Fairy Tail 1. Chapter 1

**Weighted Hearts**

**Warnings: Cursing, violence, AU, slight OOC, cursing, and future Yaoi.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail then Gray would be the main character and yaoi would be canon, so needless to say, I don't own it.**

Chapter one:

"The salamander, eh?" Gray inquired, studying the piece of paper he was holding in slight annoyance, "That egotistical bastard requested us to make ice sculptures for him?"

Lyon nodded and glanced over at his comrade from the corner of his eye, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips at the raven's words. Neither were all too fond of that prideful martial artist.

"Yeah, apparently it's for some party he is hosting. He needs about 8 and the money is pretty considerable."

The younger ice maker set the parchment down before leaning back further in his chair, pondering that over for a moment

"8 ice sculptures? Let me guess, all dragons, right?"

The silver-haired male grunted in confirmation, causing the other to sigh. He knew very little about the so-called 'Salamander', however he was aware that he prized dragons greatly, a rather weird obsession if you asked him.

"I guess that doesn't sound too bad, but I can't promise that I won't punch him in the face if he acts like the rumors say."

"Oh yes, you can and will, Gray Fullbuster."  
Both Lyon and Gray's eyes widened as they gulped, turning their heads slightly to the side to find their manager glaring at them harshly,

"The party that Natsu Dragneel is hosting is the most popular of the year. Everyone who is anyone will be there, making it the perfect place to showcase your work."

The dark blue haired male rolled his eyes,

"We already have quite a bit of publicity as it is. Like hell I want our success to extend because of that damn idiot."

"Are you talking back to me, Fullbuster?"  
Within a moment the red-haired women was at the male's neck, the knife she always carried nearing his throat as her glare only hardened,

"N-no! What the hell, are you insane?! Put that away!" He stuttered before sighing in exasperation, "Damn it, fine. We'll accept the fucking offer."

"Very good." Within a moment Erza's expression shifted from murderous to pleased, her weapon already stashed away, almost as though it never truly existed in the first place. "Then get ready. The job states that you will be staying there for a week to make sure that everything turns out as needed."  
"Staying there for 1 week?" Lyon groaned, starting to dislike the mission as well, " Why do we have to stay there?"

"Because he lives in Magnolia, which is far from Isvan. You'll leave in the morning and I do not want another word from the two of you. I'll be accompanying you both, an old friend of mine lives there that I think I will visit."

"This better be worth it..."

The raven moaned before flopping backwards on the couch, covering his eyes with his elbow as he let out yet another sigh. Never did he think he would ever have the misfortune of meeting the moron _again._

Natsu Dragneel was, supposedly, the most powerful mixed martial artist around, as well as the most destructive. He was a member of the gym 'Fairy Tail' and was rumored to be extremely rash and idiotic, two things that Gray could not stand in a person. It was for that reason that he had no interest in seeing the so called 'Dragon slayer'. Needless to say the fact that he had to stay with that bastard only made his mood darken.

"Behave yourself Gray," Their manager warned as she turned to leave the room, "I know you don't like him, but at least try to play nice, alright? Maybe you'll find out he's a better person than you think."

The younger of the two boys grunted, but allowed the matter to drop in fear of the female's wrath. The ice sculptor highly doubted that. There was no way that fighter could be any good, that much he knew from witnessing it first hand. Nothing good could ever come when he was around.

"Don't get so bummed out, brat," The white-haired boy muttered before standing up, "It's only for a week. We'll be working the whole time, so it's not like we'll see too much of him."

Lyon knew quite well how his friend felt about their future employer and was determined to see to it that their interaction was kept to a minimum. After all, that was what surrogate brothers were supposed to do, or at least, that was what Lyon was convinced of.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Yes, just 1 week. Certainly he could put up with that nitwit for just a 7 days, right? Then he would never have to see him again.

"At our pace we may just be able to finish those sculptures before then. Shouldn't be too hard." Gray assured, more to himself than to his business partner. Just dragons, that shouldn't be too hard.

The white hair male nodded in slight agreement before closing his eyes and relaxing back on the couch, ultimately signifying that he grew tired of their conversation.

In turn the dark blue haired male stood up and left the room, going to pack. The sooner they got to the Salamander's mansion the sooner they could get to work, finish and leave.

"So, Natsu," He spat the name silently to himself, "Looks like we'll meet again after all."

* * *

"How much longer until we get to Magnolia?" Gray complained, his patience wearing thin. Thus far him, Lyon, and Erza had been cooped up in the train for two days and he was long past irritated.

"We should be there any moment." The scarlet replied, her gaze flickering from her watch to the shirtless raven and albino before her, "Put on a shirt, you two, it's indecent to walk around half-naked."

"It's not our fault its hot as hell here." The white-haired male defended, his hand coming up to wipe at the sweat gathering on his brow, "It's quite a bit warmer here than in Isvan."  
"Well what were you expecting? Isvan is abnormally cold compared to Magnolia. Even so, that doesn't excuse you both from being decently dressed."

"Yeah, yeah, fine, Erza, we'll put a shirt on once the train stops." The raven muttered, leaning back against the cushioned seat before rolling his eyes. This heat was unbearable, especially for two people that spent the majority of their time around ice.

With a huff the scary women crossed her arms but pushed the subject no further.

The reminder of the trip was carried out in relative silence as the three sat idly by, thoughts of their job flowing freely throughout their mind.

Lyon and Gray, otherwise known as the ice brothers, were famous around the world for their ice sculptures. Having been trained by Ur, the world's most renowned ice sculptor, they were both very skilled. Gray himself preferred making inanimate objects while Lyon preferred making living creatures, however if the pay was right neither were exactly very picky.

At the age of 16 and 18 the two boys started their own business called 'Ice make Creations'. They served as a party business, catering to small gatherings that desired ice decorations. But that phase did not last long, for before either knew it, they had become the talk of Isvan. Their statues rivaled that of professionals that had been working for years. It was because of that that by the time they were 18 and 20, they were considered celebrities.

It was then that they employed their childhood friend, Erza, to be the manager, seeing as neither were very good when it came to dealing with people. Both were quick to anger and rather impatient, making it so they had lost several jobs just because their clients were not too fond of their attitude. That and their bizarre stripping habits had the tendency to make many feel uncomfortable, not that anyone could really blame them.

Gray resisted the urge to chuckle lightly at his last thought. Ah yes, that particular habit served to help them as well as crush them. Some found the actions amusing, whilst others, mainly straight males, found it disgusting and refused to hire them for that very same reason. That didn't really bother him, though. They made fine business anyway, so not having a few jackass clients was perfectly acceptable to him.

At the sound of the intercom buzzing the trio gathered their belongings and happily filed out from the train. Begrudgedly, the boys slipped their shirts back on due to a particularly vicious look from the only female member. Surely they would melt if they stayed in this desert like terrain for long, especially if they were expected to remain fully dressed the entire time.

"Be on your best behavior you two," Their manager scolded as she scanned the train station, "Natsu said he would be picking the two of you up personally."

"Picking us up personally?" Lyon snickered, his tone turning sarcastic, "To what do we owe that honor?"  
Erza shook her head and shrugged, "He seems to enjoy doing the majority of things by himself."

There went all of Gray's hopes that he would not have to actually speak to the damned pinkette. Now they even had to ride with him back to his mansion. Of course, nothing could go right for him.

"Well, I'll see the two of you in a few days?"

"A few days?!" The raven gawked, his head whipping to the side to look at Erza, "Just where the hell are you going?!"

"Language, Gray." She reprimanded, "As for your question, I told you I am going to visit a friend who lives around here. I have no reason to come with you guys because I know you will both behave politely," Her eyes flashed dangerously and her tone turned even stricter, "Right, boys?"  
Gulping, both ice makers nodded their heads, which seemed to be enough for the frightening female.

"Very good. Then have fun boys."

With a slight wave Lyon and Gray watched in shock as their worker walked away, leaving them alone.

"Damn, so much for her doing all the talking." The dark blue haired male groaned, shaking his head in annoyance, "and of course 'The Salamander' is late. He really is an ass."

"Who's an ass?"

Jumping in slight surprise, Gray whirled around, shocked to find a pink haired male just a bit taller than him standing behind him, a questioning look glistening in onyx eyes.

"N-no one..." The raven cleared his throat before taking a step back to establish a decent amount of space between himself and the stranger.

Wait... Pink hair... Muscular build... Don't tell him...

"Natsu Dragneel?"

The male nodded as a grin crept onto his face.

"Ah, are you a fan of me? Not that I'm surprised, what's not to like, huh."

Oh yes, there was no doubt that this jackass was the one and only Fire Dragon slayer.

"Not even in your dreams, pinky. We're the ice sculptors you hired."  
The wrestler blinked, a frown resting on his lips at the other's rather rude response.

"EH? You mean that you and the albino are the famous 'Ice brothers'? Aren't you a little... Young...?"

Lyon frowned at the nickname he was given and glared at the male.

"Watch your tongue, brat. Age has nothing to do with skill."  
"Oh, I know that, ice freak. After all, I'm best MMA fighter and I'm only 21." A smirk reappeared on the tan skinned man's face as he bragged once again about his title, "I'm just surprised, is all."

"Oi, no one cares, squinty eyes."

"Are you trying to start something, droopy eyes?"

"Hell yeah, hot head!"

"You have some nerve challenging me, frosty. I'll knock you out no time flat."  
"Then prove it, ash for brains!"

The pink haired wrestler grit his teeth and raised his fist, ready to knock some sense into the rude raven when suddenly a high-pitched, female voice cut him off.

"Ugh, Natsu! Did you find them yet? I want to go!"

Sighing, the salamander lowered his hand and turned to the side to see his work partner, Lucy, walking towards them, a bored expression on her face.

"Yeah, Lucy, I found them alright."

"Great!" She cheered, stopping just short of the two grim-faced ice sculptors. At the moment it was taking all their strength not to murder the big-headed bastard.

"It's nice to meet you two. I'm Lucy Heartfilla." Her chocolate-brown eyes widened as she hesitated a moment, studying them closely, "Wow... You both are the ice brothers? I've never seen a picture of you guys, since you prefer to not be photographed..." Her smile widened even further, "Well, come on! Let's go!"

Natsu glared at the two men for just a moment longer before walking towards the exit with Lucy, no doubt expecting Gray and Lyon to follow.

Those two had some nerve to back talk to him like that. Very few possessed the audacity to insult, let alone so bluntly challenge him like that dark blue haired idiot had. That very fact infuriated him as well as interested him. That boy was an interesting fellow, though for some reason he seemed rather familiar. Perhaps he had happened upon him once at a party? He wouldn't doubt that, seeing as the guy was rather popular. Popular enough to be invited to some high-ranking parties, although for some reason that didn't sound quite right.

With a shrug Natsu returned to talking to his blonde friend. Ah, what did it matter? He wasn't one for thinking anyway.

Gray, however, was fuming for several different reasons besides the fact that the fighter was every bit the nuisance he thought him to be. No, what annoyed him was that the other didn't seem to know who he was. For some reason that caused a bit of sadness within him we well, but he tried not to focus on it. Sadness was a useless feeling after all. Instead he focused on his irritation

"So, Natsu, you really don't remember me, do you?"

**This was just a little idea that came to mind the other day. More about the two shall be explained as time goes on, though. So, what do you guys think?**


	2. Chapter 2

The car ride, or rather, the limo ride to the employers house was completed with an awkward silence. Gray and Lyon sat side by side whilst Lucy and a very motion sick Natsu sat across from them. Lucy tried several times with useless, everyday chatter and the albino, deciding to play nice with their client, spoke nonchalenately with her several times, however the raven was hardly in the mood to speak. In fact, he spent the majority of the time with his gaze directly outside, his cobalt eyes narrowed as he tried desperately not to pay the groaning male before him any heed. Truly, it seemed the boy's severe motion sickness hadn't diminished in the slightest after all these years. A part of him even enjoyed seeing the fighter in such a disheveled state.

Years ago he may have felt a pang of pity for the poor pinkette, however now he couldn't care less. The more sadist part of the ice maker felt as though the so called dragon slayer deserved to be in pain, but at the same time the more gentler side reprimanded him for his rude thoughts. Unforunately, the latter side wasn't nearly as influential as the former.

Glancing over at the blonde and his comrade, the dark blue haired young adult could vaguely determine that Lucy was informing them as to what their job was. He paid it no mind, knowing that Lyon would explain it to him once they arrived at their place of temporary residency. At the moment he was just counting down the moments until he could gain some distance between him and the damned salamander.

The salamander, on the other hand, continued his steady gaze on the blackette, who seemed to be trying his hardest to advert his view away. Natsu wasn't sure why, but the other male seemed to really hate him. He couldn't help but wonder what he could have ever done to make a complete stranger dislike him so much.

Complete stranger…. No, that didn't sound right… He was almost certain that this male was an individual that he had met prior. Where exactly, he didn't know.

Perhaps he was a past enemy of his that he had beaten during a fight? The shorter ice maker certainly seemed to have the body of a fighter. Both sculptors did, actually. With that thought he felt as though he was a step closer to deciphering where exactly he had met this man before, but he knew that he still hadn't fully discovered his relationship with him.

A particulary gruesome wave of nausea spread through his body like wildfire, causing his thoughts to cease imeediately in favor of focusing on the urge to not throw up.

"Gaahh…"

With a groan the pink haired male rolled off the seat and onto the floor, not surprised to find that even though he was now laying down, he still didn't feel any better.

"Oh, Natsu…" Lucy sighed, her irritability obvious in her tone, "Don't throw up on me or the guests, you hear that?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He grumbled, turning his head to stare absently at a black pant leg.

It seemed as though he had landed on one of the cilent's shoes but even knowing that he made no sign of moving. For some reason the ache wrecking through his stomach managed to subdue greatly . Subconciously, he snuggled closer to the forigen foot, unaware that the owner of the appendage was glaring daggers at him.

Said male clenched his teeth and resisted the ever growing urge to kick the MMA fighter out of the vehicle. If that bastard was to so much as breath the wrong way on his foot than his patience would no doubt shatter and they would soon find out whether or not this little dragon slayer could fly.

"I apologize for him," The only female said, catching Gray's attention as she sent him a small apologetic smile, "He gets motion sick really easily, but I promise that he is a much better person when hes calm and not about to throw up on you…."

"I doubt that." The raven muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I said I'm sure he is."

Resisting the urge to snicker, the shorter of the two cilents carelessly nudged the pinkette's head, smiling smugly at the pained groan that rose from the now green faced male on the ground. This rreally was too great.

However, unfortunately for Gray, he was unable to continue antagonizing the dragon slayer, for within a few more moments the large black limo came to a halt and a male with white hair and pale skin opened the car door.

"Thank you Capricorn." Lucy smiled, gracefully accepting the servant's hand as he assisted her from the car.

"Of couse, Lady Lucy." Turning back around, the limo driver reached in, excusing himself , before grabbing hold of the still sick looking salamander and pulled him from the car, thus allowing the two white skinned males to exit as well.

Gray watched wordlessly as the tall man set Natsu down on the ground before bowing slightly to the blonde.

"Is that all, Lady?"

Smiling the brown eyed girl nodded,

"Yes, thank you. I'll call you when I want you to come pick me up."

"Of course." With one final respectful bow, Capricorn filed back into the black vehile and drove away, leaving the 4 young adults to marvel at the large manor looming before them.

"Welcome to the Dragneel mansion." The cipher female introduced as she began walking towards the mansion before hesitating a moment, "Er… I'm really sorry to ask, but do one of you mind helping Natsu in? It usually takes him a little bit to get better after a long time in anything that moves…"

"You heard her, Gray, get to it." Lyon smirked, taking both his and the raven's bags before following Lucy up the grand steps that led to the house.

"Wait, why the hell do I have to help this bastard?!" He demanded, his fists clenching at his sides as he glared a hole into his comrade's back.

Letting out a low laugh, the albino glanced slightly over his shoulder,

"He seemed more keen on studying you during the ride than me, so be useful and bring him in, huh?"

Before the youngest male could protest further the white haired man had already disappeared past the marble front doors, leaving him alone with a still groggy salamander.

"Damn you, Lyon…" He growled lowly under his breath as he stared angerly down at the crumbled form of the pinkette. Honestly, could he look any more pathetic? The jackass could come inside by himself for all he cared.

However, he didn't want to anger the sweet Lucy, so he swallowed his arguments and reached down, awkwardly wrapping his arm around the other's warm body before pulling him into a standing postion. From there he wrapped the other's tan arm around his shoulders and laced his own arm around the slayer's waist.

"Ah, dammit, Natsu, can't you help at all..?"

"S…Sorrry." The salamander mumbled, leaning further against the helping boy in order to maintain the little balance he somehow pocessed. At the moment his stomach was still performing backflips and his legs felt like jelly, but for some rreason the others presence seemed to slowly help edge the pain away. It was odd, really.

"You, know, you smell good…"

"What the hell? Don't smell me, just stand up."

"But you do smell good," He insisted, pressing his tan nose against the others chest, "You smell... kind of familiar... Have we met before?"

"No." The raven replied swiftly, his gaze drifting forward as he relied in a low voice, "I haven't been here in a long time..."

"What did you say your name was again, ice prick?"  
He rolled his eyes,

"I didn't."

"Oi, then tell me, would ya? I'm getting tired of calling you ice prick."

Gray paused for a moment before walking forward, forcesfully pulling the still sickly pinkette with him. Thus far it seemed as though his and Lyon's identities were mysteries here in Fiore. From what he gathered everyone in this area knew of the so called 'ice boys', however what they looked like and their true names were unknown.

He supposed that it was only in Isvan that everyone knew their names, which actually served to work for the ice maker. Natsu didn't seem to remember him and he wanted to keep it that way. Magnolia was the place in which the demons of his past thrived and quite frankly he had neither the urge nor the courage to deal with what he left behind all those years ago.

"Silver," He quickly made up, mentally smacking himself for coming up with such a ridiculous and smiliar name, but continued with it none the less, "Silver Surge."

"Silver Surge...?" Natsu blinked, the color in his face slowly returning as they continued their slow walk towards the large marble mansion before them, "Huh, you kinda remind me of someone else... You are sure we haven't met before...?"

The dark blue haired youth gritted his teeth and looked down at the ground, his bangs sheilding his eyes as he replied firmly,

"Enough with that question. I've already told you we haven't."

"You're moody." Natsu pouted, his breathing returning to normal as his nausea all but diappeared, however he remained leaning against the male, "It's just a question, droopy eyes, don't take it so hard."

"Shut up squinty eyes."

Green eyes blinked for a moment before the pink haired man let out a low chuckle, earning him a questioning look from the shorter male,

"And what the hell is so funny?"

"I haven't met someone so fiesty in a long time, bastard. Not many have the nerve to insult me."  
The bluenette shrugged slightly and stopped just short of the door,

"Then you've only met cowards. I don't take shit, especially not from you, hot head."  
"I've noticed, ice princess."

"Don't call me that, idiot. I'm not a girl."

Gray unlatched his arm from around the taller male and stepped aside before crossing his arms, his previous slightly lighthearted attitude dispersed as he remembered just who he was chatting with. He hadn't heard that nickname for several years...

"You look fine now. I'm going to go find Lyon..."

Without allowing the fighter a moment to respond, the raven stalked away from the curious pinkette, his signature sword necklace glinting as he turned, causing Natsu to hold his breath for a moment. The dragon slayer hadn't even noticed the raven wearing that prior. He guessed that it was because it had been hidden under the raven's white shirt.

No... It couldn't be...

He watched silently as the ice sculptor walked across the foyer and down the nearest hall, allowing himself a mere moment to wonder if he even knew where he was going before focusing on the one thought that kept circulating through his mind.

That necklace... He could recognize it anywhere and just the sight of it caused his heart to clench as a series of memories returned to him.

Subconciously the pink haired MMA fighter steadied himself by leaning on the door frame, his vision downcast as his bangs covered his eyes.

"Silver Surge, was it?" He mocked, his voice dry and irritated, "What a silly name."

That peice of jewery... There was only one person in the world that could ever own that. After all, it was Natsu himself that had crafted it for his best friend all those years ago. It belonged to the one boy that he had believed to have died along with his parents seven years prior.

Yes, it had to be him... He was one of the few that ever actually pushed him to to his limits while fighting, the one that he had loved before he even knew what love was. He survived...

"So Silver Surge, or, should I say, Gray Fullbuster. You've become a liar, have you...? But why...?"

Why was he pretending as though he didn't know him? He even went so far as to pretend as though he was another individual...

He felt the anger within him surge at that thought. What the hell was that assholes problem? He went and disappeared for seven years and then came back, acting as though he had never met him before?

"You want to play, huh, Gray? I don't know what the hell your deal is, but you're on."

* * *

There we are~ Here's a few side notes I wanted to add about the name Silver Surge. Surge was the last name of Edolas Gray and Silver is from the newest chapters of the manga (however I still haven't read it, or even finished the anime for that matter).

Yeah, I know, the name is stupid, but I don't feel like making something complex up.

Thanks for reading~


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are~ Another chapter.**

**Warnings: Violence, AU, cursing, slight OOC, and Yaoi.**

**Italics stand for memories**

* * *

"Took you long enough to get here."

Gray rolled his eyes, his hands fumbling with the buttons on his shirt subconsciously as he walked into the large empty ballroom that he had been instructed to enter.

After taking several wrong turns and getting utterly lost in the giant household the ice maker had finally given up his pride and asked a maid where he would find the room in which Lyon was led to.

Usually he wasn't that bad with figuring out where he was going, although his little confrontation with Natsu managed to rattle him up to the point where he found it difficult to think clearly. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

"It's your own damn fault for that, Jackass." The raven grumbled, tossing his shirt aside as he glared half heartedly at his best friend, "That Salamander held me up."

Lyon smirked slightly and shrugged before following Gray's lead, removing his shirt as well.

"Catching up with old friends?"

The shorter of the two boys scoffed.

"Hardly. Hell, just being around that bastard is enough to make me want to punch something. Preferably him."

"Well, this should help clear your head of him. It always has."

Stepping closer to the younger male, the albino paused for a moment before leading him to the center of the room.

"It better. I hate doing this when I'm irritated."

Gray unconciously felt his nails dig into his biceps at the mere thought of the pink haired idiot.

"Let's find out."

The two were now barely inches apart, their arms brushing against one another as they focused their attention on the shape in front of them.

"So, just dragons, huh?"

The silver haired sculptor nodded,

"So you really weren't listening when Lucy was telling us what to do, were you?" He chuckled lowly, "I didn't think you were. How immature Gray. "

Gray bit the corner of his lip, knowing full well that this was coming,

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the reprimanding, Lyon. I was just distracted by something else."

"It was Natsu, wasn't it?"

The raven felt his body run rigid at the mere mention of the fighter's name. To the albino that was answer enough. Having known Gray for seven years, he was well aware that something had occurred in his hometown prior to his apprenticeship with Ur, however he knew only the basic facts. To be honest, from what he knew he didn't blame the boy one bit for disliking the obnioxious pinkette.

"Just a week, Gray, you can make it that long. I know you can."

Running a hand through dark hair, the raven sighed before using the other, free hand to gently caress the transparent susbstance before them,

"I hope you are right, Lyon..."

"Of course I'm right. I always am." Simpering, the white haired male knelt down to collect the needed tools he had laid out prior,

"Anyway, as for the sculptures, yeah, they are mainly dragons, although the girl, Lucy, also said for us to make a few smaller figures of this... thing... I think she called it a dog."

Pulling himself from his thoughts of Natsu, Gray glanced down to see his comrade holding a peice of paper up to him with one hand, the other appendage as well as its owner were busy digging in a giant bag that held their ice chipping materials.

"A dog... What the hell? This thing isn't a dog?!" Cobalt eyes widened and he shook his head in mock exasperation, "These damn rich people and their exotic animals. It looks more like a snowman to me..."

He flipped the paper around, letting out a small laugh at the name listed on the back,

"Plue? Plue the dog that looks more like a freaking snowman. Great."

Lyon allowed a small smile to grace his lips at the sound of his friend's laughter, all traces of his past anxity leaving the other's tone.

"Let's get started." The black haired boy grinned, stretching his muscular torso and arms as he sent his friend a challenging glance, "I bet I can make a better looking dragon than you."

He was met with another, equally determined smirk,

"You're on, Gray."

* * *

"Come on, Salamander, is that the best you've got?" Gajeel jeered, his voice demeaning as he slugged his younger cousin, who seemed oddly distracted today, "I'm kicking your ass easier than usual."

"Shut it, iron freak!." The pinkette growled, returning his rival's attack with his own, a victorious smile decorating his face as his opponent stumbled back several paces, "I'm still kicking your butt."

"Lucky shot." The black haired male muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "Bet you can't do it again."

"Bring it, wimp!"

"That's enough fighting for today, boys."

Both fighters ceased their heated glares at one another to see the owner of the voice, a low whine escaping the pinkette at their order not to fight any longer.

"But I'm just getting fired up!"

"It's late Natsu, and you two have been fighting nonstop for the past few hours. Take a break."

"I don't need a break, gramps! I wanna hit something!"

Makarov rolled his eyes and stopped just before the boys, his hands clamped firmly behind his back.

"It's late," He repeated, his gaze shifting from Natsu to Gajeel, "Give us a moment, Gajeel."

Grunting, the peirced man sent the Salamander one last glare before obeying and leaving, flinging a towel around his neck as he fled into the locker room.

"What's bothering you, my boy?"

The salamander crossed his arms in a slight pout,

"You ended our fight. I was just about to win too!"

The old man shook his head before bopping the shorter man on the head,

"Something else is bothering you. What is it?"

Biting his bottom lip, Natsu shifted on his feet, not wanting to meet his grandfather's gaze,

"It's just... Remember Gray?"

The lighthearted expression on the master's face swiftly dissappeared as a new solemn look overrided it,

"Of course. I can never forget one of my martial art children..."

"What happened to him?"

"Why are you asking me this now of all times, Natsu? It's been seven years and you know what happened just as much as I do."

The Salamander glanced down at the ground before sitting, his hands fiddling aimlessly with the scraf wrapped securely around his neck,

"Tell me again, I'm just curious."

