"I've already been treated, so I can stay with her until she wakes up. Least I can do."

That much was true. It was hardly an ordeal for Gray to slump into the chair beside Wendy's infirmary cot, no matter how much his various injuries protested. He was determined to give his thanks to his young teammate. He could wait.

Porlyusica must have realized the futility of arguing with him- or she had exhausted all the concern she could muster for her reckless patients' wellbeing- and merely scoffed before leaving the infirmary with a sweep of her scarlet cloak. Gray couldn't help but wonder if her brisk, gruff demeanor had been cultivated over years like her knowledge of medicine and potions. Both had been on display in the prior hour as she assessed the unconscious Dragon Slayer.

"Left hand burned, left thigh punctured, lacerations on the right side, bruising across the back, not to mention severe magical exhaustion. She's learned from your terrible examples, running herself into the ground like this. I've managed to alleviate the worst of the pain for now, but the brew needed to treat her fully won't be ready until tomorrow. In the meantime, keep her wounds wrapped, and ensure she doesn't put any weight on that leg."

Gray surveyed Wendy's sleeping form, smiling wryly. As exhausted and battered as she looked, he had no doubt that it would be an ordeal getting her to remain in bed once she awoke. Wendy took her role as the guild's healer very seriously; so seriously, that on more than one occasion, she'd lapsed into unconsciousness while healing someone, her power threadbare and sputtering. There were few people more averse to the idea of prioritizing their own wellbeing than Wendy Marvell.

"Ah. I'm glad to see at least some of you are listening to Porlyusica's advice."

As if summoned by his thoughts, into the infirmary stepped one of the only people better at shouldering undue burdens than the Sky Sorceress.

Erza, despite being even further swathed in bandages than Gray, crossed over to her teammates with as steady a stride as ever. Gray briefly considered asking her why she was exempt from following Porlyusica's instructions, before dismissing the idea almost as quickly, instead remarking dryly, "Apparently, we could all do with being better role models for the kid, according to her. Thought I'd give it a try."

It got a huff of a laugh out of Erza as she claimed the chair on Wendy's other side, before her gaze fell to the girl between them, something more somber settling over her. "I think the damage has already been done at this point. I watched her throw herself at Acnologia, today, because she was the only Dragon Slayer there. And before that, Irene..." Gray waited to see if she would elaborate on whatever had transpired with this 'Irene' character, but Erza appeared unwilling, and he wasn't going to press. He'd no doubt learn later what other horrors his friends had faced in this conflict.

"This war has been hard on all of us, but Wendy's tough." he reasoned, tamping down the new surge of dread he felt at Erza's revelation. "And we can get right to teaching her all about self-preservation once she wakes up. With everything- Alvarez, Zeref, Acnologia- more or less handled, we can actually deal with it all. We have time now."

"Yes, I agree." Erza gave a decisive nod. "The world had better stop falling apart around us, before I lose my patience with the whole thing. If these next few years aren't relatively quiet, I'll have no choice but to get serious."

And that, the sight of Titania's stalwart determination that they get to enjoy the peace they'd fought for, was enough to cause Gray to smile.

Of course, Erza chose that moment to turn coy, simpering, "Like you and Juvia, from what I've heard. I'm almost surprised you're not currently brooding over her bedside."

"We talked." was all Gray would give his red-haired friend, looking away to hide the color overtaking his face. He and Juvia had exchanged words, after the initial tears and embraces and I thought you were dead's, coming to the mutual conclusion that they'd take things nice and slow going forward. He'd last seen the Rain Woman on her way to help fish out all the debris currently floating in the harbor, pausing to share a breath with her forehead pressed to his before departing.

"Besides," he turned back to look at the other blue haired girl who occupied a different, but no less precious space in his heart. "I have some things I want to say."

Erza seemed to sense there was something more tender there, more heartfelt, because she forwent any more teasing in favor of updating Gray on the status of the various friends she'd seen on her way to the infirmary. It was a very Erza-esque way to pass the time, but Gray found himself put at ease by the steady tide of assurances that his guildmates were all okay.

It wasn't until after Erza left, and Gray was distractedly mulling over the news that Levy and Gajeel had apparently shacked up in her dorm room- 'No Boys' policy be damned- that he realized such a result had perhaps been her intention.

Like he said, a very Erza-esque thing to do.

Whatever the case, he gave up on trying to puzzle out his other friends' relationship statuses, or contemplating what exactly Fairy Tail had done to deserve Erza Scarlet, when the girl in the bed beside him began to stir.

Face pulling slightly in a grimace (not that Gray could blame her, considering the state she was in), Wendy blinked open dark brown eyes to take in the room around her, before landing on him.

"Gray...?"

"Hey, kiddo." he softly greeted, unconsciously adopting what she'd once coined a 'hospital voice'. "I'm not sure how much you remember, but you fainted after making it back with Natsu and the others, so we brought you to the infirmary."

