Lucy couldn't keep her eyes away from Sabertooth's benches. The roguishly handsome blond that was leaning back in his seat was staring down at the battle going on between two mages with a bored stare. In all honestly, Lucy found the battle to be rather boring too. It was so one sided and predictable that there was hardly any competition. Laxus was going up against some poor girl from Lamia Scale. The girl was practically quaking under the dull stare Laxus gave her. He wasn't even really doing any damage to her, light punches and kicks being thrown at her to get her to surrender so he wouldn't cause her too much pain.

Sighing, she leaned her head into the palm of her hand. Luckily enough, the girl fainted from fright not too soon after the fight started, abruptly ending it. Another two names were called to prepare, those Lucy did not recognize. She sat up slightly when she saw someone from Sabertooth stand, the guy's dark hair falling over his face before she could get a good look at him. The blond next to him offered him a clasp on the shoulder and a head nod before the dark haired male disappeared within a flash.

When both contestants stood before each other in the arena, magical energy pouring from the two, Lucy got interested. Sitting forward slightly, her eyes trained on the black haired mage, she mentally cheered for him as the bell sounded. The black haired mage stood his ground as the other came rushing him, fist held high in the air. Lucy scoffed, even she could see what was coming, he was faking. Lucy was surprised when the mage she dubbed Red Eyes stood his ground, letting the other hit land.

A feral grin spread across Red Eyes face before he wrapped his hand around the other's neck, his magic circling around the other's head. Lucy watched transfixed as the other mage promptly fell unconscious, a string of drool sliding down his chin as he was dropped to the floor. A small grin spread across her face as the entire arena went silent, all eyes wide with shock as Red Eyes was deemed the winner. The smirk on his face had Lucy mirroring his expression. Red Eyes glanced up at where she was sitting, the only visible eye she saw landing on her immediately. The red eye widened almost comically before he scoffed and sauntered off, a hood pulled over his head as he went.

Almost as if his disappearance had shook everyone from a trance, a chorus of cheers broke out amongst the crowd and for some reason Lucy joined in with the rest of them. She clapped softly for the man, her eyes lingering on the spot she had last seen him before she glanced up to see her team staring at her, mouth's agape.

"What? That was the most interesting battle all day." Lucy shrugged her shoulders, ignoring the audible gasps from her friends as her attention was pulled back to Sabertooth's stands.

Red Eyes was back up there, chatting with the blond as if what he just did wasn't as neat as it actually was. His eyes glanced back over to where she was, red clashing with brown and the small upturn of his lips had her grinning. Lucy could hear the small whispers of her friends and their worried comments about her health and her mental state, but she knew she was just fine. With her guild, it would be crazy to not be crazy. The constant disarray of her guild had her learning to adapt to every situation and if you called tactical crazy, then yes she was batshit.

Lucy tore her eyes away from the hypnotizing shade of red, a frown marring her face as her team started up some argument she was dragged into. Lucy could still feel the red eyes on her as she was held underneath Erza's arm, the redhead's glare steadfast on Natsu. They brought forth a small shiver, something Erza clearly noticed if the look the redhead sent her way meant anything. Lucy tried her hardest to ignore the piercing stare, but nearly crumbled when she felt the weight of someone else's eyes on her as well. Glancing out the corner of her eye, she saw both Red Eyes and Blond staring at her, wearing matching expressions on their faces. If she didn't know any better she'd think they knew her from somewhere with the way their eyes shined with familiarity.

Red Eyes eye widened once more and Blond let out a small squeak, their eyes flashing to one another.

"Do you think it's really her?" Blond asked, a hopeful look in his eye as he gazed at the blonde across the way.

"There's no telling. We can't get close to her with her guild's affiliation to truly learn though." Red Eyes muttered, a frown marring his normally stoic features.

"What are you two talking about?" A commanding voice interrupted their small conversation.

Blond froze for a moment, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he glanced at Red Eyes. Red Eyes turned to see his team leader standing behind Blond, her hands on her hips as she gazed at them accusingly.

