Lucy lay on her bed and listened to the sound of the ticking clock.

Her father and his fiance were in the living room, discussing whatever the hell they were discussing.

Lucy let out a loud sigh as she recalled the recent events.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

She went to her nightstand and picked up a key that had string attached to it.

But the key was broken, half of it was gone.

The memories that that key held were dear to Lucy. Something she hoped she would never forget.

"Aquarius!" a young Lucy cried out as her blue-haired friend fell down the large steep hill.

"Lucy!" She yelled back, reaching her hand out.

Lucy reached out to grab it but her arms were too short.

Tears formed as she watched her first friend fall down the cliff that she was supposed to go down.

"AQUARIUS!" She screamed, holding the key she had given her just a few minutes ago.

She forced back her tears and ran and ran. She ran to her home.

She opened the door and glanced around frantically for her mother.

"Mama!" She shouted, running all around the house.

Her mother, Layla Heartfilia, stepped out of the kitchen, apron around her waist.

"Lucy?" She spoke and then she saw her daughter, crying and covered with dirt.

"Lucy! What happened?" Layla cried out, outreaching her arms as Lucy ran into her embrace.

"Mama! You have to save Aquarius!" Lucy took her mother's hand and started to guide her out of the house.

"Lucy? What's going on?" Layla insisted, stopping her daughter from getting further.

"No! We can't stop! Aquarius needs us!" Lucy cried.

"Lucy," Layla kneeled down and faced her teary eyed daughter. "Lucy, tell me what happened."

"Aquarius fell! I tripped on a rock and I was falling but she jumped in and saved me." Lucy explained. "So now I need to save her!"

"Lucy..."

"Let's go!" She yelled, taking the chance to pull her mother to the scene of the incident.

She let go her mother's hand and started to climb down the hill.

Layla didn't stop her since she knew that she would be angry if she did but she did accompany her as they traveled down.

They jumped onto a nearby tree and climbed down, searching the ground for Aquarius.

"Aquarius!" Lucy shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Aquarius-chan!" Her mother yelled, following suit.

Lucy started walking to her right, saying that she heard Aquarius call her name.

The two continued on until they arrived at an area of thick trees.

Lucy spotted long blue hair on the grass.

"Aquarius!" She cried, running to her friend.

Aquarius was bleeding from her leg but it didn't look too serious.

"The trees must have lessened the fall.." Layla muttered, glancing around at the surroundings.

Lucy propped Aquarius up against a tree and examined her wounds.

She had several cuts and bruises, especially around her arms, but the worst was her leg, that had suffered a long gash.

However, it wasn't that deep, so it would heal soon.

"Aquarius..." Lucy cried, hugging her friend tightly.

"Lucy, you okay?" Aquarius asked her, patting her back reassuringly.

"Never do that again!" Lucy suddenly shouted, surprising both Aquarius and her mother. Tears fell from her eyes.

"Don't ever make me worry like that! What if you had gotten injured badly? I never want you to get hurt! Ever!"

Aquarius chuckled but gave Lucy a large grin. "Very well," she told her, "I promise I won't make you worry ever again."

"Good." Lucy said before hugging her again.

Layla smiled, wiping the water from her teary eyes.

Lucy smiled as she held the half of the key tightly.

Nine year old Lucy ran into the room where Aquarius was, studying for a test she had.

"Aquarius!" She yelled, making her friend give her a dirty look but that didn't faze her.

"Remember this?" She held up a golden key with a blue symbol on the top.

Aquarius gasped. "You still have that?"

Lucy grinned. "Of course!"

Aquarius felt a warm smile creeping onto her face. "Can I see it?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"Sure!" Lucy handed over the key.

Aquarius examined it once more before putting her two hands on each side of the key and breaking it in half.

"Ah!" Lucy gasped, "why'd you do that?"

Aquarius smiled and handed Lucy the top of the key. "Here," she said as she dropped it into her hands, "this way, we'll be connected no matter where we are. No matter how far away we go."

Lucy just stood there for a moment, taking in what had just happened.

She held onto the half of the key tightly and smiled at her.

"Yeah!"

Lucy grinned as she looked at the key once again. This broken key wasn't a sign for bad times, instead it was a sign that good times will come.

Memories can be both good or bad but all of them have something in common.

They're all in the past. All memories that you have have already passed. From that, you can either chose to let it bring you down or learn and let it make you stronger.

Lucy smiled sadly as she remembered more memories of her past. Strange, she thought, why am I remembering all of this now?

"Lucy!" A ten year old cried out.

The nine year old blonde turned around, half of a key attached to a string around her neck.

