Title: Absolute Zero

Author: CreateElements

Rating: T-rated for mentions of violence and death.

Summary: Lucy can't help but worry about losing him.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Breathe

"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." - Oprah Winfrey

Lucy steadied her breathing. The cold air of the night caused her lungs to constrict.

On reflex the celestial mage shivered. Never once did she make any attempt to shield herself from the cold. Tonight she welcomed it. Her dress clung to her slender torso; the rest blowing in the chilly wind.

Standing on the balcony with far off look on her face; Lucy leaned against the marble banister. The celestial mage inhaled, breathing in the frigid air. It was strangely mixed with hints of various flowers. How was it possible that winter smells so much like spring?

The faint sounds of music, laughter and people talking could be heard from behind her. No doubt they were enjoying the night. After everything that had happened, Lucy knew everyone could use a good celebration.

Looking over the city, her eyes landed on the place that had been a battlefield days ago. The field was cleared of all the debris.

At one point Lucy had been so sure they wouldn't come out alive. For a moment, Lucy thought she was going to lose her team, her friends and family. And she almost did. Fairy Tail had almost been obliterated. Had it not been for Lamia Scale and the Trimens, they would have been.

A stream of tears fell from her brown orbs, cascading down her cheeks. At some point, Lucy found it pointless to try and wipe away her tears. Hunched over the banister, she cried.

Her brown orbs traveled up to the sky, the stars looked radiant in the moonlight. Gazing up at the stars Lucy did not notice the sound of a man closing the double doors behind her. Nor did she hear the sound of his footsteps when he came up behind her.

The man stood behind her perfectly still. It didn't take him long to realize that she hadn't heard him come out to the balcony. He was about to call out her name when his words caught in his throat as he watched the woman in front of him.

The blue dress looked exquisite on her. The moonlight made Lucy's skin glow with an ethereal quality. As her shoulders shook, her beautiful long blond hair flowed down her back with a few stray strands blowing in the wind. Despite the fact that she was crying the snowfall made her look like a goddess to him. With each sob his heart clenched. "Lucy?"

The celestial mage froze the moment she heard his voice. Lucy knew it would only be a matter of time before someone noticed her disappearance. However, Gray noticing was something she didn't expect.

Lucy tried to wipe her tears away before he noticed them. Behind her, she could hear each step he took towards her.

Gray stood next to her placing his hands on the banister with a sigh. Lucy couldn't look at him and he didn't speak a word. They just watched the snowfall. The ice mage's expression was a mixture of deep confusion and inner turmoil.

The celestial mage could feel his eyes on her, watching, searching, assessing and she almost yelled at him to cut it out. Instead, she kept her head down, willing away the tears that burned her eyes and the sob that threatened to erupt from her throat.

"I thought you were over this, Lucy," he spoke in a low voice. He tugged at the tie around his neck loosening it up as he gazed over to her.

The celestial made almost smiled to herself. Over it? How could she be over it when no one will let her forget?

She'd arrived home last night to find a letter from Yukino and the rest of Sabertooth; a heartfelt apology and condolences at the loss of her teammate. Apparently, they had heard about it by word of mouth. They hadn't gotten the memo that Gray wasn't dead.

"I'm fine," she muttered, not looking up at him but at the stars.

The ice mage stayed silent for several moments and Lucy wondered if maybe for once, he believed her and would drop it. However, Gray knew her better than most. "You're not."

"I got a letter from Sabertooth," she informed him, her hands clasped together. "They're very sorry for my loss. They say that Gray Fullbuster was a good man, mage and friend. They'll miss him. If I need anything I can always ask."

Sniffling, Lucy looked over to him and noticed he was looking down at the banister with tight fists. His hands itched to remove the tie completely now. The ice mage resisted the urge, remembering the last time he had stripped down. The memory made him shiver in fear.

"I'm sorry," he whispered so low she barely heard it. "I'm sorry, Lucy."

Lucy didn't know if it's because she's mad at him or because she wanted to cry that she couldn't reply. Instead, she watched him.

"I only did what I had to," his face was still covered by his untamed locks and his voice muffled.

"You what?" She asked, glaring at him.

The ice mage took a deep breath and looked over at her. "I had to protect you Lucy! Even if giving up my life meant saving you."

She stared at him, disbelief etched into every line of her face. "I can't believe you," she hissed. "You…you…"

"I had to Lucy!" he stated. "I had to know that you would be okay. Even if it meant I had to die."

"I am not okay!" she glared at him. "How in the hell do you think I would ever be okay with you dead Gray?! Please tell me!?"

He glared right back at her. He knew she had a point, still his stubbornness refused to take a back seat. "Why do you even care Lucy!? You're fine. I'm fine. Get over it!" He flinched at his own words. They had come out harsher then he meant. "Lucy… I-"

Lucy gasped at the harsh tone to his voice. "How dare you?! You act like what you did was no big deal. Gray you could have died. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

His eyes narrow. "Of course it does," he looked away from her. "More then you know," he muttered under his breath.