Sighing, the master of the Fairy Tail gym and dojo glanced sadly down at the so called fire dragon slayer. Everyone at the gym had once considered the raven family, especially Natsu. They were constantly at one another's throats, but still he was certain that deep down they were best friends.

"Very well, my boy, it certainly has been quite a while..." Makarov paused for a moment, grabbing a chair before sitting back down in front of the still distracted pinkette, "It was seven years ago that he disappeared... You know that already though... This is what happened that day..."

* * *

_"That boy is late again." Makarov sighed, shaking his head as he paced around the dojo, his impatience growing with each passing moment._

_For the past several weeks the raven had been coming in early, earlier than the rest of the students, in order to get more time in for training. For some reason he seemed insistant on getting stronger. The white haired male suspected that it had something to do with the unusual bruises and cuts that commonly marred the boy's pale flesh; wounds that he was certain were not ones the boy sustained while in his presence during practice, "I guess I'll just have to go and get the brat."_

_Grumbling under his breath, the master left the guild, leaving his assistant trainer Mirajane in charge as he stalked off to Gray's house._

_As he made his way down the familiar streets of Magnolia ,Makarov allowed his thoughts to wander to the young boy._

_For one reason or another the poor youth had been coming to practice sporting numerous bumps and bruises, although whenever he was consulted about said injuries he would come up with ridiculous excuses. Never once would be agree to tell anyone just where he got the wounds._

_However, the white haired sensai had a pretty good idea. He figured the poor lad was being bullied. By who, he never really was certain and the raven was of no help. The boy was far too stubborn and prideful to ever admit to such a thing._

_"That child... He'll end up running himself into the ground if he keeps up that cold act..." He muttered to himself, a sad glint in his eyes. "At the very least he has Natsu..."_

_Allowing yet another sigh to escape he pulled himself from his muddled thoughts as he arrived at the familiar house of the Fullbuster family, surprised to find Natsu already outside the house, banging on the door._

_"Oi, frost breath, open the door! I'm sorry about yesterday, alright?"_

_"What are you doing here, child?" Makarov asked, coming to stand beside the young pinkette._

_"Oh, hey gramps! I just came to find Gray... Have you seen him?"_

_The white haired male shook his head slightly, a sense of unease suddenly surging through his senses._

_"No, I came here to find him." Seeing the concerned look on the fourteen year old's face the master placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, my boy, he must have just overslept."_

_Natsu nodded, not completely convinced, but returned to pounding on the wooden door nonetheless. Gray never ignored him like this, not even when he was mad. In fact, they couldn't hear anything coming from the house that was usually full of voices._

_"This is taking too long!" The younger boy pouted, crossing his arms as he kicked at the door, "Let's break it down!"_

_"You can't solve every problem by being destructive, brat." He sighed, the sense of unease swiftly strengthening the longer he stood outside the house, "But just this once, I think you may be correct. Something's wrong."_

_Wasting not another moment the white haired elder kicked at the door, once, twice, the third time was the charm. The wood door groaned it's complaint but opened nonetheless, allowing both men enterance._

_Eagerly, the young salamander stepped into the familiar home, his body stilling immediately and a small gasp resonated from him as he studied the house. There was the distinct aroma of blood in the air and the foryer was in complete disarray. The walls were broken in places and tables and chairs were overturned, a red substance splattered around._

_"G-Gramps!"_

_"Oh dear... Natsu, go quickly and get help, I will find them!"_

_"But what about Gray?! I want to see him!"_

_"Go, Natsu! Now! I will find Gray!"_

_Without allowing the child another moment to speak Makarov gestured for him to leave before running further into the disastarous house._

_Natsu, however reluctantly obeyed and ran as fast as he could to a neighbor of Gray's, his heart clenching,_

_"Please be alright, Gray, please..."_

_~ Later that day~_

_"What do you mean they're gone?!" The pinkette roared, his eyes brimming with tears as he glared heatedly at his grandpa, "They can't be, you said you would find him! He... He couldn't have just disappeared!"_

_Makarov looked down at his young grandson with sadness, knowing all too well how this news must be affecting him, for it affected himself greatly as well,_

_"I am so sorry, my boy, but his parents were dead when I got there. As for Gray... He was no where to be seen..."_

_Salty liquid ran freely down the boy's cheeks as he sniffled and balled his fists,_

_"B-but... how...?"_

_The master clenched his teeth as he too felt tears run down his aged face, his gaze flickering to the floor as he spoke the name,_

_"Deliora... The serial killer. That was what the police said. While they couldn't find his body it was deduced that his blood was scattered about. Quite a bit of it too...I'm so sorry, my dear boy, we just came too late..."_

_"Gray, you bastard! You said you would never leave me!"_

_He slumped to his knees and slammed his fist into the ground, uncaring as to the pain it brought, "You were supposed to be my rival and best friend forever! You said you wouldn't **die** on me like Lisanna and leave me like Igneel... Damn you..."_

_Gray was gone, his family killed and it was all Natsu's **fault** for not being there to help him._

* * *

"That was how it went down put simply..." The tired old man sighed before standing back up. He spared the youth of the gruesome details, knowing that that was something he would never be old enough to hear.

After a few moments of silence he began to walk away,

"Why the sudden interest? For the longest time you wouldn't allow anyone to even speak the name, now you want me to tell you the story again, child?"

"No reason..." The pink haired fighter mumbled, standing up as well, "I just... Thought of him today, is all."

"I see. Don't allow the past to cloud your thoughts, Natsu. I could tell they were while you were fighting Gajeel. We all loved Gray dearly but the fact remains that he is gone. We searched everywhere for him, but made no progress for five years. Go home and rest."

Without another word Makarov exited the room, leaving Natsu to dwell in a very dangerous place; his mind.

"Yes, you disappeared, you bastard, but what really happened that night?" He whispered, his fists clenching as he recalled his little confrontation with '_Silver Surge'_, "_Why_ the hell did you leave, you icy bastard?"

He wanted answers and that was precisely what he was going to get.

* * *

"Damn, dragons are harder to make than I thought." Gray groaned, collasping on the ground, his body becoming sore from the nonstop work, "This is why I like making inanimate objects. They aren't so freaking hard."

"Don't complain so much Gray, we still have a week more of this. Besides, this'll give you more practice." Lyon smirked, studying his and the other's sculptures with interest. Both had gotten about halfway through their individual six foot creations.

"Yeah, I know. At least the snowman Plue will be easier..."

"Snowman? Don't you mean dog, frostbreath?"

A chill ran down the raven's spine at that painfully familiar voice. So he was here, was he?

"Whatever, salamander."

Behind him he could hear the sound of footsteps coming up to him, although he didn't turn around. The last thing he wanted to see was the damn fire bastard.

"Anyway, we need to talk, Silver."

Lyon, having already been

informed as to the fake alias that the raven adopted for this job, stared intently at the pinkette.

"If it's about the job than you should speak to both of us,no?"

"It's not." Natsu said bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest as his vest swayed with his every move. A determined look was glinting in his emerald eyes and his gaze was set firmly on the raven's back.

"Then what can I help you with, sir?" Gray's voice was cold and calm, his head turning to the side slightly.

"Yo, other ice bastard, leave for a moment, will ya?"

"You really lack manners don't you?" The albino scoffed, slipping his shirt back on as his glare intensified on the Salamander.

"Are you trying to start something, albino?"

"No, but I have no problem ending it."

"Ehem." Gray cleared his throat as he finally stood up and faced the fighter, "Leave it, Lyon."

Glancing from his comrade to his employer, the white haired male hesitated a moment before snickering, heading towards the door to the room.

"Fine, I'll be back in five minutes. I have to ask about our rooms anyway."

Two pairs of eyes watched silently as the albino left, uncomfortable silence lingering in the air for several moments before Natsu spoke,

"Cut the fucking act, Silver. I know that that's not your real name."

Stiffening slightly, the raven copied the salamanders crossed arm pose and glared at the other,

"Then who am I, Ash for brains?"

"You are **Gray Fullbuster**, my best friend who should have **_died_** seven years ago."

'_Who should have** died** seven years ago...'_

A humorless chuckle filtered throughout the room as the raven shook his head, his fingers digging into his arms,

"Looks like you aren't as dumb as I thought, fire brain. I'm surprised you recognized me."

"I didn't at first..." Natsu admitted,a hand coming up to subconsciously rub the back of his head, "but your cocky ass attitude and necklace gave you away. _Silver_ _Surge._.." He snickered. "What a pathetic name. It doesn't even sound realistic."

"Is my fake name really what you came to talk to me about?"

"No." His tan face suddenly turned serious as he stepped closer to the ice maker, "You need to explain."

"I don't need to explain anything to you, flamebrain."

"Like hell you do. What happened to you? Where have you been?!"

"Like you care, Natsu."

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Of course I care, snow queen! I was your best friend! You know Fairy Tail was worried sick about you and have been mourning your death ever since you disappeared..." His voice lowered as he gritted his teeth, "we thought you were dead..."

"That was what I wanted. As far as you were concerned and for all extensive purposes the child Gray Fullbuster did die that day."

"But why, Gray?! We were your family!"

"Family? Don't go throwing that word around so freely, squinty eyes. You were never family. Fairy Tail was never my family."

"What do you mean...?"

"Get this through that thick skull of yours, dimwit! I was nothing but a joke to everyone there, including you. I was the pathetic punching bag, a favorite of Gajeel, Laxus, and my personal favorite..."

"Gray, please..."

"**-you**, Natsu. All I ever was to you was something to use and manipulate."

Natsu stepped closer to his once best friend and rival, a finger jabbing into the other's bare chest as his green eyes narrowed,

"I don't know what the hell has gotten into you, ice princess, but you're speaking nonsense."

"Am I, Natsu? Do you remember what happened the day before my parent's murder? Do you realize how much your betrayal destroyed me? I had trusted you and you went and did that!"

"And I regretted it from that moment on. Look, Gray... I'm sorry... I just... I didn't mean to betray you..."

"Save it for someone who cares, sulfur brain. You made a choice that day and it was against me."

Turning, his fingers gently glazed the ice sculpture beside him, a sad look flashing in blue eyes as he bit the corner of his lip. It hurt him to feel this hatred towards his former best friend, but Natsu Dragneel was a liability and played him for a fool.

As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. There would be no chance for a second time for he had burned all his bridges to Magnolia the night he left with Ur.

"The Gray you knew is gone, Natsu. I froze him solid that day. He was weak and because of that he shattered. I won't shatter again." He turned to face the so called slayer again, "Nothing you can say will change that."

"Don't say that!" Before Gray knew what was happening he felt a warm body against his own, sending him stumbling back against the wall.

"What happened to you? You finally come back and you don't want anything to do with us?! The past is the past, everyone would love to see you!"

"No." The raven's voice was stern as he glared at the male pressing him against the wall, struggling to push him away, "Are you fucking deaf? I told you that that part of my life ended years ago. You are the only one who knows I'm here and alive and it will stay that way. Once i am done here Lyon and I will return to Isvan and I will forget all about this place, just like before."

"No, you won't! I won't let you! You belong here with us, I... I missed you..." The salamander rested his head against the slightly shorter male's, his heart quickening at their close proximity and the familiar cool aura of the raven, "I'm sorry, Gray, I am..."

"Get off of me, Natsu."

"Gray..."

"Am I interrupting something?"

The pinkette felt his irritation rise at the familiar voice and he reluctantly released the raven, who wasted not a moment in stepping away from the other.

"No. I thought I said for you to leave us alone, damn albino."

"Your five minutes are up." His eyes shifted from the irritated looking Natsu to the equally agitated Gray, "Watch yourself, Salamander."

"You want to start something, ice freak?"

Without allowing the boys to continue their quarreling, Gray stepped between the two, his cobalt eyes narrowed,

"Shut up, both of you. Damn, I'm getting a freaking headache. Lyon, let's just go to our rooms. It's late and I'm going to punch something if you two keep acting like idiots."

Several moments of silence passed throughout the room as the taller of the three males continued their heated glare, neither willing to back down, that is until Lyon finally abided and scoffed,

"Fine."

Without another word the two ice users turned their back on the slayer and left Natsu alone with several unanswered questions hovering over him.

* * *

**A bit of Gray and Natsu's past has been revealed O_O Butttt it probably just left you all with more questions. Whoops.**

**Anyway, I've been wanting to answer reviews on the bottom of my stories, however I never have the time. I only have time to post it. So, now that I have a bit of extra time I decided to do that! All 10 of them!**

**DreamscomeTRUEEE: Ah, i figured everyone would recognize the name Silver Surge but I just wanted to clear it up for those in the dark XD I'm glad I've caught your interest :D Thanks for the review~**

**Rewinsan: That they were ^.^ Thanks for the review!**

** : I'm glad you like it :D Thank you for reviewing!  
6purplecats: There is indeed. That'll be a line that their relationship will be hovering over for quite a bit XD It's great to know you like it and Thank you for reviewing.**

**JaiDaw: That I will, I promise! I actually have quite a few ideas for this, so I will be continuing it and hopefully updating again in a few days. Thank you for reviewing!**

**ranchan-akari: Oh yes, that is the question, no? More insight is given in this chapter, although it probably didn't help all that much. :P Sorry. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Spring Epaya: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story so far! Natsu will indeed be forced to recall the past hes been trying to forget thanks for Gray's appearance. Thanks for the review~**

**All reviews have been responded to. Yay ^.^. Now, update wise I will (hopefully) be able to update every few days, although once June 6th comes around summer will start and I will be able to update a lot more. **

**Thank you everyone for reading and please review!**

** .oO: Thanks :D More will hopefully be revealed in the next few chapters~ Thank you for reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4: Memories of what used to be

**Hello people~ As I'm sure you've noticed I've changed my penname from SonGokuSuperSayijin4 to BeautifulWonderland256, so if you see any further notifications under that name, it's me.**

**Warnings: Maybe OOC, AU, Cursing, Yaoi, unbetaed (for now), and violence. **

Natsu sighed softly as he sat outside, absent-mindedly petting his cat, Happy. The sun was only just rising and the Salamander already felt as though he had been up all day.

Usually at this time in the morning he was still asleep, snuggled up and snoring loudly in his beloved bed, however for some reason he had been unable to sleep soundly lately. Instead he found himself falling asleep late at night and waking up at ungodly hours in the morning. Dark bags were already making themselves apparent on his tanned skin and he had begun to do something that was quite uncharacteristic for him; He began to think.

Yes, as scary and unbelievable as it seems the dim-witted and rash Natsu Dragneel had taken up pondering.

No matter how hard he tried to pry the raven from his mind he still managed to be the center of his attention. Questions concerning his disappearance years ago and why he had not returned to Fairy Tail flooded his brain, making it so he found himself getting very distracted of the late. That irritated him, especially when it caused his usually flawless fighting skills to dull.

He had attempted to consult the ice maker further, however it seemed as though the younger male had been evading him for the past few days, making it so he had not so much as seen him. As far as he knew both sculptors merely worked, went out to eat, and slept. Natsu could never seem to catch Gray alone, which also only managed to annoy him. He absolutely hated thinking and wondering. He wanted answers but it seemed as though his former rival was having none of that.

"Damn bastard..." The pinkette muttered under his breath, the hand not petting Happy clenching as he glared at the landscape before him.

Honestly, the damned raven was too stubborn. Yes he knew that he had fucked up seven years ago and yes he regretted it more than anything else, but he was sorry and even told the ice sculptor as much. What more could he do? He just wanted things to return to the way they were now that he knew that his best friend was still alive and rather well, although his friend seemed to have a different plan. The jackass was going to leave again once he was done with his job and pretend that his childhood never even happened!

Running a hand through his salmon hair, the fighter groaned, effectively causing his cat to grumble in complaint before jumping up from his lap.

His actions the day before Gray's parent's murder still hung painfully clear in his head, regardless of how many times he attempted to put it behind him. He hated himself after that fateful Saturday because he blamed himself for Gray even being home. The raven was supposed to stay over his house the night Deloria killed his parents. If he hadn't hurt the dark blue haired male like he did than he would have never been subjected to the murderer's wrath and he might have stayed at Fairy Tail, however Natsu was afraid that the boy's parents still would have suffered the fate they did.

If only he hadn't been such an idiot. He should have stood up to his cousins and helped Gray instead of worrying about his own damn reputation. Then again he was just a young kid at the time; they both were. Cocky, arrogant, bastards of teens.

Clenching his teeth, he let out another lengthy groan and took to burying his face in his hands. Maybe Gajeel and Laxus were right, he really was just a naïve idiot.

_'Crack.'_

His self loathing was cut short as he glanced up and saw a figure trudging across his yard and out into the street, his eyebrow rising in question as he wondered who was leaving his house so early in the morning.

The figure moved swiftly and with purpose and as he turned the corner to leave the Dragneel property Natsu could just make out black, spiky hair peeking out from the dark hood and jacket covering his torso and head. That hair could belong to only one person.

Curiously, the Salamander followed Gray out of the yard and into the nearly deserted street. This might be just his chance to finally get an explanation from the stubborn male.

* * *

The sun was just peeking up from the horizon, shooing away the unsettling darkness that had blanketed the town that night. Through that slim amount of light a figure could be seen making it's way down the road, a hood covering his head and his gaze down as he stalked silently, aimlessly kicking a rock.

It had been two days since his little confrontation with Natsu and Gray had seen to it that he remained from the Salamander's sight. Just seeing his past friend bought back countless memories, memories of which he had spent the last seven years attempting to forget. Although with the combination of being in his hometown and seeing familiar faces, there really was no way for him to not recall his childhood.

Sighing, the ice maker yanked his hood down further over his head, not willing to risk the off chance of someone recognizing him. After all, everything would just be easier for everyone if Gray Fullbuster remained dead to Magnolia. His life wasn't important and therefore revealing that he was indeed still alive and well was unneeded, or at the very least that was what he told himself.

They could find out his true identity once he was long gone. This was the last time he ever planned on returning to this god forsaken place. originally he thought he would be able to put aside his past and at least get onto somewhat even terms with the Salamander, however now that he was here he found the memories too hurtful to just let slide by. He was unwanted here then and he would be now, that was all there was to it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Gray allowed a small, sad smile to creep onto his face as his gaze drifted from the ground to the river winding beside the road. Countless memories flooded his mind as he allowed his brain to drift to all the fun times he had by that very body of water.

One particular memory stood out among the others, causing a ting of pain and happiness to seep into his heart. One of the best days of his childhood was the day that he and his father went fishing at this very lake.

* * *

_"Daddy, I caught a fish! I caught a fish!" A young Gray giggled as he thrusted his fishing pole out towards his father, a fish only about the size of his finger hanging from the line, but that didn't deter the boy from smiling pridefully._

_"Great job, Gray." The older raven praised, ruffling the boy's head encouragingly and smiled gently at his one and only son, "You're quite the fisher."_

_"Thank you! Watch, I'll unhook it too!"_

_"Gray, that's not such..."_

_Blocking his father's words out, the five year old boy reached out and clamped his small hand onto the fish, pulling away a second later with a yelp._

_The fish's sharp scales had pierced the boys skin upon direct contact, causing a frown to mar his pale features as he threw the fishing pole down, fish and all, "Mean fishy!"_

_Sighing softly, his father leaned over and picked the pole back up,_

_"Don't be so cruel, Gray, you could have killed the fish."_

_"But the fishy hurt me! He deserved it!"_

_The boy pouted and stared down at his hand, tears burning the back of his eyes as he stared at the thin line of blood that slowly cascaded down his tiny palm. The wound was nothing more than a mere scratch, but it hurt nonetheless._

_Offering the boy a small smile, his dad carefully removed the fish from the hook before holding it out to his son,_

_"Just because something or someone hurts you doesn't mean you should hurt them back. It gives you the chance to be the bigger person. The fish is just scared. It didn't mean to hurt you. Every life is precious, no matter what they did to you first."_

_The dark blue haired youth looked from his dad to the wiggling fish, a look of hesitation in his bright cobalt eyes,_

_"But... I don't like the fishy..."_

_"I'm sure the fish is sorry, won't you forgive him?"_

_"Forgive...? Why should I?!"_

_The man sighed once more, knowing that if he dragged the conversation on too much longer the creature would die due to suffocation,_

_"Because if you don't forgive you can't move on. If someone is truly sorry for what they did, they should be given another chance."_

_"Well..." Cautiously, the boy took the animal from his dad's hands before leaning down and placing it back in the water, watching with a small smile as the marine creature swiftly swam away, "Alright... I forgive the little fishy... Bye fishy, it was nice to meet you!"_

_Placing his hand lightly on Gray's back, the older man's smile broadened,_

_"Always forgive, Gray, just never forget."_

* * *

Raven locks and the black hood shook slightly as Gray glared at the ground, hating that he allowed his past to penetrate his mind.

"I'm sorry, dad, but there are just some people in life that I can't forgive." His hand raised before him and he stared absent mindedly at his pale palm, clenching and unclenching it repeatedly as he stared at the thin scar that still marred his all-star skin, "I can never forgive Deliora for taking you both away from me. I swear I'll kill the bastard long before I will ever forgive him."

No, he could never even begin to forgive that beast for murdering his parents those seven years ago. His attack was the feather that broke the camel's back, especially because of the events that transpired before that.

He continued his trek slowly, his breathing short and ragged as he fought the rage that exploded within him. How he wanted to see to that jackass's end. But unfortunately the only murder conducted after his parents was in Brago. The damn bastard bombed an entire town.

After that he just disappeared off the map. No one knew his identity, seeing as he killed all the people who had seen his face,besides him.

He was the sole survivor of the serial killer's disgusting antics. However, he doubted that Deliora himself knew that, because when he left the boy was as good as dead. Unluckily for him Gray Fullbuster was nearly impossible to kill.

After walking silently for several more moments he stopped in front of one house, his gaze focusing solely on the cream colored two story building looming before him. He never thought he would see this place again. The place which held countless wonderful memories and one horrid one, a memory that somehow managed to outweight the beautiful ones.

This was his childhood home, the place where he was born and where he nearly died.

* * *

_A sudden loud banging sound jolted the thirteen year old Gray from his slumber, his head whipping from side to side as his blood went cold. What the hell was that?_

_He hesitated for several moments, his blue sheets and blanket pulled up to his chest as he listened closely for a sound, any sound. Several moments passed and he was met with nothing more than the silent of the night._

_Breathing a sigh of relief, the young Raven felt his heart slowly steady itself as he merely shook his head, chuckling lightly to himself,_

_"Must have just been my imagination." He mused._

_He had just laid back down, prepared to once again fade into darkness when suddenly another clashing sound filled the house, however this time it was met with a scream, a scream of which was distinctly his mother's._

_Adrenaline pounded through his body as he swiftly leapt out of bed, cobalt eyes scanning the dark bedroom carefully._

_Only once he was certain it was devoid of danger did he progress out of his bedroom door and into the hallway, his heart pounding harshly as he slowly crept through the long room. Just what the hell was going on?_

_The rational part of his brain was screaming for him to high tail it out of there and seek help whilst the protective and stronger part urged him to go down and see his parents. If they were in danger there was no way he would just leave them, especially if there was a chance that he could save them from whatever was causing them distress._

_As he slowly inched his way down the stairs the boy could just barely make out the sound of muttering in his parent's bedroom, which was located downstairs and to the right. He silently fought the urge to yell to his mother and father, frightened that if he so much as made a sound then the intruder, if that was what was causing such a ruckus, would set his sights on him._

_"Leave my family alone!"_

_That was his dad. He was sure of it._

_"If I did that then my whole escapade here would be in vain, no?" A foreign voice chuckled, the very sound managing to cause a shiver to cascade down his spine._

_"What the hell do you want, you bastard? At least let my wife and child go!"_

_"That would be too boring, besides, now that they know I'm here I can't allow them to live."_

_The voice quieted for a moment before a shrill chuckle resonated throughout the house,_

_"I'll go and wake the little boy up. Can't let him miss all the fun. Here, lady, hold this."_

_A loud, ear piercing scream was the stranger's only response, a scream that Gray just knew belonged to his mother._

_His mind was swiftly removed from the heartwrenching sound when a new noise caught his interest; the undeniable sound of shoes coming closer to his hiding place beside the staircase. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!_

_Without wasting a moment the raven ducked behind the hall door._

_Just moments after his decision to hide a shadowy figure passed by where he was just standing seconds prior, a black cloak cascading down his body and a red mask framing his face; a mask that would forever haunt his dreams. It was red with black lining and had demon horns sticking up from it. The mouth of it was open, showing shining white and gleaming sharp teeth. The eyes were black and lifeless and he couldn't help but shiver._

_He looked like a demon. Plain and simple. Never before had be felt so completely and utterly terrified._

_Holding his breath, his watched as the figure hesitated by the staircase, pausing for a few moments before he continued up the stairs, no doubt in search of him. That could only mean that he had mere minutes to get to his parents before the stranger realized that the person of his search was already up and about._

_As soon as he was certain the man was upstairs Gray raced into his parents room, which was directly beside the staircase. He couldn't help but hold his breath as he completely entered the room._

_There sat his mom and dad, both tied up to kitchen chairs, however that was not what caught his interest. Instead it was all the overturned furniture throughout the room (in fact now that he thought about it the foyer was rather messed up too) as well as the red substance that littered the bed and floor. A knife stuck out from his mothers stomach and his dad had his head facing the ground, blood dribbling slowly from wounds lining his head._

_"D-dad...?"_

_Immediately the bound male's head whipped up, worry and slight relief flooding his features as his gaze settled on his son._

_"Gray, you're alright. I am so glad." His voice was hushed, no doubt to ensure that the criminal didn't hear, "You have to go now. Run while you can. Get help."_

_"N-no, I can't..." His voice quivered as he ran up to his parents, tears streaming down his face at the sight before him. This couldn't be happening. There was just no way that this was real. "I'll untie you both. Then we can all leave together."_

_"N-no..." His mother whimpered, her head only moving ever so slightly to look at her son. Her face was unusually pale and her once bright green eyes were now dull and fading, "G-go now... Too late..."_

_"No, come on, we can all get out!"_

_Running over to his parent's nearly lifeless forms, he yanked at the ropes that binded them, his vision blurring as tears ran freely down his pale face._

_"No, there's no time. You only have a few seconds before he realizes that you are up and he will come after you." The elder raven objected, "Go, please Gray, go."_

_"I won't leave you!"_

_"Well, how touching."_

_The breath caught in the boy's throat and he slowly turned around, gulping as he saw the person looming in the doorway. There stood the famous serial killer, Deliora, a red and black demonic mask decorating his face._

_"Don't worry, boy, by the time I'm done you all will be dead."_

* * *

Gray's breathing hardened as he clutched as his chest and tore his gaze away from the house, the memory from that night burning into him once again. There was blood... So much blood... So much pain...

