DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail.

"Erza, no!" Gray shouted, but Erza could barely hear him. She could feel the warmth of his body, his hand below her head. With the strength she had, she took in a breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger..." she whispered, and everything went black.

...

Am I…dead?
Erza's eyes shot open, and she sat upright with a gasp. She looked at her hands. They were wrapped in bandages. She tried stretching her arms, when she felt a sharp pain. She hissed, and looked at her heavily bandaged arm. "Oh, it's good to see you're up, Miss Scarlet!" a cheery voice greeted. Erza turned, and saw a nurse smiling back at her. The nurse was holding a pitcher of water.

"How…how long have I been here?" Erza asked dazedly. "Not too long," the nurse responded, and Erza sighed, "just a few days!"

Erza flinched. "A few days?!" she gasped.

"Yes, more or less. You lost a lot of blood, Miss Scarlet, and your injuries were pretty serious." the nurse answered.

"How did I get here?" Erza asked.

"A young man brought you here. He was pretty beat up as well, but you gave him the strength to push on, I think. Your guildmates were worried you wouldn't make it, and-"

"The man you mentioned. What did he look like?" Erza interrupted.

"He had black hair, I believe. Also, very muscular. I can't remember his name, though." The nurse pursed her lips.

"Is he still here?"

"Oh, no. He left after two days, for a mission with your other two friends. The blonde and the pink were worried about leaving you behind, but he was insistent on going." The nurse continued filling empty glasses and vases, talking as she did so. "Y'know, he went crazy for a bit. He's had strange situations this past month. Fortunately, nothing has happened this week." she said with a laugh.

So Gray went…crazy? Erza thought. "How long will their mission be?" she asked.

"I can't say I know. But don't worry, he'll be back soon. Especially with you calling for him in your sleep." she added with a wink.

Erza blushed briefly. "Um, do you mind if I rest a bit? I'm sorry, I'm just…very tired." the scarlet haired woman asked, feigning exhaustion. "Oh, of course! Sorry to keep you awake," the nurse apologized, and walked to the door, "Try not to move a lot; let yourself recover! Your injuries need to heal." she smiled, and then closed the door after her.

Now alone, Erza flexed her feet in the bed. Her hamstrings stretched; her legs sore. She flexed her fingertips again, the pain in her arm not as strong. The other cuts and bruises on her body were well taken care of.

Slowly, she stood up out of the bed, glad the hospital didn't wire her to any medication. She requiped into her normal armor, bandages still on. A garment hanging over a chair caught her eye. She picked it up. Gray's jacket...she realized. Or, the remains of it. The cloak was dirty and torn in different places, not to mention the now dry blood that coated the right sleeve. Without another thought, she put the jacket on. She requiped into her normal attire as well, and then walked to the window.

"I can probably get out this way…" she muttered, looking outside and seeing that her room was on ground level. Her eyes settled on a lever that was on the window pane. She put her hand around it, leaning her body against the glass. "I wonder if this will…" she muttered, and pulled the lever. The window opened abruptly, and Erza almost shrieked as she fell out. Now outside, she quickly stood up and dusted herself off.

She looked at the sun, and saw it was about to set. "I better get going." she decided, creeping out of the hospital grounds. If Gray was already out on a mission, shouldn't she be too?

Erza trudged through the damp grounds of Magnolia. The pain of her injuries was still there, but another pain lay beneath all of that.

Her broken heart.

She clenched her teeth, knowing that the only one who could fix it was Gray.

She kept walking.

Gray had warned her not to go on the mission. But she told him she was strong enough.

She was wrong.

She kicked a stone out of the way.

She had visions of Gray while she was away.

Sometimes, he would talk to her.

…But it was never real.

The sky dimmed.

She had tried to be strong, but she wasn't good enough.

He had to save her.

She bit her lip, trying to keep the tears from falling.

He shouldn't have saved her.

What good was his help, when she couldn't help herself?

Her fists clenched.

Not only that, Gray had brought her back. Safe and sound.

She didn't even defeat the enemy, yet she was in the hospital longer than he was.

…How could she let that happen?

She had made it to the riverbank, knowing it was a shortcut to another town. "Just a little further…" she told herself, walking away from Magnolia.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice spoke.

