"Sorry, Grey. Tell everyone… tell them I'm alright, okay? Tell them I've gone on a long mission, but I'll try to come back soon. Goodbye, Grey." Natsu smiled a pained smile and blinked tears from his eyes and ran over to the small group of darkly dressed men a few metres away from them.
No. It wasn't meant to happen like this. Natsu couldn't just leave. What did he mean a long mission? What was happening? Who were those people?
Grey reached out to grab on to the fire mage and hold him forever, never letting him go.
It was too late. Natsu was too far away and he could do nothing but watch as his best friend left him to break the news to everyone else.
"Natsu…" He whispered in shock and fell to his knees.
Later he walked into the guild, a shadow hiding his face.
"Hey, Grey! What's up?" Lucy asked, beaming as usual.
Grey couldn't return her smile. Not today.
"Grey?" She leaned closer, trying to peek at his face under his hair.
"He's gone." He mumbled weakly.
"What?" Lucy was cheerfully confused.
More like blissfully ignorant, Grey thought. He had to break the news to her, even though she'd be crushed.
"Natsu's… gone." He elaborated a tiny bit.
"What do you mean, Grey? Natsu's gone where?" She smiled openly, and Grey couldn't help but imagine her expression when he told her.
"That goddamned idiotic flame-brain's gone and left Fairy Tail!" He screamed at last, tears in his eyes.
The entire guild went silent as his statement cut through the cheerful air like a reaper's scythe.
Every grin and smirk and angry frown was wiped from the building. The entire guild was utterly soundless – speechless.
Silent tears sprang forth from Lucy's eyes.
"What?" She asked, quivering hands over her mouth. "Natsu is… Why? Why would you say something like that, Grey? Answer me! That's a sick joke! Stop it right now or I won't forgive you!" She screamed at him.
"I'm sorry." He merely replied.
"No. I won't believe it. I can't understand what you're saying. Natsu would never…"
"He's gone, Lucy. He said to tell you he was going on a long mission and would be back as soon as he could, but…"
"He's just on a mission, then. You scared me, Grey." Lucy tried to make herself believe it.
"There were tears in his eyes, Lucy. He said 'sorry' and 'goodbye'. He's not coming back." His voice shook but he couldn't care less.
Lucy crumpled to the floor in front of him, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything but stand there with his head bowed.
He heard Mira drop a plate somewhere in the room but didn't turn to look.
Cana had dropped her sake, Reedus had let his brush draw an ugly line through his most recent painting and Erza and Happy were also crying silently.
'What are you doing, Natsu?' He thought to himself. 'Did you really think we'd accept that? You've always been an idiot with no sense of self-preservation but this is going too far, don't you think?'
"We'll find him." A voice came from near the doors of the guild.
Grey turned his head to look, as did the rest of the guild.
Romeo stood in the doorway, clenching his fists by his sides with tears running down his cheeks.
"Natsu would never leave Fairy Tail if he had the choice. Something must have happened, so we'll find him and we'll save him, because that's what he would do and that's what it means to be a Fairy Tail mage!"
"Romeo…" Macao smiled at his son, ever-faithful to the pink-haired mage.
"Besides, even if he does want to leave, he hasn't had the traditional Fairy Tail farewell ceremony, so we can't let him leave, right?" He grinned.
The whole guild sprang into action. They would never let go of Natsu. He was the heart and soul of the guild and the personification of everything they stood for. They'd fight for him to their deaths. He was a brother or son to all of them and they couldn't let him leave.
"For Natsu." Grey breathed.
"For Natsu." Lucy repeated.
"For Natsu." Happy tried to smile.
"For Natsu!" Erza looked determined.
"For Natsu!" Makarov shouted from the highest balcony.
"FOR NATSU!" Cheered the whole guild, wiping their tears.