Chapter 22: The End
It had been a month since Dela had been at the guild and she hadn't caused as much as a peep. Lucy was starting to lose that feeling of something is going to happen and all that was left now was who is she. It was driving her up a wall that she didn't know anything about her past, but then again maybe it was too painful for her to talk about, or maybe she didn't want to start the conversation. Either way Lucy decided that the only way to know for sure was to ask. She steeled her nerves and kissed Freed on the cheek before heading over to her.
"Hey Dela, I was wondering if you wanted to come have lunch with me. I know this amazing place."
"Sure, I'd love to!"
"Great! It's my treat. Why don't you go let Mira know so she doesn't freak? I know she looks at you like a little sister now a days."
"Good idea."
She watched her skip over to Mira and smiled a little bit. She as slow to loosen up but Mira had been good for her and now she was as bright and bubbly as everyone else in the guild. Lucy walked over to Freed and smiled.
"I figured I would take Her out to lunch, show her some good will you know. Its about time I get over this thing."
"Good idea Lucy. Why don't you take her to the garden? Bribe her with some dessert?"
"What do you mean bribe?"
"I know you Lucy."
"Oh…I submit…"
"Here, this is the pass for our private sitting area. At least take the girl to get an appropriate dress so she doesn't feel left out."
Lucy smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He really did know her, and he was right if she was going to bribe the girl for an answer with food. She might as well do it right. Right as she was starting to stand back up Dela was almost back over to her.
"Mira said it was fine to go, I just have to be back before dark, so she doesn't freak. Not her words but I saw it in her eyes."
"Her eyes speak way more then her words, smart for trusting them."
"Yeah I learned fast."
"Okay let's get out of here."
Lucy and Dela left the guild and Lucy lead them through Magnolia into a boutique. Dela gave her a questioning gaze before Lucy smiled sweetly.
"I don't want you to feel under dressed, I can always just quickly requip. Yeah, I know you're an illusion mage and could probably just illusion something, but this is more fun!"
"So…Your buying me a dress?"
"Yep. Good food and good clothes. They go together well."
"What do you want?"
"Food. You'll see what I mean when we get there ok? Just pick something you like pretty much anything in this store is fine."
"Everyone wants something."
"Okay fine I give. Food and conversation. I submit to your questions!"
Lucy thought to herself "It's not a lie."
"Okay, for now I'll believe you. We'll see later though."
It didn't take too long for Dela to find a dress she absolutely loved, and it looked good on her too. It was knee length with a modest neckline and long lacy sleeves that cut off at her elbows, but the entire thing was in shimmery gold chiffon. She matched it with some gold strappy heels and a headband and we left the store. Lucy reequipped into a light pink a line dress with a laced top half and chiffon bottom that cut at the knee and was divided with a silk inch thick strap at the waist. It was paired with white strappy heels and my hair was in cascades over my shoulders.
"Okay so this restaurant is in a small clearing right outside of town."
"Okay…"
Dela looked nervous but followed Lucy anyway. When they got to the restaurant and Dela saw that Lucy wasn't Lying she visibly relaxed Lucy approached the hostess with her in tow. The hostess gave them a bright smile, her voice chipper as she talked.
"Welcome to the Hidden Garden. Reservation name?"
Lucy handed her the seal that Freed had given her.
"Private seating please, Foudre house. Also, please inform the wait staff I have a minor with me today."
"Welcome back to the Hidden Garden Ma'am. I would be happy to inform them. Please follow me."
Lucy looked back to see Dela looking at everything and taking it in. She looked like Lucy when she came here the first time. When they got to the private sitting area the hostess removed the centerpiece from the table and poured Lucy some wine. Then she grabbed another bottle and poured Dela what looked to be a sparkling cider. She also filled the water glasses and placed down the menus.
"Your waiter will be with you momentarily. Please enjoy your meal."
"Thank you."
With that the hostess left and Lucy looked over her menu, trying to decide what she wanted to eat. This place had so many amazing things, she could never pick a favorite. She had just picked what she wanted and put her menu down when the waiter came out and placed a tomato bisque in front of them.
"Good afternoon. My name is Hammel and I will be your waiter today. Your appetizer this afternoon is a tomato lemon bisque with mozzarella and basil. Have you wonderful ladies decided what you would like for your main course?"
