Csilla: My first attempt at a crossover~ (of a sort...)
Anime - Fairy Tail
Movie - Hotarubi no Mori e
- WARNING - AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TEARS SHED
Dedicated to: Kris 'cause she inspired me to write a crossover ;p
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"Alright," A smiling rosette whispered as he placed his duffle bag in front of the dark oak door, ignoring his father behind him who was reminding him of things he already knew.
"...and make sure you don't zone out and miss your stop. You have-"
"C'mon dad... I've been to Gramps's place every summer - I won't miss my stop," Natsu injected before his father, Igneel could finish his sentence; the teen may be an airhead when it comes to riding the train at night but this was different: he was riding the bullet train over to the countryside.
"At least leave that scarf here... you'll give yourself heat stroke,"
"I'll be fine," with that, the male was out the door and making a dash down the street as excitement built up in his body.
The bus stop was not far so it took mere minutes before he was standing under a pavilion, left to wait in his thoughts which filled his body with warm feelings of solace. Every summer since he was six, he went to Gramps's place in the countryside-
'Six, huh? The first time I met him was when I was six' Cobalt eyes looked up at the vast blue sky above him as his memories took over inside his head.
/**************SIX YEARS OLD**************/
Natsu hugged his knees and sobbed from exhaustion, fear, and loneliness; he, being the little curious child he was, wandered into the forest Gramps had warned him about. He only wanted to see a mountain spirit but never did and instead became trapped inside the wooded area. It was when he started crying harder that he was found - "Oi! Hothead!"
The rosy-haired child looked up then around for the voice's source; standing a few feet away, slightly hidden by a tree, was a raven-haired teen about eighteen.
"Why are you crying?" He asked; Natsu stood up slowly amazed and glad someone had found him.
"I'm saved!" He made a mad dash for the teenager, who he now noticed wore a strange mask in front of his face.
Before the rosette could collide with the other male, the raven teen moved out of the way causing the child to stumble and fall onto the grassy growth on the ground.
"Sorry," The raven apologized, earning a disbelief look from the child before he added: "If a human touches me, I'll disappear,"
"Huh? You're not human," Natsu sat up with his eyes sparkling from curiosity, "does that mean you're a spirit?"
"Yeah... I guess you could say that," sighing, "but I'm merely... something that lives in this forest,"
"How come you'll disappear?"
"It was a spell placed on me by the mountain god,"
"What does disappear mean?" The raven's shoulders sagged a little; for a child, this kid sure asked a lot of questions.
"It means to die - cease to exist - obliterate,"
A silence fell between them before a small tanned hand reached out as if to test that statement from earlier; the teen stepped away before he found himself running from the curious child who continued trying to touch him until-WHACK!
"OWWWWWWW!" Natsu's voice rang out before he was sobbing, holding his head muttering: "It must b-be true... no one would hit a child like that,"
The raven sighed, keeping a grip on the stick he had just whacked the rosette child with; he felt back for the lost child so he held the other end of the stick out with his offer, "Grab onto this... I'll lead you out of the forest,"
The child did as he was told; the masked teen led him over to stone steps with grassy growth all over them before the duo walked down them slowly.
"Kinda feel like a date," Natsu grinned as he walked along side his companion.
"Not a really romantic one," The raven muttered; the rosy-haired child found himself on a road that led to the village Gramps lived, which made his grin grew into a wide one.
"If I come back tomorrow, will you still be here?" Natsu swung around excited, showing off his teeth.
"This is the forest of the mountain god, humans that step in here get lost so its better if you never return,"
"I'll come tomorrow with a thank you gift for you so please wait for me here! I'm Natsu Dragneel, by the way!" Natsu waved bye to his masked raven friend, who simply watched his retreating back before yelling out, "I'm Gray!" and disappeared into the woods.
"Gray..." The name fell naturally from the child's mouth as he continued his trip back to the village.
-The Next Day-
"You came," Gray stated simply at the surprised appearance of the rosy-haired child before him, who held a small bag in his hands.
