If you follow my TNM fic, then you'll guess what this is. Enjoy my 'blue' fic.

Song inspirations for this one shot;

'Breathe' - Anna Nalick

'Chasing Cars' - Snow Patrol.


Team Natsu, along with a large part of Fairy Tail, walked through the scattered and burning ruins of a small town called Middelcraw. It was a fair distance from Fiore and had been horribly attacked by a flock of poisoned wyverns.

The guild had been called to order among a few other guilds, Sabertooth and Lamia Scale being two of them, to assist the army in searching for survivors and putting down any remaining wyverns in the area.

From what they could see, it was complete devastation. After seeing what the war with Alvarez and Zeref had done to Fiore's lands, they all had hoped it would be a long time before they saw such a scene again.

Lucy was exhausted, she had taken down two wyverns by herself just twenty minutes ago and was currently walking with Natsu, Happy and Erza to the meeting point that Fairy Tail had agreed to.

It was only hours after the flock had hit, the blow had been hard because Fairy Tail was already on their way here to help out when they got the call. The wyverns had attacked ahead of the prediction time, resulting in the fact that they were too late to help or at least stave off some of the damage.

Lucy felt the need to scrub her skin raw, her eyes carefully blank as she ignored the smell of blood and dust. She could only imagine how strong it would be to Natsu's sensitive nose.

A sharp cry made her attention move from the crumbled ruins of a house to a group of soldiers, all hovering and shouting at something.

Lucy's POV

I frowned confusedly, noticing Laxus and his team approaching us from the other way.

My eyes returned to the commotion, and I stilled when I saw what they were shouting at.

A little girl, with bloodied hair, clutching the fabric of a shirt, that was on a lifeless body. Her face was flushed with anger, as she shouted back at the soldiers, her hands twisted into the shirt possessively.

I heard Natsu vaguely ask what was wrong before my eyes narrowed, when one of the soldiers, swooped down to grab the girl's arm and yank her away. I broke out into a jog as she struggled, her efforts stuck to caring after the body even though he was shaking her quite abruptly.

I heard Natsu's feet behind me, as I leaped forward, and struck my balled up fist against the soldiers jaw. He dropped the girl in shock, who returned to her fetal position, curled over the bloodied chest.

The soldier sneered at me, wordless and attempted to push me out of the way, but I tensed my muscles, and kicked his knee out from underneath him. He cried out in pain as I remember Natsu's teachings from just a few days ago.

Steady, pivot, clench, release.

I steadied my weight and began to build the pressure by tensing my core, lifted my leg a little to give a bit of momentum to my pivot, clenched my thigh and pointed my foot a little then swung my foot around, releasing that knot at my core as my foot smacked the soldier's head.

He let out a groan and dropped to the floor as I momentarily smiled a little, proud that a roundhouse kick was now successfully on my resume.

I turned to the little girl who paid me no mind, not surprised to find Natsu shoving a soldier down. When he turned around to talk to me, he stopped, eyes going wide. It also didn't surprise me that he hadn't seen the soldier grab the girl, that he has just charged in as soon as I did.

The motion touched me but we had bigger things to take care of.

Her shoulders shook, her hands covered in blood and dirt. Her brown hair was knotty and dirty, falling out of a probably neat pony tail. She couldn't have been older than 9.

I barely noticed the rest of Fairy Tail walking over, as a few more soldiers showed up. The leader seemed to glance around to the groaning counterparts, before focused on the girl.

"Excuse me Miss…" She showed no reaction, continuing to clutch and stare at the body in front of her. Some part of me twitched, like a wound that had been healing, being suddenly poked.

"We need to examine and move the body, you need to let go."

"Go away!" She shouted, before muttering, "I'm protecting her. She's just sleeping. It's my turn to protect her."

My heart clenched a little at the words spoken as the soldier opened his mouth to reply when I heard my voice, calm and strong. Despite how shook I was inside by this scene, I remained polite and composed, "Give us a few minutes."

The soldier frowned, taking a step forward as Natsu placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Who are you?"

"She's Lucy Heartfilia, a Fairy Tail Mage buddy. And you better give her those minutes." Natsu stated, his voice low enough to almost be a growl as I took a few steps towards the girl then crouched down beside her.

The bottom of my black cape, brushed and pooled at the ground. She didn't even move when I adjusted myself to a more comfortable position. I spoke to her gently, noticing the wince of pain when she heard my voice.

"I won't tell you to let her go. Nobody has any right to say that."

Her eyes cut to me, wild and petrified. She nodded once, twice before leaning over the body protectively.

"Is she your Mother?" I asked softly, as she nodded again.

"I remember when my mother…" I drifted off when I noticed her gaze, slowly becoming blank and unapproachable. I had seen this before, I had felt this before. That state of shock, when you held someone dear to you in your hands, and they weren't alive anymore.

"I was 8 when it happened." I told her, supporting myself on a hand as she kept her eyes on her mother's body.

"I think I knew she was sick before, but she hid it well." I smiled, "The day she passed, I was in her room. My father was away on a business trip, and she had called me in. I was told not to touch her, because she was very weak and I could hurt her."

She barely moved, didn't speak. Just stared at the body. But her hands clutched the shirt tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"We sat there and talked. It felt like forever when it happened but now that I think back on it, it could have only be a few minutes. Just a few minutes, for her to tell me what she wanted to. She started with how proud she was, talking about my happiness and how much she loved me."

I shook my head with a small laugh, almost missing the way her eyes shifted to me.

