Chapter7

The black haired froze in his place. No words can express the feelings he felt he didn't talk or move he just stared at the pink haired. While Gray was looking at Natsu, Natsu tried to avoid his gaze. "B-but why... when... h-how?" That's all Gray could say to him. One tear escaped Gray's eyes as he didn't felt it. Natsu realized that tear that were flowing down his rival's cheek that made him feel more pain inside of his heart, he bit his lower lip as he looked in the other side of the room. "Tell me!" Gray said again with a higher level of voice.

Natsu sat down as he put down his elbows on his knees and his hand was in front of his face "It's been already 2 weeks since... I know" he looked down.

"A year ago... I had the same disease" Gray looked at him with wide eyes. "But doctors were able to cure me in that area that cancer took over... I lived the whole year in a good shape but..." he looked at Gray with cold eyes has no feelings "I started vomiting in the early morning and losing conscious in the middle of the day even... my body started to get weaker... also... my senses" Natsu looked down at the hard ground. "I went to a doctor he said..." he paused he said it is already too late to cure it... the cells have controlled over my brain and... I have only 3 months... left" Gray's eyes widened as his mouth fell opened.

"Hah this is a joke right" he tried to trick himself with saying things like that but he got no response from the salamander. Gray grabbed Natsu's collar cloth as he looked in his eyes "Is that why you came? Are you trying to build your grave in fairy tail" even if these harsh words was from Gray's mouth he did not mean it. His friend is dying, his rival and his childhood friend is dying and he is unable to do a thing.

Natsu smiled softly "I have... sacrificed my life in many ways... but, let me just have these three months of my life watching you guys happy since I can't make myself happy" his smile made Gray lose his mind. Was that really the same person that he grew together with him. He just didn't believe him or he didn't want.

"What about the guild?" Gray asked as he let go of the cloth.

"I didn't want to tell anyone but... you are the only"

"Do you expect me to see you dying and shut my mouth up?!" Gray asked in anger.

"No but, will you wait until I can get to be treated like the past... I don't want to be treated like a patient"

"I really don't believe all of this" Gray put his palm on his forehead "What happened for all this? Why were you the one to became like that even..." the ice mage looked at his friend's face to see the same smile "How can you smile like that?!" Gray shouted at him feeling tired of talking to the salamander as he knew that the win in talk won't get to his side. "How come you are dying and this smile is curled in your lips?" Natsu gave him a toothy grin warming the heart's of his friend.

"Because I don't have any regrets" the black haired's eyes widened as he looked at the dragon slayer.

"Then... what about Lucy?" Natsu paused looking at his friend. "Are you going to tell her that you going to meet Haru?" He said "Is it that simple?" Gray felt warm tears in his cheeks again after they dried. He stared at the pink haired mage.

"I had... a tough life these three years... so... the death will be my only peace" a shock hit Gray's heart.

"You..." the ice mage started "You are wishing to die" he continued "Why? Is that just because Haru? Do you want to meet him that much?"

Natsu smiled a little and closed his eyes "I can't deny the fact that I'm going to see him but," Natsu paused "I'm so tired... I have had a painful life, rough and tough" he said staring at the wall "You don't want me to get to rest?" Asked the salamander opening his eyes and keeping it on the ice mage. "You always wished me dying while fighting together with me" Natsu looked at him smiling.

"That's different idiot... you.." Gray couldn't continue his sentence then he asked another question "What will happen when the members know? Do you think that they will hold it inside their hearts or what?" Natsu rested his back in the chair's back.

"I don't know but... I can't tell them right now" he looked down then at Gray standing up. "And I'm not asking you to keep silent because I know you won't be able to say a word" Natsu patted the shoulder of the black haired "Save the tears when the time comes" Natsu joked to change the atmosphere "And take care of Akira... don't be a bad father like me"

"Okay then... we have to go before Erza kill us" Natsu put his hands on his waist as he gave the ice mage his back. "I think I forgot my scarf in the toilet, I will go reach it" Gray sat down burying his face in his hands. He tried to hold his tears in front of the most person that he would never show it. He didn't want to show the weak side to him. But it's the end he will never be able to do another thing with the pink haired. Gray started to remember those days that they were fighting, hanging out and having eating and drinking contests. For him, knowing that his friend lives in another country or place is better than him in his grave.

