Author's Notes: Here's a long overdue chapter for all of you! I know it's been so long and I want to thank everyone for your support. This took me a while to write because of school and to all of you out there who have been waiting, I've tried my best to make it well worth the wait. Reviews will be very much appreciated and thank you in advance for your continuous support!

Again, there's going to be a lot of spoilers throughout the chapter, so I'd suggest getting through the manga if you haven't already. This chapter is mostly set during the events of Chapter 448 to 469, the start of the Alvarez Arc.

All I want is to fly with you

All I want is to fall with you

She looked on in wonder at the reformed guild hall situated at the edge of Magnolia, the banner of Fairy Tail standing proud at the very top and swaying with the wind, no longer tattered and broken. It had been a little over two weeks since they had left Magnolia to rescue the master, and yet the guild hall was once again whole. It wasn't as majestic as some of the previous ones, but it had the same feel to it as it always did when she walked through those doors. The feeling of coming home.

Of course, the guild had erupted into chaos as soon as they walked in with Master Makarov in tow. Lucy should have expected that really, so she merely shrugged and stood at the back of the group watching every interaction, taking it all in and just reveling in the feeling of everyone being together after a whole year apart. Though she didn't feel as comfortable as she did within the guild hall as she did more than a year ago, watching everyone felt like a step in the right direction.

And so, as she sat with Levy while watching everyone, she lets her thoughts wander. That had been happening a lot lately, but she thinks it's pretty normal with everything that has been happening. Everything had been moving way too fast and there was barely any room to breathe and process what was happening all around her. They guild was back. And not even a month into its reformation, they were going to face another war. A war of which they had never even thought possible.

Lucy smiles hesitantly as Cana approaches her and hands her a beer. She then thinks that there were so many things that could go wrong at any time, and she had just started to move forward. There was not enough time is all she could think while she downed her drink in one go. She thinks that there is always that possibility to lose someone, even as she hopes that they would win without losses. She hopes that they could continue to laugh, and she could begin to trust them all fully again. To be able to lean on them freely and without a hint of hesitation. That was all she wished as she drank until Master called their attention.

She wonders if they really meant forgiving the Master. She wonders if it was true when some of them said that it no longer bothered them. Because it wasn't for her, not until a few days ago when she came to terms about the disbandment of the guild. She only started to truly move on from it because she saw with her own eyes what it had taken for Master Makarov to come to that decision. If she didn't, then she really probably wouldn't have been able to truly forgive the old man. Lucy sighed as she downed the last of her drink just as Natsu was burning off the map on the table.

"It ain't about winning! We're makin' a stand to keep on living! That's what we're fightin' for!" he had screamed for the whole guild and Lucy agreed. That's what she would be fighting for. A future. A future where she can move on, love and trust wholeheartedly. "It's time for some payback!" the Master yelled, and Lucy felt determination swell up inside of her. "If it's us, we can do it," she muttered and hoped that what she was forcing herself to believe would hold true.

Lucy watched as the First Master, Mavis Vermillion, stepped out and she had to wonder if the projection they were seeing was linked at all to the body that they had found weeks ago. But perhaps, she would come to know as the First would tell"the story of a cursed boy and a cursed girl".

The moment that Mavis had begun to tell her story, Lucy had felt a twinge of pain and familiarity. She had always thought that the One Magic was Love as taught to her by her mother. But it seemed that there was always more than what meets the eye. And the familiarity – because how Mavis and Zeref met just so happened to hit a little too close to home.

An unexpected meeting. Being drawn to the person. Learning from him. These were things that she also experienced from Natsu. And she loved him. Just like how Mavis loved Zeref. Their whole story was cruel, crueller than she had even experienced, known or even come to imagine. To kill because you loved. Or to save because you didn't. It had been their reality. And it had been the cause of Mavis' death and Zeref giving up hope on life. And as the First Master of Fairy Tail bows her head in shame to begin her apologies, her eyes showing remorse, regret and sadness that Lucy had never associated with her, Lucy wonders how painful this could be for her.

"Where's the crime in lovin' someone else? I ain't gonna arrest anybody for that!"

Lucy turns her head abruptly and stares at Gajeel, her heart beating furiously with that statement before she turns back to the First Master as she ignores the raging emotions. She would face them later in the confines of her apartment because there were more urgent matters to be handled while they were all in the guild and trying to organize a semblance of a plan. "Could you tell us what you know about who we're going to be fighting?" Lucy asked because she knows that knowing the enemy would at least give them a slight chance at a decent plan.

