PLEASE READ AN IF YOU DIDN'T LAST CHAPPY!
Two chappys in one day! whoo! i'm on a roll!
Simply put, I don't own FT.
"Oh, you're awake."
Lucy groaned, head pounding, sides aching. Her hand moved limply to cover her eyes; it was bright outside, too bright, and she didn't like it.
"Okay, not quite." The feminine voice chuckled.
Lucy's eyes flashed opened and she bolted upright. Almost instantly, there was a stabbing pain in her sides and she sunk back down. She'd expected her hands and ankles to be tied up, but when she opened her eyes, she realized she was in a small, wooden-walled room.
Her brown orbs darted around. To the right, there was a small kitchen, with small wood cupboards attached to the wall and a counter. On it were some fresh fruits and a large knife. In another corner of the room, there were two poufy chairs and a sofa set around a small round table with a vase full of flowers in it. there was a door, to go outside, Lucy assumed, and an empty doorway, where she supposed the bedroom was. The whole house smelled good, like soup was cooking. She eyed the pan on the stove and guessed that was where it was coming from.
"Hey, you're awake." The bandit almost jumped out of her skin, but she looked to her right, where there was a silver-haired woman sitting there.
She woman had long, silvery hair, not old silvery, but kind of white with lots of sheen to it. She wore a kind smile, and when she opened her eyes, Lucy saw that the woman had kind, sky-blue orbs. The lady was slightly tall, and wore a pink dress with a bow around the neck.
"My my, you don't need to act so scared." The woman told her. "My name's MiraJane Strauss, but you can call me Mira."
No matter how nice this woman was, Lucy couldn't contain the urge to bolt. "I'm sorry," the bandit said, voice husky and dry. "I really have to go." She kicked off the blanket and got up, only to succumb to a dizzy spell again. She held her head, but Mira pushed her back down before she fell.
"You took quite the injury, didn't you? You've been asleep for two days since we found you." The older woman told her, looking at her covered stomach. Lucy now noticed that she was wearing a new shirt and pants; the old ones she had stolen were gone.
"These are yours, I presume?" Mira asked, knowing what she was thinking, holding up her black body suit and cloak. "You're a thief, correct?" Lucy froze, not caring if she tripped again but knowing the authorities would be here at any moment to catch her. Mira shook her head, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Just a question, but your movements told me the answer. You were the bandit who stole Lisanna's shirt and pants, weren't you?" Lucy nodded slowly, expecting the woman named Mira to lash out at her, maybe press a finger into her wound for pleasure as Lucy screamed her head off.
"oh, don't worry about it. Those were old anyways," Mira waved her off. The bandit stared at her, bewildered. "so what were you doing in the Dragneel castle?" she asked. The question didn't at all seem demanding, simply a question.
Lucy shook her head. "Where am I?" she rasped.
The silver-haired woman noticed her voice sounded dry. "Here, I'll get you a glass of water," she said, shaking off Lucy's protests, going to the kitchen. "To answer your question, a house in the middle of nowhere. It's almost in the center of Magnolia's Western forest." She said. "Walk an hour to the left, you'll find Magnolia, and to the right, Dragneel castle."
Mira returned with a glass of water. Despite herself, Lucy took the crystal cup and drank greedily. Mira chuckled. "so, my siblings should be here soon, so we'll have supper, okay?" Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but Mira pressed a finger to her lips, surprising her and making her fall back a bit.
"Look, if you really don't want to be here, leave when we're all sleeping. Any time before that, I won't have it. you are staying here to eat." Something deep in Mira's eyes flashed dangerously, and Lucy gulped. Something told her she didn't want to mess with this lady.
"Yes, ma'am." She muttered. Mira smiled once again, and got up to finish dinner.
A few minutes later, someone outside opened the door, letting in a burst of fresh air. Lucy and Mira looked up as the two newcomers came in.
"We're back!" a girl said. She looked a lot like Mira, except with shorter, curving inwards silver hair. She had blue eyes, just like her sister, and was dainty and smooth-skinned, a little more on the paler side.
"Picking berries for our older sister's yummy blueberry pie is Man!" What? Lucy thought. that made no sense at all... the other figure was huge, a darker-skinned man with the same silver hair as the other two. It was spiky, and this man had really, really big muscles, the shirt he was wearing doing nothing to hide them. he towered over the girls, holding a large basket in his hand, filled to the top with dark sky-coloured berries.
"Welcome home!" Mira said, giving the figures her signature smile. She turned to Lucy.
"This is Lisanna and Elfman," Elfman my ass! Lucy thought. He was in no way elf-ish. But she didn't respond and only replied with a wave.
"This is..." Mira blinked. "Hey, I didn't get your name."
"It's, uh, S-Spirit." For some reason, she was about to say Lucy. Something was just so kind about these strangers made her want to say the truth. "Spirit."
"Nice to meet you Spirit!" the girl named Lisanna said, walking up to her and shaking her hand.
"Yeah, uh, Lisanna. I'm sorry about your clothes." Lucy said, a bit bewildered.
"Oh, don't worry about those, they were old anyways." Elfman walked up behind her.
"It's Manly to greet someone you just met, so it's nice to meet you," Lucy blinked, but nodded. It's manly to greet someone you just met..? Lisanna keyed in on her confusion.
"Oh, don't mind Elfman. He just talks about Manliness... often. Some of the things he says don't make sense, but you get used to it." Lucy nodded slowly.
"Supper time!" Mira called. Elfman moved to the counter, where, on the other side, there was four, bar stools set up.
Lisanna smiled. "Would you like help getting to the table?" she asked. Lucy shook her head, already getting up.