Wendy looked at him blankly at first, before the fog behind her eyes cleared away as she blurted, "Natsu!"

She lurched upright, and Gray was on his feet, ready to block her from leaving her bed, only for the girl to lift her hands to cup the air before her. Cradled between her palms, a small orb of blue energy flickered to life, and Wendy let out a sigh of relief before sinking back against the headboard.

"I wasn't sure if I'd put everything back where it belonged, afterwards. It would've been unsafe for Natsu to still be holding it all for this long." she explained at Gray's confused look, not that it cleared up very much at all. But Wendy seemed more at ease for it, so he wasn't going to question it too much.

"As long as you don't leave this bed." he relented, bringing his chair closer to her bedside before sitting back down. "Porlyusica said you need to keep from putting weight on that leg until she comes back tomorrow with whatever she's brewing to treat it with."

Predictably, Wendy took issue with the notion of placing her own health and recovery before that of her friends'.

"Nonsense. I can still help like this." she huffed, making to pull back the covers before Gray placed his hand over hers.

He could see her gearing up to protest further, and decided now was as good a time as any, and took her uninjured hand in both of his, bowing his head so her fingers just barely brushed his hair.

Wendy fell completely silent at that, and so Gray began speaking into the void, eyes closed.

"I've spent so long being afraid that one day, the people I love will somehow end up sacrificing themselves for me. It happened with my Master Ur when I was young, and again with her daughter, Ultear, during the dragon invasion at Crocus. I thought it had happened again with Juvia, but you saved her, Wendy. You saved me then, too. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't... hadn't seen her coming over with you." he forced a cough past the emotion clogging his throat. "All this to say... I'm always going to be grateful to you for that, Wendy. For giving me back what I thought I'd lost, for once."

Lifting his gaze at last, Gray managed a crooked smile at the sight of Wendy blinking valiantly, and obligingly drew closer when she opened her arms for a hug.

"Oh, Gray, you don't have to thank me! Of course I'd save her. I'd do the same for any of you. If nothing else, at least..." she trailed off, her grip on his coat tightening almost imperceptibly.

"At least I can get you something back."

Gray's concern, the same he'd felt while watching Wendy croak out apologies as she lay bleeding on the pavement, arose in him again. Before he could attempt to voice those concerns, however, Wendy drew back with a hiss of pain, hand flying to the heavily bandaged wound on her thigh.

"Shit-" Gray cursed without thinking, hovering his hands uselessly over the thick swaths of bandages, half expecting red stains to begin bleeding through. "Are you-"

"It's fine, it's fine," Wendy already sought to reassure him. "Just a... twinge, I think."

She wasn't looking at him, though, face still pale and tinged with pain, prompting Gray to bluster onwards into what he soon learned was a mistake.

"If you want, I can see if Chelia's around, and she can-"

"No!"

Wendy seemed to very quickly muster enough strength to meet his gaze once more, and Gray was unnerved to find her eyes had turned red. Not the irritated, bloodshot red that came with crying, but a bright, vivid scarlet that turned her irises into rings of fire.

One of the hallmarks of her Dragon Force.

"Do not get Chelia, Gray! I mean it, alright?!"

Gray couldn't recall the last time he'd seen Wendy snap at someone. He wasn't even sure if what she'd just done really counted, considering the way her voice came across as far more desperate than angry, and those ruby red eyes had already gained a suspicious sheen.

Nonetheless, he acquiesced all the same, deciding to trust that Porlyusica had in fact managed to relieve most of Wendy's pain, and the girl could get by without her friend's healing magic until Porly returned tomorrow with the final brew. It wouldn't do to have her getting worked up when she needed to rest.

"Okay, kid, you win." Gray held up his hands in surrender, scooting dutifully back in his chair. "Can you blame me, though? All things considered, you're one of the most injured people we've got."

She was quiet for a moment, glowering down at her injured leg, before bitterly muttering, "It's my own fault, anyways." causing Gray to look at her, aghast.

"Wendy, you can't seriously blame yourself for getting hurt-"

"Not that." any liveliness had fled the girl's voice, replaced instead with tearful reproach as her Dragon Force faded. "It's my f-fault Chelia... she... I messed up!" Small hands found their way to tangle in dark blue tresses, tugging helplessly as Wendy curled in on herself.

"I wasn't strong enough!" the words seemed to tear themselves from her throat, like foul, poisonous refuse her body was trying to rid itself of. "I couldn't win, I couldn't beat her, and now... now... there's no getting it back!"

Mercifully, Wendy's fingers stopped twisting in her hair, in favor of hiding her face as her whole frame began to shake.

At a loss, Gray could only lay a hand on her shoulder, something vast and heavy spawning in the pit of his stomach. He knew he was missing something, some crucial piece of information that would make sense of the state his young teammate was currently in.

