I'm finally back with another FT fic (MUCH shorter than my last one)! This was suggested/requested by Morningstar-Girl, who wanted to see me tackle the golden grassland scene in the same style as my last fic, Thy Eternal Summer. So, I decided to give it a shot, cuz the golden grassland scene is one of my absolute favorites. So yes, this fic is sort of a "sequel" to Thy Eternal Summer. It was a LOT of fun, and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

More adventures… I wanted to go on more adventures…

I wanted to see more of the world. I wanted to meet more of the Celestial Spirits. I wanted to make more friends, and spend more time with those I already cherished. I wanted so many things…

But a strange sense of relief washed over me as I faded and became detached from the physical world. This time, it wasn't darkness that awaited me, but a warm white glow. There was a silky texture to it as it wrapped around my being, enveloping me in the indescribable feeling of peace that it carried. Of course, there was nothing physical about the embrace, for those senses no longer existed for me.

What did exist for me, then? What was going to come next? Right now, nothing existed but the white glow. So, was I alone? Would I remain alone for eternity now, surrounded infinitely by nothing but that blissful light?

No, that didn't seem right. I wasn't alone. I couldn't see, hear, or feel them… but I was aware of their presence. Other beings like me, suspended in what was surely the afterlife. I couldn't place any names on them, and there was no recognition sparked within me, but for some reason I knew that they were all very dear to me. That they were… my friends.

Friends… what did that word mean? Should I know what it meant? It was such a warm and comforting word, one that I felt was very important to me for some mysterious reason. As I began to ponder over the concept of that word, a blurry, out-of-focus image of what seemed to be some sort of symbol caught my attention. It seemed to be an entirely foreign symbol at first, but as it slowly came more and more into focus, I gradually realized its shape.

Was it possible for a dead person to experience whiplash? I wasn't sure, but the sensation I felt as soon as the recognition resonated within me resembled it more than I would have liked. I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, and for the first time I felt incredibly uncomfortable inside that white radiance, as if I didn't belong there at all. I didn't want to be there anymore. I wanted out! I wanted to go back… wait, go back where? I had nowhere to go back to. I was dead.

How? How could I have let myself die? So many people had been counting on me! So many people… where were they? The people I cared so much for, where had they gone? Weren't they all surrounding me just a moment ago? Weren't they all–

No, wait… that's right. They had all died before me.

The whiteness surrounding me started melting away, but before I could experience any sort of relief, it was replaced with images. Images of people. A boy with spiky pink hair and a white scarf around his neck, another boy with messy black hair and a cross necklace on his chest, a beautiful woman with flowing scarlet hair and shining armor covering her upper body, a smaller girl with long blue hair tied into pigtails and a warm smile on her face.

And they were all proudly displaying that same symbol somewhere on their skin.

The symbol of Fairy Tail.

Of course, I was suddenly painfully aware that those four people were among the beings that had been surrounding me in the whiteness. To add salt to the wound, it struck me then that all four of them must also be dead. As soon as that realization dawned on me, names arose within my memory. The names of those four dead people. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy. Dead. Like everyone else from Fairy Tail.

Memories flooded in as more and more images cascaded through my mind. What was going on? Wasn't your life supposed to flash in front of your eyes before you died? I watched dozens of people die, including those four from before, I saw my right arm get gruesomely ripped off by a horrendous dragon, a blue-haired girl helped me enter some sort of portal… and then I saw me interacting with myself, and all those people I just watched die were alive again. As soon as I saw their smiling faces, the images weren't just images anymore. I remembered everything.

And then, as suddenly as it had all started, the cascade of images stopped. Everything fell into darkness, and… I felt heavy. Something was brushing against my skin. Wait… my senses were back?

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open. I was greeted by a beautiful, vast blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds, and the sweet smell of cherry blossoms swirled around my nose. Knitting my eyebrows together, I carefully pushed myself up into a sitting position to better take in my surroundings. All I could see in all directions was golden grassland, with each luscious strand swaying gently in the breeze.

"Where… am I?" I murmured to myself, still gazing around at the beautiful hills that surrounded me. It was an absolutely stunning landscape to behold, but how on earth had I gotten there? Why was I– wait, what was that weight on the right side of my body?

