The next morning, Lucy woke up feeling a little guilty for the trouble that she had unintentionally caused Natsu the other night. He saved her life and in turn, she almost gets him arrested, she felt that she owed him an apology. So after breakfast, she went down into the third class level to find him. It was here that Lucy quickly learned how much her lifestyle truly clashed with his.
The third class level was a loud, boisterous place. There were mothers with babies, kids running between the benches yelling in several languages and being scolded in several more. There were old women yelling, men playing chess , one of which was Gildarts, girls doing needlepoint and reading dime novels, Juvia and Cana were among them. There was even an upright piano and she saw Gajeel fiddling around with it. Finally she located Natsu who was sitting next to Gajeel and doodling in his sketchbook while the two conversed.
"I gotta say lad, you're a pretty good artist." Gajeel said observing the man's work.
"These are just my landscapes, my portraits are my best. Especially my nudes." Natsu said with a suggestive eyebrow raise. "Want to see my lovely collection of the fairer sex?"
"Tempting offer, but I must refuse for I am a happily engaged man."
"A faithful man, now that's one lucky woman."
"I'm the lucky one. You know she could have had her pick of any fine man with a better education, a better job, a better pay, and a better face. But she chose me. The ugliest man in the village."
"Now you stop that Gajeel." Juvia said putting down her needlework. "You are not ugly."
"Tell that to every other woman back in Ireland."
"Oh Gajeel, they thought every man who didn't have money or join the army was ugly. And that's because they were raised to marry only a rich man or a solider."
"I wish you had married a rich man or a solider. Or at least someone decent enough to get you away from Selene."
"Now don't be daft, no man will ever have me. I'm too homely."
"That is not true!" Gajeel insisted.
"It definitely isn't." Natsu said, taking in her appearance. "Dare I say, you are like La Scapigliata."
"Who?" Gajeel asked.
"The Lady with Dishevelled Hair. It was a painting by the great Leonardo Da Vinci, and I believe that he painted it to show that woman's beauty can sometimes come from her simplicity and humility. That the most lovely women were not always found in mansions and galas. A lot of them can be found just scrubbing the floors or doing laundry or doing needlework like you were just doing."
"Really?" Juvia blushed. "You think I'm as pretty as a lady in a portrait?"
"Yep. As a matter of fact, would you mind letting me draw you?"
"Excuse me!" Gajeel suddenly stood up and pulled Juvia behind him in a protective manner. "Look buddy, I don't know what kind of women model for you, but my sister isn't showing her nude form to some stranger! Not while I'm still breathing!"
"What?!" Juvia gasped.
"Oh no! no, no, no!" Natsu said understanding the threat. "I didn't mean it like that! She would be fully clothed! I promise!"
"Just drop the subject before I forget she's here and hurt you!"
"Gajeel please!" Juvia said. "Show a little decorum."
"You can draw me in the nude if you'd like." Cana offered.
"Over my dead body!" Gildarts immediately protested.
"Oh come on Dad, it's a chance for me to immortalized."
"Like Hell! No daughter of mine is going to be immortalized for every horn dog to ogle and drool over! I mean, just think of what it do to your poor mother!"
"Mom passed away over a decade ago."
"Yes but her spirit would never know peace and she would haunt me for allowing you to do such a thing!"
Lucy giggled at the rather amusing commotion that was taking place. There certainly weren't conversations like this held at the breakfast table this morning. Natsu heard Lucy's giggle and when he saw her, he gave her a little smile. Soon all eyes were on her, some with resentment, others with awe. It made her feel somewhat self-conscious, Natsu sensed this and moved to defuse the situation. He stood up and walked straight to her.
"Hello." She greeted him.
"Hello again." He replied.
"Can I speak to you in private?"
"Yeah, sure."
Together they went up aboard the deck and proceeded to walk side by side, passing people reading and talking in steamer chairs, some of whom would glance curiously at the mismatched couple. Natsu couldn't help but feel a little out of place in his rough clothes, but he did his best to remain secure with himself.
"Mr. Dragneel-" Lucy started.
"Natsu." He corrected. "Mr. Dragneel was my father."
"Natsu." She said. "I want to thank you for what you did. Not just for pulling me back. But for your discretion."
"You're welcome Lucy. I can call you Lucy right? Or would you prefer Miss Heartfilia?"
"Lucy is fine." She chuckled.
"I gotta say, I knew I would see some pretty unusual things on this ship but an attempted suicide was not one of them."
"Look I know what you must be thinking, Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery?"
"Well that might be what other people would think but no, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was, what could have happened to hurt this girl so much she though she had no way out."
She was surprised by his answer. She was so used to people always acting like she was some ungrateful brat whenever she voiced her problems.
"You're not just saying that are you?" She asked him.
"No. Everybody has crap to deal with in life. Money buys ya a lot of things in life but perfection is not one of them. Terrible things are always going to happen people, rich or poor. Which brings up my question, what terrible thing almost pushed you over the edge?"
"It wasn't just one thing. It was everything. My life, my family, my whole world. I felt trapped and I just wanted to get away from it all. I was so furious. I kept thinking, I'll show them. They'll be sorry!"
"Yeah they'd be be sorry alright." Natsu chuckled. "Course you'd be dead."
Lucy hung her head in shame.
"Oh God, I am such an utter fool."
"Don't take it so hard, lots of people have thought about ending it all. Many have done it, though in the end didn't really solve anything."
"In that moment I just didn't know what else to do. They were suffocating me."
"I bet. Was that penguin last night, one of them?"
