"The weather sure won't let up…"
"Juvia-san doesn't think it has anything to do with her!"
"No one said it was…."
"Hey Cana, make sure that you leave some of your "boyfriend" to serve the rest of the guild, will you?"
"Why would she go out to the church on a day like this?"
"It's almost the anniversary of Lisanna's death"
"Mira and Elfman's younger sister. She died in an accident during a job 2 years ago."
"That reminds me…. you remind me a little of Lisanna, you know"
Gray passed a glance back to Cana as she held her keg tightly, only half paying attention as he instructed the rain woman on how to eat the messy meal. Lucy had been in Fairy Tail for about five months now and it seemed that not only was Cana warm enough to the celestial wizard to speak to her, she also could give her the compliment. Lisanna had been a woman filled with such kindness and joy that for Cana to say that Lucy reminded her of her was nothing short of heart-warming. Gone was the jealousy and bitterness from the drunk, but then today of all days deserved no such emotions. Two days' time would be the day Fairy Tail remembered as the anniversary of the day Lisanna died, but for Gray, Cana and Loke today was the anniversary of day that they almost changed a terrible fate.
Things had changed a lot over the last few years. There were a few faces that had not been in the guild those years before, some of which that Gray had the pleasure of calling his closest friends. Many of the older members had become even more familiar and become the close team he could not imagine being without. It had been a long and difficult journey but even looking at Cana now he could see that there had been healing. Mirajane and Elfman had been able to hold back any tears until they reached the grave and in the last few months both had been learned to use the powers they'd feared for so long. The guild laughed and cheered like it had done years ago. It was amazing the power that time held even over grief.
Natsu just slept.
Gray let out a yelp of surprise as he felt something tugging the back of his shirt hard. The familiar cold edge of Erza's gauntlets scraped the back of his neck, her terrifying power looming over him as she dragged him back out of his chair and away from the rain woman. "We have something to discuss," she said, her voice allowing no hint of questioning or refusal.
Even the shelter outside of the guild seemed just as wet and horrible as the pouring rain itself. The air was filled with such thick moisture that it seeped into every piece of wood and Erza's heavy boots sunk into the patio platform. As she finally dropped Gray to the ground, his entire outfit was left soaking even as he quickly stood, brushing himself down and attempting to regain his wounded pride. It was the kind of blatant disrespect she would use on him when he had been a meddling child, or acting like a meddling child, but as far as Gray was aware he'd done nothing wrong for some time. Natsu's slumber had made that easy.
That meant there had to be something wrong. He bit back his anger with one glance towards the requip wizard, watching her stare into the fierce storm silently. She hadn't started beating him yet, which in some ways was a good sign and in others was worrying all the same. He walked over, aware he would somehow be walking into a trap but fearing what would happen otherwise. "What are we, uh, discussing?" he dared to ask.
"I know something happened two years ago," she said suddenly, turning around as her fierce gaze met his.
He took a stumbling step back. In the last two years Erza had never once brought up the conversation of Lisanna and Gray had told no one of their fateful fortune telling. No matter how much time had passed it was still a difficult and sensitive topic and he could feel his heart racing at just the reminder. "What… what are you talking about…?" he feigned ignorance poorly.
Erza turned back away, her powerful gaze breaking as she admitted her flaws. "I don't know exactly what it was, but I realise now that something happened to you two years ago when Lisanna passed away. You can keep it a secret, if you must-" Gray gave a sigh of relief "-but you will not avoid Natsu again this year."
Erza's words carried a heavy silence with them, the battering rain bouncing off the roof above them somehow making their stillness more severe. Gray's sigh of relief had left a horrible taste in the back of his throat. 'Trust me, I do my best to avoid him every other day of the year too…' Gray thought, not daring speak out loud. There was nothing more the Ice Maker could say to defend himself, knowing that to play this off would only invoke the S-Class wizard's fury or even worse, her disappointment. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, remembering the truth. When Lisanna died he didn't come to Natsu. While Natsu was grieving Gray did all he could to avoid even being in his presence as he became overcome by the crippling guilt. The following year when the anniversary loomed Natsu once again grew quieter and Gray ran. He would not be in the same room as Natsu, would not look at him and would not even let an opportunity arise for their familiar fist fights to resume. This year they were closer than ever, against all odds they'd even been in the same team for six months, and Gray's absence would be more than noted.
"He needs us, especially when he won't admit it," Erza said eventually into the looming darkness and the cracking lightning above them. "This is hard on Natsu and Happy both. This is your team now, Gray," she said, turning back around and looking almost pleadingly into his eyes.
His mouth hung open silently. Erza's head tilted to the side, not quite expecting his reaction to be so intense. Her own mouth opened to question whether he was actually listening to her when it became obvious he was not. He wasn't looking at the redhead at all, eyes pinned to the skyline behind her and the crackling lightning. She was ready to scold him when she heard another crackling boom of the storm rising above them. Finally, she turned, following the Ice Maker's line of sight and seeing for the first time the swirling clouds growing around them. "What is that?!" she gasped, her eyes growing wider as she stared into the growing anima.
Gray took a daring step forward, by the requip wizard's side as he stared into the foreign magic above. He held his arms over his face but it did nothing to protect him from the hurtling rain. Already he could feel something tugging against him, latching onto their magical energy and dragging upward. "A hurricane?!" he questioned.
"That's not like any hurricane I've ever seen!" Erza said quickly, requipping into her familiar and comfortable armour as she was vaguely aware that Gray's shirt had been removed. "We need to warn-" her words were suddenly sucked up, gripping her sword tightly as she felt the unnatural glow inside of her. Neither could scream or move, the strange glow overcoming their senses and soaking away every part of them.
In an instant, Magnolia had disappeared from the face of Earthland.
Sorry for the short chapter but I have amazing news!
S-Class is now my most followed story! Thank you Perverts! I can't believe how many of you that there are! Thank you for all your ongoing feedback and reviews and messages, I love all of them (reviews especially).
I'm currently in the middle of writing a story which takes place in the same world as this one and is actually based on what happens here, so hopefully that'll be posted soon too!