It's Been A While
A Fairy Tail Fanfiction
Warnings: Shounen-Ai Pairing (Natsu/Gray), (Gray/Juvia), read at your own discretion.
A/N: This is my personal hurrah to all the couples out there liberated by the repealing of DOMA last week. Congratulations, guys. I'm not homosexual, but you guys are as cute as all the other couples out there and I believe everyone should be viewed equally in their preferences. No one has the right to reprimand who you are; it's up to ourselves to make decisions on who we are and what we're about. I didn't mean for this to be angsty, because I wish happiness to all you readers out there, but it's just an idea that came to my mind while it was raining like hell a few days ago. (rain=great for tragic inspiration!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima in all his glory does.
Gray laid in the hospital bed, waiting for his time to come. Though his outer shell had, over the years, withered away into a pile of wrinkly skin and bones, he still couldn't believe that he was eighty-four years old. It was as if he was one of the most powerful mages in the Fairy Tail guild one day, bursting with life and pride for his comrades, and the next morning, his reflection mockingly stared back at him, at the old man that he was now. The hell's with all these tube-y things they've stuck everywhere, anyway? I can't even die peacefully. Geez.
He glanced around weakly at everyone in the room and the array of guild marks stamped onto the different body parts. They were the members of the next generation…and the generations after. They were the ones who would continue the legacies of mages, and that of Fairy Tail itself. He sighed, emitting a wheezing sound that was almost inaudible. He felt a nudge at his elbow.
"Grandpa?" a small voice said, hesitantly.
He turned to face a raven-haired little girl, no more than seven, and a faint smile formed on his aged face.
"Yes, dear?"
The child's deep, navy irises shifted nervously. "Will…will I ever see you again? Mommy says it's time for you to go, but I don't want you to." Her voice began to crack.
He mustered up the energy to put on his biggest grin. Somehow, he managed to croak out, "Summer, Grandpa will never leave you. I'll always be with each and every one of you, you just won't be able to see me."
Summer pouted, furrowing her little brows. "Granmama said the same thing, but she doesn't talk to me anymore."
Her mother's hands touched the child's shoulders gently as she bent down and whispered, "Honey, Grandpa is tired."
Gray shook his head, indicating that he wanted to engage in the last few precious exchanges of conversation he would have with his favorite granddaughter. "It's alright, Marion."
Marion smiled sadly at her father. He'd lived a full life, yes, and what he and her mother, Juvia shared was a bond that was rare in married couples, even in their time. Despite that, her heart ached to see him go. He'd taught her so much—from Ice Magic to life lessons to walking her step by step through relationships, and finally walking her down the aisle. Now, the time had finally come for her to say goodbye. It won't be easy—she'd barely had time to recover from her mother's death last year, but she was happy that they both could leave in an ideal, peaceful manner, surrounded by loved ones. Like a fairy tale.
Summer wiggled in her seat next to her grandpa's bed, and Gray reached out and touched her hand. Wide, innocent eyes stared into his orbs, and he could feel the warmth flood his heart. He couldn't ever get over how much Summer reminded him of a certain dragon slayer, over seventy years ago.
"I'll tell you what, Summer. This guild mark—" he traced the Fairy Tail emblem on the back of her hand, "—will serve as a daily reminder that Granmama, Grandpa, the guild, and all the other Fairy Tail members that have left temporarily, will always be with you. Day and night. You got that?"
Summer nodded slowly, absorbing what her Grandpa said. She looked up at Gray again from her hand, and asked, "but Grandpa, will I ever see you again?"
"Of course. One day, we will all make ice castles by the river again. And when that day comes, neither Granmama nor I will ever leave again."
Her face brightened at this, and she grinned, her cheeks flushing a healthy pink. "Promise, Grandpa?"
He gave a single nod: "Promise."
She suddenly became excited. "Hey, Grandpa?"
"What is it, Summer?"
Her face contorted into a stern look of concentration as she opened one of her palms and placed a fist in her palm.
