Chapter 1

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She looked up and saw the stars. They illuminated the darkness and her fears crumbled to dust beneath her feet. The words, the lies, the hatred, the failures-they now lingered at a distance. A white crescent shaped scar flickered on her wrist. She was reminded that wounds would eventually heal into scars, some of them permanent, some of them not. No longer did she stand in the shadow of the past. Instead, she marched forward in hope of reaching the stars one day.

There was that one star, just that one. She'd gaze at it for long moments, not daring to break the contact. Staring at it with complete awe. Her vision blurred as she would stare for too long and drift away into a new world. The bright rim of light around the star never died out, it was a normal star like all the others but this star was so different. The fragile and gentle wind took action. It blew her soft blonde bangs against her forehead before gently blowing them back into place. Something was wrong, though, with this star she admired.

But what?

The glitter in the sky looked as if she could scoop it all up in her hands and let the stars' swirl and touch one another but they some were so distant, so far apart that they couldn't feel the warmth of each other.

That's it!

The star was lonely…it needed someone, a friend, a voice, a feeling, something!

The little girl looked above in the sky. Every second her eyes, the color of rich soil flecked with black, eyes the color of dark chocolate with flecks of hazelnut, rich with reddish brown flecks, would avert to every star until her eyes landed on the brightest star ever.

"Would you like to be her friend?" the little girl asked. The star only seemed to shine and glow brighter in response. So, she took that as a yes.

They were so far away from each other.

A single tear slid down from her warm, fudge eyes, followed by another one, and another one, until soon, a steady stream of salty tears flowed its way down her pale cheek, releasing the sadness and sorrow that has been held inside of her for all this time but still she did not make a sound. It took her a minute to even recognize the salty liquid streaming down her face.

"Promise me one day you both won't be so far away from each other…" she mumbled under her breath and drifted off into a sleep.

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She was scolded, for being with the stars last night.

"How many times do I have to tell you Lucy Heartfilia…you know not to go outside at night!" her father screamed.

He squeezed her shoulders and started screaming at her then he slapped her and he shoved the table destroying the glass vase causing the glass to shatter everywhere. He pulled her down to the floor, her back sticking on the glass pieces, she could painfully feel his shoe going through her stomach but a part of her was so sick of the pain and she melted, knowing she couldn't take much longer.

Lucy began crying "Stoooop pleeease, pleeease just stop."

Yeah, it was true, somewhat. Her wounds might cure but one thing won't for sure, the scars that adorn her heart. The guy that she trusted the most was her own father.

He knew when he saw her eyes brimming with tears that he should relent, that a decent person would show forgiveness. But he felt a frisson of excitement that transcended his better nature and pushed him on. Only when she was openly weeping and broken would he stop. He felt guilty of course, but that never stopped him before and it wouldn't stop him this time. He enjoyed abusing her too much but he knew that it was wrong.

His wife Layla Heartfilia, passed away of "poor health." Seeing her face every day reminded him of her, he couldn't take it so he abused her. It was wrong but he did it anyways leaving her injured when she went to school. It was his daughter, sure, go ahead and call him a monster. However, he was hurting as much as she was and sometimes you just have to express your pain in a certain different way.

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Lucy was able to push away what happened the other day. She used to be homeschooled, how she wished that would happen again. Yes, she made friends but she'd rather die than have people see her wounds, bruises, and scars. Leisurely she walked to school, legs trembling, throat dry, watery eyes, and a broken heart.

Searing fiery bursts pulsated around the scrapes and cuts intensifying with each dragging step, jarring and brutal. With each step the pain amplified, the bloody muscle quivered, her consciousness ebbed. Black mists swirled at the edges of her mind drawing her into sweet oblivion. Lucy fought herself through this.

Just remember what dad said.

Don't let other people and their emotions get to you.

Don't tell anyone what happens in my life, personally.

Don't be tricked by others feelings.

Not that hard, right?

Lucy was only 8, but she knew how hard things were for others, she wasn't the only one suffering. She hesitated before continuing on with his rules.

And never let love get in the way.

