Looking at herself in the mirror in the basement of the Kardia Cathedral, Lucy wished she felt happier. Today was the day she would finally marry her best friend, the only man who would do anything for her. But standing there in front of the mirror she could only feel haunted. Her white dress hugged her hips, lace sleeves began just below her shoulder and flowed down to where her wrists began. The lace was beautiful, covering her whole body like she had always dreamed. Erza had styled her hair into a classic updo. A bun sat high on the back of her head as strands in the front swooped down close to her eye, being held perfectly in place.
The wedding came together like a fantasy. Every part of the planning process had gone perfectly. Most of that was thanks to Erza and her... persistent charm. Of course, Mira's ability to wrap everyone around her finger helped, too. The hospital even fixed the scheduling to allow everyone invited to be there. It was all perfect. However, the bittersweetness Lucy felt was brought on by the thought of the few who couldn't attend.
She silently cursed herself for looking so much like her mother.
Behind her in the large room, Levy, Mira, Erza, Cana, and Wendy were chatting excitedly. They couldn't believe the day had finally come when they could witness two of their best friends get married. Lucy was just glad they were enjoying themselves. Her right hand rose to clutch the string of pearls around her neck, wishing her mother could have been the one to slip the beads around her neck. The blonde shook her head to bring her back to the moment. Unfortunately, it worked too well. The pins holding her locks to her head loosened slightly, causing strands to fall. Erza snapped to attention. She had to bite her tongue to keep from berating the bride for ruining her hard work. Instead, she silently stepped forward to fix the pins.
"You look so beautiful Lucy. Natsu won't know what hit him." Levy spoke up with a wink from behind the redhead, admiring the red bridesmaid dress she wore in a corner of the mirror. Red and black were the chosen wedding colors. It was Natsu's idea, and Lucy couldn't turn him down. She would let him have that one, knowing she would get her way with everything else. In reality, he couldn't have cared less how or when they got married. He just wanted her.
"She looks like she's glowing." Mira piped up, "Maybe soon we will have some pink haired babies!" The pale-headed receptionist was clapping her hands.
"Mira, you're getting ahead of yourself again." Erza glared at her friend as she replaced the final pin in Lucy's hair.
"I think this wedding is enough to handle for now. Anyone know how the boys are doing?" Lucy asked with a sigh, taking her friends off guard.
"Is something wrong, Lucy?" Wendy asked meekly from behind the other girls.
"No, Wen, I'm fine. I just didn't imagine a wedding would be so stressful. Maybe I should have just done what your stupid brother wanted and eloped." Lucy walked away from the mirror. She was sick of seeing her mother's face looking back at her.
"And rob yourself the joy of a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony! Sacrilege!" The scarlet haired surgeon was looking at the bride like she had two heads, maybe three.
"Don't worry Lu-Chan. Everything is going just fine. Here, I'll call Gajeel and ask how the men are doing. Levy held her phone in her hand, getting ready to dial.
"No! It's okay, Levy." The blonde cringed when she imagined what kinds of things Gajeel would have to say about Natsu preparing to wed. "I should just go see Natsu. I think seeing him would really help me calm down."
"That's bad luck!" Erza covered the exit to keep Lucy from committing one of the biggest wedding faux-pas.
"I'll check the cards." Cana pulled her deck out of a small satchel, removing several flasks in the process. Lucy waited as Cana flipped through her cards. They had been right before, the blonde reasoned. "I don't see anything about bad luck..." Cana finished.
"See, Erza? It's okay. Let me go." Lucy pushed past the intimidating redhead and moved out of the door. Erza turned her gaze to the tipsy brunette.
"Really, Cana?" Erza's eyes showed no mercy. The gifted woman let her shoulders rise and fall as she downed the entire contents of a flask.
"I mean, I didn't say things looked perfect, but..." She unscrewed the cap on another bottle and took a swig, "Maybe she should expect the unexpected." Levy shook her head, Wendy's cheeks turned red with worry, and Mira just giggled. The surgeon's death glare remained unwavering.
Lucy walked up the stairs to the main level of the cathedral and made her way to the small room where the men were preparing for the ceremony. She had just under an hour until she would walk down the aisle of the chapel and marry the idiot she loved. And that idiot was the only person who could comfort her right now. She was just about to knock on the door to see Natsu when a voice stopped her. The blonde doctor turned around and was met with the second to last face she wanted to see- face of her father. The sadness she was feeling moments before switched to fury. Her blood boiled.
"Funny, I don't remember inviting you." Her words were laced with acid that burned as they met with his ear drums.
"Your aunt told me. I wanted to see you." Jude Heartfilia was standing tall in his black suit, his composure held strong against his daughter's anger. He had been wearing suits as long as she could remember, but it had been a good six years since she had seen him in one. Well, it had been a good six years since she had seen him.
