Chapter Text
"Lucy, Lisanna, Yukino, Kagura, focus! This style of dance requires the utmost concentration, chatter about the latest trends can wait." Madame Minerva's voice rang out, snapping a group of girls out of their conversation.
"Yes, Madame Minerva." The dancers said in unison.
Lucy Heartfilia was the centre of attention no matter where she went, and her ballet class was no exception.
"Lucy, what's it like being a Heartfilia? Never able to do anything wrong, getting everything you could ever wish for, being perfect in the eyes of society?" Lisanna sighed as she pirouetted and stared at the ceiling.
"I think you just answered your own question, Lis." The girls giggled.
Lucy Heartfilia was the definition of 'dream girl'. She was blonde, fit, drop-dead gorgeous. A smile that could melt the heart of any criminal. And as if that wasn't enough, she had a heart of gold. Always putting other's needs before her own, never treating anyone below her despite her family name.
Lucy's great-great-grandfather had founded a railway organisation which had expanded to run railways across the country. Her wealth extended back generations, and she was the future of her name.
"So, Lucy," Kagura started. "Have you and your parents had the dreaded marriage talk yet?"
"I was wondering that too. My parents set up a meeting for me and this boy from Crocus who's second in line to his uncle's department store chain. Your parents must be arranging for you to meet a foreign prince or something!" Yukino gushed.
"Spill the details, Lucy! Will the next generation of Heartfilias be royalty?" Lisanna chimed in, holding up an imaginary microphone to the blonde's mouth. The girls looked at Lucy expectantly. She laughed softly.
"Um..."
Two claps from Madame Minerva and the words 'class dismissed' ended the conversation. Saved by the bell. The girls flooded into the locker room to get dressed. Lucy slipped a pair of denim shorts over her grey leotard and pulled on a pink windbreaker.
"So, Lucy--"
"Sorry girls, we'll have to finish this talk on Monday. I have somewhere to be right now, my father will kill me if I'm late. I'll text you tonight!" Lucy threw up a peace sign and all but sprinted out of the building, ignoring the obvious stares from the girls in her class.
Lucy knew her friends meant no harm joking about an arranged marriage. It was a touchy subject for Lucy, she knew her name came with responsibilities and that one day she may be forced to marry someone she doesn't love. She was only seventeen and had so much she wanted to do before dating anyone with such high standards, let alone marrying. She didn't need her friends manifesting that negative energy.
Lucy's personal chauffeur Capricorn stood outside the dance studio. It was always easy to spot him. He towered over crowds and dressed head to toe in black and white, a huge contrast to the vibrant colours many of the Magnolia residents loved to wear.
"Hello Capricorn. How was your day?" Lucy approached her driver with a smile.
"It was delightful, Lady Lucy. I apologise for not having the car. It looked like a lovely day and your father agreed it would be nice to walk home so you could get some fresh air." He held up Lucy's pink HK tote. "I brought a pair of walking shoes along with the change of clothes you requested. Would you like to change back in--"
"No!" Lucy interrupted. She cleared her throat. "No, it's okay. Can we stop at one of the boutiques? I can change in a fitting room and find an outfit for Michelle's birthday brunch the weekend after next."
"Of course, Lady Lucy." Capricorn allowed Lucy to step in front of him and they began the walk home.
"Hurry it up, pyro!” Someone called out. The shouter slowed down his skateboard and waved his friend over, who had kicked up his board and stopped to admire a window display.
"I'm coming, Gajeel. Just give me a minute. Ya' ever heard of the phrase 'stop and smell the roses?'"
This was a nice part of town. Fancy cafés, expensive shops. It was much different from the scene Natsu Dragneel was used to. The pink-haired skater grew up poor. He lived in a house of twenty, all fostered by one old man with a soft spot for those who've experienced the most pain.
Natsu hated when his friends tried to rush him. He was excited to be in the nice part of the city, despite all the dirty looks. He hopped back on his skateboard and caught up with the group.
"I wonder what it's like to live in a place like this?" Natsu asked.
"Maybe one day you'll find out, keep up that music thing you've got going." The blue-haired boy at the front of the group answered.
"Don't get his hopes up, Jellal. Natsu would win a Hiro Award and pawn it for a couple pizzas." A scarlet-haired girl skating with the group laughed.
"Natsu? Famous? I just can't see it."
"Careful, Gray. If you're not supportive, Natsu won't give you any backstage passes to his future world tour."