"Ice Make: Heart!" she said, and a palm-sized heart formulated in the space above Summer's hands. She lifted her hands, face up, and caught it as it slowly floated down into her palms and glittered in the lighting of the room. The other visitors watched in wonder at the most talented young mage in the new generation of the Fullbuster lineage. Gray's eyes widened a bit. Had she already become that skilled in creation magic?
Summer grinned again holding the ice heart out to her Grandpa and placing it on his stomach. She pointed at it and declared, "That's Summer's gift to Grandpa, so Grandpa and Granmama know that Summer will always be thinking of them, too."
Gray smiled at the child, his eyes too dry to tear up. He ran his hand around the cold, yet tingly edges of the small ice heart. "I love it. Thank you, Summer." At his words, the girl smiled even wider. It tore at his heart a little to leave his angels.
Gray didn't know when it started, but after talking a bit more, his vision blurred, and his mind began blocking out the voices of his family. Ah, it's time…he thought, as he slowly slipped into darkness.
He walked the dark tunnel that seemed indefinite. It was made of no substance—simply a dark tunnel with no walls and no ground. He couldn't even hear his own footsteps. What Gray did know, however, was that there was a light that he yearned ahead of him, and to reach that light, he would have to keep on walking.
When he finally exited the mouth of the tunnel, he stepped into a blinding field of white. Great. First black, now white? Is this the afterlife? Black and white? How boring. To be honest, he had seen the afterlife as more of a place of non-existence rather than the flowery heaven that everyone else placed their hopes on. It seemed more befitting, giving the mind a rest from the earthly troubles. But this was a bit far from everything…just plain black and white.
It was then that he finally realized he didn't feel the burden of his age anymore. He'd walked, perfectly straight and efficiently down the long tunnel. Gray stared down at his body, and lifted his arms, examining them. His wrinkles had disappeared, and he felt a strength that he'd possessed decades ago return to him. He touched his face and pinched his cheek, running a hand through his thick head of raven hair. He seemed to be wearing an ordinary pair of jeans, sneakers, and a white shirt with rolled up sleeves, much like how he carried himself back in his golden days at the guild, though they never stayed on his body long enough for anyone to notice. Huh, how nifty. I could get used to this.
Just then, he sensed a presence behind him.
"Gray-sama?"
The voice was all-too familiar. He spun around, and suddenly the field of white distorted into the setting of a rooftop—no, not a rooftop. The top of the mechanical moving Phantom Lord guild, where he and Juvia had first met when she'd fought him as one of the Element Four. He gazed around, disoriented, and turned back to Juvia. Woah...
"Juvia!"
His wife of fifty-nine years stood in front of him, as young and as beautiful as ever, with her cerulean hair cropped into a bob. She wore her signature blue-and white dress and knee-high, white boots. An emblem of Fairy Tail glimmered on the pendant that rested on her chest. A few tears ran down her cheeks as she smiled her usual, welcoming smile.
"Ah, Gray-sama. Juvia has been waiting for you."
"Juvia…"
He moved to where she stood, and wrapped his strong, protective arms around her, a sensation that they both missed. She sighed after inhaling his minty scent. Oh, how she had waited for this moment. After a few minutes, she pulled away and held his hands, longingly looking at the face she'd come to love so much.
Gray spoke, breaking the momentary silence. "Juvia, what is this place? What are we doing here?" he murmured, as he absentmindedly brushed off a few new tears that trickled down her smooth cheek.
She reached her hand up and placed it on his hand, which was still cupping her cheek. "This is the place where one's last desires are fulfilled, Gray-sama."
"Last desires?" he asked curiously.
"There is no afterlife, Gray-sama," she said slowly.
"Huh. I figured," he smirked. Juvia's heart fluttered ever so slightly as she stared at his handsome face. Gray never failed to drive her emotions out of control.
