I'll make this short…okay…so…we've been through this from the beginning….

I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL …FOR THE LOVE OF-..OKAY…IT'S NOT MINE AS MUCH AS I WANT IT TO BE…I DON'T OWN IT….IF I DID THEN….THE MINI LOKE ARC WOULD BE A WHOLE SEASON AND NOT A 2 EPISODE RERUN….

LOKE AND LUCY FOREVER!

Chapter 7

"Do you think I'll just let you disappear, Loke! Over my dead body!"

"I told you remember, I'm going to force your gate open. Just have faith in me!"

'This is stupid. Now I'm hearing voices." Loke sighed in defeat as he tossed and turned in bed. The encounter with his fellow spirits drained every ounce of energy he had. Loke looked up and felt as though the ceiling was beckoning him over. Her voice, the sound of her voice in my head, reminds me that she'll never be mine no matter what I do, Loke thought. And tears started to fall from his eyes. Frustration welled up inside him as he gripped the sheets of his bed. Why, why am I falling apart? He thought.

"What's the use of magic if I can't even save my friends!"

Lucy….I don't want you to save me anymore. I give up. I want you to be happy. I'll always love you and it hurts every inch of my body to be apart from you. But I've learned to cope up with pain a long time ago. I'll have to thank Karen for that, Loke thought.

"You say you want to die! Well, let me tell you this! I won't let you! Gate of the Lion, I open thee!Bring Loke back to the spirit world!"

I don't want you to suffer for me Lucy. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that it would kill me one way or another if I knew you had risked your life for my sake when I should be the one doing it. I know I'm being selfish, I am, I admit it, I want you, and nothing, no one, no force of magic in this world or any other, will change that. If I'm going to die, at least it's for you. I just want to see you smile, Loke thought.

"Do you think you'll be paying the price for your sins by disappearing? If you'd plan that form the beginning, then you shouldn't have joined Fairy Tail! Because people who treat their lives as insignificant will never be welcomed in Fairy Tail! "

What did I do? What heavenly thing did I commit to have given the chance to meet a person like you? Lucy, what if our differences aren't much of a big deal? I know, I take things too personally, but when it comes to you, there's a brand new edge to my way of reasoning. Because everything I do, I do to protect you. What if Karen hadn't died and I was still in her possession? Then I never could have met everyone in Fairy Tail, I never could have set foot in our guild, or worst, I never could have met you. I can't imagine a world without you, Lucy. If there was such a world, I refuse to live in it. What if you hadn't run away from home? You could have never met Natsu, he wouldn't lead you to Fairy Tail, you could never have been accepted, and….there would be no stellar spirit in existence in the guild. So, when it was time for me to die, I could have died, just like I planned, from the very beginning, before I met you. So many what ifs, so many answers to so many questions that are piling up in my head. All I want to do right now is to see you, lock my arms around your neck and ask you to marry me. If the situation was different, would you say yes?, Loke thought. Tears won't stop falling, heart beating so fast it was making his head spin, his body felt numb on the bed, his muscles tensed. Loke never knew such pain existed.

"Listen to me! If you die, how do you think all of us at Fairy Tail would feel? How do you think we would cope loosing you, losing a friend? You're not just any person Loke, you're my friend, you're everyone's friend, and how can you even say you want to die when you know everyone will be crying over it later!"

Just stop Lucy. It's over, I'm still alive, but I feel dead and it's doesn't matter anymore whether I'm still here or I'm gone, because it's the same no matter how many times you look at it. Every second of every day, when I don't see you, I feel like life is slowly letting go of me, it's slowly giving up on me, and what right do I have to stop it. Nothing, I don't have any right. Because I've given up a long time ago even before it gave up on me.

"No!You stop it! I'm not going to let you die! I saved you before! I'll save you now, tomorrow. I'll save you as many times as I want to. You hear me Loke!I'm not letting you abandon me!I'm not letting you leave me! You said you loved me!"

