It had been a month.

One long, horrible, heart-breaking month.

And in that month, it seemed as though the Fairy Tail Guild lost it's light. Which, if you asked some of the members, they had.

No colorful banners hung from the ceiling any more, they had been taken down and replaced with black cloth, a symbol for the mourning that was so often found below them. When the broken, tattered remains of Team Natsu had returned from their latest mission, many were more than surprised. After all, only three mages stepped through the large wooden doors of the guild, another thrown over Erza's armored shoulder and hanging limply even as cheers and cries welcoming them home echoed all around.

That was the first hint that something was wrong. For when people came to welcome their family home they were not greeted with smiling faces. Instead pale and hollow eyes stared back at them, filled with grief and pain and an emotion so heart-wrenching it seems cheap to put it to words.

The second hint was even more worrisome. When Team Natsu stumbled into the guild, they were one mage short. Golden hair and a dazzling smile was no where to be found among the group, and questions began to rise as to where their beloved celestial mage had gone off to. The second these questions hit Happy's ears the cat began to wail, large tears dropping from his eyes as he tightened his little paws around a shiny object he clutched to his chest.

Recognizing the golden keys, Levy was quick to react. Where was Lucy? She had asked in such quiet, trembling tone, almost too scared to know the answer. Ever since the guild reunited, the celestial mage could not be seen with out her keys, she even slept with them strapped to her thigh. Wendy lowered her head and Gray clenched his fists. Ezra was the only one to keep it together. She knew they had to get Natsu to the infirmary. His injuries had been healed, but the boy needed rest and a place to recover before he woke up to the horrible reality.

So as Erza pushed past many curious faces and headed upstairs to talk to the Master, she kept her head high. Even as it felt like her heart was breaking, she knew she had to be strong, she had to keep going. If not for the people who needed her now, than for the one they left behind.

Natsu woke up three days later.

By then, the entire city knew what had been lost in those dark caves almost a week before, and the sympathetic looks he got where ever he went were almost enough to drive him mad. Whispers of that horrible day followed him like a dark cloud, hovering over his head and pouring so much grief onto him he could barely stand.

Lucy was gone, but she had left behind a broken, lost guild in her wake.

In many ways, Natsu was angry. She had left him, just as Igneel had. She had abandoned him to live in this world without her. Alone. More than a few times, Natsu had almost bolted. Just like when Igneel died, he wanted to run. He wanted to flee from his problems and his fear, run so far that his grief couldn't follow. But, he knew he couldn't.

Lucy had been so angry with him after he left the first time, even if she never really showed it. He did not want to anger her again by leaving the people who still needed him here. Like Happy, who now kept Lucy's gate keys on his person at all times, even in his sleep. Like Wendy and Gray, who felt as if they had just lost a sister, an irreplaceable family member that had been ripped from under them so fast they couldn't even wrap their heads around it. And Erza, who felt as is she too had lost her best friend, the one person in this guild who never shied away from her violent tendencies or dangerous outbursts. Natsu knew he couldn't leave them, even though he desperately wanted to. He had to be strong, he had to keep going, for Lucy.

Still, that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less when he passed her dark window of Strawberry Street.

And he did pass it, everyday, because it was on the way to the graveyard, his Lucy's final resting place.

Natsu had tried not to look at it as he passed by today, hoping that perhaps if he didn't see it it wouldn't hurt so much. But it didn't help, and he ended up looking anyway. Picking up his stride, Natsu hurried to the graveyard, trying desperately to swallow the lump in his throat.

Happy wasn't with him today. The little feline was still horribly distraught over Lucy's death, and swore that he would take care of her keys for her. They quickly became his most prized possession, and when the Master had tried to take them from him, to give to another Celestial Mage, Happy had wailed and cried, clutching to the golden keys like a lifeline. Natsu still remembered the heartbreak in his best friend's voice, screaming that Lucy had entrusted the keys to him, and he refused to let them fall in the wrong hands. This had shocked many of the guild, not used to seeing Happy so mature and determined. After that, Master had let him keep the keys, much to everyone's relief. The thought of loosing the last thing they had of Lucy terrified them all.

The spirits had yet to show themselves, even Loke staying silent as the days turned into weeks. Even when the day of Lucy's funeral came around.

Natsu shuddered. Lucy's funeral had been, in a word… disastrous. He supposed it wasn't much of a surprise, with four of the most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail grief stricken and distraught. After all, they had failed her. They had let her die. He had let her die. It was his fault.

"Salamander!" A voice boomed over the rooftops of Mangolia, though the one in question was really only a few feet from him. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Go away Gajeel," The fire Dragon Slayer didn't even turning around, smelling the metallic scent that came with the iron wielder. His pink hair was damp with the rain that flooded from the clouds above them, sticking the salmon locks to his neck and forehead.

The scent grew stronger, until Gajeel was standing right behind him. "Why are you here, Natsu?"

Natsu huffed, turning his head away. "Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't." Gavel scoffed. "But everyone else is waiting for you, so why the hell are you here, and not there?"

"I'm not goin'."

This seemed to surprise the Dragon Slayer. "What?"

"I said I'm not goin'. Tell 'em to start without me."

Gajeel growled deep in his throat. "Your kidding, right? I came all the way up here to find you, when I should be with Levy, and you're tellin' me you aren't gonna go?"

