A tragic one-shot, yay!

This doesn't really follow the storyline, which is why it is sort of AU. This happens before the timeskip but there is stuff in it which don't happen during that time if at all.

Enjoy.

The first stars were starting to appear into the evening sky as it turned darker from its earlier bright, fiery colors. With the loss of those colors came also the loss of warmth and so the forest quickly became chilly. As it was fall, and the temperatures would change rapidly, mist started to gather in the air.

In that cool, dark forest, there were two young men laying on the rocky ground and staring at the sky above. After hours of silence, the pink-haired teen laughed dryly, causing his breath to turn into the same kind of mist that floated around them.

"Of all people, I can't believe I'm in this situation with you," he said but didn't move to look at his companion resting next to him.

"My thoughts exactly," his rival, Gray told him but didn't even bother hiding the smile on his face. They both just stared at the sky above them for a while before they spoke again.

"You're such a troublemaker. You always seem to be the reason stuff like this happens," Gray said teasingly and gave an over-dramatic sigh. His tone was light, maybe more so than usual.

"Shut up! It wasn't my fault this time!" Natsu shouted angrily and met his gaze with Gray's for a moment. They stared at each other for a while, only slightly longer than usual, before they turned their heads away, Gray with an amused mutter, "yeah, yeah, it wasn't your fault this time."

A long silence fell upon the two as they couldn't think of anything to say or do. It wasn't like they could even do anything with their current situation.

Gray tried to experimentally move his body once again, only to receive confirmation that yes – he was stuck. He groaned as the movement had caused him quite severe pain and he let his head fall back down into the uncomfortable position it had been in before. Once the wave of pain had settled, he glanced at his rival to his left, who hadn't moved at all. Being so close to him, it was hard to say how severe his injuries were, but since Gray had known Natsu since they were kids he somehow knew exactly how bad they were. That look they had shared a while back had told him everything. In return, he guessed that Natsu had come to know what his situation was too.

"So we're stuck here then," Natsu stated, still not moving himself in any way. Gray looked at him for a moment before following the younger's gaze up to see the darkening sky.

"I guess we are," Gray sighed and watched how his breath turned into mist before disappearing.

Then there was silence again. What could they really say anyways? They both knew what was happening, there was no reason to talk about it. They were both close, even though they labeled themselves as 'rivals', they knew more about each other than most friends did. There was no reason for words, so they stayed quiet.

About half an hour must have passed like that and Gray had found himself closing his eyes and was about to accept the sleep that had been persistently calling for him for some while now before Natsu spoke. "Too bad the mist is getting so thick. I would have wanted to look at the stars a bit longer." This sentence caused the older mage to open his eyes again to see that yes, the mist really was too thick to see the sky. Before answering, Gray wondered for a moment if Natsu just wanted some company rather than being bored.

"Yeah. It might fade a bit later though." After those words had left his lips Gray realized something. The stars should have been there right at that moment. They would have given Natsu some sort of comfort, but now even that wasn't possible. 'Later' might not have been possible anymore. Having understood it now, the two fell silent again.

"What do you think everyone is doing right now?" Natsu then asked. That moment Gray became certain that Natsu really did want some company and was perhaps even a bit scared. Truth be told, Gray himself was just trying to act tough and keep those feelings away which was becoming more difficult by the moment. The pain in his body was becoming stronger and thus harder to ignore, just like the unfamiliar feeling of coldness that spread through him. He tried to focus on what Natsu had just said and he found himself giving a smile.

"They were talking about a party, weren't they? I bet most have drank themselves under the table already," Gray said with a light tone though he couldn't ignore the sound of pain that failed to hide itself.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Natsu said and chuckled. Gray had hoped that the younger would still continue but surprisingly, no voice came. When it had been silent for too long, Gray turned his head to see why the other wasn't speaking. Once he saw the reason, his breath got caught in his throat for a while before he could collect himself again.

Natsu's eyes were tightly closed as waves of pain were clearly assaulting him from inside. His breaths were too quick and his color was slowly turning ashen. It was clear that the younger was getting worse. Knowing that he wasn't able to help the other in his current situation, Gray forced himself to look away in order to allow his friend some privacy. He knew that Natsu didn't want anyone seeing him weak, just like Gray himself didn't want to be seen, and so it was the least he could do.