"This is a temporary passage to the hearts with an unfulfilled desire. After that desire is accomplished, the person will move on to be reborn. We—humans and mages and living things alike—all belong to an endless cycle of rebirth." She lowered her lashes and continued to speak. "This desire…It is usually something that a person never got to say or pass on to another loved one. "
Gray raised an eyebrow. "And what if that other person doesn't come?"
Juvia smiled again. "They will come, at some point." She glanced around at the top of her ex-guild, and at the blue sky. She'd never seen more sunshine and blue skies in her entire life than after she joined Fairy Tail. "You will wait until they come. Time here passes very quickly. Even Juvia still believes that she had only arrived a little while ago."
"But it's been a year," Gray said incredulously.
Juvia shook her head. "It does not matter. Time here passes like water, flowing in a river…"
Gray chuckled. "That's a rather artistic way of putting it," he teased.
The water mage giggled and they subsided as she looked back up into his eyes, which were now confused.
"Well, I don't know why I'm here then," he said.
"Gray-sama may have guessed, that Juvia has something important to say to Gray-sama. Gray-sama also has his own reason for being here as well, and he will have no need to wait."
He scratched his head. "Not really…I didn't die with regrets or anything…"
The water mage smiled sadly, almost on the verge of tears again. "Juvia will show you why." She took a deep, ragged breath and continued. "Being married to Gray-sama has been more than what Juvia could ever wish for. Gray-sama and Fairy Tail have brought Juvia much happiness—Juvia still remembers how everyone at Fairy Tail readily accepted Juvia when Juvia joined. Juvia remembers how she fought Vidaldus with Lucy-chan, and how Lucy-chan never gave up on Juvia. Juvia is thankful for everything that Fairy Tail gave her."
Gray tilted his head, waiting for her to continue.
She took another deep breath. "But Juvia has a message to Gray-sama that she has been holding back all these years. Juvia was scared that she might make Gray-sama sad if she mentioned this."
Now Gray was curious. He stared intently at his wife, wondering what on earth she had been hiding from him. As far as he knew, there were zero secrets between them. Well, maybe he had kept one. Just one. But it was more of a white lie, especially after he got married, so what Juvia said next deeply shocked him.
"Juvia has been aware that she has always played the second fiddle in Gray-sama's heart."
Gray began protesting immediately, "Juv—"
Juvia shook her head, putting a finger to his lips. "Juvia knows that there is a person in Gray-sama's heart that Juvia could never replace. Juvia also knows that Gray-sama has loved her sincerely, but he holds a deeper passion for this person."
Gray stared at the ground guiltily, until Juvia raised his chin, forcing him to look at her.
"You are here for that person, Gray-sama. Juvia wants you to tie up the loose ends between the two of you. Juvia wants you to say the things that you never had the chance to say to him, ever since he passed away sixty-seven years ago. Juvia wants you," she placed her hand on his chest, "to mend the heart that Juvia never could." She sighed, and added, "Juvia wants him and Gray-sama to be able to move on."
Gray clenched his fists, as tears flowed freely from his squinted eyes. "I'm so sorry, Juvia…I tried to keep it from you, but you've known all along…I'm sorry…"
A delicate, gloved hand reached up and dabbed at his face. She picked up his hand and pressed it to her cheek, basking in the warmth for one last time, closing her eyes. "Saa, go to him, Gray-sama…" she whispered as she faded away.
"Wait, Juvia!" He fell to his knees, feeling the lack of presence of his wife, and whipped his head around wildly, searching for her. The Phantom Lord guild melted away, back into the field of white.
"J-Juvia?" he called, shaking.
"When you are ready, you will proceed, Gray-sama. Juvia is happy…" her lingering voice echoed around the never-ending field.
A/N: Woo, so many feels! I meant for it to be a oneshot, but I guess it'll be split into two chapters! ^^; Don't worry, Gratsu coming right up! Thanks to everyone who read through and reviewed, this is my first story that I posted on this site so I hope it went relatively well!