"Their last fight."

Juvia's words echoed in my mind, again, again, and again. The truth of the statement seemed to hit more harder then any punch or kick would. If someone would ask me why it affected me as much as those few words did, they would probably not get the answer that they were looking for. An answer that is complex and devastatingly upsetting. An answer filled with angst and complete despair, no, the answer is so much more simpler then that. It's because they are friends. Confusion would be the first reaction to the answer, then after that would be the disbelief. Who would be upset over friends fighting for the last time? Of course, any normal person would have these thoughts. But Fairy Tail mages are anything but normal, and anyone who knows a Fairy Tail mage would be able to vouch. "Not a day goes by were those delinquents don't destroy a town!" "Once a week my house catches on fire and then gets frozen over! Do you know how stressful that can be on a old women!"

So if a person would tell a Fairy Tail mage that it was their last fight, the member would laugh so loudly and hard that anyone in a 3 mile radius would be able to hear. For fighting was not just a way to get aggression out for a Fairy Tail mage but to help others, pass time, show affection, have fun, fulfill promises, protect their loved one, even to make someone laugh. It was how they showed their emotions and feelings to those who they care for.

"Their last fight"

Lucy doesn't even notice the words tumble from her mouth for she is to deep in thought. Natsu and Gray... fighting for the last time. Over the years, the constant bickering was something that she had grown accustom to. Yeah, she acts like she is annoyed but she knows that that was how the two of them communicated. One sarcastic comment, one mean name, it was just how they were. So as Lucy watched the two of her best friends battle and the realization of it being their last hit her, she couldn't help but feel so... so useless. Here she was with no magic, watching the two of her best friends fight to the death as she helplessly watched from the sidelines restrained by Juvia.

"This is to much." Lucy whispered softly, her voice breaking on the last word. I made a promise to Happy, a promise to Igneel. How could I ever help Natsu now? As a celestial spirit mage promises have always been important to her, and the idea of not being able to keep her promise... Mom, what do I do? No answer. I reprimand myself for being such an idiot. There is no one to rely on this time, nobody to get answers from, nobody to use as a emotional crutch. This time I am alone, just like when I lost Aquarius... Juvia's grip on me slowly starts to loosen as she watches the ongoing fight infront of her, every now and then gasping a little bit when Natsu's, no, E.N.D.'s flames get a little to close to Gray.

"Juvia, if we don't do something, both Gray and Natsu will be lost forever! Look at them! Even if Gray wins he will probably never be the same! Look at his arm!"

Both Juvia and I watched the dark marks on Gray's arm that shows proof of his fathers magic move slowly higher and across his chest near his heart. Again, Juvia's hold gets more loose as she worries about Gray. I continue on.

"Who knows what will happen if that mark covers his heart, he could lose it just like Natsu did." Her hold loosens yet again.

"No... I have faith in Gray-sama, he will never give in... I'm sorry Lucy.. but.. Juvia can't let you go." And much to Lucy's disappointment her hold tightens. Plan B. Lucy was never much of a physically strong girl, yes she was fit, but never did she really use brute force to get things. But, as her last chance was ruined Lucy knew that she would have to use the strength that Natsu so often used instead of his fire.

"Sorry Juvia." Lucy whispered. And just as Juvia started to change her attention from the fight to Lucy, Lucy leaned forward and then quickly slammed backwards, cracking the back of her head into Juvia's face and causing both of the girl to fall down, Lucy on top of Juvia. Lucy then turned over and pinned Juvia to the ground, using all of her weight. Underneath Lucy, Juvia squirmed around and yelled out helplessly, her nose was bloody and crooked and Lucy assumed she had broken it.

"Juvia please, I don't want to do this!" Lucy cried out.

"NOOO, GRAY-SAMA, GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia's desperate pleas rang out, louder and louder. Lucy knew that if she let Juvia continue to scream like this Gray would notice her and that was something that could not happen. This is just so wrong.

