The Girl with the Celestial Tattoos

Chapter 36: Chasing Dreams

It was pouring down heavy droplets of rain on one of the most tragic days of her life. Lucy was standing with a group of faceless survivors, their names and appearances blurred and unimportant as they watched red and orange clash violently with black magic in the sky. In her bone-cold hands, she gripped tightly to a keyring that was not her own, it's metallic keys dulled by their master's blood, who not even an hour ago died brutally in the blonde's arms.

Her body was blood-stained in blood that was hardly her own and no matter how desperately the falling water tried, it remained tattooed to her skin like a scar that would never fade, and her clothes stuck close to her malnourished body. She was supposed to be the cheerleader of Fairy Tail, the optimistic girl who never let anything keep her down for too long, the sunshine that lifted people's spirits. That girl was gone. Gone like the spirits that clung to her body with their blood.

Too many friends had died in her arms. Too many friends had their blood splattered unto her skin.

Too many people had died for such a stupid war. A scream cried out and she craned her neck to see Levy - oh, Mavis, Levy! - cradling a body close to her. Her lips brushed over dark skin bloodied more than Lucy had seen, and she knew with a dull pain in her chest that she was not the only one who held too many loved ones close as they died. "Gajeel! Baby, come back to me! Please, Gajeel!" The bluenette cried shamelessly, rocking the Iron Dragon Slayer's body as she sobbed, her hands pressed stubbornly to the gaping wound in his chest, despite the skin growing cold as time passed.

She should be over there, comforting Levy, but she knew... she knew there was no coming back for Gajeel. If she stood by Levy her best friend would hardly notice her, too intent on drowning in the memories of what had been only yesterday. She had lost so much already, Jet and Droy having died in some freak accident when a building collapsed, and it was Gajeel who pulled her away and kept her safe as she mourned another loved one's graveless funeral.

"Levy-chan," she breathed and found it within her exhausted - useless - body to stumble over to where the woman kneeled over her fiance's body. Another roar echoed in the distance as she reached her best friend and flinched as lightning flashed not far from where they were, a lingering sound of fireworks and thunder leaving in its wake, but where her eardrums had suddenly gone deaf her eyes remained stuck on Gajeel's chest where his own iron appeared to have been impaled through his chest.

What felt like a lifetime ago she would've been on her knees retching at the sight but this was not the first gruesome wound she had seen. She knew it wouldn't be the last. So many had died and so many lives had been lost. She glanced up and looked at the ruins of the once capital city surrounding them, bloodstained and in the act of being washed away, while bodies were pinned to walls or trapped under debris. It was the place where the most death occurred and now Gajeel had become a part of this place.

Lucy looked at Levy, heart stuttering within her chest and reached out with a shaky and scarred hand to touch the bluenette's shoulder only to pause and drawback. She felt lost standing beside her friend and with a soundless sigh closed her lover's lifeless eyes before crossing his scaled arms over his chest, hiding the wound and allowing the man to at least look peaceful in his death. It was a courtesy most bodies didn't have but he was a friend to Lucy and meant a great deal to Levy, so the least she could do was this.

Another roar echoed followed by a scream and Lucy glanced up startled before two shadows caught her eyes falling from the sky. She quickly left Levy's side and ran forwards, tripping over rocks but moving forward as soon as she could, running as fast as her legs would allow her as she headed towards another best friend. He was the one who gave her a home and a family, fought by her side and made her smile more real than she ever had since her mother died, but most of all he was the one who allowed her to be herself - and found herself.

"Natsu!" She screamed, promising to catch the Fire Dragon Slayer like he had done for her so many times before. With a lunge that practically knocked the breath out of her, she held her arms outstretched just as a heavy body collapsed unto her, the two of them falling ungracefully onto the ruined city. Ignoring the pain that raced up her spine from the landing she pushed her body out from beneath the pinkette's before cradling him close to her, tilting his head to lay on her lap as she had done for him so many times before.

"Natsu, please-" She hiccuped, praying this wasn't the last she would hear of him. Just this morning she hugged him tightly as he went out to find someone. He wouldn't tell her who, just that he needed to end things... and now. Now, he had won but at what cost?

