I own not a thing; Mashima is god.

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A cry of a phoenix, a single promise, and a wisp of smoke- and she was gone.

Just like that.

For the hundredth time that night, Lucy felt the sting of tears behind her eyelids; she'd cried so much that it hurt to shed a single tear.

It hurt even when she wasn't crying, too.

Lucy rolled onto her side, and the bed creaked. The hotel they'd booked in the nearest town to Veronica was pretty cheap, but everyone needed to sleep; it had been a trying night, to say at the very least.

And Lucy couldn't even shut an eye.

Images of the past few days flashed in her mind: a strange girl collapsing to the ground; eyes that told of sadness beyond belief; a featherless Phoenix rising from a stone; and a friend lying still in her arms, smiling up at her.

"You're quite special, you know. You make a connection with everyone you meet. Just like you did with me."

Lucy felt her shoulders tremble, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'm glad to have met you, truly."

The bed sheet bunched up between her fingers.

"Lucy, promise me, you'll cherish our memories."

She heaved a sob, placing a hand over her mouth. Why, why, was she so distraught? Yes she lost a friend, but if the Phoenix hadn't been stopped, millions would have perished; including her closest friends that she'd known for years. She'd only known Eclair for two days.

So why did it feel like she'd known her Lucy's entire life?

And of course she knew the answer: their pasts.

"You and I are alike. We both have the same look in our eyes."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your eyes; they serve as a window to your past. They tell me you've known sadness."

And Lucy felt another sob rack her body. Bile rose in her throat and she clenched at her chest, coughing. But she knew if she threw up, nothing would come out except stomach acid; Lucy hadn't eaten anything since the Phoenix's destruction. She couldn't bring herself to do anything, really. She felt so tired, so helpless, so...

Weak.

That's what she was: weak. She couldn't stop that villain and ended up failing her team, she weighed down her guild mates, she couldn't protect her home.

She couldn't help her friend when she needed it the most.

"It's okay Lucy, I've had a long life. I don't want to live any longer."

Lucy sat up and reached under her pillow to feel the rough weave of rope. She pulled the item into her lap.

Lucy traced the lines of the necklace with her finger.

It was caked with dirt and blackened by flames, it's strings coming undone, but Lucy couldn't bare to throw it out. Taking the metal clasp between her fingertips, she reached behind her neck.

The place where the stone would have resided pressed cold against her heart.

But all Lucy could do was burn.

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