Plot requested by Kittykat5900
Word Count: 2478
(f/c): favorite color
'...': thoughts
"C'mon guys, let's go!!"
A blur of pink zips out the guild doors. Natsu can barely contain his excitement and tries to rush his team out the door. He had chosen a job request that peaked his interest and his teammates are really hyped up for it as well.
"Natsu! Can you just wait for five minutes! You literally just chose the job fifteen minutes ago. We have to pack our essentials," Lucy scolds the impatient male while sitting on her travel bag in an attempt to keep it shut. She's the only one left to finish packing and is trying to speed up the process.
"Relax, Natsu. The job can wait for a while. Let everyone get ready." Erza, who already has her large wagon of belongs packed and ready to go, holds on to Natsu's scarf to keep him in place.
"Yea flame-brain, relax," Gray teases. Natsu growls lowly and takes a step to fight him, but Erza is still holding onto him with an iron grip. Gray looks around Lucy's apartment and sees two white-haired twins on Lucy's couch. A slight blush appears on his cheeks as he watches the youngest twin, who is is best friend, talk animatedly to her brother. Her personality had caught his attention ever since he met her, and he found himself falling for her.
Elfman and his younger twin sister (Y/n) are completing the job alongside Team Natsu upon Gray's request. The job requests for six mages to help and Team Natsu, not counting Happy since he's an exceed, only consists of four people. At first, Natsu was going to invite Lissana and Elfman to join, but Gray suggested that (Y/n) would be a better choice than Lissana since she's stronger than Elfman. Erza agreed with him, which explains the current presence of the the Strauss twins.
"Elf-nii!! You messed up my hair!" (Y/n) pouts cutely while trying to untangle her hair that her brother had playfully ruffled. Said brother got up and began to tickle his twin, causing bursts of giggles and laughter. (Y/n) eventually slips away from Elfman and hides behind Gray. Her small hands grip Gray's shoulders lightly as she turns him to shield herself from her brother's tickling.
The small playful fight comes to an end when Lucy comes out, dragging a fat bag behind her. Elfman walks over to the couch and picks up his bag, along with his sister's, and heads out the door. Erza finally lets go of Natsu to drag her wagon and Natsu grabs a snacking Happy off the kitchen counter. Gray slings his bag onto his shoulders and gently pulls (Y/n) out of Lucy's apartment.
~Time Skip~
An hour is spent, wandering from house to house until the group finally finds the correct house belonging to man who requested for them. Natsu runs up to the door and bashes his fist against the wood. A small, elderly man opens the door and asks to see the group's guild marks. One by one, they reveal their marked skin until the man nods approvingly. He opens the door wider and invites them inside.
The team sits in vacant seats across from the man while he explains in detail about the job. He explains to them about the history of attacks his village has suffered from and how the monsters come at night to grab their children, who are never seen again. (Y/n) shyly clings to Elfman's forearm, the only part of his arm she can reach, and listens intently to the horrific story the old man retells.
By the end of the explanation, the sun had already set. Erza thanks the old man and tells him that they'll start right away. She splits the group into pairs to patrol the village.
"Ok, listen up! Lucy and Elfman will patrol the East side of the village. Gray and (Y/n) will cover the West side. Natsu and I will cover the North side and Happy will fly above the South side. If anything happens or the monsters are spotted, shoot a flare into the sky. It's dark right now, so the flares are going to be easily spotted. Any questions?"
Elfman complains about being separated from (Y/n), saying that he's "manly enough to protect her", but Erza immediately shakes her head.
"You and your sister both use Take Over (Beast Soul) magic. Separating you two into different pairs will be more effective than putting you together."
Elfman opens his mouth to retaliate, but stops when he feels a soft tug on his sleeve. He looks slightly down to see (Y/n) hugging him tightly.
"Don't worry, Elf-nii. Nothing bad will happen. Even if something does, Gray will help me!" (Y/n) puts on a heartwarming smile and squeezes her brother in assurance.