"Luigi?" Lucy laughed tearfully as onyx eyes opened half-way as he mumbled and butchered her name right then. For once she found herself embracing such a nickname and tightened her grip on Natsu's scarf, her tears mixing with the rain as they dripped unto his torso.

"Natsu..." She whispered, her hands soon stained with another's blood as she checked his body for wounds only to realize everywhere he was hurt. Not just hurt. A dribble of blood leaked from the corner of fire mage's mouth as he took a breath but couldn't find the strength to sit up, leaving himself to be dead weight in his friend's arms.

"Lucy, he's gone." Natsu breathed, his eyes locking on her own dull brown. He titled his head to the side and Lucy's eyes followed the movement to find the legendary dark magic Zeref, Natsu's brother, very much dead, his blood a small pond beneath his robed body.

"Don't speak, shh," she shushed her friend, wanting to hear his voice so desperately but rejecting it because those would be his last words meaning this was real. "I had to protect... what was left, Lucy." He rasped, his bloodied hand moving to hold her own, where her pink guild mark lay under the grime. Fairy Tail and what the guild protected. Those who could not defend themselves. The weak and the helpless. The innocent and the children who had yet to live.

"You don't have to be the number one protector anymore, Natsu," she told her best friend, wishing she could have believed those words. Because everyone had put their faith in Natsu to save them, including her, and now he was paying it with his life. She should've been stronger, she should've been fighting beside Natsu, she should've-

"Heh... had to make something count," Natsu replied with a faint grin.

"You've always made it count," Lucy whispered back, brushing his locks back with her bloodstained hands. She knew. She knew he wouldn't make it. Another person dying in her arms again but this person... it never should've been him. He deserved to live... so many people did.

But they weren't.

"Promise me, Luce," he coughed, blood spilling further down his lips and following the way of his neck to soak into Igneel's scaled scarf. Lucy closed her eyes as her tears began to downpour as heavy as the rain but opened them when a calloused hand found the strength to touch her tear-stained cheek. "Promise me you'll live, for us, Lucy. Promise... me," he couched again, the action seeming to drain him of his energy and he nearly lost his life right then and there, had Lucy not tightened her hold on his hand on her face, her tears now freely running down his hand.

"I promise Natsu, I promise!" He smiled then at her, it was weak and it was bloody but it was Natsu. Lucy sobbed into his palm, her shoulders shaking as they stared into each other's eyes. Slowly he brought his hand away from her tears to clasp over his other on her guild mark. "We'll always be there with you, Luce."

And then it burned. She clenched her teeth as Natsu used the last of his energy to remove her guild mark from her hand, leaving behind the only thing she had left of him, before closing his eyes and relaxed in her arms. Lucy cried and cried and cried, holding his body close, rocking him and repeating that she promised until the storm passed. When she finally allowed herself to let go she stood and walked forward, her eyes burning with a fire once seen in the Fire Dragon Slayer's eyes so frequently.

Another person moved to walk beside her, a petite woman who gripped the sheathed iron sword tightly strapped to her hip, her own eyes glinting like her lover's iron before battle and the two walked away from the ruins of Crocus. The spirits of their nakama almost waving goodbye as the wind swept past them.

"Let's go, Levy."

Soft pellets of rain fell gracefully across the windows of a small but cozy house sitting at the edge of town surrounding by tall, sweet-smelling pine trees as a family of three goofed of inside. Lisanna was assisting her older sister with the stew in the cauldron while Elfman was holding a stray cat close to the open fire nearby, a fiction book open in his free hand while the cat purred to the warmth. With the tap of a ladel Mirajane removed the stirrer before allowing Lisanna to cover it with the lid, allowing their dinner to simmer.

The older sibling was relaxed in the comforting walls of her home, her normally fierce restrained eyes were now gentle as she sat down beside her younger brother to pet the cat on the head a couple times before placing a blanket over Elfman's shoulders. Lisanna quickly took her place beside Elfman once Mirajane moved away to lay down on their couch, leaving the two to pat the cat much to Mirajane's amusement by the growing volume of purring.

