Hi guys! I'm finally baaaack! *throws confetti* Okay, so surprise announcement! I've decided to make this into a three-part - and possibly four-part - story because my creative juices have been flowing and my brain has been way too caught up with Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

(Stucky is officially my new OTP. NaLu will eventually top it, but they're staying in second place until Hiro Mashima gets his head out of his arse and finally gives us some good quality NaLu without both of them dying and sans all that angsty ZerVis shit. Having one of my favourite pairings end like that is too much. I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANOTHER OTP OF MINE SINKING LIKE THAT, YOU HEAR ME, MASHIMA I WILL END YOU)

Anyway, without further ado, here is Part 2 of Let's Hurt Tonight. A HUGE shoutout to everyone who reviewed, faved and followed, you guys really made my day. *hugs and kisses* I honestly cannot believe there are 90 faves, 100+ followers and 60+ reviews! Thank you guys so much! I hope this story doesn't disappoint. :)

Disclaimer : The title of the story is taken from One Republic's song 'Let's Hurt Tonight' which is absolutely amazing. And Fairy Tail is Hiro Mashima's. :)

(4 years and 3 months ago)

Gildarts is a monster, Loke notes.

The older mage trains his master relentlessly every day, pushing her to her limits. And nearly every night, the blonde would sport new bruises and cuts on her body as she falls asleep on the cold, hard ground of the forest they were training in.

But Loke can tell that Lucy welcomes the distraction. It helps her push away every lingering thought about a certain dragon slayer. And so far, about eleven months into her training, she hasn't missed home. True, it is odd how she doesn't seem to feel remorse about leaving everyone behind, but then again, they left her first, when they all went their separate ways after Tartaros' defeat. Loke's fists clench as he remembers the period of time where Lucy had become nothing but a ghost of a person - drowning in grief and guilt over Aquarius' sacrifice all alone, without no one to help her. No one except her spirits.

Oh how Loke had wanted to murder that stupid, oblivious, good-for-nothing dragon slayer.

But as his eyes focus on his beautiful master who was meditating with her mentor, he can't help but be thankful. Lucy has grown so much stronger, and it has only been such a short time. Loke fights a smile as he remembers how Lucy has started to smile and laugh more often now.

The Alvarian War had broken her and all of Lucy's spirits were worried that their precious owner would never return to the light. But Loke knew better. His Lucy was a fighter. She may break and crumble, but she would never give up.

And he was right.

Look at her. The blonde was sitting in the middle of the forest, wearing only a sports bra and a pair of sweatpants, but oh, how she glowed. Her golden locks were tied up in a messy bun and her face was the definition of beauty and serenity. Loke's eyes soften as he takes in the sight of the bruises that decorate his master's porcelain skin. Gildarts was never one to take it easy on others, after all, despite being an experienced, S-Class mage.

(Loke remembers a Lucy who would have once whined and complained about getting the tiniest scar or bruise; a Lucy who would have tried to cover up those scars as much as possible so she wouldn't have to be reminded of her flaws. He looks at the Lucy in front of him now - the Lucy who didn't even flinch when Gildarts threw a dagger at her and left a huge gash on her leg the night before - and thinks that she has grown so much and he is so, so proud.)

The ginger-haired spirit grins as he feels his master's magic pulse in the air. A golden halo surrounds her body as tendrils of her magic extend outwards gracefully. She's the first Celestial Mage to be successfully convert Holder-Type magic to Castor-Type and Loke can't help but feel awed by her once again. It takes a great amount of magical power to be able to focus Holder-Type magic and compress it out of a mage's body to form Castor-Type. But Lucy has proved to be worthy of the challenge, in fact, she had been training it in secret even before the War started.

Although, Loke must admit, her training always ended up with her passed out in exhaustion with little to no improvement. He shakes his head, banishing those thoughts from his head. Her failures in the past matter no more, he reminds himself.

(But, even now, he's still haunted by the memories of her cries as she sought comfort in the emptiness of the bathroom in her old apartment after every failed attempt at mastering the Star Dresses; even now, he can still remember the nights where he is greeted with the sight of Aquarius hunched over the Celestial Mirror, watching her old friend breaking and breaking through the barriers of the Celestial Plane with the most defeated look Loke has ever seen.)