But with every name and every description, Lucy couldn't think of a plan. But she did feel the fear that came with the knowledge of just how powerful their foes would be. She could feel herself trembling, a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead and at the nape of her neck. She could feel her fists clenched as if it would calm the terror dwelling within her. And yet, with the words of the First Master ringing throughout the guild hall, Lucy swallows the fear as she plans on how to ready herself for the battle to come. Because she will fight and she will fight with everything she has and more.

So just give me

All of you

It took forever to escape the chaos that was occurring in the guild hall. Normally, Natsu would be calling it a party – a celebration. It could hardly be called that this time around. He may be an idiot, but he wasn't that much of an idiot. He knew that the drinks going around were more of liquid courage than for actual celebration. He knew that the brawls that kept on happening every hour was not the usual chaos that Fairy Tail produced, it was the product of tension that everyone wanted to ignore. It was a release for the mages of the guild that had built up nervous energy throughout the day until the late hours of the night. He knew that everything that went on in the guild that night after their initial war planning was done was a distraction. All the conversation, the laughter, the drinking, the singing, the dancing, the fights. All of it. And Natsu couldn't blame anyone for wanting that little illusion of peace and happiness and normality. He wished it didn't have to be that way, but they had little choice in the matter.

Walking down the streets of Magnolia with Happy gliding by his side, Natsu begun to think about the Lucy, specifically, their relationship – or lack thereof. He had spent every single night since Olympia at her side. Ever since he realized how big of a gaping wound Lucy still is, he spent every single night close to her, wrapping her up in his arms. It was all he could do because he had been so lost – and he still is. So lost on what to do, on how to even begin to help Lucy to heal. He didn't know how because he was one of the people that caused her so much pain. That instead of helping her heal a year ago, all he did was dig a deeper wound. And the guild disbandment had caused that wound to fester and rot that even now, she was still recovering and healing.

Natsu scratched the back of his head as they walked, glancing at the street that could take him to Lucy's home but ignoring it with all his willpower. Tonight would be the first in days that he would not spend the night with Lucy since he was already going home with Happy. The past few days he had always left the blue exceed in the presence of the team, but tonight, he couldn't just up and leave Happy alone in their cottage. And he couldn't bring Happy with him to Lucy's either. Not until they patch things up a little better. The fire dragonslayer sighed.

"Natsu?" the salmon-haired mage turned his head to his companion but didn't find him there. Instead, Happy had stopped at the intersection a few feet back. Happy had stopped at the corner that would lead straight to Lucy's house. "Yeah bud?"

"Aren't you going to stay with Lucy tonight?" Natsu should've known that he couldn't keep a thing from his adopted son. "Nah, Happy, let's go home for tonight," he forced a grin but the blue exceed only gave a small and sad smile. "I'm gonna go stay with Wendy and Carla until Lucy's all better. And when she gets better, maybe we can all go fishing again?" the blue exceed said, a tinge of hope filling his voice before he flew over to Natsu and wrapped his arms around his neck in a fierce hug. Happy missed Lucy and he could only hope that she becomes happy again soon because he could feel how sad the blonde still was. "Thanks bud," Natsu whispered. The exceed pulled back and nodded before flying off to the direction of Fairy Hills, leaving Natsu to head to Lucy's apartment.

Sneaking into Lucy's house was child's play as Natsu had done it enough times that whether the locks were on or off didn't really matter anymore. Tonight, the window was unlocked and allowed him to get into the apartment quicker and more silently. With the bed right beside the window, Lucy's sleeping figure bathed in the moonlight was the first thing Natsu saw when he entered the apartment. His breath caught at the beauty right before him and a sharp pain in his chest erupted to remind him that the woman he loved did not at all feel the same about him as he did for her.

Quietly, Natsu removed his sandals and placed them at the foot of the bed before situating himself beside Lucy, barely remembering to close the window and locking it. He laid himself down beside the Celestial Mage and wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent and just relaxing in her presence. He knew she had nightmares sometimes, he heard it when they were on the ship heading to Caracol Island. Her screams just before she would wake. She also had them when he stayed with her, but it never escalated to screams, just tiny whimpers and tears that would wake him in the middle of the night. But she never woke until he had left. He hoped that it was his presence diminishing the horrors in her dreams.