The older girl threw a throe over herself and closed her eyes to rest before the stew was ready only to have the unfortunate interruption of loud, insistent knocking on her door. Groaning into the couch, Mirajane threw herself off the couch with a newly acquired scowl and prepared a retort for the only other person aside from her siblings that knew where they lived. As she threw the door open - albeit not enough to make the door croak - her retort died before it could have the chance to live at the look of a distressed redhead on her porch.

"Wha-"

"It's Lucy," Erza said before hooking her arm around Mirajane's before throwing her out of the door into the rain before stepping into the house where the startled younger Strauss's were eyeing them along with a pair of sassy yellow eyes of a brown cat. "I'll be borrowing your sister for a bit, she'll be back... er, eventually!" Erza said with a formally polite smile before closing the door quickly but softly. Turning to a frazzled snowette the redhead didn't give Mirajane the time of day to speak as she dragged the Take-over mage along with her at a rapid pace, leaving confusion in their wake.

"Oi, red, what's going on?" Mirajane tried again, managing to get her arm away from Erza and was instead walking quickly beside the warrior. Erza didn't reply at first before she let out a breath and stopped in the middle of the street. Fortunately, because it was night and raining there was no one in sight allowing the two to speak without worry about being overheard. "I didn't get the whole story but Cana went to me about Lucy having a fever."

A dozen thoughts went through Mirajane's mind before she sighed and settled on one, "How bad is it?"

Erza's eyes shined in uncertainty before answering, "Cana left about half an hour to find me and it took me ten to find you... so by the time we get back it will be an hour. She said that Lucy could barely stand and has a bad fever, although nothing about nausea or hallucinations."

Mirajane nodded before tilting her head. "Do you still have my stuff at your place?" At Erza's nod, Mirajane squared her shoulders. "Should've seen this coming," she mumbled and the two resumed their pace back to Fairy Hills. "I could've too but all we saw was her overworking and sleeping less, we couldn't have known. Not logically," Erza refuted and Mirajane shook her head but didn't say anything further.

"Let's just get over there and see how bad it is," Mirajane offered and with a firm nod, Erza and she were off in a sprint.

The walls were weary, creaking, and utterly insignificant despite the many golden frames of important paintings and photographs of people that no longer exist. A family to be exact, which had once been a loving, supporting father and mother with a magnificent child of great gifts and intellect whose smile warmed the hearts of many. A family that had fallen apart when the one which tied the child and father together had died, leaving the father to drown in selfishness and alcohol, leaving their only child alone in a great mansion as the only other resident.

It was that little girl who remained there for another year of solitude and isolation, of forgotten memories and corrupted minds, but most of all the ghost of the man she once called father haunting the very walls she lived within.

A blonde stood as a shadow of her younger self, watching as the walls grew dark as a man stumbled across. Lucy wrapped her arms tightly against her younger self and closed her eyes as the man grew closer and closer to them before a chill swept through her and she opened her eyes to see that her father had walked right past her. She released her younger self only to see she had disappeared, leaving her trapped within shadow walls closing around her.

The sound of bottles breaking and angry shouting as furniture was tossed around echoed through the walls leaving Lucy to curl on the floor, tucking her knees close to herself before rocking her body in slow memorable movements. The walls shook as the volume rose and she found herself shaking, feeling helpless once more.

"Kid," a familiar masculine voice spoke through the walls of shadowed violence. Lucy glanced up to see Kalelius kneeling in front of her and brushed her hair back before pressing her palm against her forehead. She leaned into the warmth of his hand and frowned when he pulled away. Kalelius shook his head and gave her a wink. "Let's get you out of here, eh?"

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed before taking his offered hand and was brought back to stand on her own two feet only to find herself thrown out of the darkness and enveloped by the cool texture of silkiness. It took her a moment to realize it was water and another to open her eyes and see the life in front of her. A school of fish swam in front of her and she found herself following them, passing a scorpion and a beautiful mermaid, a crab, a fish that had the mane of a lion, and even a horned sting ray before something else caught her eye. It was a mythology version of Capricorn and it was gesturing for her to follow.

And despite her confusion, she did.