Slowly, Lucy raised her arm and clutched her hand in a fist. Tears spilled over Lucy's face and almost made her not catch the widening of Juvia's eyes as she realized what Lucy was about to do. The first hit surprised Lucy, she had underestimated her own strength. Again, she raised her hand and brought and down. Faster, harder, again, again, harder, again, again. Silence, no more screams. Motionless, no more struggle. Tears. Blood. Her own ragged breathing was the first thing that brought Lucy back. What she had just done horrified her, never had Lucy have wanted to do that to anyone, much less a friend. Juvia's face was so bloody.. and Lucy had made it look that way. Lucy reached down and felt Juvia's pulse. Good, she was only knocked out. Good? What was she turning into? Shakily, Lucy climbed off of Juvia and pulled her over besides a rock, propping her up on it.

"Juvia, I'm sorry.. I had to." Lucy whispered to the unconscious water mage as more tears flowed from her eyes, mixing with the blood of Juvia that had splattered onto her face. After looking down at Juvia one last time Lucy started to walk away. Away from her hurt friend, away from the sin that she had committed.

"I'm coming Natsu." I called out softly. During their fight they had moved about a mile way from Juvia and I, so during this mile I knew that I had to come up with a plan. But, I couldn't think of anything. There was nothing. Igneel? I called out in my mind. Igneel?! Nothing. Was he busy? That's what I wished but for some reason, the connection that I had felt before felt like it was... gone. I drew closer and closer to the fight. Red and blue clashed and flashed in the sky. Even from where I was standing I could feel the heat of Nats- E.N.D.'s flames, and the icy wind of Gray's ice. I had arrived, but I had no plan. No plan on how to get Natsu back and stop Gray from fighting him. I had no magic, I was emotional and physically exhausted and to top it all off, the hand that I had knocked Juvia out with was throbbing, and I could barely move it with crying out in pain. I watched as the Natsu in front of me looked down at Gray with cold, inhuman eyes as he lifted himself up into the sky. What kind of magic could do that to someone, turn their once warm, bright eyes into those that are devoid of emotion. It was cruel, just so inexplicably cruel. I wanted those eyes back, the ones that looked at me with so much care, the eyes that I had trusted ever since that night he dragged me away from the soldiers and leaded me to Fairy Tail, to my home.

"Natsu.." His name floated out of my mouth. What a stupid mistake that was. E.N.D. suddenly turned his head in my direction and narrowed those heartless eyes at me.

"Lucy! What are you doing here! Run away, now!" I heard Gray yell from the side but as much as I wanted to listen to him and run away I couldn't. My body was stuck in place, frozen in place by the stare of E.N.D.. He cocked his head to the side slowly, just like an animal staring down at its prey. But the worst part was when his mouth stretched out into a grin, if not for the large fangs that were clearly visible, the horns sticking out of his head, and those dead, cold eyes, the grin could of easily passed as one of Natsu's famous smiles. God did it hurt, it hurt so much. Just as quick as the smile came, it disappeared and a frown overtook its place.

"LUCY WATCH OUT!" Gray screamed. Gray's warning, the chill that spread throughout my body, the wind that tossed my hair as E.N.D. picked me up and carried me back up into the sky, the nails that dug into my skin, the blood that dripped from my body, the hot breath of E.N.D., none of it registered in my brain. I was again frozen. Those eyes that I hated were so close to me, staring right into my chocolate brown ones. His face, Natsu's face was so close, but I knew that Natsu was very far away.

"Who are you?" The voice was rough, like it hadn't been used in years.

"Who are YOU?" The same voice repeated again but this time he squeezed Lucy tighter in his hands, and blood appeared on her bruised arm from where his nails had pierced.

"WHO ARE YOU?" The voice roared this time. From his hands heat started to radiate from, and it quickly turned scalding hot burning Lucy's flesh.

"AHHHH! STOP! PLEASE!"

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

"LUCY! LUCY HEARTFILIA!" Lucy screamed out in pain.

The heat of his hands started to die away and his forehead scrunched up, like he was thinking very hard.

