The Things She Never Spoke Of

Chapter 26

Natsu POV:
Staring down at a weeping Lucy, my mind fails to fully register what is happening.

"It's your fault?" I question, not understanding in the slightest.

"Yes! It's my fault! I shouldn't even be alive right now! I should be dead, buried in the ground, and forgotten about!" Lucy frustratingly answers.

My heart aches at her words.

"Why would you say that?!" I disapproving ask.

"Because it's true! If I wasn't stupid she'd still be here! My mom would still be alive!" Lucy yells, more tears falling down her face.

"What do you mean she'd be here?" I interrogate as I lower myself to the ground to sit down next to her.

A sigh leaves her mouth before saying, "I knew I was going to tell you this, but I didn't think it'd happen like this."

"Seven years ago, on a cloudy spring day, my mom and I strolled through our garden," Lucy explains, "We admired the beautiful daffodils and hydrangeas as we walked by.

At some point during the walk my mom asked me 'If there was anything in the world that I wanted to do right now what would it be?'.

And, of course, me being a childish, ten-year-old, I answered with, 'I'd get ice cream!'"

Lucy stops and shakes her head before continuing on.

"That was the worst answer I ever could've gave her." She coldly stated.

Proceeding, Lucy further explains, "So, my mom and I decided to go get some ice cream at a nearby parlor. It wasn't far from our house, so we decided to walk. It didn't matter to me at the time that we'd be walking. Personally, I enjoyed walking with her. My mother would always tell me stories or sing if it was just the two of us, so the more time I got to spend with her, the better."

"Once we arrived at the ice cream parlor, we purchased our ice cream and sat on a nearby bench to eat them. But, gray clouds started to roll in, so my mother suggested we continuing eating our ice creams on the walk home.

Getting up from the bench and beginning to head home, light drizzle began sprinkling down from the darken sky above us.

'We have to get home before it starts pouring' she said.

Now raining harder, we came to the last crosswalk before our street."

Tears well up in her eyes as she continues with her story.

Now in a light sob, Lucy continued, "Together, my mom and I patiently waited for the light to turn so we could cross. Right when the light changed, I began running over to the other side in the hopes of not getting too wet.

But... that didn't happen.

As I was running, not only did I fail to notice my mother calling my name, but also that it wasn't the crosswalk light that changed; it was the street light that had switched to green that changed.

From what I saw when standing on the sidewalk with my mom earlier, there weren't any cars waiting for the light to turn, but that wasn't the case for when I was running.

Everything happened too fast for me to fully process in that moment. All I remember was feeling a forceful nudge on my back, which caused me and my ice cream to fall forward onto to road.

Then, I heard the squeaking of tires and a loud bang. Lifting my head off of the ground, my body turned around in search for the cause of the commotion."

Her tears now streaming down her face with no end, Lucy proceeds, "There, lying on the cold, hard ground, was my mom."

I remember the young man driving the car opening up his door to assess what had happened, as I stood there, dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Finally, coming to my senses, I sprinted to her side.