"Another year and the world keeps turning.
No money could buy the lessons we're learning.
This family stands strong, to overcome it all,
And we will never divide ... the solid lines.
Be proud of the choice of taking this side,
Living out our lives....
Let them hear us, let it be heard.
Our bond will never be broken."
― Bury Tomorrow, "Under the Sun"

Daegan fell to his knees, panting hard and wincing in pain. A shadow draped over him, and as he looked up, scarlet hair burned against the sunlight.

"I surrender," he sighed.

A crowd around them cheered. A gauntlet-covered hand went down, and he gripped a surprisingly strong grasp. Erza yanked Daegan up, and although they had just battled with all of their might, she still had a smile for him.

"You fought hard," she said in admiration.

"It was a challenge not to switch to another sword. You, my lady, are the fiercest opponent I have ever faced. As promised, the armors will be returned to you."

"And as we agreed, you will join Crime Sorcière. As you seek the light, they are the best guides." She blushed slightly. "One of them in particular would like to meet the man who is nearly my equal."

"Nearly, but I have a ways to go," Daegan said with a respectful nod to her. "When I am free from my past sins, I will seek out Fairy Tail again. I would enjoy fighting by your side one day instead of facing off against you."

"I'd like that very much." Erza clasped him on the shoulder. "Stay with us for now." She glanced around at the rowdy crowd that had come to watch their duel. "I think the guild has come to like you."

"And I them," he said, also looking at the wild bunch. "They are loyal to one another without any coercion. I think that's something I've missed in my life. The Sons of Darkness were held together through blood bonds, fear, or fanaticism. Here, I just see ... friends," he said, looking amazed, as if he had never known this sort of bond before.

"Friends who would go to any extreme for one another," Erza said with pride. She slapped his arm. "And now you've created at least one friend today."

His eyes widened, and then he laughed with a light blush, unable to look at her. "You honor me too much, Erza Scarlet."

"Stay a few days. I'll figure out how to contact Crime Sorcière. They're not an easy bunch to find." Her cheeks brightened a little again. "Give my regards to Jellal."

Daegan caught the way she said his name, and he sighed in understanding. "A boyfriend?"

"No. It's ... complicated."

"Then just a friend of yours seeking the light?"

"I think he discovered the path to light in his life," she mused. "He feels indebted to help others on their quests now. I hope he'll help you."

"You have my thanks, Titania. I hope I will be able to bring Jellal back here to Fairy Tail with me one day. Perhaps we can both join your guild at that time, when things are less complicated."

That made her blush even brighter. "That would be nice."

Just then, Lucy ran forward, with Happy flying side her. "Erza! We need to hurry. It's Natsu."

Erza sheathed her sword, and dread paled on her face. "What happened?"

Gray's head rested on a hard bed. He was used to the constant beep and hum of monitors now, and he could sleep through anything. After a week in this hospital, the noises no longer affected him. Even nurses coming in to change Natsu's bandages were something he could sleep through.

So he did not wake up when one of the monitors changed.

Natsu's face flinched. His eyes squinted tighter as he battled to regain consciousness. Then slowly, his eyelids rose. He felt like falling back to sleep, like hands were clutching him, dragging him into darkness, but he struggled against the heavy sinking feeling.

Where was he? It smelled weird, and yet familiar.

No, he smelled Gray. That was what seemed familiar.

He lolled his heavy head over and saw black hair resting on his bed. A hospital, by the looks of things, and Gray was by his bedside, holding Natsu's hand in his sleep.

Well, this was reminiscent.

He had been fighting. They won, or he thought they did. And then...

Pain in his chest. That was right. He had felt his heart spasming, and then nothing. How long ago was that?

"Mmm ... part of me..." Gray mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep.

Natsu wanted to close his eyes and fall back into nothingness, but he wanted to see Gray. He squeezed the cold hand clinging to his fingers. Gray jolted up with a snore and blinked his eyes.

"Natsu?"

He managed a weak smile. "Hey, sleeping beauty."

Gray bolted forward and wrapped his arms around Natsu. "How are you awake? Oh God, are you okay?"

"I hurt," he said, realizing he was aching and stiff. "I'm okay, I guess. Where are we?"

"A hospital in Crocus."

"Way out there?"

"It was for a surgery."