"I remember thinking, why was she talking about this? I asked her a few times and she had told me not to interrupt, that to let an 'old lady' gush about her daughter. Seemed ridiculous but I allowed it."

"What happened then?" The smallest, softest whisper stated, so quiet that I had to bend my neck to hear it clearly.

"She asked if I would stay with her while she slept. I told her yes, and we shared our 'I-love-you's'. Then, I watched her close her eyes… very slowly. And she took a deep breath in, and died."

"I'm sorry about your mom." She whispered and I shook my head, "I'm sorry about yours."

"She's not dead. She can't be. She was breathing a second ago!"

"I know you want that to be true... I know you want to think she will suddenly start breathing again.." I told her, and she breathed heavily, shoulders shaking, small mouth in a scowl as I stated softly, "But it wasn't a second ago. She's pale…" I reached out and she flinched before watching my hands touch the forehead of her mother, very gently. The skin was cold and clammy, soft under my finger tips. An edge of horror hit me for a moment before I took a deep breath in and steadied myself.

"She's cold. You've been out here, for a long time. Your mother, hasn't been alive for a long time."

She began shaking her head, denying my words with a wild look in her bright eyes, filled with anger and rage, "No! I don't want to hear that! You don't know anything, just go away!"

I took another deep breath in, watching her hunch and try to cover the body with her small one.

"I didn't believe it either. When one of my friends came to check on us, she went pale. She knew before I did." I still remembered the way I had twitched when the vase of water beside the bed stand suddenly tipped over. Then Aquarius was standing over me, about to yell something. Then she saw Mom.

She shook her head, trying to ignore me as I stated quietly, "But I refused to leave her. I gripped tighter, and shouted. They didn't understand what I was doing. I was waiting, she was going to be... fine. It came to the point where my friends had to drag me away, had to take me far away from… the body."

Something inside me ached, at the unfamiliar way I had to address my Mom now.

"Then I went through a stage, where I hated everyone. I hated my Father for not being there. My friends for not protecting her like they were supposed to. The doctors for not finding something to fix her, to cure her."

I gulped softly, feeling the shake of emotion roll down my spine. I resisted the urge to rub my arms, instead, keeping my words soft and even with every fiber of my being.

"I was so angry, and sad. I felt like there was this massive part of me missing, an oddly shaped crack that I could never heal. It hurt every time I breathed, it ached every time I moved. There was nothing I could do to stop it, but I tried. I thought blaming people and refusing to speak would bring her back. I was so used to… miracles in my books that I didn't realize how unlikely it was to happen." I sighed, "I've seen people get knocked around by a blow that should have ripped them apart then get up and continue fighting. I've seen odds stacked against each other until the good guys are backed up against a wall, with nowhere to go. I've seen those miracles, I've lived them. So I know you think she'll magically start breathing again…"

I watched the pain flash in her eyes, and decided to not finish that sentence. I didn't feel right yanking away her hope, even if it was misplaced.

"There was a very brief moment… when I hated my mom. It was selfish, and stupid. And the guilt afterwards almost made me shatter completely, but I hated that she did this, that she left me so early. I tried to tell myself I'd move on and I wouldn't care but it's not that easy. Humanity isn't a switch we can turn on and off, it's something that's ingrained into our skin. Something that makes us tick and feel. And as soon as I realized that my feelings weren't going to bring her back, that all the hatred and anger I was using to keep her memory here with me, it was hurting her."

"Hurting her?" She whispered, stunned as I nodded, "She wasn't going to be at peace until I stopped those feelings… I stopped ruining her memory of her in my mind. And I knew, I had to let her go."

"You let her go?"

"Yes."

She was very quiet for a few long moments, long enough that I noticed the soldier had returned. Her soft sob made my focus return to her, as my heart started to tremble. She clenched the shirt and whispered, "I don't know how to… I don't know if I can."

"I can help." I whispered back, willing my voice to be strong and calm. Inside, I felt the pain of losing my own Mother. It was the worst pain imaginable, I had lost so much of my hope, so young.

"Help." She stated softly, as I untied the string attaching my cape to my neck, slowly placing it over the body. I adjusted it a little bit, so her face and most of her upper body was covered.

"What's your name?" I asked, moving behind her as she stammered, "Violet."

"That's a very nice name Violet. I'm Lucy."

She nodded a little, eyes stuck on the covered body in front of her as I murmured, "Violet, you're in shock. Once I pull you away, it's going to get… just breathe. In through your nose and out through your mouth."

"Okay… okay." I watched her shake wildly from where she was standing and bit my lip, sliding my palms along her arms to cover her hands. She flinched a little as I whispered, "One… Two…"

I gave her hands a sharp tug, digging my fingers underneath hers a little, to pry her tight grip off the shirt. I drew her hands back and she took a deep breath in, her eyes going wide as I spun her around to me, embracing her in a hug.

She began to scream and cry hysterically in my arms and I stood up, my legs a little weak from being crouched down for so long. Then I began to walk away from her mother, my stride long and purposeful as her heart breaking sobs continued to pierce the sky.

I kept walking, towards the forest. Towards anything. Away from the last of her hope shattering.


I'd love to hear your thoughts! This is aforementioned 'blue fic' if you follow The Next Morning. I decided to publish both, because, I honestly couldn't find a good excuse as to not post both.

So yeah, review. Let me know what you think, and I'll see you guys next time I decide to write a dreary one shot.

stay fresh!

xo fresh princess