I have nothing to say other than the fact that this is nowhere near completed, so expect more chapters, and that writing this actually made me cry. Try to seriously imagine this while you read. :'(

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail not me.

It's odd how quickly things can change.

One minute you're standing beside your friends, laughing along with them, enjoying the sunshine and cheering to a job well done. Your life is made of pure happiness, and there's nothing, you think, absolutely nothing that could destroy the love you find around you.

And then the next second, everything falls apart. Maybe that's just something that happens to people who have yet to grow up. They take everything for granted and never realize what those small things mean to them. That is, until they shatter.

Or maybe it's just some strange twist of fate, an unlucky event that tears your world apart. Like a bullet that was fired without aim. Or a storm that was thought to be less powerful.

I guess sometimes both can happen to someone. When that happens, a person always seems to shut down and go on autopilot more that just pause.

I guess that last one is what happened to us. We were just kids, really, and even though we had both had our fair share of loss and heartbreak, we still hadn't yet seen the world the way the wiser had. And the attack was so sudden, so unexpected, that tragedy was the only thing that could have come from it.

He gave his life for mine in an instant. He had no time to think, no time to reflect on any of the memories we shared. It was instinctual the way he acted; throwing himself in the way of the many weapons all being hurled at us at once. Fire magic wouldn't have been able to get both of us out of there unharmed.

I had been calling spirit after spirit, trying to protect Natsu in vain. My own powers had depleted, and with tears streaming down my face, I threw myself in front of him, protecting him from a sword strike that would have been instantly fatal.

His blood was dark, thick, and inhumanly warm as it trickled down his lips and onto the ground. His skin, once tanned and comforting, was now pale and cold. His eyes, always so expressive, were as dull as dirt.

He had, in his last moments, obliterated the men who had ambushed us with an attack so powerful it singed my own clothes.

So we lay there together, our blood mixing around us, smiles on our faces. A sword lay embedded in my chest, affecting my breathing. Natsu had three of them stuck in his skin.

I cried, and so did he. Happy sat between us, balling and shaking. We had both made sure that he remained unharmed.

"Tell . . ." he coughed and blood spattered across my cheek, "tell the . . . others . . . what h-happened . . . H-Happy . . ." Natsu croaked out. His eyes fluttered between open and closed.

I knew what was happening. All of us did. I gently shuffled my hand closer to Natsu, reaching for his own. He watched, smiling but was unable to reach out for me. I grasped his hand tightly and held on.

"G-go . . . to sleep, Natsu." I told him gently. "I-I'll . . . see you when . . . when you wake . . . up." He smiled even wider, and squeezed my hand tighter.

"O-ok Luce." Happy cried louder and put his hand over both of ours. Natsu closed his eyes, tears dripping down his cheek and mixing with the blood. "S-sleep . . . sleep with me . . . Lucy . . ." I let out a sob and clenched his hand.

"Will . . . will you watch . . . over us . . . Happy?" Happy bit his other hand and nodded his head frantically.

"A-a-a-aye! I-I'll protect you guys. D-don't worry. I'll protect you guys this time. Go to s-sleep. Don't w-worry, I'll be here for you when you wake up." He shuddered and sobbed, holding our hands tightly.

Natsu sighed one last time, and then went still.

I smiled at him lovingly, knowing with my eyes closed that he was gone.

I envisioned his face one more time, and then gave into the pull of slumber.