A Smile In The Embers

Warm Companion

On cold nights when even the servants couldn't be bothered to patrol the halls, Lucy Heartfilia spent her time by the Fireplace. With a warm, fleece blanket over her little shoulders and an open book under her nose, she barely noticed the biting chill in the mansion. The echoes that bounced down the walls sometimes made her scared, but all of that could be shoved away with the heat of the lit fire and the stories she quietly read.

Once upon a time, these were stories read by her Mother, but it had been a year since the kind woman had passed and Lucy's only comfort had vanished. During the day it was impossible to read, as Lucy was constantly being moved from one tutor to the next. Hour after hour she was taught and trained in all manner of things: etiquette, business, horseback riding, piano, geography, embroidery- so many things.

Not a single one for reading and writing. A lady didn't need to read fantastic tales or to write them, oh no! (She wasn't a lady, she was still a little girl of nine.) She didn't even get free time to play or go outside!

Letting out a sigh: Lucy sniffled, the cold getting to her nose despite the roaring flames in front of her. It almost made her hot, to be facing it in such a way, but the mansion rarely felt warm these days. Even without the snow falling outside, Lucy always felt cold. " - ... Mother would have chased it away..." with a warm hug I'll never get...

A tight, embrace that held her close and kept her safe- closing her eyes, she could practically feel and smell Layla's perfume as if she were still there. It brought a knot into the little blonde's throat and another sniffle followed. The book set before her seemed lonely and forgotten, its pages being still for a few minutes as she fell prey to her own thoughts and memories.

The warmth was long gone from this place... even her father had lost his heat. Everything was just cold. As frozen as the icy wonderland outside the foyer windows.

" .... Why are you crying?"

Wet eyes blinked and Lucy froze in her place, allowing the book's pages to flip back to the beginning, effectively losing her place. Where had that voice come from? It sounded like a boy, young and curious- but there were no little boys who lived here. The closest neighbor to the estate wouldn't have sent their child to stay for the night either- so where...

Whipping her head back and forth, causing blonde tresses to slap across wet cheeks, Lucy let out a tiny shriek when the voice laughed, "The other way, look over here!"

Where? Eyes wide, she realized with a strange clarity, that the voice- miraculously, was coming directly in front of her.

Right from the fireplace.

"See me, now?" The voice asked, and for the longest of moments, little Lucy thought she was going to faint.

"T-the fire's talking to me!" She exclaimed! Shooting up faster than a rabbit, blanket slipping off her chilled shoulders. In her haste to back away, covered feet slipped on the hardwood and her attempt to stand was ruined by a sudden flop back to the floor with an echoing thud. "O-ow!"

Laughter followed once more, a tingling, almost nymph like laugh full of mischief and wonder, "Don't go falling over everything, I'm not THE FIRE! Look closer!" Oh, yes, because any small, defenseless girl is going to listen to a voice coming out of fire. Absolutely.