She could already feel it. The stares, the whispers, the laughs, the faces. Her friends avoided talking to her afraid that they might get the same attention she was getting. Lucy learned to shut her friends out. It wasn't that difficult since they practically did it to her sometimes.

"Hey!" she beamed as she passed by a crowd. However.

No response, yup, the usual, it's whatever really.

Exhausted and heartbroken, she threw her backpack on the floor next to her chair and sat down in the classroom alone. The class didn't start yet, but getting a seat ahead of time was easier so kids knew where to sit and where they should avoid, which washer obviously.

Lucy heard footsteps enter the room. Not daring to look up, she played with her pencils and struggled to keep her eyes open. Ok maybe, just maybe, she got a bit carried away star gazing last night but it was something she didn't regret…

Ok, actually, she was exhausted.

"You ok?" she heard a concerned voice say. Lucy looked up to see one of the boys in her class. He was one of those people you see around a lot but just don't pay attention to. She would always catch him staring at her sometimes and it concerned her. Did she have something on her face? Maybe. But if not, then look away.

"Natsu right?" she asked before returning her attention to her pencils.

"Yup that's right!" he exclaimed happily, which lightened up the mood, a little.

Lucy looked the opposite direction remembering what her dad said.

Don't be tricked by others feelings.

Don't let emotions get to you.

Lucy repeated the words over and over in her head until she heard the soothing voice again.

"Mind if I sit here today?"

"…"

"…"

"…?"

Did he just ask if he could sit there? Next, to me? What did I do, promise to hand out candy to the class? Because I sure don't remember saying that.

All he wanted to do was go to the classroom a little early so honestly, he could get away from popsicle breath, but he was surprised when he walked in. There she was, Lucy Heartfilia. Lucy was a girl with one of those unlucky lives, it wasn't any big secret so, why try to hide it? Everyone knew and it wasn't like no one was concerned. It was just more of a

"Oh, maybe she needs alone time," thought, However, no one bothered to realize that alone time ended up turning into ignoring for days. So, a part of him just wanted to tell her

"Hey, let's be friends, make a team, and run away together!"

But he knew that he couldn't just say that. One thing he loved about her though was she knew she wasn't the only one suffering, that's why she doesn't pay that much attention to it. His life wasn't that great either but he did what Lucy did. Put others before himself and not care what the heck happens to him. His eyes shifted to her backpack, a golden key with some weird symbol on it was hanging from her backpack, along with a couple others.

He wanted to ask about them but knew he shouldn't and that he wouldn't. She looked away from him after verifying who he was, probably because she thought he was going to ask her what happened, but he didn't.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked her. She looked blankly at him and looked down and spoke in a quiet voice it took him a while to process her quiet words but he managed to work them out.

"Don't you not want people to talk? If you even dare sit next to me, your friends won't talk to you…" she trailed off, not finished what she really wanted to say.

"I don't care what other people think, you should try to remember that and just ignore others. Plus, I don't mind anyways its better than having Ice Princess follow me" he said, shrugging his shoulders before hearing the doors slam open and all the other kids scramble around to find seats. Quickly, he sat next to Lucy and Lisanna, along with Gray, gave him a look. For a second, it seemed as if they both glared at Natsu, however, he figured out it was a look of confusion. They glanced upward, mouths pursed but slightly open and loose. Their eyes were sternly fixed as if they couldn't process what just happened. Gray blinked, refocused, and began to process what JUST happened.

After hours of the teacher teaching, both Lucy and Natsu couldn't find themselves focusing. Natsu would take quick glances at her and then long stares before he would get called on to answer a question. He'd just watched her and he honestly did feel like a weirdo but something about her really got to him. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her and give him a big smile before stopping and guarding an area where she felt pain. Then, Lucy would stare out the window into the sky, the teacher knowing today was one of those days to just, "give her alone time." So instead, she'd just call on Natsu, his pink hair standing out.

Natsu crossed his arms, staring at the back of Lucy's head. He would be friends with her. He would talk to her. He would get her to come out of her shell. And he would stop those weird purple circles and red spots on her skin. He would do it all. He would. He had too…

You got something coming for you Lucy.

I updated this chapter on 5/5/17. I made a new account, was just going to transfer all my stories to that and continue from there, not sure what do you think?