There was nothing Gray Fullbuster wanted more than to be able to go on his first solo mission, and he was sure that Gramps would let him once he turned 12.
It was a reasonable age, wasn't it? Some of the older kids at the guild were able to handle themselves on a mission alone when they were 12, and Gray was highly skilled in magic for his age. It made sense for him to be able to go alone, and not with Natsu or Elfman or Cana. He was dying to be able to be on his own.
That's why, when he walked up to the request board, Gray couldn't wipe the smug grin that was on his face. He scanned for something good, the perfect first mission. Something caught his eye- a mission about capturing a criminal on the loose -and it just clicked. It was perfect! This was going to be it. Gray practically bolted over to where Gramps was sitting.
"I'm gonna take this one, Gramps!" Gray beamed, holding out the mission debrief paper for Makarov to see.
Makarov lowered his staff and placed it over his crossed legs so he could grab and read over the paper. "Hmm…" He hummed, stroking at his chin before patting Gray on the back with a smile, "Good pick, my boy! It'd be a perfect mission for you…" Makarov paused to look around the guild floor, stopping once he spotted a certain redhead, "and Erza!"
Gray's smile vanished, expression contorting into a grimace, as Erza's head perked up at the mention of her name.
"Gramps, really?" Gray muttered, faking the best smile he could, "Isn't it about time I get my own mission?"
"Maybe next time, Gray."
Gray let out an exasperated sigh and hung his head.
Erza, still a bit confused as to why her name was brought up, approached Gray and Makarov with an eyebrow raised, "You called, Master?"
"Yes, Erza! You and Gray will be going on a mission together. You got that?"
Erza merely nodded her head, then focused her attention on Gray. "Are you ready to head out?"
Gray, still downcast from being rejected from his first solo mission, pressed his lips together into a firm line and nodded. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."
With that, they made their depart.
They were quiet until they made it out of Magnolia, when Erza asked for the mission details. Gray dug it from out of his pocket and handed it over to her, and she started to read from off of it.
"So, our target's about 1.7 meters tall, has a slender build, a black mohawk, and was last seen in a motorist's jacket." Erza stated, passing the paper back to Gray. "Sounds simple enough to spot."
Gray's only response was a grunt in agreement, which only caused Erza confusion.
She tilted her head, furrowing her brow at Gray, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good." He said plainly. He didn't even look back at Erza.
"Gray.." Erza started, placing her hands on her hips and pursing her lips, "You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"
Gaze falling to the ground, Gray rubbed the back of his neck, caught in his lie, "This was supposed to be my first mission alone. Kinda mad it wasn't." When he wasn't met with a response, he just continued, "I was really lookin' forward to it, y'know?"
Erza's eyes widened and her arms fell slack at her sides. "Oh.." She whispered at first, eyes drifting off to the side guiltily, "I'm sorry, Gray. I had no idea."
Noting Erza's guilt, Gray quickly turned around to face her, red in the face and holding up his hands to try and fix what he said, "No, Erza, that's not what I-" Realizing that he wasn't being of much help, he lowered his hands and let himself flash a grin at her, "Look, it was a bummer, but Gramps didn't make me go with Natsu. I can deal. We can make it work, eh?"
Erza flashed a small smile in return, giving Gray a good punch to the shoulder, "Come on, we have work to do."
Gray winced a bit and held his shoulder after that, but he still kept up his grin as he picked up his pace.
The air wasn't so tense after that.
Tracking the guy wasn't as difficult as they had originally suspected. The trail he left was an easy one to pick up on, even if Gray and Erza weren't familiar with the town they were in. Once they were in a close range of their target, they took a second to come up with their plan of attack.
"A distraction is probably our best bet." Erza pointed out, a look of determination on her face.
Gray thought on it for a moment and shrugged a bit, "I was gonna say just charge the guy, but okay. You can be the distraction."
"Me?"
"You can pretend to be a lost little girl."
"...But Gray, I'm over a year older than you are."
"You can pretend to be a lost little teenage girl."
Erza smacked her lips in defeat. "Fair enough. I'm counting on you to encase him in ice so we can bring him in."
Gray pounded a fist on his chest, just over the Fairy Tail insignia, "No problem!"
Erza grinned and shoved him away. "Attack from behind. I trust you can figure out the best time to strike."
Stumbling a bit, Gray shot Erza a thumbs-up as he started on his way.
Letting out a shaky breath, Erza requipped out of her armor and into normal clothes. I can handle five seconds without it… she thought to herself, it won't be for long.
With one last exhale to calm her nerves, Erza walked towards the clearing where the target had set up camp.
"Hello?" She called out, "Can anyone help?"
The voice jolted the criminal out of his log seat, and he turned towards Erza, calming once seeing it was only a kid, "Jeez, kid, scram. You ain't got no business here!"