A sigh was the only sound heard in the quiet dorm room of Cana as Mirajane pulled her hand away from Lucy's forehead and frowned in thought. "How is she?" Cana asked as Erza pulled left-over soup from her fridge. Almost mindlessly the brunette turned on the stove and placed a pot on the stove to allow Erza to put the soup in as she kept her attention on her guildmates. "It's high for a fever but it doesn't seem to be getting worse so, for now, we'll just have to wait it out. If it gets worse we'll have to give her a cold bath," Cana looked worried about something when she said that but filing the thought away for another time, she continued.

"Sleep will help a lot in this case but fevers often cause nightmares so we'll have to keep her cool enough to prevent that and actually let her sleep." Mirajane sighed again and but the heel of her palms against her eyes as she tried to think what else they needed. "Ensure she's comfortable and keep a trashcan nearby just in case. When she is conscious make sure she eats and keep a wet-cloth on her forehead until it warms up before changing it again."

She looked back at the blonde who was cocooned in Cana's blankets. "It doesn't appear to be magical related - which is a good thing. I couldn't treat that only that old hag Porlyusica could." Erza cleared her throat and gave Mirajane a pointed look for that comment while Cana snickered in the corner.

"Oh and make sure she stays hydrated, so keep water nearby. You may have to help her hold it because her body will be weak while her immune system fights the fever. Got it?" At Cana's nod, Mirajane heads towards the door. "Are you staying here, Red?" Erza frowned in thought before nodding. "Probably for another hour to make sure everything is set."

Mirajane shrugged, already wondering if her younger siblings have burned down the house in her absence. "Alright."

"We'll see you at the guild tomorrow," Erza said in substitute for goodbye, they were rivals after all.

"Later," Mirajane said and left.

Cana let out a quiet breath before turning off the stop to allow the soup to cool before sitting at the table in the back. Erza went over to sit across from her before requipping a deck of cards using her magic and lifted an eyebrow in question. Cana smiled and went to cut the deck knowing it was a good way to pass the time.

Lucy found herself falling like a rock defying gravity in space with no place to land. Stars and galaxies and more stars filled her vision as she fell and if she closed her eyes for just a second she would feel as though she were flying. A sense of deja vu suddenly overwhelmed her and she tried to turn, to see where she was going and where she started, only to find herself anchored by invisible chains. She tried to yank her arms forward but instead, they remained where they were, ignoring her commands.

"Let me go!" She shouted, closing her eyes as she threw her body forward and with a sudden weight forced upon her she found her vision filled with golden light and the sound of an insistent clock filling her eardrums. Lucy flinched back only to find herself still in invisible chains while seeing double after opening her eyes. Through one eye it was as though she were seeing gears of an old clock while in the other she was in a void. Then it hit her where she was.

The Infinity Clock.

She sighed, wondering why Capricorn would bring her here again only to find her vision changing from rusted gears to the outside. "The only way to save Lucy," she heard an echo through her other eye in the void. She overheard Cobra ranting about sacrifices and Erza's unrelenting gaze, how Fairy Tail would never understand or have the strength to gain power they had, she heard her name repeatedly. "We have to save Lucy," another voice, more familiar this time echoed around her. Lucy closed her eyes in frustration for what had been and what is now.

For all the dramatics of her first life, she understood the truth of what was real. She made sacrifices to have the power to turn back time. It wasn't her power per say but it was a sacrifice nevertheless, something Fairy Tail could never do as a whole because that was how the first world ended in the first place. It's a mission of one person, of willpower, and of sacrifice to reach her hopes and dreams for those that lost their lives when they shouldn't have. She listened as the Infinity Clock began to fall apart around her with her body as one with it.

"You don't need to save me anymore," Lucy whispered and let her world fall to pieces.

The sound of scratching on her door had Cana scowling so fast even Erza cringed at the sight, as unnoticeable as the action may have been. Slamming her cards down on the table the brunette stomped towards the door and flung it open only to be faced with puppy eyes as Rokon stared up at her innocently. Her expression relaxed at the wolf-dog and stepped aside allowing him to pass by before staring unimpressed at the scratches on her door and closed it, deciding on an IOU when Lucy was feeling better.

