Fifteen minutes later, we arrived back at Fairy Tail. My heart was beating out of my chest in anxiety, as I looked at Storm. His black hair blew across his face in the winter wind as we opened the guild hall doors.
As we opened them, we were greeted by cheers of Fairy Tail members. But the calls in whistles ceased as they noticed Storm dangling limply from Celia's paws. I heard Juvia whimper from the crowd.
"What happened to my baby!?" She sobbed hysterically. "Neva Indra Fullbuster you get your butt over here this instant!" From the tone of her voice, I could tell Juvia wasn't as angry as she made out to be. She was just worried about her daughter and concerned about the heath status of her son.
"He was shot," Fay said simply. She showed no sympathy at all for Juvia or Storm. I rolled my eyes.
"We beat the guild, as well. Celia carried Storm back with us. He's still breathing, but he's unconscious." I bowed my head in shame. This was all my fault. I should have protected Storm.
A woman with short, dark blue hair approached from the crowd. She rubbed her hands on her temples. "I can heal him." She said, but I could tell she was nervous.
"You have to save him, Wendy!" Juvia whimpered, burying her face into her spouse, Gray's, shoulder.
"I'll do what I can." Wendy said coolly. "Lie him down on the ground."
Celia set Storm gently on to the wooden floor. His breath was even shallower than before, the wheezing more intense. Tears welled up in my eyes as the thought of Storm dying crossed my mind. He wouldn't. He couldn't. He was strong, he would survive.
Wendy hovered her hands over Storm's abdomen. A soft, pale grey light appeared as the blood dried on his shirt seemed to evaporate like water. Wendy's hands were shaking vigorously, and she was trembling. As the light stopped, she had a blank look on her face.
"What?" I asked her, rushed, and frankly scared.
Wendy didn't speak at all. The entire guild was dead silent as Wendy dipped her head down towards Storm. She muttered something under her breath. Her head slowly came upwards, a small grin on her face.
My heart seemed to be beating against my rib cage, like it was trying to break free from a prison. Storm's eyes opened, and I didn't realize how much I missed the sight of them. He had only been unconscious for half an hour, but it felt like ages since he had been shot. His white shirt was now pearly, all the traces of blood gone.
Without restraint, I ran over and hugged him on the floor. When he coughed, I remembered he was still weak from blood loss. "S-sorry," I said awkwardly. My face flushed, and he smirked slightly.
"It's okay." He coughed again. I wanted to hug him again.
Our of nowhere, someone crashed over and pushed me out of the way. I hit my head on the floor. When I realized what had happened, I saw Juvia kissing her son's forehead and squeezing him into a hug tighter than I'd ever seen. She was sobbing hysterically, and Gray was trying to restrain her and pull her away from Storm. She apparently had no knowledge that blood loss as well.
"Oh Storm!" She sobbed. "Your sister was almost killed, I didn't want to lose both my babies!"
Gray rolled his eyes. "Juv, Storm is strong. He was going to survive. He's tough, like his dad." Gray smiled proudly. I giggled when I had realized Gray had stripped again, and turned away. Gray wasn't even aware of it!
***
Once everything calmed down, I sat at the bar table, drinking some water Mirajane had poured for me. I was overwhelmed by all the events that had happened in the last day: Losing Neva, fighting a dark guild, defeating a dark guild, Storm almost dying, Storm being healed and Neva being returned. Wow. A lot to take in.
As I chugged a sip of water down, someone sat in the seat next to me. It was Storm. I somewhat expected to see him there. When I studied him, it looked as if nothing had never happened to the upbeat ice boy I called my friend.
"Yo, Nashi." He waved to me. Storm sighed, pushing all of his hair back out of his eyes.
"Hi." I said, taking another drink.
Storm smiled. "I wanted to ask you..." I blushed. "Did we ever defeat Naked Mummy in the end?" Did you hear that? That was my heart shattering.
"Oh, yeah. Me and Fay beat him up."
The ice boy seemed shocked. "Without magic!?"
I nodded. "We may be girls, but we're not weaklings."
Things were quiet between us. But my spirit lifted as a pair of arms wrapped around me. "Thank you," Storm said into my ear. I couldn't help but smile. When he let go I could still feel the imprint of his hug on me. And even when I thought he was going to walk away, he didn't. I felt blush creeping up my face.
And he kissed me. I didn't ask for it, I didn't expect it, I didn't understand it. I just sat there, completely surprised as his lips pressed against me. I felt stares from surrounding guild members. But despite that, I pulled Storm closer to me and kissed him back. When I finally pulled away, I didn't want to but it couldn't go on forever, I could tell his face was flushed, as was mine.
Without another word, Storm walked away coolly. Like nothing had just happened between us, like he hadn't kissed me at all. But yeah, tat just happened.
I didn't quite know what I felt anymore; how any of that had occurred... or why,
Love is strange.