Last Chapter part II
Why? Of all the people.. Why here of all times?
"You're alive, I see." The man's scowl deepened.
To which the other only answered, "Your little pawns don't even deserve to be called assassins."
"Erza, sto-" Gray wanted to say to the redhead, whose face is still eternally beautiful despite her hair being cut short by a fairly blunt object.
"Ohohoho! You have some guts, lady Scarlet. No wonder my son fell under your spell. But don't worry, Gray. I'll make this easy for you. Step aside." the old man orders in a low but booming voice enough for Gray to get jelly on the knees. It was a voice that always brought Gray to his knees and head down low to obey whatever command given to him.
"Father..." Gray trembled just saying his name, but he made a decision.. He has to break free. " I'm sorry. I realized this isn't the life I want."
Now, the old man was angry by all means and his sour expression was showing it. "How disgraceful of you. Very well, then. You have lost your use to me, anyway. Pathetic trash."
Those words. It struck to him just as how what's left of him crumbled to ruins. But it doesn't feel so hurtful as much as he expected to.. He wondered why.
"Because it isn't true, and you know it Gray." Erza whispers and the raven then knows why.
The man raises sleek silver metal on his right hand and it only took a moment before Gray could push the scarlet aside and he, rolling to the side.
"Die."
Bullets rang out like rain barreling to the concrete, Gray tucks Erza quietly into a safe corner. Erza pulled him but Gray silenced him by a soft whisper, "Don't worry. It's just as you say.. I'm not that pathetic. Don't look, alright?" he flashed a smile and then disappears. One by one the source of the gunshots ceased firing before a grenade hit the ground and exploded.
Erza's eyes widened in shock, but Gray warned him not to so all he could do was clutch the silver chain necklace close to her and shut her eyes tight.
But the dream comes back to her again.
...His pale skin( deathly pale-she noticed) his manly scars etching over his muscular build. His scar on the forehead.
Everything was him. She should've been relieved.
If only he wasn't lying there flat, eyes closed, motionless.
If only she didn't notice his chest wasn't moving the way it's supposed to.
If only he wasn't covered in that hateful slick of crimson fluid...
The dream is hunting her again. She opened her eyes abruptly to see what happened.
Gray was there, facing her from a near distance with eyes widened. The next moment, he was speeding towards the scarlet and racing against a bullet that's supposed to be lodged at Erza's skull.
Erza was pushed to an enveloping warmth of Gray's arms and the bullet landed on their feet.
A small figure of a half-naked raven pushed a smaller scarlet's figure to the bushy side of the river.
Erza quivered, the younger boy put a calloused finger to her lips. Silence loomed as heavy footsteps of soldiers looking for two children who escaped as far as the river. "Damn! They caught up!"
"What are we going to do now?" she said.
"You run. I go distract them-" the younger male said.
"Idiot! You're going to get caught!" the little girl became frantic as tears welled up her eyes. The boy's pale face softened uncharacteristically to hold a finger and wipe those tears away. " I will find you. I will, Erza."
The raven runs as far as he could, catching the attention of the guards and leaving the scarlet behind in a sobbing mess while hiding behind the tall bushes.
The memory fades like ripples in the water in Erza's head and then snaps when he heard Gray say behind her ears, "Erza, run."
The gun cocks again for the next time around, a hideous laugh follows, and Gray's own is scattered across the floor. It would take longer to fetch it so Gray thought otherwise. Erza tugged at him again but Gray speaks up ahead.
"Go,whatever it takes. Wherever you are, I will find you, Erza. I promise I will."
I will find you. I will, Erza.
Rivulets of tears rolled down Erza's cheeks. Gray is taken a back for a moment, the sight of a familiar memory that emerges from Erza's form- a young girl with a scarlet hair dropping to her shoulders, crying the same precious tears.
Gray remembers they were the same tears he wanted to protect for that young girl he met from the Tower.
Acting on his instincts, he raised a calloused hand to wipe the water from Erza's eyes and carefully said, "I found you again. I will do it again if I have to. But I promise, next time I won't let go of you again." Gray smiled the usual childish smile on his face and pushed the scarlet away.
Erza couldn't believe what the other said, and it brought her the same rush to her chest and guilt about her always being covered while she runs away in escape. But no, this time- this time, she swore she will make it the other way.
This time she isn't running away without him.
The sky is mixed with red hues disappearing into dark blue ones in the horizon. Two silver rings raised into that horizon, being held by two different hands: the pale and calloused hand that were definitely bigger than the other, and the slender and soft ones that were smaller in size.
Two different hands becoming one through two silver rings on their finger. Two different fates entwined by an invisible red string- unbreakable, intangible. Two different persons from either side of the spectrum, now merged into one.
The raven man steps inside the door with a scarlet in a ponytail holding his hand passionately. The man smirked as he pulled the lady to his side and kisses her, delicate and loving while she tugs the raven's hair in a gentle grip and circles her arms to his neck.
After a moment, they broke free for air, and Gray is first to say to a blushing Erza. "I'm home." at last.
End.
A/N: Thank you for sticking with this story till the very end. Or maybe an Epilogue would be better.
Okay. Shoot me. *buries head in shame*