Awwwwww man… Gray thinks to himself, shit. He holds his arms out to his side awkwardly. "Ummm Gina, I'm serious. Look we need to…" He feels Gina turn her face and press it against the exposed skin at the top of his shirt, and jumps in surprise when his brain registers how flaming hot her skin is. "Holy crap!"
"Shhhhh…" Gina mumbles with a sigh, "Just give me a second okay?"
"Gina, what the hell is going on?" he demands, as the hair on the back of his neck begins to rise in warning. "You're burning up. And this isn't the first time." He places his hand more fully against the skin of her forehead. She's got a fever well over 100 degrees. "Oh my God," he continues, "If we don't get your fever down, you're gonna end up with brain damage!"
"I'll be okay," she mumbles shifting her face against his skin again. Then he stiffens as he feels her arms slide up inside his shirt, and against the skin of his back. "Why are you even wearing this thing anyway?" she mumbles.
"What?" he says, feeling like he's suddenly the butt of some sick joke. "Why the hell do you want me naked when you're burning up with…" Hold up. He can feel an idea just out of his mental grasp. Fever… ice magic… nah… My ice magic doesn't make people colder unless I want it to. That can't be it. But that means… she just wants me naked? What the hell?! "Gina, you'd better start explaining, because I am about to lose my damn mind here."
"I'm sorry, Gray," she says, stepping back with a blush on her cheeks.
Weird… he thinks. With a fever that high, why isn't her whole face beet red? Actually, why isn't her entire body? "Just start explaining," he demands.
"I… haven't been honest with you Gray. Not with any of you," Gina admits. "I've been hugging you because… I'm using your ice-make magic to keep my temperature down."
"Wait a minute," he feels shock course through him. "You ARE using my ice magic?! How the hell does that even work? I don't make other people cold!"
"It's complicated," she hedges, taking a step towards the couch and rubbing her arms.
"You do that a lot too," he points to her arms. "What is that? Most people do that when they're freezing."
"Similar idea, I guess," she says with a weary smile, "It's just my habit when I'm overheating."
"But WHY are you overheating? You'd better fess up, or I'm going to Gramps and I'm…"
"I'm sick, Gray!" she shouts, cutting off his rant. "I'm having problems controlling my body temperature because I'm sick. Okay?"
"Sick how?" he asks, walking over to sit beside her on the couch, and tossing his shirt absently over its back. "Is this what Gramps was talkin' about? The thing that made you lose your magic?"
"Yes…" she hedges, and Gray can tell she's holding something back. "Natsu figured out earlier today that my original form of magic was fire magic."
"Makes sense," Gray replies with a shrug, "He says you still smell like it."
"Well…" she fidgets again. "I didn't realize until recently how weak my magic truly has become, even in the form I'm now practicing. That weakness seems to be making that original magic source more sensitive, and reactive, when I would otherwise not have a problem. My former magic is misbehaving and causing my temperature to escalate wildly out of control. It IS reacting to your ice-make magic. I don't know why. I've never heard of something like that before. I just know that when I touch you… it successfully can bring my temperature back to normal."
"Does it hurt?" he asks with dread, watching her begin to rub her arms more fiercely. "Aw, dammit, just come over here. You're makin' me nervous."
He props himself against the arm of the couch and pulls Gina's little body up against him. He resists the urge to jump when her hot skin meets his bare chest. She wraps her arms around him eagerly, pressing her face against his chest again.
Man… he thinks in panic. If Lucy walks in, I'm as good as dead.
"Look Gina," Gray starts, "I want to help you, but… I, uh…"
"You're in love with Lucy," she replies very matter-of-factly.
"Well… yeah," he hedges, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean… I don't want to give you the wrong idea or anything, and I…"
"You aren't," Gina smiles against his chest. "You're a very handsome guy, Gray. You could have your pick of the women in town, and maybe you have before, but your heart's been set on Lucy since long before I met you. I'm surprised the two of you aren't dating."
"Well, I'm pretty easy-going," he shrugs. "But this could get weird. Why haven't you been honest with everyone? Why didn't you just tell us you're still sick?"
"Because it would change all of you," Gina says with a weary sigh.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asks.
