Hey, minna. Just for your information, I have a shield! So dont even try to attack me!! Anyway, I'm in english class and doing a writing assignment, so can't talk. So without further ado, here is chapter 35.

            Lucy awoke the next morning an hour before Juvia was scheduled to wak her up. She stayed in bed for a few moments, trying to recollect the events of the day before. She moved her head to the side and felt something furry tickle her cheek. She looked down and saw a blue fur ball: Happy fast asleep. The flying cat had brought her great comfort the night before, and she was quite thankful to him for that. She felt a pang of guilt as she remembered how she had yelled at him. She reached over and scratched him behind the ears, causing a purring sound to emit from his throat.

            She lay there for a few minutes just petting Happy. She had always wanted a pet, be it a cat or a dog, but her father had never let her claiming that she wouldn't take care of it and get bored of it in a week. Lucy always insisted that it wasn't true, and that she would take care of it, but he would hear none of it. In truth, she just had wanted a pet to keep the loneliness at bay.

            Deciding that she had done enough moping around, Lucy disentangled herself from the covers, careful not to move Happy. She looked down at herself when she got up, and saw that the skirt of her beautiful ball gown was sticking up in one place, down in the other, and was completely wrinkled. Sorry, Mira, Lucy thought to herself. She peeled the dress off herself, and put it on the bed. She went to her closet and picked out a looser fitting pale pink dress. It seemed that she preferred pink more these days.

            She yawned, and as her muscles stretched, her skin felt all crackly and dry. She frowned, the same sensation repeating itself with this expression. She went to the mirror hanging on the wall, and almost screamed with fright. A horribly disfigured face was looking back at her, or at least it looked like one. It was actually just Lucy's face, but all of Lucy's crying the night before had made her mascara run all over her face, and the weird sensation before was because all her tears and snot had dried on her face; her hair was plastered to her cheeks, the back of it sticking up at odd angles, making it seem like she had horns.

            Lucy was absolutely horrified at her reflection and sped into the bathroom. She scrubbed her face down with every type of soap she had at her disposal in her luxurious bathroom. She then made herself a bath, scrubbing every inch of her body clean. By the time she was done, Lucy felt extremely refreshed. A bath really was the solution to every problem.

            She toweled herself off before slipping her pink gown back on and wrapping a towel in her hair. She went out on the balcony, enjoying the feel of the cool morning air against her skin. She closed her eyes. Yesterday had been a real revelation to Lucy who had blamed her father for everything, and although it was partly his fault, Lucy had reached an age where she could protest against her father and make her own decisions, yet she had let herself be walked all over. Today, she was going to put an end to that once and for all. She wasn't going to go through with depending on Loke to fix things. She would go tell her father herself, no matter whether he wanted to see her or not.

            Lucy spent the rest of the time she had to herself trying to mentally prepare for what she was going to tell her father; she almost didn't realize how close it was to the time Juvia was supposed to come wake her up until it was almost too late. She heard Juvia's footsteps outside the door, having learned to recognize them throughout the years. Her gaze immediately went to Happy who was still curled up on her bed sleeping peacefully. How was she going to explain him? She immediately ran to the bed, scooped up Happy who woke up with a fright, and shoved him in a corner of her closet, ignoring his yells of confusion. She only had the time to whisper; "Someone's coming," before the door opened and Juvia walked in.

            Juvia seemed surprised to see that Lucy was already awake, dressed, and washed up as she stared at her for a minute. Then she walked over to her worriedly.

            "Gray-sama told Juvia about yesterday. Are you okay? Lucy-san is acting rather strangely," she said as she grabbed Lucy gently by the shoulders and stared at her face. Juvia was biting her lip, which was something she only did when she was worried.

            "I'm fine, Juvia. I wasn't yesterday, but I am now, so please don't worry about me, okay?" she smiled. "I know what I have to do now."

            Juvia's forehead crinkled as she frowned.

            "And what exactly does that mean, Lucy-san?" she asked worriedly.

            "I'm just not going to let myself be walked all over anymore," she said as she walked to the door of her room.

            "L-Lucy-san! Where are you going? Gray-sama isn't here yet," Juvia exclaimed as she rushed after her.

            "This is something I have to do alone," Lucy said in a firm tone. "So please move out of my way."

            Juvia stiffened before her eyes hardened.

            "Juvia trusts you, Lucy-san, and you are my dearest friend, so as your friend, Juvia has to look out for you. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

            Lucy's face softened and she pulled Juvia into a hug before whispering, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

            When she pulled away, tears were streaming down Juvia's face.

            "J-Juvia! What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly.

            "You've grown up so fast, Lucy-san," Juvia sobbed. "Juvia is so honored that she gets to see it!"

            Lucy sweat dropped.

             "I thought that was Erza's job..." Lucy muttered.

            "Well, Erza-san is not here now!" Juvia cried.

            "There, there," Lucy said, patting Juvia's back. "I'm flattered, but I really have to go now, Juvia."

            "Of course! How rude of Juvia to stop Lucy-san when she is on a mission! Juvia wishes you good luck!" she said, clasping Lucy's hands in her own. Her eyes glittered as she stared at her, and Lucy was reminded once again of Juvia's beauty, inside and out. She was very lucky to have her as her friend.

            She gave her a quick hug, and rushed out of the room. Each step Lucy took towards the throne room rung with purpose, and the servants stopped to stare more than once. Her eyes blazed with a determined fire, and she was not to be deterred.

            In no time at all, she arrived at the doors of the throne room. The imposing golden doors loomed before her. She raised her fist, prepared to knock, but hesitated as she was reminded of all the times she had stood in this exact spot as a child, waging an internal war about whether to go in, to see if it was worth the risk of being yelled at to get some attention from her father. She shook her head, straightened her back, and let her fist fall against the throne room door making a loud echoing sound.

            The doors opened a crack, and two guards slipped through. As soon as they caught site of her, they straightened and looked at a point in the distance.

            "Your Highness," they saluted her.

            "At ease," she responded. "I would like to request an audience with the king."

            "We're sorry, your Highness, but did the king summon you?" one guard asked. He was short and seemed quite uncomfortable in his armor. He was a new recruit. Lucy focused all her attention him.

            "No," she responded in an even tone. "But I'm sure that the princess is allowed to talk with her father is she not?"

            The guard gulped, and looked to his colleague for help, but his colleague clearly knew that preventing the princess from doing something unless explicitly told so by a higher authority was prohibited.

            The short guard relented, and stood aside, as did the other, and pushed open the doors for her. This was it. Lucy took a deep breath, and walked in.

Hope you enjoyed. I know it was short, but it's all I can get out in my busy schedule. Ja ne.