Never Let Me Go: A Fairy Tail Fanfiction
Additional Summary: Time doesn't heal all wounds.
This fact is made evident once Gray accidentally runs into a sobbing Erza, still mourning over the loss of Jellal. Not knowing what his action will cause, he relays this information to Natsu and Lucy, and the former decides that the Titania's suffering needs to come to an end.
If one person of Fairy Tail suffers, then the rest do as well. And they will pay any cost if it just means being able to make one of their nakama happy once more.
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Drama/Adventure/Romance/Suspense, with a sprinkling of humor thrown in every once and a while. ;D
Main Pairing: ErzaxJellal (main pairing)
Other Pairings: (subject to change; Love triangles will be resolved based on what you guys think, and how I think the story will best turn out. ;)
LisannaxNatsuxLucy
LevyxGajeelxMirajane
LucyxGrayxCanaxJuvia
GrayxErzaxJellal
NatsuxGrayxLucyxLoke
GajeelxMirajanexFried (added due to popular request)
A/N: I got the idea of this story when I was doing a profile survey thing. I had to come up with a storyline that included both Natsu and Jellal, and I came up with this. Unfortunately, my computer glitched and the survey wasn't updated to my profile, but ah well. T_T
Disclaimer: Nope! I do not own Fairy Tail. Although… I wish I did. ;D
Edit as of October 24th, 2011.
Gray lazily stared up at the large, pink sign suspended in the air above him, a tired expression contorting his features. Fairy Hills.
It was just as how he had remembered it from when he was younger, back when he still visited the dormitory constantly. It was on the same high hill, and was as big as his memory insisted. The building's color was obviously fading, and he subconsciously realized that that meant that the women in charge of the dorm would eventually put out a mission to have someone take the time to repaint it. Either that, or they'd just do it themselves. It really depended on how lazy they were feeling.
Gray hadn't actually visited the dorms for a very long time. He hadn't been allowed back until now since the former matron of the dormitory was long gone, and Erza (being the Head Girl) had finally approved of men coming and going between the hours of ten through five. Then again, he probably would've been allowed in anyway because of a certain request from a certain short, ancient, hairy master.
"Gray-Chaaaaan!"
The ice mage turned, wide-eyed towards the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov. The expression of the miniature, old man was a creepy one. Large and gleeful, squinty-eyed, and merry, and eagerly waving Gray towards him.
There was no doubt about it: Someone had obviously been drinking tonight.
The black-haired mage couldn't help but hesitate to move towards him. He knew that he shouldn't be denying a request from his master, but. . . Juvia was hunting him down. Would it really be alright to blow his cover by consenting with Makarov's wishes? Gray slowly craned his neck to look behind the large, wooden pillar he was hiding behind.
Sure enough, a certain blunette water mage was excitedly tossing over tables, hearts replacing her actual eyes, ignoring all of the other mages as she sing-songed, "Graaaaay-Saaaaamaaaa! Where areeee youuuuu? "
Gray winced, before quickly adjusting his head so that he was hidden behind the safety of the wooden pillar. A small frown on his lips, he shot a glance to Master Makarov, who still had that stupid grin on his face, but was now wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, making the ice mage's features contort into one of disgust.
"So this is how it all ends," Gray muttered to himself, "I'm either going to be raped by my blue-haired, crazy, overprotective stalker who somehow thinks that we're in a relationship, or by the pedophilic old man that only hires some mages because of their boob sizes."
The man paused for a moment, thinking over his options, before bluntly stating, "Well, I'd rather get raped by the one that actual has boobs. . ."
After taking in a gulp of air for good luck, Gray stepped out of his hiding place, before beginning his walk of death towards his lovestruck suitor. But before he could get very far, a thunderous roar sounded over all of the noise the guild was making, "GRAY FULLBUSTER, GET YOUR FILTHY, NAKED ASS OVER HERE!"
Out of shock, Gray looked down to stare at his. . . ahem, assets.
He groaned as he realized that he was naked.
"GRAAAAY!"
With a sigh, Gray turned away from Juvia (who was thankfully being held back by Erza) and towards the Master, who was angrily huffing and puffing in a size that was bigger than his usual. However, once Gray took his seat at the bar next to him and Mira offered him a dishtowel to cover himself up, Makarov's face contorted back into its creepy, overly friendly, pedophilic smile. "Gray-Chan," said mage couldn't stop the grimace at the suffix added to his name, "Won't you do me a favor?"
