A/N: Eeeeeeee...It took a lot to write the last chapter, now it's time to be lazy and write a shortish one... NOT TO MENTION TIS TWO AM:P

Thanks to those of you who reviewed the chappy, by the way. :)

I hope it wasn't too confusing :(

Disclaimer: I don't own anything..or do I?

No, I really don't.

*forevernotowningFairyTail*

"…Mist!" She called, jumping out of the bed in alarm. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now.

"Mist!" The blonde yelled again, more firmly and demanding this time.

An answer to her call grew obvious as the walls glowed gold shining color and the called stellar spirit showed herself, stepping over to stand next to a shaking Lucy.

Mist said nothing, waiting for the other to talk first.

"Just…Just who were you to my mother?"

Who was she to Layla? Mist pondered the thought, giving Lucy her usual vacant and seemingly child like look. In all honesty, she didn't even know herself just what Layla thought of her, but Mist did know what she herself as a stellar spirit thought of the mortal.

"To me," The shorter one began

"Layla opened my eyes, very wide as they were blind to important things…" Lucy looked intensively at the red head, waiting for her to go on.

"She pulled me out of the dull world full of ignorance and hate I had been living in, one in which I thought all humans were pathetic, immoral, and deserved death…."
Mist could tell by Lucy's change in facial expression the girl thought how absurd the idea was. She went on explaining herself more.

"Yes, at one time I thought these cruel things. And that's not even half of it...But then, your mother replaced those thoughts with bright shining light and love. Something I never really bothered with, or received until then." A smile of reminisces formed in the corner of her pale pink mouth. Lucy swore she had a sparkle twinkle in her shady white eyes.

"I thought I knew everything and being one of the oldest stellar spirits alive, I pretty much did. But knowing everything meant knowing about all the hardships humans put their stellar spirits thru when they got their tainted hands on a key, just as the idiot today who had my key did…"

A few moments passed until she spoke again.

"Originally, I wanted to stop the madness of letting humans use us as tools for their selfish desirers and mockery by breaking all contracts with gate keys, and I almost got my way-"

"What?" Lucy interrupted

"But humans have always had access to stellar spirit keys-"

"I said almost, Lucy." The red head said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Mist took the blondes silence as an urge to go on.

"You see, there were a handful of stellar spirits that actually…loved the Earth Land, and the keepers of their keys that lived on it. Layla's spirits were the ones that felt most strongly towards the idea, claiming they wouldn't wish anything other than to be with their assigned human…" She took in a big breath of air, organizing her thoughts.

"In order to pass a fair judgment, as I being one of the 'daughters' of the Stellar Spirit King have to do, I decided to look upon the absurd idea that a human could be anything but unworthy myself, and I would judge if all contracts should be cut off or not."

The blonde didn't realize Mist had that much authority, and being here next to someone of that power was beginning to make her feel like she was at the feet of royalty.

Oh wait… She was.

"I sent my key to Layla, making it look like she just ran across it, and also controlled her spirits so that they would not tell her of what was going on-"

"You can do that? Control other sprits?" Lucy interrupted again, curiously.
"If need be yes, but I try not to use this power... Anyways, after spending time with this Layla and forming a contract with her, I realized my assumptions were wrong about humans. Layla was kind, would give anything to someone in need even if they treat her coldly as I first did, and could warm anyone's heart."

"So after meeting my mother you realized that not all humans are terrible?" Lucy said, dimming it down.
"Yes, but also I learned another thing."

"What was it?" Lucy asked

"Humans are very… weak. In a fragile way. They only have a short time to live and get 'sick' from petty things… Humans are at the bottom of the food chain. I learned that your kind need us, because they are weak. They need us for protection, and not all take advantage of us."

"I guess that's correct…" Lucy agreed, remembering how much she relied on the spirits.

"I was with your mother for sixteen years, until her dainty human body began to…Deteriorate. So I thought, 'what's the purpose of having so little time to live, and die like nothing?' Sixteen years is like an hour for stellar spirits, so why couldn't it be that way for this human, too?"

"What are you saying? Everyone human is born to die." Lucy said knowingly.

"That's what I thought, too. But then, that day when Layla passed her keys over to you, was the day I challenged that idea, and failed miserably as it was also the day she 'died'…" Mist's facial expression was grave, and Lucy's almost copied it remembering the exact day she was referring to.
"Wait, she died faster because of whatever you tried to do..?"

"No," Mist said defensively, before continuing.

"When you were talking to her, she was already what you would call…'dead'."

The blondes face went from curiosity to utter confusion but she kept quiet, partially because she didn't know what to say.

"Her stellar spirits kept her functioning by giving her our own magical power, but, there is only so much the body of a human can take when being exposed to it…Sort of like a radiation. So we planned to, well…"

"Well what?"

Mist stopped in her tracks, realizing she said too much for now.

"Nothing. We'll talk about that at a later date. What I need to do now, is tell you what led your mother to her death, and let you in on what to expect in your future, for you are… walking the same path, I.. I suppose..." Mist said that with shear uncertainty and steadiness, not knowing how Lucy would react. Truthfully though, pity was not what Lucy wanted at the moment.

"I figured that much out, you know... So why don't you just tell me how long I have, and what the hell's… killing me, because that's what I really don't know."

"Alright." Mist said, looking up at the taller one.

