Prompt: Are you done with that?
Natsu could feel his fists go numb as he slammed the repetitively into the solid mountain side. He ignored the blood that ran down his knuckles, just like he had ignored everyone asking if he was okay. None of that mattered right now.
The mountain was slowly giving way to the force of his fists, cracking in some places and chipping in others. The thudding echoed across the area with every punch, and eventually, a piece of the large, rocky structure collapsed in a pile of rubble. Natsu sank to his knees and then to his back as he shouted into the darkening sky. Hot tears ran down his face as he screamed curses in every language Igneel had taught him.
Igneel had also taught him his magic.
The very same magic that burned everything it touched.
Earlier that day:
Gray wouldn't make it in time, and barely had enough to wonder what a child was doing on the battlefield. The little girls eyes went wide while she stared at the darkness rushing towards her, and Gray was running. He wasn't stupid. He knew there was too much ground to cover, but he'd be damned if he didn't try.
Natsu go there first.
The ice mage couldn't process what the dragon slayer was doing until he'd already done it. His body was wrapped around the girl's like a shield, and his back was alight to keep the darkness from getting any closer. It didn't, but there was no way to stop her from getting hurt.
There was no way for the crying toddler to realize that the light coming from his back was fire. There was no way for her to understand not to touch it.
She threw her arms around him as she bawled, but Natsu's flames were hot, and the millisecond it took him to stop them was enough.
She screamed an awful, blood curdling scream that forced the slayer to his knees, and Gray couldn't help but think that he'd never looked so far away.
It was almost like he wasn't in his own head. One minute, Natsu was shouting insults at the enemy in response to their own. Now there was nothing but silence as he made his way to Gray. He'd left to Lucy, trusting her to wrap the wounds.
Nothing but silent anger, silent anguish, as they clasped hands.
Nothing but pure intentions as they synced themselves in mind, heart, and soul.
Nothing but power as they allowed it to flow through them, connecting them further.
Nothing but destruction as every enemy, seen and unseen, fell beneath the crushing magic that hit them.
Then the focus vanished, and Gray felt every ounce of what Natsu was. He past out, tired and overwhelmed by the special ability that Natsu possessed, and suddenly the word "empath" had a feeling to go with it's definition.
Gray hadn't woken up until that evening, and the first thing he felt was the emotion of everyone around him, "Are we still connected?" He could feel all of their worry turn into relief, their sadness become happy, and he briefly wondered if this was what Natsu felt constantly or just a diluted version. It was probably the latter. It wasn't quite the overwhelming mess that Natsu described to him when they were kids.
"It's good to see that you're alright, Gray," Erza said gently, "You had us all worried when you lost consciousness."
Before Gray could answer, he registered Natsu's own feelings. This was much closer to the strength that Natsu mentioned feeling, and it forced a gasp from his lips. Erza was by his side in a second. "I'm fine," He said. He wanted it to be forceful, but it sounded more like a whisper. "Where's Natsu?"
"We don't know," He heard Lucy mutter, but it wasn't necessary. The second he asked the question, his mind supplied the information. He was on his feet before he realized it. "Gray? Where are you going?" He ignored her.
The last thing he heard before the door slammed behind him came from Wendy. "You said they did a Unison Raid, right?"
Those words didn't matter.
Guilt.
Sadness.
Inadequate.
Frustration.
Pain.
Gray had forgotten just how many emotions people could feel.
Gray found him laying in a crater, dirt caked across his skin and blood on the wounds he didn't bandage. His arms were thrown across his eyes, hiding the source of the tears running down his cheeks. His breathe was uneven, but he didn't make a sound beyond that.
"He's screamed himself hoarse, hasn't he?"
The feelings were coming much stronger now; Gray could pick out exact thoughts.
When Natsu made no move to make him leave, Gray slid down the edge of crater. He sat down in the dirt and pulled the pinkette's head into his lap. Natsu moved his arms, revealing red and puffy eyes. The whisper that tried to leave his lips came out as a croak, and Gray leaned down to make it easier for the pinkette. "...I hurt her..."
"You didn't," Gray insisted, "It was an accident."
"I burned her," He said helplessly. The tears started flowing again, and Gray was assaulted by Natsu's thoughts.
I am fire.
It is fluid, adapting to the situation.
It is flexible. It can change itself to lift people's spirits and keep them there. It knocks down people's walls to protect them from themselves.
It keeps them warm, like a campfire on a cool summer night.
It loves being around people. Seeing them happy makes it happy, which is something it wasn't prone to. The kindness of the raging fire kept them from looking too deep. It kept them from seeing what lies behind the kindness.
Fire is fragile, and therefore I am fragile.
Fire is fragile, and when the balance is tipped, it gets out of control, hurting everyone around it.
I hurt those around me.
Fire burns and takes and destroys.
I take and burn and destroy.
It makes me a monster.
Maybe I already was one, but the flames make it worse.
I hate that about my fire. It takes the life from everything it touches, even on a small scale. Or it goes out, and does nothing. All or nothing. Destructive or worthless.
I wish I was ice.
I wish I was like Gray.
I wish I was like you.
