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“Gray!” Erza yelled his name. Her armor clanked as she rushed over, sword in her hand, ready to attack a threat that had long since been burned.
Gray felt the air rush out of his lungs as he remembered the way the pink haired boy had sucked in the flames surrounding him, only for brighter flames to erupt out of his mouth at the monster.
Gray had never seen any magic like it.
“Are you alright?” Erza interrogated, hoisting him up and beginning to inspect him.
“Are you alive?” The boy’s eyes were green, the slitted eyes glowed in the smoke.
“I’m fine.” Gray brushed her hands off of him.
“What happened to the monster?” Erza questioned. “I came as soon as I heard the town was being attacked-”
“It’s dead,” Gray answered. “It didn’t stand a chance.”
Erza’s smile was proud. “Did you-”
Gray shook his head, but felt himself begin to smile despite not being able to claim the victory as his.
“Fire dragon-!”
“He was amazing, Erza! I’ve never seen anything like it!” Gray felt excitement rush over him. “He breathed fire.”
Erza furrowed her brows. “Who?”
“I- I don’t know,” Gray admitted, “I didn’t catch his name, but he’s another wizard!”
“Is he part of a guild?” Erza questioned with a weird look on her face.
“No. I didn’t see a guild mark on him.” And there wasn’t a piece of skin that Gray hadn’t seen on the teen.
“Well, you should have invited him to Fairy Tail then!” Erza slammed her fist into his head.
“I- uh. There was a lot going on, okay?!” It wasn’t like they’re first meeting had been cute.
Erza shook her head. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the guild.”
Despite knowing that he wouldn’t see him, Gray still looked in the direction the boy and his flying cat(?) had disappeared in. “Yeah.”
.
Gray’s magic reserves were already low when the monster entered the town with a roar. For a moment, he’d been teleported back to Isvan and it was Deliora on a rampage.
“Go!” He shouted at the people. He created shields of ice to protect the fleeing people from rubble. He sent out lances of ice to distract the beast any time it tried to attack someone other than him.
He was still sore from the group of vulcans he’d taken on for the quest. He didn’t have the stamina or the magic to take down a beast like this; but he hoped that he could distract it long enough for help to arrive or for the people to evacuate.
“Hey!” Someone yelled. Gray turned his head in time to see a pink haired boy crash into the roof of a nearby building. “I’m gonna kick your ass!” The teen roared at the beast with a pointed finger.
The beast tilted its head an inch before bringing its hand up to swat at the teen.
“Ice make-” Gray tried to summon his magic only for exhaustion to slam into him. He was running out of magic, and there was no way he was getting to the teen in time. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to close his eyes or watch in abject horror.
The hand didn’t make contact with the teen, though. At the last second, he lunged and ran along the beast’s arm. “Fire dragon’s-” The rest of the chant got lost in the wind, but Gray watched as the boy’s fist lit on fire before it slammed into the beast’s face.
The teen, Pinky, Gray would call him, sprang back to the ground as the beast stumbled back. “Yeesh! You’re tougher than you look,” Pinky taunted.
The beast roared and clasped its hands together before trying to slam them against the teen. Pinky just looked up and watched.
Gray surged into action. His hands were already in formation, fist on palm, low magic reserves be damned— “Ice make: shield!”
Pinky turned to him with a surprised look as the beast’s hands slammed into Gray’s shield. The ice cracked but didn’t shatter.
“Oi! Ice bastard!” Pinky growled at him. “This is my fight! Butt out!”
Gray recoiled before returning his glare. “I, hah, totally just saved you!” He said as he tried to catch his breath.
“What did you just say?” Pinky roared before suddenly his whole body was covered in flames.
Gray stumbled back from the sudden blazing heat. He watched on with an unfamiliar sense of fascination as the flames enveloped Pinky’s body and grew to take the shape of a…dragon? “What the…?”
The flames melted the shield of ice, so when the beast slammed its clasped hands down it was Pinky’s forearm that blocked the blow.
“Holy shit.” Gray watched as Pinky tanked the hit.