Inside the bathroom.

Natsu rested his back on the door as he grabbed his scarf tightly panting and gasping for a breath. He had endured so much today. From feelings, pain and talking about the past. He threw his head to the door and started to remember what happened a year ago and how he was dying from cancer. Natsu went to the tub and opened the tab. He stared at the water rushing down as he put his hand under it. Suddenly the dragon slayer put his head under the water washing his face and his hair.

Natsu got out from the toilet looking at the ice mage to find him giving him his back while putting his hand in his pocket. "Gray..." he called quietly. He found Gray wipe his eyes with his shirt and moving his body to met his.

"You finished" Natsu nodded and then opened the door to let the both head out.

The whole way to the guild both were silent not talking or even glancing at each other. They both stared at the hard ground not giving that much attention to the people walking around them. Suddenly the both of them met two different roads one leads to the guild and the other leads to another places. Natsu was about to enter the road but he realized that Gray had stopped. "What?" he asked.

"You... go" Gray ordered him to leave.

"What about you?" asked the salamander.

"I have things to do, I can't go right now" explained the ice mage making Natsu pause. The dragon slayer stared at his friend for a while. "Tell them that i went to the restaurant" he nodded heading to his way. Gray stared at the back of the pink haired as he sighed.

Natsu walked along the street as he reached fairy tail and entered from the door which was already opened. He smiled when the barmaid waved her hands towards him. He closed the distance to the bar. "Umm Natsu-san" he heard the blue haired mage Gray's wife Juvia call "Where's Gray?" She asked as she got a surprise from not seeing her beloved husband with him.

The dragon slayer looked at the blue haired "He said he was going to the restaurant"

"Is that so?"

The barmaid looked at the dragon slayer "You are not ordering anything?" She asked trying to get rid of the bored expression that the salamander wore when the silence appeared as he was putting down his elbow in the bar's table and hand in one cheek. The pink haired raised his eyes to meet hers as he paused then returned to his eyes sight

"Thanks I had a drink from an hour ago" the white haired narrowed her eyes not the narrowing anger but she was trying to focus in something.

"Natsu" she called quickly.

"Hmm" Natsu didn't bother looking at her.

"Did you cut your hair recently?" Natsu froze in his place and jumped up to face the barmaid.

"What?" He asked as his sweat dropped down. Mira was astonished of his reaction and looked at him.

"I asked you if you cut your hair recently? That's all" she crossed her arms as she leaned her head in the right side of hers.

"Ah, yes yes I had my hair cut" he answered as he cleared his throat. Natsu had his hair cut not with own will but it was because of the Chemotherapy that he had a year ago. He didn't realize that his hair might grew this slow. His hair was shorter than the Natsu's hair you know. From the back of his head the skin was a little shown with some hair that covered it. Mira put her elbows on the table.

"It looks strange" she grabbed a bang from the salamander's hair "But it looks good in you" she smiled. Natsu sighed in relief as he put his hand on his hair rubbing it.

"You were here after all" the red head interrupted in between the two mages. She put her one hand in her waist after gesturing to Mira to give her cheese cake as she looked at the pink haired friend of hers.

"Yeah, I came" he answered.

"Why were you in your home from the first place?" She asked as she took a bite from the cheese cake she just took. Natsu paused looking down at the hard ground.

"It's just..." Natsu couldn't complete the sentence when the scarlet mage held his hand.

"It's okay... don't push yourself" she said with a soft smile curled in her lips "We originally called you to come because she wasn't here" she said with a sad face. But Natsu with his emotionless and cold eyes just nodded. That face appears only when his pain reaches his limit and stops affect the heart of his.

