Summary: Natsu's heart flared when he spotted Gray floating in the creek. Tag to Ep. 58. Character death. NatsuxGray if you want to see it. One-shot.
Consequences
Natsu caught a whiff of a familiar scent and skidded to a halt. He sniffed the upward-swirling air to pinpoint the direction, scanning the area below the cliff. His heart flared when he spotted Gray floating in the creek.
The fire mage slid down the steep slope and dashed up to the water's edge. With a splash, he leapt in and waded up to his friend through the thigh-deep water. "What the hell are you doing here? What happened to the speedy one?" Gray didn't even twitch. Alarm spiked in Natsu's chest. "O-oi!" No, Gray was fine—would be fine, even if right now he was exhausted from using up too much magical power. Gray had stayed behind to fight that Oracion Seis guy alone. Natsu had been reluctant to leave him there, but he'd needed to bring Wendy to a poisoned Erza.
And right now, Natsu needed to stop Nirvana. He cast an impatient glance at the beam of light carving into the sky. With a sigh, Natsu bent over and hauled the other mage into his arms. "Wake up, idiot." He gave the other man a shake.
Gray's head lolled bonelessly. "Hey, Gray! Wake up!" He shifted the ice mage's weight onto one arm as best he could and cupped Gray's cheek with his free hand. He lifted the other man's head up and crouched down a bit to see his face around the strings of wet, black hair. "Gray! Come on."
Gray's eyes were closed, his pallor pale and waxy. His skin was a little cold, but he'd just finished using his ice magic. That was normal. Natsu tapped his cheek a few times. "Stop messing around, stupid. Now's not the time for jokes." He gave him another shake. "Wake up!" The ice mage still didn't stir.
"Tch." Natsu began to stagger backward toward the bank, hauling Gray's limp body with him. It helped that the other's dead weight was halfway submerged in the buoyant water. "You're gonna get an earful from Erza for this when you wake up, you know. She's gonna be pissed you were messing around." Not even the fear of Erza made Gray flinch. He'd thought for sure he'd get some sort of reaction from that one.
Natsu's back brushed up against the muddy bank. Transferring his grip from underneath Gray's arms to one hand at the scruff of his shirt, Natsu let the ice mage mostly float—being careful to keep the man's mouth and nose out of the water—while he began an awkward crab-crawl up the steep slope. "You're such a pain, Gray," he grumbled under his breath, but finally, they landed in a heap on dry ground.
After allowing himself a short panting break, the Dragon Slayer crawled out from under Gray's limp form, pushed to his feet, and turned the ice mage onto his back, then dragged him the rest of the way out of the water. Natsu tripped over something and hit the ground backside first, his grip on the other mage slipping. Gray's upper body ended up draped across his lap; he still hadn't made a sound. Fear wormed into Natsu's gut. "Gray?" he whispered.
He couldn't have been in the water that long. Could he?
"Natsu!" Lucy called, running toward the two of them. Happy and Carla were flying just behind her, and staggering along farther back was Hibiki with an unconscious Wendy. Lucy stopped short. "Gray," she said, her eyes widening.
The fire mage glanced up at her through his pink hair. "I found him in the river." His fists tightened in Gray's shirt as he curled protectively around the other's limp form.
Lucy dropped to her knees beside them. "What happened? Is he all right? Is he bleeding anywhere?"
Natsu gave an abortive shake of his head. "He's fine." Then he repeated more quietly, "It was just another battle. He's fine."
Happy landed on the other side of Natsu, his white wings disappearing. "Gray?" The little cat turned to his best friend. "Natsu, what's wrong? Why isn't he waking up?" The Dragon Slayer only bent his head lower, shadowing his face.
"Well, let's get him on the ground," Lucy suggested gently, "and see what's what." She reached out to take him out of Natsu's lap.
"No!"
She snatched her hands back, startled by the fire mage's exclamation.
"He stays here," Natsu murmured.
"Okay," she said. "Okay. Instead, she slowly, nonthreateningly reached out for the ice mage's forehead. She held her hand there for a long moment, frowning at his cold and clammy skin, before she drifted her touch down to his neck, pressing two fingers to his pulse point.
Her eyes widened in shock. Frantically, she shifted her fingers around on Gray's neck, pressing harder. "No, he can't..." She froze. "Wendy!" Lucy spun on her knees toward Hibiki who was just finally reaching them. "Hibiki, wake up Wendy! She has to save Gray!"
