I Dare You

Chapter Ten - Eternal Forever

Everything's silent. All that can be heard in that secluded room were the tears that made contact with the hard floor. Gray lies motionless, frozen, in Natsu's arms. Natsu could sense his magic fading from his body as his heart stopped. The ice that had once covered the entire room started to melt and slide down the walls, forming puddles that soaked into the carpet; joining the blood stains.

"Gray…" Natsu whispered, lip quivering.

His head hurt from the strain of constant crying. His eyes stung with every salty tear that surfaced and slid down his cheeks. With everything he has ever gone through, being in Fairy Tail, being in his team, and just life itself he has never felt so much pain at once. It was suffocating, but he knew it wouldn't subside.

Natsu gently caressed Gray's cold cheek as he stared at the closed eyes, waiting. He wanted them to open, to know Gray would be okay and…to know he'd live. Natsu cursed and looked at the ceiling, closing his eyes. He cried, begged, prayed that this would just be some sick dream he was stuck in. That he would just wake up and be lying next to Gray in their room, together.

"P-please. PLEASE!" Natsu screamed at the ceiling. He opened his eyes and looked down. Nothing changed. The tears came again as Natsu put his hand on the back of Gray's head and pulled him close. He hugged Gray's body as if trying to warm him up.

"G-Gray please c-come back." Natsu begged Gray to return, but knew it was a wasted effort. He pulled back from Gray and brought his forehead to his and breathed in. Natsu face twisted, Gray's scent wasn't the same. He smelled like ice. Just ice, like if you put your head into a freezer filled with bags of ice and inhaled. That was Gray.

Natsu shook his head roughly and put Gray back down.

"AHHHAAAH!" Natsu yelled, slamming his fists on the ground. He bent over, forehead touching the ground. He cried, screamed, and cursed at something he didn't have any control over. He couldn't change it. He knew that, but what upset him most was Gray had taken those bullets for him. The gun was aimed at Natsu's head, but he didn't react fast enough.

"I-I'll take that bullet f-for you. So w-wake up." Natsu said, turning his head to look at Gray.

Natsu's ears perked up at the sound of footsteps.

Please don't be Erza… He didn't want anyone from the guild to see Gray…or see that Natsu had failed to protect a comrade.

He lifted his head and saw two large men wearing black suits standing where the door used to be. Natsu moved himself in front of Gray.

"What happened here? Are you a wizard?" One of the men said.

"We're looking for our boss. He told us to come here if he didn't come back. Have you seen him?"

Natsu tilted his head at the two men, and then realization shot in as he slowly looked down to the pile of ashes that used to be the old man. The men followed Natsu's eyes and stared at the pile of ashes surrounding the gun.

"That's the old man's gun. Where is he!?" One of the men said, pointing a gun at Natsu. Natsu barely reacted at having a gun pointed at him. He no longer cared.

"He disintegrated into ashes." Natsu said, plainly.

"What!? How!?"

Natsu slowly got to his feet, exposing Gray behind him.

"Wh-what? He's bleeding. Is he okay?" Said the man with his gun out.

"Your boss killed him-" Natsu gestured to Gray.

"-So I burned him alive until he was nothing but that pile you see there." Natsu said, with a straight face, looking at the pile. Natsu lit his fists on fire to show them exactly how.

Both men jumped when the fire surrounded the boy's hands.

"You're a fire mage!" The other held his gun up, now both guns pointed at Natsu.

"…"

"Our boss killed him?" One said pointing his gun at Gray. Natsu snapped, fire covering his entire body.

"DON'T YOU DARE POINT YOUR GUN AT HIM!" Natsu growled. The man shakily obeyed and lowered his weapon. Natsu's fire died and he calmly answered.

"Yes your boss k-killed him."

"Was he your friend?" The man, with the gun up, asked. He didn't care, but he thought he'd ask anyways.

"He was my best friend and I-"

"You couldn't protect your friend from some old geezer?"

