(GREY'S POV)

She was gone. I knew it had been too good to be true. I guess I missed my teacher too much and the hunger and exhaustion had gotten to my head. The thing that confused me was that I hadn't even been thinking about Ur…I thought I had accepted her death. I guess my subconscious disagreed with me. It had seemed so real, so much that I had sprinted after her.

Come to think of it, expending all that energy probably wasn't a good idea. I was now even more exhausted. Who knows how far I had sprinted through the thick forest, hoping against hope that what I was seeing was real…but it hadn't been. It was like some sick game that my subconscious was playing with me, torturing me to get revenge for selfishly wishing Ur was still alive.

I collapsed against a tree and covered my eyes with my arm. I slid down the tree until I was propped up against it. My energy was all but gone; I was both mentally and physically exhausted. Memories floated into my mind and I closed my eyes, watching them unfold.

"Grey, what are you doing?"

"What are you talking about?" Ur eyes looked down on me fondly. She touched my hand gently, curling my fingers into a fist and placing them into my other palm.

"Two hands, Grey. Your magic will be stronger that way," she said to me, hovering over me protectively, "You, too, Leon. Like this." She'd been training us for hours, cold slush sapping us of any hint of warmth in our bodies. Being cold didn't bother us now, Ur had made sure of that.

"Aw, but it's more fun with one hand!" complained Leon.

"Come on, man, just listen to the lady," I said, "She'll punish you if you don't." Ur punched me on the top of my head and I fell into the snow.

"What was that for?" I demanded. She just smiled and winked. I pouted, looking down at the ground.

"Ur, do you just think of us as students?" I asked.

"Of course I do! You're my adorable little students!"

"That's it?" I asked, anger rising in my voice. She looked at me.

"What else did you want?" I felt betrayed. I thought of her as my friend, my guardian, maybe even my mother. I got to my feet and sprinted away, snow crunching under my feet with each step.

"Grey!" I heard her call. Leon called me a wimp as I ran. I felt hot tears slide down my cold cheeks. I ran and ran. I didn't want her to leave me; I didn't want her to consider me just her 'adorable little student'. I didn't want to be alone. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt a sharp longing for my parents. I curled up, leaning against a tree. It was a few minutes before I heard footsteps crunch in the snow.

"Go away, I don't want to see you," I grumbled, tears still staining my face.

"Grey, aren't you lonely curled up there?" she asked, her voice gentle. I buried my face deeper in my arms. I didn't want her to see my tears. She knelt down beside me and lifted my face with her hand.

"Aw, come one. Why is my little man crying?" she asked softly, pinching my nose. I stayed silent. A few seconds passed before she kissed me on the forehead. My eyes went wide and I clapped and hand to my head where she'd kissed me. She laughed.

"Who said I didn't love my adorable Grey and Leon?" she asked. I smiled.

"Gross!" I said, secretly happy. I got to my feet and ran back in the direction I had come. Why had I cried again? It didn't matter because Ur was here.

I felt a weight bear down on my chest. Ur wasn't here anymore and she wouldn't come back. She was gone. I was still sitting in this forest, alone and lost.

"Grey?" said a voice. At first I thought it was still part of my memory, but then I recognized it. My eyes snapped open.

"Erza?" I asked. I wasn't sure if she was really here or not, considering my fit of insanity earlier.

"One down, five to go," said another voice from behind her. Jellal appeared and my jaw dropped.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded. My brain was imploding.

"Shut your mouth, you look like an idiot. Here, eat this," he said. I eyed the strange green thing in his palm skeptically.

"Actually, open your mouth again. That way I can toss it in and make a game of it," he said. I looked at Erza and she nodded. I snatched the thing and popped it in my mouth.

"Come on, we have to find the rest," said Jellal, "What are you waiting for, get up." I frowned and pulled myself to my feet. I stood leaning on the tree for a few seconds. I tried to take a step but my legs gave way and a dizzy spell attacked me.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath. Erza caught me quickly and put a hand to my forehead.

"You have a high fever, we need to get you some help," she said, looking to Jellal. He looked hesitant, but then gave it, "Fine." I felt like I was about to pass out, but I clung to consciousness. Jellal turned and traced a symbol on the tree, a golden trail of light glowing where his finger touched. In my hazy state I barely recognized the symbol for Crime Sorcière. The symbol disappeared into the tree, sinking into the bark and vanishing. My vision was hazy, but I could make out what looked like a path of golden trees brilliantly lighting up our way.

"Follow these, you'll find our guild at the end. Tell them that Jellal sent you and they should take care of you," he said.

"Who will?" asked Erza warily.

"The guild members."

"I thought there was only Meredy left." Jellal just looked at her.

"I'll go find your friends. Once you get to the guild you should stay there…I don't want to have to go out and find you again." He turned to leave, but Erza caught his sleeve.

"Find them quickly, alright?" I watched as he nodded and disappeared into the tree line. I looked to Erza, "What was that?" I was barely able to see her face flush before I passed out due to the fever.

~~TIMESKIP~~

I felt a soft coolness caress my brow. My eyes felt like they were glued shut. The coolness felt strangely nice as it pressed against my forehead. It slid down my cheek, my neck, my bare chest…wait, my bare chest? I started to drift back to myself. I realized it was a hand that was touching me. Without opening my eyes my arm snapped out and grabbed the person who was touching me. I head a girl's yelp.