“I’m gonna burn you alive for what you did! Fire dragon sword horn!” Pinky roared before launching himself at the beast head first; he must’ve used his flames to propel himself into the air, or were his legs just that strong?
After crashing into the beast headfirst, Pinky opened his mouth and suddenly the fire surrounding them was being sucked in. He closed his mouth as he…swallowed?! “Now, I’ve got a fire in my belly!”
“Who are you?” Gray whispered. He’d never met a mage who could consume flames, light themselves on fire, and-
“Fire dragon,” Pinky sucked in a breath, one without fire, “roar!”
Gray barely managed to scramble away from the beast as a torrent of flames were released from Pinky’s mouth. The miniature explosion from the flames launched Gray a few feet forward. Without the strength to get up and run further, Gray kept himself low as the dust settled.
“Hey.”
Gray forced himself to raise his head.
“Are you alive?” Pinky asked, his green slitted eyes seemed to glow in the smoke from the flames. “I didn’t burn you, did I?” He outstretched his hand to Gray.
Gray took the warm hand and let Pinky haul him into a sitting position.
“Oh.” Pinky blinked as his eyes caught on the guildmark. “That mark…that means you’re part of a guild, right?”
Gray glanced at his Fairy Tail mark. Feeling the need to defend his pride and explain his uselessness. “Yeah, I just finished beating a group of Vulcans in the forest. I was just in town to collect before the beast came in. I’m usually a better fighter.”
Pinky nodded in understanding. The smoke was finally beginning to settle. “You looked exhausted.” His green eyes darted away. “That’s…pretty cool, though. Rushing into a fight to help someone even though you’re exhausted, and I saw you helping those people evacuate, so… um, I think you’re-”
“You’re naked!” Gray spluttered the second the smoke cleared enough for him to see that Pinky was no longer wearing anything except a white scarf with a scale pattern.
“Wha- you are, too!” Pinky shouted, his face turning red. “And I watched you rip your pants off, at least mine was burned off on accident!”
Gray looked down to see that he was only in his boxers. “Damn it!”
“Tch! What a pervert!” Pinky turned his nose up at him. “Whatever. I’m out of here. Happy?!”
Was he happy? No, he actually thinks he’d like to talk more with Pinky. Maybe find out what magic he used— it didn’t look like he was affiliated with any guild so maybe Gray could convince him to join Fairy Tail?
“Aye, sir!” A little blue blur flew through the air.
“See you later, Fairy Tail wizard!” Pinky yelled as the cat with wings latched onto him and flew him away.
“What a freak…” Gray whispered to himself as his lips twitched into a smile. He really hoped he ran into the boy again soon.
-
Gray didn’t really know why he was wandering the streets of Magnolia. He eyed some shops and debated stopping in a few of them, but ultimately decided against it. He didn’t have anything that he needed at the moment— well, that wasn’t true, he really needed some new clothes.
It was bad enough that he was stripping and losing his pants and shirts, but now he was ruining the boxers he slept in.
“Stupid Pinky,” Gray grumbled, “haunting me.”
After his fifth dream featuring the teenager, naked and covered in sweat and other fluids, Gray had to begrudgingly admit that maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought he was. This whole situation was annoying.
With a sigh, and a pat to his pocket to make sure he still had his wallet, Gray entered the clothing store.
“Seriously? You don’t have any fire proof clothes?” A familiar voice asked.
No way.
Gray turned and walked deeper into the store to see Pinky and his blue cat standing in front of a clerk. Pinky had his arms crossed and a frown on his lips.
“I’m afraid we don’t sell any magical articles like that.”
Pinky sighed. “Alright.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Well, do you know of anyone in this town that does? There’s a wizard guild here, right? There’s gotta be at least one magic shop.”
“I know a place,” Gray blurted.
Pinky whirled around to face him. “Um.” It took a second, and the teen sniffing a few times, for recognition to flash across his face. “I remember you! You’re that ice guy!”
Gray shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll take you to a store, they might have what you’re looking for.”
Pinky perked up. “Really? That’d be great!” When he grinned, he revealed two sharp fangs.
“Hold on, Natsu,” The blue cat said suddenly.
