The Diary of an Introvert

Epilogue: Protect

That night after meeting Natsu in the holding cell, Gray went to the farm house again.

He barged into Natsu's bedroom and began to search the wardrobes and the cupboards for the missing pieces.

Who else was involved with Natsu and Kaira? Who was the guy that ran away before Gray could see him?

Gray was frantically pulling out clothes and other stuff and throwing them on the floor all around him.

Not long after though, as he pulled open Natsu's bedside drawer, a vibrant photograph was sitting on top of a pile of envelopes.

Gray picked up the photo and tiredly slumped at the edge of the bed.

There were three people with shovels in their hands and smiling broadly at the camera in front of a large oak tree.

Starting from the left, it was Jellal, Kaira and then Natsu.

The three of them seemed close and their fingers were gesturing a peace sign.

Gray's eyes widened as it stopped upon Jellal's smiling face.

He felt as though his heart would attack him any moment.

The surprise was way too much for him to take...Suddenly, there was a knock on the open door and Gray spontaneously hid the photo behind his back and jumped to his feet.

An old woman who was hunched and was holding a dried walking stick looked at Gray with squinted eyed.

"Natsu...?" She uttered and slowly walked inside. She was Natsu's grandma. Gray knew her very well since she lived with Natsu in the farm house but wouldn't come out of her room unless she needed something.

Gray cleared his throat. "No... it's me, Gray. Natsu's friend." He said and walked towards her.

The old woman looked up and her brows gradually rose as Gray came into her sight.

"Oh...Then where is Natsu?" She asked, looking around the room.

"He's..." Gray couldn't answer her. What could he say? That he was in the station waiting to go to a prison?

"So they finally took him, did they?" She disappointedly looked down at her feet and sniffed.

"Sorry Grandma...but what do you mean?"

"I told him that he can't be safe forever...that someday his wrongdoings will be divulged," Grandma looked up with tears in her eyes. "I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my grandson..."

Another pang of surprise smacked Gray's chest.

So Natsu's grandma knew of their crime? Then why didn't she stop them?

"I tried..." She said. "I tried stopping them but they wouldn't listen to me. The girl with the red shoes--what was her name?"

"Kaira." Gray answered quickly.

"Yes...She threatened to kill my dear Natsu if I inform about them to the police...What could I do then? I couldn't let my grandson get hurt because of them...I just couldn't." Grandma cried and it seemed as though she was going to fall on her knees any moment now if Gray didn't seat her somewhere.

So, he swiftly grabbed hold of her trembling hands and walked her towards Natsu's bed. She sat and touched the mattress as if it was a piece of diamond.

"Grandma...what else do you know?" He asked, kneeling in front of her. He placed the photo in front of her eyes and noticed that they had grew wide again.