[prologue]

The wind wouldn't stop pounding against her skin. Lucy closed her eyes; flinching from the sharp attacks she was being blown to over and over again… it went on forever. She wanted to leave this place. Why was she here? This place was hurting her, so why stay?

"Don't give up," a strong voice said. Lucy frowned, trying to open her eyes to see where the voice was coming from, but like always, her eyes couldn't open. She just wanted so desperately to know who talked to her…who was it that kept her going… even if…

"Lucy, you need to wake up," her father said. Lucy's eyes snapped open and she studied her surroundings.

She was in her room, in the mansion, with her father, and her father only. There was no more "mother". That fact was still sinking in even though it's been almost a year. She didn't want to accept it.

It wasn't fair…it just wasn't fair.

"Why?" she asked as innocently as she could. She didn't want to come off as rude because who knew what her father might make her do if she did? Jude sighed, and looked down at his daughter.

Lucy was blinking up at him, waiting for his response, but all he could manage was, "You're meeting someone today. Be nice. Get dressed. Get the maids to help you. We will eat breakfast together, and exactly one hour after that our visitor will arrive and you will play nice, understand?" he asked.

His stern gaze was enough to make anyone cringe. Lucy nodded hurriedly, and sat up, pushing aside the bed covers.

Another day in paradise, she thought to herself grumpily. After Lucy made sure that her father was out of the room, she sighed and slumped back against the pillows.

She missed her mother.

Why did she have to die?

Why did this have to happen to Lucy?

Lucy shut her eyes tight, and as soon as she did, the dream came back to her. The same dream that she's been having since her mother died. And in every single dream, it was the same voice that kept her strong. She didn't know what it meant.

At the moment, she was half-hoping that the same strong voice would be here, in her head, to keep her strong. God knows she needed the strength…the strength to move on. The strength to live.

After her mother died, everything became distant, including herself.

She just did not want to lose herself. She did not want to become lost in the never-ending, tiring pain that ached in her whole mind, body, and soul.

So…she became lost in books already…only at the age of almost seven years old. The books kept her from being reminded of the "duties to come" of being a daughter of the Heartfilia's. Plus, they all in all just made her happy.

So now she was a bookworm, on the borderline of a wannabe author. She wasn't the type to like the visitors that came over…sure they gave her lots of things, like shoes, dresses, purses, toys, but that didn't matter anymore. They were just things to accept and act like it would fill the void in her heart.

It just…didn't matter.

"I wonder who's coming over today…" Lucy mused to herself, finally pushing herself out of bed with a loud grunt. She never called on the maids…she didn't like the fact that they had maids, but they came anyways. So, when her own, personal maid, Rain, came rushing in, Lucy wasn't surprised.

Lucy watched with dry amusement as Rain rushed about the room, ordering things that weren't out of order. Lucy wondered if Rain even liked her…as a person. She must get tired of taking care of her.

"Rain…do you like me as a person? Please answer truthfully," Lucy said. Rain stiffened and turned towards Lucy. Rain looked surprised at first, but finally she just smiled.

"Yes Miss Lucy, I do like you as a person, and in case you were wondering, I do not mind taking care of you. I feel that it is my duty, and I want to take care of you…especially since your mother has passed awa—" Rain stopped talking and her eyes widened with horror at what she just said."I am so sorry Miss Lucy…I didn't mean to bring up more memories. Forgive me," Rain pleaded, bowing down a little. Lucy sat there on the bed, watching her swinging legs.

"Please just stop it. I want you to treat me normally…and it's okay. Really it is. My mom passed away. I know that…I know that she's…gone," Lucy mumbled.

Rain closed her eyes, still in horror at what she had said, but in the end she gave a small nod and continued to clean murmuring a small, "Thank you, dearie."

Lucy stood up, and walked towards the bathroom. Usually the maids would help her get dressed, but she had insisted that they treat her like an adult and the first step to doing that was that she had to get dressed by herself.

Lucy knew she could do it.

She was strong.

Hopefully she would be strong enough to undergo the pleasantries of whoever was visiting this time.

Natsu sat in the car, arms crossed, as he glared out the window. Being a child of only eight, he was still one who could scare the living daylights out of you. Most avoided him when he was like this, but his adopted father only laughed.

"You're stubborn you know…" he chuckled. Natsu threw him a glare, pounding his fists together. He's only been with his new father for ten months, after his real father went suddenly missing after his mother died.

After his mother died, everything was a blur. He would talk to his father, but it was as if his father never heard him.

