Chapter Two
Gray woke up to the sun pouring in his eyes and the feeling that he had been run over by a train. He groaned as his eyes adjusted and immediately realized he was in a random room.
"What?" Gray mumbled to himself.
"You're awake!" Gray heard a female say from the couch. She ran up to him with a heartfelt smile and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. Gray was stunned, he didn't know what happened last night, but he was starstruck that such a beautiful woman seemed concerned over his well-being. She had her long, light lavender hair pulled into a high messy ponytail and her grey eyes looked at him with such warmth it made his heart stop.
"What happened? Where am I?" Gray asked after realizing he was staring at her for way too long to be normal.
"I'm not sure.. I found you asleep in the forest on my way to Oshibana. We're at the inn. I dragged you here last night. You were pretty beat up, and you were pretty darn heavy," She laughed. Ash herself was getting lost in Gray's dark eyes and smoky voice.
"You carried me? How?" Gray laughed with her. He looked down, trying not to obviously check the girl out, but even with Gray laying down he could tell she was much shorter than he was. Her pajamas did nothing to cover her amazing curves that Gray was becoming fixated on. He needed to snap his head out of it. He didn't understand why he was so intrigued by a stranger.
"Well, if you don't think I look it, I am a very strong woman, thank you," Ash put her hands on her hips like she was lecturing him, "I'm Ash Smoldere by the way."
"Gray Fullbuster. I must've passed out from all the training I did yesterday...we do tend to go overboard. Thank you for watching out for me," Gray gave Ash an uncharacteristic soft smile.
"Well your comrades must be worried about you. Let's get some breakfast, yeah?" Ash said as she got up and headed to the bathroom to change.
It was a bright, sunshiny day with barely any clouds in the sky. Ash carried her large bag with her as she walked with Gray down the streets of Oshibana. Of course, Gray was only half-dressed when Ash found him, so Sorin reluctantly lended him a blue t-shirt. Sorin was clearly sad to see Ash to leave so soon, and with a handsome wizard, but he knew he'd see her again soon.
"I still can't believe you wore yourself out fighting a friend like that," Ash commented as she led Gray towards the nearest cafe.
"Our rivalry is pretty serious. No one ever really wins, but I hope he was just as knocked out as I was," Gray laughed, a hint of embarrassment in his tone.
"You said you were in Fairy Tail right? That's the guild that won the Grand Magic Games, so you two must be very strong."
"I fought in the Grand Magic Games," Gray said smugly, a huge smirk plastered on his face.
"What! Wow, I would die for an opportunity like that," Ash blushed at the dark haired wizard. To say she was impressed with Gray was an understatement.
"So you're a mage then?"
"I'm a fire demon slayer," Ash smiled sweetly, despite the fact that her magic sounded brutal and deadly.
"A what?" Gray had utter shock on his face, "how do you even learn to slay a demon?"
"My mother taught me the magic when I was young. She died a long time ago, so by the time I realized my magic was extremely rare she was already gone. My dad won't answer any of my questions," Ash sighed, "I left home to travel the world. I have been everywhere and I still don't have any answers."
"What's next on your agenda then?"
Ash just shrugged and Gray could see the slight slump in her shoulders as she entered the cafe. The once overly bubbly girl was forgotten once she thought about her past and the uncertainness of her future.
As much as Gray didn't want to admit it to himself, he was feeling some type of way for this random girl. He watched as she ate her pancakes animatedly and with a cute girly blush on her cheeks. He could not believe such a happy girl was capable of such power. She had let her hair down for their little breakfast date and wore a baby pink tank top and denim shorts that did sinful things to his mind. He couldn't perceive the way he was feeling. He was surrounded by beautiful women all the time at the guild but something was just different about Ash. Was it the fact that she saved him or the way that she pretended to be so happy despite all the confusion in her life? He didn't know and he was just gonna try to push it to the back of his mind before he started staring at those sparkling eyes once again. Also, shouldn't he hate her? She was like the female version of Natsu.
"Why don't you join a guild?" Gray asked while he poked at his scrambled eggs.
"Oh, I don't know. I'm not very familiar with them you know?"
"You can always come home to Fairy Tail with me," Gray offered. He tried to keep his cool even though his heart was racing.
"What? You mean it?" Ash blushed, she couldn't even conceal the bright smile that hit her cheeks.
"It's the least I could do to repay you for carrying me to safety. We can board the train to Magnolia after our meal," Gray nonchalantly said. Ash felt her heart sink a little. His offer was out of kindness for what she did, not because he might have feelings for her, she told herself. She couldn't help but want to start a new adventure however, and maybe joining a guild would give her answers about her life that she couldn't get anywhere else.
"Okay. I'll join Fairy Tail," Ash said, giving Gray the smile he was starting to like so much.
