the past behind me. I cherished you, my second child.

"When your mother passed, I thought I was cursed. I'd lost half my family in my lifetime. I turned hard. I pushed you away and focused solely on work. I now regret that choice every day of my life. If only I'd been more involved in your life, we may not be like this now."

I was speechless. I put my face in my hands and leaned my elbows forward onto my knees, trying to process all of this. Natsu's warm hand touched my shoulder, making me jump.

"I need a minute," I whispered. I stood up without looking at either of them and stepped outside, where I began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth I went. Neither of them followed me.

My father never gave away Umidjon… So does that mean everything Umidjon told me he said wasn't true? Or maybe the man who kidnapped him had told him those things so he wouldn't try to go back home. But why? Why did that servant want Umidjon so badly?

If only you were here right now, Umidjon. Maybe you could help me figure this out. I clasped the locket he left behind in my fist. What was I going to do now? What was the point in even coming here in the first place? Did I want my father to apologize? No, he never would have said he was sorry outright. What had I been expecting?

I pulled the locket over my head and held it in front of me. Is he telling the truth, Umidjon? Or is he making excuses? It seemed like his pain was real, but how would I know? I'm not used to him showing any emotion but anger.

I walked back into my father's house. "Let's just leave," I told Natsu, interrupting his glaring competition with my father.

"Does that mean you don't believe me?" my father asks sadly. I shake my head.

"It means I don't know what to believe right now, and I need some time to think. I'll come back when I've worked everything out," I say over my shoulder, grabbing Natsu's hand and pulling him out of the house. My father stood at the door and watched us leave. When we were almost out of sight, I waved goodbye to him without looking back.