Bickslow's POV

I looked down in to her dull eyes, and reached out a shaky hand to close her eye lids, not wanting to look into the lifeless pools.

I looked up at Laxus, who nodded encouragingly, his hands framing her face and stoking back her hair.

'Keep healing her. Don't stop, okay?' Nick nodded without looking at me; still pouring his healing light into her battered body, causing the bruises and marks to slowly fade till her skin wasn't marred or scarred in the slightest.

I reached out with one hand and brushed my fingers against her lips, glancing up to see the majority of our group beating someone up in a corner, and Natsu, Gray and Gildarts leaving down another tunnel to explore; Natsu and Gray throwing nervous and worried glances my way, directed at the blonde woman lying before me.

I took a deep breath as I faced forwards, my hands hovering over her prone form as I reached inside of myself and pulled on all of my magic.

As I gathered the energy in my palms and behind my closed eyes, I remembered the feel of her lips against mine, her soft taste as she responded to my kiss... the feeling of flying high above my body as I realised she loved me, me. It was the best moment of my life, despite the terrible circumstances, and the horrific pain her body had been forced to endure, that moment my lips touched hers for the first time, and her sweet tasting mouth had moved against my own would be captured in my mind for the rest of my life.

She was the only thing now that kept me sane, that made me feel halfway towards being a human rather than a murderous monster with deadly eyes I could barely control when I was angered.

I had to save her... to hold her warm body in my arms, to feel those lips against mine once more, to hear her beautiful laughter... to just sit beside her as she ate or spoke to someone else. If I could make her heart beat once more, for her to live again, I would die happy.

To lose her now, before I had the chance to express the true depth of my feelings for her was a cruel and savage twist of fate, which I would not allow to occur.

Determined, I opened my eyes and stared ahead of me, pouring my magic into my glowing orbs as a golden light in front of me became visible, as though a fog was clearing from in front of it.

I waited till the seemingly fiery soul was clear, and reached out to it with my hands, gently cupping it and bringing it into my chest and hugging it to me.

I could hear in my mind her laughter, her happiness, her sadness, her joy and her pain all at once pouring into me, and felt fresh tears pricking at my eyes as her past flashed across my mind, image by image till I reached her thoughts about me, her memories of me.

I forced myself to stop watching then, knowing I'd rather have her tell me how she felt rather than spy on her soul, her life force, when I was about to save her.

I slowly lowered the soul towards her body, mumbling an ancient and nearly forgotten spell under my breath.

"Mortuus in anima ad corpus rediit utero vas a te fortitudinem meam,

et munera vis facis te libertate vitae sit.

Revertere!"

The soul pressed against my hands, pushing away from her body as I tried to force it back into her chest, golden light piercing the air around me and a sudden whirlwind burst around us, blue sparks sending out jagged tendrils into the space around me, Laxus and Nick. Loke was thrown back by the pressure emitted from the soul as it began to slowly sink into her chest, still resisting against the pressure I was pushing against it.

'What's going on?!' Laxus shouted out above the booming magical pressure that had encased us, and had caused the floor beneath our feet to crack and crumble from the centre of her body outwards.

'Soul's are the source of our magic! Her body is trying to repel it so it's reacting.' I called back, as I pushed one last time, the soul finally implanting itself inside her chest where it belonged.

The pre3ssure suddenly disappeared, before there was a golden light that burst out of her chest, her body jerking and spasming on the ground, before she fell still once more, her head turned to one side on Laxus's lap.

I was breathing heavily as I reached out and rested my hand on her chest, waiting... thump, thump...

I sighed in relief and sank backwards onto my feet, smiling before laughing nervously, my adrenaline pulsing through my system as tears once more tracked down my face.

Stop crying you fucking pussy. It worked. I thought to myself, angrily wiping away at my face as I reached down to stroke her warming cheeks, her breath tingling against my hand.

'Thank you. Thank you so much.' I looked up to see Nick clasping her hand to him and staring up at me with tear-filled eyes, his body shaking from the relief.

