Kai tried to heave her battered body off the ground as soon as she heard Katelyn's voice.

"K-Katelyn... You'll b-be okay... We'll find W-Wendy and she can heal you..." Kai stuttered, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Kai... We both know I'm not going to ma-"

"No... We'll find her in time-"

"Kai, please-"

"NO!" Kai screamed, tears finally streaming down her face. "N-No... I don't w-want to... l-lose you, Katelyn..."

Katelyn weakly raised her hand to wipe away Kai's tears. "You're never going to lose me, Kai..."

"You said yourself you're not gonna make it... I'm going to lose you because I was to weak to protect you..." Kai wept, keeping her gaze down.

"Of course you're strong enough, Kai..." Katelyn encouraged with a sad smile. "I had the same worries as well... I guess I was strong enough to protect you... Just not strong enough to stay with you."

Kai didn't reply as she hugged Katelyn closer to her body and fresh tears flowed down her face. Katelyn's expression slowly grew more tired and sorrowful. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake for much longer. The two stayed in silence for a bit longer until Katelyn spoke up once again.

"Hey Kai.... Remember that fancy suit you had to wear for that party quest...?" She asked out of nowhere. Kai's head shot up and she stared at Katelyn with a questioning expression.

"H-Huh? Yeah, why...?" Kai answered.

Katelyn chuckled sadly, which quickly turned into a short coughing fit. "J-Just... Happy memories..."

●●●

"Oh Erza! Where's Kai?" Lucy asked, not seeing the girl anywhere.

"She's behind that tree," Erza answered, pointing to a tree behind her. "Kai, come out now. You know our deal."

"What deal?" Happy asked.

"Did you bribe her with food?!" Natsu added.

"Actually, I did. I promised her a lot of Strawberry Pocky if she got in the outfit I chose for her, and did a pose I wanted her to do," Erza explained with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"I DON'T WANT TO!" Kai's voice yelled from behind the tree.

"Then you're getting no Pocky!" Erza yelled back.

"But... Fine..." Kai mumbled. She fidgeted behind the tree, too embarrassed to show herself. Erza had definitely got her in fancy clothes, and bribed her to do an embarrassing pose in front of everyone. Kai didn't understand why Erza wanted her to pose, but she just went with it since she was getting Pocky.

"Come on, Kai! I wanna see your outfit!" Katelyn exclaimed, hoping to see Kai walk out in a dress.

"Yeah!" Natsu yelled in agreement.

"Okay! Okay!" Kai yelled back, getting annoyed with them. Just get it over with. It'll be fine. It's not like I'm embarrassing myself in front of everyone, right? Kai took a deep breath before walking out from behind the tree.

"Konichiwa minna~~" Kai greeted.

●●●

Kai shakily smiled at the now bittersweet memory. "H-Hehe... You guys t-teased me so much after that h-huh?" She managed to stutter. To attempt to stop the stream of tears falling down her face, Kai clenched her eyes shut. Noticing this, Katelyn once again weakly wiped her friend's tears away. Kai instantly opened her non-burnt eye at Katelyn's action, sadly staring at her bruised and tired face.

"K-Katelyn?" Kai mumbled.

"Yeah, Kai...?" Katelyn hummed in response.

Kai expression quickly turned into one of grief. "W-What's gonna happen... with... w-with S-Soul when we get b-back to Magnolia...?" 

Katelyn's eyes widened, nearly forgetting about her white haired "friend". Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to stream down her face. She truly grew to love the former Oracion Seis member and it pained her to know she would never see her again.

●●●

"I guess I'll see you once the exams are over," Soul said. She was in completely different clothes that she and Katelyn had bought a few days before. She wore a white lab coat that Katelyn had picked out, a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and black combat boots.

"Don't worry, we won't be gone for long," Katelyn reassured. Like Soul, Katelyn had changed her outfit. She now wore a yellow hoodie, black crop top, black sweatpants, and her red combat boots. Instead of her usual eyepatch, Katelyn had a face mask that covered the left side of her face. Kai had been holding on to it, and wanted to give it to Katelyn. Why Katelyn still wants to cover her left eye, nobody really knows except that it makes her look "badass".

"Katelyn... come on... This boat is killing meeee...." Kai groaned from the boat. Katelyn and Soul sweatdropped.

"Hehe... I guess I have to go now..." Katelyn chuckled. "See you when the exam are over! Maybe then we can have another date~~~"

Soul's face grew as red as Katelyn's hair. "O-Okay... See y-you then..."

●●●

"I-I..." Katelyn stuttered, tears beginning to flow down her face. "I d-don't know."

Kai only hugged Katelyn tighter as they both cried. Silence fell over them, only the sobs of the two red heads audible in the dense forest. Just a few moments later an immense rumble disrupted the duo. The two looked up, finding a huge plume of smoke slowing growing in the direction of the Tenrou Tree.