He raced down the road almost as though he was attempting to run from his past and the countless demons it held.

* * *

_A soft whimper escaped the black haired youth as he felt a knife prick his forehead, running along the side._

_"S-stop... Please..."_

_Blood dripped from the wound, causing the boy to close his right eye to keep the fluid from entering it. Pain etched mercilessly throughout his body, his right arm and numerous ribs were shattered. Wounds littered his pale skin, causing red liquid to cascade freely down his person._

_He had been thrown around the room, slamming into the bed post and the window. He found tooth and nail against the male, his torn fingernails proving as much, but he couldn't so much as injure the stranger. Damn it! Why was he so weak? Why was he always so helpless? Maybe Laxus and Gajeel were right the other day about him being pathetic... Maybe Natsu was right to agree and not stand up for him... Maybe he really should just die..._

_"I don't think I will."_

_A slap resounded through the room, causing yet another pained sound to erupt from the boy._

_His teeth clenched and he spared a glance to the side, the urge to vomit growing as he saw his parent's lifeless forms just feet from him. They still sat there, bound to chairs with red blood falling freely from the countless lacerations and mutilations lining their limp forms. He had no idea if they were even still alive, not that it really mattered anyway. He doubted that he himself would last much longer either. At the very least his parents were no longer in pain and soon he would join them in the afterlife._

_He himself was kneeling on the ground, his hands tied behind his back. Deloria stood before him, the mask adorning his face making it impossible to what his expression was. Gray supposed that it was no doubt one of true glee._

_Then he did something that the young boy did not expect, he removed his mask. It was then that he knew there was no way he was making it out of this alive, especially now that he had seen the true face of that monster._

_The man hidden behind the horrible facewear was no doubt in his early thirties with black hair and blue eyes. His kin was pale and a wide, toothy grin lightened his ugly face as he admired his handiwork on the poor child's body._

_"While this is certainly fun I'm afraid I have other matters to tend to, so I'll send you to the same place I did your parents." A low chuckle escaped him, "Bye bye, brat."_

_His now dull blue eyes widened as the other male unsheathed the gun hidden within his cloak. This was the end, he just knew it."_

**_'Bang.'_**

* * *

He blocked out the memories of the pain that bloomed so freely throughout him, not wanting to recall why he had that damned scar above his head. These memories were dangerous and he knew it, yet he couldn't help but allow them to tear at him from the inside out. He clearly could recall every whip, every slap and every stab sent to him and his parents. To this day he still harvested several scars as a reminder of that experience, but at the very least he escaped with his life. He couldn't say the same about his parents.

Feeling his legs grow shaky the raven dropped to his knees by the river, his fingertips subconsciously tracing the scar on his face. Damn it, coming here really wasn't a good idea after all.

Small trembled shook his body as he fought away the tears that attempted to blur his vision, his head falling to rest in his hands as he pressed his palms roughly against his eyelids.

"Are you alright?"

His already uneven breaths hitched at the voice, his teeth clenching even tighter as he determined just who it was behind him,

"L-leave me the hell alone."

The voice snickered before a warm hand came to rest on his shoulder,

"No way in hell, frost breath. Not when you are like this."

"I'm fine..."

"Don't lie to me. No one is ever really fine when they say they are."

"It doesn't matter, Natsu!" His head whipped around to glare at the pinkette crouching beside him, "I don't need your damn pity."

"Good," The other sneered, "Cause you aren't getting any."

Gray knew he was lying.

"Don't antagonize me, dammit. What the hell do you even want? And how did you know I was here?"  
"Well..."

The raven caught Natsu there. He wasn't quite sure how to explain to Gray that he had seen him leaving the house that morning and had decided to follow him in hopes of gaining time to talk to him, maybe even convince him to go back to Fairy Tail. However, the last thing he expected his past comrade to do was to come here of all places. After all, this is where the evil of his past was most vicious.

"I just happened to be walking by and saw you here..."

"Likely story, dumbass."  
"Hey, look, ice queen, I'm trying to help you here."

"How many times do I need to tell you that I don't need your damn help?!"  
"You can tell me as many times as you want but I know you're just being stubborn. Too stubborn for your own good."

Gray bit the bottom of his lip as he forced his gaze away from the older male, his resolve to fight ebbing away with each passing moment. To be completely honest the only thing he wanted was to rest and get his mind away from his past. The dying figures of his parents still lingered in his subconscious, regardless of how hard he tried to make them disappear.

"What do you want, Natsu? You really have some nerve to accuse me of being too stubborn."  
"I want to talk to you."

Moving so he was sitting beside the other, the pink haired male stared at the raven, a small smile tugging at his lips as he was reminded of all the days he and his friend spent dueling here. He never thought he would ever have the opportunity to sit here with him again.

"Well I don't."

"Good, cause I'm doing the talking and you are gonna do the listening, got it?"

Gray hesitated a moment before grunting, but didn't object. Honestly, he figured it would save more time if he just listened to what the flame head had to say before cursing him out with the colorful words he had learned throughout the years.

Smiling slightly the Salamander glanced away from his saddened friend to instead gaze out at the slowly appearing sun,

"It's been a while, huh, snow cone? Since we've sat together like this, I mean."

The ice maker kept his gaze on the grassy ground as he nodded his head slightly,

"It has. Get to the damn point."

"Fine." The pinkette rolled his eyes but obeyed, "I didn't mean anything that I said to you. I didn't... I mean I don't think you're worthless. I just..." He rubbed the back of head, "I mean it was not long after Igneel dissappeared and I wanted to fit in with the only family I had left, you know?"

The other male snorted, but made no further comment.

"Anyway, I know that I should have stood up for you and helped you and all, but I was young and well... I just wanted to be accepted... I didn't want anyone else to leave me like my father and Lisanna did..."

The dark blue haired teen shook his head as he laughed, a hollow laugh completely devoid of any actual humor,

"Funny, it had the opposite affect."

"I know..."

Natsu let out an exasperated sigh. He never had been good at expressing things with words.

"Gajeel and Laxus... They aren't so bad now, ya know? I mean they are still complete assholes, but they are kinder to people now..."  
"I find that hard to believe."

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. The only thing he remembered was the way they always treated him when he was younger. They constantly bullied him because he wasn't as strong as the others. While they harvested muscles he hit puberty late and merely adorned thin limbs and no fat, making him look like a twig. His being from the north didn't exactly help either... Natsu did nothing to diminish the teasing, if anything he only helped.

"I don't care, Natsu." He mumbled, bringing a leg up to his chest as he avoided the other's gaze, "You're just wasting your breath, hot head. None of this matters to me."  
"Why are you acting like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you don't care about anything in the world? That Fairy Tail doesn't mean anything to you?"

"I'm not acting."  
"That's bullshit and you know it, frost breath." Natsu sneered, watching the raven intently, "You've always been stubborn as hell but now it's just ridiculous. Cut the crap, I know better than anyone else that you aren't as cold as you seem."

"What does it matter to you, Natsu?" Gray turned to look at the pinkette, his gaze hard, "Why won't you just let it go? Why can't you just finally leave me alone?"  
"You're my rival and best friend, Gray... Or at least you were..."

The dark blue haired teen sighed and shook his head, wanting to be anywhere but here.

"You're too god damn stubborn yourself, Salamander."

"Not as stubborn as you, ice princess?"

Gray gritted his teeth. He absolutely despised that name,

"Are you trying to start something, moron?!"

"Bring it on, good for nothing ice prick!"  
Standing up, Gray narrowed his eyes at the other male, all the anger he felt towards him returning tenfold as he swung at him,

"I'm not the same pushover I was, Natsu, I won't hold back! I'll show you just how much I've grown!"

In turn Natsu smirked and positioned himself for a fight. When words couldn't breech Gray's ice cold defenses than fists always could.

* * *

**Well, this chapter went in a lot of directions. Anyway, more memories concerning Deliora and how he came to be with Ur will come in later on as well as the full details behind why Gray acts like he doesn't like Fairy Tail. Sorry for keeping up the suspense, but I left hints in this so it should help in getting an idea as to what occurred.**

**Reviews:**

**Thank you everyone for reviewing :D They encouraged me to continue on with this chapter~**

_**Sktrgrl13:**_** Oh thanks ^.^ I'm glad you like my Natray stories. As for how he escaped that was dwelled into a bit in this chapter, but what happened to Deliora will come in more later on~ Hopefully this will relieve at least a few of your questions.**

_**Nori of the sea: **_**Gray is always too stubborn for his own good XD But then again so is pretty much everyone in Fairy Tail. I hope this explained more about what happened to him. As for Lyon, ah yes, he's a protective friend. For now their actual relationship is a mystery ;).**

_**DreamscomeTRUEEE: I have to say, I'm guilty of that too. I just love protective Lyon :P. The actual story behind what happened is just being hinted at at the moment though, sorry.**_

_**Rewinsan:**_** This vaguely explained the how and why, kinda?**

**_6purplecats:_ Thank you, I'm glad the chapter was to your liking. Right I'm working on them getting more on speaking terms before their complete history is shown, so bear with me :)**

_**AsDarknessSpreads: **_**Of course, I could never write a story devoid of angst. It's just too fun to write :P. Heh, yeah, I didn't really feel like coming with a complex name, so I went with Silver Surge, but I know how completely ridiculous it sounds XD Oh well. It seems like a lot of people like protective Lyon and I can't help but agree. It's wonderful.**

**There we are~ Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Can't catch a break

**Warnings: Violence, cursing, angst, and Yaoi. Don't like, don't read~**

* * *

**_In turn Natsu smirked and positioned himself for a fight. When words couldn't breech Gray's ice cold defenses than fists always could._**

Natsu snickered and dodged the raven's attack, unleashing one of his own, to which the other evaded as well.

Gray growled and struck again, his determination surging as he fought the urge to leave. He was damn tired of running away from the Salamander like a scared little kid. All he did last time was run and it got him no where. Now he refused to flee, instead he would fight and beat the shit out of this cocky bastard once and for all.

A smirk crept onto pale lips as his punch met the pinkette's stomach, rewarding him with a 'umph'.

"Look's like you aren't half bad, snow queen," The fighter cooed before hitting the ice maker with his own kick, which sent him stumbling back, "But you still aren't any match for me! I'm all fired up!"

"Shut the hell up and prove it then, dimwit!" Gray growled, ignoring the pain as he continued his rough attacks against the other man, his adrenaline raging with every moment, "I'm not weak like before. I don't need anyone's help, especially not yours!"  
They continued their rough blows, missing some and hitting others, however their attacks didn't lessen with time, if anything they only harshened. Neither wanted to lose to the other.

"I'm going to knock some sense into you!" The taller man growled, "Maybe than you will just give up already and go back to how you were, ice block!"

Grunting, Natsu wiped a stream of blood from his busted lip. Inwardly he was honestly quite surprised by the ice maker's fighting skills. He supposed that Gray had kept up with his fighting over the years as well, however he still was no match for a world class martial artist. Or at least, that was what the pinkette thought.

"Shut the hell up!" The dark blue haired male slammed his fist into the other's sternum, causing him to step back, "Get this through that thick skull of yours. I am _never_ going to be like I was."

Their brawl lasted for several minutes until finally Gray managed to duck under Natsu's kick. From there he took his chance and grasped the muscular leg before swinging him around and tossing him unceremoniously into the river.

"God dammit, snow cone!" Natsu roared, spitting water from his mouth as he swiftly swam towards the riverbank, "I hate water!"

"Good," The raven sneered, wiping at the blood running down his cheek before crossing his pale arms in defiance, " Are you still so fired up, Natsu? Cause to me you look more watered down."

"Bastard! I'll make you pay for that!"

He trudged out of the water and clenched his fists, glaring daggers at the other male.

He received a snicker in response and the sculptor shook his head,

"It's over, Natsu. Just forget about me. I died, remember, fire breath? Just leave it at that."

"Like hell I will, Gray! You are alive, I can't just ignore that. I could never do that to a friend."

"I am not your friend. I'm just someone you employed." He grumbled and closed his eyes, his hands jamming down into his pants pocket as he turned his back to the pinkette. All his resolve to fight ebbed away and now he just wanted to be alone.

Not sparing the other another look, Gray turned and began walking away.

"No way! I'm not done talking to you, you damn coward!"

"You really haven't changed, have you, bastard? Well I have and it's high time you accepted that. Honestly, you are acting like a child."

"Nah ah!"

The pinkette paused for a moment and mentally slapped himself. Okay, so maybe he was acting just the slightest, tiniest bit like a child, but not without reason! Gray was acting like a stubborn little brat too!

Letting out a low, feral growl, the fighter lunged forward once more and tackled the other male to the ground. With one swift movement he turned the raven so he was laying on his back with the so called dragon slayer straddling him. Tan hands gripped pale wrists and held them above the captured man's head in order to further prevent any attempts of escape. There was no way he was going to let that damn jackass leave yet.

"Natsu..." The ice maker's voice was low and dripping with venom, causing Natsu to suppress the urge to shiver. Never before had the other uttered his name with such irritability and disdain. Maybe he was right after all, this wasn't the Gray he remembered from all those years ago. This man was almost a stranger to him and to be quite honest that scared him.

"Why the hell do you keep trying to run away from everything?!"  
The dark blue haired male gritted his teeth and struggled against the pinkette's strong grip, to no avail. Damn, Natsu really had gotten a lot stronger after all these years. With an irritated huff Gray merely turned his head to the side and stared at the river, his voice low as he hesitantly replied,

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about. I'm not running away from anything, dammit!"

"Really? Because turning your back to me and trying to walk away from the conversation sure looks a hell a lot like you are."

"You're such a damn hypocrite! At least I face my problems, I'm back in Magnolia, aren't I?! You couldn't even do that before!"

"Shut up!" The older male seethed, his eyes clenching shut as he visibly trembled. From what exactly, he wasn't certain. Rage surged within him, however hurt was also apparent, however he went with the latter. Gray was just spouting nonsense. After all, the past was the past and he couldn't do anything about it now... right?

"Just shut the hell up already! You keep saying that!"

"Then just leave me alone."

Tentatively, emerald eyes opened to meet cold cobalt ones, feeling his heart twist painfully as he noticed the solemn and empty look in those blue pools. That was the look of a man who had been through more hell than anyone his age, hell, anyone of any age should have to endure. The salamander only wished that he knew just what exactly those orbs had seen; just how much pain their master had experienced in the last 7 year.

But unfortunately it seemed as though his eyes were about as lifeless as his entire being, making it so he shielded himself from the world.

Slowly, the pinkette felt his resolve to fight lessen as his gaze instead turned to rest on the scar marring the other's porcelain forehead.

_What could have caused that? What could have managed to freeze this boy's heart to such a painful extent?_

"Gray..."

_Was he truly the one responsible? Was he the reason why Gray experienced so much grief and agony?_

Natsu's attention was swiftly ripped away from Gray as his superior hearing made out the sound of foot steps nearing them. Instinctively he leapt up from his position over the ice maker and whirled around, swallowing a groan as he saw just who was standing before him. A pointed glare was directed straight at him from the new individual and he offered him a small, innocent smile. Damn it...

"Really, brat,you just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Makarov sighed, shaking his head before bopping the complaining dragon slayer on the head, "I was hoping to just take a nice and relaxing walk before classes and what do I find? You fighting yet again with a citizen." He tched.

Why of all people did it have to be _him_ that found them like this? He knew that he would now be in a boat load of trouble, seeing as it was just the day before that this very same man had scolded him for starting another fight with Sting, a fighter from the Sabertooth dojo. He had said something along the lines of ' You shouldn't use your skills for personal brawls' and how it 'went against the policy of the Fairy Tail dojo', although he wasn't really listening at the time. That smug bastard deserved it.

"It's not my fault, gramps!" He grumbled, crossing his arms as he pouted. ignoring the steady stream of water that dripped from his hair and into his face, swiftly mixing with the blood smeared across his cheeks from a few, small cuts, "He started it!"

The Fairy Tail master simply sighed once more,

"I don't care who started it, I am ending it." He looked over at the other male, suppressing the urge to face palm. This would just prove to provide even more paperwork that he would have to tend to from the Magnolia police department, that is, if the other male was set on pressing charges, "I apologize for this loudmouth's act-..."

His voice cut off as he studied the other closer, his eyes widening...

"Oh dear Mavis..."

Gray, on the otherhand, felt his breath catch in his throat and a cold feeling clenched his stomach as he stared at the all too familiar elder before him. If meeting Natsu wasn't hell than seeing this person again certainly was.

Damn it, god dammit all! This was not happening, this was NOT who he thought it was!

Instinctively, the raven reached down to his neck to pull the hood back up to cover his head, only to curse inwardly at himself at the realization that he was no longer wearing it. At some point during the brawl he had lost it, so instead he stood there before the Fairy Tail master clad in nothing more than his black jeans and sneakers.

"Gray..." Makarov whispered, stepping closer to the familiar looking teen, "Is that you...? Dear boy..."

Yes, the elder was certain of it. He may be old, but he certainly wasn't dumb. He would recognize that head of raven locks and sword necklace anywhere. One of his children that he thought he had lost long ago was _back._

Their eyes met for several moments as silence overtook them.

Not knowing what else to do, the dark blue haired youth finally ceased fighting his instincts and did the one thing he was best at.

He grabbed his hoodie and ran.

"Wait! Gray! Come back here now!"

He could hear both Natsu and Makarov calling him, demanding for him to come back, but he only sped up.

There was no way in hell he was facing any more of the people from his childhood.

* * *

"Natsu!" The old man swiftly turned to look at the pinkette, disbelief clouding his wrinkled features, "That was Gray? You were fighting with Gray?!"

The salamander nodded slightly before swiping both sweat and blood from his face with his forearm,

"Yeah, that was him alright, gramps."

He earned another smack on the head.

"Ow, what the hell was that for, gramps?!"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that Gray was here, brat?! How long have you known he was still alive?!"

"Not long," Natsu assured, "I just found out the other day myself..."

Suddenly everything in the old master's mind clicked.

"Is that why you asked about him?"

His only response was a nod.

"Then... Where has he been all these years? Why didn't he return to Fairy Tail?" His eyes narrowed, "And why were you fighting with him?"

"Well..." The younger boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he contemplated how precisely he wanted to phrase everything that had occurred between himself and Gray, including the last few days and the day before he disappeared, "He... Damn it, he didn't want to come back to Fairy Tail because he felt it wasn't his home anymore and it's all my fault."

The gray haired master studied the boy for a moment before clasping his hands back behind his back and turned around, starting to walk towards the dojo,

"First you are going to dry off before you catch a cold and then you are going to explain to me why exactly it's your fault that Gray left. Do I make myself clear, brat?"

"A-aye..."

* * *

**I'm kinda alright with how this turned out... Oh well, fighting scenes aren't exactly my forte, but I suppose it turned out well enough. **

**Anyway that aside, the full story as to what happened between Natsu and Gray will be explained next chapter and I apologize for prolonging their getting together for the last few chapters, I just wanted to set the atmosphere a bit more. I'm also not one of those authors that plans everything out ahead of time, so this is just coming out as I think it up XD Not to worry though, their next encounter will be much more eventful and somewhat more heartfelt.**

**On a side note, the newest chapter of Fairy Tail was amazing, although they the name of the chapter didn't fit so well with what happened -_- I wanted Gray to make some big comment about how Silver was his dad, like the name suggested, but instead he just basically kidnapped him (which was amazing and hilarious, don't get me wrong)... Ah well... I look forward to how Natsu will react to that, that is, if he actually is shown to outwardly react.**

**On to the review responses!**

**_DreamscomeTRUEEE:_I'm glad XD Because that may or may not have been part of what happened ;)**

**_AsDarknessSpreads:_ Yes, Gray has been through quite a bit so far in his life. Poor thing... But at least things will start looking up... Eventually... As for running away, he was more dwelling on his anger. All his life he had been running away from his past, so he finally had enough and decided to try to stand up to one of the demons he tried to forget. I also see you are a LyRay lover, I am too~ But honestly, your comment made me laugh. It's funny to see you analyzing the characters, although I'm glad you like it :D.**

**_Rewinsan:_ Sorry, I wasn't aware that I made that scene that scary. How exactly Gray did manage to survive that will be addressed later on though~**

**_Nori of the sea:_ Yeah, bullying is unacceptable in any manner. Regardless of if Natsu actually did the bullying or merely goaded it on, though that will be explained more in depth next time~**

**_G. Night:_ Aw, I'm sorry! *hands tissue***

**_ .oO:_ Thank you ^.^ I'm glad you liked that chapter :D**

**_Daddys little crazy bitch:_ Thank you, I'm glad :)**

**_mooney-996:_ Yay, thank you!**

**Summer's finally here, so I will be updating more often! Hopefully! Next to update is 'To thaw a frozen heart'. Thanks everyone for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6: Natsu's tale

**Warnings: Violence, Yaoi, Potential OOC, un-betaed (for the most part) and cursing.**

_**Italics means memories or, in one instance, thoughts. **_**The two are easily distinguishable by context, though. Enjoy~**

"So... Care to tell me what the hell happened to you?"

Gray sighed and rolled his eyes, his gaze landing on anyone but Lyon, who was busily tending to the wounds he had accumulated during his brief, yet effective brawl with the annoying pinkette. He had originally passed it off as no big deal, to which the other merely grumbled and insisted on looking at his cuts and bruises nonetheless.

"Not particularly..." The raven murmured, wincing visibly as he felt added pressure on the wound the silverette was currently tending to on his chest, "Hey, jackass, be careful..."

"Just shut up and be grateful. Really, Gray, I thought you stopped picking fights with people back when we were with Ur."

"The bastard started it..." He grunted, uncaring as to how childish he sounded at the moment. After all, the flame brain was just asking for it! You don't just stalk someone and refuse to leave them alone without expecting some kind of repercussion. What he did was only justice, or at the very least, that was his defense.

"Who did you even get into a fight with? And where did you go this morning? By the time I woke up your bed was empty."

The dark blue haired boy shrugged slightly,

"I was out. Decided to take a walk, ya know? Then..." His voice trailed off for a moment as he sighed and finally glanced over at his comrade, who's gaze was glued to his wounds as he continued carefully mending to them, "I had a run in with Natsu..."

Immediately, Lyon glanced up from his work and rose an eyebrow, a silent order for him to continue,

"He wouldn't leave me the hell alone, so we got into a fight... The damn ash for brains doesn't know how to take a hint."

Huffing, the elder ice maker finished taping the last of the bandages onto the raven's chest before setting his sights solely on the male in front of him.

"I was afraid that was what happened..." He ran a hand through silver locks, "Damn it, Gray, next time don't leave without me. It looks like he got you pretty good. You have scrapes, bruises and a cracked rib... Or maybe it's broken... Hell, I don't know, I'm not a freaking doctor, and that's just what's on your sternum."

"Sorry..."  
"You better damn well be." He sighed and shook his head, "At the very least tell me you got a few good hits on him."

Instantly a smug grin ghosted across the raven's face at the other's question,

"Like hell I did. He was in about as good a shape as I'm in now, hell, maybe even worse."

That news caused an equally smug simper to appear on Lyon's face and they each raised a clenched fist before bumping them together,

"At least your good for something, streaker."

"What's that supposed to mean, you damn albino?!"

A moment of silence passed between the two before they both burst out into simultaneous laughter.

"Just be careful next time. I won't always be so nice as to clean you up every time you decide to act like a bastard and start a fight."

"Yeah yeah, I guess I should thank you or some shit like that, so, thanks..."

The elder ice maker grunted in acknowledgement before packing up the first aid kit and standing up,

"Come on, you've wasted enough time. We need to get back to work."

"Right..."  
With a huff Gray stood back up and stretched out his sore limbs, groaning softly as his injuries caused him slight discomfort. Damn it, now he wouldn't be able to move as swiftly and Lyon was sure to give him hell about it. It was all thanks to that stupid flame head.

He hesitated a moment, his gaze drifting to the far window as the image of the Salamander cluttered his head. That day's conversation and memories still draped over him, ruthlessly tugging at his heart. His old master had seen him and recognized him, that he was certain of. Great, now his plan to remain incognito was really going down the drain. He just hoped that the old man would leave him alone.

Countless questions coursed throughout him, giving him a headache, however there was one question that stood out from all the other chaos brutalizing his mind.

Was Natsu really telling him the truth?

For some reason a part of him desperately hoped that he was.

* * *

"Now," The master began, his eyes narrowed at the pinkette before him, who had finally dried off, had his injuries checked out and arrived at his office, "Explain to me what happened today."

"Well..." Natsu allowed himself a moment to pause as he stared down at his brown sandal clad feet, not exactly thrilled to have to recount everything that happened both today and years ago to his grandpa, "I woke up and fed Happy fish, 'cause you know he can never seem to get enough of those things. After that I went to that cool new restaurant named Mermaid Peel or something a few blocks down, but I was kicked out. Apparently starting three fights within the course of a week is 'ill mannered and unbefitting of a prestigious restaurant' or some shit like that. Then I came here early and totally kicked Gajeel's ass, as usual." He smirked at the memory, "Then I..."  
"Dear Mavis, child, I don't care about any of that! Tell me what happened right before I found you fighting with that boy! Although, we will talk about you starting fights again at Mermaid Heel at a later date."

He gave the Salamander one of his rare harsh glares and the younger boy gulped. He knew that his grandfather was very serious at the moment, so prattling on about nonsense like he was was not a very good idea. He was met with no other option than to finally deal with the mistakes of the past and come clean.

"Okay, okay... Well... You know how I told you that I had hired ice sculptors to come and make the decorations for the ball Luce and I are having in a few days?"

Makarov nodded.

"One of them was Gray... I didn't recognize him at first, but there is only one person in the world who can get me angry just by looking at him, so that was how I knew he was the damn ice basta- I mean Gray."

