Author's Note: This is a spin-off of superfreakerz, "Til Death Do We Part." It is not part of their canon. I came up with this idea as I was reading, and superfreakerz gave me the go-ahead to write it up. It is part of the Fairy Tail AU that involves reincarnation and immortality. It does not follow superfreakerz story exactly, and there will be some differences.

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Occurrence

Lucy slowly moved her hand from her aching side and cursed under her breath.

Red.

The sight of her fingers, sticky and dark from her own blood wasn't what Lucy had wanted to see. She tried to breathe in a little deeper, but the pain that shot through her body made her muscles tense uncomfortably. She knew what a punctured lung felt like-it had been one of the significant injuries during a car wreck that had killed her. As the pressure slowly started to increase, Lucy could imagine her lung filling with blood. Glancing down at the growing puddle of crimson around her, she knew she was running out of time. It would take too much time for anyone to make it to the cemetery. She'd either bleed out or drown.

She slowly leaned back against her parents' headstone. She could almost laugh at the irony of the situation. How unlucky did she have to be to be robbed while visiting a grave? She'd given him her purse, but he made sure to dig his knife deep into her side before he ran.

From where she was sitting, the only lucky thing about this situation was that she had worn her locket on her visit. With shaking fingers, she managed to unlatch it. Lucy frowned as the golden chain turned in her hand, a single drop of blood sliding down the metal.

Lucy took another labored breath before she began to dig into the earth with her right hand. She grimaced at the feeling of the dirt sticking to her wet hand. She was starting to feel dizzy by the time the locket was safely buried in the ground.

At least she wouldn't have to take it off her own corpse again.

Lucy chuckled slightly, wincing afterward.

Her mind was starting to get a little fuzzy. What else did she need to do?

Vaguely, the thought of Natsu formed in her mind. Damn, she had promised him that she'd be back soon. They had plans...

Everything was blurry as she punched in his phone number. She couldn't prevent herself from making a face when she felt the grime that covered the screen touch her cheek.

Her whole body was starting to tremble. Damn, was she already going into shock...?

The ringing seemed to go on forever.

Lucy prayed he'd pick up.

"Hey, this is Natsu. I can't come to the phone right now. Leave me a message, and I'll get back to you."

Lucy let her head tip back into the hard stone behind her.

"Fuck..."

She heard a faint beep.

Right... she was supposed to leave a message.

"Natsu..." She tried to start, but she was too quiet.

He wouldn't be able to hear her like this.

She tried again, putting more strength into the sound. Everything was starting to spin, and a gurgling cough slipped from her lips. She gritted her teeth after spitting out a string of blood.

"Natsu, I'm sorry." Lucy took another wet breath, coughing lightly. "It's going to be.. awhile before I can.. make it back to Fairy Tail. I'm.. going to miss you.. all of you.. so much." Lucy's voice cracked, a tear sliding down her cheek.

Her vision was starting to fade. It seemed like she was going to bleed out before she drowned herself- a small miracle, she supposed.

Her arm was getting so heavy, it was hard to hold the phone.

"Hey, Natsu.. you know I love you, right?"

Lucy's arm slipped. She barely felt it hit the ground.

She let her eyes slip closed.

It hadn't been a bad life, she supposed.

Even still, she couldn't help but feel she'd been cheated.