Her ≫ Fairy Tail Fanfic

*** Chapter 23: Funeral ***

"Life is a dream walking. Death is finally going home."

The next day, preparations for the funeral were complete and the event itself was scheduled to happen in the afternoon.

Opening his eyes, Natsu gazed at the sky from his spot on the soft, moist grass. His body was chilled from sleeping on the ground all night, and from the rain pouring from the grey skies above -- well, as chilled as a fire dragon slayer could get.

He sighed as salty tears dripped down his cheeks, mixing with the cold rain. 'Even the sky is crying.'

"No," the dragon slayer chided himself. "You have to be strong, for them, for us, for her."

When his muttering reached the ears of a certain someone who had been watching the whole time, her heart broke.

"For them, for us, for her, huh? How long ago had I said those exact words? But it was for you, Natsu Dragneel."

The boy in question turned around, his dragon sense on full alert.

"Who's there?" He asked, cautious. When no one replied after a while, Natsu gave up, his exhausted soul not wanting to take any more stress.

"I thought I heard Lucy's voice... I miss her so much that I must be hallucinating..."

The girl gasped inaudibly, shocked. He missed her? No, that couldn't be right. He hated her. Her friends were also shocked. When did this happen? Since when did he even acknowledge her in a good way? Since when did he even care about her?

As they couldn't openly discuss the topic while Natsu was there, the group of five slipped into the shadows and disappeared.

--

At the funeral, Natsu was a mess. The torrents of tears streaming down his cheeks for the better part of the day had turned into full out sobbing, and no one could comfort him, except -- surprisingly -- the other dragon slayers.

Earlier that day, Cobra had arrived to claim Kinana as his mate. Wendy and Romeo had already become a couple by the beginning of Dragon Mating Season, so that was no problem. Unfortunately, they were the only two dragon slayers not in pain/mateless/growing dragon like features.

Somehow, the men/boys of the guild had managed to wrestle the five slayers into suits. But even so, the sorrow in the air was as prominent as ever. If anything, the dark color that everyone was wearing only worsened it.

Then they were ushered to South Gate Park, where the funeral was going to be held. In the park, there was a small band playing a joyous song, gathering onlookers despite the weather.