A/N - Gray is back! Yay! Things still aren't really resolved though, so this fic is far from over...

I apologize - this chapter is kind of on the short side! The next one will be more normal - I just couldn't figure out another good place to end this one.


Walking away to her spot down the hill while Jellal had attempted the resurrection had been one of the hardest things Erza had had to do. She hadn't been able to shake the fact that she'd been leaving him for the last time. Either that, or…she was going to wait down there for ten or fifteen minutes, and then Jellal was going to come tell her that the resurrection had failed and she was never seeing Gray again. That wouldn't be quite as bad as Jellal dying, but it would certainly be the next worst thing.

When the dark clouds had started to gather, at least the second fear had been mostly laid to rest. Clearly something was happening. Something that half of Magnolia could probably see. It had taken everything in Erza to resist going up the hill then, but they hadn't called for her, and that meant they were still working, and that meant Erza would only be a hindrance.

She'd heard Jellal scream. It had sent a cold spike through her heart, but she knew his screams. It didn't sound like he was terrified or in pain. It sounded like a scream of raw power.

She hoped.

Another minute had gone by, and Erza's heart was beating so hard and fast in her throat that it was difficult for her to swallow. And then, she had heard Wendy start yelling for her. Wendy did sound scared. Scared and desperate. And so Erza had run.

She'd seen Natsu with Gray's body first. He was crying, shaking, rocking back and forth. Gray didn't seem to be moving. For one nauseating second she'd been sure that it hadn't worked.

But Natsu had reassured her. And then she'd seen Gray start to twitch, looking like he recognized her voice but wasn't quite ready to react to it. Relief so strong it made her legs shake washed over Erza.

But she couldn't go to Gray now. She couldn't even really think about the fact that Gray was alive. Because Wendy was lying on the ground, and Jellal was convulsing violently beside her.

Even before Natsu had said anything, it was clear Jellal was in bad shape. There was a red mark on the side of his face when he'd fallen and hit the ground, and bloody foam was dripping out the side of his mouth. He must have bitten his tongue.

And then Natsu told her that he'd been seizing for - by Erza's estimation - nearly five minutes, and she realized things were even more dire than she'd realized. So she'd sent Natsu away, and then she'd called the hospital.

And now, there was nothing to do but wait.

Erza knelt down near Jellal, and it took everything in her not to touch him. She knew that he wasn't aware of her presence, and touching him had the potential to hurt him more, but it was always hard to listen to her rational side when she was watching her husband convulse helplessly. As always, a little voice in the back of her mind whispered that if she could just hold him, something about her presence would be able to fix it, and bring him back to her.

As always, Erza ignored it. Her love couldn't fix brain damage, and she couldn't just ignore reality and make it go away. Instead, she rose to her feet and began circling around Jellal's body, just out of the sheer need for something to do.

She was watching him closely, just in case something changed, and so she missed it when Wendy started to stir. Erza didn't realize the Dragon Slayer was awake until she almost tripped over her as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Did it…." Wendy asked, trailing off as she looked at the empty grave in confusion.

"It worked. They're going to Porlyusica," Erza responded, trying not to sound short. She flicked her eyes back to Jellal, just in case the seizure had miraculously stopped on its own.

It hadn't. Jellal was still shuddering and seizing on the ground, more bloody foam collecting at the corners of his lips. Despite herself, Erza allowed a small, worried sound to escape her lips as her self-control began to slip. It was just…Jellal had never had a seizure this long-lasting before, and Erza had no idea what to do. Watching the violent, uncontrolled movement, it was almost unthinkable to Erza that it had been sustained for as long as it had been. Even after an ordinary seizure, Jellal was sore for days from the rapid tensing and releasing of every muscle in his body, not to mention the bruises he collected from repeatedly slamming against the ground. What would happen to him after a seizure like this?

Wendy followed Erza's eyes, gasping softly as she saw Jellal. "He's still-"

"I don't know what to do," Erza admitted, hearing the panic slip into her voice. "I called the paramedics, but I don't know what to do for him until they get here. I can't even touch him."

Wendy pushed herself onto her knees, frowning with concentration. "I could try to stop it. Sort of a…hard reset, I guess."

