Yeah, you knew this was coming. This is another stream of consciousness story. I'm just writing this to get this out of my head and also as a vent for my feelings. So, here it is. This is largely unedited except for a couple of changes. I won't tell you to enjoy this. But here it is anyways.

P. S. This is from Gray's point of view.

The Cliché

I have very little memories of my parents. I've tried to block out all of my memories of them because they are so painful. But there is one I can remember very clearly.

I remember my mom reading me a fairy tale before bedtime. It was one of my favorite stories. I can remember the title clearly: The Tale of the Ice Prince and the Peach Princess. The story goes like this.

In a far off kingdom, there lived a boy and a girl who were best friends. The boy was kinda cold and distant to others. So they called him the Ice Prince. His best friend, a girl he had known all his life, loved to eat peaches every day. That's why they called her the peach princess. They had a happy childhood, playing kids games, reading books, spitting watermelon seeds at each other, basically being kids. When the Ice Prince was around the Peach Princess, he was very happy and smiled a lot. When the Peach Princess was around the Ice Prince, she felt safe because he would protect her.

However, all of that ended when the Peach Princess was called to the castle to train in the ways of magic. Naturally, she was excited to be given the opportunity to become a magician. But the Ice Prince wasn't as happy. Going to the castle meant that he would be separated from his friend. So the two made a promise. The Peach Princess would go to the castle first to become a magician while the Ice Prince would train to become a knight. Together, they could go on adventures together and never be separated again. So that's what they did.

And oh, the adventures they went on. The Ice Prince became a dashing knight, the strongest in the land. It is said that he was able to cleave a mountain in two with the flick of his sword. The Peach Princess, in the meantime, became an impressive magician, able to cast the most powerful of spells with ease. When they were together, no enemy could stand before them. And the two of them started getting closer. The Peach Princess was falling for the Ice Prince and vice versa. But neither of them could say what was in their hearts for fear of losing what they already had.

I loved pretending that I was the Ice Prince when I was a kid. I would swing my imaginary sword and imaginary baddies, defeating them in one blow. I was invincible. No one could stop me. I would protect the Peach Princess. I never gave thought to who would play my Peach Princess when I was five or so. At that stage, I thought girls were icky and full of cooties. But I could protect an imaginary Peach Princess.

But it was the end of the story that got me. The climatic end of the story went something like this. The Ice Prince and the Peach Princess were searching for an enemy known as the King of Illusion. This guy was able to create powerful illusions, which he used to deceive people and destroy their psyches. This turned them into empty husks, unable to do even the most simple of tasks. He would be their greatest foe.

However, the King of Illusions cast his awful spell on the Peach Princess, making her forget about her entire childhood with the Ice Prince. I remember hating the King of Illusions from that moment on. How could he do that to the Peach Princess? I also remember feeling very sorry for the Ice Prince, who cried and cried for his lost Peach Princess. He tried everything to make her remember who he was. It took so long but he finally made her remember everything. I remember being so happy that he finally got her back.

But there was one thing left to do. The Ice Prince and the Peach Princess had to defeat the King of Illusions once and for all. It was an awesome fight. And after a tough fight, they were victorious. The King of Illusions laid on the floor, defeated. The Ice Prince and the Peach Princess were about to leave when the King of Illusion shot a magic spell at the Peach Princess. The Ice Prince saw it and pushed her away, intercepting it with his body. The Peach Princess could only watch in horror as the magic ripped through him. Tears streamed from her eyes as she watched him die. The Peach Princess asked why he would do this for her.

I can remember the last words that the Ice Prince had said to the Peach Princess. "I'm sorry, my Peach Princess. I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you die. I love you. I always have. My only regret was not telling you sooner. Now I wish I had more time. I'm so very sorry. But please, live for me, my love."

I couldn't understand it. Why did the Ice Prince do that? Why did he sacrifice himself to save the Peach Princess? It wasn't fair. They were supposed to spend the rest of their lives together. (It would be a long while before I learned that this is a frequently used cliché, dying to protect a loved one.) I remember asking mom about it. She had a far away look on her face. She said that when you love someone, you always think about them more than your own life. I remember saying that it was stupid. I also remember saying that I would never sacrifice myself to save someone. Mom smiled and said that I would understand one day.

I could never wrap my head around people who sacrifice themselves to save the ones they love. I couldn't understand why My mom and dad used their bodies to shield me from the rubble when Deliora destroyed our house. I couldn't understand why my teacher, Ur, sacrificed her body to defeat Deliora. I couldn't understand why Master Makarov was willing to give up his life to fight Acnologia. Don't the people who sacrifice themselves understand that by choosing death, they are hurting the ones who are left behind?

I made a vow that I would not become that tired old cliché. I would never sacrifice myself to protect anyone. I wouldn't let anyone get close to me. I will shut myself off from people.

