Moving Forward
I uploaded this one shot a while back, but for some reason I took it down.
Weird.
Oh, Well.
It's baaaaaack.
They walked back to the guild, or rather what was left of it, in silence.
When they arrived in front of the vast pile of rubble and debris, they were met by Erza. She was standing in the middle of the destruction, staring at the sky.
"Erza San!" Juvia called to her. Her head turned to look over her shoulder.
"What's going on?" Gray asked.
The scarlet haired woman turned to face them, sorrow evident on her features.
"Master has disbanded Fairy Tail."
The two stared at her in shock.
"Erza San…" Juvia whispered.
"Gramps wouldn't do that! Would he?" His voice trailed off.
The requip mage nodded her head slowly and walked to them.
"We have to choose our own paths now." She patted his shoulder and brushed pass them, walking down the dirt path away from the place she once called home.
Tears pooled in Juvia's navy eyes.
"Where do we go from here, Gray Sama?" She asked softly as she gently wrapped her arm around his.
He stared down at her and his heart tugged. He thought for a moment.
"We move forward." He stated firmly. She looked up to see him.
His face was hard but, his eyes revealed his pain. She released his arm and looked across the the crumbled guild hall.
"Where is forward?" She mumbled.
She loved Fairy Tail. This was her home, her family. What was she supposed to do now? Where was she supposed to go?
Gray placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to look for it."
She looked over her shoulder at him. His hair was hiding his eyes. She nodded slowly and followed him as he began walking.
He told her to get what she could carry from Fairy Hills and to meet him back at the guild site when she was done.
An hour later she arrived where she was told. He was already there waiting for her with a bag on his back.
"Let's go." He said gruffly before walking past her.
"Where are we going?" She asked timidly.
"We're moving forward."
They traveled together for days before coming across a small village.
The people were friendly and offered them a place to stay for the night.
The couple they were staying with for the night asked them where they were headed.
"Nowhere really." Gray answered honestly.
The couple exchanged glances before asking why they left home.
"Our guild disbanded." Gray stated grimly.
"We have nowhere to go." Juvia whispered.
The couple offered their condolences and informed them of an empty house in the village.
They explained that while the work in the area wasn't exactly great, it was something.
Gray looked to Juvia trying to read her expression to see what she thought. She was already looking to him for approval. He looked back at the couple and nodded.
"We'll take it." The couple smiled at them and told them that they would take them to the house in the morning.
After dinner, they were led to their rooms to rest. The next morning, the couple led them to the house like they said they would.
They unlocked the house and let them look around.
Juvia wandered through the small home looking at everything.
Gray observed her as she walked across the house. There was a small smile on her lips. Her smile grew a little when she saw the garden out back.
"What do you think?" The old woman asked them. Juvia nodded softly.
"It's lovely."
Gray nodded and thanked the woman and she left them to it.
After the woman left, Juvia sat at the old dining table. Gray sat across from her. They were silent for a moment.
"Why did Gray Sama bring Juvia?"
She asked quietly. He stared at the table and thought about it.
How was he supposed to answer that? honestly, it was never really a question to him. She was a constant in his life. She was always with him.
He didn't even give a thought to her not being there. It was an automatic decision. He shrugged.
"What would you have done if I hadn't?"
She stared at him with wide eyes. She didn't know what she would do.
The guild was her life. He was her life. The guild was gone. If she lost him too… She didn't even know. She shook her head and looked down to the table.
"Thank you." She said softly. He stared at her as she hugged herself and stared down at the table.
"I'm not going anywhere."
She looked up to meet his gaze. He could see a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
a small smile crossed his lips.
"We're going to be okay." He assured her.
Little did he know, soon those words would be coming back to haunt him.
Gray sat on a bed, staring at his reflection in the full length mirror in front of him. He was disgusted with himself.
He eyed the dark mark covering the right side of his body, his slicked back hair and that wretched guild mark.
He glared at his reflection with a burning hatred. Hatred for that despicable guild, Avatar. Hatred for Zeref, E.N.D., Tartaros.
Hatred for leaving. He had caught wind of a rumor about a village where it rained constantly for the past 3 months. He already knew it was her.
He knew it was his fault. He cursed himself. He vowed to destroy E.N.D. at all costs.
After he destroys that damned book once and for all he swore to himself that he would make it up to her.
She deserves him at his best and until this threat has been removed from their lives, he won't be able to be what she needs or deserves.
He took a swig of his beer before standing and walking to his window. It was raining outside.
He gave a heavy sigh and turned away. He couldn't stand the sight of it.
"Sorry, Juvia." He whispered to himself before turning out the light and laying on the bed, only to close his eyes and endure nightmare after nightmare after nightmare…