"What?" Natsu cried out. "Ow, ow ... okay, surgery. I ... I was injured," he recalled. "That Mallo-whatever guy. He hit me with something. We won, right?" he asked, more concerned about that.

"Yeah, we won. He's dead."

"Oh." Natsu dropped his eyes in regret.

"No, it was the only way. He was out to kill both of us. We were both injured." Gray yawned out the last of his sleepiness and stretched, but he paused in pain.

"You okay?" Natsu asked right away.

"Don't worry about it. I got healed, but you ... it was bad," he muttered. "Both kidneys were taken out."

Natsu blinked in shock, almost like those words made no sense. 'Both kidneys? What?' He looked off as his mind worked through that bit of news. He hurt everywhere, but now he realized most of the pain was in his gut area. He recalled getting hit, the pain, the blood, cauterizing the wound so he could keep fighting. Had it really been that bad?

"I should be dead," he muttered.

Gray smiled weakly. "You technically were for almost an hour. I froze you, extended your life a bit."

"But ... no kidneys..."

"You have one now."

"... Whuh?"

He realized Gray was more pale than usual, and the recovery bed next to him was rumpled. Gray had stripped like usual, but Natsu saw a hospital gown thrown to the side, not regular clothes. He had a bandage around his waist. Natsu gasped as the truth dawned on him.

"Gray! You ... you didn't—"

"I thought to myself, 'Y'know what? We're born with two kidneys. Now really, why do we need two? We can function just fine with one.' I'll have to be careful not to get diabetes later on, but that's not until I'm old. Right now..." He squeezed Natsu's hand, and his face looked so happy with relief. "You needed one, and I had two. Of course I'm going to share."

Natsu's eyes watered over. "Gray ... no."

"By the way." He suddenly smacked Natsu hard over the head.

He cringed down and rubbed out the pain. "Ow! What the hell!"

"That's for not telling me about how my leg got healed, you bastard. We're dating. Hell, we've had sex, and you still hid the truth from me. You idiotic flame-brain!" He hit him again. "Tell me these things."

Natsu rubbed out his head. "I was trying to tell you since yesterday ... or however many days it's been."

"It's been ages, and I've been angry at you this whole time. You're supposed to tell people stuff like that right away, not lie to them and keep it secret. I said some horrible things to you back then, and you told everyone to keep quiet about how you healed me. Did you think you were being brave, that you'd suffer alone? You didn't! You made Erza, Happy, and Lucy suffer, too. All because you're a stupid—" He hit Natsu on the head again. "—stubborn—" He whacked him over the ears. "—flaming asshole!"

Natsu shielded himself with both hands. "Hey, stop it!"

"Be glad you're a patient in a hospital or I really would kick your ass, and don't think I won't later. You are in for a serious beat-down when I recover."

Natsu smiled, glad to see Gray feeling so lively and not hating himself. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me until you wake up from the coma I'm gonna put you into after I'm done kicking your ass." Gray rubbed back Natsu's rumpled hair. It felt so soft in his fingers, and he had missed the gleam in those dark green eyes. "Idiot," he sighed wistfully. "I had to find out at a time like that, after you died in my arms and they had to revive you. Going through that, thinking I might lose you..." The emotions nearly shattered him for a second, but he clenched his teeth to hold back. "...and then being told why your heart failed, that it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault. It was my choice."

"It was a damn stupid choice!" he screamed. Then he cupped Natsu's cheeks tenderly and whispered, "But I think I understand why you made it."

Natsu leaned into Gray's soothing hands. "You still bothered to save me."

"Of course I did. I couldn't have lived with myself otherwise." A smile struggled to his face. "Even if you hadn't stupidly sacrificed yourself to heal me, even if I wasn't stupidly in love with you, I would have given you my kidney." He placed a hand onto Natsu's abdomen. "Now there will always be a piece of me inside you."

"Gray—" Natsu began to tear up and sputter. "Idiot!" He grabbed Gray, crushing him against his hot chest as his sobs burst out. "You're already in me. You're inside my heart, and I couldn't get you out even if I tried."

"That sounds so lame."

"Shut up! I'm being honest."

Gray hugged him and felt Natsu's chest shuddering in sobs. Yes, even if Natsu had not risked his life to save Gray, he still would have given everything in his ability to save the Dragon Slayer. It was the Fairy Tail way!