"Nothing that concerns you Minerva, we were discussing lunch details with one another." Red Eyes responded calmly, hiding the nervousness he truly felt.

Minerva eyed them critically, her gaze burning into them before she nodded slowly, accepting the excuse Red Eyes offered.

"There's a rather delicious deli not too far from here, you should try that place." Minerva spoke before she walked off to converse with Orga.

Blond let out a breath, relaxing now that Minerva was no longer eying them. Red Eyes glanced back to Fairy Tail's booth, seeing the blonde now sitting alone, her eyes gazing down at the final battle of the day boredly. She certainly looked like their dear friend, but she was far too young to truly be her. She should be in her mid twenties and yet she didn't look a day over 19.

"It could be her Rogue, you did hear about what happened to their core members." Blond muttered, his blue eyes flashing to the dark haired male next to him.

"I know Sting, but we aren't even sure she joined the guild. We know she wanted to, so badly, but what if she hadn't found the right one yet?" Rogue responded, his eyes not once leaving the blonde as she sat alone, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Lucy knows what she wants, I highly doubt she hadn't joined the one yet, it's been almost nine years man." Sting grumbled, his blue eyes returning to the blonde in time for her to look up at them.

Both males could see the way her eyes shined with curiosity, a small frown pulling the edges of her lips down.

Lucy couldn't for the life of her understand why the two males staring at her felt so familiar. The scar over the blond's right eye struck her with a sense of worry, something she couldn't even begin to comprehend seeing how she never met him in the first place. When her eyes glanced to Red Eyes, the same feeling struck her as she noticed a faint scar overtop his nose. Lucy clutched her head, a ringing in her ears hitting her hard. The sound left her head spinning, flashes of memories she didn't know she had rising to the surface. Two young faces gazing up at a 17 year old version of herself. They looked so similar to the two men across from her.

The two faces left names behind as the images slowly faded, Sting and Rogue. Lucy muttered their names, finding that they practically rolled off her tongue. She could see the two males eyes widen as if they heard her, their eyes shining with tears as they all but jumped out of their seats, tearing their way down the stairs and in her direction. All commotion going on in the arena halted as they dashed over to her, nearly tripping over one another to get to her.

Lucy's team had yet to return from wherever they went and for that Lucy was grateful. The males rushed past her, grabbing her hands as they tugged her into the empty hallway behind her stands. They looked out of breath as they pulled her to a stop, but the tears in their eyes never lessened. They wrapped their arms around her, pulling her towards them as they both muttered her name. Almost as if that was the magic word, all her memories came rushing back to her.

The smiling faces of the two boys who cherished her more than they did their own lives. The smiles they all shared with one another as they completed missions with one another. The tears they shed together as Lucy watched them leave, their hands raised in a final goodbye. The loneliness she felt after they were gone, the emptiness that lingered. How on Earthland had she forgotten?

"My boys…" Lucy muttered, clutching them tightly as they buried their faces into her neck.

"Lucy…" Their voices overlapped each other, grown deeper from age.

The three stayed there for a long while, the loud commotion from the arena fading into the background as they lost themselves in the grief that surrounded them.

"I'm so sorry… How could I forget my two favorite boys…?" Lucy's voice broke off into a sob, tears that pooled in her eyes spilling over and onto her cheeks.

Lucy felt her neck grow wet, their shoulders shaking as she held onto them. Their height had easily surpassed hers and she had to stand on her tiptoes to fully wrap her arms around their necks. They backed her up against the concrete wall, their bodies pressed into her sides as they held each other.

"We missed you so much, Lucy." Their voices once again overlapped, their chests rumbling as they spoke.

Lucy fought more tears as their hold grew tighter around her waist. They sunk to the floor, Lucy never once let go of them as they held one another. She could hear the loud voices of her friends slowly making their way back to where they were, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. Lucy clutched at the feathered overcoat on Sting's shoulders and the collar on Rogue's, her lifelines keeping her grounded to Earthland as her heart soared through the clouds.

The voices of her friends grew closer before they died down suddenly, yet Lucy ignored them. Her shoulders wracked in sobs as she lost herself in the memories of her family.

