Hey guys! I'm really sorry about the late update. I finished the chapter, but then re-reading... I didn't like what I'd done. I'd make a bad choice in writing, and I wanted to correct it. In fixing this mistake, I had to rewrite the entire chapter. That basically took thirty hours of constant fighting with myself over the direction, and I'm still not too happy with this chapter, hence why it was so short. This was the only way I could feel good about putting this out was if I stalled to think a bit more. Essentially, my heart wasn't in it, and I admittedly was a little saddened by the lack of response to last chapter, which I was really excited for. Thank you to Dragonlady, Lynn, and nightmare for your support of this chapter. Reviews always give me a boost when working on this story.
This week, I'm going on vacation, and with no internet. Thus, this next week's update unfortunately has to be delayed, but I'll be moving better afterward. The next few chapters are going to be purely original- welcome to the Demon's Shadow arc!
Lynn: Thank you for always giving an in depth review of the chapter! It's great to have your support! All questions will be answered, and I'm so excited you understood the more subtle aspects I was putting down! Thanks again!
"Guest" (Dragonlady) and nightmare: Thank you two for your support of the chapter!
Morning came, the sun rising over the Fairy Tail guild. At first, a few members filtered in, and though they all felt a bit of worry that Ayrae had disappeared, no one dared to go up to the spare room to check. Sure, she was their friend, but they wouldn't risk walking in on an unprepared mage of her caliber. They'd wait until Natsu, Gray, Erza, or Lucy arrived. At least Ayrae would hesitate to lash out at any of them.
As the strongest team in Fairy Tail filtered in, one by one, Erza, followed by Lucy being harassed by a very excited Natsu and Happy. However, Gray dragged his feet coming in the door. Worry was in his gaze, eyes flicking nervously up to the second floor.
Natsu excitedly waved a flyer through the air as he greeted, "Hey, Gray! Get your ass in gear and go wake up Ayrae! We're going to take her out on her first job back with the guild!"
Gray slowly nodded. "Yeah, alright." Walking up the steps, pausing at the door to the spare room. Hand hovering over the door handle, he murmured, "Come on, Rae..." Turning the knob, he swung the door open, finding a perfectly made bed, devoid of life. Gray stared at the empty room, losing his sense of time.
She had really left. Why had she left? He'd offered so much, trying to get her to stay of her own will. He'd chosen her- so why didn't she choose him? They were friends, basically family. Why did she leave him? He didn't care that she shared a body with Kyja- they all had their demons, literal or not, and they could all have helped her. He didn't know how long he'd been there, standing in the doorway. He could only try and guess why she'd abandoned them again.
Erza, armor rattling gently, came up the stairs, asking, "What's going on? You've been up here almost half an hour. Isn't..." She came to stand behind Gray, eyes wide and pupils dilated. "She... She wouldn't... Not again..."
Gray softly said, "But she did." Hanging his head, he ran his hand through his hair. "She left us all over again."
Erza put a loose arm around her guildmate in comfort, formulating a plan as Natsu pounded up the stairs, Lucy on his heels. "Hey, what's the hold up, guys? Guildless not dressed yet or somethin'?" Yet his grin shattered looking into the room.
At this, Lucy went red, demanding, "Why would you still be looking if she might be naked, you pervert? Wait, are you-" Her voice failed when she saw the empty room. "No way... She wouldn't."
Erza quietly frowned. "She did."
Natsu's head hung, shoulders shaking slightly, Lucy putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Erza still held Gray in a gentle embrace, holding him up while his grip on the door handle sent small streaks of ice creeping across the door.
Lucy slowly said, "We- We should go after her, find her."
"You're damn fucking right." Natsu looked up, tears slipping down his face, eyes a mixture of anger, fear, grief, confusion, determination- but most of all, the protective instinct of a dragon. "If she's scared, we're gonna find her and this Demon's Shadow and destroy 'em! Nobody in Fairy Tail fights alone!"
Gray muttered, "We had no clue of where she'd go before- you couldn't follow her scent. What makes you think that has changed? She's been evading Demon's Shadow, nosy reporters, and the Magic Council for years now, she can easily hide from us."
Erza assured, "We'll find her. We'll help her defeat her past."
"Um... What's up?"
The group turned to the sound of another voice, finding Ayrae, nervously standing at the top of the stairs. Cloak gone, she stood in her borrowed dress and arms once again wrapped in bandages, a guilty look on her face.
Natsu quickly tackled her in a hug, taking her down. "You're still here!"
Happy flung himself into a hug around her bandaged arm as he sobbed, "We thought you were gone forever!"
Ayrae felt shame rise in her chest- she'd almost left. Every bone and muscle in her body said she had had told her to go, every instinct of self preservation telling her to flee... Yet Gray's words had somehow been louder than this clamor. "No, I just took a walk around town. It's... been awhile since I haven't had my mask on in public." This much was true- she'd simply prowled the city through the night, trying to convince herself not to stay. The few people she'd crossed paths with as daylight had broken had stared at her scars, often skirting away, moving to the other side of the sidewalk and refusing to meet her eyes. The perks of the mask were seeming extremely superior to the staring and muttering that occurred when anyone saw her face.
