It won't go away.

...

This darkness. This… taint...

...

It spreads or recedes, but it's never completely gone.

...

Why? …

…

WHY?!

…

WHAT HAVE I DONE, FOR THIS CURSE TO BEFALL UPON ME?!!

…

…

Everything's gone.

…

My friends, my family, my home...

…

How long must I go on, until this evil consumes me?

…

…

How long must I be alone?

...

-Guild Infirmary, early the next day-

Wendy stretched as she walked into the private treatment room, having woken up moments ago in the main infirmary from a well deserved rest after a marathon of healing the night before. Natsu was there, leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the end of Gray's bed, having dozed off at some point in this precarious pose. How his chair hadn't fallen over, tipped back on its hind legs as it was, she couldn't guess. Maybe Happy's weight in his lap balanced it out.

Turning her gaze to Gray, she smiled at the sight of Joy, who was curled into a tight ball underneath his chin. Asuka and her parents had dropped her off last evening, shortly before he was to go under, and her presence had lifted his spirits immensely. What wonderful timing. Her fur ruffled a tiny bit at each puff of air he breathed, and her one ear flickered every now and then. Gray was still sleeping. Understandable, given how much sedatives had been continuously pumped into his body throughout the simultaneous procedures he'd gone through. She gazed proudly at her handiwork now.

Peaking just above the clean sheets laid over him was… nothing. Just smooth, pale, newly-grown skin. It was discolored as expected, never having been exposed to sunlight. It was also softer than the surrounding tissue, like the skin of a newborn baby. It was a good thing he still wore silk exclusively, since that patch of skin would blister easily until the epidermis had a chance to age and become more firm.

It had taken hours to completely heal that wound. She was right in how the seals still interfered with his absorption of magic. Her's barely trickled in, and she was disappointed, but not surprised, to find that it merely took the place of the ethernano that flowed in naturally from his surroundings, instead of adding to the overall power he could absorb. Freed had warned them not to try to force his body to take in more that it would allow, and she had been very careful to keep her output as slow and steady as possible. She'd been almost mesmerized as she'd watched that first layer of skin slowly grow to cover the exposed muscle, then each additional layer afterwards. It was so different from having her powers work instantly. It was tedious, but strangely satisfying to watch.

She knew she'd come a long way in the past year when it came to her healing abilities. She was very capable in many aspects that she'd never even considered needing before; not just in medicine, but in decision making, patient care, finding alternative options, and taking the lead when needed. But even under the blanket of all those commendable skills, she held onto that childish wonder of what her magic alone could do. She felt so accomplished right now.

As for the other procedure, she had every confidence Porlyusica had succeeded, and couldn't wait to remove the bandages covering his newly implanted eyes. She'd been encouraged to watch whenever she had to take a break from the tedium. Observing as his old, damaged eyes were removed was shudder-inducing, and heartbreaking. Even her mentor hadn't held back a grimace in sympathy. It was at that point Wendy had realized this was essentially an amputation they were performing, the implants to serve as his prosthetics. She'd felt a solemn sense of finality in that moment, when those once vital—now useless—pieces of her friend had been cut away.

The implantation, however, was fascinating to watch as the optic nerves were painstakingly attached to each eye. She'd even been allowed to assist, using a small bit of magic to facilitate a rapid healing between the connections. She'd even taken a moment to ease the swelling around his eyes before they'd been wrapped. It felt so good to be able to use her powers to help him again.

Her ruminations were cut short when Joy's head perked up excitedly. Wendy couldn't sense anyone coming. The others were still sleeping out in the main infirmary, and a quick check confirmed no one else had woken up. Joy then stood on all fours and started licking Gray's chin. Wendy was about to stop her, until she saw he was starting to grin, then chuckle. She wasn't sure if Joy had woken him up, or she had sensed he was already stirring. But she allowed the giggle she was holding back to sound so he'd know who was there, seeing his grin widen as he turned his head to face her.

"Morning, Wendy," he murmured.

"It's a few hours yet before the sun comes up, but good morning, Gray-san," she whispered back, "You look like you're feeling better."

"I got to wake up to sweet little kitty kisses. Best morning ever," he answered, voice somewhat slurred, as he reached his hand up to capture his overly-affectionate kitten.

"*Giggle* Well, you may also be a little loopy from the sedatives mixing with all your pain meds."

"Hmmm… Can't deny that. *Snicker* I'm freakin high as a kite," he replied as Joy kept avoiding his hand, enjoying this game of tag with her daddy.

