Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, which is probably a good thing xD

Get ready for some angst! I hope you enjoy~

Blood.

It was everywhere.

Lucy's blood.

Lucy was dying and there wasn't anything the rose-haired mage could do.

He begged the Wind Dragon Slayer to do something, anything. Though the sapphire haired girls silent tears told him all he needed to know.

Lucy wasn't going to make it.

The blonde woman gasped for air, a horrible sound that Natsu knew he would never forget. She couldn't get enough of it despite her frantic attempts to draw air into her collapsed lungs. She coughed, blood dripped down from the corners of her mouth.

"N-Nats-su…" she struggled and immediately he clutched at the hand that she outstretched towards him.

"Don't talk!" He ordered, barely able to recognize the sound of his own voice. It was frantic, desperate. "You need to focus on healing okay?"

"Natsu-san…" This time, it was Wendy who spoke. Her uncertainty was clear in her voice, "I-I think you should let her say what she wants to say-"

"No!" Natsu shouted, shocking the younger Dragon Slayer into silence. He'd never yelled at her like that before. But how could she even suggest something like that? "She can say whatever she wants to say to me when she heals up!" He turned his gaze back down to Lucy, whose breathing had become a little bit less frantic. Her eyelids were drooping and her eyes lacked their usual spark, Lucy's grip on his hand weakened.

"Lucy!" He exclaimed, "Lucy, Lucy!" He squeezed her hand tightly, his whole body shook with so many emotions that he couldn't even think straight.

Slowly, Lucy's eyes moved from where she'd been staring at nothing before, and she met his gaze.

Obsidian clashed with liquid brown.

Then she smiled.

Despite all that was happening, the chaos of battle not far from where they were… Natsu's breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened. How could she be smiling? How could she… when she was clearly in a lot of pain? His eyebrows furrowed as he forced a smile as well.

"Hey, that's what I like to see." He said, much quieter than all of his prior outbursts. "Everything is going to be okay," keeping a good grasp on her hand with one of his own, he reached out with his other and wiped away a tear that had spilled from her eye. "Just hold on a little bit longer, okay? Porlyusica can fix you up when we get back to the guild."

Wendy was sobbing into her hands now.

"I-I had a l-lot of-," Lucy coughed wetly and more blood emerged from her lips, she grimaced. Natsu's smile froze on his face. "F-fun, p-partner." she finished after a long moment of trying to get enough air to do so. She struggled to smile again for her friend.

"Yeah? Good! We can have a lot more fun after all of this is over, how about we go to the beach and train there for a little while? Like back before the Magic Games? That was a lot of fun!"

Slowly, Lucy's smile faded.

Her eyelids drooped once more and her hand became completely limp in his grasp.

The celestial mage's head dropped to the side and her unseeing eyes stared straight ahead.

Wendy's sobs became louder and Natsu's heart squeezed tightly within his chest. This wasn't happening. He had to be having some kind of horrible nightmare.

He shook his head, tears prickling at his eyes as he stared at the face of his unmoving partner.

"No…" he trailed off, "No no no, no!" he exclaimed again, trading Lucy's hand for her whole body as he pulled her close to him. Hugging the young womans broken body and buried his face into the crook of her neck, he inhaled deeply and his body began to shake again.

Already her scent was fading.

Her beautiful, intoxicating scent, jasmine and rain, was mixing with a scent he never wanted to experience smelling on a friend. Especially not on Lucy.

Death.

The smell of blood and death was quickly overwhelming Lucy's sweet scent. The scent that he had so long ago become accustomed to, become familiar with.

"Lucy!" He cried out, throwing his head back in despair as he shouted. Tears rolled down his cheeks freely before he hugged the blonde's body tighter to himself and buried his face in her hair.

His anguish-filled wails could be heard even through the distant sounds of battle.

Please review~ I'd love to hear what you all think!