Hey guys, here is chapter 4! I appreciate all the reviews and kind words. I am so glad that everyone seems to like the direction i am taking this story. This chapter was almost hard for me to write because it was very personal but at the same time it flowed out like it was something i needed to write.

This is going to be a little sad. I'm hoping i wrote it right to get the right feeling.

I will explain a bit more at the bottom and who knows if anyone even reads these little blurbs!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 4: Hollow

Lucy hadn't shown up to the guild in three days. He had tried knocking on her door and gotten no response. He would have assumed at first that she was on a job. But she usually told him when she was leaving and the rest of her team was still there.

He figured it was time to suck it up and try going to her house. He had shown up on her door step like a normal human being, he had learned quickly that she appreciated her privacy and that the pink haired fool didn't really get away with climbing through her window, but did it despite the consequences.

He knocked and listened, heard her shuffle around inside, but there was something missing. There was a distinct absence of the sound of her soul. Instead of tinkling bells there was just a constant low thrum. Enough to know she was alive and awake. It felt wrong, too much like the pain in his own soul.

The thought made him back up slowly, he didn't think they were close enough for him to barge in and comfort her. He also didn't know how to comfort someone, she was the only one he had ever wanted to comfort.

Eric made his way back to the guild, intent on trying to get someone over to her house who could pull her out if this self imposed funk. That seemed to make sore sense to him, he didn't care about taking more of a behind the scenes role, as long as her soul chimed again he would be happy.

The trip back to the chattering guild was quick. He did a thorough scan and quickly picked up the soul he was looking for. The one he figured would be the most likely to get in to her apartment and get her out.

The sound wasn't hard to follow, it was a roaring blaze that never seemed to dim. Even when the boy was calm his soul blazed and he could hear the sound of the flames flickering.

He pulled up a seat next to the pink haired boy and as much as he did not want to, he dropped in to it. They sat there for a good five minutes, Cobra getting more agitated the longer they sat. Finally Natsu sighed and acknowledged the man drilling a silent hole through his head.

"She's not coming in today." Cobra growled lowly. "Ya i got that." Onyx eyes turned to the maroon haired man, "Try again tomorrow." The man narrowed his single eye. "Something is wrong with her. You need to fix it." Natsu rolled his eyes and turned back to the plate of food in front of him. "Luce will be fine."

The maroon haired man could not understand, he heard the love and concern the pinkette had for his best friend, but he also heard that Natsu had dropped by the apartment and had done nothing to even try and enter it, when he realized what state the blonde was in. "What the hell kind of friend are you?" He sneered.

Cobra witness the onyx eyes turn as hard as flint and his hands clenched. "Don't try to call my friendship in to question, like i don't care." Cobra shook his head slowly, "You didn't hear the pain in her soul." Natsus' eyes dropped to the table. "I know." The fight seemed to drain out of him. "She does this.. Sometimes, she just falls in to this funk, i can never pin point when it's coming. I use to be able to get her out of it, she would mope and lock herself up for a day or two. Then i would drag her on a job.." Cobra listened intently.

"After everything that has happened, they last longer.. Are more often. It's like there is this hole in her heart, i use to be enough but there is only so much a best friend can do. Sometimes she just needs to be by herself," this time Natsu stared him down, unflinchingly. "There is only so much light she can give, she never thinks to save any for herself. I'm scared one of these days she is going to burn out, and all that will be left is a hollow shell. Maybe she needs something more now. Something she can't get from me or the others."

With that said the pinkette turned back to his meal and Cobra was left reeling. He was certain if anyone would be helpful it would be her best friend. Fine he would just get someone else to help. He turned to the man across the table, he of course had been listening and his face was drawn.

Cobra raised an eyebrow at him. This mans soul was the opposite of his team mates. Instead of roaring flames it was the crashing of an ice storm. While Natsu was minutes away from being fired up, Gray always had ice at his finger tips.

With a shake of his head gray dropped his eyes to the table. Cobra was quickly getting angry, why would none of these people help their friend? He could hear in their souls that they hated these slumps the blonde went in to. Could hear that they had tried over and over in previous occurrences to get her out of this.

He looked around the room and spotted a petite bluenette that clearly didn't mean to meet his eyes. He hadn't had too much interaction with her and her grumpy bodyguard, but knew that both of them were quite close to the blonde. As he made his way closer he heard just a bit of panic, like the whispering pages in a book that is being quickly flipped through. As though she is trying to flip through the library in her soul for instruction on how to handle yet another grumpy slayer.

He heard the watchful eye her own slayer kept, his soul was very protective as well, he clearly felt that he still needed forgiveness from the two small women he had wronged the most. The man made it clear that he cared deeply for both girls, however the guild was aware that the bluenette held a special place in the iron slayers heart.

He made his way swiftly over to the two in the corner. The apprehension in the air made him uncomfortable. "So are you two going to help her?" Levy frowned and gently placed a hand on his arm. "We've tried Cobra, believe me we tried." This was getting him nowhere.

He growled, ignoring the frown from the other slayer. Fine he would do it himself. He would not leave her alone to deal with this on her own. He made his way to her house again. Stopped at her door and listened.

The sadness and darkness just didn't feel right. Which really made Cobra uncomfortable. He use to take pleasure in peoples pain and despair. In fact he knew is still stroked him the right way. He also knew why he didn't want her to feel it, he was hesitant to admit it at first. Now he didn't care who knew, which clearly the entire guild knew how he felt. He was in love with this woman and he wanted her to be happy, wanted her to be safe.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Listened to her laying in bed and heard her soul hope that if she ignored it, whoever was at the door would go away. He frowned and tried to figure out how he could get in to the apartment. With a sigh he made his way to the dreaded window.

