Note: This whole project is actually two pieces - this story has three parts, and then there's a much longer sequel called "Because I Need You to Stay". (And now there's another two-shot as a sort of epilogue for "Stay", this called "Because I Never Told You".) This piece sets up the sequel. It's labeled angst/tragedy for a reason, but the sequel isn't as depressing and has a happy ending (you're welcome).

You'll notice that this first part follows the final battle between Gray and Natsu vs. Mard Geer pretty closely right up until the point where Gray defeats Mard Geer, and then it starts diverging from canon.


Watching Gray fall was one of the most terrible, and terrifying, experiences of Natsu's life. The dragon slayer slowly dropped his arms from where they had been raised protectively in front of his face, and stared at his friend in shock.

"Gray…" he breathed.

The ice mage had somehow maneuvered himself to be directly in front of Natsu so that he had taken the full force of Mard Geer's ultimate curse. Memento Mori had been meant to destroy all traces of the two mages and wipe them from existence, but Gray was somehow still standing, despite being hit by it head-on. Half of his body had been taken over by horrible black markings and he was breathing heavily—in pain or exhaustion, Natsu didn't know—but he was still standing.

And then he fell, and it was as if Natsu was watching in slow motion. Mard Geer was saying something about this being impossible and Gray was saying something about believing in Natsu, but the dragon slayer barely heard them. He stared at Gray's motionless form in horror and disbelief.

This curse was meant to destroy completely, to obliterate someone from existence. It was a curse that Mard Geer thought was strong enough to destroy Zeref himself, the immortal dark wizard. Whatever strange new demon magic Gray had acquired might have saved his life, but with a curse that strong…

"A mere human?!" Mard Geer howled in disbelieving fury, a purple light springing up around his body as he began transforming back into his etherious form.

Natsu tore his gaze away from Gray's prone form, his head snapping up so that he could fix the demon with a burning gaze. His shock and disbelief faded as anger and hatred took their place. Gray wasn't 'mere' anything.

"Gray!" he screamed.

His transformation completed, Mard Geer jumped into the air. Natsu snarled up at him, his fury growing and swirling about him. Gray was lying on the ground, possibly terribly injured, and this demon was the one to blame.

"Dammit!"

His fury was so strong that Natsu could feel himself pushing into dragon force, a feat he had never before accomplished without some kind of outside assistance. But he was so damn angry—and scared, although he wouldn't admit it—and he would make Mard Geer pay for what he had done. And for now he would just have to trust that Gray would be alright, because the ice mage was tough and wouldn't give up.

When Mard Geer came hurtling towards Natsu, the dragon slayer sent him flying with a fiery punch and then raced after him, hitting him with everything he had left to give. It wasn't enough, of course. Apparently not even dragon force could stand up to a demon, but Natsu knew a power that could.

He had done all that he could. He grimaced slightly as Mard Geer recovered from the last attack, but he couldn't fight anymore. The dragon slayer plummeted from the sky, unable to move at all. He was out of energy, out of magic, and out of strength. But just maybe…

Natsu grunted in pain as Mard Geer swooped down and grabbed him, but he didn't have the strength to fight the demon anymore.

"I'm going to demolish every inch of your body!" Mard Geer hissed, preparing to unleash his wrath on the now defenseless mage.

Yes, the demon would be able to do that and Natsu couldn't stop him, but there might just be someone who could.

"I'm impressed," Natsu said slowly, fighting his exhaustion and pain. "My magic's at zero."

"Die!" Mard Geer screamed.

However, Natsu wasn't finished just yet. "But…I believe too."

Below him, Gray staggered to his feet, swaying slightly before he steadied himself enough to use his magic. Natsu could hear Mard Geer's wordless sound of surprise, and the dragon slayer smirked a little.

"Gray!" he called.

The ice mage didn't respond verbally, but a huge bow of ice appeared in his hands and in one seamless motion, he drew back and shot. Mard Geer screamed in pain as he was pierced by an array of gigantic, jagged pieces of ice. The demon released Natsu as the ice broke through his etherious form and sent him plunging from the sky.

The dragon slayer fell as well, hurtling towards the ground at an alarming speed. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, knowing that he had no way of stopping his descent now. But instead of crashing into the ground with devastating impact, a pair of strong arms caught him.

Gray grunted in pain and was driven to one knee by the force of Natsu's impact, but he didn't let go. Natsu blinked up at him uncertainly for a moment, still too weak to even think about moving. He wondered how Gray had made it across the crater in time to catch him as he fell, but quickly moved on from such a trivial concern.