I looked down and there, helping to support me, was my right arm. Fully intact. The memory of that arm having been sliced off by a giant set of teeth resurfaced, but now it was here, attached to my shoulder, as it should be. In awe, I lifted my arm, and nothing could describe the euphoria that flooded through me when I saw that familiar pink symbol emblazoned on the back of my hand. Gently, ever so gently, I touched the symbol with my other hand. Real. My arm was really back. With a smile, I shut my eyes and cradled my own hand, a sigh of gratefulness slipping out from between my lips.

After a moment, I opened my eyes and let my gaze roam back over the swaying hills again before slowly pushing myself to my feet. Hesitantly, I took a few steps forward, turning my head left and right for any sign of where I was or why I was there.

"Oi! Lucy!"

It was a hauntingly familiar voice, and my legs stopped dead in their tracks. With my eyes wide, I turned towards where the voice had called from and saw a mass of people standing atop a nearby hill. At the front of the pack was a boy. A boy with spiky pink hair atop his head and a white scarf adorning his neck.

A wide smile spread across his face. "Get over here!" he called again.

I simply stared at him, dumbfounded, as the wind danced around me and played with my hair. It couldn't be. He was exactly as I remembered. I couldn't even blink, in case he might disappear. The smile never left his face though, as the floating, winged blue cat beside him spoke up.

"We're all here!"

Indeed, the cat was right. As my eyes scanned across the group of people, I easily recognized each and every one of them. Especially the three faces of those who completed Fairy Tail's strongest team. My eyes widened more and tears welled up as I made a small noise of disbelief. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I… I remembered everything. All of these people before me, they should all be dead! I should be dead too! What was going on here?!

Seeing my distress and confusion, the salmon-haired boy ran down the short hill and approached me with a wide, toothy grin. He didn't hesitate to hold out his hand for me. For a second, he just stood there with his hand stretched out, his eyes shut because of how wide his smile was. My vision blurred as the tears in my eyes threatened to leak. I looked at him in that moment and my heart pounded in my chest.

"Come on, the adventure continues!" he announced to me with an utterly heartfelt tone.

The golden grass danced around our ankles and the wind blew my pigtails around my shoulders and my bangs across my face. I stared longingly at that boy. I wanted, no, needed him to be real. The pain and utter sorrow of the moment he disappeared behind those giant teeth, I remembered how it paralyzed my body. Even now, I felt my muscles tense at the memory, especially at the last words he spoke to me: "Lucy… protect… the future…" I then remembered seeing him alive and well again after going through the Eclipse portal. I remembered so many things in that instant… and slowly, my body relaxed and my lips turned up in a smile of pure happiness.

"Okay!" I responded tearfully as the brimming wetness in my eyes finally spilled over. I reached out my hand and slid it tenderly into his palm. My heart leapt at the sensation of his warm fingers curling around my Guild mark, and when he pulled me forward, I allowed him to. I would let him lead me wherever he claimed our next adventure awaited us. Before I knew it we were running, hand in hand, back towards our fellow Guild members with Happy flying alongside us. As we ran, the Dragon Slayer turned his head and looked back at me, offering me another one of his perfectly sincere smiles. I couldn't help but return it as a small laugh rose from my throat.

Without taking his eyes off me, Natsu raised his fist into the air and let loose a confident cackle as he continued to lead me back towards my family. Our family.

Yes, the adventure will surely continue.

I hope I made up for the angst in my last fic with this one, lol.

Writing from a dead person's POV is super hard and I don't recommend doing it, haha. It was a fun challenge though, and I got to incorporate some things I've learned that might be true about death/going to heaven, which would be that even if you do run into someone you knew here on Earth, you might not recognize them. I thought that was a really intriguing idea, so I decided to use it here.

Also, the golden grassland scene is really ambiguous - like, is it supposed to be heaven, or is it supposed to be future!Lucy having come back to life along with everyone else? I was under the impression that it was the latter, so that was my mindset while writing this. Please pardon me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time to read! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think! :)

~ Tay