"Really?" She would have to a long talk with Aunt Aquarius later, so long as her nerve remained strong. "See, usually when you aren't invited to someone's wedding, it's because they don't want to see you. Now if you excuse me, I wanted to have a talk with my future husband." She saw his body flinch ever so slightly as she stressed those words. A small smile slipped on her lips as she turned back to the room that housed her fiance.
"Can I meet him?" Lucy was surprised by the frailty of his voice. He sounded small, almost afraid of her answer. The shock didn't last long. Anger came back full force.
"So you can tell him he's not good enough for a woman of my birth? So you can lecture me about how a Heartfilia has to consider the ties she is making upon marriage? Save it. I heard all of it when I was eighteen and it means even less to me now then it did then." At some point she had taken a few steps towards him. The gap between the two was short as the blonde woman continued to unleash her vitriolic words. She didn't notice the door she had been standing in front of was now open and a small group of men were staring at her. A hand on her shoulder brought her eyes out of the red.
"Luce?" Natsu had heard enough to piece together some of the situation, but he didn't want her to do anything she would regret on her wedding day. The blonde's neck jerked harshly to look back at him. Her expression softened upon seeing the man she was about to marry in his tuxedo and red vest.
"Natsu..." was all the blonde managed to breathe out.
"Ah, Natsu," Jude stepped away from his daughter and extended a hand out to the pink-haired man, "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Jude Heartfilia."
"Yeah, I know who you are." Natsu took the blond man's hand, but his voice offered no warmth. "I'd thank you not to go upsetting my bride on our wedding day. If you have something you wanted to say, please say it and leave." Lucy had once told him of the neglect and harsh treatment she had received from her father after her mother's death. She worked so hard to get away from him. The scholarships she had earned took her to college, and then to Hargeon Medical. Her decisions were not handled well by the older man. After an incident during med school, she vowed never to see the man again.
Now, that man was standing in front of Lucy on her wedding day, effectively ruining any hope she had of being comforted.
Jude's brow furrowed for a moment after he had heard Natsu's words. They softened again when he returned his gaze to Lucy's fuming frame. For a moment he was lost. "You're the spitting image of your mother." The words left his mouth as quickly as his brain could register them. Lucy closed her eyes, fists clenching as she turned away from her father. His eyes never left her. "Can I speak to her alone for a moment?" Jude directed his question at Natsu. The pinkette hesitated.
"Fine, but I'm going to wait just outside the door. If I hear a either of you raise your voice just once, I won't hesitate to come in." Natsu shooed all the men out of the room he had just been in and let Jude inside. The bride hadn't moved. "Lucy," She let a bit of tension fall away at the sound of his voice directed at her, "I will be right outside. If you need anything, just call for me. You don't have to speak to him if you don't want to, but just hear him out, okay?" He kissed her head and led her inside the room where her father waited. The door closed most of the way, leaving only a crack so she would know Natsu was listening for her.
Now alone, Jude began to address his daughter. "Lucy." He tried to take a step towards her, reaching to place a hand on her arm, but she jerked away and turned her head away from him. "Alright, I deserve that." He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "I will admit I don't deserve to have you speak to me, let alone your forgiveness. But I'm here to ask for it, nonetheless." The blonde's eyes fell to the floor. He continued, "I handled everything so badly. I thought I was protecting you by keeping you in a bubble of my control." He paused again, closing his eyes. "I thought I could protect you... because I couldn't protect her.
"After we lost your mother I couldn't handle much of anything. I threw myself into my work because it was the only thing I understood." Jude walked over to the window and stared out into the sky, hands coming together behind his back. Lucy lifted her gave to watch him. "At the same time, I was terrified of losing you. That's why I did everything I could to shut you out from the world. The homeschooling, the curfew, the strictly scheduled life- I was trying to prevent you from leaving me the way she did."
His shoulders slumped as his hands fell to rest on the windowsill. His head hung low. "After a while, I grew angry that you were so much like your mother. Pushing the business at you was my attempt to make you more like me. I tried to force you into my world. I was too late though, I had already lost you. All of my efforts had made things worse. You had other plans and I refused to listen to them."
Jude turned back around to look Lucy square in the eyes, "I was too stupid and angry to realize the incredibly kind and noble thing you were doing by committing your life to helping prevent people from reaching the same fate as your mother. You honored her memory and her life while I did nothing but desecrate it. After the last time we saw each other, I wracked my brain to figure out how I lost you, too. It took five years worth of these thoughts to realize the absolute human scum I had become. I had to change. I had to do better for you... for your mom... for myself." Jude could sense Lucy dropping her guard, ever so slightly. He stepped toward her and took her hands. She allowed him, but kept her eyes at the floor.