"If I told you I were dying, Gray, how would you feel?"
Gray feels ice slide through his veins, and it has nothing to do with his magic. He tilts Gina's face up to look him in the eyes, and he finds them deep and sad. It's suddenly hard to breathe. "Naw…" he chokes, "No. No way, Gina. You're not dyin'. There's no way! We could…"
"Stop Gray," she begs with the same somber expression. "That's what I DON'T want, okay? I don't want sad eyes. I don't want anger, or determination to find out what's wrong. I don't want everyone in Fairy Tail trying to find out why I'm sick, and some way to beat it."
"But that's ridiculous!" he shouts, sitting up and gripping her shoulders. "There's no way we wouldn't find an answer, Gina! You don't know us that well yet. There isn't ANYTHING we can't do!"
"No!" she shouts back, beginning to look angry – which makes no sense at all. "I know what's wrong, Gray! I don't want people to know! I want to enjoy my life. I want to see everyone live and laugh: you, Lucy, Erza, Natsu, Happy and the others. I'm not saying that I'm going to die from this for sure. It's a possibility, but there are lots of possibilities. I don't want this to be the thing people see when they look at me. I want them to just see me. Please Gray. Promise you won't tell everyone my secret. Or I'll… be gone as soon as you do."
"That's bullshit!" Gray shouts, feeling angry now himself. "What about, Natsu, huh? Is he making you sick, and doesn't even know it? Are you reacting to his magic like you are mine? That's why you're always shoving him away from you! Isn't it? God, dammit! Do you have any idea how that will make him feel if he finds out?! He cares about you Gina. He'd never hurt you on purpose!"
"I know he wouldn't," she says, looking down at her hands with a smile. "And he isn't really hurting me, Gray. He just causes my temperature to rise the same way yours causes it to go back down. Look… if you tell anyone, they're just going to want to poke and prod me. They'll run tests, and make conclusions. I don't want them to know what's wrong with me, and I don't want you to know either. Hugging you helps me, but if it makes you uncomfortable I will find another solution. If you need a better answer, or you don't want to keep my secret, then I'll move on. I've visited many guilds before, and I can find many more."
"That's so unfair!" he objects. "I don't want you to leave, and I don't like lying to my team."
"Then don't lie," she shrugs. "Just don't say anything."
A long awkward silence stretches out between him and Gina, and he slowly starts to feel his temper settle back down. "Are you really dying?"
"We all die eventually Gray," she says, settling back into the couch.
"Dammit, don't give me some bullshit answer," he spits. "Tell me the truth on this one thing."
"Fine…" she sighs. "I am weakening. It is possible that I could eventually simply die from that weakness, yes, but the situation is much more complicated than that. I could be strengthened by various factors, and weakened by others. Strengthening would give me more time, and weakening would give me less. Until recently, I believed I had a lot of time left. Recent events… and this fever… have left me more uncertain, but I could be overreacting. I could still have many years left."
"So how do we strengthen you?" he asks, trying to solve the puzzle in his mind.
"Just be my friend," she whispers with tears in her eyes, staring off into nothing. "There are a lot of things about me that I can't explain. Please, Gray. I have no right to ask this of you, but I need your help."
"Damn…" he mumbles, tossing his head back on the couch. "This is going to make things with Lucy really awkward, and Elfman is already on my case."
"I'm sorry…" Gina replies with a grimace. "Would it help if I talk to them?"
"And tell them what?" Gray challenges with a huff. "You've just said I can't tell them the truth."
"Well…" she pauses for a minute or two, "maybe we can just be less awkward about it, now that you understand I'm not coming on to you."
"Yeah, I guess," he concedes.
As Gina pushes the heavy doors of the guild hall open, she is greeted by the hustle and bustle that she has come to know as Fairy Tail. She's borrowed one of Lucy's short blue skirts today, and partnered it with a burnt orange halter top she admired in a shop window earlier that week. Her hair is pulled back in a braided bun against the back of her head to match the day's warm weather, but she's excited to feel the sun on her skin and know her own temperature seems to be behaving today after spending so much time with Gray last night.
