When their shopping tour finished, it was already past five. Jellal had followed them in some of the shops, but he hadn't tried to come close to them.
They were running out of time, and Gray was growing more and more nervous with every second. Natsu dragged Gray into a deserted backstreet, and beckoned Jellal to join them.
"Is Ultear already here?" he asked as soon as Jellal was in earshot.
"Yes, since half an hour or so. She's waiting in the forest close to Magnolia, since she's not familiar with this town and doesn't know where you live. Meredy's here, too. She refused to let Ultear go alone."
"Then let's go!"
They didn't bother to use the streets anymore, instead jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Natsu reluctantly let go of Gray's hand. He could see that Gray was barely holding back his fear, and he wanted to do nothing more than hug him, tell him he would save him, be there for him. In that moment, he made a promise to himself: he'd never leave Gray's side again until he was saved—unless it was absolutely necessary.
As soon as Ultear and Meredy came into eyeshot, Meredy pushed Ultear behind her, taking a protective stance. Ultear sighed, put her hand on Meredy's shoulder, and told her to relax. But Meredy wasn't listening, so when Natsu, Gray, and Jellal stopped a few meters away from the two girls, her expression was grim, arms spread wide.
"If you dare even think about hurting Ultear, I swear I'll rip you apart!"
Ultear smiled behind her, then wrapped her arms around Meredy's waist. "I told you, he's fine. If they hurt me, they'll just hurt themselves. Gray's life cannot be saved if I die, and Natsu is in love with him, isn't that right?"
Gray flinched at her words, but Natsu took his hand and pressed it gently.
"Exactly. Ultear's helping us, and there's no way I'd risk losing Gray forever. There's not a single reason why I'd want to attack her. No reason to be hostile."
Meredy narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Natsu. "If you try something fishy, I swear—"
"Yeah, you'll rip me apart, right? Can we actually get to the important part now? We don't have that much time left, so I'd rather not waste a second of it."
Shit. That had been a thoughtless thing to say. Gray squeezed his hand so tightly it hurt. Natsu looked over at him. Gray's jaw was set, his expression forced neutral, but the façade was crumbling. He was terrified. However, there was nothing Natsu could do about it right now. Helplessness wasn't a feeling he was used to, he didn't know how to deal with it, and he hated it.
Thankfully Ultear snapped him out of his dark thoughts. "I can manipulate the time of an item so that it'll always return to a certain spot whenever time is turned back. Plus, if you have a diary, I can manipulate it so that what you wrote in it won't vanish. But for this I need to be on the spot where it's supposed to be bound. I assume you have the things in that bag?" Natsu nodded. "Then please lead me to wherever it is you're at when the day starts anew."
Natsu nodded again, then took off towards his house, feeling self-conscious about the state of his home. It wasn't that untidy, but if he tried to remember the last time he'd dusted or cleaned anywhere, he came up empty. Was it a year? Maybe more. Ah well, what did it matter; nobody would be able to remember anyway. And it wasn't like anybody expected him to keep his house clean after all.
It turned out that nobody commented on the state of cleanliness. He led them into his bedroom, and on Ultear's demand, he put the closed and locked diary where he wanted it to be every time he woke up—on his bedside table. He put the chain with the key around his neck, and reached under his scarf to pull it through, so the key dangled over his chest, close to his heart. Then he put the watch on his left wrist, and told Ultear that he was done.
She asked everybody except for Natsu to leave the room, and once they were alone, she used her magic on the book and on him. His neck and his wrist tingled, but it was over in a flash.
Ultear turned to open the door, but Natsu grabbed her wrist, prompting her to turn back around, expression puzzled.
"Thanks... for everything. If it wasn't for you, Gray would be dead for good. Can I make this up to you somehow?"
She smiled at him. "Just make sure you'll save him, and take good care of him. Don't let my mother's sacrifice go to waste. That's all I want."
He was about to protest, but she shook her head to shut him up. He gulped, and nodded thankfully, then let go of her wrist.
It was already half past six, which meant they had about half an hour left before Gray would die. Natsu urged everyone on, determined to make it to Porlyusica's and make her prevent Gray's heart from giving out. Meredy and Ultear decided to come with them, and wait a safe distance away from her house.
Natsu refused to let go of Gray's hand even for a second on their way to Porlyusica's, and Gray desperately clung to it. He was pale, his palms sweaty, and his expression terrified. Natsu averted his eyes, and urged them to speed up even more.
Ultear, Meredy, and Jellal retreated into the woods when they arrived at Porlyusica's house. They didn't need to see what was going on; Natsu had told them the rough time when it would happen. They'd just check on Gray in a bit.
Porlyusica didn't react to Natsu's knocks at first, even though she was obviously at home—Natsu could hear her. He shouted, requesting her to open the door, but when she also didn't react to that, he threatened to kick in her door if she didn't open it. A second later the door opened a slit, with an annoyed Porlyusica behind it.
"Go away."
She was about to slam the door, but Natsu pushed his foot between the door and the doorframe. She snorted, and let a scrutinizing gaze wander over them. When she spotted their entwined hands, she snorted again, louder this time.