His gaze flickered from the floor to the older male, an awkward silence settling throughout the small office and soon Natsu found himself absentmindedly threading his fingers through pink locks. The typical school themed chair seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable as he fought for the nerve to continue the tale, however he couldn't bring himself to look directly at the master, who sat formally behind the desk in front of him. The poor fighter could only hope that his grandfather did not think ill of him after he confessed to the one thing that he had hated himself for for the past seven years.

"I'm waiting, Natsu."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed, "I tried talking to the blockhead as soon as I found out who he really was, but he refused to listen to me. Then I followed him this morning. I was a ninja!" He simpered smugly, "He didn't even know I was there until I started talking to him! Then... We started yelling and then... We started fighting... But the ice prick started it!"

"That isn't descriptive, Brat." The white haired man clasped his hands on the wooden desk and stared at the fidgeting boy, "At least tell me why you two were fighting and why he thinks Fairy Tail isn't his family anymore."

Here it was. The question that he had been attempting to evade since the talk began.

"Okay... I'll start from seven years ago..."

* * *

_"Is that the best you can do, pipsqueak?" Gray teased, a supercilious look on his face as he smirked down at the pinkette, who was on his knees, his breaths coming out in rough, shaky pants, "Can't take the great Gray? Not that I blame you."_

_"Shut the hell up, ice bastard." The scarf clad boy grumbled as he managed to stand back up, his fists clenched as he glared heatedly at his opponent, "I can take you any day, no sweat."_

_"Then prove it, Salamander" He mocked the name, "'cause so far you only seem to know how to fall down."  
"I'll show you! GRR!"_

_Without warning Natsu jumped at the raven and tackled him to the ground. Immediately limbs thrashed as the two fumbled around, neither willing to submit to the other and thus the boys routine brawl continued. Every day, several times a day, the two would find themselves engaging in rough matches, however they were always solely playful. In fact, Natsu and Gray were unspoken best friends._

_"That is enough, brats!" An irritated voice growled, causing both teens to pull away from their glare to look at the master, who stood before the two with an annoyed look on his old face, "You have already caused a mess in the gym!"_

_"He started it!" The two yelped simultaneously, both turning to point at the other, "Me?! Oh hell no!"  
The master couldn't help but let out a low chuckle at the boys childish antics,_

_"Just go and get changed, brats. That's enough for today."  
"But I'm not done! Come on! Fight me, Gramps!"_

_Rolling his eyes, the master stepped forward and, faster than either could see, he slammed his fist onto the top of the pinkette's head, effectively knocking him flat to the floor._

_"Okay..." He gagged, his voice muffled by the mat on the floor, "We'll get changed..."_

_"Good." With that the elder nodded and turned, disappearing up the stairs._

_"When will you learn to stop picking fights with people you can't handle, idiot?" Gray groaned, yanking at the other's scarf in order to pry him up from the ground, "Ugh, get up, dammit."  
"You get up!" The young Salamander mumbled as he begrudgingly repositioned himself on his knees._

_"What the hell? I'm the one standing up, moron!"_

_"Whatever... I still won our fight anyway."_

_"Keep dreaming, half wit, I totally won."_

_"As if!"_

_Feuding, the rivals trekked into the familiar locking room and quieted down as they went to their own individual lockers, which just so happened to be across from each other, and began changing from their training clothes._

_It was when they were almost finished that they heard the sound of foot steps enter the large room._

_Rolling his eyes, Gray ignored the noise as he slipped his plain blue t-shirt on and leaned down to work on lacing up his shoes. He had a pretty good idea as to who it was that entered and there was no way in hell he was going to hang out in here much longer. Maybe if he could just make it out in time they would leave him alone this time..._

_"Well, well, what do we have here?"_

_Or maybe not.._

_The raven took a deep breath and closed his cobalt eyes before looking up from his shoe to the two forms that were looming over his crouching person,_

_"What the hell do you two want?"_

_Hesitantly, the black haired boy stood up and glared at the two intimidating older males, his face hiding the fear he felt. He had hoped that today he would be lucky enough to escape their teasing and bullying, but of course he had been stupid to think as much. They **never** left him alone, no matter how many times he asked and demanded for them to._

_"You really don't learn your lesson, do you, shrimp?" Gajeel jeered, leaning down so his face was only inches from the younger boy's, "Then we'll just have ta remind ya. Gehehe." _

_Without warning the ice obsessed boy felt a fist plant itself firmly into his abdomen, which caused him to instantly cough and clutch at his stomach. Blood pooled in his mouth from where he bit his tongue and it took all his control to hold back a whimper and withhold the neutral expression on his face._

_"Is that the best you can do?" His voice came out in a low croak.  
"Look's like the jackass has attitude." Laxus sneered, a haughty tone to his voice as he stepped closer to the wounded raven, "Haven't you learned to just pipe down and take it like a good boy?"_

_"G-go to hell!"_

_Using all the strength he could muster, the boy swung at the blonde, only to release a high pitched yelp as his arm was harshly grasped and squeezed. Tears sprung to his eyes as it was twisted and pushed behind his back. Compared to the older teens he was small and weak, making it so no matter how hard he tried he could never seem to fend them off. He hated himself for that; for his uncanny and despicable inability to protect himself,_

_"S-Stop it! Damn it!"  
"Why should I?" The blonde, older male purred, a low chuckle resounding from him at the pain inflicted upon the younger boy, "Make me. Oh wait, you can't. You're too weak."_

_The raven let out a small groan of compliant as he was slammed mercilessly against his locker, his chest and cheek taking the blunt of the shove. They would merely add to the list of bruises marring his porcelain skin._

_"Hey, cut it out you guys!"_

_The blonde and long haired raven turned their attention from antagonizing the youngest among them to instead look at their step cousin, who stood uncertainly a few feet from them. The pinkette seemed to be inwardly arguing with himself, not sure whether or not he should get involved._

_"You mean you are actually standing up for this pathetic freak?" The lightening scarred teen chuckled, turning to completely face the nervous Salamander, "I knew you were idiotic, Natsu, but not to this level. Maybe we should treat you just like this loser."_

_Immediately the boy gulped and shook his head,_

_"N-no way! Why the hell would I stand up for that moron? I... I just meant that you shouldn't waste your time on him..."_

_"Oh? So he isn't your friend then?"_

_Pleading cobalt eyes met emerald ones as Natsu spared a glance at the raven, who was now being held against the locker by Gajeel. A moment of silence passed before the salmon haired boy finally tore his gaze from his rival and looked down at the floor,_

_"No... He's not..."_

_A sly smile crept onto Laxus's face as he nodded smugly and once again turned to look at the ice lover, who held a disbelieving look on his face. _

_"Then hit him."_

_Natsu blinked,_

_"Huh...?"_

_"If he's not your friend and you don't like him then you will have no problem hitting him, right? Or are you lying to us?"_

_"N-No! Of course I'm not lying to you! I'll show you how much I hate the damn ice bastard!"_

_Gray couldn't help but stare at his so called friend as he felt his heart drop and tears spring to his eyes again. What did he mean they weren't friends? Of course they were... Right? They might have been rivals, but they were practically best friends! Why was Natsu saying this...? Why was he lying? Why was he betraying him...?_

_"Natsu...?" His voice was soft and almost cracking._

_He watched silently as the pierced man shoved him forward so that he was facing the pinkette, who adopted his cousin's smug grin as he raised his fist towards the boy._

_"Did I say you could say my name, scum?" He glanced over his shoulder at his two relatives, who merely cheered him on with an encouraging nod, "You're so damn spineless, Gray."_

_"What...? Why the hell are you saying this?!"_

_"Because you're pathetic." A tan fist connected with a pale cheek and the raven found himself stumbling back slightly at the blow._

_Sure, the boys were accustomed to fighting with one another, however it was always either playful or for training. They never aimed to actually wound one another like Natsu was now. _

_Countless thoughts resounded throughout the raven's mind as he focused on the pain pulsing in his cheek, pain that was delivered by an individual that he thought he was safe with. _

_While the pinkette never helped him with fighting off his two brothers he never actually dealt a hand to the physical nor mental bullying he received. If anything he merely stood off to the side and goaded them on half- heartedly. But now... Now things had gone too far. Now the so called fire dragon slayer was no better than the other bastards who had nothing better to do than insult and injure him. _

_Gray bit his lip as his head lowered and his expression was covered by his black bangs,_

_"So that's how you feel, Natsu?" He shook his head, "Go to hell. All of you... Just rot in hell..."  
"Looks like the pipsqueak has got sass." Gajeel smirked, appearing behind the ice fond boy before delivering a harsh kick to his back, which sent him tumbling to the ground. The boy didn't even let out a sound as his head connected with the edge of the lockers and his vision wavered._

_"He's so weak. He gives Fairy Tail a bad name. I swear, Gramps is making this place a joke. Once he finally retires and leaves me in charge I'll get rid of all the losers like him and make this place actually worth something. It'll be the strongest gym in Fiore like it should be."_

_The blonde adjusted the coat that hung leisurely from his shoulders before turning to look at his grinning brother,_

_"Come on, Gajeel, we're just wasting our time here." _

_Laxus shot the barely conscious boy a glare as he stalked over to him and kicked him in the gut, simpering at the pained expression that crossed Gray's face,_

_"Just leave Fairy Tail already. No one wants you here. Isn't that right, Natsu?"_

_The pinkette bit the corner of his lip before staring back down at the brown floor,_

_"Right..."_

_"See? Not even your so called best friend cares about whether you're here or not."  
_

_He scoffed before turning to leave,_

_"You coming, brat?"_

_Immediately Natsu nodded and went to follow his two older step brothers, but before he turned the corner to leave the large room he cast his rival one last glance. He seemed to have managed to pry himself off of the ground and appeared to be nursing a wound he had sustained on his head, although the look on his pale face was what grabbed his attention and proved to be one that he would never forget. It was the look of complete and utter hatred and betrayal. It was an expression he never, ever, wanted pointed at him. _

_That was the expression of a boy who's trust was **shattered**. _

_What made it worse was that Natsu knew that he was the cause for it._

_Uncertain as to what to say and not wanting his cousins to get upset, the pink haired boy sent his friend an apologetic look before leaving the locker room to catch up with his family. He would just have to apologize to his friend later, I mean, he would forgive him, right? He always did, so why would it be any different this time? After all, Gray Fullbuster just could never seem to hate Natsu Dragneel. The next time he saw the boy he would beg for his forgiveness._

_Unfortunately for him, that was the last time he saw his best friend._

* * *

As the Salamander finished his tale he could vaguely feel the narrowed eyes glaring holes into his skull, however he held neither the urge nor the initiative to glance up at his grandfather.

"That's what happened..."  
Silence filtered throughout the office as neither party decided to talk. It was only after what felt like hours of the uncomfortable quiet that the master spoke once more, his tone firm and authoritative,

"Why was I not told of his incident before?"

Bringing a hand up, Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he fidgeted from one side of the chair to the other,

"I was going to tell you... Really, I was... I was going to tell you after I apologized to Gray, but then he disappeared and I... I didn't want my cousins to get mad at me for betraying them and tattling..." His eyes closed in shame, "I know what I did was fucked up and if I could I would beat the hell out of my younger self for doing that to family, but..." He voice trailed off before another sentence began, "It was right after Igneel disappeared... I.. I just didn't want to be abandoned by the rest of my family... I didn't want them to think of me like they thought of Gray..."

Makarov shook his head sadly and closed his eyes, a low sigh escaping him,

"How long did this go on for?"

"A few months after Gray first joined the gym, so around 2 years, though the damn ice block refused to tell anyone else about it. I'm pretty sure Laxus, Gajeel and I were the only ones who knew about it."

" Dear boy, I had no idea that was going on... I will speak to Laxus and Gajeel about this and punish them accordingly." He glanced up at the pinkette, causing the boy to gulp, "As for you, I'll inform you of your punishment later. However there is one thing you clearly must do. I do not care how you go about it as long as it is completed correctly."

The master stood up from his chair and clasped his hands behind his back as he turned away from his grandson,

"Make amends with Gray. I'll go and talk to the boy myself as well."

"No!"

The white haired man sent the other male a questioning look, to which he received a determined stare,

"Don't. He told me not to tell anyone else that he is here... Let me win him back and bring him back here... I promise you that I will get him to come back to us!"

The master was prepared to argue, however the determination and regret glinting in emerald eyes was enough to convince him to back down. Natsu was serious about making it up to Gray and he saw no reason to get involved in a matter that he had no business stepping into. So long as he followed through with his vows Makarov would allow him to take control and clean up the mess he made seven years ago.

"Very well, my boy, though I am very disappointed in you." His gaze hardened, "I have half a mind to ban you from the upcoming Grand MMA games.-"

The pink haired man paled,

"-However, I won't. We need you three if we want to hold any chance of winning it again. I'll come up with an even crueller idea instead."

A malicious smirk crept onto the old man's face as he hid his expression from the tan fighter. Now he just had to come up with a fitting punishment for the three scoundrels. Thus the punishment game would begin.

* * *

The raven let out a small groan as he stalked through the familiar streets of Mongolia once more. The sun was now just beginning to disappear behind the horizon and the ice maker was already completely exhausted. He had been working all day and now wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

"Where the hell are we even going, Lyon? I'm tired of walking."

The white haired male rolled his eyes as he cast a sideways glance at his comrade, who seemed to be unconsciously stripping off his shirt,

"Stop stripping and complaining," He smirked at the surprised expression that clouded the other boy's face at the realization that he was, in fact, removing his clothes, "and we've only been walking for ten minutes. Maybe if you stopped getting into fights you would be able to walk further without getting sore."  
"Oh shut up, jackass, I asked where we were going, not for lip."  
"If you really must know we ar-..."

"Well look what we have here, If it isn't Gray Fullbuster. I thought you were dead!." A voice jeered from behind the two boys, which served to effectively cut the white haired male off and caused the raven to stiffen before reluctantly sparing a glance over his shoulder.

Standing just feet away from Lyon and himself were two men, one with short black hair that covered one of his eyes while the other had spiky blonde hair with a scar on the right hand side of his forehead. To say that he was startled by the appearance of these men would be an understatement, although it was rather a nice surprise.

"Hey, Sting, Rogue, long time no see."  
He received a nod in response from Rouge and a grin from Sting,

"Tell me about it. What are you doing here?"

Gray smiled slightly and shrugged before stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black jeans,

"Well that's kind of a long story... Right now we're just looking for a place to get dinner..."  
The silverette glanced from the blonde to the raven, an emotionless mask on his pale face as he studied the strangers before he sent a quizzical glance to his fellow artist,

"Friends of yours?"

He nodded,

"Yeah, you could say that. Rogue and Sting were sort of friends of mine back in middle school. Then we went to different high schools and I left Magnolia, so it's been a while..."  
The raven jumped as he felt an arm being slung around his shoulders before he was pulled against a coat covered chest and bare midriff,

"You know it has! It's been too long!" Sting's grin widened before turning to face Lyon, "Who are you? Gray's boyfriend?"

Immediately a blush crept onto both ice maker's faces,

"W-what?! No! Why do you think that?! We just work together..." Gray stuttered, inwardly cursing at himself for the blush that he was certain was apparent on his cheeks.

"Oh, well a friend of Gray's is a friend of ours. What did you say your name was?"

The elder of the two artists sighed and crossed his arms,

"I didn't, but my name is Lyon."

"Lyon, nice to meet you!"

"Sting, stop acting so childish..." Rouge muttered, rolling his eyes at his brother's behavior.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Rouge. Come on, I know the perfect place for us all to eat dinner and catch up!"

"Hey! I don't remember inviting you to eat with us!" The raven grumbled as he was yanked forward by the blonde.

Oblivious to the other's words, the scarred man continued his trek forward, his hand wrapped snugly around his old friend's wrist. Soft footsteps trailed behind them, letting both men know that their other friends were following close behind.

"Wow Gray, I didn't know you were so popular." Lyon teased as he and Rogue followed behind them,

"Yeah, neither did I..."

_I guess it will be alright to only let them know I'm back... Besides, its not like they are really on speaking terms with any of Fairy Tail or it's members... I'm sure they will keep the secret for me..._

Pushing his thoughts and worries aside, Gray allowed a small smile to slip past his defenses as he turned to look at his friends. Maybe being back in his hometown wasn't such a bad thing after all.

If only he knew how much trouble coming back to his past would really bring him.

* * *

** There we go! Another chapter down! Albeit, it's not one of my best and I can't say I'm completely thrilled with it I think it fits well enough. Next chapter the real plot with come into play (yes, there actually is a plot to this besides rekindling friendships). **

**I actually meant to post this a few days ago, but with Father's day, my birthday, my sister's birthday and my dad's birthday on Sunday things got a bit hectic. **

**That aside, I hope this helped answer the question as to what happened between Natsu and Gray that ruined their friendship. Later on it will also dwell more into the reasoning behind why Natsu did what he did.**

**Oh, I almost forgot! This is an important thing! I have only watched the Fairy Tail anime and am on episode 140, which, for the people that don't remember what part that is, it is right during the 'Key to the starry heavens arc'. To be specific it is literally right before they fight Oracion seis for the second time. **

**It is because of that that I have only a vague idea as to Rogue and Sting's personalities, so they will probably be pretty OOC. I wasn't originally planning on using them, but I couldn't think of any other characters to fill their roles, so, sorry 'bout that.**

**Now, on to the review responses!**

**_AsDarknessSpreads:_ That's a good way to get more into a story ^.^ I do the same thing most of the time. As for Gray pairings, I have to agree. I ship a lot of guys with Gray, although my main two being Lyon and Natsu. Given, in this story Natsu does deserve to have some sense beaten into him... Anyway, your reviews always make me smile XD Thank you for reviewing!**

**_Daddys little crazy bitch:_ Thank you, I'm glad you like it :) Thank you for reviewing!**

**_Strife 134:_ Thank you, I'm really happy to hear that you like it ^.^ Thank you for reviewing and I hope you like the new chapter!**

**_ .oO:_ There we have it! The explanation as to what happened! I hope it answers all your questions and is seen as satisfactory :P. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Thank you everyone for reviewing, following and favoring! It means a lot to me that people like what I write and it motivates me to continue! See ya!**


	7. Chapter 7: Recruiting

**Sorry for the delay everyone, but here's chapter 7! Hope you like it~**

"Hell, it's been a while since I've come here." Gray commented as he studied the familiar café that Sting led him, or rather, pulled him to.

The place's name was Newcastle Café and it was your typical, run of the mill eatery, however it served the best coffee in Magnolia, making it rather popular. The inside was mainly red and black with booths lining the windows, which showed the cobblestone streets beyond. Tables were laid out along the sides and a long bar was positioned precisely in the middle. It was behind there that ladies in aprons and skirts fumbled about, running orders from the kitchen out to the hungry customers.

To Gray it looked as though the place hadn't aged a day.

"You've been here before?" Lyon questioned as he crossed his arms and sent the décor a bored look before glancing back at his comrade.

"Yeah, back when I lived in Magnolia I would come here often with…." He paused before waving the subject off, "Nah, never mind."

The elder ice maker opened his mouth to push the subject further; however he was interrupted by a cheery voice,

"Hey, come on, there's an empty booth over here!"

The raven was yanked from both his thoughts and his balance as Sting pulled him sideways into a red plush booth, a grin on his face.

The white haired male huffed in annoyance.

Across from them, the younger ice maker could vaguely make out the forms of Rogue and Lyon as they took the remaining two seats. They both wore neutral expressions and seemed bored to be there, whilst Sting was energetic and Gray, to put it simply, was puzzled.

"So what are you guys doing around here?"

Rogue gave a slight shrug in response and Sting rolled his eyes at his friend's silence before responding,

"We were getting some food for Frosh and Lector, they eat a hell of a lot."

"Frosh and Lector…?" He repeated, blinking at them in confusion.

"They're our cats." The blonde explained, his gaze drifting from the raven to the opened menu before him, "I don't think you ever got the chance to meet them."

"No, I guess not…" The ice maker's words trailed off and he instead took to studying the menu, the awkward feeling that originally haunted him slowly drifting away.

"So, are you gonna tell us what the hell happened to you or not?"

And the awkward feeling returned full force.

"Oh, well…" He rubbed the back of his head nervously, his gaze not leaving the plastic menu, "Like I said, it's a long story…"

"Long story my ass," Sting scoffed, "Hell, Gray, we thought you were dead. I thought I was seeing things when we passed by you. What happened? How did you survive Deliora?"

Subtly, Lyon perked up at the question, wanting to know the answer as well. Even after all these years of working with the boy he had never managed to pry the full story from him. He was as stubborn as he was closed off.

Unfortunately, but rather predictably, the raven clamped shut. He refused to dwell deeper into the events that led to his disappearance from his hometown. Instead he merely shrugged and went back to paying complete attention to the list before him,

"The whole thing is a blur, really. Hell if I know exactly what happened. All I can remember is waking up after blacking out from Deliora to a woman named Ur tending to me. I stayed with her in Isvan until I got my strength back and then became an apprentice of hers along with Lyon here. She was a master ice sculptor and, well, now we continue her work."

Only the last part of that was true, the white haired man knew as much, however he also knew better than to voice it. Gray's lies to his old friends were his business and his alone.

"Really? Damn, that's rough dude. I'm sorry 'bout that." Sting looked as though he wanted to ask more questions, although he seemed to also know better than to pry any further.

"Yeah…" He cleared his throat, "Anyway, what have you guys been doing?"

"Eh, ya know, martial arts and all, nothing really all that new." The blonde shrugged, deciding on an entrée, "But on that topic I-…."

His sentence cut off as a blue haired, short, waitress came over,

"Hi," She smiled, flipping open the small notebook she held with one hand while the other had a pencil at the ready, "Sorry to make you guys wait, it's been extremely hectic around here today. "

The blonde smiled back at her, raising two fingers before waving them slightly at her in a 'no biggie' manner,

"No problem, this place sure looks packed today anyway."

The raven took to silently studying the petite female as she chatted idly with Sting and Rogue, acting as though she was already well acquainted with the duo. Perhaps they did know each other, that idea alone wasn't so far-fetched; however there was something else about her that stood out; something that the ice sculptor couldn't quite lay his finger on.

"So, who are your friends?" The waitress asked, glancing from the white haired, bored looking male to the black haired boy, who seemed deep in thought. For one reason or another she thought he looked familiar.

"Oh, right. Sorry Levy, I almost forgot. The guy sitting next to Rogue that looks like he hates life is Lion-,"

"My name is Lyon, idiot." Said male grunted, his voice dripping with irritation.

"Oh, right. Anyways and you'll never believe this, but the guy sitting next to me is G-.."

"-Silver." Gray swiftly interrupted the blonde, his blood running cold as he finally recognized just where he had seen that girl before. Shit, why the hell did the world hate him so much? "My name is Silver."

"Silver?" Sting repeated, staring at the boy beside him as though he had grown an extra head, just to receive an 'I'll explain later' glance.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you Lyon, Silver." The blue haired waitress offered them another smile before shifting her gaze to the small notebook she held, "What can I get you all to drink?"

"Uh, "Sting finally pried his dazed look from Gray in order to glance down at the menu, "Coffee will be fine…"

"I'll have unsweet tea." Rogue mumbled.

"Great! And for you two?"

"Iced water, please." Gray muttered to which Lyon nodded, indicating that he too wanted that drink.

"Alright. Do you know what you want for a meal yet or do you want a few more minutes?"

The four boys shared an indecisive look before the blonde spoke up,

"We'll need a few more minutes."

"That's fine! I'll be back with your drinks soon!"

It was as soon as Levy left that Gray received the question that he just knew was coming,

"So, what the hell was that all about? Why'd you tell her that your name was Silver? Weren't you friends or something before you left?"

It took all of the younger ice maker's will not to snicker. Even if you used that term loosely to describe their relationship it still wouldn't fit quite right, but then again, they didn't exactly need to know that.

"I'm only here for the remainder of the week." He muttered, his gaze drifting once more out the window, "I don't want to see everyone again, hell, I just want to stay on the down low."

Across from him he could vaguely hear Lyon mutter a 'well you're doing a great job of that' under his breath, to which the raven frowned and kicked his leg from under the table.

"Well, I can't say I understand you, man. Actually, I don't understand anything about you at the moment, but that's alright, I guess. It's just nice to see you again."

Gray couldn't help but agree. Sting and Rogue were one of the few who never actually teased him for not being from Fiore and for not being quite as fit as the other boys were. After all, it wasn't his fault that he hit puberty later than most of the others. They were the only ones who actually settled with treating him like a human, even going so far as to protect him from bullies when they were around.

"Yeah… It's nice to see you guys again too…"

It was the truth.

He was met with a short nod from the blonde before the table was absorbed in silence, everyone either deciding what they want to order or at a loss for conversation. By this point it was rather obvious that Lyon and Rogue would speak very little, regardless about the topic at hand, so it was up to Sting and Gray to uphold a steady stream of chatter or run the risk of sitting in an awkward silence.

"So, I'm guessing you're not a part of the Fairy Tail gym anymore, right?" Sting inquired as he added the desired amount of cream and sugar into his coffee whilst Rogue seemed to be rather content with drinking his tea bitter.

"That's right."

"Have you joined another Gym back in Isvan?"

The raven shook his head slightly,

"No, there aren't many guilds there."

A smile lit up the blonde's face at the information and he shared a look with Rogue before glancing back at Gray,

"You're familiar with the Grand fighting games, right?"

"Of course. It's the biggest Martial arts competition in Fiore." He paused, his drink teetering at the edge of his lips as he suddenly narrowed his eyes at the man sitting beside him, "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" Sting glanced over at Rogue before continuing, "Our gym, Sabertooth, Is still looking into what members will be a part of our team. Of course Rogue and I am a shoe in because we are the best fighters they got, but if I remember right you weren't too shabby yourself. You had the skill, just not the strength when we were younger." He looked the raven up and down before smirking, "But that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore…"

Across from them Gray could vaguely make out the sound of his comrade scoffing, of which he ignored in favor of giving the blonde a questioning look. He was about to ask him to explain what he meant when the silver haired man stood up and stretched,

"Well, I'm bored as hell. If you can excuse me there's a beautiful women over there that I'm going to talk to."