Lucy Heartfilia has become an even more powerful Celestial Mage than her predecessors - having mastered the Ultimate Magic of the Stars; being able to call out four Zodiacs and two Platinums at once (even though it was only for a period of fifteen minutes); modifying the Star Dress Technique to near perfection and utilizing Celestial Magic as a Castor Magic.

It was unbelievable how much she has progressed.

Loke can tell that the older S-Class mage was impressed too. He could see it in the way Gildarts tries to hide his proud grins every time Lucy manages to land even the tiniest hit on him. And once again, Loke is grateful to the Crash Mage. One of the reasons why Lucy had slowly begun to open up was because of Gildarts. He didn't just become her mentor. He became her confidant, her rock and most importantly, he became a father to the blonde.

Jude Heartfilia was a good man, despite his misgivings. But he was never truly a father to Lucy. Loke recalls the night he found Lucy drunk in her apartment, with empty bottles of sake littered across the table in her living room.

'Do you llllove me, Loke?' she slurred, her eyes half-shut as the spirit carried her to her room. Loke grinned - oh he was so going to tease her about it the next morning, 'Of course, Princess. You're strong, smart and the bravest person I've ever met. Who wouldn't love you?'

'Then why didn't Daddy love me?'

Loke stopped so abruptly that Lucy squirmed in his arms. He placed her down gently on her bed and looked at her. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Lucy chuckled and patted his cheek affectionately. 'It's okay, sillllyy. No need to worry 'bout me. I'm a biiiiig girl and Daddy says big girls don't cry-'

'You...You really are something, aren't you, Lucy? Crying and drinking all alone on your father's death anniversary and you're trying to comfort me?' Loke growled, angry at the thought of being so useless when the woman he bound his life to needed him the most. 'And just so you know,' he continued, placing his hand on her cheek. 'Just because you're a big girl doesn't mean you can't cry, understand?'

Lucy hiccuped and shook her head, gently removing Loke's hand from her cheek. 'Daddy says tears are weakness and I don't wanna be weak. I'm s'posed to be strong, right? Right, Loke? 'Cause t-that's why N-N-Natsu and Happy left me, right? That's why A-A...Aquarius is gone, right?'

The last part was so quiet that he almost missed it. He wished he had. Because he never knew that words could cause so much pain to one person. The ginger-haired spirit reached out for the blonde, only to have her pull the covers over her head before mumbling a soft 'Gate of the Lion, Forced Closure'. The next thing he knew, he was back in the Celestial World with Aquarius staring at him with blood-shot eyes.

'You useless idiot.' She hissed, advancing dangerously towards him, with her urn raised above her head. 'You utterly worthless excuse for a Zodiac! You swore to take care of her!'

He could feel the mermaid-spirit's rage and he bowed his head, awaiting his punishment. He deserved this. He had failed them both. The enraged spirit came at him faster and roared at him, 'YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD PROTECT HER!'

She stopped a few inches away from him and lowered her urn, tears welling in her eyes as she whispered, 'Y-you promised me that the stupid, little c-crybaby would move on.'

'She will, Aquarius.' He said, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence. 'She will.'

Aquarius looked at him and her lips trembled as she forced herself to echo, 'She will.'

'-oke! LOKE!'

Loke blinks his eyes and sees Lucy staring at him worriedly. He clears his throat and grins, 'So, you're ready?'

Lucy returns his grin readily and bobs her head, 'Yeah! The old man said so. He told you and Capri to take it easy on me, though.' An indignant yell from Gildarts elicits a small giggle from the blonde and she casually jokes back, 'You're already - what - fifty? You're practically ancient!'

Loke sighs and drags the blonde into the clearing before the two mages could argue any further. The last time they argued about Gildarts' age, it ended with a few (dozen) damaged trees and a couple of injuries as well as a summon from the nearby village to keep the fighting down to a non-destructive minimum.

The spirit looks at his master, happily humming a song under her breath and thinks that he was right. She did move on.

She has moved on.

(But over whom, Loke is not so sure.)

(24 hours ago)

'Daddy, wake up! Wake up!'

Natsu groans and winces as he feels something jumping on his chest repeatedly. Platinum blond - nearly silver - hair enters his vision and he forces his fogginess away.

