I'd Freeze the Heavens for You

Warmth

"But Gray..."

"I'm not going to let him take you away from me!" he shouted. He struggled to breathe, and Lucy heard him gulping hard, fighting to keep his stomach down. "Please,don't leave me. Even if that lady can get us to the entrance, it took us four hours to travel from town to this maze. We'd never make it back in time. It's... too late for me."

Part of him was scared. He did not want to leave Lucy, not after finding out she loved him. Mostly, he was angry. He would not get to see Whitehall brought to justice. Gray still wanted vengeance for the suffering Whitehall put Lucy through. Instead, he would leave her, and there was no guarantee that Lucy could make it out of this maze alone.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, clinging to her. "It was really reckless of me to say I love you when I won't be around long enough to do more."

"Idiot. If you hadn't said it, I'd still be frozen." She took his face into her hands. "You fought to save me. Do you really think I'm going to sit around and do nothing while you die of poison?" She lightly slapped both cheeks with her hands and held them cupped in her palms. "We're Fairy Tail wizards. We don't give up that easily. There has to be a cure, and I'm not about to sit cooped up in this cabin like a princess in a tower while my ice prince sacrifices himself."

"Your... ice prince?" Gray whispered, shocked and embarrassed to hear her call him that.

With her hands still cupping his face, Lucy leaned in and rubbed her nose against Gray's. "My ice prince," she repeated gently. Then she kissed him. His wide, stunned eyes slowly lowered, relaxing into her kiss. He could definitely get used to the feel of her lips.

Suddenly, Gray yanked back, coughing hard. He tried to cover his mouth, but blood sprayed out. Lucy cried out to him, but Gray went limp, almost collapsing to the floor. Lucy grabbed his shoulders and held him against the couch as Gray tensed up in agony.

"Dammit!" He really had not wanted to show weakness in front of her, but the pain was unendurable. He suddenly coughed again, and although he used both hands to cover his mouth, he tasted blood and felt it drip between his fingers and down his chin.

"Gray!" Lucy shrieked. What could she do? She couldn't just leave him here, but they had to find Wisteria. She was the only one who knew how to escape this maze. However, Gray was right. Even if Wisteria took them to the front gate instantaneously, it was four hours to the nearest town, and there was no guarantee that a healer lived there.

Gray looked over at her. The terror in Lucy's brown eyes anguished him. He did not want to see her afraid like this, certainly not over him. He was about to tell her to go, try to find Wisteria, just to get her away so she did not have to watch him slowly die.

His stomach suddenly cramped again. Gray hugged his gut and collapsed sideways, screaming in pain. It felt like a hole had just eaten through his stomach, and all the gastric acid was leaking into his intestinal cavity. He punched the floor, trying to take his mind off the agony. He did not want Lucy to watch him die, but he did not want her to leave his side. Through tears of suffering, he looked up at her.

What should he do? She was crying, and he hated that. He began to open his mouth to apologize, but blood gurgled up. He barely had time to turn his head down before clots of crimson blood spewed out with force.

"Gray!"

Just then, the door flew open, wind and snow swirled into the cabin, and there was a massive, black, floating hand. Wendy was in those shadowy fingers, and she was suddenly dumped inside the cabin. A second later, Wisteria appeared magically, apparently in the midst of putting on her coat.