There were more important things to worry about, such as the fact that Gray wasn't looking too good. The dark markings had disappeared from his body, but Gray was even paler than usual, and Natsu could feel his arms shaking under the pressure of keeping the dragon slayer off the ground. The ice mage's head was bowed, his dark hair shadowing his face, and he was breathing heavily. Natsu couldn't tell for sure, but he thought that Gray's mouth was twisted in a pained grimace. Gray had done a great job of defeating Mard Geer, but Natsu wondered just how much Memento Mori had really affected him.

"Gray…Are you alright?" Natsu asked in concern, grimacing slightly at his own weakness and exhaustion.

"I—I don't—" the ice mage started, before they were both distracted by Zeref's appearance.

Grunting with effort, Natsu managed to shake off Gray's support and get to his feet, his muscles screaming in protest. He was still exhausted and out of magic, but he wasn't going to face Zeref lying down. Beside him, Gray also rose to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, the dragon slayer noticed how slow and jerky his movements were, and how he swayed unsteadily on his feet.

Natsu didn't really care when the dark mage destroyed Mard Geer. The demon had been a pain in the neck and he had very nearly killed Gray. He wasn't even that concerned when Zeref took the Book of E.N.D. He could hunt down the wizard and get the book back later. He barely even cared when the enemy spoke a few more words and then disappeared as if he had never been there at all. He could deal with Zeref later. His main concern right now was still Gray, because he couldn't believe that the ice mage hadn't sustained any lasting damage from that damn curse.

As soon as Zeref vanished, Natsu turned back to the ice mage. There was a strange, unsteady look in Gray's eyes, and Natsu opened his mouth to ask again if he was alright.

But for the second time, he was distracted. Igneel and Acnologia went hurtling through the sky over their heads, and Natsu turned to watch them as they crashed into the ground some distance away. Sudden fear stabbed at his heart.

"Igneel…"

Natsu needed to go and make sure that his father was okay. He needed to go, but…He looked back over at Gray. He also needed to stay.

"Go to him," the ice mage encouraged, his breathing still shallow and uneven. "But…" Natsu hesitated. He realized suddenly that Gray had never answered his earlier question. "Are you alright, Gray?"

For a moment the ice mage didn't answer and something flickered in his dark eyes. Then he straightened up to his full height and looked over at Natsu with a renewed sense of determination in his eyes.

"I'm fine," he said.

Natsu still didn't move, torn between the need to go to Igneel and the desire to stay with his friend. "But—"

"Go," Gray interrupted.

He met Natsu's gaze and nodded firmly. The dragon slayer hesitated a moment longer. Gray's eyes said that he was fine and that Natsu should go to Igneel before it was too late. Surely Gray wouldn't lie to Natsu, so there was no reason for the dragon slayer to feel this faint sense of unease about it.

His gaze slid past Gray and came to rest on the two twin dragon slayers who were slowly recovering from their fight with Jiemma. They had arrived a short time before, and although they had sustained some injuries, they looked like they'd be fine. Natsu met their eyes. They hesitated a moment, glancing at each other and then at Gray, before returning their gazes to Natsu and nodding. Satisfied that they would be here in case anything happened to Gray, Natsu nodded to the ice mage, turned, and ran off, pushing Gray out of his mind as he focused on reaching his father.

Since he left, he didn't see how Gray swayed unsteadily on his feet and collapsed as soon as the dragon slayer had disappeared from sight. He didn't hear Sting and Rogue calling to Gray frantically as they rushed to the fallen mage's side. He didn't see how Gray's entire body was racked with tremors or how the ice mage's dark eyes took on a terribly vacant look. He didn't see Gray begin to cough up blood, dark pools of crimson liquid seeping into the ground as the twin dragon slayers desperately tried to figure out a way to stop the blood loss. He didn't see how Rogue stayed by Gray's side as Sting ran off in a desperate search for someone who could help.

He didn't know that Gray was slipping away in a nightmare of spreading blood and convulsive shaking and terrible, ragged breaths. Because he left, he didn't know.

And because he didn't know, he left again.


Note: I was lying awake one night, and suddenly thought "oh my gosh, wouldn't it be super depressing if Gray died from Memento Mori and Natsu didn't even know until he came back from his training trip a year later?" I was originally going to leave it as a tragic little one- or two-shot, but then I came up with this whole convoluted loophole by which we could have a happy ending after all, so that's what the second story is.

Also, I know that Natsu apparently waited a little while before leaving in the manga, but I need him to leave right away in order for the plot to work.