A Promise Kept
Chapter 1: Princess
Lucy Heartphillia shot out of bed, breathing deeply and erratically, if anyone had been in the room with her they would have assumed she had just woken from a terrible nightmare, as it happened she had woken up from a nightmare, though it wasn't something most people would be scared about. She had remembered Him. She had remembered the day He left her. Next to her mother's untimely death, the day he left was quite possibly the worst day in her 17 years of life. She had sat in the field everyday for at least two months waiting for Natsu to come back, and he never returned. The maids began to worry about her, she would barely eat and would spend all night locked in her room crying, eventually, (mainly to dispel the maids fears that she was indeed going crazy), her father had referred her to a psychiatrist that specialised in childhood trauma. She snorted as she swung her legs out of bed and made her way to her bathroom, her psychiatrist had tried to tell her that due to the trauma of losing her mother so early on in her life and the loneliness she felt at home, she had fabricated Natsu as her outlet to the world.
"Idiot," Lucy growled, squeezed the toothpaste a little more violently than necessary onto her toothbrush as she remembered her sessions with the ridiculous man:
"Now Lucy, this talk of this "Natsu" needs to stop, you're causing your father unnecessary distress. Don't you care about your father?"
"I..I do…"
"Well then, don't you think it's time you admit that "Natsu" is a figment of your imagination?"
"But he's not! He's real!"
"You expect me to believe that a young, homeless boy suddenly appeared to you one day, not long after your mothers death? Really Lucy, does that sound plausible?"
"He is real! He gave me a present!"
"That piece of torn fabric? Is it not much more likely that you picked it up from the ground, a piece of torn fabric certainly doesn't seem like an appropriate, does it?"
Lucy had remained more or less silent in their sessions until her father had realised it was doing her more damage than good. She refused to believe that Natsu was a figment of her imagination, he was real. But she couldn't deny the fact that her story seemed so fake, adding to the fact that he just disappeared one day, who would believe a six year old if they said their best friend was a homeless kid who lived in the large field behind her house. She thought about Natsu often, mostly she just hoped and prayed that he was okay, but on other occasions she would fly into a mini rage wondering why on Earth he had just suddenly up and disappeared on her.
A sharp knock on her bedroom door interrupted her moody thoughts and she quickly rinsed and dried her face before softly padding out of the bathroom, and back into her bedroom. She opened the door to find a small elderly woman dressed in the plain Heartphillia Maid's outfit standing in front of her,
"Ah Lucy-sama, you are awake. Your father was becoming agitated by your absence at the breakfast table."
Lucy cocked her head to the side and raised a confused eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that he wanted to see me specifically today, I do apologise for any inconvenience caused," Lucy more or less made it a rule to keep away from her father at all times. To say they didn't have a very strong relationship was an understatement, unless specifically asked for Lucy didn't see her father, and to be honest she preferred it that way. The old maid wrinkled her nose slightly at Lucy's frosty tone, most of the servants in the Heartphillia mansion thought her father was like a second Jesus the way they looked up to him, and Lucy's icy exterior to anything concerning him didn't earn her many friends with the servants.
"Hn. Well your father has asked me to remind you that you need to be dressed and downstairs by midday, and not a moment later please."
"What? Why, what's happening today?" Lucy sighed, she had planned to spend her day lolling around in library, that was about the only thing she truly loved about her home. The library was vast and she was able to spend hours on end sitting on a cosy chair with her nose buried in a book without anyone bothering her. The maid also sighed impatiently, and began tapping her foot,
"Were you not informed of the Hospital Opening you are to attend with your father today? I highly doubt he would have forgotten to mention it to you."
"Oh, that, okay, thank you. I'll be downstairs in time, thank you for reminding me."
The maid bowed politely before turning on her heel and stalking away, allowed Lucy to poke her tongue out childishly at her,
"Moody hag," she mumbled as she slammed her door shut, before a small wave of guilt washed over her at her harsh words. It wasn't really the servants she was mad at, though she wished more of them liked her as that would certainly make her life bearable, she was mad at her father for…well for not being a father at all. Nothing much had changed since her childhood, she was still used as an ornament or trophy of some sort, only allowed to leave the confines of the Heartphillia Mansion if her father wanted to play the "Happy Family" and "oh aren't I a wonderful father" card. It made her sick. She wanted to run away. She truly did. But where would she go? It was at times like this that she wished she took Natsu's offer all those years ago and had run away with her salmon haired friend. Sighing loudly, she shrugged off her pyjamas and stepped into her shower, losing herself in the warm spray hitting her body.
