A Promise Kept

Summary: Childhood friends separated find each other years later, only one doesn't remember the other.

Prologue: Stay with me?

A small six year old girl sat at her desk, tongue poking out in concentration as she completed the finishing touches to her gift. It had taken her most of the week to complete and she was almost done and she had to say, she was extremely proud of her work. It had taken so long because she had to do it in secret to avoid suspicious questions from the maids, or even worse…her Father. She gave an involuntary shiver as she imagined her father finding out what she had been up to, she was sure he'd put a stop to it immediately and she couldn't have that.

"Finished!" she breathed happily as she picked up her gift and surveyed it critically. She had created a key out of papier-mâché and then painted it gold, it was bigger than a normal key and she began to worry that she'd used too much papier-mâché, but then she shook her head…He wouldn't mind. Her eyes travelled to the thick base of the key where she had flattened it to give her space to draw a picture. That was what she was most pleased about, it had taken her an excruciatingly long time to get it perfect, but she had done it. She had drawn a dragon, albeit a crudely drawn one, but she was six years old, what could you expect? It was a large, red and brown, fire breathing dragon, exactly the way He had described it. Squealing slightly she pressed her homemade key to her lips quickly before hopping off her chair and running towards her door. It was time. They'd been meeting each other in the field behind her home for the past month and she still didn't know all that much about him. She knew he was about her age, she knew he lived alone with his father, what she didn't know was where he lived. He came and went whenever he felt like it and although he looked healthy, she got the impression he was homeless. Nevertheless, he was the best friend she'd ever had and she could care less about his upbringing, the only thing that was important to her was seeing him everyday, especially today of all days. She glanced up at the large clock as she left her room, it was 10am. She nodded determinedly to herself, her father had already informed her that they would be going to an important luncheon at 12, hence why she was dressed in such frivolous clothing. She was wearing a long pink dress adorned with too many tiny little pink bows, pink sandals, and another large pink bow held her long blonde hair up. She sighed as she ran down the corridor, careful not to run into any servants who would ask unnecessary questions, her father rarely interacted with her apart from when he had to make an impression as a loving father. The thought that her father didn't love her used to sadden her, but then she met Him and all of a sudden it didn't matter so much, because she knew there was at least one person in the world who cared about her. She grinned widely as she sprinted the last few minutes to meet her friend, she just hoped he was there.

He was there. Of course he was, he was always there when she needed him. That was one thing she loved about him, he was reliable.

"Natsu-kun!" she squealed happily as she squeezed herself through the hole in the fence that allowed her to get into the field in the first place, "you're here!"

A young boy was sitting on the grass, leaning against the fence. He had messy salmon coloured hair, was wearing torn brown cargo pants, and wore no shirt, instead had a long scarf draped around his neck.

"Lucy-chan!" he too yelled happily as he jumped up and jogged over to the hole to help his friend through, "I wasn't sure you were gonna come today…I thought you had to go somewhere with your dad?"

The two children walked a short while away from the fence, to avoid being overheard by any of the people in Lucy's house, eventually they made it to the same large oak tree they had first met under.

"I do have to go somewhere with Father, but not till later. Plus I told you, I'd see you every day until I die!" they slid down the side of the tree and settled on a patch of grass, Lucy careful not to sit on any mud that would stain her dress,

"So Natsu-kun, what did you do yesterday after I left?"

Natsu grinned widely and immediately launched into an excited and energetic story, just as he usually did, "Igneel took me fishing and I swear Lucy-chan I caught the biggest fish in the whole wide world. It was bigger than me! I swear it! And…"

Lucy smiled and nodded politely, only half listening to his tale, instead she was thinking about the gift she had for him that she was currently hiding behind her back. She suddenly felt very nervous at the prospect of giving it to him and she immediately began to fear that he wouldn't like it.

"Uh, Lucy-chan?" Natsu frowned, poking her gently, "are you okay? You look sad. Did he…did he hurt you again?" he growled, tiny fists balling up as he remembered the time when Lucy had come to him crying with several red marks decorating her small arms. Lucy smiled weakly and shook her head,

"No, it's not that Natsu-kun, but thank you for caring. It's…it's…um," she took a deep breath and turned to face him, "it's our anniversary today Natsu-kun!"

"Our anniversawhat?" Natsu asked, "what's that?"

"How can you not know what an anniversary is Natsu-kun?" Lucy gasped in horror, Natsu just shrugged before nodding for her to continue, "um, well it's when you had something important happen to you, so you have a special day to remember that important thing," Lucy tried to explain as best a 6 year old could, "and today it is exactly a month since we first met, so…Happy Anniversary Natsu-kun!" she yelped as she bowed her head low and stuck her gift to him right under his nose.

"Lucy-chan…" Natsu breathed in awe as he gently plucked the key out of her outstretched arms and surveyed it carefully, "did you make this?"

Lucy nodded, too scared to say anything as she waited hopefully for his reaction.

"I LOVE IT!" he yelled wrapping both arms around her mid-section and squeezing her tightly, "did you draw the dragon as well?"

