Sorry this is a month and a day late! I was distracted by job hunting and a little stunted, but I think this is my favorite chapter so far. As I thought, angst is more my style.

This is drawing from Chapter 490 of the manga. If you haven't read that far, I totally recommend doing so. There will be spoilers regarding the war with Alvarez.

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

:thisisalinebreak:

June 23rd, 2016 (July 24th, 2016)

Day 5: Answers

Stumbling around blindly in the newly renovated Fiore with fat tears streaking down her cheeks and neck to reach the jagged edges of her torn blouse, Lucy tore at the thick foliage and tried to navigate the rocky landscape.

She would've said that she'd become accustomed to her country's vast range of terrain, but the new Fiore (there really was no other way to describe it) that had emerged after the bright light had enveloped everything was nothing like the Fiore she had known.

Happy was unconscious and strapped to her back with the remnants of the thigh-high socks she'd been wearing. Her boots had been obliterated, the leather had melted from the intense heat of August's magic, and she now stumbled her way barefoot over the large slabs of rock that had pushed up between the thick trees.

She tripped over a particularly large rock and lost her balance. Falling forward, she threw out her arms and tried to catch herself. Lucy winced as she gashed her knee against stone.

It was beginning to grow dark and she desperately hoped to find shelter. Her magic was too low and she needed to check Happy again for wounds. He'd been unconscious for nearly an hour and she had hoped that he would wake up, without a concussion, but the chances were growing smaller by the minute. She picked herself up and stumbled onward, blinded to everything but the narrow path before her.

Eventually, the tree line broke and she was disoriented by the open night sky. She blinked and looked around, finding twenty feet of grassy ledge that abruptly cut off into a cliff. Taking no chances, Lucy found a stray tree that was midway between the tree line and the drop off and quickly sat at its base.

She slid the cat around to her front and untied the makeshift straps. The Celestial Mage eased Happy to the ground and held her hand to his mouth with suffocating trepidation. His breath was faint and wishing she one of the Sky Sisters were there to fix the broken and battered Exceed, Lucy could do nothing but hope—and even that was too much.

She was stuck. She could only pray that Happy could hang on until she could summon Crux and use his knowledge to save him. Virgo would bring them clean clothes and Aries could make them a bed and Loke would be there to protect them….

Despair faded into incomprehensible meanderings and Lucy found herself curling around her companion, slowly losing her grip on consciousness, and drifting into a fitful sleep.

:alinebreak:

The breaking of a twig dragged her back into awareness and she groggily sat up, hand already pulling Loke's key from her ring. She scanned the area and zeroed in on a battered figure that had just emerged from the trees.

She…knew this person.

She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled toward the figure, key held out and ready to be called at a moment's notice. Finding her voice, Lucy croaked out a garbled "Cobra."

The man whirled in her direction wildly, holding out one clawed hand to defend himself. Taking her in, he labored to keep control of his breathing and Fuck! he could kiss this woman.

"Yo," he responded, his equally garbled voice croaked. "Am I glad to see you, Blondie. Any idea what the fuck happened? What was that bright light?"

She hadn't meant to answer his question, but her thoughts strayed to the battle she and Happy had survived before her disoriented trek through the forest. Only what August had said about the country becoming one-twentieth its size. Nothing else. It hadn't happened. Nothing else but the conversation.

"Where's the Dimwit?"

And there it was. Laid bare. It had happened. That battle…its result…. It was real.

Her eyes watered and she collapsed to the ground, covering her eyes with scraped and scabbed hands. Her shoulders shook and the remains of her torn shirt waved eerily as she heaved with distraught sobs. The wounds on her knees reopened and began bleeding openly, retracing the red streaks of blood that had dried and congealed on her dusty skin.

Oh, Mavis. Happy! Happy….

She began desperately clawing her way back to her tree where the little Exceed was a mound of shadow. She couldn't stand anymore and her journey was grueling, observed only by the former criminal that had once victimized her.

When she reached the blue cat, she held her hand to his mouth and began screaming.

Cobra was at her side in an instant, hand over her mouth to muffle the raw cries tearing from her throat. It was harsh, he knew, but her thoughts had indicated a battle relatively nearby, even if they'd been incoherent and he had very little idea of what had really transpired.

At the contact, she pulled his hand away from her mouth and turned to him, burying her face against his shoulder and surprising the Poison Dragon Slayer with her sudden proximity. Unsure of what to do, he slid one of his hands into her loose hair and the other around her shoulders.

