The weather in Magnolia was absolutely horrid.
Painted a bleary gray, the clouds above refused to allow even a sliver of sunshine to dazzle the land. Not only had it been extremely overcast for the last week, but finally, the sky had allowed the rain to angrily barrage the lands. Soon after the rain began pelting down, thunder shook the people of Fiore to their cores and lightning succeeded in frightening many people. There were floods everywhere, along with damage to houses and everything else that came along with extreme weather conditions.
It was just another event to add to the series of unfortunate events that had been Lucy Heartfilia's week. First, Natsu and the others had tagged along on her job, and while she loved them to bits – she really did – she loathed the path of destruction they paved wherever they went. Her reward was revoked even though she finished the job to pay for the damages caused by her team, effectively leaving her completely broke. No money meant no rent money, so today she went home from the guild hall and was confronted by the landlady, who proceeded to kick her out until she was able to pay her rent. Shortly thereafter, the torrential downpour restarted after a day-long hiatus, and all she wished for was a bit of sun.
So here she was, drenched and sitting on the front doorstep of her apartment, head on her knees as she tried not to focus on what was really bothering her. It was nearing that time of year: the anniversary of her mother's death.
Over time, she had grown accustomed to it, and it had even started to become easier – but that was before she lost Aquarius, too. Every year on the same day, she would summon Aquarius and it would make her feel better, even if was just the tiniest bit, because Aquarius was connected to Layla as well. She never really spoke of it to the spirit, but Lucy was sure Aquarius knew the purpose of her summoning; she would never admit it, but she was a little kinder to Lucy on those days. However, now, she could not summon Aquarius anymore.
She had no mother, no father, and she had lost the one spirit to whom she was closest. It seemed to be a constant down-spiral.
Her grip on the broken key in her hand tightened, willing herself to feel some sort of connection to her lost spirit, but it was to no avail. There was no way for the contract to ever be reinstated; she had searched for one for countless hours on top of all the research about the whereabouts of her friends, but nothing she found even mentioned the summoning of the Celestial Spirit King, let alone repairing a celestial key.
The sound of thunder booming shook her back to her senses, reminding her of her current predicament: money. As soon as they returned, Gray and Juvia dashed off for a job to take care of the floods, while Erza left to help rebuild an area of a nearby town that had been heavily affected. Even Levy was off on a mission with Gajeel (Lucy was ecstatic because recently they had owned up to their feelings for one another). Natsu and Happy were probably at the guild hall and willing to do a job, but she could not bring herself to go. Perhaps it was her current state or her preference to keep Aquarius's permanent departure to herself, but she was unsure if she could show up at the guild and face everybody.
"Lucy?"
Her luck had officially hit rock bottom. As she lifted her glossy stare to meet the confused on of Natsu, she felt her heart skip a beat. His hair was soaked, bangs matted to his forehead and water dripping from every lock. The gaze he gave her was not only perplexed, but it shone with concern (which was not surprising, because she too would be concerned if she found one of her friends sitting outside in the middle of a thunderstorm). With his sopping mess of hair and almost puppy-like eyes, he was actually kind of cute.
"What are you doing out here?! You're soaking wet!" Happy exclaimed, popping up from under Natsu's jacket.
Seeing the both of them made her lip quiver, but she kept her composure in check. "I didn't make my rent on time," she admitted, slightly whining. "So I got kicked to the curb."
Instinctively, her fist tightened again around Aquarius's key, her eyes dropping so she did not have to look them in the eyes.
"You look just as miserable as the sky!" Happy pointed out, clearly finding the inclement weather just as contemptible as any other feline.
Lucy did not respond.
"Hey, Natsu! What's takin' you so long to get Lucy?" Gray shouted, approaching them with Erza and Wendy hot on his heels.
"Lucy? Are you alright?" the redhead questioned, clearly appalled by finding her comrade in such a wretched condition – dismal and drenched.
Lucy's big brown eyes took in her friends – her team – and she felt her eyes beginning to water. Suddenly, she was thankful that the rain was able to conceal the few tears that escape from her eyes. "You guys are all here…"
"We were worried when Mira said you didn't show up today," Wendy explained. Her arms were held over her face, as if to create a make-shift umbrella that would protect her from the rain. "So we came to get you!"
"Good thing we did," Erza nodded, "else you might have caught a cold."
They all came. I'm not alone. Her lip began trembling again, eyes threatening to release more waterworks as she glanced between her friends. Then a hand came down on top of her head, tender and reassuring, and her eyes widened.
"Don't worry about your rent, Lucy," Natsu grinned down at her. "We can go take a job now!"
"And we don't mind giving you all of the reward," Wendy exclaimed, smiling. "We're all fine on money for now!"
"Yeah, and if you lose your apartment, we won't be able to come over anymore!" Happy added.
Lucy smiled, looking down and nodding. "Thanks, you guys."
"Anything for our friend," Erza responded, arms crossed over her chest and a nurturing smile on her face.
Natsu's hand slipped from her head down to her own hand, grabbing it and pulling her to her feet. "Now let's go! We can't let all the others pick out all the good jobs!"
"Yeah!"
As they group ran through the streets, smiling and laughing like old times, Lucy found herself thanking whatever forces had managed to bring them together. She would not trade them for anything in the world, she noted as she slipped Aquarius's key into her pocket. Fairy Tail was her life now; it was a part of her that could never be erased, no matter how much anyone tried.
And as she glanced up through the rain at the clouds, she decided she did not necessarily need the storm to go away – because she already found her sunshine.