A/N: Hey guys! I got inspired to write this after watching the latest episode of fairy tail concerning Aquarius and the tragedy of her golden key. I'm fairly new to this, so go easy on me! But, keep in mind that I'm always open to constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy! :D

I do not own fairy tail!

Lucy sat on her bed with something clutched tightly to her chest. Her eyes red and swollen as she couldn't stop her tears from falling down her face. It was the middle of the night, but the poor celestial wizard couldn't sleep. The memories of what happened during Tartaros replayed in her mind like a broken record. When she thought she lost her teammates and family during her miraculous escape from alegria, she used every ounce of strength within her body in order to open Virgo and Loke's gates at the same time. She couldn't allow herself to believe for one second that her friends and family were gone, and when she was left with no choice, she forced herself to open a third gate -Aquarius.

The horrifying memories made her tremble and her heart felt as if it was shedding piece by piece yet again. She clutched the item tighter and she cried out for a moment. She hadn't told anybody what happened when she fought on her own during alegria. She felt the need to keep the pain to herself. Natsu just lost Igneel. Gray lost his father. Erza was beaten and tortured. Elfman was possessed and forced to destroy the guild. There was just way too much going on with everybody around her. Her friends and family were hurting and she didn't want to add her own pain to it all. She wanted to be strong for them, instead of making them feel obligated to be strong for her.

So, she went on with her days as if nothing had ever happened during that time. She didn't want to ruin the smiles that everybody shared. Tartaros only ended a few days ago, and everybody already seemed so joyful. Lucy hadn't seen much of Natsu since back then. It felt kind of lonely without him or Happy constantly around her. Especially now, since it seemed like things were changing. Master said he didn't want to rebuild the guild. What was he thinking? Everybody always pulled through after a tough battle. Master always rebuilds the guild when it gets destroyed. Master knows that, so what was he thinking?

Lucy sighed and slowly opened her palm. In the center of her palm sat half of a beautiful golden key. She frowned and shook her head before she closed her palm and laid her head softly on the pillow behind her, making sure to keep what was left of that beautiful golden key clutched tightly to her chest. Her eyes began to feel heavy, so she softly shut them. However, her mind wasn't so easy to shut. The memories of her very first friend continued to play in her mind, and her tears continued to seep past her shut eyelids until she finally fell fast asleep.

Once she was asleep, nothing in this world could wake her. She was still mentally and physically drained from the last battle only a few days ago. She didn't even hear her window open and the footsteps that followed after that.

"She fell asleep like that?" a small voice broke through the deafening silence of her room.

A small blue figure climbed up Lucy's bed and sat next to her head.

"Her face is all red and sticky, she must be hot," The blue exceed said quietly assuming that was the reason why Lucy fell asleep on top of her blankets as the blue cat looked up towards his partner who hadn't said a word since they broke into her apartment.

"Or maybe she got in a fight with a fish and the fish won," the small cat said with a menacingly grin plastered across his face before realizing his partner still hadn't said a word.

"Natsu?" The blue cat said quietly and worriedly while he looked up towards his partner once again.

Natsu gaped his mouth slightly as he continued to stare at the sleeping girl in front of him. He knew she didn't get into a fight with a fish. He knew she didn't get in a fight with anybody, period. The familiar scent of her tears lingered in her bedroom. Lucy had been crying, he was certain of it.

"Natsu, are you sure you want to do this?" his partner pouted before looking at Lucy once again.

Natsu was quiet for a moment. He couldn't take his eyes off of the sleeping girl in front of him.

He hadn't really seen her after the events with Tartaros. The thought of Lucy being separated from him and her fighting alone during that whole crazy alegria thing...Natsu grit his teeth as he reminded himself what happened back then. When Lucy explained what happened to her while everyone was frozen, it infuriated him. Lucy could have died fighting alone against those bastards. He clenched his fists and looked down for a second. He had to do this. There was no question to it. He needed to get stronger... for her sake...and for Igneel's sake.

