It started with his hands. She had laughed it off at first. After all, he was known to be clumsy. He had joined her, his salmon pink hair shaking as he chuckled along. In the beginning, they were completely ignorant to the tragic future soon to come. Their lives continued as it always had, with his cheerful smiles, her soft giggles, and their cat's unbearable purrs.

She noticed when she told him to write a cheque for her. His hands had gone slack when he was in the middle of writing it. She heard the pen drop, and so she made a glance over to him. His face was pulled into shock, his eyes slightly wider than usual. The expression he sported had made her heart clench; she pulled him straight to the doctor's right after.

The female doctor that was checking him had a face that made her terribly uneasy. She examined his hands with furrowed eyebrows, the skin between her eyes wrinkled in concentration. When she finished, she slowly rested his hands on his lap again. She turned to the both of them, and told them what she had found out. The bewilderment that went across their faces had seemed comical at the time. The words that she said tumbled through their brains, reading themselves over and over, and waiting for the truth to sink in.

It was him who regained his composure first. He turned to her, his trademark grin returning to his face. He comforted her, telling her that it would be okay. She smiled lightly back at him then, despite the fact that she knew very well that it was far from fine.

The first thing she did after returning home was flipping open her laptop and researching his situation. The more she learned, the more her heart broke. The tears held back earlier poured out, ruining whatever beauty she had.

They found an organization the next day, and pleaded for their support. The woman in charge had given them reassuring words, telling them that they would aid them any way they could. They provided him a tool at first, to help with the stiffness he had at the moment. She was truly grateful to them, but her inners clenched watching him use it.

The following morning, while eating breakfast, she asked him of what he wished to do. She had said it as lightly as she could, in all hopes that he understood what she meant. He smiled at her, the words "I know" clearly written in his eyes. He told her then, his words slow but strong.

It took all her willpower not to break down then and there, as she listened to his wishes.

Finding them was the hardest part of the wish. After all, it had been a while since she last saw everyone. Some of them weren't even in the country. Despite that, she continued looking, searching, for him. She had to let him have this dream. She had to. It wasn't an option.

While she was fulfilling his request, the stiffness in his arms slowly traveled to his legs. The tool he was using before shifted into a wheelchair.

He had been truly amazed when the first part of his wish walked through his front door. He had laughed and thanked her as they did. She couldn't help but smile back, happy that the bright, genuine grin returned to him.

People came to see him, one after another, all holding different memories with him. With every one, she had to explain his situation. Every time, she had to steel her nerves and tell herself that crying could be saved for later.

The hardest explanation had been with two particular people: one a woman with scarlet red hair, the other a muscular young man with a raven coloured mane. Telling them took all she had not to cry. The woman, known to be the strongest of them all, broke down, water running down from her eyes uncontrollably. The man, having been told as one of the calmest of the group, pounded repeatedly on the walls, screaming as his voice cracked with sorrow. It took a good amount of time for them to calm down before they were able to walk into his room. When they entered, they were greeted by him, his ear-to-ear grin drawn over his familiar face. They smiled back at him; this was the true him that they knew. She had to leave the room as the three of them conversed; it had become impossible for her to stay cool with them here.

Days after those two had left; she talked to him one night, reminiscing with him of their former memories. She laughed bitterly at the thoughts. He didn't answer her; he couldn't, ever since his respiratory system started failing, and the breathing mask was placed over his face, but his eyes told her everything he wished to say.

She ranted on for many hours, nonstop, hoping to remove the dark, sad thoughts weighing her. When she ran out of things to say, when she turned to him to hear his thoughts from his eyes, all she saw was him, with his sharp eyes closed. His face was calm, as though he had been freed of all the chains that held him down. She watched and waited, hoping to see the fogging on his breathing mask. It never came.

The final moments of goodbye were horribly dull; it went without bawls or cries, all tears cried dry, all throats parched from screaming. She couldn't hear anything, not even her own voice, as she gave her farewell speech. All of the people that they – no, he – had befriended were present, but none came to comfort her. She wasn't expecting comfort anyway. They were grieving themselves; it would only destroy them if they turned to comfort her. She was sure that to them, it seemed like a dream that he was gone, since he was the liveliest, the most cheerful, and the most positive, out of all of them. For him to no longer laugh with them was a huge, unbearable joke.

To her, it was a dream; an everlasting nightmare that will start her colourless world. She would have lost herself if it wasn't for her final hope, his final piece of love for her that anchored her to reality. She rubbed her swollen womb – his symbol of how much he cared for her – gently.

Natsu Dragneel

Friend, Husband, Father

X770 – X797

Note* the characters I used are all from Fairy Tail, by Hiro Mashima. Of course, the one who died was Natsu, the story was in the point of Lucy (also the wife of Natsu), the "scarlet-haired woman" was very much Erza, and the "muscular, raven-maned man" was Gray. Even the doctor, despite me not having explained how she looked, was actually Porlyusica, or at least, that was who I was envisioning in my brain at the moment.

I refused to use any names at all until Natsu's funeral ended, because I thought that it would create a stronger depth of tragedy and angst.

Thanks for reading, anyway!