A/N: Many apologies for the lateness of the conclusion, but honestly I was wanting a better ending than the one this ended up having. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to write a better ending that fits. Therefore, you have a spur-of-the-moment ending that I wrote after I imported the document with the rest of the story in it. XD SO. Here ya go. Enjoy!
A Month Later
Gray's head hit the stone floor with a sickening crack, leaving him dazed and winded.
Across the room Erza, Lucy, and Natsu were still fighting, though they, too, were barely still standing. Lucy had long since used up her magic, and the other two didn't have much left to give either. How had it turned out this way? The request had supposed to have been a simple quest to take out a band of highway robbers.
Too bad it turned out that a dark guild was behind it.
Though it wasn't exactly his fault (they didn't have to agree to go with him in the first place), Gray felt responsible – he was the one who suggested they take a request – he was the one who chose the job.
And now they were way out-numbered.
He saw Natsu and Lucy fly back into the wall not far from where he still lay. They didn't move to get up – didn't move at all. He didn't blame them; he couldn't find the energy to move, either. Would this be the way it would end? He tried to push himself up. His arms shaking, he finally managed that much, but he knew he was done. He knew he couldn't fight like this.
Natsu and Lucy still hadn't moved.
Erza was being held up by her throat, unable to get free.
And all Gray could do was sit and watch.
As Erza was thrown into the wall next to where Lucy and Natsu lay, all he could do was sit and watch.
As the dark guild master loomed over his three best friends, all he could do was sit and watch.
No.
No. He refused. He wouldn't – he couldn't. Finding strength that he had thought had long fled his weary body, he stood up. And he ran straight at the dark guild master. Let it be known that Fairy Tail didn't go down without a fight!
Just as he was about to tackle the giant of a man from behind, the master saw him and stepped aside just at the last moment. Gray summersaulted past him and stopped between the man and his nakama, crouched down, one hand on the floor for support.
The man frowned. "I see one little rat has managed to survive when the odds were clearly against him. Not very smart, really. You could have survived, anyway."
"Do you really think," Gray panted, "that I would leave my family behind? That would make me worse than you."
The man's mouth turned to snarl at them. "No matter. You'll all die together then!" Between the man's hands a black orb began to form.
"Gray!" Erza hissed from behind him. "What do you think you're doing?"
He glanced back at her. "Saving you all, what do you think?"
Her eyes grew wide. "Don't you dare –!"
Gray shook his head. "It might be better if I took that option. But I won't." Sitting a little taller, his hand coming up off the floor, he placed them behind him. "Ice Make: Rampart!" The last thing he heard was Erza shouting for him to stop before her voice was cut off with the wall of ice now separating them.
The master chuckled. "Now what was the point of that? You'll die first, that lovely wall will disappear, and then I will kill them as well. You have accomplished nothing!"
Gray smirked. "Really?"
The man looked beyond Gray to the barrier, a look of surprise erupting onto his face. "YOU!"
"Yes, me," Gray replied. "I knew that spell was powerful enough to put a hole in the wall. By the time you finish with me, those three will be long gone."
The man sneered. "Then I will happily be rid of you before I hunt down your entire guild. How does that sound?"
"They'll beat you to it, I'm afraid." He smirked. "That's what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail."
The master suddenly started to laugh. "Well, well, well! Looks like your little girlfriend decided to stay to watch your demise!"
Gray turned his head, eyes growing wide as he realized that only Natsu and Lucy were gone. Erza had moved off a little way, but she was still there. And he knew why. As soon as her magic replenished, she would come back to try to help him. He looked away with a sad sigh. By then it would be too late. As he turned back around, he knew it was already too late.
A blinding black flash and he knew no more.
"Natsu, take Lucy and get out of here. I'm going to try to get Gray out of there."
"Erza, that's suicide!"
She stared with compassion at her long-time friend. "I know, Natsu. But I can't leave without trying."
"Then I'm staying. Gray's my friend too, ya know."
"I know," Erza stated, shaking her head, "but, since she's still out, one of us has to get Lucy out of here." She smiled at him. "Trust me, Natsu. I'll bring Gray back – alive."
With a solemn nod, Natsu hoisted Lucy up onto his back and started off at a jog in the direction of the nearest town.
When she was satisfied he wasn't going to come back, she started back towards the hole they had escape through. She knew there was a good chance that neither of them would make it out alive, but she wasn't about to let him die alone – and not the same way so many people close to him had passed away. She wouldn't.
But then he turned his head and saw her as she crouched next the destroyed wall. She saw the black magic building. She knew she was out of time. Tears building in her eyes, she watched as that black magic was released from the mage's hands and was sent spiraling towards her friend.
She didn't want to watch, but she couldn't stand to tear her eyes away either.
But then…
As the black blast spread out to consume him, her eyes grew wide at what she saw there.
Standing in front of Gray, arms spread wide, hands clasped tightly together, were four, white silhouettes. The two on the left were unmistakably women; the two on the left, men. Black hair billowing around her form, Erza knew the one to the far left. She couldn't be anyone else.
Ultear.
The older woman standing next to her with short, brown hair had to be…
Gray's mother.
The younger of the two men, the one with short, cropped dark hair…
Gray's father.
Then the last man… Someone dear to Gray…
His grandfather.
Then it was true. She smiled as the black magic dissipated; the victim of the spell, the master who had cast the spell. "Those who love us," she whispered, "never really leave us, but continue to watch over us in ways a mortal human cannot. Guardian angels…"
She never told Gray what she had seen that day; to her, it felt as if she had intruded on something very personal - something she wasn't supposed to have seen. As a result, she'd had to lie through her teeth in attempt to explain why he was still alive. After considering several options - the spell backfired, Gray had had enough power left somehow to defeat him - she finally decided on the simplest: She hadn't seen what had happened. By the time she had returned to the building, the guild leader was dead and Gray was out cold. No one questioned her explanation.
Except for Gray.
He didn't remember much after he had made a way of escape for his teammates, but he did recall her returning. Luckily for her, he had the tact to question her in private about the matter instead of in front of the entire guild.
At first she still avoided it, much to his irritation. "You're still recovering, Gray..."
"So what? I think I deserve to know why I'm not dead, Erza."
She couldn't deny his simple statement. But she still felt as if she had intruded upon something entirely too personal that she shouldn't have witnessed. She crossed her arms over her chest, a frown appearing on her face, as she looked away from where he lay in the infirmary bed.
"You're hiding something. Spill."
"I'm not."
He snorted. "I've known you far too long, Erza Scarlet, to believe that Bull."
After a short moment, she sighed. "Guardian angels..." she whispered.
"Nani?" he spoke, brow furrowing in confusion.
"I haven't told anyone because... well... how do you explain something like this? But I know what I saw, Gray - I know what I saw. Your grandfather... Your mother and father... Ultear... I saw them all, Gray. I saw them protect you. They are why you are still alive."
Gray was silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft yet still seemed to echo loudly off the white walls. "I would say you're crazy if I didn't know any better. But crazy things seem to be the norm for us, so I believe you. ...Why didn't you just tell me though?"
She ducked her head. "When I saw them, it felt like I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to see. It felt like I was intruding on something incredibly personal. ...Angels don't really show themselves to us, after all. I don't think anyone was meant to see that..." She looked back up at her friend to find that his eyes were half closed again, but this time a smile graced his features.
"Arigatou," he murmured, "for telling me... It makes me... very happy..."
As he slipped back to sleep, she smiled, sending up a silent prayer. Thank you...for protecting my best friend.