He was in love. Yes, he definitely was in love. There was no other way to describe it. His heart would start beating rapidly, his cheeks would flush & he would stutter like an idiot whenever she was near him. At first, he hadn't known, he had just brushed it away. But when it slowly escalated, he went to Mira to ask her about this weird feeling. Mira only smiled and told him he was in love. His heart stopped right then and there, literally. His thoughts became a jumbled mess, only coming to a stop at one thought; I love her. I love Lucy Heartfilia. His heart soared when he imagined her laughing and the feeling of her warm body around his. Suddenly, he was snapped out of his daydreams by Mira, who was positively beaming now. Her eyes sparkled at unravelling another secret.

"Oh my!" Mira said, in that sickly sweet voice of hers. "Our little Gray has finally grown up". And if possible, she beamed even brightly.

"Shut up Mira" replied a very flustered Gray. His ears turned red and his stomach started doing flips. There was no way in hell he'd fell in love with her. Or had he? He shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. Ok, he reluctantly admitted, he loved her. So, what's the big deal?

Honestly, he didn't understand why Mira was making such a big fuss. It was normal for two people to like each other, right? And everybody in the guild loved each other, so what was the fuss about? And sides, his feelings towards her would never be reciprocated, that much was obvious. She was hopelessly in love with the flame brained idiot, the idiot being Natsu Dragneel. Natsu was either obvious or blatantly ignorant of either her or Lisanna's advances. He sighed. His love would remain unrequited, never returned. She would only view him as her best friend, nothing more, nothing less. He resolved to never tell her about was better to remain best friends than to tell her and have her reject his feelings, which would also, directly or indirectly end their friendship. He strengthened his resolve.

Mira sighed, poor Gray, his feelings would never be returned. Everyone knew how Lucy was lovesick for the dragonslayer, so Gray stood no chance. Mira promised to herself that she would help Gray in any way she could. It was the least she could do for him as a token of gratitude, after what he did for her.

Only thing that they couldn't predict were the events which were put in motion, from that moment onwards and nobody had any idea that the impact would be so large that there would forever be a gaping hole, as if a part had been torn away from them. They would forever live with the guilt inside them, always regretting.

SOME MONTHS LATER,

"Lucy, look out!" Gray yelled. Lucy stood frozen to the spot, her eyes wide and fearful. Her limbs refused to cooperate while her mind screamed at her to move out of the way, to duck, do something, anything, rather than just stand there. She tried, really tried, but she was too slow. She stilled, waiting for the pain, she knew, would come. Suddenly, someone shoved her aside, moving her put of the harm's way. She opened her eyes too see who her saviour was.

The sight that she met with, forever implanted itself into the recesses of her mind. Her hands flew to her mouth, as if that would hold her screams at the terrible sight before her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, no, she refused to believe it. Gray, who had pushed her aside, had taken the full brunt of the attack. His body, riddled with holes, seeped blood. There was blood, so much blood, that she cringed. Her nose wrinkled and she almost gagged at the overpowering scent of blood in the air. Gray only muttered an unintelligible 'Huh?' before he started to fall backwards, his legs no longer able to hold his body upright. She watched in slow motion, as he fell to the ground, her body flinching at the dull thud. She shakily stood, trying to reach him, her hands outstretched, while one thought resonated in her head, he's dead. He's dead. He's dead and it's my fault. All my fault. If I had been quicker, he wouldn't be... couldn't be...

Beside her, she felt Natsu zip by, as he rushed to his best friend's side, picking him up and shaking his shoulders, yelling. "Wake up, droopy eyes! This isn't the time to fall asleep, you know! Erza will have your hide if she finds out that you decided to take a nap in the midst of a battle like this. Wake up! Wake up, bastard! You're not allowed to leave us, you hear me?! You're not allowed to die! Gray! Wake up! Please... I'll... I'll do anything! Please, Gray! Please.." his voce broke. Cradling his body close to him, he cried, letting out heartbreaking sobs. His whole body shook as he tried to hold back his sobs. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Happy, the little cat, also folded his wings walking over to Natsu with teary eyes. Upon reaching Natsu, the feline buried his head into Natsu's chest, crying loudly. Natsu cradled Happy closer, causing Happy's sobs to intensify. The feline tugged on Natsu's scarf all the while, clinging to it like a lifeline.

Lucy however stood transfixed on the spot, her eyes spilling over with tears, wanting someone to hold her close and never let go. It felt as if someone was stabbing her repeatedly with a needle, resulting in her inability to breathe. Her whole body racked with sobs. Dropping to her knees, she hit the ground, repeatedly, bruising her knuckles as she screamed in her head for Gray to come back.