"Lucy... Lucy Heartfilia.." He said over again, looking even more confused.

"Yes, Lucy." She cried.

"Well Lucy, can you explain to me why that stupid boy is locking me out of his memories of you. He is really putting up a fight so that I can't see your memories together, it is quite annoying to be perfectly honest."

"Natsu? Is he there? Is he okay!?" I asked quickly. As soon as I heard him talk about Natsu, I felt a sort of power that I didn't have before. Hope, that's what it was.

"Stupid girl, I am Natsu. That boy who you meet was a farce, just a fake personality that was meant to seal me away."

"No, your lying! Natsu was a real person, who had real emotions! You are the fake!" I yelled into E.N.D.'s face, quickly defending Natsu. A deep laugh came out of the monsters mouth and E.N.D. grabbed my chin with one of his taloned hands.

"You are pretty interesting Lucy Heartfilia, really dumb, but interesting." Without thinking I spit right onto his face after he got a little to close to my face, but he did not wipe it off, no, he let it drip down his face and then when it neared his mouth he stuck his tongue out and slowly licked my saliva.

"Disgusting." I spat. E.N.D. smirked and then let go of me. I was free falling down towards the earth, colors of the surroundings blurred past me and distantly I could hear Gray call out my name. My scream pierced the air and I closed my eyes tightly waiting for the impact. But just as I felt that I was about to crash into the ground I felt myself scooped up and carried back up in the sky.

"Die!" I screamed loudly into the ear of E.N.D. As he smugly looked down at me.

"So sorry Lucy, didn't mean to scare you." He sarcastically said. "It had to be done though, the boy was so worried about you dying that I was able to look through all of his memories with you. Oh, you should hear how scared he is right now!"

"Why does it matter if you have memories about me or not!" I yelled at him.

"Hahaha, oh this is so much fun! How I missed toying around with humans! You see Lucy, know that I can see all of that boy's memories of you, I can tell how much he cares for you and how much pain he would be in to see you hurt! Ahahahaha! This is so great!"

"All you care about is hurting him!? Are you serious? If the Natsu that I know wasn't a threat to you and a fake, like you said, then why is he still around? And why are you so bent on making him miserable!" Lucy yelled. Underneath her she could feel his body tense up and his face grew quickly colder. She had hit a nerve.

"Maybe its just because I like causing pain. Yes, I do. And knowing now how he feels about you, well this will be extremely painful. For him, and you." He emphasized the last word and then like a bullet, we sped down to the ground right in front of Gray.

"Lucy! Get back quick! There is no time know, we have to kill him, that is the only way!" Gray shouted grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him. I collapsed behind Gray after he successfully tore me away from E.N.D.'s grip.

"This is it you bastard!" Gray seethed as he prepared a large ice sword. No. E.N.D. just stood there grinning at Gray, but didn't make any move to protect himself or fight back.

"Gray! If you kill him you kill Natsu too!" I said, giving him a warning.

"Yeah, I know that Lucy." And with that he brought the sword back and time slowed down. I felt myself scramble up and throw myself in front of E.N.D.. I watched the sword rip through my flesh and I saw the horror on Gray's face as he pierced me through the chest. But worst of all, as I fell down unto the ground, I saw E.N.D.'s face. He was smiling, and his eyes were filled with enjoyment and excitement. He planned it all along, he knew that I would try to save Natsu from Gray, and that's why he didn't attack.

Gray collapsed to his knees besides me and he hovered his hands over me, daring not to touch the wound. "Lucy.. No... LUCYYY!"

I could feel Gray's tears as they dripped unto my face. "My fault..." He whispered. "Gray, it was my choice to jump... in front of him, you had no idea I would do that... But please... as a final wish go get Juvia and run away as fast as you can... Get everyone in the guild and run far away from here and don't look back." I said softly, coughing up blood every few words.

"But... Lucy you.."

