Csilla: This was one of the ones that was highly voted on in my poll &I encourage everyone to vote! I loved writing each and every one of my reincarnations of Natsu and Gray~ ;)
&expanding a few is like watching my babies grow~ ouo
( - - - - )
"So, Lucy wanna explain this one to me?" With a finger pointed at the overly-excited (bordering on rabid-fanboy, seemingly flying through the air with each leap of joy, on the verge of being drugged heavily with every stimulant drug known to man due to excessive amount of energy, possibly a new addition to someone's psych ward) male, whose words were coming out incoherently as he stood in front of his favorite bookstore.
"Oh, if I'm translating this right," Levi chimed in with a short wink before her tone of voice changed, "Oh my god!~! I can't believe!~! Can't believe it!~! He's coming here!~! I can't believe it!~! The Gray Fullbuster is coming here!~! I could die happy right now!~! Will I get to meet him?~? I'm like his biggest fan!~!"
Her voice seemed to shock the gushing rosette back to reality; he whined as he threw his hands out in front of him, "Don't mock me, Levi!"
"But she's right in translating the gibberish you were speaking earlier," Lucy smiled at their friend, who immediately turned red from realizing he forgot to deny the translation. Not that he could. Those were pretty much his thoughts upon seeing the poster announcing the autograph session with his favorite author at his favorite bookstore.
"So if you're going to the session then that means you won't be able to make it to that amazing concert so then-" Natsu cut his best friend, Loki off with a short: "Yeah, take it"
Orange eyes widened in awe: "Wait? Seriously? I can have your ticket then!"
"Yeah," The rosette remarked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
[Day of the Concert / Autograph Signing]
Natsu waited in line while excitement bubbled up inside him; he had spent a good portion of the night deciding what to have signed but in the end, he chose the book that started it all. The book that gave him something to look forward to after accidentally stumbling upon the title one day when he was helping out at his school's library. He could still remember the thoughts that stormed inside his head as his cobalt eyes took in the title of the book. The cover art that portrayed exactly the emotions written out in the text. The story that unfolded before his eyes. All of it had him cracking the book open again and again whenever he reached the end. He was right outside the door of the bookstore when the worst possible outcome was heard clear as day: "Sorry folks! That's all! The session is over!" and as heavy as a ton of bricks.
Heartbroken the rosette stood in his place, tuning out the irritated yells from the other fans behind him that soon left the broken teen on his own; as if being told he wouldn't be able to get his book signed, the weather also began reflecting his mood as rain starting pelting down like tears. He slipped the book inside his bag, where he knew it would be safe before letting out a deep sigh and walking slowly down the alleyway beside the bookstore; his head hung low so his bangs covered the onyx eyes that fought the tears and frustrations of rejection.
"Hey, you're gonna catch a cold if you stay out like that..." An unfamiliar voice drew dreary cobalt eyes to glance over in curiosity of who it was that called out to him in such weather; standing with a black umbrella held out was a tall raven-haired adult that appeared not much older than him. When Natsu didn't speak the stranger asked, "Where ya headin'?" with a small smile as he stepped closer to the drenched rosette.
"Home," A flicker of life began building behind the dreariness in the cobalt eyes as they stared at the raven-haired individual, whose umbrella now was sheltering him as well.
A light chuckle only helped the flame grow with more life as the other suggested: "Why not dry off first? C'mon, let's get you dried off at the cafe right over there," pointing a slender pale finger to an area beyond the rosette's shoulder, who turned in confusion - he had lived in this town his whole life and there was no cafe behind the bookstore. So what on earth was this stranger talking about? Curiosity lifted his head, catching whiffs of wintergreen and citrus on its way up.
Tuning out his own thoughts, he let himself be lead over to what surprisingly was a small cafe that he never noticed existed; "Is this place new?" He finally asked as they stepped inside. The quaint cafe held a cozy atmosphere inside, almost like it was home to the customers who sat discussing small talk among themselves; a smile threatened to tug at the tanned young adult as his onyx eyes glanced around the room.