"B-But sir," Erza started, voice raised to appear younger and frightened, "I lost my family out here. I-I don't know what to do…" Her voice cracked as tears began to fall out of her good eye, in her effort to make the most convincing performance.
"Aw, kid, don't cry.." The guy said awkwardly, moving a bit closer and lifting up his hands to pacify her. Erza merely forced herself to full-out sob.
"Freeze!" Gray yelled then, jumping from out behind a bush. He slammed his fist into his palm and cast a spell to trap the criminal in ice.
Erza, wiping at her eye and sniffling, nodded at Gray's work, "Great timing."
Gray only had time to smile before the man disappeared from within the ice casing, causing both Gray and Erza to gasp. A laugh from behind caught their attention, and they turned to see the criminal, unscathed.
"How did he.." Erza whispered to herself in disbelief.
Extending a hand to his side, the man created a Magic Seal, which spawned a clone of him; it was tinted the slightest bit orange.
"Cloning Magic!" Gray yelled, bringing his hands to his side in preparation for more Ice-Make spells.
Requipping back into her armor and brandishing a sword, Erza furrowed her brow, growling, "Great."
A split second later, the orange clone surged at Gray, leaving the original for Erza to handle. She charged at him, sword at the ready, and swung once she got in close. The man kept leaping out of the way at every swing she took, so to increase her odds, she summoned a sword into her other hand, and went at him with both.
Gray, on the other hand, was having a hard time attacking, as the orange clone turned out to be an elemental clone capable of producing fire, so every time Gray tried to assume his Ice-Make stance, the clone would throw fire at Gray's feet before he could cast a spell. Gray managed to thrust his palm at the clone's chest, and when he did he tried to spread ice and freeze the clone, the clone merely melted it away.
Erza's speed greatly outmatched that of the criminal she was up against, so she tried using that to her advantage. She summoned swords left and right, planting them into the ground as she circled around the man to cage him. When he tried to side-step away from a sword strike, he ran into the barrier Erza set up and tripped, falling to the ground. Erza quickly summoned rope she kept with her weapons, and tied him up with it. Checking to make sure the ropes were tight, she heard a shout from Gray, and she turned to see him with a charred mark on his chest and on the ground, with the orange clone hovering over him.
"Gray!" She yelled out for him, worry taking over her voice.
Mere seconds before the orange clone was about to deal a heavy blow, Erza thrust her sword through its back and out its chest, causing it to poof away.
Gray let out a relieved breath, throwing his head back, "Too close.."
Kneeling down and holding out a hand, Erza couldn't help but grin, "Guess it's a good thing I came along after all, huh?"
Gratefully accepting the hand and heaving himself to his feet, Gray laughed, placing a hand over the wound over his chest to freeze it, "Yeah, yeah, guess so."
"Let's turn this guy in."
"Right!"
Throwing the criminal over her shoulder, Erza headed off for the town prison with Gray in tow.
Once the criminal was handed over and Erza and Gray received- and split -their award, they started for the guild, and just exited the town they were in when Gray suddenly stumbled, falling into Erza.
Erza had managed to catch him, but she was shocked nonetheless. "Is something wrong?" She asked, concerned by the grimace on Gray's face.
"My foot…" He groaned, glancing down at it. The fabric at the bottom of his pants were seared off, and the skin on his ankle was burned. Grimacing again, Gray spread ice over the burn, letting out a hiss at the cold.
"Don't put too much pressure on that. You can lean on me." Erza offered, already taking his arm, hooking it around her shoulder, and placing her other hand on his hip.
Gray felt warm as he nodded, and he wasn't sure if it was the burn that made him feel that hot. "Yeah, right, if you insist…"
The walk was silent again after, and much slower, too. Eventually, they were back at Magnolia and walking through town.
Erza was the one to break the silence. "I know that you're looking forward to going on your first solo mission, but if you ever need to go with someone, I'd go with you." She didn't look at Gray when she spoke; it was almost as if she was trying to avoid his gaze.
Gray's eyes widened at the offer. He'd never expect Erza wanting to accompany him on another mission. "Good to know.. I'll keep that in mind. This wasn't too bad. Like I said, you're not Natsu, so I can deal with putting up with you for a mission." There was a smirk on his face as he talked.
Erza then turned to meet Gray's gaze, a smug- but slight -grin on her face. "I wouldn't talk like that when I'm the only reason you're not writhing on the ground in pain right now."
Gray chuckled nervously, a bit scared by Erza's remark. "Easy, easy. I'm kidding! I won't mind another mission with you."
Erza's smile mellowed, nudging at Gray with her hip. "Good. I'd like that."
Gray's face must've been as red as Erza's hair after that.