Rubbing his arm over his face, the dragon-slayer grunts, 'What do you think you're doing, Keid? It's - ' One look at the time lacrima caused the man to groan loudly. ' - six a.m. on a Saturday. Let Daddy have his sleep.'

But the young boy refuses to give up. He continues to tug at his father, 'No! Today, we need to visit Aunt Lis! You said today was special! We had to make a cake, and go to the flower shop and get her those car-carna-carnivores she loved so much!'

The pink-haired man lets out a deep chuckle. 'Carnations, buddy. Not carnivores.'

Keid huffs and sits on Natsu's chest, a scowl plastered on his face, 'Don't care! But we have to get them for Aunt Lis today! And Uncle Erik said there's gonna be a discount for car-carnitens at the store! So we have.' Jump. 'To.' Jump. 'Go.' Jump. 'NOW!'

Natsu sits up and sighs. 'Okay bud, I'm up. Now stop jumping on me before I get suffocated under all that fat of yours.'

Keid jumps off his chest and lands on the ground with a small stumble with a triumphant cheer, before slowly registering his father's words. 'Whaddya mean I'm fat? You're the one who force feeds me all those stinky fish Happy likes!' the six-year-old accuses, his cheeks puffing out in anger.

Natsu laughs and ruffles Keid's head as he passes by him to go to the bathroom. 'Sure, kid. Whatever floats your boat.'

Natsu is still chuckling under his breath when he enters the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he splashes some water on his face and reaches for his shaving cream. A bit of stubble had started to grow on his face and he knew Lisanna wouldn't like it. Speaking of Lisanna, Natsu chuckles again as he thinks of how similar Keid is to Lis. It was almost uncanny how he gets so easily riled up the moment his weight was taken into accou -

'Natsu, tell your cat to shut it before I sic Aquarius on him!'

'Awwww, but Natsu, she really is fat! Look at all that squishy fat on L-'

Natsu winces as he touches the fresh wound on his face left by the razor. Blood drips onto the sink, forming a beautiful ruby red swirl to the middle. The colour reminds him of someone. Someone wearing ruby red lipstick and a fancy dress to match. It was probably Lisanna, he insists as he wipes off the blood on his face. But a small part of him wonders as he looks at the red blood smeared on his palm. Since when did Lisanna's light pink lipstick start turning red?

And when has Happy ever told Lisanna that she was fat?

(3 years and 8 months ago)

'So, why did you join Fairy Tail?' she huffs as they're taking their usual, morning jog. They were about 5 miles in and they had another 15 miles to go before Gildarts starts training her on magical stamina. The old fart claims that physical stamina is just as important as magical endurance, but waking up at 4 in the morning and running until her legs were burning almost didn't seem worth the defined thighs she was getting. Almost.

They've been running for some time and as usual, Lucy despises the silence. At first, when Gildarts started training her, she didn't quite mind the stillness of the forest, preferring to immerse herself in the peacefulness of everything rather than conversing. The first few months after...everything, Lucy didn't enjoy speaking anymore. It hurt her to try and convey what she was thinking when all she could think of was how much it hurts hurts hurts to not have her arm...to not have Natsu. But she couldn't possibly tell anyone in the guild about it - not Mira, not Levy, not Erza, not even Natsu. What could they do? Smile awkwardly and try to change the subject like they did after the war ended?

It used to hurt to speak.

It used to.

She thinks that it doesn't hurt as much now.

But looking at Gildarts after she asked the question that's been on her mind since they begun training, she can't help but notice how his face contorts with an emotion so foreign and yet so familiar.

The blond mage watches as Gildarts opens his mouth, words forming on his chapped lips, before he snaps his jaw shut. She turns her gaze to the ground and continues running. They don't speak for the next few minutes. The thud-thud-thud of their shoes hitting the ground fills up the holes in their conversation and Lucy tries not to cringe when she hears the sound of a branch cracking underneath her shoe. The distinctive 'crunch' of the branches breaking under her feet doesn't seem to stop and suddenly she's not in the forest, she's on the battle field and nonononononoherarmisgonegonegoneandNatsu'sgoneandtheblood-

'LUCY!'