"Yeah, lil buddy," Natsu responded quietly before he pat his partner on the head. He blinked and looked down when he felt trembling beneath his hand,

"Happy?" Natsu said sounding worried,

"I'm okay," Happy said biting his bottom lip and he looked at Lucy with wide, teary eyes.

This was a lot harder than he imagined.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright lil buddy," Natsu sounded confident as he tried to comfort Happy, but Happy only sniffed in return as he wiped his tears away.

"Natsu? I'm gonna go see Carla. I'm gonna leave her my most treasured fish." Happy sniffed and pointed at the little green bandana tied to his back. Natsu gave him a sympathetic smile,

"Sure, buddy. I'll see you later," He said and pat Happy's head once again.

Happy frowned as a pair of angelic wings sprouted from his back. He slowly began to hover in the air and he made his way towards the window before he stopped and faced Lucy one last time before he quickly took off outside.

Natsu watched his partner leave. Happy was having a hard time saying goodbye...but it's not really goodbye, is it? No. It's only for a little while. Natsu looked at Lucy once again before he took a step forward and kneeled next to her. The thought of her crying enraged him. Who made Lucy cry? Natsu wanted to rip whoever was responsible apart limb by limb before burning them to smoldering ash.

Knowing she had been crying only made this more difficult for him. He reached his hand out and carefully moved a piece of hair out of her face before he softly wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Luce, don't cry." He whispered and watched her sleep. She seemed peaceful, but...something about her seemed so sad.

He stood up after watching her for a few moments. He leaned over her and grabbed her blankets before he quietly and carefully placed them over the sleeping girl. She didn't wake up, but as soon as she was under them, a soft, yet sad smile formed on her face.

Natsu looked out the window realizing it would be dawn soon. He didn't want to leave her yet. All he really wanted to do was crawl in that bed with her and sleep. He was most comfortable next to her, and not to mention her bed was the closest thing to sleeping on a cloud. But, reality hit him. He needed to do this...for her sake.

A soft smile formed across his face before he slowly leaned down and softly pressed his forehead against her own. He closed his eyes and stayed like this for a minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. After what seemed like ages, he opened his eyes to look at her for a moment. The sadness in her sleeping form seemed to vanish, and Natsu couldn't help but to grin.

"I love you, Lucy Heartfilia," he whispered before his lips softly brushed her own. After a moment, he took a step back and began to walk towards the window. He wished he could have told her when she was awake, but he feared being rejected if he told her. He didn't want to mess up their friendship. He turned around and looked at her one last time before he climbed out of the window and went home.

The next day, Lucy took a long bath before she got dressed. She grabbed her keys and hurried to the park to meet Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Lily, and Levy.

"Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee! Cancer!" She yelled and waved the golden key in front of her. The giant crab-like man suddenly appeared next to her.

"Need a new do? Ebi!" He snipped his scissors in front of him,

"Cancer, can you restore Wendy's hair back to its original length?" Lucy asked, poor Wendy ended up losing the length of her hair during one of the battles at Tartaros.

"Sure, Ebi! No problem!" Cancer said and immediately began to soak and massage Wendy's scalp.

The process didn't take long at all, once Cancer was finished, Wendy grinned and twirled around,

"Wow! My hair's back to its original length!" She yelled excitedly,

"Easy-Peasy, Ebi!" Cancer snipped his scissors in front of him as Wendy happily made her way to Lucy,

"Thank you so much, Lucy!" She said as Lucy happily smiled and pat Wendy's head.

"No problem! This hairstyle looks better on you anyway, to be honest!" She giggled before she heard Cancer ask her if she wanted longer hair too. She thought about it for a second, but she wasn't sure. She asked Wendy for her opinion, and Wendy thought longer hair would look good. So, why not? Lucy agreed, but she told Cancer to go easy on her. She didn't want Flare's length, after all.