But I joined the wrong guild for that. Fairy Tail isn't that kind of guild. In fact, to call it a guild would be kind of an understatement. It's more like a family. And you can't close yourself off from family. I love Fairy Tail and the people in it (yes, even that dumbass Natsu). They are my family and you do what you have to for family. The longer I stay in Fairy Tail, the more my heart starts to open. But I refuse to sacrifice myself for them. I would never let them know the pain of losing a loved one.

And then she joins my guild...Juvia Lockser. She is a weird one. After our fight, she would follow me around. If I even made a comment about being hungry, she would make me a five course feast. If I were tired, she would get me a blanket. If I were hot, she would get loads of ice to keep me cool. She would proclaim to everyone around that she was in love with me. At the beginning, I found all of the attention a bit too much. But over time, it became routine to the point where I was bothered when she wasn't doing any of these things.

The more I hung around Juvia, the more I started feel...weird. I would get these flutters in my heart every time she was around. I started worrying about whether or not she was safe. I started getting annoyed when someone took away Juvia's attention from me. I started feeling embarrassed whenever she does her fangirl thing. What I feel for Juvia isn't something I can put into one word or even a hundred. I don't know. I can't explain it at all.

But Erza did. On the second night of the Grand Magic Games, she called me out on my feelings for Juvia. She said to make everything clear. I don't get how she figured out how I felt for her. I've never explicitly stated I had feelings for Juvia. Is it really that obvious? I didn't say another word to Erza that night. But I made a vow to myself that after the games are over, I'll make sure to tell Juvia.

How could I have known that the dragons would have attacked Crocus?

There were dragons everywhere. And I really couldn't do anything. Only Dragon Slayers can fight dragons. I have to leave everything to Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy and the others while the rest of us deal with the small fries. I'll make sure to protect my family with all I have.

In the heat of battle, I found Juvia and Meredy talking about something. I was going to remind them to stay on guard when one of the dragon's spawned monsters shot out an energy beam at the two. I jumped in immediately and tackled them to the ground, getting them out of harm's way. Good. I was in time. They were safe.

Juvia looks like she's about to go into one of her fantasies again while Meredy looks grateful at being saved. Lyon tells the girls that they need to focus while we are in the middle of a fight.

I look at Juvia. I want to tell her something. She looks at me like I am going to confess to her. Silly girl. Does she really have to do this every time I speak to her? Then again, Juvia wouldn't be Juvia if she wasn't a bit silly.

Before I get the chance to, Lyon yells out to Juvia. One of those spawns fires another energy beam. I see it coming but my body acts before my brain can think.

It's weird. There were many things I could have done to make sure that Juvia didn't get hit. I could have pulled her out of the way. I could have tackled her to the ground. I could have put up an Ice Shield. I could have done all of these things. But I didn't

I shoved her away from the attack and used my body to intercept the attack. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Perhaps because I'm on adrenaline. Or perhaps because I know I am going to die. I see the look on Juvia's face. She's crying. I feel bad. It's my fault she's crying.

As more beams pierced my body, I couldn't help but think about the Tale of the Ice Prince and the Peach Princess. I finally understand why the Ice Prince did what he did to save the Peach Princess. I finally understand what drove my parents, Ur and the master to sacrifice themselves to save me.

It's love. It's love. It's because I love Juvia that I am sacrificing myself to save her.

And now that I am going to die, I can't help but regret not telling Juvia how I felt. There are so many things I'm never going to have because of this. I'm never going to be able to walk through the park with her. I'm never going to go out on dates with her. I'm never going to kiss her. I'll never see if this relationship could have become something more. I'll never have any of it.

And as I feel my body become heavy, I can't help but laugh. I've become the thing I've always said I wouldn't be. I've become that cliché, the guy who sacrifices himself for the ones he loves. I've become the Ice Prince. I look at Juvia who looks like this is just a bad dream and she'll wake up from this nightmare. She would have made a great Peach Princess.

Damn. So many things left unsaid. It's my fault.

Sorry, Juvia. Guess I won't get the chance to make everything clear. I hope you won't hold it against me.

Well, here's my feelings on the latest Fairy Tail chapter.

I doubt Gray is going to die. One, he's a main character. Plus Gray is pretty popular with the fans. And two, his death accomplishes nothing. In literature, death does two things. For villains, death is the ultimate comeuppance. It's their just reward for all their evil deeds. For bad guys who turn good, death is the ultimate redemption. When they sacrifice themselves to save someone, they are forgiven their sins. For people close to the heroes, death pushes their character in a new direction. Gray's "death" does none of these things. He just dies very brutally. And I doubt he's going to pull an Aerith. He would never be forgiven if he did. So I'll wait for next week.

Now that this is out of my head, I'll make sure to write some fluff to take away our anger.

I won't ask you to like or hate it. I just needed to write this to get this out of my system.

A. Angel