This is a pairing that I adore, but it gets so little love.
The timeline in this fic is a little bit important. It takes place after Tartaros.
One of these days Dan was going to have to be smothered with his own pillow, Mary decided. For the good of all. She flipped onto her other side, pulling her blanket over her ears in an attempt to drown out her friend's deafening snores. Even asleep, Dan excelled in being loud and obnoxious. After the day they'd just had - accidentally thwarting would-be ancient artifact smugglers while in pursuit of their own far flung clock pieces - Mary really needed all the shut-eye she could get.
It didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.
Groaning, she flopped onto her back. Mary gazed up at the sky. There were a lot of stars, this far from anywhere. Countless, bright specks in the darkness.
Idly, she began to count them. If it worked with sheep, then surely it would work with stars. Stars were so much prettier, besides. Golden, and shining.
Looking at them, she wished she had learned the names of the constellations. Would they feel closer, if she could place their faces? Would Lucy, and Fairy Tail, feel closer if she could see Lucy's Spirits in the sky?
Those days where they fought Fairy Tail, where they hunted Lucy Heartfilia... they seemed like an age ago. But still crisp around the edges in Mary's memory. Fresh, even though it had been almost a year already.
There wasn't much news of the guild these days. Not much by way of news ever reached this far into the barrens, but the silence seemed strange. Trouble following that guild and its members around like a lovesick... Dan.
A cool breeze brushed her cheek, sweeping her companion's snores a little further away.
She hoped Lucy was okay. Mary hoped that she was having fun with her friends, her makeshift guild family. She hoped that her days were full of fun and adventures, keeping her teammates from destroying everything in their path. That Lucy visited her parents' graves often, and had only happy things to tell them. Mary bet her Spirits were always by her side, protecting and showering the Celestial mage with warmth and love.
Most of all, Mary wished upon the stars that shot through the clear sky that someday they would see each other again, and have nothing but happy stories to share.
