Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 13: Take My Hand

"You haven't been answering your phone."

Gray startled out of his reverie to find Erza standing in his room, her hands placed on her hips and a disapproving expression on her face. He quickly closed the browser window on his computer before she could see what he had been looking at and swiveled his desk chair to face her.

"I'm sorry, a lot has happened the last few days and I haven't really felt like talking to anyone."

"What's wrong?"

Gray sighed, he wasn't sure whether he should tell her or not. Natsu was so private these days but then again it's not like it wouldn't be public knowledge soon. "Zeref is dying, he's not expected to survive the summer."

Erza looked at him in shock. "Are you sure?"

Gray nodded, "Yeah, that's why Natsu and Wendy were here last weekend."

"I fail to see what the two things have to do with each other."

"When he dies my parents will become Natsu and Wendy's legal guardians and they'll come live with us. My mom thought it would be a good idea to get them used to being around us again before that happens."

"Zeref......is dying?" Erza repeated the words slowly watching Gray for any sign of deception.

Gray met her gaze and then looked down.

Erza sat on Gray's bed. "Are you kidding me?" She said with more than a bit of anger. "What the hell?"

"I wish I was."

Erza's tough demeanor crumbled and Gray found himself holding Erza as she sniffled, he'd done most of his crying Sunday night after everyone had left. Zeref had been a large part of their lives growing up. Even though he was three years older than them he'd always played with them and participated in their constant sleepovers. He'd always been a bit of an older brother to the two of them as well since they were both only children.

"How's Natsu handling it?" Erza asked with concern once she'd gotten herself under control.

"Not well. He figured it out before Zeref could tell us and ran out of the house. My dad said he had a panic attack. I know my parents are worried about him. I'm worried too. Wendy wouldn't stop crying, it was awful." He got a little weepy as he remembered holding Wendy against him and trying to calm her down until Zeref returned from checking on Natsu.

He wanted to tell her about how Natsu had seemed scared of him and how he hadn't really talked to him since but he knew if he did Erza wouldn't stop until Natsu told her what was wrong and that would destroy what little they had managed to recover of their friendship. Gray wanted to know what was going on inside Natsu's head but not at Erza's expense.

They sat quietly for a few minutes each deep in their own sad thoughts.

"Should we go see him?" Erza asked him suddenly.

"We can't, he's at Akane Beach with his family. He won't be back until next Wednesday and we can't call him either, his grandfather made them leave all their phones behind."

"Why does all this stuff happen to them? It doesn't seem fair."

Gray could only shrug, he'd wondered the same thing many times. When they were little he had thought Natsu had the perfect family. They were warm, loving, fun and oh so welcoming. He'd loved going to their house and being a part of it all and it was devastating for him to see what had become of all of them.

He'd finally read Natsu's second story right before Erza had arrived and he was even more determined to try to get through to his friend somehow. The problem was he couldn't think of anything to say that would get a conversation going that wouldn't seem suspicious. Here he was, probably knew the knucklehead better than anyone else and he still couldn't think of what to say. That second story was so obviously personal, and he knew how much it would mean to Wendy. After Igneel's abrupt death Natsu had distanced himself from everyone, leaving her to handle her grief on her own. He looked at Erza wondering if he should tell her about Natsu's writing, if she could help him get through to Natsu somehow. He decided to hold on to the secret a bit longer even though it made him feel guilty, they usually didn't keep secrets from each other.

"How do you feel about them moving in here?" Erza asked.

"Awful. Every time I get excited by the idea I remember why it's happening and I --" Gray couldn't finish the sentence as the guilt overwhelmed him once again.

"I don't think Zeref would be upset with you for being happy they're coming, Gray." Erza said, knowing firsthand how much Zeref loved his siblings. "I'd rather think that would make him glad, it doesn't mean you want him to die."

Gray nodded and fought the tears that were threatening to come. He didn't want to cry anymore, certainly not in front of Erza but finding out about Zeref had brought back his sadness at Mavis death and his anger at Igneel's murder as well as a host of other feelings that he'd thought he'd left behind years ago. His emotions were in a constant state of flux. If this was how Natsu felt all the time he could almost understand why he tried to keep himself from feeling anything. Not that Gray had any plans of letting him get away with it.

"Are you guys going to move?"

"No, my parents are going to renovate. They're adding a master suite and a pool. Natsu will get the guest room and Wendy will get their bedroom. Construction starts next week."

"You look terrible." Erza said as she observed the dark bags under Gray's eyes and the scruffiness that covered his usually clean shaven face. "Have you even left the house since Sunday?"

