. Paranormal .

"Oof!"

There was a yelp as she hit the ground, a pout appearing on her lips as she stared at the startled cat she'd tripped over. His dark fur bristled as he studied her, and then he relaxed and purred, wiggling his tail strangely.

She glared. "Why'd you walk in my path?" she demanded. "I feel like I've betrayed you now."

He only purred and rubbed against her, tail twitching happily.

Sighing, Levy Redfox ran her fingers over Pantherlily's fur and then climbed to her feet, planting her hands on her hips as she heard a call of "Momma, come on!"

"Coming!" she called back, and scooped her cat up. She carried him through the house to the dining room, where a beaming child awaited at the table, her crimson eyes glittering proudly as she held up a drawing. "Ooh," Levy cooed, depositing the cat on the table that Happy already rested on, taking it from her and smiling at the drawing. "This looks great, Lex!"

Her daughter, Alexus, giggled, and then shoved her little brother's drawing at her, too. Saviir giggled, making spit bubbles. "Look, Momma, Saviir did one, too." She paused, squinting at it, and then wrinkled her nose. "It doesn't look as good as mine though…"

"I think they're both equally beautiful," Levy told her. "We'll hang them on the fridge so Dad can see when he gets home from the shop. How does that sound?"

Alexus threw her hands in the air. "Yay!" she cried.

Levy giggled and pressed a kiss to her head as she went to hang the pictures on the fridge as promised. Her gaze softened as she used the magnets to hang them there, and she paused with a sigh, running her fingers over a picture that hung there even years later.

It was all of the group of friends she'd come up with, the last picture they'd been able to take before Lucy had died in her sleep years before. They were all grinning at the camera, their eyes glowing with happiness, and Levy could practically hear Lucy demanding that they hang it up.

She sucked on her lower lip, remembering how she'd found Lucy curled up with a smile on her face, death erasing the pain and the suffering that she'd gone through. She remembered screaming for Gajeel, though there'd been nothing they could do. He'd called Erza in the middle of she and Jellal's honeymoon alongside Gray and Juvia for her as she cried, pleading for Lucy to open her eyes.

The funeral had been small, but grand, and Levy still made sure to visit the grave every weekend.

Shaking her head to clear it, Levy hurried back to Alexus and Saviir, determined to not think sad thoughts. Alexus was cheerful when she returned, smiling at something that Levy didn't understand as she demanded, "Color, Momma!"

"I'll watch you," Levy denied, kissing her cheek and dropping into the chair across from her, wiping drool from Saviir's chin. He giggled and clasped her finger, dark hazel eyes happy.

"Stop!"

Alexus' sudden demand made Levy glance up, and she frowned when she saw that Alexus was glaring at the empty space beside her, hands trapping her paper where it was. She scowled furiously and Levy asked, "Lex, what's wrong?"

Alexus turned to her mother and snapped, "He's being rude and messing with my picture, Momma!" She shot another glare over her shoulder, and then stuck her tongue out.

Levy blinked. "...who is, Alexus?"

"Him." She pointed at the spot beside her, and then relaxed suddenly. "Never mind. The nice lady's yelling at him, it's okay."

Levy blinked, and then her face went white. "Alexus, come here, please."

"Why?" She looked puzzled, but did as she was told and trotted to where her mother was sitting after climbing out of her chair. She climbed into Levy's lap and Levy wrapped her arms around her as she demanded with a shaking voice, "Are they scary looking, the people you're seeing?"

Alexus shook her head. "Nope! The nice lady's really nice. The rude guy's nice, too, I guess." She wrinkled her nose. "...he's stupid."

"Alexus," Levy scolded, her breath tight in her throat.

For years, Juvia had told her that there was nothing in her house, that no spirits lingered.

Yet…

"Lucy?" she said hopefully, feeling dreadful at the same time that she wanted to cry out in happiness when a single knock filled the air. Her heart ached; she was glad that her friend was there, but it killed her that she hadn't moved on. "Natsu?"

Heat came at that name, and Alexus scowled and snapped, "I asked you to stop!"

A sob left Levy and she tightened her grip on her child, burying her face in Alexus' hair. Alexus blinked in confusion and Saviir squealed a split second before Levy felt something touch her head, a gentle caress that she barely felt. But when she looked up, there was nothing there.

"Momma?" Alexus said uncertainly.

Levy shook her head wordlessly, a huge grin appearing on her face as she lifted her head entirely. "Oh, Lucy, Natsu," she whispered. "Go. We're fine here...it's time for you to move on. Thank you for all that you've done. We'll take things from here...okay?"

Levy thought she heard a voice murmur a word of thanks to her.

For the briefest of moments, she could see a familiar blonde smiling warmly over her shoulder at her, long hair cascading down her back, hand in hand with a smirking pink-haired man that suddenly mockingly saluted them. Brown eyes met hazel, and Levy understood immediately.

Goodbye.

And then they were gone, and the heat disappeared. It was as if the world itself had given the two who had suffered more than the average person an apology in the form of a farewell, and Levy couldn't have been happier.

Ugh, I'm a mess right now. Hurts me to write the final author's note no matter what I'm writing. Paranormal started out when I watched a video of a possible ghost fucking around with an office in my psychology class back in October. I couldn't stop laughing at the way that it would throw files around and immediately associated it with Natsu.

I NEVER expected Paranormal to get this big. I never thought it'd get to 600+ reviews. I never imagined that so many people would like it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I'm so glad that all of you did. Thank you all so, so much for the support and love! My lovely editor and I both appreciate it lots!

Some have asked if I'm planning another strange fanfic like this one, and there will actually be something slipping into Paranormal's time slot on Saturdays though it's nothing like this beautiful thing. Not As It Seems will be starting on June 25th, and includes an OC of mine. I'm very nervous about posting it, but excited at the same time.

So...this is it. Thank you all again for joining me in this strange and fun adventure, and don't be a stranger to my other works, including Between the Lines, Oculto, and soon to be Not As It Seems!

As Snow Fairy puts it... "Don't say goodbye!"

~river