I seriously need to stop with procrastinating on my bigger projects. But on the other hand, this is my practice for writing yaoi. I'm hoping to finish the project soon and then I'll post it up chapter by chapter. For now, enjoy this one-shot!
Read and Review!
Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail, all rights go to Hiro Mashima.
Natsu stared up at the demon in front of him. It vaguely reminded him of Lullaby, what with its enormity. Encased in ice, the gigantic beast loomed over him. He vaguely heard Lucy and Gray come up behind him and ask him what was wrong. Frozen in surprise, he could not move and only returned their questions with one of his.
"What the hell… is this?" Lucy gasped in surprise and Gray's gasp was quick to follow. The team of four gawked at the demon and the silence was only broken when Gray stepped forward.
"D-Deliora?" Natsu snapped out of his shock and turned to his rival. The poor ice mage was trembling with fear. In all his years of knowing Gray, he had never seen that expression on the normally calm mage. Before he could say anything, Gray took a step towards the monster and then another.
"That's impossible… What is Deliora doing here?!" Natsu could hear the distress and disbelief in the raven's voice ring clear inside the cave. Then, Gray's tone changed into confused rage.
"There's no way! Deliora can't be here!" Natsu's eyes softened as he frowned. Gray was trying to deceive himself and if this kept up, the poor raven would go into shock, even more so than he already had. He and Lucy ran up to him and Natsu stopped so that Gray still had an adequate amount of personal space, but close enough that Gray could be comforted by the presence of another person.
"You know this thing?" His gaze briefly flickered from Gray to Lucy and noted that she had a concerned look on her face. He silently mused that he himself must be wearing a look akin to hers. His was brought out of his thoughts by Gray's choked words.
"It's…It's…!" Natsu bit his lip. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly something that had traumatized the poor ice mage. Gray rarely lost his cool but when he did, it was something of grave importance to him. He remembered when he had once asked Gray what kind of life he had had prior to Fairy Tail. The raven's face had darkened and the glare he was given was cold enough to make even him shiver. Gray had looked ready to kill.
"Don't ever ask about that again," had been Gray's response back then. Thinking back, Natsu distinctly remembered a scent on Gray that he had never smelled before. It was a dangerous emotion, able to corrupt and taint minds, force them into decisions they normally would never make and actions that they would never even consider.
Despair.
Now, standing so close to the raven, he smelled it once again. Natsu frowned. He had never wanted to smell this on Gray again. He wanted his best friend to smile, unburdened by whatever it was that had happened in his past. He had heard from Cana that when Gray had joined, he had been depressed. Sure, she had never asked directly, but it was obvious from the way he carried himself, from the way he hunched his back to the way his dark blue eyes held a wretched lifeless look to them. More than once, Cana had caught self hate swimming within those orbs. Thankfully, Gray had slowly opened up from time to time and his eyes lost their haunted look over time. Natsu was happy he had never seen it. He didn't want to.
He snapped out of his thoughts just as Gray finished his sentence.
"Demon of construction?" he asked. He wanted to make it at least seem like he had been paying attention, even if he hadn't been. He heard Happy chime in that it was destruction, not construction. Whatever, same difference.
"It looks exactly the same as it did then. What's going on?!" Gray wrestled out. Before Natsu could ask more, he heard footsteps from behind them. Quickly, he hid behind rocks with the rest of his team and observed the newcomers.
The three enemies had left and the four of them were back to being alone with the demon. Natsu had to hand it to this Reitei or whoever he was, he sure knew how to pick weird lackeys. He sighed and looked back up to the frozen demon.
"This is the demon your master sealed away?" the words left his mouth before he could stop them. Luckily, Gray didn't seem to be too affected.
"Yeah. There's no doubt about it." Happy chimed in with his two cents.
"You're saying that this was brought here from the Northern Continent?"
"Could this demon be the cause of the island's curse?" Lucy asked. Before Natsu could think about it, Gray cut in.
"It's definitely possible. That demon is still alive in there after all…" At the prospect of a fight, Natsu stepped forward, swinging his arm in a circle. More than anything, even the fight, he wanted Gray out of the awful mindset that he just knew the ice mage was in. Hopefully a fight would bring Gray back into brighter spirits.
"All right! In that case I'll give it a beat-down of my own!" he heard Lucy ask in the background why the only solution he ever had for anything was to fight. He laughed and told her to just watch.