Erza tried to shut out the sounds of her husband's body dashing itself against the hard cemetery ground and focus on what Wendy was saying. "I didn't know you could do that."

Wendy grimaced. "I usually wouldn't. I think it has the potential to be more dangerous for Jellal, because we aren't letting the seizure end on its own. But in this case…I'm not sure it will anyway."

Erza hesitated, reluctant to put Jellal at an even greater risk. "Do you have enough magic energy left?"
Wendy's face was grim. "I better." She hesitated. "But…seriously, I don't think it'll take that much. It won't change the fact that he's been seizing this long. I don't know enough about brains, I can't heal something like that. But at least…."

She trailed off, just as one of Jellal's arms hit one of the nearby gravestones with a horrible, sickening crack. Erza felt her heart close off her throat. She couldn't be sure he'd just broken his arm, not without examining him. But he'd hurt himself seizing before. It seemed likely. And it wasn't like she and Wendy could move the gravestones out of his way.

"Alright," Erza said. "Do it."

Wendy took a deep, unsteady breath, and then reached out and touched Jellal's shoulder. He was clearly a little difficult for her to hold onto - thrashing around as he was. But her hand started to glow regardless, and about five seconds later, the twitching stopped. Jellal's face smoothed.

"Oh, thank god," Erza whispered. "Thank you, Wendy. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," said Wendy, sitting down hard and half-crawling a few feet away from Jellal. She sounded exhausted and a little faint again, but she was awake, at least.

Jellal started to make a horrible, gasping, coughing sound. Erza, knowing what was coming, surged forward. She got her hands under his back, and tilted him on his side just in time for him to retch. He threw up his meager stomach contents onto the grass, then gagged a few more times for good measure. Jellal nearly always threw up as he was coming out of a seizure. He sometimes choked, but it didn't sound like that was happening now, so Erza just rubbed her hand up and down his back even though she didn't think he was awake enough to feel it.

"You'll be alright," Erza said unsteadily. "We're bringing you to the doctor, but they'll…they'll-"

Jellal had started shaking. Hard. At first, she thought it was just some strange aftereffect of the resurrection combined with the seizure combined with the vomiting. But then his arms started twitching, his back convulsing under her hand. Erza automatically flinched backwards as she realized Jellal had moved right into a second seizure.

"Wendy-"

Wendy surged to her hands and knees, scrambling the short distance to Jellal without Erza having to finish her sentence. That was good, because Erza wasn't sure that she could have.

Wendy laid her hands on Jellal's shoulder as it twitched beneath her fingers, and Erza saw the glow gather around her palms again. For a second time, his face relaxed, and he immediately slumped heavily onto his back.

"Thank you," Erza said, hearing her voice shake but unable to do the first thing about it. Tentatively, careful to avoid his injured arm, she took hold of Jellal's shoulder and heaved him onto his side once more.

Erza wasn't sure if he would throw up again, since he didn't have that much in his stomach to start with, but he was still completely motionless. He never had much awareness after a seizure, but this time, she was doubly afraid that he would choke if he started to vomit.

"It's alright," she told him as she returned to rubbing his back. "You had a seizure, but it's over now. I'm here, and you're safe."

She didn't know if he could hear her yet. It didn't matter. After a seizure, Jellal usually woke up panicked. He didn't know where he was, and his brain would convince itself that he was under attack. Sometimes, he would lash out, although he was always too weak to pose much of a danger to others. He was much more likely to hurt himself.

Sometimes, if Erza talked to him, he would wake up a little calmer. "You revived Gray," she continued. "It worked. Please…please wake up, so I can tell you again."

Jellal still wasn't responding. He wasn't even beginning to squirm fitfully, moaning as his brain began to come back online. He wasn't blinking in fearful confusion, or reaching clumsily to guard himself from imagined enemies. He wasn't moving at all.

"You did it, but I still need you here," Erza whispered, leaning in closer, as if that would make a difference.

She paused, half-waiting for a response, but nothing came. Jellal was completely still and silent.

It took a half-second of frozen horror for Erza to realize that Jellal was completely still and silent. He wasn't breathing.

"W-wendy," Erza whispered, managing to get the words out between suddenly chattering teeth. She shook Jellal, once, roughly. Unsurprisingly, that didn't seem to help.