Rokon settled by Lucy's feet after leaping unto the couch his friend slept on leaving a sheepish Cana returning to her seat. "I guess I forgot something," she told Erza. The redhead made a sound of acknowledgment before standing up from the table. "Huh? You're going already?"

"Yes, I believe I should. You and Rokon can watch over Lucy, she's in capable hands after all," Erza said with a smile. Cana looked flustered at the sudden praise before gesturing towards their game. "Eh, but what about the game? I was so about to beat you!"

Erza raised an eyebrow in question before flipping her cards down in a royal flush leaving Cana flabbergast before she groaned. "Nevermind, just take your cards and go," Cana teased with a sigh. Erza chuckled and clamped the brunette's shoulder who nearly stumbled at the suddenness. By the time she regained her bearing Erza was opening the door to the hallway. "So, see you tomorrow?"

Erza looked back at her, appeared to think over it, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose that would be adequate. Take care, Cana. I hope to see you both tomorrow if possible," she replied before leaving, the door closing gently behind her.

"Oi, Rokon? You gotta help keep me up you know!"

The wolf-dog snored.

As she found herself back to falling, Lucy allowed herself to get a better look at the universe in front of her mindscape. In front of her, or rather she was surrounded by the many constellations she could neither recognize nor forget. She was hit with a sense of nostalgia this time and found herself reaching towards one of them imparticular. She didn't know why she was pulled towards it, she didn't know why she felt like it was a place she belonged, only that she wanted to be there. Beside the constellation was another, this one in a blurry shape that had Lucy hit with a sense of familiarity but why she had no idea.

She stared at the blurry constellation a moment longer before a strange feeling overcame her. She froze and pulled her arm back. She couldn't explain it but somehow in some way she knew she had to return. That this was not the place for her just yet. And so, with a final glance at the constellations, she turned back and continued falling.

Lucy woke with a sore throat and a heater at her feet. She opened her eyes to be met with the dim lights in a familiar room that was not her own. Turning her head slightly she found Rokon snoring away at her feet while Cana was sitting on a comfortable looking chair some ways across from where she was laying. "Cana?" She said, somehow managing to make it sound like a question. A startled brunette looked past her book before smiling in relief at her. Lucy sat up, though quietly as to not disturb Rokon, and took the offered glass of water Cana offered her after closing her book.

"Thanks," she said just as scratchily as before drinking greedily. "S'kay. I've been up a while," Cana replied with a shrug of her shoulder.

"Sorry for keeping you up," she apologized, feeling rejuvenated. Cana gave her a look that Lucy wasn't sure how to describe and wasn't given the chance either because in the next moment the brunette had spun around with her index finger pointed her way with a frown dominated her usually relaxed expression. "Don't be sorry for something so stupid! Of course, we'd watch over you! What you should be sorry about is how you got sick in the first place!"

Cana didn't let Lucy get a word in, she was on a roll. "Like training yourself to the point of exhaustion and then not giving yourself enough sleep! Or, I don't know, not having the appropriate place to sleep like a bed or even a couch! Or stocking your fridge and pantry with food and drinks! Honestly, that's something you should be trying not correct. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here having this discussion!"

"Oi, Cana, maybe I just like to train a lot. What's wrong with that, eh?" Lucy refuted, completely baffled.

The brunette sighed. "There's nothing wrong with training a lot so long as you take care of yourself. Something you clearly haven't been doing! Why are you pushing yourself like this?"

The blonde was quiet, noticing that Rokon was eyeing the two of them carefully but remaining silent all the same.

"You don't have to carry whatever this is that's bothering you alone, you know. You don't even have to go to me. Erza, Mirajane, Levy, the old man, heck anyone in the guild or even a stranger. Just talk to someone, okay?"

Lucy swallowed and looked away, her eyes meeting Rokon's in the process before she looked away again from both friends.

"I guess I'll be writing some letters soon then," she mumbled for both friends, Rokon nodded while Cana sighed in relief. Her expression softened when she caught Lucy's eye and awkwardly cleared her throat. "I'm just worried, I'm sorry."

Lucy shook her head. "Don't be. It's like you said, don't be sorry for something so stupid. You were right."

