Update time!
Sorry that it's a day late, but I'd just been going through...some tough stuff right now. But it's allright now. :D
As usual, enjoy the chapter. (I hope)
Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, Mirajane would have been on Team Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games, not Gajeel. (Sorry, Gajeel fans)
The air was deathly still for several moments. It was amazing how the fire in the oil lantern had managed to continue burning in its container as if nothing had happened to disturb the light it casted in the room. The silence was broken first by Meredy.
"Juvia!" The pink head mage called excitedly, jumping up and roughly tackling Juvia to the wall beside the door right behind Gray.
"Hrmph…Meredy-san?" Juvia asked surprisedly.
"It's been so long! And you still look so young!" Meredy said excitedly as she gave Juvia a rib-crushing hug. Ultear couldn't help but smile widely at her apprentice's excitement at seeing her friend.
"Yeah it has…and you look so much-" Juvia paused, before glancing down at Meredy's breasts, "bigger! Juvia is so jealous of you. I hope I can grow as pretty as you have, Meredy-san."
Ultear chuckled at the conversation the two were having, before her eyes flickered back to Gray's dumbfounded expression. Gray was overcome with embarrassment as he realized he was caught staring at her, and quickly looked at the floor. Ultear could have sworn she saw the lightest tinge of pink grace his cheeks.
Silence fell for several moments, save for the excited discussion the two younger girls were having in the corner, and it was as comfortable for Ultear as it was awkward for Gray. She studied him. He hadn't aged a bit, which confirmed Jellal's theory that time had probably stopped at Tenrou. He was exactly the same as how he had haunted Ultear's conscience for the past seven years with his unkempt spiky onyx hair and handsome features.
Gray cursed himself for feeling shy and pulled himself together. He suppressed all of his disbelief, relief, and joy and focused on practical matters. "How…what are you doing here?" He asked. Unfortunately, he wasn't unable to repress his shock, and that was evident his tone.
Ultear cringed internally; as there was no mistaking the revulsion on his tone. She felt her heart break; she had hoped that he would have been happy to see her. "I…I just wanted to visit my mother's place." She said.
Gray wondered why she sounded so depressed. "O-oh…makes sense." He responded. Hundreds of questions were flying into his head, and he could not choose one to ask.
To his surprise, though, Ultear stood up. "Well, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll be going now." She said, gesturing for Meredy to leave with her. If Gray truly hated her, then she would not stop him. He had every right to hate her, given how much wrong she had done him and his friends. Meredy looked dejected, she had wanted to talk to Juvia more. The two fugitive mages head out the door and began to walk on the path back to town.
"W-wait! You…you can't leave! I just got here!" Gray said, running over to the doorway. "At least answer some of my questions!" He was crestfallen that she had suddenly wanted to leave.
Ultear looked back at him, her face impassive. "What is it?"
"I thought you were with Jellal. What happened?" He asked.
Sudden shock flitted across her face. "W-what? What makes you think that?" She asked. She would not confirm his suspicions. There was no doubt he probably heard about the ongoing search for her, Jellal, and Meredy. And if he hated her, he would probably want to hand them over to the Council.
"I heard from a friend. You've freed Jellal and been on the run for the past seven years." Gray said. "Last place you were seen together was Worth Woodsea."
'Damn…so it was a good idea to temporarily disband Crime Sorciere's activities.' Ultear thought. Otherwise, they would have probably still been in the wooded region, facing definite capture.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said firmly, turning her back to him. "But we really have to go, now. And don't try to follow us, Gray."
Gray was shocked. Did she still resent him for stealing her mother's love? Is that why Ultear still hated him? Anger came over him. How could be so unreasonable and selfish? Did she still not understand the meaning of her mother's sacrifice?
"You're not leaving 'till I say you're leaving!" He yelled out to her. He jumped the steps and put his fist into his other open hand.
"Gray-sama! No!" Juvia called from behind him.
"ICE MAKE: PRISON!" Gray roared. A large cage of ice suddenly materialized, trapping Ultear and Meredy.
