Life after Death

Chapter 2 - Saying Goodbye

First off, thanks to you all for receiving this story so well! - I'm glad it seemed to catch your attention, and I hope it'll keep hold of it right until the end!

SECOND AND MORE IMPORTANTLY!!! If you haven't already watched/read Bleach, some of the characters and the things I've changed here will be lost on you. So I highly suggest you go watch/read it (it's also a really good anime/manga). I'll try to make it understandable as well as I can either way though, so those of you who haven't also have a chance

I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and review!
Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Bleach. Obviously.

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Lucy woke up with a jolt. Or so she'd thought. But strangely enough, she was standing upright right at the very gates of the Fairy Tail guild's entrance. She had absolutely no recollection of how she'd ended up there, though she suspected she'd just been caught up in her own world while automatically just following her teammates, who were all walking right in front of her.

"Hey guys! Wait for me!" She called out to them, having lagged a little behind. When she got no response - none of them even looked back at her - she looked at them confusedly. She couldn't help noticing how their shoulders sagged as if all energy had left them long ago.

But what really made all the alarm-bells ringing in her mind was the fact that they walked calmly inside, with Erza holding the door. No kicking, no breaking of doors, no explosive entrances... Nothing. They never did this. What was going on..?

Like with her, their completely unexpected entrance caught the entire guild's attention. They all knew something was up if this had happened, but... What?

Lucy tiptoed round Gray, sneaking a peek at his unusually grim expression. "Hey, Gray." She whispered, still not getting much of a reaction. She continued on nonetheless - they were probably just pulling a prank on all of them. "What's going on?" She asked in a whisper. His gaze didn't even flicker in her direction. Now it was actually pissing her off a little bit.

And she wanted to let them know just that, when Mira cut her off. "Hey guys. How did the mission go?" She asked with her usual smile, while serving beer for Macao and Wakaba, though they - like everyone else - had their attention focused solely on the team in the middle of the hall.

Gray looked at the maid with an expression that Lucy had seen only a very little number of times. "...Wrong." He said slowly and with such sadness lacing his voice.. Sadness which was usually only reserved for his foster mother... Just what in the world was she missing right now?

Apparently this also got Gajeel in on it, as he muttered a 'Fuck' immediately after. This then had the chain-reaction of Wendy releasing a heavy sob while hiding her mouth behind her small hands. Both of them sporting expressions compromised of surprise, sorrow and fright.

At this point, Lucy really got the feeling that she was forgetting something vital. Something which would immediately explain this whole situation.

Like everyone else, who still had no clue what was going on, Mira looked at the team concernedly. "Wrong..?" She repeated confusedly, her eyebrows knit together delicately.

Erza nodded stiffly.. Almost robotically. "It is... It is Lucy..." She trailed off, losing the thread as emotions of all kinds seemed to overwhelm her.

The blonde Celestial mage looked at her scarlet friend confusedly. "Me?" She asked. "What about me?" She continued, getting further frustrated when no one even glanced in her direction.