Natsu's head shot up and he glared at the man with his gun stuck on him.

"He died protecting me."

"So…he could protect you, but you couldn't protect him. Guess it can only be done one way. Either you die or he dies."

Natsu nodded slowly and looked to the ground. The men whispered to each other, Natsu didn't care to eavesdrop, and they walked closer to Natsu. He raised his head and came face to face with their guns.

"It can be done another way as well pinky."

Natsu swallowed as he heard the click of their guns.

"You can die and you'll both be dead."

Natsu's eyes widened, not in fear, but in shock for what he felt as the gun touched his forehead. He didn't care if he died. He didn't care about what happened after they fired. He craved to see Gray again. He want to hold him, to kiss him, and tell him he loved him a million times over.

Natsu closed his eyes and let go of his last breath. He was ready to see Gray again.

"Looks like we'll be doing you a favor."

"NATSU!" Natsu's eyes flew open. He gasped as he saw Erza, Lucy, and Wendy run into the room. The men looked back at the three girls charging towards them then quickly looked at Natsu. They grinned, evilly as two shots went off.

"NO! NATSU!" Lucy shrieked. Her eyes followed Natsu's body as he fell to the ground. That's when she saw Gray, too. Dead. She gasped, her hands covered her mouth. Her knees wobbled and her legs felt too weak to hold her body up any longer. She collapsed. Wendy ran over, tears flooding her face, and held onto Lucy.

Erza looked at her friends collapsed on the ground crying, screaming. She then locked her eyes on Gray and Natsu. Her friends were dead.

Erza felt the overwhelming sorrow fill her entire body making her blood boil. She looked at the two men holding their guns, pointing them at Erza. The ground beneath her feet cracked. The walls around her shattered. Her eyes seemed to glow a ferocious red as she requiped into her Black Wing Armor. She rushed at the two men, before they could take another breath, and sliced them in half then quickly requiped into her Fire Empress Armor to set them aflame. Erza continued to light their lifeless bodies on fire with her blade, she no longer cared if they were already dead…she just wanted to erase them from existence. She stood over the men's charred bodies as she listened to the sniffling of her friends behind her back. Erza requiped back into her usual armor and looked over her shoulder. She slowly turned and walked towards her fallen friends.

"E-Erza can't w-we do anything?" Lucy said through sobs. Erza shook her head and placed a hand on Wendy.

"Can you try to heal them?" Erza said calmly, trying to hold back. Wendy wiped her eyes and nodded. She stood and wobbled over to the boys.

Gray was lying still, straight as a board. Natsu laid next to Gray, on his side, arms out lying on Gray's stomach and chest. Wendy wiped the new tears as she knelt down beside Natsu. She gasped.

"What?" Erza jumped.

"H-his eyes are o-open." Wendy said, cringing at the sight of her friends clouded eyes. Erza walked over and patted Wendy on the head. She knelt down and turned Natsu over on his back, placed his arms at his sides, and gently closed his eyes. Erza nodded for Wendy to continue and she stood. Erza felt sick, seeing her friend like that…dead. She couldn't handle this. She looked over at Lucy and saw that the poor girl was shaking so bad, trying to keep her eyes on Natsu.

Wendy took a deep breath and placed her hands over Natsu's head. She forced every spec of healing magic into her hands and into Natsu.

"I-I can't…something is k-keeping me from h-healing him." She said, panting.

Erza walked over and saw something glowing inside Natsu's wounds. She summoned a small knife from the air and hovered over Natsu. She cut into his wound and pried the bullet from his skull. Erza looked over the bullet and saw small symbols all over the end of the bullet, she cursed and cut the second bullet out.

"Their magic bullets."

"What d-does that mean?" Wendy said.

"They don't kill like regular bullets. They kill by taking all of your magic. Taking magic from wizards is the same as killing them. That's why your magic wouldn't work when healing him."

"Is he g-going to be o-okay now that their out?"