"Huh? No, this place has been here for as long as I can remember" The raven stranger chuckled as he slipped into one of the empty booths nearby and Natsu followed in pursuit. For such a small place the rosette was surprised that the booth was very comfy compared to others at more known cafes, ones that he was forcibly dragged to by Lucy and Levi. And sometimes Loki but that was usually because Lucy asking him to.
Natsu sat across from the raven and not long after a waitress came over, immediately talking to the stranger like they had known one another their whole lives: "Never thought I'd see you in this town again, damn ice prince" The middle-aged waitress laughed as she pulled out her pen and notepad; not missing a beat nor looking up the menu, he laughed back: "Yeah... thought I'd visit my hometown for a bit, Ever" before the waitress asked, "Usual?"
"Ah," glancing up at the busty brunette, "You know me so well," He flashed a wide genuine smile that had his tan companion inhaling sharply from the sight; even with the dreary weather, the raven appeared to be fairly good-looking but with the cafe's lighting and that smile, he felt the air in his lungs disappear.
"And you?" Natsu was brought into the conversation finally but being caught off-guard by the sudden attention, he fumbled around with the menu that laid in front of him. As if sensing the others unease, the 'ice prince' turned back to her and said, "Just give him the same and would you mind bringing a towel over for my friend? He got caught in the rain..."
"Alright~ be right out then," She headed back into the kitchen, leaving them alone again and suddenly the rosette felt an overwhelming amount of confidence that his biggest question blurted right out: "So what's going on?" without getting the 'okay' from his brain.
Onyx eyes glanced over in mild confusion to which Natsu elaborated on his question: "Why the sudden urge to take someone you've never met to a cafe?"
"Oh," pausing when she returned with a large fluffy white towel, receiving a short 'thanks' before the raven continued: "good question..." A tan face met the cold hard table in defeat making his companion chuckle: "Okay, to be honest... I'unno why I did it... it's not like I do this often," watching with mild interest in his eyes as his companion started drying his hair off.
"Hence the nickname, ice prince right?" Deciding his hair was dry enough, Natsu moved to drying his soaked clothes - or at least, removing most of the water from them. At the mention of his nickname, the stranger burst out laughing: "Yeah! Evergreen's known as me ever since I was a child," calming down off the high of laughing so hard, "I used to be really cold to others..."
"Evergreen? As in Elfman's wife?" Natsu had wondered why the woman looked familiar; the last time he had seen the hyped-silver haired adult was his wedding three years ago. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't visited Lisanna's grave for a while - how did he forget something as important as that for so long?
"You know the Strauss's?" Their conversation seemed to taken a sudden turn towards interesting as the silver-haired family came to the forefront of both of their minds.
Natsu couldn't stop the grin that broke out on his face as he replied: "Know them? Please, I was like a brother to Lisanna..."
The infectious grin broke out on the raven's as he added: "Yeah, I know what you mean... Lisanna used to scolds me like she was my older sister,"
The duo chuckled at the memory of how the young girl would often scold them before a comforting silence fell between them as they both had a flashback of the young girl's funeral; neither of them had a real clear recollection of it but they both remembered the faces of the sobbing siblings that wept, holding onto the two friends their little sister had. The rosette remembered Mirajane's tears hitting his shoulder as she held the child, who felt so confused about the whole ordeal - wasn't she supposed to be heading out with one of her friends so they could all hang out at the park that had been recently built?
Breaking the silence, Natsu asked with all seriousness: "Who the hell are you anyways? You apparently seemed to have grown up here but yet I have no memory of ever running into you even though I've lived here all my life..."
"Isn't it customary to tell a person your own name before asking for someone else's?" Growing irritated when his questions was brushed aside, the rosette huffed out his name in one breath: "Natsu Dragneel,"
"Nice to meet you, Natsu" Again ignoring the obvious irritation radiating from the other, the raven continued by asking more questions: "So what were you doing outside in this weather?"