Erza found her voice, and she yelled for Wendy as loud as she could. The Dragon Slayer was barely two feet from her, but Erza was wholly consumed by the stillness of Jellal's back beneath her hand, and it felt better to scream.

"He's not breathing, fix him, Wendy, HELP-"

Wendy was exhausted. The part of Erza's mind that wasn't inundated by panic watched her stumble heavily to Jellal's side, and she realized that Wendy might not be able to do anything at all.

But Wendy laid a hand on Jellal's back, and once again, it started glowing. Wendy was trembling and gray with exhaustion, but she was still managing to heal. Or at least…she was managing to do something.

But Erza wasn't sure it was enough. Nothing was happening. For a long, terrible moment, everything was held in the balance, completely still.

But then, Jellal's chest started moving. It wasn't a lot, but god, god, it was better than nothing. Erza was so relieved that it still sort of felt uncomfortable, like her entire body was a spring that had been coiled too tightly. She kept holding onto his shoulder, pressing down almost, like she could keep him safe through the strength of her touch alone.

"Is he…is he alright now?" Erza asked. "I've never seen him-"

"I don't know," Wendy said. She sounded significantly more panicked than Erza would have liked, considering she was keeping Jellal alive through the strength of her touch alone. "I don't know…what's wrong with him. He won't wake up."

"But-"

"I can keep him breathing. I…I think. As long as I'm touching him. And I can stop him if he starts to have another seizure. But that's…that's all I can do. I…I don't know what's wrong."

Erza realized Wendy was close to crying. Which…wasn't surprising, given that she had gone through the resurrection, which Jellal had made sound horrible and draining, was almost completely out of magical energy, and was now watching the life fade from Jellal before her eyes.

"I'm sure it will be alright," Erza whispered. She knew she didn't sound as convincing as she wanted to, but there wasn't much that she could do about that. She didn't want to thank Wendy for keeping Jellal alive, because Wendy would feel terrible if she couldn't. But it didn't sound very optimistic to thank Wendy for trying either.

"Thank you…for doing this," she finally managed.

In the distance, Erza could hear sirens. She was sure they were for Jellal. She didn't know if they would be here in time, but they were coming, at least.

"Hold on," she whispered. "Hold on."


Natsu half-stumbled, half-ran to Porlyusica's cottage. He couldn't go as fast as normal, partially because he didn't think he'd eaten more than a few meals in the past week, but mostly because his arms were full of Gray.

Once they'd gotten a little ways away from the cemetery, Gray had tried to walk, but it hadn't gone very well. He'd stumbled weakly against Natsu with every step, clutching the wound in his midsection, and Natsu had decided it would be faster just to keep carrying him. Gray had put up only a brief fight, which for Gray, meant that he must be close to passing out.

And he had, pretty much as soon as Natsu picked him back up. At first, Natsu had freaked out, almost dropping Gray on the ground in his hurry to find Gray's pulse. But Gray had stirred, and made an annoyed sort of moan, and Natsu had realized that he had just fallen asleep.

Gray's stillness in his arms was still kind of stressing Natsu out, but if he focused, he could feel Gray's breath tickle his neck with every exhale. And as much as he wanted Gray to wake up and talk to him, Natsu wouldn't have woken Gray up for the world. Gray was exhausted, yes, but if he was allowing himself to fall asleep in Natsu's arms, he must know he was finally safe.

Natsu knew that the journey to Porlyusica wasn't that far, but by the time he reached her clearing, he felt like he'd gone about ten miles. The week of lying in bed had caught up with him more than he'd expected, and he was out of breath and a little woozy. He stopped in front of Porlyusica's door, gasping for breath and trying not to think about the last time he'd been here.

"Porlyusica," Natsu shouted, at only a fraction of his usual volume. Frustrated, he kicked her door, then knocked Gray's feet against the wood for good measure. "Open up!"

The door swung open to reveal the witch's disapproving expression, which melted into horror when she saw Natsu and Gray on her doorstep.

"Natsu?! What in hell have you done? Did you…is that…. You can't go around exhuming bodies, boy! Put it back!"

Natsu stared at her in confusion for a few seconds, and then felt Gray start to stir. He lifted his head off Natsu's shoulder, waving his left hand vaguely in the air.