Natsu. A foreign name. Gray wondered where he was from.
“How do we know we can trust this guy?” The cat asked.
Natsu gestured at him. “Aw, come on, Happy! He’s a Fairy Tail wizard! I’ve never met a bad guy from Fairy Tail!” Natsu motioned for Gray to lead the way out of the store.
Gray felt his eyes widen, but began leading him to the magic store. “You’ve met a Fairy Tail wizard besides me?”
Natsu nodded. “Yep! I met this super old guy once, he helped me out of a pretty sticky situation but I ran before we could really talk because I was scared he’d hurt me, too…” Then, his face went red, “...and I didn’t really understand what he was saying,” he admitted sheepishly. “My, uh, grasp on the language was pretty bad at the time.”
“Was he really short?” Gray asked. He was decidedly not commenting on the: hurt me too part.
“Yeah.” Natsu took a second before placing his hand a few inches below Gramps’ actual height. “He was like this tall, but his arm got super huge!” He spread his arms and nearly hit Gray in the face.
“I’m pretty sure he had Titan magic,” Happy said to Natsu, “that’s why he was so short. Over time, Titan magic shrinks its caster!”
“That would be our guild master,” Gray supplied, “he’s pretty laid back.”
Natsu shivered. “He didn’t seem laid back that day.”
“Who else have you met?” Gray asked.
“Well, there was this one guy, he told me his name was Gildarts, and he was really powerful! We’ve met a few times on the road! It’s always fun when we fight!” Natsu held up his fists before punching the air. “I haven’t won yet, but I’m totally gonna kick his ass next time!”
Gray snorted. “Good luck with that.”
Natsu scoffed. “I’ve got a better chance than you do! You wouldn’t last a minute against me!”
“You wanna bet?” Gray rose the bait quickly.
Natsu shoved his head against his. “I think so!”
“Uh, Natsu, remember what happened in the last town,” Happy said.
Abruptly, Natsu wilted and pulled away from Gray. His arms wrapped around himself, like he was trying to give himself a hug. “Yeah…it’s probably for the best if we don’t fight in the street.”
Gray blinked. “It’s alright, the people of this town are used to Fairy Tail wizards sparring. We get into brawls all the time.”
“Except Natsu’s not a Fairy Tail mage, so he’ll be met with a different level of scrutiny!” Happy pointed out.
“I don’t know what that last word means, but Happy’s right,” Natsu said.
Gray huffed. “Well…maybe you should be.”
Natsu raised a brow at him. “Should be what?”
“A Fairy Tail wizard.”
Natsu’s eyes darted away. “Oh…I don’t know.”
Happy pushed his head against Natsu’s cheek, but didn’t say anything. Gray wondered if they’d discussed joining a guild before.
“I don’t really work well with people!” Natsu announced as he rubbed his arm. “Most people laugh at me or call me crazy when I tell them about my magic. But when I show them to prove I’m not lying, they scream and call me a monster.” He ducked his head.
Gray wracked his brain to think of something to say. “Well, we’ve got someone who can takeover demon souls-”
Natsu nearly slammed his head into his as he leaned forward. “Seriously? What kind of demons? Zeref’s demons?!” His voice got increasingly frantic.
Oh, God. Please don’t let him be a Zeref worshipper.
“She doesn’t have any of Zeref’s demons, but-”
Natsu leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. “Good! Because I’m on a mission.” His eyes sharpened with focused determination; he was serious.
“A mission?” Gray raised a brow. “I thought you weren’t part of any guild? Are you a bounty-hunter? Mercenary?”
“Nah. I’m a free spirit! Well, not really,” Natsu didn’t elaborate further than that. “But it’s my ultimate goal to kill Zeref.”
Gray stopped in the street. “What?”
“I’m going to kill Zeref. I’ll burn any demon or Zeref cultist who tries to get in my way!” Natsu lifted his fists, now on fire. “And I’ll pummel anyone who hurts people using Zeref’s name!”
Gray slowly nodded his head.
Okay…so, not a Zeref worshipper. That was good.
