Disclaimer: Still don't own Fairy Tail… but I still refuse to give up on that dream… Gratsu will be cannoned! ;)
Warnings: Yaoi
After the first time, Natsu had never wanted to be in this position ever again; it was painful enough the last time it happened. He was once again sitting the infirmary with the love of his life lying comatose in the bed beside him. It was a miracle that Gray had even survived the birth; it was choice between the twins and the ice mage… the Core chose the twins. However, he was able to tap into the fading flame element in the dying Core and was able to bring Gray from the brink of death; surprisingly, the Core still remained with the ice mage even now. It has been two weeks since that day and his mate has not had moved an inch since then.
Natsu exhaustedly pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the twin cribs at the end of Gray's bed. He gazed through the glass at his two sleeping sons; he wasn't lying when he said they were the most beautiful things that he has ever seen. He wanted so desperately to touch them and hold them, but he didn't want to risk waking them up. The moment that Gray had fallen asleep, the twins became restless and distressed; it was as if they knew something was wrong. Natsu didn't even have the guts to name his sons yet; it was something that he wanted to experience with Gray and it wouldn't be the same if he didn't.
He continued to watch his sons sleep even as the door of the infirmary opened behind him. A hand clasped his shoulder tightly as a form of comfort, but he barely registered its presence. He thought his eyes were dry of tears, but he proved himself wrong when he felt the familiar droplets trail down his cheeks. Fear was the only thing that was consuming him; he now knew how Gray felt when he knew that he was going to lose Lyon or himself to the reincarnation of Deliora.
"He's going to wake up."
"I know." The dragon slayer's voice cracked as he turned to the red haired mage standing behind him.
Erza looked up at him with tear stained cheeks as she stood by his side. She clasped her hand in his and pulled him into a tight hug. He hugged her like she was his only lifeline in a world that was crumbling around him. She rubbed her hand up and down his back in a form of comfort and its rhythm almost sent him into a sleep that his body so desperately wanted. But, he was afraid that if he were to close his eyes, Gray would forever disappear; never to be reached again.
"I'm so scared," He whispered into her shoulder, "I haven't been so scared in my life."
"Don't give up Natsu, I know he won't." She whispered back, "He's fighting to get back to you; I know it."
"But what if he isn't?" The dragon slayer choked.
"Then Lyon will make sure he gets his ass back here and you know it."
Natsu chuckled at that and he knew that Erza was absolutely right; there was no way in hell that Lyon was going to let Gray roll over and die. He stepped out of Erza's embrace and glanced back down at the babies in the cribs. He smiled when he saw two pairs of identical deep blue eyes staring up at him. He lifted the glass off the cribs and leaned in to pick up his charges. He handed the raven haired boy to Erza and then he held the pinkette in his arms. He cradled the pink haired boy gently and smiled fondly as the tough as nails requip mage cooed at the youngest in her soft arms. He walked over to Gray's bedside once more and sat on the stool that he had claimed as his own. Erza had followed him and stood beside him patiently; also looking at the other man that she had called her best friend. She gently handed the young raven to Natsu so that he could hold both the twins at the same time.
"Natsu, you should try to get some sleep."
"I will when he wakes up," He promised, "I just need to know he is alright."
Erza sighed sadly,
"You know he won't be happy if he wakes up and you've made yourself sick from worrying about him."
The pinkette smiled softly,
"I know, but at least I'll know he's himself again and he won't disappear."
"Will you at least eat something if I bring it up for you?" She uncharacteristically pleaded.
"Yeah," He sighed, "Just something light though, okay?"
The red head smiled at her small success before placing a chaste kiss on the top of Natsu's head comfortingly. She did the same for the twins in the dragon slayer's arms before leaving the room. She would never let on to how worried she actually was out of fear that her worries would turn out to be true.
FTFTFTFT
The sun was shining on the snow covered ground creating a halo of light. The pine trees were coated in flawless frost and the snowflakes danced through the chilled wind in a graceful ballet. Like usual, the harsh cold wasn't biting into his alabaster skin; it was as comfortable as the warm rays of the sun in the summer. The raven haired man didn't know where he was, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to be there. It felt like he had some unfinished business to do somewhere else, but he couldn't remember what it was. The last thing he remembered was a feeling of relief and serenity, but then nothing after that; the blank in his mind terrified him immensely.
