Remembrance
by Contrail

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, and is being used without permission. No profit is being made from this story.

Snow crunched under Gray's feet as he walked through the streets of a town he hadn't seen for many years. After he'd been pulled out of the rubble by Ur and Lyon, he'd never returned to the town he'd lived in with his parents… until today. Initially, he'd been too obsessed with getting revenge on Deliora to want to go back. And afterwards… Well, it was a long trip from Magnolia to here. But that had been an excuse to avoid coming back here and reliving the painful memories he'd tried to keep buried. Seeing his father alive again, however briefly, had unearthed all of those things, though. Maybe it was finally time for him to face this part of his past directly.

Juvia walked next to him, quiet other than the sound of her own footsteps in the snow. She hadn't been her usual energetic self around him since the fight with Tartarus. He wasn't sure if it was because of lingering weakness from being poisoned by Magical Barrier Particles, or if she was still feeling guilty about what happened with Silver. Part of the reason he'd asked her to come with him is that he kind of wanted to keep an eye on her until she was fully back to normal. Another reason is that if she was still feeling guilty, coming here with him might help ease her mind. (The other reasons, the ones he didn't really want to admit aloud, were her importance to him and how comforting he found her presence at times like these.)

Between the passage of time and how much destruction Deliora had wrought, it was difficult for Gray to orient himself in the ruins of the town. So they spent a while wandering through the wreckage of destroyed lives before they were able to find the remains of Gray's childhood home. As they drew closer to them, Gray spotted a crude wooden grave marker with some surprise. It was only once he was able to read the names carved into it - his mother's name and his own crossed out one - that he realized that its presence there had been his father's doing. Kneeling in front of it, he reached out and rested a hand against where his name had been carved, wondering how many times over the years Silver had been where he was now, how it had felt for his father to cross out his name after finding out he'd survived.

Silver hadn't left anything behind to bury, and he had no idea if his mother's body rested here or not, but they could share this memorial, at least. Reaching out with magic, he caused his crossed out name to fill back in with wood before Ice-Making a knife and starting to carve his father's name into the marker in its place.

Juvia's puzzled voice came from behind him. "Gray-sama, how…?"

Continuing his work, he responded, "When Laki joined the guild I was curious about how her Molding Magic compared to mine, so I asked her about it. I only picked up enough to do simple things."

Once he finished carving his father's name next to his mother's, he let the knife he created dissipate and stood back up, gazing down at the grave marker. After a few moments, he heard Juvia say in a quiet voice, "Juvia will leave so that Gray-sama can talk to his parents alone."

Before she could make good on her words, Gray turned around and caught one of her wrists in his hand. "No, I'd like it if you'd stay."

Her eyes widened briefly, then she gave him a small smile while a faint blush covered her cheeks. "I-if that's what Gray-sama wishes."

Gray gave her a half-smile of his own before letting go of her wrist and turning back to face the grave marker once more. He took a few more moments to gather his thoughts before speaking. "I'm sorry I never came here before. It's just… I was never ready, I guess. I'm still not sure I am, but… it felt like it was the right time." He sighed and reached out to rest his hand on the top of the marker. "I still miss you both. …Even though what happened to you was horrible, Dad, I'm still glad I got to talk talk to you again. You don't know how happy it made me when you told me you were proud of who I'd become. I… I just wish I could have had more time with both of you."

Closing his eyes, he stayed standing before the grave like that for several long moments, quietly grieving for his parents. When he opened his eyes again, he could see Juvia watching him with concerned eyes. He tried to give her a small, reassuring smile but judging from her expression it didn't come out how he intended it to.

She looked away from him for a brief moment before turning back to him with a hesitant expression and asking, "Um… Juvia was wondering if Gray-sama could tell her what his parents were like… Since she only got to speak to Father briefly, and won't ever have a chance to meet Mother…" He just looked at her, a bit taken aback by her request, and she started to backpedal, waving her arms in front of herself nervously. "B-but only if Gray-sama wants to! If it's too painful, he doesn't have to talk about it, and Juvia is sor-!"

