The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die

Disclaimer: Credit goes where credit is due

It's July 7, X786 and Natsu's at a grave.

He has a single present in his hands wrapped in a casing of iron, courtesy of Gajeel. The other Dragon Slayer understands the importance of this day for Natsu.

It's been three years since Lucy died.

Natsu's in front of the only gravestone in the entire Magnolian Forest. It's within half a mile of his house and is even further away from Magnolia than his and Happy's dwelling.

He places the metal-coated box in his hand of the ground, right on top of the thin layer of new green leaves and moss that surround the erect stone. It's right next to two other boxes, one covered with bronze and the other with silver. Natsu supposes he should have brought a gold box this year to continue the trend, but he just doesn't. Maybe it's because Lucy never really cared for the color gold unless it was on a Celestial Key.

The box contains a key, but the wrappings themselves sure aren't gold.

Every year up to this one, he's managed to get a Key holder to open up one or two of gates for a golden spirit using Lucy's keys. The first year, Ares was summoned and agreed to have her key sealed in a box and placed in a forest.

"I've had too many people who've abused me. Lucy was the only master I've ever had who treated me like a human being. If she's dead, I should no longer exist in this world. You might as well destroy it, but if this gives you more closure, then go for it."

Aquarius and Scorpio had both been sealed together last year. The normally aggressive mermaid and her boyfriend had been solemn as they had been summoned, as if they both expected that this would happen.

"She could be annoying and tear me away from Scorpio all the time, but she was still my friend. I might have denied it, might have hated it at times, and might have hated her at times, but she was always there. She still deserved being washed away sometimes though."

"We are reunited by her when we thought we would never be on the same side in the human world again. We are grateful for everything she did for us- she even sacrificed her life! We are forever in her debt, even if she's dead. We are willing to search for her forever in the world of the spirits with our sand and powers."

Natsu thought it was surprising that Loke agreed to be put away in a box this year. Natsu always assumed that the Lion spirit would be the last to be encased in a box. Apparently, that wasn't true.

Natsu would always recall the day when Loke had suddenly come out into the mortal world, clothed in a pair of footie pajamas, his arm wrapped around a tan lion plush. The area around Loke's eyes had been red and puffy, as if he was still mourning Lucy.

It had only hit Natsu later that those the two and a half years that he had to get over Lucy's death had only been ten months to Loke.

"I-" Loke had said as he collapsed on the floor in tears. "Don't want this anymore. I don't want to feel like this, I don't want interaction with other Spirits, I don't want a new master- I want to be sealed away until kingdom come."

So that's the true reason why Loke's box is cloaked in iron.

Natsu kneels down and rests his head against Lucy's gravestone. Soon enough, the gray surface is streaked with small rivulets of water. He doesn't speak; he can't speak.

There's a small crunch of dead brambles breaking from behind Natsu. He doesn't even bother to turn his pink-topped head away from the stone in front of him. Natsu recognizes those footsteps. They're large and pompous with a small taint of soft defeat, accompanied by the smell of pine trees.

The Magnolian Forest doesn't have any type of evergreen trees.

"Gray." Natsu simply says.

"Natsu." Gray's sad, deep voice slowly comes closer. "Capricorn appeared and asked Gajeel to seal him up as well. I have his box right here."

Gray chucks a blue plated box at Natsu. The dragon slayer barely manages to turn around in time and catch it.

"Thanks," Natsu quietly says. He meets Gray's eyes and sees the start of two tears there.

Natsu has to tear his gaze away as two more packages bruise his side. He raises one cheek and gives Gray a look that pegs him as insane.

"Virgo, Sagittarius, and Taurus are in one." Gray quickly supplies, turning away from Natsu. "Gemini and Cancer are in the other."

Gray rushes off before Natsu can say anything else. Natsu assumes Gray's going to go cry, not like he blames the ice mage.

Natsu gathers the- there's so many this year- four boxes on the ground without a word and begins to dig with his hands. The two boxes from years before sit in the dirt like stepping stones in a stream, moss tickling their edges. Before he can really contemplate what's just happened, there's four identical holes in the ground.

Natsu carefully picks up Loke's box and lowers it into one small pit. The silver surface becomes lightly browned as dirt forms a thin film over the sides. He gives the coffin- that's all it is, a coffin- a kiss before brushing a small amount of foliage from the forest floor around the sides of the lid.

Capricorn's box goes into the ground next. Natsu can't help but imagine the goat man huddled in the corner of a room, waiting for his princess to join him again. He has to keep himself from even letting out the smallest tear as Capricorn is secured in the ground; he still has five friends to bury.

The next two boxes that he immerses in the dirt fall into an emotionless routine. All he can think of the entire time is that he's saying goodbyeto seven people- they were never just spirits to him- in one day.

Natsu tires, and fails, to restrain his emotions. In his eyes, he's not alone in the forest. He's surrounded by the spirits of people that he's had to leave of have left him.

He has no ties to Lucy now.

Natsu supposes this is the best way for life to go now. He's left alone, unmatched, free; like he was before Lucy. He has no chains that restrict him to one thing or another.

So maybe Lucy was supposed to die.

Maybe.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"She isn't supposed to feel sad or cry tears; she was only supposed to be the girl who was meant to die."

I feel like I can only write angst lately… Angst or a kid Loke…

The ending kinda sucks for this, but it's the ending. I'll have a short bonus chapter up soon for this after I finish more of Hush Little Child, my Harry Potter/Fairy Tail crossover. And the word 'supposed' is a key part in the bonus inspiration. *evil laughter*

This was inspired when I was flipping through the story Lucy the Dragon slayer by CupcakeGirl633. I read the lines "He looked at all 5 presents on his table. They were all neatly wrapped, for Lucy, for each year she was gone, for each birthday." and I flew to the computer and started to write, even though there was still some of the chapter left to read. ^^'

I hoped you enjoyed! Please give me your feedback!

~Phoenix's Moon