He leaned up and looked at Natsu, snotty nose and all. "I've been thinking a lot while you've been in here, and I realized ... I want to always be with you." He reached out and pressed his hand against the Dragon Slayer's heart. "Always. For the rest of my life."

Natsu snuffled, and happily he nodded to the unspoken proposal. "Always."

"I'm serious. I'm ... I'm trying to say ... that is—"

"I know." Natsu chuckled happily as he dabbed tears away. "I accept."

Gray sighed in relief that he did not have to ask in some cliché manner. Natsu understood him a little too well. "Is ... is it too soon? It's only been a few months, and it took us forever to—"

"If you're asking me, then you've been thinking about it a lot and decided you're ready," Natsu reasoned.

"Yeah, but—"

"Do you want to or not?"

Gray looked stunned by the question. "I do, but ... but we haven't even been together for long—"

"Shut up and kiss me before you ruin it, idiot."

Gray cut off his protests. What was he doing? Over-thinking things again? That was what led them through so much grief in the past, him thinking too hard and not following his heart. He had thought about this major step over all these long days, sitting by Natsu's bedside, watching him clinging to life. Now, his heart knew what it wanted.

Natsu. Together. Forever.

They leaned forward and shared a tender kiss. Natsu's lips fluttered over Gray's as he whispered, "Be my mate forever."

Gray looked into his narrow, green eyes and felt flushed from the intensity in them. "Yeah," he said. Their foreheads rested together as days of fear and uncertainty melted away into relief and joy. "Forever." Then he whispered just for Natsu to hear, "I love you ... flame-brain."

Natsu clutched gently into the raven hair and blushed to feel Gray's breath so close to his. "I love you, too ... pervy stripper."

"Just don't ever leave me."

"Not a chance."

Gray began to lean in again, but Natsu suddenly pulled back, leaving Gray with his mouth partly open as he prepared for another kiss.

"Erza's coming."

That made Gray straighten up and hurry back to the other hospital bed. "Shit! If she knew I was out of bed again, she'll break my legs to stop me."

"She wouldn't go that far."

"That's what she said she would do after the last time she caught me sitting by your bed."

Natsu chuckled as he settled back on the pillows. "Were you sitting by my side a lot? How romantic of you," he said with a teasing smile. "You should rest, though. You went through surgery too, right?"

"Yeah, hurt like hell," Gray said, adjusting himself to look like he had simply been resting. "You better appreciate it."

Natsu reached down and touched his stomach. Somewhere in there, deep inside, was a piece of Gray. Gray's kidney was keeping him alive. Natsu glanced over and saw Gray pulling his hospital gown back on, covering up the bandages. Gray made it seem like it was no big deal, but still, he went that far to help Natsu, sacrificing an actually piece of his body, a vital organ.

Natsu loved him even deeper just for that.

Erza banged through the door, with Lucy, Wendy, and Mest behind her.

Mest looked confused. "I can't believe the Crocus hospital is shielded against people teleporting inside of it."

Wendy smiled up at him. "Thank you, Mest-san, for bringing us. I lost track of when Natsu's sleeping enchantment would wear off."

He smiled down at the girl and patted her head. "Of course I'd help out you, Wendy."

In her human shape, Carla grabbed his wrist. "Hands off, lolicon pervert."

"I wasn't doing anything!" he protested.

"Natsu!" Happy flew forward and slammed into his stomach.

Lucy rushed up to his bed and pulled Happy back. "You can't do that, remember?"

Happy's eyes watered over. "I re- ... remember," he said with a moist snuffle, and sobbed out, "I'm just so glad you're okay."

Natsu pulled Happy to his chest, where he hurt less. "Hey, Happy. It's okay now." That made the little Exceed sob even louder as he cuddled into his best friend.

Lucy patted Natsu's shoulder. "How do you feel? Wendy can put you to sleep again if there's still pain."

"No, I'm fine," he assured, stroking Happy's head. "I'm hungry."

She folded her arms in a pout. "You really scared us, you know."

Happy let out a wailing cry to show just how scared he had been that whole week.

Erza walked up to Gray's bed, and their eyes held each other's gaze for what felt like a long time.

"Does he know?" she asked quietly while Lucy berated Natsu about being reckless and Happy sobbed with no restraint.

Gray nodded. "It's all fine."

"It's not. You know what the doctor warned."

