All Rights to Hiro Mashima

This chapter is dedicated to Wallace11 for adding this story to it's very first community. Thank you so much!

Chapter 4: Onyx

This stone is said to bestow courage and oddly enough, eloquence

"So my boy…did she like it?"

A small blush crept up Natsu's cheeks as he smiled widely at his father. "Yah, Luce loved the sword. Thanks for helping me with it."

Igneel took a long look at his son noticing the young boy's obvious flustered appearance. "Natsu…why did you make her a sword, though? Wouldn't she like jewellery or something pretty instead of a weapon?"

The King of Ignis could almost hear Natsu's eyes roll. It paired well with the indelicate snort that forced its way out of the small Prince. "Luce isn't like that…she doesn't care about all that stupid stuff. She likes to play in the dirt and swim and catch frogs and talk about the stars. And it's to keep Luce safe when I can't be there. It does have some of my magic in it after all. Duh."

Igneel huffed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. His son was growing up so quick, but pride at the fierceness that Natsu was protecting his friend welled up inside his chest. He watched the pink-haired fiery boy attack a training dummy, embers and flames trailing behind his clenched fists. Laughing quietly, the old King focused on teaching his pupil in the ways of the Dragon, if he didn't keep a close watch on his charge, he was liable to burn down the sparring room.

Again.

-ooo-

Two weeks after Lucy's birthday, Natsu sailed towards her home, ready to take her to the Red Plains. Igneel had mentioned an oasis within the arid desert that held watering holes lined with crystals that actually glowed when the moon was out.

He stiffened mid flap, almost dropping to the ground like a stone. Something was…off. There was something in the air that tickled his instincts. His gut started to roll around as if he was in the royal carriage that Igneel had forced him into for official visits to Makarov's Kingdom. Mildly annoyed that whatever this…weird feeling was, it had the audacity of cropping up just before his favourite part of the week, Natsu decided that he was probably just hungry again and hastened towards Lucy.

She might have something to snack on. She always had some kind of weird food to offer him. His favourite so far had been the sugary sweet star fruit.

When he finally reached the now very familiar balcony of white stone, Natsu realised that the weird feeling in the air was coming off of this place. It prickled his skin and made his scales itch.

It smelled like death. His heart squeezed painfully and he almost panicked at the sight of the empty room in front of him before he let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding when he finally found what he had come here for.

He spotted Lucy standing in one of the corners of the veranda just…starring at the stars. Exactly like the first time he had found her. He glanced over her form, making sure that she was physically alright.

Lucy had no visible wounds, and he couldn't smell any blood in the air, but the way she was standing wasn't right. She was slumped over, curled over into herself, as if she was trying to disappear. Her small hands held the railing, the knuckles of her fingers turning white with the force of her grip.

"Luce…?"

A strange sense of déjà vu squeezed his heart when Lucy finally turned towards him, pinning him in place with her brown eyes.

But instead of the warmth that just bled from her expressions on a daily basis and the happiness that radiated from Lucy's every emotion, every laugh, every smile, he found someone who he didn't quite recognise.

Sure, it still looked like his best friend. She had blonde hair, brown eyes, pale skin, and a small nose. But, her eyes were dead and bloodshot, shadows crowded underneath her lashes. Her skin was so washed out he could see her veins underneath, and the areas around her eyes and nose were red. Lucy's hair, which usually looked like a river of gold, was laying lank and dull around her face.

What in the Gods names had happened to his energetic best friend? Natsu had an inkling but chose not to voice any opinions until she said something.

She gave him a heart-breakingly twisted smile, one that was so obviously forced that it shattered and fell almost as soon as it graced her lips. The plain black dress she wore fluttered around her frame in the gentle breeze. She was fiddling with something in her tiny hands that glinted and gleamed in the dying light.

Natsu's claws clicked across the tiles as he reached forward and crushed Lucy to his small chest.

She stilled in his arms, almost as if she didn't know what to do even though Natsu had hugged her hundreds of times at this point. He grimaced. Lucy felt foreign in his arms. It was awkward. As if he was embracing a complete stranger. Slowly, she wrapped her skinny arms around his torso, giving him a light squeeze. Lucy pushed him away gently and looked up at him, her dark eyes pained and the vulnerability that rolled off her in waves almost choked him.

"Natsu. I want you to meet my Momma."

-ooo-

Natsu stood behind his little gold haired friend as she introduced him to her mother for the first time.

"Momma…I want you to meet Natsu. He's my best friend in the whole world, next to Happy of course. He'll meet you another time. He's a good friend Momma, he's kind…and makes me laugh…and he made me a sword for my birthday. He's got pink hair Momma…but he insists that it's salmon. But it's not. I- I wish…you should have met him in per-person. Momma…"

Her whispers were only loud enough for the boy behind her to hear them loud and clear in the silent twilight. The tears finally came again, dripping down her face, her sobs rending the air in two.

