#icemde

@icemde sent: ✿

(1) If it weren't for Gray, Erza would have left Fairy Tail. When she had joined the guild, she had struggled to connect with the other kids despite their efforts to reach out to her. She had shut them down, not because she disliked them, but because of her insecurity and anxiety.

She doubted that she'd ever fit in the guild. She knew that, once she opened up and ended up liking them, she'd get attached. Due to her trauma of losing Jellal and her friends in ToH, she had this belief that misfortune came to anyone she loved.

Gray had tried to pick a fight with her during that one instance, but that incident had also become the turning point of their relationship. When he had followed her to the river and seen her cry for the first time, he sat down with her in silence. Words were not spoken, but there was an understanding and his sole presence comforted her. It pushed her to try harder, and little by little, she opened up to the guild and let her hair down, solidifying her place in Fairy Tail.

(2) Gray was the only person from Fairy Tail that Erza was in touch with during the one year gap, post-FT disbandment. After the guild's disbandment, Erza had felt indifferent. Her mental health deteriorated due to the resurfacing trauma from Kyouka's torture, and her emotions were numbed from being overwhelmed. Losing the guild was her last straw.

❝ Take a wild guess Fullbuster. ❞

The Seer gave her brother a long look. A look that quelled the rowdy upstarts of the guild from acting foolish, rash-- perhaps just like her, once upon a time. Perhaps just like the friends she once had.

She raised her glass and took a quick sip. The contents could very well have been liquor, juice, water-- it was anyone's guess, but for Guildmaster Cana Alberona, it was knowledge that only she was privy to. That said, as quick as she sipped her glass, it was set down with a final click of glass against the countertop.

❝ Looks like Blue Peguses didn't fill you in on what's changed, ❞ she said. ❝ Guess that's to be expected. Well...guess it's up to me t'fill you in... ❞

A clipped sigh escaped before she stood-- older, wiser, stronger-- before facing her brother-- who remained unchanged, young, with 7 years of time withheld from the forced stasis that he, and the others, have endured -- and gave her reintroduction:

❝ I'm the Fourth Guildmaster of Fairy Tail: Cana Alberona. ❞

"..."

★ |  * ⋆      -   -  - –  INBOX !  *  ﹡                  ﹡     ✧ * ☇  ( @arcanaaa ! )

-> When it comes to Natsu and Gray's fighting habits yes it is majorly out of a sense of rivalry and weirdly in a way their version of bonding but it's also to get out pent up energy. Natsu has like fantasy ADHD and can't sit the fuck down for two seconds. He has just WAY too much energy and needs to find ways to get it out. It's why he's always picking fights and on the move. Whether Gray realizes this consciously or subconsciously I think he realizes it either way and it's also a big reason why he's ready to jump into a fight with Natsu at any given point. Also cause neither one of them can let the other have the last laugh

@icemde asked:

IF GRAY WAS ONE THING, BEING SUBTLE WASN'T IT. It wasn't for a lack of trying mind you, he had actually tried to play things off cool and not draw too much attention to himself the last few days, even if it seemed like every other member of their guild was attempting to do the exact opposite. He swore, being loud and obnoxious was as much of an indicator of their guild as the mark they all wore with pride, but that was beside the point. In all luck, he had managed to ( mostly ) stay out of a specific seer's radar, mainly due to the fact that he had convinced both Lucy and Loke to keep her occupied.

HE HAD ONE GOAL THIS YEAR, AND THAT WAS TO GENUINELY SURPRISE CANA. An easy mission in concept alone, but one that becomes 10 times harder when he remembers the fact that she just tends to know shit she isn't supposed to. how do you surprise someone who can see into the future and can guess your every move, even without that ability. Of course he had a few ideas, most of which required asking his fellow guild mates to keep a secret ( a task he knew for some would be 100% impossible ) which quickly led them to end up in the discard pile, leaving him with only a few options left.

IT WASN'T A LARGE GIFT BY ANY MEANS, BUT SOMETHING HOPEFULLY SHE'D FIND USEFUL. A small part of him wondered if he should have been concerned with how easily Loke was able to steal one of her arm bands for him, but with the limited amount of time he had left, it was best not to think hard about it. It was a simple gift in concept, take the arm band that he had infused with his magic years ago and enhance it so she could use it to summon whatever she needed on short notice. Gray was never one to question the quality of her prosthetic, having been on the receiving end of it's might more times that he'd like to admit, but there was something comforting about know that if anything did happen to it, she could summon a backup at any given moment. It had taken a lot more trial an error than he would have liked to admit, but it was done and he hoped she'd like it.

WHICH LEADS TO THE PRESENT DAY. The two of them alone at the guild late at night, shooting the shit and just talking about anything and everything. A sense of nostalgia washed over the ice mage, remembering the hundreds of nights in their youth before the rest of their generation joined, where it had always just been them against it all. His eyes glanced over to one of the clocks, noticing that it was officially past midnight. Reaching into his pocket, he quickly pulled out the band, wrapped in a small box and slid it across their table, doing everything in his power to keep himself calm.

❝ Another year and you have yet to bring the world to it's knees. Gotta be some kind of record at this point. Anyways, this is for you. Oh, and happy birthday.