"Penguin?"
"You know, the tight ass in the suit who was ready to rip off my head."
"Oh that's Dan. Yes he's in that category."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"Fiancee."
She showed him her engagement ring. Natsu's eyes went wide at the size of the diamond.
"Beata Maria, look at that thing! You would have gone straight to the bottom."
They both laughed at his comment, before continuing their conversation in which Lucy told Natsu all about her engagement and her father's arrangement. All the pressure and expectation, how she didn't have any say in the matter at all.
"Five-hundred invitations have already gone out. All of England's high society will be there." Lucy explained. "It's all just happening so fast. I didn't even have time to give an answer when he popped the question. My father answered for me."
"Do you love him?" Natsu asked.
"Pardon me?"
"Do you love him?"
"You're being very rude. "
"I am? How am I being rude? I just asked a question."
"Well you shouldn't be asking me such a question."
"It's just a simple question, do you love the guy or not?"
"This is not a suitable conversation."
"Why can't you just answer the question?"
"This is absurd! I don't know you, you don't know me, and we are not having this conversation at all. You are rude and uncouth and presumptuous and-"
"And you've insulted me."
"Well you deserved it, and I no longer wish to speak with you. Leave this part of the ship at once!"
"Oh-ho, well, well, now who's being rude? First you rant to me about how bad your engagement to this guy is, I ask a simple and harmless question, and in turn you throw insults and order me to leave. I guess the rich aren't as well-mannered as people say."
"How dare you! You sir are no gentleman."
"And you miss are no lady. But don't think I hold that against you. Ladies aren't really my type."
"Ugh! You are so annoying."
"And you're not the first to call me that."
Lucy started to look for another topic of discussion, any other topic. That's when she spotted Natsu's sketchbook.
"What's this?" She asked indicating toward the item being held under his arm.
"Just some sketches." Natsu answered.
"May I?"
He handed her the sketchbook, she opened it up and carefully looked over each page. Each drawing she saw was expressing a little bit of humanity: An old woman's hands, a sleeping man, a father and daughter at the rail. The faces were luminous and alive. His book was a celebration of the human condition.
"Natsu, these are quite good!" she said impressed. "Really, they are."
"Well, they didn't think too much of 'em in Italy and they're not worth a damn anyway."
"Surely you jest!" She disagreed. "These are fantastic. A wonder really."
Natsu could not help the big smile that spread across his face. Apart from his late brother Zeref, no one else had ever praised his work the way Lucy was doing now. Back in Italy, all his peices had been called cheap or common, and the critics were brutal.
"Critics!" His brother would scoff. "What do they know? They don't paint or draw or sculpt. They're just jealous, because people like you have talent and they don't. You'll see, someday your work will become world famous and hang in museum for all to marvel at."
Natsu would forever appreciate his brother's constant support of his artistic dreams. But he couldn't help but wonder, if Zeref was right to support his dream. After all, a family member is supposed to support your dream whether it's good or not. How did he know for sure that Zeref's words didn't just come from love alone? But Lucy here was proof that Zeref had been right. Natsu's art was good. It was something that people would adore, frame, and pay money for. That kind of confirmation was something that he had spent years dreaming of.
But his joy quickly turned to flustered embarrassment when he realized that she was approaching a very private collection.
"Oh no! Don't look at that!" He tried to reach for the sketch book but she moved to quick.
"Why? What's on this page?"
She then came upon a series of nudes. Languid beauty that were soulful, real, with expressive hands and eyes. They felt more like portraits than studies of the human form. Lucy blushed.
"And these were drawn from life?" She asked, trying to be adult.
"Yup." He said avoding eye contact. "That's one of the great things about Italy. Lots of girls willing take their clothes off."
She studied one drawing in particular, a girl with green hair posing in a bathtub, half in sunlight, half in shadow. Her hands lie at her chin, one furled and one open like a flower, languid and graceful.
"You liked this woman." Luc observed. "You used her several times."
"Who Brandish? Yeah, she had beautiful hands."
"I think you must have had a love affair with her."
"No, no!" Natsu laughed. "Just with her hands."
"You know you have a real gift Natsu. You see people."
"Doesn't everyone see people? Well anyone who's not legally blind, that is."
"No what I mean is, you see people that are often ignored or overlooked. You take the time to make sure everyone's presence is known. It's something that no one else in my world has. You're a very special man."
"Funny, you sound a lot like my brother. He said stuff like that all the time."
"He sounds like an intellectual."
"He was. He really got into the Italian Renaissance. We both did. But while I preferred art, philosophy and education was his passion. When we were kids we idolized Leonardo Da Vinci. He was not only a renowned painter, but an inventor as well. My brother wanted to be just like him when he grew up."
"Did he ever accomplish that dream?"
"No. After mom and Dad died, he had to basically raise me and that cost him everything he ever wanted. He acted like it was no big deal, but I know how difficult it was for him to sacrifice all those plans, hopes, and dreams. He wasn't like me, you know? He was brilliant. He could have been someone great. He could have gone to college, become a professor or a philosopher, maybe even an inventor like he always dreamed about. But that never happened, he had to give up any chance of having that future to stay behind and look after my dumbass."
Lucy could see a subtle sadness in his eyes, and a little guilt. The kind a person often feels when they believe they weren't worth the sacrifices their loved ones had made for them. Lucy moved to gently grasp Natsu's hand, giving him comfort.
"I'd like to hear more about him. If you don't mind telling me, that is."
Natsu smiled and happily obliged.