Hi. : D

So this is the final chapter for this story (can't believe I finished it). : D

Chapter 20

Mako stared at Alica's face; it was twisted in pain and her shaking fingers squeezed his hand in an iron grip.

"Make a choice," Rei said and waved teasingly with the bottle toward Mako. Mako stared at him with cold eyes, and Rei's smile disappeared, not in defeat, but in disbelief.

"You are really considering to let her die," he said slowly, but his face quickly broke in a smile soon after and he stared laughing hysterically. "You really are no different from me after all…selfish." He smirked.

"No! It's not like that…" Mako trailed off. Rei was right. He was selfish. He was actually considering letting Alica die - just so he wouldn't have to live without her.

"It's not like... what?" Rei said amused.

"I – I just don't want her to turn evil," he made up on the spot. Luckily it sounded believable enough. "She wouldn't be happy killing people."

"You know what?" Rei said, tossing the bottle with one hand like one might a baseball. "Okay. If that makes you sleep at night…"

"Mako!" Lucy's voice suddenly interrupted them. Her face was tearstained and she looked absolutely miserable. "I don't care if you're not going to save Alica, but just get that bottle! I need it for Gray!"

Mako looked at her with obvious surprise.

"Y-you would let him…forget you?" he asked with a small voice.

"You really are an idiot! What's wrong with you?" Lucy exclaimed furious. "It's not goodbye forever. We can still…be friends." Lucy lost her voice little by little when the tears started overflowing again.

"I would go with the majority vote," Rei smirked and threw the bottle to Mako. He caught it with shaking hands. Rei leaned against the wall again and stared at Mako like a hawk would stare at its pray, waiting for his next move.

"Should we really start all over again?" Mako whispered down to Alica; her eyes fluttered under the lids. "The relationship that we used years to build? Damn it!" he clenched his teeth and opened the bottle. A few drops of the liquid splashed out and landed on the floor.

"Don't use too much," Lucy said with a small voice. Mako didn't respond. He lifted Alica's body from the ground and looked into her eyes.

Lucy observed them with huge eyes and waited patiently for her own turn. "L-Lucy," a weak voice whispered and she felt a hand grab her arm. She turned with a gasp and looked right into a set of dark eyes. Gray breathed heavily and blood streamed out of his mouth, but he still managed to get the words over his lips.

"Do not let her drink it," he whispered and clenched harder around her arm, "the bomb isn't deadly, Lucy."

"W-what are you talking about? Look at yourself," Lucy asked and grabbed his hand in both of hers. She was almost in shock that he was talking.

"I can smell it…" he whispered. "It's chloroform. It's in the magic. It just makes us unconscious..."

"I don't understand," Lucy whispered back. Gray rolled his eyes and made another effort to speak, but lost it and just gasped in pain.

"Mako!" Lucy yelled. He turned his head in surprise; the bottle was at Alica's lips, and the liquids almost touched her mouth. "Don't -!" She was cut off when Rei's invisible force clenched around her neck. She gasped in shock and tried to grab around whatever was choking her, but she couldn't feel anything around her neck.

"L-Lucy!" Mako yelled and lifted a hand toward her. By the movement the bottle raised enough for the white substance to roll down Alica's throat. She let out a gasp as the medicine burned down her throat.

"Finally!" Rei yelled in triumph, and before anyone could do anything, he grabbed Alica's wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"No!" Mako yelled, but Rei was already out of his reach.

"Never trust the bad guy!" Rei mocked and laughed while black smoke rose around him and Alica.

"What did you do?" Mako yelled and jumped to his feet.

"I did nothing," Rei answered innocently. "You are the one that now have erased her memory permanently. You see, what's-her-name's and your fathers wouldn't let us build a permanent bomb. They only wanted to teach you a lesson, or whatever, but luckily it was easy to make you give her the only drug that would make it absolutely permanent. So for that, I thank you." He laughed harder while the smoke rose higher and higher each second. He held Alica like a doll by his side.

"N-no…" Mako whispered and his eyes widened slowly. "It can't be! I won't let you!" he yelled and looked around quickly. The shards from Gray's shattered ice still lay on the floor. Mako grabbed a sharp piece and ran toward Rei. Anger, frustration and a hundred other emotions shone from his eyes.

"I won't let you do it!" he yelled.

The sound of ice cutting through flesh echoed around them.

Then everything went unbelievably quiet.

Rei had stopped laughing, Lucy had stopped crying, Mako had stopped yelling.

Everybody held their breath in that moment and just stared at the scene. Even Gray's rasping breathings stopped for a moment while they openly stared at the scene in front of them.

Mako had stormed blindly toward Rei, and hadn't seen Alica's eyes open. Her mind, unknowing of Mako, had seen her only caretaker being attacked and responded instantly.

Her body was standing in front of Rei and her eyes were wide in pain. Mako and Alica stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. Mako's weapon had dug deeply into her body when she had tried to shield Rei. Mako's hand shook, but he couldn't move his body at all.

"A-Alica," he whispered and everyone was pulled back to reality. Rei's face, formerly twisted in shock and surprise, broke out in a smile and he laughed quietly.

"D-don't touch…" Alica shook out and Rei's smile spread even larger.

Lucy clenched her hands around Gray's. Gray stared at Mako, still not fully recovered and stunned.