"No. It's been a lot to digest. I've just sat around thinking about everything."

"Well, that stops now. For the last year you've focused too much on Natsu and not enough on yourself. You haven't even given Lucy the time of day. You need a vacation from Natsu Dragneel and his problems. Go take a shower and get dressed, we're going out. I'll wait for you downstairs."

Gray ignored the comment about Lucy for the moment and tried to protest but after giving it some thought decided that taking a break from worrying about everything that was going to happen might be just what he needed. "Alright, I'll be downstairs in twenty minutes."

Erza was already making phone calls as he walked her to the stairs. He entered his bathroom and got ready.

o-o

A young Natsu looked down at the cast on Gray's arm with concern. It had been on for several weeks yet Gray still seemed to be in pain.

"Does it still hurt?" Natsu asked.

"Of course it hurts! I broke my arm doofus." Gray sighed when he saw Natsu startle at his words."Will you please stop worrying, I'm going to have this thing on for most of the summer. I swear, you're worse than my mom."

Natsu started to protest but Gray cut him off, "And before you say anything, it wasn't your fault. It was mine."

Natsu was ready to disagree but he let it go for now, he didn't want to waste the little time that his dad had given him to be here today on petty arguing.

"Natsu what's wrong?" Gray asked him worriedly when he noticed that Natsu looked sad. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Nothing. I-- just don't want anything bad to happen to you." Natsu said hurriedly. How could he explain to his friend that he felt afraid all the time? That loud noises terrified him to the point of tears. What would Gray think of him if he knew?

"Nothing's going to happen to me. I'm an invincible ice-make wizard, remember? I always have my equally powerful friends beside me, especially a certain destructive fire dragon slayer." Gray grinned at him hoping it would cheer him up.

Natsu snorted even though he didn't feel particularly powerful at the moment.

"Close your eyes." Gray said quietly, "I want to try something."

Natsu closed his eyes obediently, he felt safe with Gray. He waited patiently for something to happen and he felt a moist pressure on his lips. It was soft and warm. He felt himself respond even though he didn't really know what he was doing. He pressed back with his own lips and much too soon the pressure was gone. He opened his eyes to see a red faced Gray looking at him nervously.

"Why did you do that?" Natsu asked surprised.

"I wanted you to be my first kiss." Gray's cheeks were getting redder by the second and he was looking everywhere but at Natsu. "My parents told me that your first kiss should be with someone you love."

"You love me?" Natsu asked perplexed by the news.

Gray smiled. "Of course I do, you're my best friend."

Natsu returned the smile, "You're my best friend too!"

"Did I do alright?" Gray asked.

Natsu nodded. He was confused about what was happening but he'd liked it and in a burst of honesty he confided something he'd never felt brave enough to say before. "I like being with you, Gray. Everything's quiet when I'm with you and I'm not scared of anything."

"What are you scared of, Natsu?"

Natsu shook his head. He would not speak of that here. "Kiss me again?"

Gray happily did and they spent a few minutes exploring each other's lips until they heard an angry roar so loud that the words concealed within remained indecipherable. They separated at once and looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from but there was only silence. They looked at each other nervously not knowing what to do. They turned towards the house meaning to go inside when the loud music started.

Natsu burst into tears. This wasn't supposed to happen here. He was with Gray, he should be safe from the noise. Was it because they kissed? The music got even louder and Gray could see that Natsu was terrified.

"Don't cry, Natsu. I will keep you safe, I promise."

Gray rubbed Natsu's arms to calm him but Natsu was still crying. "I'll go see what it is, ok? It's probably just a neighbor having a party, I'll ask them to turn it down." He grabbed Natsu's hand and squeezed it. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Gray walked off the deck and followed the noise towards the source of the loud music.

Natsu screamed frantically. "NO! GRAY, HE'LL GET YOU TOO!"

Natsu paced back and forth on the deck for a bit keeping Gray in view, too scared to follow him. He looked to the sliding door for a second and wondered if he should find Mika, when he looked back Gray was gone and the ground seemed further away than he remembered. Natsu looked all over their yard from the safety of the deck but Gray was nowhere to be seen. Natsu's heart was racing and he was terrified but he had to get off that deck and look for Gray. The wooden steps that let to the yard had grown to the point where Natsu would have to jump from one to the next to get down. He would have to be brave so that he could protect his best friend from the monster that hid within the music. He didn't know how he knew about the monster but he had never been more certain of anything in his life. He stood on the top step and looked down at the ground which was now even further away and before he could change his mind began to jump from step to step until he reached the ground.

