{I just wanted to let you know this chapter is based off of one of my favorite songs by ffdp called Gone Away. I really felt like it would kinda help set the mood for this chapter. Being the story itself is based off a Res Hot Chili Pepper's song!}

Like I don't have a partner

Regular POV

Lucy and Cobra left the town square and made their way towards the guild, making sure to keep the rooftops in their peripheral vision, Cobra squinting as he slowly expanded his sound magic to keep tabs on Lucy's stalker.

"From what I can tell, he has been following you for a while now." Cobra shoved his hands in his pants pocket, and grimaced as he tried to block out all the other sounds other than his target. It was easier the further they were from the square, yet he still had trouble filtering out the rest of the town's noise. Lucy watched him, worry etched on her face and concern in her eyes.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lucy asked as she moved around a couple walking with a stroller. She flashed the couple a smile and waved at the toddler who happily chirped away as she took in the warm spring day. The couple smiled at Lucy, but took one glance at Cobra and gave him a wide birth, walking across to the other side of the street as to not cross his path. Lucy gasped in horror, Cobra simply ignored it.

'How awful, how can someone treat a total stranger like that.' Lucy scowled as they came to the guild's steps.

"You should go on in, Tink." Cobra nudged her towards the steps.

"Are you not coming in with me?" Lucy asked as she started up the steps, making it half way before she turned around to look at him.

"I don't think I will be welcomed amongst the Fairies, Tink. Not after all I have done." Cobra gave her a half grin, flashing a fang at her.

"Don't be silly. No one here holds your past against you. Plus, you don't have to worry about Team Natsu." Lucy's smile wavered slightly, pain flashing in her eyes.

"Why is that?" He asked her. Lucy grasped one arm with her and and slowly sat down on one of the concrete steps and frowned.

"You may be able to tell, but I'm not exactly the strongest on Team Natsu." Lucy started. "I have always been the target for a kidnapping, ransom of some kind, stalkers, you name it. Sooner or later, my team started to leave me off of jobs." Lucy shrugged, her heart breaking little by little as she talked.

"They just dumped you off the team?" Cobra was surprised, Fairy tail was suppose to be all about Nakama, and yet they left their brightest star to darken.

"Not per say, but yeah. So now I am a solo mage. An independent with out a partner or a team." Lucy felt a sob threaten to escape as she fought back tears, her finger tracing Aquarius's sigil she had permanently tattooed on her collar bone. The physical pain didn't compare to the emotional pain she fought with every day. Cobra scuffed and started to climb the stairs until he stood next to her, he reached a hand down to her and pulled her to her feet.

"You are wrong you know," he brushed his thumb over her knuckles gently," you are far from weak." Together they walked the rest of the stairs and opened the guild doors. Lucy was assaulted by her guildmates calling out greetings, while Cobra was assaulted by the sound of their souls. Lucy wasn't wrong when she said no one held anything he had done in the past against them. Most of their souls were filled with thoughts of booze and jobs, and a sense of comradery.

Cobra's eye drifted over to the bar, and landed on Kinana. He told no one of his connections with her, of the times past. He sauntered over to the bar and sat down at a stool while Lucy went upstairs to talk with Markarov about what had been transpiring that day. He let his mind drift away, watching as Kiana and Mira worked the bar in flawless sync. The pang in his heart sung loudly as he sipped out of his mug, the beer coating his dry throat and settled warmly in his stomach. Not that he could get drunk off of the liquor, but it soothed his mind and helped center his thoughts. Yet, there was no reprieve from the pain that racked through his brain, nothing could compare to the loss he had suffered when he lost his one and only friend. Now, here she stood before him, in another form with no memories of their past together.

He turned his head away, unable to watch her move around the bar any longer. He wasn't in love with Kinana, but the feelings he had for her were hard to put in to words, he knew that nothing would come from them but that didn't stop him from reminiscing of time past.

Maybe in another life, I could find you there. He thought that maybe, if he had been someone else that maybe he could have feel in love with Kinana. She moved away from the bar, her hand brushing against Mest's forearm as she past by him. Cobra watched Mest's eyes shine, his soul sing at the simple touch. There were some sounds Cobra wouldn't fuck with, even if it pissed him off to no end, and that was when two souls bonded together.

Pulled away before your time. I can't deal, it's so unfair. He wanted nothing more than to move on, but the copious scars on his back and wrists reminded him why he couldn't. That the permanent marring of his once flawless skin would never diminish. He had lost his friend too soon for his liking, and watching her grow and live her own life was slowly eating at him. Would he ever find that kind of love? Would he find that one person that would make his soul sing like those around him?

And it feels, And it feels like heaven is so far away. Yeah it feels, yeah it feels like the world has grown cold now that you've gone away. It was like a permanent winter in his soul, barren and lonely. He never thought he would ever feel this kind of loneliness again. He thought once he escaped from the tower, and the clutches of Brian, that he would be one step closer to the heaven he had imagined in his dreams. The power, the feeling of never being weak again. He didn't even acknowledge Mira as she went to re-full his stein, her eyes flicked over him once before moving on to the next patron at the bar. It was as if she could sense that she would be treading dangerous waters right at this moment.

Leaving flowers on your grave, Show that I still care,Black roses and Hail Mary's, I cant take back what's taken from me. Ever since walking away from her and allowing himself to be arrested, he knew that he was leaving her for good. He wanted to pull her in to his arms, to tell her it was in fact him calling out to her. Yet, he couldn't. He couldn't allow her to be dragged down with him when she had no idea what had even transpired. So every few months he would pop in to Fairy Tail, and check in on her, watching like a shadow.

I reach to the sky, and call out your name, oh please let me trade, I would. Cobra would have done anything to fix what he had done in the past, if only to have more time with his friend. The snake turned woman wouldn't understand the heaviness of his sins, not anymore. He can't seek out her comfort anymore, couldn't run to her for protection against the chill brought on by his nightmares. He emptied his mug before setting it on the bar top and pushed off the stool. He needed air, he needed solitude. Really, he didn't know what he wanted, not any more. He walked out of the guild hall and started walking aimlessly through the town. Ignoring people who stared at him, ignoring the parents who yanked their child out from his way. He pulled his white jacket closer to his body, hating that fall was coming sooner than he thought. The warm days were slipping in to cool nights, and he hated the colder times. It reminded him too much of his childhood, or lack of. He forgot that he had left Lucy at the guild, but shrugged it off as he continued walking, he was in no mood to play babysitter to someone who always landed herself in to trouble simply by breathing.

[chorus repeats here so I'm gonna skip it] The world will never be the same again, not without Cubellios by his side. The pain in his heart would never seem to fade, and he would continue to walk his existence alone for the rest of his known life.