Those words, I don't remember her saying them. Could it be that those words are Lucy's thoughts? Maybe she's lying in bed now too, wondering what her life would be like if everything had happened in reverse. I'm sure she regrets meeting me, or saving me, I don't really care, but her memories about me are insignificant now. She could forget me, she could move on if she wants to and I won't blame her, she could hate me I would even bear it if she says it to my face. She has every right to, more tears are falling form Loke's eyes, she has every right to hurt me, to take away my heart, my soul and my life. She owns it, Lucy owns every part of me, and I've given my entire self to her. She has every right to destroy my very existence, because even if it kills me, I would never stop loving her.

"Loke, is that really okay with you? If I hurt you and make you cry? You say you won't hate me but what if I tell you I'd hate myself for causing you so much pain. It's not me who regrets meeting you; maybe it the other way around and you wish you never could have met me. I'm sorry I'm the reason for your tears. If you want I can give you back your everything. You don't have to offer yourself to me, Loke."

She's talking to me, but how? Her voice, it sounds so alive, like it's really here. I don't want you to return anything to me Lucy. What's yours is yours, if you return what I gave you I'll just give it back and it will be your decision whether to accept or not. I've endured a lot of pain in my lifetime; don't you think it's time I took a rest? And don't say sorry, it's not your fault; I should have known it, from the very beginning, the consequences of falling in love with you. So don't say sorry. I want to protect you, I want to always be by your side when the world is crashing down on the both of us, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and it has always been my dream to walk you down the aisle and marry you. Because when the world ends and I'm still holding your hand, if I survive that far, I won't feel like dying. Loke's tears stop and he took this as a sign he was ready to go. He laughed; he was too old for suicide. But then again, nobody's too old for suicide.

"Then, don't leave me, don't die, let's wait for the world to end, then we'll die together. Let's stand through the pain, we can do it, I believe in you, I have faith in what you can do and I know you won't let anything bad ever happened to me. So, please, don't go."

Someone towered over Loke, his eyes widen. Lucy, what are you doing here? Lucy didn't respond and Loke knew this person wasn't really Lucy. Not the real Lucy, Loke thought. I almost got fooled there, he chuckled to himself not really meaning it, he had hoped it was the real Lucy. The image of Lucy started to cry, Loke got up from the bed, wiped the tears from her eyes and was surprised he was able to do it, he expected thin air to brush across his fingertips but the image was as real as it looked.

"If I make you cry, even if you don't want me to, I'll be the one to stop your tears from falling." Loke said and took a lock of her hair that was covering her face. He smiled at her; she couldn't smile at him back. Instead she kept on crying, like it was going to be the last time they'll be able to see each other again, most likely it was.

"Is this really you?" Loke asked and she nodded. He was expecting her to disappear when he'd turn around but when he did she was still there, still crying. He put an arm on her shoulder and he pulled her close to him. Lucy buried her face on Loke's chest and the sobs we're now barely a whisper. Loke brushed her hair with his fingertips and was relieved for the familiar feeling of velvety softness.

"Don't leave me, I beg of you. " Lucy asked and looked up to him, her tears momentarily stopped from falling. He looked down and felt his heart break into a million pieces. He embraced her and tried to carve the feel of her skin into his mind and he knew he would never forget it. Not ever.

"What if I told you, I have to?" Loke said and Lucy broke the hug to look at him, their hands we're locked in each other's, their fingers intertwined in union as if in marriage. They bore holes in each other's eyes like they we're memorizing how each other looked at that moment. Loke squeezed Lucy's hand, she cries again knowing what the end would be, the princess doesn't always get the prince, and in the end their story would just be a mixed up fairy tale.

"Why?" Lucy asked. Loke didn't take long to answer. He knew it immediately.

"Because I love you." He said and Lucy smiled from the bottom of her heart. And Loke felt as if he was the luckiest man alive.

"I thought so." She said and then disappeared into nothing. Loke smiled and collapsed into bed in almost in deep slumber. It's all a dream, Loke thought before drifting to sleep. His eyes we're closing in on him, he couldn't stop it, even when he wanted to stay awake in case the image of Lucy, or was it her soul he had no idea, would come back again. Loke was slowly being invaded by sleep. Divide and conquer, ehhh? Damn it, I'm too tired. Loke thought and was fast asleep.