Her soul was screaming her loss at him and he wished he were someone that could share her pain and comfort her, someone she knew. She clung to him and he couldn't bring himself to pull away, doing his best to hold her.

"Lucy," he tried.

She shook her head and her sobbing gained an octave.

"Lucy," he called more urgently. "Listen—"

She struggled and grew louder.

"Hey—"

Suddenly, her cheek stung and her cries died in her throat. She looked up at him in amazement, "You…."

"Listen to me," he said sternly, "you need to be quiet. We're alone up here and there's nowhere to run. If you draw the attention of any of those Alvarez guys, we're fucked."

Lucy trembled and she renewed her struggles, "You have no idea—"

"I know I don't." He held her tightly and she stilled, "I can only guess from what I hear, but I'm going to keep us safe. We're going to live through this."

"Natsu died…" she whispered, her tone broken and soul echoing the two words over and over. "Now Happy…."

Cobra turned to look at the cat and he focused on him, "He's alive; I can hear him."

"He's…"

Lucy's soul was circling dazedly through her earlier plans: Crux would tell her what to do…Virgo would bring them clean clothes and Aries could make them a bed and Loke would be there to protect them….

"He's very weak. Do you have any magic left?"

"Just enough for one silver and gold key, but it'll be close."

"Call Crux and Virgo. We can do without beds for now and I'm here to protect us," Cobra commanded. "The cat doesn't have a lot of strength left."

The blonde fumbled with her key ring and found the two she was looking for. Soon golden light blinded him and the spirits stood over them, looking down at the mages with stern gravity. The woman quickly went to work as the knowledgeable Cross spirit took charge.

Confused and unable to help, the two mages held each other and watched them work. It seemed the spirits had already been aware of the situation and had come prepared with supplies and clean linens.

After what felt like hours, Virgo turned to them and bowed deeply, "Princess, we've stabilized him for now. You must call us again when your magic has restored."

"Thanks…" the Celestial Mage responded tiredly.

"I have also taken it upon myself to bring you all clothing and bedding. Aries will bring you proper bedding as soon as you are able to summon her." The spirit set a large stack of spontaneously appearing fabric on the large blanket she'd set out for the sleeping cat. "As you are exhausted, Princess, we can defer my punishment until you are recovered. I have also left bandages and disinfectant for you both, Cobra-sama. Please be sure to treat your wounds."

He nodded dumbly and the spirits disappeared with a flash of golden light.

What was he supposed to do now?

Lucy hadn't moved away and it seemed as though she was now dozing restlessly against his shoulder. Cobra wanted to hear her story and determine what chances he stood against mages that had taken out the single most inventive, flame-retarded shithead he'd ever known, but something told him that they weren't good.

The cliff was a death trap, but there was nowhere else to go. He'd been tearing through the thick forest from the moment he'd appeared within its bounds. One second he'd been with Crime Sorcière and the next, confused and wandering in a goddamn jungle.

He hadn't even seen Natsu since the time they'd accidentally encountered him while he was training a few months back. They'd been at each others' throats the entire time, antagonizing the rest his guild with their constant bickering. Natsu kept soliciting him for fights and without any reservation, Cobra had one-shotted the idiot into Natsu-sized craters and embedded the moron into the dirt.

That same vibrant fucktard was dead?

He tightened his grip on the unconscious Celestial Mage and found that he was more affected than he thought. If he felt like this over the loss of someone he'd never even liked, he couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for the broken woman in his arms to escape with the injured blue cat. His respect for her grew immensely the more he thought about it.

And here they were, drawn together through some twisted fuckery of fate and she was going to rely on him and seek comfort from him. No one had ever really relied on him; he had no idea how to be what she needed.

But he would try.

He didn't have the answers and had no idea where to even find them, but when she woke and inevitably looked to him to lead and protect her—looked to him for direction in her new life without Natsu—he would try.

:thisisalinebreak:

Whew!

That's a wrap for this one. Sort of. It's going to be connected to "Aurora."

I still plan to do the rest of the prompts, but because I just graduated from college and am looking for a job, it might take a little while.

Thank you so much to GemNika for reviewing, because I seriously love all of your fics. I'm pretty sure your entries for CoLu Week last year reduced me to tears and I look forward to when I sit down and read this year's.

Also, thank you to my roommate who looked it over this chapter even though she has little interest in Fairy Tail and her knowledge of the series comprises of five episodes and all the spoilers I've fed her over the course of our friendship.

As always, thank you for your patience with me and I hope you stick around for "Raspberry," whenever I choose to write and post it.

AJlovesKakashi