Somewhere In Between

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

They said that right before you die, you see flashbacks of your life.

It's kind of a cruel thing, really. To see all the happy times you've spent with your friends and to know that you'll never get the chance to make more memories. To see a film of your own life as a reminder of all the things you could've done better—all your regrets. To know that you wouldn't ever be able to actually tell the people around you how amazing it was to have them by your side; to never be able to thank them for everything they've done and sacrificed for you.

So when Lucy woke up in a world all alone, you couldn't really blame her for feeling a sense of dread, could you?

The world she was now in was white. Just white. She could squint as hard as she could, but there didn't seem to be an end. It was as if she was in a hospital room, except there were no doors, windows, needles, signs of life, nothing. This wasn't exactly her image of Heaven, but she supposed it wasn't exactly Hell either. She figured she was... Somewhere In Between.

As Lucy wandered through this new world, she began to gather her memories. Her father. Her mother. Her celestial keys. And... her home: Fairy Tail. How could she have forgotten about the guild that held the most precious things in her heart? She looked down at her hand and noticed that—thankfully—the pink stamp of the Fairy Tail logo was still there, as good as new. She let out a shaky sigh of relief.

Next came the names. Happy. Gray. Erza. Levy. Juvia. Gajeel. Wendy. Mirajane. Gildarts. Their guild master, Macarov. But there was someone she was forgetting. A boy. With... pink hair? And a checkered scarf around his neck. She remembered that he was a good friend, maybe even her best friend, but what was his name? And why couldn't she remember?

Lucy groaned and crouched down on the ground, holding her head in her hands. She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. It made her head hurt trying to remember all these things from the past... from when she was still alive.

Did you really forget about me, Lucy?

The girl's eyes shot up, surprised to hear another person's voice in this oblivion. She was even more surprised when she saw no one there. The space around her was still white. Still empty.

"Wh-who are you?" Her breath wavered.

Silence followed. Was she hallucinating? Had she really heard a voice in the first place? Maybe she was going crazy. After all, who wouldn't crazy being locked up in a world with nothing but white? But Lucy didn't completely dismiss the thought of someone being there with her. She couldn't have been the only dead person to have ended up in Somewhere In Between, right? There had to be other souls. Plus, she could feel someone else's presence with her.

She decided to try again. "I-if someone's there, please show yourself."

Nothing.

"Just give me a sign... Anything."

Lucy sighed. If someone saw her now, they'd really think that she was crazy. She was hearing things and talking to the air in front of her. She had stayed here too long; it messed with her brain.

She slumped back. It was time to give up and face reality: she was out here alone. And even if she did actually hear a voice back then and wasn't just losing her mind, it was definitely gone now. But it was almost as if her soul didn't want to forget the sound of the other person, almost as if the boy with the checkered scarf played a key role in all of this somehow. And the voice... it sounded so familiar...

Lucy got up and resumed her walking. Choosing a random direction, she decided to find the end of Somewhere In Between—assuming that there even was an end in the first place. She was beginning to get a little dizzy and her vision blurred from all the white colouring of the world. The hallucinations came back, unwelcomed. She was beginning to smell flowers and she saw a sky the colour of an ocean. Birds chirped, and dragonflies zoomed by. Then, she felt her hair light on fire.

Wait, no.

She blinked.

This was real.

This was actually happening.

She froze in place.

Her hair was actually on fire.

Oh god.

Lucy screamed and dropped to the floor. Her heart was racing as she rolled and rolled, trying to stop the rest of her head from going up in flames. Somewhere in the back of her head, she questioned the physics of this. Should she even be able to feel the pain, the heat scrapping against her scalp, after she had died? Death was supposed to be the end of pain. She almost laughed. Clearly the people who came up with that theory hadn't experienced death.

And then, amidst her panic, a voice: Hey, Lucy! Are you okay? Sorry, I didn't mean to set your hair on fire!

Lucy stopped rolling. She got up. The fire had died and now she had another problem to worry about. There was a boy standing in front of her. Floating, actually. But that wasn't important at the moment. The important thing was that he had pink hair. A checkered scarf. And a grin that took over his whole face. Just like the boy from her memories.

Luuuccyyy! He was waving an arm in front of her face. Can you see me?

The girl swallowed down the lump in her throat. "Y-yeah."

I didn't burn you too badly or anything, right?

She shook her head in confirmation. "Wait, you were the one who did that? You were the one who caused the fire?"

Oh yeah, that's right; you don't remember about me, do you, Lucy?

Lucy was surprised to see that he wasn't mad. Instead, he simply gave her a sympathetic smile. Watch this. He held out his right hand and, almost instantly, a small ball of fire appeared.

Lucy took a step back in surprise. "Y-your hand! It's on fire! We have to find some water!"

Don't worry. The boy laughed and with a wave of his hand, the flame disappeared. See? I'm fine.

"Oh..." Then, something clicked in her brain. "I vaguely remember a boy from when I was alive... I remember that he was the one who brought me to Fairy Tail, a guild for wizards that I've always wanted to join. They were way out of my league, but accepted me with smiles nonetheless. Whenever we went on missions, the boy would always be there to protect me from danger. He had pink hair and a checkered scarf...

"That boy... was you, wasn't he?"

He grinned. So you do remember! Say, what about my name?

Lucy frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. Pursing her lips, she tapped her chin in deep thought. Come on! This was important; this boy was important. How could she have possibly forgotten someone who was always there by her side like him? She felt the beginnings of a headache forming, but she forced it to go away.

Look around you.

She did. Green grass, blue skies, bright sunlight, bees buzzing, fully grown trees... Where did she see all of this before? They were signs. They were signs… of summer!

"Natsu?"

"Umgh... Natsu?" Lucy rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bed. She was still surrounded by white, but this time, there wasn't a feeling of loneliness. This time, when her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, she saw all the members of the Fairy Tail guild—her guild—around her hospital bed. The events of their last mission came back to her and she remembered fighting a really strong enemy. She had won, but also lost consciousness and Natsu ended up carrying her all the way back.

"Lucy!" the boy cried out and embraced her in a hug.

She hugged him back and let the tears that had begun to gather in her eyes flow down her cheeks freely. Natsu had protected and gotten her out of Somewhere In Between, even though he might not have realized it. He really would always be there for her. Resting her head on Natsu's shoulder, she looked back at all the relieved faces of the other members of the guild.

And she smiled.

A/N: Edited 20/1/2015

Originally written for Kohaku no Ama no Gawa's birthday. :)