Hello everyone!

I had my biology exam today, and surprisingly- but to my joy- It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Yaay! Only two more to go now, too anyone else with exams left, I wish you the absolute best of luck and hope you get the grades you want! :)

I wanted to make this chapter longer! I didn't want to stop writing! But at almost 2000 words I knew I had to wrap it up! But don't worry, after this chapter all the spicy, exciting things are going to happen!

Now, before I reveal anything about the next chapter, I will let you read this one

Oh! And thank you for all of your reviews, follows and favourites! You are all amazing! Plus, I agree, it's hard to decide who Lucy should end up with, but I think I have worked it out :)

Now, without further a due,

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

When the darkness had cleared from my vision, the blackness releasing it's tight grip on my senses and allowing me to finally see the light again, I wasn't where I had been when I had fallen into the black mist. Where I had expected to see the familiar white birch tree's that lined the path that ran through the park, I was instead met with thick green foliage all around me. Instead of the view of the park, confined by tall, spiralled black gates, I was kept confined in a clearing by the greenery. No visible path out of the clearing. Where I had expected too see the bright, late morning blue sky I was instead faced with a soft purple-red hue of evening. Balling my hands and collecting some strands of grass from the ground beneath my hand, I felt a chill on my mostly bare skin as the wind blows.

I gulp, twisting my head to look around for any other people, only to find that I am alone. At the thought of being alone in an unfamiliar setting away from where and when I had been moments before, I instinctively allow my hand to find its way to my belt in order to receive my keys; flying to the spot they have always been. I hope to quickly find the silver key belonging to Pyxis, hoping that with the assistance of the compass spirit, I can hopefully find my way home. Suddenly, I fell my blood run cold.

My keys are gone.

As well as that realisation, I feel my heart drop even more as I discover that my whip is also gone from my belt. The disappearance of my keys and whip effectively leaving me defenceless against any threat. Turning on my knee's, I quickly inspected the clearing in more detail, my surroundings unfamiliar to me. Every second that ebbs away, I can fell my fear growing.

For a moment, a silence consumes the clearing. Few sounds breaking it; the whistle of the wind that slowly tempts goosebumps to flit across my skin, rustling from the leaves and my breath which slowly, as the sky darkens with every passing minute, becomes more frantic.

As a child, after my mother died, I had run away from home many times leaving me alone in the dark somewhere new too me. Every time I had packed a small bag in the hopes of starting a new life with a family who cared for me, cared for me more than my father who always worked his days away. However, I never got very far before being brought back home. If I had known as a child that one day I would in fact find a family who loved and cared for me as if I was their flesh and blood, as if we were all related, I would have smiled more as a child.

The experiences of my attempts to leave my life at home left me unshaken by the dark and new places, but that was a long time ago. A young girl desperate to find someone to love her, a girl who voluntarily walked into the unknown. I still do. However, in this instance, I have not asked to be brought to this place. I don't want to be here, I don't even know where here is or how I got here.

Closing my eyes, I hear a soft whimper pass my lips.

"Why are you afraid, Lucy?"

A sudden voice to my back causes my eyes to pop open and me to scramble to my feet, turning to face the barer of the voice. However, to my shock, I realise that no one is behind me, Instead the shadowed ground and surroundings.

"Hello?" My voice is trembling slightly, but I ball my fits and try to steady my tone in an attempt to make myself sound more intimidating. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Don't worry, Lucy." The voice sounds again, this time from in front of me, however there is still no one in my view, leaving me baffled. The voice sounds familiar, but is distorted beyond being able to place it. Gulping, I bite my lip, about to demand to know who was addressing me and where they are, when my questions are very suddenly answered. From a shadow being cast by a tree at the edge of the clearing which stops a few inches from my feet, a dark haired, red eyed man appears, the shadow almost melting from his body leaving him standing before me. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Rogue.

I feel my lips part slightly and eyes widen in shock; the man before me had just emerged from the shadows before my eyes. He must have noticed my gaping face, as he chuckles softly at my expression, leaving me to shut my mouth quickly, embarrassed. He's the Shadow Dragon Slayer, the shadows are his domain as fire is Natsu's, the sky is Wendy's and iron is Gajeel's. Why is it surprising he has emerged from the shadows? No, that's not the surprising thing. The surprising thing is, that not only am I here, but Rogue is here with me. I simply stare at him for a minute longer before speaking. His laugh subsiding as I speak.

"Did you bring me here?"

"Yes."

"Why? Where are we?"

