A/N: NO, this is not the ending of "Lion's Pride." It's a scene my Muse tossed out to annoy me. And annoy me it did! Get the tissues.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, but I'll adopt the cute Lion.

Sayonara, Saiai No Shishi

a Fairy Tail fanfic

by Rhov

She knew it would happen one day.

It was only a matter of time.

For years now, it had bothered Lucy in the far back corner of her mind, a nagging worry, a fear she did not want to face. Eventually, it mutated into a silent understanding. Like it or not, it would happen one day.

They say time heals all wounds, but in this case, time had prepared her heart for this particular wound.

He was a Spirit. She was Human. She aged. He stayed eternally the same. Eventually, be it now or in a few decades, Loke would grow bored. Her appeal would tarnish. His eyes would wander.

She walked up a hill on a dirt road still drying out from a recent spring rain. Dandelions lined in close to the road, smiling their sunny faces, their golden manes cheering on the morning, blooming happily even if the whole world called this flower a weed. Her mind wandered back through the dark hallways of the past. She did not consider these years a waste. If she could live life over again, she would do the same, love him just as much, hold onto him just as tightly, and hopefully be able to let go this easily.

"Lucy, I...I am so, so sorry."

Those words came to her on a dark night when she had woken up at hearing him trying to enter silently. She knew immediately. His words had stung only a little when he said them. The betrayal that whispered to her on the scent of a foreign perfume and the proof in a pink lipstick mark on his shirt collar had made a single tear roll down her cheek, but she told herself that she knew it would happen one day. She was prepared.

After all, she was not the young teenager she had been back then.

Maybe a small part of her had hoped he would stay with her until she was old and gray. He had promised as much in the heat of passion as his body collided into hers like a fiery meteor into a virgin moon. Their love had been bright, glorious, a streak of celestial splendor for all to marvel upon. Yet like a shooting star, she knew it would burn out and fade.

It actually took longer than she anticipated. That or she was really bad at catching the hints.

As Lucy reached the crest of the dandelion-covered hill, she looked down at the Gold Key now clutched in her hand, separated from the rest of her ring of keys. This part was maybe the hardest. She had not told Loke about her plans. She wanted to avoid any awkward farewells. Just this once, Lucy was going to breach a contract with one of her Spirits.

It had taken her a long time to find the perfect Spirit Mage. It could not be a woman; that she determined the instant she made this decision. There were not many male Spirit Mages in Fiore, but she finally found one. He was young, barely sixteen, a new member of the guild Laxus had broken off and started, which meant he must be powerful. Up until now, the boy had no Gold Keys at all, which was not surprising. Lucy owned most of them. Still, she was getting up in age. It was time to stop taking the harder missions. She wondered if she was too old now to consider settling down, getting married. She wasn't quite too old to have children, right?

As she handed the Gold Key into the eager, youthful hands, she realized she could have been this boy's mother.

"Thanks, oba-chan!"

Yep, that clenched it. She was old.

His eyes shined in astonishment at receiving, not just a coveted Gold Key, but the strongest Zodiac Spirit. Laxus was nearby to oversee the exchange. He had gone partially bald and grew a mustache, yet he still wore those stupid headphones. Lucy smiled at him in familiarity and wondered if he realized he looked like a taller version of his long-since-deceased grandfather.

The boy held the key up into the air. Lucy gasped, and Laxus quickly put a hand over the key.

"Remember the agreement," was all he had to say.

The boy grinned huge and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, oba-chan. I forgot. Don't call him out and make the contract until you're gone. Sorry."

She looked sadly down at him, then up to Laxus. "You're right. He has the same smile Natsu used to have."

Laxus looked proud of his little brat. "Are you heading back to Fairy Tail? You're welcome to stay here. Even if you're retiring, we could use a librarian."

She smiled at the offer. Retirement! Her days as the Great Spirit Mage Lucy Heartfilia were over. Not just because of Loke and his betrayal. That had only been the final proof she needed to realize she had become too old to be of any use. Retirement was something she deserved after so many years of service.

"Thanks, but I can't stay around...him," she said, nodding to the key. "Besides, Master Erza offered to keep me on as an instructor."

"Well then, come visit sometime. The brat could use a good teacher, and there's none better than the Great Spirit Mage Lucy."

"Thanks. I should go before he senses the change. Take care of the kid. People will be after that key. And thanks, Laxus." She scruffed up the boy's snow-white and salmon-pink hair. "You take care, kiddo. Tell your mom hi for me."

She turned and walked down the hill. Just as she began to feel lighter about this decision and smile at the freedom of simply letting go, she felt a familiar tingle.

"I didn't do it, I swear," the boy yelled in panic.

"Lucy!"

She grimaced that it had to be this way. She quickened her steps and marched onward in determination.

"Lucy, I said I was sorry. She didn't mean anything to me. It was just...just..."

His excuses hurt even worse. She fought tears and broke into a run down the hill, letting gravity pull her away from his voice, the voice that had comforted her through the darkest day of her life when she lost her closest friend, the voice that whispered to her during passionate nights and swore to love her eternally through these bittersweet decades.

"Please, Lucy! Don't go. Don't leave me. Lucy!"

She shook her head and kept running, not even looking where she was going. The bonds had been broken; she could sense it. It was no wonder he broke through his gate in such urgency. Surely he could sense the exchange of ownership more potently than she could. Now he belonged to a new master. She just had to keep running, escape back to the guild, into the arms of friends who would comfort her as she healed from her heart's wound.

She knew it would happen one day.

It was only a matter of time.

"Farewell, beloved Lion," she whispered.

It ends like this is you like angst.
If you prefer happy endings, read the 2nd chapter!

左様なら 最愛 の 獅子 – Sayonara, Saiai No Shishi – Farewell, Beloved Lion