A/N: From a dark opening and on to something worse. This just goes to show how much pain and suffering I enjoy putting my favorite characters through. I am indeed a horrible, horrible person. I know you agree.

I was absolutely sure that I had died. In an instant, my world had collapsed without any prior warning. Heavy, hard objects had come down on me, crushing every bone in my body. Sharp white light had reached my eyes, leaving me blinded. Loud, rumbling and crunching noises had left my ears ringing.

I could not move a finger. It was impossible for me to even just lift an eyelid. But I still felt pain. Hanging on to that one fact, the second hell broke loose. I am not sure whether I screamed when my body was burned, frozen over, electrocuted and violently torn apart, all in a matter of seconds.

Now it was all gone. There was no longer any pain. If this was what death was like, I welcomed it with open arms because this indeed felt like being free from all the suffering of the material world. But these hopes too were crushed as I suddenly felt something hurt badly within my chest.

"Come on. Why won't you start breathing? Why doesn't your heart beat? Why doesn't my magic work? Just... please. Please don't die!"

At the sound of a human voice, my eyes flew open and I took in a large amount of air into my empty lungs. Possibly too much as it felt as if knives had been stabbed through my chest afterwards.

"He's breathing! Thank goodness, he's alive."

Hearing the voice once again, I desperately tried to make my eyes get accustomed to the light faster while fighting the dull feeling of pain that ran through me. After a while, I was able to make out a silhouette above me. The silhouette then became the figure of a young girl with long blue hair and tearful eyes.

Despite the fact that my mind currently was as scattered as dust in the wind, I knew exactly who the girl was. After all, it was not the first time she had saved me from death.

"Wendy."

I was surprised at the sound of my own voice, hoarse and weak after a long time of no use. It was almost unrecognizable to me and it was very painful to use it. That, however, was not going to stop me from talking.

"I'm sorry."

I was not really sure what I was apologizing for exactly and my voice ended up cracking at the end. I only realized that I was crying when I felt something warm and wet run from my eyes. And I was not alone with the tears. Her eyes were red and swollen, which gave it away.

"But... we heard the prison was destroyed... and that every last trace of it had been annihilated. How... how can you be alive?"

Most of what she asked me was far from what I could comprehend. All I understood was that I had survived. I had gotten yet another chance at life. I just did not get why.

"Wendy!"

Another voice, and a familiar one as well. Hearing the approaching footsteps in running tempo, I forced myself to sit up, despite my weak body protesting. Lying on the ground made me feel defenseless, not that I was in any state to do anything. Wendy was quick to support me when I realized that I could not sit straight by myself. And then I saw him.

There he was, standing on a large rock in the middle of a river: Pink, spiky hair. A white scarf decorated with scales. His crimson guild tattoo showing on his right arm. His face with an expression of clear disbelief. The person that I believed in the most.

Natsu Dragneel. The Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail. I could feel how my hands started shaking and how I felt a shiver run down my spine as he stared at me in shock. How low I felt in his presence. I had to avert my eyes. I had not forgotten how he had tried to stand up to the council to prevent them from taking me away, despite all I had put him and his friends through.

I heard him land in the shallow river water, approaching me slowly. With every step, I felt fear crawling up on me. Wendy seemed to be tense as well from the way she clung to my arm. As the footsteps came to a halt, I dared to shift my gaze upwards ever so slightly. I was genuinely taken by surprise.

Falling to his knees in front of me, his fist suddenly made contact with my cheek. It was not fierce enough to send me flying, but I could most certainly feel it and was quite sure that it would leave a mark where it had hit.

"Natsu!" Wendy gasped in shock.

"That was for making Erza cry again, you bastard," he said in a shaky, dangerously low voice. "Every time we think you're gone for good, you turn up again alive." His voice rose to a yell. "Why is that? How did you survive?"

Wendy had to let go of me in order to stop Natsu from landing another punch to my face. Somehow, I manage to stay sitting. On the inside, I was shocked. They thought I was dead and they were crying... for me. Someone actually cared for me and that touched something deep inside of my heart.

I broke down in tears over Natsu's words and Wendy's kindness, so we all ended up sitting there, crying more or less over it all. In relief and, in my case, happiness. There was still hope indeed.

Later that same day, Natsu and Wendy brought me along to their camp where a group of their comrades: The two flying cats, Happy and Charle, who were the partners of the two Dragon Slayers and Lucy Heartfilia, a charming young celestial wizard.

As it turned out, the group had been on their way back from a quest when Wendy had caught my scent and Natsu had followed her. Now they wanted me to return with them to Fairy Tail to clear up everything. I honestly was not sure if I wanted to go, but I also knew that I could not avoid the scariest part of my survival forever.

Sooner or later, Erza was bound to find out that I was alive and I knew she would not rest until she had found me.