"I don't know." She closed her eyes and she could strongly sense Wendy and Lucy's magic as well as her own. She tried to concentrate harder until she felt…something. It was weak, barely there, but…

"…heal him!" Erza ordered and walked over to Gray.

The unwanted tears fell as she cut into her friend's chest, prying the bullets from his flesh. She placed the bullets with the others, removed the armor from her hands, and brushed her fingers over Gray's face. She could feel her fingers go numb by how cold his skin was.

"I-I'm sorry Gray. I shouldn't have left you two here…" She brushed her hand through his raven locks and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"You're t-too cold." Erza looked down at his bare chest and locked onto the Fairy Tail symbol. She continued to let the tears fall as her fingers traced the symbol that which was so dear to her. He was her family and now he was gone. She wiped her eyes and walked over to Lucy so Wendy could concentrate.

Lucy's eyes never left Natsu's body. She has seen him beaten, bloodied, and bruised many times since she's joined Fairy Tail, but she never thought she'd see him die. She hugged her legs tight as tears stained her knees.

Again the room was emptied of all sounds, other than Wendy panting. She managed to heal Natsu's head to the point where he wouldn't be bleeding. She crawled over to Gray and placed her hands above Gray's chest. Magic glowed in her hands as Gray's wounds began to close. All wounds healed and closed, the girls surround their friends, waiting. Minutes passed.

"Mmm…ngh"

"Erza! He's awake!" Lucy cheered.

Natsu looked up at the three girls hovering above him. Lucy grin was so big it looked like it split her face in half. She had Natsu's hand in hers, she brought it to her face and squeezed it tight.

"Wh…what?" Natsu groaned. He tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by Wendy.

"You need to rest more Natsu. Try not to open your wounds." She said, quietly. He nodded and tried to move his other hand; noticing something was in his grasp. He looked down and saw a pale hand intertwined with his own. The breath left his chest as his eyes followed the hand up to his arm…then to the shoulder…then his eyes locked onto Gray's face. He gasped and shot up from the ground.

"G-Gray! Wait…no…no…NO! WHY!?" Natsu screamed, shaking Wendy. Erza pulled Wendy from Natsu's grip and stood in front of her.

"Natsu calm down!" Erza yelled, trying to calm the fire mage.

Natsu frantically looked around the room until his eyes spotted four bullets on the ground. He slowly picked one up and scanned over the small weapon.

"What…is…this?" He asked.

"Those were the bullets that were inside you and Gray. They were magic bullets."

"WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN!?" He exploded, throwing the bullet.

"Magic bullets consume all of your magic. Once your magic is gone…you die. When I got the bullets out Wendy was able to heal your wounds and you came back once your magic started to return."

"Why isn't Gray awake then?" Natsu asked.

"Natsu…"

"WHY!?" He screamed.

"The bullets were in him longer. I couldn't sense any magical energy from him. I could sense yours still…that's why Wendy healed you first."

"She healed me first because my magic wasn't gone yet!?" Natsu spat.

"Natsu she was able to heal his wounds, but his magic was already gone. She couldn't heal that part of him."

Natsu pushed Erza against the wall and pinned her. She brushed her hand on his forehead and down his cheek. Tears left her eyes as she spoke.

"W-we were just t-too late to s-save him N-Natsu." Erza said. Natsu growled and released Erza. He walked over and stood above Gray.

"T-then why the fuck did you bring me back?"

Lucy stood next to Natsu. She couldn't believe what he was saying.

"There was a chance to save you Natsu so we had to!"

"I didn't want to be saved." Natsu said without looking away from Gray.

"What are you saying Natsu!" Lucy screamed, turning Natsu to look at her. Tears ran down his face, her heart broke. Natsu exploded in her face.

"I DIDN'T WANT TO BE SAVED! I WANTED TO DIE! I CAN'T BE MORE CLEAR THAN THAT!"

"How could you s-say something l-like that?" Wendy mumbled.