"You," a wide grin spread instantly to his tanned features, "You waited!" He raced forward to hug the older male only to sob when he was smacked on the head by the stick.
"Let's go someplace cooler," Gray commented, motioning for the child to follow and thus began their summer with one another.
The remaining days of summer was spent the same way; Natsu would come up to the stone steps where Gray always met him before leading him to the cooler parts of the forest. It was the last day of his trip and Natsu was feeling a little upset about it; "Why can't it be summer all the time?" He whined as he placed his hands behind his head.
"Because this forest needs time to heal from the heat of the summer," Gray chuckled, sitting in the grassy field that had become their spot to hang out and play with whatever stuff Natsu brought with him.
"Oh, today's my last day here... I was only visiting my Gramps for the summer so," pausing, "d-don't forget about me, okay?" He added with a pout.
"I promise," The raven laid back in the grass, unaware of the curious cobalt eyes watching him.
'I wonder what his face looks like...' Natsu wondered as he quietly crawled over to Gray; he had hoped that simply touching the mask wouldn't cause him to disappear. He carefully lifted the mask without touching the other's face and peered underneath to see a pair of onyx eyes staring up at him; panicking, he quickly dropped the mask and scrambled away with a 'S-SORRY'.
/**************TWO SUMMERS PASSED - AND THEN THREE**************/
Natsu dropped his stuff in the room he always stayed in whenever he was staying at his gramps's house; he was excited to be back for another summer! He always hated waiting for the summer to arrive so he could come back and see Gray. The rosette was now in fifth grade and wanted to show his friend his uniform as he had done for two years now; he dashed down the country roads until he came upon the familiar stone steps, which he climbed with amazing speed until he came to the top where a few feet away sat Gray, wearing the mask he always did.
"Look! Look, Gray! I'm a fifth grade now, see~" Natsu showed off his uniform, which consisted of a dark red blazer, a white dress shirt, white socks that stopped right below his knees, light brown shorts, and a black tie.
"I see that," Even though he knew the kid had shown him the uniform, which hadn't changed much except the blazer color, last year when they met up he still was always happy that some things hadn't changed since last time.
"Let's go~" Gray hummed, leading the way to their spot in the grassy field and lake.
Natsu had grown out of his curiosity phase but unfortunately for his parents had had grown into a new phase of being a bit of a trickster; "Huh? Natsu, where'd you go?" the raven called out when he noticed that no one was walking beside him.
"BOO!" Hanging from a tree in front of Gray was Natsu with his legs bent from the knees; the child seemed quickly disappointed as he swung himself back up onto the branch he was previously just hanging from.
"Why so disappointed?" Gray teased his friend behind his mask.
"You know... you could take your mask off around me... s-s-sometimes," Natsu suggested before he swung down (or at least attempted to); gravity took over and they both found the rosette body falling!
"Natsu!" The raven ran forward to catch him only to be stopped when the child yelled 'Gray, don't!" before landing into a bush beneath him.
He crawled out from his landing spot just as Gray crouched down in front of him; he sat up whispering, "No matter what, don't ever touch me, okay?"
"Okay," The raven muttered, a little hurt by what his friend had said.
/**************THE NEXT SUMMER AND THE SUMMER AFTER THAT I KEPT VISITING THE FOREST**************/
Natsu, now about to go to high school, wearing his high school uniform ran down the nostalgic streets with a change of clothes - his uniform consisted of a black blazer, a red tie, white dress shirt, and a pair of dark grey shorts for the summer. As he ascended the stone steps and saw Gray again, he noticed when he walked closer that now the age difference was gradually getting smaller. Gray's mask, as he had begun doing later in the last summer, was pushed to the side to show off the pale features of his face; the rosette would never admit it but he had taken a stronger liking to every moment he was able to see Gray's face. The raven still appeared to be about 18-years-old as he had the day they first met; Natsu was happy to know he was now 16-years-old.
"Ready?" Gray asked with a gentle smile, earning a short nod from a now-grinning rosette teen.