"Aquarius?" She spoke, curious to see why the blue-haired girl was so out of breath.

"Lucy," she took a deep breath before gazing into her eyes, "you're mother is-is,"

Aquarius gulped. "She's almost gone."

Lucy widened her eyes and dropped the flowers in her hands. The flowers she was planning to give to her mother.

"N-no way.." Lucy felt her hands shake but willed it away.

"W-where is-is she?" She stuttered.

"Her bedroom," Aquarius said, putting her head down in what may be perceived as shame.

Lucy forced back tears from falling. She had to be strong. Strong for her mother. Strong for her father. Strong for Aquarius. And strong for herself.

"Let's go," she said, grabbing Aquarius' hand and stringing her along as they went to her mother's bedroom.

She opened the door to see her father speaking to her mother that lay in bed.

"M-mama?" Lucy called out and her mother turned her head to face her.

"Ah, Lucy," she smiled, "come here." She gestured for the two girls to come closer.

"Lucy, dear, why do you look so sad?" She asked her daughter as she reached her hand out to touch her small face.

"I-I don't want you to go, Mama," Lucy confessed, holding onto the hand on her cheek.

Layla smiled. "Lucy, I'll never leave you."

Lucy had to hold back tears.

"You-you promise?"

Her mother gave her one last warm smile and brought Lucy's forehead down to kiss it gently.

"I promise."

Then, her mother's hand fell from her cheek and onto the bed, limp.

Lucy widened her eyes.

"M-mama?" She chocked out.

There was no response.

"Mama?" She spoke more clearer as she stepped forward.

She touched her forehead and saw her closed eyes.

"Mama."

"Mama, wake up."

She started to try and shake her mother "awake."

"Mama!" Lucy knew that her mother was gone, she knew from the moment her hand fell.

But it wasn't as easy to accept it.

Because she didn't want this to happen. She didn't want her dear mother to leave her.

Tears fell down the blonde's small face.

"Mama..." She fell to her knees and buried her head in the blankets surroundings her mother.

"You promised me..." she said.

Lucy blinked back tears that started forming in her eyes. She didn't like to cry. And yet, she found herself crying a lot lately.

She sighed and turned on her phone. She had texts from Levy, Juvia, and Erza. She grinned when she saw they had spoken in the group chat.

Four Weird People

Levy: Hi guys

Juvia: Hi

Erza: Hello

Levy: ...

Erza: ??

Levy: Where's Lucy?

Juvia: She could be busy right now

Levy: I guess...

Erza: You're so protective of her

Levy: Who you talking to?

Erza: You

Levy: Who am I protective of?

Erza: Lucy

Juvia: Juvia thinks so too

Levy: Ehhhh, really??

Erza: Yeah

Juvia: Juvia agree with Erza-san

Levy: I guess so.

Erza: You think she's okay?

Juvia: Lucy-san is alright, she's Lucy-san you know

Levy: Oh my god

Erza: ??

Juvia: What?

Levy: I think Gajeel is outside my house

Erza: WHAT???

Juvia: You sure that it's him?

Levy: Yeah, pretty sure. I mean, who else has long black hair and piercings all over his body?

Erza: What's he doing there??

Juvia: What Juvia want to know is how he got your address.

Levy: HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?

Levy: Wait, I think he's walking away

Erza: Good.

Levy: AND NEVERMIND

Levy: HE'S WALKING TOWARDS MY HOUSE

Erza: I'M COMING RIGHT NOW

Juvia: Juvia is coming as well

Levy: Oh my god, he's knocking on the door, what do I do??

Juvia: Juvia thinks you should ignore it. Pretend like you're not home.

Levy: okay, okay

Erza: I'M STILL COMING TO YOUR HOUSE

Levy: Thank you, Erza

Juvia: Juvia is coming too!

Levy: You guys are the best

Levy: I think he's going away now

Levy: What the..

Juvia: What happened??

Levy: Gajeel is holding a hammer

Erza: WHAT??

Levy: WHY IS HE WALKING TO MY HOUSE WITH A HAMMER IN HIS HAND

Levy: GUYS, HE'S WALKING TO MY HOUSE WITH A HAMMER IN HIS HAND

Erza: Don't worry, I'm almost there

Juvia: Same with Juvia

Lucy widened her eyes as she read the texts. What the heck was going on??

--

So what do you guys think?

Why do you think Gajeel had a hammer?

Why do you think he was at Levy's house in the first place?

What do you think of Lucy's past?

Any ideas or suggestions?

Hope you enjoyed.

-EpicMelody