One Night in the Forest: Lucy & Wendy

Lucy and Wendy made their way to a small stream and decided to take a break. Lucy sat upon a large rock next to the stream, Wendy finding and sitting on a rock opposite her.
Lucy took off her shoes and placed her bare feet in the water. "Ahhhh, If feels good to sit down for a little bit." She looked over to Wendy who was nervously curled up on the rock. "Is there something wrong?"
"Well...I have a question."
"Ok, shoot."
Wendy looked up at Lucy nervously, "Lucy…do you like being in Fairy Tail?"
The young girls question surprised Lucy, of course she liked being in Fairy Tail, she loved it; but maybe Wendy didn't. "Of course." she replied with a smile "I love being in Fairy Tail." She then in the stream at her reflection, "I've wanted to be in Fairy Tail ever since I was a kid." She looked back at Wendy "Do you not like the guild?"
Wendy shook her head weakly and smiled softly, "It's not like that, I like being in it. It's just that I don't think I fit in there. Everyone seems so lively and friendly, but I'm too shy to really talk to anyone."
Lucy smiled softly at the girl, she knew exactly how she felt. "It's ok. I was nervous when I first joined the guild too."
"You were?"
"Yeah, I was. Luckily I had Natsu and the others to help me out. I'm still amazed at times that they let me stay in the guild."
Wendy looked her with a quizzical look on her face. "What do you mean?"
Lucy looked down at the water once more, this time with a more sullen look as her smile grew smaller and smaller. "Not too long ago a guild named Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail…they were sent by my father."
Wendy eyes grew wide, "Why would he do such a thing?" she asked Lucy as she tried to comprehend what she had just heard.
"About a year before I joined Fairy Tail, I ran away from home."
"Why did you do that?" Wendy still had trouble understanding her reasons.
"Well," she continued to watch the water wash over her feet, "I come from a very wealthy family so a lot was expected from me, but it wasn't all bad, I loved all of the servants and I had" she paused for a moment "My mother."
"Your mother?" Wendy began thinking of Grandeeney, the Sky Dragon that raised her.
"Yes, my mother was also a Celestial Wizard." She unlatched her keys from her hip and looked at them lovingly, "Most of my keys were hers at one time."
"What happened to your mother?"
"When I was about 10 years old she passed away." Lucy replied with a sad smile.
A look of sorrow appeared on Wendy's face. I had no idea Lucy was so sad on the inside, she always looks so happy.
"I'll never forget the date, July 7th, X777."
Wendy's eyes widened, That's the same day Grandeeney and all the other Dragons disappeared.
Lucy continued her story as Wendy continued listening attentively. "Soon after she passed away, my father buried himself in his work. He no longer had time for me. I knew he was grieving over mom too, but as the years passed he slowly changed and was no longer the loving, caring man I knew. After awhile I couldn't take living in that house anymore and ran away from home. Then I met Natsu and joined Fairy Tail."
"But why did he send that guild after you?"
"He wanted Phantom Lord to bring me back home to marry a guy I never met because it was 'good business for the Heartfilia family'. He never took my feelings into consideration, or thought about the damage he had done to Fairy Tail. We lost the guild hall in that fight and we almost lost the master."
Wendy's surprise began piling on the more she heard Lucy speak.
"After the battle with Phantom, I went back home and confronted my father."
"What happened?"
She paused and her smile grew a tiny portion as she looked up to the sky. "I told him that I didn't wanna see him again, and if he ever came after Fairy Tail again; I would come after him. Although I did see him again before we fought Oracion Seis."
"You did?"
"Yeah. Turns out he lost the family fortune and was asking me for money so he could rejoin the guild where he and my mother met. Can you believe it? I can barely pay my rent and my father comes to me for money?" Lucy began to laugh but Wendy could feel her sorrow.
"What did you do?" Wendy asked interested.
"Naturally I told him to go away. Until I heard that the guild he was going to was being held hostage by a dark guild."
Wendy gasped, completely engrossed in Lucy's story. "Was he ok?"
Lucy giggled. "Yeah he was fine. I went there and kicked those guy's butts." She flexed her arm as she turned around and gave Wendy a confident smirk. "Although it turned out that he hadn't gotten to the place yet." Lucy slumped over, but she still had a smile on her face.
"Wow Lucy, you're really strong." Wendy said in awe.
Lucy blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Not really. All I did was help people out, that's what Fairy Tail does right?"
"What about your father?" Wendy asked steering Lucy back on topic.
"We patched things up...sort of. I haven't seen him since though."
"Oh." Wendy smiled weakly, "I kind of envy you Lucy."
Lucy looked over to Wendy slightly surprised. "Why?"
"You're so strong, and confident, and kind. I wish I was more like that." She began twiddling with her thumbs nervously "After Grandeeney left I was all alone, until I met Mystogan. I don't know why he let me follow him, but I was happy I wasn't alone. Then he took me to Cait Shelter, and I felt like I finally found a family until…" she stopped as she remembered when Cait Shelter disappeared. All of the friends she made, the family she had found…all gone, fading before her eyes. The young girl's eyes began to mist over as she slowly began sobbing a bit. "Everyone was gone, no one was left but me and Carla. I was so sad…"
She then stopped crying when she felt something on her forehead. She looked up to see that Lucy was holding her head against her own, comforting her.
"Don't worry, as long as you're in Fairy Tail you won't be alone again…I promise. If you need anything you can always ask me for help, think of me as your big sister." Lucy smiled wide, and it proved infectious as Wendy smiled back at her.
Wendy wiped the tears from her face, "Thank you Lu…I mean big sister." She smiled wide, showing her white teeth to Lucy.
Lucy smiled back, "Anytime." She walked back to her rock to put her shoes back on, she then stretched herself out some. "Ready to head back?"
Wendy nodded happily and hopped off her rock. "Yes, let's head back to the others."
Lucy and Wendy made their way back to the campsite, but the increasing denseness of the trees made it hard for moonlight to get in, making it hard for them to see.
"Stick close to me Wendy, who knows what's out here." Lucy said.
"O…ok" Wendy replied nervously.
They continued walking despite the limited visibility, soon coming upon a small clearing.
"There, looks like there's plenty of light here." Lucy said as they inched up to it.
Lucy walked out and motioned for Wendy to follow her. When Wendy began to step out of the tree line however, she felt something slither onto her shoulder. She froze, her body shaking as she looked to her left, terrified at what she saw. Her scream was one of absolute terror.
"AHHHHHHH!"