Fairy Tail 1. Chapter 1 - The Day it all Began

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters… but I'm the creator of my evil OCs**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Language and Violence**

Everything seemed so different.

When he was younger he never thought that he would see this much green or feel such warm air brushing against his pale skin. He didn't expect to see such pretty flowers blooming on the trees or people stopping in the middle of the street and talking to each other. He hasn't seen anything like this in a long, long time; he would say that it almost felt like decades, even if he was only eight years old.

He glanced around the town square and gazed at the various food stalls and vendors that seemed to outline it. Everywhere he looked, someone seemed to be selling something and someone was buying said product. All he could see were smiles and that in turn wanted to make him smile as well, but he wasn't sure if he knew how to anymore. After all, he was alone now… his family was gone…

His mother and father…

His teacher and brother…

The boy sighed sadly as he tried to shake away the thoughts that intruded his mind. His teacher had warned him that if his emotions got out of control so would his magic and that was something he had to avoid at all cost. He didn't want them to find him again; if they did it would be the end of everything and everyone in Fiore. He wanted the people of Fiore to be happy, he didn't want to subject them to the pain that he has suffered… no one deserved a life like that.

The boy gazed down at his tattered, fingerless gloves and curled his small appendages into the base of his palm. He could feel the energy that hummed around the pads of his fingers and he knew that he needed help, but he knew better than to touch anyone. He didn't know anyone in this town, they could all be in cahoots with the bounty hunters for all he knew and he couldn't risk that. He shoved his hands deep into his holey jeans and buried his face into the neck of his dirty sweater.

Keeping his deep blue eyes on the cobbled street in front of him, the boy trudged his way through the warm weather in search for someplace to stay. His mind drifted back to his teacher and brother once more; she said that there were a lot of magic guilds in the west that would understand and keep him safe. He knew that his first priority was to find a guild and ask for help, but that would involve touching them…

What if they shunned him?

What if they turn him into the scientists like the bounty hunters did?!

With his heart pounding in his chest, he picked up his speed and manoeuvered around the excited townspeople as carefully as he could. Maybe finding a guild wasn't a good idea… he could always just do a few odd jobs here and there. He could just live on the streets, in the alleys, or something; anything would be better than where he came from anyway. With new found determination, the boy turned on his heel and headed towards a hidden alley on the other side of the road.

One moment he was walking and the next he found himself flat on his butt. He glanced around himself to see what happened; maybe he got hit by a carriage or something. His eyes immediately landed on a man who was standing before him with a slight frown on his face. The boy felt his skin run cold as soon as the amber eyes clashed with his. The same chestnut brown hair and the same pale skin; the crow's feet at the corner of his eyes were even the same.

"Are you alright young'un?"

The boy couldn't stop staring at the man, his heart pounding furiously in his ears. How had they found him that fast… he was sure that he covered his tracks really well; not to mention that there was a huge rainfall that would have washed away his scent. The boy backed away from the man without getting to his feet; the man looked down on him with something akin to concern, but it had to be a trick. The old man squatted on his haunches and grabbed a hold of the boy's frail arm firmly,

"C'mon now boy, let's bring you somewhere safe so that we can look for your parents."

The boy shook his head back and forth frantically, fear nearly pouring out of his eyes. It was the bounty hunters all over again; it was the same trick too, but now he was prepared for it. He tugged desperately on his arm so he could get it out of the old man's grip, but it just prompted the stranger to hold onto him tighter. He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes as his strength started to give out and he was finally being pulled to his feet…

_No…_

He had to get away; he had to keep the people of Fiore safe…

_Let me go! I promise I'll be good, just let me be free!_

He had to make sure that no one found out his secret or else all would be lost…

_I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME!_

FTFTFTFT

"C'mon Erza! Fight me, just this once!"

"No, Natsu!" A red haired girl wearing armour shouted, "We go through this every day!"

The pink haired boy pouted before crossing his arms defiantly over his chest. Okay, yeah, maybe this did happen every day… but maybe it wouldn't if she would actually fight him! How the hell was he supposed to become an S-Class mage if he didn't fight anybody! Sure, he could fight one of the Strauss siblings, but frankly Mira was scary as the devil himself, Elfman was annoying and Lisanna was, well, Lisanna. He couldn't very well fight the mother of Happy now could he; that would just ruin the whole family dynamic that they have going on.

"But Erza I want to get stronger and you're the strongest one here!" Natsu argued.

The red head rolled her eyes and jerked her thumb over her shoulder and pointed at Mira,

"Mira is almost as strong as I am and you won't fight her!"

"ALMOST?!"

Natsu winced slightly when the shrill voice reached his sensitive ears and forced back the need to cover them; he didn't need the cranky takeover mage taking her anger out on him after all. The floors of the guild hall practically shuddered as the platinum blonde stormed her way over to Erza with a glint in her eye that clearly stated death.

"You heard me Strauss." Erza smirked as she clutched the hilt of the sword at her side.

"That's it Scarlet!" The oldest takeover mage roared, "We're ending this right here and right now!"

"Bring it on!"

Natsu clutched his fists at his sides and felt his hands burst into flame,

"What the hell Erza! Why are you fighting her?! Just two minutes ago you said that you wouldn't fight me!"

Before the rant could fully leave his mouth Mira and Erza were going all out in the middle of the guild hall. Tables were exploding and swords were flying, swears and spells were being screamed at each other; it was mass chaos… which was typical for the Fairy Tail Guild; the most notorious magic guild in all of Magnolia, perhaps even Fiore. Natsu loved every member of Fairy Tail… they were his nakama, his family.

If Gramps had never found him that day in the forest, he would still be alone…

But now that he had a family, he could search for Igneel so they could be reunited once more…

Subconsciously, the pinkette clutched onto the white muffler that wrapped around his neck. Sometimes he could still smell Igneel's scent lingering on it; it helped him remember that his father was still out there waiting for him. He shook his head slightly to submerge the sad thoughts before ducking as a table went sailing over his head. Apparently, Mira and Erza weren't the only ones fighting anymore…

Typical Fairy Tail.

Natsu set his fists aflame in preparation to join the party when the temperature around him suddenly dropped to below zero, immediately distracting him. The fire around his fists died as he sniffed the air around him and he noticed that the other members stopped what they were doing as well; if that was the case, that means that there was another mage in town; and by the feel of it, it's someone who hasn't had control of their magic very long.

One thing he did notice was that whoever this was had major potential.

Natsu's olive green eyes made contact with Erza's brown and Mira's sapphire blue; all three of them nodded simultaneously. The young dragon slayer ran through the front doors of the guild with Erza while Mira went to go search for Master Makarov (aka Gramps) just in case it was a dark wizard; Natsu really doubted that though.

"Do you know where it's coming from?" Erza asked seriously.

He sniffed the air experimentally and stumbled across a pine forest-y scent that wasn't common around Magnolia,

"Yeah, a strange smell is coming from the town square…"

The young requip mage nodded tersely and followed Natsu to the town square. When they arrived townspeople were screaming and trying to run away as fast as they could. The aspiring mages' eyes widened as they saw the fresh snow falling from the sky and felt the skin biting wind circulating around them; even Natsu, a fire dragon slayer, was getting affected by the cold which was abnormal.

However, what stunned them more was what seemed to be the source of all this magic. Sitting right in the middle of the square sat a small boy with his knees pulled up to his chest; one of his arms covered his head while the other was out in front of him touching a block of ice. Thanks to his sharp eyes, Natsu noticed that the boy's frame was shaking slightly so he had to be crying…

But Natsu couldn't hear his sobs…

Hesitantly, the nine year old made his way to the huddled figure; the only sound was his footsteps crunching the newly fallen snow. He heard the clank of Erza's metal footsteps from behind him, but signaled for her to stop. The red head raised her brow in confusion, but complied nonetheless. Natsu could tell that the older girl was unnerved by the raven sitting in the snow, but he was thankful that she listened to him for once. After a few moments, Natsu made it to the small boy's side and knelt beside him. The boy's shoulders were still trembling, but still no sound was coming out.

"Hey," Natsu whispered gently, "Are you alright?"

The boy jerked at the sound of his voice and his hand fell away from the ice cube in front of him. Natsu glanced up the ice and his breath hitched slightly when he noticed that there was someone trapped in there. The young dragon slayer squinted his eyes and he could see that the man in the cube was still breathing which was a good sign. The pinkette released his breath and slowly raised his hand to touch the raven's shoulder. At the sight of the movement, the raven flinched and moved away causing Natsu to frown.

"You don't need to be scared," The pinkette coaxed, "I'm not going to hurt you."

He didn't know what did it, but the raven slowly raised his head so that they were looking at each other eye to eye. Natsu quickly found himself getting lost in a sea of blue; the blue that the river turned in the winter before it froze over… he had never seen anything so captivating. Next he noticed how pale and thin the other boy was, so he definitely wasn't from these parts; and from the looks of his clothes he traveled a very long way.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel," He smiled reassuringly, "What's your name?"

The raven haired boy just continued to stare at him; Natsu raised an eyebrow and followed the boy's gaze. He found that the boy was staring at his bright red guild mark on his shoulder,

"Are you looking for a guild?"

The raven tensed slightly before nodding his head.

Natsu cocked his head at the boy's silence and ran his hand through his pink hair,

"Are you scared of me or something?"

The boy shook his head frantically and lifted his small hand slowly. Natsu fought the urge to back away from that hand; he was afraid that the raven was going to freeze him like he did that old man, but some part of him told him that this boy wasn't going to hurt him. Just by looking into the boy's eyes, Natsu felt a sense of trust with him that he has never felt with anyone before; except maybe Erza and Lisanna, but they were girls, so they didn't count.

Natsu continued to look the boy in the eye as his cold hand touched his forearm. For a second, soft tingling traveled up his arm; it reminded him of the electrical current that Laxus gave off, but much friendlier. He waited anxiously for something to happen; his blood was pounding in his ears and he could feel Erza watching him nervously. He was worried that she was going to attack at any moment, when a soft, timid voice flew through his head.

_My name is Gray Fullbuster…_

The young dragon slayer blinked a couple times before he felt his mouth drop open,

"W-Was that you just now?"

The raven, now known as Gray Fullbuster, nodded his head before looking away from his inquiring gaze,

_You're going to bring me back aren't you?_

"Bring you back?" Natsu muttered, "Bring you back where?"

Gray's deep blue eyes suddenly filled with tears and they began to fall down his cheeks like a waterfall. A loud cracking sound came from beside them, causing Natsu to look at the chunk of ice. A large crack appeared in it and shattered the ice before he could do anything to stop it. The old man fell to his knees with wide eyes as he stared from Natsu to Gray and back to Natsu again. He opened his mouth to say something when the raven's thoughts filled his head,

_I'm sorry…I'm sorry… I thought he was going to take me away, I'm sorry!_

"You should be apologizing to him, not me…"

_But he can't know about this! Ur told me that only members of a guild would understand me… I can't go back there! I won't! _

Without hesitation, Natsu pulled the small raven into his arms and hugged him tightly. He could feel Gray shivering in his arms as sobs wracked his body, although no sound came out. As he held this strange boy, he knew that everything was going to change.

TBC

**And here's another story lol… I really need to stop coming up with new ideas when I have like six stories on the go :P Escape is getting updated too so don't worry you guys I'm working on it! As for An Unexpected Light and my FT/BE Crossover, The Ice Coated Flame, they are on temporary hiatus so bear with me!**

**This is a canon/au so the characters are basically all the same in the same world as the manga/anime except Gray's back story will be different and ten times more tragic… I mean what do you guys expect? It is me we're talking about! :D Anyways I'm waiting on your reviews… without reviews I will lose faith and stop this story lol I don't want that to happen!**

**-sktrgrl**

**Ps. I got this story idea from "At That Time" by , so I would like to thank he/she for getting my juices flowing!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Finally Home

**Disclaimer: Don't Own Fairy Tail :(**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Language and Violence**

Natsu kept his arms wrapped around the small boy until the harsh winter wind slowly came to a stop. He noticed that his small frame had stopped shaking and that his breathing had evened out into soft breaths. The young dragon slayer glanced down at the boy and was relieved to see that he had fallen asleep. He turned to Erza and nodded his head to tell her that everything was alright and he had it under control. Gingerly, Natsu picked the boy up so that he was on his back; his arms were draped loosely around Natsu's neck while the pinkette held onto the raven's surprisingly long legs. He raised an eyebrow at how light the raven was and he was certain he could feel his ribcage against his back.

What the hell happened?

The pinkette turned his attention to the old man who was still staring at the two young mages in shock. Well, technically he wasn't an old man, he was probably around Macao or Wakaba's age; but to a nine year old, that was pretty old. Natsu looked the stranger over and he seemed to be physically fine considering he was just trapped in ice; if anything he was maybe just a little bit shocked.

"Oi Gramps," Natsu addressed him, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"G-Gramps?!" The man glared, "I'm not that old you know?! You should show me some respect you little brat!"

The young dragon slayer rolled his eyes,

"What else am I supposed to call you? It's not like I'm going to act like Elfman and call you 'man' every five seconds."

Suddenly a sharp pain laced through the top of his head causing him to swear under his breath. While rubbing his head soothingly, he glanced beside him and noticed that Erza had decided to join the conversation…sigh…she didn't have to hit him. Natsu opened his mouth to yell at her for hitting him when she glared at him from the corner of her eye; he may be mad, but he most definitely isn't stupid enough to yell at Erza when she's all serious like that.

"I'm sorry about him sir," Erza informed the old man, "We just need to know why that boy froze you like that."

