I do not own Fairy Tail.

My body feels heavy... It's difficult to move. Why? Why is darkness the only thing around me? Where... Is the light?

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Immediately, my sight was welcomed by such brightness that it hurt. I squinted my eyes for a few seconds as I slowly adjusted to the light. Where am I?

My eyes slowly wandered from left to right as I scanned the room.

"... Hospi... tal?" I whispered to myself.

I tested the strength in my arms by pushing myself up in a sitting position. I was in a hospital bed. My stomach had slight pain... My right hand too. I frowned. I raised my right hand to my face. My entire palm was properly wrapped up with white bandages. I can only assume my stomach had the same bandages wrapped around it too.

... Wait. Why am I in here? Aren't we at war with Phantom?

I narrowed my eyes and lifted the blankets off of me body. I can't stay here, not when my entire family is out there risking their lives.

I carefully swung my legs to the side of the bed until my feet grazed the floor.

"... Where are my shoes? ... Where are my clothes?"

I was wearing a long white shirt and long white pants. I was wearing those stupid hospital get ups... My socks were still on though...

I pushed myself off the bed and took a step forward. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor.

"What the hell is this...?!" I growled while blowing a piece of my hair out of my face.

The door to my room suddenly opened. I heard a couple of gasps while I was trying to get up.

"Karissa!"

I looked up at like a breakneck speed. There standing by the door was Lucy and Gray. They were both shocked to see my current state.

"... You guys..."

Gray wasted no time coming to my aid and he quickly gathered me up from my pathetic state. My face was right on top of his left clothed pectoral while he lifted me up from under my arms. That's when I noticed, I couldn't really feel my legs at all.

He carefully sat me down on the bed. When he pulled away from me, he stopped midway and stared closely at my face. I blinked at the sudden closeness and furrowed my eyebrows.

"Um... Thanks." I said quietly.

Gray's eyes widened a little before he quickly backed away. He then narrowed his eyes at me and straightened up. He turned around and made his way to the door.

"I'll be back." Was all he said before leaving.

Wait. I need to apologize to him!

"Ah... Wait Gray I-" I reached out my hand.

The door closed.

I bit my lip and lowered my hand. He must be angry with me...

"Um... How are you feeling?"

I quickly looked at Lucy. I completely forgot she was here. Oh, she's carrying flowers. She walked over to the side of my bed where a vase was set on a table next to it. She then placed the flowers in the vase with care.

"Oh uh... Good. Um, what's going on? What's the situation with Phantom?" I asked with worry. I'm in no condition to protect Lucy if they ever- "It's over."

Huh?

"What?"

Lucy reassured me with a smile. "It's over. Phantom is no longer a problem for us. I'm safe."

I sighed in relief.

Lucy then explained the current situation. The Magic Council had everyone in for questioning, except for me. They decided not to question me since I was injured by a criminal hired by Phantom Lord. That helped prove that Fairy Tail was the provoked victim of this war. The guildhall was destroyed. That means that everyone was in the process of rebuilding it. Ah, I want to help...

"Well I'm glad you're gonna be okay." I grinned with a thumbs up.

Lucy shook her head, "No, I'm the one who should be glad that you're okay. You scared us all when we found out you died."

Huh?

My eyes widened, "I what?"

"Yeah... Yukio told us. You were in this type of pre-death state... We all thought you were actually dead."

"... I was dead...?!" I repeated in disbelief. Dread. That's what I was feeling right now.

"Uh... Don't worry about the details! Yukio will tell you! I'm sure Gray went to go get him just now!" Lucy reassured me by placing a hand on mine.

"... Right... Okay." I nodded dumbly.

The room became silent.

I then remembered what kind of feeling Gray gave off before he left. He was definitely angry with me...

"... You know, Gray's been really worried about you." Lucy suddenly said.

"He has?"

"Well why wouldn't he be? You, his childhood friend, was practically dead. If that's not a reason to be worried then I don't know what is."

... I guess that's true.

"... I thought-"

A knock on the door cut me off.