Lucy didn't come home from the guild hall until late, and so far it seems as if Gray is keeping to his word and keeping his mouth shut, but it makes her nervous. She's never had to fabricate a lie this complex to keep herself hidden before, but she's never been this weak before either.
Part of her is shocked at her own behavior. She doesn't feel as if she wants to die, and she could alter the course of her health easily enough. She just doesn't particularly feel like fighting to stay alive just to keep going the way things have always been, and she's tired of being in one-sided relationships.
She spots Happy and Natsu up at the bar, and is just about to head their direction when a familiar voice speaks from behind her.
"Well, well…" the scratchy and distinct, rock-star voice of Bickslow calls, "That's a pair of legs I thought I'd never see again. What the hell are you doing here?"
Gina freezes. Oh shit… this is a complication she hadn't anticipated. She turns around with a sly smile. "Bickslow," she croons with blatant sarcasm, "Not happy to see me?"
Bickslow has on his standard attire: a black and white striped long-sleeved shirt, green bracers, awkward pants, and helmet with visor to cover his magical eyes. He's tall and intimidating, just like she remembers him. In classic fashion, his tongue is hanging out of his mouth like a dog between his grin, so his guild mark is displayed on its top. Seeing him makes her begin to wonder where the rest of the Thunder Legion are – she didn't think they actually frequented the Fairy Tail guild hall. She expected them to still be with Laxus.
"Oh, I'm always happy enough to see a pretty face," Bickslow barks with a laugh, as his little flying pets chant 'Pretty, pretty!' behind him. "Freed is gonna flip shit when he sees you though, doll face. He still hasn't forgiven you for walking out on Laxus. I don't think Evergreen ever really liked you, so probably won't have much difference there."
"Is Laxus here?" she asks in dread, ready to bolt for the door.
"Nah," Bickslow replies, calming her heart rate. "Laxus has been exiled from Fairy Tail. You won't see him around here, but he told the rest of us to stay put so here we are. Figured you would have heard at least that much."
She had heard, which is why she wasn't counting on seeing them; but she wasn't about to tell Bickslow that.
"Good morning, Gina," Makarov's voice startles her and she nearly jumps out of her skin. She looks down to see the old man standing beside her with a wide grin. "And you too, Bickslow. I see you've met my grand niece, Gina."
The smirk falls from Bickslow's face, and he looks completely stunned. After a moment he shakes his head and says, "Whoa, hold up. Can you repeat that old man? Because I think I must have heard you wrong."
Gina wants to jump in, but she's completely floundering. There is no way to have this conversation without a mess. Bickslow knows her too well, and he knows she isn't related to Makarov at all. Before she can come up with anything, Freed's voice jumps into the fray from the sidelines.
"It would seem that we need to find a place to talk," Freed's deep tone is disapproving. "Master, I believe there is more you need to know. Or perhaps… more that we do."
Great… Gina thinks. Just when I thought I could stay at Fairy Tail.
Natsu stares up at the job board, frustrated that nothing looks worthwhile.
"This sucks," he says to no one in particular. "Lucy's gonna hate all these jobs."
"Aye," Happy agrees. "If she doesn't make some rent money soon, her head's gonna explode!"
"Actually…" Wendy's small voice calls from behind him. "She just left on a job a few minutes ago."
He turns around and sees Wendy padding up to him, with Carla right behind her. Wendy is in a little green, blue and yellow halter-top style sundress with her hair up in long blue pigtails. Carla is in a small red and white dress – which is only odd to someone who doesn't know what an exceed is. Wendy is Fairy Tail's youngest dragon slayer, an air dragon slayer, and Carla found her when they were both very young.
"What do you mean, she left?" Natsu asks Wendy with surprise. "Why would she leave without telling me? Who the heck did she go with?"
"Ummm…" Wendy says, looking nervous. "She went with Gray. She was looking for you, but couldn't find you, and I guess they had to leave pretty quickly. She said it was a job on a moving train, so she figured you wouldn't want to go anyway."
"Ugh…" Natsu mumbles, starting to feel queasy at just the mention of a train. "Well… I can't believe she left without saying goodbye, but… I guess I'll let her off this once."