Natsu opened his mouth to tell her that his name was Gray when he remembered that the raven didn't want anyone outside of a guild to know about his secret. Telling Erza that in front of the old man counted in not keeping the secret; he'd just have to tell her on the way back to the guild. While he was thinking this, the old man ran a through his greying chestnut brown hair before speaking,

"I honestly couldn't tell you that young lady," The old man shrugged, "I accidentally knocked him over when he was crossing the street so I offered to help him up. He just kept staring at me with this look; I've never seen someone so terrified before. Anyways, I told him that we should move and then I would help find his parents, but that just scared him even more. The next thing I knew I was sealed in a block of ice and it was snowing in the middle of July."

Natsu and Erza exchanged glances with each other before looking at the old man again,

"We'll take care of him, so you don't need to worry about it…"

"But that boy is dangerous! Shouldn't he be locked up or something?"

The pinkette glared at the man and felt his rage burrowing in his chest. He was about to start screaming at him when the comforting presence of Gramps approached them. He felt Erza's hand on his shoulder trying to hold him back, even if it wasn't necessary anymore; he knew that Gramps would be able to handle the bastard. Mira stood beside Erza and glanced over at the boy on Natsu's back; her eyebrow rose as if asking if someone that small was responsible for all this and Erza simply nodded in response.

"Hello sir," Gramps spoke to the man, "My name is Makarov Dreyar; you may know me as the master of the Fairy Tail guild."

The man's features immediately contorted into a sneer at the mention of the guild… perfect…

"So he's one of yours is he?"

Gramps' normally compassionate eyes steeled as he glared at the man,

"Not yet, no, but I plan on adding him to the guild. Young mages around his age usually only just awaken to their magical abilities so their emotions control their magic. You probably just scared him or made him nervous."

"That boy should be punished Makarov; I could've died!"

Gramps sighed and turned to the young mages behind him. His eye lingered on Natsu and the unconscious ice mage on his back a little longer than the others. Natsu tilted his head upon noticing that, but he shrugged it off as Gramps addressed them,

"You three head back to the guild and bring our new member to the infirmary so he can rest."

They nodded and turned to leave when Gramps spoke again,

"And Natsu, you're in charge of watching him until I get back, is that clear?"

"Sure thing Gramps!" The pinkette smiled as he ran after the older mages.

FTFTFTFT

Three mages walked towards the guild in silence; the snow lingering on the ground was slowly beginning to melt because of the hot summer air. Mira and Erza both looked like they wanted to say something, but they wouldn't actually say anything. Quite honestly, it was pissing him off; if they have something to say, why don't they just say it! Natsu sighed and stopped walking, prompting the girls to stop moving too.

"Just spit it out!" Natsu yelled at them, "I know you guys want to say something!"

"I just want to know who the brat is and where he came from." Mira shrugged, "But it's not like you know the answer to that."

The pinkette rolled his eyes and shifted the weight on his back slightly,

"All I know is that his name is Gray and that he ran away from somewhere…"

"How do you know that?" Erza demanded, "Did he tell you himself because from where I was standing he wasn't telling you anything."

The young dragon slayer searched around them to see if anyone was around; he sighed in relief when he noticed no one was. He walked up to the two girls once more so that they were so close that their breaths mingled together,

"I'm going to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone unless it's Gramps, okay?"

The girls nodded eagerly and waited for the pinkette to answer,

"He actually can't talk, something's wrong with his voice; but he touched my arm and I heard his voice in my head."

The two preteens stared at him for a moment with wide eyes before Mira rolled her eyes dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest,

"Are you stupid? It's impossible for someone to do that; everyone knows it."

"Shut up Mira!" Natsu growled, "What do you know?!"

The platinum blonde scoffed and walked up to the pinkette with the most condescending glare she could muster,

"I know that you're an attention seeking brat. I don't give a damn if Lisanna likes you; it's obvious that you're just using her and everyone else to replace Igneel! Face it Natsu, you're a selfish, hot-headed kid that is always going to be alone!"

A harsh slap echoed throughout the quiet street as tears gathered in the pinkette's green eyes. Mira pressed her palm onto her bright red cheek and stared at the armoured girl in utter disbelief; sure they were rivals, but they have never physically attacked each other like that before. Erza, on the other hand, was glaring at the takeover mage with such ferocity that she probably could've decimated a town with just one glance.

"Don't you** dare** say that about him ever again Mirajane Strauss!" She spat, "You have no right to say that to him!"

Natsu stared between the two rivals and found that his sadness had started to disappear. Even if Mira didn't believe him, he knew that on some ground Erza did. That was all he needed to put the takeover mage's vile words behind him and push forward. No one was going to stop him from helping this boy; not even a spoiled bitch.

The pinkette felt the raven shiver against his back and bury himself deeper into the warmth that he naturally emitted. He shifted Gray a little before turning to the still arguing girls beside him,

"We should get to the guild," He interrupted them, "He's getting cold."

At his words, the scarlet haired mage immediately faced him and a warm smile spread across her face. Seeing those smiles were rare since she was normally so guarded, but he was happy that smile was directed at him. With one last glare to Mira, Erza walked over to him and they headed towards their home.

FTFTFTFT

He didn't even know he had fallen asleep until he found himself looking up at a wooden ceiling. Gray shot forward instantly and began to scan his unfamiliar surroundings; the last he knew, he was supposed to be outside. He thought back to that terrifying moment when he froze the man and he remembered a very warm, but comforting presence. As he thought harder, he was able to conjure an image of a tanned boy with pink hair and a white scarf. His brow furrowed as he tried to think of the boy's name, but he couldn't come up with it at the moment. The raven clutched the blankets that were covering him in his fists and slowly pushed himself off the bed. He started to make his way to the wooden door on the other side of the room when a familiar voice stopped him.

"You're awake!"

Gray turned rapidly and found himself staring at the pink haired boy from earlier. The boy's green eyes were watching him curiously, much like they had when he had found him in the town square. The raven rubbed his dirty hair nervously and glanced away from those inquiring eyes before slowly walking back to the pinkette. He hesitantly raised one of his hands and stopped about a meter in front of the slightly taller boy. With shaky fingers Gray touched the burning hot skin,

_Where am I? And…uh… who are you? Again…_

The pinkette cocked his head to the side for a moment before laughing softly,

"I don't think I'm going to get used to you doing that. Anyways, I'm Natsu Dragneel and you're at the Fairy Tail guild!"

_Fairy Tail…_

Natsu nodded,

"You were looking for a guild right?"

Gray blinked a couple times before he nodded his head hesitantly. Just as he was going to ask Natsu more questions, the infirmary doors burst open causing him to retract his hands and back away. He felt a hand clasp on his arm and he panicked prepared to call upon his magic when the pinkette's warmth wrapped him up in a soothing caress. Gray turned his head and saw that Natsu was watching him with concern. The raven brushed his fingers along Natsu's softly,

_I'm okay._

He felt Natsu release him, but was happy when the pinkette remained by his side; his presence was very comforting indeed. His deep blue eyes went back to the door and saw that a red haired girl and an old man with a brown hat and a wooden staff were standing quite still. The old man was the first to approach Gray and he once again felt a sense of apprehensiveness; but it was quickly chased away when a warm smile spread across the old man's aging face.

"Hello young one," The old man said, "My name is Master Makarov and I'm the master of this guild; what's your name?"

Gray gnawed on his bottom lip as he watched the old man carefully. The Master seemed harmless, but he couldn't help but wonder if he could trust this stranger with his secret. The raven found himself glancing back at the pinkette again. Natsu noticed his stare and smiled at him encouragingly before squeezing his forearm comfortingly. Gray stepped toward the Master with more confidence and touched the old man,

_Gray Fullbuster…_

The smile on the Master's face widened,

"Well Gray, that is some talent you have there; how long have you had it?"

_I don't know…for as long as I can remember I guess…_

Suddenly, a loud growl erupted from Gray's stomach causing his cheeks to burn angrily. The others in the room laughed causing him to be even more embarrassed. He shuffled his feet and glared at the floor as if it had stolen his secret stash of candy.

"So Gray, before we get you something to eat, what do you think about joining our little family?"

_Joining…your family? I thought this was a guild…_

He hadn't realized that his fingers brushed against Natsu's arm as he said this so the pinkette's chuckle caused him to jump,

"It is a guild, but we're also a family; we stand by each other's side, help each other and love each other just as much as a family should."

"Natsu's right," The Master agreed, "We may not be related through blood, but we are related through our will and the bond of magic."

_Oh…_

"So are you gonna join?" Natsu asked excitedly, "It would be great to have someone to spar with!"

Gray stared at the pinkette as he jumped around the room happily. He chuckled as Natsu almost tripped over his own feet and ran into the red head at the door. Actually, he thought he remembered seeing her at the town square too…

She seems scary…

The raven returned his attention to the Master who was watching him patiently. After a moment, he nodded his head hesitantly; the Master grinned as he pulled some sort of stamp out of his pocket.

"So where do you want your Fairy Tail mark?"

Gray slowly took off his shirt, aware of the stares he was getting from Natsu and the red head, before pointing to his right pectoral muscle. He ran his fingers over the large scar that lay there briefly until the Master reached up and placed the mark of Fairy Tail in a dark navy blue. When the Master pulled away, Gray ran his fingers over the new mark and for the first time in a while, felt a smile coming to his face. The raven started to pull his shirt over his head as the old man began to talk to him,

"Alright, I'll leave you with Natsu for now and he'll show you around… is that okay?"

Gray nodded in confirmation and walked over to the pinkette once more. He was aware of the Master smiling at him, but he just chose to ignore it. He started to listen to the pinkette who was talking to the red haired girl. He pulled on Natsu's red shirt sleeve in order to gain his attention and he succeeded in doing so. The pinkette smiled at him and nudged him towards the armoured girl; she still had this menacing aura about her, but she seemed nice…

He hoped…

"This is Erza," Natsu told him, "And Erza, this is Gray."

Erza stared at the boy for a moment before she smiled,

"Hello Gray, welcome to the family."

He didn't know why… but at that moment… he started to cry…

_I'm finally home…_

TBC

**I had so much trouble with chapter… it almost killed me…seriously! I know Mira seems like a bitch… but I found that she came off as one when she was younger… that is until Lisanna died, but that hasn't happened yet. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'm looking forward to your reviews! **

**-sktrgrl**

**PS. Who's all loving the recent arc of Fairy Tail? I know I am… clearly Mashima is making up for giving us all a heart attack in chpt 334 by giving us a Gray oriented arc :D gotta say I'm pretty happy! Gray doesn't get enough love lol **


	3. Chapter 3 - How Time Changes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters involved… but I want Gray and Natsu!**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Violence and Language**

Finally…

After ten years, it was finally complete; he could now continue his research after that _monster_ destroyed the lab the first time. Because of that damn beast the Organization ended up losing three of their key experiments which definitely pushed their deadline back. He was so close to unraveling the secret all those years ago that at this point the idea now seemed unattainable. After all, one of the experiments is deceased and the other two were missing; the one that died wasn't a total loss though… she was only there to keep the other two in line.

He secured his pure white coat tighter around himself when a cold, northern draft blew through the dank corridors. The climate may be an important part of his research, but he could definitely do without the cold weather. He moved down the vacant hall to his study so he could drown himself in maps and research once more. Those two brats just had to be alive, they just had to damnit! They were the strongest out of the experiments and the most stubborn ones at that; they were fighters.

He sat behind his desk and gathered the new pile in front of him. It consisted of the old files that they used to keep track of the experiments and their progress. Sadly, the pile has gotten smaller over the years of Operation and also inactiveness. A few of the experiments were terminated because they were too weak to handle the tests, some were killed during the attack and some most likely died of starvation or the cold. He grabbed one of the old tattered files and started to leaf through it; a promising smile spread across his face as he read the familiar contents.

"Patient #4729…" He murmured, "How I would like to find you, you and Patient #5966… just where did you run off to?"

A timid knock on his door shoved him out of his thoughts. He gently put the file aside and made himself respectable before telling the person to come in. A scrawny man with platinum blonde hair and forest green eyes burst into the room before the words even left his mouth. He was breathing heavily, but he could tell from the triumphant look on the man's face that it was something he was going to like.

"What is it Dr. Schumer?" He demanded tensely.

"He's been found… I can't believe it, he's actually been found!" Schumer gasped as he slammed his hands on the desk.

"Who?!"

"P-Patient #4729 sir!"

A devilish smirk appeared on his face as the words tumbled out of Schumer's mouth. He glanced at the file he just threw aside and stared intently at the image of the eight year old boy,

"We've finally found you… Gray Fullbuster…"

FTFTFTFT

Lucy Heartfilia couldn't suppress the joy that had continuously bubbled in her chest since she had run into **the** Salamander of Fairy Tail. They've been traveling for a couple days now and she never thought that they were going to get there, but they finally did. She couldn't move from her spot in the middle of the street as she stared up at the building emblazoned with the Fairy Tail mark. She could hear Natsu talking beside her, but she wasn't really paying attention to him; she was just so pumped about joining the guild and becoming a strong wizard.

The blonde celestial mage glanced at the pinkette from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but smile at his incessant chattering; she could do without the annoying blue cat though. Getting into Fairy Tail was the only thing stopping her from booting that cat to the moon. One thing she never expected upon meeting the pinkette though was the boy's young age. Everyone knows who the Salamander of Fairy Tail is and what he has done, but she thought he was in his late twenties or something; definitely not nineteen.

"…cy, LUCY!"

The blonde snapped at her thoughts and smiled sheepishly at the impatient dragon slayer,

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Told you she was stupid." Happy, the blue cat, smiled impishly.

"Who are you calling stupid cat?!"

"Anyways," Natsu put his hands behind his head, "I asked if you were done staring and would like to go in and meet everyone."