Natsu turned away from Lucy and hushed Happy. "Warned? What? What's wrong with Gray?"

Erza sighed, realizing she really would have to explain things. "It's not just Gray. It's both of you." She turned over to Natsu. "Without kidneys, you could have survived, but only with a device inside you that's temperature-sensitive. In other words, no fire. We would have had to suppress your magic, permanently."

"What?" Natsu screamed.

"With one kidney, we don't need to do that, but things still aren't safe. You can't get punched in the stomach or back, or anywhere near where they put the kidney. If it gets damaged, you could die." She looked down at the ice wizard. "The same applies to Gray now, since he was the one who donated a kidney. If the one he has left gets any damage, it'll be bad for him."

Natsu looked over sharply at Gray. "Then ... we can't fight?"

"We just can't get hit," said Gray.

"I'm having some armor designed for both of you," Erza told them. "It'll shield your torsos, but it should be flexible. Wearing that under a shirt will protect you."

Lucy muttered, "So long as Gray doesn't strip it off."

Wendy piped in, "I can also help to enchant your abdominal muscles. It should give more protection."

"Until you're healed and the armor is done," Erza went on, "no fighting. That includes guild brawls. Both of you absolutely cannot get punched in the back or stomach for the rest of your lives, got it?"

Natsu looked across the hospital room at Gray reclined on the bed. If he still had two kidneys, he would not have to deal with this sort of restriction. He was willing to be slightly handicapped as a fighter, so that he and Natsu would be on the same level.

Gray turned his head over to the hospital bed beside him. He saw that, if they were alone, Natsu would probably be crying and screaming at him for doing this. He had known the risks, though. It took a few days to get Natsu sent to Crocus for the surgery, and the whole time Lucy had been trying to talk him out of doing it. He knew he had to, though. Natsu was going to be on a restriction that would annoy him to the point of rage. Gray knew first-hand that living with a medical restriction sucked, but it was a little better when there was someone by his side.

He was going to be by Natsu's side, and they were going to get through this together. Once they healed, and with a bit of precaution, they would fight together again.

"We'll have to fight back-to-back," Gray told him. "Protect each other."

That seemed to soothe Natsu's emotions, and there was a slight blush on his cheeks that made Gray feel happy. "Back-to-back, huh? I guess an ice princess like you needs a dragon prince to protect her."

"Screw you, flame-brain. You need someone to cool your jets."

"Pwotect the poor widdle snowman," he said in baby talk.

"Did someone call for a knight in shining armor? Because we have a flaming dragon idiot to put on ice."

"Who're you calling an idiot, asshole?"

Mest scratched his head. "Are these two really dating?"

Wendy giggled. "I'm glad to see them both back to normal."

Natsu and Gray argued like they usually did, with Lucy trying to hold Natsu from getting out of bed, and Erza shoving Gray back down every time he tried to sit up. They did not stop the two from shouting, though. Deep inside, the others were immensely happy to see them like this, arguing, flinging insults, laughing about it later ... it was how their team should be.

They finally wore out, both with aching stomachs as they realized they really were not fully healed yet. Wendy helped to ease the pain, and she worked a little more on Natsu's heart, explaining to him that she had figured out a way to heal the damage, but it would take time. Still, it could be healed.

As the little girl focused on her healing magic, Natsu looked across the way to Gray, who was smiling at him. He looked so pale still, but Natsu knew this was something Gray had to do, no matter the cost to himself. Natsu knew that sort of feeling all too well.

His heart felt like it was on fire, and he knew it was not because of Wendy. He put a hand on his torso again. Somewhere in there, deep within his body...

Knowing a piece of Gray was inside him made him feel infinitely closer. Gray had made a huge sacrifice for him, just as Natsu nearly sacrificed his heart for Gray's sake. Rather than thinking that they were now even, Natsu saw it in a different way.

They now owed each other a life debt.

Maybe Gray could have survived without a leg, maybe Natsu could have survived without kidneys, but they would not have had the sort of life they craved. They had each made a sacrifice to ensure that they could live on in happiness.

And so they owed each other. They were wrapped up together in this, and their bond would never be broken.

A/N: The title of this chapter comes from the Gratsu AMV "Strong Enough" by Moonlessnight126, which was a premise for this entire fanfic. The final words on the screen at the end of the video are "Our bonds will never be broken."

One more chapter to go.