Zenith

1. the time at which something is most powerful or successful

2. the point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer

Directly above her, picked out in twinkling lights at its zenith, the constellation Aquarius stood proudly against the night sky. Something twisted deep in Lucy's chest, another loss she hadn't quite recovered from.


Lucy needed air. Shoving her notebook aside, she pushed her chair back from her desk and squinted at the clock in disbelief. Two in the morning already? Journalism took more time and effort than she had realized. Or maybe it was just that the longer and harder she worked, the easier it was to ignore how lonely it was with Natsu gallivanting off to parts unknown and Fairy Tail disbanded. Without them…

She shook her head and stood. The walls were closing in around her, and the air in this unfamiliar apartment felt stifling. Leaving her notebook open on the table—no need to hide it when no one would be crawling through her window to snoop through her writing—she headed outside and closed the door behind her.

The streets were empty this time of night, hushed aside from the breeze rustling through leaves and kicking scraps of garbage down the road. The moon shone full and bright overhead, but the darkness crowding around the buildings better suited her mood.

She would give anything for a friend right now, but there was no point moping over what she couldn't have. She did her very best not to think of Erza or Gray or Happy or Natsu. Nothing good would come of that.

She shivered as the breeze smoothed its chilly fingers along her bare skin and looked up at the sky, admiring the ivory face of the moon and bright pinpricks of stars against the velvet night. The stars were lovely tonight. They always made her feel a little less alone, like her spirits were waiting just on the other side of the veil between their worlds.

Her steps slowed to a stop, and she craned her neck back as far as it would go. Directly above her, picked out in twinkling lights at its zenith, the constellation Aquarius stood proudly against the night sky. Something twisted deep in her chest, another loss she hadn't quite recovered from. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, sharp with the nighttime chill, but she held her eyes open wide, hardly daring to blink, and the tears didn't fall.

She stood there for a long time, breathing deeply and holding back her tears as the void in her chest yawned wide.

Something touched her arm, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"You're going to break your neck if you keep craning it back like that," Loke said.

She blinked at him a few times, catching her breath and calming her racing heart. "You nearly scared the life out of me. What are you doing?"

"Sorry. I thought I'd swing by for a chat. Old friends and all that."

"Oh." Lucy was conspicuously lacking in friends these days, and she had been too busy pursuing her new career to give her spirits the attention she probably should. "It's good to see you."

"Of course." Loke hesitated before saying, "Things will work out. Nothing has ever kept Fairy Tail down for long. Everyone will come back, you'll see."

"I hope so."

"Yeah…" Loke looked up at the cluster of stars that had so fascinated Lucy. "Aquarius is doing well. She says that you need to get a boyfriend already, or you'll die an old maid."

That was right. Just because Lucy didn't have Aquarius's key anymore and had no way of contacting her directly didn't mean she wasn't still going about her life in the celestial realm. It helped to know that she was fine, just… It didn't make Lucy miss her any less.

Lucy thought of all the times she'd summoned Aquarius as a child, searching for a playmate when her mother was gone and her father unavailable. She thought of the tricks and griping and teasing that would seem mean-spirited from the outside. She thought of how, despite Aquarius's ever-present crankiness, she was always there. Lucy had shared more with her than with any other spirit, and they'd had their own quiet, unacknowledged friendship.

"Can you tell her…?"

"Yes?" Loke encouraged.

Lucy swallowed hard. "Tell her to stop rubbing her boyfriend in my face. I'll find one in my own good time."

"I will." Loke smiled and offered her his arm. "Let me walk you home."

And that unfamiliar apartment was not home, but it felt like something a little closer with him there.