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War.
As soon as the word had been muttered, it had settled like a cold weight in the pit of Gray’s stomach. People died in war, especially magical wars where a single mage could wipe out countless others with a single attack.
Especially a war against a Zeref.
He’d looked at Natsu then, but if the Dragon-slayer had felt an echo of his own fear it didn’t show on his expression. He envied him in that moment. Aren’t you afraid? He wanted to ask. Do you feel ready for this? They had been through hell and back, had spent a year apart growing stronger and stronger, striving towards their own goals and some distant future point, that now lay beyond the gaping chasm that was the approaching war. In an instant, and under the weight of a single word, Gray felt as though all that growth had been stripped away from, and everything he held dear once again teetering on a knife edge; and yet Natsu was stood there, fierce and ready to fight, seemingly untouched by the fear gripping the Ice Mage.
It would be easy to believe it, and part of Gray wanted to, because to see Natsu determined and burning bright was the beacon that had guided them to victory so many times in the past. Not that he would tell the Flamebrain as much, it would go to his head. He wanted to see the fierce grin, the fire in the olive eyes, and the clenched fist and believe that Natsu believed they were going to win this war. He wanted the Dragon-slayer to stand there and tell him that they were going to survive this, because he would believe it, because he always believed Natsu when he spoke like that, as though the Fire Mage had the power to will victory into being just with his words.
He wanted to believe it…
…but he couldn’t…
Because he knew Natsu just as well as he knew himself, and the time apart hadn’t changed that. He could see the edge to the grin, the trace of uncertainty that only those who knew how to look would see. He saw the way Natsu fidgeted with the bandages he had kept wrapped around his arm since their return – his secret weapon he kept claiming; but now he was clinging to it, as though praying that it would be enough.
And he saw the moment that Natsu slipped away amongst the crowd, using the distraction of the organised chaos as Mavis and Makarov marshalled the guild and began laying out their plans for the war to come. Gray knew he should be listening, that they both should. But, the Dragon-slayer was leaving, threatening to take with him the Ice mage’s courage, and there was something about the way Natsu was moving, the expression on his face as he sought out Happy that terrified the Ice Mage and so he followed. He ignored everything else around him. Erza would fill him in on what he missed, and he’d even risk her ire for not having paid attention.
Realising that Natsu with Happy in tow were hurrying for the exit, he dashed forward, expertly weaving between the gathered guild members with a skill honed by years of brawling in this very hall. It let him back it to the steps leading to the door, just in time to catch up with the Dragon-slayer, and not wanting to cause a spectacle he dashed forward and reached out, fingers closing on the Dragon-slayer’s elbow, staying his escape.
“Natsu?” What are you doing? Where are you going? There was too much he wanted to ask, and even more that he wanted to stay. Stay. Fight beside me. Lend me your courage. And in the end, he settled for squeezing Natsu’s elbow and repeating his name, the question clear in his tone.
“Gray…” Natsu sighed, not exasperated, but almost despairing. As though he wished he had been caught by anyone else, and that hurt. But, then the Dragon-slayer glanced at Happy. “Wait for me outside.” The Exceed nodded, looking meaningfully at Gray although the Ice Mage wasn’t sure what he was supposed to know, before Happy moved away, leaving the two of them stood there, frozen on the steps. A bubble of quiet seeming to wrap itself around them, as Natsu lifted his head and met the Ice Mage’s gaze and held it. There was a shadow in those eyes, not of fear or defeat, but a resolve that was just as terrifying as it would be to see Natsu scared of what to come.
“You’re leaving…” It wasn’t a question. More like an epiphany so sharp and sudden, that there had been no choice but for those words to slip out. You’re leaving us? You’re leaving me? No, that wasn’t right. Natsu wouldn’t leave them, not without reason and he swallowed, gazing searching into Natsu’s eyes, searching for an answer, watching the way the Dragon-slayer fidgeted with his bandages yet again; and it was like fireworks going off in the back of his mind. “…No, you’re going after Zeref, aren’t you?”
He knew he was right, even before Natsu froze, staring at him wide-eyed like a deer caught in a magic-car’s lights. The lead weight of fear turned to anger, and he wanted to scream and shout and call Natsu ten kinds of idiot for trying to fight alone, for thinking he could win along. Yet, the protests wouldn’t come, because Natsu’s expression had cleared and the shadow was gone, and instead there was a fire in the Dragon-slayer’s eyes that he recognised.
It was the same fire that had allowed them to be standing here. The one that had seen them through countless fights, and troubles; the one that Gray would never admit, but he had missed intensely over the year apart.
The same fire that had made it the easiest decision in the world to return to Fairy Tail.
“Gray…” Natsu had shaken off his shock at being caught, and suddenly Gray didn’t want to hear it, whether the Dragon-slayer was going to be honest or not. You’re going to be fighting with us, that’s all that matters. It wasn’t, and this was a terrible idea. And part of him still wanted to scream and shout that, and called Natsu an idiot, but instead he squeezed Natsu’s elbow one last time.
“Promise me…”
“Promise you?” Natsu asked.
“Promise me that you will come back,” Gray demanded. He wasn’t asking for victory, he didn’t know how powerful Natsu’s secret weapon was. He didn’t care. Victory would happen, or it wouldn’t. If it didn’t then they would find another way; as long as Natsu came back to them. To him.
“Gray,” Natsu pulled his arm out of the Ice Mage’s grip, only to rest his hand on Gray’s for the briefest second. “I will come back.”
It’s a promise.