The younger of the two ice workers couldn't help but roll his eyes at his elder's words.

"Go knock yourself out, snow cone."

"Shut up, brat."

With a slight wave of his hand the albino left the table and went over to talk to a fellow blue haired woman across the restaurant. Her hair was roughly the same color as Levy's, although it was longer and curled. Her back was turned to him, so he could only come up with a rough estimate as to what she truly looked like; not that he actually cared all that much.

Instead he focused his attention back on the scarred man beside him, who seemed to have been blabbering further on about the GFG while he was lost in thought.

"- so we are still looking for two more people to join our team for the competition." The blonde finished.

"What exactly does that have to do with me?"

"I..- " He cleared his throat, " We want you to come in and show us just what you've got. We'd love to have you on our team for the games. So, what do you say? Wanna try and become a part of the future winning gym?"

The dark blue haired male snickered before spinning his cup around, watching absentmindedly as the ice swirled and licked the rim of the glass; threatening to spill at any moment,

"You're joking, right? I told you I'm only here for business, man, I have no intentions of participating in any competitions."

"Well, that's no fun." Sting chuckled and slung his arm around the back of the booth; his forearm brushing ever so slightly against the raven's coat, "Look, I know you don't want to make a big deal about coming back and all, but I also know that you have a vendetta against the losers in the Fairy Tail gym; especially a certain dyed- pink haired boy. Don't tell me you're passing up the chance to get your revenge."

The raven stiffened slightly and released his glass, ignoring the clatter it made as it regained its upright position,

"And how exactly would you know that, Sting?"

His tone was cool and collected however inwardly he could feel his anger returning at the mere mention of Natsu. How the hell did he know so much about what happened in the past?

"Come on, Gray, what do you take me for?" The blonde mused, "I know how he – how they all - treated you when we were kids. Now's your chance to show them that you aren't that little weakling anymore; that you are better than them."

The raven stared silently at the male beside him before glancing down at the table, his fingers fiddling with the necklace around his neck. No matter how much he wanted to deny everything Sting was saying it was the truth. This could very well be the chance he had been waiting for. He could finally show the Fairy Tail Gym that he was so much more than their honorary punching bag.

He gritted his teeth before clenching his fist under the table, his eyes shadowed by his bangs.

"Say I do decide to go. What do I have to do to make it onto the team?"

A small smirk grew on the light 'Dragon Slayer's' face at the response. Perfect.

"There will be a few martial arts tests that you must complete and a few people you'll have to defeat." He shrugged slightly, "I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle."

Rogue, who had subjected himself to mainly watching the exchange in silence, finally spoke up,

"So what is it, 'Silver'? Will you join or not?"

Gray glanced up from the table, looking at both men before sighing, watching Lyon approach the table once more before hesitantly nodding.

"Fine, I will. What are the details?"

**Hah! I am not dead! Sorry everyone for this huge delay . I honestly thought this summer I would have more time to write! Things have been a bit hectic between Costume making, vacations and Conventions, so I've been delayed with my writing. **

**Quick note, next chapter will continue more onto Natsu's side of things, so that's why he wasn't addressed too much throughout this chapter. That and severe writer's block. This chapter probably isn't the best, but it gets my point across well enough, I suppose. Eh, I might go back and rewrite it at one point.**

**But, that boring personal stuff aside, I'm also going to be writing another story (probably) however it will not be Natsu X Gray. Lately I've started roleplaying with a Laxus and have since discovered an interest in the Laxus X Gray pairing. Because of that I'm going to write about it! Probably!**

**Now for the review responses. Oh, and just so you all know I wil probably start personally responding to accounts with profiles and only answering reviews here that are from guests. Makes things easier. Vaguely.**

**_Luvscookie:_**** Oh yes, Makarov's punishment game will certainly be interesting ;D. He'll personally see to it that all the boys, aside from Gray, are punished properly. As for Sting and Rogue seeming like Laxus and Gajeel for a moment, that was unintentional, but sounds pretty funny. Anyway, Lyon X Gray X Natsu is my favorite love triangle too, so I'm glad that you like it~ **

**_Strife134:_**** Thanks! Glad you like it!**

**_AsDarknessSpreads:_**** Yep, Rogue and Sting did hear about the Deliora accident. I believe that was addressed a bit more in this chapter. Glad you like it and don't kill Natsu just yet! That's Gray's job :p**

**_Rewinsan:_**** Yes, he had a reason too XD Although that will be explained a bit later on~**

**_Daddy's little crazy bitch:_**** Yay, nice to know you love it! :D**

**_6purplecats: _****Ah, well that's good that they weren't too out of character :P I know only a little about their overall personalilities. As for Spoilers, nah, I know what's going on at the moment just because of Spoilers, but I won't be posting any of it here just for the sake of the one's who don't. Thank you and I will try my best to make sure this story is awesome! ^.^**

**_Iceprinceryuu:_**** Thank you And Don't worry, I never really write hardcore scenes. Even fluff will be a bit down the road, seeing as they still need to become friends again for the relationship to deepen further. Thanks for reading and reviewing though!**

**_ .oO:_**** It seems like a lot of people seem to really like Lyon and Gray's relationship. I'm guilty of it as well :P As for your question, Gray is 19 and Lyon Is 21 during this story. Thanks for reviewing and sorry for the delay!**

**_Masayuki:_**** Thanks! Here's the next chapter and sorry for the delay~**

**_Lol:_**** Oh, thank you, and don't cry, here's the next chapter :p I'm sorry for the almost 2 month delay, but I hope to update more often now.**

**_Guest:_**** I'm glad you think so! Thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8: Punishments

"Come on, this is your party, you have to do something for it. I've called the caterers, got the decorations and hired the Ice Sculptors. The least you can do is help me decorate your house for it this Friday! Which is only two days away!"

Lucy complained, placing her hands firmly on her hips as she glared halfheartedly at the pinkette, who was busily beating a punching bag.

"But I'm not as good at that as you are, Luce. You have a special touch and manage to make everything pretty."

A light bush spread on the blonde's cheeks and she smiled, flipping her hair behind her back,

"Well, you're not wrong... I just like to make sure everything looks perfect and, not to blow my own horn, but I do throw the best parties around-..."

"Great, thanks! I knew I can count on you, Lucy!"

"W-wait! I don't mean that-..."

She was cut off once more by the gym intercom crackling to life, a moment of silence passing before a low, girlish voice, no doubt Mirajane's, filled the building, causing all sound to cease,

"Would Laxus Dreyar, Gajeel Redfox, and Natsu Dragneel report to the Master's office, please? Thank you."

With a final hum the sweet voice disappeared and the speakers once again went silent, allowing the usual chatter of the Fairy Tail gym to return to its thunder like volume. However now the conversations were more hushed and questioning, no doubt full of people wondering just what that was all about.

"Well, looks like I've been summoned, Luce." Natsu paused, silently wondering what he was being called about, "I'll be back later, alright?"

The brown eyed girl sighed in frustration but nodded all the same,

"Fine, but this isn't over, Natsu, got it?"

He flashed her one of his trademark smiles, causing her thin lipped frown to lift upwards slightly. She never could manage to stay frustrated at the idiot for long, no matter how hard she tried.

Giving his friend one last wave, the pinkette slipped down the hallway leading to the Gym Master's office, his head held high. Judging by the people mentioned in the announcement, the pinkette figured the sudden meeting was no doubt pertaining to the Grand Fighting games, which was coming up this Friday.

It was for that reason that the world renowned Salamander was even holding a party that Friday night in the first place. It was a gathering for all the gyms entering the competition, serving as a sort of welcome party, considering several of the teams were from all over Fiore. The master had brought up the idea and the Fire Dragon Slayer had eagerly agreed to it, insisting that it was a better idea to hold it in his large house than the rather small gym.

Besides, that way he could party all night long and not have to worry about causing property damage that would get him in trouble with anyone else. It was perfect, or at the very least that was what he was convinced of.

Taking his first left, it didn't take the pinkette long until he was walking through his grandfather's office door, the smug grin on his face swiftly disappearing as the sound of shouting yanked him from his carefree thoughts,

"Come on old man, that was years ago!" The voice that was distinctly Laxus growled, his teeth clenched together as he glared at the older male, who merely looked back at him with an annoyed expression, "Get over it! Gray's gone anyway!"

Natsu immediately stiffened at the last part and froze in the doorway.

"Be that as it may I simply cannot condone what you three boys did. I only wish this had been brought to light earlier, but the fact of the matter is it did not, so now I must deal with it accordingly."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Gajeel scoffed, his hands clenching the chair he was sitting in harshly as he too glared at his grandfather. It appeared as though the fire dragon slayer was the last of the three to arrive, leaving him completely bewildered as to what was angering his cousins to such an extent.

"You can't do that!"

"As the Master of Fairy Tail I can and will do what I deem is appropriate." Makarov replied, his voice low in warning, "You two should just be thankful I am not cutting you boys from the competition entirely."

"You're insane if you think this pathetic gym can win without us." The blonde haired male growled, slamming his hands down on the desk, causing several pencils and papers to shake, threatening to fall from the table, "This gym is filled with nothing but weaklings."

"You shouldn't speak of your comrades so poorly, Laxus. That is no way for a future master to behave."

"What's going on here…?"

Immediately three sets of eyes darted to the pinkette, who apparently had remained unnoticed in the doorway until he finally spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"You…" The so called lightning slayer growled, turning to look at his younger cousin, "You told him, didn't you?"

Natsu looked from his grandpa, to Gajeel and finally to the blonde, who looked about ready to kill someone,

"What?"

"Close the door, Natsu." The master commanded, gesturing for the boy to come in all the way.

Albeit hesitantly, the fire slayer nodded and entered the room, slowly closing the door behind him.

"You told him about what we did seven years ago?" Laxus repeated, this time helping Natsu understand just what on earth he was going on about, "What the hell?!"

Immediately emerald eyes narrowed as he glared right back at his cousin, unfazed in the slightest by the dangerous tone to the blonde's voice,

"Like hell I did and I should have years ago."

"Well that's fucking great, Salamander." This time it was Gajeel's turn to snarl, "Now the old man is threatening to kick us off the team for the GFG!"

"What?!"

The pink haired adult tore his gaze from his cousins to instead stare at his grandfather incredulously,

"You can't do that! I know we deserve to be punished, but-…"

"Enough."

Instantly the fire fighter swallowed his compliant as ordered and took to merely staring at the elder man in a mixture of hurt, anger and disappointment.

"Bullying a fellow member of the gym is intolerable, regardless of how long ago it occurred. I cannot allow it to go unpunished."

"But Gray is gone! He's been dead for seven years!" Laxus objected, glaring at his grandfather in disdain, "I know we were fucking idiots to bully him, but we were young and shit happens. Taking away our ability to fight in the GFG isn't going to bring him back…Besides, it's not our fault he was weak…"

The last part came out as a mere whisper, not fit for anyone's ears, however one particular male heard the curt comment all too clearly.

Beside the blonde Natsu could feel his fists clench painfully at Laxus's tone. It was utterly condescending and remorseless. He was talking about the supposed death of a past member as easily as though he were talking about sports or the weather.

"Just shut up, Laxus."

"Huh?" The blonde snickered and looked over at the pinkette from the corners of his black eyes, "What, did I say something that angered you, kid?"

His voice was dripping with sarcasm and Natsu felt his fury rise.

"Don't talk about Gray like that." He growled, "Don't you dare call him weak! He put up with your damn bullying for two years and kept it all to himself, so don't you dare blame him."

"Like you have any right to get mad at us about that. If I remember correctly, you didn't help him either, now did you?" Laxus spat right back, taking a step closer to the pink haired boy in warning, "No, you betrayed him. You know, I think what you did hurt him much more than Gajeel or I ever did-…"

"Shut it…" Natsu snapped, not wanting to hear the words that he knew were all too accurate, but the lightning fighter paid his command no heed,  
"At least we never pretended to like him or faked friendship. But you," He sneered and shook his head, a frown marring his features as he stared at the shorter male in feigned disinterest, "You betrayed him. So don't start on us for what we did when you weren't any better-…"

"I said shut up!"  
With a final snarl Natsu launched himself forward, slamming into the larger male before sending the latter stumbling backwards into the bookcase. Several books tumbled down from the impact, but neither paid them any mind, instead they settled on glaring at one another, pure hatred glinting in two sets of narrowed eyes.

"You are so much weaker than he was, though, Natsu." The blonde chuckled dryly, shoving his cousin away from him as he stood up once more, "You will blame everyone but yourself, won't you? Pathetic."

Growling, the infuriated pinkette made to lunge at his cousin once more, only to be yanked backwards by strong arms.

"Stop it, Salamander!" Gajeel warned, shoving Natsu away from the blonde, who crossed his arms and watched the other with a bored yet annoyed expression.

"Don't you dare compare what I did to your bullying!" Natsu roared, his arms starting to shake with the rage he was barely suppressing, "You-..!"

"Enough, children, enough!"

Turning, the feuding boys pulled their attention from one another and looked back at the master, who had risen from his chair and was now standing only feet from them, looking rather impatient,

"You are all behaving foolishly. I hold you all equally responsible for bullying, regardless of what precisely occurred." His attention turned to the younger of the males, his gaze steady as he stared into blazing emerald eyes, "You may not have bullied as excessively, but you also did nothing to stop it, therefore you are as much to blame as the actual culprits."  
The pink haired boy met his relatives stare for several moments before he finally clenched his teeth and turned away, knowing that what the master said was the truth.

In all actuality, even what Laxus said was the truth in many ways. He never stood up for the raven when he was being beaten up by his cousins nor did he help his friend fight back.

Instead he was a coward and, in fear that they would turn against him, he reformed himself to match their brutal ways. When his best friend got beaten and insulted he stood in the background, very rarely saying anything unless it was feigned encouragement to his relatives.

He sickened himself every time he had to pretend to agree with the barbaric treatments, but still he held his tongue.

He was a disgrace.

Laxus was right… He was more to blame than anyone else, yet he only blamed anyone besides himself. He was the one who betrayed Gray and he alone should bear the guilt and shame of his past actions.

Without another word, Natsu whirled around and headed towards the door, his mind turning with thoughts, thoughts of which all resulted in an unbearable amount of shame to drench him like a bucket of water.

He needed to be alone.

He was about to reach out to the doorknob when the master's voice caused him to pause.

"Natsu, how is your task going?" Makarov asked, pushing off the boy's prior actions to be dealt with at a later time. Right now he had to deal with the pressing matters.

Still seething, Natsu glared at the wooden object before him,

"I haven't even seen _Silver_ let alone talked to him since yesterday morning." He spat, his tone harvesting more acid than he had originally intended, however at the moment he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

"I see…" The old man mumbled, a low sigh sounding from him as he played with the odd hat on his head, "See to it that you take care of it as soon as possible or else I will intervene. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

Ignoring the confused looks they were receiving from Gajeel and Laxus, the master pretended as though he did not notice the uncharacteristically sarcastic edge to the usually cipher youth's face,

"Anyway, as far as The Grand Fighting Games goes, I was considering cutting you three from it entirely, however just this morning I received Intel that Sabertooth recently decided on their team, having added two new fighters to their lineup that are new to the guild. Supposedly one of them is an old friend of the twin Dragon Slayers and therefore highly skilled. Same for the other who joined."

The white haired elder paused for a moment, his black eyes drifting from Laxus, to Gajeel, to Natsu, who was still facing the exit,

"If this information is correct than I have to have my best fighters at hand, so I will just have to come up with another punishment, which I assure you will be far worse than missing out on the competition."

A look of relief passed over The Iron and Lightening Dragon Slayer's faces, obviously grateful that they would still be allowed to enter what they had been training so endlessly for.

Natsu, on the other hand, merely nodded in silent understanding, his pink bangs shadowing his face,

"Sure, gramps… We'll beat them…"

Opening the door, the pinkette, who had taken it upon himself to decide that this conversation was through, was about to step out, however another body positioned in the door way stopped him.

"Juvia?" He asked, startled to find the dyed blue haired girl standing right outside the master's office, her body rigid and eyes brimming with tears as she seemed to stare in shock at what used to be the door,

"G-Gray-sama was being bullied by Gajeel-san, Natsu-san and Laxus-san..." She said it as more of a statement than a question as tears streamed down her face, "Gray-sama was bullied and Juvia did nothing to help him…"

Suddenly the look of astonishment and hurt that clouded the so called water fighter's face turned to one of fury as she glared at the three males,

"Juvia thinks they were the reason Gray-Sama left Juvia!"

NGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNG

Night had fallen on Magnolia and the usual hustle bustle of the city had dulled to serene calm; almost completely deserted as its usual inhabitants were sleeping soundly in their beds.

That is, except for one individual, who found himself far too preoccupied with his thoughts to allow sleep to overtake him.

Letting out a low sigh, Gray shifted in his bed for what he supposed was the tenth time that night, attempting and failing to find a position that was comfortable enough to lull him into a greatly appreciated unconsciousness.

Too many things whirled around in his mind, the most important of them being the Grand Fighting games, which would be taking place not tomorrow but the day after.

The tests to get in had been… interesting to say the least, however he was absolutely astounded by the members of the so called strongest gym in Fiore. They in no harvested a bond similar to the one Fairy Tail used to hold….

His thoughts paused at the last part and he had to suppress the urge to snicker.

No, he had merely misthought that last part. Fairy Tail only _claimed_ to be a nice and family oriented gym, or as so many of them liked to call it, guild. At least at Sabertooth they were frank with one another and did not pretend to like those that they did not fancy in the least.

Rufus, Sting, Rogue, Lyon and Gray… That was the chosen team, or, at the very least that was what the secretary Yukino had told him after he had completed his tests. She was honestly the only one besides Rogue and Sting in the guild that seemed to like the new fighters at all. Especially Rufus. For some reason he seemed to already dislike them, namely Gray.

That blonde masked bastard really managed to piss the ice sculptor off. He always acted so high and mighty; like he owned the world. For one reason or another he vaguely reminded the raven of one pink haired idiot….

No! Nope! There was no way in hell he was allowing his thoughts to drift to that moron again. He didn't matter anymore. None of Fairy Tail did. He was a part of Sabertooth now and he even had the tattoo on his chest to prove it.

"You're overthinking things again, aren't you, Gray?"

Thinking his partner to be asleep, the raven glanced over at the albino in slight surprise

"You're still awake."

He said it as more of a statement than a question.

"And you didn't answer my question." Lyon replied frankly.

Sighing, the younger ice maker nodded slightly to the white haired man's former question before remembering that the other probably could not see him too well through the dark of the hotel room,

"Yeah… I guess you could say that…"

"Are you sure that you want to do this? There is still time to drop out."

Gray opened his mouth to respond, but found himself lacking any words to actually utter, for even he wasn't sure whether he really was ready to reveal himself to the past that he had spent so long trying to forget.

In all honesty it truly amazed him how much his resolve had changed since he had first arrived four days before.

Upon his original arrival he had been set that he was going to come here and complete the job he was hired for before leaving. He was going to be strictly professional and pretend as though he had never even set foot in this blasted town before.

Boy was he wrong.

Instead he was forced to recall what happened seven years ago, whether he wanted to or not.

All of those years he spent purposely attempting to forget his parents and Fairy Tail had gone to waste in a matter of days. Instead he met several of the pains of his past and no longer wanted to just leave and act as though this never happened, no, now he was dead set on revenge.

He wanted the revenge that his younger self was never able to obtain; he wanted to restore the honor and dignity that was stolen from him and he would do that by beating Fairy Tail in the GFG and thus prove to everyone who stomped on him that he was alive and better than he was before.

He wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn't just a doormat; that instead he was tough and strong.

That he was worth _something._

"Yeah… As crazy as it sounds, I am. I can't go back to Isvan until I do this… But you know you still can, right, Lyon? No one's forcing you to compete too."

A soft snort sounded from the albino and the sound of a bed shifting followed before the black haired man was met with a response,

"If you're staying than so am I. Someone has to stay and make sure you don't do something stupid."

Gray mimicked the other's previous snort and rolled his eyes, although he guessed that Lyon was unable to see it,

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… Do what you want."

"I will."

Turning again, Gray positioned himself so he was facing away from the other full size bed beside his before closing his eyes, allowing the conversation to drop in favor of attempting to fall asleep once more.

Luckily, this time he managed, falling into a dream filled slumber only minutes later.

**_And here is a way overdue update for this story! Sorry for the delay, I've just found myself a bit preoccupied with school and sewing of the late. But anyway, here you have it! Chapter 8!_**

**_Now, for the next chapter, I have a question for you readers. Should I bring in the beginning of the Grand Fighting Games in the next chapter or wait until the chapter after that? I feel as though if I keep stalling it will drag on, yet if I get to the GFG it will go too fast? What do you all think? Tell me what you would like to see~_**

**_Thanks for reading and see you next time!_**


	9. Chapter 9: Perfect Memories

**_Weighted Hearts chapter 9: Perfect memories._**

The streets were alive with people eagerly going to and from booth to booth, intent on seeing every single sight there was to marvel at.

Festive colored lights laced across light poles, lined shop fronts and framed signs that were placed all about, each one signifying the different teams that would be entering the GFG tournament that year. People stalked around, holding different merchandise sponsoring their preferred teams and special food was being sold throughout every store, signifying the official start to what everyone knew to be the Grand Fighting Games Festival.

The tournament itself was not scheduled to officially begin until that night, however that hardly deterred the morning rush of visitors, who, to pass the time, busied themselves with partaking in the awe dropping celebration. Music blared from the center of the main town plaza and friends chatted happily about the teams that would be facing one another head to head that night, some even crafting bets, whilst those that were not fond of the upcoming events merely enjoyed the lively and happy atmosphere.

This year the teams who had proved themselves worthy enough to enter the competition had been the routine six, seeing as only the strongest of participants were allowed to compete. After all, people from all over the world came to see breath taking battles and excellent combat skills, not run of the mill martial artists that could barely even hurt a fly.

This year was said to be consisting of numerous new martial artists and the spectators could not be more excited to see just what these fighters were capable of.

"What team do you think is going to win the title this year?" A blonde man of rather average height asked his friend who was lingering on the sidelines of the festivities, drinks in hand as they awaited that night's events.

"Fairy Tail, of course. Sabertooth's victory last year was just a fluke." The somewhat taller, brown haired friend scoffed, taking a long chug of his beer before continuing, "They ain't got nothing on Magnolia's prized team."

"I don't know…" The blonde guy objected, coolly reaching into the pocket of his black pants before taking out the Tournament's crisp guide, which listed the teams and all their competing members, "This year Sabertooth has two new members, and, from what I heard they are pretty skilled, not to mention that Sting, Rogue and Rufus are forces to be reckoned with too." His brown eyes scanned Sabertooth's listing, a confused expression marring his aged face as he clicked his tongue at the paper, "Huh, looks like the new members are marked as unknown on the guide."

"Hah, probably are too embarrassed to put their faces under such a pathetic team." The brown haired man grinned at the other, who merely shrugged in return,

"Who knows, but, you know, I hear that one of them used to be a part of Fairy Tail, or at least that's what the rumor going around is."

He was met with yet another scoff from his friend, who quickly brushed the comment aside,

"Do you believe everything you hear, you old coot? That's all that stupid thing is; a rumor. Ain't nobody's left Fairy Tail in years and if they did they sure as hell wouldn't join Sabertooth. That's their most profound enemy. Besides, they're all too loyal for that…" The brown haired man raised his drink to his mustached mouth, prepared to take another swing when suddenly he paused, seeming to remember something,

"Well, nobody's left besides that girl who died some years ago in that car accident, you know, that model MiraJane's sister… Oh, and that boy whose family was killed by that old serial killer… Let's see… Now what was his name again?"

A light chuckle escaped the drunk's friend,

"Don'tcha remember anything, old man? He damn near killed enough people to fill a town. The guy's name was Deliora."  
"Right… Guess my memory just isn't what it used to be, though the last attack was some years ago, wasn't it? Now the guy's all washed up; hasn't attacked anyone since."

"That's true…" The blonde agreed, his carefree expression changing slightly at the memory, "Wonder where that physo disappeared to…"  
The other just shook his head,

"Hell if I know, but for everyone's sake let's just hope he's dead."

NGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNG

"You almost done there? We have to head out soon. Really, I only used one hand to sculpt most of my sculptures yet I still managed to finish before you."

Tching, Gray rolled his eyes at the nagging silverette and took to tuning him out in favor of concentrating on the last small detail needed to complete his final dragon project.

"If Ur saw you do that she would hit you. You know how much she hated it when you only used one hand."

The raven's words were met with a shrug as Lyon seemed to otherwise ignore the statement,

"Whatever, just hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah…"

With just a few last finishing touches the ice sculptor stepped back, silently admiring his work. The last two days he and Lyon had worked day and night to ensure that their job was completed before they were scheduled to join Sabertooth's team at the Grand Fighting Games.

Luckily, it seemed as though they had managed to sculpt the dragons and dog things with time to spare, which Gray was entirely grateful for. Now he would have time to rest and subdue his nerves, which only seemed to worsen as the minutes to the games ticked by.

Checking over his masterpiece one last time, Gray turned to look at Lyon,

"Alright, annoying albino, I'm done."

"Tch, what immature name calling." The white haired male reprimanded lightly, a slight grin lighting up his pale face.

"Yeah, yeah, well let's-…"

"Oh good, you're still here, ice princess."

Gray stilled, his sentence ending half way as he slowly turned to face the door, unsurprised to find a familiar pinkette leaning against the doorway, his green eyes trained on the dark blue haired boy.

"We were just about to leave; we've finished the sculptures."

Refusing to allow his unease to show in his tone, Gray pulled his attention away from the dyed pink haired boy to instead concentrate on his work bag, which he promptly slung over his shoulder nonchalantly before beginning to walk out the doorway not occupied by the flame idiot,

"We're done here."

"Wait!"

Surprised by the other's almost pleading shout, the raven glanced behind him and just barely managed to suppress the jolt of shock that shot through him as he turned only to find Natsu now only inches from him. Damn, how the hell did he manage to move so fast?!

Taking the Salamander's entrance to be his cue to leave, Lyon cast the two a hesitant glance before lifting his own bag and leaving the room.