"Lucy Lucy! Let's do this one!" Sting's carefree voice interrupted her slumber, his body bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Alright alright I'm up. What do we have here?" Lucy grumbled, rubbing at one of her eyes with her hand as she grabbed at the job poster Sting held out to her.

Her eyes scanned over the sheet, briefly reading about a few monsters before her eyes landed on the reward. A gate key. Her eyes softened at the reward. She looked back to Sting's wide eyes, the large smile on his face.

"Did you pick this one for me Sting?" Lucy giggled, watching as Sting's face heated up, but nevertheless he nodded.

"I know you said you wanted more friends and I found this mission request posted around town while we were out gathering supplies. I already got Rogue to agree, he seemed pretty excited to be able to fight monsters." Sting's reasoning had Lucy's eyes tearing up.

"You're both such good boys… I love you both." Lucy clutched Sting to her chest, feeling his arms immediately wrap around her.

"We love you too, Lu. Now how about we pack?" Sting smiled at her, his blue eyes gazing at her in amusement.

Lucy had never cried so hard in her life, she was practically screaming in her boys ears, but they didn't so much as move, their shoulders shaking just as bad as hers as soft cries slipped from their own lips.

Lucy could feel the warm slick liquid on her hands. She was standing over a dead man, a hole in his chest where she thrust a knife right through. Not too far away from her lay Rogue's prone form, his chest rising and falling far too slowly for her liking. The large gash on his lower abdomen was so deep, she worried his guts would spill out if she moved him. Sting was nowhere in sight, out getting medical care while Lucy watched over the black haired boy. Delivering one last kick to the dead man's body, watching with unabashed glee before turning to Rogue.

She rushed to his side, tears slipping from her eyes as she assessed the damage. That damned fucker was lucky she interrupted when she did, heaven forbid if he actually killed one of her boys. The Gods would quake under her rage. With shaky hands, Lucy called upon Capricorn in hopes that he could be of some assistance. The goat spirit appeared within a flash, some gauze and cleaning supplies in hand before he set to work. Lucy covered her mouth with her hands, tears sliding down her cheeks at the pain filled gasps that left Rogue's mouth. The boy was still out cold, his skin paler than normal as his blood seeped through the bandages that Capricorn applied almost instantly. He replaced them multiple times, his makeshift stitches red and inflamed.

Lucy almost cried as his eyes fluttered open only for a heart wrenching cry slipped passed his lips.

"... Lu…?" His voice cracked with disuse, blood dripping down his chin and onto his shirt.

"I'm right here baby, I've got you." Lucy cried, reaching down to place a hand on his cheek.

Rogue smiled through the pain, his glassy red eyes staring up and through her as he brought his small shaky hand to her cheek.

"...I'm so glad you're safe…" He whispered, a tear slipping from his eye before he passed out from exhaustion.

Lucy couldn't breathe, her lungs burning as she screamed to the heavens, Sting and Rogue still clutched her tightly, their cries dying down as they turned to look at her, worried looks on their faces that she didn't notice.

Sting stood overtop her fallen form, white light surrounding his body with Rogue to his right, his shadows lashing out at the dark mage leering at them. Lucy's head spun from the blow she received. She registered the searing pain in her right arm and the numbness of her left hand. She blearily looked down, bile rising in her throat at the mangled appendage of her arm and the shattered bones in her hand. She could see bone protruding from her arm, blood running freely from the hole it left behind. Her hand looked as if it were run over by a train, she was surprised seeing it still attached from how it dangled from her arm by a few pieces of flesh and cartilage.

She vaguely remembered thinking that it was going to have to be amputated, but the sound of a man crying out in pain had her head lifting up. Her eyes widened despite blood threatening to seal them shut. Sting and Rogue stood over the dark mage's body, his head cut clean off and a few feet away from it. The look in their eyes had her shivering despite herself. She made an attempt to call out to them, but all that came out was a jumbled up mess of a groan. That seemed to pull their attention from the dead man, their eyes flashing over to her in worry.

