I am back again! Thanks for the reviews guys! They make me smile!

Last Time: Fairy Tail took down Blackthorn.

Now: Gray learns the truth of Krysta's past.

Chapter 22- Krysta's Past; Gray's Feelings

Blackthorn blinked rapidly as she glanced up at Gray. She then looked down at the sword and then her bound hands, frozen to the floor. She groaned.

"It appears that you have defeated me," Blackthorn said bitterly. "Bravo to you."

"Yes and I'm not taking my eyes off you until we can get you in a pair of magic nullification restraints," Gray said.

"Lucky me," Blackthorn said with an eyeroll. She then glanced at the hole in the wall. Her face relaxed. "Is Krysta alright?"

"Why do you care?" Gray asked a little rudely. "You are the one who sent her flying like that."

Blackthorn looked back to him. Her eyes full of worry.

"But I'm also her mother," she said firmly. "And… and I let that fight go to far. I just wanted her to join me."

Gray shook his head. "There are better ways to do that, you know. You didn't have to take it this far."

"I do have a reputation to uphold here," Blackthorn said then sighed. 'But yes, I guess there were other ways to go about this." She paused. "I was just afraid to show my face to her."

"You were afraid? I kind of find that hard to believe," he said.

"Well it's true," She started. "I don't exactly have the cleanest record. I have destroyed towns, broken laws, killed numerous people, and harmed an even larger number of them too. And those numbers only grew after I gave Krysta away." She looked to the side. "When I found out she was alive, I cried tears of joy and all I wanted to do was see her."

"Well did you?"

"Don't you think I tried? When I figured out where she was located, I went in disguise so I wouldn't be recognized as like I said before, there are eyes and ears everywhere. I could have easily been spotted by my guild or someone with a connection to our guild. However, I did get close to meeting her. I just couldn't muster up the courage to go talk to my own daughter. I kept thinking about everything I had done and…" She paused. "And I saw how happy she was. I knew if I took her away from that life she may not be as happy. So I left her alone. However, the guild started to figure things out. So I told them the lie about Krysta and her folks ruining my life. That resulted in a plan to bring her here and have her pay for her crimes against me. But I controlled the whole situation."

"Why didn't you want your guild to know the truth?"

"You're kidding right?" She chuckled and shook her head. "In their eyes, I'm a strong, independent woman who killed her own father for power. If they found out I had a kid, they would have turned on me in a second. That's why I waited until you all were brought here. My hopes was to speak with Krysta alone, but I guess I should have expected the prison break. So I had to keep up the charade even after you all had defeated my guild, because you never know who could have still been conscious and listening."

Gray looked around the hall they were in and then looked back at her.

"Isn't it possible someone is listening now?" he asked.

"Not a chance. Between what remains of that door," She gestured her chin to the hole. "And that door." She then turned her head and did the same thing to the door at the end of the hall. "This area is for Guild Masters only. No one, aside for the Master, are allowed back here. So only my eyes and my ears watch over this area. It is where my room is located. My office. So even with a hole in that wall, we still have more privacy here than the whole guild."

"If that's the case then I have a question. Why did you attack that town all those years ago?" Gray asked.

"Why? There's no real reason. My father attacked that town because he could. Because he wanted to. I knew Krysta was in the town still and I knew I couldn't let anything happen to her. I did everything in my power to protect her and that orphanage. I would have succeed if I hadn't been caught."

"So what did you do?"

She frowned. "I had to prove I wasn't disobeying orders. I destroyed the building… and killing everyone inside of it. I spent hours searching through the rubble, but thankfully found no sight of Krsyta. However, I searched the town after the light guilds had come to scare us off. Still no sign of her. That's when I assumed she was either dead or out there somewhere, alive." She paused again before finishing. "The anger and sadness I felt that day was what led me to killing my own father."

"And what about Krysta's father?" Gray asked.

"I'm not happy with him either," she said. "I still want my revenge for him abandoning us back then. No matter his reasons. I'm still hurt by what he did to us."

There was silence that fell over the hall. Gray broke it after a couple of moments.

"Well it still doesn't excuse you of what you did," Gray said leveling the sword again. 'You are going to prison for a long time."

Blackthorn nodded. "I understand." She paused. "Can you just make me a promise?'

"And what's that?"

She gestured to her skirt pocket.

"There is a photo in that pocket. I want you to give it to Krysta. It's obvious you care for her. I can tell by the way you say her name that you have feelings for her. I'm happy she has found a home with your guild," Blackthorn started. "I want the chance to redeem myself and tell her the truth about the past. And her father. He is still alive out there. She deserves the truth. But I know she will be upset with me. I've done horrible things to her, you guys, and to her orphanage. It will be awhile before she ever speaks to me again. So please promise me that you will take care of her and keep her happy. She deserves to be happy."

Gray blushed. Heavily. He still knelt down and grabbed the photo she mentioned. As he rose to his feet, he glanced back at Blackthorn.

"Thank you," Blackthorn said with a nod.

Before Gray could get another word in, Natsu returned with Erza and Jellal. Gray stood there for a second, watching them come over to Blackthorn. Erza walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We've got it from here," Erza said. "Go check on Krysta."

Gray looked at Erza. She was smiling softly at him. She was also looking at him with those eyes that truly made Erza feel like a big sister to him. He nodded and returned to the throne room through the hole they made. Once back in the throne room, Gray noticed that Erza and Jellal had already tied up the Dark Five. Lucy and Loke, who she summoned, were taking care of the other members. Wendy was back by Krysta's side with the exceeds. Gray made his way down the stairs toward the doors. As he walked down, he tucked the photo into his back pocket.

As he walked by Loke and Lucy, they stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He couldn't quite see their faces as he really wasn't paying attention to them. However, he could hear them mumbling, but not quite sure what it was about. He continued walking to Krysta. As soon as he got to her side, he knelt down beside her.

"How's she doing Wendy?" Gray asked.

Wendy glanced up at him then returned her gaze to Krysta. Gray followed her gaze. Krysta was still lying on her front and her back was still exposed slightly so Wendy could see that damage and take care of it.

"She is doing better," Wendy said with a smile. "However, she will need plenty of rest before we return to the guild. Moving her too much could do more harm than good to her still recovering injuries. The quicker we get her back to the hotel the better."

Gray nodded. He then carefully placed a hand on Krysta's shoulder. She seemed to relax under his touch yet again as her pained expression was gone again. He smiled softly.

"Thanks Wendy," he said genuinely.

Wendy smiled from ear to ear.

"He likes her!" Happy said to Carla.

Wendy giggled. Carla rolled her eyes. Happy chuckled. Gray wasn't paying attention to the little blue cat, but his blushing cheeks would tell them otherwise. And if he really had been listening, Happy would be sailing to the stars right now.

REVIEW!