10. Drop Dead
"Wake up! wake up! WAKE UP!"
Erza's been slamming the pillow all over him for the last ten minutes in attempt to get his lazy bum outta the bed! "WAKE UP!" came another one of her howling screams. "Mmmm..." came Gray's muffled voice from under layers of blankets. "Five seconds..." pulling the blanket up to his head, he drowned in slumber once again.
Putting the pillow down, the redhead huffed. This isn't working. It looked like he's rather enjoying the soft, fluffy blows from the pillow. Instead of waking him up, it seems to be dozing him off even more. Maybe she should try it with something hard? And solid? Maybe she'll go down to the kitchen and pull out a skillet or something. Or, maybe just pull out that stinky sock poking out from Gray's shoes? Yep, that should do the trick.
A sudden thought crossed her mind and And her face immediately brightened. She nudged her friend who was tangled in blankets right now. "Oh Gray..." Erza called out in a sing-song voice.
"M'wat...?" the raven head replied in a sleepy voice. A knowing smirk spread across her face. "It's snowing."
As soon as the words left Erza's mouth, Gray shot up from under the pile of blankets faster than a rocket and hopped outta the bed so hastily that he almost rolled his friend over.
Making his way to the window, he swiftly wiped the hazed glass, to be greeted with his Eden. The winter wonderland.
Vested white covered the whole country yard. Creating a mesmerizing scene. A surrounding that was so familiar to him.
Magnolia stood on the Southern part of Fiore. Quite close to the ocean where it barely snowed, once in four to five years. Where Gray's old hometown used to be covered in ice all year-long. Coping up with the warm and dry monsoon of Magnolia was not easy for him. It's the first time snowing here ever since he moved to this town. Though It's only been a little over two years since he's seen it snow last, to him it seemed like the first time in forever.
Gray reached out and pushed the window open to its full extent, and got greeted with cold, thin air. The cool, freezing breeze he missed so much. After being suffocated for years, he finally felt like breathing.
"I'm gonna go outside." Gray stepped away from the window and ran to the door, still in his pajamas. He couldn't wait to feel the white cool object against his skin again. It's been forever since he had a snowball fight! Or built a snowman, or went skating...Gosh! what's to begin with?!
"Wha-? Hey! At least put a jacket on!" Erza called out to the disappearing boy, running after him, fixing her own sweater closer to her from. B'woooh! So cold! He had to open the window?!
"Don't worry 'bout me!" Gray laughed it off while pulling the front door open. "The cold never bothered me anywaaaay!" he yelled in glee whilst leaping off to the soft, snow filled ground.
And he froze.
Remember what he said just then about the cold never bothering him? He took it all back.
A shiver jolted through his entire body as soon as his feet connected with the snow. "COLD!Cold. Cold. COLD!" he tiptoed back in to the house as fast as his twinkle toes could carry him and slammed the door close, never wanting to go outside again, ever.
Gray panted hard, taking shallow breaths. What the hell was that?! This never happened before!
When one grows up in the coldest part of the continent, his/her tolerance rate to the frigid climate is suppose to be at the maximum. And for Gray it was, last time he checked. At least it used to be. Dwelling in the perched climate of Magnolia for years has probably taken a notion on him. Judging by what just happened, something told him he's not as cold repellent as he used to be before he moved here.
So, being hundred percent cold resistent up till now, Gray never really knew what it felt like to be actually 'freezing'. Well now he knows. He just found out, the hard way.
Gray wrapped his arm around himself, feeling his legs going numb. Noticing someone's gaze on him he looked up and saw her. Standing there biting her bottom lip, trying her best to keep a straight face.
"What?" Gray spat out trying to look annoyed but felling totally flustered. Somehow he just knew what was gonna happen next.
True to his anticipation, Erza cracked up laughing, literally going all ROFL.
And Gray just made a bitter and embarrassingly red face as he watched the girl having the best time of her life.
"So much for the cold never bothering you, Ice Princess." she choked out before going in for another round of laughter. She was having SO much fun!
She was not having fun!
Erza grumpy thought as she spread her arms beside her, trying to keep her balance on the slippery ice of the pond. Damn these stupid ice!
"Hey watch this, Erza!" Gray yelled as he spun around backwards on his skate, zipping in and out through the way.
"Show off" the redhead rolled her eyes.
After that not-so-tender greeting the other day Gray received from his old best friend, Mr. Frost, he was scared outta his mind about the harsh weather. And Erza was having so much fun watching her usually stubborn and bold friend acting all sissy like that. After a while when he finally mustered up the guts to step outside again, (Clad in proper winter clothing this time) only if you were there to see is spirit.
apparently, Mr. Frost and Gray bonded again and Erza was put aside like a third wheel. Cause she had no experience in the frigging ice!
Her home village was on the south coast so it never snowed there. The temperature however, sometimes did get exceedingly low, but it never snowed. So this was her first time trying to skate and boy! did she suck!
Gray however, was by no means a terrible skater. He might not be as immune to cold as he used to be, but at least his skills on ice were still intact! So he took the chance and was intentionally flashing off his almost-professional ranked skill.
"We shouldn't even be here. Eli said the pond's ice is still too thin to skate on."