Lucy couldn't stop herself from crying. He was talking to her, she was sure of it, that voice belonged to no one but him, he wasn't mad at her but he was leaving her because he loved her, he told her and she believed him. How she desperately wanted to tell him she loved him too. Loke….Lucy whispered. There was no response. Even Plue seemed too tired to do anything, he was just sprawled on the floor , yawning. Lucy didn't feel like she wanted to sleep just yet, she wanted to stay awake, until midnight or past that if it was possible in her case, it wasn't, and Lucy couldn't tell herself it wouldn't hurt to try, but saying that would just be ironic in the situation she was in.

"Hey Plue, have you ever met Loke, the Lion spirit, the leader of the 12 zodiacs, okay I know you get it, his very powerful and everyone in the spirit world fears him. He's cool right?" Lucy spoke towards Plue's direction and Plue gave her a thumbs up in acknowledgement which also said, yes…I've met him both in the human world and spirit world, he's quite the charmer isn't he? Now wonder you fell for him, Lucy. Lucy grinned at him, if those we're really Plue's thoughts, Lucy wouldn't know how to react, it was very unlike Plue, Plue seemed to be the 'Welcome Home' type of spirit and not the 'I'll Kill You Even If It's the Last Thing I Do" type. Plus, Lucy has never seen him fight before, not like he had any special powers, but still, Lucy always wondered what Plue would do if a human suddenly decides to butcher him alive.

"Okay…of course you know him. So what does he do? In his spare time, I mean, in the spirit world when he has nothing to do?" Lucy asked. She couldn't believe she was really pursuing this conversation with Plue. Not like he can understand her, or could he ?How, Lucy never really thought about it, she never cared, but it bothered her now, how Plue could communicate,

Mostly, he takes women out on dates, he's a real ladies man and many women fall to his feet. Honestly, he IS kind of cute, in a male perspective that is , in a women's eyes, Loke was like a prince or a fallen angel, a knight and shining armour for a damsel in distress. Believe it or not, Aquarius used to be head over heels for Leo before she met Scorpio.

"I know, he's a ladies man in the human world too, or at least he used to be. I haven't been seeing much of him lately. Loke is kind of like a prince, I agree and many women would agree with me, I don't know how he does it but he just makes every girl fall for him, he's a total flirt, that Loke. He nearly got himself killed when he tried to act cool in front of Erza. Even Aquarius? That's hard to believe. " Lucy said. Plue gave her a teasing look, which made every cell in her body jump.

Oh…I get it Lucy, I've always known you we're in love with him, WE'VE always known you had feelings for him, and when I say WE I meant, myself and your other spirits, we all seemed to be on total agreement on that matter, although they do most of the talking, somebody usually voices out my reasons for me. Well, you don't have to be jealous about other girls, Leo doesn't have interest in them, it's you who he really cares about. He hasn't been really going out much lately, but he patrols the streets almost every night, which he rarely does before. He always talks about you, how you're so beautiful and we would always listen to him, because it was true. You know that guy has fallen hard for you, what did you do to him? And oh…yeah…Aquarius…Leo always thought she was scary…luckily Scorpio tamed her.

"You don't really mean that do you? He ought to fall in love with he's own kind ,you know" Lucy said and supressed a laugh. Plue was serious, their conversation was escalating to a whole new level that made Lucy uncomfortable.

I mean it, he does love you, he told us he would even die for you if it was necessary, he always asked for opinions on how he could win your heart, but turns out he doesn't really need our help because it looks as if you've already fallen in love with him too. Female spirits are nothing compared to you. I know that you're having some problems with him right now, Leo is sulking, crying even, and I shouldn't really be telling you this, but it's like a sixth sense, and I knew it immediately, Aquarius and the others ambushed Leo a while ago and Virgo almost choked him to death. He's still alive, thanks God. Don't get mad, they just wanted to make him see some sense.

"They shouldn't …do that to him…" Lucy said. There was a feeling in her chest that told her it would kill her too if she found out Loke was dead. You see, Lucy knew, when a spirit dies in the spirit world that spirit dies for good, a spirit is only immortal in the human world, if a spirit is injured or if his life force is drained that spirit could always return to the spirit world and regain his life force back, so in the end that spirit doesn't die. In Loke's case, where he was almost choked to death by Virgo, probably by using her shackles and putting them around his neck to squeeze the air out of him, he could have died, yes Loke could have died, and bottom line was, Lucy could have lost him for good.