Suddenly Natsu flinched when his nose caught the smell of the blonde and the blue cat enter the guild. He paused as he kept looking at the table which was in front of him. Both Mira looked at the door's direction as one of them bit her lower lip and the other's head snapped towards Natsu. She paused when she saw the same cold eyes that he wore whenever someone talks about the past.

With Lucy.

She entered from the door followed by the blue flying cat smiling to everyone as she saw some of them whisper to each others and others looking at her with worried eyes. "Why are you looking like that?" ? Asked the blue cat who was flying in the air. Their head moved slowly to the bar's direction as Lucy started to feel her heart tighten slowly. She paused as she kept looking at the pink haired. Her fingers slowly played with each others from being nervous. Suddenly the blonde found the pink haired standing up. She froze as she was worried meeting his eyes again. Natsu walked along the way to her but his head was down not removing his eyes from the ground. Lucy glanced at dragon slayer to find the emotionless and cold eyes that one of the white and red haired mages caught. Natsu passed by her but stopped when he stood beside her straightly. She froze in her place when she saw him like that. But for Natsu he tried hardly to move his legs but it wasn't obeying. The whole guild froze when they saw that view. They knew already that they have met each others at the grave but they couldn't see how they acted towards each other.

"Natsu" the blue flying cat called with low voice.

The blonde cleared her throat and looked at him straightly she closed her mouth squeezing her teeth together to held every emotion may get out before her previous husband. She tried not to show him the flowing feelings of the missing, love and loneliness. Natsu rubbed his nose as he still looking down.

"L-Lucy" the barmaid interrupted.

Lucy's head moved towards the white haired. She smiled and went to reach them. Natsu after the blonde left he rubbed his nose again then decided to leave the guild.

Happy stared at the both of them the one that had just entered and the other who had just left. The blue cat decided to follow Natsu in his way.

...

"Natsu~" the blue cat called flying towards the pink haired guy. Natsu twisted his body to look at the blue cat and smiled.

"You seem so lively flying everywhere and with everyone" Natsu said as he continued to walk.

Happy panted as he paused a little "I live with Lucy because she asked me to stay with her" the dragon slayer stayed silent as he walking. "... three years ago when you left" Happy tried to ease the situation between the two. "She didn't want to be alone" Natsu stared at the ground remembering the day he had left the life in Magnolia to stay away from sadness.

"I see" he said quietly earning a gaze from the blue cat. The day he had left everything behind his back was the day Gray had fought the whole guild saying that leaving iis not the right thing to do, the day he had planted the last kind of bouvardia flower in front of his kid's grave and the day he was dying to see Lucy and couldn't do that. No matter how much he was willing to even glance at at her and wasn't able to do so. Natsu sighed putting both hands around the back of his head looking up to sky. He closed his eyes and started to imagine and see how much his death might affect his guild's mate. The cries and the winces but the image suddenly changed when he saw Haru jump in his head and clear the bad image. He smiled as he saw Haru's toothy grin that was curled in his lips that he inherited from his Natsu. The blue cat caught that smile after the frowning face of the salamander.

"Why are you smiling?" He asked in a surprise.

Natsu looked at him still smiling "I just saw a vision of Haru" Happy froze in his place. He was about to think that the dragon slayer didn't pay any attention of what he had just said about the blonde after he tried to ease between them. Natsu's smile curled in a small smile as he removed his eyes from Happy to the ground "With the rest of the family" he simply said changing the blue cat's idea quickly. As soon as Natsu's smile disappeared he found that Happy already nuzzled into his chest hugging him tightly.

.

.

.

..

.

.

.

End of the chapter

So, minna here's another chapter have fun reading it... I know you already did.

Anyway, I'm sorry about last time for updating the same chapter, it was just a mistake that's all.

Have fun with your day!

Sayonara