don't leave without me
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Lucy's days right after the battle with Zeref's demons are a bit of a jumbled mess in her head, a mess that's filled with a destroyed guild hall, dragonslayers who have lost their parents and Aquarius's broken key. So she copes the only way she knows and falls back into the normal pace of Fairy Tail. It doesn't feel entirely normal, because Wendy has to actually put in effort to keep up her beautiful smile, Gajeel is obviously feeling down, and Natsu … well, Natsu isn't even here. It's kind of weird not seeing a guild brawl, but the guild hall is in shambles and one of the biggest troublemakers isn't here today – make that two, Gray hasn't come today either. She can understand what they all must be going through, after all she's lost her father quite recently too. Still, not seeing them run around like their usual moronic selves makes an uncomfortable feeling settle in her gut. It doesn't sit well with her and she really hopes things will be back to normal soon.
She goes home a little while after that, because, well, at the moment there isn't really anything else to do. When she arrives at her place, it's quiet for a change and there isn't really anything out of place, but the lights are on and that's a sure sign for Natsu and Happy invading her house again. Also, she swears that something's moving up there. She busts the door open, puts up an annoyed face and starts complaining that they're in her house again – except that they're not. No pink-haired dragonslayer burning her house down, no blue cat sharpening his claws on her walls. She wonders if the movements she saw before were just her imagination and immediately wants to slap herself at the thought. When exactly has them breaking into her house become a so normal occurrence that she actually expects them to be there?
She sighs and a white envelope on her table catches her eye. She wonders who it's from – everyone in the guild could just tell her what they needed to say right to her face, no need to write a letter, and besides the Fairy Tail crazies she doesn't think there is anyone that would send her letters. Not anymore at least. So she opens the letter, curious and a little confused, and is immediately struck by the absolutely horrible handwriting glaring at her, so much that she doesn't notice what exactly is written down there at first.
When she does, it's a great shock for her and she can't believe it at first. She doesn't want to believe it. It's a lie, she tells herself. It's a prank, surely, because she's a weirdo and easy to scare. But the words on the paper don't change.
He's going away.
No. No! It can't be, right? Why …
He's leaving, leaving for an entire year. He's leaving her behind.
Her legs move before her brain can make sense of the situation and the next second she's barrelling down the stairs, tumbling out of the house in a hurry and running, running as fast as she can get her body to. It doesn't matter where she's running to – she just has to reach him.
Natsu …
What is she even supposed to do without him? He's always been there beside her, right from the beginning. She can't even imagine life without him barging into her house anymore, without him fighting Gray for every little thing. Without him.
Don't just leave me behind like that.
And she begs the world to stop, because she knows deep down that she doesn't have enough time anymore. That she won't reach him even if she's running with all her might, even if she's giving it all she's got.
You didn't even say goodbye.
And then she's crying and crying, because it's too late and Natsu is gone. She's crying so much she can't even see anything beyond her tears anymore. She keeps running. She has to, otherwise she'll have given up already. She can't give up. Because if they did something like that … if they did something …
"I'd be so lonely, stupid!"
He probably can't hear her anymore. He probably won't be hearing her anymore for an entire year. Because he won't be there anymore. That thought pushes her over the edge. Her tears spill over and she pushes her protesting body beyond its limits to keep running.
Don't leave without me!