"Let's start with the name. It's called-…"

"LION!" Natsu yelled alarmed, his eyes bulging out their sockets.

"IT'S A FUCKING LION!"

The beast stared at Natsu and at the old man, then back to Natsu and back to the old man, over and over portraying a look of confusion. Suddenly, it feverishly started pacing and sniffing across the room, as if he was looking for something in haste.

Both human mages were standing very still, Natsu because he was puzzled and the elder because he was fearing the thought of being eaten by a lion.

As Natsu slowly started to come back to his senses, he discovered a familiar smell of spice that was dancing in the air; a smell so distinct he knew it only belonged to one person.

Loke.

But that person just so happened to be in the shape of a predator at the moment.
"WHAT THE HELL LOKE?" Natsu yelled, going over and picking the lion up by his 'neck'.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU A LION!"

Loke's distressed eyes stared into Natsu's, with a frustrated look. 'I'm not in the position to talk right now, how does this boob expect me to say anything to him?' he thought, annoyed.

"Who are you calling a boob, ya stinking kitten?" Natsu said, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.

'Wait…Wait- Natsu! You can hear this? My thoughts? But how?' He said in his mind again.

"The hell should I know?" The peach haired boy said in reply.

'Well do you at least know how I got here? Lucy's not supposed to be able to summon any spirits and-'

Natsu interrupted,
"Wait why not? Did she do something wrong? Is she okay?" He was obviously concerned, and after Loke noticed the black bags under his eyes he knew the dragon mage hadn't had enough peace of mind to even blink an eyeball.

'Calm down, idiot! She's fine! Right now Lucy is kind of…Well not really but she sorta is- but well it's not because-'
"SPIT IT OUT!" Natsu yelled shaking the giant feline.

Despite the fact he couldn't spit any words out, Loke went on.

'She's kinda sorta in-between the stellar spirit realm and the human realm at the moment.'
"How is…wait..is she safe? Or-or-or does that mean she's- she's-…"

'NO!' Loke yelled in his head, letting out a huge roar as he did so.

'For the last time, she's fine! It's just she might…well…time will tell..Now, how did I get here?'

"I ran into a mage with a eh… Leo Minor key or something, who got the kid to poof you here for us." He said, pointing over at the very confused and scared looking man who was hurdled in the corner starring at Natsu like he was talking to a Lion that couldn't speak.

…..Oh.

Oops.

"Uhhh," Natsu started, releasing Loke from his death grip, looking over at the old guy.

"I'm not crazy before you say it, you see this guy really-"

"OUT!" The man yelled interrupting Natsu.

"GET YOU AND YOUR CAT, OUT OF MY HOUSE!" He opened the window while picking up a broom and started shooing Natsu out with it, also making Loke return to his realm in the meantime after realizing he wasn't an ordinary lion.

"Kids these days, spirits these days! They're crazy! All of them!" The elder mage said, slamming the window shut and sinking to the floor as Natsu fell a few stories.

"Crazy!"

Later That Day...

His friend was fine.

She was fine.

Just hearing these words come out of a trusting Loke's mouth lifted a huge load off of his shoulders, despite the fact there were still so many unanswered questions lurking around in his mind.

Who was that ninja guy? Where did all the dark guild members go? Why was Loke a lion and not Lucy's stellar spirit anymore? Did she do something wrong to get herself put into the stellar spirit world? When was Lucy going to come back?

That's what scared him most right now…When she'd come back. He knew it was silly, but ever since Igneel left he's been afraid of people close to him just…Disappearing. The fact that her scent was without a trace before just fueled that.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little relieved. At least she was safe.

Safe…That's all he would think about for now; he'd worry about the rest later when he was capable of it.

Finally being able to sit down without a constant worry nag him felt amazing, seeing as how he hasn't had that option for the longest time. After walking a little bit out of town, he found himself in the middle of a meadow, filled with different wild flowers of various colors. The boy wondered why there was so much green and life here, but shortly remembered that Bosco was known for the beauty of it landscape and it was the middle of spring. 'Lucy loves spring.' He thought, picking up a small purple topped flower and sniffing it.

Natsu plopped down under a tree on a bed of plush grass. It was soft, and warm. 'Just like Lucy's bed. It's soft and warm when she's in it.' For a moment he found himself picturing in his mind what it would be like to cuddle with Lucy in the cozy soft bed right now, wrapping his arms tightly around her as she slept peacefully, how warm he would feel…

After realizing what he was thinking he dismissed the thought as he was just missing her.

Which was true… he did miss her. A lot. They have been together all the time lately, she and him. It was weird though, he didn't have thoughts of cuddling with Gray and Erza in a warm bed, and if he did his feelings towards the idea would be disgust and fear. So why was Lucy different again…?
'Oh yeah.' He thought, remembering what he told the blonde before.

'Lucy is just Lucy. That's why."

With a deep hitch of his breath he inhaled a sweet familiar scent that imminently put a smile on his face, and made him feel relaxed and at home. Half asleep, he didn't realize that above him was a pink, fully bloomed and beautiful cherry blossom tree.

A/N: UGHAHAHA CLIFF HANGER

What's Lucy's sickness? Hmmmm... ;)

I might update again soon. Maybe… And it will be revealed then, promise.

It depends on how much momentum I have to update though... :P

Thanks for reading, reviewwws are welcome anddd appreciated!:)

Tah tah for noww~