Ash sighed as she looked at the sleeping male across from her on the train. She knew she shouldn't have drank all of that coffee because she was bored out of her mind and she couldn't nap with all this pent up energy. She was excited to finally have a place to call home after two years of traveling from place to place. She couldn't help but wonder what would become of Gray and her. Would he stay by her side or leave her on her own path? She couldn't tell.
The train suddenly stopped at the Magnolia station and Ash had to shake Gray awake. They immediately walked to the guild together, and Gray silently prayed that a certain blue-haired woman would be on a job today. He wanted to spend more time with Ash, but Juvia would have her running home.
"Oh wow, the guild hall is magnificent," Ash's eyes sparkled as she looked at the renovated, for the millionth time, building.
"It is something, huh?" Gray smiled at her and led her in the doorway.
"Okay, Ice Princess, you have some explaining to do!" Natsu immediately started to punch Gray before he got in the door. Ash backed up, assuming that this is the fire-breathing "idiot" that Gray loves to fight.
"Gray where the hell were you! We were all worried," Lucy pouted as she attempted, badly, to break up the boys' fight.
"I stayed in the Oshibana Inn, nothing to worry about," Gray huffed as he attempted to throw a punch at Natsu.
"Oh, who's this?" Natsu backed away from Gray and looked at Ash, making her blush. It felt like everyone's eyes were pinned on her.
"My name is Ash Smoldere.., I helped Gray get to the inn," Ash gave a weak smile.
"I invited her to join Fairy Tail. She's a fire demon slayer," Gray proudly said.
"Why would you invite a fire mage? You hate Natsu enough," Lucy joked, "I'm Lucy by the way."
"He hates Natsu because he uses fire magic?" Ash curiously asked.
"I'm an ice mage," Gray said, looking away to avoid her surprised stare.
"I'm Natsu! And you sound like an incredible opponent," Natsu proclaimed with a frightening glint in his eye.
"Oh, I don't think Ash is much of a fighter, flamebrain," Gray mumbled.
"It's on," Ash smirked, her entire demeanor changing. Gray was astounded by the amount of magic energy that began erupting from this girl. He could barely sense any before.
"You want to join Fairy Tail, Ash?" Makarov began walking up to Ash and shaking her hand, and the entire atmosphere was interrupted.
"Yes I do!" Ash gave him a warm smile that nobody in their right mind could resist. They exchanged some information and a light blue guild mark was placed on the back of Ash's shoulder.
Ash sat at a table with Wendy, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu as they all chattered away. Ash was never much of a socializer but talking to them felt so easy and they were fun to be around. The girls began talking about books while the boys kept to themselves.
"Hey Natsu, where's Juvia?" Gray whispered, trying to hide the seriousness in his voice.
"She's out on a job, why, you miss her already?" Natsu smirked.
"No, thank god. She'd murder everyone if she knew I brought Ash here."
"Oh, so what really happened last night at the inn?" Natsu teased, putting his arm around Gray's shoulders.
"Well why don't you tell me what happens every night that you go to Lucy's?" Gray rolled his eyes as Natsu huffed and turned away from him.
"Gray, what happened to your clothes?" Ash asked, blushing as she tried not to stare at his displayed abs.
"It's a habit of his, you'll learn to live with it," Lucy winked at her.
That night, everyone drank and laughed until it got late. Gray and Ash were walking out of the guild hall, exhausted from all of the traveling and partying.
"Where are you staying?" Gray asked Ash.
"Well I was just going to rent a hotel until I found a place to live."
"Why don't you just stay with me? You'll save money," Gray offered, probably influenced by liquid courage.
"Really?" Ash smiled at him. He had done so much for her already.
"I only have one bed, but I can sleep on the couch easily."
"Oh we can share," Ash giggled at Gray's soft smile as they approached his house. She began to realize that he carried a nonchalant barrier around his friends, but seeing him smile, even just a little, made her heart pound.
Gray's house was surprisingly homely and cottage-like. The inside was kept extremely tidy for a boy and the sight of the quaint house made Ash happy. It was like seeing another side to Gray's personality.
"This is where we will be staying," Gray said as he showed Ash the bedroom that sported a large bed with grey bedding.
"Looks comfy, and I'm gonna let you give me a nice tour later but for now I need to sleep," Ash said as she left Gray to go shower and get ready for bed. Gray changed into his pajamas and laid in bed. He didn't really sleep with covers, or anything on for that matter, but he'll suffer for Ash's sake. Ash came into the bedroom with her hair still wet and a white tank top and pajama shorts. Gray attempted to avert his eyes because he did not want to fixate on how that tank top was sinfully hugging her wet body.
"You ready?" Gray asked Ash as she curled up under the covers. She just nodded and Gray turned off the lamp by his bedside. This was going to make for an awfully interesting adventure.
