Note: It's another one of my weird songfics where I imply lyrics! Again I've gone to Neon Trees because of their emotion and lyrics. This one is more implied than some of the others have been and honestly, I didn't expect it to turn out this way at all. I wrote it in little under an hour, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Obviously, spoilers for Chapter 416, set immediately after.

Let me know what you think, if you feel so inclined.

Love, zabeth

When her voice hurt too much from yelling his name and her eyes burned too much from crying, Lucy fell to her knees. Her faithful lion shimmered into existence, and in a rare moment of seriousness, simply scooped up his master and carried her home. He set her on her bed and bade her good night, but as soon as the last shimmer of star dust faded, Lucy fell apart again.

He and his adopted Exceed son found a glen in the forests surrounding Mount Hakobe to rest in for the night. The stars were twinkling into existence in the leaf-mottled sky above him and he could feel heat rush to his chest and head. A peculiar stinging in his eyes, the white noise of the darkened wood closed in until he could only hear his own heartbeat in his head.

She arrived at the rubble pile where Fairy Tail used to stand, his note clasped in her shaking fists. As the Master declared the disbanding of their guild, her damn broke and she collapsed next to Erza. The re-equip mage bent down, trying to assure Lucy that it would be alright, despite the tears racing down her face. When she noticed the paper crumpled in Lucy's crested hand, she watched as the Stellar mage began hyperventilating. And when Erza read the note, she knew why.

Every night, he'd stare up at the stars, trying to pick out constellations that she'd told him about. He recognized some of hers by now and felt a pleasant burn in his stomach when the heavens would sparkle down on him, as though she were right next to him. On this night, though, the summer storms roared overhead and he couldn't stay outside, much less look at the stars. This feeling burned white hot in his heart, as though he'd never see her again.

She was constantly on missions, usually with Erza. No one saw her smile anymore, or if they did, it was a ghost of her old smile. The sunny and kind disposition that was Lucy was eclipsed by a constant forecast of rain. When she entered a room, her friends could feel the barometer drop and she could feel the pressure. They never spoke to her about him, didn't want to wake the dead. In the end, she'd just turn around and head to the town hall to pick up another mission request.

The past few months had been increasingly hard on him. His training was going well on the whole, but he couldn't shake this unavoidable pull he felt. He had stopped watching the stars; the burning had gotten too intense even for his flame-resistant body. Happy watched him in silence. The Exceed could see how much stronger his partner had gotten, but also how much sadder.

For all the missions she did, she managed to find time to write. Or rather, she wrote instead of sleeping some nights. She wrote about how nothing made sense, how she though they would never leave her, how it could be okay in end, but it probably wouldn't be. She wore a glove over his right hand constantly, hiding the mark that now meant nothing to most people. Something was tearing inside of her. She loved him. She hated that he left, but loved him still.

He woke up from another dream of her and her pink comforter. The content, right feeling from his sleep evaporated immediately as he took in the rocky crags outlining the mouth of the cave they were commandeering. His emotions had been running rampant, the images of Lucy coming in the early evening and leaving during the night when he'd wake far too early. On those nights, he'd walk away from their camp and begin training just that much earlier.

She was going on too many solo missions, returning bruised and battered. Levy and Erza caught her coming home on crutches with an eye swollen shut. Her energy drained and she leaned back against the wall next to her door. Her two friends began their mothering, making tea and tucking her in bed after scolding her while cleaning her wounds. They said they'd bring Wendy by in the morning, but as they moved to leave their broken friend, Lucy grabbed one of Levy's fingers in a feather-light grip. And although she refused to look, the two girls gave her soft and loving smiles and they tucked themselves in on either side of the blonde.

He watched the will-o-wisps dance around his body, glowing and ethereal. He was completely calm, even as the fairy lights began to lick at his skin, flowing off his limbs. The unavoidable pulling sensation now tugged from two places. One was where he felt his magic, dark and powerful. The other left him breathless, pulling him with the white heat behind his heart in the opposite direction. He was all hard edges now, honed and dangerous. The oddly colored flames he bore with ease now seeped back into his skin.

She left her house, the jingle of keys the only sound rising above the small waves of the canal. She felt an itch on her hand, under her glove, but ignored it. As she walked towards the site where her guild used to stand, she saw a figure, cloaked. She figured it was just another visitor or former member paying their respects before going on a new mission. Lots of mages had taken to doing so in the last two years. As she took a small step to turn away from the stranger, she felt like a warm hand had enclosed around her heartstrings, giving a tug. She stopped, looked over her shoulder.

The rubble of the guild lay before him, not rebuilt, not touched from the last time he had stepped foot in Magnolia. His dirty traveling cloak swept the ground as he surveyed the area. He was so confused, so upset; how could they not have rebuilt the guild? Weren't they all still family? His emotions began to rise and he could feel the tugging in his stomach pulling at his magic and frustration. His ears twitched as the sound of a boot crunching on gravel met him. The unavoidable sensation grasped at his heart in such a way that he felt compelled to turn around.

It was him.

There she was.

Like two oppositely charged magnets, they started to make their way towards each other unthinkingly. That incessant feeling pulled them harder until suddenly they were running, arms reaching out, grasping for one another. When they snapped to each other, he couldn't help but pull her in a little closer under his chin and she couldn't help pull him in until their bodies were flush against each other.

He couldn't move, couldn't speak. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe. The white heart heat flared in both of their chests, expanding up into their throats and every limb until they were light-headed and giddy. It felt so right and there was nothing that could convince either to part again.