“Um. You do know that Zeref’s already dead, right?” Gray said slowly, kind of scared to set Natsu off.
Now resting on Natsu’s head, Happy made a cut off gesture with his paw.
Natsu glared at him and folded his arms over his chest. “Uh, no. He’s not. There’s, like, an entire guild of just his demons. He’s not dead.”
Okay…maybe Natsu meant ‘Zeref was alive’ in some metaphorical way.
Gray nodded and raised his hands in surrender. “Alright. I get it.”
Natsu’s eyes were sharp as they considered him. “...And the magic council is corrupt. One of them, that blue haired guy, he’s a crazy Zeref worshipper.”
This guy was totally insane.
“So,” Gray cleared his throat, and resumed walking to the shop, “aside from hunting Zeref, do you have any other goals?”
Natsu frowned and looked down. “I’ve got one.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll think I’m crazy.”
Gray bit his lip to suppress his laugh. “I doubt whatever you say next will be crazier than Zeref being alive and a council member being a Zeref worshipper.”
“None of that is crazy to say,” Natsu deadpanned with an odd look, as if Gray was the crazy one. “But, fine. I’m searching for a dragon. His name is Igneel and he’s my father.”
That…tracked, Gray hated to admit. It sounded crazy, but it made sense. He’d seen Natsu breathe fire, light himself on fire, consume fire— he’d seen the way the flames formed a dragon around the teen. Of course, a dragon was his father.
“Okay,” Gray accepted.
Natsu raised a brow at him. “That’s it? Just okay?”
“Yeah.” Gray clasped his hands and rested them behind his head as he walked. “Did he teach you magic?”
Natsu blinked at him.
“Natsu, he asked you something,” Happy prompted, taking a break from chewing his fish.
“Oh, uh, yes! He taught me fire dragon slaying magic! He gave me the abilities and characteristics of a dragon to give me the power to slay dragons,” Natsu explained.
“Natsu’s got dragon lungs for breathing fire, dragon talons for attacking with fire, dragon scales to digest the fire, and enhanced senses,” Happy supplied.
“So, it’s kind of like a takeover magic,” Gray said.
Natsu shrugged. “Not really. It’s still my body and soul, they’ve just been changed.”
“...Cool.”
“What about you?” Natsu asked as they entered the store. “What’s your magic?”
“I’m an ice make wizard,” Gray answered.
“What is that?” Natsu tilted his head.
Gray created a small sculpture of Natsu and Happy in his hand.
“Woah! How’d you do that?” Natsu crouched to peer at the ice. “I can’t do that at all!”
“I can use my ice to create any inanimate object that I can think of. Weapons included: hammers, swords, lances, canons, etc.”
Natsu blinked at him. “So you’re really only limited by your own memory.” He poked Gray’s forehead. Then, he grinned at Gray. “I can’t wait to fight you!”
“I’ll make sure to go easy on you.”
Natsu scowled at him. “I’ll make sure to melt you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Gray smirked at him.
-
“I’m done,” Gray announced. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m melting.”
“Come on, streaker, it’s been two miles.” Natsu backtracked to where Gray was sprawled on the grass.
Gray wheezed. “It’s been at least five, and it’s so hot out here.”
Natsu rolled his eyes. “It’s windy and the sun isn’t even out. It’s not hot.”
“Do you do this every day?”
“Of course, I do! This is how I train!” Natsu grinned. “Come on, we haven’t gotten to the best part yet!”
“There’s more?!” Gray cried.
.
“Hey, Gray!” Cana waved at him with a hiccup. “Welcome back!”
Gray collapsed against the bar. “So hungry. So thirsty.”
Erza’s armor clanked against the chair beside him. “You’ve been away from the guild.”
Gray turned his head to face her. “Hi, Erza. Nice to see you, too.”
Erza’s eyes were scrutinizing. “You’re covered in bruises and scrapes.”
Gray lifted his head to chug the water the bartender placed in front of him. “I’ve been training.”
“Training?” Erza eyed him. “I’ve seen you after training. You’re never this exhausted.”
“I’ve been really pushing the limits lately,” Gray said after gulping down the water.