She felt ridiculous. She always did when she was forced to wear clothes he had set out for her as if she were incapable of choosing respectable clothing herself. She could admit that she did prefer her clothes on the short side, but when she had an event to go to she liked to believe that she could pick out a respectable and still stylish dress to wear. Anything would be better than what she was wearing now. She felt like a mixture of a Princess and an elaborately decorated cake. She was wearing a long rouge dress that had a tight bodice adorned with several blue bows and a few sewn in patterns, from the waist downwards the dress was wide and extended downwards, exactly like the dresses traditional fairy tale Princesses would wear. Sure dressing like that may have been stylish when her father was young, but not anymore. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with blonde wisps dangling down her face.
"Good, I was beginning to worry you would be late. Let's go," her father said briskly before turning away and walking towards the door as he watched Lucy descend the staircase.
"Yes Father," she bowed her head and followed him out the door, and towards the limo waiting outside for them.
"You are to smile, wave for the camera's and leave any questions asked to me, understood?"
"Yes Father,"
"I will then enter the Hospital for an hour long meeting, you are to wait in the car, understood?"
"Yes Father,"
"Good," he growled briskly before opening a newspaper and reclining in his seat, leaving Lucy to sit in a bored silence for the rest of the journey. She sighed quietly and took to staring out the window, hoping that he wouldn't take the full hour in the meeting so she could get home and take refuge in the library.
Eventually the limo slowed and Lucy peered out of her window to see hordes of people standing outside a large white building. She assumed this was the hospital her father had put money into, thus making him a partner. She frowned as she stared at the people, she had been to building openings before and whilst they usually had large crowds, they were never as big or as rowdy as the one before her eyes. People were holding large signs and screaming at each other,
"Bloody protestors, I thought I told security to make sure they couldn't get within a mile of here," her father growled as he pushed open his door, "come along Lucy."
"Yes!" she quickly scurried to the other end of the limo and followed her father out. When she looked around at her surroundings she felt her stomach drop.
Magnolia Animal Testing Centre
"FREE THE ANIMALS!"
"THIS IS INHUMANE!"
Lucy winced as protestors heckled them as they walked along the pathway that had been cleared for them and up to a podium. She couldn't believe her father was a part of this, he was condoning the use of animals for research, the thought made her sick.
"Smile for the camera's Lucy," he hissed in her ear, they were standing at the podium now and lights was flashing like crazy, blinding her temporarily. She paused for a moment before she fixed her mouth into a horribly false grin that made her cheeks stretch painfully.
"Mr Heartphillia, what prompted you to invest a fortune in this centre?" a short reporter in the front called out.
"Simply because I have an interest in science, and I would truly like to see what cures and other things that are likely to be produced because of this centre. Next question please."
"What about the animals? Have you not thought about them? This goes against almost every ethic in the book!"
"What makes you so sure the animals here will be subject to inhumane conditions? I assure each and every one of you, the animals used in this centre with be treated almost as if they were staying in a first class hotel," he allowed himself a little laugh before he continued, "no animals will be subject to any deliberate harms and we have world class vets on hand for any animal that comes into ill health. Next question please".
"Ah yes! I have a question for your daughter!"
"Eh-eh?" Lucy blinked rapidly, searching for the reporter in the crowd who had addressed her. This was new, nobody had ever asked her for her opinion at one of these events before and she bit her lip nervously.
"M-my daughter…holds the same views as me on this matter, there is no need to question her!" her father stuttered, his cool and calm façade breaking down ever so slightly at the mention of Lucy. The reporter ploughed on,
"Lucy, is it? Rumour has it that you are a proud owner of several horses, I assume I am correct in this. As a noted animal lover, how can you condone this atrocity that your father is blatantly supporting?"
"I-"
"This is interview is over," her father yelled angrily as he saw Lucy about to open her mouth to voice her own opinion.