Don't be sad Lucy, they didn't kill him, he's still alive, at home probably resting. Do you want to see him? I don't know if it's possible if any one of us could take you in the spirit world, not me or course, my life force could never support you and I'll disappear before we even arrive, but Aquarius could do it, or any one of them would do. I'll tell them and we'll arrange something okay. Why haven't you told him?

"Told him what?" Lucy asked.

That you like him.

"Because I'm scared." Lucy said. Plue's eyes we're fixed on her.

How come?

"I don't know, maybe because I'm such a coward." Lucy said and Plue shook his head in disapproval.

Someone like you, would never be labelled as a coward Lucy. You're far too strong, I know it, we know it, everybody knows it, especially Leo. You saved him right, you forced his gate open, you gave him a second life because you thought he deserved it.

"The Spirit King gave him a second life not me. He gave me his key, he allowed Loke to return to the Spirit world, he gave him redemption" Lucy said.

And in exchange, the Spirit King told him that if he still wished to repent for his sins, he should protect you with his life, am I correct?

" Well….he wasn't obliged to." Lucy said. Or was he? Lucy thought.

He was obliged to do it, after all you did save his life. And you accepted his key anyway.

"How was I supposed to refuse it?" Lucy asked.

You could have been honest and told him directly you didn't want him joining your caravan of spirits. But…you want him…so you accepted him…and now you've fallen in love with him…but don't have the guts to say it to his face. You make me laugh, Lucy.

"I want to move on." Lucy said suddenly that surprised Plue.

What! Why? Just because he doesn't want to see you. Aren't you giving up too easily. Lucy?

"It's not that. I just want to let him go. I should set him free, I'm thinking of selling his key, but it's hard to give up on one of the 12 gate keys of the zodiac, especially the one holding the leader's seat." Lucy said and Plue nodded.

Yes…it is hard to let go of those that you love….not because he's in a leader's seat. Come on…Lucy…don't' you have a better excuse.

"I have to let him go now, or later I won't have the courage to do it anymore and it will make things more complicated for the both of us." Lucy said. Plue frowned.

You can't do that.

"I can if I really want to. " Lucy said.

Well, do you?

" A part of me wants to." Lucy answered.

Will it make you happy?

"I guess so." Lucy said.

If you're not with him, you can never be truly happy.

"I know. Good night Plue." Lucy said and did a forced dismissal on Plue, Plue disappeared into nothingness and Lucy was left alone.

In the spirit world…

"Did you talk to her?" Aquarius asked. Leaning over an oak tree, her tail gently brushing the soft earth beneath her.

She has spoken to me. Rather willingly and has broached the subject of HIM.

" Don't you get tired of this telepathy thing, Canis Minor?" Aquarius asked. Plue shook his head indifferently.

It's not like I can help it. I can't really talk you now. And please call me, Plue, I've gotten used to the nickname and I feel more comfortable being called by it. What do we do with her? Do we wait?

"Hell no, we do whatever it takes to bring them back together, Leo doesn't listen to us and he's planning to ask Lucy to relieve him from their contract." Aquarius said. Plue was surprised, Leo would even go to such lengths.

Well, they make a perfect couple….Lucy is planning to sell his key to get rid of him…not completely of course…she loves him…but he doesn't know doesn't he?…Leo is not the type who doesn't catch on easily but I guess Lucy has blinded his senses.

"She's planning what!" the distress in Aquarius voice was causing her tone to rise remarkably higher than usual. Aquarius squeezed her fists into balls. Damn it Lucy, Aquarius thought. Don't be stupid, she added.

I told you she's planning to sell his key.

"Was she serious?" Aquarius asked.

Very much so.

"We better warn him, in case he gets a stroke." Aquarius said. Who actually cared for Leo's wellbeing.

Don't, let him find out for himself.

Plue was surprised Aquarius listened. They stared at the night sky wondering if star crossed lover's sometimes didn't end up together.

Okay…..this didn't go according to plan….

But….what heck!

LUCY AND LOKE FOREVER!

Please review after reading!

THANKS IN ADVANCE!