The twins hug each other once more before parting to their assigned sections. Elfman turns to look at Gray, nodding at him. Gray returns the nod, understanding what he means, before he takes (Y/n) towards the West section.
~Time Skip~
"Beast Arm: Iron Bull!"
"Ice make: Lance!"
Gray and (Y/n) cast their magic one spell after another, trying to kill off the seemingly infinite numbers of monsters that are running at them. The others were more fortunate and only dealt with a few or none. Erza had discovered the monsters' territory and went to destroy it with Natsu, Elfman, and Lucy.
After an hour, the waves of monsters died down until they eventually stopped coming. Gray and (Y/n) are exhausted and their magic power is drained. Silence falls between the two of them before Gray decides to start a conversation. They engage in small talk at first and talk their way into lengthy discussions.
"So...do you like anyone, (Y/n)?"
The question catches (Y/n) off guard and she almost chokes on her own saliva. She gulps nervously and looks away from Gray. "Yea," she says.
"Oh, cool." Gray hadn't expected her to answer 'yes' and his heart sinks a bit. A part of him hopes that the special person is him, but he knows that his chance of b into that person is small. He knows that (Y/n) sees him as a close friend, but he wants to be more than that.
"Who is it," he pushes. Gray doesn't want to be nosy or pry into her personal business, but he's desperate for a name.
"You," (Y/n) whispers in a tone so quiet, Gray can barely tell she even spoke. But he heard.
"I-I....uh....r-really?" Gray curses at himself for stuttering in front of (Y/n) and puts on a serious face to try and stop himself from stumbling over his words any further. (Y/n) misinterprets his reaction and feels heartbroken.
For many years, she's been harboring feelings for the ice-make mage, but has never been brave enough to say anything. Her three siblings had figured it out for a long time, but said nothing to Gray in respect for their sister. The reaction to her answer leaves (Y/n) sad, but she has no control over who he loves and respects him no matter who that person is.
"I-I'm s-sorry! I'll go now. You probably want to be alone right now," she squeaks out before taking off into the nearby forest, leaving Gray no time to say or do anything to stop her.
"Ugh. Gray, you idiot," he curses to himself. "Why didn't you answer her right away!?"
"FULLBUSTER," Elfman shouts from several feet away. He's running towards Gray with Happy, Natsu, Lucy, and Erza in tow.
Gray waves them over with a smirk, but is trembling. 'When Elfman finds out I upset his younger twin and made her run off into the forest, he's going to have my skin,' he thinks to himself as Elfman stops before him.
"Huh....Where's (Y/n)? (Y/n)!? (Y/N)!!" Elfman looks around around for his sister and calls her name, but he doesn't get a response.
"She isn't here..." Gray looks down at the ground while shuffling his feet. Everyone looks at him with questioning stares. Elfman starts to get angry and charges at him. Natsu and Erza quickly jump in to separate the two.
"CALM DOWN, BOTH OF YOU." Erza's menacing glare silences them. "Gray," she begins," explain what happened. Now."
He doesn't look up at them, but he does respond after a couple of seconds. "She confessed that she loves me, but I was so shocked that I didn't tell her fast enough that I love her as well. She misinterpreted my silence and ran off into the forest before I could stop her. I swear, I didn't mean to upset her!"
~Meanwhile in a random part of the forest~
(Y/n) runs as far as her legs will carry her. Being physically exhausted and magically drained from completing the job has left her incapable of getting very far. Branches and thorns from the surrounding brush claw at her clothes, tearing scraps off as she passes by. She continues to run until she finally collapses.
The soft sounds of the forest's creatures calms (Y/n)'s racing heart. Tears rush down her face as if each drop is racing the others. Choking sobs disrupt the calm noise around her.
Curling into fetal position, (Y/n) lets her exhaustion take over as the gentle chirping of birds above lull her tired body into unconsciousness.
~Back to the everyone else; they are currently searching for (Y/n)~
Elfman, who is still a bit angry at Gray, stomps around the forest with the rest of the group behind him. 'Men should not make women cry! As a man, I won't allow it,' he chants in his mind as he continues look for (Y/n). Gray had pointed him in the general direction that (Y/n) had run off to, but the chances of finding her aren't great. The forest isn't big, but there is plenty of places for (Y/n) to hide and lots of brush that will cover her from view.