Gray…
The raven man turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a familiar man walking towards him. The man was slightly taller than himself with alabaster skin and deep, emotional onyx eyes. The sun shone down on the stranger's white hair creating as the same halo that was present on the snow. The raven felt like he should know this person, but he couldn't place where he had seen him before. The white haired man stopped when he was standing right in front of him.
You have to go back Gray; it's not your time yet…
"Who are you?" The raven whispered, "I-I know you from somewhere don't I?"
The white haired man smiled sadly and a stray tear trailed from his eye. Before the raven could react, the familiar stranger placed a cold hand on his cheek. Electricity sizzled from the skin to skin contact, almost bringing up long forgotten memories; but was still unattainable to him. The white haired man leaned forward and placed his frozen lips on the raven's alabaster forehead hoping that it would be enough. The raven flinched as memories flooded his mind and closed his eyes to process what he was experiencing; images of the white haired stranger appeared along with a raven haired woman, a pink haired man, two babies and a room filled with other people. When the raven opened his eyes, tears started to poor down his face like a cascading waterfall. He launched himself at the white haired man and pulled him into a tight hug,
"L-Lyon," He whispered, "I never thought I'd see you again."
Lyon returned the hug and ran his hand through the raven hair that tickled the end of his nose,
You idiot, of course you would've seen me again.
Gray stepped out of his brother's arms and wiped the tears from his eyes,
"Am I dead?"
No. Lyon frowned sadly, It was close though; without the fire bastard's quick thinking, you very well could have.
"A-Are the babies alright?!"
Lyon laughed before nodding his head; Gray instantly relaxed at the notion. He looked into his brother's onyx eyes, wishing that he could spend more time with him, but knew that it wasn't possible. The late-mage seemed to know what the younger man was thinking so he placed his hand on Gray's cheek,
Everything will be okay; we'll meet again when the time is right.
"I-I know," He whispered as more tears trailed down his cheeks, "B-But it's still so hard; I don't want to leave you here all alone."
But I'm not alone, Lyon promised, Ur is here and so is your birth mother; we'll be just fine watching over you, Natsu and your sons. We're patient Gray; we can wait for your time to come just fine.
Gray nodded before wrapping his arms around his older brother one more time,
"Thank you Lyon, for finding me."
I'll find you always… I love you Gray, stay safe…
"I love you too Lyon… always…"
A bright, blinding light filled the snowy landscape and would've blinded everything in sight. When the light disappeared, Gray had disappeared and left Lyon standing in the snow. The white haired man turned on his heel and walked to the two waiting raven haired women who stood beyond the barrier.
FTFTFTFT
When the twins had fallen asleep once more, Natsu carried them over to the cribs and laid them down. He ran his fingers through their tuffs of pink and raven hair before putting the glass back over them; it worked as a barrier to make sure no access magic alerted the Magic Council before Fried sealed the Core that resided in both of them. Erza had brought up a bowl of soup some time ago, but Natsu couldn't find the will to eat it. He knew that he needed it in order to survive, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to keep anything down at the moment; his anxiety was just too high. He reclaimed his seat next to his ice mage's bed and resumed his constant vigil. He reached out and ran his hand along the smooth alabaster cheek and across the cold, pink lips. His hand then ran along the scared tissue that branched from his neck to the end of his shoulder before tracing the scars that ran across his left temple and right eye. All the challenges the mage faced were marked somewhere on his body; each scar representing each time Gray had found the will to become stronger both physically and mentally. Natsu leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his ice mage's forehead, then his nose and finally his lips; the cold that was both familiar to him and scared him. He was about to pull away when he felt his lover's lips moving against his; the dragon slayer froze, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
Natsu nervously pulled away, almost afraid that his mind was playing tricks on him. When he sat up, he saw mismatched blue eyes staring up at him tiredly. A weak smile was formed on the pink lips he had just kissed and tears were tinkling down his cheeks. The dragon slayer gently pulled his mate into a somewhat sitting position before pulling him into a hug. Tears flooded his onyx eyes when he felt the slightly chilled arms wrap around him in return.
"I'm sorry." He heard Gray whisper, "I'm home."
TBC
So here's another chapter :) it was kind of depressing, but had a happy ending which is going to be needed after all the dramatic shit I'm going to be piling on in the next couple chapters… this story is drawing to a close very soon and it's making me sad just thinking about it! Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm looking forward to your reviews.
-sktrgrl
