The Waiting Game ( Fairy Tail Fanfic )

Moving On and New Feelings

Ch. 6 – Moving On and New Feelings

On Team Natsu's latest mission, Gray was injured against the enemy. Even though he was able to defeat his opponent, he underestimated their strength. Erza was the first one to find him. He had a broken arm and leg and there were scratches all over his body. Gray was unconscious for the entire trip back to the guild and Natsu was the one to carry him. Gray got an earful from him when he finally woke up.

A week had gone by since their return and Gray's wounds seemed to be healing quickly.

"Ow! That's too tight!"

"Hold still."

Wendy was off on a mission so she was unable to heal Gray's injuries. He was forced to tough it out the old fashioned way until she returned. Erza took it upon herself to take care of Gray's wounds while Wendy was away. She thought it was the least she could do as his friend. His cuts had almost completely faded away, but his arm and leg still needed to be wrapped tightly in order to heal correctly. Erza was currently replacing the bandages for his broken arm and had already finished wrapping his leg.

There were a number of Fairy Tail members lounging around the main hall along with them. A bunch of them were snickering at the sight of the two, who were sitting so close to each other. Cana, Macao and Wakaba were the loudest of the bunch. They were standing in an area where Erza couldn't see them and made kissy faces at Gray. So that Erza wouldn't wonder why he was making such a sour expression, Gray tried his best to act normal and ignore the drunken bunch.

"Can you at least be little more…gentle?"

Erza gave him a playful smile as her eyes focused on the bandage she wrapped around his arm. She spoke softly enough so only he could hear. "Is this all the Gray-sama can handle?"

"S-Shut up!" Gray's raised voice caught the attention of everyone around them. They were all staring at him and it made his skin crawl. Out of embarrassment, he whispered back to her while trying to hide his face from everyone. "I haven't called myself that since I was a kid!"

"I know." Erza gave a small laugh and looked up at him this time. "The bandit you faced turned out to be the leader of the group. I was meant to defeat him myself, but you were able to do it without too much trouble. I can tell you aren't the same little kid who used to pick fights with me. You've improved."

Gray looked the other way to hide his blush streaked face. He mumbled to himself in hopes that Erza wouldn't hear him. "And yet you haven't improved much with wrapping bandages."

"I heard that."

"Uh…" That was when Gray started sweating bullets.

Gray thought Erza was going to scold him for talking that way (and to her of all people), but she chose not to. He was right after all. The last time she tried to treat his injuries she had made a huge mess and he ended up looking like a mummy. Erza decided to study on how to properly take care of injuries. Even after all the research she put into it, she never got the results she was looking for. Erza had definitely improved, but her work was still sloppy and easily came undone. Being the perfectionist that she was, it was unacceptable to her.

"All done." Erza pulled hard on the ends of the bandage and Gray let out a small cry of pain. She tied the ends tightly together into a simple knot and stood up from the bench. "Wendy should be coming home sometime today so hold out until she gets back."

When Erza was about to walk off, Gray reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Erza."

She stopped herself and looked back at him. He let go of her wrist when he realized she wasn't going to run off. She spun herself around to face him straight on. He scratched the back of his head and tried to avoid her stare. The redhead wasn't sure what he wanted to say, but she waited for his response. Gray looked up at her when he finally spoke. "I didn't mean to say that. You did a good job…thanks."