Before he made a move, he felt Gray turn. He looked over to the raven only for a fist to come flying into his face. The impact knocked him down and he fell hard onto the cave's rock floor.
"Gray hit him!" Happy said, shocked. Lucy mumbled something about it not being anything out of the ordinary, but Natsu had other things on his mind. He supported himself on all fours, using one hand to cradle his now bruised cheek.
"Bastard! What was that for?!" Then all his fight drained out of him. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and a foreign feeling of concern for the raven pushed through. His hand left his cheek and his eyes widened.
All from the look on Gray Fullbuster's face.
Despair.
Fear.
Trauma.
The multitude of negative emotions in Gray's tormented blue eyes was astonishing. Natsu thought back to when he had been glad to have never seen the haunted look in Gray's eyes. He couldn't say that anymore. He had never seen Gray like this and with startling clarity, Natsu realised that he never wanted to again.
"Stay away from this ice, fire wizard!" Gray snarled. Natsu continued to stare at the traumatized raven before him. How had he never noticed the trauma that Gray kept hidden?
"If the ice melts and Deliora wakes up, no one will be able to stop him!" Natsu stood up angrily. He wasn't mad at Gray, he was more upset with himself for not noticing a nakama in pain. But he couldn't control the tone of his voice when he yelled,
"What?! Do you really think it'd be that easy to melt?!" Gray jolted and looked down. Natsu immediately felt guilt gnaw at him but ignored it. He wanted to get Gray back to normal. The only way to do that was to finish this quest but before that, he could at least act normally around the ice mage.
"No…" was Gray's quiet reply. Lucy came up to him and put her hand on his back comfortingly.
"Are you ok?" she asked. Natsu rubbed his bruised cheek.
"Hey! Then that punch was for nothing! Man, you're violent!"
"You're one to talk?" Happy accused. Natsu watched attentively as Gray stared up at the demon. He opened his mouth slowly and began to tell the rest of them his connection to this demon.
After hearing Gray speak so fondly of his teacher, Natsu couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. He never knew that Gray had had to endure such loss. No wonder he hadn't wanted to talk about it when they were younger.
The four discussed their plan and they all eventually agreed on staying inside the cave until night. Natsu protested but plopped down on the floor and closed his eyes. Nap time.
Natsu woke up to a loud rumbling. He immediately bolted up and asked,
"Is it night?"
Just then, a beam of purple light appeared from the ceiling. The three watched in shock as the light fell upon Deliora.
"This is no coincidence!" Natsu shouted.
"Let's go! Find the source of the light!" Gray ordered. It ticked Natsu off a bit that Gray was ordering them around like he was the boss, but he would let it slide this one time.
Natsu growled at the sickening mentality of the supposed Reitei. To murder innocent villagers was unforgiveable! He leapt forward and charged towards the masked man only to be overtaken by Gray and forced to stop when the icy attacks were unleashed. When Gray pulled back and snarled the name Lyon, Natsu froze in shock as well as dread. Gray… knew this guy?!
Natsu tuned out the two ice mages' reminiscing. But when Lyon ordered his three lackeys to eradicate the village, he snapped out of his stupor and ran towards them.
"Stop, Natsu! Don't move!"
Before he could actually stop, he was already surrounded by a flurry of ice and snow. Clusters of ice attached themselves to his body and he found himself frozen in a ball.
"Damn! I can't move!" he cursed. Now how could he help Gray fight?! It wasn't that he had no faith in Gray's fighting ability, it was that Gray just wasn't himself, starting from the very moment they laid eyes on Deliora. Natsu wasn't sure how well Gray could fight, not in his right state of mind.
"So you created an opening for the cat and the woman to escape… No matter. I doubt those two can stop Sherry and the others." Natsu bristled angrily at that.
"I wouldn't underestimate Fairy Tail wizards if I were you!"
The next thing he knew, he was rolling down a hill. Gray had been standing next to him.
"What's the big idea, Gray?!" he asked as he continued to roll. He gagged as he began to feel dizzy. He could only hope that he would reach the bottom soon.
Natsu growled angrily at the predicament he found himself in. Getting stuck in a hole while being partially encased by ice was not at the top of his bucket list. Spewing fire, he propelled himself up and landed on his feet. He looked back in the direction of the ruins. While he was angry that Gray had kicked him down the hill, he was worried for the raven as well. He knew that Gray could hold his own, but this time his opponent was someone he used to know. Could Gray really fight him seriously, no holds barred? Natsu would definitely have a hard time. And since he knew that he and Gray were like two peas in a pod, he knew that Gray would have a hard time against this Lyon. Then he remembered his irritation.