Gray screeched his blade on the cold surface, coming to a standstill and looked over to where his friend was trying so hard not to lose balance and fall face first on the ice. "You really believe her? I know a skating surface when I see it and besides..." he added grinning like an idiot. "Glad I dragged you along. Who knew outta all the things in the world I'd beat you at skating?"
"You're the one to talk!" Erza's cheeks were turning tickled pink thanks to the brutal weather. And the embarrassing situation didn't really help either. "You had eight years of practice, as opposed to my thirty minutes of it!"
"Huh! Just admit that you suck and I'm awesome!" Gray crowed and continued with his backwards skating.
"Hey, I'm not that bad-Kyaaaa!"
Hearing her scream, Gray came to a halt and watched in total bewilderment as the redhead's skate flew out from under her feet and snapped up at an angle he didn't know her leg was capable of achieving.
"Ouch..." she quietly cried out as she sat up after so gracefully landing on her rear. Looking up, she saw the raven head, clenching his stomach, heaving with laughter. Yeah...she kinda saw this coming.
"Stop being such a jerk and help me up." Erza called out to the gleeful boy who was busy laughing his ass off and trying to keep up his balance on his skate at the same time. "Why? Got you're butt stuck on the ice?" he managed to choke out before starting to laugh again. It was his turn to have fun now.
"Why you..." Erza somehow handled to get back on her feet without falling in again, turning even more pink in humiliation by the second.
Suddenly Gray's laughter came to an abrupt halt and his breath hitched in his throat as he stared at her feet with sauser-like eyes. "Wha-?" she followed his friend's gaze and all the color from her face were drained away at the sight before her.
The icy surface under her feet was cracked. She stood on the thin ice which was ready to give out any moment now. And with every passing second, the cracks expended through the surface around her in a zig-zag like pattern, making muted breaking sound.
Erza gasped hard, her breaths grew shallow and uneven as the previous pink hue of her cheeks was replaced by deathly pale. She knew she had to move away from here. At least scream for help, do anything! But her legs refused to move and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make a single sound.
"Gr-Gray..." she finally whispered looking at her friend who stood there in a shock, resembling her own terrifying state. "...Help."
And that was all Erza was able to pull off as the surface beneath her smashed down with a fatal resound, pulling her through the shattered ice. She choked out a horrifying scream as she felt every fibre of her being freezing and going numb at the contact of the frigid water.
"Erza! she heard someone shouting out her name as the frosty water made its way to her lungs, cutting off her respiration process.
After witnessing her parent's grim death, the redhead's young and fragile mind was so paranoid. Just thinking about her own time of dying made her scream in terror. But after a while, she came down with the realization that death was just a regular and inevitable term of life. So she stopped being scared of it and learnt to accept it. She still remembered her days spent sitting on a dark corner, just pondering up all the possible circumstances her life could end under. She guessed she'd take a bullet, or get hit by a car, or maybe just suffer from an exotic sickness nobody's ever heard of. She even imagined if she'd die in the hands of murderer...just like her parents.
The more she got to thinking, she'd bring off the more possible ways of dying. But...freezing to death, was never one of them.
"ERZA!" the voice was fading away as she sank even deeper. Gray... She didn't even bother trying to resurface cause she knew she'd never make it. All the energy from her body was drained as she rapidly started to lose consciousness.
She just wanted to cry. Not for her. But for the arrogant rascal up there who's screaming at her to respond to his call. She's leaving...she's leaving him behind. Just the mere thought of leaving him alone in the cruel world up there made her heart ache.
She took one last glance at the shaft of light pouring in from above the shattered ice, that suddenly seemed so out of reach. She couldn't feel anything. All she felt was that heavy grief of regret for the dark-haired boy whose terrifying screams were still playing on the back of her mind. Erza finally lost all senses, she blacked out. Not knowing if she'd ever wake up to see him again.
A/N: Don't you guys just LUV a cruel cliffy like this?...Nope? Oh well, at least I do hehehe *Evil smirk*
WolFang1011: .Gosh...*Facepalm* Ahaha...^^' Well, that was embarrassing. Thank you though. You're a total life saver. Really appreciate the inspiring words. What can I say? I'm all fired up! Oh, no offence taken. I'm kinda an active member of the anti-bf club myself XD
PsychoticFreak8080: Here's an update! Thanks for the review :D
Gracie: Sorry about the typo. Hahaha pardon my idiocy. And no, I'm not trying to kill you. But if your heart fails for the sake of GrayZa, then cool! Sure you'll be dead...but look at the bright side! You'll become some kinda GrayZa martyr or something ^^
TheDelta724: Yeah...I feel you, buddy. I miss my DS light too...You know what happened to it? My cousin spilled soda on it AND then he smashed it in half! I swear I'd be in jail right now if my bro wasn't there to stop me from murdering that hell spawn!
Girl With LIfe Full of Anime: You like how I'm taking things slow? If it's my updating speed you're talking about, then don't tempt me to get any slower buddy ^^' And if it's GrayZa what you mean, then yeah...I believe a good relationship don't just happen. It takes time, patience and two people who really want to be together. Thank you for understanding that. And that's why you're awesome ;)