Wendy just smiles and giggles. Then a man in the doorway of the guild hall catches Natsu's attention. He is dressed in some kind of messenger outfit, and looks completely freaked out by the small crowd in the guild hall. It's nowhere near as busy as Fairy Tail used to be, but the crowd has been building back up since the Tenrou Island incident. Natsu decides to walk up and save him the search.
"Hey there," he says with a smile. "Who you lookin' for?"
"Ummm…" the man glances down at his paper to confirm. "I have a message for Aegina Asterope. Is she in today?"
"Oh, sure. Gina?" Natsu says with a laugh. "I just saw her go into the library with Gramps. You want me to give that to her?"
"No, sir," he says, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but this message must be delivered in-person."
"Suit yourself," Natsu says, throwing his arms behind his head and strolling back over to the bar. "Why don't you come have a soda while you wait?"
The messenger waited at the bar for what seemed like hours to Natsu. Just about every member of Fairy Tail in the hall talked to him at one point or another. Eventually, Natsu spots Gina headed back into the main room, and she looks tired and unhappy. He wants to punch whoever put that look on her face.
Weird… he thinks, where the heck did that come from?
"Hey Gina!" he calls, successfully getting her attention, and possibly startling her. "This guy's been waiting forever for you to come down!"
"What?" she wonders aloud, walking over to the man. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"
"No miss," the messenger says, jumping up and bowing slightly. "I have brought a message for you, and I was told it needed to reach you as soon as possible." He hands her a small white envelope.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Gina begins fumbling through her pockets, but the messenger interrupts with a polite wave.
"Oh there's no need for payment, Miss," he says with a smile. "The payment was arranged by the sender."
"Oh, well… thank you," Gina says with a smile, but she still looks stressed out.
"Everything okay, Gina?" Natsu asks, putting his hand on her shoulder gently after the messenger leaves. Natsu feels his magic spark slightly, once again, but Gina flinches away from him as if she's been shocked.
"Um, yeah," she mumbles, looking down to the envelope.
Damn. Natsu really thought he made progress with Gina yesterday. She didn't seem to hate him at all by the time she went home. He decides to try again. She seemed to enjoy fishing. It wasn't as boring as usual with her around last time, so maybe she'd like to try again. She begins reading the note, and looks paler and paler by the minute.
"Hey, you look like you could use a break," he says with a smile. "What do ya' say we try out that fishing hole again today? I'm sure we can't have bad luck twice in a row. Lucy left with Gray, so we could…"
"I'm sorry, Natsu," Gina says, closing her eyes and clenching her jaw tight. "I can't today. I'm not actually feeling very well, so I think I'll just go back to the apartment and rest."
"Oh, okay," he says, rubbing the back of his head and trying not to let his disappointment show. She walks away briskly and out of the guild hall. Natsu just sticks his hands in his pockets and stares at the door for a long time.
"Do you… still want to go fishing?" Happy chimes in with a small sad voice from beside him after a few minutes.
"Sure, buddy," Natsu says with a shrug, "Let's grab our stuff."
"Maybe the message made her upset?" Happy asks; as if Natsu would have the answer.
"Yeah, maybe," he mumbles, actively trying to push the beautiful woman out of his mind. "Come on buddy, let's go. Dinner's on me."
Gray stands in front of the sliding door for their compartment on the train and breathes in deeply through his nose, trying to calm his nerves. Come on man… he complains to himself. Why is this so freakin' hard? It's not like she doesn't know already.
Gray decided after his long talk with Gina, that even though he can't tell Lucy the truth about her, he's got to finally "man-up" – as Elfman would put it – and be honest with Lucy about his own crap. She's got to know where he stands before this all gets super complicated and weird, or things could go bad fast. The problem is… he's known how he feels about Lucy forever, and just never got around to doing anything about it. That day in her apartment recently was a major exception; and they still hadn't really talked through it since Gina interrupted. Finally, he slides the door open.
Lucy is curled up on the lower-bunk of the small cabin they've rented for the train ride. They're tailing some high-society airheads as glorified bodyguards, and keeping the cabin next to theirs at night. Gray argued with them that it made no sense to hire bodyguards that didn't even sleep in the same compartment as the client, but they ignored him.