Lucy nodded her head frantically and grabbed a hold of Natsu's vest before pulling him inside. She didn't know what to expect when she opened those doors, but she can say that she didn't think the first thing she would see was a table flying at her head. She dove to the floor and put her hands on her head protectively while Natsu set his fist on fire and broke the table into smithereens. The guild went silent for a moment and blinked owlishly at Natsu until they erupted back into a cacophony of sound.

"You alright Lucy?" Natsu laughed, "A great welcome, eh?"

Lucy's eyebrow twitched comically as she sweatdropped; that wasn't exactly what she would call it. Before she could say anything though, Natsu grabbed onto her forearm and started to drag her through the guild. He let go of her when they got to the bar and they both sat on some stools. She didn't know what they were doing until a pretty, platinum blonde walked over to them with a bright smile on her face. Lucy recognized her right away as Mirajane Strauss; the Fairy Tail poster girl in Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Hello Natsu," She laughed as he placed a glass in front of him, "Who is this you brought with you?"

The dragon slayer chugged his drink before answering,

"Her name is Lucy and she wants to join the guild! She uses all these spirits and stuff; it's actually pretty cool!"

"Weird is more like it…" Happy mumbled, "Just like her!"

Lucy grabbed the cat and started pulling on his cheeks,

"Want to say that again cat?"

"Lucy is almost as scary as Erza!" He cried as he tried to get out of her grip.

Natsu smiled at the pair before glancing around the guild almost anxiously. Lucy noticed and she raised her eyebrow at Mira who had a knowing smile on her face. The blue eyed age just shrugged and pulled out a stamp,

"So where do you want your guild mark?"

The giddy feeling spread through Lucy again as she held out her hand. She barely contained the squeal that escaped her throat when she felt the magic of the mark intermingling with her own. She had to admit that she liked the colour as well; it was a pretty pink colour… maybe a little lighter than Natsu's hair.

Not that she would tell him that or anything…

"Hey Mira," Natsu asked out of the blue, "Has Gray been to the guild today?"

Mira cleared the counter contemplatively as she thought of the members who passed through that morning,

"Nope, I don't think so; maybe he slept in. You know that he does that when he has a rough night."

Lucy chose this time to speak up,

"You mean Gray as in Gray Fullbuster right?"

Natsu nodded absently and had a somewhat dampened expression on his face. The celestial mage glanced at the platinum blonde again and she noticed that she also looked kind of sad. She wondered what sucked the life out of them all of a sudden; even Happy seemed sadder and she didn't even think that was possible. Were they like this because of Gray or what?

At that moment the guild doors swung open to reveal a yawning, dark haired teen. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and walked into the guild silently; absently waving at those who said hi to him. He lifted his head to look at the bar and she watched in surprise as the tiredness immediately left his gaze and a mischievous countenance replaced it. She followed his gaze and realized that it was locked on Natsu's turned back. She watched as he brought his hands together and bright blue magic circle appeared before them.

Before she had a chance to open her mouth, five spear-like shards of ice flew out of his hands and struck the pinkette in the middle of his back causing him to fall out of his chair. Natsu sat up quickly and his eyes seemed to zone in on the teen that attacked him. A playful smirk spread across his face as he called his flames to his hands,

"You wanna go ice bastard?!" He shouted at the raven.

"Ice bastard?" Lucy repeated in confusion.

She was even more confused when the other boy didn't answer, but just nodded. She slumped in her chair as she realized that they were going to fight each other. Lucy was beginning to wonder if eating, fighting and sleeping were the only things Natsu knew how to do. She heard Mira's light laughter from behind her. She looked at the barwoman blankly before she felt Happy tap her on the shoulder,

"That would be Gray," He explained as he watched the boys, "This happens a lot… they should be done soon though."

"Why?" Lucy asked, "They seem to be going at it pretty hard."

"Natsu and Gray!" Mira called cheerfully as she collected more cups, "Erza is expected to be here sometime today so…"

Lucy's jaw dropped open when the boys immediately stopped what they were doing and wrapped their arms around each other; it was as if they hadn't even been fighting. Well… that's if you ignore the half scorched tables and the half frozen floor. The boys slowly made their way back over to Lucy and she noticed that they actually stuck pretty close to each other. So close that their forearms were practically brushing; what was with that?

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu called as they approached her, "I want you to meet someone!"

The blonde jumped off the stool and met the ice and fire mage half way. Now that she was closer to Gray she could get a better look at him and she can say that she wasn't disappointed. When she first met Natsu she thought he was hot; no denying it…but with Gray it was different. The raven was slighter than the dragon slayer and had a much paler skin tone. In fact she would wager that he was almost paler than her which was rare. His eyes were by far his best feature; a deep blue that rivaled a river in the winter months. His skin also seemed softer; maybe it had something to do with being an ice mage?

"So Lucy, this is Gray," Natsu told her brightly, "And Gray, this is Lucy; she just joined the guild today."

The raven smiled at her and waved causing her to tilt her head to the side. Natsu laughed awkwardly prompting her to return her attention to him,

"Sorry forgot to tell you that he can't talk…"

The raven rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. He stared at Natsu for a moment before turning away and leaving abruptly. Natsu seemed to have some sort of understanding with him because he was still smiling, but Lucy was confused. As she watched the raven's retreating back and the chaos exploding through the guild, she has come to one conclusion…

Everyone was definitely insane…

FTFTFTFT

Gray sighed as he left the rambunctious guild hall and sat next to the river him and Natsu used to fight at when they were younger. He always loved this place because it was so calming and everything just breathed life. The raven forced back another yawn as he pillowed his head in his arms when he laid in the grass. He hadn't been sleeping very well lately and he didn't really know why; he'd always wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and not able to go back to sleep.

He never remembered the dreams, but he had a pretty good idea about what it was. It was getting close to the date his entire life changed after all, so of course his subconscious is trying to warn him. The ice mage closed his eyes and let his mind wander to the new mage Lucy; he couldn't help but realize how pretty she was. He hoped that Natsu wouldn't notice though… he wouldn't be able to handle the outcome if he did.

"Gray?" A voice called, "What are you doing out here? Did you and Natsu fight again?!"

The raven chuckled at the authoritative voice before sitting up to look at her. The ten year old red head he knew from ten years ago had been replaced by a gorgeous, self-confident, somewhat demonic, strongest female mage of Fairy Tail; Erza became Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. But to him, she was his overprotective older sister that he had never had; and he loved her just as much. He patted the patch of grass beside him to indicate to her that she could sit if she wanted to and she of course complied immediately. He placed his fingers on the only non-armoured part of her which was a little patch of skin by her elbow,

_Nah, flame brain is just with the newbie… _He shrugged before smiling softly.

The requip mage regarded one of her oldest friends carefully before she spoke,

"What's the problem with that?"

_Nothing! _Gray told her hastily, _I just think I disappointed him is all…_

"Why do you say that?"

_Well he introduced me to her…and I think he expected me to… you know…_

Erza shook her head in frustration; how boys could be so stupid was beyond her… especially if these two boys were Natsu and Gray. Individuals who were closer than blood, depended on one another and understood one another; sure, they fought… a lot… but that's just how they work. Plus, it totally got Natsu off her back when they were younger so she somewhat enjoyed their scuffles.

"Gray I doubt that," She told him softly, "He knows that you don't like 'talking' to new people. Being the bonehead he is, he probably forgot since you guys talk so much."

The raven had to concede to that much; his ability was different around Natsu for some reason. With everyone else, he needed to be touching them at all times, but with the pinkette all he had to do was think about him and he could talk to him. It was strange at times because sometimes he would talk to Natsu unintentionally; that has caused some troubles in the past.

_Yeah… I guess…_

"You don't guess, you know." Erza hugged him against her armour causing his head to crush against it painfully, "What do you say we head back into the guild for some strawberry cake?"

Gray chuckled at the armoured mage's strange obsession before nodding. He let go of the red head and pushed himself to his feet. Side by side the mages walked to the back door of the guild; when he opened the door accidentally ran into someone and grabbed their forearms to steady them.

_Sorry…_

"Oh my god…"

Gray felt Erza tense by his side and he felt his own blood run cold. He forced himself to look at the person he ran into and his fears were confirmed when his blue eyes met chocolate brown. Her eyes were wide and staring before she abruptly turned away from him and ran away. Of course out of everyone in the guild, it had to be her… it had to be…

Lucy.

TBC

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**The villains are revealed and where is Lucy going and how is she going to react to Gray's ability?! **

**On another note… this chapter is most likely a little horrible and the characters are OOC… again… but as long as you guys enjoy it, I can live with it! I'm going to update Escape soon and An Unexpected Light as well :) waiting on your reviews!**

**-sktrgrl**

**PS. I recently watched the Fairy Tail x Rave Master OVA… it was good yes, but it made me question a few things…**

**Question 1: Why was there like NO Gray and Musica? Like they were there… but I wish they had a bigger role! That made me so mad!**

**Question 2: Why didn't Musica seem to care that Gray was completely naked? LOL **


	4. Chapter 4 - Unexpected Outcomes

**Disclaimer: Mashima owns Fairy Tail… I own my hated OCs**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Language and Violence**

He felt like the biggest idiot ever.

How in the hell had he forgotten that Gray couldn't speak?! They've only been best friends for ten years and were practically inseparable; people even said they were in all sense and purposes brothers. He slammed his head on the bar and groaned in frustration as his inherent idiocy continued to plague him. He pillowed his head in his arms and sighed as thoughts of the ice mage filled his guilty brain. He had to admit that Gray had come a long way since joining the guild all those years ago; he transformed from a timid, untrained mage into a cool-headed teen who also became the strongest non-S class mage in Fairy Tail (aside from himself of course). During this time the pinkette was always at his side, considering Gray used to constantly cling to him…

But strangely enough…he never minded…

Natsu has always felt that he was put on Earthland to protect; it was practically instinct. No matter what town he visited or who he met, he always had this need to protect them. When he was younger, Igneel said that this instinct was one of the carnal qualities that made him a dragon slayer. He didn't believe his adoptive father at the time; he thought it was just something all humans possessed and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a dragon slayer. However, all that changed on snowy day in the middle of July when he met an eight year old Gray Fullbuster. From then on, his feelings for the ice mage continued to grow…

Now, Gray was the most important person in his life.

Natsu was about to push himself out of his seat to search for Gray when Lucy nearly mowed him over. He only caught a glimpse of her as she ran by, but he was pretty sure that she looked absolutely terrified. Before he could even think about it, Gray's rampaging emotions exploded into his mind, effectively giving him a head rush and making the room spin. He glanced around the guild searching for his friend when he saw the ice mage running towards him. The pure panic could be seen on his pale face and the overwhelming emotions were starting to give him a headache; it's a surprise that the temperature…

…Never mind, there it is…

"Gray!" The pinkette latched onto the raven's forearm as he was about to run past.

_Not now Natsu! _ He shouted frantically, _I have to stop her!_

"Not until you calm down and…"

_That's rich! Telling me to calm down… you're the KING of running in fists a-blazing flame brain!_

Natsu rolled his eyes and ignored the comment as he tighten his grip on the ice mage's arm,

"I'm not letting go until you chill; we don't need another summer blizzard."

Gray noticeably flinched at the reminder which caused the briefly quenched guilt to fire up again. Natsu grimaced apologetically and released the raven when he felt the temperature in the guild slowly returning to normal. He could feel all the eyes of the guild on them and he would be lying if he said that he didn't find it uncomfortable.

The dragon slayer opened his mouth when the ice mage efficiently cut him off,

_She knows._

"Who knows what?" Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

_Lucy. She knows. _

The pinkette's eyes widened before a goofy smile spread across his face,

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Gray smacked the back of Natsu's head causing the older teen to hiss in pain,

"WHAT THE HELL GRAY?!"

_SHE FOUND OUT ON ACCIDENT DUMBASS! I DIDN'T TELL HER ANYTHING!_

Everything around Natsu froze as if Gray's ice magic had been activated. His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he thought of the terrified expression he thought he saw on her face. Without a second thought, Natsu started running out of the guild dragging Gray behind him as he went. He was aware of the confusion that they left the guild in, but this definitely took precedence.

_Erza is looking for her too…_

"E-Erza is here?!" Natsu paled.

The requip mage was definitely going to slaughter him if she found out that he brought Lucy to the guild…

_It's not your fault Natsu… _Gray said seemingly reading his thoughts, _I should've just explained things in the first place._

Natsu didn't have a chance to turn around and punch the ice idiot in the face for blaming himself because he spotted a familiar head of blonde in the distance; along with the distinct scent of strawberries and coconut. Wait a minute… strawberries…

"Oh shit Erza beat us!"

Gray's pale skin paled even more at the thought; Natsu knew that if anything happened to Lucy he would hold himself accountable… even if it wasn't his fault. The boys picked up their speed just in time for Gray to jump in front of Erza and Natsu in front of Lucy. The blonde still looked scared, but now Natsu didn't know who she was afraid of more.

"Natsu?" The blonde stuttered nervously, "What the hell is going on?"

The pinkette gnawed on his lip and stared into her brown eyes. He didn't know what it was, but at that moment he knew that they would be able to trust her. Natsu reached forward and grabbed her hand. He led her over to the raven haired mage who had his fingertips pressed to Titania's elbow. Now that he was close to Gray he could hear whispers of his voice in his own head and he could tell from the tone that he was trying to tame the beast…

And for once he was actually succeeding…

He should seriously get a medal for that or something; he just succeeded in doing the impossible.

"Lucy," Natsu started, "Remember how I said Gray couldn't talk…"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Well he can, just not in the way we do…"

Lucy glanced from Gray to the scary sword lady and back to Natsu with slight hesitation,

"So, so, I actually did hear him in my head then?"

Gray nodded faintly before stepping away from the red head and moving towards her. Natsu felt the celestial mage tense in his grip so he squeezed her hand comfortingly. Her brown eyes met his green ones and he saw absolute terror in them. This had to be the worst that anyone had ever reacted to the ice mage's talent. The raven raised his hand and was about to place his hand on her forearm when a sharp cackle echoed around them.