"HOW COULD I NOT!? GRAY'S DEAD!" Natsu yelled as he threw his fist into the nearby wall. Erza looked at her friend, so torn…broken.

"H-he's dead. I d-didn't want to be here with…out him so I let them shoot me."

"WHAT!?" Lucy gasped.

Erza felt sick, she didn't know who this was. It wasn't Natsu. Going through something like this changes people into someone you've never seen before.

I already lost Natsu…so maybe I shouldn't have brought him back. Erza cursed at herself for ever thinking something so dark.

"You let them shoot you!?" Lucy exclaimed. Natsu didn't say anything.

"I'm right back where I was. Alone. Without him." Natsu said, more so to himself.

Lucy looked over at Erza then at Wendy. She sighed, sadly, and took Natsu's hand.

"Natsu I'm sorry, but we wouldn't pass up the chance to save either of you. You're our friend and we could save you so…we did. I wish…" She looked down and Gray and grimaced with new tears emerged.

"I w-wish we could've saved you both, but we were too late. I-I'm sorry." She whispered, let go of Natsu's hand, and slowly left the room. Wendy whispered a barely audible apology to Natsu and followed Lucy.

Erza stayed and stared at the back of her broken friend.

"Erza."

"No Natsu."

Natsu sighed, his breath labored and rough. He hated to even think about asking her to do such a thing but then again he remembered when Gray had asked him.

Was this how he felt when he asked me to kill him?

"I can't do this anymore. It hurts all the time and there's nothing I can do about it." Natsu felt a lump in his throat as he repeated the words Gray had said. His whole body shook as the uncontrollable tears fell from his eyes again. He wondered if he'd ever run out of tears.

"Natsu…" Erza said, walking towards him. She lifted a hand as she did he turned around and took her hand in his. Natsu sniffled as he squeezed her hand.

"Kill me Erza. Please." Again he spoke the same words as Gray. He now understood how he could ask a friend to do something like this. He wanted release from this hell. Gray wanted to be released…and now he was. Natsu wanted to be where Gray was.

"No. I'm not going to kill you Natsu." Erza said with a straight face. She only somewhat understood how Natsu felt because Gray was her friend too, but Natsu loved Gray and she couldn't begin to understand that pain. She shook her head and Natsu dropped her hand.

"Whether it's you or me. I'll be dead." Natsu said, barely a whisper, remembering how sick he felt when Gray had said the same thing. He shook off the thought and knelt down next to Gray. He picked him up, bridal style, held him close to his chest, and walked out of the room with Erza close behind.

Because of the events that took place, the tournament was cancelled. The news that a VIP audience member threatening and killing a Fairy Tail guild member had spread throughout the tournament and it's visiting guilds. No names were said and the mess of both rooms were quickly taken care of.

Four weeks after the tournament's cancellation, Natsu stood at the peak of the highest, and coldest, mountain. He looked down at the grave shaped like an ice crystal that read:

Gray Fullbuster

A beloved best friend

Forever part of the Fairy Tail family

Natsu smiled at the part he added in. He knelt down in front of the stone and traced Gray's name. He clenched a fist around the small cross necklace that hung around his neck. He turned and sat down in the snow, back to the stone and looked up at the gray, cloudy, sky. Natsu closed his eyes and thought back to every good moment he had felt during this hellish tournament…even after a month later he still remembered everything…

Gray finally made it to Natsu and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards his blood soaked bandage.

"Here. Change it." Gray grunted.

Natsu pulled his hand away.

"No."

"Natsu."

Gray, again, grabbed Natsu's hand and placed it on his forehead.

"I trust you."

"What the hell!? Why did you hit me!?"

"Because you're being an idiot."

"What!?"

"You don't just burn things. Even you should know that."

He looked up at Natsu and saw that Natsu wasn't even looking at him.

"Natsu?" Gray said quietly touching his arm.