That was when the chaos ensued. As Lucy and her father turned to enter the hospital, someone let out a loud scream of,
"THIS ATROCITY MUST BE STOPPED!" then a large brick was thrown through one of the newly built windows. The shattering glass caused the rest of the protestors to spring into action. Lucy watched in horror as men and women began lighting their boards on fire, punching and pushing the people next to them and climbing on top of the podium to get inside the hospital. She heard a member of security shouting at her to follow him, but as she tried to turn to follow him a member of the crowd grabbed onto the hem of her dress dragging her into the violent throng below. She shrieked as she felt someone roughly tug on her arm, dragging them towards the edge of the crowd.
"I've got her! Lucy Heartphillia!" a middle aged women with stringy brown hair sneered at her in disgust as she pushed her against a wall, "how can you stand there and smile knowing your father is paying for animals to be tortured?"
"Yeah!"
"How heartless are you?"
"I…I…they're not going to be tortured…" she whimpered weakly before recoiling in fear as the woman spat on the ground in frustration,
"Bullshit. You and I both know those animals are gonna be tortured…how would daddy dearest like it if we took you for a while. Don't worry, you're not gonna get tortured, in fact, 'it'll be like staying in a first class hotel!" she growled the last few words, obviously mimicking her fathers speech. Her friends around her cackled darkly as she spoke.
"I didn't know what he was doing! I swear it," Lucy pleaded, trying to inch away from her captors, "I like animals! I do!"
"Shut up you spoilt little Princess. I heard the guy, you own several horses, you don't like animals, you just treat them like trophies, like all the other spoilt and pampered Princesses you hang around with!"
The woman looked as if she was about to continue speaking, but the sounds of sirens stopped her,
"Shit!"
"Crap!"
"RUN!"
Lucy was suddenly jerked forward as the crowd began to run wildly away from the police who were slowly closing in on them.
"W-wait! Hey, wait! Help me, please!" Lucy screamed as the crowd pushed and shoved her in random directions. In no time at all, she was lost.
She had never been so scared. Somehow she had ended up in the "rougher" part of town, creepy looking men kept leering at her whenever she shuffled past them, and she definitely noticed the cars that slowed down as they drove past her. She wanted to cry. She had been tempted to walk into a shop, or perhaps knock on someone's door, and ask if she could use their phone, but every shop she had walked past was either boarded up, or the owners had given her a perverted grin as she peered through the window. She wondered if her father had even noticed she was missing, she doubted it, he had probably assumed she was just waiting in the car. She turned yet another corner and growled as she realised it was a dead end. A large brown building at the very end of the road caught her attention though and she walked forward,
"Fairy Tail Youth Centre?" she read aloud to herself. She had wandered for about 10minutes and had ended up outside a derelict looking building with the sign reading the previous words hanging precariously off a rotted board. She bit her lip nervously, debating on whether she should enter the seedy looking building. A loud clap of thunder made her decision for her and she quickly pushed open the door hoping the inhabitants were not as seedy as the building.
"Um…" she froze as the door slammed behind her, the Youth Centre was quite full of people ranging from very young children who looked barely able to walk, and grown adults huddled in the corner hugging glasses of what she assumed were alcoholic beverages. A few heads turned as she entered the hall, but aside from a few raised eyebrows at her attire nobody paid her any attention, something she was grateful for. On the other end of the room was a long bar that cut off the back area of the hall and she quickly ran towards the bar, assuming that an adult would have to man that area.
"Oh hello, I haven't seen you around before," a woman with amazingly silver hair smiled brightly at Lucy as she approached the bar. Lucy was awestruck, she had honestly never seen anyone so beautiful before, her smile seemed to reflect the lights in the hall and her hair looked so soft, Lucy had to fight to urge to reach out and stroke the silky looking locks.
"Hellooo?"
"Sorry!" Lucy squeaked, blushing a deep shade of red as she pulled out a stool and sat on it, "it's just…well I'm lost and I don't have a phone, so I was wondering if I could borrow a phone and perhaps call a taxi to take me home?"