Gradually, the ice mage's expression changed into a hesitantly curious one. "A favor?"
A twinkle lit in Makarov's eye, and his pedophilic grin morphed into a devilish smirk, "It's more of a mission actually. . ."
Apparently, Gray' s longtime friend, Cana, had been having major drinking issues lately, and Makarov had sent him on a mission to try to convince her to tone it down a bit. The black-haired mage allowed a bitter frown onto his expression.
He should've gotten Macao to do this job. Cana listened to Macao last time. . .
Unfortunately, Macao was off with the Boy Scouts or something of the sort with Romeo. For some reason, Makarov saw Gray as the person other than Macao that Cana would listen to. The ice mage could only assume that this was because he had known Cana longer than a lot of the others, and because their bond was pretty strong. Either way, he couldn't really complain. The Master was giving him a reward of two-thousand-five-hundred jewels if he succeeded, and that was more than enough to keep Gray happy. Especially for such an easy job.
The only problem was coming up with a way to convince Cana to stop her obsessive drinking.
Gray sighed, but pushed open the front door anyway. He looked around, half expecting the little old lady that was long gone to rush in expecting a girl, and then give him a lecture about how he should wear clothes. At force of habit, Gray looked down at himself and sighed, obviously exasperated.
He had forgotten to wear a shirt…. Again.
You can do this, Gray. Remember, there is money on the line!
Still, Gray couldn't stop himself from taking in the familiar lobby that doubled as a living room. It still had that homey aura to it that he remembered strongly, and when he closed his eyes, it was easy for him to imagine the place as it had been when he was younger: Children chasing each other around, laughter sounding throughout the rooms, angry yells from the older women about perverted little kids, and even the scolding frown from the former grandmotherly matron.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts, Gray made his way to the right, towards the place he remembered as being Cana's room. He opened the door, not even stopping to knock, somewhat glad that the ladies here didn't care about keys and such, and that the rooms opened easily. Cana probably wouldn't have opened it if she knew it was him. She had probably gotten the hint that Master was going to send someone to talk with her about her "problems."
But what Gray saw before him, wasn't Cana's room at all.
As soon as he opened the door, hot steam flew towards him, temporarily marring his vision. As he waved away the substance while shielding his eyes, a loud gasp and a few high-pitched screams caused him to forget about his sight, and commence freak-out mode. Just his luck.
Of course, he'd accidentally open the door to the Lady's Showers when a majority of the women in the dorms decided to take a shower..
Just. His. Freaking. Luck.
Cheeks stained a shade of red that was bright enough to rival Erza's hair, and eyes wide enough that they could compete with Happy's, Gray yelped, before managing, "W-Wha—I-I didn't mean. . . Uhh. . . S-Sorry, ladies! W-Wrong room!" Before he could see their reactions, he slammed the door shut, and ran for his life. Even though he had run at a full sprint, he could still hear the conjoined yells of anger coming from Levy and some of his other female nakama.
"G-Gray-Sama. . .S-Saw me. . . N-N-N-N-Naked. . .!"
Gray felt his face flush even more at the half squeal-half scream that obviously came from Juvia. His face became even more red when he heard a loud THUMP! which probably signified that Juvia had fainted. There was a simultaneous battle cry, before the thunderous stomps of angry female mages that had began chasing him sounded throughout the halls.
Knowing them for as long as Gray did, he could only assume that they were planning to torture him slowly, tear his limbs apart, use them as decorations, skewer his head, and then stick it outside the dorms as a warning.
He shook his head, in a lame attempt to dismiss his pessimistic thoughts.
Shit. That wasn't Cana's room. . . I could've sworn. . .
The ice mage frowned, but dashed into the next room he saw. He glanced at his surroundings. It seemed to be an armory of some sort.
Gray hurriedly closed the door behind him, and threw himself into a corner of the room, under what seemed to be a large sword. . . or was it a spear? Nevertheless, he put his hands over his ears, and tried to think. A habit that he had kept back from when he was much younger. He could hear the thumping of heart, and could still feel the vibrations of what was probably his fellow nakama eagerly searching for him so they could murder him.