She snaps back to reality. She blinks and realizes that she's sitting on something - no, someone. Her hands are wrapping around something. It feels...wrong. She looks down and flings herself away from Gildarts, burying her face in her arms when she realizes that she's done it again. She hurt him. She tried to strangle him. The man who helped her. The man who understood her like no one else did. She hurt him.

She hears him plop onto the ground next to her and she flinches, instinctively moving away because she's a monster. Not Natsu. Not E.N.D. Not even Zeref. She's the real monster. Her. Lucy Heartfilia. And she hates how everyone seems to forget that she's not their perfect, untainted fairy anymore.

She doesn't cry because her tears have all dried up - bottled up and hidden away carefully so that she wouldn't show any weakness anymore - but that doesn't stop her from dry sobbing. She feels bile rising from the pits of her stomach and she pushes it back down. She can't be weak. She needs to be strong; she needs to show Gildarts that she can be strong.

She doesn't realize that he's started talking.

'-orphan. My pop was an asshole and my ma didn't love me. I was an accident, they said. I wasn't worth spending cigarette money to feed, they said.' Lucy doesn't lift her face from her hands but she doesn't shift away when the S-Class mage moved closer to her.

She doesn't see the way his jaw is clenched or how his eyes burn with something deeper and more profound than sadness.

Gildarts continues, his voice tight with emotion, 'Anyway, they sent me to some shitty orphanage. I was five at the time but I wasn't surprised 'cause I kinda saw it coming.' He lets out a dry laugh that causes Lucy to raise her head and look at him. He's looking at the ground now and his next sentence comes out weaker, more vulnerable than before. 'What five-year-old expects to be thrown away?'

Gildarts breathes shakily and turns to look at her with a forced smile on his face. Lucy does not miss how his hands curl into fists nor does she miss the way his eyes are shining with unshed tears. It hits her suddenly that he is baring his darkest memories to her, just to comfort her even though he was the victim, and yet she is doing nothing. Like always.

Well, that's going to change.

'My father used to tell me to shut up when he was listening to the news.' Gildarts looks at her in surprise. Her voice is soft and hesitant whenever she talks about her time in the Konzern. She hates how she sounds - it is as though she's still an heiress, all prim and proper and soft voices and coy smiles.

She pauses a while before continuing, 'There was one time when it was Mama's death anniversary and I didn't want to be alone. So I went to his office. I knocked on his door and when he didn't answer, I pushed the door open. He was listening to the news. They were talking about some dead guy who used to borrow money from my father. His back was facing me so I went to tug on his sleeve.'

Gildarts frowns when he notices the small smile on Lucy face. He reaches out to clasp her left hand in his. She smiles gratefully at him and squeezes his hand in return. 'Anyway, he got angry and he screamed at me to go back to my room. I told him that it was Mama's anniversary and we should go visit her grave and give her carnations because they were her favorite. He yelled at me to shut up because he couldn't listen to the news if I was being such a noisy brat.'

Lucy's breath hitches and she chuckles humorlessly. Gildarts squeezes her hand gently and she tries to just breathe. 'At the time, I thought that if Daddy paid more attention to a dead man than he did to me...then maybe if I died, he would listen to me too.'

'Well, guess that makes two of us, huh?' Gildarts says, his face turned upward and his eyes closed. Lucy smiles, a genuine one this time. 'Yeah, two cripples from dysfunctional families and more PTSD-issues than an entire army,' she jokes.

Gildarts barks out a laugh and soon it becomes a full-blown guffaw. Lucy joins him and they don't stop laughing until an entire five minutes later.

After they finish their laughing fit, Gildarts stands up and offers Lucy his hand. She grins at him before jumping up and darting forward, the wind whipping at her hair as she sprints back to their base. 'Last one back cooks dinner!' she calls out, hearing a betrayed yell from the ginger-haired mage before she hears him chasing after her.

Lucy laughs.

(Lucy learns that maybe she's not the only one finding it hard to speak. Maybe even the strongest people lose their voices sometimes. Maybe she's not the only one who's weak. Maybe she's strong. Maybe she's good enough. Maybe she's not broken, after all.

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Or maybe all of them are already broken. Maybe they're just trying to fix each other again. And when they do...maybe they'll learn to love again.)