Their grassy spot seemed to never change just like Gray; the rosy-haired teen loved that most about this place! Natsu lied back on the soft grass as he listened to his friend, "Wanna come to the forest festival with me?"
"Forest festival?" Maybe there was still a part of Natsu's childish curiosity left; cobalt eyes wandered over to the onyx-eyed male beside him.
"Yeah, they host it every year in this forest," looking back, "Its a festival for spirits... I've been wanting to ask you for a while just never got around to it," He added, chuckling as he scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah! I'd love to!" Natsu shot up as excitement filled his body; his companion merely laughed at his outburst.
"Okay~ Sneak out tonight, if you can... I'll be waiting in our usual meeting place~" He smiled over at his friend.
-Nighttime-
Natsu excitedly got dressed quietly for the spirit festival before he slipped out of his gramps's place wearing a dark brown yukata and ran to their meeting place. When he got to the spot, he saw Gray standing also wearing a yukata but his was white which contrasted beautifully with his raven hair. The rosette felt a little mesmerized by the mere sight of his friend, who smiled once he saw the other had arrived.
"Let's go" Maybe it was just Natsu's imagination but the raven seemed almost giddy when he said that; they walked through the dimly-lit forest which slowly changed to a well-lit festival.
He was in awe; it was just like any other festival he attended; "Here, tie this around your wrist" Gray tossed a piece of cloth to the other, who did as he was told as the raven tied the other end to his wrist.
"Feels like a date," Natsu joked, thinking back to the first summer when he met Gray.
"Doesn't feel like it - it is," The raven winked to the surprised rosette before they went around to the different venders.
The duo walked to every stall that had been put up for the festival from food to mask to even toys; they watched a few performers and were even teased by a small group of children for being a couple. The night had grown darker and it was then that Gray lead Natsu over towards a field where shortly after fireworks was shot into the sky, lighting the night sky with amazing colors. It was then that a dark feeling, one that the rosette couldn't understand at that moment, slowly built up in his chest little-by-little. Once the display was over, Gray reluctantly muttered that he should be getting Natsu home soon; the rosette knew that hours had to have passed since he left so he agreed, hoping that his gramps hadn't woken up to check on him. They headed away from the festivals, taking a small detour towards their spot by the lake - it was quiet and the lake was illuminated only by the moonlight but the dark feeling from earlier began to grow larger.
'Why do I get the feeling this'll be the last summer I spend with him?' Natsu asked himself as they walked along the lake towards the entrance of the forest.
"Hey Natsu..." stopping as the other mimicked and looked over, "I don't think I can keep lasting a whole year without seeing you," Natsu's body was now completely turned and facing Gray's, "When we're a part, even though I can't go near crowds, I want to risk it so I can see you" Gray took his mask off and the two stared at one another.
Natsu felt his hand twitch, itching to get closer but held back so he didn't lose the other; a smile was the last thing Natsu saw before he felt the mask being put on his face then cobalt eyes watched as Gray's face moved closer and the raven kissed the part of the mask where Natsu's lips hide behind. And just as quickly as it happened, it ended. Gray smiled as he spoke: "You should keep that mask,"
The rosette, not wanting his friend to see just how red his face was, kept the mask on as they stood there staring at one another soaking in all that just happened before their feet began moving again. Their walk back was silent until two children ran past them; one tripping just as he moved past Gray. The raven, without thinking reached out and grabbed the child before she could fall.
"Thanks~ Ah! Wait up!" The little girl thanked him before running after her friend.
"Be careful!" Natsu yelled after her with a smile before he noticed the blue glow beside him.
Gray's hand was glowing and his eyes were wide; it didn't take long for Natsu to figure out why: "Wait! Was that child a human?"
The raven didn't reply as the glow spread towards the rest of him - Natsu couldn't believe it; Gray was going to disappear! He pushed the mask to the side of his face showing just how upset he was about this; the raven spoke: "Come here, Natsu..."
As if he wasn't moving fast enough, Gray pulled him quickly to his body embracing the other whispering: "I can finally touch you, Natsu... I love you,"
Natsu held onto the raven's body until he stood there with only the white yukata in his arms and tears streaming down his face; he held the yukata close sobbing in it.
