Regrets in the Crying Sky

Decisions

It was autumn, almost time for Fantasia. Gray knew Natsu would be back for the celebration; no way would he miss it. He just did not know when the Fire Dragon Slayer was due to arrive. No one knew. Normally, Natsu was good at writing back to the people in Fairy Tail, just to assure everyone he was okay, although often to warn them that he broke something again. This time, they had only one letter from him, and that arrived in July, wishing Lucy a happy birthday.

Gray was in the guild hall, laughing at the younger generation of "brats" who were fighting amongst themselves. He remembered when it was him and Natsu acting like that, challenging one another, shouting and using magic in a brawl. Had it been this comical to the adults? He had taken those challenges and rivalries so seriously back then.

Happy flew up and sat beside Gray. The Exceed had hardly changed in all those years, although now he was a father to a few kittens. It seemed that Exceeds matured quickly but aged slowly. Pantherlily once said that Exceeds perceived time differently than humans. Gray wondered if these six months were a blink of an eye to Happy.

"How are you feeling, Gray?" the blue cat asked in concern.

He heard that question a lot lately. "Better than yesterday." That was his standard answer.

"Are you and Juvia talking again yet?"

He glanced across the room to the blue-haired woman. Seeing her still pained his heart. Maybe it always would. However, she was laughing at something Cana was saying. At least she could smile again.

"We've talked," he said quietly. It took half a year, but Fairy Tail had pretty much gotten over the shock of Gray and Juvia's divorce. Gray was just glad that Juvia said nothing about Natsu to anybody.

"Any word from Natsu?"

Gray had confessed everything to Happy. He felt that, as Natsu's best friend and practically like his son, the Exceed deserved to know. Happy was stunned, but he had nervously admitted that he knew about Natsu's feelings for Gray for a long time. He was not angry, and he came often to visit Gray. Really, if it had not been for his upbeat attitude, Gray had no clue how miserable he might have been over these past six months. However...

"I've not received a single letter," he admitted.

He would have liked something: a letter, a call, some sort of communication with the Dragon Slayer. Sometimes he wrote letters to Natsu, but he burned them afterward. The letters were mostly filled with his own anguish, confusion, venting his frustrations while reminiscing over that one night. He wondered if maybe the same was true about Natsu.

"What will you do?" asked Happy.

Gray dropped his head. The time to decide was soon. What had he decided upon after half a year thinking about this?

Before he could answer, Mira gasped. She had been reading the guild's mail, and one letter trembled in her hands. She looked up with happiness.

"Natsu is coming home!" she cried out. "He says he's due back Thursday. That's today. We should throw a party."

People cheered. Natsu was well-loved and respected, even if he was a destructive pyromaniac. Gray had to smiled with pride as he saw how Fairy Tail could rejoice for their very own Fire Dragon Slayer.

Happy flew off, wanting to read the letter. Gray drank some more, keeping quiet for now. No one else knew yet. He was not even sure what he could tell people. He wanted to save Natsu from shame, so he simply told no one but Happy about that night. Besides, for many months, he had no clue if it would be better for everyone if that evening ended up being a one-night-stand.