Sometimes, he would just pour all of his sorrows into drinking, and drink the night away. Natsu hated his father for that, but of course…he still loved him.

However, almost exactly three years ago, his father went missing. He was just…gone. No word, no whisper, no letter. There was just…nothing.

When Natsu had woken up to find his father gone, he realized that he wanted nothing more in the world than for him to stay with him.

He needed his father. His father was also one of the only things he had left of his mother. He barely remembered his mother, but sometimes fragments of memories would sear through this mind and rip apart his sanity ever so slowly.

He thought he had been going insane…at age five no less.

After his father left, Natsu was put with all sorts of relatives. An aunt he never met before…an aunt that abandoned him just like his father. A distant cousin who was too caught up in her own stupid life to take care of another's.

So finally, here he was, under the care of one of his father's friends, Makarov.

Natsu just did not know what to think about this one.

Makarov was strange, and way too short for any old man, yet when he walked he had this strong aura come off of him.

Plus, the man was filthy rich.

Apparently he owned a chain of businesses where people would request jobs and he'd get them all done, no matter what. It did not matter how hard these missions were, or what they might require; Makarov always sent the right people, and those right people would get the job done, and voila!

There was more money in his pocket now.

Natsu thought that he was a true enigma, and he wondered if he would ever stop being surprised at what he did. When Natsu had told him of his plans to find his father and beat the living hell out of him, Makarov just laughed and actually encouraged him. However, he said before he beat him up, he should give his father a large hug just to confuse him of what would come next.

Natsu shook his head as he continued to peer over the window of the car.

He was going to the Heartfilia residence…wherever that was. His father, well…adopted father, had just smiled at him and told him that he was likely to be smiling when he left today.

Natsu wondered why, but that was the only reason he had agreed to come without his usual kicking and screaming.

He was curious.

The drive was a long one, but finally after a dreadfully long hour and a half, they had arrived.

Finally.

They had arrived at the Heartfilia residence.

Lucy stared out the window, watching as the sleek, black car arrived. It came slowly and finally it parked in their grand driveway. Lucy didn't know why…but she was nervous.

She was terribly nervous.

"Lucy, are you presentable?" her father asked, walking into the foyer, straightening his tie. Lucy only nodded, keeping her eyes on the car. The door opened suddenly, and Lucy shut her eyes.

Lucy stepped down from the windowsill and trailed after her father. Lucy screwed her hands together in a tight knot, trying to calm herself down. She still didn't understand why she was so nervous.

"Chin up, Lucy," her father said. Lucy nodded, focusing her eyes everywhere but the door. She knew that they were going to come through that door any minute now.

The doorbell rang and before the doorman could answer, Lucy had rushed forward and opened it herself. She needed to face whatever was making her so nervous.

When she opened the door she was everything but not surprised. Instead of the big, bad wolf she had been expecting, she was faced with a boy who instead…looked just a but older than her, with his hand still held in the air ready to knock once more. And the weirdest thing was…

"You have pink hair!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at the mess that he called hair. Natsu stared at her, eyes wide. To him…she looked like an angel, but after he realized what the girl had said, he started to fume. Smiling when he left?! Yeah right! She was already upsetting him!

"It's salmon!" She looked him over, and raised her eyebrows, studying his hair once more. She shook her head, pursing her lips.

"Nuh uh. That is pink. I'm a girl so I know this," she stated, crossing her arms. Natsu puffed out his cheeks, angry. Neither one of them noticed the two adults watching them- Jude, who was angry, and Makarov who was nothing short of amused.

Before the two got into a full-scale argument, Makarov broke in and said, "Move along. Get inside already. You two do not even know each other's names, but that can be introduced in due time…once we get inside."

Lucy stepped aside, and Makarov, pushing Natsu in, walked in as well. Finally, Natsu and Lucy stood and just stared at each other.

It was Natsu who spoke up first, due to the small, unnoticeable kick that Makarov gave him.

"I'm Natsu, and I am eight years old," he said, rolling the introduction his adopted father had taught him not hours before. Lucy frowned at him and stuck her hand out saying,

"My name is Lucy. I am almost seven years old, and I have normal-colored hair."

Natsu fumed, but before he could go off, Makarov stopped him with a stern nod. Natsu nodded, abashed, and took the hand.

Both children shook.

What they didn't know…was what they were shaking too.

*Greetings. I thank you for reading this story. Haha I'm so formal. Well...I started this story even though I already have too many going on right now. I am so sorry, but inspiration strikes, you know?

Anyways, please leave a review. I appreciate them greatly.

Bai guys.

-DiAnna44 :)

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