(22 hours ago)

Natsu watches with a fond smile as Keid rushes forward to hug Lisanna. The little boy hands her the small bouquet of pink and yellow carnations that they had bought in the flower shop near the guild, a small blush forming on his round cheeks. Lisanna's eyes widen in surprise and she turns her head away. Keid looks baffled for a second before Elfman comes over and gently removes the bouquet from the boy's hands. The older Strauss sibling says something to Keid before he nods vigorously and dashes over to tug at Lisanna's hand. Natsu's eyebrows knit together in confusion before he smiles at the sight of his son babbling happily to the silver-haired mage about their day as they head over to the quieter side of the guild.

He diverts his gaze to the guild, taking in the familiar sight of polished wood tables, and breathing in the smell of fresh food being prepared in the kitchen. The dragon slayer turns to give Lisanna a small wave before heading towards the bar for some breakfast. The moment his back was turned, his shoulders slumped visibly.

He trudges to the bar and plops himself on the bar stool, sighing heavily. Mira appears almost instantly, a bright grin fixated on her face.

'The usual, Natsu?' she asks, even though there truly is no need for her to do so. He's been going to the guild for breakfast almost everyday after... After what? It must have been something important if it had changed his daily routine of eating breakfast with someone before going to the guild. Natsu frowns a bit, before quickly replying Mira with a nod and a forced grin. He hopes the barmaid doesn't catch on his confusion, but judging by the way she smiles and swiftly moves into the kitchen to prepare his food, nothing is amiss to her. Yet.

He leans on one elbow and closes his eyes. It's happening again.

The Remembering.

Or the Forgetting, depending on how you view it.

Natsu hates it. Because it means that his brain's gonna start hurting and he's gonna start waking up and feeling his heart clench clench clench every time he reaches for the other side of the bed and it's empty. Because it's not meant to be empty. And it hurts that he can't remember why it's not. It hurts even more when he looks at Keid and Lisanna and feels as if it's wrong.

Gold, his mind whispers, not silver.

'Which one do you think she'll like, buddy?'

'The gold one, Natsu, what else? Her hair's gold...well, sort of. But I swear it looks more like wilted-sunflower-yellow!'

'...I don't think 'wilted-sunflower-yellow' is a colour, Happy,'

'Hmph! Not everyone cares what you think, Natsu. All you ever think about nowadays is L- '

Natsu forces himself to look away from his two favourite people in the world. His heart does that awful clenching thing again and his stomach starts to do flips. Natsu hates it.

He hates it a lot.

He had tried to tell people about the Remembering. But nobody understands.

Nothing is wrong, they tell him whenever he voices out his concerns.

But whenever Levy tells him that, he can detect the faint smell of salt in the air the moment he leaves; whenever Erza tells him that, he can see the forced smile she wears and he knows that she's lying because Erza doesn't smile like that. She doesn't.

And Gray...whenever he tells Gray about his Remembering, the ice mage will stiffen, tell Natsu that he's an 'fuck-up who doesn't deserve remembering anything' before storming off. His wife, Juvia, would stare at Natsu with thinly-veiled displeasure before shooting him a cold, apologetic smile (How it could be both cold and apologetic at the same time amazes Natsu. Truly, it does.), before leaving to find Gray.

He smacks his head on the wooden table and groans. He's thinking too much again. His stomach grumbles and he thinks that it is way too early to start Remembering. He stays in that position for a while before hearing Mira return with his food. He perks up almost instantly and dives into his food, sending Mira a half-hearted thumbs up as he shovels his food into his mouth.

'Natsu.'

He turns around and greets Lisanna with a smile. 'Hey, Lis, what did you do with my kid? Finally sick of my beautiful son and decided to bury him while my back is turned? Oh, how you wound me!' He clutches his chest with one arm dramatically, his face contorted with mock betrayal.

Lisanna rolls her pretty, sea-blue eyes, a fond smile on her face as she replies, 'I hope you're properly wounded, because Keid really didn't like how you told him he was fat again.' She shoots him a glare and crosses her arms.

Natsu groans, 'Aw, c'mon, Lis! I was joking! He always gets all riled up like you do whenever Happy calls you fat.' Lisanna looks surprised for a moment, but the dragon slayer doesn't notice. 'And stop giving me that...that judgey teacher look! You always do that whenever I break into your place and it's really getting old.' He remarks. Ugh, how he hates that look.