She's alive.

I did it.

'Well done Bix.' Laxus murmured, his hands running through her hair as he stared down at her fully healed pale face, the skin looking softer than ever.

'LUCE!' Natsu suddenly appeared beside Laxus, kneeling down as he grabbed her free hand and clutched it tightly within his, grinning up at the rest of the group who had appeared beside us, realising she was back.

I stared down at her chest as oxygen filled her lungs once more.

She's alive... thank Mavis, she's alive! My head lifted to look up at the sky, the snow still frozen in time as the Spirit King grinned down at us.

'Thank you for saving my friend. Old friends, it is time we return. Look after Lucy.' He smirked down at us before bowing his head slightly and disappearing in a shower of pure white light and sparks.

Nick nodded, kissing her hand and trailing his own fingers across her cheek in slight disbelief, before looking up at me and nodding before he too disappeared.

'Bickslow.' I turned to see Loke standing beside me, looking down at me as he stared straight into my eyes with solid ones filled with resolve.

'Thank you. If you hadn't of saved her... I don't even know how you did it, or where you learned that spell. His Highness seems to have allowed you to use it, for Lucy, but you must know to never use it again. He seems to be more willing to bend the rules where she's concerned. Should you try it again, it wouldn't end well. This isn't a threat, it's a warning.' I nodded my acknowledgment before Freed and Ever could pounce on him for his monotone voice.

'I know Loke. I would have paid the price willingly for her.' I whispered, turning to stare down at her face once more before he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

'Thank you. You have no idea how much we spirits are indebted to you.' His voice cracked before he moved away, coughing into his hand to hold back the emotion.

I watched as he walked over to Erza, who dragged a bloody blonde headed man across the ground behind her.

'If I may, Titania, I shall deal with the... trash. We spirits have some words to exchange with that creature. It's our turn.' He grinned ferally at her as she yanked the bloody mess of a human into the air, handing him over to the spirit.

'Knock yourself out. Freed's runes are still in place, and shall be for a long, long time.' She and Mira exchanged evil glances as they grinned at one another, making me shiver slightly at the aura they emanated.

'Laxus, call Master and tell him the mission was a success. We should get back home.' Gildart's voice interrupted the exchange as he stared down at Lucy with his arms folded and a small smile pulling at his lips.

'I shall be going then. We'll return this slug when we've had our fun with it.' Loke kicked the dark mage, making him groan as he disappeared.

I attempted to stand, only to stagger and nearly face plant the floor. It was only due to my babies quick reactions that they caught me so Freed and Gray could hold me upright.

'Relax Bix. You used a shit tonne of magic there. I've got blondie.' Laxus looked up at me as he gently scooped her tiny, fragile body into his arms.

I nodded in acquiescence; there was no way I could walk by myself after using so much energy in casting that spell.

It was truly a forbidden spell I'd come across when I read a book (yeah, I read... sometimes) but I'd filed it away for emergencies. The cost of casting that spell, was to sacrifice your own life force in exchange. Balance had to be maintained in the world, and to save one life in that way, another would usually have to be taken in it's place.

I was prepared for that. I was ready to die for her, to leave her in Laxus's care.

I knew he would love her enough for both of us, and she would come to love him too.

However, it seems she has some friends in high places, and Mr. Spirit King had decided to overlook it this once.

Loke's warning was to prepare me, so I knew this was a one off ticket. If I ever tried that spell again, I would die.

Natsu's POV

I smirked at Laxus triumphantly.

Luce was now in my arms now we were outside. She'd started shivering against him, and tried to huddle into his warmth, yet it didn't do much.

So Erza and Freed convince him to hand her over to me, and she relaxed in my arms immediately, my extreme body heat encasing her and protecting her from the howling snow and wind that had begun as soon as the massive spirit dude left.

I looked down at her, and pulled her tighter against my chest so I could feel her heart thumping away steadily against me.

