Ether didn't know why all the bad and weird things in his life just had to be directed to him of all people, but this was probably the worst at the moment. Currently, his past self was still arguing with Laxus over some stupid matter. Ether barely bothered to pay attention to his mind, preoccupied with the thought of her. Her blonde hair that would flow in the wind and her chocolate brown eyes that he dearly loved all so much and her laugh. That laugh that Ether loved all so much, he knew he would never get to hear his Lucy's laugh again, but here in front of him in that red seat on the train, watching as Natsu and Laxus argued, was a Lucy that he wished was his, but he knew it wasn't.

Ether closed his eyes tight, trying to suppress the thoughts of the past that haunted him, and instead focused on his next plan of action. Well, he was until he heard END's voice in his head. 'You hate him, don't you?'

Ether paused his train of thought at that very moment, once he had come back to the past he had discovered that he and END could communicate and share senses with each other. Ether knew he had said he forgave END for what had happened, but the feeling of hate was still very well there no matter what he did to try and get rid of it, and each time it came back, that same thought would fly into his head like a gust of wind. Why? What was I thinking?

'You gonna answer my question, or are you just gonna ignore me?' END grumbled as the demon floated around in Ethers mindscape waiting for his answer, the black flames mixing with the red and orange with smoke all around him as he observed everything through Ethers eyes. Truly, END did enjoy a lot of what was happening; even if he was now Ethers ally, that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun while helping, right?

'Why in the world would I hate him?' Ether grumbled in his head. 'He's just a past version of me!' If Ether thought that would get END off his back, he was surely mistaken, as the demon narrowed his eyes at his counterpart, clearly seeing the lie and already having an answer for it.

'A past version of you that hasn't lost everything yet.

That word, that simple damn word,yet, sent a bitter taste through Ethers's mouth, making him want to throw up. There would be no yet if he had a say in it. Ether stole a glance at his past self as the train jerked just a bit, making Wendy shift in her seat, still eyeing where Laxus and Natsu are too busy arguing to pay attention to much else.

Ether had to admit it brought him back. He remembered all too well when he was younger (he swears he heard Gray snort at that) that whenever he would get into an argument with his friends, he would be fidgety in subtle ways, his fire dragon-slaying magic needing something to burn off the exhilarating feeling underneath his skin.

It had always felt like a burning fire, which he had always thought was ironic in the past, but he always found comfort in it. If it was one thing fairy tail knew how to do, it was live.

'They're not doing much of that anymore, are they?'

As soon as he heard the words from END enter his mind, he almost choked on his own spit as he glared at the demon in his mindscape as the two-horned bastard arched an eyebrow as if confused on why that was rude. 'What?' The demon asked his hands on his hips, looking at Ether as it was entirely his fault. 'It's completely true they aren't making that much sense in their stupid argument anymore.'

Ether paused before he could open his mouth to counterattack that sentence. He had gotten distracted and hadn't even realized that END was still going on about his counterpart not answering his question. No ether was much to bush trying to figure out why the stupid ice stripper was glaring at him like the future Natsu owed him a butt ton of money. Technically he did, but either would never admit it was definitely a story for another time.

"You got a staring problem, you frozen stripper?" Ether grumbled out his voice rough and tired, matching the small bags under his eyes, as he shot the ice mage a judging look.

Gray simply shrugged, still looking ether up and down as if he was some machine that he had to understand or some kind of strategy that had to be placed together. "You just seem nothing like our Natsu," Gray started, a bit of hesitation in his voice as he spoke, making Natsu and Laxus go silent to let Gray continue. "It's almost like you're oceans apart… like you're trying not to get close to us on purpose."

Levy exchanged a sharp look with Gajeel as the words fell out of Gray's mouth, the parlor car they were in falling silent as Juvia shifted uncomfortably, lightly holding onto Gray's hand to keep herself steady just in case something happened.

Ether, of course, noticed this. He noticed all of it from the way Lucy looked over at Erza and the way Cana set her drink down for the first time, and her hand was leaning subtly towards her cards as if getting ready for a fight. Ether may have been an idiot in the past, but he wasn't that stupid. They obviously didn't trust him. 'Good,' He thought to himself with a small, bitter, almost invisible smile poking at his lips. 'Better not to let them face the disappointment of being let down again.'

Before Ether could open his mouth and even think to try and make an excuse to ask Gray's question, Erza suddenly spoke up again. "How did you lose your scarf again?"

Ether rolled his eyes so hard he was shocked to see they didn't fall out of his face. What in the world did that have to do with anything?

"It got destroyed during a fight in my timeline." He said though he knew it wasn't the truth. Truthfully he just wanted an excuse to get the redheaded knight off his back.

"That's odd," Levy said, not even bothering to hide the suspicion in her voice. "Because earlier you said that it flew off during a fight."

'Shit'

Why of all times did Levy have to use her brain? But then again, she was one of the smartest mages in Fairy Tail for a reason. Ether knew they wouldn't settle for anything less than the truth. He could tell by the way they were all looking at him in silence and the way they were ready to start using magic if anything seemed like it was about to go wrong. Ether couldn't tell whether to be proud that his friends all had each other's backs or to be concerned that their first assumption and answer to everything was to fight and win first and then ask questions. 'Were we like that in my timeline as well?'

Mavis did he know the answer to that, but that didn't stop END and his snarky comments. 'Absolutely. It was always fire first, then win second, and then after 100 other steps that you would forget was then that Lucy would finally get you to stop and start using your brain, though.'

Ether swore that if he could, he would be flipping his annoying counterpart off, but now wasn't exactly the situation for that. So he did the only thing he could do at that moment, and surprisingly, it was to tell the truth.

Ether shot one last glance over at Lucy, a content smile on his face as he remembered his last moments with her, laying her down to rest, telling her to say hi to their friends for them. The fact he never actually got to confess his feelings weighed on his mind like a stone lost at sea. Ether could imagine her smile as she wore his scarf, her hand extending to him, waiting for him to reach for it so that they could run off and start their next adventure.

It's always more fun when we're together. She always said that, and she was right. It was the best when they were together when he still felt alive, but they weren't together now, and he would make sure they never got separated again as he locked eyes with his younger self, whether it was the jealousy finally springing up out of him, ready to be unleashed, or it was that he simply wanted to warn his past self he didn't know. He never would.

"I gave it to a friend," Ether started, shocking them all as he is still glaring at his younger self, a mocking grin coming to his face as he glances at the past Lucy. "After all." He continued letting the dramatic effect settle down, 'cause why the hell not? As he shot Natsu one last mocking look, opening his mouth before END could stop him and get him to actually think about his next words. "Lucy always did look good in my scarf."