Finally dropping down in to the bedroom he scanned the room and saw her wrapped up in the blankets like a burrito. He smiled gently and carefully crawled in to the bed behind her, he wrapped his arms around her, blankets and all then whispered her name. He felt her tense and although he had been ready to come in here, guns rearing and planning to get her to leave the apartment, that had quickly changed.

As soon as he had seen her curled up and heard her soul, his heart had softened and he could hear that she just needed some time and she needed someone to understand that this would pass. That forcing her to be around people would not benefit her.

Cobra stayed there all day, bringing her food when he knew she wouldn't leave her bed. He also made her a bath and coaxed her in to it, laying out the fluffiest pajamas he could find in her wardrobe. After her bath he brushed through her hair and the two cuddled in bed.

Cobra had a million questions he wanted to ask the girl but didn't know if she would answer. He heard her sigh and she placed a small kiss on his shoulder where her head rested. He could hear the gratitude singing in her soul and decided the questions could wait until the net day.

The two fell asleep curled up together and Cobra was probably the happiest he had ever been, surrounded by her scent.

When Lucy woke, it was to the smell of something amazing. She slowly shuffled out of bed and toward the kitchen. There was Cobra making of all things, pancakes with strawberries on top. A small smile found it's way to her face. The first in days.

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her head against his back. "You are amazing." She felt him shrug, "Yeah i am." She giggled at the pure cockiness and let go when he placed the last of the pancakes on the plates.

They ate in relative silence, Cobra grinning at the small happy noises that were leaking form the blonde. "How are you feeling?" He watched as she sighed and almost expected her to close up. She seemed to be debating it in her soul then as she opened her mouth, her eyes began to tear up. "It's hard to explain."

Cobra stood rather abruptly, ignoring her flinch at the sudden movement, he gently took her hand and pulled her up from her chair, leading her to the couch. He sat, pulled her down next to him then pulled her in to his side. "It's okay. You don't have to say it, but just now i am always listening." The blonde understood what he meant and he heard the ring of gratefulness.

They sat in silence for another hour or two before Cobra felt the mental prod. He raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the blonde, leaning against him. He tightened his arm around her, letting her know she could continue.

Cobra sat and listened to how normally she was happy but that sometimes she felt like she was wearing a mask. Sometimes it was just too difficult to get out of bed and she didn't have a reason. Lots of things had happened to her but it wasn't what contributed to these periods.

She also mentally explained that this happened more often then she let on, that she would spend hours sometimes, wrapped in her own apartment. Sometimes she cried, sometimes she just felt empty. The thoughts and feelings that spilled from her soul saddened him and all he could do was pull her closer.

Lucy seemed to revel in the contact she hadn't found a way to explain that she didn't want to be alone but didn't want to be near people. Didn't have the energy to try and have a conversation, to try to smile and be what they wanted, the normal talkative Lucy. She just wanted someone to be in the same space, to hold her close and not require anything from her.

She wanted someone that she could just relax and be sad and not have them try to get her to talk about why she was sad. Cobra pulled her head close, tucking her face against his neck. He felt her shake as silent tears streamed down her face. He didn't say a word, just held her as close as he could.

The two stayed tucked together for the majority of the day, mostly in silence. Sometimes she would cry and sometimes he would fetch her a book and read over her shoulder while she lay against him. Finally it was late, the stars and moon casting a light glow through her window. He wondered if he should stay.

He was just debating whether he should get up and go home for the night when Lucy spoke out loud for the first time in hours. "Thank you. You didn't have to stay, but I'm so glad you did. It made things so much better than normal."

Cobra shifted so he could study her face then dropped his forehead to hers. "Bella i am happy to do this. Always, anytime you need it. I hate the thought of you trying to bare it on your own so if you need someone to just stay with you. You can always call out to me. I will hear your soul and i will be here as soon as I possibly can. You never have to pretend or be anything other than what you are willing to give me. I will be happy with what I can get."

He lifted a hand and gently wiped away her tears. He heard the question in her soul seconds before she leaned up and kissed him. It was slightly wet, a little salty, but it was perfect. It was what he was waiting for, months of being by her side and offering her whatever she needed, not asking for more than she was willing to give.

Lucy pulled back slightly, their breath mingling in the space between. This time when their lips joined it was hard to say who initiated it but they didn't care, that low thrum in Lucy's soul had small bells tinkling along with it.

This wasn't something a kiss could magically cure, this was something Lucy would struggle with for the rest of her life. But with this kiss Cobra promised himself and her that he would be there to help her weather the storm. A shoulder to lean on and a safe place to be whatever she needed to be.

So if anyone has read my other story i have mentioned here and there that it is taking so long to write because sometimes i just can't bring myself to do it. I have really bad depression. I'm not suicidal however the type of depressive states i fall in to can be almost as destructive. It affects my appetite, my mood, my body. I get tired and detached and it can affect my job when i can't pull myself out of bed.

This prompt really spoke to me because hollow is the perfect word to use. And the reason i had Lucy affected like this is to help show that it can affect everyone. It disrupts your life and your feelings and even if you are a happy person, sometimes it feels like a mask and like it is too hard to handle. Sometimes all you need is a safe space. I may have taken a few liberties with this chapter but i feel like that is what fanfiction is for, to be a release for the writer and hopefully an escape for whoever may be reading it and feeling the same. A way to send a message that there are people that understand and it is okay sometimes to take some time to yourself.

So let me know if you liked the chapter and what you thought!