A/N: Hey everyone! So this scene randomly appeared in my head. Wrote this during my free the other today, and I decided to share it for the hell of it because why not? May be another story idea, so let me know what y'all think about it.

Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. If I did, GraLu would totally be a thing.

• Red String of Fate •

Lost and Found

Black feathers enveloped Lucy's body, accompanied by an icy caress languidly trailing down her spine. She breathed a moan, back arching delicately, as this cold touch left a trail of tingling fire. She realized she was naked as her breasts pressed against a hard muscled chest. Her blushing face gazed up to her this stranger's face only to see that it was shadowed.

Lucy's heart hammered in her chest. Everything about this figure was dark – the feathers, the features, the aura – but she felt safe, safer than she had felt in a long time. Before she knew it, Lucy's hand threaded through this man's dark hair, and she kissed him with all she had, like they hadn't seen each other in millennium.

Her back suddenly tickled, almost as if the kiss had breathed life into her, and white celestial wings sprouted from her back and fluttered behind her. The very brightness of her wings illuminated her apparent lover's face, and she couldn't help but gasp.

Tousled raven hair, intense midnight-blue eyes, chiseled features, a muscular form, and a beautifully intricate tattoo on his right arm. Everything about him made her heart skip a beat and a smile grace her lips. He was familiar. So, so familiar that she wanted him to kiss her, touch her, make love to her. However, she could not place where this familiarity came from, and these sudden strong feelings scared her.

Lucy knew this was a dream though, because it wasn't possible to have wings. It wasn't possible to feel this strongly about a man at first sight. Because things like this weren't possible, she didn't want it to end, and she felt that her subconscious that created this man didn't want it to end either. So, she knew he would be in her dreams for a while and couldn't help but ask as she felt the pull to reality.

"Who are you?"

A crooked smile tugged at his lips.

"Exactly who you think I am."

And that's when she sadly woke up.

Lucy was waiting for the bus that rainy morning with a cup of black coffee in her hand. She checked her watch to see that she was in good time and would easily make it to her 8AM morning class of gothic literature. Levy was probably already there hoping to obtain books from the library for their paper, which was due in about three weeks. Speaking of which, Lucy really needed to get on that.

The blonde sighed, staring vacantly at the red hand across the street. It had been a solid ten minutes already, and the light still had not changed. She felt her foot twitch and begin to tap the ground impatiently. Her hand clenched her umbrella as a strong wind passed by. The hot cup of coffee began to slowly burn her fingers, but she didn't mind in the slightest because it was the only source of warmth on this very unusually cold March morning.

Her phone rang.

The blonde cursed under her breath, gulping down her coffee so she could easily access her phone. The caller ID said Bookworm. A small smile formed on Lucy's face.

"Hey, Levy, what's up?" she greeted.

"Just wondering why my best friend isn't here yet."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Please, you were late by fifteen minutes last time."

"That was because I was sick! What's your excuse?"

"The light for me to cross hasn't turned green yet."

"Just walk across."

"I'm not going to jaywalk, Levy! It's starting to rain harder, and I'll bet you some asshole looking at their phone will run me over!"

"Fair point, but there happens to..."

Levy's voice trailed off into white noise as Lucy made eye contact with a dark, handsome stranger across the street. His deep blue eyes pierced through her. It was as if velocity and time slowed to the point where it was only the two of them, and Lucy was sure the only thing that kept her grounded was gravity. Her breath hitched when he gave her the smallest hint of a smile.

The moment was broken when a bus sped by, splashing puddle water on her shoes, and suddenly the mysterious man was gone.

Tears were dripping down her face, but Lucy never remembered crying.

"Gray!"

She tried to move, but her body was in so much pain.

"Such beautiful wings," a slithery voice chuckled behind her.

Lucy glared up at the King of Hell. His eyes gleamed wickedly, and she couldn't help but shiver in revulsion when his filthy hands passed over her defenseless wings. He gripped them painfully tight.

"Such a shame."

And he started ripping them out.

"No, stop!" Lucy screamed in agony, flesh and feathers tearing apart.

"Lucy!"

Gray wrestled with Mard Geer's hellish creatures that held him down with their large claws. He desperately flapped his obsidian wings, knocking them off him. His efforts were cut short when Tempesta, one of the demons, stabbed Gray's wings with his blades, pinning him to the ground.

"Now, now, Gray," Mard Geer chided. "You may be Silver's son, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you since you betrayed me." He sneered. "All because you fell in love."

"You bastard," Gray growled.

Lucy's tears were nonstop now, as were her screams when Mard Geer continued ripping out her wings. It felt never ending. The pain was far more excruciating than she had ever expected it to be, almost like the flames of Hell itself were burning her wings off.

The diabolical king tossed her bloody wings in front of her. It was horrifying to see her immortality and power stripped away. She could feel her body slowly go numb; she couldn't even feel the blood oozing out of her wounds and dripping down her back.

"Rip his off to," Mard Geer commanded. He paused, glancing down at her briefly.