Gray jumped as if he had been electrocuted and his face turned as green as Natsu's did when he had to go on transportation. Natsu let go of Lucy when he felt the ice mage's emotions heightening once again. The warm wind blowing throughout Magnolia was starting to turn frigid and a light sweat was gathering on Gray's brow. Natsu reached out the smaller teen and touched his arm comfortingly as he did when they were younger. He glanced at Erza and noticed that her eyes were narrowed and one of her swords were drawn

"Who's there?!" She growled.

Laughter filled the street again causing Natsu to notice how still the street actually was; it was far too quiet. An eerie mist filled the street so that the four mages could barely see five meters in front of them. Despite the distrust they had moments ago, they were now standing back to back, prepared to lash out at what was going to attack them. However, Natsu couldn't help but get thrown off by the trembling ice mage by his side…

It was almost like…

"Gray," He whispered tensely, "You know them don't you? They're who you were hiding from."

The ice mage's back tensed as he gave a stiff nod and brought his hands together reflexively,

"Don't even think about it patient #4729," A deep voice drawled, "You know what will happen if you try anything."

Gray flinched at the voice but still continued to draw his magic. Natsu stared at his closest friend in horror as the Ice Make incantation flowed into his mind…

_Ice Make: Prison!_

"NO!"

FTFTFTFT

Gray kept his back turned to his comrades; he knew that if he were to look into their eyes, he would see betrayal and abandonment. He knew that those were the looks he deserved, but he couldn't bear to see that look on Natsu's face; it would definitely kill the only resolve that he had. Just as his ice magic was activated, the mist surrounding them disappeared and he was able to see the source of the voice.

One of the voices that had haunted his memories for more than ten years…

"Ah, it seems like 4729 wants to go out with a bang," The leader smirked, "A fighter 'til the end I see."

The raven glared at the red headed man standing before him; even after ten years the bastard hadn't changed a bit. The same hawk-like yellow eyes and black Celtic tattoo framing his face and forearms; the same ancient lettering that gives him protection from any elemental magic and that included Natsu's dragon slayer magic.

"Who the hell are you?!" Natsu demanded from behind him, "What do you want with Gray?!"

The red head cackled darkly as he stared at the trapped dragon slayer,

"You mean he hasn't told you? He hasn't told you of his only purpose in his filthy, insignificant life?"

Gray could feel Natsu's fire magic trying to burn through the prison, but he knew that those ice bars will remain there for as long as he wanted them to. The raven moved so that he was back in the red head's line of sight; there was no way he was going to let this asshole murder his only family.

_Natsu, stay out of this!_

He prayed the pinkette wouldn't open his big mouth, but of course he did…

"Like hell I'm going to stay out of this ice breath!"

The red head cocked his head to the side inquisitively before a smile appeared on his angular face,

"Don't tell me you've managed to connect with a dragon slayer you damn soothsayer…Maybe Dr. Necro would be able to find some use for the lizard?"

Gray's world stopped at the mention of the man that scarred him so deeply… and what's this about being a soothsayer? Is that the name for what he can do and why does it matter that he can talk to Natsu without touch? He had so many questions, but one thing was at the forefront of Gray's mind; there was NO WAY IN HELL that grubby bastard was going to get his hands on Natsu. For the first time in a long time, he wished he had a voice; he wished he could scream at the man in front of him for even thinking about taking Natsu.

"What is it 4729?" The red head taunted, "Cat caught your tongue?"

The raven glared at the man darkly as he brought his hands together. Before the man could even move a large hammer appeared above his head and fell on top of it. The red head glared as blood actually managed to accumulate on his forehead. He smiled darkly as he wiped some of his blood on his fingers,

"BLOOD BIND!"

The blood on his fingers gave tangible form and lashed out Gray like a whip. He could hear Natsu and Erza's roars of indignation and frustration. If he was to be taken back to that hell hole, he could at least show them what they were dealing with. The rope-like blood wrapped around his waist immediately causing a burning sensation to flare; it hurt just as much as Natsu's dragon slayer magic.

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM!"

Gray gave a soundless scream when he felt the bars of his ice prison smash into pieces. Like a meteor, Natsu flew at the blood mage and was about to slug him when Gray felt a searing pain lash at his back; immediately tearing his shirt into pieces. He knew that he should've tightened his reign on his emotions so that Natsu wouldn't feel his pain; but it's been so long since he felt anything like this…

"Be careful Salamander…" The red head smirked as he pulled the ice mage closer to himself, "You don't want to hurt your Fated now do you?"

That's another new one… Fated…Soothsayer… what the hell are they?!

Natsu on the other hand seemed to know exactly what a 'Fated' was. There was no colour left on his tanned face and he motioned for Erza and Lucy not to send any attacks. Another lash of searing pain scrambled his senses and Natsu's roar tore through the air,

"Let. Him. Go. Now!"

Flames erupted from the teens feet and scales started to spread across his arms and face. Despite the situation they were in, the raven smiled for his best friend… his secret love. After all his training and years of wondering if he would ever attain it, he finally had…

Natsu Dragneel had finally achieved…

_Dragon Force._

"Ah, look at that, the lizard can actually do something useful," The man smiled, "What do you think Gray? Dr. Necro would definitely be able to use his life force for his project wouldn't he?"

The raven felt his nightmare's hand clasped on the back of his neck. Gray growled silently and glared up at his captor,

_Go to Hell Stauffer; you'll never beat them._

"Them?" Stauffer laughed, "Who's them; he's only one boy!"

"You better count again Stauffer," Natsu smirked, "You're going against all of Fairy Tail…"

"And me as well…"

All heads turned to the side and saw a stranger dressed in a red shirt with a white coat. Everyone looked at the newcomer in confusion; all but Stauffer and a certain raven haired ice mage. The stranger had silvery hair that could easily be mistaken for the colour of snow and sharp onyx eyes. The aura he carried was both cold and menacing while warm and comforting…

"Patient #5966, glad to see that you made my job that much easier for me." Stauffer grinned.

_Lyon…_

TBC

**I'm sorry that this chapter is really confusing! I had a difficult time writing it… especially Gray… god his power is difficult to write in his POV gahhhh! Kill me now! Anyways besides that I hope you enjoyed the chapter… I really, really do! Besides the confusion… Lyon is there and some secrets were revealed :D Soothsayer and Fated? Sounds like drama in a bottle to me :) who knows, maybe Lyon will be able to help them out! Waiting on your reviews :)**

**-sktrgrl**

**PS. I know Lucy and Erza were temporarily ignored *bow deeply to Erza and Lucy fans* They will have a bigger role next chapter, I promise! And yes I know Happy spontaneously disappeared… my excuse… **

**he went fishing… **

**(sorry it's just hard for me to write characters I don't like ie. Lucy and Happy :P) I do like Erza though… I just had issues putting her in!**

**PSS. Escape and An Unexpected Light will be updated… I have unfortunately hit another writer's block for both of them… sigh… I'm horrible! Please forgive me!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Soothsayers & Dragon Slayers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail… all belongs to Mashima-sama except my OCs**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Language, Violence**

Gray couldn't tear his eyes off of the older teen standing in front of him. His brother, the brother he had believed to be dead, was standing before him as if they had only seen each other yesterday. He flinched when he felt the grip of Stauffer's hand tighten around his neck, but he knew that he wouldn't be remaining there long; especially when Lyon had, for all intents and purposes, returned from the dead. Lyon's dark and frigid aura wrapped around the area tightly immediately causing those within range to shiver, except for Gray himself; but even he had to admit that the silverette's aura seemed strange…it was almost jaded and broken.

What happened to him over the past ten years?

He was tossed out of his thoughts the moment he was tossed onto his stomach. He started to raise his head up, when Stauffer's foot pressed down on the back of his head, burying his face into the dusty ground. Natsu's enraged growl could be heard from somewhere above him, but he couldn't exactly place where it was. He hoped that the pink haired dumbass wouldn't do anything reckless; if Stauffer were to get his hands on him, he didn't know what he would do.

"So, patient 5966," Stauffer shouted, "You've finally decided to come out of hiding have you?"

"Who said I was hiding," Lyon scoffed, "You just haven't been searching in the right places."

Gray furrowed his brows as he thought about his brother's statement. It was almost like he was directing it at the raven himself and not Stauffer. The ice mage thought back to all the times in his childhood where he thought he could feel someone watching him, only to find that there was no one there. Had that really been Lyon watching over him all this time; why hadn't he said anything or come out to Gray and tell him he was alright. He couldn't help but feel a little hurt, but at the same time, he knew that Lyon must have had reasons for doing so.

They were definitely going to have a _long_ talk when Stauffer was taken care of.

However, none of that was going to happen if he couldn't find a way to get as a far from Stauffer as he could. He might not have seen Lyon in ten years, but he knew for a fact that he wasn't going to attack anyone if Gray was in the line of fire. After all the times he had sacrificed himself for Gray's safety that was pretty much a given. The raven tuned out everything that was happening around and focused on his magic. He could feel the cold aura circulating around the palm of his hand, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything if he couldn't connect his palms without Stauffer noticing.

Without hesitating, Gray swung his arms from his sides to reside on top of his head. He heard Stauffer swear from above him, but he knew that it was too late. He smirked as five ice lances flew out of his hands; the smirk widened when he heard a grunt of pain from somewhere above him. The weight that was on his head disappeared and he immediately jumped to his feet, even if the wounds on his back protested. He ran towards his friends from Fairy Tail just as Natsu ran past him, his fists engulfed in flames.

"What are you going to do now, you bastard?!" The pinkette roared.

_No Natsu, wait!_

The dragon slayer didn't seem to hear him as he continued his assault. Gray felt Erza by his side and he turned towards her. Her eyes widened slightly; he must have looked like a real sight. So much so that the next thing he knew, Erza had charged in after Natsu, the darkest glare he had ever seen planted firmly on her face. He looked for Lyon, but he saw that the silverette had joined the battle as well when he noticed the crystal eagles flying overhead and striking Stauffer in the side.

Suddenly, he felt something touch his forearm causing him to jump a mile into the air. Clutching his hand over his heart he was somewhat relieved to see that it was Lucy Heartfilia and not some lackey of Stauffer's. The blonde girl was staring up at him with confused and terrified brown eyes that made Gray's heart clench. Obviously when she joined Fairy Tail, she wasn't expecting for something as intense as this to happen so soon; quite honestly, neither was he. He tried to smile reassuringly at her, but then he remembered that she was also scared of him; this was going to be difficult.

A loud explosion brought his attention back to the battle, and he saw that Lyon, Erza and Natsu were of course winning. Stauffer was staggering to the side and he grimaced as he clutched his left forearm tightly. He spat at the ground bitterly and scowled as his eyes penetrated Gray's; the raven shuddered from the pure hatred that was emanating off him.

"This isn't over," Stauffer growled, "Dr. Necro will get what he wants and once he hears that the soothsayer connected with a dragon slayer, nothing will be able to stop him."

Before anyone could move, a magic circle appeared under Stauffer's feet and quickly engulfed him in a bright light. When the light disappeared, the red haired blood mage was gone, but Gray knew that they got off easy.

FTFTFTFT

Gray fought back a flinch as Natsu wrapped bandages around his waist and back. The pinkette mumbled apologies under his breath which the raven had barely heard. His eyes were locked on the silverette who was leaning against the far wall of the guild infirmary. He was aware of Erza standing by the doorway, keeping a close eye on Lyon just in case he tried to do anything. Lucy had disappeared soon after arriving at the guild hall; Gray couldn't blame her, she obviously had some things to consider.

"There," Natsu sighed as he threw the leftover bandages on the floor, "Now that that's finished, who the hell are you marshmallow?"

Gray covered his laugh as a cough as he saw Lyon's face turn bright red. He never noticed it before, but Lyon's hair did kind of look like a marshmallow. Of course it would be Natsu to notice that; who would Natsu be if he couldn't piss off everyone he meets. The raven shot a glance at his brother and the silverette calmed down slightly before sighing irritably,

"If you must know, my name is Lyon Bastia," He growled, "Not that it matters to you sakura."

Gray face palmed and rolled his eyes; Lyon was just trying to be an asshole now. Just as the silverette had hoped, Natsu's face turned the same colour as his hair and steam started to rise off his tanned skin. He should've known that these two wouldn't get along… they're way too much alike.

"MY HAIR ISN'T SAKURA IT'S SALMON!" Natsu roared, "AND IT MATTERS TO ME IF IT INVOLVES GRAY!"

Excellent…just excellent; of course Natsu was going to say that now Lyon is going to…

"Moron."

The raven sighed silently,

_Natsu, chill; he's my older brother, it's alright._

"Your older brother?" Natsu's eyebrows furrowed, "You never told me that you had an older brother."

_Well, until today I thought he was dead…_

"Wait a minute," Lyon spoke up suddenly, "Gray, can you talk to him without touching him?"

He nodded his head which in turn caused Lyon's eyebrow to twitch,

"So this is the dragon slayer that Stauffer was referring to?"

Gray nodded again and he noticed that Lyon's mouth formed a thin line. He could almost see the cogs turning in his brother's head as he thought this through. The silverette seemed to know a lot more about the 'operation' than Gray did in the past; maybe he knows what Stauffer was talking about. The raven brought his hands together and formed a slate of ice in thin air. He closed his eyes and concentrated so that his thoughts would inscribe themselves on the ice,

_Lyon, what do you know about Soothsayers?_

The silverette's eyes widened and most of the colour drained from his naturally pale face,

"Where did you hear that?"

"Stauffer said it before you showed up," Natsu growled, "Said that there was a connection between soothsayers and dragon slayers, but he didn't say what that connection was."