"We're entering." A voice spoke. Ah! That was Yukio's voice!

The door opened wide to reveal my big brother's smiling face. He was carrying a backpack with him. I greeted him with a grin and a slight wave of my hand. My grin slowly disappeared when I noticed someone behind him. Gray. He looked at me with a strong stare before quickly turning around and walking away.

Oh man... this isn't good... I need to fix this.

Lucy then left when Yukio asked her to give he and I some time to talk. I grabbed my blanket and sat properly under the covers. On his way to my side, he swiftly grabbed a chair and dragged it to the side of my bed. He sat down and crossed his legs. He was sitting next to vase that Lucy had put the flowers in. He smiled at me.

"I assume you're feeling alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Just a little pain though. Nothing bad."

It was his turn to nod, "That's good."

His smile disappeared as he took in a deep breath. I bit my lip as I slowly saw his expression into a serious one. I didn't want to demand to know why I was 'dead' when he first entered the room. I wanted him to tell me on his own.

"Karissa. You died three days ago."

There it is. The explanation I wanted.

I frowned, "Then why am I alive?"

He stood up from his chair and walked around the bed. He stopped in front of the large window by my left side.

"To want something is to lose something in return. That is the catch of these Lost Magic Weapons."

He turned around to face me. He set down his back pack on the side of my bed and pulled out a pair of tonfas.

So... that must be his weapon.

"Houken is these two tonfas. In exchange for the ability to use them, I had to sacrifice something in return. Something that was important... While I did... I was also 'dead'."

"When?! You never went to the hospital!"

"That's because I died under Aunt Maya's surveillance. She told me what might happen. If it did, I told her to keep my state a secret until I recovered. At that time, I told Tsuki I was heading on a mission by myself... The situation was perfect. I was dead for two days." He placed the tonfas on the bed.

I slowly looked at him while reaching for one, I was silently asking for his permission. Once he nodded, I grabbed one and examined it. I frowned, "Wait, what do you mean by dead? You're still alive. I'm still alive. So...?"

He sighed heavily, "I guess you could say that these are cursed? Once the user finally uses it, the weapon puts them in a state pre-death. Think of at as the Purgatory but instead of cleansing the soul of its sins... They 'eat' what's important to you. It cannot take anything that does not reside within the host. They also cannot take what was made by you. They can only take what was given to you."

Given to me...?

"There is only one thing that fits this category and it's our parents' magic. It wasn't ours to begin with."

... If it's important... why do I feel nothing about its loss? Does that mean... I really didn't care at some point?

I narrowed my eyes. "Wait a second... Then tell me why I still remember mom and dad!"

"Memories are not given. They are created."

... Oh.

I put down Yukio's tonfa on my lap and just stared at it. Why didn't she tell me this could happen?

As if he read my mind, Yukio answered my question with a guess. He had had a small idea as to why she didn't. He thought Maya understood that the same thing would happen to me and I would come back like him.

I let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against the bed frame. I learned magic at the cost of losing magic I had already possessed. This loss put me in a temporary state of death... Funny... It feels like I just finished my fight with that psychopath. I don't feel like I just died... Then again, how am I supposed to know what death feels like? I slowly closed my eyes while facing the cieling.

Was it worth it?

... I don't know If I have answer to that question...

The sound of clothes rustling caught my attention. I opened my eyes and looked at Yukio. He took the tonfa from my lap and placed it inside of his bag. Looks like he was getting ready to leave.

The threw his bag onto his bag and walked over to me. He lowered himself to my eye leve and caressed the top of my head. "I want you to rest for the rest of the day. Now that you just woke up, your body is slowly waking up too. Either me or someone else will come pick you up to bring you home tonight."

I frowned, Ah. That would explain my splat earlier.

"But... I wanna help rebuild the guild..." I pouted.

Yukio merely chuckle and stood up straight. "You can do that tomorrow. I can assure you that we'll still be in the process of rebuilding."

I watched him as he started heading to the door while waving goodbye.