Lucy looked at down at the banister. Out of nervousness she began to rub her hands together. The celestial mage needed to know; she needed to know now.

Lucy could still feel his hand on her cheek. His lips on hers. If he didn't mean it as anything more than an accident between friends, she needed him to say it now and be done with it. Biting her lower lip she looked up at him as tears ran down her cheeks. "Why Gray? Why did you kiss me?"

He stared at her, his chest rising and falling. The ice mage blinked at her in surprise. Gray had been ready for anything she could throw at him; except that. He could pretend they hadn't kissed. But why should he? It had felt so right. He had felt this way for a long time. She was scary, exciting, wonderful and so much more.

He looked into her eyes with a slight blush appearing on his cheeks, "Because I didn't want to die without kissing you."

Lucy felt her heart rate increase at his confession. "You took a hit for me," she says quietly.

The ice mage sighed; taking her hand in his he pulled her close. He wrapped his arms around her as she clung to his torso. The celestial mage buried her face into his chest, "When you took that hit. I thought… I thought I lost you."

Rubbing circles up and down her slim back; his fingers wrapped around a long strand of blond hair. "You didn't Lucy."

"I did." She nodded, tears rushing out despite her best efforts. "I thought you were dead and…and I was mad at you. I didn't understand how you could kiss me and then leave."

He looked down at the blond head buried into his chest, "You were mad at me?"

She almost smiled as she laughed softly. "You stole my first kiss."

Lucy glared up at him, "You stole my first kiss." The ice mage blushed but didn't remove the smirk from his face. "I always imagined my first kiss would be with someone I was in a relationship with." Not someone about to die.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I'm so sorry, Lucy," he muttered against her hair.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy did her best to memorize his minty scent. "I forgive you."

He placed his hand under her chin. He pulled her chin up and forced her eyes to look up at him. He felt guilt tug at him as her brown eyes looked up at his dark blue ones.

"Lucy, I- I don't care about you the same way I care about Erza or Natsu. It's different. I understand if you hate me. But I couldn't let anything happen to you. I understand it was selfish and if-if you don't feel the same…as I do. I understand." His voice sounded pained. Gray was not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. This was all still knew to him. But he couldn't help it. He wanted Lucy to understand how much she meant to him. Plus, subtlety was not one of his strong suits.

"I know," she said looking up at him.

Gray expected her to pull away, slap him and tell him she didn't feel the same. Instead, she closed her eyes, encircled her hands around his neck and closed the gap between them.

It took Gray a moment to realize she was kissing him. Soon, what was to be a passionate kiss turned out into a battle of dominance. Gray couldn't help but hold Lucy closer. He never wanted to let go of her.

Lucy was the first to pull away gasping for breath. When the ice mage opened his eyes he saw a flushed Lucy in front of him, biting her lower lip. Did she know what that did to him?

The ice mage turned to face the celestial mage; extending a hand with a smile on his face, "Give me your hand."

Lucy looked down at his hand and then up to his face with a look of utter confusion, "Gray?"

"Dance with me."

It wasn't a question. He grabbed her hand pulling her away from the banister.

The blond blinked in surprise as the raven haired man put his hand around her waist pulling her close. There were only a few times when she was this close to him. Each and every time made her heart race. "Are you sure?"

"You danced with Natsu, Jellal, Laxus and even Lyon; but you're not going to dance with me?" She hadn't even thought of asking him; all the others had asked her. Of course, most of them were just trying to talk to her. They all wanted to know if she was alright after everything that had happened. The only person who she wanted to dance with had been dodging Fairy Tail's water mage all night.

A smile graced Lucy's face when she realized that a certain rain woman was inside occupied by another ice mage. Which meant her ice mage was free and she could do whatever she wanted with him.

"Okay," smiling back up at Gray she allowed him to lead her around the balcony.

As they danced Lucy couldn't help but notice how nice Gray looked tonight. By some miracle he didn't support his normal attire; he wore clothing, not just his boxers. The suit fit well, tailored just right. The lifestyle she had grown up in, Lucy knew how expensive a suit like this ran. The celestial mage never realized that he had such an expensive taste. Thinking back on it, Lucy realized she didn't know that much about Gray. The celestial mage realized she didn't even know where he lived.

Lucy swallowed a lump in her throat. In all honesty she didn't know Gray. All she did know was how he made her feel. For now that was enough; the rest would come with time. As the song changed, neither made an attempt to stop dancing. As the two danced around the balcony Lucy's head fell against his chest.

"Gray, promise me something; don't ever do that again."

He pulled her to him and nuzzled his face into her hair. "Never," he whispered.

A/N: So I hope you liked my first entry for Graylu week 2013! Let me know what you think!

Next up: Scars

Until next time!

- CE