Summary: They met in X771. He was a boy and she was a girl. He was poor whilst she was rich. He was thrown away and she was neglected.

Further summary: Sting and Lucy are both 5 at the start. Lucy had not had the mansion, and her mother still lived but both of her parents were very busy with the Heartfilia business. The Heartfilia family was quite rich and they owned a mansion in Alacrypha.

In Sting's POV Lucy will be called apple – as he doesn't know her name

In Lucy's POV Sting will be called Pine – As she doesn't know his name.

Thank you for everyone who FAVS, FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU ALL HONEST

I have to say that I'm truly, deeply madly sorry that I've not updated this for so long. Truth be told I was having doubts on whether Hiro Mashima was going to introduce a full backstory to Sting and whether by doing so would in effect destroy this story for good. But seeing that Sting seemed to have now disappeared, his backstory should be unexplained, at least for now.

However, that's just one of my various excuses. My other would be my addiction to other fanfics namely Naruto, One Piece, Harry Potter, Code Geass (OMG Dauntless by Allora Gale is like the most amazing thing ever!) . And that my uni have now started OTL.

ANYWAY APOLOGIES TO ALL THIS MAY CONCERN.

ENJOY!

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

-Dr. Seuss

STING

Sting stared awestruck at the lavish establishment as Apple dragged him passed the vast garden and through her mansion. They walked down the marble passageway before stopping at a large oak door. Apple pushed opened the door and walked and signaled Sting to follow her.

Inside the room lay a long marble table covered with embroidered tablecloth. Apple pushed Sting, who was still shocked at all the extravagance, onto a chair. She walked out of the room to say something to the waiters then walked back to the table and sat opposite him.

"You must be hungry aren't you?" She asked

He nodded at her question. Seeing his confirmation she continued.

"Good, I've ordered us some food." The continuation widened Sting's eyes. The surprise was not as great as it had been when she had protected him but he was still surprised. 'Was he really experiencing kindness?' He asked himself and the voice inside his head whispered a small 'yes'. The mental answer gave his face a genuinely true smile, one that he had not used for a long time.

Soon the food began to arrive starting from the various appetizer from loafs of Fiore breads to salted deep fried calamari. After the appetizers had all been served, Apple took a piece of bread onto her plate and noticed that Sting's hand had not moved. She looked into his eyes, begging him to tell her his deep-rooted problem, after a while, he obliged.

"Is this really okay?"

"What is?"

"This."

"And what would 'this' be?"

"'This' would be the fact the you're bringing in a complete stranger, someone who you've never known before in your life to dine with you. Not counting the fact that the person who you bought in to do so is a lowly street rat who had resorted to stealing for all of his life!" Sting shouted his tirade, yet Apple continued to stare straight into his soul before he walked towards him and once again embraced him in a hug.

"It is." She gently spoke.

"What?"

"I don't care who you were or might have been. All I know is that you're a good person, a person who I wouldn't mind having as a friend."

A minute of silence crossed between the two of them before Sting silently uttered a small, "Thank you" which Apple replied with a similarly small 'alright.'

LUCY

Lucy was not abhorred by the way Pine had gobbled into his mouth chunks and chunks of food at an inhumanly pace. Her dark chocolate eyes signified that she was rather intrigued yet melancholic at the same time. What kind of life had the small boy experienced to make him so amazed at the simple sight of food which had became a normality for her.

As Pine realized that she was intently staring at him, he looked up as his face emitted a crimson blush. "Am I doing anything wrong?" The blonde hair angel voiced.

"Not as all, but I wouldn't mind seeing you use some kitchen utensils if I do say so." Lucy chided whilst giggling. The boy face crimsoned further as Lucy thought that the growing redness had made him incredibly adorable. Pine quickly picked his the fork and knife beside him and used them to pick up the foods as he replicate Lucy's methods of eating them. From the fried calamari to the smoked barbequed ribs, the two finally finished their main courses.

"That was delicious!" the blonde sunshine proclaimed loudly as he gulped in the final bits of his food. As she laughed at his antics the doors swung opened as a train of workers leaded by Spetto filled the room with plates after plates of fruits for the 2 children before leaving them. Silence followed once again as Pine stared at the lavishness of the Heartfilia household. Lucy thought that it was due to the fact that he had never came into contact with such a large amount of food that he was now seeing on the table.

"Well, lets eat them shall we?" Lucy broke the silence earning a small nod from the blonde boy. The two then began to devour the food with delight until Pine raised forth a new question.

"Apple, what's this?" He asked, in the prongs of his knife lied a yellow slice of fruit. Lucy giggled as she replied.

"It's you!"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"What do you mean?" He looked at her quizzically.

"That's a pineapple."

"A pineapple?"

"Yeah, I called you pine cause you looked like a pineapple."

"Ah! I see!" He exclaimed but further questioned. "And what does a pineapple look like?"

She responded to his question by walking to the door and opened it to tell the waiting outside to fetch her the so-called 'pineapple.' He did so and within seconds, he returned with a yellow coloured fruit. Lucy took the fruit from him a she walked back towards her blonde friend.

"This is a pineapple." She said as she lay the pineapple down in front of Pine. She then proceeded with her explanation. "So you see, your hair is so spiky like the green top of the pineapple, but your hair is as bright or even brighter than yellow body of the fruit. That's why I called you pine."

Pine was perplexed to say the least by her proclamation. His response was to put the forked yellow fruit into his mouth and started his chewing. He swallowed his fruit then announced his thoughts. "I don't really care about its appearance but rather its taste. Now that I know that it taste delicious I don't really care if you call me pineapple or pine!"

Lucy laughed at his statement but decided she agreed wholly with him. After all, would anyone truly care about the outer physical appearances if one did enjoy what lies inside?

Soon the two blondes finished the various dishes of fruits (mostly by Pine who continuously surprised Lucy with his capability to eat). The two continued to chat about various things and Lucy had to admit that the more they talked the more she became intrigued with the mysterious blonde. She finally decided to slip in some questions about his heritage.

"Pine, if you don't mind. Could you tell me anything about your past? I-I mean, could you remember anything about your parents?" She questioned.

He shook his head in reply before he answered, "All I could remember were two shadowy shades of unrecognizable faces holding me up, it could just be a dream or wishful thinking on my part which caused these images to appear from time to time. But what could one say, I mean anyone would want parents right?" tears began pooling in his eyes but he continued. "I-I guesses that the answer to your question is that I've never known my parents, I've never been cared for or experienced the love that many took for granted. After all, I've been a street rat all my life." He finished as small stream of tears flowed down his pale face.

Lucy heart broke as she listened to his melancholic tale. She jumped onto the table and ran over to him before she crushed his with a passionate hug. Tears welled up her bright blue eyes as she started crying as well. She sympathized with him to an extent. Even though she had not experienced things as hard as she had she knew the pain for being ignored. Though she knew deep down that her mother and father loved her and would only want the best for her, she could not shake off the sentiments that to them it was business before her.

STING

Sting was petrified by Apple's warm embrace. To say that he was deeply touched would still be an understatement. All he knew was that in her arms he was safe, in her arms he felt warm, and in her arms he felt something stir in his heart. He returned her embrace as he swore to himself that in his arms she would be safe and protected, in his arms she would be happy and valued and in his arms she would experience that same warmth and tingling in her chest, the same feeling that she game to his once numb heart.

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See ya!

Mickey.