"Sorry about that. With all the adjustments we'd been making with your meds lately, and especially with what we've been giving you since yesterday, we couldn't guess with absolute certainty how you'd react to the particular anesthetics we had to use."

"Better than the crying, at least."

Wendy furrowed her brow at that, but he wasn't elaborating on what he'd just said, simply continuing his play with Joy.

" … Crying?"

"Hmm?"

"You said it was better than the crying? What crying?"

He paused in his play, confused.

"Who's crying? Is everyone okay?" He paused to listen, hearing nothing. " … I don't hear anyone."

Natsu, possibly because of the growing worry he could sense from Gray, awoke with a start, before losing his balance and tilting his chair the rest of the way, falling to the floor with a loud crash.

The noise increased Gray's concern, so she eased him back down with assurances that it was just Natsu being Natsu, and that, as for the crying, she must have just heard some stray cats outside or something. He accepted that easily, going back to giving all of his attention to Joy. That did nothing for her own unease, though. But he seemed fine. Maybe he really was just too high to know what he was saying. It was definitely time to start weaning him off of those drugs completely.

Picking himself up, and staring in disbelief at how Happy had slept through that tumble, Natsu placed the still snoring exceed on top of the righted chair, and asked through a yawn, "Why the Hell are we awake so early?"

Gray was too busy nuzzling his cat to care, so Wendy just smiled and shrugged, making Natsu huff in tired annoyance and lean against the bed, eyeing his former chair in envy.

As Gray had been left slightly propped up in his sleep to keep both surgical sites elevated, it was no surprise when Joy missed a step and rolled down from her perch on his shoulder, landing in his lap. She shook herself off, and padded her way back up, stopping at his chest to meow into his face in an annoyed manner, showing her grievance at the fall.

He gasped all of a sudden, feeling only her hind paws, knowing where her front paws must lay.

Right over skin that hadn't been there the night before.

The discovery sobered him in a manner no other way could. That's right. There was a purpose for his being here. His head started to clear, all whimsy vanishing, but replaced with a different kind of elation. And awe. He warily placed a hand over the spot, finding solid flesh, unbothered by the numbness of his fingers or the new skin itself. He'd expected that. What mattered was that, after all these months, regardless of how it felt, the wound was gone.

Natsu saw all these reactions in his friend's movements and demeanor, and smiled. He was excited for him, but kept himself in check. This was Gray's moment right now.

Without wasting any time, Gray sought after his most pressing need, asking earnestly, "When can I get my guild mark?"

Natsu was also curious about that, and looked to Wendy for answers.

"Mira-san usually arrives here about half an hour before dawn. I can ask her then to come by with the stamp, but if she's busy, it could take a while… Porlyusica-san says the surgery with your eyes went well."

In his excitement, it seemed he'd completely forgotten about that, but now that his focus was on his eyes, he noticed the bandages wrapped around them, but didn't seem as fixated on them.

"It's been several hours since we finished. You should have more than enough ethernano to power your new eyes by now. If you want, I can unwrap them for you… ?"

She tried not to seem eager or insistent, knowing this would be a very big moment for him, and not wanting him to take this monumental step before he was ready. And she was right to hold back. He looked conflicted. He was excited to see again, of course, but there was trepidation as well. He'd gotten so used to his blindness, that it almost seemed unreal that this day had finally come. But after very little consideration, he resolved, "No. I can wait. I want my guild mark first. I'll wait until Mira arrives. And besides… I think everyone else would be disappointed to miss out on the unveiling."

At that, everyone smiled. That would be a sight to behold. Gray may not get to see this day's sunrise after all, but thankfully, there would be many more for him to see now.

ooooo

Mira had a hurry in her step today, trying to get all the morning chores done in order to get to the task she most looked forward to doing at the moment. She'd wanted to do it as soon as Wendy had met her at the doors this morning, her desires made in an excited rush; but Master had made it known beforehand that he wanted to be present when Gray received his mark, and he wouldn't be in until at least 8:30.

No one was going to hasten the octogenarian, no matter how tough he was. He'd stayed up late with the rest of his brats until Porlyusica was free to talk to him last night, and the old man needed to take care of himself. Gray didn't mind the wait.

Since she may as well get her job done while they waited, she was in the process of doing just that, and now had to complete all of her present tasks before she could do anything else. She couldn't just leave anything half finished now, not when the smooth operations of the guild depended on the clockwork precision in which she ran through each day's tasks every morning.