"Hey, Porlyus'ca."

"GAAAAAH!" Porlyusica staggered a few steps backward, tripped over nothing, and tumbled onto the ground. She scrambled back a few more feet, shaking as she stared at Gray. "Wh-what-"

"Oh yeah," Natsu said, looking down at Gray as he blinked sleepily and laid his head back on Natsu's chest. "He's not dead. Great, right?"

A look of anger crossed Porlyusica's face. "Bringing someone back to life is impossible, child. What…who…?"

"We re-resurrected him," Natsu said. "He's-"

Porlyusica got ungracefully to her feet. She touched Gray's forehead with two fingers, felt for his pulse at his neck and wrists, peered into his eyes.

"This is Jellal's work, isn't it," she said once she'd finished her examination. "What did he do?"

"Um-" Natsu didn't understand the technicalities behind the resurrection very well - not the least because Jellal hadn't really bothered to explain them to him. But he briefly outlined exhuming the body, turning around so Jellal could restore it, seeing the ghostly version of Gray, watching the clouds gather, and then finally seeing Wendy heal him. He didn't know if he was making much sense, and he also didn't know if Gray was listening. When he was finished, Porlyusica nodded slightly.

"Well, I'll be," was all she said. Natsu thought it might be the closest thing she could manage to a compliment. "How are Jellal and Wendy now? Why are they not with you?"

"Wendy I think is fine," Natsu said. "She just passed out a little from healing Gray. Jellal is…." Natsu trailed off. He wished he had more details on Jellal's condition. All he knew was that he had been seizing when Natsu and Gray had left. "I think Erza called the hospital, anyway, so he's getting help."

"And why aren't you at the hospital?" Porlyusica asked. She was addressing Gray, but his eyes were closed and Natsu thought he might be asleep again, so Natsu answered instead.

"Uhhhh, Jellal said this was real illegal. Erza told us to come here. Until she figured out…."

Porlysusica sighed. "Alright. Bring him in, bring him in."

Natsu followed Porlyusica into her cabin, still carrying Gray. He'd never noticed how full of things her cabin was, and it was a little hard to keep Gray from knocking into anything.

"Have you told the rest of Fairy Tail yet, boy?" Porlyusica asked, gesturing to a small cot where Natsu figured he was supposed to lay Gray down.

"Uhhhh, no. We just came straight here. I thought Gray might need…stuff." Natsu set Gray down, immediately missing the feeling of the other wizard in his arms. On the cot, Gray moaned softly and curled around the mostly-healed wound in his stomach. Natsu tried to determine if the cot was big enough to sit beside him, and settled for hovering behind Gray with one hand on his back.

"When do you plan on telling everyone else that Gray is alive?" Porlyusica asked, a little snappishly, in Natsu's opinion.

"Uhhh, I don't know?" Natsu hadn't thought through any of this. He hadn't thought of anything in the past week. The only thing that he could wrap his exhausted brain around was that Gray was alive, and everything after that would probably sort itself out. "Jellal said not to. He said it was supposed to be a secret."

Porlyusica sighed heavily, returning to Gray with an armful of various jars and other supplies. "Natsu, Gray is alive. And from what you're telling me, Jellal…may not be. You can't just keep this to yourself. What are you going to do, hide Gray's existence from the others? Forever?"

"Ummm…."

"You have to figure this out, child. You're going to need to decide who to tell, and you're going to need to do it fast. Fairy Tail needs time to coordinate a counterstrike, and you don't have much of it left."

She must have seen the look on Natsu's face, because she softened slightly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you haven't really been involved with much for the past week, but the threat hasn't gone away. You can't face Magnus without Gray. Your first step needs to be to tell the others that he's alive. He's clearly exhausted, so I can help him get back on his feet. You'll need to take it from there."

Natsu glanced down at Gray, who'd managed to sit up on the cot. He still didn't look like he had really any idea of what was going on, which Natsu thought was probably for the best. Honestly, Natsu didn't have a great idea of what was happening either. Obviously, he hadn't thought about what he was going to have to do once Gray was resurrected. He'd already been through the worst week he could ever have imagined. Now that Gray was breathing again, it should be over. But it didn't feel like it was.