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“Lucy… Lucy… Lucy ! ”
The child’s eyes snapped open as a very familiar voice shook her into consciousness. She rubbed her eyes and fluttered them until sleep was chased from her mind. She took a look around to find the source of the sweet voice, only to find her mother sitting at the edge of the bed with her usual soft grin that lit any room she walked into.
Lucy’s eyes glittered at the sight and wasted no time in jumping into Layla’s arms.
“Mama, mama !!”
Her little hands squirmed and latched around her mother’s clothing as she was pulled into her lap for a morning hug. Layla’s arms reached the small of her daughter’s back as her slender fingers traced idle, yet soothing patterns while she rocked back and forth, like when Lucy had been an infant.
“Mama,mama, good morning !!”
Lucy giggled at the antics. Usually, house employees woke the little girl up, but on more special occasions, her mother came to her room to personally take care of that. Today was one of those special occasions. Layla’s slender fingers found themselves combing through her little girl’s short blonde hair before telling her the most important thing she wanted to hear on that day.
“Happy birthday, my shooting star.”
Lucy’s laughter intensified after hearing her beloved mother’s words, laced with care and love.
“Thank you so much mama !!”
The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur to her. The house employees also wished her a happy birthday and were extra cheerful due to her having a huge smile all the time. Lucy smiling wasn’t a rare occurrence for she was a joyful child, but seeing her grin so much throughout the day warmed even the coldest of hearts.
Such angelic features adorning her baby face came from the fact that she stayed with her mother and father so much. Lucy didn’t get to see her parents and despite only having turned four, she felt lonely in her parents’ absence. They loved her and she loved them but keeping the krozen afloat meant necessary sacrifices, especially on her father’s part, as she rarely ever saw him to begin with. However her birthdays were the exception, where he’d spend all day with his family. He even decided to read the letters Lucy had received from relatives, and carry her on his shoulders for he knew how she longed for his attention and physical touch, both things he didn’t provide for that often, all things considered.
The little girl was at peace as she watched her parents recreate their wedding’s first dance around the garden, while including her in. The Heartfilias laughed, danced and sang together. “The song of the stars”. It was a melody Layla had inherited from her mother, who was taught by her own mother and so on. A legacy that was carved in the Heartfilia daughters’ brains since the surname had first appeared on official records.
Lucy’s smile was as bright as those stars they were talking about in the song. It became even brighter when house employees brought a ginormous blue cake around. The small group started the traditional birthday chant, while Jude reached out to carry his daughter, to sit her on a chair, who laced into explosive giggles, followed by her mother, who accompanied them. Both Jude and Layla joined the singing, before the little girl was settled on a chair to blow her candles when the singing reached its end.
“Remember, make a wish, sweetie !”
Her mother had reminded.
Lucy nodded. Of course she would make one. How could she even forget the most important part in a birthday celebration? Well- next to receiving gifts of course, but still !
She closed her eyes, and thought. Really thought. Then, when she was satisfied with it, her eyes fluttered open and she lit off the little flames in front of her.
Everyone applauded.
Came the moments she was looking forward to right after the candles. She was given a gift. A small doll. It had been her “only” present but Lucy knew better than to not be grateful. She adored it. The child lifted it in the air before snuggling it close to her heart, cuddling with it. Her grin, which never left, had somehow intensified- she had smiled so much that her cheeks were starting to ache, but it didn’t matter. She grinned and laughed and squeaked in joy when she took the toy’s appearance in.
Dirty blonde, wavy hair, blue eyes, rosy cheeks clad with a blue dress with pink thrills and matching shoes.
“Thank you so much mama and papa, I love her already !!”
Her parents’ features softened even more than what was physically possible.
“You are very welcome dear”
Layla crouched to her daughter’s level and patted her head in a gentle, soothing motion, before asking another question.
“Do you want to give it a name?”
Upon hearing this possibility, Lucy’s pupils almost took the shape of a star.
“Yes !”
Her gaze drifted to the toy she had been holding onto.
“You… Your name is… Gonzales ! And from now on, you are my beloved little sister !”
Jude chuckled when he imitated his wife’s motions by crouching down as well.
“Gonzales you say?”
He asked, then hummed.
“Maybe you could pick a different name, starlight..”
The 4 years old pretended to consider her mother’s offer.
“No thanks ! Her name is Gonzales, mama, and she’s my sister now !!”
Layla sighed, but giggled regardless of her daughter’s antics.
“Okay.”
The soft grin she wore intensified somehow.
“It's nice to meet you, Gonzales.”
In this moment where everyone cheered at the child’s happiness towards her gift- a moment of peace, love and perfection framed in her memory- Lucy hadn’t known anything but joy so far. If only she had known that these sadness free days with her family would be over so soon, maybe she would’ve tried to stay with her parents more, spend more time running around in the place she considered home, when everything was so simple. Back then, no one’s hurt her, and nothing left her scarred. She would’ve simply just cherished her life more instead of taking everything for granted.
All good things come to an end after all.
When Layla passed away, her world crumbled.
It had been like the small bubble blew and she was left off to the real world so suddenly. Everything could’ve stayed so simple had Layla not died. She would’ve been there to guide her through all major steps in her life- first loves, heartbreaks, friends, school, but now, the person who’d never let her get hurt was gone, and never to return.
Lucy visited the graveyard to pour her hearts out every day, no matter what the weather. In hindsight, seeing a four year old crying like there was no tomorrow in the graveyard was a weird and most likely soul crushing sight to anyone who passed by. But it couldn’t be helped. She was a child who lost the pillar of her existence and there was only so much she could do to cope with it. Her father had become distant, cold perhaps. He didn’t see her a lot when his wife was still alive, but they still had a good one. But now, it was almost as if she was a complete stranger. A person, not family, a prizer, not a human, the Heartfilia heiress, rather than his little princess Lucy. A girl who survived rather than lived in a place whose warmth had been wiped away from such a tragic event.
