a/n: I'm sorry guys, has been giving me trouble. I've moved updating all of my current stuff (except for this story) to archiveofourown.
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Gray sat alone in a dark room, his head pounding. He couldn't quite recall where, or when he got here, but it was sometime after…sometime after…
Damn. He couldn't remember. He felt like he was slipping away, the memories coming to him brief flashes – it was a miracle he knew his own name. This dark room was draining him, he even felt like his hands were growing paler – like it was sucking the energy out of him.
All he could really feel of himself (all the time at least) was his name and her.
He didn't remember her name. He didn't remember who she was, and what she meant to him. He didn't remember how he met her, what she did, why she was important – but she just was.
She was the flashes of scarlet, brown eyes, tears, armor, a strong heart. He could also remember other things – kisses and stolen glances. (Were they romantically together?)
All he knew that – wherever and whoever he was, he needed to find his way back to her.
Before it was too late.
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"I'm sorry," Erza said finally, looking at Gray from the doorway. "I was wrong about you, and I should have waited until I knew all the facts before I made assumptions."
Gray flashed her a smile, and it sent tingles down her spine. "It's okay."
"It's good to have you back," she meant it. She had been confused when he was gone, and now that he was here, everything seemed a little bit clearer.
"Yeah, it's good to be back. I missed you Erza," he stepped closer. They had put him in a room close to her's, and as the smell of him filled her nose, she wanted to hug and kiss and slap him and do other things to him.
She stepped forward and hugged him. She wasn't quite sure what influenced her to do so, she wasn't exactly a hugging girl, but she wanted this. She needed this.
"I missed you too," she whispered, burying her nose in his chest. He still smelled the same, like the north and a cold winter breeze. His hand came up to rub the back of her head, and for a moment she thought everything would be okay.
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"Oh ," Yukino said, jotting down something on her notepad. "It's so good to see you again!"
He smiled. "Yeah," he said, "Sorry I couldn't get in earlier, work was a bit crazy."
Yukino tutted, pursing her lips in a sort of playful way.
"Anyways ," she went on, "I have something to ask you."
"And that is?" he asked, his voice lifting up at the end in a sort of hopeful note. Did she remember him today? Did she remember him as her best friend (and looking towards something more) or did she still see the faithful customer who came here often?
"I was wondering," Yukino's cheeks were pink, and she seemed to be nervously fiddling with her apron. "If you wanted to go on a date with me sometime?"
He stared at her in shock, he had long ago learned to expect the unexpected in this world, but he never considered this possibility.
He knew what Erza would say if she was in his position and this was Gray – no. He knew that she would shake her head at him and go it's not her Sting, she doesn't have any of her memories.
They didn't know Yukino like he did though. They didn't – couldn't know the little things that were still the same. They couldn't see the way she still crinkled his nose when he made a joke, or the way she blushed furiously when he talked to her too long, or the polite way she still said everyone's name, even if she didn't have her memories, she was still Yukino.
"I would love to," he said, before he could think about it too much, "Where do you want to go?"
"Uh," Yukino had turned bright red, "Wherever."
"How about I pick you up?" he asked her, without thinking about the fact that he didn't have a method of transportation for her or anything – just thinking about the fact that he had a date.
"Sure!" she trilled, "Tonight at seven?"
He nodded. "Tonight."
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Gray was unpacking his things in a spare room when Wendy knocked.
"Come in," he said, with a friendly smile. She stepped inside and pulled the door tightly shut behind her with a snap, her head bowed in respect.
"My lord," she said, her voice quiet and reserved. "I have done what you asked."
"Oh that's good," he said, stepping forward. Wendy stood still, her eys staring blankly at the wall. He took a finger and traced the edge of her cheekbone. "The Duchess will be pleased."
"May I ask why bewitching the Yukino girl was necessary?"
"Sting is a valuable player," he said, stepping away and resuming unpacking. "He may not seem like it, but he is a big part of the decision making team. He also has an unhealthy obsession for talking to his friends from before their memories were wiped – it must be hard for him, not having anyone else who remembers."
"But having the Yukino girl –"
"She's leading him into a trap Wendy," he said patiently, "I thought I explained this. She's going to lead him into a group of the Duchess's soldiers, they'll attack – Erza and the others will go to rescue him, and they'll be killed. I heard she's assigned Jellal to that task, wouldn't want him forgetting the real reason he was there."
"Killed?" there was a trace of emotion in Wendy's voice. Gray fixed his eyes on her's, and concentrated, pulling the thread of reality from her brain. She couldn't be allowed to remember anything.
"Yes, killed," he told her, "It's for the best you know."
Wendy nodded slowly, "Killed," she whispered.
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NEXT TIME: Sting and Yukino's 'date'.