Straight to the point: "Getting rejected,"
"Sorry to hear that," The raven hadn't expected that response; letting multiple images of the other being rejected by some nameless/faceless girl made him feel bad for the rosette. As if sensing the other's thoughts, Natsu interjected: "Its not what you think," pausing, "I wasn't able to get something signed by my favorite author," At the mention of the word 'favorite', Natsu's features brightened like a child would on Christmas morning.
"Is it really that big of a deal?"
"To me it is," for a moment it would seem that was all the rosette was going to say but the moment the raven went to move on, his companion continued: "This may sound pretty lame or cheesy but this author gave me something to look forward to," Onyx eyes spoke volumes of the unspoken words the rosette's memory played in his mind.
He had been in a depressive rut since Lisanna died and doing everything he could to avoid her siblings in the hallway at school in the months after her death; finding the library the best place to hide during lunch and after school, Natsu always helped the librarian organize returned books and new books coming in. He was putting away a returned book towards the back when he almost tripped on his shoelace, crouching down to tie it before he ended up tasting the carpet something caught his eye. Words, to be exact. A title, to be specific. A book titled 'Bonds: the good, bad and forgotten'. Taking it out from its dusty spot on the shelf, onyx eyes scanned the cover art which showed a long red string tied around pinkies of two people. Flipping it over, Natsu read the excerpt from the book - each word perking his interest more: 'All of us feel bound to something. Someone, who meant so much to us at one point in time. Maybe it was someone you loved or possibly a friend who you miss. The bonds that tie us to them can lift us up or can tie us to the past'. Natsu couldn't deny the simple fact that he had cut himself off from others since Lisanna's death - afraid to let other close anymore. His eyes drifted down to read the small blurb about the author and onyx eyes widened when he saw the writer was his age, roughly!
"Don't all authors do that?" Drawing the tanned companion from his thoughts, the raven interrupted with a simple question.
A content smile again broke out on Natsu's face again: "Not like him... He gave me the courage to come out of my shell," A moment of silence as their order came, the moment Evergreen left them with the steaming cups of hot cocoa and two pieces of strawberry shortcake the raven took a sip of the hot liquid.
Exhaling the heavenly aroma, he murmured a soft: "Is that so, Natsu...?"
"Yeah... uh... wait, you never answered my question...!" Suddenly it dawned on the young rosette that he still didn't know this guy's name. How the hell did he let his question go unanswered for so long?! And after he indulged so much information to a perfect stranger too!
Sensing the former irritation from the other bubble up again, the raven introduced himself: "You mean who I am...? Gray. Gray Fullbuster," before taking another sip of the cocoa. Tan jaw smacked the table the moment the name escaped his mouth; cobalt eyes grew in size as the rosette merely stared in awe and shock. Recovering after a few moment the first thing out of his mouth was: "Wait! Wh-what? S-seriously?"
A wide smirk formed across pale features, which clearly screamed that he was indeed who he said he was. That bastard! Pushing himself up from his position in the booth using the table in front of him, Natsu kept his head low as he let out a low growl: "Think its funny to mess with someone, don't you?" which came out more like a hurt puppy's whine.
Without waiting for an explanation, the rosette headed for the exit leaving the raven regretting not confessing his identity earlier; he had no choice. He learned shortly after publishing his second novel that anyone who befriended him only wanted one of three things from him: money or fame. Or both. He regretted being so naive back then; it started with Angel, a sweet waitress who worked at the cafe where he began writing then it was Eve, a boy he met when he was doing some research for one of his books. Sting, Rogue, Kagura, Jenny... The list seemed endless; the number of people who tried to get close with him all for the sake of the fame or fortune of dating/being friend with him. Onyx eyes, which had followed the teen as Natsu walked out, fluttered back onto the two steaming mugs until something caught his attention. A bag that the rosette had been carrying-
"HEY WAIT! ICE PRINCE! DIDJA-" Evergreen's complained when she saw Gray bolt from his seat, bag in hand without paying but the raven interrupted her with an equally loud yell: "I'll be back, I promise! GOTTA FIX SOMETHING!" with that the young adult raced after the rosette.
