This will be the final installment of the Thoughts one-shot series as I begin preparing for a new project: the Second Season of Elfen Lied (fanfic version). I was going to do one for Kouta as well but instead I'll focus more on his perspective in the beginning of the Second Season fic. I might also do a Bonus Thoughts compilation for some of the other characters who missed out in the near future. Remember to take a quick look at the preview story afterwards and leave any tips or what you might like to see happen. Now let's share Lucy's final thoughts as she prepares to meet her fate as was protrayed in the final episode of the Anime...

"Sorry..."

Lucy noticed Kouta waiting silently atop the stone stairs overlooking the majestic coastal town of Kamakura. She had told him to meet here before leaving to deal with a few persistent opponents; people who were hell bent on dedicating their entire existence to removing her very own.

But she had survived, and she had survived long enough just so she could meet Kouta one last time and do something she had meant to do for over eight years.

The plain young man jumped from his seat and noticed Lucy's wounds. "Are you okay, you're bleeding!"

Even after remembering his sister and father's violent death by her very hands, he was still concerned for the girl with horns. Lucy assured him that, "I'm fine, this is no big deal for me."

Lucy sat down by the stairs right beside the only person she ever loved. She was straight forward when she announced to Kouta. "Five years...Five years would be all it takes for me to wipe out your entire species." She lowered her gaze then offered a weak smile. "But if I did that, then I could never live in a world with you anymore." She started quivering as she turned away from Kouta, even when faced with a murderous demon, the young man didn't appear to hold any grudges against the girl. "I've always...I've always wanted to apologise for what I did to you." She finally broke down, covering her face and hiding her tears – the first time she had ever truly expressed regret for her actions.

"You must have lived through so much horror." Kouta expressed sympathy towards the killer of mankind. "I'm not sure why those men on the beach tired to kill you when we first met. I'm not sure why those people tried to kill you before and why they are after you now, but something tells me that you've escaped from everyone's nightmare just to come and see me again."

Lucy smiled as she wiped away the tears. "Oh Kouta, if only you knew the kind of things those people had done to my kind...But I can no longer excuse myself for what I had done to you. No matter what has happened to me, the incarceration, torture and isolation, none of that has pained me as much as knowing the selfish actions I had committed against you..." When she had finally shed all her sorrow she rose back to her feet, gazing down at the pearly ocean. "Goodbye Kouta, that was all I could do to atone for my sins, now I must end this nightmare for everyone's sake."

But as soon as she tried to embark on her final journey she was trapped in Kouta's embrace. The young man started sobbing for her. "Please don't go! I can never forget what you did to my family, but...but I'm not sure why...But I just can't let you leave me again." Lucy lifted her hands so she could feel Kouta's arm warped around her shoulder. "I like the innocent child that I met eight years ago, and I like Nyu as well."

Lucy closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Oh Kouta..."

"I want you to stay with us at the Maple Inn forever...Because...because if I were to let you go and kill more people, I could never forgive myself."

Kouta's words brought the tears back into the horned angel's eyes. She turned around and gazed up at the boy who had changed her outlook on life forever. The boy who had given her both hope and despair. She looked into his sea blue eyes before closing her eyes so they could kiss.

She wrapped her tiny arms around his body, feeling his back and blushing with happiness. This was all she ever really wanted, to feel loved by someone. She swayed her head over his shoulder so she could feel the night's breeze brush against her soft face.

When she let go of Kouta she offered a tiny smile, a smile that showed more sadness than joy. "Goodbye Kouta, I promise I'll see you all back home soon..."

Kouta laughed as he held back his own tears. "You will return, Nyu's meal will be waiting by the table until then..."

Lucy couldn't bear to turn away from Kouta after finally being able to open up her true feelings for eight years. But she knew where her destiny lay. Each further step apart from him was like an extra tear cutting through her heart. She had finally escaped, she had met the one she was yearning for...and now it was going to end almost as soon as it all began.