"GO!" I shouted at him. He rose up and ran away stumbling over his own feet and as I watched his retreating figure I saw him raise his hand in the famous Fairy Tail gesture. With as much strength as I had I rose my hand up in the air and smiled at my pink Fairy Tail mark. But soon as my hand was in the air, it was gone and instead of looking at the pink mark I was staring at the place where my hand was suppose to be. Gone. My hand was gone.

"UGHH AHH." I screamed. But the scream was not as much as the pain but more that the last happiness I had was taken away from me. My guild mark. My beloved pink mark that gave me a sense of home, family and belonging.

"Sorry again Lucy but I couldn't have you smiling on me." E.N.D. said as he sat down and pulled me on his lap. "You know, Natsu really loved your guild mark too." All I did was look up onto his face. The face that had done so much for me and gave me purpose and freedom was the same face that ultimately killed me.

"Why did you not go after Gray or try to kill him?" I asked E.N.D., for that was the only thing that had confused me.

"Aw I thought you would have figured that out by now Luce! It's obviously because it's always more fun when we are together."

I was proud of myself. Not once did I scream out as E.N.D. continuously touched the end of my arm or the hole in my chest. No, I would not give him that satisfaction, because I knew that Natsu was still there and he saw all of this. He saw me screaming out in pain, he saw his best friend stab me with a sword, he saw my hand get ripped off, he saw my silent cries and screams. Everything. So in my last moments I would not show Natsu all the pain that I felt but all the joy that he had shown me in the years that I had known him.

"Hey Natsu, remember when we first met?"

"What are you doing girl?"

"Because I remember it like it was just yesterday. Cough. You saved me from that creepy fake Salamander, and then after fighting him. Cough. we had to run away from the guards because you ruined the port."

"You know he can't respond right?"

"You brought me to Fairy Tail after that. Cough. I was so happy to get my guild mark and when I went to show you, you totally ignored me! You know, I'm still annoyed with you for messing up my name! Cough. And then we went on a bunch of crazy adventures, like finding Romeo's dad, and the request about the book Daybreak. You know the one where you made me dress like a maid and where we first found Virgo? Cough. Also the whole lullaby incident."

"You are even a bigger idiot then I thought you were."

"Of course who can forget our first big quest together though, Galuna Island. I thought for sure we were going to get in so much trouble when we got back. After that there was the whole Phantom Lord thing. You caught me and saved me from crashing into the ground. Do you remember what you said to me the one time I started crying? Cough. You told me that I fit in better in the dirty bar, having fun with everyone and going on adventures and that I was Lucy from Fairy Tail and that this was my home. I never really got to tell you how much that meant to me, so thank you."

"Girl, you are wasting your lasts breaths."

"Next was the tower of heaven. I never would have told you then but I thought you were so strong, saving Erza and fighting Jellal. Then next you saved us all from Laxus and believed that I could beat Bixlow. But I still remember the moment that I first saved you. After all the times you had saved me I finally saved you, well sort of. Cough."

"Okay, I'm annoyed, stop this at once."

"We fell off of that water fall together and I remember holding onto you as tight as I could. And then I remember during the Edolas incident how mad you were and upset and I had to hold you back from being stupid. Cough. I was so worried about you when we got captured, I could have only imagined what they did to you, but you ended up being fine, luckily. Then there is Tenrou. Do you remember fighting Kain with that weird doll? I felt so bad because it was making me attack you. Then you got stuck under that rock and told me to leave cough but I couldn't do that, you wouldn't have either."

"I told you to stop, so I suggest you quit it!"

"Then there was the Grand Magic Games. I probably would have never got out of that one alive if it wasn't for you. You cheered me on and stopped Flare from cheating, you caught me after Minerva beat me up in the Naval Battle, you rescued me from the palace's dungeon after I was taken away and you even reassured my future self. You.. you made sure I wasn't killed by Rogue and you also caught me in the air after the whole Zirconis thing.. cough. You asked me what was wrong after I hugged you, and I said nothing. Nothing was wrong anymore, you saved the day just like you always did. But to tell you the truth, that stuff isn't even the best part of my memories of you Natsu."

