The funeral let out. Each person was in line to place a rose on the caskets. Nab, Jet, Lisanna, and Wakaba had all passed away during the war. Furthermore, representatives of relatives of the villages that perished stood in line as well, celebrating the heroes that had given their lives to avenge the deaths of their families.
Natsu was dressed in black, paying his respect to his fallen comrades. There were some 350 deaths due to this war. 400 others were severely injured...but it was over.
To celebrate the return of the Celestial Queen, the King had adorned the heavens with ribbons of rainbow, dancing joyously down to Earthland. Lucy's spirits had returned home with Atria, her keys in Natsu's possession to pass along to another Celestial wizard. They had their own party in the Celestial World as the celebratory party continued on Earthland as well.
But Natsu could not be consoled. His beautiful, sweet Lucy was gone.
Walking away from the funeral, but not feeling like joining the new party at the brand new guild, he wandered to a secluded path, stopping in front of the shrine dedicated to Lucy. Tears dripped down his face.
He remembered the look on Yukino's face when he appeared at her door, dropping Lucy's precious keys into her hands. She had fallen to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. They cried together for hours.
He remembered Levy's despairing cries as they realized Lucy wasn't coming back when they went to clean her apartment.
He remembered Happy refusing to leave the apartment, then refusing to eat fish for days afterward.
Two separate funerals had been held for her. The first was the country-held one. She was being honoured as a hero, as she should be. The second was the private guild funeral. There wasn't a single dry eyes there as Makarov took the podium.
"Lucy Heartfilia came to us as a runaway from a rich family. She did not know the meaning of family or comradery. She did not understand that once a guild member, always family. Not at first. Over the years, we have all had the absolute pleasure of watching her grow and change. She laid her life on the line multiple times for all of us, but none so much as the last mission she took. I don't know if any of us understand the absolute chaos the world would have received at the wrath between the Celestial King and Antoine if things had progressed as Antoine wanted it to. Earthland would have been caught in the war between the worlds. Earthland would be destroyed. As it was, we suffered heavy losses. Lucy sacrificed her life to end the chaos. She gave her live willingly for her friends and family. She will be forever remembered as the hero that she was...and still is."
He laid fresh flowers on the alter, kissing the image of her face.
He remembered Gray's words at the guild funeral.
"Lucy Heartfilia was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. You all know I'm...a bit of an introvert."
"A NAKED INTROVERT!" Gajeel had called out, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Everyone laughed, but the somberness of the moment could not be overtaken...not that day.
"Lucy saw through me," Gray continued, "She saw through the cold exterior that didn't want to know anyone deeply. She saw through the ruse that Natsu and I used to put up as enemies...and made us frienemies. Lucy was the one who encouraged me to lower my guard," He glanced to Juvia, "And allow myself to love. In all my life, I have never met a purer-souled person than Lucy Heartfilia. We all loved her immensely. Let us continue our lives in honour of her memory. She would want us to live our lives with happiness...and peace...and she," Gray's voice choked, "Would not want us to mourn for her forever. She...She..."
Unable to go on, Gray had descended the podium, his beloved Juvia reaching for him immediately to comfort him.
He remembered when he discovered that she was gone and the fact that he'd been tranquilized for days to numb the pain.
He remembered her smile, her laugh. Her scent.
He remembered his own speech at the funeral.
"Luce was the only person that could tame me," he'd said in opening, "She walked into my life with a bang, and left with one. Luce was a friend like no other. She took me as I was - my good qualities, my bad qualities. She loved it all. And yes, I completely annoyed her at times," a few giggled erupted at this, "But she was always right there when I needed her. She forgave me when we fought. She Lucy-kicked me when I needed to get my head on straight."
He paused, surveying the crowd, "Lucy loved all of us, so much that she would sacrifice her own life. We should not let this be in vain. She lived by the Fairy Tail code, and so must we. We need to carry on. We need to live and rebuild. More challenges will come our way. I'd like to believe that Lucy will be there with us in spirit, loving us the same way she did when she was here. I love you, Lucy...yesterday, today, and every tomorrow to come."
He remembered their single night of bliss together.
He remembered every mission, every adventure.
Pressing his forefingers on her image's forehead, he whispered, "I love you, Lucy. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
The silent tombstone did not answer him. Being that he was completely alone, he decided he could vent. Master said it was imperative to his healing. Master had been very worried about him. They all had been. Lucy's death had seriously impacted all of them. The guild, however freshly rebuilt, would never be the same. But Natsu, was inconsolable. His anger level spiked at first, drawing whomever would take the bait into a punching match. But eventually, he turned zombie-like. He couldn't get himself to care anymore.
He punched a nearby tree, hitting it over and over again until his fists started to bleed. His fists roared to life with fire as he punched the tree until it fell over erupting into flames. Snuffing the fire out with his feet, Natsu stumbled across the clearing, collapsing against a rock facing the bay, his body convulsing in sobs.
Levy came first, curling into his body and resting her head on his chest. A few minutes later, Erza joined them on his other side. Tears rolled down their cheeks as they cried silently together. Soon, Natsu realized Gajeel, Gray, Laxus, and Juvia had one by one joined them, all of them placing a comforting hand somewhere on his body.
"I can't," Natsu sobbed heavily, unable to breathe straight through his tears, "I can't go on without her!"
Nobody said anything, unable to comfort their distraught friend.
He stood up, stumbling toward the water, "It was all for NOTHING! All of it! Life means NOTHING without her!"
Gray caught his arm, gently herding him away from the water lest he do something stupid, "It isn't nothing, Fire-Breath."
Even Gray's insults weren't getting through to him, "It WAS NOTHING!" He screamed.
Levy's eyes filled with tears again, "Natsu..."
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" He bellowed, kicking rocks, "Why her? Why couldn't it have been me?"
Falling to his knees, he buried his face in his hands, "It should've been me."
"You made a promise to her," Levy said softly, stroking an arm, "You told her when she came to Fairy Tail that she would never be alone again. And she wasn't. You made her life worth living. She loved her life."
"Do you really think it should've been you?" Erza asked, coming alongside of him again, "So that we would be mourning you? So Lucy would be mourning you? Do you not know how much we love you? We loved Lucy every bit as much as you. You are not the only one who hurts over this. But you have a choice. You can wallow forever and not live as Lucy would want you to, the way you yourself said in your speech, or you can stand up and look life in the face. The rest of us still need you."
Collapsing to his knees again, he whimpered. His voice was agonized, "But I need Lucy."
"We know, Flame Brain," Gray said gently, slinging an arm over Natsu's shoulder as he helped him up, "So let's go have a drink - to Lucy!"
Gajeel nodded, appreciating Erza's comments and Gray's out of character compassion, "C'mon Fire-Head. Let's go to the guild."
Nodding his reluctant agreement, Natsu got off the ground and went with his friends to start a long, painful recovery.
Lucy watched the scene, tears dripping down her face.
"He hurts so much," she said forlornly, "I just want to tell him I'm okay."
"I know," Atria said from beside her, "but you'll see him again one day soon. Natsu's destiny is not done yet. He's about to learn some new magic."
"Go figure," Aquarius spoke up behind them, "You finally landed yourself a boyfriend and you give up your life to be a Celestial being."
Lucy nodded, thumbing the brand new Celestial key in her fingers...her key.
"I'll see you soon, Natsu," she whispered, "Wait for me."