She was happy, especially when she was with her friends. She only wished Natsu and Happy would come around. It's been about a week since she last saw them, and it was starting to become eerily quiet without them around. The thought of Aquarius crossed her mind several times, but she blocked them out and enjoyed the company of the friends around her, she needed to be strong for all of them.

Lucy spent the day at the park with Wendy and Carla. Gajeel, Levy, and Lily left after a while, they were headed to the guild. Well, the debris of what was left from the guild. On her way home, she thought about visiting Natsu and Happy. Maybe scolding them would make them come back! But...she couldn't do that. No matter how much she wanted to see Natsu. He had just lost Igneel, so...she understood why he wanted to be alone right now...it was just so hard because...she missed him.

"Home sweet home," Lucy said with a fatigued sigh and put her house key into the lock of her home. She paused immediately and furrowed her brow upon hearing something on the other side of the door.

"There's somebody there," She said quietly wondering who would break into her apartment before she thought about two specific intruders who were typically caught breaking into her home.

"It's probably Natsu and Happy," She whispered to herself. Part of her set her hopes high when she thought about Natsu being on the other side of the room. It was already a week since she'd last seen him! She clutched her hand to her chest and a soft smile formed across her face. Natsu...

She blinked and slapped her cheeks slightly. She couldn't act like this in front of him! He would totally tease her and call her weird about it! Not to mention Happy's ridiculously annoying taunts!

She took a deep breath and let out a slow sigh. She had to act natural,

"YOU'RE IN MY ROOM AGAIN!" She yelled loudly and quickly flung the door open expecting to catch the two intruders in the act, but when she looked around the room, there wasn't a soul to be seen.

"Natsu?" She creased her eyebrows and looked to the floor with a melancholic frown. She set her hopes so high when she thought she was about to see her best friend after an entire week... but, reality had other plans for her and shattered those high hopes into so many little pieces.

She walked towards her couch and spotted a white envelop on her coffee table. It was odd because she didn't recognize it.. but, it looked like a letter.

"Huh?" She cautiously picked the letter up and examined it front and back, but it was still unfamiliar to her.

There wasn't even a name on the envelop. Lucy swallowed her breath before she slowly opened the letter.

"That's some horrible handwriting..." She said quietly as she looked over the letter. Once she was able to make out what it said, her eyes quickly widened to the size of saucers. Her heart increased rapidly and she was forced to gasp for air.

Happy and I will go on a journey while training. And we'll be back in about a year or so. So take care of everybody alright!

See ya, Lucy!

Natsu & Happy

"Wha...wha...?!" She immediately dropped the letter. She couldn't gather her thoughts. What was going on? Where were they?! With no thought to it, she took off running out her front door,

"WHAT THE HELL!" She exclaimed loudly as she continued to run. Were they really gone!? ...No, they couldn't be gone!

"What are they thinking!? Going on a trip just like that! Going on a trip without me!" Lucy yelled out loud as she didn't slow her running pace down. She was in denial about the whole thing. She needed them! She needed Natsu! She didn't even get to tell the idiot how much she loved him!

By this time, tears were violently falling from her face. She felt a strong sense of numbness within the pit of her stomach. Her chest ached and the inside of her chest felt as if it were being shred to pieces. She hadn't felt this sense of pain since her mother died.

She continued to run hoping to catch up to him, but her thoughts went back to Aquarius.

"Ngh!" She grunted and grabbed her throbbing chest tightly in fear of it ripping open.

"If...If they did somethin-.." She sobbed. She couldn't even catch her breath..

"I'D BE SO LONELY...STUPID..!" She exclaimed with tears falling down her face as she continued to run after him, hoping she would catch him. Run into his arms, and tackle him to the ground. She needed him! He was the only one who could comfort her!

"NATSU!" She screamed before she lost all muscle in her legs. She tripped and slowly sat up on her trembling knees and stared down the road hoping to see him running towards her...but, no matter how long she waited, he never came for her. He never came back..