Lucy crossed her legs, gazing up at the bright sunlight. The sharpness of it burned her eyes so she raised a hand to block it but when it didn't help, she dropped her hand into her lap and looked down at the grass in front of her. She stared at the grass so long that black edges began to creep into the sides of her vision. Glancing up, Lucy rubbed her eyes and when she pulled her fingers away, they were wet. The tears slid down her hand as she studied them. They curved over the back of her hand and onto her palm, continuously slipping across her skin until they disappeared.

She let out a breathy laugh at the sight, "Wow…" Lucy muttered to no one. "I haven't even started and I'm already crying." Her chest tightened and her next words were unrecognizable as they got lost in an uncontrollable sob that escaped past her lips. Unable to control her tears, Lucy let them go, allowing herself to bawl.

Minutes later when she'd finally regained composure of herself, she spoke again. "I… I think… this is the… the hardest thing…" Her words faltered as she choked a bit on a sob that she'd tried to keep back. "I've ever had to do…" She continued, body shaking like mad. "It's funny… you know? I… had this whole… speech prepared, everything… that I wanted to say… but… I just can't."

Lucy shook her head, blonde strands of hair dropping in front of her face. Before she could continue, Lucy heard another voice just in front of her. She leaned over and saw Natsu, accompanied by Gray, Erza, Levy and a few others. They all looked somber as they marched towards her. Lucy raised a hand to them, smiling despite her tears but when no one waved back, she dropped her hand midwave.

They got about twenty feet away when Natsu, who led the procession, stopped. Lucy couldn't hear exactly what he was saying but after a few seconds, the others backed away while Natsu continued forward. At his side, he held a bouquet of pink roses and even though he held them gingerly, his other fist clenched tightly in fury. H e trudged towards her, eyes staring blankly ahead.

Natsu dragged his feet until he was five feet away when he stopped and knelt to the ground. Though his knuckles had turned white from rage, his face remained passive and unemotional. Then he dropped his head to stare at the grass and when he raised his head again, his own tears had formed.

Lucy let out a sob, her own head sinking low but she whipped her head up when she heard Natsu whisper, "Luce…"

"I'm so sorry…" He continued.

Lucy shook her head furiously, "Don't… don't be sorry…"

"I should've been there…"
"You couldn't have known…"

"If I'd just gone faster…"

"No one can go that fast…" Lucy shot back every statement he made, refusing his apologies point blank.

Natsu stifled a sob, staring ahead but not looking at Lucy. "Lucy, I'm so sorry…" He repeated.

"I told you not to be sorry… It wasn't your fault" She whispered, "If anything, I should be sorry. For all the trouble that I caused you, all the pain I brought to everyone. It's all my fault." Lucy lamented miserably.

"I knew you'd probably be beating yourself up about it, you always found a way to blame yourself even when it wasn't your fault but you never acknowledged just how much you did for the guild. Lucy, you were the spirit of Fairy Tail!" He shook his bright pink hair, green eyes glazed. "You've done so much for me… so much for Fairy Tail… so much for the world, what're we going to do?" He continued to stare ahead but his eyes seemed to pass right through her, like he didn't want to see her.

The sky above them had darkened, the once bright sun now blocked by dark grey clouds that moved in quickly. With the sun gone, a chilly wind slipped by causing Natsu to shiver slightly.

Natsu hung his head low, his voice raising against the gusts of howling wind. "Luce, you've done so much for me already but can you do one more thing for me? Please…"

She nodded, her head bobbing up and down. "Anything…"

"Could ya… Lucy, could you please… just not be dead? Please? Fairy Tail needs it's spirit… " When he reached 'please', his voice cracked and Natsu's cracked dam finally broke. He let out a garbled sob mixed with a scream that alerted the Fairy Tail members behind him who came running up. "Please, Lucy!" He screamed, scaring birds from their nests. "Why'd you have to go!?"

Lucy's body shook violently, she shot upwards, staring down at him even though his kneeling form was only a blur. "Natsu!" She screeched, "I'm right here! Just look up! I haven't gone anywhere." Her own words swirled into the air. "I'm right here! All you have to do is look up! I'm right here, just SEE ME!" She howled, her throat already raw. Lucy tried to kick her own grave but her foot went right through and her knees buckled and she collapsed right in front of him.

"Natsu…" Lucy said, her voice hoarse as she choked on the words. "Please see me…" Tears welled in her eyes again, dripping down her misty cheeks and dissolving in midair. "Please…"

But Natsu still wept, his tears watering the grass. Crumpled and smashed in his fist was the bouquet of flowers that he'd brought with him. Though Lucy tried to put her hand on his shoulder, it fell right through. And it wasn't Lucy's hand that ended up on his shoulder but Erza's comforting hand to help him through.

She stood strong for him even as her own tears appeared in her eyes but when Erza tried to pull him away from the stone grave, he shoved her hand off of his shoulder. The aggressive movement and Natsu's rejection to her aid was what finally broke the Queen of the Fairies and she collapsed into Gray's arms. Behind them, Levy could be seen wrapped in Gajeel's arms weeping while even the iron dragon couldn't hold back his own tears.

While on her knees, Lucy's tortured scream rang out through the air with no one to hear it but her. And Natsu and Lucy's pained cries clashed together as they screamed each others names. Thunder joined the mix when buckets of rain poured down. Fairy Tail stood grey and blue as the sky turned black.

"Lucy!" Natsu screamed, voice shaking, full of grief and rage. "Please, come back to me!" He opened his fist and dropped the bouquet, stems pulverized from his grip. Then he clenched both fists again, slamming them into the ground causing it to shake. He tried to stand but his poise was off and he ended up back on one knee. To him the world seemed off balance when the light of his life went out… when Lucy Heartfilia died.

It became hard to tell what water fell faster, their tears or the rain. Everyone stood outside getting soaked by a mixture of both. Thunder growled through the sky accompanied by a series of electric flashes. Mother Nature seemed to agree with their pain, as she wailed with them.

Lucy held a hand out, trying to cup Natsu's cheek, trying to let him know that she was there. When that didn't work and her hand fell through his face, Lucy tried to slap Natsu before raising her fists to the sky enraged. "I'm right here, Natsu!" She cried desperately, from the other side of the grave but he still couldn't see her or hear her and he still continued to cry.

He rose from where he knelt, unwrapped his scarf and folded it neatly. Lucy screamed at him, standing directly in front of him but it was no use. She took a step back when he stepped forward and Lucy fell backwards, through her own grave. She crawled back, watching Natsu from the ground as he placed his scarf on top of her grave. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out her Celestial keys, placing them on top of his scarf.

"Lucy…" Natsu's voice cracked when he whispered her name. "If you can hear me… please come back…" He muttered before turning away.

Lucy tried to stand up but found herself unable to move anymore. "Natsu! I can hear you! I'm right here!" She screamed and for a second, she thought she saw his head twitch to look back but he continued on his way, leaving her behind. "Natsu!" She screeched again, trying to crawl towards him but when she looked down, she saw her hands dissolving.

Lucy desperately dragged herself across the ground as her legs started to disappear. Soon her body was gone and all that was left was her face to whisper as tears poured down her face.

"Natsu… I'm here." She breathed and her face withered from existence, leaving the grave and the world behind.