All hopes of finding any traces of (Y/n) dwindle. Natsu is unable to find (Y/n)'s scent in the forest because of the thick musk of the surrounding creatures and plants and the fact that he doesn't remember her scent to begin with. Lucy is close to telling Elfman to wait until morning to continue searching when she spots a scrap of (f/c) cloth hanging on a nearby branch.
"Elfman!! Look!" Lucy grabs the ripped cloth from the branch and shows Elfman her discovery. Everyone's eyes widen and a spark of hope is relit in them. Elfman immediately takes the cloth from Lucy and hands it to Natsu. The pink-haired dragon slayer takes a whiff of the scent and spins around to pinpoint where (Y/n) is.
Not even three seconds later, Natsu takes off and screams for the others to follow. They race through the forest, tripping every so often, and nearly crash into Natsu when he suddenly comes to a halt. Everyone peaks around Natsu (Elfman just looks above him) and see (Y/n) on the forest floor, passed out from exhaustion.
Gingerly, Elfman scoops up his small twin sister and the group turns around to head back the the village. They stay at a cheap hotel before journeying back to the guild.
(Y/n) remained unconscious throughout the entire trip back to the guild. She was carried by Elfman and Elfman only. He refused to let Gray touch her and the others, he was afraid they'd drop her. Gray would walk alongside the Strauss twins, lamenting.
~Mini Time Skip~
The team arrive at the Fairy Tail guild and push open the doors. All the guild members start to cheer and congratulate them for their success, but quiet down when they realize the youngest Strauss twin is lying in the older twin's arms. Gasps and not-so-quiet whispers echo around the guild hall as Elfman pushes through the crowd of mages to get to the infirmary.
Mira's eyes widen and she put her hands up to cover her mouth in shock. Lissana breaks down into tears and latches onto her older sister's arm. Master Makarov places a hand on Mira's shoulder, saying comforting words and assuring that (Y/n) is okay. He calls for Wendy after consoling with the two Strauss sisters, sending her to the infirmary to check on (Y/n).
"Don't worry, Elfman. (Y/n) will be fine. Her body was too worn out and now it's just recovering while she's unconscious."
Elfman lets out a sigh in relief and thanks the young dragon slayer. He places a quick kiss on (Y/n)'s forehead before walking out to the guild hall to inform his other sisters of the good news. Gray immediately rushes to Elfman when he leaves the infirmary. He apologizes profusely and Elfman accepts his many apologies.
~Mini Time Skip Again~ (sorry!)
(Y/n) wakes up, confused and dazed. Her body tenses and she prepares to flee. She looks around the bright room before realizing where she's at and relaxes. Turning to her right, she notices a mop of dark hair at the edge of her cot. A large number of people she knows with dark hair comes to mind. (Y/n) begins listing them one by one, trying to figure out who is by her side, asleep.
Something glimmers in the sunlight that is illuminating the room and catches her eye. (Y/n) gently takes the object into her hand to examine it. A silver cross attached to a chain. Her eyes widen. 'Gray! What's he doing here?' As gently as she took the pendant, (Y/n) places it back where it was resting.
Gray stirs in his sleep when he hears the faint clinking of his necklace chain but doesn't wake up. (Y/n) smiles and carefully shifts her body closer to Gray's. She combs her fingers through his soft, dark hair while humming quietly to herself. This time, Gray wakes up. He looks up to see a very awake and healthy (Y/n).
A surprised yelp bounces off the infirmary walls as Gray tackles (Y/n) in a tight hug. He apologizes over and over for his mistake in the village. Her eyes widen when she hears him saying that he loves her. While he's still spitting out apologies, (Y/n) clasps her hands on his face and kisses his lips to silence him.
The rest of the day, (Y/n) and Gray cuddle on the infirmary's small cot. Elfman came in to find the new couple asleep with their arms around each other and heads resting together.