"W-What's happening...?" Katelyn weakly asked, trying to raise her head to see more of the sight.

Kai's eyes widened. "I-It's coming from the t-tree..." She muttered.

Another massive rumble shook the ground, nearly causing Kai to fall over with Katelyn in her arms. Suddenly, both girls were instantaneously drained of their magic energy. Kai was barely able to keep her hold on Katelyn.

"I-I.... can h-hardly m-move..." Kai mumbled. She looked at Katelyn and her eye widened in worry as Katelyn was just barely able to keep her eyes open. "K-K-Katelyn... p-please..."

Katelyn looked into Kai's teary eyes and gave her a weak smile. "I... I'm n-never going t-to l-leave you, K-Kai... I-I'll a-always... be with y-you..." Katelyn managed to stutter. She shakily placed her hand over Kai's heart. "... Always..."

More tears flowed down Kai's battered and burnt face as she clutched Katelyn's hand in her own. "A-Always..." Kai repeated.

Katelyn's hold on Kai's hand loosened slightly as she breathlessly chuckled. "I'm s-so g-g-glad... I-I met y-you, Kai...."

●●●

Kai walked into the forest just outside the cave she and Grima lived in. She always loved to just walk around, and enjoy the scenery. As she was walking, something fell from the sky and onto her head.

"OW!"

Kai rubbed the spot the object hit. She bent down to see that an unusually large egg had fallen from the sky. It was a white egg with red markings on it. Kai slowly picked it up, and ran back to the cave to show Grima what she'd found.

●●●

"M-Me, too, K-Katelyn..." Kai choked out with a heartbroken smile. Sobs racked her body as the moment she dreaded come closer. "Me, too..."

"I l-love you, Kai.... Y-You're the b-best p-partner anyone... could h-have..." Katelyn coughed out.

Kai let out a broken chuckle. "I w-was the one t-that was l-lucky t-to have y-you as my p-p-partner..." She stuttered. "I d-don't know what I-I'd d-do without y-you."

●●●

"K-Katelyn...?" Kai weakly coughed out.

Katelyn gently set down Kai on the ground, and hugged her. "Kai! Are you alright?!"

Kai winced in pain, but smiled nonetheless. "As alright as I can be with all this Void Essence covering my arms."

Katelyn chuckled lightly as she ruffled Kai's hair. "You have no idea how relieved I am that you're finally awake."

●●●

Katelyn slightly tightened her gripped on Kai's hand. "You... c-can do so m-much... on y-your own, Kai..." She reassured.

Kai sobbed in response, not able to find words to respond with. She felt Katelyn's grip loosen once again and her heart dropped. "I... I-I... I d-don't w-want you to.... g-g-go, Katelyn..." Kai stuttered heavily. "I l-love you so m-m-much..."

●●●

A small cracking noise made Kai come out of her thoughts. She turned around to see that the egg had a few cracks in it. Kai went over to the egg, and more and more cracked started to form on it. Soon enough, the egg finally broke open.

Kai stared in awe at what came out of the egg. A tiny red kitten sat in the remains of the egg.

●●●

Katelyn smiled sadly at her young friend, slowly getting more tired by the second. "I l-love you, too, K-Kai..." She paused for a moment as a heartbroken expression grew on her face. "Hey... M-Mind telling S-S-Soul I love h-her f-for me...?"

Kai just nodded as she continued to sob, not able to get a single word out of her mouth.

"K-Kai..." Katelyn muttered weakly, causing Kai to look back up at her. "J-Just p-promise me.... one t-thing..."

"W-What is i-i-it?" Kai asked.

●●●

"Hewwo!" The kitten said excitedly.

"H-hello, my name's Kai."

"Hewwo, Kai-chan! I don't have a name yet."

●●●

"You... g-gotta stay s-strong f-for me, too.... A-Alright...?" Katelyn coughed, barely keeping her eyes open.

Kai's non-burnt eye widened, recognizing those similar words from Grima's letter. "I w-will.... I-I'll strong f-for y-you... a-a-and..." Kai's voice broke. "I'll t-try to s-stay... h-h-happy for... Grima...."

●●●

"W-well, how about I-I n-name you"

"Ok, Kai-chan!"

"How about... Liz?" The kitten shook her head.

●●●

Katelyn sighed peacefully as her eyes fully closed. "I'm.... glad...."

Kai gasped, feeling Katelyn's grip fully loosen in her hand. "K-Katelyn...? Katelyn... p-please, no..."

●●●

"Umm... Patty?" No.

●●●

"No no no no no no..... please... d-don't l-leave me, K-Katelyn..." Kai wept, clutching Katelyn's hand near her.

●●●

"Lissa?" No.

●●●

"K-Katelyn, please.... d-don't g-go...."

●●●

"Oh! How about-"

●●●

"KATELYN!!!!"