"Why?"

The whisper was so soft that Natsu would not have heard it had he not have had his enhanced senses. Nevertheless, it had took him by surprise that he flinched and would have pulled away had he not felt Lucy's hand on his arm, keeping him there. He remained silent for he did not know what to do. Not once had Lucy been awake when he stayed with her, or perhaps he had never noticed, just like now. He didn't notice at all that Lucy was awake. Likely why the window was left unlocked. Perhaps, she had been waiting for him.

"You come every night and you leave every morning. I just don't understand why Natsu. Why are you doing this?" the whispers were loud in the silence of the room. She was so rigid in his arms, so tense, so afraid that Natsu didn't know if it would be better if he pulled away. She had known that he encased her in his arms every night and that he left her every morning and she was finally confronting him about it. The dragonslayer didn't know where to start. So, he embraced her just a little tighter, just in case this would be the last he would ever get to hold her.

"I didn't know… I didn't know that me and Happy leaving would hurt you so much. I mean, we knew you'd be sad, but we always thought that you'd recover. That you'd be okay and happy and move on with the guild. We never expected the guild to disband when it did," Natsu knew he was babbling at this point. Making excuses when he had none. "It hurt to leave you Luce, but I needed to get stronger, so much stronger and I needed to go to dangerous places to do that. We wanted to take you with us, but the guild would have been safer for you. I know how strong you are Luce, but I'm not as strong as you." It was at this point that the blonde mage turned and faced him.

Natsu wanted to get himself lost in her chocolate orbs that shone brightly when she smiled. But he couldn't get distracted, not with the confusion and the tears present in her eyes. "I couldn't lose you another time Luce. I… I knew that if we took you with us, I wouldn't be able to focus on training because then, all I'd be thinking about is how to keep you safe. When we left, you were always, always in my mind but since I knew you were with the guild, I could rest easy and just focus on getting stronger. I was an idiot." He could feel her pain so clearly that it hurt, he could see how betrayed she had felt when he had left. How he and the guild had shattered her trust so thoroughly that it was hard for her to pick up the broken pieces of what they left behind.

"I will probably always be an idiot. But this idiot really loves you and I wouldn't lie to you about that and I will tell you that every chance I get. Every night I sneak in because I am hoping I could be part of your strength even just for a while and every morning I leave because I've been so afraid that you don't need the strength that I can give you," he closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself. He did not need to breakdown. He was supposed to be the pillar of strength. Natsu opened his eyes once more to see Lucy watching him intently. "I've really missed you. And I love you. And I just… I just want you to give me a chance Luce," he smiles sadly as he pulls his arms away slowly. He sits up, thinking that perhaps, he should not stay the night.

"I broke Aquarius' key."

Natsu turned his head so fast that he could have had a whiplash. The statement was so out of the blue and yet so chilling that the hairs on his arms stood at the implications of what Lucy had said. He looked at her trembling figure and didn't know what to do with the sudden revelation. Her voice was resonating in his head "I lost everything" she had told him that night in Olympia. He had thought he meant the team, the guild, but not this. Her key. Aquarius. Lucy loved her spirits – they were her family. Especially Aquarius – the key she had inherited from Layla Heartfilia – and her mother figure ever since Layla's death.

"You were all gone. And there was nobody else. And I knew I had to do something but I couldn't do anything because I wasn't enough. So, she told me to break her key and I had no choice." Her voice was shaking and he knew that tears were flowing from her eyes. And he just sat there dumbfounded by what she was telling him. She had sacrificed Aquarius for the guild. He had left her a note telling her to take care of the guild. The guild that disbanded the next day. "I wanted to tell you – or anyone really. But with Igneel and Grandeeney and Metallicana and Gray's dad and everything, I couldn't tell anyone and – ".

Natsu didn't let her finish anymore as he laid down and pulled her into his arms and just let her cry. Mumbling incoherent things that he could barely understand. She was telling him about the guild disbandment. She was telling him how broken she was, that she was sorry she didn't trust the guild as she once did. That she didn't trust him the way she used to. And he whispered that it was okay. Because he understood. She didn't trust them, but she was trying. She was trying to get back on her own two feet.