"You're, you're awake?" she squeaked. I opened one eye. A young girl, only about 14 or 15, was holding a damp cloth and had her hands raised as if to defend herself. She had platinum blond hair, which fell down to her shoulder in soft wisps and big, round, blue eyes.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened?" I asked, opening the other eye, "Most importantly why am I half-naked?"

"U-um…y-you h-h-had sweat on you…s-so I wiped it off. I h-had to take your shirt off. I'm s-sorry," she stuttered. Her eyes were wide and frantic.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," I said releasing her arm. She looked relieved and her shoulders relaxed. She put the cloth into a bucket of water.

"Um, my name is Timea. You're in Crime Sorcière's medical hall. You were brought here by your friend who said that you had fainted due to a fever."

"I don't remember anything," I mumbled, sitting upright. My muscles tensed as I pulled myself into a sitting position and I realized I felt soar all over.

"Your fever was pretty bad and you've been bedridden for two days," said Timea timidly.

I turned to her, "Seriously? Two days?"

"You were probably affected by the aero toxin. It happens to people with weak constitutions…not that I think you have a weak constitution…obviously, I mean look at your—" She stopped herself short. I couldn't help but smile when she blushed uncontrollably.

"See something you like?" Her eyes went wide and she looked at her toes.

"So, what? Are you a doctor or something?" I asked her, changing the subject.

She seemed grateful for the change of topic, "Well, I want to be one when I get older. Right now I just help out here and there." I nodded.

"I'll be right back," she said and got to her feet. I wondered where she was going as she slipped out of the door. My shoulders slouched, but I crawled out of bed all the same, setting the scratchy blanket that covered me aside. I looked down and realized I wasn't wearing my own pants. They were an unfamiliar pair of pants. Had she changed my pants herself? I shivered…not that I wasn't used to people catching glimpses of my downstairs. I looked around the small, candlelit room. It wasn't in the best condition. A bucket sat in the corner of the room underneath a crack in the ceiling where the paint had been discolored due to water leaking through. I grimaced. This wasn't very sanitary for a medical wing…nor was it very large.

I walked across the room to examine the contents of drawer that I had been curious about. My necklace jangled as I walked across the room. I put a hand over it, glad it was still there and that it hadn't vanished mysteriously along with my pants. I tugged open the drawer and peered inside. There was a book about medicinal herbs and I picked it up and flipped through it. Pictures of different plants flitted past along with descriptions of the different herbs. A piece of paper fell out of the pages. I put the book down and bent over to pick up the paper, which I realized was a photograph.

It was a faded picture of Timea and a boy that seemed about her age. Timea looked younger than she'd seemed when I saw her. This picture was most likely old. The boy had the same platinum hair and blue eyes that she did. The door creaked open and I shoved the picture back in the drawer and slammed it shut. I struck an unsuspicious pose.

"You're looking suspicious," said Lucy. Damn, I was found out. "I'm glad you're awake. I was pretty worried." She stepped towards me and I tensed, suddenly aware that I wasn't wearing a shirt. I tried to cover myself up by crossing my arms over my chest, but it didn't really work.

"Was I really out for two days?" I asked.

"Yeah. Natsu and the rest are here, too. We were just waiting for you to wake up before we set off for Cedar again," she said, leaning against the desk next to me. She looked tired. I secretly hoped that she was tired because she had been watching over me while I was unconscious.

"Sorry…I guess," I said. She just shrugged.

"It's not like it was your fault. Besides, it was nice taking care of someone when they were sick. I've never done it before." As soon as she realized what she'd just admitted to, she turned red to the tips of her ears. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. I smiled and mentally jumped for joy. Score.

Lucy fiddled with her keys, "I…I haven't told anyone this, but…" Her voice broke off. She was staring at her feet.

"Luce, are you ok? Did something happen?" I asked her. She was scaring me. She seemed like she was about to cry.

She took a deep breath and looked at me. Her eyes looked glossy. "I saw my parents," she said, her eyes watering dangerously. I felt surprise take hold of me. So I wasn't the only one who saw something in that forest, I thought. Lucy covered her face with her hands. I reached out to her and pulled her into my arms. Hiding her face in my chest seemed like a better option than seeing her cry at first, but once I actually did it my heart started beating rapidly and I couldn't calm down.

"I just—I guess I really missed them and I didn't realize it. My mom sang to me. They told me they loved me," she said. I felt her tears drip onto my chest. I held her tighter. We stayed that way for a while, her crying into my chest. I felt like if she were in my arms, even if she was crying, she would at least feel safe.

"I saw Ur," I whispered to her, my brow furrowed in pain. Lucy looked up at me, tears still sliding down her face. I wiped them away.

"Really?" she asked. I nodded and she wrapped her arms around me. I stroked her head.

"Erza said that the swamp in the center of the forest causes hallucinations," she said softly, her tears subsiding. She still clung to me.

"That makes sense," I said, enjoying the feel of her in my arms. She nodded and sniffed.

"Are you ok now?" I asked her gently, pulling away and looking at her face. She let go of me and I felt strangely cold…I never felt cold.

She nodded and then said, "Yeah. Can we stay in here for a while? I don't want to others to see my face like this." I didn't see what the problem was—her eyes were only a little red—but I wasn't about to turn down a chance to stay in a tiny room with her.

"Sure," I said.

"Thanks…but can I ask a favor?" I nodded.

"Can you put a shirt on?"