I slightly jumped while sitting once I remembered something. I extended my arm out to him while shaking. "Y-Yukio...! Can you pl-please tell Tsuki I'm alright...! And please try to calm her down...!" I said with a shake voice. If Lucy and Gray knew about my 'death'... Then maybe SHE did too... Ohh... That wouldn't be good... AT ALL.

"Relax. I only told your friends and those who were there when you died. I made them swear not to tell anyone else... Sooo yeah."

I dropped my arm onto the bed right after he left my room. Disbelief. That's what my face looked like right now. I swear.

If she finds out we hid this from her...

Out of fear, I quickly hid under the blankets and shook like leaf.

I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT SHE'LL DO.

Yukio slowly closed the door behind him. He let out his own sigh before glancing to his left. A chair had been pulled up against the wall. A person was sitting there, legs crossed and arms folded. They were staring straight at the wall in front of them. The brother could feel the worry radiating from the other.

"How long are you going to sit here? She's alive. I told you she would be."

"I know she is."

Yukio took two strides to stand before the ice wizard. He then lowered his voice as he spoke out his next words, "Then stop avoiding her."

Gray looked away with an irritated expression, "I'm not avoiding her."

Yukio chuckled darkly with a mocking smile, "Oh? It doesn't look like that to me. As far as I know, I think you like it better when she's dead. You spent most of your free time visiting her... when she's dead."

Gray looked back at Yukio and glared at him. "What the hell are you saying?!" He growled before quickly standing up to him. "What kind of sick person would prefer their friends dead?! That shit your confusing with is called being worried! She just went searching for power and at the cost of being dead!"

Yukio looked at him with a scowl, "Why don't you just be a good and honest little boy and just admit you're actually angry at Karissa?" He spat before walking away from him.

Gray merely watched Yukio disappear from his sight until he was left completely alone.

He was right. Gray was indeed angry at her. He was angry at the fact that she sought power without bothering to know if there was any risk at all. Just like any another greedy person who wanted power. Although, he knew that she wasn't like that. Despite all that, he could not bring himself to express this anger knowing she did it with good intentions... knowing she was feeling inferior, hopeless and most importantly... tired of feeling like she always needed help.

She had made all this clear to him with her previous outburst.

"Stop it! Don't touch me! I can get up by myself!"

"Stop trying to help me! I'm fine! I don't need your help all the time!"

... But then again... Did she not understand there was nothing wrong with needing help?

Gray slowly glanced at her door.

He'd never get his answers if he doesn't confront her...

Suddenly, he heard a familiar thud coming from the room.

He quickly opened the door and found her, once again, on the floor. This time she was closer to a table that was a couple of feet away from her bed.

He sighed and quickly walked over to her as she sat up.

"Karissa... What are you doing?" He asked exasperatedly.

She folded her legs and placed her palms on the floor in the middle of her legs. "... I wanted a glass of water... but my legs don't work as good as they used to..."

Gray reached for her and slipped his hands under arms. Like as if she was a giant doll, he carefully moved her backwards towards her bed. He then made her sit on the mattress.

"Just sit tight, I'll get it for you." He said before doing so.

Karissa watched him walk to the table, that had a glass and water filter on it.

Funny how he was acting like what he was doing before never happened.

He walked back with her glass and handed it to her wordlessly. Karissa reached out with her uninjured hand and was quick to notice her shaky movements. She narrowed her eyes at her hand. She paused for a second before wrapping her fingers around the glass. The girl sighed and released her glass before Gray could let go. She dropped her hand next to her and stared at the glass with a pout.

Gray looked confused, "What's wrong?"

"I don't have any strength in my body right now. Yukio said my body is still in the process of 'waking up'."

Gray then slowly nodded when he understood. He then looked around the room for a moment, she noticed how he seemed a little hesitant about something. Finally, he took a seat next to her and twisted his body to face her. He raised the glass between them and had a hand out below the glass. Karissa's face flushed in embarrassment when she realized what he was trying to do.

She shook her head frantically, "N-No! It's fine! I can go without the water, there's no need for you to do that..." She spoke fast.