"What do you want, Flamebrain?" The black haired boy muttered as he silently cursed Lyon out in his head, not wanting to be left alone with his former rival.

The name felt almost foreign to Natsu's ears and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of pain in his heart because of the tone in which his old friend uttered his name. It was no longer just a teasing jeer that the younger Gray would use to playfully insult his best friend, no, now it was laced with years of hurt and served as nothing more than a heart wrenching reminder that the two no longer harvested a deep bond.

All their carefully crafted bridges were burned and it was all thanks to Natsu who just couldn't stop playing with fire.

"Well… Since you're done and all I was just wondering if you would want to… I mean, since there is a festival going on and everything I just figured I'd ask if you would want to… Walk around with me or something… You know, like old times…"

The pinkette's question was met with a blank stare from Gray, who couldn't believe that the idiot actually had the audacity to ask him to hang out, especially after how well their last encounter turned out.

"You're joking." The ice sculptor snickered, his eyes closing as a thin lipped, feigned smirk crept onto his pale face, "What makes you think I would want to waste my free time playing nice with my employer?"

"Come on, Don't give me that shit Gray, I-…"  
"I told you it's Silver." The younger of the two boys snapped, his smirk disappearing as he took to instead glaring at Natsu, "Really, how big of an idiot are you? I've already told you that I put my past behind me and that includes you and the rest of that Fairy Tail gym."

"Oh yeah?" Natsu snickered, his temper rising the longer he stared at the pale man, "Is that why you're still wearing that necklace I gave you?"

Gray immediately clenched his teeth, his arms crossing over his chest as he challenged the Salamander's determined look with one of his own,

"That is none of your business, Natsu."

"Natsu?" The pink haired martial artist repeated, his hard tone hiding the disbelief he felt at hearing the other actually speak his name, "You called me by my name... What, did I hit a sore spot or something, icy?"

"I said it's none of your business, idiot. Now shut up!"

"So I did hit a sore spot then?" Natsu paused for a moment before a look that rivaled shock and eagerness marred his features, "You couldn't forget about me completely, could you?"

"Shut it…"  
"You didn't want to give up everything from your old life."  
"I said shut the hell up."

"Just admit it, Gray, You haven't moved on; not like you claimed to have. You miss Fairy Tail, you miss your old life, and, _you_ _miss_ _me_."

"Damn it, just shut the hell up already!"

Growling, the ice sculptor felt his nails begin to dig into his forearms as he tore his gaze away from the tan man,

"You don't know anything…"

"And I won't know until you stop being so damn stubborn and just tell me."

The so called Dragon Slayer's confidence grew as one fact repeatedly crowded his mind, giving him hope that maybe he really didn't lose _his_ Gray after all.

He never denied it.

The raven never denied Natsu's statements.

A pregnant silence dwindled between the two as Gray remained silent and visibly clenched his hands around his strong biceps, seemingly suppressing his anger, that is, until suddenly his stiff position faltered, his resolve seeming to melt away.

Taking this as his chance to instill reason into his old friend, the dragon slayer continued,

"Everyone really misses you and would love to find out that you're alive… Juvia… She still loves you, ya know… I think she blames herself for your death, well, now she blames me mostly… Actually, I think everyone in Fairy Tail feels like they had a part in it… Just mentioning your name still makes people sad and I… I'm tired of seeing my comrades hurt just because you're too selfish to just give in and come back to Fairy Tail! To your home!"

The pinkette's emotions flared and his body shook subtly as he seemed to barely be able to suppress the flurry of feelings surging through him,

"Damn it, Gray, Just come back… We miss you…"

_I miss you._

Natsu thought dryly to himself.

"I don't have time for this nonsense."

Moving to turn away, the raven was about to leave when the brush of paper against his shoulder caused him to stall once more.

"Look… Just… Just come to the games tonight, okay?" The salamander asked, holding two tickets to that night's events out, "Hate me all you want, but don't blame Fairy Tail. If you're here, why not come, _Silver_…"  
Pausing, the ice maker glanced uncertainly from the tanned skin boy to the tickets he was offering before hesitantly taking them; stuffing them in his pockets right after.

"Whatever…."

Not allowing Natsu to say anything else Gray swiftly turned on his heel and stalked away, waiting until he was out of the room before letting out a low, bitter laugh, his fingers absentmindedly reaching down to brush against the insulting paper in his jeans pocket,

"If only you knew, Natsu…"

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"They're running late…"

Rogue crossed his arms and stared ahead blankly as he stated his observation to the rest of the group. The games were scheduled to begin in an hour and so far the ice sculptors were half an hour late to their team meeting in the designated hotel room for Sabertooth.

"They'll be here…" Sting assured, grinning slightly at his brother, his sharp canine teeth making the gesture appear to be somewhat more volatile than encouraging, "If I know Gray he won't pass this chance up."

"Oh? I cannot help but wonder how well you do indeed know this ice maker."

Turning, Sting rolled his eyes at the blonde haired almost pirate looking man, already used to the other's skepticism of people.

"I told ya already, we've known him since we were kids." He easily brushed off, "Rogue and I both used to be his close friends."

"Used to seems to be a rather key term there."

"What exactly are you trying to say, Rufus?"

"I am merely suggesting that perhaps things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence perceives what has been carefully hidden. Luckily my intellect is not as blind as some others may be…"

Growing slightly agitated with his friend's vague responses, the short blonde haired male narrowed his eyes at him,

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"That is far from my point that I assure."

"Come on, you knew Gray when we were younger too. I mean, I know you never liked the guy much because he was a part of Fairy Tail but now he's our teammate, so just get over it."

Snickering softly, the masked man merely closed his eyes and shook his head, dumbfounded at just how dense his fellow blonde could be.

It was true, he did in fact harvest a special dislike for the boy, however the reasoning behind it was far from just the fact that he was from another gym. His perfect memory reminded, no, tormented him day after day as to why he despised the formally pronounced dead man so much. Sting was partly to blame for that, but Rufus supposed the light dragon slayer truly couldn't help it.

After all, it wasn't his fault that the 'Memory make' fighter fell in love with him.

Just like it wasn't his fault that the dragon slayer was manipulated into liking the pale Fairy Tail martial artist.

"That reminder is hardly necessary for I remember everything."

"Yeah, whatever."

Dismissing his genius friend, Sting looked towards his brother, about to speak when another voice interrupted him.

"Yo!"

Smiling to himself, the scarred boy turned his head to the doorway of the room,

"'Bout time you got here, Gray and Lion."

An irritated 'tch' sounded from the hallway before both sculptors entered the room,

"For the last time my name is Lyon. I'm not a god damned cat."

The silverette growled at the blonde, who merely shrugged in response,

"Whoops… Well, I'll probably get it eventually."  
Sending a glare at the smirking man, Lyon just managed to swallow his anger before putting his bag aside.

Mimicking his comrade's actions, Gray not so lightly dropped his duffle bag to the ground before looking at the three others gathered in the room, no doubt waiting for him and Lyon.

"Sorry for being late, we got a little held up finishing up our commission."

"Eh, no problem." Sting shrugged, "We just have to meet downstairs in a few minutes to get changed into our team outfits and get into our arranged spots and yada yada yada…"

Suddenly the taller of the two males smirked deviously,

"You ready to show the world you're still alive, Gray?"

Matching his comrade's smirk with one his own, the former Fairy Tail Martial artist nodded, ignoring the nervousness creeping into his being,

"Yeah."

Aware of Lyon's questioning gaze on his back, the raven turned and flashed his friend a reassuring grin,

"I'm done running from my past; I won't let it control me anymore."

Returning a grin, Lyon nodded at the boy he considered his younger brother, although a part of him couldn't help but worry for him, even as Gray turned away and begin talking to the twin dragon slayers the silverette couldn't help but wonder if his partner was getting into more than he could handle.

It was easy to move on and pretend as though what happened never occurred, Lyon knew that much from his own troubled past, but it was harder to look back and face what you had spent years avoiding.

But the silverette would help the dark blue haired man, just as he always had and always would. He would be there to support the idiot in whatever disastrous decisions he made because he was family, even if one of those choices killed him.

With those thoughts in mind the albino looked towards his comrade and the twin dragon slayers, a smile tugging on the corner of his lips as he settled with fading into the background, uninterested in whatever it is they were talking about.

Instead he took to studying body signs, watching the three foreign fighters carefully. He always preferred that to conversing with others, which always seemed to end up in people labeling him as isolated and 'not a people person.'

But that wasn't it at all.

It wasn't that he wasn't a people person, he just wasn't a stupid people person.

He knew when to voice his mind and when to remain silent; when to joke and when to be serious; and when to pry and when to let it slide.

That was how he noticed the special way Sting looked at his younger brother figure and the disdainful glare that Rufus would direct to them both, though the albino noticed it was more focused towards Gray than himself.

He also noticed how Rogue looked like he would rather kill himself than stay around and talk any longer.

Pushing his observations aside to be dealt with later, particularly the hatted man's glare, the white haired male focused back on the actual conversation when he noticed Gray staring at him, a black eyebrow raised in question.

"Ready to get going, snow head?"

Allowing a slight grin to mar his expression he nodded in confirmation before leaving with the raven, prepared for whatever hell these games would bring.

Following after them, the twins left, unaware of the last person still remaining in the room, making no motion to move just yet.

Lingering behind, Rufus stared with narrowed eyes at the raven's retreating back, entirely displeased. Certainly seeing the raven again added to his dissatisfaction, although what truly irritated the long blonde haired male was the way Sting looked at the ice maker; a look in which was never directed towards him.

It was one of attraction and excitement, the exact same one that the light slayer used to direct towards Gray when they were kids.

Sting still liked Gray, not Rufus, of whom loved him.

Letting out a hollow chuckle, the costumed man smiled dryly to himself before pushing off the wall, following after the rest of his team in silence.

People often praised him for his perfect memory, claiming it to be wonderful, however, there was one fatal drawback to remembering everything.

He could forgive _nothing._

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**Okay, so here is chapter 9!**

**Now, I know everyone really wanted me to get to the Grand Fighting Games and I meant to in this chapter, however when I was writing it went in a whole different way, so I'm really sorry about that. I was also going to add all that into one chapter but I decided that would be too long and tedious, so I settled with basing a chapter entirely on it. That and I wanted to add a little something extra with Natsu and Gray because they've only really talked three or four times in eight chapters…**

**To make up for that I withheld this chapter until I was able to finish chapter 10. That way it gets to the Grand Fighting Games and is a bonus two chapter thing. Yay…**

**Anyway, I just want to thank everyone for reviewing, following and favoriting. It really encourages me to write when I see that there are people reading that really like my story ****J**


	10. Chapter 10: The Grand Fighting Games

Weighted Hearts chapter 10: The Grand Fighting Games Tournament.

The roar of the crowd was almost deafening as dusk finally fell and the speakers surrounding the large auditorium crackled to life, signifying that now was the time for all the spectators to take their seats least they miss any of the action that was sure to unfold.

It was now only minutes until the beginning of the ceremonies and each team was stationed by their individual entrances, waiting until their gym name was mentioned so that they could enter the arena and wave at their fans, their names being read, indicating who each of them were.

The premises were simply brimming with excitement, a key source of that energy and eagerness belonging to none other than Fairy Tail's very own troublemaker.

"Yeah! Come on! These games need to start already so I can kick someone's ass! This is great!"

Sighing, Lucy merely rolled her eyes at her excited friend and not so lightly whacked him in the back of the head,

"Natsu, calm down, you're making a scene." The blonde complained, an exasperated look on her face as she crossed her arms, "We all know you're excited, but just please calm down for now, okay? Besides, the actual competitions aren't starting till tomorrow so it's not like you'll be able to fight anyone today anyway."

"Aw, come on, Luce, how can you not be excited?! I mean, Fiore's strongest Martial Artists are all gathered here and I get to fight them! I'm all fired up!"

The blonde rolled her eyes but was unable to resist the smile that crept to her lips as she saw at the excited look on her best friend's face.

"You goof…" She laughed softly, her arms uncrossing, "So… Did you get that ice boy to come?"

Immediately the grin seemingly plastered on the tan man's face disappeared, only to be preceded by a blush right after,

"What are you talking about, Luce? Why would I want him to come? It's not like I like him or anything…"

Grinning, the cute blonde put her hands on her hips,

"I never said anything about you liking him. Is there something you aren't telling me, Natsu?"

"N-no! Of course not! I mean, I don't like that idiot ice princess! He's just an old friend…"  
"Mhm, whatever you say." She winked, "But I've seen the way you look at him. It's the same way a boyfriend would look at his girlfriend… Or… In this case, boyfriend."

"How would you know that, Lucy? You've never dated before."

The girl's face swiftly rivaled that of a tomato as she shook her head and clenched her fists, sputtering,

"You don't need to bring that up, you big idiot! And don't say it so loud!"

Her obvious embarrassment caused the pinkette to chuckle as he gently patted his friend's head,

"Heh, okay, sorry, Luce."

"You should be." She muttered indignantly, pouting slightly, "Besides, I've only never dated because I'm waiting for Mr. Right to come along…"

He smiled,

"Now you sound like Juvia."

"Don't compare me to her… She's obsessed…" She sighed softly and looked over at the girl mentioned, who seemed to be lost in thought in the corner of the hallway leading to where they would make their entrance with Gajeel, Laxus and Elfman hanging by the doorway, just waiting for their cue, "Speaking of her, do you know what has been up with her lately? These last few days she's been kind of withdrawn…"

Following Lucy's gaze, Natsu guiltily rubbed the back of his head and quickly looked away from the depressed looking blue haired woman.

"Nope, not a clue…"

Luckily the blonde wasn't looking at him to see his suspicious expression, instead she sighed and gave her friend a sad look,

"Well, I hope she gets back to her normal self soon… You know… I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss her going on and on about that guy she liked when she was younger."

"Yeah…"

"Hey!" A gruff voice called from a little ways down the hall, causing the two to look towards where Gajeel, Laxus and Elfman were gathered, "They've started announcing the teams, so get over here, Salamander and Rainwomen… And you, bunny girl, get outta here, we don't need any distractions from you." Gajeel grunted.

Turning to face away from his friend, Natsu adjusted the scarf he always wore around his neck and stared ahead at the door, a determined look marring his features before he shifted his head slightly to the side to glance over his shoulder at his comrade, a small grin on his face,

"Go on out and sit with the rest of our gym mates so you don't miss anything. We've got it here."  
Huffing slightly at the nickname Gajeel gave her, Lucy reluctantly nodded before returning the smile, giving her friends a thumbs up,

"Okay. Good luck you guys, see you later!"

Giving the blonde one last nod of recognition, the pinkette walked over to his teammates, intentionally looking away from the so called Rain woman, who seemed to be glaring daggers into his back.

She blamed him for her precious 'Gray-Sama''s supposed death, not that he could really blame her, seeing as in a way he did kill Gray.

He killed the old, trusting and loving Gray and instead caused him to be reborn as a cold and distrustful man.

Now it was his job to get close to the guy who kept everyone at arm's length in order to show him he no longer had to worry about getting hurt.

He swore to himself that he would bring _his_ Gray back.

_He didn't know, who would leave and who would stay, so instead he pushed them all away._

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"Welcome everyone to the X791 Grand Fighting Games!"

Immediately the crowd rumbled with cheers at the announcers words and the male adorning a rather odd pumpkin outfit paused a moment, allowing the noise to quiet before he continue; his voice loud and clear,

"This year is certain to be full of surprises and excitement with all the strong gyms competing."

Another round of cheers deafened the building and flags bearing teams symbols were flying freely, being held by eager fans,

"Now, before the teams are announced, I must remind everyone about how these games are performed. The competition will last for three days with several matches per day. Although the matches will differ. Some will be agility, speed, or problem solving while others will be fights either one on one or two on two. Information about each event will not be revealed until the day of and only a small clue will be supplied as to what the task will be when it comes to the special events, whilst the battles will be predetermined."

The announcer cleared his throat before turning away from the audience to instead face the first of the numerous doors that littered the circular arena.

"That aside, let us introduce this year's competing teams!"

A series of screams and excited chatter resounded from the spectators as the first door slowly clambered open, revealing a horselike flag as well as three young boys, an older looking, short gentleman who was continuously starting striking poses as he walked and a taller figure in an odd bunny outfit…

Blue Pegasus had taken the field in their own unique way.

After them was Raven Tail, and then, the one guild known for their continuous damage to property everywhere; Fairy Tail.

"Fairy Tail's team, Gajeel Redfox, Laxus Dreyar, Elfman Strauss, Juvia Lockser and Natsu Dragneel!"

Natsu was the first one out when the doors opened, signifying them to enter the arena. A huge grin was set on his face as he proudly walked out into the spotlight, his fist pumping up into the air as loud applause and cheering followed their entrance, most prominently from the section their gym was occupying.

"Yeah!" The pinkette cheered as he glanced over at his team, excited to find everyone except Juvia looking proud and eager to represent their team, "Fairy Tail!"  
As was instructed of them, they stopped walking half way into the field, only feet away from the other gym members, of which they all knew well from former years.

Once they made their way to their scheduled positions the announcer continued calling off the names of the other teams, however Natsu wasn't paying his words any heed. Instead he took to scanning the front row of the spectators, searching for a certain familiar head of raven hair…

Only to come up blank.

He felt his heart sink.

Gray wasn't in the seat the pinkette had reserved for him… He wasn't there watching the Salamander like Natsu had hoped he would… He wasn't there to watch him win and he wasn't there for the pinkette to impress…

He didn't show up.

The fire dragon slayer felt his happiness slowly melt away at that realization and it took all his strength not to frown.

It looked like he did lose his Gray after all…

But then again, Gray never really was his to lose, was he?

Disheartened, the pinkette shook his head at the thoughts and instead attempted to focus on the announcers words.

Now was not the time to get distracted. Maybe the idiotic raven was just running late or something… Maybe he would be there soon…

Hell, he didn't know. He just knew that he wanted his friend there more than he thought he would.

Dammit.

_Quarto Puppy, Mermaid heel, Lamia Scale, the names went on._

"And finally, the last competing team and last year's victor, Sabertooth!"

An especially loud roar of applause and yells illuminated from the crowd at the former number one gym's name, however Natsu just rolled his eyes and glared at the opening door.

He really couldn't stand those Sabertooth morons, Sting in particular.

He wasn't certain why, but there was just something about that arrogant blond that made the pinkette want to just punch him in the face.

Even when they were kids Natsu despised the blonde idiot, but for reasons the pinkette couldn't understand, Gray didn't, so he unfortunately found himself spending more 'quality' time with Sting than he would have preferred.

But even after all that time together Natsu still found the blonde to be the bane of his existence.

"This year's team consists of Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Rufus Lore, Lyon Bastia and…."

_No…_

Finally the pinkette's smile dropped as an all too familiar name was announced, shocking several of the teams into stunned silence.

That was impossible…

There was no way the announcer just said the name he thought he did…

But… If that was true, then why was it that he saw that familiar dark blued haired man walk towards the center of the arena with the rest of Sabertooth…?

If he misunderstood the name then why did he hear his cousins and Elfman gasp behind him and why was it that Juvia squeaked, her eyes misting over as she stared at the man that she had loved for eight years…?

Why did the Fairy Tail gym members suddenly go so uncharacteristically quiet…?

His green eyes widened as he finally accepted the fact that he saw the one person he never expected to see on the battlefield again…

**_"_****_Gray Fullbuster"_**_…_

_He's back…._

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_And done! Hah! Two chapters in a row._

_Sorry if this seemed a little rushed._

_Thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11: A deal worth fighting for

Natsu stared unblinkingly ahead, his rarely used mind reeling as he attempted to fathom just what was going on.

Gray… He wasn't sitting up in the seats Natsu reserved for him because he was instead in the arena, prepared to fight… For Sabertooth; Fairy Tail's most prominent rival...

This had to be a bad dream, he decided, finally blinking owlishly at the familiar raven. All he had to do was pinch himself and all this would be over… He would just wake up and laugh about how absurd his dreams could be…

But it wasn't. No matter how many times he pinched himself and regardless of how utterly idiotic he looked doing so he did not wake up.

This wasn't just a horrible dream after all.

The pinkette was so lost in shock, irritation and confusion that he almost didn't notice Juvia streak past him, her eyes brimming with tears as she raced towards the Sabertooth team.

Her mind too was whirling as she stared at the man standing now only feet from her, an all too familiar bored expression seemly etched onto his pale face.

This was him… This was the man she thought she had lost seven years ago…

This was her love, her light and her prince… He had come back to her after all… He was alive.

"Gray-sama!"

Upon hearing the odd nickname he hadn't been referred to in years, the raven turned to face the voice, only to be knocked down seconds later by a blubbering bluenette.

"Gray-sama!" The girl sobbed, her thin arms wrapping around her love's body tightly, almost as though she feared if she let go he would fade away again, "Gray-sama is alive!"

The ice sculptor paused for a moment, a startled look crossing his face as he glanced down at the sobbing girl clutching onto him for dear life. He wondered only for a brief moment who precisely the emotional girl was when suddenly realization hit him hard, causing him to freeze.

"J-Juvia is so happy! Gray-sama came back!"

Behind him, Gray could hear his other team mates walking over to them, no doubt wanting to find out just what the hell was going on.

"Juvia, I…"

His sentence drifted as the pretty martial artist finally pulled her face off of the raven's now wet red coat, her blue eyes glistening with relief and happiness. Looking her over, he couldn't help but realize how much she had changed since he last saw her.

He noticed that, despite her being one of the more modestly dressed of the girls present her coat was skin tight, showing off her curves for the world to gawk at. Her once flat chest and butt seemed to have grown during the years, giving her quite the sexy appearance. She had really filled out, he noted with a slight blush as he immediately diverted his attention before it went further south.

She had truly grown into a beautiful woman.

"Juvia missed you so much… Juvia… Juvia knew her prince wouldn't leave her… She knew you would come back…"

Her small body began to shake and Gray couldn't help but feel a tinge of pain in his chest. He hadn't realized the girl had missed him so much.

"Calm down, Juvia… It's okay…" The black haired boy mumbled, feebly patting Juvia's back in hopes that she would get off him soon and cease sobbing. He always was bad when it came to crying girls…

His words received a slight nod from the bluenette as she finally pulled away, her fear of him vanishing diminishing the longer she looked at the man.

She couldn't help but notice how much older he looked now… His once young and childlike face had narrowed out and his thin body was replaced with muscles, giving him an older appearance than what she remembered. He was definitely handsome, more so than before. However he still had that raven hair that looked almost midnight blue under some light, he still had that pale, almost porcelain like skin and those dull blue eyes…

Dull blue eyes…

Were they always that dull…?

She couldn't remember exactly, but she could have sworn they were brighter when he was younger; full of innocence and life… They no longer held that shine…

Juvia wondered just what Gray had gone through since she last saw him.

"Gray-sama, I…"

The girl was cut off when suddenly a loud, angry voice filled the arena, causing the audience's attention to shift from the almost love sick looking couple to the pinkette who was marching over to them, his tone rivaling that of a dragon's roar,

"Gray!"

Narrowing his eyes at the seething martial artist, Gray helped Juvia up before getting up himself, his cobalt eyes meeting emerald ones in a silent challenge.

"Miss me, flamebrain?" He jeered, smirking in hopes that his discomfort with the whole situation would remain unnoticed, instead he would cover it with a cocky and confident front.

"Like hell I did, you bastard! What are you doing here?!" His heated glare tore away from the raven to instead focus on the grinning blonde coming up to stand beside Gray, "And why the hell are you on that idiot's team?!"

"Cause Gray here wants to be on the winning team." Sting replied haughtily as he threw an arm around the raven's shoulders, enjoying the flash of jealousy on the fire slayer's face at the action, "So naturally he would want to join the best guild in Magnolia; Sabertooth."

"Sabertooth is nothing compared to Fairy Tail! Gray belongs to us; he's a part of our family!"

"Yeah?" Sting lulled, his grin turning into a devious smirk, "Then why did he join us instead, huh? Unlike you lot we treat him like a friend. You know, it's kind of ironic, really. Fairy Tail, the guild that prides itself on being so damn family oriented treated one of its members like dirt."

"It wasn't like that!" Natsu growled back, "Don't go on about things you don't know crap about!"

"Getting worked up, Natsu?" The blonde chuckled and shook his head, his smirk never leaving his scarred face, "To think I actually looked up to you when I was younger."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Are you trying to start something, bastard?!"

Clenching his fists, the pinkette glared daggers at the Sabertooth member looking over at the raven, who wore a blank expression.

"I'll save humiliating you for during the actual games." Sting shrugged.

"Why you…"

"Gray-sama… What are you doing…?"

The staring contest between the three boys seemed to stall as they all turned instead to look over at the soft voice that belonged to a confused and relieved Juvia.

"You wouldn't understand, Juvia." Gray muttered frankly, his tone turning softer as he addressed the rain woman, "Just know I have my reasons for what I do."

"Juvia knows that and… And Juvia knows what happened before you left Fairy Tail…" She couldn't help but pause as her beloved's eyes widened slightly at the news, but she continued nonetheless, "Juvia just… Just wants to know why Gray-sama is with Sabertooth now…"

"Yeah! Why the hell are you betraying Fairy Tail, Ice prick?!"

Immediately the ice sculptor's calm demeanor fell as he instead turned to glare at Natsu, an annoyed tch escaping him at his ex-friend's words,

"I'm the one betraying Fairy Tail? I knew you were stupid, Natsu, but now you're just plain moronic." He stepped closer to the Fairy Tail mage, his finger jamming into the chest of the other's purple one sleeved coat, scoffing "You are a damn hypocrite, you know that? That's why I joined Sabertooth. I'm going to show you the pain I went through when you betrayed me."

From the corner of the raven's eyes he could vaguely make out Lyon's form come to stand beside him, his arms crossed as he stared boredly at the man that seemed to annoy his younger surrogate brother so much.

"Don't do this, Gray…" The salamander warned, his tone low.

"It's already too late." The raven sneered.

"Fine…" Crossing his arms, the pinkette glowered at his former friend, "Then let's make a deal."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Opting to ignore the ice sculptor's question, Natsu turned to Sting, a determined expression appearing on his tan face as he regarded the blonde in what seemed to be disdain.

