"Gray! Gra-ay! I need you-u! AAH! OUCH! Stop it!" Natsu's voice bellows from somewhere deep in the forest.
"What is it, Natsu?" Fear rushes through Gray's veins. He runs towards the source of the voice.
Crap, I never should've let him go alone!
Gray stumbles frantically into a clearing to find his idiot boyfriend's head wedged stubbornly into a hole in a tree. He crosses his arms, irritated.
"Care to explain?"
"Uh, well, see, there was this woodpecker, and it was so pretty I wanted to get a better look at it, but then she - I guess it was a she - started pecking my face because -" Natsu babbles.
Gray sighs a put-upon sigh and strides forward, grabbing a leg in each hand and yanking hard.
"This better not happen again or I'll let Mama Woodpecker peck your head off," he warns.
"Aw, you know you love me," Natsu teases.
"Gray! Gray! I need you!" Natsu yells from the couch.
"What is it now?!" Gray shouts from the bathroom.
"I want to talk to Sting with this lacrima phone thingy, but I don't know how!" Natsu screams back.
Gray rolls his eyes, but finishes his 'bathroom work' quickly and goes to help Natsu.
It turns out to be an enjoyable evening, watching Natsu cutely fumble his way through using the phone. Also, Gray gets to talk to Rogue, whose cool temperament he has always found refreshing, while Natsu and Sting babble on to each other about something or the other.
(Rogue later informs him that it was about how cute and sweet he and Gray had been, teaching Natsu and Sting how to use the phone. Damn Dragon Slayer hearing, Gray would've killed to hear that come from Natsu's mouth - but Rogue has to be proof enough for his sadly all too normal ears.)
"G - Gray," Natsu whispers.
"No! NO! Stupid flame-brain, you aren't dying on my watch-" Gray scrabbles furiously to ice Natsu's wounds. "Wendy - WENDY! Wendy can help-"
"No," Natsu murmurs. "It's too - serious-"
"Natsu - Natsu, please don't leave - you can't - you can't leave me!" Tears run down Gray's cheeks, hot and wet. He cups Natsu's face in his hands, brings the lips to his mouth, presses a gentle kiss on them. "I love you - so much - don't go!"
"I - love you - too," Natsu says almost imperceptibly, coughing up blood. His eyes flutter shut, his chest lifts weakly. "Gray - I'm so - sorry…"
"No!"
Natsu closes his eyes one final time, breathing an "I've - always - needed you,".
Gray screams.
"NO!"
Gray's eyes snap open, wild and wide.
Natsu stands before him.
"Gray,"
"Gray,"
"Gray,"
Gray blinks, and Natsu is gone.
He reaches out a hand, screaming wordlessly.
"No! Not again - I can't lose you again!"
He falls back onto his knees.
"Natsu," he mutters, clenching his hands in fists - crying to the unforgiving heavens, who will not so much as spare him a glance. He is a normal person, grieving like any other. They do not bring back the dead - they certainly do not make exceptions.
But oh, how Gray wishes they would.
"Tell me - tell me you need me,"
"Just one more time…"