"If you've come here for a lesson on safe sex, I suggest you—"
"Gray will die if you don't help us."
This stunned her, but she regained her composure fairly quickly.
"He looks a bit pale, but he'll hardly die from that."
"His heart will stop."
"Oh? And since when can you see the future?"
Natsu grit his teeth, trying desperately not to lose his temper. "It's already happened before! Time has been turned back three times, and if you don't help us, he'll die a fourth time!"
Her eyes widened, and she reluctantly stepped back to let them in. She ordered Gray to lie down on her sofa, then asked Natsu some questions about the circumstances of Gray's impending death. She needed to ask Gray to take off his shirt three times before he understood and complied. Seeing him like that hurt almost as much as losing him did. Natsu crouched over him, held his hand, but Gray didn't look at him—he looked right through Natsu.
Porlyusica's glowing hands were on Gray's bare chest, and she had gone quiet after she'd got all the information she needed. The only thing Natsu could hear was Gray's erratic heartbeat. A glance to his watch told him that there were around five minutes left, and his heart broke all over again.
He found his lips pressed against Gray's a moment later, wondering when he'd even leaned down. He wanted to pull back, wanted to apologize, but he didn't get far until Gray's hand gripped his scarf and pulled him back down. Their lips met again, and it was the slowest, most chaste, yet most intense kiss they'd shared so far. It seemed to last an eternity, the lazy slide of lips against lips, the ever increasing and decreasing pressure. They parted only when Porlyusica cleared her throat.
Natsu couldn't tear his eyes away from Gray, and Gray wasn't looking away, either. There were so many emotions in his eyes—love, sadness, fear, longing.
"Natsu... No matter how many times the day repeats itself... please don't ever let me die in the belief you're into Lucy..."
Natsu felt his eyes welling up. "I promise..."
"And... if possible, don't tell me I'll die. It feels horrible."
Natsu bit his lower lip in an attempt to keep the tears from falling, but it was useless. Gray's hand came up to wipe the first tears away.
"Don't cry, I'm sure you'll find a way. Besides, Porlyusica's here now. I'm sure she can prevent a heart attack, and I won't die. It's probably the last time you need to undergo this day, and everything will be back to normal soon."
Gray smiled weakly, and Natsu scolded himself internally for making Gray comfort him when it should have been the other way around.
Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything, Gray clutched his chest in pain, letting out a strangled sound. The glow of Porlyusica's hand grew brighter, but Natsu could tell that it wasn't working. Gray's stare turned empty, and his heart gave up beating.
Porlyusica's hand glowed even brighter, and a second later she flinched, landing with her back on the floor. "I... I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry."
That sounded like she'd already given up!
Natsu heaved Gray down on the floor, and started giving him chest compressions. He could hear Gray's ribs breaking under his assault, but it didn't matter. Broken ribs could be healed.
'Breathe, please, breathe, just breathe already, you idiot, you can't leave me alone again!'
There was a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't stop.
"Natsu, stop. You can't revive him. If there was any hope that he could be revived, I would've done it myself. Usually when a mage dies, there's some magic left inside their body, and it slowly fades after death. However, Gray's magic... it's completely gone, from one second to the next. This isn't a natural death—he can't be revived... I'm sorry."
Natsu whirled around so abruptly it sent Porlyusica staggering backwards.
"What do you mean, 'not natural'?" he snarled.
"You said time has been reversed, and you're trying to save him now. But the death of somebody whose time on earth is over can't be averted."
"Then how can I save him?"
She flinched at Natsu's angry tone, but answered with a steady voice, "As far as I know, there's no way. His death is inevitable."
Natsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I'll find a way. The prophecy says I can save him, so I will."
She looked at him with honest concern. "Don't destroy yourself over it. I can see how much pain this is causing you.
"I'm not weak."
"Never said you were; but everyone has their breaking point."
"As long as I don't stop believing that I can save him, I'll be fine."
Porlyusica's gaze was doubtful and worried, but she didn't say anything more.
There was a knock on her door, and she went to open it, cursing under her breath.
Natsu stared at Gray's dead body. It hurt way too much, seeing him like this. His face had gone slack, he looked peaceful, almost like he was smiling. 'As if you're just sleeping...'
"Natsu!"
Jellal pulled him away from Gray, saying something about 'sparing his feelings', and Natsu didn't put up a fight. Jellal led him into another room, ordered him to sit at the table, and then brought him the diary Natsu had hastily put in a rucksack before leaving his house.
He didn't feel at all like writing. He sighed and let his head drop onto the tabletop.
In the other room, he could hear Ultear and Porlyusica arguing about whether or not they had the right to be in her house. He wished they could just shut up.
"Is there anything I can do for you right now?"
'Yes: Bring Gray back to life.'
"Tell me how to write a diary."
"Oh. Well, usually you'd write a date above each entry, but I guess that doesn't make much sense here..." He trailed off, and Natsu could hear him scratching his scalp.
"Y-you could write 'Day 1', 'Day 2', maybe..." He trailed off again.
Natsu lifted his head to look at him, and found that Jellal's face was slightly flushed.
"You've never written a diary yourself, have you?"
"Ah, no. I haven't..."