As Natsu was plucked off of Ayrae by Erza, Gray quickly let go of the frozen solid door handle, his worry quickly falling away to relief. Lucy quickly brushed the tears from her eyes, grinning. "We were worried there for a second!"
Erza helping Ayrae to her feet, the latter's face turned solemn. "Yeah... I know that I betrayed your trust when I left, but I'm done." She looked between all of her friends, eyes pausing on Gray. "I'm tired of running. This is my home, and I'm not leaving for a long time. I've accepted my fate."
Lucy smiled, chiding, "Hey, well don't sound excited! You make it seem like a death sentence!"
Ayrae shook her head. "No, I make it sound like it is. This is home, and I won't leave without a fight."
Erza smiled, wrapping an arm around Ayrae before violently pulling her face-first into her chestplate with a yelp. "And you'll never have to!"
Ayrae muttered, "Yes... but please... release..." Her head was spinning and vision blurry, her words slurred with her impact.
Erza, not realizing her mistake, simply let go as Natsu grinned and immediately grabbed her wrist. "Come on, we've got a job picked out!
Lucy protested, "Before that, Ayrae could use some clothes that actually fit."
Ayrae's cheeks flushed as she looked down. The dress she'd borrowed from Mira was a bit short, Ayrae being taller than the eldest Strauss girl.
Natsu insisted, "We can do that later! Let's gooo!"
Erza lashed out and grabbed a handful of pink hair before the Dragon Slayer could run off. "Not so fast. Our guildmates needs come before small jobs."
Ayrae's cheeks turned even deeper red as Erza released Natsu, only to latch her armored hands onto hers and Lucy's wrists, pulling them forward. "Come, I know the best spots in town."
Natsu sighed. "Fine... See you when you get back."
Lucy snorted. "No way, you're not getting out of this!"
As Lucy quickly grabbed his arm, Ayrae added, "That goes for you too, Fullbuster." Reaching out, Gray took her hand, allowing himself to be towed away by the girls.
Hours later, they finally escaped Lucy and Erza's fashion parade, Ayrae trying to escape the constant barrage of outfits, Natsu quickly falling asleep in the store while Gray tried not to be caught staring at Ayrae in various outfits. It had taken him nearly half an hour to overcome the blood that had run to his face when she'd worn something akin to Erza's Seduction Armor.
However, Ayrae managed to finally allow them to settle on a simple single-sleeved white shirt, showing off her blue guild mark, the shirt showing a small amount of midriff. A white skirt with a black belt and simple sandals, she insisted she would pay back Lucy and Erza's kindness in paying for her gift.
It was a short day of chasing down a small group of bandits, Ayrae immediately slipping her cut into Erza and Lucy's own pay. It wasn't until on the carriage back to Magnolia that Ayrae finally could find the words to speak to Gray, the two sitting side by side while Erza drove, Natsu passed out on Lucy's lap, who seemed to have accepted it and simply read her book.
Ayrae softly said, "Thank you... for stopping me."
Gray smiled slightly. "Hey, I knew you just needed a reason to stay."
Looking to her friend, she asked, "How did you know I'd stay? You walked away like you knew."
Gray shrugged. "I didn't know. I had faith that you wouldn't want to go again."
Ayrae chuckled softly. "You don't know how hard it was, trying not to go. You know I'd do anything to keep this guild safe."
Gray insisted, "And we're the strongest guild in Fiore, because we look out for each other. We wouldn't let this drag you down, and we wouldn't let it pull you down alone." His hand came to rest on her, her cheeks turning beet red.
Ayrae tried to play it off, thinking back to the hallway. "Well, I'd noticed you'd looked a bit nervous in the hallway."
Suddenly, Gray's face was a matching shade of red, eyes averted. "Not really, I just thought you might've taken a job and left early."
Ayrae smiled a bit. "It's alright to doubt me, Fullbuster. You can't have eternal faith in my sticking around, so a bit of doubt is good."
He gave a small nod, the two sharing a look of smiling eyes before going quiet, hands having turned to now be holding hands, despite the two not daring to look at one another. Lucy, however, had been peeking over the top of her book, stifling giggles within her pages while Erza smiled to herself in the front.
Once they reached Magnolia, most drank to the return of the newly improved Strongest Team, Ayrae started back toward the guild when Lucy asked, "Hey... Why don't you come stay with me? The spare room in the guild is a bit stuffy, but I have a pretty nice apartment to share until you've picked out your own place."
Ayrae smiled. "You know, I think I could take you up on that." Waving to the others, she moved to Lucy's side. "I'll see you all, bright and early tomorrow."
Gray nodded. "'Til then, Rae." Hand to his chest, he did their old gesture for hello.
Ayrae immediately understood: no goodbye between them was more than a gap between hellos. Returning the gesture, she said, "Good night." And walking away with the blonde, she couldn't have seen the wizard nearby, watching with a tattoo of demonic wings across their throat.