Chapter 1: The Prophecy
A/N: This is set based a few months after the events of the Tartarus Arc, although as if the guild had not disbanded, and Magnolia had recovered somewhat.
'Sing to those once fortune told,
A prophecy thousand days of old.
One of flame and one of steel,
One with the great power to heal.
One of light and one of dark,
And one that brings a brilliant spark.
Each will lose most precious to the heart,
And fight until they fall apart.
But gathered once more they were,
All because of her.
One of beauty, one of grace,
The Chosen One will put everything in place.
Eyes of crystal and hair of ink,
She is not everything you think.
She is the one of water…'
In the town of Magnolia, the flowers were in full bloom, the vibrant colours ranging from bold violet to sunshine yellow to blood soaked red. Stall after stall selling their finest quality products down every city street. But Lucy wasn't really paying too much attention to the bleak flowers. No, she was watching the beautiful mess of salmon pink hair walking in front of her in the crowded streets. The said boy was talking to his companion and his best friend Happy, oblivious to the wistful stares coming from behind him. They had finally arrived home from another big mission which resulted in them losing about a third of their money due to Natsu's need to destroy things. And usually, Lucy would spend the whole way home whining about the lack of rent money for the month. But today, Lucy couldn't think of the money, not with today being that day. It had been a whole year since then and Lucy had a sliver of hope that Natsu would remember. Apparently she was wrong.
Today, a year ago, Lucy had watched herself die and after all she had been through, she thought she would be able to move on from that moment in her life. But it was there, as vivid as the flowers around her. But that wasn't all she was thinking about. She was thinking about her feelings, more specifically, her feelings towards her partner and best friend. Over the past year, her heart skipped faster as Natsu grew even more protective of her, even going as far as making sure she didn't just break down. But who could blame her? She had lost so much. Her future self. The guildhall again. Aquarius. Losing Aquarius, her oldest and most trusted friend, during the battle against Tartarus hit her the hardest, so hard that Natsu, Gray and Erza took turns staying at her place, holding her if she broke down and stopping her if she tried to do anything seriously harmful. It was since then that she really noticed him. His warmth and tenderness. His dark onyx eyes, two pools that led to nowhere. The way his muscles flexed when he moved. She noticed each part of him, one after the other until she began to notice his lips. Lucy shook her head, her cheeks almost as red as Erza's hair.
'You can't do this…He's just your partner and nothing more. You have no right to play the pity party' she thought.
And she was right. Natsu had done nothing but support her, pushing away his own problems and putting her first. He had found and lost his father, Igneel, within a few hours, as well as discovering that he had been inside Natsu the entire time. Natsu hadn't said a word about it but Lucy could tell that he was suffering. His posture was stiffer than usual, his lips always set in a hard line, his laugh not quite the same and his eyes looking even darker, if that was even possible.
'I need to make him feel better about his situation without revealing my feelings for him. But how can I do that?' Lucy thought. 'He needs something that will bring him back from his sorrow and maybe…. maybe I can bring myself back in the process.'
Unfortunately, Lucy was oblivious to the dark shadowed figure that was a short distance away. For if she had seen the man, she would have noticed the wilted flowers that surrounded him and begun to be suspicious. She wouldn't have suffered even more heartbreak and pain. She wouldn't have watched as the man she loved was killed.