Protect Him

Chapter 1: Coming Home

A cloaked, hooded figure peered up at the guild before them. The rain was coming down in sheets now and the small, injured woman took a step toward the doors of Fairy Tail while keeping the bundle in her arms shielded from the storm.

It had been nearly seven months since she had seen anyone from her guild. She never meant to be gone so long but a complicated series of events prevented her from returning or even contacting anyone from the guild. The woman was getting weaker by the second but she forced herself up the stone steps. She had to make it inside. She had to find Mirajane if it was the last thing she did. She didn't care about anything else. As long as she could get to Mirajane before she collapsed – before she died – all would be well.

With a ragged breath, the woman pushed on the door with all the strength she still possessed.

...

An almighty BANG! echoed throughout the Fairy Tail guild hall. Everyone's attention was caught and silence fell as lightning illuminated a hooded figure in the guild's doorway. With apparent determination, the mysterious person slowly limped toward the bar and the white-haired beauty behind it.

"Mira…" the hoarse voice spoke to the barmaid as she slowly approached. The unexpected visitor to Fairy Tail paused and swayed on the spot. With one arm holding a small bundle to their chest and the other hung limply at their side, Mira's eyes grew wide in horror at this person's poor condition. The stranger's legs quaked violently and Mirajane quickly ran out from behind the bar to help them. As she dashed toward this unknown person, they spoke again and this time Mira thought there was something familiar about their voice. "Mira…Mirajane…please, help me…I-I need you…" The woman fell to her knees right as Mira reached her.

"Ah!" Mira squeaked in panic as she knelt down to embrace the woman but, before she could do so much as blink, the woman was gently forcing the tiny bundle into her arms. Confused, Mira looked down at the carefully wrapped bundle and an audible gasp escaped her. A small, round and pale face met her eyes. A baby, no more than a few weeks old, slept peacefully in her arms.

The woman on the floor before her was now shaking so violently that Mirajane was surprised she was still able to hold herself up on one arm. Mira scanned the woman and noticed the blood that was beginning o make dark stains on her beige traveling cloak. Crimson blood dripped down her right arm and pooled at her fingertips. Her right leg had become exposed when she had collapsed, revealing several deep gashed along her calf and thigh. Mira was about to call for someone to fetch Wendy when the woman spoke to her again.

"His name is Zelen" she said through ragged breaths. "Please, Mira, take care of him for me. Protect him. I don't have…much time…left."

The woman's hood still shrouded her face in darkness but a curtain of blonde locks here beginning to fall from her hood and into her face. Mirajane gasped softly as a sudden suspicion hit her. Could this be? Could this woman possibly be-?

Careful of the precious infant in her arms, Mira reached out her left hand to lift the woman's hood. Before she could confirm her theory, the woman clutched onto her hand fiercely with both of her own. Blood now covered her fingers but Mira didn't care for, at that moment, she spotted a pink guild tattoo on the back of the woman's hand, half covered in blood.

With a firm grip, the woman lifted her head to look into Mirajane's eyes, a fierce determination welling within her own. "You have to promise me you will take care of him, Mirajane!" she nearly shouted and as she did, her hood fell to reveal her gaunt and injured face.

"Lucy!" Mira cried as a strong male presence rushed to her side. Mira didn't even have to look up to know who it was. Minor chaos ensued as Natsu. Happy, Levy, and Erza forcefully pushed their way to the collapsed blonde.

"Lucy!" cried the dark haired ice mage as he promptly pulled the Celestial mage into his arms. Tears stained his face. "Lucy, where have you been? What's happened to you?"

Though it had to have been painful, Lucy wrenched herself from his grasp and clung to Mira's dress for dear life, as if she would not give her last breath without having Mira's promise. Barely able to breathe, Lucy forced herself to speak again.

"Please, Mirajane!" she pleaded while looking into the woman's face. "Please! Promise me! You have to! Promise me you will keep Zelen safe! Promise me you will protect my son!"

Mirajane's eyes grew wide and she unconsciously drew the small baby closer to her as gasps echoed around the entire hall. Everyone exchanged looks of shock. Everyone, except Gray. He looked at Lucy with an unreadable expression in his wide eyes. He was pale as a ghost and it seemed as if he had frozen in place.

Numbly, Mirajane nodded to Lucy. She didn't know what else to do but promise the woman that she would, indeed, care for the baby in her arms. A relieved, grateful smile graced Lucy's lips as the last of her strength left her. She collapsed for the final time, a terrible cough wracked her entire body as strong arms enveloped her. Blood fell from her lips as she looked at the sweet face of her son one last time. "Thank you…Mira," she all but whispered.

Lucy felt herself being carefully moved so she was now being cradled gently against a solid, warm body. As her vision began to fade, Lucy saw Gray's tear-stained face swimming before her. Softly, she smiled and ghosted her fingertips across his cheek.

"Gray…" she whispered. One of his hands grasped hers fiercely as it began to fall from his face.

"Lucy – " he said, his voice cracking.

She didn't appear to hear him. "Gray," she said again. "Gray, I love you. Take…take care…of him. Help Mirajane p-p-protect…our son…"

Lucky' eyes drifted closed and she went limp in Gray's arms.

"Lucy!" Gray screamed. "No! You can't leave! Lucy!" His cries echoed throughout the guild hall. Gray buried his face in the crook of Lucy's neck as sobs shook his body once more. "Don't leave me, Lucy," he whispered. "Please, don't go. I love you!"