The mansion had never felt so foreign, so.. Empty to her.
She felt like she wasn’t supposed to be there anymore, and that feeling only intensified when she grew up. It may have been full of house employees, really, Lucy felt lonely. No one had her back anymore. She missed her mom so much. She missed when her father still loved and cared about her. She missed the life she had and should’ve had.
So she made up for it. Became rambunctious, caused trouble to the people around her, summoned Aquarius when she was taking her bath to try and get some company. All of the trouble she made other people go through was a cry for help. No one caught on it though, so she gave up and decided to be quiet by seeking refuge in fiction. At least like this, she could avoid her father’s short tempers and snaps, the looks of pity she was being shot whenever she walked out of her room, and could still fantasise about what was supposed to be.
Her birthdays had never been the same, after the only one she remembered. It has become a taboo topic. Even for her. And honestly? Everything related to her identity was sheltered behind the thick walls of her bedroom as time went by. She was just a shell of the lively little kid she used to be.
Years, awfully long and painful went by since her 4th birthday on March 18th X771.
Until one day, she’s had enough of it and ran away at 16.
She took her celestial spirits, a small bag and left without looking behind with one simple objective in mind- living.
One simple word. Might sound simple to most, but she hadn't felt like she was living in almost 13 years.
For a year, what would be called survival to other people, was considered as a breath of fresh, clean air to her. Yes, she’s had rough times with the little money she earned as an independent mage, but at least nothing was expected of her if not doing her job. She was a normal girl, making money to survive and find her place in the world. Nothing else, no titles, no surnames, no manners. The version of herself she’s only left in her bedroom started to come out more and more.
She enjoyed living paycheck to paycheck for a few days after her escape… she thought things through and decided to settle for something more long term options. To achieve this objective, she had to join a guild, and since she was raised in such high standards she wanted to join the best of them all, Fairy Tail.
So she gathered information about the guild members, and her attention diverted to one of them, the Salamander, until one day, she heard that he was in the city she was in, Hargeon.
Of course, now, she had enough experience to know a lot of things, and she would forever be grateful that she made this move, because it had changed the trajectory of her life, in the best of ways.
Thanks to that scammer, Lucy met Natsu and Happy, and let’s say that they’ve gone on a lot of adventures together. He brought her to the guild she had been dreaming of joining in the early days of leaving old life behind. She had made friends, who became family, and finally her lonely days were over. They had gone through some astonishing sights, yet she wouldn’t trade anything in the world for the guild- and with the years, some other things happened that became even more valuable to her than her own life.
First of all despite loving everyone all the same in the guild, Happy, while being her friend, had developed habits that almost made her sound like she was her mom. Yes he behaved like the most vicious of exceeds with her almost everyday, but he always sought comfort in her arms, claiming that hearing her heartbeat appeased him when he was stressed out. She also gave him advice to woo Carla, who warmed up to his advances. She treated the special bond she had with the little blue cat with humour and affection.
And then…
She and Natsu had developed romantic feelings that later on became a romantic relationship- the whole event per se had been a very weird instant because he had assumed they were already a couple for at the very least a solid year. At that moment she snapped at him, telling him that he should’ve said something about it. However, now when she’s asked how long they’ve been together, she adds the years where he thought they were together.. For it is sensible. They were in a very committed relationship, she just hadn’t picked up the hints. It didn’t matter anymore though, she loved him, and he loved her. Simple as that. Nothing could ever make them part anymore.
They were a smaller unit in the big family of their guild.
For a very long time, it was only the three of them. She thought it would only be the three of them for a long time. She was proven wrong a few months ago though. They had a little “accident” and here she was now, sitting in the infirmary with her fiancé and friend/son by her side.
Tears had welled up in her eyes- happy tears to be specific. In this beautiful moment, in which she started to reflect upon her childhood, her way in life, all of the choices that she had made, all of this led to this moment.
Her arms were shaking, she was overwhelmed in the best way possible.
She was holding her baby daughter for the first time ever.
Is this how her mother felt when she was holding her infant self? She thought so. Layla had only shown love to her when she was growing up, so she would do it for her little girl too.
She had been wailing, until Porlyusica gave her to her mother. She had ceased crying when her little body met Lucy’s comforting warmth and unsteady heartbeat.
“H-hi baby.”
From a distance, Wendy gave a soft and relieved smile and left the room, urging the old lady alongside her to let the family have a moment to themselves.
Natsu snatched the opportunity to carefully haul Lucy while she held their daughter so that she sat between his legs and could use his chest as a backrest. Albeit surprised by this, she didn’t reject his affection, especially when one of his hands wrapped around her waist and the other grabbed the baby’s cheek. She couldn’t help but to giggle at his move, but also at the trance he seemed to have gotten into. She knew him well enough to picture his expression at the moment : a bit teary eyed, a longing gaze, yet the brightest of smiles, even if she couldn’t see well, as he had placed his head on her shoulder to lean in and get a better sight of their child.
“Hey little princess…”
His voice came out as a mere, shaky, whisper, yet it held so much in it- happiness, adoration, love. Seeing him like this will never not please her.
She wanted this moment to last forever, even moreso when her little girl giggled and smiled. An actual smile. Her heart almost burst at the picture- even Happy loudly sobbed, glued to Natsu’s side.
In this moment, Lucy mentally reaffirmed that she would let nobody hurt her daughter, and that she would always smile. Whatever wounds she had been thinking of when in labour, were hers and Natsu to bear so that this little girl, who wrapped her little hand around her father’s fingers would be joyful forever.
“Welcome home, Nasha !”