"Gray! You jerk! I'll get you for this!" he then lit his fist on fire in an attempt to melt the ice. When he found that he couldn't he raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway, why the heck can't my fire melt this ice?!" The flames extinguished and he turned around.
"But this is no time for that! I gotta hurry to the village!" He wobbled from left to right in a pathetic attempt to move forward. He cursed in annoyance.
"Crap! It's hard to run like this!"
Natsu eventually gave up heading to the village and instead opted to go back to the ruins. He didn't know which way the village was and he would have a better chance of seeing it from higher ground.
When he finally hobbled his way up there, he found that the ceremony had ended and that there was no one else in sight. Until he looked down and saw Gray unconscious fifty feet away. He wobbled as quickly as he could to where Gray was lying. He took in the ice mage's injuries. Gray was covered in bruises, but that was normal for any fight. But what concerned Natsu was that Gray's head had been bleeding, that much was for sure considering the trail of dried blood on his face. And that was only what Natsu could see. Who knows if Gray had suffered any internal damage. He frowned. He knew that Gray couldn't fight Lyon as he was. There was no point worrying about it now. He needed to get Gray some medical attention and quick.
"Get up Gray. Get up!" It took a while but Gray eventually opened his dark blue eyes, albeit extremely tired. He didn't get up off the ground immediately either.
"Natsu… why are you here?" the raven's uncharacteristically weak voice asked. Natsu cringed a little. Gray had never sounded like that, even after an especially bad fight. He was always full of life and fight, not defeated and subdued like he was now. Nevertheless, Natsu answered his question. When he caught sight of the small village, he grabbed Gray by his collar and hauled him up, only to be stopped.
"Wait! I can walk… Where's Lyon?" Natsu stared straight ahead and tried not to grit his teeth when Gray said the bastard's name. Gray should give up on him, especially after Lyon beat him up this bad. He hated him. He hated him for attacking the village. He hated him for cursing the villagers. But most of all, he hated him for beating up Gray.
"Dunno. No one's here. The ceremony's over too," he said, struggling to keep his voice level. That was when Gray buckled and toppled forward. Of course, Natsu's reflexes kicked in and he caught the raven by his collar before he could totally collapse. Natsu frowned at Gray's state. He really wanted to pound Lyon's face in for doing this to his friend. He readjusted Gray so that he was draped over where his shoulders would be.
The two walked for a while before Gray's quiet voice broke the silence.
"Natsu…"
"Yeah?"
"I have no right to say anything to you… No right at all!" Natsu looked up and was shocked to see tears sliding down Gray's cheeks. He felt his hatred for Lyon reignite with fervour. But he couldn't yell at Gray when he was like this. So he turned it into something that he hoped was inspirational.
"You gonna sit there moping all day because you lost a fight, Gray?! We're Fairy Tail damn it! The guild that doesn't know the meaning of the word 'stop'! We only know how to keep moving forward!" He watched Gray's shocked expression for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
"Damnit it's really hard to run like this!"
A while later, Natsu felt the weight on his shoulders increase. He looked up to find that Gray had lost consciousness. Natsu scowled and stopped for a moment. He knew that Lucy and Happy probably needed his help but he could take one moment like this right?
He set Gray down gently on the ground and wiped away a dried trail of blood from Gray's forehead.
"Look at how badly he beat you up… how could you do this to yourself? I know he was your friend but still…" He smoothed out the raven locks and found out with a pleasant surprise that they were extremely soft to the touch, except for where dried blood had caked. Natsu growled. He couldn't stand Lyon. He would take revenge for Gray. Natsu hoisted the limp body up on his shoulders once more and began the run back to the village. He was almost there now.
The steam rising off of the ground from the acid was thick and heavy. The three enemies stood in front of them, looking very proud of themselves. Natsu clenched his fists. He wouldn't let them do whatever the damn hell they pleased! Just as they were about to begin the fight, he heard a voice from behind him.
"Let me help too…" All three Fairy Tail wizards looked back to find Gray on his feet, panting as if each breath pained him, which didn't look all that far from the truth.
"Gray! You came to!" However, without missing a beat, Natsu rejected Gray's offer.
"Get outta here. You'll be in my way," he said coldly.
"Natsu… don't underestimate me!" Faster than Gray could blink, Natsu was suddenly in front of him and he felt a pain in his gut. The flaming bastard had punched him!
