AN: Mardlu ship-purely fluff and almost invisible angst. Somewhat inspired by the Infernal devices and (sadly) Twilight. But only the concept though! The plots are not even close together.

Nothing against Twilight, just sick of the plot being used over and over again in different stories.

With no further ado, I shall release the story!

There was something about the fragility of the human life that had always intrigued Mard Greer.

Such passionate, bold creatures they were. And yet, it would only take a simple blow to extinguish that fragile light.

At least, he had always been intrigued by this before he met her.

Lucy Heartfilia.

The first time he saw her, his breath caught in his chest. A rare occurrence indeed, as breathing had become a timeless habit, even as an immortal demon.

He wasn't able to help it though. He had known she was powerful (she was the only one who withstood Alegria), but it was a different thing to actually see her. Even battered and bruised, the tears she had shed over the loss of her key still visible, her passion and fire was unforgettable.

She burned as brightly as the stars her magic worked with.

("And she definitely had a 'heavenly body'" Jackal had remarked later. Mard felt no qualms in punching him in the face and severing his tail for that. Jackal had sulked for weeks.)

The rest of the day had been a blur. Meeting Zeref, his burning, and the battle that followed.

He did remember what she had done though.

Using the last of the water magic she had been gifted, she had extinguished the flames that consumed him, leaving him to wait, scorched and embarrassed, for his next summoning.

The next time he saw her, it was when her guild was disbanded.

Her brightness was gone. Her face was washed in agony, a tortured sadness visible in her eyes.

He had been startled to realize he had felt a new emotion. One that seemed to eat at him. After some research, he had realized it was called "guilt".

Foreign emotion fresh in mind, he had strode to meet her. Shocked and horrified at first, she had eventually calmed once he delivered his apologies and gratitude. He offered to buy her lunch as a weak apology.

One thing had led to another, and before he knew it, they had scheduled lunch dates for every day of the month. Which led her to inform him that yes, in fact, they were dating.

(Dating was such an odd concept. Luckily, she had no objection to him referring to it as courting. Thank goodness, he didn't think he could take anymore of Jackal's hysterical laughter. It was, quite frankly, frightening.)

Meeting her had firmly altered his opinion. After all, she was anything but fragile. And after witnessing one of her famed Lucy Kicks (used on Natsu after his return), he was even a little bit frightened of her. But that was okay. It seemed everyone was.

He would never forget the look of joy on her face after her guild reformed. The look of pure happiness she shot him afterwards had caused his heart to stutter, and then fail entirely (not that it mattered, after all, he was still an immortal demon).

So as the years passed, his thoughts on her fragility had all but disappeared.

Until today.

It had been about twenty years since they had been together, and apparently, Lucy was what humans called "middle-aged". (He had once asked what he would be classified as. Lucy had laughed and said there were no words to describe him. He couldn't help but feel utterly pleased by this.)

As they strolled down the street, hand in hand, Mard paused to bestow a chaste kiss on her lips, just to see her lovely smile again as she returned his affection.

However, just as he pulled away, he heard a voice across the street.

"Eww, that's like, disgusting. What a cougar- look at how like, old she is, and how like, young he is. He should be dating girls like us, and not fooling around with like, hags like her."

"Yeah! I bet she's rich too-that's like, the only reason I can see for him to even stay with her."

The two girls giggled together before turning and exiting the street.

Mard scoffed as he heard this and turned back towards Lucy. However, he was startled to see a genuine look of hurt on her face, her lower lip trembling as if she were about to cry. She hastily turned away and covered her eyes.

"Lucy," he questioned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she murmured, even as she buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Clearly something is wrong. Don't tell me something those silly girls said offended you?"

She sighed into his shoulder. "It's not that, it's just… You're going to live forever, looking just as young and handsome as ever. So why would you want to stay with me-a soon to be decrepit old lady, only to live a short while before dying?"

"Lucy," he whispered. "Surely you don't really think that?"

She only curled deeper inside his shoulder, refusing to respond.

"Lucy," he murmured. "There's no one I'd rather be with in this world. Old and decrepit? You're as beautiful and passionate as ever. If anyone's old here, it's me."

Lucy scoffed as she heard this, but a tiny smile appeared on her face.

"Even so," he continued, "Yes, I am aware that you will eventually pass on this world. But you will eventually return, in a new body, a new life. And I will find you then-I swear upon it. There's no one I'd rather be with, and I intend to be with you in whatever way you appear."

Lucy giggled quietly. "You know, there's a chance my future family might not approve of you following me around as a young child. They might label you a pedophile. And that's only the mildest name- I could even be a male or an animal for all you know. I think that you actually just expressed a possible interest in bestiality right there."

A smile curled on Mard Greer's lips. "If it was for you, anything."

She stared at him. "Mard, you're kidding right? You wouldn't actually attempt to pursue me as an animal right? That's worse than Cobra! Mard, Mard please tell me you're joking! Mard-?"

Mard Greer smiled. Yes, there was no doubt that human life was fragile. But, if he said so himself, that was what made it all the more beautiful.

Omake:

"Hello girls," Mard hissed dangerously.

"It seems that a few of your heartless comments offended my beautiful wife earlier on today. I ought to be with you instead, is that right?"

Transforming into his Etherious form, Mard grinned at the girls.

"How do you like me now?"

The girls screamed and clung to each other as he approached. Mard smirked to himself as he raised his clawed hand. These girls should have known better than to dare to even attempt to make his Lucy cry. He couldn't wait to get his revenge.

AN: How was that guys? This is my first fairy tail fanfic, so tell me what you think-love it, hate it, etc.

Honestly, I felt so stupid during the dialogue. But it's done so…

Also, I've got an idea that will turn this into a two-shot. So if you like it, let me know, and I'll put it into action. The second part will be much shorter, since I originally meant to include it in this, but I kind of ran out of time and ended up finishing without it.

Btw, this ship was actually inspired by Ein Ni Touko and Dragon'sHost who made me love Colu, Mardlu, and so many more crackships.

This is following the Tartaros Arc, with just a few little tweaks to make it work.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Fareetauhl