Natsu laid a – now fully human – hand down on the marble headstone, placing the other on Lucy's shoulder to give her as much strength as he could. He floundered a bit at what to say before he finally found his voice. Speaking really wasn't his element, he had always been better with actions. "Hello, Miss Layla. It's nice to finally meet you. I know you've been sick for a long time now, but I think that it's good you won't be in pain anymore. Don't worry about Lucy, I'll always be here for her, she's mine and Happy's best friend after all. I made her a sword to protect herself with for when I'm not around. She's sad now, but I'll try to make her smile and laugh again. I promise."

A clinking sound was heard from behind him, and he watched as Lucy laid a ring filled with intricately wrought golden keys down at the base of the gentile looking stone angel. Celestial Summoning keys, twelve of them.

Natsu didn't move from his position for hours as his best friend fell to pieces in his arms, and all he could do was watch until she finally fell asleep, exhausted, as the sun peaked over the mountains once again.

-ooo-

Things were strained between the two friends for weeks following the funeral. Lucy was understandably distraught and dealing with a heavy amount of grief. Something that no seven years old should go through by themselves. She wanted her father beside her so they could share their burdens, and hopefully, the weight wouldn't feel as oppressive.

She wanted to hear stories of her mother, of when she and her father fell in love all those years ago. Hear about her magic, how beautiful it was and what all the spirits looked like. Lucy had never seen any of the spirits, save Aquarius when she was very young because the Queen had succumbed to her disease and left her so weak and fragile. Layla knew her magic was disappearing from inside her, drying up like a well in a scorching desert.

However, the King pulled away, even more than before, locking himself in either his personal study or throne room, mood swinging wildly between livid at the universe and almost catatonic. He imbibed heavily on the spiced wine and rum, trying to drown his sorrows. Jude destroyed both rooms multiple times before his anger turned in on itself and he started to question everything about himself and what he could have done to prevent this.

The truth was, he couldn't have done anything more. But he was looking to blame someone, and at the moment, he blamed the King that couldn't even keep his beloved wife alive long enough for her to see her child marry.

So Lucy was essentially left alone during the days, and many of the nights, having only the servants for company. Natsu, bless him for he was too good for this world, tried his hardest to make her laugh and smile, but he hadn't felt this kind of all-encompassing sorrow before, so he didn't know how to deal with it. So he kept on doing things like he had before, along with Happy, and he hoped that he would see his best friend soon. The shell of her that he usually saw was a cruel mocking of her normally bright personality.

One evening, after realising that Natsu wouldn't be showing up – he had stolen her away from her room just the night before, but she still held a shred of hope – Lucy's heart lurched terribly. She could only think of her mother while she was in this cold, lonely place. She missed her so much.

Lucy scooped up the golden keys from her dresser and zipped quickly into the bathroom, drawing herself a hot bubble bath so she could just think. Her thoughts were so jumbled, and her eyes were so sore and crusty from crying that she accidently dropped the entire key ring into the water with her.

Golden light spilt out and burst forth, blinding her for a moment.

She finally opened her eyes to see a familiar spirit that she hadn't glimpsed in nearly four years.

Aquarius.

Electric blue hair swept back from her elegant face, complete with her usual bikini top and beautiful shining tail, Aquarius was gorgeous and powerful. Lucy glanced up into the eyes of the immortal and watched as a haughty sneer pulled at lips. The little Princes' chin wobbled as she tried to hold in a sob. This spirit had been her mother's absolute favourite.

"Tch. Brat. Stop blubbering. Don't be such a crybaby."

Contrary to the words spoken, Lucy was swept up into strong arms and held while tears spilt down her face. She felt a bit of warmth creep back into the hole in her heart that was left when her mother passed on. Natsu had been slowly patching the crack that had appeared, but it just wasn't the same.

Spirit and Summoner stayed like that until Lucy's toes pruned and the water turned chilly.

"Listen up. I'll only say this once alright?" Aquarius' tone lost most of its misplaced anger while her eyes softened a tiny bit. "Your mother loved you very much, and wouldn't like to see you like this. Live your life to the fullest. Live it for her, do things in her memory and she will never truly leave you."

The blonde only nodded. It would take time, she knew, but she would try. "I promise."

"Good. Now, you can't keep me out much longer, even though I'm using mostly my magic. You're not strong enough yet. Call out Capricorn, and he'll deal with your magic training. Alright? Don't summon me for at least a month. Tch."

And with that, she was gone.

Somehow, Lucy didn't feel so alone anymore, even on the nights that she and Natsu weren't together. She had twelve new friends to meet and a promise to get stronger to keep.

Lucy slept soundly for the first time in almost a week that night, dreaming of celestial spirits and her mother's voice.

