A/N: Hello! Sorry I am a little late. I had a bit of difficulty this week and then I decided to add a little more to this chapter because I did not realize how little 1500 words is; I was worried about putting too much! No such thing, I know. Anyway, since I made changes I have not read through it as many times as I normally would so please let me know if there are any errors. This chapter has a few key notes so try to pick up on them! Thank you to those who have reviewed and to those who have read and continue to follow my story. I am so happy! Anyway on to the story...
Book One: Lucy's Slumber
Chapter 2: Friends?
"Hey…you don't look very well," the small, strawberry-haired boy said.
Lucy just looked at him frozen with fear and uncertainty.
"What's wrong?" the boy tried again.
Suddenly, she found her voice. Lucy screamed and she screamed loud.
"Hey! Hey! Stop it!" the boy quickly covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming any more. "Do you want to get caught, you weirdo? If I take my hand away, you promise not to scream?" Lucy nodded scared of what he might do to her. "Promise?" Lucy thought for a moment before nodding again. "Okay, when I take my hand away, don't scream, got it?" Slowly the young boy removed his hand from Lucy's mouth. Her mouth was still open wide and for a moment the boy thought she would yell again. Instead, she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
"Who are you?" she asked softly.
The boy looked confused and chuckled softly. "Why are you whispering? You're lucky I have good ears or I couldn't hear you," the boy said. "My name's Natsu. What's yours?"
Instead of answering him she asked frantically, "What are you doing here? How did you get in here? Are you a beggar? Do you realize where you are? What if someone saw you? What do you want?"
The boy looked at her. "You ask a lot of questions. Do all girls talk so much?"
"Lucy? Lucy, are you in the garden?" came a cheerful voice.
Lucy jumped at the sound of Mirajane's voice. "You have to go!"
"What? Why?" Natsu asked confused.
"Well…'cause you just have to go! Now! Hurry before they catch you!"
"What about you? Won't you get in trouble, too?"
"Why would I…"
"Natsu! What are you doing here?"
"Oh! It's you! Hey, Mary," Natsu said cheerfully.
"Honestly, Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you…it's Mira. Mirajane. Natsu, what are you doing here? Why are you with Lucy?" Mirajane looked down at the girl, concern immediately taking over her formerly cheery expression. "Lucy, what's wrong?" she asked with worry before preparing to scoop her up into her arms.
"Oh! So Luigi is your name." Mirajane smacked him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Natsu…"
"You know him, Mira?" Lucy finally spoke up.
Mirajane sighed before responding, "Unfortunately, yes I do. He is the blacksmith's new apprentice. He took him in a little more than a year ago. He only just recently decided to teach him a trade."
Lucy studied the boy called Natsu. She had not noticed before, but now she paid careful attention to his deeply intense dark eyes. They seemed to be filled with mischief; Lucy didn't know what to make of that. Slowly, she began to recognize him as one of the children she saw playing from her window. She immediately frowned with jealousy and distaste. Why in Fiore would a child choose not to play with his friends? Why was here? How did he know her Mira?
"Why are you here?" Lucy asked angrily.
"Yes, Natsu, what are you doing way over here?" Mirajane asked. "Igneel can't be happy."
Natsu smiled, having completely missed Lucy's angry tone, "Oh, you know, just playing around. That old man would never find me here."
"And why don't you want to be found?" Mirajane asked already knowing the answer.
Natsu's little face twisted with annoyance but he was still cheerfully animated. "He refuses to let me have anything to do with the fire. How long am I supposed to wait before I get to play with fire, too?"
Mirajane sighed. "Natsu…" she began to lecture him.
"How do you know Mirajane?" Lucy asked annoyed that he was so friendly with her nurse.
"Well, duh, the same way you probably know her, Luigi. Her brother Elfman lives down in the village with us and she visits him whenever she can get away from the rotten people who own this place." Natsu leaned into Lucy's ear apparently to tell her a juicy secret. "I hear she takes care of the mystery monster princess," he whispered. Lucy made a face twisted with various emotions. Natsu pulled away and continued to chatter away excitedly. "Of course, I don't believe her because everyone knows it's just the old monster and his witch. By the way, are you new? I've never seen you before."
Smack!
Lucy slapped Natsu hard across his face and then proceeded to punch him multiple times with her little fists resulting in a slightly beaten up Natsu. Before he could get any more beaten up, Mirajane grabbed Lucy from on top of Natsu and held her tightly. She saw that the little girl was red in the face and she had fat tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. Mirajane was equally upset with Natsu, unsure of where he ever got the idea that her master and mistress were terrible. Well, she could imagine the stories about Jude Heartfilia, but not her mistress. Layla was beloved by everyone on the estate.
"Natsu, go back right this moment. When you get there, don't you dare tell a lie and tell the entire story to Igneel word for word. Do you understand me?'
Natsu did not miss the serious tone in Mirajane's voice. She was only ever sweet to him and the other children so he knew that he messed up. He was not sure how, but he was sure if he thought about it he could figure it out. Well, maybe he could figure it out. "Okay. I mean, yes, Mira."
"I will send word to Igneel myself, as well, about what happened here. Natsu, you have a lot to learn before you will ever be allowed to use fire."
Natsu was confused by this, unsure how the occurrence was related to fire. He reluctantly turned to make his way solemnly back through the bushes towards what he knew would not be a pleasant meeting with his master.
Mirajane shook her head at Natsu's retreating form. She held Lucy's crying form tight to her and began to walk back to the manor. Thinking better of it, she made a turn instead towards the entrance that would lead to the servant's quarters.
"Honestly, that boy! Where in Fiore did he get an idea like that?"
"Too true! How could he say such a thing about our beloved Lady?"
"And to the young miss's face, too! The poor dear."