So as soon as she stored all the logs of yesterday's completed missions in the archives, she would be free to retrieve the guild stamp and join her friends in the infirmary where Master was already waiting.

She hadn't expected to find Freed there this morning.

After such a difficult endeavor as what they'd performed the other day, everyone had agreed that the people involved deserved a few days rest. It wasn't just the physical difficulty in conducting the spell, but also the mental drain involved. It took a great deal of resolve and will power to essentially torture a friend like they had, knowing they had no choice but to see it through. Natsu had done such an admiral job in holding back his need to vomit until after all the unpleasantness was over, and given his first opportunity, he'd left the private treatment room to vent his own feelings of misplaced guilt over his role.

She knew Freed was devoted to this mission with the seals, but after what they'd accomplished, he deserved a longer break.

"Freed, what are you doing here so early?"

He hardly moved, engrossed in his research, but not so much that he hadn't heard her come in. After finishing a few more lines of whatever he was reading, he looked up to reply, "After our success the other day, I became more motivated to seek after a more desirable outcome. With all the suffering we put him through, I can't be satisfied with how little he's gained from it. The magic he has access to will allow him a mere few hours of sight each day. Less so if he wants to actually do a spell. When summer comes, he'll likely end up having to expend all his magic just to keep himself from overheating. He shouldn't have to choose between being able to function one way or the other."

Mira felt for him. She'd known what the results would be, but that hadn't stopped her or anyone else from wanting more. Gray, on the other hand, knew full well how hard they had worked, and was grateful for the little they had achieved so far. He'd probably be upset if he learned how they were allowing their perceived failure to dictate their actions now. He wouldn't pressure them to seek after the impossible. Not for his sake.

But who was to say what was truly impossible until all possibilities had been tried?

She decided she'd give him until the time it took for her to file all the mission logs in their appropriate locations, then march him upstairs and away from this dark, gloomy room for at least one more day.

Passing him on her way to the records keep, she caught a glance of one of the many books left open on the table he stood by, and paused. She didn't know why, but some of the glyphs on that page seemed to call out to her. Noticing her proximity, Freed looked up, about to ask if she needed anything, when he saw her perplexed gaze.

"Is something troubling you?"

Taking another moment to study those symbols, she shook her head no, shrugging off her confusion.

"It's nothing. I just thought I knew those symbols when I first saw them, but I don't recognize them now."

Intrigued, Freed looked to see which book she was referring to, finding it to be one of the many Hibiki had provided over the course of this investigation. One pertaining to a curious episode that may or may not be an account concerning an ancient demon slayer. How curious.

"They seem familiar to you?"

Taking another look, Mira thought back to any time she may have come across writings that looked similar, but they were no more than random jottings to her, no different than any other bits of foreign scribbles she may have seen in her travels. Nothing she would recognize from a passing glance. Perhaps from where she'd stood, the lights had reflected off of them in a certain way that made them seem more familiar.

"No, not really. I'm probably just mistaken," she decided as she continued towards the keep.

He accepted her answer, but still made a note to revisit that particular volume at a later time. It was probably nothing, but one could never tell what they may have missed the first few times they'd studied that book. For now, he'd put it out of his mind until he'd finished with the pile presently before him. Which, he'd learn in a few minutes, would take longer than he'd thought after Mira was to lock him out of the archives for the rest of the day. No one could argue with the engine that kept the guild running when she saw a need to be met.

ooooo

There were feelings of excitement just begging to be let out in each of those within the room. It was such a contrast compared to the last couple of times they had gathered here. They all stayed relatively quiet, keeping to small talk and humorous banter as they waited for Mirajane to arrive.

Natsu and Loke were helping Gray sit up so he was leaning against the wall at the head of the bed. The yukata still draped over him threatened to slip down, but Natsu was quick to right it, stopping short at offering to help him slip his arms into the sleeves. It was enough for both of them that Natsu couldn't see his burns. He'd already had to deal with having to inflict more upon his friend. He needed no more reminders of the dangers of his powers.

Master Makarov sat on the end of the bed, looking around the room fondly as he observed the activity among his children. He was so proud of how far Gray had come in his recovery, and doubly so at how devoted and caring his friends had been throughout that time. They were almost as eager as Gray was, though none could tell with how his calm and patient anticipation measured up to their drone of excited chatter.