Still... he wanted to help somehow – even if it was just a conversation to keep Natsu's thoughts away from the pain for a moment. "I bet Happy is already missing you at this point."

Gray couldn't see how Natsu forced his eyes to open or the smile that spread on his face. He could only hear the way the younger sucked in a breath so he could speak.
"Nuh," Natsu laughed through his pain, "it seems like he was quite busy when I left. He won't be missing me for a while."

Gray thought it was interesting how in their situation any kind of conversation seemed interesting. "Oh yeah? Any idea what he was working on?"

Natsu took a deep, tired breath before releasing it and clearing his throat. Due to it being so silent, Gray could hear that Natsu was still wearing a smile and was not bothered by his questioning.

"Honestly? I think he is planning on asking Charla to go out with him," Natsu said, his tone revealing how happy and proud he was of his best friend.

"Oh? Well, I sure wish him luck. He has become a lot more manly these past years... He might just do it this time," Gray told, trying to sound as encouraging as he could.

There was a moment of silence before Natsu gave a long sigh that was tight with pain. "You seem awfully friendly all of sudden. Any special reason?" Natsu smirked as he spoke which Gray didn't miss. His face twitched in annoyance, but his smile never went away. "Idiot. It's nothing like that." As soon as those words had left his lips, Gray started to feel very lightheaded. 'Blood loss, huh? How pathetic...' he thought to himself as he tried to keep himself awake. Distantly, he could feel Natsu's eyes on him but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Come to think of it, we have never really talked to each other like this. We are always fighting, after all." Gray could hear that Natsu was looking away from him by the way his voice traveled. Maybe he had wanted to grant Gray the same sort of privacy he had given him?

It took him a while but after moisturizing his lips and opening his eyes, Gray managed to give an answer. "The fact that we're both stuck under rubble might have something to do with that. It's not like we could fight even if we tried to."

Natsu stayed quiet for a while. "Well... we could still fight with words," he then stated a bit sadly.

Gray frowned and let out a sigh while he closed his eyes again. "Too bad I'm way too tired to argue with you right now, then."

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Natsu quickly explained. "I just.. think it's okay to talk normally every once in a while. Like friends." Gray didn't miss the way Natsu's words turned into a mutter at the end. Was he feeling embarrassed?

Gray chuckled. "Almost sounds like we aren't friends usually."

"...We are, aren't we?" Natsu's relieved tone surprised Gray.

"What's with you suddenly?" Neither could deny the sound of worry that was evident in Gray's voice but they didn't comment on it.

"Have we ever even admitted of being friends? I somehow can't remember..." Natsu voiced the last part quietly.

Gray blinked for a while and realized what the younger meant. This caused a smile to rise back to his face. "Does that stuff need words?"

It was as simple as that. With those words, both of them became completely satisfied with their relationship as rivals - but most importantly – as friends.

Natsu laughed, although much more lighter than usually. "No, you're right. It doesn't."

The both of them stayed quiet until it was broken by Natsu's coughing fit. It started of as a few light coughs before the got more desperate and loud. Gray could hear the familiar wetness in those coughs which caused him to feel an uncomfortable amount of worry twist his gut. When he heard how Natsu was having trouble of even catching himself a single breath, Gray couldn't help but to turn his head to look at the other – screw privacy.

Part of him wished that he hadn't looked. There he was, coughing and gasping while his body jerked along with his harsh movement. His skin was paler than before causing the contrast to the blood, that had appeared on his lips and chin, to be too strong. It was worrying to say the least but there wasn't really much Gray could do.

"Natsu, try to calm down. Breathe," he tried to help the younger.

It took a while but Natsu eventually managed to calm himself down and the coughing ceased. Gray kept staring at the pink-haired boy long after he had slumped on the ground and closed his eyes in exhaustion. Once he was sure that Natsu wouldn't get another fit right away, Gray turned his head away once again.

"Hey Gray, did you know they have been talking about making Erza a wizard saint?" Natsu almost whispered, obviously just trying to keep up a conversation.

"Really?" the older asked in genuine surprise. "I hadn't heard that."

"Yeah... I can't believe I'm so far behind. I'm still not an S-class mage either." Natsu sounded honestly disappointed in himself, which Gray found very rare. Maybe it was due to their situation they were in that Natsu was becoming discouraged?
"Won't be long now. I'm sure that during the next S-class promotion trial you'll catch up to her." Gray stated and smiled.