They fretted about how they would manage to get her to safety, with both of them being too small to lift her. Rogue took the initiative and rushed away in shadow form to go fetch help. Sting stayed by Lucy's side, his blood stained hands brushing over her fevered skin in a calming way. He spoke to her, kept her attention as he told her stories and asked her questions. Lucy remembered answering all of them and attentively listening to each of his stories before Rogue returned with an ambulance.

The rest was hazy, she could remember hearing segments of conversations, some of doctors, some of her boys. When she finally came to, her hand was throbbing and her arm was wrapped up in a cast. Her hand was covered in scars, the bones feeling strange as she attempted to flex. When her hand sat limp against her lap, unresponsive to her movement, she panicked. The cry that slipped from her lips had Sting and Rogue jumping awake, rushing to her side instantly.

"Lucy what's the matter?" Sting asked, his hand placed gently on the side of her face.

"Do you feel any pain, Lucy?" Rogue fretted, his hand on her leg.

Soon doctors piled into the room, shooing her boys away from her to take her vitals and assess her.

"Alright Miss Heartfilia, I'd like for you to flex your left hand now." The doctor asked, writing something down in his chart before his eyes lifted to gaze at her.

Lucy clenched her eyes shut, wiggling her fingers before tightening them into a fist. When she opened her eyes, staring down at her unmoving hand, she felt tears pool in her eyes.

"I-I can't…" Her weak voice spoke, crackly and broken, she must've been asleep for awhile.

The doctor frowned, lifting her arm and pressing his fingers to her wrist. He hummed in thought for a moment before he set her hand back down, writing something down on his paper before he turned to her again.

"It seems your hand is unresponsive to your actions. It might've been caused from your nerves being separated when your hand was torn and shattered. Hopefully in due time, your body will heal and you will regain control over your hand." The doctor finished writing in his book, flipping it closed before he walked out, the others in the room following behind him.

Sting and Rogue piled back in once the doctors filed out of the room. Her boys took a seat on either side of her, hesitantly leaning their heads on her shoulders. Lucy felt a dull ache in her right one when Rogue laid his head down, but kept herself silent, enjoying their presence.

"You'll get over this Lu, we know you will." They spoke, nuzzling into her neck as she slipped off to sleep.

Lucy didn't feel when Sting and Rogue pulled away, their arms shaking her to pull her attention to them. She didn't notice when her chest rose and fell rapidly to suck in air she wasn't receiving. She didn't notice when the world seemed to tilt on its side as she fell to the floor, her eyes sliding shut.

"We don't want to leave you Lu!" Sting cried, his hand grasping onto her left one, squeezing the appendage softly as tears poured down from his eyes.

"You can come with us!" Rogue pushed, his hands grasping her cheeks and pulling her attention from the ground.

She gazed into their eyes, watching as tears fell from their chins and onto their shirts, leaving wet stains behind.

"You both know I can't. I long to join Fairy Tail." She said sadly, her lower lip quivering as her boys wrapped their arms around her.

"We can visit the guild anytime you want, please just come with us." Sting begged, his face buried in her neck, breathing in her scent.

"We need you Lucy." Rogue heaved, his chest rising and falling rapidly to take in air.

"You boys are so strong, you've never needed me." Lucy whispered, her arms weaving around their shoulders.

"That's not true!" They both shouted, pulling away from her to stare into her eyes.

"We've always needed you, Lu. You're our everything." They spoke, their eyes red and puffy from crying.

Lucy couldn't form words, her eyes shining with tears as they enveloped her in a hug once more.

"We can't live without you." Their heartfelt words had her breath leaving her in a woosh.

Lucy felt tears slip past her cheeks, arms locking around her boys shoulders. She pulled them to her tighter, falling back when they leaned into her touch. She laid on the ground, Sting and Rogue practically straddling her as they tumbled after her.

Lucy couldn't feel when a pair of strong arms lifted her body from the floor, his feathered coat brushing against her skin lightly as he rushed her to the infirmary. She couldn't hear the frantic voice of Rogue as he tried to wake her up. She couldn't feel anything beyond the stinging in her heart.