Lyon grimaced and crossed his arms across his chest. Gray could tell that he didn't want to answer that question, but he wasn't going to let up until the stubborn jackass did. He was preparing to inscribe on his tablet when the sound of clanking metal reached his ears. He turned his head and saw that Erza had stepped away from the door and was watching Lyon carefully,

"If you don't tell them what it is, I will." She threatened.

_Erza…_ Gray wrote, _You know?!_

The requip mage sighed sadly,

"I don't know of the connection between Soothsayers and Dragon Slayers, but I do know what soothsayers are."

"Well what are they?!" Natsu demanded impatiently, "And why the hell does this bastard want Gray so bad?!"

Erza glanced away from her younger 'brothers' and seemed to gather whatever courage she had. Since he couldn't talk, Gray had become accustomed to reading body language; and he knew from her tense stance, that Erza wanted to answer his question, just as much as Lyon had. She glanced back at Lyon and an understanding seemed to pass between them before she started to speak.

"Over a thousand years ago, there was a group of people with extraordinary gifts. The gifts were called extraordinary because their abilities didn't have any semblance to magic at all; they simply just existed. The gifts were various and all had the ability to do different things, but the rarest of all the gifts were the ones who possessed 'the silver tongue', otherwise known as Soothsayers.

"Soothsayers possess the gift of speech and deception; through the use of their words they could manipulate whomever they wanted as well as detect if anyone was lying. They also had the ability to speak to animals, in fact it was one animal in particular…"

"Dragons…" Natsu whispered, "I think Igneel mentioned these people once, but he referred to them as silver tongues."

Gray raised an eyebrow in confusion; there was a slight problem with him being a soothsayer,

_But I can't talk…_

Erza sat down beside the raven and clasped his hand,

"And there is a reason for that. You see, the other clans became jealous of the power that the soothsayers seemed to possess. Even the strongest of the abilities couldn't 'tame' a dragon and it caused a lot of turmoil within them. Soothsayers were marked as carriers of Dark magic and were the spawn of Zeref himself. A terrible war broke out and the Soothsayer race was wiped out all except for one person.

"The legend says that that one person was allowed to live since the gifts of a soothsayer are so rare to possess; they didn't want it to completely disappear. However, in order to prevent the man from being able to use his abilities, the clan leaders cut out his tongue leaving him unable to speak to anyone or anything ever again. It is said that the descendants of the last Soothsayer will be mute so that their abilities could continue on never to be used again.

"Because of this fate, the abilities of the Soothsayer were forced to invert so that the only way they could communicate was through touch."

Silence engulfed the infirmary as Erza's words sunk in. A chill swept down Gray's spine causing him involuntarily shudder. He knew that people had a dark side, but he didn't know people could be this dark. Gray jumped slightly when he felt Natsu's warm hand touch his forearm comfortingly. The simple gesture allowed him to relax slightly and push the story into the back of his mind. His attention turned to Lyon,

_So this connection between Dragons and Soothsayers in the past, what does it have to do with Dragon Slayers?_

"Well," Lyon began, "It actually has a lot to do with Dragons and Soothsayers."

"Stop being all mysterious and get on with it!" Natsu rolled his eyes, "Answer the damn question."

"I was getting there!" Lyon shouted in frustration, "As I was going to say, there is actually a chunk missing from Titania's tale and that would be the Dragon's reaction to the slaughtering of the Soothsayers.

"It is well known to everyone that dragons aren't particularly fond of the human race; that reason is because of what happened to the Soothsayers. Silver Tongues were very important to the Dragons; actually their very existence depended on them. Soothsayers were in a sense, the gate keepers to their realm; if someone had ill intentions towards the Dragons, the Soothsayers would be the first to know of it. When the Soothsayers were slaughtered, the Dragons went on a rampage because many of the Soothsayers had become the Dragons fated."

Gray was about to ask what 'fated' meant, but Natsu had already started to speak again,

"Igneel told me about this too," Natsu's face paled, "A 'fated' is like a soul mate; the dragon was born specifically to protect that being. Their souls are essentially connected and if a dragon fails to protect their fated, they…"

"Die," Lyon finished bitterly, "They die."

The raven felt his breath get trapped in his chest as those words left Lyon's mouth. Stauffer had claimed that he and Natsu were fated; if that's true, then Gray basically held Natsu's life in his very hands. If anything were to happen to him, Natsu would pay the price even if it wasn't his fault. If they are actually fated, it would explain why the pinkette can feel his emotions so easily; it's because the emotions are reverberating into Natsu's soul…

"Natsu," Erza broke through his thoughts, "Do you know how dragon slayers exist?"

The pinkette shook his head and glanced at Lyon,

"But I'm guessing he does…"

The silverette glanced over at Gray before starting again,

"Dragon slayers are created through the mating of Dragons and Soothsayers. During the New Moon, Dragons are given the ability to take human form, allowing them, if they wish, to mate with their fated Soothsayers. Through this mating a new species was born…the Dragon Slayers; humans with the ability of a dragon. And like Dragons, they are born to do one thing and one thing only…"

_To protect their Fated._

Lyon nodded solemnly,

"Exactly, so when all the Soothsayers were eliminated, you can imagine what happened to the Dragons and why their numbers have dwindled over the years. It also explains why there are so few Dragon Slayers in the world."

The room became silent once more as the secret was slowly revealed. He could feel Natsu's body tense and un-tense beside him; he knew that it was because the dragon slayer had drawn the same conclusion that he had earlier. Gray reached out take his hand when Lyon's voice cut through the silence like a knife,

"Now that that's settled, it would be best for Gray and I to leave."

Gray sighed and demolished his ice tablet as he waited for the inevitable,

_3…2…1…_

"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO LET GRAY LEAVE!" Natsu roared furiously.

The silverette glared at Natsu darkly,

"You may be a dragon slayer, but this doesn't involve you in the slightest."

"I'm sorry Lyon," Erza warned, "I'm with Natsu, Gray isn't going anywhere."

"Stauffer and others will be back now that they know where Gray is!" Lyon shouted, "Do you want to destroy your town?!"

_It's not like they haven't done it before…_

Gray smirked as he saw the corner of Natsu's lip twitching, trying to turn into a smile. Even though he didn't want to put the pinkette in danger he knew that it was something he wouldn't be able to prevent. If he left with Lyon, Natsu would just chase after him anyway so there was no point; however, if he could convince Lyon to let Natsu and Erza travel with them…

The raven walked over to Lyon and placed his hand around his wrist. The silverette flinched slightly at the unexpected contact, but he quickly relaxed.

_Lyon, I won't be able to leave unless Natsu comes with me…_

"And why is that?"

_I'm his Fated…_

"Oh, okay I guess he…" Lyon paused before his eyes widened, "You're his WHAT?!"

TBC

**Woo another chapter completed and all is revealed! Well, all things pertaining to Soothsayers and Dragon Slayers :) I hope you all enjoyed the chapter; I know the beginning kind of sucked and it was kind of slow moving, but Drama is coming soon. After all, Natsu has yet to learn of Gray's past and you don't know Dr. Necro's true intentions! Stay tuned if you want to find out! Waiting for your reviews :)**

**-sktrgrl**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Fallout

**Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns Fairy Tail and its magnificent characters!**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Violence and Language**

"You're his WHAT?!" Lyon demanded, "Damnit Gray answer me!"

Gray flinched as the silverette's anger filled the once undisturbed infirmary. Sure, there was tension before, but this anger, this was worse. He glanced up at Lyon pleadingly as he gnawed on his lip. He could feel Natsu somewhere behind him; his mere presence was enough to soothe his frantic emotions. Lyon's onyx bore into his and made him shift around uncomfortably; he had always had the ability to make him feel like he stole cookies out of the cookie jar. He tightened his grip on his older brother's wrist and started to pull him towards the door,

_C'mon, let's talk outside._

Lyon nodded stiffly and wrenched his arm out of the raven's grip before leaving the room. Gray turned to Natsu and stared at him pleadingly, hoping that the pinkette would actually listen to him for once. A few moments passed before Natsu nodded his head slightly and sat back down on the infirmary bed. Gray tried to smile at him reassuringly, but the action seemed foreign on his pale face. He glanced at Erza who sat next to Natsu before following Lyon out of the room. As he descended to the second floor, he was aware of the anxious whispers that filled the hall. He knew that they were uneasy with Lyon's presence, but they could've been more conspicuous about it.

Without making eye contact with anyone, Gray quickly made his way to the large oak doors and exited the guild. As soon as the doors shut behind him, he felt Lyon's chilly hand wrap around his wrist and pull him through the crowded town. He looked at the silverette in confusion before he realized what was happening. He dug his heels into the ground and pressed all his weight into the back of his heels; Lyon maybe strong, but Gray was definitely no pushover. Lyon growled under his breath before releasing the raven's arm and crossing his arms over his chest impatiently.

"Why are you delaying the inevitable?" The silverette spat, "You can't expect me to leave you here; that's virtually suicide."

Gray rolled his eyes and touched the tips of Lyon's fingers,

_I'm not going to bail on them! I'm a member of their guild; if I leave they'll just go after us and attack you for taking me away!_

The older ice mage scoffed and glared at Gray through half-lidded eyes. When had Lyon gotten so goddamn arrogant; it really was becoming infuriating. Sure, he was a little stuck up when they were in Brago, but it was the only way to survive. He could even admit to being arrogant back then; it was a show of defiance. However, this arrogant Lyon was getting on his nerves and if the silverette didn't change his attitude Gray was going to punch the asshole in the face; brother or not.

"Do they even know the truth?"

The raven's eyes narrowed as he glared at the silverette,

_What do you think? It's not something that you talk about over Lunch! Anyways, you should know if I told them or not._

Lyon tensed and clenched his arms tightly; it was almost as if he was holding himself together. So, it looked like his assumptions were right after all; his brother had been watching over him from the shadows for the past ten years.

_Why didn't you say anything?! You could've joined the guild and had a family; you wouldn't have had to spend all these years alone._

"Being alone is better than being attached to people knowing you have to leave them someday." Lyon countered, "I mean look at the predicament you're in! You connected with a fucking Dragon Slayer and to make matters worse you're his fated! Do you have any idea what you have done?!"

Gray bristled at that accusation; it's not like he wanted to be fated to Natsu. Well, he did, but not if it meant that Natsu would die if he were to die. The pinkette had so much to live for and Gray had the power to take that away from him. Then there was the whole matter of if Natsu wanted to marry and have children in the future; no respectable woman would want their husband to have another person in their heart… someone he was forced to treat better.

_You think I wanted to do this to him! I didn't want them involved; I tried to push them away, but they had none of it. Natsu reached out to me and became my rock; I didn't know the implications of that. I was EIGHT YEARS OLD and I knew nothing of Soothsayers until now so you can shove your accusations up your ass!_

"Even if you knew nothing of your heritage, you knew that there was a possibility that the Soul Catcher Guild and the scientists survived the attack. You should have stuck to the shadows and kept away from people!"

_But that's not what Ur wanted for us!_

A harsh crack resounded through the slightly frigid air. Gray let go of Lyon's fingers and brought his palm to his cheek. The skin under his fingers was hot to the touch and throbbed insistently. He stared at his brother wide eyed; he did not expect Lyon to hit him… he never has before. When he gazed into the silverette's eyes he saw nothing but pain, hatred and suffering.

"Don't you dare say her name! You lose that right when you killed her!"

He flinched as if he had been slapped again. He had never forgotten what he had done and he never would; what he didn't know was that Lyon knew about it as well. The three of them got separated; Lyon was swallowed by the chaotic crowd of prisoners while Gray had remained clinging to Ur's side. The screams were echoing inside his head and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He could hear the explosions, the cries of pain, and the sounds of bodies dropping to the floor… eyes lifeless…never to see anything ever again.

She said that she was still alive, but they wouldn't be able to be together anymore. She said that she would continue to watch over them until their darkness had been sealed. He didn't mean to kill her, he didn't mean for his parents to die either. Maybe, he should just disappear…Natsu was going to lose his life because of him too someday. He wouldn't kill himself, that would just defeat his purpose, but he would disappear… it was the only way to protect the people of Fiore…

If the opportunity ever arose, he would take it. He would use the forbidden technique of the ice mages if only to protect those he cared about. He may no longer be present, but his life force would still linger so Natsu would still live, even if his life was trapped in a shell of ice…

"GRAY STOP!"

FTFTFTFT

Natsu sat with his face buried in his hands on the corner of the infirmary bed. He was faintly aware of Erza's presence beside him, but he wasn't ready to acknowledge the world yet. When those bastards showed up and tried to take Gray, he knew something was up; he just didn't expect it to become this complex.

It had never occurred to him that Gray Fullbuster was his Fated; all the clues were there, but he just refused to look at the full picture. It explained everything about their relationship and how Gray's abilities worked on him differently than everyone else. If he were to meet other dragon slayers, the raven would be able to talk to them without touch as well, but not as strongly as he was able to connect with Natsu himself…

He really should have listened to Igneel more…

"Natsu, are you going to be alright?"

The pinkette shook himself out of thoughts and turned to face his surrogate sister. The red head was watching him worriedly; it was an expression rarely seen on her face and it didn't belong there. He sighed and ran a hand through his pink hair before nodding his head slightly. He smiled when he felt Erza grasp his hand tightly,

"Everything is going to be alright; we'll keep him safe."

He squeezed her hand in return before getting to his feet,

"I know, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Then there's the whole older brother business… why do you think Gray hasn't said anything?"

"I don't know, but we all have pasts to burden and from the way we found him back then, I'm sure his past is a dark one."

The pinkette paced the room in frustration as he thought about the ice mage,

"But we haven't even thought to ask him either…not that he'd tell us anyway. He refused to even tell us about his nightmares."