Relief washed over her and she smiled brightly, "yup! 'Cause, you always say that you want to be a dragon so I thought you'd like it!"

"I love it, I'm gonna keep it forever and ever. But…" his face suddenly fell, "I don't have anything for you Lucy-chan, I didn't even know about this anniversary thing until just now."

"No Natsu-kun, you don't have to get me anything. I wanted to make you that, I really don't mind if you don't get me anything," Lucy assured him kindly, "really Natsu-kun, I mean it!" she added as she noticed that he still looked pretty sad. Natsu shook his head,

"No, I wanna get you something, but what? I know!" it was like a light bulb pinged above his head and he suddenly reached for his scarf, causing Lucy to screech out,

"No Natsu-kun! You can't give me that, Igneel gave it to you, I know how much you love it and I can't take it away from you!"

Natsu frowned, not understanding, "but I love you too so why shouldn't I give it to you," he said flippantly as if he hadn't declared his love for the blushing blonde.

"You…l-lo-love…LOVE me?" Lucy spluttered.

"Hm, I know," Natsu yelled once again, ignoring Lucy as if he hadn't even made the previous comment. In one quick sweep he had pulled his scarf off, and tore a large bit off the end, enough to be used for a handkerchief, "here Lucy-chan, you won't let me give you my whole scarf, so I'm gonna give you a bit of it, so you still have something to show that I care about you loads. Okay? O-oi! Why are you crying?" Natsu asked in horror as tears started rolling down Lucy's face.

"N-N-Natsu-kun!" Lucy wailed practically jumping on the startled boy and effectively pushing them both to the ground, "I've-I've never had such a good friend before!" she sobbed, clinging to him, "please promise you'll never leave me!"

"I promise Lucy-chan," Natsu said solemnly as he rubbed her back soothingly, "I'll be here forever and ever!"

"Arigato Natsu-kun," Lucy whispered as she clutched onto tightly to the piece of fabric he had just given her. She hadn't been so happy in such a long time.

Unfortunately, this newfound happiness was not long lived. After their teary exchange of gifts, the two friends began playing together, they played hide and seek, then Add, and then for some reason Natsu decided this was the perfect time to start pretending to be a dragon, resulting in Lucy running all over the field in mock fear from being eaten by the dragon. That was when everything went wrong.

"Lucy! Lucy on Earth are you?" a loud and very angry sounding voice called out, and Lucy felt her blood run cold.

"Father!" she whimpered realising the state she was in, her dress was torn in places and extremely muddy and her hair was covered in mud, twigs, and leaves, "oh noooooo!"

"Lucy Heartphillia!"

"Aah…coming Father!" she yelled, trying desperately to straighten out her clothing, "oh Natsu-kun, what do I do? He's going to be so mad at me!"

Natsu scowled over the fence in the direction Lucy's father was searching, he hated the man after he found out that he had dared lay a finger on Lucy, "run away with me, come live with me and Igneel!" he said earnestly, holding onto her arm to try and stop her from running towards her father, "please Lucy-chan!"

She shook her head, "I want to Natsu-kun, I really do…but he's my father, I can't leave him…he's my father, deep down he loves me…I'm sure."

"Lucy for God's sake if I have to wait a minute longer the consequences will be severe!"

"I'm sorry, I have to go Natsu-kun," she mumbled sadly, grabbing her best friend and hugging him tightly, "I'll see you tomorrow!" she whispered before running towards the hole in the fence. Natsu sighed sadly as he watched her disappear through the fence, carefully he inched forward to try and listen to the exchange going on over the other side, and after he heard what had happened he wished he didn't.

"Where the hell have you been child?" Lucy's father snarled.

"I…I was…I was just exploring the area father," Lucy whimpered weakly.

"Look at your dress, look at your hair! Look at yourself! I specifically told you to stay pristine today did I not?"

"Y…yes you did Father. I'm sorry, I forgot and-"

Natsu had to fight his urges to jump over the fence as he heard a sharp slapping sound and then heard Lucy cry out in pain.

"I do not want to hear you excuses, get in the house and find a maid to get you dressed within 10 minutes."

"Yes Father," Lucy cried before turning away and running towards the house, nursing the throbbing spot on her face where he had slapped her.

Natsu scowled once more before turning on his heel and returning back to Igneel, not without making a promise to himself that he would get Lucy out of that hellhole even if it killed him.

Her face still hurt a little bit, but she tried to ignore the stinging sensation as she once again crawled through the hole in the fence, ready to spend a few hours with her best friend.

"Natsu-kun!" she cried as she leapt through the fence to find, "Natsu-kun?" nobody was there. She frowned, Natsu was always there. Worry flashed through her mind as she started to imagine horrible situations resulting in Natsu's untimely death before she decided that he was allowed to be late every once in a while, so she walked over to the tree, sat down, and she waited.

She waited all afternoon.

She waited the next day.

And the day after that.

And the weeks after that.

And the months after that.

Before, one day she realised…he wasn't coming back.

Why does everyone I love leave me alone…Mum…Natsu….am I just destined to be alone?

A/N: So this was the prologue, I hope it interested you, I'm gonna write the next chapter now ^_^