Carla leapt into the air, hovering in between Lucy and Wendy. "No! If she uses any more Sky Magic..."
Lucy's eyes overflowed with tears. "But Gray! Gray will..." She heaved a great sniff. "Gray will—"
"No." All eyes turned to Natsu where he curled around the ice mage. Teardrops landed on Gray's cheekbone and slid down his temple to disappear into his black hair. "No, Lucy." Natsu's knuckles whitened under the force of his grip in his friend's shirt. "Don't you see? He's fine."
"What?" she gasped, shaking her head. "But... Natsu..."
"No!" he cried. "I didn't leave him behind for him to—" His voice caught. "He'll be all right. That's all there is to it."
Happy trotted over to the other Exceed. When he spoke, his eyes were huge and wet, his voice sincere. "Carla, please. Gray needs Wendy's help."
Carla glanced over her shoulder at the young Dragon Slayer. Hibiki had laid her down along the grass and was now kneeling beside her, waiting. Carla twisted up her forehead. There was a long silence before she finally deflated, whispering with resignation, "Okay."
Hibiki immediately shook Wendy's shoulder and leaned over to whisper into her ear. The girl groaned and stirred, blinking blearily. "Wendy!" Happy cried, leaping forward. "Please, save Gray!"
Wendy sat up, groggy and disoriented. It took her a moment or two and a few rushed explanations before she understood. Then she nodded and staggered to her feet, swaying back and forth.
"Please, Wendy," Carla said, "be careful!"
"I know, Carla. But I have to try." Lucy scrambled out of the way and Wendy dropped to her knees in her place. She hesitated a moment, glancing from Natsu's tight grip on Gray up to the fire mage's shadowed face, but then she stretched out her hands. They began to glow.
Then the glow sputtered. Wendy bit her lower lip, the muscles in her arms straining. The green light flared white for an instant, then went out. She sagged and would have toppled over if Lucy hadn't caught her. "I'm sorry," Wendy whispered, curling into Lucy's arms. "I'm sorry."
"What..." Natsu breathed in disbelief, "what does that mean?"
Wendy tensed and pulled her limbs in a little tighter. "There's nothing I can do. I'm so sorry."
"But what about Jellal? You brought him back! So why won't you help Gray?" Natsu cried. His head whipped up, eyes blazing and trailing tears.
Wendy flinched. "I'm sorry."
"No! Gray's not dead! He's not!" As though the words opened a floodgate, Natsu threw his head back and shrieked. It trailed off into angry sobs. "You bastard!" he cried brokenly to the man in his arms. "I trusted you not to die! You idiot! Idiot!"
Happy began to cry, too. He reached out with his fuzzy blue paws and crawled onto Gray's motionless chest, curling up there like the cat he only sometimes seemed to be.
Lucy simply sat there, her face blank, her eyes unseeing as she stared at Gray. The tears rushed down her cheeks, dripped off her chin and into Wendy's hair, but Lucy didn't notice. It felt unreal. She willed Gray to open his eyes, grin, and say, "Gotcha! Just kidding." But he didn't even twitch. And he never would again.
Wendy cried silently into Lucy's shoulder, wishing that she wasn't so weak and that she'd had that last drop of power to save him.
Hibiki sat awkwardly to the side, looking politely away from the group's show of grief.
Carla put a paw on Wendy's leg. She gasped when she was swept up into the girl's arms and clutched tight. Despite herself, her heart twisted, and she pressed herself close to the Dragon Slayer, wishing she could offer better comfort.
Natsu couldn't get his sobs under control. It felt like he was someone else, feeling their tears on his face and seeing their hands wrapped around a dead friend. Death was supposed to be something that happened to other people's friends and family, to other mages' guild members. Wasn't Lisanna enough? Wasn't Igneel's disappearance enough? Gray was supposed to be there beside him forever. Natsu couldn't help but feel betrayed.
After what felt like an eternity, he stopped crying between one ragged inhale and the next. Natsu pushed to his feet, laying Gray down gently. He brushed black hair out of the man's face, his hand lingering on a too-pale cheek. Then he straightened his back.
Nirvana's light shot into the sky, sparking and twisting. Rage simmered in Natsu's eyes. He knew exactly who was responsible for this. He would make them pay, and pay dearly. The whole world would see the consequences for killing a friend of Natsu "Salamander" Dragoneel, Fire Dragon Slayer and Fairy Tail mage.
Never again, he thought to himself.
He wouldn't let Gray's sacrifice be in vain.
Fin