Within a split second, though, the bars to the cage were cleanly cut through, causing the cage to shatter into pieces. Ultear stood with her right arm outstretched, holding a gigantic ice scimitar. Her face was one filled with sorrow but determined. She was saddened by the fact that Gray seemingly hated her, but she would not risk the welfare of Meredy and Jellal. She put aside her feelings and mustered her resolve to kill Gray.
Gray, on the other hand, was stunned. She had wordlessly summoned an ice-sword and had broken right through his prison, a feat no other wizard he had ever encountered before managed to do.
"Ultear!" Meredy called out, but it wasn't the usual request for command she would make in battle. Instead it sounded pleading.
"I'm sorry, Meredy. I know that your friend loves him, but he is a threat to us." Ultear quietly told her. Meredy looked back at her. "But..but Ul!"
"If you do not wish to help me, that is fine. I understand." Ultear said. Meredy saw the tears that flew out of her surrogate mother's eyes as she launched herself at Gray.
'Gray-sama! Stop! You can't hurt her, please!" Juvia pleaded.
"The hell with you! I've have it with selfish people like you, Ultear!" Gray said. He quickly struck Juvia on the back of her head, knocking her out cold. He caught her as she fell forward. "I'm sorry, Juvia. But I need you to stay out of this." He propped her limp form on the side of the house.
Gray turned back to Ultear and put his fist to his palm again. "Ice Make: Lance!"
Ultear wordlessly summoned a shield of ice, reflecting the many ice spears right back at Gray, who quickly dodged to his left.
'How are my lances reflecting back? Shouldn't they just shatter on her shield?' He thought frantically. He rolled over and looked back up. Ultear charged right at him, an ice sword in hand.
He barely had enough time to dodge as she swung at him. She was hot on his heels, though, and continued to swing repeatedly at him, not giving him a chance to counter. Gray continued to dodge and turn, avoiding her attacks.
Realizing that he couldn't do anything up close, he propelled himself backward, landing twenty or so meters in front of Ultear. "Ice Make: Dagger!" He called, creating a sharp small dagger.
The two stood silently, facing each other. Gray felt exhausted. He hadn't trained in cold weather for a long time, so much of his stamina had been used up simply trying to match with Ultear's speed. It was clearly obvious that Ultear was stronger than he was, and he did not see how he would beat her alone. He considered trying to call to Juvia to help him, but that would merely put her in danger, since Meredy would probably jump in.
Suddenly, Ultear's body shattered into bits of ice, stunning Gray. 'Ice clone!' He thought.
Gray barely had a second to register as he turned around and quickly threw his body to the right, seeing Ultear's sword where his heart had been a mere split second ago. Ultear pulled back, readying herself for another attack, and Gray seized his chance. He grabbed her hands, spun around her and quickly swung his dagger horizontally at her upper shoulders, aiming to at least maim her.
She leapt forward, and the dagger missed her for inches, but not before it cut right through her hair. Thousands of long raven-colored hair strands fell onto the snow between them. Ultear turned around and pulled her sword back, ready to impale Gray with it.
Gray prepared to dodge but suddenly froze as he saw her face. The short purple hair reaching down to her neck, the fierce yet sorrowful look in her eyes, Ultear looked just like…
"Ul?" Gray whispered hoarsely.
Ultear heard him say her mother's name just as she lunged at him, slashing at his side. Her eyes widened. "Gray…" she said. A deep gash formed on the side of Gray's abdomen.
Gray fell back onto the snow, with Ultear falling on top of him. The sword disintegrated, leaving behind a fresh, open wound on Gray's side. Blood began to soak the snow, turning its color from pure-white to red.
"Gray…you…" Ultear said. Her breath was caught in her throat, and her eyes widened with horror as she looked into his face.
"I'm…I'm so sorry…Ul…" Gray said, his voice cracking as tears poured out down the side of his face, into his hair. His face was scrunched up in pain as he looked into Ultear's face. "I'm sorry….I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" His voice was getting weaker and weaker with every apology.