Lucy cried as the small forms of her boys walked down the street away from her. Her hand reached out to them, grasping at air as their bodies grew smaller and smaller the farther they walked away.

Lucy cursed herself internally, she knew this was coming one day. Their fates led them down different paths. There was no way for them to stick together forever. With the two scouring Earthland for any reasoning behind why their dragons got sick and Lucy's promise to join Fairy Tail, there was no way they could continue to walk the same path together. Lucy knew this from the very start, yet she couldn't help but learn to love them. Their quirky personalities dug through her heart and made their way to the very center. She loved them with every fiber of her being.

Seeing them walk away hurt her more than she expected it ever would. She knew it would be painful, but she never guessed it would feel as if her very heart was being torn out and leaving with them. Seeing their hands lift up into the air as a final farewell, she felt her soul shrivel and die as their bodies disappeared over the horizon.

She remembered coasting through the next few months on autopilot, her soul and body completely severed. That fateful day when Lucy stumbled into Natsu had pushed the thought of her boys right out of her head, into a box and locked away in a corner of her mind.

With the box uncovered and opened, Lucy felt the sheer pain of loneliness. Even surrounded by her new family, she felt empty. Sting and Rogue were her true family, truer than even her own mother and father.

She never knew she felt this empty. How could something so important be forgotten so easily?

Lucy's eyes blearily opened, blobs of shapes and colors filling her vision before it slowly cleared. On their respective sides sat her boys. Sting's hand clutched Lucy's left tightly, tears in his eyes and dried tear stains on his cheeks. Rogue didn't favor any better. His eyes were clenched shut tightly, tears slipping down his face.

Lucy blinked, her hand twitching involuntarily. Their heads snapped up to look at her. Fresh tears sprung in her eyes when they launched themselves at her, wrapping their arms around her waist. They buried their heads into her neck, breathing in her scent and Lucy couldn't have been happier.

She smiled despite the tears that slipped down her cheeks, rubbing at the backs of their heads. She ran her fingers through their hair, sighing when they squeezed her tighter.

"I missed you two." She whispered, nuzzling the sides of their heads when they hummed.

"We missed you too." They chorused, kissing up the sides of her neck.

Lucy closed her eyes, the emptiness in her heart she didn't even realize was there being filled with their love filled affection.

"I love you two." She sniffled, pulling them tighter to her still.

"We love you too." They grinned, peppering her face with kisses and murmuring into her skin.

Consequences be damned, the trio spend the rest of the day together, sitting with neither of their guilds. When one of them was called down to enter a battle, the loudest ones cheering were them. Lucy remembered facing off with Flare, her magic being canceled out by Ivan, but she refused to give up, her boys were cheering her on.

Standing on wobbly legs, she glared at the redheaded female. For the first time since the start of their match, Flare looked scared. Lucy's normally bright brown eyes were dull and her normally happy go lucky expression was completely erased from her face.

"I won't lose to scum like you, my boys are counting on me to win this." Lucy whispered just loud enough for Flare to hear, grinning at the redhead as she pulled her whip from her waist.

With a flick of her wrist, Lucy had her whip wound tightly around Flare's neck. The girl's eyes widened, her hands going up to attempt to pry the leather from around her neck. Her nails scraped at her skin, cutting skin as her vision blurred and black dots filled her eyes.

Lucy waited until her body fell to the ground, unmoving before she slid her whip from Flare's neck. The entire arena had gone silent when she attempted to cast her final spell, but if she thought it was quiet before, this was deafeningly so. Checking for a pulse on Flare's neck, she sighed when she felt the flutter under her fingers. Standing victorious, Lucy was declared the winner and Flare was taken away to rest before her next match.

Lucy heard her team call to her, but she ignored them and marched right past her stand, going to sit in between both Sting and Rogue. The arena had broken out into cheers as Lucy strolled off the floor, a small grin on her face as she looked up to her boys. They looked so proud of her, grins on their faces as they cheered for her.

Sitting in between the two men, Lucy couldn't have been happier, and despite the fact that their guilds were enemies, she couldn't bring herself to mind.