The temperature dropped drastically in the last day and a half. Fall is upon Magnolia and a chill sweeps through the city.
Changes like this don't bother Gray. No, the shiver that runs down his spine is not from the cold. For once he wears all his clothing. The dark blue jacket had been one of her favorites.
Standing before the cold stone, his hand clenches around the dozen roses.
The wind sweeps the dead leaves along the ground and breaks the silence with their dry crackle. Gray steps closer and slowly drops to his knees. He is not grief stricken. He is merely kneeling to brush the leaves away from the grave.
Today marks the anniversary of the first date etched into the stone. Gray sits quietly, unable to say the words that will bring him closure, simply because he doesn't know them.
He thinks back to the day it happened. Everyone saw it coming, everyone but her. Gray could have pushed her out of the way and taken her place but he didn't. Somehow, he doesn't think she'd want that.
They had been so happy together the last few months. Gray had finally admitted his feelings and she had happily accepted and returned them. They had had a bit of heaven on earth, more than most got to experience.
He knows this probably won't help but he visits regularly. He loved her. He still does. Natsu keeps telling him that he should talk it out. Gray thinks Natsu talks too much as it is. Mirajane suggested he say her name. He hasn't spoken it since that last time, since he screamed for her to speak to him. Sometimes in his dreams, he can still hear it echoing off the walls of his mind.
He'd give anything to hold her again. To talk to her, to walk with her, to tell her… tell her….
He can no longer hold back. He thinks that it's probably about time considering he has acted like she didn't exist since they laid her to rest. He won't speak of her and he never cried. Today, it has been almost six months and he breaks down. With tears streaming down his face, anguish is clear in his voice.
"I love you… Lucy."