The woman looked at her sympathetically before patting her hand in a motherly manner, "of course you can, there's no need to look so nervous you know, we're not going to bite!" she laughed, "I'll just go get you a phone, I'm Mirajane by the way" she then turned away and disappeared into the back room, leaving Lucy alone sitting in a room full of strange people she didn't know. It seemed more people had noticed her presence and she was painfully aware that the room had quietened down a considerable amount, she could practically feel their heated stares through her back and she sunk a little lower in her seat. Thankfully, the woman called Mirajane returned within a matter of seconds,
"I called the local taxi company for you, unfortunately there was some sort of mishap downtown and there's a lot of traffic, so they make take a while."
"Oh…thank you Mirajane," Lucy said quietly not particularly happy with staying in this foreign place for a while. She felt so out of place, not only by the fact that she didn't know anyone, but her clothing didn't really help her fit in either.
Mirajane chuckled again and leaned against the counter on her elbows, "you still look so scared, relax uh…sorry did you tell me your name?"
Lucy shook her head, "no I didn't, sorry. I'm Lucy," she opted not to use her last name, so a repeat of what had happened early didn't occur.
"Lucy? Hm, that's a nice name. Well Lucy, we're all friends here, and my friends all call me Mira, so feel free to do that, m'kay? Now try and relax Lucy, nobodies going to hurt you here, like I said, we're all friends!"
"It's not that Miraja- Mira," she corrected herself after Mira gave her a mock stern look, "I just feel so out of place here, you know?"
Mira stared at her for a moment, "I think I get it. That's a very pretty dress you've got on though, were you at a fancy dress party or something?"
Lucy flushed a deep shade of red before spluttering, "N-n-no! No! I…I was at a family event and…trouble broke out and I got separated from my father. I've never left home without him by my side before, so I'm kinda scared," she confessed sadly. Although she didn't particularly enjoy her father's company, she now realised that she had been so sheltered that when she was out of the Heartphillia Mansion confines she needed him to feel safe. It was a strange thought, "so what is this place anyway? It said Youth Centre, but I see quite a few grown men hanging around," she asked Mira, hoping to change the subject.
"This is the Fairy Tail Youth Centre, but I guess you're right, it's not really a Youth Centre anymore," Mira giggled sheepishly, "my grandfather set this up years and years ago as a place for troubled youth's to go when they needed someone to talk to, or simply if they just wanted to relax. A lot of people just never really left, it's like a second home to a lot of us, we're all one big family!"
Lucy smiled as Mira spoke, a second home, to be honest, it sounded like something she really needed. A place to go where she would have real friends who wanted to help and talk to her, it sounded perfect. She had pondering asking her Father if she could possibly join a sort of program similar to this when she was hit by a gust of wind as the doors were pushed open roughly.
"I told you I could jump higher!"
"Shut up, you only got that high 'cause of the thunder!"
"What the hell does thunder have anything to do with anything?"
"It knocked me off guard, okay!"
"Aww, salmon-head is scared of thunder…cute."
"Shut up Gray, I didn't mean it like that,"
"Yeah? Well it sure as hell sounded like that!"
"Are you two not getting along, what have I told you about comradeship?"
"We're fine Erza!~"
Mira sighed lightly and waved over the people who had just entered the centre, "those two are always fighting, it's a good thing Erza watches out for them."
"Mmm," Lucy mumbled, she didn't really want these new people near her, she was sure they were lovely people but talking to Mira had been one thing, but having her personal space invaded by people she didn't know wasn't something she was okay with.
"Hey…who's the Princess?" a deep voice called out.
Hey…who's the Princess?
Hey…who's the Princess?
Lucy growled slightly at the offending nickname, she had had enough of people calling her a Princess for today, and whirled round in her seat to give this boy a piece of her mind, "Excuse me? Did you just call me a-" she froze as she stared at the boy she had been about to yell at.
He was tall.
He had salmon coloured hair.
He had a cheeky grin.
He was wearing that scarf.
"Geez Natsu, you pissed her off already," a dark haired boy rolled his eyes before ambling over to an empty seat at the bar.
Natsu.
A/N: Soooo, here is Chapter 2. I was really surprised that I got so many reviews, I honestly wasn't expecting that. Thank you all very much ^_^
Question: Does Lucy's father have a name? I don't remember a name being mentioned, but I may be wrong…