After getting his ass brutally handed to him by a ridiculously flexible and durable Natsu, Gray realized he needed to step up his training to close the gap.
“That was super fun!” Natsu chirped as he leaned over Gray. “Let’s fight again soon! I can’t remember the last time I traded blows like that with someone!”
Gray ran, he attacked the training dummies until he was too exhausted to even lift his limbs, he lifted weights, he stretched as best he could— he was doing everything he could think of. He’d even started meditating to train his magic, instead of just creating ice sculptures until he couldn’t.
“You’ve been quite dedicated lately, Gray,” Gramps said as he took a seat on the bar near Gray. “Erza, would you mind delivering this to Macao?” He extended an envelope to her.
Erza accepted it with the utmost care. “Right away, Master.” She bowed before rushing off.
“You’ve grown a lot these past few weeks,” Gramps said suddenly. “I wonder why.”
Gray sniffed and looked away. “Something happened and I realized maybe I wasn’t training as hard as I could be.”
Gramps hummed. “Tell me, Gray, does this have anything to do with the pink-haired wizard you’ve been meeting?”
Gray froze in his seat. “What?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t want the guild to know about Natsu— he did! Gray wanted nothing more than to shove Natsu into the guild and make him join, whether he wanted to or not. But Natsu got squeamish and skittish any time Gray mentioned Natsu going near Fairy Tail.
Gramps took a sip of his beer. “There’s nothing that goes on in this guild that I don’t know about, Gray. Now, tell me…” He leaned forward with a serious look.
Gray felt a bead of sweat slip down his neck.
“Why haven’t you brought this boy to the guild?!” Gramps demanded. “We could certainly use someone like him around here!”
Gray felt his shoulders slump in relief. “Well, I’m pretty sure something happened between you and him that really spooked him.”
Gramps’ brows raised. “Oh?” Then recognition crossed his face. “Oh. Yes, I remember now.” He rubbed his chin with a sigh. “I remember that day very well. I consider that interaction one of my few regrets.”
Gray frowned at the grim look on his face. “Natsu says he didn’t really understand what you were trying to say, only that you were strong and he didn’t want to be hurt.”
Gramps looked at his beer. “He was against a group of Zeref cultists. He was giving it his all, but he was…hurt in unspeakable ways.” The wooden staff in his hand creaked. “I may have gone overboard with the cultists. When I tried to comfort him, he fled.”
At the mention of Zeref, Gray cringed. “Yeah…about that. He’s got this life mission to kill Zeref, by the way. And he’s a conspiracy theorist. He’s got a lot of theories about the magic council, Alvarez, and the King.”
Gramps laughed. “He sounds like the right brand of crazy.”
“He, uh,” Gray cleared his throat, “he was the one who saved the town from that beast. He saved me.”
Gramps’ smile was soft. “Then bring him home.”
.
“I don’t know about this. Are you sure?” Natsu tried to spin out of Gray’s grip.
Gray was strong enough to hold him in place— something that hadn’t been true a month ago. “They want to meet you. Gramps wants to meet you.”
“I don’t think so!” Natsu lifted his arms and tried to grab for Happy.
“Come on, Natsu! This could be really good for us!” At least Happy was supportive. “Think of all the fish we could buy with the mission reward money!” Even if it was for the wrong reasons.
Natsu tried to dig his heels into the ground. “No!”
“Yes!” Gray kept dragging Natsu. “You wanted to join! You said so yourself!”
Natsu shook his head frantically. “Nuh-uh!”
“Come on, don’t you wanna see Gildarts again when he comes back? It’ll be a guarantee that you get to fight him if you join, rather than just hoping you run into him by chance,” Gray suggested.
“That’s if this guild lets me stay!” Natsu wrenched himself out of Gray’s grip. “You think I haven’t tried to join guilds?!”
Gray resisted the urge to recoil at the outburst.
“Natsu…” Happy dropped onto Natsu’s shoulder.
Natsu wrapped his arms around himself. “I…I’ve always wanted to join a guild, you know. I always thought it looked like fun.”
“Going on missions?”