He started with the bookstore where his book signing had taken place but no rosy locks could be seen anywhere near it; running to the canopy in front of the entrance of the store, it dawned on him that he wasn't likely to track down the other in the rainy weather. Seeing a car driving up, he decided to take a risk and waved the car down; when it came to a stop he walked over to the passenger side window, which rolled down to reveal an uninterested blonde who asked: "What?"
"I was wondering if any of you knew a guy named Natsu..." He knew the chances weren't in his favor but the other had mentioned he lived in this town his whole life so maybe... just maybe...
"Natsu? Why? Did something happen?" The boy in the driver seat asked, leaning over the middle console; body language from the two told Gray that they did know who the rosette was.
Lifting up the bag, "He dropped this..."
"Eh," a petite blue-haired girl poked her head into the conversation from the back seat, "Isn't that the bag he took for the book signing, Lucy?"
Mentally jumping in relief, Gray quickly asked: "Do you know where he lives? I really want to return this," Normally both Lucy and her boyfriend wouldn't agree to such a demand from a complete stranger but something was different, there was genuine emotions in the onyx eyes before them.
Rolling up her window, the raven saw her mouth something and the back door opened followed by the petite girl yelling, "C'mon~ we'll take you there!"
He thanked them when he slipped inside; watching the scenery change beyond the window, he started seeing more and more places he often visited while he still lived here... the park he played with his twin brother, Lyon and his sister, Ultear... the elementary school he went to... the path he took to school... the park that Lisanna showed him once saying she wanted him to meet her other best friend... his old neighborhood...
"w-wait... w-what...?" He whispered as the car turned onto his old street, driving past the house where his mother and siblings still lived before pulling into a driveway a little ways down and across the street.
The petite girl turned her head, "Hm? Did you say something?" to which the raven shook his head quickly, "well... we're here..." just as the car parked in front of a second story home.
"Ah... thank you," Right before he reached for the handle there was an annoying buzz in his pants, slipping the device from his pocket before glaring at the screen despite the ID that was displayed: 'MOM'. Stepping out of the car, he answered the phone: "Hi Mom... before you start going off... I was going to tell you I was in town-" while walking onto the covered porch of the two-story house.
He knocked lightly on the door as his mother interrupted him by rambled on in his ear about not calling/informing them about his visit to Magnolia; trying to interrupt his mother's words that seemed endless, he almost missed the part where she mentioned that someone had came over and was now fuming about some asshole making fun of him by pretending to be Gray Fullbuster... wait... him?
"Natsu? Is he still over there?" His question forced his mom to pause before sighing a short 'yeah'; moments later, he was running, bag in hand down the street towards his old house. He bolted inside, kicking off his shoes before being met by his sister who had gotten much older but still greeted him the same way nonetheless: "Niisan...?"
"Hey Ultear... surprise?" He smiled before getting a tight hug that didn't last long when the girl realized her older brother was soaking wet; she tried to convince him to change before he caught a cold but he silenced her by walking away towards the sounds of voices coming from the kitchen.
Sure enough sitting in one of the bar stools at the breakfast counter was the familiar mob rosy-hair, that had run out on him, chatting with his mother; deciding to make his presence known, he cleared his throat. The moment cobalt eyes met amused onyx, they widened before Natsu freaked: "What the hell?! Now you're fucking stalking me, you fake!"
"Now who's the real stalker? This is where I used to live... so why are you here?" The raven sighed, running his free hand through his wet hair to push it out of his eyes; he wanted so badly to make a comment to being called a 'fake' but refrained for the moment.