Ultear could not believe her ears. This was all wrong, SHE was the one who supposed to apologizing to him! Before she could stop herself, her own tears began to cascade onto Gray's face.
"NO! Stop! Please, Gray!" Ultear cried out. She felt Meredy get closer to them.
"I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I'm sorry…" Gray's voice continued to slow down and get quieter, but the torrent of tears flowing from his eyes was still as strong as ever.
"It's ok!" Ultear screamed, grabbing him around the shoulders and pulling him to herself. " It's ok, It's ok, it's ok! Stop it, please! Save your strength!" She sobbed.
"Meredy! We have to save him, come on!" Ultear said. "Get a bed ready, some water, and our medical kit!"
"Right!" Meredy responded instantaneously. She dashed off towards the house.
By now, Gray's voice had reached close to inaudible level. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" He continued to moan quietly. Ultear mustered all of the strength she had in her body and lifted him in her arms. He was heavier than she thought. Blood continued to splash onto the snow from his wound.
"Gray, hold on. Don't die on me, don't you dare die." Ultear said as she made her way own through the snow as quickly as possible. She looked upward, and saw a storm coming from the side of the mountain. Getting a doctor was now officially going to be nearly impossible.
Ultear ran inside the house. Meredy guided her to the nearest bed in a room.
She laid down Gray on the sheets. She noticed that his apologies had stopped, and he was merely panting.
"Meredy! We have to stop the bleeding!" Ultear called out desperately.
"How! How!" Meredy asked frantically.
And the answer came to Ultear at the force of a speeding train. Cursing herself for her stupidity and panic, she put her hands to the injury and quickly conjured up an ice brace.
Slowly, the blood flow ceased, until it had stopped entirely. Gray continued to pant, his eyes unfocused.
"Meredy, Juvia is still out in front. Bring her in quickly, there's a storm coming." Ultear said.
Meredy was out before Ultear had finished her sentence.
At this point, there was really not much she could do. Thankfully, while he had lost a considerable amount of blood, he had not lost enough for his life to be in danger. She would have to wait a while before stitching up his wound.
Ultear pulled up a chair next to Gray's bed and sat, putting her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward.
"I can't believe this. How…why did it have to be this way…" she thought desperately, but held in her tears. She would not cry. She needed to be strong for him.
Meredy brought in Juvia, and laid her in another bed in the same room.
Ultear looked over at her. "How is she?"
"She's just unconscious, that's all. She'll be fine." Meredy said, staring at her friend in sadness.
They were quiet for several minutes, save for the rumbling from the outside. The storm had settled in.
"Ultear?" Meredy asked uncertainly.
"Hmm?" She responded tiredly.
"Why…are we saving him?" She asked. "I thought we had to get rid of him…"
Ultear was quiet. She could not think of an answer. She couldn't come up with a good, logical explanation as for why she tried to save the life of the one who she was fighting to kill mere minutes ago. The only thing she knew was that the moment she had heard him call for her mother in that pleading voice that she could not see him as an enemy.
"I-I just had to. He's…" Ultear felt uncomfortable putting this into words. She felt emotionally drained at the moment. "Listen, we'll talk about this later. I need to be alone for a while with him."
Meredy nodded in understanding. She left the room and headed into the kitchen. Ultear heard the sound of the stove going off, and surmised that Meredy had begun to make some food. Ultear looked back at Gray.
There was no doubting it; the two children of Ul would have a long talk once Gray regained consciousness.
And there we have it. I know it's not the reunion that some of you were prepared for, but this is what had played out in my head.
I know that some of you will probably be upset that it ended up like this. Hopefully, you'll be upset enough to leave a review? XD
I'll update within a week, as usual.
EDIT 8/24/2012: Sorry, but I've been EXTREMELY busy throughout the past month, it's absolutely ridiculous. I do have the next few chapters in the works, BELIEVE ME. I know that many of you are disappointed by this reunion, and trust me, your questions as to why this happened will be answered soon. I'll update soon, I promise.
Review, please!