Between The Pages

Chapter 17

Natsu, Lucy, and Erza had decided to rest for the evening. They built a fire to keep them warm and they made cushions out of leaves. Erza had already dozed off but Natsu and Lucy were still awake. Sleep just wouldn't come easy to them tonight. As they laid on their leaf cushions, waiting for sleep to finally come Natsu couldn't help but notice that Lucy was doing everything she could to keep her mask secured on to her face. He hadn't of said one word to her ever since she got her mask back. 

"You know I don't think you should wear that mask." He told her.

"I need it. It's to hide my hideous face."

"Your face isn't hideous."

"Yes it is! My father always said-"

"Your father's a liar! Either that or he's blind!"

"He's not blind!"

"But you don't believe he's a liar?"

She opened her mouth to object but stopped herself. She couldn't say that her father would never lie. He had been known to lie about a lot of things but why would he lie about her being ugly? What could he possibly gain from bringing her up to believe that she was hideous?

"I can't say that my father is honest but why would he lie about me being ugly?" She asked.

"I don't know but think of it like this. Erza and I have both seen your face and we don't think you're ugly at all. Shouldn't that tell you something?" Natsu said.

"Maybe you're just being kind."

"Actually I don't lie okay? Even to spare someone's feelings I won't lie. Because I think lies only make things worse.  It's better to know the hurtful truth than to live with a comfortable lie and my sister can vouch for me on that. But what's funny about this is that you live with a hurtful lie instead of the comfortable truth."

"You really aren't lying to me? You don't think I'm ugly?"

"No I don't."

"I'm normal looking to you?"

"You're more than just normal looking. You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." Natsu then blushed and covered his mouth upon realizing that he had let his emotions run away with his mouth. 

Lucy blushed also. The prettiest girl he had ever seen? Was he serious? No one had ever said that she was pretty or anything like that before. Well that wasn't entirely true. Her brother had said something like that once when they were younger.

Flashback...

Eight year old Lucy sat alone in her room. She was crying because her father had caught her without her mask on. She had been at her vanity trying to brush her hair, put on a little make up, and somehow make herself look less ugly. He had cruelly told her that nothing on earth could ever make her any less ugly than she was. She would always be a hideous creature and that if she didn't wear her mask no one would ever like her.  Her little brother Gray had over heard the scolding and went outside to get something. When he came back he made sure that Alok was gone before entering Lucy's room.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. 

Lucy immediately stopped her weeping. She didn't want her brother to see her like this. For once she was glad to have that mask on because that way he couldn't see how red her eyes had become from her tears.

"I'm fine." She said. 

"I'm sorry Father yelled at you." He said.

"It's no big deal."

"I brought you something to make you feel better." He placed a flower in her hand. It was called A Cupid's Arrow Orchid. According to many legends and myths if a gentleman gave this flower to a lady it meant that he loved her above everything else in this world and if she accepted it than they would always be together in some way.

"Oh it's beautiful Gray. Thank you but you're not supposed to give it to me."

"I'm not?" He said in confusion.

"No. You're supposed to give it to the girl you love most."

"But you are the girl I love most."

"Not that kind of love Gray."

"Then what kind of love?"

"It's kind of love you feel when you get bigger and when you meet another girl. One different from me."

"I don't understand."

"You will. Right now you're too young but you'll get it eventually."

"You know I don't think you're ugly."

"You've never even seen my face."

"Can I see it?"

"No. No you can't."

"Fine but until you let me see it I'm not going to think you're ugly."

"Thank you Gray. That means a lot."

She hugged him and he hugged her back.

Flashback end...

"So no one other than your father has ever seen your face before today?" Natsu asked.

"Yes."

"Not even your brother?"

"No. Father said he was the last person I should ever allow to see my face."

"Why?"

"Because my brother is the only one in this whole world who loves me. If he ever saw how ugly I was he'd stop loving me and he'd hate me just as much as my father does. I can't bear the thought of him hating me. He's the only one who's ever really loved me."

"You know there's something that's been bugging me. If you love your brother so much then how could you leave him alone with your father?"

"I didn't want to leave." 

"What do you mean? I thought you said left because you couldn't stand the psycho anymore."

"I lied!" She started crying again. "You're right I did want to leave, so did he, we talked about running away when we were kids but we were too afraid. Then one day Father told me that I was being a bad influence on my brother so he told me to leave and he said that if I ever came back he'd hurt him."

"He really did that?"

"Yes. Maybe I was wrong to leave him behind but I didn't know what else to do. I was scared. So scared that he'd hurt him. The only reason I agreed to help you find your sister is because I don't want you to end up like me. Constantly regretting not doing everything you could to save your younger sibling and leaving them all alone! I hate myself for what I did! I should have done something!"

Natsu moved closer to Lucy and held her as she cried. He the removed her mask and started to wipe her tears with his scarf. Not exactly one's first choice of a tissue but it was all he had to work with right now.

"It's not your fault. You were only doing what you thought would keep him safe." He told her.

"He probably thinks that I abandoned him because I didn't love him anymore." She wept. "But I still do."

"Lucy I know this isn't any of my business but I think you need to get your brother away from that man or whatever your father is."

"It might be too late. Father's probably already twisted him up and turned him into a monster. That's what scares me more than anything. That my sweet little brother no longer exists and has been replaced by some monsterous copy of my father! If that's what's happened to him I don't think I could ever forgive myself!"

All through the night Natsu just held her and let her cry until eventually they both fell asleep.