"The injured should sleep it off." Gray clutched Natsu's forearm with one hand and reached up to grab his scarf with the other.
"You bastard… one day I'll… kill…" Gray couldn't even finish his sentence as he saw black creep into his vision and soon fell unconscious. Natsu caught the falling boy and supported him from underneath his armpits. The rosette didn't like hurting Gray when he was down, but it was the only way for him to stay put and not worsen his injuries. To do that, he was willing to hurt Gray just a little to save him a world of pain later.
He carefully handed Gray to one of the villagers. He whispered to him quietly so that Lucy and Happy couldn't hear him.
"Take care of him. Please." The demon nodded and hefted Gray over his shoulder.
"Leave him to us. Okay, let's go!" he announced as he and the gaggle of demons behind him turned to retreat from the battlefield. Natsu turned his attention back to the three mages in front of them. He had to deal with them first. Then he could go check up on Gray.
A day had passed. Natsu had demolished the ruins and was now fighting against Lyon. He tried but failed to hold back his rage against the other. He had hurt Gray at his weakest and for that he would pay.
"How could you do that to your friend?!" he demanded, sending an enflamed fist his way. Lyon scoffed and dodged.
"That murderer is no friend of mine." Natsu roared in rage and threw a kick into Lyon's side, effectively shutting him up for a minute.
"Gray is no murderer! He would never do such a thing! You've got it wrong!" Lyon clutched his side and screamed back in rage.
"Don't you know?! He's the one who killed Ur!" Natsu could take Lyon calling Gray plenty of names that ranged from fool to bastard, but murderer was crossing the line.
"Shut up! You don't know anything about him!"
"And you do?!"
"I know more than you, you bastard! I didn't abandon him!"
"Why are you so concerned for him?! You'd think that you two were in love!" Natsu's retort died in his throat as he tried to comprehend what Lyon had just said. Unfortunately, because of this, Lyon landed a few free hits. But Natsu was still thinking about what Lyon had said. Him? In love? With Gray?! That was ridiculous! But at the same time, he couldn't deny that something had changed between him and Gray. This quest had stirred up feelings for the ice mage that he had never had before. Was it love? Could it be love? Natsu didn't know. But what he did know was that he wasn't going to tolerate Lyon badmouthing his best friend. For that, he was going to kick this asshole to the moon and back for hurting his nakama.
To say that Natsu was surprised when Gray interrupted their fight saying that he wanted to take Lyon on was an understatement.
"You already lost to him once, remember?" The last time he had seen the raven, he had been unconscious and severely wounded. It had only been a day and the ice mage was already back on his feet. Natsu doubted whether or not Gray was truly able to fight yet even despite his reassurance that he would not lose.
Then Gray took a stance that he had never seen before. His legs were more than shoulder width apart and his arms were crossed in front of him. That wasn't Gray's Ice Make stance…
"That stance… Iced Shell!" Lyon gasped.
"Iced Shell?" Natsu echoed. His thoughts flashed back to their talk in the cave when Gray had told them that Ur had casted the same spell on Deliora. Then he thought back to when Gray had said that Ur had risked her life to seal the demon away. Finally, the words of Lyon that had been spoken only moments before echoed through his mind.
"Haven't you heard? Ur is dead!"
Natsu put two and two together and his eyes widened with realization as to what Gray planned on doing. No… he couldn't! Natsu wouldn't let him! The ice bastard couldn't just kick the bucket whenever he wanted! But he was powerless to stop the magic circle from appearing underneath Gray's feet as he began to invoke the magic.
Then the ice appeared. It flew around Gray's feet, surrounding him. Natsu felt the magical energy push him back and he watched as Lyon tried to attack Gray, only for the magic circle that appeared from his hand to shatter and he was sent flying back. Natsu attempted to shield himself with an arm as he watched the scene unfold.
"Gray!" he growled, angered that his friend would even consider something like this.
"No matter how many years pass, it won't change the fact that it's my fault that Ur is dead! I have to take responsibility some time… So now's the time. I've been prepared to die… for the past ten years!" Natsu tuned out the conversation at this point as he tried to force one foot in front of the other in an attempt to reach the ice mage. To his horror, he could see cracks in Gray's skin where he assumed that his body was starting to become like ice. Natsu grit his teeth. He would be damned if he let Gray die here! But just walking forward was an issue with the immense magical energy pushing him back. Would he make it to Gray in time?