THE ACHE IN HER 'ARM' WASN'T SOMETHING SHE WAS SURE SHE WOULD EVER GET USED TO. It was a persistent, maddening itch that would never abate, no matter how much she scratched. And she tried-- only her nails would scrap against nothing. Only a void where her arm once remained. A symptom of her...amputation to be sure. How would anyone 'get used' to losing a limb? That wasn't something Cana ever imagined would ever happen to her. Not even with her gift could she have seen the outcome of the war and the damage done to her. She would often wonder what losing a part of yourself would feel like from an impersonal standpoint, but now that that experience was given to her...well.

There was a saying about 'be careful what you say.'

Cana's current prosthetic was something of a carbon copy of her old man's arm that functioned no differently than her living limb, but...it was bulky and ugly. Suffice to say, the Seer would rather avoid wearing it all together even if it was at the cost of people staring at her.

That was new for her to receive sudden mixed looks of curious fascination and pity, but Cana understood their shock. What she didn't appreciate was feeling like an invalid. So many people were accommodating to her disability, to help her adjust and, blessedly, make the whole thing so normal when there is no normal after the war.

There Was No Going Back.

CANA WAS BLESSED WITH MANY PEOPLE WHO LOVED HER AND WOULD DO ANYTHING TO GIVE HER THE 'NORMAL' FROM YESTERYEARS. It was far more than she could ever ask for, but there was no lack of appreciation from the card mage, only the means to show it. The best she could do now was live with the life she had now, and be the source of hope; even after the horrors inflicted upon them left deep wounds that would never truly heal, one could still move on. So long as there were people to live for, then living was bearable.

Another year, huh... Cana thought wistfully. What a year indeed.

It was certainly busy, but that was nothing new. Fairy Tail never slept, always keeping a vigil over the wayward charges who lingered in the hall who weren't quite ready to turn in for the night. Cana was no different, but at least the company was familiar and appreciated. Or at least it would have been, had Gray not mentioned her birthday within earshot of the others in the guild. Thankfully, no one appeared to have noticed the casual slip, yet it didn't mean she wouldn't direct a soft glare in his direction. It was a look that said, 'Could you be any louder?'

From his unconcerned expression, Gray didn't appear perturbed with irritating her. He seemed more concerned with presenting his box...with her armband.

Now, at first, the Seer's expression was...discourteous, if not annoyed, given that she had been missing her armband ( curious though, that it happened to be her right armband, and she was almost sure of who the culprit was ).

❝ Really? ❞ she deadpanned. As she scolds Gray for his deception ( and make no mistake, he is not the only culprit that will hear her ire ) Cana reaches towards the box to open it unthinkingly, not paying attention to the unassuming heirloom or the enchantment embued upon the metal. ❝ If your goal was to surprise me, then you succeeded-- ❞ The deceptively cool metal felt no different than usual, so she thought nothing of it when she fastened the armband back into its rightful place upon her bicep. Yet the moment that her armband slid over the socket up to her bicep, something changed.

❝ --honestly, I can't believe...you... ❞

Her expression goes still, eyebrows furrowed with confusion. ❝ Gray...what...? ❞ It takes her a moment, but as the embued magic fuses into her limb, becoming part of her, her eyes widen as a realization of what was done sinks in. Blue hues widen and jerk to Gray's calm demeanor, yet only now did was she able to see the stiffness upon his shoulders, almost nervous.

As if anticipating something.

❝ ...what did you do...? ❞

A hushed silence falls between them as all of a sudden, with the sound of ice crackling across a lake's surface, a newly summoned limb of carved ice springs from the socked of her severed arm. The unexpected summons earned a startled yelp to jump from her throat and almost made Cana fall out of her seat. Yet the limb responded to her panic and held onto the edge of the table. Just like her old arm used to.

The Seer fell silent.

No words were spoken while Cana observed her newly formed limb. She modeled her arm, twisting and turning her icy wrist, noting that it mimicked the look of her actual arm-- even going so far as to copy the Fairy Glitter spell upon her arm-- yet that was where the similarities ended. It was decidedly not anything like her prosthetic arm. There were certainly limits to what capabilities her arm held, but what she could do she would discover later.

Without a word, she stood up from her seat and moved around the table to approach Gray. Without ceremony, she threw herself against him, slamming herself into his chest for a body-crushing embrace. With her new limb, she was able to finally hug her brother tight without the awkward bulk of her other prosthetic, nor worry about hurting anyone. There was no concern over hurting Gray with this new limb. Not when he had created it for her, fashioned it with his own magic.

❝ I...you didn't have to do this... ❞

❝ ...I know. ❞

She did. And that was what was most endearing, and the most damning of all. He never did anything thoughtlessly, nor were his actions ever wasteful. They held purpose. The knowledge that he made her very own prosthetic out of his own magic for her to summon...her throat closed as her heart clenched with emotion. If he felt her tears stream silently from her eyes, he made no comment, only to merely hold her tight against his chest.

❝ ...thank you, Gray. ❞ she choked out softly.

A simple 'thank you' wasn't enough. Words weren't enough. There weren't nearly enough words to convey the depths of her love and gratitude for the gift that he gave her. But that was okay. They always seemed to communicate in a language only they had ever understood.

And for that, Cana will cherish this gift-- and the man who entangled his life with hers and made a home in her heart.