This is a thing. Yeah…um, honestly, this is something I wrote for dA (for all those misunderstanding people who think I'm a Gray hater, among other things), but I decided to put it here first. Why? …Testing the waters. Yeah. Plus I'd like some non-biased feedback first. Much appreciated, guys.

(Plus it's my first time doing just a Natsu/Gray brotp story. A Moment To Reflect doesn't count since Erza was in it.)

True Brothers

Gray punched the nearest tree. "You're such an idiot," he hissed.

"Really?" Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Would an idiot have saved your life?"

"Yes!" he snapped, averting his eyes. "He would have!"

"…Fine; whatever."

"…Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why'd you do it?"

Natsu sighed. "Do I really need to spell out to you why I did something every time?"

"Frankly, I don't understand why you do anything," Gray muttered, lowering his arm and giving him a sideways glare. "Your reasons don't ever make sense to anyone, least of all me."

"Don't give me excuses. You're just being close-minded, Gray."

"Easy for you to say, Sir Idealist."

"Ha, stubborn to the bitter end. I always liked that about you." Natsu fished a coin out of his pocket and began flipping it absent-mindedly. "Why do you think I did it? Besides being an idiot, I mean."

"I told you; I don't know!" Gray yelled in frustration, whirling around and turning on his old friend lividly. "That's why I'm asking you!"

Natsu caught the coin he'd been tossing in a sharp movement before pocketing it. "Then if anything, you're the idiot here."

Gray stopped short at Natsu's terse reply. This was the first time he'd seen Natsu genuinely upset.

"You're fucking blind, Gray. Why else would I save your life? Do I even need a reason?" Natsu's hands clamped into fists as he locked eyes with Gray. "You're my best friend, you moron! It doesn't get any clearer than that!"

Gray could hardly comprehend the thought. He was his best friend? Him?

"Why're you so Goddamn hard on yourself? Nobody cares about your mistakes anymore! Hell, I don't think anybody cared to begin with!" Natsu advanced on him, and Gray fought the urge to back away. "Nobody's perfect! We're human! We make mistakes all the damn time! Why're you beating yourself up for something that happens to everybody?!"

"I—" Gray tried to find the words. "I just wanted to—"

"Like hell you did! You don't know shit!" Natsu seemed to catch himself before saying more, bit his lip, and turned away. "I saved your life because I thought of you as my best friend. Are you saying that…you didn't see me that way? That's why you're mad at me?"

Natsu's slight verbal retreat gave Gray a chance to fight back. "Well, of course I am!" he said angrily, throwing his hands up in the air. "What; did you expect me to accept you guys right away or something? After everything I put you and your allies through, did you seriously think that I'd expect you to accept me that easily? What the hell kind of world do you think this is?!" He punched the tree next to him so hard that it left a fist-shaped dent in the bark and glared heated daggers at his companion. "That's not how it works! That's not normal! You're crazy—all of you are totally crazy! Why did you just forgive me and let me in your ranks like nothing happened?! What the hell is wrong with you all?!"

Natsu remained silent through his rant, observing him with nary a spoken word or movement. Then—a moment after Gray stopped to catch his breath—he spoke the clinching words.

"Everybody deserves a second chance," Natsu said, smiling in a friendly manner. "Even an idiot like you."

Gray stopped short. He wanted to retort—so badly that it hurt—but the words wouldn't come out. He was too busy choking on them as he fell to his knees.

"We forgave you just like that," Natsu continued, stepping forward and getting down to one knee to be at Gray's eye-level, "because in the end, you came back to us and apologized. You wanted to make up for everything you did wrong, even though you expected us to turn you away. Even now, you're just waiting for that moment when we'll kick you out."

Gray nearly stumbled when Natsu firmly grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. He managed to catch his balance, warily glancing at Natsu all the while. He fully expected him to do just that for speaking out against him with this sort of attitude. He waited for the harsh words to come.

But they never did.

"Gray, you've made some pretty dumb mistakes," Natsu said. "You and everybody else…including me. I couldn't stop you from leaving back then, and…I've hated myself for all these years for not being able to keep my promise." His voice caught then, and he cast his gaze downward as he went on. "But then…three days ago, you came back to us. You were spouting all these apologies, and promising to make up for it by letting us have our way with you if we wanted and all that. But…I didn't care about any of that. And neither did anybody else." He let out a relieved chuckle. "I was just…we were all just happy that you were back. Remember what I did when you first came in?"