All heads swung towards the door as Mira entered the infirmary, followed by a ruffled-looking Freed. They wondered if he had some worrying news, but Mira's triumphant smile eased those thoughts away. Whatever she was so proud of had something to do with him, but whatever it was didn't matter right now. They crossed the main infirmary and into the private treatment room, Mira brandishing the guild stamp with much warmth and enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. If you're all set, we can begin."

"I'm more than ready, but … begin what?" wondered Gray.

He felt the bed shift as Makarov hopped down, and he heard as his master walked to the side to jump back up onto a chair set to his right.

"I know you're not one for ceremony," Makarov answered, "but I thought this particular event deserved some words. At one time, the bestowing of a guild mark was a very solemn affair, with great adherence to ritual and dignified customs and traditions—"

"—until gramps became guild master and put an end to that crap," Laxus piped in.

"Naturally," Makarov grinned back, "I had to do something to distinguish my term from those of my predecessors. But that aside, I felt that, after everything that's happened, everything you've gone through, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not give this particular bestowment the proper honors it deserved."

He paused as he held out his hand, receiving the guild stamp with a quiet thank you to Mira, and continued.

"All new members once received a special charge upon joining our guild. An invitation to take a vow of sorts, to follow a guideline which would distinguish them among members of other guilds. You've already proven yourself to exemplify, above and beyond, everything that makes one a member in good standing of Fairy Tail. I thought it would be nice to remind you of why you truly belong here with us."

Gray was starting to feel a sense of awe. Not only was Master Makarov himself about to give him the guild mark, a task usually delegated to Mira, and done as an afterthought; but with it came a special mandate, a promise of responsibility and honor that illustrated what he'd always felt about bearing the title of a Fairy Tail wizard.

"So Gray, without further ado, let's begin. I, Makarov Dreyar, under the prudence and banner of authority given to me as Guild Master of Fairy Tail, do hereby confer upon thee the following charge:

"First, a Fairy Tail mage is never the same today as they were yesterday. It takes a strong mind and body to be able to forge the connection between the spirit within and the spirit without. Never stop learning, and continue to grow stronger every day, so your magic may develop to its full potential, that it may help you go beyond the extraordinary.

"Second, a Fairy Tail mage lives not in fear and doubt, but in the assurance that they seek after that which is right, and true, and good. Listen to your heart, have faith, and do what you think is right. Trust your judgement, and know that if you should ever fall, it's never too late to stand up again.

"And third, a Fairy Tail mage is never alone. Whether lifelong friends or mere acquaintances, all who bear the mark of our guild is family. And should our paths lead us to distant lands, to far off adventures, or to dangers unknown, never lose faith that your family will watch for you, and will seek after you, never losing hope that our paths may cross once more.

"Gray, if you so wish to abide by these principles, to take on the responsibilities and burdens incurred with the acceptance of this charge, along with the honor and privileges thereof, make your will known before these witnesses, and indicate where you would receive the mark of your guild."

Gray was speechless, and could hardly comprehend what he was feeling right now. For all these years, he'd known what it meant to be a member of Fairy Tail, had lived and breathed it. But to have his place within the guild declared so firmly, the evidence for it professed so clearly, left him with feelings beyond words. Overwhelmed by that affirmation, he cleared his throat, breathlessly answered, "Yes," with a short nod, and raised a shaking hand to tap his chest before lowering it back down.

He felt someone, probably Mira, pull the front of his yukata aside, and waited with baited breath.

With a broad, teary-eyed grin, Makarov declared, "Then it is my privilege and honor, and my very earnest delight, to bestow upon you the sacred mark of our guild. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Gray… Welcome home."

Though just slightly disappointed that he couldn't feel the impression of the stamp, he knew right away when the deed was done by the excited shouts and merry-making he could hear all around him. They all applauded, some were whistling, but he paid no attention to all the noise.

All he could feel as he rested his head against the wall behind him, breathing deeply, trying to decide if he should be laughing along with his friends or crying; was the sense that once again, some missing part from within him had been returned, and he was made just a little bit more whole. Reaching up to feel where his guild mark rightfully belonged, he placed his hand over it, as if to keep it from disappearing. And though all he felt was the ever familiar hollowness there, it was enough to know one more thing had been made right.

And instead of a constant reminder of all he had lost; he now had an undeniable sign of all he had regained, and of where he belonged.

I based the oath on the speech Makarov gave during his first appearance in the series... or maybe he based his speech on the old oath. That's now my head canon.

Next Chapter: Gray finally opens his eyes.