Natsu shuddered as he thought back to the nightmares Gray used to have when they were children. They happened frequently and the raven would walk around the guild like the undead for weeks at a time. The pinkette was often pulled out of his sleep by the insistent thrashing and the whimpers echoing through his mind. At that time, Natsu was only able to get Gray's emotions without touch, so he knew something was bothering the young ice mage; but he didn't know what it was.

Erza opened her mouth to respond when the infirmary door almost flew off its hinges. A familiar blonde celestial mage was standing in the doorway gasping for breath. She stumbled into the room and grabbed onto Natsu's shoulders before shaking him back and forth hastily. The movement immediately caused his stomach to unsettle and his face was slowly starting to turn green.

"L-Lucy…l-let me g-go, damnit!"

The blonde jumped back and looked at the motion sick dragon slayer apologetically. He gathered his bearings and waited for his stomach to settle down again; motion sickness was a pain in the ass!

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Erza demanded.

"It's snowing outside and it's below zero!" She screeched frantically.

Natsu's heart stopped for a moment before he ran passed Lucy, down the stairs and out of the guild hall. He could hear Lucy and Erza running behind him; in fact they almost ran into his back when he stopped abruptly. The air was dropping by the second and it was practically a blizzard; he could faintly catch Gray's emotions, but they were so scattered and confused it was hard to pinpoint what was wrong.

He sniffed the air experimentally and the smell of pine forest mint exploded into his senses; at least the ice mage wasn't too far away. He started to run in the general direction of the scent with a heavy feeling in his heart. It had been a long, long time since Gray had lost control this badly; the last time was about a year after Gray joined the guild when it happened. That had to be the scariest moment of Natsu's life.

"Natsu, it's just like back then." Erza growled.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," He spat, "If that marshmallow hurt him, there is going to be hell to pay!"

It didn't take them long to find the source of the blizzard; although, Natsu and Erza weren't too fond of the irony. Gray and Lyon were standing in the same spot Gray had lost control of his magic and froze that man ten years ago; the place where it all began. As the three mages got closer, they realized that Lyon was shaking Gray back and forth while calling out to him.

"Lyon, what's going on?!" Natsu roared as he stopped in front of them.

The silverette didn't answer, but moved away from the dragon slayer; disgust evident on his face. The pinkette ignored him and focused his attention on Gray instead. The raven was staring blankly ahead; his deep blue eyes glazed over and distant. Tears were falling down his cheeks and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Natsu growled and turned to Lyon once more,

"What the hell did you do?!"

Lyon glared at him before looking away uncomfortably,

"It's for him to tell you."

Natsu let fire engulf his fist and he swung at Lyon, effectively punching him in the nose. The ice mage stumbled back and hissed in pain from the intense heat brushing against his cold skin. Natsu raised his fist to punch him again, when the air plummeted once more instantaneously putting out the fire on his fists.

This was not good…

"Erza, Lucy, make sure marshmallow doesn't get away; I have a bone to pick with him."

"But Natsu, what are…"

The blonde was cut off by the red head putting a hand on her shoulder. The Queen of the Fairies turned her attention on the bleeding ice mage and a dark aura engulfed her; he was definitely in for some pain. Natsu pushed what was happening around him to the back of his mind and moved his attention back to Gray. The ice mage's skin was practically transparent and his breath was escaping in pained gasps.

Natsu reached out and touched Gray's frozen cheek gently causing the solid tear drops to melt and cascade down his face. He pressed his forehead against Gray's and was finally able to hear quiet mumblings coming through their link. He couldn't decipher the words because of the overwhelming emotions, but he knew that they were dark. He knew that Gray was blaming himself for something that he shouldn't.

The sound of cracking ice reached his sensitive ears forcing him out of the link. He stared at Gray and noticed hairline cracks appearing across the pale skin and parts of his face were starting to tear away; while this was happening the blizzard around them started to get worse… ice pellets have been added into the mix and goddamnit it hurt like hell.

"You have to get him to stop!" Lyon shouted frantically.

Natsu glanced at the older ice mage and was shocked to see pure, unadulterated fear seeping through his once stoic mask,

"He's using one of the forbidden arts of ice magic!" He continued shouting, "If you don't stop him, he'll disappear!"

Disappear?!

Natsu forced heat into his hands and pressed his head against Gray's once again. He could feel, the ice mage slipping away bit by bit; if he didn't do something soon he would…

"GRAY STOP!"

He felt his fire flare up against his body and was vaguely aware of the dragon scales decorating his body once more. He focused as the two powerful magics battled one another in an attempt to destroy the other. He stared deep into the ice mage's vacant eyes and was relieved when he felt the chaotic emotions in Gray's mind receding. Slowly, light returned to those beautiful eyes before exhaustion swept over them.

"N-Natsu?"

At that moment, Gray's legs gave out and the dragon slayer pulled him close to his chest. He relaxed when he heard the steady heart beat thrumming in his Fated's chest. His flames and scales faded into oblivion, along with the ice and snow signaling the end of a potential disaster. He carded his fingers through the raven hair as Gray slept peacefully while he glanced at Lyon from the corner of his eye,

"You have a lot of explaining to do marshmallow."

Lyon collapsed to his knees as he stared at his younger brother and the dragon slayer,

"Maybe you'll be able to help us after all…"

TBC

**Here's another chapter guys! Sorry for the late update, but my mind has been focused on Escape lately… I just really wanted to get the drama started with that one. Anyways, looks like it's trouble in paradise as more and more questions appear for Natsu and the gang. Will all finally be answered and will Lyon ever forgive Gray about what happened to Ur? Keep on reading to find out! Waiting for you reviews! :)**

**-sktrgrl**

**PS. I wanted to know more about Silver in the last chapter… Minerva can go die in a hole for all I care -.-**


	7. Chapter 7 - Becoming Crystal Clear

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Fairy Tail… Yes, I wish I did…**

**Warnings: Future Yaoi, Language and Violence**

Natsu carefully lifted Gray onto his back; just as he had all those years ago. The ice mage was a lot bigger than he was back then, but still small enough for the dragon slayer to carry him comfortably. The raven's cool breath brushed against the side of his neck causing chills to spread across his warm skin; and he knew that it wasn't because of the cold. The dragon slayer returned his attention to the other mages standing behind him and was met with one confused (Lucy), one worried (Erza) and one astonished (Lyon) reactions. He adjusted his grip on his Fated and walked towards the mages silently. He stopped so he was facing Lyon; onyx met green, but Natsu could sense the slight change in the silverette.

"Alright marshmallow," Natsu growled, "What the hell just happened? What did you say to him that made him so upset?"

The older ice mage opened his mouth to respond, but he was effectively cut off when the blade of a sword was pressed against his throat threateningly,

"Choose your answer wisely or you'll have to deal with me; is that clear?"

Lyon nodded slightly and Natsu tried to suppress a laugh that was bubbling in his throat. He could practically _smell_ the fear that was radiating off him; it felt good that Erza's demonic anger wasn't directed at him for once. The silverette sighed contemplatively and stayed silent for a few quick moments before he started to speak.

"I honestly can't tell you a lot without revealing Gray's story and he wouldn't appreciate it if I told his story; it would be better for you to hear his side of things anyway."

"Well, what can you tell us?" The pinkette demanded impatiently.

The ice mage rolled his eyes and glanced around them before starting to walk away. Before Natsu could protest, Erza acted and clamped her hand down on his shoulder. He froze and turned to them; his onyx eyes burning with an unknown intensity that told, no ordered, his compliance. He shrugged Erza's hand off his shoulder and faced them once more,

"Listen, I'm not going to say anything when we're standing out in the open." He spat, "So if you want me to tell you anything, you're going to come with me out of the city limits."

"How do we know you won't try and take Gray from us?" Lucy whispered thoughtfully, "It seems like that's what you were trying to do before."

Natsu's head snapped around to stare at the blonde celestial mage. She wasn't upstairs when Lyon demanded that he and Gray leave Magnolia, so how could she possibly know that. She could've been spying on them (which he highly doubted) or she saw something. Lucy was the one to tell them that the weather had taken a turn for the worse which means she was outside; did she catch something from Lyon and Gray's conversation?

"Would you care to elaborate on that Lucy?" Erza demanded authoritatively.

The blonde jumped at the harsh voice and her gaze dropped down her feet nervously,

"When I went to look for more keys, I noticed Lyon and Gray heading to the middle of town. Lyon had his hand around Gray's arm and he was trying to drag him out of the city; but Gray stopped him before they could get too far..."

Natsu's eyes narrowed and he glared at the ice mage,

"Is that true?"

Lyon shrugged his shoulders indifferently and refused to meet their eyes,

"Yes, but no matter what I said he didn't go anywhere. I now realize that I, no, we need your help."

Natsu stayed silent and stared at the ice mage standing before him warily. He quite honestly trusted this marshmallow as far as he could throw him; which admittedly wouldn't be that far since it would mean he would actually have to touch him to do so. Gray's warm body pressing on his back however told a different story. Natsu knew that the raven would want to trust this silver haired ice mage with his life.

"I'll trust you for Gray's sake; I want to keep him safe." Natsu told him, "But if you try anything stupid I'll beat your ass so hard you'll wish that you were a hermit crab."

Lucy sweatdropped,

"…A hermit crab…why a hermit crab?"

Erza glanced over at her and shrugged her shoulders non-committedly as if saying 'that's Natsu for you'. Lyon, however, stared at the dragon slayer long and hard before nodding his head in understanding. With that final decision, the members of Fairy Tail and Lyon made their way out of the city; quickly, rocks morphed into tree and stone. After about ten minutes, they stopped and stood outside the mouth of a cave.

"Where are we?" Lucy asked curiously.

Lyon walked through the opening before turning his head over his shoulder,

"This is where I have been staying for the past ten years."

FTFTFTFT

Once he entered the cave, Natsu slowly lowered Gray off his back and propped him against the wall. The dragon slayer pressed his fingers to the raven's neck to find his pulse point and was happy to find that it was still going strong. The ice mage was definitely worn out and he would probably sleep for the next couple hours. The pinkette scanned over every part of him for signs of injury, but the only thing he noticed was the thin scar that rested above his left eyebrow. He knew that was from when he was using that forbidden ice technique; that was where the skin started to be torn away. Natsu grimaced at the memory, but tried to push it to the back of his mind.

Gray was safe and he was still with them…

Everything was going to be okay…he hoped.

Natsu noticed a fire pit near him stoked with dry wood. He shifted his gaze over to Lyon and heard him mumbling about finding a lighter. The dragon slayer sighed before setting his hand ablaze and touching one of the pieces of wood. The fire immediately took hold showering the cave with light. Lyon jumped in surprise, but he sent a gratefully glance towards Natsu. He grabbed a hold of a blanket that rested on the bed in the corner and walked over to the unconscious ice mage before draping the blanket over his slumbering frame.

"You care about him a lot don't you?" Erza whispered as she leaned on the other side of the slumbering ice mage.

The silverette nodded absently,

"Back then, he was one of the only people I had; we took care of each other."

Natsu gazed at the brothers sadly; he knew what that felt like. Before Igneel disappeared, they only had each other as well. It must have hurt Gray terribly to be separated from his older brother; according to the ice mage, he had thought that Lyon was dead all these years.

"You've been living here for the past ten years, yeah?" The silverette nodded, "Then why did you let Gray think you were dead?"

Lyon sat on the dirty ground and rested his arms on his knees comfortably,

"I suggest you fairies sit down, this is going to be a long story."

Natsu hesitated before sliding to the floor so that his back was against the rough cave wall. His arm was brushing Gray's which immediately set him at ease; it amazed him how Gray's presence could do that sometimes. He felt Lucy at his other side watching Lyon intently with curiousness on her face once more; he thought he remembered her mentioning that she like stories once. Erza remained standing, but her stature was more relaxed and every now and again she would run her fingers through Gray's raven hair gently; as if she was trying to comfort him.

"Alright, for me this story starts when I'm seven or eight years old. My ice magic had awakened early and it was hard for me to control. I lived with my grandmother, my parents died a long time ago; anyways, I decided to go search for a teacher so I could learn how to control my magic. However, things didn't work out the way that I planned.

"One day, I went into a tavern to ask some mages where I could find a teacher who specializes in ice magic. A man with red hair and golden eyes told me where I could find a teacher and said that he would take me to her…"

Natsu's body tensed at the description of the man,

"Stauffer…"

Lucy covered her hand with her mouth to stifle her gasp while the dragon slayer heard Erza's hand clench and unclench. He could tell that the red headed mage wanted to hunt down the bastard and beat him to a bloody pulp again; and Natsu was right beside her with that one. He turned his attention back to Lyon, whose face darkened angrily.

"Liam Stauffer is a bounty hunter who works for the dark guild known as Soul Catcher. At the time I didn't know anything about bounty hunters or dark guilds so I didn't know that he was a big name to the magic world; I followed him out of the tavern and the next thing I knew everything went black.

"When I came to, I was in a prison cell with shackles around both my wrists. There was a bunch of other children in the cell with me, but I didn't recognize anyone and started to panic. Suddenly, a gentle hand was on my shoulder and a voice was telling me to calm down and that everything was going to be alright…I learned later that her name was Ur.

"She told me of how I was in a research facility and asked me if there was any reason why I would be brought there. I told her of my ice magic and she got this look on her face; the next thing I knew she was telling me that she was going to teach me how to control it, so I would be able to escape one day. Not too long after, maybe a couple months or so, we met Gray."

Silence enveloped them as Lyon's story sunk in; it didn't take long for Natsu to notice all the unanswered questions though. But before he could say anything Erza spoke first,

"So Gray isn't your biological brother then?"

