The phone on the bronze table just beside the bed rang loudly, Lucy’s body moved as she heard her phone ring. The ringtone was the one she used when her father would contact her.

She started to get up but Natsu was sleeping on her, his face in between her breasts like he was using them as pillows. Lucy was pinned down on the bed.

After resolving their fight about the divorce the previous day, Natsu had stripped her off of her clothes. Resulting to both of them being naked, and being tired from their ‘activity’ that followed after that.

Her hands tried to push him off, but she was physically weaker than him. He just gave her a tired groan.

“Baby, I need to answer my phone,” she said. Her voice still tired.

“Who’s that?” he asked, eyes closed and still not moving.

“It’s my dad” she answered.

He still didn’t budge. Guess he liked the position they were in.

“…and you’re so heavy, m-my boobs hurt,” she continued, now with a red face.

This time Natsu started to move.

“I’ll get it,” he said as he reached for the phone on the bedside table and sat down on the bed. It was her father’s number on the screen.

“Hello” Natsu answered.

But the voice on the other line wasn’t Jude Heartfilia’s. It was his secretary, and she sounded…worried.

Natsu’s face turned serious as he continued to converse on the phone. Lucy didn’t fail to notice this, making her sit up closely to him.

“Yes, she’s with me…Okay…Where?...Okay, we will,” he said. After the call ended, he put the phone down and looked at his wife.

“What happened?” she asked worriedly. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

“Your father”

.

.

.

HOSPITAL

Jude slowly opened his eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him as he blinked and adjusted his sight. At first he could only see white, then objects started to take form. Just by the smell and ambiance of the room, he could already tell he was lying on a hospital bed. With an oxygen tube inserted in his nose.

“D-daddy?”

He heard a soft voice on the right side of his bed, so he turned to see who it was. It was Lucy, her eyes were watery but she didn’t want to let him see her cry.

“Hey kiddo,” he said giving her a gentle smile, “what are you doing here?”

“Your secretary called…she told me you passed out in your office today…she found you on the floor…there was blood, too,” Lucy answered. She could feel her eyes going to burst in tears at any moment already, but she still held it in.

“Ah…I can’t seem to remember.” Jude said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she suddenly asked, getting her father’s entire attention.

“The doctor said…he said…you’re very sick daddy. Why d-didn’t you tell me?”

Now she was starting to cry, but she immediately wiped any tear that dared to escape her eyes.

“Please don’t cry, Lucy. Or daddy will be sad” Jude said, forcing a smile. But his eyes were already watering.

“N-no… I’m not crying” she understood what her father was feeling. In order not to make him feel bad, she mustered a smile. Keeping her tears inside.

Jude sighed and started, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to tell you because I know you’d be unhappy, and I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

Lucy was going to tell him about how that was unfair for her and how she badly disliked the fact that he had kept it from her for too long, but Jude spoke again.

“That was my way of keeping your happiness… and I don’t regret anything at all. You’re a smart girl, I know you understand me. Do you?”

After hearing that, she couldn’t tell him what she wanted to anymore. She’s lost the right words to present them.

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Then she forced a smile on her face. Lucy was very down, but she didn’t want to let her father see her unhappy during the last days of his life.

“Of course daddy.”

Silence consumed the room after that until her father spoke again.

“Where’s Natsu?”

“Outside, waiting” she answered.

“Call him in.”

So she did.

.

.

Natsu stood with Lucy, facing Jude who was now sitting on the hospital bed, a pillow propped on his back so he was comfortable.

“I’m sorry for the trouble, Natsu. I know how busy you are to afford being here.” Jude started apologetically.

“Not at all, father” he answered shaking his head.

“Rakheid. Were you able to…Is he here already? In Japan?” Jude asked with longing in his voice.

“Yes. I already sent word. He’s just arrived.” Natsu answered.

Lucy had a confused look. She was curious of how Natsu knew about her brother, and she was going to ask him about it.

“I want to go home,” Jude suddenly said.

“W-we can’t do that daddy. The doctor said you’ll be staying in here…for a while” she answered. She knew her father wasn’t going anywhere at all. Not anymore. So this was the ‘vacation’ he was talking about on her wedding.

“I don’t care. I want to be with your mother before I go. Take me back to the mansion. Take me home.” He said sternly. Layla was already dead, but he always believed that she was still with him, waiting for him to come home.

Natsu knew her stubborn father was never going to stop until he gets what he wants. He gently patted Lucy’s back, motioning her to give him what he wanted. She understood this.

“Alright. We’ll get you home. I’m going to get a private doctor instead. Okay?” Lucy said, as if she was negotiating.

But it worked. Jude slowly nodded his head.

.

.

.

HEARTFILIA ESTATE

Natsu looked out of the large window of the master’s bedroom where Jude was now sleeping peacefully. Cars were parked on the vast lawn of the estate. People from the Family had been securing the head and the wife from the hospital up to the manor. Of course, if something happened to him and Lucy, the downfall of the Family would come next.

“How did you know my brother?” Lucy asked as she stood beside him by the window, her eyes still fixed on her father.

Natsu’s attention shifted to her.

“Your father told me about him” he answered.

Well he wasn’t completely lying. Jude had introduced them when they were still kids.

“Oh…,” she started, “Did he ask you to bring my brother back?”

“Yes.” He answered simply.

Lucy turned to face him. He could tell she was sad. It was obvious. Who wouldn’t be? She just found out her father was dying.

He embraced her, wanting to lighten up the heaviness in her heart.

“Did you know about his condition?” she quietly asked as she hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.

Natsu paused for a moment before giving an answer.

“Yes. But your father wanted to keep it a secret. Forgive me for not telling you.” He gently spoke the last part as he tightened his arms around her.

Lucy remembered what her father told her at the hospital. It was all for her own good.

“I understand.” She said.

They watched her father for a while before deciding to leave the room. The private doctor they hired was attending to him on the bedside.

Natsu silently closed the giant doors of the bedroom when they got out. The sound of shoes running towards them caught their attention.

Lucy’s eyes widened as she turned her head to see who it was. Natsu on the other hand, didn’t look so surprised. Afterall, he was expecting him.

“Brother?” Lucy said.