When her tears have finally slowed and the trembles have ceased, Natsu pulled away a little and wiped away the remnants of tears left on her face. "When this war is over, I'm going to do everything I can to help you with Aquarius. Whether it's finding some way to fix her key or getting you to see her again. I'm gonna be right there with you, Luce. You're gonna be alright," he whispered to her as he leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead before just leaning his forehead against hers so he could look into her eyes. A small smile graced both their features. They both knew it would be a long time before she would be fully alright. That it would be a long time before she could trust him fully again. But they both knew that she had already started to move forward, and that was enough for now. Comfortable silence permeated the room as exhaustion weighed down on the two mages leaning into each other. They stayed like that until their eyes closed and one of them succumbed to slumber.

It would be long minutes later when a pair of eyes containing brown orbs would open. "Where's the crime in lovin' someone else?" Gajeel had said earlier. The blonde mage would take a leap of faith and risk all that was left of her. Slowly, she closed the distance between her and the sleeping dragonslayer until her lips would touch his slightly. Softly. Gently. And she would pull away. "I love you too, silly dragon. I always have," she whispered to the silence of the night before she too would succumb to exhaustion.

It feels impossible

It's not impossible

The attack came out of nowhere. Right when they had least expected it. Thank Mavis that they already evacuated the town otherwise there would have been a wide-scale panic. Injuries everywhere, and casualties. But that did not change the fact that the enemy had gotten to them earlier than they had expected and thus it left them unprepared in the dead of the night. It left everyone scrambling to prepare for the battle that was starting way too quickly, way too early.

Natsu himself did not hear or smell them coming and his senses had been so fine-tuned that he should've been able to sense them ages ago. But he didn't, not until it was too late and the forces were already just outside of Magnolia. He quickly stood from where he was situated in Lucy's bedroom, quickly putting on the clothes that he had discarded during the game that he and Happy were playing.

"All guild members! Prepare for battle!"

They had bare minutes to prepare. And yet, he found the time to sought comfort and assurance from the blonde mage who was also hastily preparing for battle while listening to the communications that Warren was sending through.

"We're under attack! Approximately 50 heavy cruiser-class warships in the western sky!"

The ringing of the bell that signalled the oncoming attack was so loud in Natsu's ears. But not as loud as his heartbeat as it was. If it was coming from the sky then he and Happy had to go. He turned on Lucy, looked at her frantically trying to calm down enough to prepare and he quickly wrapped her in his arms. He was glad she didn't flinch. He hugged her for a few more seconds – seconds that he should've been using to confront the enemy, but he couldn't, not without seeking some form of assurance from her. He pulled away and looked her in the eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers, her brown orbs looking into his onyx ones in worry.

"Stay safe. I'll find you as soon as I can," he smiled, and she did too, before giving the slightest of nods. "Come back safe," she whispered softly. He pulled away from her, but not before giving her a kiss on the forehead, neither of them caring in the least that Happy was watching the whole exchange.

"Dragon Flight Force and Osprey Force! Commence attack! I repear, Dragon Flight Force and Osprey Force, commence attack!" came the command from Warren, no doubt a strategy from the First. Happy gave Lucy a brief hug as Natsu jumped out of the window with no hesitation. It was seconds later before the exceed caught up to the dragonslayer, carrying him and going full speed towards the Alvarez ships above. It was time for them to fight back.

The fighting had been going on for hours. It had started in the dead of the night and by the time that all of the forces that had reached Magnolia had been defeated, the sun had already risen to start a new day. Another day of fighting from what Natsu understood. He understood it simply because of how the guild could have been destroyed. The enemy forces were at a distance where they can aim at the guild – aim at Magnolia as a whole – and destroy them. And they would have been, if it were not for Ichiya and the Christina. Sheer dumb luck.

They had to do something. He had to do something.

And so, when everyone was assembling back to the guild to regroup, Natsu decided otherwise. "Happy, let's go fight Zeref," he said as they flew behind Gajeel, Lily, Wendy and Carla. He said it so quietly that Happy barely heard him. He looked up and saw the blue exceed contemplating about it, thinking for a moment if that was what they should do. "Aye aye Sir," he whispered back after long moments just before veering towards the Western borders and flying at full speed towards where they knew Zeref would be.

It was a risk, and they both knew it. With the power of Igneel, they had a shot to defeat Zeref. They had a shot at this war. And that was what's important – to end the war before too many lives were lost – and the fastest way to do it was to do defeat Zeref. Even if he had to do it alone.