"Never mind, I'm going to ask Lucy tomorr—ah, the next time I see her."
"Yes, please. Sorry."
Natsu dropped his head again, and this time he hit the tabletop so hard it hurt.
Jellal shifted around on his chair, obviously at a loss of how to handle the situation.
"I... I'll go and make sure Porlyusica doesn't kill Ultear," he forced out, and a second later he was gone. Finally.
Natsu banged his head against the tabletop once more. He should be using the time to make new plans for how to save Gray, but if Porlyusica said that there was no way his death could be averted, then it was most likely true. Out of all the mages he knew, Porlyusica was the one with the largest knowledge of healing magic. He would still ask Wendy for help. Maybe their magic was somehow different, and Wendy could save lives where Porlyusica couldn't.
Yeah, that was a plan for the next time. Either make Wendy stay at the guild, too, or go on that stupid mission again. At some point, he should probably collect more information on their enemies, so that once the issue with Gray was resolved, they could accomplish the mission without casualties.
"Stretch out your left arm."
Natsu nearly jumped from his chair. Ultear was right next to him, and he'd been too deep in thought to even notice her entering the room.
"Wh-why?"
"That's a watch, right? Earlier I manipulated it so that its time won't be reversed. So, if you don't want to adjust the time of that watch every time anew, you'd better give me your arm."
Natsu obliged, albeit a bit annoyed. It was over in a flash, and then Ultear slumped down in the chair opposite of him. Just then he noticed that Jellal and Meredy were also in the room, and that a fuming Porlyusica was shooting them vicious glances from the other room.
"I think we should discuss some things now. Well, not discuss, since I'll forget anyway, but maybe you have some questions."
"Yes. Why aren't you turning back time immediately after Gray's death?"
"Because I figured you might want to gather information. Or try to revive him. So I've decided to give you an hour. You can also use that time for writing your diary."
She had obviously given this much thought. But this was giving him too much time to grieve. Being able to see him again immediately would probably make it easier to cope with. On the other hand, like this he wouldn't have to waste time writing that he could actually spend with Gray. It was probably better this way. He would just have to concentrate on writing to take his mind off of Gray's death.
'And I should stop wasting time with thinking right now. Concentrate.'
"Why did you send Jellal instead of just following Gray yourself?"
"Just to make sure I'm not hurt and can still perform the magic. Since it's obvious that there might be fighting involved if Gray dies, it's not that unlikely I'll get hurt in the process. I had Jellal call me at least once an hour to make sure he's alright, even if it was just calling, nodding in silence, and ending the conversation again. If he doesn't call me over one and a half hours, I'd assume that something happened and turn back time."
"But then if Jellal happened to be knocked out for a while, you would've turned back time even if nothing happened to Gray at all?"
"I have to rely on you to prevent such a thing. You were bound to find out eventually."
"And why did you still come here today even if it's not safe?"
"Because you have a point with wanting to write a diary. Meredy thinks you might have gone crazy already and tricked me somehow, but I don't share her opinion. Jellal said you act relatively normal, plus I'm keeping a diary of my own, so I know this is the fourth time and you're not lying to me. If there was any danger, you would've told me, right?"
Natsu sighed. "Aren't you trusting me way too much?"
"No. I figured that in order for this to turn out well, I have to trust you unequivocally."
"You could just help me search for a solution, and we'd be quicker to find one."
"Again, this would be putting myself in too much danger. Not because I'm cowardly, but because it could endanger the whole plan. Plus, I can't imagine I'd be of much help, anyway."
"Mh... But do you have any idea of how to solve this? Porlyusica said that Gray's time on earth is over, that turning back time doesn't help."
"That's what the prophecy says. 'Future can't be swayed.' You need to find another way, something that has to do with 'forming a bond' with Gray. Do you know what that could mean?"
Natsu blushed and averted his gaze. "W-well... We're in love, b-but we've already formed that bond last time and also this time..."
"And did you go all the way yet?"
"W-what?"
"Have you had sex yet?"
Natsu choked on his saliva, and was unable to utter anything besides a few stammered, incoherent words.
"Oh for god's sake, Natsu. Nobody besides you will remember this conversation, so could you stop being so flustered? I have to turn back time in a few minutes or the point I've set will fade, so stop wasting time."
Taking a deep breath, Natsu focused his eyes back on Ultear. "No. We haven't."
"Then see that you do. It could save his life."
Since he was too embarrassed to answer, Natsu decided to change the topic. "Please tell me that prophecy again, so that I can write it down."
He opened his book, and fetched a pen from a nearby shelf. He wanted to write down the words on the first page, but then changed his mind, and turned a few pages before writing it down. Because who knew if he'd want to write a foreword or something alike one day.
Ultear got up from her seat once he finished writing, her hands already encompassed by a blue light. "Arc of Time: Last Ages!"
Ultear hit the floor with her flat hands, and then she was surrounded by a pillar of blue light. She looked at Natsu one last time, saying, "Please don't give up," before the pillar expanded and Natsu's vision blacked out.
Thank you for all your nice Reviews so far *_* I love every single of them :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter (even though it's really short, sorry! The next one is longer ^^)