Gray's body began to glow white and Natsu felt his blood run cold. No! He was almost there! Just a few more steps!
"Gray!" he screamed in an attempt to stop the ice mage or at the very least distract him and break his concentration so that the spell would stop. But it was obvious that Gray had no intention of listening to him. So Natsu did the only thing he could do. He pushed flames from the soles of his feet and pushed off with all of his might just as Gray spread his arms apart.
"Iced— "
And that was when Natsu's fist connected with Gray's face.
"You idiot!" Gray fell back on the floor and crouched. Natsu panted from the amount of magic and energy he had needed to break through the torrent of ice and magic. It had been no easy feat. But all that mattered now was that Gray was safe. Even if he was a little mad at the stupid Ice Princess.
"Natsu!" Gray yelled in indignation.
"You break into my fight and start going on about responsibility and crap? Give me a break! Don't be taking my prey!"
"Your prey?"
"I'm the one who's going to beat him!" Natsu announced proudly as he pointed to himself. Gray stood up and yelled indignantly,
"Didn't I tell you that I was going to be the one to take him down?"
"And did I ever say 'Roger that?'" Natsu smiled smugly. Good. He had reignited some fight back into Gray. It had been a while since they had had an argument like this and the rosette was happy to see Gray somewhat back to normal.
"Why you little…"
"Oh? You wanna fight?" Natsu baited, but was surprised when Gray grabbed a hold of his scarf and began shouting in his face. The raven wore an expression of extreme rage which Natsu didn't really like directed at him, but it was better than the depressed, self pitying look Gray had had when Natsu picked him up from the ruins.
"I have to be the one to defeat him! I'm prepared to die if I have to!" And just like that it all went to shit. Just when Natsu thought that he was finally getting through to the stubborn Ice Block, Gray had to go and say that he was fine with dying. If kind words and punching him in the face wouldn't show him, maybe his anger would. He grabbed onto Gray's wrist and trembled with rage.
"Since when is dying finishing a battle? Well? Isn't that just running away?!" He watched as the blue eyes in front of him widened and Gray was shocked silent. The two stayed like that, unmoving, until the ruins started to shake.
"W-What's that?"
Natsu growled comically as he chased after the tiny man who had apparently righted the ruins. After all his hard work too!
"Oh it's on, masked man! Hold it right there!"
"Natsu!" Gray's voice interrupted him. He stopped and turned back to face his rival.
"I'm gonna wallop that bastard a million times over. You handle things here!" Gray looked surprised but then steeled his resolve and gave Natsu a determined look.
"You lost last time, and it's a disgrace."
"Yeah…"
"Not for you."
"Yeah, I know."
"For Fairy Tail!" the two said in unison. They shot each other smirks before Natsu turned on his heel and left in search of the masked man. He thought back to the expression Gray had had when he left and when he told him to handle things with Lyon. Good, he smiled. That's how you should look, Ice Bastard.
Natsu watched as the demon brought itself to full height. Damn! He had defeated the masked man too late! He was about to charge at Deliora when his nose caught whiff of a minty scent. He stopped and jumped from rock to rock, looking for the source.
"Gray! You're here?" he asked, as a way of confirming that Lyon had been defeated. He faltered slightly when he caught the broken look on Gray's face. Thankfully, it was gone in an instant as the raven turned up to him. Natsu pretended not to notice and changed the subject.
"We've got no choice now. Let's destroy that thing!" Asking this of Gray was hard and he knew it. A demon that killed his family and his teacher was alive when he had thought it dead. The traumatized look that Gray had had flashed through his mind once again. He wanted to wipe that face from his memory forever. He wanted to rid Gray of his suffering. There was no better way to do that than to have Gray kill the source of all of his trauma himself.
He was brought out of his thoughts by Lyon who was spouting some crap about defeating Deliora. He took in the older ice mage's appearance. He couldn't even stand, his cape was gone, his shin guards cracked and he was covered in bruises from head to toe. Gray had really done a number on him. Natsu felt his chest swell with a sick sense of pride. Good. The bastard deserved it. But he had to focus on the present.
"It looks way more impossible for you! Stand back already!"He turned back to the demon and prepared to fight. He was just about to light his fists on fire when he felt an immense burst of cold from beside him. Gray had reverted back to the Iced Shell position and the magical energy surrounded him a sphere. Natsu growled. Again?! How many times would it take before this idiot understood what he wanted to say?! He stepped in front of Gray.