"Please. This kid doesn't know the difference between a credit card and a debit card."
"Seriously, what's the difference?" Natsu tilted his head prompting laughs from the whole group.
Meanwhile, Capricorn and Lucy continued their journey home, now with two shopping bags and empty coffee cups. Lucy stopped to feel the warmth of the sun. She looked up at the open sky. It really was a beautiful day. Lucy stood comfortably on the sidewalk before the noisy rattling of wheels snapped her out of her trance.
A few people rolled by. The first was a girl. Long, scarlet hair flies behind her. Dressed in a two-piece set that resembled battle armour, she was so intimidating. On her upper left arm, a blue tattoo was drawn. It's mesmerising to watch her skate by, no problem, ahead of a group of boys.
Close behind the skilled redhead, a boy with neon blue hair, yes, neon blue hair, tried to keep up. The two were facing each other and smiling, laughing. Lucy figured they were a couple. He had a red face tattoo above and under his right eye. She grimaced at the thought of how painful that must've been.
The next skater was shirtless, causing Lucy to redden in second-hand embarrassment. He had spiky raven hair. He was extremely good-looking for a delinquent. A weird tattoo, the same as the first girl's, was on his chest. Lucy wondered why someone would ever draw something permanently on their body. The boy was paying no attention to his surroundings, eyes glued to his phone. Chains fell from his sagging jeans and the right ear of his headphones dangled dangerously by the metal links. He seemed to be arguing with someone on video call, but she couldn't tell.
Slightly behind the raven-haired skater was a scary looking guy. His hair was long and stood out in greasy spikes. His face was covered in many, many piercings. Even his eyebrows had been replaced by small metal studs. His leather pants sagged like the shirtless guy’s, but this one wore a black shirt with the word "metallic" spray painted on. A black tattoo, the same design as the others, was on his left shoulder. What parents would let their children do something like this?
Lucy watched as they all passed. She turned around to find Capricorn but met the body of another skater. They crashed to the ground in a heap of hormonal teen, Lucy landing on top of the person who collided with her as he spun around to save her head from hitting the ground. She took the time on the ground to study the features of the embarrassed boy. The first thing she noticed was his hair. It was weird, spiky, and pink. A tattoo-- exactly like the rest had-- was red, and on his right shoulder. The chain around his neck looked rusty, but he didn't seem to mind. His dark onyx eyes looked Lucy up and down curiously, then he smiled.
"Hi." He spoke. Lucy felt her face heat up.
"Hello..." She replied. There were a few moments of silence between the pair before the boy cleared his throat. Lucy blinked in confusion.
"Um, are you gonna get off me or…?" Lucy face reddened as she realised where she was.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She stood up and held out a hand to help the boy up. He hesitantly stared at her hand for a few moments before grabbing it. She pulled him up. "I'm Lucy." She said, holding out her hand again for a handshake. The skater boy smiled and shook her hand.
"I'm--"
"Natsu! Stop flirting with spoiled bitches, we're late!" The boy, whom Lucy now can identify as 'Natsu' shot a glare at the pierced boy who had called his name.
"Hey, I'm really sorry but I have to go. Maybe I'll see you around!" He smiled the cutest, goofiest, most amazing smile Lucy had ever seen as he mounted his board and rolled off to join his group of friends. Lucy sighed.
I didn't even ask for his phone number.
The following days, Natsu couldn't stop himself from skating through that expensive part of town. Slower, this time, to avoid any more wipeouts.
He received plenty of dirty looks from overdressed passers-by who judged the rattling of the loose wheels on his board or the vexatious clangour of the chains hanging from his belt. Natsu paid them no mind. All he wanted was to see that girl one more time. What was her name?
As Natsu glided by various exorbitant shoppes and restaurants, he thought about what his life would look like if he was never adopted by Makarov. Could he have been one of these arrogant assholes sticking their nose up at anyone wearing an outfit worth less than his entire life savings? Or would life be no different? Just another blurred face among the crowd?
His fantasies faded when the sound of a bell ringing and a soft "thank you" from a somewhat familiar voice filled his ears. Natsu let his foot drift on the ground until he slowed to a stop. He stared at the girl leaving the shop only some feet in front of him. There she was.
She was more gorgeous than he remembered. She sported a plaid patterned light blue tube top and a tight matching skirt; a huge contrast to the flowy white sundress he last saw her in.