"I swear girl, you will regret not listening to me! Do you really want to make me do this?"

"The small things are what I really cherish. Cough Like when you uprooted that whole Sakura tree, just so I could see it when was sick, all the times you try and find jobs so that I an pay rent, the way you always step in front of me when you think there is danger, how you always manage to cheer me up, how you yelled at those girls after my dads death. Cough. And lastly, the way you laugh and how your eyes brighten when you smile at me."

"That's it." E.N.D. smashed his lips down onto mine and roughly grabbed my body bringing it closer to his. He grabbed my chin and forced my face up so that he could deepen the kiss. His tongue entered my mouth and explored around, attacking my tongue. I tried pushing him away but I was already weak since I was basically dying and he also sunk his claws deeper into my skin. I felt one of his hands find its way to my shirt and he burned it off, along with some of my skin. I yelled in pain and he took that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss even more. My lungs were dying for air, and he knew that, but he didn't stop. I mustered the last bit of strength I had left and pulled away, then slapped his face, hard. But this just got him even more angry.

"Lucy, Natsu is watching." He grinned and snarled at the same time.

This time he turned his attention to my neck and chest. He roughly sucked and nipped on the sensitive part of my skin, leaving red marks and pricks of blood. But then he went even lower and slowly started to lick the place that Gray's sword had pierced. At this point though I was entirely out of energy. I could feel the blood loss getting to me and the pain of everything was making me see black spots everywhere.

"Is this how it ends?" I asked no one in paticular.

I watched as E.N.D. Raised his head from my wound. Blood covered his face and his hand. Never breaking eye contact with me, he brought his hand up to his mouth and licked off all of my blood. Then he kissed me. I could taste my own blood on his mouth. It was just like him, disgusting. But something caught my eye in the hazy state that I was in. Something other then blood was running down E.N.D.'s face. Sloely I reached out and touched it then brought it back, closer to my eyes. E.N.D.'s whole body froze as I inspected the liquid. It was clear... it.. it was a tear. I looked back up at his face. The eyes, the horn, the mouth, everything was still E.N.D. but one thing was clearer now then ever. Natsu was there, and it was proven by the tears that were streaming down his face. E.N.D. looked confused as he wiped one of the tears on his face away.

"What is this?" He muttered.

And at that moment I realized what I had to do. What Igneel had been trying to make me understand all along, what my mother had even told me as a child. Love. Love was the key to helping Natsu. Unconditional love. True love. One magic. Again, there was another question that Lucy would not be able to give a good answer to. Why now? How come you thought of this know? Lucy wished she knew herself. Maybe it was the proof that Natsu was still fighting back and the fact that he was so sad that tears were coming out, even as E.N.D. was in charge. Or maybe it was that now, being so close to death, she wanted Natsu to truly know how she had felt ever since the day he brought her to Fairy Tail. She had no idea if she was even right or if would even work, but she knew she was right about one thing, and that was her feelings for him. Lucy cupped both of her hands on either side of the face that she cherished so much and wiped away one of the tears.

"I love you, Natsu." And then she brought her lips and softly touched them to the lips that had always given her reassurance, compliments, trust, and friendship. She loved him, so, so, so, much, and even though he might be a monster she would still love him, no matter what.

And then, everything went white.

Okay, so first of all, I am sooooo sorry for how long it took me to update this. For a while I didn't even think I would finish it but felt so guilty and didn't want to let anyone down. So yes, because of the long wait I gave you all a extra long chapter. Second, I'm really sorry if I took this story down a path that was to dark or something or someone is offended, because I did not have that intent. When I was writing this I was even surprised in myself lol. Anywho thank you for all being so supportive and waiting for me:) If you like this chapter please review because it honestly makes me want to get another chapter out there for you guys fastXD Also on a total sidenote I am literally so obsessed with the new Fairy Tail ending and the opening makes me so sad:( Love you all! Cya next chapter!