I nuzzled into her hair and breathed in deeply, content now I knew I could always be near her, to smell her still; to hear her laugh and tell me off for stealing her food.

Luce was okay. I looked back to see Bickslow still exhausted and practically falling asleep as he dangled between Freed and the Ice Stripper, who was shirtless again.

I smirked as I turned to face where I was walking once more, trudging through the snow that melted slightly as I stepped forwards.

'Well done! You bought her back!' I heard a familiar childish giggle and turned to see Master Mavis hovering beside me, staring down at her blonde head.

'I'll take you all to the guild now, she needs more rest.' Her tone was far more serious as she looked down at Luce's unmoving body in my arms with a weird expression on her face.

Everyone else seemed to of noticed it too, as they scrambled to gather into a ragged circle, waiting for First to teleport us home.

I frowned as I looked down at her and shut my eyes as nausea at the thought of teleportation threatened to overwhelm me.

Hasn't she been through enough?! Hasn't she suffered enough?! When will this end? Why can't Kami leave Luce alone? I took a calming breath and released it, opening my eyes to find we stood outside the guild back in Magnolia.

I glared at Laxus as he snatched Luce out of my arms and wanted to punch him, only to be hit by Erza as soon as my fist lit up.

I rubbed my head and scowled at Ice boy as he laughed at me, but didn't attack. He still held Bickslow, and he saved Luce, so I owed him one.

I got up and trooped into the guild behind everyone else, who walked straight up to the infirmary, smiling softly at the cheers of happiness that Luce had returned.

Wendy walked beside Laxus, and was looking over Luce with a grim face.

I shoved past everyone and grabbed her arm, my eyes wide as Laxus carried on walking upstairs to the infirmary with Luce in his arms.

'Wendy, what's wrong?' I asked quietly. My quiet tone seemed to echo through the guild as everyone realised something still wasn't quite right.

'She's... Lucy-san is... she's fine, but... she's in a coma. I don't know when, or if she'll... wake up.' Her voice ended on a quiet whisper, and my hand dropped away from her arm as my feet seemed to drop out from under me.

"if she'll wake up... if she'll wake... if..."

'No. Luce will come back to us. She always sleeps in when she uses a lot of magic. She'll come back soon, just give her a day to rest.' I laughed slightly, looking around to see serious faces surrounding me and Happy crying next to Carle, who tried to comfort him.

'Happy! Stop crying! Luce is fine! She'll be awake soon, you hear me?' I started to shout, staring around the faces of my guild, looking into their saddened eyes before shouting at them all.

'STOP IT! SHE'S ALIVE! STOP LOOKING LIKE SHE'S DEAD CAUSE SHE'S NOT!' I felt a hand on my shoulder, and whipped round to see Gildarts looking down at me. Slowly, he shook his head and pulled me against his chest in a tight hug, pulling me even tighter when I fought for release.

'She's not dead! She's not dead...' I cried against his chest, hitting my fists against him as the guild started to murmur behind me.

'Natsu's right!' I heard Master shout from the balcony, and Gildarts released me so I could turn to look up at him along with everyone else.

'Lucy has come back to us alive! LET'S PARTY!' I grinned through my blurry eyes as everyone started to cheer, Cana throwing back a barrel of alcohol and chugging it as others egged her on.

Arigato Oji-chan... Arigato...

TRANSLATION OF SPELL:

Lost soul, return to the body of your birth, by my power I reunite your life force with your vessel and gift you your freedom once more. Return!

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates the past couple days, hectic things happening, but I pulled this one out of the bag. YES SHE'S ALIVE! Now to just wake up... ;)

I was sorely tempted to kill Bixy, and make it a LaLu, but I restrained myself.

This is about as evil as I get, so from here on it shall be nice-ish. :3

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try and update tomorrow evening, though I will be busy for the next couple days, so it depends, and I'm going to be trying to upload office 2007 to my NEW LAPTOP/NETBOOK, so yeah, busy busy buys! :) xx

Please remember to review! They make me smile! :) xx