Every time she wakes up on those days that he sleeps over (which is more often than not) and realizes their somewhat intimate position...BAM! He's out of the bed and halfway across the room while she starts screeching about personal space. And then once she calms down, the infamous 'judgey teacher' look is plastered all over her face and he's always, always struck by how beautiful she is and how much he lov -

'Natsu, are you listening to me?'

And suddenly, he's transported back to the guild and Lisanna has her hand on his cheek. A part of him thinks that her hand is too soft and too cold, and Natsu abruptly flinches away from her touch.

He sees the look on her face, the clear pain in her blue eyes and he knows that he screwed up. 'Lisanna, I'm so sor -'

'Don't,' she cuts him off harshly. 'Natsu, just don't.'

He lowers his head.

She sighs.

'Look, Natsu, I know you hate Remembering, but I need you to remember this,' Lisanna says softly, her hand cups his jaw gently before tilting it upwards, so that he can meet her eyes. She feels his jaw tighten and sees the way his eyes cloud over momentarily with fear and pain. She sighs and is about to move away when he nods.

'Let's just get it over with. Like tearing off a Band-Aid, right?' he says.

'Like tearing off a Band-Aid,' she reaffirms. They look at one another for what felt like an eternity before she finally remembers to breathe.

'Natsu,' she begins. 'I'm allergic to carnations.'

Natsu blinks and he gapes at her.

'What does this have to do with my Remembering?'

Lisanna groans, 'Natsu! You told Keid that my favourite flowers are carnations and that today was our 'special day' or something!'

Natsu looks more lost than his first (and last) time in the guild library.

'Uh, so?'

The silver-haired mage sighs. 'Natsu, I am allergic to carnations and our anniversary is still five weeks away, doesn't that mean something to you?' He shrugs. 'And what's with the 'he's just like you when Happy calls you fat'? Remember how Happy was the one who kept reminding me to eat because I was way underweight while we were still kids? Why would he - of all people - call me fat?'

She sees a flicker of recognition flash across his face, but she doesn't stop.

'And you've never broken into my house before and - '

'I've never raided your fridge, have I? And we never did sleep together at your place, have we? And all those times when you screeched at me about personal space and everything...' he pauses, and the look on his face breaks her heart. '...that wasn't you, was it?'

She wants to lie so badly. She wants to tell him that 'yes, it was her'; she wants to pull him close and tell him that 'yes, she was the one who loved carnations and hated being called fat and had the chance of being in his arms while they slept'; she wants so badly for him to stop Remembering.

Instead, she smiles at him and shakes her head 'no'. He doesn't smile back. She tries not to let her smile falter. But she's not sure she succeeds.

She watches as Keid suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts dragging Natsu to play with him and Elfman's triplets.

She watches him go and wishes she could let him go just as easily.

(After all, he never did smile at Lisanna the way he smiled at Lucy, not even after the Forgetting began.

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Because even though his mind forgets, his heart remembers. And his heart remembers loving a blonde mage who left him with a bleeding heart and a shattered mind.)

(3 years ago)

'DAMN IT!'

'Lucy, it's fine to lose control -'

'No, it isn't! It's been the thirtieth time I 'lost control' and I'm sick of this fucking bullshit!'

'Princess...'

'I couldn't even land a proper hit on him with Celestial Magic! It has been almost two years, Virgo! Two fucking years wasted!'

'Please, Princess, it takes time to master this. Brother and I urge you to be more patient.'

'Of course you and Loke wouldn't understand, you're immortal! You have all the time in the world! No one's waiting for you to go home!'

'...'

'Oh, Virgo. I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to- but I can't...I can't do this anymore, knowing that my family is still out there waiting for me to go back and I'm here, two years gone with zero progress. I'm sorry I lashed out on you, I know you and Loke only want the best for me but I'm so, so sick of being patient. I still...I still need them. And it kills me to know that I've left them for so long for absolutely nothing.'

'Princess, I see that I have made you upset.'

'No, Virgo. It wasn't your fault. It's me. I'm sorry.'

