Note: DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU'RE CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA. THERE ARE MANY SPOILERS.
The aftermath of the war on Tartaros had been hard. The night after the battles had been "won" (and Erza used that word very loosely), everyone met up at the guild (or,rather what was left of it). A few faces stood out among the crowd.
Natsu looked particularly solemn, along with Gajeel and Wendy as well. Lucy attempted to comfort him,wrapping her arms around his, muttering comforting words to him, that, unfortunately, he didn't hear at all. She could tell he was trying to be strong, trying to be what Igneel would want him to be, trying to not cry like a baby in front of the guild...and it was working. Natsu didn't even bother to put up a facade. He was too tired, too tired of everything.
Gajeel's mouth was drawn in a straight line. Panther Lily would often shoot concerned glances at him, unnoticed to the iron mage-his eyes were narrowed, threatening and merciless. However, there was a bit of sadness in them well, an unshakable misery in his aura.
Wendy, however, had already broken down into tears. She was holding Carla close to her, Freed stroking her hair sympathetically. Erza wanted to run up to her and hug her as quickly as she could-she wanted to do that to the two other dragon slayers as well, because, even though she had been tortured beyond imagination, she knew it was nothing compared to what her comrades had gone through.
She then turned to Lucy. Even though she was comforting Natsu, she had tears in her eyes as well. She had lost one of her celestial spirits-Aquarius, her first friend. She was quivering a bit, forcing a smile onto her face, but, it was obvious she was hurting.
She didn't want to look at Gray. She knew he probably took this the hardest. According to what Juvia had said, he had lost his father. His father, whom he had already seen die in front of his own eyes the day Deliora striked,had disappeared after their battle, while holding Gray in his arms. She couldn't imagine the pain he was in right now. However, she decided to glance at him. He was sitting on one of the benches, his head in his hands, Cana was putting an arm around him, a hand rubbing his back soothingly. He didn't notice. One of Gray's hands was stroking the new tatoo on his arm. He had gotten so much stronger-but at a price that he couldn't take. She approached him. She still felt the affects of battle-everyone did-so,she stumbled, eventually reaching the seat and putting a hand on his hair, ruffling it a bit. His wounds were terrible-she could barely look at them without cringing-and yet, he didn't seem to feel them.
"Gray, look at me." Erza instructed. He ignored her, his breaths shaky. She saw a few tears fall onto his knees, and Cana squeezed him tighter. Erza put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a bit. Probably not the best move, but she wanted to get a response out of him.
"I know what happened, Gray," she said, "I know you're hurting. Why," she said, biting her lip, "Why are you crying alone?" Gray winced. Natsu, who had snapped out of his trance,walked over to them.
"It's okay,Erza," he said, not bothering to mask the weary cracks in his voice. He thought back to after his fight with Mard Geer.
"What happened to the guy who smelled like you? Did you beat him?" Natsu asked, after both of them had managed to sit up. Gray looked away suddenly, his lips twitching. Natsu eye's widened. Was Gray about to cry?
"He was my dad." Gray 's eyes widened. Of course. How did he NOT see that? But, that didn't make sense. His father died when Deliora had raided Gray's town, right? Hadn't Gray even seen it with his own eyes?
"He died. I don't want to talk about it," he continued. Natsu's eyes dilated. He stammered, looking down at the ground.
"Gray, I'm really sorry, I didn't know, I'm sorr-"
"Just forget about it." the ice mage muttered, his voice breaking. Natsu could see his shoulders shake, but decided to not press the subject further.
"What do you mean it's okay?" Erza asked. "Everyone's hurt, everyone's sad! I'm not going to ignore a friend's tears,especially not Gray's!" Gray looked up at her. His eyes were red and puffy, but he still managed to fix her in a steady look.
"I'm fine, Erza," Gray said,surprising everyone as he got up. He swayed slightly,as he was badly injured-but, he smiled at her nonetheless. There was sadness in it, but there was warmth in it too. "I just need time." He strolled out of the guild,and no one rose to stop him. Makarov looked at his retreating figure. Then he looked to Natsu, to Gajeel,to Wendy, and to Lucy. Too much blood had been spilt. Too many lives had been lost. Fairy Tail couldn't function like it once did. He let out a bitter chuckle.
It was time for Fairy Tail to disband.