He watched with mild amusement as the rosette turned to the raven woman then to him with a wide-eyed expression; Gray's twin brother stepping into the room from the living room, if the raven remembered right, spoke up: "Sorry Natsu... but he's not lying... this is his home though the idiot doesn't come often enough so that statement is also a little flimsy,"
"C'mon Lyon... I come home-"
"Not this last Christmas," Lyon interjected; the raven frowned as he muttered, "I apologized, didn't I? Hibiki wanted to do a Christmas event that year for a children's charity... I did want to go to the winter bizarre, Ultear's class was holding... I did,"
It was true; Hibiki, Gray's editor had thought doing something for the children at a local orphanage was the best way to kick off the end of the year. In the end, it was reading to them their favorite books - all for publicity as the raven soon learned when the papers came out the next day. The room grew slightly heavy until their mother decided it was time to lighten it again: "So why don't we get you a piece of cake, sweetie? And maybe you two can clear up this misunderstanding Natsu has of you..."
Before either of them could argue, Ur had already sliced a piece and was ushering her other son out of the room - Gray and Natsu stayed in the same spot until finally the raven's nose picked up a smell he could never resist: strawberry shortcake! Taking the initiative, he sat down across from the rosette who also returned to his seat; cutting off the edge of the piece with his fork, Gray quickly put the bite-sized piece in his mouth, letting the sweet goodness envelope his taste buds.
"So you really are... him?" Natsu asked, his eyes clearly showing the slight disbelief in them; onyx eyes met the cobalt ones across before answering, "I told you I was, did I...?"
"But your last name...?"
"Fullbuster was originally my last name... I took Ur's when she adopted me and when I became famous, I went back to my old last name so they wouldn't be troubled by my fame..."
"I-I see... I'm sorry for what I said earlier..."
"It's fine... I guess I sort of deserve it... I did avoid telling you who I was, after all"
At the reminder of this simple fact, a question popped up and without thinking any further about it, Natsu asked: "Why did you?" surely there was a reason behind that. As if time stood still, Gray paused in his actions before finally answering after what felt like hours.
"Because I wanted to enjoy some company of someone who wasn't a fake... Someone who wanted to talk to me, Gray Fullbuster as a person and not me as Gray Fullbuster, the novelist..." The solemn response pulled at the avid fan when he thought back to how he had been acting when he found out about the signing. He wasn't really any better than those fakes Gray spoke of... was he?
Sensing the overflow of negative emotions from his companion, the raven spoke up: "Despite the whole 'running-out-on-me', I'm glad I was able to talk to someone who actually got mad at me for my antics" with the smile he had shown him at the cafe.
"And thank you for what you said about my books," a hitch in Gray's breath as he remembered, "Oh yeah! You left this, by the way... at the cafe," He held up the bag, which immediately made cobalt eyes widen. The rosette grabbed the bag and held it to his chest - love and affection swirling in his eyes; emotions that was easily seen by onyx ones.
"So what's in that bag, anyways?" He asked nonchalantly before deciding to finish up his piece of cake; the rosette laughed lightly, "Well... you've probably heard this a million times but... its one of your books... I was hoping to get it signed at the signing this afternoon,"
Interest perked, Gray pushed forward: "I can sign it now, if you want... to make up for being a bit of an ass earlier," before offering his hand out; unzipping the bag, Natsu pulled out a book - that to anyone appeared damaged but to every book-lover, it was deeply loved - and handed it over.
Grabbing a loose marker that was close by, Gray's eyes went back onto the book before he froze; the title of his book was clearly shown but he was in utter disbelief! How had this book been shown so much love and affection by anyone?! This was...
"This... is the one you wanted signed," a short nod, "why?" The raven asked.
...something he wrote to express how he felt about Lisanna's death... how he had seen so many people hurt by the red strings that tie them to others! This was...
"Because... it was the book that attracted me to your books in the first place,"
...his very first book he ever published.
"But this received a lot of horrible reviews...!"
"Doesn't mean that everyone thinks the same way... I enjoyed it!" Natsu's bright smile broke through his disbelief as he shook his head with a laugh and signed a book he never thought he'd see be enjoyed by anyone... other than himself.