...

At least she could thank Kouta for providing her with some happy memories of her childhood. A childhood which was otherwise tainted with misfortune of misery. She had made herself become a demon so she could fight against those who would abhor her. She gave birth to the darkness inside her soul, and together they were set to overthrow the human oppressors.

But when she could finally experience the pleasure of love – a feeling that binds all in peace, she no longer wished to wage war against humanity. She would defy her inner demon and try to change her outlook on the world. But all that would change yet again when she discovered Kouta's betrayal eight years ago.

"Why don't you join me in creating a new world, free from any pain and suffering?" Her inner demon would reach out to her sub-concious. When she saw another girl in the arms of the one she loved, she decided there was nothing left to protect the humans after all...they needed to be saved from their own selfish decadence. Lucy would offer these foolish souls freedom through the grim reaper's embrace.

And even when she snatched the life of Kouta's younger sister and father away from the boy, she still believed she could be friends with him. In her eyes she was owing him a favour. At least if she had killed everyone close to Kouta, then he would be forced to come back to her, so they could live together and keep each other warm in the otherwise cold and savage world. But her plan backfired, Kouta begged her to stop and only then did she realise the ramifications of her sins against the one she truly cared about. Without ever experiencing the privilege of having a family to nurture her, Lucy struggled at first to contemplate why Kouta cared about those people so much. But from the torrential rain of sadness pouring out of his eyes – soaking his crimson stained shirt, she knew she had taken away a part of Kouta's very existence...And so she left him to grieve his loss, realising that she would never feel loved by anyone again.

…

Lucy's life regressed into something more beastly, prowling amongst different households and murdering the occupants just so she could feed and clean herself for another night. She had no idea she was leaving a bloody trail that would stretch across the city...And she had no idea the amount of people that were now pursuing the trail and after her head.

As the bodies piled up behind Lucy, so did the fear and anger raised amongst the masses. Soon Lucy couldn't take a step out into the open street without dozens of blue-shirts converging and talking about the suspected killer. As the years passed by and the bodies formed a wall around Lucy's heart, she could hear their conversations discussing that more of these pink haired girls were killing others. They were led to believe that one particular pink-haired girl was behind everything and that she would need to be captured to stop the spread of these monster children.

Thus Lucy continued her life, barely surviving on the periphery on existence, until one day she had entered another household unlike the others she had previously invaded. Whilst most of the time she had murdered close-knit families, this one in particular possessed a sinister atmosphere. As soon as she entered the household she heard the screams of a girl, close to her own age. She discovered that the girl was being violently abused by her parents – the two guardians that she was led to believe were there to protect and love their offspring. Standing by the doorway, she could could see a part of herself in those girls blackened eyes. She wanted to save the girl who had been burdened with the same anguish as herself.

The girl, who would later introduce herself as Aiko, didn't seem upset at the demise of her parents like most of the other children she had encountered would often display. She promised she would take the girl away to a place where they could both be free.

But even she couldn't truly save this girl. Just like all the others she thought she could find solace with, something would inevitably lead them to break apart. Only this time, it wasn't betrayal that had broken their bond but the cold hard touch of a bullet ripping through Aiko's heart which would take away someone Lucy adored.

…

Eight years of isolation...eight years of complete solitude and loneliness...Eight years of complete and utter despair...Would finally come to an end...

Burningly bright lights illuminated the final battlefield as Lucy faced two walls of armed soldiers. This was to be her final stand against the humans who had made her live in hell on earth of the majority of her brief life.

"READY!" The soldiers raised their weapons, knowing full well the latent power the demon with pink hair and horns possessed.

Lucy shaped her lips to mouth one simple word as the bullets sprayed across the battlefield.

"Sorry..."

With Lucy's poignant thoughts we draw a close to this mini-series...Now stay tuned for the long-awaited sequel to the Anime: Elfen Lied: The Second Verse...