A/N; I wrote this story inspired by the song "Human" by Krewella. It is a tragedy so be prepared to cry...
Enjoy, my delicate marionettes!
~ MrsPuppetEx
Lucy wiped away her tears as she walked out of the guild that she'd once called home, her head hung low with her sunny hair shadowing her tear-filled eyes. She wrapped her arms around herself for some semblance of comfort as her heart clenched harshly in her chest.
Three years. She'd spent three years, technically ten, with Fairy Tail. Now it was all over after everything had happened.
Natsu had left to go train the week before, only leaving behind a note for her to find. That had caused a chain of events making half the guild leave to do their own things, none thinking about how it would affect the poor blonde who was left behind.
She walked the long path home, using the time to let her mind flicker back to the people she'd grown so close to over the years. She could practically see each of their smiling faces before her, encouraging and protecting her in their own ways.
Erza and her big sister attitude towards her, scaring off any would-be suitors that were unwelcomed in the blonde's life as she was focused entirely on the guild. Always strong enough to face anything thrown her way and pushing Lucy to keep the shining confidence that had only emerged when she'd come to Fairy Tail.
Gray and his cocky attitude, the first man to treat her like the grown woman she was and fast becoming her first love before that fire had been smothered by their sibling-like feelings for one another. It was a fling that had ended as soon as it had begun, to neither of their disappointment as they truly worked better as brother and sister.
Lucy frowned, her brow creasing as she thought about the last human member of her team, the thought of his name alone bringing that uncomfortable clenching back into her chest that she subconsciously reached up to rub at with the palm of her hand.
Natsu. He was her best friend, her first real friend that she'd made after leaving the Konzern and struck out on her own to become a guild mage. He'd been the one to bring her to Fairy Tail all those years ago and had shown her that life could be much more fun than going to parties and running a business. He was simply Natsu.
And now he was gone.
Tears formed in her brown orbs once more as she made her way through town and wrapped her arms around herself protectively against the pain that flooded into her heart. She hadn't experienced this sharp of a pain since her mother had died and it was devastating, nearly making her sob as she picked up the pace to get home before one of the locals tried to stop her to chat.
Lucy wasn't sure she would be able to speak to anyone right now, honestly. She was hurting so bad from the events of the past week since Natsu had left, with the announcement only a half an hour ago being the finishing blow on her already fragile heart.
She made it to her apartment and quickly closed and locked the door before pressing her back to the wood surface and sliding down until she sat on the hardwood floors. The blonde took a moment to close her eyes and drink in the memories she'd made with her friends in this place, everything that had happened there when they'd been a team.
That was what made the first heart wrenching sob escape her lips as she bit her finger to try and not make the landlady too frustrated by the noise. The memories of this place were far too much for her to bear and it felt like a knife straight to her heart as she cried on the floor with her back pressed to the door as if it would keep anymore heartache out.
So many times she'd had the team over unexpectedly, but not unwanted as she had enjoyed every memory they'd made together, no matter how small or insignificant. Everything that they had done together had made a mark on her heart and now, it was all over.
Lucy picked herself up off of the floor, wandering through the apartment with a sniffle with her arms wrapped around herself once more. She smiled as she looked at her apartment, the past replaying in her mind as if it were happening before her trembling form.
Natsu freaking her out as she'd exited the shower and seen him doing sit-ups on her floor and telling her that he needed a place to exercise. He'd looked so goofy with his scarf wrapped around his forehead and so serious when he'd said that.
She'd shown him her magic when she had summoned Plue for the first time to make her contract, the small dog spirit shaking as Natsu stared at him intently. It had been the greatest honor she could bestow upon the slayer as making a contract was a very intimate thing between a Celestial mage and her spirits.
Lucy had loved that day.
The couch where the whole team had spent hours upon hours just sitting around and watching movies together or lounging around talking about nothing and everything. They would go over their recent missions there, in the small living area, determining that it was more comfortable than at the guild where others could be judgmental of their destructive tendencies.