"I... love... you... too... Gray" His words broken up by his sobs as he picked himself back up and walked home, still holding the white yukata.
/**************PRESENT-DAY**************/
Natsu stepped off the train, sighing in content at the familiar village before him; he headed over to his Gramps's place telling him about his plans for college and apologizing for not coming by for the past few years before excusing himself as he went for a walk. As he walked his chest began to hurt from the memories of his time spent here; tears slowly formed, which he quickly wiped away dryly chuckling: "C'mon... no time for crying,"
He raised his head and a smile slowly appeared on his face - he was glad to have met Gray and even happier to know how he spent all those summer with that raven-haired boy he fell in love with. He found himself stopping at the bottom of a grassy overgrowth that seemed familiar; staring long enough he noticed the stone steps underneath, which made his cobalt eyes widen. His feet began their ascent up the familiar step, which lead to the familiar stone pillar where once sat his favorite raven-haired male. Natsu thought back to how much he had changed from:
the small child with wild, unmanageable hair to...
the child with short spiky hair to...
the teenager with just wild hair...
"Gray," The name as painful as it used to be to say since his disappearance again fell naturally from his mouth.
"Do I know you?" Natsu swung around to see a male, around his age wearing a white headband, black t-shirt and sandal with blue baggy shorts.
The other teen's raven black hair stuck out slightly - different than the rosette's whose hair stuck out in all directions; although the appearance gave a sort of familiar presence it was the eyes that made Natsu believe he had to be suffering from heat stroke or something: Gray, looking a little different than he did a few years ago, stood before him. The rosette crouched down with disbelief swirling in his eyes as his brain tried to reason with his heart - 'That can't be Gray... Gray disappeared three years ago... This is just a look-a-like with the same name'.
"Oi, you feeling okay?" The raven crouched down beside the conflicted rosette in concern; he reached into the bag he had been carrying and pulled out an ice pop.
"Here," He held it out to the other, who accepted it before sitting on the ground.
"Thanks," Natsu muttered before enjoying the cold treat, still a little lost in his thoughts.
"So do you live around here?"
"Nah, I'm visiting but I plan on moving here very soon" Natsu explained, staring out at the forest to his right; he knew that a path over there led to that grassy field he spent much of his summer was.
The duo sat on the stone steps together eating there cold treats in silence; the raven glanced over and took in the stranger's appearance - rosy hair, white t-shirt, baggy cargo shorts and sneakers. His onyx eyes traveled upwards taking in the tanned features and cobalt eyes - something about the other male made his chest tighten. And a name hung from his tongue threatening to escape if he opened his mouth; his brain wondering why the name was even there in the first place.
"Thanks for the ice pop... uh, what was your name?" Natsu stood up as he thanked the other before wondering if Gray was really the other's name.
"You just said it when I arrived here or did you forget, Natsu?" Gray stood up, dusting off his shorts before both their eyes widened - Natsu because the other knew his name and Gray because everything came flooding back to him as if like a spell.
The raven's memories of the summers when he lived in the woods, back when he was something that lived in the forest unable to touch humans; he remembered disappearing that night and then came to wondering out loud: "H-How did I end up alive again?"
"Gray... Is that really you?" Natsu's heart was sinking fast; he watched as the other looked over at him before Gray quickly reached out, placing his hand against the other's chest.
"I can touch you... and I don't have to worry about disappearing," Gray's voice shook with pure glee and suddenly he felt arms wrap around him.
The raven held onto his friend and lover from his past life - They were both so happy to be together again and this time: they could stay together without restraint; the two whispered loving words into one another's ear.
(- - - - - -)
Csilla: Ah~ I decided that I'd write what I wanted the ending to be like in the movie... So if anyone got confused - that ending doesn't happen in the movie but after I watched it - I wished it did. You know, Hotaru visits the forest again and Gin is there waiting and he's human! XD
Make sure to review - Imma hungry college student~ :D