Chapter 2

Grand Line- Hancock's POV

People are obnoxious. Even some of the Kuja pirates are obnoxious. And -sigh- I have not found anyone, literally anyone, who is more beautiful than me.

But there is no way to erase all the ugliness of the world, for I need someone to recognize my beauty.

I am Boa Hancock, the most beautiful woman in all of the seas- and land. No one dares to mess with me.

Except... except... ah~ Luffy! The most handsome man in the world! Ah~~!

"Hebihime-sama!", a call came from outside of my room. I was peacefully resting with Salome on my oversized bed.

"Enter.", I beckoned. A woman with short, mustard-colored hair cautiously opened the door and poked her head in.

Margaret.

"What's the problem?", I lifted my head to look at her.

"A-ah... you're so beautiful.. ah! I-I mean, there are some pirates outside who claims to be The Snake Pirates, we need your permission to raid their ship, Hebihime-sama."

I stared at her for a while, making her swoon and fidget. "Hmmm... Snake Pirates... do what you please, I really couldn't care less."

"H-hai! Oh, and Ran-sama says that there will be a fairly sized storm we're heading into. Please prepare yourself."

"A storm? Is there any way to avoid it?"

"I'm afraid not, Hebihime-sama. Not where we're heading to. And going around it is too risky and would take too long."

"Huhh...", I sighed, sitting up. "Alright. Thank you, Margaret. You may return."

"H-hai! Thank you for your time, Hebihime-sama!", she squealed, quietly shutting the door. Though I could hear her frantic dance steps on the other side.

A storm, huh.

Now that she mentioned it, if I listen more closely, I can hear the thunder and the waves.

Strange, not in any of my voyages have I heard that weird sound in a storm. What is that...

Static?

Fairy Tail- Lucy's POV

I open my eyes and found myself staring at wood... a wood ceiling.

What happened?.. what happened..

I can't seem to remember anything. Hmm..? I'm not in my apartment, but I'm in a bed.

I look around the room I was in.

This place... seems familiar.

At the left side of the room, there was a wooden door. On the opposite side, a window with white curtains. There was another bed beside mine.

It was... the infirmary in the guild.

I push myself up with my elbows in an attempt to sit up. But there was a sudden feeling in my head. It... HURTS!

My eyes widened in pain while my mouth hung agape. Not yet believing the existence of the pain in my head, I cautiously put a hand where it hurts. Touching it seemed to make it worse.

"A-hhh...", I breathed, not sure how to react to all the pain. "AHHHHHHhhhhhH!"

Tears started gathering at the corner of my eyes. I can't seem to think straight.

Quick flashes of the drifting memories passed by my head. Right, Natsu... he hit me in the head with something. But I'm not mad at him. I don't really like myself either.

No matter what I try to distract myself with, the pain is still there, and it was growing, the more I see, hear, touch, smell and taste.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS! HELP! HELP!"

General POV

The Fairy Tail guild was as usual, being the Fairy Tail guild. Although there was no special occasion, everyone was partying and drinking.

Erza Scarlet , better known as Titania, was sitting at a table with the rest of Team Natsu. The incident that happened not long before, she thought, was definitely going too far.

"Huhhh...", she sighed. "Natsu."

Natsu flinched and cautiously turned to her. "I-I didn't mean to do it! I was aiming for the Popsicle! He called me burnt balls!"

"Natsu you knocked her out."

"B-but Wendy says that she'll be okay! Just a headache!"

"Hah...", Titania sighed again. She turned to the youngest Strauss sister sitting next to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Lisanna, how many more days?"

The said girl averted her attention from her vanilla ice cream to Erza. "Hmm? How many more days until what?"

"How many more days until Lucy's birthday?"

"Hmm... I remember her saying it was on July 1st.", Lisanna put a finger on her chin. "Only 2 more weeks."

"Okay...", Erza weakly replied.

"What's wrong, Erza-san?"

Erza looked at Lisanna with a confused look. "What do you mean 'what's wrong'? We've been ignoring her for Mavis knows how long- just for one birthday! And getting Natsu involved in this, we all know the outcome isn't going to be good."

"But she had the closest birthday! It's an oppurtunity!", Lisanna pouted.

"An oppurtunity?!", Erza's voice was becoming loud. She was starting to regret ever joining in on the plan.

"Yea! You guys never appreciate and treat her right. She deserves way better! And she's like a role model to all the girls in Fairy Tail! Lucy-san is so lady like and feminine, yet you guys don't see her as anything other than a comrade and part of the family! All this-", she motioned at the whole guild. "Is going to be worth it when we throw her the best birthday ever!"

Erza was thrown back by Lisanna's defense. It was true. She's always ever seen Lucy as a little bit of a little sister, more of a comrade and family. So she always treated her like one.

Gray, he only thought of her as part of their family too. He thought that she tries harder than she needs to. But she always comes through in the end.

Happy loves Lucy, even though he won't admit it to anyone and to himself. Without Lucy, he doesn't have anyone to share his fish with.

As for Natsu, he always saw Lucy as family and... he really isn't sure what the other one is. But he always has the need to look over her and protect her.. and see her smile, hear her laugh and... touch her. He always had that feeling that if he ever lets her out of his sight, if he ever looses track of her scent, that he won't be able to be.. Natsu.