"There sure a lot of them! It's like a big, black carpet!" Happy said, the slight chipper in his tone did not at all hide how his paws were shaking as he held Natsu and flew them both towards a million of the Alvarez Empire's soldiers.

If Natsu thought that the fighting throughout the night was long, then this one would take an eternity. For all his confidence, the fire dragonslayer knew that even he could not take a million soldiers capable of magic alone and win. He would sure give his damn best to make a dent in their numbers though, but that's all he would likely be capable of. A dent.

And he was right, because only 973 soldiers – out of the initial million – later, he was already bruised and wounded. Not heavily, but it was having an effect because he can feel the soreness and exhaustion creeping in even with all his bravado. And even with all the courage and power he summoned for this fight, he could feel the slight tremble at the power that Zeref contained.

"Happy, stay back. Away from here," he said as he took of the bandages that kept Igneel's mark hidden. He would be giving it his all. For Happy and himself. For the First Master. For the guild. For Lucy. Heat and fire flowed through him in a burning inferno and with barely any words, he attacked.

He attacked for all he was worth. Because everything depended on this, everyone on the continent was depending on this fight. To end this war. He could not hesitate – not even for a second – and he absolutely could not lose. And so Natsu gave it his all and more.

"Fire Dragon King Mode!"

He burned and burned and burned – brighter and hotter than any time he had ever done it.

But it wasn't enough. He could feel himself trembling, on the verge of collapse as exhaustion was clutching him tightly. He could feel the remnants of Igneel's magic nearly drained until nothing but cinders would be left. And yet the Dark Wizard stood alive in front of him. Heavily wounded it seemed, but alive. "Just one… Just one more shot will do it…" he said as he glared fiercely at opponent in front of him.

The man was mumbling. Incoherent babble that Natsu could hear but could not understand. It wasn't anything that the First already didn't tell them – what he couldn't understand was why this man was also explaining it to him. What was so important that this man needed to tell him specifically?

"My name is Zeref Dragneel. I am your brother."

Natsu froze. His breathing that he was trying to even out merely stopped. Stopped at the revelation that this man was spouting. No. It couldn't be true. Zeref was only trying to unbalance him. To distract him. Yes, nothing that this man was saying could be true. Because he was Natsu Dragneel, a wizard of Fairy Tail.

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel. E.N.D."

He couldn't be a demon. E.N.D was supposed to be an all-powerful demon that Igneel couldn't defeat. He was just … him. Natsu the fire dragonslayer who couldn't even slay a dragon. Igneel could have killed him easily if he was capable of world destruction. Right?

"E.N.D. was the demon that made Tartaros! It ain't me!I ain't any kind of demon! I am human!" he yelled as his fist clenched tightly that he was sure he would be drawing blood. He refused to believe that anything that Zeref was saying made any sense. Because it didn't! It didn't!

Because that would mean that what happened to the guild was his fault. That he was the one Gray wanted to kill. That what happened to Lucy was his fault. He refused to believe that. That book was not him. He was not a demon. He was human.

"I keep telling you, I am not E.N.D.!" And then he felt it. A pain so sharp that he felt like he had been stabbed. Just like that book. "No! It was a fluke! A fluke!" he thought to himself vehemently. He was not some demon. He was not that book. And yet…

Everything was making sense. A small tingle of memory at the back of his mind that he could barely reach. That he didn't want to reach because it was making sense how they could suddenly not find their dragons on that day. And Layla – Lucy's mother – was caught up in it, and gods he did not even want to think how involved she was because he knew, he remembered, that Layla died that year that they lost their dragons – that year that they appeared. She died not long after that day of July X777 and was connected to this whole damn plot of hell that Zeref had concocted.

It was making sense. But Natsu did not want to believe it because of everything that it represented. Everything that it meant.

"Shut up! You expect me to believe that load of crap?!" he screamed as he ran towards the black mage. To deliver the final blow. Because he had heard enough. Because he knew that the more he heard, the more he would understand, the more he would believe. And he didn't want to. Not for one second.

"You are a demon of the Book of Zeref." "I don't want to hear anymore," Natsu thought as flames ignited brightly on his hand, the opponent in front of him not even making an attempt at defense. He could do this. He could kill Zeref.

"If you kill me… you'll die too."