-ooo-

Natsu had searched high and low for his brother one afternoon after returning from Lucy's at the break of dawn. He didn't know who else to talk to other than Igneel, but the King was busy with his council today, and he needed someone to talk to. Someone that he knew without a doubt had a best friend. Happy was still too young to really grasp some of the ideas that were rolling around in his pink head.

He couldn't go to Lucy about this because he wanted to talk to someone about her.

Or really, about her behaviour.

The Prince finally cornered Zeref in the library after a good hour of searching and got straight to the point. "Zeref. Why isn't Luce getting any better?"

Now, Zeref didn't know exactly what Natsu was going on about, but he saw the desperation in his younger brother's eyes and quickly shut his book, marking the page with a piece of deep green leather. He knew that Lucy, or 'Luce' as she was most commonly called by Natsu, was the pink haired boy's best friend. He knew that she had blonde hair, liked to play in the mud, and was adequate with a sword.

But that was it. The only other thing that he knew for sure was that Natsu was seriously protective over her. He never told anyone where she lived, nor her last name. He was very secretive.

Or, it was more than likely that the simple minded child didn't even know those answers himself, and was more than thrilled with the fact that he had found someone his own age to spend time with.

As he watched Natsu fidget waiting for his answer, he could see a little bit of himself in the boy standing in front of him. Zeref could only assume that Natsu felt the same way for Lucy that he felt for Mavis. However, it being much more innocent at the moment, as Zeref knew without a doubt that he was in love with his best friend.

"What do you mean Natsu? What's wrong with Lucy exactly?"

"She's sad all the time. I try to help her, but nothing I do really does anything. She smiles and laughs, but they aren't the same as before."

"Before what?"

"Before…her mom died. Lucy hates being alone, more than anything in the whole world. More than when I pushed her in a lake when she had finally dried off, more than pickled plums! But her mom…just left her there. All alone! Why would she do that?"

Natsu's voice had risen to a shout, frustration at his best friend's mother for leaving Lucy and at himself for being unable to do anything about the fact that she still cried bled through.

"Natsu, listen to me. Death is a normal part of the world, everything cycles, and everything keeps turning. Your friend's mother might have passed on, but she is not truly gone if people keep them in their hearts. Sometimes people leave us, but we have to be strong and have the courage to live our lives without them. As for Lucy, she just needs time I think. Death leaves a dark spot in our lives, no matter how natural it is. So, for the time being, just keep doing what you're doing and make her laugh and smile. One day, she'll get better. Just remind her that you are there for her and that her mother would want her to move on and not dwell on the past."

Zeref's words heartened the young boy, who nodded eagerly and smiled his full-toothed smile. He would repeat those words to Lucy one day, and Lucy would feel better about everything.

However, Zeref would soon come to hate those words with a blinding passion that he had uttered to his naïve but hopefully brother.

-ooo-

Natsu had sent Happy to see Lucy in his stead three weeks after his talk with Zeref with a message.

According to the little blue puff ball – after he had been stuffed with as much fish as Lucy could sneak out of the kitchens – Natsu wouldn't be around for at least a full month. Igneel was teaching him a very delicate secret art for his magic, one of the strongest he had ever learned and then they were going on a trip to Domus.

In a carriage.

Happy tried to convey just how distraught Natsu was over the whole ordeal and mimed all the ill faces that the Prince had pulled when the mention of transportation had been brought up.

The flying blue cat left Lucy's room close to dawn with a note for his pink haired friend clutched tightly in his little paw. His tiny high voice screaming his good wishes for the blonde and that they would see them as soon as possible.

Lucy waved at Happy until he vanished over the horizon, his white wings flapping hurriedly to get back to his home as quickly as possible. She didn't mind that she wouldn't see Natsu for a while and was immensely glad that he had had some forethought to actually tell her before he left. She knew that her best friend was as scatterbrained as they come.

While Natsu was away, Lucy would put into motion something that she had been thinking on for a long while. The blonde had a plan, it was a bit…loose at the moment, but it would come together with time. She would get stronger. As strong as possible so that she could protect her people from harm if it ever came to that, but she would also be able to fight alongside her best friend so that she could watch his back as he watched hers.

She would train with the Colonel in sword fighting and hand to hand combat at least twice a week, expand her magic containers with Capricorn daily so that Aquarius would stop annoying her about being too weak to summon her properly, and practice with her bow so that she didn't become rusty.

Lucy also refused to let her father wallow in self-pity any longer. If a seven-year-old girl could pick herself up and dust herself off from the death of her mother, whom she loved with her whole heart, then a grown up man should be able to do that as well. She would shove herself in his face if she had to, just so that he would realise that she hadn't died as well. Lucy was alive, and she needed her father.

Hopefully, by the time Natsu got back, there would be some progress with her plans, and that he would be proud of her.