"Hey!" He called, catching the attention of not only the beautiful blonde but many nearby socialites. She looked up at him and smiled. He kicked up his skateboard and stuffed it in his open backpack, using his other hand to wave the girl over.
"Oh, hi! I remember you! Natsu, right?" She trotted over to him, arms full of bags and boxes with logos that were worth more than his entire wardrobe.
"Yeah. Sorry again. About the, uh, skateboard thing."
"No need to apologise. I should've been more careful standing in the middle of a busy walkway like that." The pair stood parallel to each other in an awkward silence. The blonde twisted her hair mindlessly while Natsu averted his gaze and rocked back and forth anxiously.
"Do you wanna maybe... go out sometime... somewhere...?" Natsu finally built up the courage to ask her the question that had been on his mind since he saw her in the doorway. Her reaction was just what he thought it would be. Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. He was sure her heart skipped a beat in there too. He thought about skating off never to return to this part of town but decided to let her answer.
"Like, a date?" Natsu looked the other direction and nodded shyly. She smiled. "I would love to! Where would we go?" Natsu nearly choked. He couldn't tell if she was serious. The smile on her face looked genuine enough.
"Have you ever been to God Serena's?" Natsu asked. She shook her head. "It's a bowling alley. They've got like… bowling and food and stuff."
"I've always wanted to go bowling! My parents never let me. My… friend Sting once went for his friend's birthday and said it was super fun."
"Yeah, it can be! Here, put your number in my phone. Text me an address and I'll pick you up Saturday around seven?" Natsu opened the contacts app on his cracked old iPhone and handed it to the girl. She didn't even acknowledge the barely readable screen as she quickly typed in her name and number.
Natsu felt like he was dreaming when she handed his phone back to him. This has to be a fake number because there's no way a girl this hot is just going out with someone like me that fast. Before he could question the debutant on the validity of her phone number, he noticed how she was struggling to hold up the mountain of merchandise in her arms.
"Do you need some help?"
"Huh?"
"With the bags. That stuff looks heavy."
"Oh, yes please!" She set everything on the sidewalk next to her and handed him three boxes and two bags, leaving her with two bags. Natsu was a little surprised. Usually, people of her status turn down assistance in fear that they'll get robbed, but this girl was completely trusting of him. "My driver is parked a couple blocks down. I was really thinking about how on Earth I was going to get all this back to the car." Natsu took note of the blonde's chattiness. He couldn't help but let out a laugh as she went on and on about ten different topics in the span of a minute. "What?"
"Sorry, I'm just surprised you have so much to talk about."
She smiled. "There's a lot more to me than just a pretty face." She offered. The two carried on with their conversation like lifelong friends. Laughing and joking around, the ten-minute walk to the parking garage felt like two. Natsu Dragneel was head over heels for this girl whose name he'd forgotten (I really need to check on that once I've got a free hand.) and was dead set on finding out if she maybe felt the same.
"Well, this is me." They reached the car far too soon for either party's taste. It was a Rolls Royce, a car brand Natsu swore up and down only existed in movies about modern royalty. They stood contently next to each other as Capricorn popped the trunk and got out to help with the bags. "Oh, Capricorn! This is Natsu!" The butler looked Natsu up and down and greeted him with a nod.
"Hello, Natsu. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine... sir?"
"Capricorn is fine." The blonde cut in, smiling at Natsu. "We are going on a date this Saturday." Lucy was so direct Natsu had to hold back a reaction.
"Is that so? I'm sure your father will be ecstatic to hear that." Capricorn said as he took the final box from Natsu's arms and loaded it into the trunk. He dusted his vest and turned back to the boy. "Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for assisting my lady." Capricorn had already returned to the driver's seat before Natsu could accept his thanks. The blonde gave Natsu one last grin before hopping in the back seat.
As the car reversed out of the spot, she rolled her window down.
"Thanks again!"
"Not a problem. I'll call you!"
"I'll be waiting!" She waved as the car sped out of the parking garage, leaving the crushing teen standing alone in an empty spot. He grabbed the board sticking out of his bag and hopped on, cruising his way back home before it got too dark.
On the way back to his side of the city he dipped his hand in the front pocket of his tattered jeans and fished out his phone. Quickly typing in the passcode, he went straight to the contacts app. It was already opened to the most recently viewed contact, which was obviously none other than the girl of his dreams who he was taking bowling in less than fifty hours; quite an accomplishment if you asked him. And we he saw that name in bold letters at the top of his shattered screen, he knew he would never forget it.
Lucy.