As long as we get paid, he thinks, I could care less.
"Gray?" Lucy asks in a sleepy voice, rolling over and peering at him from under her lashes.
Damn, she's so pretty. "Yeah, Luce, it's me," he replies. "I found us some food. You want some?"
"Oh, awesome," she says, stretching like a cat before sitting up. "I'm starving."
He sits down on the mattress beside her, and hands her one of the two sandwiches he managed to scrounge up from the dining car. They eat in silence for a few minutes before he suddenly realizes that Lucy has stopped, and is staring at him with an impish grin.
"What?" he asks defensively.
"Are you ever going to talk to me, Gray?" she calls him out, "Or are you just going to think about it for the entire trip?"
"Man… guess I'm pretty obvious huh?" he laughs softly at himself.
"Well, I've known you for years now," she says, putting a finger on her chin as-if in thought. "and… you were pretty obvious about not wanting Natsu and Happy to come on this job with us. Be honest. Did you pick this job just because it was on a train?"
"Hell yes," he admits with a real laugh this time. "No way did I want to deal with flame-brain in my face on this one."
"So… is this about," Lucy blushes and stares at her shoes, "that kiss in my apartment the other day?"
"Well, now that you mention it," he says, leaning back against the wall with a smirk, "that kiss was pretty fantastic. At least…" he wants to curse at his own slight blush, "I thought so anyway."
"Yeah," Lucy laughs nervously and rubs the back of her neck. "It was… intense."
Wait… he sits up, trying to focus on her reaction. Is intense good or bad? Shit… He sits forward and places his head in his hands with his elbows on his knees. Damn… is it hot in here or what? Stupid stuffy cabin. He decides to lose the jacket.
"Look, Luce," he tries, with a slight nervous catch in his voice. "I'm sorry if I came on too strong out of nowhere like that. I hope I didn't freak you out."
"Oh, no," she says, putting her hand on his arm. "It's okay. I'll admit I was a little… I mean. 'Freaked out' is not the wording I would use. Maybe… surprised? I mean… we've been friends and teammates for years, Gray, and you never… well, geez, I don't know. You never seemed interested in me I guess. Well… not that kind of interested."
"How can you even say that?" he asks, completely dumbfounded by her insecurity. "I've always said you were damn pretty. I've even been called out on my feelings for you on jobs before."
"Yeah, well…" she says with a blush, "when we got home it was just the same old routine. You never seemed to want more, so… I don't push."
"Maybe you were just too busy running around with Natsu to notice," he gripes, and instantly regrets how childish he sounds. He rubs his hands over his face in frustration. "Aww man, look… I didn't mean that, okay? Let's just forget…"
"No, you're right," Lucy says staring at her hands. "I spend all of my time with Natsu and Happy. And… there was quite a while there where I thought Natsu was the kind of guy I would like to be with."
Gray sits back against the wall again and crosses his arms over his chest defensively. "Yeah, how did that work out for ya?"
"Hey, don't get all moody on me pal," Lucy gripes. "You're the one that kissed me, remember?"
"I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I know I'm being an ass, I just… I don't know."
"Look…" Lucy says, with a smile. "I said I thought Natsu was the kind of guy I wanted to be with, but in the end it turns out that he's more like… I don't know. The little brother I never had. He's fun and loyal and an amazing friend, and I don't want to give that relationship up. But there was just no chemistry."
Gray suddenly feels like he's holding his breath. He felt major chemistry when he kissed Lucy, but she still hadn't said she did.
"What about…when I kissed you?" he finally asks.
That impish grin that he's come to love so much creeps back onto Lucy's face. She turns around so she's facing him on the mattress, and leans up against him; sliding her hands along the chest. Whoa… when did I lose my shirt? He can feel her nails rasp lightly against him, and it sends sparks across his senses. She keeps her eyes on his as her fingers continue upward to thread through the hair behind his head. Oh hell yes… he thinks, knowing exactly where this conversation is headed.
"You know, I'm not sure," Lucy says, practically nose to nose with him. "It's been quite a while since then. Maybe you should kiss me again, and find out?"