The silverette shook his head and glanced at the sleeping raven,

"No, but we were stuck together for almost two years and Gray was really young when he was brought to the facility; he needed someone to look after him. He also had ice magic like Ur and I so he just stuck with us."

"How old was he?" Lucy whispered.

"When he was brought to the facility he was around six years old I believe."

Natsu stared at Gray sadly; he was so young when he was taken. It made him wonder what his story was, but he knew that the raven would open up to him eventually. When it seemed like no one else was going to ask a question, Natsu decided to ask his question.

"What was the research facility for and why were you taken by Stauffer?"

If it was possible, Lyon's face darkened even more. The silverette stared into the crackling fire for a few moments before he started to speak again.

"The research facility was funded by the Soul Catcher Guild; they were studying 'Resurrection'. The master of the guild, Anubis, wanted the scientists to solve the mysterious connection between magic and resurrection. Dr. Necro and his scientists learned that ice magic was the key since the most commonly known ice magic is maker magic."

Erza glared,

"The magic you and Gray use."

The older ice mage nodded solemnly,

"That was why I was brought to the facility, especially since my maker magic has the ability to move like living things; for example, my ice eagle. The scientists experimented on me to see if they could use the core of my ice magic to create living, breathing things inevitably, their experiments kept failing… that is until they found Gray."

Lucy raised her hand slightly to gain his attention,

"Why was Gray so important to their plan; it doesn't make sense."

"It took me a while to understand why myself," Lyon sighed, "Gray uses static ice magic, which means his magic can only make objects; so at first glance he didn't seem all that important. Then I learned of his gift; at the time I didn't know he was a soothsayer, but it did tell me why the scientists wanted him…well, it told Ur why they wanted him.

"The reason why their experiments kept failing was because they didn't possess a soul or emotions; Gray's gift would give them the ability to obtain that."

Natsu raised an eyebrow,

"How the hell did they get that idea?"

Lyon looked at him seriously,

"They made the connection of Gray being the only blood of the Soothsayer line. His gift would be able to create a soul if he was able to make a bond with the being."

Erza paled,

"But that means…"

"That explains why Stauffer got all excited when he found out that Gray and I were Fated." Natsu growled, "He wasn't kidding when they said they could use my life force for their plan; if they use my life, Gray's soothsaying gifts will transfer to that being as well."

Lyon ran his hand through his hair in frustration,

"And that's not even the worst part…"

"Y-You mean there's more?!" Lucy squeaked.

Erza stared at her feet in contemplation; Natsu knew out of all of them she was going to be the one to figure it out. The red head's gaze snapped to Lyon and her dark eyes bored into his anxiously,

"Lyon, who are they trying to revive?"

"Zeref."

…Well Shit…

FTFTFTFT

Dr. Necro stared at the picture he held in his hand; that faint smile still on his face. He still couldn't believe that they had finally found him. Gray Fullbuster, the key to their entire operation; Anubis will be pleased to know that his pet has been located. Now both their dreams could be realized; that Soothsayer was the key to it all. It would be even better if they were able to find #5966 so they could even create a new and stronger body. He was bound to be even stronger than he was back then; that experience will make an even better body for them.

He was wrenched out of his thoughts by a loud knock on his office door. He told them to come in and he nearly fell out of his chair when he saw Liam Stauffer standing in the doorway. Sadly, it was not in the way that he wanted to see him; he wanted to see Stauffer dragging in a young soothsaying ice mage, instead he comes in with blood dirtying his carpet.

How disappointing.

"Stauffer, I told you not return unless you had something useful. Now go back out there and bring me…"

"…your Soothsayer, I know." Stauffer growled darkly, "But I do have some news that you'll find most satisfying."

Necro tapped his fingers on his desk contemplatively and studied the bounty hunter before him silently before relaxing his posture. He motioned for the man to come closer and called Schumer in to deal with hunter's wounds; he knew that Stauffer wouldn't say anything otherwise. He waited patiently for the hunter to be bandaged. When he was finished, Schumer collected the scraps off the floor and disappeared out of the room as if he wasn't even there.

"Now," Necro spat, "What information do you have for me?"

The red head smirk before linking his arms behind his head,

"When I went to apprehend your pet, I happened to run into patient 5966; seems he has been keeping an eye on 4729 for all these years."

His eyebrow rose and his face twitched into a disarming smile,

"Well that's interesting, now why aren't they both here?"

Stauffer's smirk turned into a smile and he leaned over Necro's desk so that their noses were practically touching,

"Because, I only have two hands and it so happens that your Soothsayer connected with a Dragon Slayer; not only that, but they're Fated."

Necro leaned back and started to chuckle…

That chuckled morphed into a suppressed laugh…

Soon enough that laugh turned loud and maniacal…

Their dreams were slowly becoming reality.

TBC

**Oi Minna! Gomen for the super late update for this story, I just couldn't get the juices flowing for this one. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though and that you enjoyed it :) More of their questions have been answered, but they have yet to learn why Gray tried to disappear! I suggest you wait for the next chapter to find out whether or not his past is revealed and if NatsuxGray fluff occurs ;) Waiting on your reviews! **

**-sktrgrl**

**Ps. I will update Escape soon; I just need to figure out where I'm going to go with that one!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Confessions of the Heart

**Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns Fairy Tail! **

**Warnings: Yaoi, Language, Violence**

When Gray opened his eyes, he didn't have a clue where he was.

The last thing he remembered was arguing with Lyon and then an intense heat along with Natsu staring at him as if he was death warmed over. A sharp pain was shooting through his left temple causing him to press the heel of his palm to the aching spot in an attempt to soothe it. His movements froze when his fingers brushed against rough indentation in his skin; the mark was thin and narrow, but he knew that wasn't there last time. What bugged him the most was that he didn't know where he got it from; had Stauffer come back with reinforcements and defeated his friends?

That would definitely explain his memory loss and Natsu's worried face looming over his vision. Staying as still as possible, Gray searched his surroundings so he could figure out what the hell was going on. The first thing he noticed was the warmth of the fire pressing against his skin as well as something scratchy pressing against him. Using faint light of the fire he was able to see the woolly green blanket draped over him. He suddenly became aware of the warmth resting on his shoulder when a corner of the blanket slipped off him.

He turned his head to see Natsu's head lying on his shoulder; his face clear of pain and was smoothed out by the touches of sleep. Gray's brow furrowed in confusion as he stared around the room, now revealed to be a cave; he could see the outlines of Erza and Lucy on the other side of him and Lyon sleeping in a makeshift bed by the fire…

Okay…now he was really confused…

His eyes wandered over to the dragon slayer slumbering on his shoulder and he couldn't help but smile lightly. The pinkette was absolutely adorable when he was sleeping; no one could deny it. Of course, he would never say that to Natsu's face; that would not only be embarrassing, but he would start making a scene. Gray laughed under his breath at the thought and absently ran his fingers through his Fated's sakura coloured. This simple act had always been able to comfort him, even when he was suffering from nightmares as a child.

While growing up, Natsu would always pester him about his nightmares and try to get him to tell the confused dragon slayer what was wrong; but Gray was adamant in not letting him know. Even back then, he knew that the hotheaded dragon slayer would have wanted to hunt down the members of the Soul Catcher Guild and beat the snot out of them. He just couldn't let that happen; if he were to lose Natsu to them, he doesn't know what he would do. He loved the dragon slayer with all that he was; his life would be empty without him around…

"And you think I don't feel the same way?"

Gray froze in his motions when the sleep filled voice reached his ears. His wide deep blue eyes stared at the source of the voice with complete and utter disbelief and fear. He pulled back his hand as if he had been burned and struggled to his feet. Natsu's tired, but slightly relieved, green eyes watched him calmly. He hated when the dragon slayer stared at him like that; it was hard to read his emotions when he looked like that. Usually Natsu was so easy for him to read, but when he acted like this, it was if he was with an entirely different human being. Anxiety bubbled up in his chest when he thought about what he unintentionally told the older teen; Natsu knows that he loves him…

He backed towards the mouth of the cave, his gaze never leaving Natsu's. The pinkette raised his hand in over to latch onto his wrist, but Gray simple dodged and ran out of the cave as fast as his legs could carry him. The late summer wind pressed against his bandaged torso as he ran; he could feel tears accumulating in the corner of his eyes but he tried to force them back. He couldn't cry… he wouldn't cry! He was about to break through the last line of forest when a warm hand latched onto his wrist with bruising force.

_Let me go Natsu, please let me go…_

"Why the hell would I do that?!" The pinkette demanded, "So you can run away from me again?!"

Gray flinched from the harsh words and feebly tried to pull his arm out of Natsu's grip. He felt the hand loosen its hold, but he knew there was no way he was getting away from this. His shoulders slackened in defeat and he collapsed onto his knees, dragging the dragon slayer down with him. He didn't even notice that the tears he was fighting to keep at bay breached his barriers until Natsu's warm thumb wiped the wetness from under his eyes.

_I…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry!_

The older teen sighed in exasperation as he pulled the raven into his arms. Gray hesitated slightly from the sudden movement before wrapping his arms around the dragon slayer and burying his face into the corner of his neck. Natsu's hand rubbed his back softly while the other pressed his face even deeper into his neck. Gray clung to the pinkette for all it was worth; he didn't want this moment to end because when it did, all his hopes would be dashed.

When Natsu leaned away, Gray shifted his gaze to the grassy ground. He didn't want to face Natsu when he said that he couldn't accept his feelings. Of course, this was Natsu that he was talking about and wasn't surprised when he felt a warm hand tilting his head up so that they were looking into each other's eyes. As he stared into the green pools, the raven could see some sort of intensity and determination burning in them.

"You damn idiot, you don't need to apologize." Natsu whispered, "Well, you should apologize for scaring the shit out of me and everyone else earlier, but you don't need to apologize for this."

What he did earlier?

Judging from the concealed pain in Natsu's eyes, he was willing to guess that whatever he did was really bad. He tried to think back to that time, but he still couldn't remember anything but Lyon and the extreme warmth. He was about to ask what happened when he caught a glimpse from Natsu's mind. He tried to ignore it, but it was as if he couldn't look away. Snow was wiping around him and ice was raining from the sky. His mouth nearly dropped open when he saw parts of himself starting to peel away; most noticeably on his left temple. Gray raised a hand slowly ran his fingers over his temple once more.

It was like what happened with Ur…

He activated Ice Shell without even noticing he was casting it? How the hell was that possible?! He knew that that particular spell needed the caster's complete will in order to activate; Gray wasn't even in the stance for the spell to activate… there wasn't even a magic circle. His mind wandered to what he was thinking about before the spell would've been cast and he immediately thought of how he wanted to disappear…The raven snapped out of his thoughts and found himself looking into Natsu's worried eyes once more,

"I was so scared that I was going to lose you…" The pinkette choked, "I-I thought I wasn't going to be able to save you."

Even though he didn't need to, Gray reached out and gently touched either side of Natsu's warm cheeks and rested his head so that their foreheads pressed together. The left over tears that mingled on his lashes chose that time to fall down his face. Natsu's green eyes watched him sadly as the tears tumbled from his cheeks and onto his lap.

_It won't happen again, _He promised, _I won't put you through that again._

"You're right it won't happen again," Natsu agreed, "Because I'm going to save you; I'm going to fight by your side and stop **them** from touching you ever again."

_No! You don't know them like I do! I can't let them hurt you and I can't let them hurt Fairy Tail! Damnit Natsu, why don't you understand?!_

Frozen rivers clashed with green earth before they collided in a massive tide. Before he could even blink, Gray was being consumed by fire. He stared wide eyed at the pinkette's closed lids as the slightly chapped lips pressed against his own. He gasped when Natsu ran his tongue along his bottom lip, allowing the appendage to sneak past the gates and into the cavern. As electricity and warmth started to jump between them, Gray allowed his eyes to slip closed and kissed the dragon slayer with just as much fervor. All too soon, Natsu pulled away with a final bite to Gray's lower lip,

"You're right, I don't understand what you're going through," He ran a finger down Gray's cheek, "But I do know that I want to protect the people I love for once; I won't allow them to slip through my fingers ever again! You're my everything Gray and all I have ever wanted was to have the strength to protect you from your demons."

_Natsu…_

"I refuse to let them take you without a fight; if your bastard of a brother can accept that, so can you because no matter what you say, I'm never letting you go. Our fate was sealed that day eight years ago when snow fell in the summer and no one is going to ruin that… I love you too much to let that happen."

Gray stared at his Fated with wide eyes; never in a million year had he imagined that Natsu would return his feelings. He wrapped his arms around the dragon slayer's neck and pulled him into a hug. He smiled faintly when he felt the warm arms wrap around his back and hold him tightly. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to fight the Soul Catcher Guild… together.

FTFTFTFT

Lyon woke up to watch Gray run out of the cave with Natsu hot on his heels. The silverette stared after his younger brother's fleeing back sadly and made a move to follow when he saw Erza shaking her head at him. He rolled his eyes and exited the cave anyways and was about to run when Titania's armoured hand latched onto his arm. He knew that if he truly wanted he could tear his arm away and run anyway, but for some reason he didn't. Maybe there was something he saw in Titania's eyes or maybe he trusted Natsu to bring his brother back; he could never be sure and he knew that he never would.

"Let Natsu handle it," She pleaded, "They need to talk this out."

Lyon's eyes narrowed,

"But what if he can't? Gray isn't simple and he has a roundabout way of approaching problems…"

Erza placed her hands on her hips and glared back,

"You think we don't know that; he's been with us for the past ten years. We know he's an idiot who blames himself for any misfortune that falls upon us and we've spent a long time trying to fix it. The only one who has ever come close to changing his view on the world was Natsu; so trust that he'll bring Gray back."