"I sold Heartfilia Konzern." Her eyes rose to look at him with shock and confusion. "I sold the mansion. I sold all the other properties. Everything. I bought a small apartment in Acalypha and started working at the company where your mother and I met. I gave away all the money." He dropped her hands, and turned away for a moment. "I donated all of it to your Fantasia festival. I figured you could do better work with it than I ever did." He turned towards her slightly, watching tears well up in her eyes. "It was there that I witnessed a pink-haired man propose to my little girl. My Lucy. The young woman who I had treated so poorly. And she was happy. I hadn't seen you happy like that since..." His gaze fell and his eyes closed for a moment.
"After that night eight months ago, I thought about calling you. I couldn't work up the courage. I didn't deserve to talk to you. I didn't deserve to see you happy or be a part of your life. Then Aquarius mentioned she had been invited to your wedding and I begged her to tell me when it was. I didn't plan to talk to you. I thought maybe I had earned myself one glance at my little girl on her wedding day. But then there you were in front of me and I couldn't help myself. You look just like your mother. I took it as a sign. Proof that she would forever live on through you. You carry her face as well as her spirit." He felt Lucy wrap her small arms around him. She sobbed onto his chest.
"I finally understand, Lucy." Jude whispered into the ears of his only child, "I finally understand what you were trying to tell me all of those years ago. Money can't buy happiness. Money can't buy love. You have to work for those things." He pulled his arms tightly around her. "I'm so sorry Lucy. I'm so sorry I had to learn this the hard way. I'm sorry I had to risk losing my only daughter. I'm sorry you had to lose both your parents. But I promise you everything will be different now."
"Dad..." Lucy stepped away and wiped the tears from her face. She didn't know what to say. He had to learn things the hard way, but he understood now. Did that mean she could forgive him so easily? He had given up everything he had worked for his entire life. He gave away all the money he used to treasure more than her. At least, that's what he said. Could she trust him? You carry her face as well as her spirit. Her mother had always been so kind and forgiving.
"I-I need more time." She stuttered slightly. "I need to see that you've changed with my own eyes." Jude nodded. He fully understood that forgiveness was not something she could give easily. "But you can stay." His eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe his ears. "You can see your little girl get married. You can walk her down the aisle. You can observe and accept the life I've made for myself. You can mingle with guests, meet my friends, and talk to my husband. I'm giving you a chance to be a real father. So you better not make me regret it."
Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Zeref stood behind the doors leading to the main chapel. "This is it." Gray whispered as he pat Natsu on the back. The music started up. The song Lucy had chosen was pretty long, so the men waited for their cue to begin their way to the altar. The drums began rolling and Natsu felt his feet carry him down the lane between the rows of seats. Looking around, he couldn't help but smile. Everyone he cared about was in this room. He reached his place as the melody began to calm. The calm shifted after a few measures, cueing for Asuka to come dancing down the aisle, tossing flower petals everywhere. In one hand was a leash harnessed to a blue feline. Happy's back carried a small pillow storing two wedding bands.
Another shift in the song and Wendy made her way to the altar. Natsu's smile grew, seeing his little sister in her bridesmaid dress. She met his eyes and flashed him the largest smile she could muster. The young girl was followed by a stumbling Cana, then a graceful Mira. Natsu was surprised by how perfectly every movement was timed by the song. Erza followed Mira in suit. A humble smile painted her face, but her expression changed to send a murderous warning to the groom. Levy was beaming happily as the made her way to join the rest of the females.
Music calmed and piano danced. Natsu was getting impatient for a glimpse of his future wife. The doors opened wide to display the woman most precious to him standing beside her father. She had never been more beautiful. He felt time slow and his heart speed up. The guests on either side rose to look up at her. Natsu noticed her smile grow as she took in the sight of the chapel before her. Their eyes met and refused to lose each other. The music crescendoed as Jude and Lucy made their way to the altar to join Natsu. The light sound of the guitar strings faded out as they stood to face one another, memorizing this moment like their lives depended on it.
The ceremony began: Jude spoke to give his daughter away. The priest began to speak about the joys and sorrows of love. Natsu's hands found Lucy's and held on tight. The pair spoke their vows. Lucy recounted how it felt to fall in love with her best friend, and how she would work her whole life to repay the kindness and devotion he had shown her. Natsu's words were much more raw, but just as sweet. He swore to protect her, keep her safe, and destroy anyone who made her cry. He rose a hand to cup her face, adding, "It's always more fun when we're together."
Not a dry eye remained as Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia promised to take each other... to love and to cherish, to have and to hold, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health...
For as long as they both shall live.
Totally forgot to add this note because I was so excited to post this chapter. So, I felt like you guys deserved to get a taste of their wedding, so I decided to do this bonus prompt. If you would like to know, I imagine Lucy and Natsu walking down the aisle to Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky. It is an incredibly beautiful instrumental. Anyway, please let me know what you think of this chapter. Soon I will post Day 5: Matching. Prepare for a ton of Fairy Tail's crazy antics.