"Gray..." Natsu started, his voice full of unbelief. "You do realize that you are saying that I'll become an S-class before you?"

Gray knew exactly what he had said. Mostly he had just wanted to cheer the younger mage up a bit since he was a mess right now, but there was also a part of him that was telling the honest truth. "Idiot. I'm not saying that I'm giving up on being an S-class. I'll fight you fair and square when it comes down to it."

Gray couldn't see the tired grin that spread on Natsu's face nor the way his eyes closed tightly with pain. "Didn't expect any less." The voice was once again tight with pain but even more so than before. Gray would have felt worried if it wasn't for the way his head was spinning and the way he was slowly losing his eyesight. The darkness that fell was frightening even though Gray would never admit it. He knew that the only way to keep himself calm was to keep talking.

"Natsu?" he asked. The short silence that followed made Gray fear that the boy had gone and fallen asleep but fortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked silently, almost sounding like he was fighting sleep. Gray just honestly didn't want the younger to leave him alone in the darkness and so he decided that he would fight Natsu's sleep off.

"What's your dream?"

"My dream? That's pretty obvious, I-"

"-I don't mean your dream about becoming a S-class mage or finding Igneel," Gray cut the younger off. "I mean, where do you want to end up?"

Natsu was silent for a while, opening and closing his mouth without knowing what to answer. "I.. I haven't really thought about it. I guess I just want to be together with everyone in Fairy Tail until the end."

"I see," Gray answered Natsu's uncertain one and smiled softly. He had somehow expected those words.

"What about you?"

"Well... I love being in Fairy Tail, just like you but... I think that there is still something that I want to find. I don't really know what it is but I'll know when I find it. I have a feeling it might lead me to some place I still haven't been to."

There was a pause. "That's weird."

Gray was about to make a remark but before he could, his body seemed to lose all strength and a strong wave of dizziness passed over him. He was glad that he had lost his vision a little while back or he was sure that the world would have been spinning in a nauseating way.

"-ray? Gray! Hey!" a shout was slowly starting to make sense to him.

"Did you pass out? Gray?!" the older wondered why Natsu sounded so scared all of sudden and so he forced out a groan to tell the other he was awake.

"You okay?" Natsu asked, his own breaths coming out as short, pained gasps.

"Just worry about yourself, you idiot," Gray managed to mutter. Seemingly satisfied with the verbal answer, Natsu fell silent.

Not wanting to have to wonder if Natsu was able to stay awake or not, Gray spoke again. "Hey Natsu, tell me... are the stars out?"

"What..?" Natsu's question was shocked and breathless.

"I can't... really see anymore." Gray didn't know why he wanted the other to realize that his world had become dark and would be lonely if it wasn't for the conversation they had but in his situation, he wasn't going to blame himself.

Taking a moment, Natsu finally answered. "Yeah. They are there alright. The fog has cleared enough to see them."

Gray had a feeling that it was a lie, but he smiled nonetheless. "I see."

The two of them kept talking for a long time after that. Most of it was just about the memories of their childhood – stupid fights or unforgettable events – but they would sometimes throw in stories that the other still hadn't heard. Once hours had passed and they both were too exhausted to continue, they finally went silent.

"I think... I'll close my eyes for a bit," Natsu then finally said. Gray knew what those words meant and he had been dreading to hear them ever since he first met Natsu's gaze when he came to. Even though he was a bit scared, he knew that he would not be lonely for long.

"Yeah. I think I'll do the same."

Natsu was silent for some time, making Gray think he had already gone. "See you, Gray."

"Yeah, see you."

That was the only goodbye they said. There was no need for tears or sappy words. They both knew exactly what the other was feeling and so there was no need to voice those thoughts.

The two of them let out long, tired exhales at the same exact moment before their bodies finally relaxed for good. Their chests no longer rose to draw in another breath of the cold air, nor did their hearts beat to circulate the oxygen.

If one would have walked across the forest that moment, he or she might have heard whispers in the wind, left behind by the two young men and their unspoken words.

"It was fun being with you."

"I'm glad I was able to meet you."

"You were really strong."

"I won't forget you."

"See you again..."

"...in Fairy Tail."

Well that was sad.
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