Gray is reliability and protection.
Gray was strong and perfect, and sure of everything he did. He was strengthened by his with to shield people, not weakened by it. He was strong, and he could only get stronger, never weaker.
Ice kept people alive.
You keep people alive.
Fire damned them.
I damn them.
Ice is life, and fire is death.
That's how it is, and how it always will be."
The flood of thoughts that hit Gray's mind made him dizzy, "That's not true." Natsu shook his head, but he didn't bother to reply. "It isn't." He knew he couldnt change Natsu's mind with words.
The slayer was a lot of things, and stubborn was all of them.
Gray decided he'd use the link while it was still active. He thought for a moment, twisting Natsu's own words to fit his own purpose. He would show the slayer that he was wrong.
"I am ice.
It is sturdy, never once bending under pressure.
It is solid. It lifts people up and keeps them there. It creates walls to protect them and keep them safe.
It is cold like the arctic tundra, designed to keep people away from him.
It likes the solitude. The frigid chain that keeps it's heart, mind, and soul out of the reach of others is comforting to him. It kept them all out. It kept them from finding out.
Ice is fragile.
I am fragile.
Ice is fragile, and when it brakes it turns into brittle shards that hurt everything around it.
I hurt people.
It was cold and unforgiving. It would bite into your skin and nip at you until you submitted, and that made it dangerous.
It makes me dangerous.
I hate that about my ice. It can take so much, but only that much. Any more and it shatters like the worthless frozen water it is.
I wish I was fire.
I wish I was like Natsu.
I wish I was like you.
Natsu is warmth and protection.
Natsu was fluid and ever changing and open. He was fueled by the emotions of people, not weakened by them. He was strong, and he could only get stronger, never weaker.
Fire kept people alive.
You keep people alive.
Ice damned them.
I damn them.
Fire is life, and ice is death.
That's how it is, and how it always will be."
"Do you understand now, ash-for-brains?" The insult lack all of it's usual heat, and a single tear made it's way out of the corner of Gray's eye. Natsu reached up and brushed it away, leaving behind a smear of dirt and blood in it's place. "We're human, and humans make mistakes. It's not your fault."
"Okay," Natsu said quietly, "Okay."
The reason Erza hadn't told Gray where Natsu was is that he was unstable at the moment. She didn't want the two to fight at all, but when one was in a self-destructive state? Absolutely not. She loved both of them, but they had a habit of beating themselves up that they never quite grew out of.
"You said they did a Unison Raid, right?" She turned away from the door and to Wendy, who looked giddy about something.
"They did," the redhead told her, "but I'm not sure what that would have to do with anything."
"Fire dragons sometimes have a very rare, very special ability called-" The blunette launched herself into a rather scientific explanation, and Erza found it difficult to keep up with the unfamiliar terms. "-and that's why we call the Empaths." The small girl looked around at her audience, realizing that she'd lost most of them at some point. "They feel other people's emotions with such an accuracy that they can basically recreate a person's thoughts from them, which is displaying an incredibe amount of empathy, hence the name empath." The simpler terms allowed everyone else to understand the long winded, probably medical explanation that had escaped Wendy's lips. "Anyways, a Unison Raid requires every part of everyone involved to be in sync with each other, including thoughts and emotions. Gray has temporarily gained Natsu's ability."
Erza smiled, "So he'll be able to help him?" She asked hopefully.
Wendy wasn't paying attention anymore. "I wonder if he'll let me test how strong it is..."
Gajeel shot the younger slayer a strange look, "Wendy."
"Yes, Gajeel?" Her tone was sickeningly sweet, and it actually managed to set the redhead on edge.
"You're not allowed to emotionally compromise or fuck with Natsu for an experiment." Her face fell, and the realization that she was just as crazy as the rest of the slayers sank in.
"But-"
"None of that. I said no."
Wendy puffed up her cheeks and sat in the corner sulking, "He wouldn't care... Much."
"Devious psychopath," Gajeel muttered. She didn't deny it.
"Are you done with that?" Gray asked quietly. They hadn't moved from the bottom of the crater, but they'd eventually ended up in each others arms.
Natsu raised his head from Gray's chest, "Done with what?"
"Being mopey," Gray clarified. "I'm already a hopeless, self-depreciating person, but with this weird link thing, it's both of our hopeless self-depreciating personalities combined." Natsu snorted once, then twice, and then he was bursting out laughing. The link had faded considerably now, but that didn't mean that Natsu's laughter was any less contagious. "What's so funny?"
Natsu looked at him with the flattest look he could manage, "Depression squared." The flat looked vanished, and both of them were gone.
As long as fire and ice had each other, the could could keep the darker parts of themselves away.
Words: 2,080
Hi guys. I'm going to come right out and say it, I don like this one all that much. I had issues coming up with something for it that wasn't food, and when I did (thanks to a spark of inspiration after reading mdelpin's "I will Keep You Safe", which is fantastic, by the way), it still didn't turn out like I wanted it to. I loved writing those winding metaphors though. That was fun.
As always:
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!
Reviews/comments are my 90% motivation.
Love you guys,
-Jinx