Gray started, his memory inexplicably wandering back to three days ago in spite of himself. "Yeah…" he muttered quietly, a slight grin escaping despite his efforts. "You tackled me to the ground and yelled at me for being so stupid. Then you started crying like a baby and wouldn't let me go. You nearly choked me to death."

Natsu sighed in a wistful manner. "Yeah, Erza and Lucy had to pull me off of you to keep you from suffocating. Heh…I looked pretty pathetic, didn't I?" Then he tilted his head and shot Gray a reproving look, though it was somewhat muted with sad amusement. "How could you think that that was all a lie, Gray?"

Gray struggled to fight off the fresh wave of remorse and embarrassment as he raised his head and looked Natsu in the eye. "I…y-yeah, you're right. Sorry. That was stupid."

"No kidding," Natsu laughed out loud. The sound should've been enough to wake up the entire camp, but not a creature stirred in its wake.

"Natsu," Gray spoke up after a moment, making Natsu start. "Do you…really have to go?"

Almost immediately, the smile on Natsu's face faded. He turned his head and stared off into the distance. "Yeah," he said despondently. "I can't stay here anymore."

Gray protested, "But can't someone—?"

"'Fraid not," he sighed, turning back to Gray and flashing an apologetic smile. "It's already too late for help…there's nothing anybody can do."

"But you…"

"I know, and I'm sorry, too." He clicked his tongue and shook his head with a defeated smile. "And besides…it—it's not like there's much you can do about an exploding bullet through the head, right? As much as I want to, I can't just…" His voice cracked as he covered his face with his hand while shaking his head again, as if in denial. "I don't want to accept it, but…there's…no going back for me…" He lowered his hand, and Gray noticed that his dark eyes were noticeably redder. "I…have to go now, Gray."

Gray wanted to avert his eyes. He didn't want to see this. This was his fault—all of it. He didn't want to accept this as the end result. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He was so frustrated that he wanted to scream at the sky for cursing his miserable life.

"No!" Gray declared suddenly, startling them both. "You—you can't just disappear on us like this! What about me? What about everyone here?" He finally mustered up the courage to raise his head and look at Natsu again—already, he was looking pale. "And what about Lucy? You can't just leave her, Natsu! She needs you here!"

"I know that, Gray." Natsu lowered his head, his eyes now hidden in the shadow of his bangs. "I know she needs me, but…I'm already gone. She can't see me the way I am now. Even if she could…I can't help her like this. I can't…be there for her anymore like this." A thin trail of tears streaked down both of his cheeks. "Promise that you'll take care of her for me. Okay?" Natsu raised his head once more, not bothering to wipe the tears away. "And…tell her that…I'm sorry. Please."

"Bullshit!" Gray shouted, advancing on him. "Taking care of her is your job! If you slack off on your duties, you'll have hell to pay! And apologize to her yourself! You're a man, Goddamn it! Don't you dare—!"

Natsu interrupted him by tackling him into a hug not unlike the one he'd received at his return, but it was much weaker than before—they were both still upright this time. Shock couldn't even begin to describe Gray's reaction.

"I'm sorry," Natsu said again over his shoulder, his words quiet. "Really. I didn't mean for this to happen. But…I don't regret what I did. I'm just glad you're still alive, and that you're back with us. And…" Natsu's hold on him tightened slightly. "Don't you dare…try to throw your life away like that ever again! I gave my life to save yours, so now you have to keep on living. That's a direct order. If you ever treat it like trash again, you'll have hell to pay. You hear me?"

There were so many choice words Gray wanted to scream at him at that moment.

Not this, he especially wanted to shout in his fury, please, anything but this.

But he didn't. He simply raised his arms and returned the embrace, as tightly as he was able to in his state.

"Yeah," Gray answered after what felt like an eternity, his words hoarse and throat dry. "I hear you…loud and clear."

Natsu was silent for a heartbeat. Then he, too, spoke.

"…Thanks."

Gray felt the pressure of his best friend's weight vanish at that moment and, without the weight to support him, fell over onto his hands and knees just as the sunlight broke through the gray clouds looming above, washing the landscape in swaths of yellow and orange. It was daybreak.

Gray slowly rose to his feet and turned to the shaded grove of small trees, where he saw his friend resting.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Natsu," he promised, turning in the direction of the camp. "I swear…with this life you saved, I will protect our friends."

Um, yeah. Hope you enjoyed...maybe. (I dunno wasn't really focusing on making this good or anything)