"Oh help her. Spirit's stubborn." Mira interrupted from the counter when the girl stumbled. Lucy smiled sheepishly at Lisanna and the silver-haired girl helped Lucy grab onto her arm for support.
They all sat down, Lisanna to her left and an empty chair for Mira on the right, and the female chef placed four bowls of nice, steaming hot soup in front of them. Mira fixed some things up for a minute, popping a pan into the oven, and then joined them, sitting next to Lucy.
The family started eating, but Lucy stared skeptically at her bowl. It could be poisoned... But when she saw the others eating, she relaxed. Besides, the smell of it was too good to resist. The bandit took her spoon and dived in, blowing on the spoon for a moment before taking whatever was in her utensil into her mouth.
"Mmm... this is really good Mira!" Lucy almost moaned at the deliciousness of it. she quickly took another bite, and another, and another, before her bowl was finished. The blonde looked to see that Elfman had finished the same time as her, and Lisanna wasn't too far behind. Mira was eating a bit slower.
"Thank you," Mira said gratefully after swallowing. "Lots of people say I'm a good cook."
"Well they're right!" Lucy said, smiling.
"Would anyone like seconds?"
"Yes please!" Elfman, Lisanna, and Spirit said at the same time. Mira filled their bowls, and the three chowed down again.
"Just remember, save some room for dessert."
Lucy had never felt so full in her life.
Three bowls of hot soup, two slices of pie later, Lucy sat back in her bed, feeling so completely and utterly full. She lay back, checking her stomach wound one last time. She was sure that she would explode any minute now.
Her wound was wrapped up expertly, and it had been changed recently before she woke up. there were no red speckles on it at all. She felt sore when she bent too much, but otherwise it was fine.
"So, what's up?" Lisanna asked, walking into the room. Lucy quickly pulled the shirt back down and looked up at her.
"I'm fine." Lisanna crept closer and lifted her shirt again, checking the wound. Lucy was slightly startled, but then the silver-haired girl dropped the cloth.
"That wound's getting better. All you need to do is recuperate and you should be able to move and do Magic again."
"How do you know I use Magic?" Lucy asked suspiciously. Lisanna chuckled and lifted her shirt again, pointing to her belt with Lucy's Key's on it. The bandit 'oh'-ed.
"Good point." Spirit mumbled. Lisanna grinned.
"I'm a mage too, just like you." Lucy looked up in surprise.
"Really?" Lucy scolded herself for sounding too much like an exited puppy. "What Magic do you use?" Lisanna stood up, getting off the bed.
"You wanna see?" Suddenly, Lisanna's body glowed, it lasted for a split second and Lucy looked up as the golden glow faded.
"Woah, that's so cool!" the silver-haired girl had turned into a bird! The bird was mainly green, but its neck was a lighter shade and its feather tips were pink. On its head was a blue bow. Lisanna showed off herself, turning around so Lucy could see. After, she poofed back to herself.
"My Magic's called Animal Take Over. I use animal bodies to attack." She explained. "What about you? Don't use your Magic, it'll tire you out in this state, just explain."
Lucy supposed it wouldn't hurt to just tell her. "Well, these things are called Gate Keys," Lucy said, holding up her key ring. "And with them I can summon Spirit's from the Spirit World."
"Ohh... Is that why you're name's Spirit?" Lisanna asked.
Lucy thought for a split second. "Well, sort of." Just then, Mira's head poked through the door.
"There you are Lisanna. It's getting late, you two should head to bed." The lady said. Lisanna smiled at Lucy one last time before leaving for their bedroom.
Lucy got settled in, and she heard a 'Goodnight,' called from multiple voices in the other room.
"Goodnight!" she replied, cuddling closer to her pillow. Her eyes were opened though, watching and waiting outside for the Strauss siblings to go to sleep.
It was midnight, and Lucy's eyes were still wide open. The door called to her, the moonlight shining through the windows proving that it was indeed her territory. Night was her thing. She was a thief, after all, and the best thieves used the cover of darkness to their advantage. Lucy was called Spirit because she could disappear like one, after all.
The bandit let out a breath, got up [against her protesting sides,] and proceeded to change into her one-suit. It was clean, there were no wrinkles, even the tiny gashes in the fabric had been sewn up, and Lucy [almost,] smiled at the kind Strauss family.
She got into her suit, changing from the bright white shirt and pants she was wearing and into her dark one-piece. She zipped it up, wincing at the loud zip it made while traveling up to her neck, replacing her belt over it and tucking her vial necklace in.
Lucy sighed once she was in the comfy material and looked at the door. She had everything, but why didn't she want to leave? For a split second, she glanced at the bedroom, answering her question.
It felt like she had a family. Sure she had Michelle, but she always had to take the motherly roll. Lucy was too independent, too mature, even for seventeen years old. She had seen and had been through things that no woman her age should see or do. She wanted to be a child again. Taken care fore; the good old days when Layla was still alive and Jude was a cheery man. Before she became Spirit.
At the thought of it, her lip trembled. Lucy blinked away tears that threatened to come and slowly, without knowing it, she moved back to the bed. She tucked herself in and took a pillow in her arms, wrapping herself around it.
Lucy wasn't invincible; it was moments like these that her cold shell broke down, and you could see her soft interior.
Just in case you didn't read the A/N last chappy, i'll say it quickly: I AM NOW ACEPTING FAIRY TAIL ART AND ONE-SHOT REQUESTS! [the coverpage for this story is my work!]
It's late, no time for editing, so sorry if there's any typos. Reply!
Tawny: well, here you go! I will! thanks for the art compliment!