Golden Daffodils and Silver Lilies

Chapter 7

Natsu may have gotten off the hook but poor Lucy was in a whole mess of trouble. For the next hour, her father just scolded and berated the child. Speaking to her in tht angry tone that made her heart jump with each word he spoke. Jude Heartfilia was a very strict man, very strict indeed and he kept his daughter on a tight leash. Always discipling her as a general would to a soldier. However he had never taken a belt or a switch to her. He'd never actually hurt the child, and he did mean well.

"How long have you been letting boys kiss on you?" He asked her.

"That was the only time Father." Lucy whimpered. "He didn't mean no harm."

"Harm? You don't even know what harm is girl. Your mother, God rest her soul, and myself saw to that. I can't believe this, you're not even at an age with two digit numbers yet and already boys are flocking around you."

For a moment he left her room and went down the hall to get something. He came back with a silk scarf in his hand.

"Here wrap your hair in this." He said handing to her.

"How come?" She asked.

"Because I done told you to!" He insisted. "Now do it!"

Without further hesitation, she gathered up all her blond hair and tied the scarf on to her head, covering up that gorgeous hair.

"I don't understand." She said. "What did I do? I was only trying to make a friend."

"You don't need friends that are boys. Now get back to your studies."

Lucy did as she was told and Jude returned to managing the store. Sometime later Juvia came by to drop off a delivery of wool that had just been spun. Jude paid her the money for it, she then asked him if she could go upstairs and say hi to Lucy.

Lucy and Juvia had met some months ago at church. After service, some mean girls who were jealous of Lucy's privildged lifetstyle decided to make fun of her. They called her names and even threw dirt and mud on to her new Sunday dress. Lucy cried, Juvia who witnessed this cruelty and couldn't bear to see anyone be treated like she herself always was, put a stop to it by shoving the girls into a nearby creek. The two had been close friends ever since.

Now Jude himself had never thought highly of people like Juvia and her family. He thought farmers were either trashy or had superiority complex because they worked the land and crops were in high demand. But despite his distaste, he could sympathize with little Juvia. He knew that like his daughter, she would have to grow up without a mother and he had heard rumors about her abusive stepfamily so he allowed their friendship.

"She has studying to do." He told her. "But you can visit for about ten minutes."

"Thank you sir."

He opened the door and she excitedly went upstairs. She always loved visiting Lucy's house. It was so big and elegant, with lots of pretty paintings and dollies and pretty decor. It made her wonder if all wealthy people lived in houses like these. She wondered if the Fullbuster estate was just as lovely or more so.

"Your house is so beauitful Lucy." Juvia said as the girls conversed in Lucy's bedroom.

"Beautiful and boring." Lucy replied. "There's nothing to do here except study."

"Better than doing chores all day like me. My stepmother has me so busy, I don't even have time to educate myself on anything."

"Why don't you ever tell your father about that awful woman?"

"She told me if I ever did, she'd tell everybody he attacked her and then he'd be hanged. I can't let that happen to Papa. I love him. Now that Mama's gone, he's all I have."

"I understand." Lucy said. "Father isn't always fair but I wouldn't want him to go away and never come back, like Mother did."

"Do you miss your mother?"

"Yes."

"I miss mine too. I wish she hadn't of died. Then we'd still be a family and my stepmother wouldn't be with us. You know, one time Papa spoke of buying me a necklace for my birthday this year but my stepmother said that would be too expensive. That we needed to be careful with our money. But once he left, she went out to buy two necklaces, one for her and one for Briar."

"That's not fair."

"I know. But what can I do?"

Lucy then approached her jewelry box which was on her desk, opening it up and pulling something from inside. It was two necklaces and two rings. One necklace was gold and the other was silver, one ring had a ruby for a stone, and the other had a sapphire.

"Father gave me these when Mother died." Lucy explained to Juvia. "The gold necklace and the ruby ring belonged to Mother but the silver necklace and the sapphire ring belonged to her sister, my aunt Anna. Aunt Anna died young and never had children, and I remember Mother once saying that she hoped to have two daughters, so she could let me have her necklace and ring, and let my sister have the jewelry that belonged to Aunt Anna."

"But you don't have any sisters." Juvia said.

"I know. But you're like a sister to me, so I want you to have Aunt Anna's necklace and ring."

She handed the silver necklace and sapphire ring to Juvia.

"Thank you Lucy." Juvia said embracing her. "I'll keep them with me forever."

Lucy returned the embrace, then the two girls talked for a few more minutes before Lucy had to continue with her studies and Juvia had to go home. When she entered her house, she hurried into her room where she hid the necklace and the ring under her mattress. She couldn't risk her stepmother or her stepsister seeing them, they would surely take the jewelry away.

"Meow!"

She looked over at the black cat resting on the blanket she had laid out for him. She smiled and started to scratch his ears.

"How are you feeling today?" She asked.

He purred.

"I guess that means you're feeling much better today. I'm so glad."

"Juvia!" Came the awful voice of Ilse. "Why haven't you started on cooking our dinner yet?"

"I'm coming Stepmother."

Juvia quickly went into the kitchen and started to cook a broth for dinner. When she served it, Juvia sat down to eat with her stepfamily but Ilse insisted that she wanted tea with her meal and forbade Juvia to eat one bite until the tea was ready. Unfortunately by the time the tea was ready, the two greedy women had eaten the whole meal and not left anything for Juvia, so the poor girl went to bed hungry. Alone in her room, she sat in the bed with an empty stomach and a sad heart.

"Meow!"

The black cat could sense Juvia's sadness, he stood up from the blanket and brushed up against the girl to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get any food for us. We'll try again tomorrow at breakfast."

She tried not to be sad. She tried to smile go to sleep hoping that tomorrow would be a better day. But she just couldn't do it. So she began to cry. The cat watched her cry herself to sleep and it made his heart hurt. This girl was truly a dear and loving creature, one who didn't deserve this kind of treatment. Not to mention, he felt that he should somehow repay her for her kindness toward him.

So the very next morning, right before the sun had risen, Juvia awoke to a wonderful smell and at her feet there was a plate which contained fried eggs and a pastry.

"Where did this come from?" She wondered.

Although she was far too hungry to dwell on the thought long, and before she knew it, she had eaten every last bite of her meal. Then she found a note underneath the plate that read:

Because you've been good to me, I promise you'll never go hungry again. But this is our little secret. Tell no one.

Juvia was confused, and not entirely sure if any of this was real. But she decided to go with it anyway. After all, what other choice did she have?