Gray shook his head at her and cut her off before she could finish apologizing. "No, it's okay that you asked. …And I think that I should remember the happy times I had with them more, even though yeah, it'll hurt, because they'd want their memories to be more than just a source of pain for me."

"Oh, Gray-sama…" Juvia murmured, clutching one of her hands to her chest, eye a little misty, looking touched by his words. "Juvia will listen to whatever Gray-sama feels like saying about his parents."

He smiled a little at her. Though she could be weird and over-emotional at times, he knew she meant what she'd said. After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he began to speak. "My Dad was a generally cheerful and easy-going guy. He really cared about me and my Mom, and always did everything he could to keep us happy and safe. I looked up to him a lot, before…" He let that sentence trail off and sighed. He wasn't supposed to be thinking about that right now. "Mom was pretty quiet most of the time, calmer. Her hands were gentle and caring, and she was always looking after us. Dad loved making her laugh."

When he glanced back over at Juvia, he noticed that some tears were quietly trickling down her face. She was crying for him, he knew, mourning his losses in a way he seldom let himself indulge in. He didn't think he'd ever understand why she cared so much about him that she felt his pain as if it were his own. He was about to try to do something to cheer her up a little when she said, "Gray-sama's parents sound like they were wonderful people. She wishes they hadn't died, so that Gray-sama could be happy instead of carrying such sadness in his heart…"

Gray gently shook his head at her. "I miss them, and their loss is something I'll always carry with me, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been things since then that made me happy. Training with Ur and Lyon, being a part of Fairy Tail, the friends I've made and the missions I've gone on… If my parents had lived, I might have taken an entirely different path and ended up missing out on those things, and I wouldn't want that anymore than I want my parents to be dead. So don't think I'm always suffering, or that I don't value what I have now, or anything like that."

Giving a small nod, she murmured, "Juvia sees…" Looking away shyly, she continued by asking, "Is she part of what makes you happy, then? Because she is a member of Fairy Tail…"

He turned his head away from her, feeling his cheeks get a little warm. "No. Er, well, that's part of it, but you make me happy just by being you, and not just because you're part of Fairy Tail…"

Glancing at her, he saw that she was wide-eyed and blushing now, and quickly looked away again. "Juvia is very glad that she makes Gray-sama happy! Is it because he values her as a friend, or could it be…?"

His face getting redder by the moment, Gray turned towards the route they followed into the town and cleared his throat. "Um, we should be going! Don't want to miss the train, right?" he asked, using the first distraction that came to mind.

"Juvia supposes so…" Juvia said reluctantly, starting to move to follow him before another thought halted her in her tracks. "Oh! Could Gray-sama go on ahead without her? She'll only take a few moments and then she'll be right behind him."

He raised an eyebrow at her, not sure why she wanted to stay behind at his parents' grave without him, but shrugged and started moving. "Don't take too long," he called back to her.

"Juvia won't!" she replied. As he walked leisurely away from her - they didn't really need to hurry, after all, he couldn't resist the urge to glance back at her. She had her head bowed now as she stood before the grave marker, looking serious. As he turned back around and kept walking, he wondered what she might be saying. Were feelings of guilt about his father still weighing her down?

After only a few minutes of walking, he could hear her as she hurried through the snow to catch up to him. Glancing back again, he noticed that her expression seemed lighter than before he'd left her there. "All done?" he asked, smilingly slightly at her.

"All done," she confirmed. Walking beside her on the path leading them out of town, he could see her glancing hesitantly at him arm out of the corner of his eye. She probably wanted to hold onto it, but wasn't sure that he'd let her. Wanting to encourage this return to something more like her normal behavior around him, he stuck his elbow out towards her a little in invitation. Smiling, she threaded her arm through his, cuddling a bit closer to him. He tried to pretend that he was unaffected by the change to their positions, but a faint pink tint to his cheeks gave him away. He'd probably pull away once they reached more populated areas, but for now he was willing to let her be close like this.

So they left the snow-bound ruins of the village together, walking arm in arm.

Gray visiting his parents' grave with Juvia is a kind of popular theme to write about, I know, but I got inspired, so... And I think I touched on one thing (that his parents' survival might have resulted in him never joining Fairy Tail) that not many others have addressed.