"So, what if I do?!" he wasn't going to stop. He wasn't going to hesitate for one second. For the guild. For Lucy. If his death was the price for bringing the bastard down and ending this war, then he would apologize to Lucy if he would ever meet her in the afterlife.

Natsu unleased everything he had left.

And missed.

"I won't let you do it, Natsu. I don't want you to die!"Happy's tears and words resonated in him so fiercely because he didn't want to die. He wanted to live. But he is prepared to die if that was what it took to protect the guild. To protect Lucy. To protect Happy.

And yet the blue exceed was getting himself hurt to protect him. To prevent his death when it could very well mean that everyone else's lives were in more danger. When it could very well mean that everyone else could die. Because that was the price for stopping Natsu from delivering that blow.

"I'm taking you back alive… Back home to Fairy Tail," the exceed sobbed as they flew at full speed even though he knew that Happy was pushing himself with the magic he had left. And there wasn't much. He could only stay silent through the sobs of his companion for he could not even say anything to comfort. To reassure.

"Lucy told us to come back safe," he whispered and got Natsu to snap out of his little daze, if only for a bit. It got him to stop thinking for one second that it would have been better for everyone if Happy didn't stop him. No, it would have been the easy way out. But that didn't mean that it was the better option. Especially not when he decided that he wanted to keep on living because he had lots to make up for when it concerns Lucy. And you don't just leave the person you love when the going gets tough. "You're right Happy. Let's rest for a little bit so you can cool down your paws," he said a little guiltily before the exceed landed by a lake near Magnolia.

He watched as Happy washed his injured paws until he could look no more and found his mind wandering to the battle that had just occurred between him and Zeref. And the revelations that occurred then. That he was a demon and he would die when Zeref was killed.

He watched as the blue exceed ran to him, clutching him tightly as if that would anchor him to the world of the living when Zeref was finally killed. "There's gotta be some other way, Natsu! I won't let you die!" the exceed cried once more. Natsu couldn't bring himself to say that he could not think of another way. That he wanted to live but how when he wasn't even human – when he wasn't really alive. Just a dead boy brought back to life as a demon.

"I know," was all he could whisper. Because he knew Happy wouldn't let him die. But he probably still would.

"That's a promise!"

He remembered Lucy. Lucy whom he promised just a few nights ago that he'd be there for her. Always. And yet, it seemed that even with all his love for the blonde mage, that even though he wanted to with all his heart, he would not live to fulfill that promise. He would fight tooth and nail to stay alive still – for Happy and for Lucy – but he already knew that it would take a miracle for him to survive this war.

And perhaps, what's painful is that even with all his training and power, he still wasn't enough. That for all his love for the guild, he had been a cause of pain and that he couldn't protect it as he wanted to. That for all that he knew about himself, most of it was a lie. And the truths were things that he didn't want to face. That Happy was now in pain because of him and what was likely inevitable. That the things he told Lucy, his promises to her were now turning into lies before he even got the chance to try.

What hurt the most was that he probably didn't even have a chance since the very beginning.

Is it impossible?

Say that it's possible

Lucy sat at the guild's infirmary, waiting for the green-haired mage to open her eyes. It had been hours since the initial ambush, and barely anything had occurred since those battles ended. People had been mainly trying to form battle plans, refine formations and preparing weapons around the guild. It was such a weird sight for Lucy, having never seen this in the time since she had joined Fairy Tail. Not a single drop of alcohol was in sight – even Cana, of all people, was sober – and no brawls or any form of playful violence could be seen. If there was any form of celebration, it was only with regards to the war, and even then, it was a rare sight.

They were going up against very powerful people. One of them being the unconscious woman in front of her. One that just so happened to know something about her mother. And so, Lucy was glad that she was tasked to guard the woman. She knew she wouldn't be of much use in the heavy fighting where some of the more combat-oriented members were sent to. "How long do you think before she wakes up?" Lucy asked, getting a bit antsy from the wait. "Not long," was the grouchy answer that came from behind her.

It took just about five more minutes before the woman shot out of bed in a near panic that was quickly hidden. She seemed shocked and unsure of the reasons of why she was in the infirmary – of why she'd been saved. Lucy couldn't blame her, she'd be the same way if their roles were reversed. Fairy Tail didn't want to kill after all – they just wanted to live.