At my questions, he simply smiles, as if the answer is simple. To this, I scowl, which causes his smile to grow wider. I am still not amused by this, my eyes also narrowing. Sighing, he walks past me, pulling his cape from his shoulders as he does before he lays in on the ground across the grass, sitting upon the fabric and looking over to me.

"Sit with me." He taps the space beside him. When I don't move, but simple fold my arms over my chest, he pouts slightly. "Please?"

"Why have you brought me here, Rogue?"

Sighing once more, rubbing his face with his hands as if to rub the irritation from his features, he looks up to me again and stares at me for a moment before answering.

"I brought you here so you could see this stars. You are a Celestial Mage, so I thought you would appreciate the view." To this, he points out in front of him, turning to me and beckoning me. I am curious as to why he is pointing into the tree's, trying to resist my curiosity, but failing and giving into my wonder. Stepping forward, arms still across my chest, I step forward only to see that there is a break in the tree line.

Before me, the sky is painted a deep blue, almost like velvet. Lighter blues, almost silver, stains the sky in certain places where the stars are packed together closer. Dotted like diamonds across the glorious back drop, are thousands of stars, slowly getting brighter as the sky behinds continues to plunge into darkness. Wow. The view, I must admit, is amazing. Breathtaking... I am frozen for a moment, the view before me holding me in my place., tears trying to push past my eyelids. Finally, I am knocked from my initial shock by his voice once more. "So, ready to sit down now?"

Tearing my eyes away from the sky and down to the space on the black cape besides Rogue, I frown as I give into his asking, taking a seat beside the young man who's face breaks into a smile screaming victory and another emotion I can't quite place. Whatever it is, it disconcerts me greatly.

I am only sitting here because you showed me a view this beautiful once when I was a child, do you remember, mama? When you first taught me about the constellations, about my friends stars.

.

"What is that one?"

I had been sitting on the cape with Rogue for about ten minutes, simply staring at the sky full of stars. Every minute or so, Rogue asks about another star or constellation, and I hear myself answering him almost absent-mindedly, answering by instinct and able to because I know the stars as if they were a part of me. Apart from that sign, it would be obvious that I am far away, my mind not where my body is.

"That's Libra..."

I can hear Rogue speaking, but I don't understand what he is saying. Rather, I am lost in the memory of the night my mum had taken me to the hill behind my old home. She had taught me about the stars that night as I sat wrapped in a blanket, and that's when I knew. I knew I wanted to have my own spirits to be my friends. Looking down, I breath out heavily as another memory comes to my mind. The one of the night I had tried to teach Natsu about the stars. We were on a mission with Gray and Erza, taking it in turns to stay on watch. It was my turn, but he had offered to stay away with me. We had laid on the grass that night, and I had pointed out all of the stars and their names. Regulus, the deep blue star, Leo's heart. Arcturus, the brightest star in one of the oldest constellations in the night sky. Sirius, which I had explained to Natsu was the Greek word for 'scorching'. He had turned to me, grinning with his abnormally sharp canine teeth, and exclaimed how it was his star. It'll always be your star, Natsu.

"And that one?"

Blinking away a tear, I gulp whispering the answer almost silently.

"That one." I laugh slightly, closing my eyes at the memory of the look on Natsu's face as his eyes lit up at the stars meaning. "That one is Sirius."

Caught off guard, lost in my bitter sweet memories of Natsu, I suddenly feel a pair of lips on my own. Sudden, and slightly chilled like the air, but somehow inviting as I imagine the grin on the pink haired mans face. The night we had stared at the stars, and all the days and nights and days and weeks and months and years that followed. When he saved me from falling from the stars, grabbing me in his arms. Or digging up the Rainbow Sakura tree for me, no matter how much he denied it, I knew he had.

For a split second, I give into my memories and lean into the kiss, imagining this moment is being shared with Natsu. My last rights, almost, my one and only chance to kiss the man I had fallen for without even realizing it, because it felt so natural. Granting his tongue access into my mouth as I kiss him back. Not stopping until I need to pull away to breath, panting slightly as I do. Opening my eyes, however, I am not met with my pink haired Dragon Slayer, but Rogue, his deep red eyes staring into mine.

That's when I realise that it was the the man next to me I was kissing, who is no longer arms length away but millimetres.

Why did I let Rogue be my first kiss? That right was always saved for Natsu...

Suddenly, I feel a strangling feeling of guilt take over as I gasp at what I had done. I had given my first kiss to Rogue. Trembling, I push the black haired man away from me, much to his confusion.

"No... No, I'm sorry. I can't- you... You aren't Natsu."