~His actions were heartfelt, and incredibly meaningful, coming from the person who knew her best.~

A Key from the Heart

She knew he could sense her underlying sadness regarding Aquarius. Natsu may have been a little dense, or a little oblivious regarding some things, but she knew he could sense this.

Maybe the others in the guild had moved on and possibly forgotten, but he hadn't. She would plaster on a smile for the days succeeding Aquarius' departure, and after a while, the smile wasn't so fake. Time healed all wounds after all, even gaping emotional ones that she was sure would take a long while to mend.

However, whenever her spirits were mentioned, she couldn't help the pang in her heart. A twinge so strong she felt the need to grasp at her chest. As if she might find a thorn stuck deep in her heart that she could pull out, and the pain would go away. There was no such luck.

Aquarius had been her longest and only friend growing up. Friend… she guessed maybe she was stretching the word. Aquarius hated her, most likely, but she had loved the spirit.

The water bearer had been less than pleased to find out that Lucy was her new master, after Layla had died. Lucy was grieving the loss of her mother, and somewhere deep she figured Aquarius was grieving Layla's death as well, although she hid it well if so.

Aquarius had glowered down at Lucy as she cried, scoffing and muttering to herself that she would've rathered having her key thrown into some random body of water, leaving it up to fate as to who would find it and who would be her new master, than to have been left with a sniveling girl.

Their relationship hadn't really improved in the years to follow. Lucy loved the spirt with all her heart, especially since she'd been tied to her mother, but Aquarius stayed as short and irritated as ever. Lucy learned to deal with it, all the way up until the end.

Breaking that key had felt as if she was not only breaking her ties with her first friend, no matter how much that friend seemed to dislike her, but also as if she was breaking the last living tie to her mother. She was losing both of the women she'd held dearest growing up, all in one single blow.

However, she figured she was gaining much more. Maybe she lost two female figures but she gained her guild. She could save her guild by letting Aquarius go, and she'd do anything to keep her newfound family.

It'd been an open wound for a long time. She would cry when she was alone, clutching the broken key tight and wishing with all her heart that it was just a dream. That magically the key would mend itself and her first dear friend would come back to her. It was silly to wish things such as those.

But after a while her tears ceased, and she was able to move on, hoping that up in the Spirit World Aquarius was happy, going on dates with her boyfriend that she loved so, and glad she no longer had to make the seemingly irritating trips to Earthland.

Lucy hoped that, she hoped her spirit was happy, and yet at the same time the thought that Aquarius didn't feel anything at all, and was so much happier without Lucy than with… was heartbreaking.

However, she'd gotten over it, at least on the surface.

And so the day when Natsu showed up at her door, his hands behind his back and a grin on his face, it'd been a surprise.

He'd yelled out a 'ta da!' and Happy had thrown a small pawful of confetti into the air. Her partner had then revealed what he was hiding, holding out a small trinket on a string.

She squinted, and for a second, she had no idea what it was. There was a moment of silence as Natsu grinned and she stared before it hit her. Maybe it looked a little deformed, and maybe it wasn't exactly gold, rather a really rusty orange, but it was a replica of Aquarius' key.

Her eyes had fluttered wide as she took it, looking up to Natsu with confusion.

"I know how much ya miss her, so I thought maybe if you had a necklace with a key like hers that wasn't broken, it might make ya feel better! Y'know, a little thing to remember her by since you can't carry her key with ya anymore!"

Indeed she'd stopped carrying Aquarius' key. Mainly because she didn't want to lose it, but also because it brought back painful memories when she'd go to grab her water bearer's key, ready to summon her into battle, only to find it broken and dangling shorter than the others on her ring.

She could tell Natsu had tried to weld together some scraps of metal. Honestly it looked pretty good considering, although maybe a little misshapen. Her fingers wrapped around the key, holding it to her heart as she felt the beginnings of tears prick to her eyes, staring up at him.

Everyone else had moved on, and even she'd moved on on the outside, but he'd known. Him, her partner, her other half, had known somewhere deep down even if she didn't show it, that she still missed her first friend desperately, and that it hurt every moment wondering where Aquarius was.

It was moments like those, as she jolted forward and crushed him in a hug, his embarrassed chuckle sounding in her ear as he tried to brush it off as no big deal, that meant the most. Because in the end he was truly something special, and someone that no matter what, she couldn't afford to lose.

#3 - makeshift

Hey, the first more serious one! I really was heartbroken when Aquarius left. Like... I really wanted to throw a brick at Mashima. A brick of frustration that was actually made of foam or something because I can't be damaging the man who gives us manga, now can I? XD

Anyway, I could see Natsu being all sweet and trying to make Lucy feel better in his own special way.

Thanks for the absolutely amazing reviews and whatnot! They are always incredibly appreciated!

~Foxtail-chan