Natsu was shaking as he followed the music through his friend's backyard and into the small woods behind it where they often played. He covered his ears to protect them but it made no difference, the music was just as loud and now he could hear screams in the distance. He pushed himself to move faster. He found himself in a dark hallway. It was narrow and he could hear footsteps behind him, getting ever closer. He kept moving forward in the dark, hearing those footsteps speeding up. His heart began to race, it was so loud that he couldn't hear the footsteps anymore. He tried to run, afraid that whoever was behind him was going to grab him, but no matter how hard he tried to speed up it still felt like an agonizing crawl.

"GRAY!" Natsu tried to scream out but could only manage a hoarse whisper, "....Where are you?...."

He strained his ears for a response but there was none. At least none that he could hear. He kept running yelling Gray's name every once in a while. The hallway seemed endless but Natsu kept running. After what felt like hours he began to see light in the darkness. It was leaking out through a door frame, outlining it. He stopped in front of it. The music was loudest here and Natsu was sure if he opened the door he would see where it was coming from. He could hear muffled sounds coming through the loud music. Every cell in his body screamed that he shouldn't go in there, he should never go in there and he didn't want to, but Gray could be in trouble and he was injured. He made up his mind and screwed up his courage, he reached out to turn the doorknob but his arm was grabbed before he could reach it.

He followed the hand that was holding on to his arm all the way back up to its owner and felt the scream that he had been about to let out freeze and turn into a surprised gurgle instead. Holding his arm was his mother and she was shaking her head at him.

"You're not ready to go in there yet."

Natsu looked at her confused. "But Gray's in there, I have to save him."

"Gray was never in that room, Natsu." Mavis said calmly, "Let's get you back to him, he's waiting for you and he's worried."

"Mama, what's in that room?" Natsu asked although he felt he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Your worst nightmare." She grabbed Natsu in her arms and held him against her tightly. She let go of him and smiled at him sadly as she used her fingers to gently move his hair away from his face. She grasped his hand and began to walk him back to Gray's house. Natsu dared to look back at the door with the ominous lightning bolt emblazoned on it one last time as he was pulled away. Mavis gripped his hand tighter. "Natsu, the day will come when you will have to open that door to slay your devils but you're not ready yet."

Natsu nodded in agreement, even though he had no idea what she was talking abouta the racing of his heart and the terror that was embedded in his soul told him that she was right.

"Mama, I miss you." Natsu said but the dream had shifted and instead of his mother gently leading him towards Gray's house his father was forcefully pulling him away from it. He was scowling and looking at him with disgust.

"How could you do that, Natsu?" his father roared. "Did you actually like it, is that it? Were you hoping he would do it to you?"

Natsu looked at him uncomprehendingly as he cowered, recognizing the roar from earlier. What was his father talking about? He had just been with his mother.....

"What did I do?" he pleaded for an answer as he cried. "I don't understand."

"I can't let you do this to anyone else." Igneel growled as he pulled him harder.

"Papa, please just tell me what I did wrong! I promise I won't ever do it again."

"You're damn right you won't." Igneel yelled as he opened the door to his car and threw Natsu inside before slamming the door shut behind him. "We're going to fix you."

Igneel got into the driver's seat and dialed a number on his phone as Natsu howled in fright from the back seat and cried out for his mother and Zeref. "Acnologia? It's Igneel, what's the name of that place you told me about?"

Natsu calmed down as his father continued to talk on the phone. He looked out the window and saw a boy with long green hair watching him from across the street. Even though his features were vague, Natsu could make out that his expression was sad. The boy seemed to be trying to say something to him. When Natsu shook his head to let the boy know he didn't understand, the boy began to cry red tears until his front was covered with what appeared to be streaks of blood. The boy reached out his hand towards Natsu who began to whimper. Natsu turned away and when he looked back, the boy was standing right outside his window, sending a shock through Natsu. As the boy put his bloody hand on the car window Natsu began to hoarsely scream in terror.

Natsu woke up with a start, his heart racing and tears rolling down his cheeks. A scream formed in his throat but he managed to hold it back not wanting to wake up Wendy or Zeref. What the fuck kind of dream was that? He sat up in his bed and tried to get himself under control as the dream began to fade away. He got up and decided to explore the house, there was no way in hell he was going back to sleep after that.

A/N A special thanks to MiyuTanemura for reading the dream sequence and giving me feedback, and to hubs for getting excited about it enough to offer some constructive criticisms and suggestions :).