Warning for anyone who has not read chapters 414 and 415 in the manga! Major spoiler! You can continue reading if you want to, but if you do, please do not blame me for the spoiler.

Natsu's eyes were wet with tears. He could hear his heart beating over the dull sound of someone's voice. Whose voice even was it? He couldn't tell. He didn't care. He sat through the speech for who knew how long. The only words that registered in his mind were, "...one of our strongest wizards, loved by all, someone who would die for her friends... and she did. Daughter of Layla and Jude Heartfilia, one of the last remaining celestial wizards, Lucy Heartfilia."

The moment he heard her name, that's the moment Natsu's heart truly shattered. As soon they said her name, he started sobbing. He hadn't ever cried this hard, not when future Lucy had died, or even Igneel.

When future Lucy died, Natsu knew that he would still have the Lucy he knew. That didn't stop the pain of seeing his best friend die.

After Igneel's death, Natsu was devastated. This was the dragon that had raised him, his father. He had disappeared for seven long years, and right when he comes back, he's gone, this time for good. Natsu would never be able to tell him what had happened in those lost years. The friends he had made, the family he had, the girl he loved. The only thing that helped him get through was knowing he had her. She knew the pain of losing a parent. She helped him cope, helped him to find a way to accept that this was a part of his life now. She alone had helped him get through the loss of his father.

Now she was gone. After everything they had been through, she was gone. She had gone on a few solo missions, and she wanted her personal space sometimes, but she always came back to the guild. They would go on some job together. Natsu would blow things up, Lucy would yell at him, Happy occasionally butt in with his little comments. "He loooooves you!"

He wondered if she noticed that he never actually denied it. Probably not. Natsu did love her, with all of his heart. She was his best friend. They had been through so much together. He loved her, even when she kicked him out of her apartment, or got annoyed with him for blowing things up or getting into it with Gray.

He loved her, almost always had. He had always cared for her. How could he not? She was his friend and teammate. But at some point, his feelings grew into something more than just fond affection. He started to develop real feelings for her around the time of The Viewing of Flowers. She was sick that day. The sky dragon slayer had tried to heal her, but she wouldn't fully recover until the festival was over. That meant she was going to miss the Rainbow Cherry Blossoms. The whole day she was absent, he sulked because he knew she was in bed, missing all the fun she had been looking forward to.

Natsu had noticed how she cared for all her friends, just as he did. She was willing to die for them. That became clear to him when Loke started to disappear. She had sobbed and clung to him for dear life. She cried that she wouldn't let him go, no matter what the cost. He was one of her friends, and it would kill her if any of her friends ever died. That's one of the things he loved most about her.

She was also smart. Natsu had secretly read some of her novel. She was an incredible writer, no matter what she might claim. He wasn't much of a reader, but he wanted to read anything she wrote. She strung her words together so beautifully. Her writing was nearly as beautiful as she was.

She flaunted her looks, and made comments on how cute she was, but Natsu wondered if she really knew how beautiful she was. Her brown eyes reminded him of chocolate, warm and comforting. Her skin was so soft and clear. Natsu didn't care much about fashion, but he liked the outfits she put together. Her golden blond hair fell on her shoulders and down her back when it was loose. At first, she kept it half up. Once she started keeping it in pig tails, he hardly ever saw it loose, unless she had been in battle. Those were the moments he loved and hated. She fought so hard to protect her loved ones. Although she was battered and bruised, her eyes shone with fierce determination. She fought relentlessly, and she was victorious more often than not. With her looks and her heart combined, Natsu was bound to fall for her eventually.

She didn't know it, but he often snuck into her bed and slept with her. The moments he loved the most were when he cuddled up with her at night. He loved the way she felt in his arms. He felt her soft hair against his cheek, and her cool body against his hot one. She calmed him down when he was heated up, and cooled him off at night. Sometimes she would entwine her feet with his under the covers.

Every once in a while, she would even snuggle up against his chest. He knew that she only turned in her sleep when she had bad dreams. Those were the nights he held her especially close. He would stroke her hair, and murmur her name softly. "Oh, Lucy."

Tears streamed down Natsu's face as he forced himself to look up at the horrifying scene in front of him. A headstone with the name Lucy Heartfilia and the dates of her birth and death underneath. X767 was the first year. The second was the one that hurt him to look at. It was this year.

It happened the day before.

They had taken on a job. They were supposed to defeat this powerful wizard. Happy didn't accompany them this time. He was too busy watching over a sick fellow Exceed. So Natsu and Lucy went alone. They had been in the heat of battle. Natsu was out of magic power, and so was she. The enemy stood a few feet away from him, chuckling at how easily Natsu had gone down. "Here I thought the great Natsu Dragneel would put up more of a fight," the voice boomed. A scoff followed. "I guess I was wrong."

The owner of the voice began to speak the spell to finish him off. As the caster spoke the last words, a name rang out in the air.

"NATSU!"

Lucy threw herself in front of Natsu. He could do nothing but watch as the spell hit her point-blank. She was thrown to the side. She was already bloody and bruised. It hurt to look at her before, but after that blast hit her? Natsu cringed when he spotted her broken figure close by. Seeing her like that gave him the strength to take down the enemy. "NOBODY LAYS A HAND ON HER," he heard himself scream. Flames engulfed his vision.

When it was over, he ran to her side. She wasn't breathing. He took her wrist in his hand and felt for a pulse. Where there was supposed to be a faint pulsating, there was nothing. His vision blurred. "No," he whispered. "LUCYYYYYY!"

He took her back to the guild. It was a trip that took eight hours to complete on foot. For nearly half a day, Natsu carried Lucy's lifeless body with him. The whole time, he couldn't believe it. He refused to. When he reached the guild hall, he fell to the floor, exhausted.

He awoke in a soft white bed the next morning. He was in the guild's infirmary. He still felt a bit weak, but that didn't matter to him. He demanded to know where Lucy was. A brokenhearted Happy announced that she hadn't made it. The funeral was that evening.

Natsu got ready for it drearily. Was this a dream? It had to be. There was no way this was real. It couldn't be. Lucy couldn't just be gone, could she? Of course not. He denied it up until the moment that he heard her name in the eulogy. "...would die for her friends... and she did... Lucy Heartfilia."