Erza froze, her heart stopping in her chest. She spun around. Gray was standing there, wearing a long, gray coat over his clothes, a thumb rooted casually in his pants pocket.

"G-Gray?" she stammered, not believing he was in front of her. She staggered forward, a hand out, and her fingertips made contact with his shoulder. She breathed a sigh of relief, and he grinned. "I take it you've been well?" he spoke.

"Gray, you…you saved me."

"I did." he spoke. He wasn't sarcastic, Erza noted, he was simply answering her statement.

"…Why?" she asked, scared for the answer.

Gray shifted his weight. "Erza, I know this might sound so sudden, but I've been meaning to say it for a while," he said, stepping closer to her, "I love you."

Erza caught her breath. He…loves me.

She loved Gray too. In fact, she wanted to love him so badly. But she knew she couldn't. As much as she didn't want to believe it, what if her attraction to him was only because he saved her so many times?

"Gray, I love you too, but…it wouldn't be real. You…you have to let me go." Erza spoke in a small voice.

Gray looked at her, surprised. "Erza, I…?! What do you mean?! How can you say that?!" he asked.

"Gray, you saved me so many times. I know I do love you, but what if part of my love is only because of that? Therefore I can't love you now, especially when I wasn't able to save myself. Your help has…gone to waste." she told him, and continued, "I think I-"

All of a sudden, something slammed into Erza's stomach. She could feel herself falling over, but Gray was right there to hold her up. She doubled over, eyes wide. Did...did that really just happen? she thought. Shock pounded through her body, but she felt no pain. Gray's fist soon left her stomach, and retreated to his side.

"Erza, I know you're stubborn, but this is ridiculous." Gray spoke, his voice low. "How can you be so hard on yourself? You very well know that if this situation was vice-versa, you would do the same for me. You're not as weak as you tell yourself you are." He paused, and then continued.
"Erza, while you were gone, I…I went crazy. I started seeing you everywhere, hearing your cries for help. I would yell at our guild mates, demanding where you were. I looked like I'd lost my mind. I hoped that you were okay, and I hoped that I would save you. So don't tell me-" He took a breath, "Don't tell me I was hoping for nothing."

A tear slid down Erza's cheek. It was true, she was being ridiculously hard on herself. Why couldn't she see Gray's confession as something other than artificial?

"Gray, I…I went a little crazy too. I started seeing you in places. I would talk to you, but…you weren't really there," Erza spoke, "I know what you mean, but…I want to feel like I've been through what you've been through."

"Erza, I-"

"I need to fall, without you by my side. I'm so sorry." She turned around and continued walking hurriedly, hoping to leave this all behind. Tears welled up behind her eyes, and she prayed that they wouldn't fall. Does he know how much this hurts me?

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her wrist. She stopped walking again, and turned. Gray looked at her, not with anger, but with…care. Love. Longing. Tiredness.

He was tired.

Tired of keeping his love for her to himself.

"Erza, listen. I know I just confessed, but we don't have to rush into anything. If you don't think you're ready yet, then we can wait. Just please, promise me you won't leave like that again." Gray spoke softly.

Erza stared at him, tears already streaming down her face. She pulled Gray to her, their arms wrapped around each other in perfect balance. She buried her face in his neck, crying her feelings out.

"I-I promise, Gray. I-I'm so sorry." she managed to get out, still crying. Gray smiled, rubbing her back reassuringly. "It's okay, I know you are," he spoke, "I know."

"And…Gray?" Erza piped up once she calmed down. Gray broke the hug, looking at her from an arm's length away. "I…well, thank you for everything." Gray grinned. "Anytime, Scarlet." he said, pulling her in again. They stood in their embrace, the sunset's warm colors splashing over them.

Although it was silent, the unspoken words "I love you" were exchanged between them, loud and clear.

THE END

Sorry if they were too OOC, I wanted to make Erza the vulnerable-on-the-inside badass and Gray a little more sensitive. Anyway, I would go into a long apology paragraph explaining why this took so long, but I'll just leave it at "dumb laptop problems." Thanks for all your support on the story! I have lots more on the way. Until next time :)

~pinkkoala213