She cute and small and nice… and Loki is terrified of her.
He sees her the first time Natsu brings her to Fairy Tail, one step behind him looking at the uproar around her with a bright smile. She's pretty, even prettier when something that Natsu says makes her laugh and when she turns to smile at Master, Loki sees them. Silver keys that dangle on her hip, gently bumping against her short skirt as she twirls back towards Natsu. For a second he remembers her, Karen, or at least the way Karen used to be. Then Lucy smiles again and she looks like Aries and Loki forgets to breathe but remembers to run.
He's good at running.
He smiles at her but tries to keep away though he really, really doesn't want to. He wants to tell her the truth but the truth would drive away the adorably confused smile she gets whenever he sprints past her shouting his hellos. Aries used to smile like that. Loki runs for days.
Still his runs always bring him home (because somewhere along watching Natsu and all the rest grow and the festivals and the girls who flock to his side, Fairy Tail becomes home) to Fairy Tail, and sometimes there she'll be. Usually she's bemoaning the lack of work, trying to pry Natsu and Gray apart or sitting at the empty bar writing. He watches her and tells himself it's nothing. He tries very hard not to compare her to Karen but it always happens because Lucy is nothing like Karen and the realization is still fresh.
Erza catches him once. Sometimes Loki thinks that Erza must suspect he's not wholly human, but it's a secret she keeps in exchange for Loki never mentioning slaves and chains and towers. She sits on the booth next to him and meets his eyes. "She thinks you hate her."
He laughs and for a second he remembers being Leo instead of Loki. "I'm just scared of her"
Erza doesn't say anything else or ask any questions. She understands like that.
Loki who is Leo knows he's a ticking time bomb. Three years in the human world is a stellar spirit record and Loki can't even remember the taste of stars anymore. What he does remember are Karen's cutting words, Aries' tears, and those first three months when he laid in the ruins and could not breathe. Now he lies at the head of Karen's grave and stares at the sky turn dark and mocking. Three years of sunsets and starry nights and no matter how far he goes or how long he reaches his hand he can never touch it. It is irony and redemption at its best. He saved Aries and damned himself. His martyrdom meant Karen's death. There are no loopholes here for his trickster self to find, no more shortcuts and back roads to the finish line.
"Loki?"
There Lucy is: cute and small and nice and strong. And after three long years, Loki stops running.