Friends are not things you control.

They're not things that you can just toss away.

Friends are ones that help you up when you fall down the path of life.

They're the ones who help you push that heavy boulder up the hill in the Underworld.

Friends are jewels in your life that you have to learn to cherish and keep, because you can never replace them.


Squuueeaak. Squueak.

Lucy's breath came in misty little puffs as she stared out the window, using her cold fingers to draw little stars into the corners of the window pane. The train hit a bump, causing her to slide her fingers over the stars by accident, ruining them. Sighing, the celestial spirit mage dropped her hands back into her lap, sending a jolt of warmth through her as her fingers made contact with her warm thigh.

Natsu was on the other seat, moaning and groaning quietly. He looked horrible - but then again, he always did on transportation. Lucy allowed a small smile to slip over her face as she watched him turn ten shades paler when the train began to curve.

"Whar...Where Wendy? Oh!" Lucy jumped as she looked over at the sick dragon slayer. The poor boy had barely said anything in the past week, and the sounds of his voice was now like chocolate for Lucy's ears.

"Need...Wendy...Tr-Troia- urgh!" Natsu doubled over, groaning as he retched.

Gray, who had scooted so far away that he was smushed against the compartment door, replied in a muffled voice, "She's not here, flame-brain. You just have to deal with it."

Natsu did seem to be doing his best to keep the bile down his throat - but he couldn't, and he punched the window open and vomited out the window.

Lucy flinched away from the shattered glass. "Be more careful! We're going to have to pay for that!"

Natsu did not reply, only slumping against the window frame. Lucy had almost forgotten what had happened with his feline friend, and she quickly clamped her mouth shut. The train compartment, consisting of Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and a sleeping Erza, fell into an awkward, heavy silence, only broken here and there by Natsu's groans.

When the train finally stopped, Natsu jumped out of the window, not bothering to leave through the correct exit. Lucy frowned slightly and trampled after Gray and a groggy Erza, filing into the steady stream of people all pushing to leave the train, most looking annoyed, probably late for work or something of that sort.

It wasn't that Lucy didn't miss Happy or feel exuberant upon his passing - sure, it wasn't nice having the blue furball pass around rumors about Lucy and Loke, Lucy and Gray, Lucy and...Elfman (yes, it was ridiculous), and Lucy and Natsu - but Happy was a friend, and friends stuck up for each other and cared for the other. The blonde blushed a little at the last pairing as she gently stepped off of the train, not wanting the gravel to get into her sandals.

"What's the mission again, Erza?" Lucy asked the scarlet-haired mage as they headed to the nearest town.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "You forgot already?"

"Uh...yeah." Lucy didn't want to tell her that she wasn't listening.

The older girl nodded, taking it as an understandable answer. "We're to fish out a bunch of robbers that broke into a store last week...and they're still on the move. It doesn't seem like it'll be too hard, though. But the pay is good - 100,000 jewels - and so I'm guessing the town really wants these criminals to be rid of."

"Ah, I see," Lucy smiled faintly and continued staring straight ahead, barely even hearing the surprised squeak behind her.

Wendy was just walking by on the cobblestone paved, cheery streets, Carla floating beside her. "Lucy-san? Erza-san?" The tiny bluenette gasped. "What are you doing here? Is there a problem in the guild? Oh, no!" Anxiety began to creep into her big eyes.

Lucy laughed weakly. Even though the sound was a little forced, it was music to her own ears. "No, nothing's wrong. We're just doing a mission here. We're supposed to capture a bunch of pesky robbers."

Wendy's eyes widened as she blinked the tears away. "What? B-but we're doing that too!"

"It was a request from a cake shop owner," Carla supplied. "A robbery occurred last night, with the entire back room arsonized. It pays well, too, fifty thousand jewels. But a young girl like you is acting too brave! You're too young to be dealing with robbers on your own!" She turned to Wendy, who sighed and looked down. "I just wanted to be of some use to the guild…"

"Why don't you stay with us?" Erza suggested. "We're staying at the Redview Inn…" A shadow passed across her face suddenly, and Lucy could understand why. It was the place where…

"Hey, Wendy." Gray seemingly appeared out of nowhere, eyebrows raised at the girl. He scratched his bare chest, looking rather confused. "Why're you here?"

"Ah! Gray-san!" The little girl bowed hastily to the ice-make mage. "I am here with Carla because it just so happens that we have overlapping jobs! And Gray-san…" Wendy whispered the last part hesitantly.

Gray perked up, leaning closer. "What's wrong?"