"Please…. Please no…" Mako whispered and tears formed in his eyes. "Why did you do that? Alica you…foolish…" He couldn't seem to find a suiting word. He lowered his head and fell to his knees with a defeated sob, his fingers slipping from the ice he had unintentionally driven into his true love.

"Don't…touch…Rei…" she whispered and fell to her knees too. "I'll kill you!" she yelled suddenly, throwing her arm up. A plant shot from the ground and dug deeply into Mako's back. He gasped surprise, but didn't scream. His eyes didn't leave Alica's face for a second.

"I lov…" he mumbled before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell forward to the floor, implanting face-first in the wood.

"M-MAKO!" Gray yelled and untangled his hand from Lucy's.

"Gray, wait!" Lucy yelled after him, but he had already jumped to his feet.

"Ice Make: Geyser!" he yelled. Rei was standing very flustered and didn't even have time to block the attack before ice shot up from the ground and punched all air out of him. He landed on his back, but Gray didn't even give him time to recover.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" he yelled and this time he didn't miss.

"NO!" Alica screamed. Rei let out a gasp.

The hammer hit and with a scary noise of breaking bones, it was suddenly over. Alica's sobs echoed in the room. Tears fell from her eyes and she sobbed raspingly. She coughed loudly and blood ran down the corner of her mouth.

"It's all over," she whispered sobbing before she fell to the ground.

Lucy stared at Gray with huge eyes. Gray was standing with his hands still clenched around the handle of his deadly weapon, more for support than because he couldn't let go. He had used too much magic in a weak state and his body shook heavily.

Lucy hurried to her feet and ran as fast as she could to his side. She was just in time to catch the weak mage when his legs finally gave out.

"I got you," she whispered weakly. "You're okay."

Gray answered with a simple "Hmm," and let her support him to the nearest wall, where she let him down to sit against said wall. They both turned their heads toward Mako and Alica. Lucy whimpered and hid her face in Gray's shoulder at the sight. He stroked her hair gently, but his hands shook and he closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Lucy," he whispered, and she stopped sobbing. "It's all over now. Isn't it weird?"

Her fingers clenched around his shirt and she nodded into his shoulder.

Epilogue- 2 months later.

"Are you frikin' serious?" Natsu yelled in surprise and looked at Gray like he had just changed into a frog. "After everything that's happened?"

"But I give her a choice," Gray said annoyed and crossed his arms. He had just gotten out of his bandages, but scars could still be spotted on his arm and a small one on his cheek.

"I don't think marriage is on her list of things to do right now," Natsu said and lifted an eyebrow.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Gray said panicking and almost strangled him. He wished that he hadn't told Natsu about his plans, but he and Natsu had gotten into a fight a few moments earlier and he had accidentally dropped his engagement ring from his pocket. And Natsu had immediately jumped to conclusions.

"You are not spoiling this!" Gray yelled, shaking his fist at him.

"Fine, fine. Whatever," he mumbled and walked away completely annoyed. Gray turned around and went the opposite way. His hands clenched around the ring. What should he say? ´Lucy will you marry me?´ Just straight out like that? Should he draw it out in a speech, or...?

"THIS IS EVEN HARDER THAN ´I LOVE YOU´! And that took me FOREVER TO SAY!" he yelled out loud, and clenched his hands in his hair.

"What took you forever to say?" an amused voice asked behind him.

"Huh?" he said surprised and turned around. There she stood, in a pretty red skirt, black t-shirt and her hair in the normal mini-kinda-ponytail-to-the-side hairstyle.

"N-nothing," he said and his head almost exploded with embarrassment. "I was just…"

"Sorry, it's none of my business," she said and lifted a hand in apology.

´If only you knew how much it is your business,´ Gray thought and scratched his cheek.

"Um, I'm actually in a hurry," she said and lowered her hand, "can we talk later?" she gave him a smile before she hurried past him.

"S-sure…I mean, no!" he said and grabbed her wrist. She looked at him in confusion.

"I…um…have something I want to say," he mumbled.

"Are you blushing?" she asked and turned with a smile to take a better look. "That's rare."

"L-Lucy?" he began and tried to avoid any other subjects. "Will you-"

"Lucy!" Levy's voice interrupted him. Lucy turned and smiled at the blue-haired girl who was running toward them, waving. "Where have you been, we're supposed to go on a mission, remember?"

"I'll be right there," Lucy called back smiling. She turned to Gray, an apologetic smile gracing her lips. "Sorry."

"Yeah… me too," Gray said, and sighed.

"Can you say it quickly?" she asked and smiled. Gray opened his mouth to yell it out, but then his expression softened.

"You know what…" he said with a small smile. "I'd rather take my time. I think that was what went wrong all along. Rushing."

Lucy and Levy exchanged confused glares.

"Okaaay, I'll talk to you later then," she said and gave him a last smile before turning. Suddenly Natsu came around the corner and almost bumped into her.

"Oh, sorry," he said apologizing. Then his eyes went up. He measured the scene; Lucy walking away with a smile, Gray blushing and staring after her.

"Oh, he must have asked you to marry him already!"

The end!

I'm done! Yay! Thanks to everyone that have reviewed. Please leave a final review. : D

Also Thanks to LighKit that have Beta'd this story. : D

Once again thanks. ^_^/