"You want to know about Layla?" the green-haired mage suddenly asked, and Lucy's attention was all directed at her. Layla Heartfilia. Her mother that died when she was six and a Celestial Spirit Mage just like she was. She didn't recognize this woman, but this powerful mage knew her mother – even harbored more than negative feelings, if the killing intent from the instance in her apartment was any indication. Soon enough, with much assurance towards Cana and Porlyusica, she was left alone with the prisoner.

"My name is Brandish. My mother's name was Grammi. She was one of the servants of your mother, Layla," the woman – Brandish – told Lucy and the blonde just sat there shocked, trying to put a face to the name. She had been so young when her mother had died and there were so many employees in the Heartfilia mansion. She did not know all of them, not even her mother's old servants.

Lucy had not known that there had been a point that Layla had given away her keys. Not until Tenrou wherein she found that Capricorn had been given to Zoldio. She had not known that Spetto-san once had Cancer. And she had not known that Aquarius' key was once entrusted to Brandish's mother – Grammi. Lucy's fists tightened at the mere mention of Aquarius and her key – her key that was now broken. She had always thought her mother had held on to Aquarius' and Cancer's keys until she had given them to her before she had died.

She listened fervently to the woman's tale – not at all liking where it was heading. She could feel her body tensing, sweat forming on her skin at what this woman was subtly implying. Thoughts that Lucy did not even want to entertain. "Layla came to steal the key back, and she murdered my mother to get it!"

She was sure that she had stopped breathing for one second. "That can't be possible…" she voiced, even argued. Her mother was no murderer. She wanted to continue arguing, but she quickly found herself on the floor. Brandish had her in a hold that disabled her effectively with her hands behind her and her legs trapped by Brandish's own. The hand on her face was tight, cutting off her airways and Lucy found it hard to breathe, much less talk. Can't even defend herself – and once again faced with her utter weakness.

She was couldn't breathe. She couldn't escape. She was so defenseless. So weak that an enemy incapable of using her magic would be capable of killing her. Lucy tried everything she could think of, even as she was getting more and more lightheaded, but none was proving effective.

Until water suddenly knocked Brandish away. And Lucy found herself in the arms of Aquarius.

She sat there frozen, forgetting everything that happened in the last minutes as only one thought flooded her mind – that Aquarius was here. And she couldn't stop the tears that formed in her eyes as the mermaid held her close in her strong arms, whilst she sported that fierce glare and confident smirk that Lucy had always associated with her. "Aquarius…."

"It's been a while, Lucy" and that did Lucy in. Tears flooded and her figure trembled until she couldn't hold in the sobs and tackled the mermaid into the fiercest hug she could muster. To assure herself that Aquarius really was here. She didn't care at all that she was sobbing in front of the enemy. Because Aquarius was here, and it made Lucy feel something flare inside of her that she hadn't known in a long while.

Hope.

She didn't know how long she cried. How long she was held in the arms of the one she had come to recognize as a mother figure ever since the death of Layla Heartfilia. But she was just so unbelievably happy – an emotion that she hadn't realized she had not felt since Tartaros. "You came back to me, Aquarius!" she said through tear-filled sobs.

"No, I can't stay." And even though that had drawn disappointment in Lucy, one so palpable that it could nearly be touched, it had withdrawn at the mention that a new key was born. Somewhere in Earthland. Somewhere that she could possibly find.

Hope.

The memories that Aquarius had shown were disconcerting. She had not known that her family was connected to the Eclipse gate – that they were meant to watch over it and open it. Had not known that the responsibility of opening the gate fell on her mother. Had not known that the reason her mother had died so quickly – so early – was because she sacrificed her own life.

Seeing it with her own eyes as an adult did not make the pain in any less. If anything, Lucy felt more out of sorts. More disconnected by what she was learning about her mother. About Brandish's mother. Lucy wanted to be angry at Grammi – wanted to blame her for the early demise of Layla. But she couldn't. Not with the despair on Grammi's face as she sat by Layla's deathbed. Not with Layla's revelation that she did it for Lucy. Especially not when she had seen Grammi's fate.

Lucy couldn't hate her. Not with how she also blamed herself for Layla's passing until her last breath. Not with how she accepted her fate. Not with Brandish screaming and sobbing at the top of her lungs for it to stop even though it wouldn't. Because it already happened and what they were seeing was a memory. Lucy could not bring herself to hate such a kind woman. And even though she knew she should have been wary, Lucy encased Brandish's sobbing form in her arms.