"If we win, Gray will join Fairy Tail again."

Sting couldn't help but snicker at the audacity of the moron.

"There's no way you and your pathetic little fairies can beat us."

"What, are you afraid of losing, blondie?"

"Of course not." Smirking, the scarred blonde tuned out the raven's protests that he was 'not a thing to be won' and held his hand out to the fire dragon slayer, "Fine, but when Sabertooth wins he stays. Do we have a deal?"

Returning the other's haughty expression with one of his own the Fairy Tail mage nodded and took the others hand, only shaking it for a moment before retracting it once more, his gaze drifting to the ice sculptor as he spoke,

"Deal."

Get ready to come back to Fairy Tail, Gray.

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"Natsu… Are you okay…?"

Finally tearing his gaze away from that pillar that he was subconsciously glaring a hole into, the pinkette looked over at the blonde sitting beside him, a worried look on her pretty face,

"Just fine…"

His tone came out in a low growl, causing the girl to flinch slightly at the malicious tone that was so unusual for her cheerful friend. Something was definitely wrong.

Noticing his friend's reaction, the salamander sighed softly and ran a hand through his unnatural pink locks,

"Sorry, Luce, didn't mean to be mean or anything like that…"

"It's okay, Natsu…" The blonde silently assured, reaching out to hesitantly touch the other's shoulder. She paused for a moment upon contact, making sure her comrade would accept the touch before she gently rubbed his back, attempting to calm him down in the only way she really knew how.

The games had ended around an hour ago and the two business partners were now gathered in the Fire Slayer's house, getting ready for the party that was scheduled to begin in half an hour.

Well, rather, Lucy was getting ready for the event whilst Natsu took to merely glaring heatedly at a fixture in the house, almost as though he was attempting to burn a hole into it with looks alone.

He had been like that ever since they had arrived at the house and the blonde had only a vague idea as to why that was. After all, it didn't take a rocket science to deduce that the little scene he made earlier in the arena in the games was still bothering him, but that was pretty much all she knew.

That and the fact that for one reason or another her friend was fixated on being around that black haired ice sculptor.

But she personally had not the slightest idea as to why everyone was reacting the way they were to seeing the dark blue haired boy in the games, I mean, sure, she was a little surprised to see the guys who made their ice sculptors for that night's party entering the tournament under a rivaling team, however she hardly saw how that warranted the outburst it did.

Why did it trouble all her friends so much that that Silver or Gray, or whatever his real name was, was competing? It just didn't make sense to her and so far no one seemed to want to clarify things.

"It's not okay…"

Torn away from her own inner musings by the sudden voice, Lucy blinked at the pinkette's late response.

"What do you mean…? I know that it was surprising to see the ice brothers enter the competition for that Sabertooth team, but they are just workers, it doesn't really matter what they…"

"You don't understand."

"Huh?"

"You don't know who that is, do you? Who Gray is?"

His question was met with a moment of silence as the blonde seemed to consider that for a moment, her thin index finger coming up to tap her lower lip in thought.

"Well, now that you mention it I think I heard that name before somewhere… But I don't remember anything about it…" She finally admitted, her memory drawing a blank.

"Yeah… I thought so…"

"Well…" She rubbed her forearm somewhat awkwardly, uncertain as to how to help her brother figure get through a dilemma she knew nothing about, "You can talk to me about it, you know… I mean, if you want to…"

"Yeah… Thanks, Luce, but it's a long story…"

"We have half an hour…" She offered.

"That's true… Well…" Letting out yet another sigh, the scarf clad individual nodded to himself and directed his attention solely to the blonde sitting at the kitchen table beside him, "I'll tell you about it, just… Promise me you won't think differently about me… Okay…?"

Lucy smiled gently at her friend, her hand coming to rest lightly on Natsu's shoulder,

"Nothing could ever make me see you any differently, I promise."

"I hope you're right…"

Pausing a moment to collect his thoughts, Natsu began his story, admitting facts that he had never told anyone before, facts that made him feel as though he was nothing more than scum.

He visibly flinched as he recounted all the times he was pressured into verbally and physically hurting his best friend and he felt the urge to bang his head against the wall as his regrets nearly choked him.

Damn it… He didn't blame the raven for leaving like he did… After all, it wasn't as though he had anything really to come back to other than a friend who betrayed him and a guild who ignored the bullying he was suffering.

"Oh, Natsu, that's horrible…" The blonde gasped, unable to believe that her friend, the guy who was always so loving and protective of his friends, was the same guy in the story that was being so cruel to his closest comrade…. It just didn't sound right… "You have to apologize to him…"

"I did. Several times. He just won't accept it, but I guess he has every right not to… I probably wouldn't be so forgiving of that either… But times were different back then… It was right after Igneel left and I… I just didn't want to lose what was left of my family…"

"I understand, Natsu…" Lucy assured, gently rubbing her best friend's back, "People change, I know you would never do anything like that now. You just have to prove that to Gray…"

"But how? I can't even talk to the guy without him giving me the cold shoulder…"

"Hm…" Thinking about that for a moment, the blonde suddenly smiled, an evil glint in her brown eyes as she turned to look fully at the pinkette once more, "We need a plan!"

Jumping up, the Dragon Slayer looked at the preppy girl with confusion,

"A plan?"

"Yes, a plan! You need to talk to Gray without any interruptions, right? Well leave it up to me! I'll talk to Levy about it and make sure that tonight you two will have time to make up."

"Uh…" Feeling a bead of sweet drip down his temple at the sudden malicious look on Lucy's face Natsu merely nodded.

"Great! In that case I'll get Aires and Virgo to finish setting up the party. Just don't you worry about a thing, Natsu, I'll make sure that you get your love!"

"My love?!" Natsu squawked, a blush quickly rising to his cheeks as he stared at the now leaving blonde in bewilderment and embarrassment, "What the hell?! Who said anything about me loving that damn icicle obsessed freak?!"

"Oh, Natsu," The girl winked, "Us girls can spot a love sick man anywhere and you always were bad at hiding your feelings. It's obvious that you don't just want to be friends with him again."

Pausing at the tentative look crossing the man's face, the blonde quickly gave him a reassuring smile before turning a corner , making her way down the hallway,

"Don't worry, I'll keep your little secret. You can count on me."

Wordlessly the dragon slayer stared at where his business partner disappeared, only the distant sound of her heels against the marble floor piercing the quiet house, leaving Natsu confused, embarrassed and feeling like he just needed a nap.

However that luxury was not to be, for only moments after the sounds of the blonde's shoes faded away the sounds of two others, entered the air, causing the fighter to glance over at the doorway curiously. He wasn't expecting any visitors yet.

"Salamander!"

Groaning outwardly, the pinkette rubbed his face with his hand, knowing that voice all too well.

He didn't even have to answer before two shapes appeared in the doorway of the room, equally annoyed expressions marring their features as the men took to glaring at the lone inhabitant of the room.

"Hey, Gajeel, Laxus…" He mumbled, "To what do I owe the pleasure of having you two here…?"

"Cut the shit, Salamander." The black haired man growled, advancing further into the room so that he was standing only inches from the younger male, "You know damn well why we would be here."

Standing up to face his angered cousin, Natsu sneered,

"I thought I wouldn't have to see your ugly faces until later."

Just barely managing to suppress the irresistable urge to punch the shorter man in the face Gajeel merely glowered at the other's sarcastic comment, about to reply when another voice cut him off,

"What is going on, Natsu?" Laxus inquired, his big arms crossed, "What the hell is Gray doing alive?!"

Growling in frustration the fire dragon slayer clenched his teeth, angered by the mere idea of Laxus daring to utter the raven's name.

There was certainly no peace to be had that night, that much Natsu was sure of.

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Okay, first of all, I am so sorry you guys. I didn't even realize a month and a half had passed since I last updated with a cliff hanger. Because of that I decided to update as soon as I could, which meant this chapter could not be as long as I had originally hoped, but I knew that if I didn't update this now it would take even longer, so here's the part that I know a lot of you have been looking forward to.

Also, I have good news for everyone hoping for more interaction between them. Next chapter will have fluff! After all, this story really needs some, don't you think?

Anyway, thank you everyone for following, favoriting, reading and reviewing, it really motivates me, especially when you guys tell me something that you would like to see in my story. Who knows, something you say might just motivate me into adding something else in :P  
Hope you guys like it and once again sorry for ending it where I did.


	12. Chapter 12: An eye for an eye

Night fell quickly over Magnolia, silence easily nestling in the city as its residents prepared for bed. Gray envied those that had that opportunity; who were given the luxury of a night off. The idea was tempting, really, to just skip the party and instead answer the darkness's sirenic lull.

Gray was never was one who enjoyed large scale parties of people he did not know, instead he found that the only social gatherings he enjoyed were the ones in which he knew virtually every individual attending.

Once upon a time Fairy Tail's almost nightly parties and celebrations used to mean the world to him. It almost hurt to think that now he only saw them as a nuisance and a tire.

In fact, he figured the only reason he was even going was because of a certain red head's threats and insistences that, and he still cringed at the idea, if they skipped the party like they were planning on she would test her new weapons out on them.

The idea wouldn't have been as terrifying had the raven not known that Titania had just recently ordered a large shipment of swords to their work in Isvan. Her excuse was that she just enjoyed collecting them, although Gray suspected that she found them much more entertaining when she could threaten the ice boys into doing what she wanted.

The ice sculptor sighed softly under his breath as he leveled his gaze to the window he was lounging beside, his phone conversation with Erza still fresh on his mind,

_Gray's phone had rung, as it seemed to be doing nonstop since his fresh appearance in the Grand Fighting Games just hours ago. He had thought it was just another news crew who had somehow managed to retrieve his number (How he was not certain, however he suspected it somehow had to do with Natsu). The name had been private caller and Gray, nearing the edge of his patience with the nonstop messages, had finally had enough and snapped up his phone, angrily pressing it to his ear with a harsh,_

_"What?!"_

_Silence had been his reply and for a moment he couldn't help but smile smugly, beginning to believe that he had managed to scare the irritation away. But that sense of accomplishment lasted only moments before a familiar voice sent a shiver down his spine and a frown to his lips._

_"Gray... I sincerely hope you did not mean to direct that tone at me."  
"N-No! I mean…" He hesitated a moment, a hand coming up to sheepishly rub the back of his head, earning him a curious look from the silverette laying on the hotel bed beside him, "Sorry, Erza. I just keep getting all these calls from private paparazzi numbers; I thought you were one of them."_

_"I see…"  
"Why is your number coming up as blocked anyway? Are you not using your phone?"_

_"No, I'm not. I am still at my… Friend's house and am borrowing his phone instead."_

_"His?" Gray reiterated, a slightly surprised look crossing his usually apathetic face, "Your friend is a guy?"_

_"Well, yes…" For a moment it almost sounded as though the scarlet's tone was hesitate and shy._

_'Cute…' _He couldn't help but muse to himself.

_"Anyway, I did not call you to discuss the gender of my friend." The manager clarified, her low voice once again rising, its strong edge returning full force, "I wished to talk to both you and Lyon about the little stunt you pulled this afternoon. Did you not think I would find out that you two entered the Grand Fighting Games?"_

_Crap… Gray had been hoping that he would have more time to prepare for this discussion…. _

_"Yeah…" He mumbled dumbly, sending the silverette a nervous look, "About that…"_

_"Why did you not invite me to join as well?"  
The raven blinked, 'What?'_

_"What?"_

_"I am aware that you have your reasons behind entering, though I do expect to learn what they are when we meet again. I have been itching to try out some new Martial Arts moves I have been practicing. That was quite rude of the both of you to exclude me as you did."_

_"Uh… I'm sorry…?"_

_"As you should be." She readily agreed, "But we will have to discuss this further at the party tonight."  
"What? You're going to that idiot's party tonight?"_

_"Gray…" Her voice was low in warning, no doubt in a subtle reprimand for referring to their old employer as an idiot, "I will be attending that party as my friend was invited. I expect you and Lyon to be there as well."_

_The ice sculptor just barely suppressed a sigh at the order. There goes his plan to just ditch the whole thing and handle the repercussions of his actions later._

_"Yeah, about that, Erza…"_

_"I will take no arguments about this, Gray Fullbuster. You __**will**__ attend and you __**will**__ act civilized to Natsu Dragneel, am I understood?"_

_He bleakly nodded, muttering a low "Yes."_

_There never was any point in arguing with Titania._

That was when the scarlet began voicing her threats on what would happen should they choose to skip the party, which managed to invoke fear in both the virtually fearless men.

It was because of that that he found himself idly staring outside, waiting for Lyon to finish up getting changed. Apparently the silverette had insisted on dressing stylishly if he was forced to go whilst Gray had opted to just throw on a long sleeved, red button up shirt, a black tie and black pants. The outfit wasn't as comfortable as his usual coats, but for some reason he figured that Erza would kill him if he showed up to the 'greatly important and high ranking' party in something so casual.

At first she had mentioned a suit, to which he flat out refused. There was no way in hell he was going to ever be seen in something as uncomfortable and formal. It just wasn't him. The outfit he was wearing now was a compromise in itself, though it was obvious that Erza got the better end of the agreement, just like always.

Sometimes it really sucked having such a scary and persuasive manager and friend.

"Are you ready yet, squinty eyes?" The raven called, his boredom increasing the longer he was forced to sit there, "I swear, you take as long as a girl to get ready."

"Hush, brat. Unlike you I actually want to look nice for tonight. That blue haired girl I saw at the café the other day may be at that party and I want to make a good impression."

"The blue haired girl?" The younger of the two repeated, his eyebrows scrunching together in question.

"Yeah, she was the one who you were talking to today." The sound of shuffling could be heard as Lyon was doing god knows what in the bathroom before he finally flicked the light off and exited the small room, "I take it you two already know each other."  
"You mean the girl who tackled me today? That's the girl you wouldn't shut up about for the past few days?"

He was met with a nod.

"Well… Her name is Juvia and yeah… I knew her once, but not anymore…"

The raven shrugged slightly and glanced over at the older male, who was now hovering in the hallway to the regular sized hotel room they were sharing. The albino was dressed in a black tux that really made his now slightly tamed white hair stand out as well as his pale skin. Gray couldn't help but admit that he looked pretty good dressed up.

Suddenly he felt a little underdressed…

"Well, if you knew her once than you still know her." Lyon pointed out, crossing his arms, "In that case that means you can introduce me to her."

Gray let out a low chuckle at the notion and rolled his eyes,

"What makes you think I'll do that? I don't hate her enough to set her up with you."

The silverette mimicked the eye roll,

"Very funny, Gray. Do you like her or something? It seemed like she was pretty fond of you."

"Me liking Juvia?" He snickered, "No way in hell."

"That's not very nice, Gray."  
"Oh, don't give me that shit, Lyon." The teen groaned, standing up from his seat, "I didn't mean to be rude or anything, she's a great girl and all, just not my type. I just knew her when we were kids, that's all. When I met her she was a part of a gang, I think it was called Phantom Lord or something. Anyway, they used to give Fairy Tail a lot of shit and we would end up getting in fights with the brats pretty much every week. I was around twelve at the time when she joined the hotheads and, well, apparently for her it was love at first sight or something. During one of our big brawls I managed to convince her that she was hanging out with the wrong kids and got her to join Fairy Tail. Her crush stayed for the next two years until I… Left..." He shrugged, "She was probably just happy to see me again, nothing more."  
He looked back over at the albino and raised an eyebrow at the piercing stare he was receiving. Did he say something wrong?

"What's up with your face?"  
"That's one of the first times I've heard you talk about anyone from your past."  
The raven blinked, surprised at the other's words before simply shrugging again, looking away,

"Yeah, whatever. You asked and I just figured I'd explain…"  
"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Well, sure I guess…"  
"Like why it is you hate Natsu so much. I mean, I know he's obviously an arrogant asshole, but there has to be something more; something you aren't telling me."

There was actually a lot he wasn't telling the other, but he figured that it was probably best to keep that part unspoken.

"I don't really hate him." He admitted, idly fingering his rolled up sleeves uncomfortably, "I just…"

He frowned, mentally berating himself for his sudden loss of words. He always hated talking about his feelings and Lyon knew it, yet here he was, pressing him to finally admit what he had been carefully hiding for years.

But… He couldn't really blame the silverette for it. In fact he had to appreciate that this was the first time since they were kids that Lyon actually was pushing his comrade to talk about his past. Usually he always just accepted that it was not something the raven wanted to be reminded of and left it at that… He supposed that now he really owed the other an explanation, especially since he would be meeting the monsters of his past within the hour.

"Fairy Tail… Was my home for a large part of my life…" He explained, his gaze drifting to the floor as he crossed his arms self-consciously, "Natsu was my first friend when I moved here from Isvan… We stayed best friends for a long time, but… the day before my parents were killed we got in an argument and that was the last I heard from him…"

He tried to keep the story as limited in detail as possible, not wanting Lyon to know how weak he was. He didn't need any damn pity or words of comfort or any of that shit; it was why he never told anyone anything. It was why he kept his bullying a secret and it was why he never told anyone, not even Ur what led up to his parents death.

It was just so much easier to keep everything hidden where no one could see it… That way… He couldn't be hurt again…

"I know all that, idiot." The albino snorted, "But what was the argument about?"

"Does it really matter, Lyon? It's in the past. Besides, we have to get to the party before Erza kills us for being late."  
The black haired teen could make out the smallest shiver rake down his comrade's body at the scary reminder, making him believe he had won the talk. That is, until he met the other's gaze.

"Don't think you're getting out of it this time, Gray. I've let you keep your silence for seven years, but now I want to know."  
Damn it…

He stared at his partner steadily, his blue eyes giving a dull shine,

"I've told you already, Lyon, it doesn't matter."  
"Dammit, Gray, stop giving me that already!"  
The silverette's face was contorted into an unattractive scowl and he narrowed his eyes,

"This obviously does still matter to you. I know coming back here pained you, so don't act like it's no big deal. I've dealt with your stubborn ass for long enough to tell when you are lying and I know you've been lying since the day we came here."  
"You don't know anything, Lyon, so don't act so superior." Gray growled back, momentarily wondering just how many times he had said those first four words since he arrived to Magnolia, "Don't act like you know me because you don't."

His tone was harsher than he meant for it to be and for a minute he feared he was unintentionally taking out his built up anger on his friend.

"And whose fault is that, Gray? I'm not the one who won't tell a damn thing about their past because of their stupid pride."

Their gazes met and Gray could feel his fists clenching at his sides, the urge to hit something growing with each passing minute.

"I… Damn it, you want the truth? Will that finally shut you up?! Well fine, you want to know why I hate Fairy Tail so much?! It's because I was a weakling and was unable to defend myself!"

Lyon's hard glare seemed to soften at his younger's words. This was the most Gray had ever admitted to him about his past and he briefly found himself wondering if this was really such a great idea after all.

No… They were practically brothers, he did need to know. He had to know why he was fighting in the festival, why he was supposed to hate their past employer and why his friend always seemed to radiate darkness.

That way once he found out he could pick up from where their teacher left off and help Gray really be happy again.

"Defend yourself from what, Gray?"

He only received a bitter smile in response.

"Gray, what did you have to defend yourself from?"  
"The lies, the mental abuse, the physical abuse, you name it." He chuckled bitterly, his bangs shielding his face from view, "Gajeel, Laxus and, my personal favorite, Natsu. I wasn't strong back then like I am now, Lyon. I couldn't fight and I couldn't stand up for myself; I was weak, so I was treated like it."  
"You were bullied…"

"Now you're getting it. That's why I hate Fairy Tail… It's why I wanted to join the Grand Magic Games with Fairy Tail." He finally looked back up at his comrade, his eyes hard and colder than Lyon had ever seen them before, "I want to show them I'm not the same fucking pushover I was before; I want to get revenge."  
With that the raven left the room, stalking past Lyon before he could so much as grab him to pull him back.

Silently, the baffled albino watched as his friend stormed out the door and down the hall, unsure of what to say or do. He knew that attempting to show empathy for what the raven went through would only add to his anger, just like he knew attempting to convince him to get over it would be out of the question. Gray's internal scars were deep, too deep to be healed with just time alone.

The boy had been bullied throughout his young life, even by the one person that Gray really looked up to and liked. Based on the emotions blazing in the younger's eyes while he spoke Lyon could even dare to say that he loved Natsu Dragneel. He put up with his insults because he didn't want to lose the other, but then one day the pinkette pushed the bounds so far that they broke, leaving Gray in pieces.

Finally finding the ability to walk again, Lyon frowned slightly to himself and followed his friend out of the room, silently closing the door behind him.

Gray Fullbuster loved Natsu Dragneel when they were younger, he knew it.

That was why the raven despised the fighter so much. It was not about his personality or even his physical abuse. After all, physical wounds could always heal, however mental wounds never seemed to fully mend, especially when they were constantly being poked and prodded.

The only way Gray would be able to find comfort for what happened to him would be by proving his worth and by defeating the ones who tormented him, the silverette was certain of it.

For now he could just follow behind his comrade and silently support him, just like he always had and always would.

He would be there for the raven regardless of what shit he got himself into and he would help him get over the pain that he had been trailing with him for far too long.

And the only way to do that was to get him to forgive Natsu Dragneel.

Because deep down Gray still loved the fighter. It was broken love that was allowed to fester for so long that it churned into blind hatred.

He was suffering from an infected, broken heart for seven years and Lyon was set on fixing it one way or another.

Even if it killed him.

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Loud…

Way too loud…

Gray ran a hand through his tousled black locks, his lips pulling up into a grimace as the music and laughter in the room only seemed to increase by the seconds.

It was honestly just too much…

He huddled further against the wall, absentmindedly nursing the alcohol in his hand as he took to scanning the party with little interest. He observed for several moments before heaving a sigh and closing his eyes, enjoying the temporary shield from the irritating flashing lights.

"You know most people at least pretend that they aren't dying on the inside in public. You, on the other hand, look like you're able to kill either someone here or yourself. Probably both."

Focusing one blue eye open, the raven wearily regarded the blonde standing beside him, a smirk marring the others face.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that, Sting." He muttered, leaning further against the wall he had been hiding by since he and Lyon had first arrived at the party, "I guess you can say that parties just aren't my thing."

"They never really were, huh?"

"No…"

The raven sighed again, silently cursing every individual in this establishment. He had been at this party that he was forced to attend for a total of twenty minutes and he had already lost Lyon to a pretty lady he was convinced he could get to dance with him, leaving him to dwell in the shadows alone.

He was so going to kick his so called friend's ass when they got back to the hotel for ditching him.

"At least some things never change." His comrade let out a soft chuckle as he took another sip of the drink in his hand. Based on the smell seeping off the blonde's voice the ice sculptor figured it was something alcoholic.

"Yeah, you could say that…"  
Finally opening his eyes completely, Gray fully regarded his friend, noticing that he too was dressed somewhat causally with only a white dress shirt, red tie and black pants. Apparently he wasn't the only one that despised dressing like a penguin.

Thus far he had neither seen nor heard from any of the Fairy Tail members nor Erza and a part of him was truly grateful for that. He really was in no frame of mind to deal with either party because he knew all they would have would be questions; questions that he would rather avoid.

"You know you're becoming a big hit now." The Sabertooth member mentioned nonchalantly, seeming to sense his friend's unease, "Everyone's talking about you and how you're alive."  
He knew that would happen.

"Yeah, so I've heard. If they had any sense they would just leave it be. I'm not answering any of their questions and soon enough I'll be gone again anyway."  
"So you are planning on skipping out of town again after the Grand Fighting Games, huh?"

"That's the plan. After this Lyon and I are going back to Isvan."  
Sting frowned slightly, his grip on his glass tightening subtly as he leveled his gaze on the raven who seemed to find the far wall more interesting than anything else.

"Gray, you know you're welcome to stay a part of Sabertooth." The blonde offered, "We're all willing to take you."

"Thanks Sting, but I don't think staying here long is a good idea." He shrugged slightly, taking a sip of his own drink, "Heck, I'm already staying longer than I should."  
"You should-…"

The scarred man was cut off by a bubbly blond suddenly bounding up to them, her blue dress sparkling with her movements as she stopped just short of the raven.

"I'm so glad you two could make it." She smiled, looking from her fellow golden haired attendee to the bored looking ice sculptor, "Why aren't you guys dancing?"

"I don't dance." Gray dismissed idly, recognizing the girl to be Lucy, Natsu's friend and business partner.

"I'm just trying to keep the spoil sport here company, Lucy." Sting grinned, seemingly well acquainted with the salamander's companion, "He hasn't left this corner since he got here."  
Blinking in surprise, the black haired wallflower couldn't help but wonder how exactly Sting knew that he hadn't left his comfortable corner since he had arrived.

"Oh come on, Gray. It's a party, have fun!" Lucy pestered, her long blonde hair framing her face prettily. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl really was.

_The flamebrain must be lucky to have a girlfriend like her. _Gray mused somewhat dryly to himself.

"Thanks, but I'm perfectly fine here."  
"Hmph, no you're not." Her smile swiftly morphed into a stern look (one that almost rivaled the scarlet's) and she gave the now slightly uncomfortable ice sculptor a hard look, "You are at a party and will have fun, mister."  
"Y-yeah…"

"Good! Now, I need you to come with me." Grabbing the ice sculptor's wrist, the blonde pulled him forward, "One of the ice sculptors got nicked and I need you to fix it."  
"What?" Taken by surprise by the sudden force, Gray found himself stumbling forward slightly, his drink barely remaining in its container, "Can't you get Lyon to check it out?"

"No! It has to be you." The brown eyed girl smiled once more and looked over at Sting, winking at him teasingly, "Sorry Sting but I have to borrow your friend for a minute."  
The Sabertooth fighter looked from the girl to the man she was now dragging away, a disgruntled look crossing his face.

"Just when I get him alone he's taken away…" He muttered begrudged to himself, missing the pair of masked eyes watching him intently from the other side of the room.

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"Hey, s-slow down! Damn it, how are you even moving so fast?!" Natsu complained, just barely managing to keep up with the small, dyed blue haired girl who seemed so keen on pulling him along with her through the hallways, "What's so important?"

