It had started off a normal day, it had started off a normal mission. Natsu was obnoxious and oblivious, Happy...well... he was himself... and I was smiling, laughing, happy to be around my oh so annoying friends. I don't know what it is about Natsu, there's a side to him that he never shows anyone, but sometimes... when he's not paying attention... he'll let it slip. I think all guys are that way, i haven't been proven wrong yet.

Gray and Natsu bickered the whole way, even though we've been doing this for years, i couldn't say i'm used to it yet. Erza sits beside me, eyes closed, comfortable enough around us to get some rest.

Yes... it had started a normal day...

It was Natsu's turn to pick the mission and he had picked the one that had required us travel to a small town and defeat a monster who was apparently "invisible". He would steal, terrorize citizens and farm animals, not to mention destroy property. So we had been called in to stop him.

Once we arrived we went straight to work, joking every now and again, but for the most part, Serious. We asked several questions and finally learned that 'Phaser' as Gray had so pointedly named him, did not have the ability to turn invisible, but could run so fast it was hard to see him.

It took a few days but we had finally tracked him down and cornered him in a field. There was no real danger in this mission... or so we thought.

Loke was in the peak of the action, as expected from him, and i was helping with my whip, Gray and Erza had no trouble herding him towards Natsu so he could deliver the final blow with a simple attack. It should have been easy...

But it wasn't.

It was the opposite of easy.

We were exhausted, days of chasing this monster had pushed us to our limits, and when you're at your limit mistakes are bound to happen, right?

It seemed to have happened in slow motion. I was standing behind Natsu whip sturdy in my hand, ready in case Phaser got passed him.

And got passed him he did. He moved faster than any of us had thought possible, and at that moment I knew why the townspeople had thought he was invisible. I felt my body being jerked forward as i vaguely recognize Natsu's voice activating his dragons slayer magic.

I turned in his direction, looking like a deer in headlights. Eyes wide, fear evident, frozen...

He couldn't stop...

I hear a scream, high pitched, loud, consistent. Never stopping for air. I realize then, i'm the one screaming. I feel his flames engulf my body, but it doesn't burn my skin, no. It feels like being burned alive from the inside out. It feels as if my body is going to burst any second. I fall to the ground, hearing shouts of my name. In front of my tear blurred eyes, is a mob of pink. "LUCY!" He screams tears in his eyes as he takes me in his arms. My body's trembling and I let out a whimper with just his small touch. I feel my stomach lurch and the vibrant taste of copper in my mouth. I can't breathe so I open my mouth and cough it up, a red sticky, shiny, liquid grace's the ground in front of me and it's at that moment I realize…

I look up to the pink mass, the others crowded around me now. I see a frown on his face and tears in his eyes, which looks so misplaced.

"I…..thi...nk….yo..u...mis...sed…" I whisper out.

"L-Luce.. I...I..I didn't...I didn't mean...I….I'm sorry….luce...Luce …" My eyelids feel heavy, as well as my body. Heavy and lifeless. "I...re...ad...in...a….boo..k….your br...ain….rep...lays...you...r….lif...e…" I croak. My breathing shallow. "Don't talk like that Luce!" Natsu bellows. He tries to lift me from the ground but I push weakly away from him. I close my eyes, I can't do it anymore. I can't fight… I can't win…

"NO! LUC…I...orry...ove...you…" and with that, I fall into a deep slumber, my mind in another world. And my heart with a pink salamander.