Lyon stared at the red headed knight as if she had grown another head. Natsu, the bumbling loud mouthed idiot had come the closest to changing Gray. That was definitely an accomplishment; even at six years old, the raven had tried to bear the weight of the world on his small shoulders. At the same time, this wasn't entirely Gray's fault; it was the scientists' fault. His fists clenched at his sides at the thought of a six year old Gray's tearstained face as he realized Ur's daughter was killed because she had tried to protect him.

"What happened to Gray in the facility Lyon?"

The silverette was snapped out of his anger by the question and he stared at Erza sadly,

"He has to tell you on his own; it wouldn't be right for me to tell you…"

Erza nodded solemnly and looked at the moon overhanging in the night sky. He could see the pain clearly etched on the twenty year old's pale face. Even from a young age, when Lyon used to watch over Gray from a distance, he was able to see the personality resemblance between Erza and Ur. Both tough on the outside, but inside they wanted to protect the one's they loved from experiencing the pain that they were forced to. That was one of the reasons why Lyon hadn't taken Gray from Fairy Tail sooner; he just couldn't do that to the young raven especially after everything he's been through.

Ur…

He really shouldn't have gotten mad at Gray like that. He actually didn't blame Gray for Ur's death at all; he knew that the raven haired woman would've done anything to protect them both. But to hear Gray mention his surrogate mother so nonchalantly and use her against him in an argument; that just pushed him over the edge. He actually slapped his younger brother and blamed him for something he couldn't control…

He reawakened the very fear that Natsu and the members of Fairy Tail had spent so many years trying to break.

"What happened in the town square?" Erza whispered, "Can you at least tell me that much?"

"It depends on what you want to know…" Lyon shrugged, "Do you want to know the why or the what?"

The armoury mage shifted her gaze from the moon in order to stare at him. Her deep brown eyes met his onyx and he waited patiently for her to answer. The red head sighed and crossed her arms over her chest,

"You probably won't tell me why, so what was that?" She demanded, "You called it a forbidden ice magic technique…"

Lyon shoved his hands in his pockets before facing Erza once more,

"He used a variation of a forbidden magic known as 'Ice Shell'; when casted, the magic uses the caster's life force to create an indestructible ice coffin. It requires the absolute will of the caster and since the caster's will is absolute, they disappear when the ice is created and become the ice itself…"

"So the ice pellets falling from the sky…"

"Yes, that was Gray's life force." Lyon nodded, "The fact that he was able to cast the spell without saying the incantation is worrisome…"

Erza's eyes narrowed,

"How do you know he didn't? He can't exactly say it."

"Because there was no casting circle," Lyon rolled his eyes, "But that doesn't matter, all that matters was that he was able to do it!"

"Why?"

"It means that his magic is starting to override his body."

FTFTFTFT

A silhouette listened to the mages talk from its place in the shadows. Dr. Necro would be pleased with these new developments. It moved away from its position and backed away from them without drawing their attention. It needed to be sure that its words would not be overheard; that would be rather inconvenient for their plan. The silhouette disappeared farther into the shadows and pulled out a communication lacrima.

A man with cold, amber eyes and chestnut brown hair appeared on the lacrima. At first he looked annoyed, but his face morphed into interest upon seeing who had contacted him. The silhouette watched as Necro put down his pen and closed his folder in order to give it his full attention.

"Have you discovered anything new?"

The silhouette chuckled darkly and smirked at the image of the man,

"It has begun sir; the boy's magic has started to spill over."

The brown haired man's eyes narrowed before a sly grin spread across his own face,

"So then it's only a matter of time then. Prepare to initiate phase two; Stauffer and the other bounty hunters shall arrive in the next eight hours."

"Yes sir."

They cut off the connection to the lacrima and the silhouette shoved the object into its holder. It was only a matter of time and then it would be free from the clutches of the Soul Catcher Guilde forever…

In eight hours, she would be free.

TBC

**Hey guys! Here is another chapter for you :) I hope you guys enjoy it and the fact that it is finally getting somewhere. They still don't know Gray's side of the story, but there was some NatsuxGray fluff to make up for it! I mean c'mon, they said they love each other! :D Who is the masked stranger and why is Gray's magic overriding his body?! What's going to happen to our heroes?! Waiting on your reviews :)**

**-sktrgrl**


	9. Chapter 9 - Frontal Attack

**Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns Fairy Tail**

**Warnings: Yaoi, Language and Violence**

The sun had already started to rise when Natsu and Gray had finally decided to return to the cave. Gray wouldn't admit it, but he was definitely still exhausted from the day before; even after sleeping for almost ten hours. The raven glanced over at the dragon slayer walking beside him and couldn't help but smile slightly. Natsu loved him… he didn't know how long he was going to have to tell himself that before it sunk in. However, this new just made things more difficult; now that he knew that his feelings were returned, it would be harder for him to leave when the time came.

Yes, he knew that Natsu, Erza and even Lucy could help him and Lyon, but he would not let them do so if it puts them in danger; this included Lyon too. They were his nakama, his family; he needed them just as much as they needed him. If there was any sign of them dying for his sake he would seriously kick their asses; it has already happened to him twice, he wouldn't be able to handle it if more people sacrificed themselves for him. He was tired of watching the people he loved dying before his eyes and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure no one does ever again.

"You're doing it again."

Gray jumped as Natsu's voice cut through his thoughts,

_Doing what?_

The dragon slayer stopped walking which in turn stopped the ice mage in his steps. The raven watched the pinkette as he tried to put his thoughts into words. As he waited, he noticed the tenseness in Natsu's shoulders and the slight shaking of his hands; it was obvious that he wanted to beat the shit out of something, and he had a pretty good idea who it was. When Gray focused on what was going on once more, Natsu was standing in front of him with his index finger poking the skin between Gray's dark eyebrows.

_W-What the hell are you doing?!_

"You're furrowing your eyebrows ice block," He whispered, "You're thinking too much again."

Gray huffed silently and glared at the dragon slayer as he moved away from the finger. Although the worry was evident in Natsu's eyes, he still had that same goofy smile on his face. The smile that everyone looked to for guidance; as long as he kept smiling, everything was going to be alright. But Gray knew better… Gray could read Natsu as easily as a fortune teller could read a crystal ball. He knew that Natsu was scared just as he was, but of course the flame brain was trying to act as if nothing was bothering him.

_At least I bother to think…_

Natsu blinked owlishly for a moment or to causing Gray to snicker; of course he wouldn't get it. The raven was once again wrenched out of his thoughts by Natsu, but this time it was because his warm hand was wrapped tightly around his own. He felt the horrid tell-tale heat of a blush spreading across the bridge of his nose; damn the dumbass for making him feel this way. His blush only darkened when Natsu tried to hold in a laugh; obviously he heard him…stupid soothsaying gift. Natsu lent down so that their noses were barely touching; their breath mingling between them comfortably. Was the dragon slayer **trying **to embarrass him?!

Now that's a stupid question; he's Natsu Dragneel of course he's trying to embarrass him!

Gray felt his body tense slightly as the pinkette slowly brushed his lips against his own; even from the smallest touch made him want more. The ice mage reached up and wrapped his arms around the dragon slayers neck and tangled his fingers in the pink hair. Natsu was about to lean in once more when his entire body froze and his head snapped up. Before Gray could even ask him what was wrong, a low growl erupted from the back of the fire mage's throat. Gray untangled himself from Natsu and followed the pinkette's furious gaze. Black smoke could be seen rising in the distance.

He didn't know how, but as soon as he saw that smoke, he knew what was happening. Without having to look back at Natsu, the ice mage started running. He could hear the dragon slayer's thundering steps as he ran close behind him, but he barely registered what was going on. The only thing he was thinking about was that Lyon, Erza and Lucy were in trouble and he had a pretty good idea about who was causing the trouble. For the millionth time in his life, he wished he was normal and that his parents were still alive. If they were still alive he wouldn't have been taken away and none of this would've been happening at all.

It was all his fault!

"Gray, I don't know what happened in your past, but I'm telling you now that you're wrong." Natsu argued, "It's happening to you, not because of you."

_You don't know anything Natsu, if you knew the whole story you wouldn't think that about me._

He knew that Natsu wanted to say something, but the dragon slayer never got a chance when they broke into the clearing surrounding the cave. Everything was burning; the trees, the grass, and the flowers, even the cave itself looked scorched. It's been a long time since he'd seen anything like this. The ice mage hadn't even noticed he had stopped running until he felt Natsu dive into him only to have a stray spell land where he was standing only moments before.

Standing intermittently throughout the field were mages dressed in purple shirts; almost like a military uniform. Even from where he was, he could see the insignias of the Soul Catcher Guild on their faces. As he continued to look around, he saw Erza fighting ten mages at once; she looked exhausted and it was getting harder and harder for her to requip into her armours. Lyon was almost in the same state as her; his body was covered in blood and he was shaking as he tried to stay standing. His beautiful ice creations were tinged pink because of the blood covering his hands. As for Lucy, he couldn't see her anywhere; he had to hope that she was alright and able to protect herself.

"Gray, are you okay?"

Gray glanced over at his Fated and gave him a stiff nod before slowly pushing himself to his feet. A tug in his gut told him to look over to Lyon once more and saw that his older brother was on his knees with a bounty hunter standing over him; and it wasn't just any bounty hunter. That red hair and those hawk-like eyes were something that Gray would never forget.

_Natsu, go help Erza!_

The pink haired dragon slayer stared him as if he had gone crazy,

"You know I can't…"

_She needs you! Go, I'll be fine; Lyon will be there._

Natsu watched him hesitantly before nodding slightly; Gray knew that he wasn't happy and he had a reason to be, he was going against his nature after all. The raven squeezed the dragon slayer's arm lightly before turning on his heel and running towards Lyon and Stauffer. The bounty hunter had his hand raised and Gray could distinctly hear the sound of a chant in the air. Lyon was just staring up at the red haired man, not moving a muscle; that could only mean that he was under the control of blood magic…

_Ice Make: Geyser!_

As soon as his hands touched the ground, ice began to shoot through the earth. Stauffer looked over at him, but was too late to move out of the way. The ice geyser shot him into the sky and away from his older brother. Gray didn't stop running until he was beside Lyon; the raven fell to his knees and supported the older ice mage by wrapping his arms around his bloody back.

"Gray…"

_Lyon! You're going to be okay right? Please tell me you're going to be okay!_

Lyon chuckled, but it almost sounded like a choke,

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Suddenly, Gray was wrenched from his older brother by something he couldn't see; all he knew was that one minute he was holding Lyon and the next, they were both flat on their back. The raven pushed himself so he was back on his knees and found him looking a man who had to be around Lyon and Erza's age. He was pale and had a bird-like nose with brown and gold hair; the way it was styled kind of resembled a rooster.

"4729 and 5966; Master Anubis would award me if I were to bring you to him."

Gray simply stared at him and watched as the stranger's face slowly started to turn red with anger. It didn't take long for the raven to realize that he was waiting for him to say something…clearly this shithead was a bit of a bird brain. Gray mentally face palmed, seriously bird brain? He's obviously been hanging out with Natsu too much; it has appeared he has caught the dragon slayer's ability to state the obvious via stupid puns.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lyon spat as he struggled back to a sitting position.

The stranger turned his attention to the bloody ice mage and smirked darkly,

"I go by the name of Racer, and I'm the fastest man alive."

FTFTFTFT

Natsu watched as his Fated ran towards his fallen older brother. Every instinct he had was telling him to go after the ice mage, but he also knew that Erza probably wouldn't last much longer without his help. Although it was painful, he turned his back on the raven and ran towards the struggling requip mage with his hands enflamed. He dove at the nearest member and struck him across the face, sending him flying through the air. Erza glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and smiled at him gratefully before returning her attention to the battle.

The furious dragon slayer continued to take down all the dark mages around him. Luckily they weren't too strong or else he would actually have to worry about this stupid guild. All he wanted to do was kick their dumb asses and send them all to Hell for wanting to hurt Gray. They thought it was bad when he demolished entire cities on accident, imagine what would happen if he were to actually **try**; Fiore would definitely have something to worry about then wouldn't they?

One of his flaming feet struck a nearby mage under their chin with a satisfying crack before sending them flying into the surrounding trees. Natsu was about to turn on his heel and attack the next closest person when a hand wrapped around his wrist and flipped him onto the ground. The pinkette fought to hold in the hiss that gathered in his throat from the pain of his spine landing on a particularly jagged rock… just his luck.

"Ah, if it isn't the fucking soothsayer's pet lizard," A familiar voice sneered, "How adorable."

Natsu glared up at the man standing over him; those infuriating golden staring down at him mockingly… it made his blood boil just looking at him. What did please him however were the amount of blood and cuts that were decorating his pale skin; looks like Lyon and Gray got this bastard good. Without moving his eyes from the enemy Natsu got to his feet, his green eyes shining with malicious intent.

"Stauffer," He growled, "Let's end this right now!"

The pinkette felt his body douse itself in flames as he stared down his prey; he was about to dive forward and attack when the most heartbreaking sound filled his sensitive ears. The sound was so painful that he was sure that his heart was going to break in two.

_LYON!_

It was as if the entire battle stopped and it was only Gray staring blankly at the fallen body of his brother. Even from where he was standing he could smell the suffocating scent of the marshmallow's blood. Natsu turned his head and stared as someone withdrew a sword from the side of Lyon's stomach as he collapsed onto the dirt ground. He couldn't see who did it after all, the person was wearing a cloak and he couldn't see their face, but he did know that scent…

It was the smell of coconut.

TBC

**I know a really short chapter please don't kill me; this chapter was so hard to write! I promise that the next chapter is going to better, I just cannot write battle scenes well at all and it's really depressing :( either way I hope you liked some of the chapter and I'm waiting on your reviews :)**

**-sktrgrl**


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