Lucy, made him who he is.

So when Lisanna said that Lucy will be very happy at the end, and that this will all be for her and her happiness, he agreed without a second thought. He loved her. Maybe even more than he should. But he can't seem to put a finger on why that is.

Everyone in the table was quiet, thinking about what Lisanna just said. Lucy did deserve more. They were taking her for granted. But Erza thought that Lisanna's way of doing things are a little too cruel, even if her intentions are good.

Erza sighed and decided to forget about the whole thing. She went back on taking tiny bites of her favorite strawberry cake and savior the taste. With each and every bite, she was in heaven and she thought that everything was okay, at last. But one sound destroyed everything. It was a screeching sound. More like a scream of bloody murder. It was hurting her ears. The red head looked up from her plate, to Natsu and the others. Gray and Lisanna seemed to just continue what they were doing, oblivious to the screeching sound.

Natsu, on the other hand, caught Titania's gaze. Yes, he's hearing it too. More clearly. "'It hurts.. help.. help...'", he quietly whispered, trying to make out what he heard.

"What was that, Natsu?", Lisanna turned to her childhood friend.

Natsu ignored her and looked behind him, quickly spotting the Iron and Sky dragon. They , too, were looking around, confused. He looked up and saw Laxus walking over to the infirmary. Wait- the infirmary?

Lucy!

Natsu's POV

I quickly jumped out of my seat and ran towards the infirmary. The closer I get, the louder the screeching seemed to be. I ran and ran and ran, people were following me, but I didn't care to look. I could only see the infirmary.

Laxus, who was by the door, noticed me and looked down at me. He stared at me intently and rested his arms on the railings. "Oi! Natsu!", he bellowed. "I think there's something going on with your girlfriend!"

My eyes widened and the only thing I wanted to do- and the only thing I could do at the moment was: run faster. Run. Run. Run. RUN.

I needed to get to her. And I need to get to her quick. It felt like forever before I reached the stairs, and I took them by 3s. I caught up to Laxus, who opened the door for me. There...

There she was.. on the ground, clutching her head. Her eyes were shut tight, tears running down her cheeks. The bedsheets were messy and torn. The bandages Wendy had put on her head were, now, soggy and red on the floor. Lots and lots of blood ran down her head to her clothes. There were clumps of golden, tangled hair beside her and scratch marks were all, literally- all over her temples and head. But it wasn't compared to the sound... the sound, was horrifying. She was screaming louder than before- screaming like her life depended on it. Looking at her... was heartbreaking.

I didn't want to look at her. She was a mess. A complete mess.

"Luce...", I managed to choke out. There was something in the back of my throat that made me feel like talking was too much of a task to accomplish. "Luce... what have you done...?"

She lowered her voice to a low growl, and her body still shaked and trembled. She looked up at me. Her face- was still beautiful as ever. Her golden hair, no- it wasn't golden anymore. Not with the blood soaked in like that. Her eyes, were still brown. She was still Lucy... right?

"N-Natsu...", she whispered. "H-..."

I stumbled forwards and dropped to my knees in front of her. I put a hand on her tear and blood stained cheek. No-... her eyes... were brown. But they weren't looking at Natsu. Not me. They were looking at a boy. A very, very helpless and desperate boy. As I stared deeper into her eyes, I realized something. She wasn't Lucy... no... not his Lucy.. "Y-you... what, have y-you done...?"

"H-he...", she uttered, spitting out blood.

My eyebrows knitted on my forehead. I was becoming very scared. Very, very scared. "What is it, Luce?", I cried silently.

"N-Natsu... y-you... you're h-here..."

"Yes, yes! Luce, I'm here!", I whispered helplessly. "I'm here...! I-I'll always be here!"

She stared at me. She stared right through me. She stopped trembling. She stopped crying. Lucy, was just staring.

"W-what were you gonna' tell me, Luce?", I hiccuped. But she was still staring. "What were you gonna' tell me Luce?!...", I cried.

"Natsu."

"Y-yea..?"

"A-all you have to do now i-is... is finish me off."

And like that, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell into my chest. I took short, rapid breaths and and violently shook.

I turned her over on her back and put a hand on the top of her left chest. Okay, okay... her heart was still beating.

I stared at my hand for a while. It was moving up and down. The normal human eyes won't be able to notice it. But it was moving. A sign that she was still breathing. That she was still alive.

I heard jumbles of sounds in the background. I saw Erza and Gray crouch in front of me. Gray grabbed my shoulder and shook me, saying something I couldn't undertand. Erza's mouth was moving, but I could barely make out what she was saying. Lisanna sat next to Lucy and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse.

Its okay. She's alive.

Lucy's alive. And I remember.

I remember when I snuck into her house while she was taking a bath. She had a pink notebook on her table and the first page said: Lucy's Diary, on it. The pages were all just words and it seemed boring. But there was this one paragraph that was two lines away from the others.

She came out of the bathroom and snatched her diary away from me. "You read it, didn't you?!"

Yes, Luce. I read it. And I remember it.

Find what you love, and let it kill you.

.

.

.

And I guess that's exactly what we have done.