From that one look, Lucy knew. The way his eyes glimmered with a sickly promise of pain and suffering. He knew she was dying, and whatever he had in mind would make it all that much sweeter.

"On second thought, I have a better idea," he smirked, watching Gray struggle.

Lucy yelped when Mard Geer forced her onto her back on the hard, marble floor. He loomed over her body a wicked smile on his lips. The hellish king ripped off her clothes.

"Stop, I beg you!" she sobbed.

"Don't touch her!" Gray snarled.

His rough hands were all over her body, touching places that only Gray was allowed to touch. The numbness of her body only did so much. She could still feel his sickly hands resting on her naked thighs, forcefully spreading them apart. She shrieked and retaliated, but she was so incredibly weak. She was defenseless, and the King of Hell would be the last person she saw.

"Make sure he watches," he ordered.

"I said don't touch her!" Gray roared. "Rip my wings out already!"

"Oh, Gray, if it were only that simple." Mard Geer's eyes gleamed. Lucy cried out as he plunged into her. "I want you to suffer for eternity."

"–ucy! Lucy! Wake up!"

The blonde groaned, fluttering her eyes open. "Huh, what? Did something happen?"

"You fell asleep during class. You never fall asleep during class."

Lucy sat up to see her friend's face contorted with utter concern. She couldn't blame her. Lucy really wasn't one to sleep in class, but she had been so tired the past few days because of these nightmares. Especially the most recent one she had. She inwardly shivered at the thought. She remembered waking up with an indescribable burning sensation on her back where her birthmark was.

She didn't want to burden Levy with anything, so she just forced a smile. "I think...I think I'm coming down with something."

Levy frowned. "You should head back to the dorm and sleep. I'll take notes for you."

Lucy only nodded, not bothering to tell her that sleeping wasn't really on her high list of priorities. "Fine," she drew out a sigh, faking annoyance. "But I'll stop by the library to finally pick up a couple of books for the paper."

"Fine," Lecy conceded. "But I'll be checking up on you at lunch, okay?"

"Thanks, Levy," Lucy smiled.

She could feel the bluenette's eyes on here as she dragged her feet out of class. Lucy felt guilty lying to Levy. She was her best friend, but there were some things that just had to be kept to herself because even Lucy didn't know what to really make of what was happening. Maybe she was going crazy. It all started in this damn town.

Magnolia was a beautiful place. But the more she stayed, the stranger everything felt.

It wasn't long until Lucy found herself in front of Kardia Cathedral staring at the angels carved into stone. She stared blankly at all the angels, feeling like she knew them somehow from some far away place.

Lucy shook her head. What was she doing here?

That was when she saw him again. Sitting on the steps leading to the grand doors of the cathedral. The dark stranger from the other day. He was smoking a cigarette and reading the weekly newspaper. It was sunny out today, so this time he wasn't wearing a black leather jacket. However, now, Lucy could clearly see the corded muscles of his arms from the tight shirt he was wearing.

She gulped. She wanted to run, she wanted to leave, at least that was what her mind told her to do. Instead, she was walking up the steps towards him, feeling some inexplicable feeling that it was natural to be near him. She stopped in front of him, and he looked up.

Lucy could barely contain her surprised gasp.

"Y-You," she began shakily. "W-What's going on?!"

He stood up to his full height, easily towering over her. She took in the features that haunted her dreams.

"Can I help you?" he greeted, the deep timbre of his voice making her heart flutter. He threw his cigarette to the ground and smothered it with his foot.

"Who...are you?"

A crooked smile tugged at his lips. "That's one way to greet someone."

"Sorry, it's just.." Lucy sighed, inwardly berating herself. "Nevermind, it's stupid. Sorry for bothering you."

She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.

"It's the dreams, isn't it?"

She doesn't say anything, but by the look in his eye her face told him everything.

"...Do I – Am I supposed to know you?" she finally whispered, terrified.

He titled his head to the side, mirth evident in his eyes. "You tell me."

Her mind flashed to all the vivd dreams she had. Lucy wasn't even sure if they were dreams but more like memories. The pain, the suffering, the longing. She could still feel it all like it was only yesterday. She convinced herself that he was only a stranger, but all the times that she had encountered him, everything felt too familiar.

"Gray?" she tried, hesitant. It was the name she learned many nights ago during that excruciatingly frightening and painful dream. Despite her unsureness, the name rolled off her tongue easily. Like she had said it so many times before. For some reason, she really believed that she had. And just because of that belief, it all came to her.

"Took a while to find you, you know."

"About time," she tearfully laughed, throwing her arms around him.

Gray easily caught her, and Lucy couldn't help but think they had a really good chance this time.

A/N: Hey guys, this had been in my head for a while. Hope you enjoyed it. I don't know, but I'm a huge sucker for reincarnation love stories. Dunno why, but it's got something to it that I love. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Btw, I've also noticed that most of my one-shots don't really have completely satisfying endings. Sorry about that but it probably means it has some potential to become a full-fledged story then. We'll see. I'm just throwing up words and scenes and whatnot down on paper then transcribing to word.

Stay tuned!