I'm feeling kind. Double update!

Erza stood tall, letting the light streaming from the window warm her fabric. While she appeared motionless, every part of her focus alerted her to the gentlest of movements. The rhythmical lift of her chest as air filtered through her lungs, the twisted feeling of her diaphragm contracting with every pulsing breath, the fluttering of her closed eyelashes, the soft brush of stray rogue hairs slipping through the air, the gentle breath perching on the tips of her lips. She could feel the warmth of the sunlight as it refracted through steady raindrops, the location and direction of every speckle of dust around her, the magical energy rippling through the air ready for her to grasp.

Her eyes flew open. She took a structured step forwards, her body a pillar of absolute strength. She swiped her arms through the air and grasped the magical energy to twist her familiar katana across the void.

The katana fell to the floor with a clatter.

She hung motionless for a moment, eyes wide and breathing heavily. She desperately tried to scramble back the collected feeling she had only a second before. She could feel the warming light, see the speckles of dust through the air, feel the magical energy. She could feel her breath now heavy and panicked in her chest. Everything was as it should be.

But she was too slow.

Eventually she pulled herself back to a standing position, turning back and staring angrily at the magical weapon that lay carelessly on the floor. She had felt the soft touch of metal as she had spun into position, she had known that the tips of her fingers had pushed it out of the way at the last second. If she had wanted to, she simply could have moved slower or remained stationary to grasp the blade from the ether without difficulty. But she was so much stronger than this. She was faster than this.

Walking over to the blade, she reluctantly bent down to picked it up from the ground. The weight felt comfortable in her hand as she practised swiping it through the air viciously. Her breath now quickened, fuelled by anger. She knew that she could be so much better than this, she knew that she had been better than this.

Maybe being a barmaid wouldn't be so bad… Mirajane seems to enjoy it…

She hissed at herself as the thought crept into her head, not for the first time, gripping the sword tighter and striking through the air time and time again with deadly precision. Now the katana was within her grasp she was as fast as lightning, twisting through the air with fierce determination and grunting and yelling against invisible enemies. Even the air itself seemed to quiver under the might of her thrusts. She refused to be weak. She refused to be slow.

Yelling out again with her last dangerous plummet downwards, she firmly cemented her blade into the ground below her. She would not be weak; she could not afford to be weak. Her heart was racing like a drum inside her chest against her exasperated lungs, sweat rushing down her body. The thoughts had been plaguing her since Eclipse, trickling into her darkest nightmares and filling her with a drive to be stronger, faster, braver, better. She could accept the Eclipse Erza being happy without her armour shielding her heart, but she could not bear the thought of facing a world without her strength.

It was absolutely the worst time for her magic to begin to fail. She pushed her hand out in front of her, hovering over the blade and pulling on the familiar feeling of magic. The hilt flickered for the briefest of moments and her eyes grew wide, the panic refusing to leave even as the katana eventually faded back to the ether.

Erza was vulnerable. Her magic was slower than she had ever felt it and she was certain her wavering conviction had something to do with it. She swallowed hard, the chill of fear telling her that she couldn't be left in this world without her familiar armour to comfort her. Her arms stretched outward either side of her, quickly and desperately calling upon every ounce of her power to push the Heart Kreuz armour back against her chest. A gasp escaped her lips as she felt the metal resting on her chest, finally able to breath with the comforting constraints. Her head tilted backwards as she could feel the cold steel slip against his back, her arms pulling down with the heavy gravity of shining gauntlets, legs lifting from the ground as they were secured down with thick black boots.

She sighed as her boots once again struck the earth, the magical glow dissipating around her. That had been far too much energy to turn back into a casual outfit, she decided with an angry sigh to herself as she twisted around quickly to the exit.

Erza froze before she could take a single step forward, finding herself suddenly staring back at the blond celestial wizard who was staring at her from the doorway. "You need to stop sneaking up on people," she warned her sharply, though she meant kindness in her words.

Lucy flinched visibly, though for once the requip wizard's fierceness had nothing to do with it. She was remembering how she had met an untimely end appearing behind the dragon slayer in the eclipse world and was so overcome with the sudden reminder that she momentarily forgot what about to say, squeezing onto Plue tightly. "I-I'm sorry…" she said feebly.

Erza tilted her head slightly, wishing that she could read emotions more easily. Blades and fists were far easier to understand, though right now even they seemed to be evading her. "Did you need something?" she prompted.

Lucy nodded, her blond ponytail bobbing as she did so. "Yes. I needed to talk to you about my spirits…"

Erza found herself mildly interested. She'd never been called upon for advice for celestial magic before, just as she would have never gone to the blond woman for fighting advise. They were two particularly different skillsets. "You seem concerned," she tried to observe.

Lucy looked away, holding onto Plue tighter as the strange 'dog' looked up at her. "I can't call them," she admitted painfully.

Erza blinked. This was certainly a lot more serious than she had expected and suddenly her own battle with her agility and fears seemed nothing in comparison. Lucy may have been stronger than she appeared, but without the aid of her spirits a Lucy Kick could only go so far. Then, to confuse her further, there was already a celestial spirit in Lucy's arms. "What do you mean that you can't call them?" Erza inquired more, trying to sound as approachable as possible.