When the beating of his heart returned to its normal rate, Gray slowly allowed his hands to fall to the floor. He looked around in wonder. What kind of Girls' Dorm has its' own armory?
He stood up, and began to examine the objects around him, specifically at a piece of armor that looked eerily familiar. It was black, and looked like it was probably fitted. He reached out his hand to touch the smooth metal, but pulled it away at the last second.
I'm on a mission. I have no time to be getting distracted…
He turned back around to face the door. He was getting ready to walk towards it, when he heard a sudden burst of music, followed by a rustling noise.
There was the sound of his quick heartbeat again.
Well. . . if there's something lurking around in an armory, then maybe they plan to steal something… Maybe Master will give me more jewels for this extra feat! Gray couldn't help but let a greedy grin appear on his face.
Slowly, he lurked back to his corner, and made his way to the end of the wall. It opened up to what seemed to be another room, he realized.
He made out lyrics of a song being played on a radio, and he stopped to listen to the words.
This time, this place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late,
Who was I to make you wait?
Just one chance, just one breath
Just in case there's just one left.
Cause you know,
You know, you know. . .
That I love you, I've loved you all along.
And I miss you, for being away for far too long.
I keep dreaming, you'll be with me and you'll never go.
Stop breathing, if I don't see you anymore.
There was a shaky voice that was quietly singing along, but it seemed to be choked. Gray's mind began to race with thoughts of what this could mean, as he continued to listen to the lyrics.
On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
Cause with you, I'd withstand,
All of Hell just to hold your hand
I'd give it all,
I'd give for us,
Give anything, but I won't give up
Cause you know, you know, you know. . .
That I love you, I've loved you all along.
And I miss you, for being away for far too long.
I keep dreaming, you'll be with me and you'll never go.
Stop breathing, if I don't see you anymore.
So far away, been far away for far too long.
So far away, been far away for far too long.
But you know,
You know, you know
I wanted,
I wanted you to stay,
Cause I needed,
I need to hear you say
I love you, I've loved you all along.
And I forgive you, for being away for far too long.
So keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore,
Believe it, hold on to me, never let me go.
Keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore,
Believe it, hold on to me, never let me go.
Hold on to me, never let me go.
Hold on to me, never let me go.
The voice that had been singing along had seemed to choke at the lyrics "I love you", and seemed to be crying hysterically now. Gray couldn't help but frown. Whoever this was was one of his nakama. And none of his nakama deserved to cry.
Gray was about to make his move to go comfort the lady who was crying, but realized he didn't even know who was crying yet. He slowly peeked behind the wall, and was shocked at what he saw.
Erza of Fairy Tail.
Erza, the Titania.
Erza, his comrade.
Erza, his friend.
He bit his tongue to stop the gasp of shock from being released, and quickly brought his head back to its former position. Just in time too, because Erza seemed to have thrown the radio while in her hysteric mode, and it whizzed by Gray, brushing by his long, untidy hair.
He gulped, and adjusted himself so that he was closer to the corner of the room. Gray tried to replay the lyrics in his mind to find an understanding as to why his comrade was so upset. It was then that he realized why Erza had been crying. The lyrics eerily reminded Gray of Erza and Jellal.
Gray couldn't help but feel a sharp pang pierce his heart, but he shook the thought away.
Erza was still obviously madly in love with Jellal, and had never gotten over the fact that she might never see him again.
The crying had reached a crescendo, and Gray took that as his cue to leave. He felt kind of bad listening in on Erza during what seemed to be a private moment of her life.
Swiftly but silently, Gray had left the room. And soon, he even left Fairy Hills. He had forgotten his mission. He had forgotten about the jewels that could've been his.
But he had convinced himself to never set foot in Fairy Hills again.
A/N: The song that Erza was listening to is called "Far Away" by Nickelback. Another question in the survey had said "If you had to write a songfic about Erza, which song would you pick?" I had picked this song, and when I combined it with the idea for the storyline, this is what I thought of.
But now that I think of it, I kind of like it as a one-shot. I'm not very sure whether or not I should continue this story the way I planned to. But eh. That's your decision! Haha, when I was rereading this, I realized that I haven't even gotten to the part that includes Natsu yet. XP