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not listening to your little protests."

Karissa frowned and just stared at him hesitantly. Gray just stared back with a patient look.

After a good ten seconds, she finally let out a sigh of defeat. Gray then brought the glass close her lips when she tilted her head back a little. It didn't take her too long to drink up all the water (she wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible).

When she was done, he lowered the glass. "Better?"

"...Yeah, thanks." She muttered with a burning face. That was the first time Gray had ever done something like this. She was sure something like this never happened when they were children.

Gray set the glass near the vase filled with flowers. Karissa couldn't help but feel awkward about being in the same room as her childhood friend. She knew how she had to apologize for snapping at him the way she did. She just didn't know how to start. It was getting her a little frustrated.

Seeing as she wasn't going to say anything, Gray decided to speak first.

"Yukio explained everything to you? Y'know... about your death?"

"Ah... um, yeah. He did."

"Do you know why?"

"... In exchange for using Astra...I had to pay a certain toll, and that toll was my temporary death state."

Gray sighed heavily, "Can you please tell me again why you decided to do this to yourself?"

Karissa wasn't sure but she felt like he was beating around the bush...? "Gray. If you have something to say. Then say it." She said slowly.

Gray turned towards her and looked at her face. "You told me you wanted to learn new magic to help you get stronger. You said you wanted to learn magic on your own for once. But that's not your only reason is it? There's another reason. You probably didn't notice it before but that reason is as clear as day."

"I don't under-"

"Why do you want to stop relying on others?!" Gray raised his voice.

"... I didn't ... I never said-"

He cut her off, "You pushed me away when I helped you. Twice. What's so wrong about needing help? Your guild is your family for a reason! We don't go through things alone, what part of 'family' did you not understand?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't get why you're so peeved off about this, you said you'd encourage me-"

"But I never agreed on letting you die!"

She laughed darkly, "It's too late to say that now, don't you think? I already died once."

"Stop it! Why are you being like this?!" Gray shouted. Karissa flinched at the sound of his voice and was quick to notice the pain in his eyes. She scowled, she didn't understand why he was being like this. She didn't do anything wrong!

"Karissa, listen to me. There is nothing wrong with relying on others-"

Karissa's face turned sour as she cut him off, "Are you here to just rub it in my face?" She asked, "Because I'm not really in the mood to listen to you talk about my weak self."

She was starting to feel anger burn inside of her. She knew that if he kept talking about this certain topic... it wasn't going to end well.

"What? Did I say you were weak?" Gray asked, while throwing his arm up for second and letting it drop and bounce on the bed. "All I've been saying is that your refusing to rely on help."

"I never asked for you help!" She snapped, "Why don't you just leave me alone and do what you have to do! I'm not a child! I don't need someone to hold my hand! I'M NOT WEAK!"

"There's nothing wrong with needing help-"

"And I said I don't need help!" She spat with a glare. "Stop meddling when you're unwanted! It's annoying!"

Gray immediately stood up and glared down at her, "Karissa. There is a difference between being weak and needing help and relying on others." he argued, before she can cut him off again, he continued speaking, "And you're clearly mistaking the latter with the former." He pointed out with a cold tone.

Karissa opened her mouth to say something to defend herself, but she still wasn't given a chance to speak, "You don't want help? Fine. Do what you want. I'll keep my distance from you and stay out of your business. That is what you want after all." He said coldly. He looked completely pissed and disappointed in her.

He didn't even let her the chance to speak as he already turned around, he was walking straight for the door. Karissa felt a little bad about making him angry, and it was clear that he was judging by the loud slam of the door once he left. However, her pride didn't want to let her apologize. As far as she knew, relying on other people was a sure sign of weakness. It was obvious.

Later that day, she was permitted to leave and go home. Tsuki had been the one to pick her up. As her older sister bombarded her with questions and scolded her for running off on her own, she couldn't careless about it as her mind was clearly thinking about her fight with Gray.

Her brothers had noticed her troubled state but didn't question it as she told them she wanted to rest and be alone.