"Can't you and I be friends…? Like our mothers were?" Because this war was bringing nothing but enemies and pain and loss. Because Lucy was tired of anger and hate and fighting. She didn't want any more of it, not when it brought this much pain. This many tears. Tears that flowed freely from both Lucy and Brandish for the fate of their mothers and Lucy hoped to all the gods listening that Grammi and Layla found each other again.

"H-HEEEELP…!"

Lucy pulled away from Brandish at Happy's desperate cry. She was just about to run towards the exceed but she froze in place as soon as she saw just why Happy was so devastated. "Natsu isn't moving! I don't know what's wrong! He needs help real bad!" the exceed said quickly, panic very clear in his voice. Panic that was slowly creeping into Lucy as well as she was frozen by the sight of Natsu, bloodied and beaten. Unmoving.

It took forever for her to snap out of it. Snap out of the trance, and even then she knew that she was panicking, that she was barely holding it together. "Natsu! What's wrong?!" she tried shaking him, patting him. She didn't even know where to touch. He was wounded and bloodied and bruised everywhere. And then she noticed.

There was no movement on his chest where there should be.

He wasn't breathing. Natsu wasn't fucking breathing.

Lucy quickly leaned down and placed her ear right above his chest, where his heart should be. Where she should hear a heartbeat. But there was none. "I don't hear a heartbeat…."

Utter and undeniable fear gripped her heart as she was frozen. Everything around her just flooded in silence as she tried to deny what was happening in front of her. And even with Porlyusica pushing her out of the way, trying to heal him, trying to do something but incapable of anything, Lucy could feel the terror and despair overwhelming her bit by bit.

"I love you Lucy."

"I won't give up Luce. Not until you give me a chance."

"I know better than anyone just how strong you are."

He was disappearing in front of her. And she couldn't do a damn thing. She was so helpless. So weak. So useless.

"This can't be happening… Natsu… Say something… Anything…"

"I'm gonna be right there with you, Luce."

"I will probably always be an idiot. But this idiot really loves you."

"I love you too, you idiot and I'm giving you one chance so please… Don't die…"

Luck.

Sheer dumb luck was the sole reason that Natsu was alive and breathing in a hospital bed right at this very moment. It was luck that Brandish recognized Lucy at Caracol Island. Luck that Brandish was allergic to pollen. Luck that Happy had come in after the truth between Grammi and Layla was revealed to Brandish. Luck that Brandish had offered to help Natsu.

Lucky Lucy Heartfilia. It was sad that luck was all she had, but she would take what she can get as long as Natsu was alive.

Those were the thoughts running through her head as she thanked Brandish even if the woman was purposely ignoring her within the cell, and if not that, then harshly reminding her that they were still in a war.

A war that Lucy was no longer sure of her role in, seeing as she was perfectly incapable of anything ever since the fighting had begun. "She needs more time," came the sudden voice and a hand on her shoulder, courtesy of Aquarius.

After saying her goodbyes to Brandish, Aquarius led Lucy back to the direction of the infirmary but not before heading to the balcony to watch the setting sun. She had not noticed that almost 24 hours had passed since the fighting has begun. A lot had happened after all and Lucy couldn't even begin on how to sort things out.

Aquarius broke the silence first. "Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to tell you." And Lucy listened. Listened as Aquarius spoke of her reborn key. Her key that was somewhere in this world. Her key that Lucy would cross the seas, climb mountains and soar the heavens to find after this war was over. And Lucy realized, that perhaps, saving her from Brandish wasn't the only reason that Aquarius showed up.

"Still, I'm gonna find you! After all, you're one of my best friends!" Determination and hope filled her voice, one that she had not heard in a long time and it struck her then just how much it meant to her to see Aquarius again. To know that her key – whole and unbroken – was somewhere in this world – waiting to be found. And as she looked at Aquarius' shimmering form slowly vanishing in the light of the setting sun – "Thank you. I look forward to that day," the mermaid had whispered – Lucy silently thanked her for the gift she had given. For the things that returned.

Hope. And purpose. A reason for her to never give up. To see this war through to the very end.

Hope and a purpose to live was Aquarius' gift.

"When this war is over, I'm going to do everything I can to help you with Aquarius. Whether it's finding some way to fix her key or getting you to see her again. I'm gonna be right there with you, Luce."