"Natsu!"
"I'll fight it," he declared.
"Move, Natsu! Don't get in my way!" Natsu felt his anger boil but managed to remain calm.
"I stopped you before because I didn't want you to die. Maybe my voice didn't reach you? If you're going to use it, then go ahead and use it. That magic," he said wistfully. Why didn't this idiot understand?! He heard Gray whisper his name softly in the background. Was he finally getting through to the stubborn fool? Natsu hoped he was.
A giant fist coming his way stopped him from talking to Gray more. He lit his right fist on fire and prepared to counterattack. He heard Gray scream desperately in the background for him to dodge. Natsu realised that this was painful for Gray; it was all too familiar. The ice. The demon. People he was close to. Gray was afraid of losing Natsu. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he lost another person to this wretched beast. But that wasn't going to happen. Natsu brought his fist up and met the demon, fist for fist.
"I'm not gonna give up until the end!" His flames grew as he increased his magical output but Deliora was strong. Natsu might actually lose. Shit this was bad, what was he going to –
Crack.
Natsu watched incredulously as Deliora's fist fell from its arm. Green cracks ran up Deliora's body and spread out to its arms and legs. The head was next to fall. The entire demon was crumbling to dust before them.
"What? That wasn't me…" Natsu said as he looked at his fist in wonder. With startling clarity he realised what had happened, just as Lyon said it. For the past ten years, the ice had been sapping away at Deliora's life. What had happened just now was its final dying moments. Natsu turned to Gray who had just been staring blankly at the space where Deliora had been standing not seconds ago.
"Wow, your teacher was really amazing!" he praised. Then the dam holding Gray's emotions back broke. Natsu watched as tear after tear fell from Gray's eyes which the raven tried to hide by covering his face with his hand.
"T-Thank you very much… Teacher…" Gray sobbed. Natsu watched silently before smiling brightly at Gray. Those weren't tears of pain. Those were tears of overwhelming relief and gratitude. Natsu was happy for Gray. He had finally found closure. He was finally free from Deliora.
That night, after the celebration of the completion of the quest, Natsu lay next to Gray in a tent. Happy had gone with Erza and Lucy at Lucy's request after she had complained that she would not stay one more night in a tent with the two boys. Natsu rolled over to face the ice mage, thinking that he was asleep. He was more than startled when he found midnight blue eyes staring at him in the darkness.
"Y-Yeah?" he asked. Gray said nothing and continued to stare. Just when Natsu was going to ask again, Gray opened his mouth to speak.
"Natsu… can I ask you something?" he asked softly. Not trusting his voice, the rosette nodded.
"Why did you stop me… You've never cared about me. So why?" Natsu felt his throat close up as he struggled to explain his actions.
"Well… we're friends, aren't we? Even if I act like I don't care, I do. I wouldn't just let a friend go and off himself." Gray shook his head.
"It wasn't just that. I've seen you protect your friends before. This is not like one of those times. It had a completely different feel to it. Explain, Natsu. I just want to understand." When Gray spoke in a quiet voice like that, Natsu couldn't lie anymore. In a flash, he was on top of the ice mage, straddling him. Before Gray could ask what he was doing, Natsu leaned down and connected their lips. Gray's eyes widened but he made no move to escape. Instead, he closed his eyes and let Natsu kiss him.
It wasn't a particularly long kiss, nor was it very short. Natsu pulled back and looked the raven in the eye.
"Does that answer your question?" Gray nodded slowly, still a little bewildered. He brought his fingers to his lips, already missing Natsu's warmth.
"Since when?" he asked. Natsu smiled gently at him.
"I don't know. But it's probably been for a while. What about you?"
"I don't know… I kind of realised it just now sort of." There was a moment of silence before Gray decided to speak.
"That was my first kiss, you know."
"Mine too. I'm glad I could share the first time with you though, Gray." Gray smiled teasingly.
"It wasn't like what I expected at all. You should get better at kissing, Fire Breath."
"Same goes for you, Icicle Pants." The two laughed quietly and snuggled close to each other. Natsu looked over to Gray who had his eyes closed and was on the verge of falling asleep. He smiled. It had been his first time kissing anyone so he had been unsure of how to do it, but there would be plenty more opportunities in the future.
Ta da! There you have it! This is actually the longest one shot I've ever written. Actually, it's a lot longer than a lot of stuff that I've written. I'd love some feedback! Thanks for reading!