Once her mood was slightly better, she actually went to tell her siblings the truth about what happened to her (and Yukio, much to his dismay). She was indeed yelled at by Tsuki, but it didn't last long. She figured she understood their reasons for doing it and was more understanding on it. She just wished they didn't have to risk their lives for obtaining power.

With her body completely recovered, she finally began helping the guild with rebuilding their guild hall. She was actually pretty stoked about seeing it once it was done, from what she heard, it was going to be completely different and probably much bigger than the old one.

As she expected, Gray refused to speak to her when they were around each other. Karissa now spent most of her time around her twin brother or sometimes even alone. Her twin seemed to know exactly what was going on but didn't want to upset her by saying anything that would.

During one of her moments of solitude, she was surprised to know that Lucy actually went back home to confront her father. Apparently, the young Heartfilia went over there to make herself clear about how she belonged in Fairy Tail and how she felt. She warned her father, if he were to try and tried another foolish attempt to harm Fairy Tail, then he would be crushed just like any other enemy. She had to admit, hearing this made her respect for the blonde wizard rise up.

"I'm heading over to the guildhall... well soon to be guildhall." Karissa said while placing her headphones around her neck. She shoved her Sound Pod into her pocket as she walked to the door.

"Alright, we'll be heading over there soon." Yukio said before walking to the bathroom with a towel his shoulder.

She exited her house and placed her headphones on her ears. Music was one of the things that helped keep her mind off of the fight she and Gray had.

She took out her Sound Pod and looked down at it, and just as she did, she dropped it when she collided into someone. She watched as it bounced on the concrete floor and it glided over to someone's feet, mostly likely the person she bumped into.

She looked up, "Sorry I wasn't-" She stopped talking the moment she saw the person's face. She was rendered speechless when this person looked down at her with an annoyed look.

There before her stood a tall man with blonde hair. He had piercing orange eyes and a scar in shape of a lightning bolt on the right side of his face and eye. His eyes looked at her with annoyance before looking at the Sound Pod at his feet. He looked back at her with narrowed eyes.

"You're still alive?"

Karissa's eyes widened, she wasn't sure if he meant that in a way that he knew about what happened to her... or that he said that in a way that meant she was non-existent in his eyes. She hoped it was the former.

"I-I... Y-Yeah... I..."

Laxus scoffed in disgusted, "Still stuttering like a petty like four year old. You never change. It's pathetic."

A pang of hurt. That's what she felt in her heart.

"And you still have this?" He chuckled, "An old little outdated Sound Pod just like my grandfather. Useless."

Laxus raised his foot and aimed it at the Sound Pod laying at his feet. Karissa gasped and quickly dropped down on her knees and reached out her right hand to cover the Sound Pod. The Lightning Mage was surprised at her actions and unconsciously stepped down with less strength than he intended. Despite not being at its maximum force, Karissa still winced as she felt his shoe collide with her hand. It wasn't enough to break her hand but it was enough to leave a red mark on her skin.

Laxus removed his foot from her hand. He scoffed, "Ridiculous." He spat before walking away from her.

Karissa didn't move from her position for a few seconds. She was shocked at how he didn't even hesitate to try and crush the Sound Pod. She held her Sound Pod firmly in her hand as she stood back up on her feet.

She opened her hand in front of her, she wanted to be certain that the object was still intact. "Thank god..." She muttered.

She knew that her relationship with Laxus was long gone, but she could never throw away something she considered precious. Laxus was one of the first people she met in Fairy Tail. They used to be close until everything went south.

Karissa released a heavy breath, that she didn't even know she was holding back, and continued walking. This time, she kept her eyes in front of her. She noticed a familiar face standing just ahead of her. Apparently, they witnessed the whole thing that just transpired. She didn't stop walking, she merely walked past them without a word.

Well, at least he did what he said he would... I didn't need help.

My goodness, I've had a major writer's block with all the school stuff piling up... my ticket into college rides on this year's academic performance x_x

Anyway, please tell me what you think!