"There was a problem with the preparations!" Levy informed, just barely managing to suppress a giggle as she stopped just short of the last door in the hallway.

"Well what's wrong? I'm missing time to party!"  
"It's in there!"

"What's in there?"

"The problem." The bookworm informed, a slight blush marring her fair cheeks as she looked from the pinkette to the door, the sound of voices conversing just barely filtering through the crack of the door, "It's in there…"  
Knowing he wasn't going to get any questions answered by the small female, the fighter resigned himself to instead opening the door. Instantly the once muffled words from within the room became clearer,

"What are you talking about? There's no ice sculptures even in here. I don't-…"

At the sound of the door opening the sound cut off, the producer of it instead focusing its attention on the other side of the room.

Immediately black eyes met dark blue ones and silence consumed the room, the two men taking to engaging in a silent stare down for several moments.

"Natsu…" The dark haired man finally muttered, breaking both the silence and the tension, "What is really going on here, Lucy?"

"A reunion." The blonde stated excitedly, quickly leaving the black haired man's side to instead stand by the pinkette at the door, "You and Natsu have some making up to do. Good luck!"

Without giving either party a chance to interject the two girls swiftly fled from the room and closed the door, the soft sound of a lock occurring only seconds later.

"What? No way! Let me out of here, Lucy!"

Stalking towards the door in annoyance, the ice sculptor grabbed the handle and yanked on it, not surprised to find that it wouldn't budge an inch,

"This isn't funny! Let us out, damn it!"  
He waited several moments, hoping for a response…

Only to be met with silence.

They had left.

He groaned and looked over at his shoulder, glaring darkly at the bemused dragon slayer.

"Hey, don't look at me." The older of the two defended, holding his hands up in mock surrender, "I wasn't in on this."  
"Of course you weren't." He sneered sardonically, his teeth clenching as he turned to face his old friend, "Nothing is ever your fault. Isn't that right, Natsu?"

"Are you trying to get me mad, ice freak?" The pink haired martial artist asked, his tone neutral as he no doubt struggled to not react to the other's taunts, "Look, Gray, I may not have known what the girls were trying to do, but I understand why they did it."  
He was met with a snicker,

"You understanding something? That's new."  
"They want us to make amends, Gray."

The raven just stared at his once friend, somewhat surprised by the serious tone he was using. He was hardly ever serious about anything.

"I don't care what they want us to do, Natsu. I'll break this damn door down if they don't let us out in the next few seconds."

"Go ahead and try. These doors were made so that I couldn't accidentally break them while I'm training, so good luck with that."  
Not willing to take Natsu's advice, the ice sculptor tested a punch on the door, disheartened to find nothing more than a thump occur at the action.

A kick.

Nothing.

Another punch.

Aside from a pain searing through his knuckles, nothing.

"Believe me now?"

"Shut it, flamebrain."

"Go ahead and keep trying then, snow princess."  
"I said shut it."  
Though Gray wasn't exactly the most intelligent individual he definitely wasn't stupid. It was obvious to him that blunt force was not going to get him anything other than a pained foot or hand.

Which left him with only one last choice…

Taking a deep breath the raven struggled to control his animosity and turned his body to the side slightly, his gaze downcast so his hair was shielding his eyes,

"What do you want, Flamebrain?"

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**_So it would look as though I unintentionally lied in the last chapter… I meant to add fluff into this chapter, however it didn't quite work out that way because I had to add more than I had initially planned. Hopefully the fluff will be added next chapter._**

**_Also sorry if this chapter bounced around a bit. I wanted to get to the main point without it dragging too much, however I'm not certain as to how that went. Erza will be coming in soon and so will Gajeel and Laxus, so look forward to that!_**


	13. Chapter 13: Forgive and forget

**_Love is not how you forget, but how you forgive. Not how you listen, but how you understand. Not how you see, but how you feel and not how you let go, but how you hold on._**

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_"What do you want, Natsu?"_

The aforementioned man stared at his former friend in barely concealed surprise. His words were hard and his eyes cold, causing a shiver to involuntarily surge though him. The raven had never sent him such a hateful look before and the fighter felt his stomach drop.

"So… How are you enjoying the party…?"

He was met with silence as the raven merely moved over to the far wall and leaned against it before crossing his arms, his eyes anywhere but at the other occupant in the room.

"What kind of half assed question is that?" Gray sneered, obviously in no mood to even attempt to engage in a civil conversation, "It sucks, but I know for a fact that that's not what the girls locked us in here to talk about."

Natsu was bluntly ignoring the elephant in the room and it did nothing more than irritate the black haired man even more. The only thing he wanted to do was get whatever this is done, leave and get some sleep before the competition tomorrow.

"Yeah, you're right about that…" The pinkette paused, a tan hand coming up to absentmindedly rub the back of his head. He was never very good at sentimental things and apologizing for being a bastard was, unfortunately, one of them. He hated apologizing, however he knew that in this situation it was long due.

"Look, I really am… You, know, sorry and all, Gray…"

"Sure."  
"I am."

"I know."

"You don't believe me."

Gray was silent.

"What will it take for me to get that through to you, Ice Bastard?!"  
Natsu's temper began to rise at the continued silence, his fists clenching at his sides as he narrowed his eyes at the apathetic looking ice sculptor. His green eyes bored into his old friend and he tried once again to question the man.

"Why won't you believe me?"

"I don't believe liars."  
"I ain't lying!"

"Sure."  
With an indignant huff the pinkette stalked towards the raven, grabbing the front of his shirt roughly as he glared at him,

"Answer me, god dammit! Talk to me! Say something! Anything! Please…"  
Emerald eyes shone with barely concealed anger, frustration, and impatience and… Sadness…

Gray couldn't help but blink, wondering if that last emotion was merely perceived by his imagination. After all, Natsu was an arrogant, happy go lucky bastard who never felt pity for anything he did. He had to have had made a mistake…

But he didn't. No matter how many times he blinked owlishly at the man that same glint remained, threatening to take over the tanned man's entire demeanor.

Was it… Did he really regret what he did…?

Still he remained quiet, knowing that as it was silence was really his only weapon against the man who served to be nothing more than the bane of his existence. The only thing that Natsu wanted was answers and as it stood Gray was in control; holding everything that the other wanted so badly to learn.

He'd be damned if he'd willingly informed Natsu of more information that he could (and no doubt would) so shamelessly use against him just like he did in their younger years. After all, the fighter's favorite way of bullying him was to remind him of his obvious lack of physical strength, the one flaw of the raven that his so called best friend knew he was so self-conscious of.

Silence was the ultimate weapon that he refused to lower.

Seeming to sense the other's refusal to even respond to his demands (Or were they pleas?) he tried again,

"Damn, you must really hate me, don't you, Ice freak?" The pinkette quirked his lips into a slight, feigned smile, "I don't blame you if you do… I never have…"  
His grip on Gray's red shirt seemed to slacken as an almost indecisive look crossed his face, leaving the raven with the perfect opportunity to shove the man away from him. The ice sculptor's mouth was pulled down into a distasteful frown as he carefully regarded the pinkette who took to only staring blankly at him in return, not resisting the shove he received at all.

"I- I don't hate you…"

The words were uttered softly, seemingly not to be heard by anyone other than their owner, however luck was far from on the new Sabertooth member's side for Natsu heard them loud and clear, taking him by surprise.

They seemed to echo within his mind, causing an unbelievable sense of ease to consume him.

He didn't hate him.

Gray didn't hate him.

There was still hope, however meager.

"You don't hate me?"

Cold blue eyes flickered from the tanned man to the wall right behind him.

"…No… But that also doesn't mean I like you…" The raven hastily added at the sudden look of excitement blossoming on the pinkette's face.

"But you don't hate me."

Regardless of how much Gray wanted to deny it he knew it was futile. Not only did he just admit aloud that he did not hate the man, but he also knew that it was true. While he certainly did not like the pink haired man he also did not despise him as much as he wished he did.

In truth Gray supposed that he never truly managed to convince himself to step over the line of hatred, however he had to admit that he did waver over it several times prior, especially the days when the bullying became especially excessive or cruel. He wanted to hate Natsu. He wanted to curse the very ground the idiot treaded on.

God did he want to.

It would have made everything so much _easier. _

But he couldn't. He never could.

It made him want to hate the man all the more.

"I don't."

Immediately a grin erupted on the pinkette's face and he stepped closer to his old friend,

"Then join Fairy Tail again! Everyone wants you back. After you showed yourself in the Grand Magic Games Fairy Tail went insane! All the old members… They remember you! They were so happy to find you alive and… They want to see you. Gramps told them to leave you alone at the party because he didn't want them to overwhelm you and all, but they want you to come back."

"I already told you I'm not coming back, Natsu."

"What?" Just as swiftly as the grin came it fled as the Dragon Slayer stared at his friend in befuddlement, "Why not?! We can be friends again, just like old times now!"

"Nothing has changed, Natsu. I only said I didn't hate you, it doesn't mean that I like you or even want to be your friend again. Fairy Tail is in the past and I don't plan on ever going back."  
"Gray I-…"

"You what, Natsu? You're sorry? You regret what you did when we were younger?" He snickered and let out a hollow chuckle, "Save your breath, I've heard it all before. Your apologies don't mean shit to me. They didn't when we were younger and they sure as hell don't now. Give it up. Give me up."

"Like hell I will. I won't lose you again."  
_You never had me to lose._

_I was never yours to lose._

_Yet still you somehow managed to make me feel lost, didn't you?_

"Your home is Fairy Tail." He seethed, now only centimeters from the raven, "No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you will always be from Fairy Tail. You are a member of Fairy Tail, Gray. You never were officially pardoned."

It was true and Gray knew it. He supposed that was why it was so hard for him to forget.

In order to be truly taken out of Fairy Tail you had to go to the Master and agree to several conditions before you were considered out of Fairy Tail. Gray had never done that.

Instead he had merely left once he found Ur and decided to put everything behind him; he would start new. He vowed to forget Fairy Tail and his so called friends and, in turn, become a great fighter in order to get revenge for his parents. Once he was strong enough to beat Ur he was going to hunt down Deliora and kill him just as he had done his parents and very nearly him.

But only days after his attack on his family Deliora merely bombed a town before disappearing; becoming nothing more than a cold case that not even the best detectives could crack.

He left without a trace and just like that all Gray's new dreams and ambitions were shattered.

"That doesn't matter."

"Yes it does! Your still a part of us whether you like it or not."  
"No, Natsu, I'm not."

"Yes you are! You've changed, Gray, you're so god damn cold now; even colder than you used to be. You won't even look at me or anyone else besides that damn albino for more than five seconds. You act like you hate the world or something!"

_Well, if the shoe fits…_

"Lyon is my family." The raven stated idly, crossing his arms over his now ruffled shirt (a curtesy of Natsu's rude grab of the poor fabric) and gave the other a feigned bored look, "You know, Natsu, brothers aren't assholes to one another… All the time… They don't leave the other out to dry just because they are too big of a wuss to stand up for themselves or their family. You were never a part of my family, don't even try to say that. You never gave a damn about what happened to me so long as you were still the cool younger cousin of lightning breath and metal head. What do you really know about family?"

"More than you ever did." Natsu's eyes narrowed at his once friend, his anger returning at the others rude implications, regardless of how true deep down he knew they were, "At least I wasn't so cold to everyone all the time. I was arrogant but not as bad as you. You always thought you were so high and mighty and you weren't."

Natsu couldn't say how he did it but Gray always managed to get a rise out of him, especially when they were younger.

Back when they were teenagers Natsu was haughty, there was no doubt about that, however Gray was always worse than he was. He wasn't as cynical as he seemed to be now, but he also wasn't as excited and personable as the dragon slayer was. Instead he always seemed to want to be alone or with the pinkette; never showing any fondness for being around too many people at once.

Though now that he thought about it he wondered if being bullied was the reasoning behind his self-imposed solitude and faulty arrogance.

"Well Natsu, when I had a friend like you who needed enemies?" Gray spat, his rigid disposition returning full force as he glowered at the other man, "I wanted to be alone because even when I was with you I was ridiculed, so excuse me if I wanted a freaking minute to myself. And what were my other options for friendships? Laxus? Gajeel? Please, you spent so much time kissing their ass you never saw their true colors. Unlike you I could."

The raven had to fight back a snicker as he recalled all the times they had 'hung out' with the older kids. Natsu had always insisted on befriending his cousins with the naïve hope of them accepting them into their group. He spent so much time following their shadows in hopes of becoming like them that he never saw their real faces.

But Gray, he had learned at a young age that they weren't what they seemed to be. He had accidentally stepped outside of their shadow when their bulling first started and he was startled to find that they weren't as cool and badass as Natsu and he had believed originally. Instead they were monsters; leeching off the ones they deemed to be weak in order to make themselves feel stronger; superior.

But of course the pinkette never saw that, or at the very least he turned a blind eye to it. He wanted so much to be respected and admired by them that he put his friendship with Gray on the line.

Was he really so ignorant as to believe that that decision would have no repercussions? Did he really think that Gray would always just stand there and take it and later just forget as though it never happened?  
The raven liked to pretend he was strong willed when he was younger, and he was, but he wasn't crafted of stone. He could only be chipped at so much before he was forced to take on a new, imperfect shape.

Natsu frowned and opened his mouth, no doubt about to send another rude retort back, before seeming to rethink it, opting to instead close it again. He paused for a moment, taking a breath and closing his eyes before opening them again, training his green eyes on the irritated man before him.

"You're right." He shrugged casually, forcing his pride and anger to the side, "I know now that I was wrong and I have regretted how I acted every day for seven years, Gray. I… I just wanted to be accepted by them… When Igneel left they were the only family I had left and I… I didn't want to lose them too…"

Igneel, Natsu's father, had left several months prior to Gray's 'death' and it had really affected the young fighter. The pinkette and his dad were extremely close, always hanging out with one another, so when he suddenly up and left his only son Natsu was heartbroken. His father, his favorite person in the world, left him abruptly and with no explanation, making Natsu feel more lost than he ever had before.

It was for that reason that he began attempting to get onto his cousins good side; he wanted to make sure that they wouldn't deem him worthless and leave too.

He was terrified that if he stood up to them that they would suddenly disappear and leave him just as his father had.

He was horrified of being left all alone because he was too much of a burden. He feared that everyone would leave him just as his mother, Father and Lissanahad…

And he couldn't take it…

"I'm sorry, Gray… I was selfish, damn it I know it… I traded their approval for our friendship, I realized that the day I lost you… God I was an idiot… I know this doesn't make up for all the stupid shit I did to you, but I want to be friends with you again, Gray… I want to be able to insult you and laugh and fight with you just like we always used to… I want…"

_I want to love you again…_

He couldn't manage the last part out. It instead caught in his throat and caught him by surprise.

Love? Where had that even come from?

Sure he used to love the raven like family, but for some reason that thought seemed more mature than just an everyday run of the mill love. It seemed more romantic and… Natural…

Like it had been true for so much longer than he had noticed.

"Natsu…"

The pinkette returned to the world of the living at the other's low voice, having temporarily gotten lost in his inner musings.

"You really don't get it, do it? What, do I have to spell it out for you?"  
The dumbfounded look the ice sculptor received answered that question for him.

"As far as you and the rest of Magnolia are concerned Gray Fullbuster did die that day." He calmly explained, his expression hard, "He died with his parents that day at the hands of the demon Deloria. I'm not him; not anymore." He gave the other an eerie grin that sent shivers down his spine, "Now I'm just a shell of who he once was. Nice to meet you, Natsu Dragneel."

He wasn't Gray; not anymore.

He wasn't that innocent little boy who would ask his dad to check under his bed for monsters or get spooked by the idea of devils from hell coming out of his closet. He knew better now.

Now he was just a man who lived daily just for the heck of it. He, who already experienced the evils of the world at the tender age of 12, was nothing worth anyone's time.

He was still weak, that much he knew. He still flinched involuntarily whenever a stranger came too close to him; he still woke up more times than not in a cold sweat and shaking because he once again was tortured by a nightmare of his past, that same beady mask terrorizing him after all these years.

Oh no, he was nowhere near the boy that once laughed and played with his best friend and the other individuals in Fairy Tail.

He wasn't even the other version of his young self when he was bullied; cold and aloof.

Now he was just done. He was cynical (though could you blame him?) and apathetic, knowing better than to let anyone in.

Lyon, Erza and perhaps Sting were the only friends he had and he had no motives to change that anytime soon

"Don't give me that crap, Gray. You are still Gray Fullbuster despite the nonsense you keep jabbering on with and you are my friend, even if I have to beat you senseless to realize that."

"I'm not your friend, Natsu. I can't be your friend because I am a nobody." Gray sneered, his head shaking slightly.

Natsu growled softly and angrily grabbed the raven's collar, yanking the other closer.

"What the hell are you talking about, Gray?! You ain't a nobody!"

Snickering, the ice sculptor gave the pinkette a grim smirk, his gaze hardening on the fighter,

"Why not?"

"Because, you damn ice princess, you are only a nobody till someone loves you!"

Gray stared at the other boy for a moment, a series of emotions flashing through his blue eyes before they finally closed, his stance losing all defiance as he replied in a tired voice,

"That's the problem, Natsu... I'm not loved..."

He was liked by Erza and Lyon, sure, but he wasn't foolish enough to believe he was loved.

Erza was a close friend, but he knew that was the end of it and Lyon… He was aware that no matter how many times the albino might deny it he still blamed the raven for their master's death and, in turn, a part of him hated him for it, not that Gray could blame him. After all, he too was still convinced that he led Ur to her untimely death.

It was a fact that he had long ago stopped denying.

"Don't say something you don't know shit about, Gray!"

"Stuff I don't know shit about..."

A hollow chuckle escaped the raven as he tore himself away from the fuming dragon slayer once more, his eyes finally opening once more with a cold look to them,

"That's the thing, Natsu, I already know I'm a nobody, that's why I said it. It's something I accepted a long time ago."

His teeth gritted together at the look he received from his ex-friend. It was one of pure anger and frustration and... Pity...

Natsu pitied him...

"God damn it, Natsu! Don't you dare look at me like that! I don't need your damn pity! Not from you or anyone else!"

"Good, because you sure as hell aren't getting any. You're not a nobody, Gray and if you don't stop saying that I'm going to punch you."

"Why, Natsu? Give me one reason I'm not nobody!"

"Because I love you, god damn it! You can't be a nobody if you are loved!"

Immediately after the sentence was spoken the pinkette regretted it. His hands flew up to his mouth almost as though he was attempting to pull them back in, however the damage had already been dealt; Gray had heard him loud and clear.

Dark blue eyes widened and stared at the bewildered and embarrassed expression now blossoming on the dragon slayer's face, confusion clouding his mind.

Did he...

He…

He loved him?

"Damn it… God damn it…"  
The raven gripped his black locks in his hair, his bangs coming down in a shower to shield his eyes as he leaned further back against the wall, taking the tanned man by surprise. That certainly had not been the reaction he had expected.

"Gray I…-"

"- Damn it, Natsu! Just damn it! Don't fucking lie to me like that!"  
Lie?

Did Gray really think that had been a lie?

"A lie…?" Natsu repeated owlishly, a child-like, confused expression clouding his face as he stared blankly at the angered raven, "That… I didn't lie to you."  
"Right, and I'm supposed to believe that."

"Like hell you are! I might have been an ass to you when we were younger but I never lied to you, Gray and you know that."  
"Just shut up…" The ice sculptor shook his head and slowly slid down the wall, stopping only when his butt met the cold ground. He could feel the chilled marble from the thin fabric of his pants and, while cold surfaces usually brought him to ease, this time it did nothing more than remind him that this was really happening and that he wasn't imagining it.

Damn it…

"Why do you always have to make everything so god damn hard, Natsu?!"  
The pinkette merely stared in response, shocked at the sudden show of emotion that the raven was currently experiencing. It was almost as though those simple three words had been the camel that broke the camel's back, so to speak, and finally became too much for the stubborn younger man to deal with.

Those three words finally penetrated the icy wall he had constructed and instead revealed the scared, sad man that had spent the last seven years hiding behind it.

Intrigued by the reaction and wanting to see more emotion come from the stoic man, Natsu moved closer to him, stopping only when he was hovering over the sitting man before repeating the words that seemed to be the equivalent of a knife,

"I love you, Gray."

The dragon slayer had to admit that he loved the way those words sounded on his tongue. They sounded so right… So perfect…

Natsu, having never experienced love before, wasn't exactly certain what it felt like, however he supposed that what he felt whenever he looked at his old friend was it. He had felt it ever since they were mere kids, he had just never realized what it was.

His heart would start to beat faster whenever the raven was near, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with him, he always thought about him, he wanted him to be happy all the time, he wanted… well, him. He wanted Gray Fullbuster in all his calm, narcissistic, crabby, cool glory and he wouldn't stop until he got it.

"Just shut up, idiot. You don't love me… You can't…"

Feeling his motivation shrink as the time went on, the ice sculptor pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them to keep them there, his face hidden behind them.

_He doesn't know what he is talking about…_ He mentally assured himself, absentmindedly digging his fingers into calfs as he glared harshly at his knees, Damn_ it he can't mean it! He doesn't love me… That wasn't how this was supposed to go! I… I was supposed to continue to hate him… No... I already admitted that I never truly hated him in the first place… But… That didn't mean I love him! I mean, I don't... Do I?"_

He… He couldn't love Natsu… He was supposed to want to spit on the ground he walked on, not hold his hand and date him! That was impossible and stupid and irrational and idiotic and and… Yet it still sounded so _nice_…

Bloody hell…

"But I do, Gray."  
Dropping to his knees, the fighter paused beside the huddled man, contemplating for a moment what exactly it was he was supposed to do in a situation like this.

Pat his head?

No… He wasn't a dog… Not to mention there was a possibility if he did he would bite him…

… _Heh, maybe he is a like a dog… I'll call him snow princess..._

_…_

_No! Bad! This isn't the time for that!_

Run his fingers through his hair?  
No, that would be creepy…

Hug him?

_Well, he might hit me for that, but I know that whenever Lucy is feeling sad she likes to be hugged, so maybe that will help Gray too…?  
Well it's either that or tickle him and I'm pretty sure he will kill me if I even come near his stomach, so hugging it is!  
_Not taking any more time to determine whether or not his idea was really all that of a bright one the dragon slayer attacked the now silent man in a bear hug, unfazed when he felt the cold body below him stiffen in surprise and discomfort.

"I love you… You know damn well I wouldn't say that unless I it was true… I won't lie to you…"

"Get the hell off of me, Natsu." The raven ordered, his words slightly muffled by his legs as he was still yet to lift his face up, "I don't love you."

The pinkette felt himself cringe slightly at the cold words but still did not waver in his tight hug, knowing (or was that just blindly hoping) that what Gray was saying wasn't true. Instead it was the automatic way he defended himself from possible pain in the future; by building his icy wall up and cowering behind it.

However this time there was no wall for the younger of the two to take refugee behind and it seemed as though the black haired man knew as much for he did not move from his curled up position nor did he attempt to push the man from his being. Instead he merely wound his arms around his knees tighter and clenched his teeth.

"Now who's lying, ice freak? I knew you ain't telling the truth so just stop trying already. Seriously, it's just getting annoying."

"If you're annoyed then leave."

"Fat chance there, frost breath." He tightened his arms around his friend and pulled him close, hugging him despite his earlier feeble protests, "Just enjoy the damn hug and stop denying that you enjoy it."

"…"

A few moments of silence followed as the raven made no move to reply and, in response, Natsu merely kept on hugging him.

"…Why are you doing this…?" The voice that finally broke the silence was soft and defeated, reminding the dragon slayer of a tired child, "And if you say it's because you love me I will punch you in the face."  
Natsu had to fight back a slight smile at the other's comment,

"It's because, despite what you believe, you are still my friend, Gray, and I want to make it up to you for treating you like shit all those years ago… I'm different than I used to be. After what happened to you I started standing up for myself and others and now I don't take crap from anyone. I protect my family now and that includes you."

"You're such an idiot, Flamebrain…"  
The raven felt tears burn at the back of his eyes, but he fought them back. The moment he cried would be the moment he lost and he refused to look any weaker than he did right now.

Curled in on himself and hiding his face from view while the man he was supposed to dislike was holding him so lovingly and damn it he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. It just felt so right being held by the other and he didn't want to pull way even though he knew he should.

It was then that his fears were confirmed and he mentally cursed himself for being so stupid.

He shouldn't have let this happen… He wasn't supposed to let this happen…

But it did…

He loved Natsu Dragneel, which was no longer something he could deny.

He had loved his friend since they were just kids and he thought love was something that only old people experienced.

He loved the dragon slayer.

But that didn't mean he trusted or forgave him for the hell he put him through all those years ago. That would take time. He knew it and he figured the pinkette did as well.

As if in answer of his thoughts he felt a warm hand rub his back and a soft voice whisper in his ear,

"I know you still probably want to kick my ass and you probably don't trust me, but I promise I'll prove to you that I changed, alright?"

Suddenly a bright grin appeared on Natsu's face and he carefully lifted the raven's head from its cocoon in his legs, causing blue eyes to meet shining green,

"I'll make ya love me, ya damn stripper, you got that? I'll make it up to you!"  
The raven just barely nodded in understanding, his expression blank as his mind twisted and turned.

_"Can I really trust him…?'_

Against his better judgment he stared at the grinning, hugging man before him and nodded once more, this time to himself.

_I really hope I can…_

_But I am still so going to beat his ass._

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__**Whelp, there was finally some fluff! Kind of!**_

**_This was really one of the first times I have ever written a getting together scene, so I found some trouble with it. I hope it meets everyone's standards. :D They are finally somewhat closer to getting together!_**

**_Also I just want to note that even after this they aren't a couple, though Natsu may or may not try to act like they are. ^.^_**

**_I also apologize if they are a little (lot?) OOC, but it was difficult to completely imagine how they would get together while remaining completely in character, so I had to play around with it a bit._**

**_Oh well. Tell me what you think! I really want to know how everyone liked this!_**

**_Thanks for reading and see you next time._**

**_Next Chapter:  
Erza comes back into the picture, the games begin and Natsu may or may not act like an idiot and claim he and Gray are a thing. ^.^_**


End file.

Fairy Tail, Hurt-Comfort, Romance