The thought made Lucy release a watery laugh as she continued on through to the dining room where she had fed her team too many times to count. Plates piled high for Natsu, a large fish for Happy, cake for Erza, and whatever else she had for Gray. They had been a handful to feed, but she had always insisted on it if they were doing more work on jobs than she was actually doing.
Natsu had once set her kitchen on fire, she remembered on a slight sigh. It was her birthday and he was trying to make her breakfast on his own, a sweet intention that was easily turned sour as he had turned the flames up too high and it had caught a towel on fire.
Luckily he'd been able to devour the flames before causing any serious damage, Lucy smiled as she traced a finger over the faint burn mark on her cupboard. It could have been much, much worse than it had been, honestly.
The bathroom, where Natsu and Gray had both walked in on her many times as she was washing away the grime from one of their many jobs. She had eventually just stopped closing the door, allowing one of them to easily sit and talk to her as she washed up, her previous shyness gone with the straightforward group.
And, finally, the bedroom.
Lucy let out a sigh as she saw Natsu sleeping on her bed, snuggled up to her and causing her to sweat in her sleep while uncomfortably warm. Or, Gray doing the same and making her teeth chatter from the bitter cold. Erza going through her underwear drawer and holding up pieces that gave both boys nosebleeds while Lucy shrieked in surprise.
She grasped the frame that had been given to her by the whole team that past Christmas. It was a framed photo of them just after they had returned from Tenrou Island. They all looked so happy. A tear slid down her cheek that she brushed away quickly, running her fingers over each face of her team.
After setting the photo down, Lucy walked around her apartment once more, looking at everything as the sun began to set and cast everything in a burning orange glow. She saw the happiness and excitement that had happened here, in her home.
All of the sadness, even. They'd comforted her after the whole Phantom Lord incident here, held her as she had cried over the loss of her father who had come to realize his mistake after their time jump. They had all listened intently as she had told them about the sacrifice of Aquarius within the Cube to save them all.
Many nights, she'd lain curled up in the arms of one or all of her teammates as she'd woken up with nightmares about losing Aqua or the mad cackling of Jackal. They had all comforted her by allowing her to cry and then each did something different to help her in their own ways.
Erza would share a strawberry cake with her and they would watch one of those soppy romance movies that the redhead had loved so much. Gray would simply hold her and let her sit in silence, giving the blonde a chance to sort through her thoughts and listening if she wanted to talk. Natsu, always the odd one out, would tell her something like he was hungry and that he wanted her to make him something.
All of that was over, she thought bitterly as she picked up the framed photo on her desk once more, grasping it tightly. They had all left her alone, to deal with the loss of the guild all on her own with no one to lean on in her time of need.
Giving a shriek of rage, Lucy threw the picture frame at the far wall, smiling in grim satisfaction as the glass shattered and the wood splintered into small pieces. She continued on her rampage, sweeping her arm across the desk and sending the small tokens from numerous jobs falling to the floor where they broke helplessly.
Lucy grabbed a ball from their win at the inter-guild baseball game, the one she'd managed to hit to score the winning run on Sabertooth as it had flown over Sting's head. Letting her anger fly, she threw the ball at a bookshelf, destroying the vase that Erza had bought her at their third trip to Akane Resort.
After finishing in the bedroom, Lucy moved to the living room where she grabbed the piece of Nevermelt-Ice that Gray had fashioned into a star for her. It felt freezing in her hand as she looked down at it with dead eyes.
With a grunt, she threw it down onto the hardwood floor and watched as it split into hundreds of pieces, each one flying around the room and hitting other objects. It was somewhat symbolic of how one of them had caused a domino effect by leaving the guild and being the root of the situation she was currently in.
As her anger wore thin, Lucy collapsed on the ground, clutching her chest as she screamed out her pain and agony, no longer worried about what the landlady thought. She felt as though her heart were being ripped from her chest and knew she deserved to be upset about it.
And so, Lucy cried herself to sleep on the cold wood floors of her living room, the broken remnants of her past scattered about the apartment.