Natsu turned to look at the hand that touched his arm. Gray saw his face…he's never seen Natsu look so sad. Gray was brought out of his thoughts when Natsu grabbed Gray's hand intertwining their fingers. The ice mage gasped, he was clearly taken aback by this side of Natsu.

"Natsu?"

The dragon slayer just sat there staring at the newly tangled fingers.

"S…stay back! I'm going to kill him." Evlen muttered, trying to keep the knife still.

"I dare you." Natsu roared fist engulfed in flame, he grabbed Evlen's crotch.

"AH! WHAT THE HELL?" Evlen said panicking as he felt the intense heat.

"For what you dared to do to Gray. This will be your punishment." Natsu spoke with such strength and anger in his words.

"Wh…what!?" Evlen said now horrified by Natsu's words of judgment.

"You deserve to burn. Starting with this." Natsu face remained blank as his hand exploded with flames.

He let his head fall, leaning it against Gray's chest. Hearing the quickened heart beat within his chest made Natsu feel uneasy, but he never moved his head away from the sweet noise.

"Gray. You don't have to be sorry for that either. I could still hear everything that was going on while I was trapped. You told them to leave me alone and to only have you. Seeing what you went through for me…you shouldn't be the one apologizing."

"Well since you were trapped and couldn't do anything…you shouldn't apologize either." Gray said while pouring water over his head.

"I could've escaped sooner though. I was weak."

"Natsu. You are far from weak."

That made Natsu's eyes light up and for the first time in a long time Gray saw a real genuine smile on the dragon slayer's face.

"I'm going to save you Gray. So please let me try." Natsu whispered.

Natsu's eyes slowly opened. He touched a hand to his face and felt the wetness that stained his cheek. He smiled a smile to mask the pain and regret that filled his heart.

"Did I even try?" Natsu chuckled at how pathetic he felt.

"I'll be apologizing to you soon Gray." He mumbled as his eyes closed again.

Natsu's smiled died and he sat down next to Gray. He wrapped an arm around Gray and pulled him close.

"I'm going to save you Gray. Please trust me."

"I let you change my bandages before didn't I? Of course I trust you." Gray leaned his head against Natsu's shoulder.

"And after all that shit…I realized I wanted to protect you because I think of you as mine."

Gray's eyes widened. He felt confused at to what Natsu was saying. Natsu smirked at Gray's expression.

"I know. Who am I to claim you? But…I care deeply for you Gray. I want you to be with me forever. I-"

Natsu was interrupted by the sudden connection of Gray's lips to his.

Natsu unconsciously moved his fingers to his face, his thumb ghosting across his lips.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too."

Natsu jumped, eyes open, and turned to look at the crystal shaped stone. A tear fell from the dragon slayer's eye as his hand caressed the cold stone. He nodded and pulled out a small knife. He looked down at the dagger and had a hard time tearing his eyes from it. He turned back to sit down, back to stone, and held the knife out in front of him; it pointing at his chest.

"Always will." Natsu smiled as he plunged the knife into his chest. He gasped as the breath left his body; he looked up at the sky at the same time snow began to fall.

"Gray." Natsu said raising a hand to claw at the sky while the other let go of the knife and gripped at Gray's necklace.

Blood dying the snow crimson, Natsu's hand fell to the cold ground. His soul left his body as he was once again with his best friend and love, Gray. Natsu opened his eyes and saw nothing but clouds. He walked forward until he saw a figure in all white, he ran.

"Gray!" Natsu screamed and pulled Gray into his arms. He could feel Gray's, now warm, body against him. He lessened his hold on Gray, but refused to let him go. He looked into Gray's raven eyes, they look sad, but Natsu didn't care about how he got here. Gray shook his head and slowly pulled Natsu towards him until their lips met. He had his Gray with him...again...here in this place of eternal peace.

Where they remain always and forever together.

"You saved me."

(A/N)And that, my friends, is the end of "I Dare You" Hope you enjoyed the story...I'm going to mop up my many puddles of tears now.

Please Review.