Mirajane had just finished explaining the whole fiasco between Lucy and Natsu to some of the maids after finally putting Lucy to bed. She listened in to the women as they chattered and wondered why Natsu would say such a thing. "Do you think someone said something about the Lady?" Everyone knew first hand Jude's terrible temper so she didn't bother saying anything.
"I honestly cannot imagine, dear. I mean, she does so much for us behind you-know-who's back. She looks out for us," one of the maids said.
"Did the little miss ask why no one thinks she exists? Or perhaps why Natsu did not realize her identity?" asked another maid named Astraea. Astraea was named for the constellation of the maiden and had an intricate tattoo of Virgo on her back. Most of the maids and Mirajane called her Virgo.
Mirajane shook her head no. "I am sure tomorrow she will ask me and I have no idea what to say to her. The poor thing doesn't know that Lord Heartfilia told everyone that his daughter died. I am sure Lady Layla was simply too upset to argue with his way of handling things at the time."
Six months after Lucy's condition worsened, Jude had decided that it would be best if everyone thought she died from the cold. No point in telling everyone about his frail daughter. Only those who lived in the manor knew the truth and they were sworn to absolute secrecy; they stayed true for the sake of the lady of the house and the young mistress.
"It isn't fair," Mirajane said. "Maybe… Hey, do you think I should have Natsu come back tomorrow to make up with Lucy?"
"Honestly, what for, Mira?" asked a maid.
"Well, I know that they did not start off well, but I think that maybe since he has already met her perhaps the two can become friends," answered Mirajane still thinking about her idea.
"Surely the little miss must keep her secret. Natsu is not very quick to grasp things and he could easily give away her identity to the wrong person," said Virgo reasonably.
Mirajane thought about this for a moment. This was true, Natsu would not understand Lucy's secret and would likely tell someone without realizing what he was doing. But she just knew that the two could be good friends. Maybe he could even be the medicine that the Lord and Lady had been looking for all this time. Keeping this thought in mind, Mirajane announced her decision to no one in particular.
"Okay! I am going to do it. I am going to give Lucy some medicine!" Mirajane jumped up from her seat and ran off to her room so she could write a carefully worded letter to Igneel knowing he would not approve. She also knew that he would not mind a little free time away from the troublesome boy.
Late in the night…
Lucy woke with a start, disturbed by her dream. Her breathing was rapid, her heartbeat was pounding hard in her little chest, her hand clung tightly to her nightgown, and all the while tears silently fell from her big brown eyes. She did not even know why she was so startled by her dream because none of it meant anything to her. The harder she tried to remember the images in her dream, the more distant and distorted the images became. How typical. She could see unwanted scenes of children happily playing miles away, but she could not see something that had just moments before burned brightly in her mind.
Lucy sighed. It was not the first time that she had dreams like this but it was the first time in a long time that she had awoken in such a state. Most of her dreams she could never recall after waking up from them, but what little she could remember made no sense to her. It was as if the images belonged to someone other than herself and the events were distanced from her in a way that she could not understand. She had given up trying to talk with Mira about them because Lucy had little to offer to help the young woman's understanding. Shaking her head, she slowly slid from beneath the covers and walked over to her window.
The moon was very bright that particular evening and it further enhanced her vision of the night before her. Looking down beneath her window, she could clearly see some of the maids standing outside talking and laughing about things that sadly she could not hear. She could see some of the men working lazily but productively as now they were free from the ever watchful eye of their master. Lucy smiled at this activity before she frowned and made the painful turn towards where she usually saw the children playing. She did not know what she expected to see, but part of her hoped that nothing greeted her gaze. Another part of her hoped to see one of the children although she knew it was unlikely given the late hour.
Lucy was about to turn away from the window to return to bed when she noticed a figure making its way towards the play area. Even in the shadows of the night, she could clearly make out the figure- it was the boy called Natsu.
Immediately, Lucy's eyes clouded with anger and she turned away from the window in frustration. Of all the things to see, it had to be him! That…that…that dirty rotten…! Lucy threw up her little hands in frustration and pulled at her golden locks. Why? Why would he say those terrible things? My parents are good people! Where did he even come from anyway? Doesn't he know who I am? At this thought, Lucy paused in her heated thinking. Wait a moment…something was not right and Lucy tried to make sense of her thoughts. Lucy thought hard back to the moment when Natsu came to know her identity.
"Lucy, what's wrong?"
"Oh! So Luigi is your name." Mirajane smacked him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
Lucy tried to think of how else he reacted or if he gave any indication that he recognized not only her name but her identity as the heir to the Heartfilia estate. She thought furiously but could not come up with….Gasp! Lucy small hands flew to her open mouth. She remembered!
"Well, duh, the same way you probably know her, Luigi. Her brother Elfman lives down there with us and she visits him whenever she can get away from the rotten people who live here. I hear she takes care of the mystery monster princess. Of course, I don't believe her because everyone knows it's just the old monster and his witch. By the way, are you new? I've never seen you before."
Mystery princess? Lucy thought to herself carefully editing out the "monster" part. Of course he has never seen me, but how could he not have at least heard of me? That is just not possible. He knows Mirajane and Mirajane knows her. Lucy thought for a moment before an alarming thought came to her. Of course, it's possible. He didn't recognize me because he's never even heard of me. Then a worst thought came:
Has anyone heard of me? Do I exist outside of this manor?
A/N: Are my hints too obvious? I hope not! Anyway you may have noticed that I finally came up with an official title for the story. However, I cannot decide what to put for story description without giving anything away. The next chapter, which I am currently re-editing, is going to be fluffy just to give you guys some cute NaLu and to build their relationship a bit before the story takes off. Please be patient!
THANK YOU!