Natsu didn't look at him. "Yep."

The iron Dragon Slayer responded by punching him straight in the jaw, sending Natsu flying over rooftops before crashing into a chimney.

As he got to his feet, eyes covered by wild pink hair, Gajeel was before him again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" The man snarled, glaring with red eyes down at the dragon slayer who still refused to look at him. "You're seriously gonna sit here moping like a little baby while the rest of us put her to rest? You're gonna be a selfish brat, eh?"

A low growl ripped from Natsu's throat and he launched, black eyes full of grief finally showing themselves. His fist met Gajeel's cheek with a crunch, sending the man crashing into the side of a building.

"Shut up!" The Dragon Slayer yelled, fists alight with flames. "Stop talkin' like you get it metal breath! You don't!"

Gajeel gave a feral grin, fists turning to iron. "So you're gonna pretend Lucy's funeral isn't happen' then, is that right?"

Natsu looked away. "I know it's happenin'… but what's even the point? She ain't there."

Gajeel's gaze softened a little, feeling sympathy for the broken Dragon Slayer. It was true, they never found Lucy's body, though God knows they had tried. But the cave in had almost completely destroyed any trace of the caverns that had laced until the mountain. Now, all that was left was ruin, Lucy's body buried under it all. They never had much hope for finding her. Still, even Gajeel felt remorse thinking of the spirited blonde left to rot under stone and soot.

"It's a way to say goodbye, Natsu." He finally said, rubbing his sore cheek. "She deserves that much."

"She deserves much more!" The fire mage hissed, his eyes like slits. "She doesn't belong there! In that place! She deserves to be here! Breathing! With me!" A combination of grief and anger black eyes flash, flames licking at his skin. "And it's all my fault! It's my fault she's dead metal-head! 'Cause I couldn't protect her, 'cause I got careless!"

Snarling, he kicked a nearby chimney, bringing the brick crashing down easily.

"Why? Why is everything I care about stolen from me!? First Igneel, now Lucy! What did I do to deserve this!? She didn't know! I'd been trying to find the right time to tell her but… she didn't know! She didn't know and now she's dead!"

"She's dead and it's all my fault!"

Natsu shook his head, trying no to think about it. He never did attend Lucy's funeral. He had spent the afternoon fighting Metal Breath, venting his pain through punches and pillars of flame. He learned later than Erza had nearly destroyed the headstone, angry and grief stricken. Wendy had to calm her down, even though the poor girl was just as distraught. Gray had remained silent, letting the tears stream down his face like the the rain that surrounded them. Juvia had been particularly clingy that day, hugging the ice-makers arm as the clouds cried her grief.

It took him a week to finally visit Lucy's grave.

Happy had been the one to plead, begging his best friend to go with him to visit their fallen partner. Finally, Natsu had agreed, but it took some threats from Erza and some tears from the little blue Exceed.

And when he finally did, it felt like her death all over again.

He had always associated Lucy with warmth and light, like the stars that she loved so much lighting her path and the lives of everyone she knew. So when he had to walk through the silent and empty graveyard, weaving in between fading tombstones and wilted flowers, Natsu felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Lucy didn't belong here. Not in this place of cold stone and dull colors. She belonged in the sunlight, a world of color, somewhere she could see the stars. The world of the living. Idly, he wondered if she could see the stars, wherever she was now. Could she see him? Could she see how lost he was without her?

Natsu was jerked out of his memories when he reached the graveyard, taking a deep breath and inhaling the stale air, Happy wasn't with him today, the little exceed had stayed behind to polish Lucy's keys, which had gotten dull in the month she'd been gone.

Falling leaves landed in his hair as he passed under a wilting tree. Winter was coming, he could smell it in the air. Soon all the trees would be bare and the snow would fall. This year he wouldn't be able to go to Lucy's apartment and keep said celestial mage warm, like he always did. He wouldn't be able to sneak into her bed and hug her close when she got cold.

He could only come visit her in this cold, silent graveyard, buried in snow.

"Hey Luce," Natsu sat down next to a new headstone, smiling at the flat gray slate as leaves crunched under his weight. "I know it's a little earlier than usual, but I wanted to come see you." He reached out to gently stroke the delicate lettering imprinted on the grave marker.

"I miss you, Luce." Natsu breathed out, removing his hand and letting it fall to his side gently. "I miss you so much. It hurts. It hurts to think you aren't here anymore, and it hurts even more to think that I'll never see you again. There's so much I don't know about you yet Luce, about what happened that year I was away. I never got to tell you… a lot of things. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry I took our time together for granted, I should have known better."

Natsu stayed there for a little over an hour, telling Lucy about everything that was happening at the Guild, how quiet it seemed without her. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Natsu said his good-byes, taking a few extra moments to look at all that was left of his partner before leaving the graveyard, head hung low.

Little did he know, that many, many miles away, in the tattered ruins of a fallen cavern, rocks tumbled forward, knocking together as they rolled, and from the ruble a pale hand fell to the earth, the arm and body still buried under heavy boulders. In the autumn sunlight, a pink tattoo was easily seen on the back of it. The tattoo of the Fairy Tail guild.

And somewhere, far far from the rocky tomb, a star went dark.

Alright, I decided to keep going with this. Sorry it's short, kinda a filler chapter. The real story begins from here. My thanks to the people who reviewed, you're all awesome!