Something that had happened during their battle at the port.

Just what had transpired in that fight, to make Wendy believe she'd failed her friend so dearly?

He got his answer the following day, as he and Lyon shared a moment of respite from their work repairing the damage done to the Fairy Tail guildhall. The mages from Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Sabertooth had ruthlessly bowled over the Fairies' protests, citing that the conflict with Alvarez had been a matter of countries rather than guilds, and took to clearing up Magnolia and the surrounding areas with zeal alongside their fellow Fioreans.

"Chelia can't use magic anymore?" Gray had to make certain, on the off chance he'd heard Lyon wrong, even if he knew he likely hadn't. His adoptive brother's solemn head shake dashed those hopes quite efficiently.

"Ultear was very clear, from what I've heard. Unlocking her Third Origin permanently crippled the other two magic containers in her body. Biologically, it isn't quite the same as if she was a non-mage, but there's no known remedy for Origins that sustained such damage." a shadow passed over Lyon's face, and his fist trembled faintly. "To think, the two youngest among us were fighting for their lives, for our lives, in the time it took us to blink."

Gray ruminated on something he could say to that, with no success. Wendy and Chelia, for all their prodigious talent and combative skill, still evoked in their guildmates an innate urge to protect and shelter them. No matter how irrational it may be, it felt like a failure on their part when their younger companions were harmed. He remembered holding Wendy's limp, listless body in the dungeons back in Edolas, feeling his stomach drop in that awful moment of panic when he failed to sense even an ounce of magic power within her, like she was... gone. Chelia wasn't gone, but a piece of her...

"I'm honored to be her guildmate."

Gray's gaze snapped back to Lyon.

"It's very likely that Chelia saved all of our lives that day." a fierce, blazing sort of pride overpowered any lingering guilt in his voice. "Against an enemy with such power over time, in the guise of a god, we wouldn't have stood a chance. In her last act as a mage, Chelia achieved the greatest feat possible for a wielder of her magic; she struck down a god. We all lived to see tomorrow thanks to her devotion to protecting her comrades. To have someone capable of love like that, of strength like that, as a member of my guild... I'm grateful beyond words."

Tactfully, Gray turned away in order to let Lyon compose himself, not at all because his own eyes grew misty.

Through the small crowd of mages shuffling about, he spotted Wendy, who was sitting beneath an awning alongside Gajeel. She had been expressly forbidden from taking part in any physical labor, owing to the state of her still-healing leg, much to her ire. It had taken almost a whole morning's worth of arguing before she was allowed to cast Enchantments on those working to help lighten the load. Natsu and Gajeel, for once, worked together seamlessly as they took it upon themselves to ensure she didn't strain herself.

Currently, Gajeel seemed to be listening readily as she spoke quietly, his perpetually stern expression giving nothing away. Wendy's face was obscured due to both the angle and her long, hanging hair, but Gray could see the tension in the way she wrung the fabric of her skirt.

"I don't think Wendy sees it that way."

Wendy's harshest critic had always been herself. When they'd first met, during their duel for Nirvana against the Oracion Seis, her propensity for self-flagellation had been severe enough that she almost became a liability. While Gray liked to think that her time with Fairy Tail and their constant, unconditional support had softened the tone she took with herself, he knew how easy it was to lapse back into old habits.

Whatever else had transpired in the battle with Dimaria, Chelia's sacrifice was bound to be weighing heavily on the young Enchantress.

"Chelia feels the same." Lyon's reverent tone became more somber. "Wendy won't press the issue with her out of respect, but Chelia's certain she blames herself for what happened." faintly, Gray could feel the uncanny coldness- a trait he no doubt shared- when Lyon's hand came to rest on his shoulder. The icy pressure was welcome; bracing and invigorating. "For Chelia's sake, and my own- for Wendy's- keep an eye on her. We're both familiar with what regret and self-reproach can do to a person."

Gray thought back to a warped moon, streaming out baleful indigo light... the gentle, heart wrenching strum of a harp... the slick dapple of blood on his brow...

It had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done, accepting Ur's sacrifice as a gift born out of her love for him. No matter how unworthy he felt, how desperately he wished he could change what had happened, it would have been the height of disrespect to disregard his teacher's final act. She wanted him to live, without his darkness- his hatred and despair- as weights upon his soul. He didn't dare fail to abide by that request.

"I don't want that for her." Gray didn't want that for anyone. But the idea of his young teammate- the endlessly kind, selfless, fiercely caring girl he'd come to know- quietly suffocating under that guilt and loathing... it was unthinkable. "I won't let that happen."

He might not be able to chase wounds and pain away with a touch like Wendy, but his hands had crafted works of ice unlike any Maker mage before.

He'd be damned if they couldn't hold his friend together as she threatened to fall apart.