"...your clothes, Gray-san."

"Ah!"


Natsu was staring out the window of their room when the rest of the team, plus Carla and Wendy, entered.

Lucy quietly made her way over to him in the small but spacious room, sitting down on the windowsill beside him. It struck her almost painfully to think how she would be so annoyed to have Happy and Natsu climb in uninvited through her window, usually resulting in a flying "Lucy Kick" to the face.

Oh, how she missed those days so. If only she had kept that letter in a safer place...maybe…

"What're you doing?" Lucy asked quietly, looking at the boy's faces, taking in every little line of detail on his face. He had such a serious expression on, so unlike when he used to just goof around and laugh, always bubbly and excited. Now the person sitting by Lucy was completely different - it was as if some hidden, mysterious part of him was revealed.

Sure, she'd seen him cry and rage and wail sometimes, but...he'd never been so serious. Natsu would take some things seriously sometimes, but this was taking it to another level. His onyx eyes, now a light shade of green in the flickering light of the room, were somewhere else. Lucy had not even seen some sort of realization in his gaze when she'd sat by him.

But now, when she'd spoken, he replied in a hollow voice, "Do you think Happy would be mad at me?"

Lucy was slightly taken aback at his question - glancing over her shoulder, she realized that everyone else had stopped unpacking and were staring at them, completely still and quiet, listening. But they resumed what they were doing, even Erza, when Lucy fixed a glare on them. The blonde had not meant it for the re-quip mage, but it was nice to just sit and talk with Natsu without being watched, even though the topic was so serious.

"He would," Lucy said in a firm voice, turning back to Natsu. He flinched, but Lucy continued, trying to hold back tears that were beginning to arise from, seemingly, her heart. He needed to face reality, to not always be depressed and unaccepting of how harsh life could be. Yes, he'd lost so much, but life was cruel like that, and you had to face it sometimes.

"Look at me, Natsu." The pinkette turned his head reluctantly, chewing the corners of his lips, eyes filled with anxiety. He was showing what he felt inside, and so Lucy pressed harder, because he was her friend and friends helped each other up, no matter how many times they fell down. If Natsu was going to suffer, then Lucy was, too. She'd felt it from the moment they met - there was something that felt like a pair of ghostly hands, typing up the severed strings of her heart and connecting it to another severed one.

"Happy...he-" Lucy swallowed, feeling the painful sting of tears behind her eyes. "He would never want his best friend to suffer just because of something like that. Do you think Happy would be smiling to see you moping around every day? Neglecting to take care of himself? Not being...not being yourself?"

At this, Lucy broke down, warm tears rolling down her cheeks and blurring her vision. "Would you be so burdened as to forget that you have other friends? Friends who will support you and hold you when you hurt inside? Friends who love you and share your feelings, no matter how evil or horrible they are? Friends are for helping each other stay on the path and to pick each other up? Didn't you teach me that? Heck, you taught everyone about the importance of friendship! You're always supporting us, winning for us, laughing for us...we're going to help you now, and we're going to continue down this path together."

Lucy's mouth had spoken on its own accord, and before she knew it, she was holding Natsu in her arms, who had buried his face into her shoulder. He was burning hot on her skin, tears almost like molten metal, but she didn't mind - she cried there with him. His sobs and breathing were loud in her ears, but Lucy held on ever tighter, burying her nose into his scarf and breathing in that strong smell of campfire smoke and ashes. She liked the scent now - it was somehow comforting to her, and it made her feel that everything would be alright.

And they cried, rocking together. Wendy was tearing up, but she was smiling a little as she sniffled. Carla looked away with a tiny hmpf, saying that men were always so strange. Gray was leaning on the wall, eyes smiling.

Erza rushed forward, startling the heck out of the sky dragon slayer and the ice make mage. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and she banged their heads on her iron breastplate. "Lucy!" she sobbed. "I never knew you were such a motivational speech-person!"

She sniffed, and turned to smile down at the fire dragon slayer. "But she's right, Natsu. We're your friends, and we'll support you and help you."

And for what felt like the first time in ages, Natsu really, truly meant the smile that graced his features as he laughed and cried with his friends.

He'd always been looking out for them, but this time...it was comforting to just lean back for a moment in his precious friends' arms, and smile with them.


I sure had fun writing this chapter! I think I'll write stuff longer now, because when I look at my extremely short chapters, I cringe.

Hope this unusual length makes up for the lateness. Reviews, faves, and follows are so, very much appreciated! :)