'Punishment time, Princess? It would be mutually beneficial as it is stated in 'Punishment for Pleasure' Chapter Fifty-Two, Page Two-Hundred and Sixteen that punishment helps relieve emotional stress for both parties involved-'

'No, Virgo. No punishment...but thank you. For everything.'

'My pleasure, Princess. Are you sure you would not prefer Punishment #32? It is extremely pleasing-'

'No, Virgo. Thank you, but no. And please, do me a favour.'

'Yes, Princess?'

'Burn that book.'

(19 hours ago)

'Mira, who's Aquarius?'

The said mage freezes and her hand trembles so much that Natsu has to take the glass she was polishing away from her. Normally, he wouldn't sit at the bar, since Keid would always turn into blushing mess whenever Asuka - now a breath-taking, sassy teenager - came to help Mira with bar-tending. But today was a special case. He'd even sent Keid to play with Gajeel's kid (who is the worst influence on his son, I mean, who would willingly go near a non-picture book and read it in their spare time? It made Natsu shudder just to think about it.) after they finished playing with Elfman and Evergreen's kids.

He waits for Mira to answer. She turns to face Natsu fully and tries for a laugh.

'You don't know, Natsu? Why, I'm an Aquarius and so is Levy and -'

Natsu groans. 'No, Mira. Not the horoscope.'

Mira's smile falters a bit before she replies curtly, 'Well, then you must be referring to the constellation then. I don't see any other -'

'Celestial Spirit.'

Both mages swivel around to look at the person who spoke. Natsu brightens and greets Cobra with a friendly wave while Mira's gaze turns threateningly cold.

'Hello, Cobra. The usual, I assume?' she grits out, a tight smile still carefully plastered on her face. The maroon-haired slayer nods and makes a 'shooing' motion with his hand to the barmaid.

Natsu downs his fire whiskey and asks again, 'So, what were you saying about Aquarius?'

Cobra shoots him a sideways glance and shuts his violet eye with a sigh. 'She's the Water Bearer of the Celestial Planes - some just call her The Mermaid - and she was a Golden Celestial Gate Key.'

Natsu hums in response and hesitates. He opens his mouth, a question forming on the tip of his tongue before he snaps his jaw shut. She was a Gate Key?

But Cobra had already heard the question the fire dragon-slayer left unspoken. His eye burns with a hidden pain that Natsu has never seen on the usually sarcastic and aloof man.

'She was. No longer now.'

'Why?' If it were any other ordinary conversation, Natsu would have been disinterested, since it had nothing to do with dragons nor slaying nor any of the sort. But this...this was something he felt that he should know...something that he should have known a long time ago. It was connected to something, someone...Natsu wasn't sure what, but this Aquarius was definitely connected with someone from his past.

Cobra stands up abruptly and says, 'You should know. You were the reason she sacrificed her, after all.' He spares Natsu one last look before continuing, 'Don't try too hard to remember. It wouldn't do you any good anyway. Oh, and tell the Demon to bring my food over to me at my usual spot.'

'Cobra, wait! Who's 'she'?' he calls out and maybe Cobra can hear the desperation in his voice because he stops and whispers a name before walking away.

Lucy.

Natsu savours the way the name rolls off his tongue, hoping that the name would trigger his Remembering and maybe put a face to all the memories that start resurfacing.

He waits.

And says her name under his breath.

Lucy.

Again.

Lucy.

And again.

Lucy.

And again.

Lucy.

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('Welcome to Fairy Tail!'

'Woah, this place is huge!'

'What are you waiting for, weirdo? Don't just stand there!'

'Wait, can I really go in?'

'Duh, you really are a weirdo, L-')

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He shakes his head.

It's the wrong name.

Warning : Please prepare tissues and chocolate before reading this fic. May contain tiny hints of angstiness and slight traces of hurt/comfort crap.

Oops, placed that at the wrong end. Oh, well. So, how did you guys like it? Please leave a review to let me know! I apologize if there are mistakes in terms of grammar and facts. The fact that Mira and Levy are Aquarius' is completely made up and I'm sincerely sorry if I've offended anyone with my inaccurate descriptions of PTSD (Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder) and amnesia. Once again, thanks for the support! :)

(For those who are curious about Keid, don't worry, his story is coming very soon. ;) )