[ - OMAKE - ]
"I have a question for you, Gray..." Sitting on one of the swings of the park, Lisanna had always wanted to take him; Natsu turned to his friend with a question his inner fan-boy had always wondered.
Slowing to a complete stop, the raven glanced over encouraging the other to continue; it had been almost seven months since they met that rainy day of his book signing and the two had become fast friends in that time. The rosette seemed hesitant before swallowing his pride, "What was going through your head when you wrote 'Bonds'," meeting surprised onyx eyes, "I mean... you were only 14-years-old at the time... s-so..." trailing off, he was unsure how to really continue.
Sighing before kicking off from the ground, the raven swung slightly back and forth for a bit before answering: "I couldn't understand why the ties we make as people hurt us so much... I was angry, watching others get hurt and watching myself suffer from losing my childhood best friend... Lisanna," a pained smile, "I used to blame myself all the time for her death," coming to a stop again.
"Strange... after reading that I came to accept her death,"
"It is,"
"How did you two meet?"
"Elementary school... we went there together,"
Surprised, "Eh? Y-You went to Magnolia Elementary School too?" A curt nod sent the rosette staring down at the ground; now they were both wondering how they ended up never meeting. The school wasn't very large so classes were fairly small so how did they end up missing one another in such a small area. Lisanna ended up befriending both of them and staying their friend for a few years before she announced about having them meet.
"w-wait..." The rosette stood up quickly, arousing the attention from his friend in a worried manner; Gray watched as Natsu ran over to the jungle gym then climbed past the bars.
He soon followed in a similar motion but instead of running over, he simply jogged over in curiosity of what got the rosette worked up suddenly. Natsu was crouched down on the ground and appeared to be digging in the middle of area; bending down the raven watched as tanned fingers dug through the dirt until pausing to wipe away some grains of dirt from what appeared to be a tin box. Almost like a small time capsule. Crouching down as well, Gray helped unburried the box; soon a dirty tin box that now looked like a child's lunch box sat before them. Their clothes covered in dirt and the sun beginning to set, Natsu opened the box to reveal photos of Lisanna with... them?
Photos of field trips they went on in elementary school, the trio smiling with Lisanna in the middle; they exchanged looks - neither remembered the other being there in any of these moments. Underneath all the photos, the raven plucked out two short notes in the girl's handwriting; one read: 'I hope someday, they will be friends~ And if my plan tomorrow works then we'll all be the best of friends forever -signed, Lisanna (01.17.2008)' the next read: 'If future me (future Natsu or Gray) finds this, I hope you guys became friends... you both have done so much for me that I wanted to repay you -signed, Lisanna (01.17.2008)'
"Just like you," Natsu chuckled softly as he listened to the raven read both notes out loud; it was just like her to do something like a time capsule at 14-years-old. The raven patted his pockets down before shaking his head, earning a curious look from his friend before stating: "You know in a weird way, she did end up being the reason we met..."
Natsu rolled his eyes as he snickered, "Yeah... even in the afterlife, she was still aiming to repay us back," laughing, "Dunno about you but I sure as hell didn't think I did much,"
Sighing the raven stood up making a comment along the way: "Same here... Ah," pausing, "she really is like an annoying older sister..."
"Yeah," The duo reburied the lunch box that once belonged to their childhood friend, who dreamed that her two best friends would meet and become friends.
( - - - - )
Csilla: Did you guys enjoy that little omake at the end? :D
Pfft, I'm so bad at just ending things ;-;
I just wasn't sure how to put that last idea that the two went to school together before Gray became an author~ so a little extra treat for you! I DID THIS ALL IN ONE SITTING! (okay, technically two but it was only those last lines that were the second sitting~) -so proud-
&finally, I have a crazy announcement: I'm going to pursue going from a writer to being an author... writing stories much like I have been doing (mostly boy love, of course) so I'm honestly curious - would any of you actually go out and buy/read something like that? o-o