Lucy looked at Dela to see if she wanted to order first and she looked like she wasn't quite ready yet, so Lucy started to give her more time.
"Yes Hammel, I'll have the Bruschetta over stuffed mushrooms with a side of green beans and a side salad."
"Yes ma'am. And what about for you miss?"
"Um… To be honest I don't know what all this stuff is."
"Well that's absolutely fine, how about I help you by going over the menu with you?"
"That would be wonderful!"
After about five minutes of the waiter going over the different items in the menu with Dela, they found an item that she thought sounded amazing. Lucy thought it sounded pretty good to.
"Okay Miss Dela, so let me make sure I have this right. You want the chicken marsala sandwich with a side of stuffed peppers and a side salad?"
"Yes please."
The waiter made sure all our glasses were filled and went to put the order in as we started to fill our bellies on our tease of an appetizer.
"So, since you've been at the guild we haven't really been able to talk. I don't really know a lot about you."
"No one does really, but then no one asks questions. They just accept me. Its nice, but sometimes I wish people did you know? It almost feels like no one cares."
"I know it can feel that way, but they don't mean it like that. A lot of them have had rough pasts, so they figure if you want them to know you'll tell them. They don't want to ask and then you be mad at them."
"I guess I can understand that. It made me feel lonely for a while though. You see I'm a refugee from Alverez. I'm supposed to be in one of the settlements that gets everything from the Fiorian government until we can go home after the war. But on my way here I was on a ship that didn't have a guild on it because there weren't enough escorting guilds, so we were attacked by pirates. I think it was between here and Bosco? The worst part about it is that everyone just gave up on us, so now I have no hope of getting into the settlement because everything is gone. All records of me coming in. I went from a refugee to an illegal immigrant."
"Well the princess had to know about all that, somehow didn't she?"
"Yeah, from Bosco. Her own men didn't tell her there was an error on their end. How many of my people are lost because of pirates and no one is even going to help them?"
The waiter came back out with their food and there was silence for a little while as the ate. Lucy didn't know what to say or how to comfort her. She had gotten her answer but if anything, that made her feel even worse about the entire situation. Dela had done everything, probably, trying to survive. She wasn't trying to hurt people, even though she had such a reason to. She watched Dela now, as her face lit up with every bite of food she took and she smiled. Maybe just maybe she would be okay now.
~Time Skip, 6 months later ~
Lucy was standing at the Boscian docks for a very important reason. This country which had caused so much turmoil for her. So much pain. This country needed more people to go into it to help get people out of Alverez. Princess Hisui had arranged to get her guilds into the fray to get those people across safely after learning the truth from Dela. So, therefore they were there. This would be the longest job the Raijinshuu would take, it would be until the end of the war with Alverez. Alongside Fairytail's Raijinshuu were teams from every major guild throughout Fiore. These refugees would remain safe.
Lucy thought back to when she had lunch with Dela, the despair on her face from just thinking about all the people being lost every day. This would be Lucy's way to make sure she would never have to despair again. It would be hard to be away from Mika, but necessary. Mika was safe with the Strauss siblings. Now they needed to make these waters safe.
~Time Skip, 3 years later~
It had taken three years for the war to end, but it hadn't ended in victory. Every refugee they saved couldn't go home. Instead they were slowly being integrated into everyday life around the three countries of Fiore, Bosco, and Joya. Being away from the guild had been tough on every part of the Raijinshuu and Fiorian guild force. But all of them had taken solace in each other. Now it was time to go home. They could almost see the shores of Fiore, where their friends, families, and loved ones would be waiting for them. Lucy and Freed couldn't wait to see Mika. It had been so long since they could hold their daughter in their arms. Lucy was resting her head on Freed should when he spoke.
"Hey Lucy. I was wondering."
"Wondering?"
"I want to take some time, for us, and our family."
"I would like that, a lot."
"Even if it means we take a hiatus from guild work for a bit?"
"Even so. Mika is old enough now to choose on her own, but theres also the Foudre household we must think about. I want to develop our relationship too. Every time we think we are about to get a break something else happens."
"I agree, besides I do miss dad."
It had been a long three years away from just that, family. Time was just what they needed to grow. They would never stop being mages, it was part of who they were, but sometimes everyone needs a break.
A/N: That's it guys! Thanks so much for reading. Hope to see you on my newest story Regaining My Place.