H COMPANY
CEO's office
Mr. Heartfilia was reading the document reports when he heard a knock on his office's blurry glass doors. He heard the voice of his secretary who was then told to enter.
"Excuse me, Mr. CEO, someone's here to see you."
"Did they reserve for an appointment?" He replied.
"Uh, no Sir."
"Then tell them to come back when they have," he said with a sigh.
"Umm... they told me to tell you that they're the Dragneels."
When Jude heard the name, he stopped with whatever he was doing and immediately told her to let them in. So she did.
AT SORCERER'S WEEKLY
Lucy just finished another photoshoot. As a reward, she had the rest of the day off. She always finished early. She was good at it without doing any effort at all.
Looking at her watch that said 11:30 AM, she decided to get lunch. After that, maybe she could call and meet up with him.
She and her bestfriend/photographer Levy McGarden decided to eat at their usual place, a five-star restaurant.
A fact about Levy was that she had no family. Little Lucy met her years ago as a child and they eventually became friends.
Lucy was Levy's only family. She helped her build up her own home and have a new life. Lucy was her angel.
Does she know about Natsu? Of course she does. Lucy tells her everything.
.
.
BACK AT H COMPANY
Two young men stood before him.
One with black hair and the other, salmon-pink.
Mr. Heartfilia gave them a welcoming hug and a laugh.
"How long has it been? My, you've both grown up into fine young men." Jude said. Happiness was evident in his voice as he led them to the couch at the corner of his office.
"And you still look the same, uncle. As young as ever" Zeref, the oldest of the Dragneel brothers, joked as the three of them sat down on the brown couch.
"Ah...Zeref my boy, you've gotten so good at lying now that you're the Family's lawyer huh?," Jude said as he chuckled at the previous joke on him.
"So how's the Family, Natsu. What brings you here?," the older man asked. His attention now to Natsu.
"Business is well as always. Same goes with the other families. We're still the first rank since you...'retired', uncle Jude." He replied, a gentle smile on his face.
Natsu was only 5 when the Heartfilias 'retired' from being one of the Families. The reason was kept secret. Now that he was old enough, he wanted to know why. The Heartfilias were almost at the same level of power as the Dragneels, so why did they quit at the top of their game?
Zeref was very good at knowing what goes on in Natsu's mind, so he asked the question that his brother badly wanted to know the answer to.
"Uncle, why did you leave the Family? Please tell us why you stopped," the eldest asked. His eyes obviously looking for answers.
It took a moment before Jude finally decided to tell them what noone, and I mean NOONE, knew nothing about. Not even Layla Heartfilia.
"I still remember how young you boys were back then. Playing with the other heirs of the Families. Natsu was closest to my son, Rakheid," Jude's face revealed longing as he mentioned the name. The two men did not miss to notice this.
Rakheid was very much alive, he just...went away. He was very attached to the Families that it hurt him very much when his father announced their detachment from the line of business.
He was a year younger than Natsu. When he reached the age of 18, he started to go on trips far away from home, from his father. This was to show him how deeply hurt he was. But even so, Jude still loved him, and he knew his son loved him still.
"I never planned to leave. It never crossed my mind. But...," this time Jude looked at the brothers hesitantly and continued, "I found out I was very sick. It started as a simple fever and all that. When I found out that it was something uncurable, I knew I had to do something. Something to keep my family safe. So that's what I did. I decided to leave. Rakheid was still 4. He could not possibly run the family, could he? And my daughter, who you haven't met yet, was still not born. Layla gave birth to my little girl a year after we stopped the 'business'....," he finally finished.
Natsu and Zeref's eyes filled with realization, surprise, and a mixture of unexplainable emotions with every word that left Jude's mouth.
"And there you go. You boys better not spread the news about my health or I'll have you spanked, understood?,"Jude said with a playful laugh.
"But that's not the only reason why you came here today, is it?," he continued, still with a faint smile.
Natsu's face returned to that calm expression he always had.
"Your daughter, Lucy," Natsu started.
"We have actually met."