Natsu’s eyes were glassy when they met Gray’s. “Having friends.”
“Natsu,” Gray took a step toward him, “you can have that here!”
Natsu shook his head slowly. “I don’t want to do it again. I don’t wanna join just to be called a monster and thrown out. I don’t wanna join a guild and be used like a monster!”
“But, Natsu,” Happy started, “Gray’s a Fairy Tail wizard, Gildarts was a Fairy Tail wizard— Erza, Lisanna, that old man who saved you, they were all Fairy Tail wizards and they never hurt you.”
“Wait. You know Erza?” Gray raised a brow at him.
Natsu nodded. “She’s a good listener and is really good at patching up wounds.”
“Maybe this guild will be different, Natsu!” Happy said, getting them back on track. “You won’t know unless you try!”
Natsu looked between Happy and Gray. “But…what if it isn’t? What if they don’t like me? Will you hate me, too?”
“If they don’t like you, then we’ll just have to beat some sense into them!” Gray decided, slamming his fist into his hand. “Because you’re not going anywhere. You belong in this guild, I know it! You are the very embodiment of a Fairy Tail wizard: living every day to the fullest, never turning your back on your friends, your pride and fighting spirit— all of those are core parts of a Fairy Tail wizard!”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself, Gray.”
Gray spun around. “Erza!”
Erza’s eyes were focused on Natsu. “Have you finally come to your senses?”
Natsu shuffled on his feet. “Gray dragged me here.”
“Good.” Gray winced when Erza patted his shoulder. “I’ve been waiting, Natsu.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I don’t like to be kept waiting.”
Natsu shivered. “I’m sorry!”
“Prove it.” Erza grabbed Natsu’s forearm and began dragging him. “Now, where would you like your mark?”
“Wha- wait! This is all happening so fast!” Natsu yelped.
Gray strolled behind them. “Welcome to the guild, Pinky.”
“Shut up, pervert! Put your clothes on!”
“Damn it!”
“He’s showing off for you, Natsu, because he looooves you,” Happy trilled.
“Shut it, cat!”
~
“What’re you thinking about?” Natsu’s finger was warm as it traced Gray’s guild mark.
Gray caught the hand on his chest. “You.”
Natsu’s cheeks pinkened. “Shut up. No, you weren’t.”
“I was,” Gray affirmed. He pushed Natsu’s shoulders and rolled them over until he was hovering over Natsu. “I was thinking about how we met.”
Natsu shivered when Gray’s hand slid to his hip.
“I was thinking about how you single-handedly caused me to realize I was into guys…and that I was lazy.”
Natsu giggled. “You weren’t any nicer to my puberty-addled brain. Except I had a nosy blue cat following me around.”
Gray leaned down to nip at Natsu’s cheek. “I was thinking about how I won your trust over, the day you joined the guild,” he huffed, “you telling me your crazy conspiracy theories.”
Natsu frowned at him. “They-”
“Yeah, yeah. They’ve all been proven right, but they did sound a little crazy back then.”
Natsu wrapped his legs around Gray’s waist, and his arms around Gray’s neck. “But you never said it to my face. And you still wanted me around knowing I’d tell you about them again.”
“You were crazy, but I thought it added to your charm. Besides, you hated Zeref somehow more than I did— that alone meant you were cool in my book.”
Natsu smiled up at him, but it was wistful. “I wonder how my life could have been if I’d joined sooner, if I’d taken a second to actually hear what Gramps was trying to tell me.”
“Who knows.” Gray shrugged. “But I think I’m pretty happy in this universe. Younger me was a prick; we probably would’ve gotten into a fist fight immediately and hated each other.”
Natsu shook his head. “Nah. Fight, definitely. I was a hot-head when I was runt, always picking fights and running my mouth. But I don’t think I could have hated you.”
“You’re right-”
“Afterall, I’m saving all of my hate for one man!” Natsu declared, his eyes flashing as his magic surged. “Zeref.”
“Yes, baby, you’re going to be the one who kills Zeref.”
“You’re damn right I am.” Natsu grinned before scowling at him. “And don't call me that!”