Lucy looked flustered, as if she was going to burst into tears. "I just… can't. I've tried several times this morning. I just… every time I try to open one of the gates, every time I try I have no response. I can't hear them, I can't feel them… Plue is the only one that I've managed to call…" she said, looking at the small creature in her arms as he sympathetically tilted his head to one side. She sighed, pulling on her leather pouch of keys for the final time and putting her fingers longingly against the golden and silver keys each in turn.

"Lucy! Lucy can you hear me?!"

Lucy gasped, looking up suddenly and trying to work out where the wonderful sound of one of her spiritual guardians was calling her from. Erza's eyes gazed around the room as well, both women quickly realising that Loke was nowhere to be seen. "Loke?!" Lucy called, feeling now more than ever she wanted to burst into tears, though this time in relief and the sudden feeling of hope. "Loke where are you?!" she yelled out.

"I'm still in the celestial world," the voice called out for them all to hear and even Plue seemed to be hanging onto each word intently. "Lucy, there's something going wrong. I-I can't explain it, but the gateways don't seem to be working..." he said, sounding beyond irritated and out of breath.

"Let me try…" Lucy said quickly, refusing to put down Plue even for the briefest of moments as she fumbled over her pouch and pulled on the warm golden key of the celestial leader. "Open, Gate of the-"

"Lucy, don't!" Loke called out quickly.

Lucy stopped her magic instantly. "Huh?" she murmured, her head tilting to one side.

"The doors are getting blocked both ways. Even if I did end up coming back through to your world I might not be able to get back again…" he said, his voice edging on desperation.

Lucy's eyes widened, understanding the pain that it must have caused the spirit to warn her of this fate. His voice was close to trembling and for the briefest of moments she wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold him, to have him in her arms and tell him that she was not Karen. She would not suffer her fate whether he was in this world or trapped on the other side. "Loke…" she breathed, wishing that she could tell him that she understood his pain.

"Just be careful, Lucy, please," he told her in desperation, his voice fading and crackling through the temporary connection. "Promise me that you won't go into any fights without me. Promise me that you'll be safe…" he whispered.

"I want to help you!" Lucy called out, stepping forwards and still desperately trying to look out for him. "There must be something I can do!"

"There's nothing any of us can do. None of us know what's happening, not even Crux," Leo explained. "Please will you just promise me?!"

Lucy swallowed hard, the idea dawning upon her that this door may be closing for a very long time. She may never hear his voice again, never see any of her celestial guardians again, and it was terrifying. "Loke…" she whispered, knowing that there was so much that she wanted to say before she risked losing some of her closest friends. She wished that she could see Leo in front of her, wished that she could be holding his hand while he was saying goodbye.

"Lu-cy promi-se me-" Leo's voice broke over the communication, struggling as the magic vibrated through the air dangerously.

"I promise!" Lucy screamed. She promised that this wouldn't be the last time she would speak to them. She promised that they would be by her side as quickly as possible. She promised that she would not give up on her friends. She could feel hot tears falling from her eyes, holding onto the small creature in her arms as tightly as she dared. "I promise you don't need to worry about me, Loke. Besides, I have Plue here to protect me…" she half-joked, braving a smile and hoping he could hear it in her voice.

"You-what?!" Leo called out, his voice suddenly raised in panic.

"I… Yeah…" Lucy said slowly, looking down at Plue in mild confusion. Leo's reaction had been far more violent than she could have anticipated. "What's wrong with that?"

"Lucy s-end hi-m back right n-ow!" Leo called, his voice flickering but his terror was clear. "H-e wi-ll kee-p drai-ning you-r po-wers! Send h-im back while you have the cha-"

Silence fell into the room.

"L-Loke?" Lucy called out. There was no reply. "Loke? Leo!?" she yelled loudly, holding his key as tightly as she could and fighting the urge to call him into the world. She had seen the torture he had had to endure for three long years on Earthland. She had seen the fatigue in her spirits if she had summoned them for too long. She knew that she couldn't rightly put him through the same trauma.

She looked down to the small companion in her hands, feeling the awkward shivering he always did against her arms. Gently she placed him down on the ground, looking back at him and patting his head gently. Sending away her very last spirit was the last thing she wanted to do right now while she still had tears in her eyes, but she couldn't watch him suffer. "I'm sorry Plue…" she whispered. "It's time for you to go home."

Plue tilted his head to the side, holding his gigantic ball of a head.

"He seems he doesn't want to go…" Erza observed, frowning and trying to process the entire encounter with the spirits and their master.

Lucy gave her own frown, this one in concern as she squatted down to Plue's level. "Come on, Plue, you need to go now," she urged the small snowball. "I know you don't want to go, I don't want you to go. But I can't let you stay here. Earthland isn't somewhere for a celestial spirit. Close, Gate of the Canis Minor."

"Pu-punnn." It tilted its head the other way.

Lucy gave an irritated sigh, her voice touching on serious. "Enough, Plue. Go back."

The spirit danced on one foot, waving its arms around wildly. "Pu-puuuuunn"

"I'm serious, Plue!" Lucy scolded him.

"Do you think that he means he can't go back?" Erza questioned gently.

Lucy blinked, embarrassed that the requip wizard had been able to decipher her pet's message before she could. "Oh! Uh… Ok then…" she said, taking Plue's key back into her hand. "OK. Force Close, Gate of the Canis Minor!"

Plue continued his dance.

Lucy looked back at key in her hand in disbelief. "Force Close, Gate of the Canis Minor! Force Close! Force Close! Plue go home!"

Bah I'm still not happy with this chapter but I've redone it several times and this is the best you're gonna get.