Meanwhile, a peaceful pallor had fallen on Gray's face, making it look like he was sleeping with is eyes open. His eyes, once full of life, were now dull and void of life. Her body stood up of its own accord, making its way over to Natsu and where Gray lay. On reaching, she dropped, once again and forced her trembling hands to close his eyes. As her hands touched Gray's skin, she stopped. It was soft, so soft and smooth, not rough like she always imagined it to be. Roaming her hands over his face and chest, she sucked in another breath. His skin was so smooth, his hair was so silky, his hands were so soft, not calloused like she thought it would become, what with all the constant fighting Natsu and he did. She bit her lip, as she remembered those times. Her eyes again threatened to spill over with tears, but she held them in, promising to herself that she would become stronger, for the sake of her friends, so that no one else would have to die for her. Running her hands over Gray's hands again, she wondered how it would feel to forever hold his hand in hers. But now, she couldn't. She would never get the chance to hold him in her arms. She would never get to tell him how much he meant to her.

How much she loved him.

She would forever live with all the guilt. She should've told him sooner that she loved only him and not Natsu. She was around Natsu all the time just because she wanted to know all about Gray's tastes, what he liked and so on and so forth. Natsu was the best choice and he was surprisingly helpful. He'd teased her but then quickly sobered up. She'd been amazed at how serious Natsu had gotten and when asked, Natsu retorted that he wasn't a child anymore, pouting. She'd chuckled.

Now, she would never get the chance to confess to him. Not anymore. How could she be such an idiot? Wiping her eyes, she stood on shaky legs, and turned to Natsu, trying to tell him that they should take Gray home. They should give him a proper burial, and everything. At her unspoken words, Natsu nodded and also stood, albeit shakily, cradling Gray in his arms. Happy also disentangled himself from Natsu's embrace and flapped his pearly wings, taking off into the sky, heading for Fairy Tail, no doubt.

Together, silently they made their way to Fairy Tail. As the guild building's front door came into view, however, they hesitated. Already, the cacophony of noises coming from the inside, was breaking their resolve, making their heart throb painfully. But they stayed firm and pushed apart the large oak doors. Silence greeted them as they made their way inside.

Happy was clutching Carla, who had wrapped him into an embrace and was patting his back, trying to calm him and apparently failing, as she also started crying. Her premonitions had once again became reality and she had again, been powerless to stop that from happening. She had failed to keep Wendy's big brother figure safe and for that, she was upset. Very upset. Besides her, only Happy knew how much she admired Gray for his strength, his determination and she had failed him. She had failed to protect him.

Ignoring the two exceeds, everybody in the guild hall froze at the sight before their very own eyes. Seconds passed. The silence was broken by Mira's wail, who had slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes as wide as saucers and spilling over.

Meanwhile, each and everyone had a different reaction. Cana denied, Juvia broke down, Erza raged, Lisanna and Levy hugged each other and began to sob and Loke, who had appeared suddenly out of nowhere, was furious. While others remained stunned, unable to move, unable to speak, to do anything really other than just stand and process what was happening. But one reaction was commonly present and that was grief. Pure, crippling grief.

Outside sky began to darken, clouds thundered and big fat drops of rain began to pour from the skies, if the pitter patter on the roof were any indication. Juvia's sadness and grief caused the rain to fall harder, and the blue sky was now blanketed by dark rain clouds. Perfect weather for a funeral, Lucy mused. It was then that she realized that someone's hand was on her shoulders.

Blinking, she focused her blurry vision, on the master. It seemed someone had informed the master of the event transpired, as he was shaking his head sadly and whispering something she couldn't hear. 'He's telling me that we should clean his wounds, bandage them and then bury him. Gray wouldn't want to be buried looking dirty.', her mind responded. Nodding, she turned her teary eyes to Natsu, who in response nodded as well. Erza stepped forward, as if meaning to hold Gray in her arms, but Natsu gave a silent growl and retreated a step, warning Erza not to come close. Erza looked shocked, but understood. Dropping her outstretched hand, she moved back. Everyone cleared the way as Natsu and Lucy, made their way to the infirmary, where they cleansed his wounds and bandaged them.

That being done, Natsu picked him up again, gently. They made their way out of the guild's back door and walked till they came to the church's cemetary and dropped Gray's body gently into the coffin, sealed it and prepared to bury him. For some time, only the sounds of something hitting the wet earth was heard. When that also was said and done, Natsu as if remembering something, put his hand in his pocket and pulled out something shiny, something silver. Lucy's breath caught in her throat, she knew what it was... it was Gray's cross necklace. The one he always wore around his neck. Natsu then hung the necklace around his neck, refusing to part with the one thing Gray most cherished. He refused to bid farewell with that part of Gray. He vowed to be strong, to become S-Class so that Gray's sacrifice would not go in vain, so that no one dear to him would die again.

A/N: I don't know. Don't ask me! I never meant it to be this long. I never meant to write something glossing over 3 pages and 2k+ words. But whatever! I have set a new record of 2k+ in chapter. I am really proud of what I've written, despite the fact that Graylu isn't my preference, at all. Read and tell me what you think, in a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Suggestions are always welcome. :3 :3