Team Natsu Week Day 6: Family
Title: Home
Character: Lucy Heartfilia
Summary: Lucy thought about family a lot over the years, wondering what the word "family" even meant. Now, she finally knew.
Her father was strict, cold, a broken man with an even more broken family — what was left of it, that is. Lucy went through so much suffering at her father's hands that it was nearly impossible to forgive him for all he'd done, and by the time she was ready to start their relationship over again, it was too late.
Her mother was kind and gentle, and gone far too soon. Her existence was almost like that of a goddess, a beautiful and untouchable being made only of the same love she claimed was the one true magic. It sure felt magical to Lucy. Even in her memories, there was nothing but warmth and comfort.
That was then.
Now, Lucy had no blood relations to speak of. All the ones she knew were dead, and if there were others, they were never a part of her life anyway. And she was Lucy of Fairy Tail now. She'd never legally gotten rid of her surname, wanting that connection to her deceased parents to remain despite the difficulties, but it's not like she was lonely even without it. Not most of the time, anyway.
But even when times got tough, she could always count on her new family to be there for her: Fairy Tail. It was a big family, and a little whacky, but it was hers. It was home.
Her teammates were of special importance to her. She spent so much time with them that they were almost like siblings, that's how close they were. She had a sisterly relationship with both Erza and Wendy, and a brotherly relationship with Gray. And Natsu…well, Natsu was in a league of his own, her best friend, her partner.
They were a family. All of them had lost their own blood relations and even their first found families, and instead they stuck with each other. Maybe the first round of families didn't work out, or even the second. But third time's the charm, Lucy thought.
Lucy was the only one to grow up with blood-related parents, which was a little strange to her sometimes. Gray still vaguely remembered his parents, but Natsu and Wendy had been raised by dragons and Erza had no memory of her life before enslavement. So she was the only one who knew just how different family was between people who were blood relations and chosen family.
It's not always different, of course — Igneel and Wendeeney were Natsu and Wendy's parents in every sense of the word — but there's still a certain nuance to the fact that theychose each other. Lucy loved her parents, sure, but after all those conflicts with her dad, it was a little painful to see the others have such fond memories of their own families. If she had any say in the matter, she would've taken a dragon over those cold and lonely halls any day. But such comparisons were flawed and she knew it. Family was family. Even Gray fought with his first found family, Ur and Lyon.
But that was in the past. They were all in Fairy Tail now, which made them family. Even if it weren't for the name of Fairy Tail binding them together, Lucy somehow felt that they would've found each other someday, by whatever means. The bonds that drew them together were fated, she could feel it. They were not teammates by chance, but because they were right for each other.
They were family. It may not have been blood that bound them together, but something even more powerful than mere blood ties bonded them. They were family. And Lucy loved them more than she ever thought she could love a family.
Fairy Tail was home. Her apartment on Strawberry Street was home. But her team, her teammates were home.