"Damn right I was," Cana replied with a fond smirk causing both Rokon and Lucy to snort. Cana crossed her arms and pouted - yes, pouted - and turned away. "Moi, you guys so mean."

Lucy grinned and settled back against the couch cushions, oddly noting that her legs were asleep and shifted slightly to regain feeling in them.

"So what's been going on?" Lucy asked after they settled down. Rokon was back to a light sleep by her feet and Cana and scooted her chair closer to the couch. "While you were out of it, you mean?" At Lucy nod, Cana continued.

"Well, after scaring me half-to-death," she leveled a glare at Lucy who just rolled her eyes in response, "I went to Erza who went to Mirajane 'cause she's the one who checks on the girls that get sick around here and-"

"Mirajane?" Lucy questioned and Cana smirked at her seeing that there was more question in the name. "Who do you think inspired Lisanna to look after animals?"

The blonde widened her eyes at the news before smiling slightly. "Guess that makes sense."

"Yeah, it should. Now if I could finish?" Lucy rolled her eyes again but nodded all the same. "Oi, don't be doing all that," Cana retorted. In reply, she got a scoff.

She pouted.

"Anyway, Mirajane wasn't here long and Erza stayed long enough to demolish me in cards but left when Rokon arrived. Damn well scratched up my door too," Cana grumbled, sending a glare at the sleeping heater at Lucy's feet. "So nothing much, then." Lucy summarised. Cana rolled her eyes this time and flicked Lucy's shoulder. "Oi, I've been up all night. The least I could get is a thanks," Cana retorted teasingly.

"Alright. Thank you Cana," Lucy drawled before grabbing the brunette's arm and swinging her unto the couch (as Cana yelped mid-air). Due to the size of her couch Cana easily squeezed between Rokon and the other side of the couch, sending Lucy a glare as she got situated. "Little warning next time, Lucy," she said grumbling.

Lucy smirked before dodging a cushion thrown at her.

"Ugh, whatever, I'm going to sleep," Cana eventually relented, burying her head in her pillow as Lucy snickered.

"Good night Cana," Lucy teased the brunette in a sing-song voice.

"It's good morning, actually," Cana replied with a groan.

It wasn't too long after that she fell asleep leaving a still smiling Lucy staring at the ceiling. She didn't really remember her dreams but she was feeling nostalgic. She sighed, telling herself that now wasn't the time to be dwelling on such things. After all, she had to think about what exactly she was going to tell Kalelius in a letter.

It had been too long since she last spoke to her friend. Too long.

Okay, now I definitely feel nostalgic.

She rubbed her eyes, sleep nagging at her consciousness, and with a final thought for tomorrow she fell asleep to the familiar breathing rhythms of her friends.

Okay so I was looking at the chapters for this story and wanted to delete an old AN however after doing so the site somehow translated that to this story being updated... and I felt rather bad about it because everyone's getting the alert for a chapter that doesn't exist. Anyway, that's why I got this chapter out today instead of the usual Friday ':)

Hope you guys enjoyed this and check out some of my other stories on my account! - if you like poetry I got something as an attachment to this story.

Alright, now to answer a couple reviews and questions:

Ketsueko, in regards to my aggressiveness to you earlier... I apologize for offending you. I learned recently that I'm aggressive when I'm trying not to be but somehow it ends up coming out worse than it started if that makes any sense. I hadn't meant to insult you (or anyone), per say, it was more like confirming something so thoroughly that it receives a bit too strong. I'm a Capricorn and INTP, we're sort of known for this kind of tough-skin misunderstandings, lol. And yes, I will try to refrain from continuing this misunderstanding in the future, thanks for letting me know about it in the first place.

The Observer, in regards to what happens next... well, I've taken the advice of another reviewer and after this, we'll be walking into another arc. I won't say anything more but it should be something nice to look forward to, neh?

- Rain

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Word of the Day: Zenosyne - in English this means "the sense that time keeps going faster."

Soundtrack/Music of the Day: Julie Elven - Living Room Sessions - While Her Head is in the Sky.

Disclaimer: See above. I do not own the song or lyrics.