Yay! It's Saturday! I've been waiting for Saturday since last Saturday because, well, I'm a comment whore. Sorry, guess the secret's out. Also, in response to Zunifex's comment about their ages affecting their in-characterness, I do try to keep them as in character as I can, but I also try to make them like normal kids their age (while still taking their situations into account), or their situations are a little different because it's an AU, but even then the OOCness is usually small or understandable because of the situation I put them in. Sometimes I do write them a little OOC, but that's why my sister proof-reads for me, because she usually catches that shit (thank you, sissy-poo), but, if she doesn't, just read it anyway, because... You love me? Just kidding, but if she does miss it, it's usually really small so you will either miss it or ignore it. Anyway, let's move on.

WARNING: So, I'm pretty sure if you're reading this, you already know who Ur is, but just in case you don't, spoilers for Lyon and Gray's past, with her and otherwise. Also, I think Gray was older than this when he originally met Ur, but he's this age now, so if he was older, I guess this is a little less cannon than I thought.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Fairy Tail. Like, at all. I wish.

Tattered Old Rags and the Prick of a Needle (Oneshot):

Gray – 7

Lyon – 8

Lyon was walking around the house, just minding his own business, when he tripped over something. He glanced behind himself in agitation, catching sight of Gray pulling his old blanket across the floor. He should have known, this wasn't the first time the thing had tripped him up.

"Gray, I thought I told you to stop dragging that thing around," Lyon said with exasperation evident in his tone, glaring at the younger boy.

Gray looked down at Lyon, then over to his blanket.

He picked up the multi-colored cloth, apologizing, "Sorry, Lyon. I forgot on accident."

Lyon huffed in annoyance, picking himself up, "Well, could you try not to forget this time."

Gray nodded, walking away with the blanket bundled up in his arms.

Gray had managed to go a full three hours without forgetting what Lyon had told him earlier in the day, but he did, as most young children typically do, eventually forget what had been said to him. Once again, Lyon found himself face first on the floor, Gray's tattered rag being the cause of his suffering. However, this time, there had been a ripping noise to accompany Lyon's tripping.

Lyon turned his head, ready to yell at the younger child for, yet again, forgetting what he had been told, but he held his tongue when he saw Gray staring down at his blanket, looking as though he were on the verge of tears. The cloth had been split in two.

"You-you ripped it," Gray said in a barely audible whisper.

Lyon realized that his foot must have gotten caught in one of the many holes in the thing, so when he fell, he'd accidentally torn it in half.

"Well, darn it, Gray. I told you not to drag it around!" Lyon yelled, slight anger in his voice.

"I-I know. I jus'- I jus' forgot it again."

An idea popped into Lyon's head, and he voiced the thought, "Hey, maybe it's a good thing. You're too old to have that thing anyway."

"I know I'm too old for it, but I don' care! Mommy made this for me and it's the last thing I gots from her, s-so I was go-onna keep it good, but now it's all bro-oken," Gray was crying now, and he threw the blanket on the floor, distraughtly stomping back to his and Lyon's shared room.

Lyon looked down at the two scraps of material, suddenly feeling guilty for accidentally tearing it. He picked up the fabric, another idea in his head as he searched Ur's home for what he would need.

...

Gray sat on his bed, turned away from the door and facing the wall. Tears leaked from his eyes and he quickly wiped them away, only for more to take their place. He knew it was stupid to be so upset over a silly blanket, but Gray didn't think his blanket was very silly, so he cried. He then thought that, since his blanket was decidedly un-silly, he would go and retrieve it.

He walked back to the room in which he'd left his comfort object, but found it was missing. He was puzzled for a moment, before coming to the obvious conclusion that someone must have thrown it away. He ran to every trash can in the house, thoroughly searching through them in search of his beloved blanket, but he did not find it. He sat on the floor of the kitchen, in front of the last bin he had checked, and began to cry for his blanket that was now forever lost.

Ur walked into the room and found Gray, sitting on the floor in front of the trash and bawling his eyes out.

"Gray, what's wrong?" Ur questioned in a worried tone.

Gray turned to the woman and looked up at her with pleading eyes, "Do you know where my blanket is? You didn' throw it 'way, did you?"

Ur thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No, Gray, I can't say that I have seen it. Why would you think someone threw it away?"

"I left it in the other room, and now I can't find it," He whined, wiping away tears.

"I'm sure it'll turn up sooner or later," Ur assured the boy with a kind smile.

Gray nodded, though he wasn't sure he entirely believed her.

"Oh, and Gray, have you or Lyon been in my sewing things? They were a mess, and some needles and thread are missing."

"No," Gray replied. He couldn't answer for Lyon, but he knew he hadn't been in any of Ur's soing stuff, or what ever she called it.

"Are you sure? You boys could get hurt using those things, the needles are sharp," She asked again to be certain.

Gray nodded his head, "I'm sure."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for your blanket around the house and let you know if I find it."

Gray nodded, leaving the kitchen to continue the search for his blanket.

When he'd searched the whole house and had still come up empty-handed, he returned back to his bedroom to sulk. His gaze was fixated on the wall once again, tears stinging at the backs of his eyes, when he heard a small knock from the door. It was Lyon.

"What do you want?" Gray said, eyes narrowed at the wall, because he refused to face the other boy.

"I'm sorry about your blanket."

Lyon waited for a reply, but, receiving only silence, he continued, "I tried to fix it."

Gray realized that he must have had it the whole time he was searching. Lyon walked over to Gray and placed the blanket in his lap, "It was the best I could do."

Gray looked down at the object that had been placed before him, examining it. He lifted it up so that he would be able to see it better. The giant tear through the middle had been poorly sewn shut, and the many smaller holes had been crudely fixed. It wasn't the best patch job, but Gray was glad it had been put back together. He faced Lyon.

The white-haired boy looked down sheepishly, "I know it isn't the greatest, and I'm pretty sure some of my blood is on it, but I hope it's okay."

Gray noticed that Lyon's fingertips were covered in bandages, and remembering what Ur had said about sharp needles, he guessed that Lyon wasn't exaggerating about his blood being on the blanket. He stood up from his bed and hugged the slightly taller boy, who soon returned the gesture.

He smiled up at Lyon, "It's great. Thanks."

...

He sat on his bed, looking down at the worn fabric he held in his hands. Maybe it was girly of him to still keep the thing, but he didn't care, it was important to him. It had originally come from his mother, and then it had been given back to him by Lyon, so he thought it was pretty damn reasonable of him to keep it around.

"Gray, come on! Lucy's got a job for us! Let's go!" Natsu called through Gray's home. He wandered into Gray's bedroom.

"Come on we- What's that?" Natsu asked, noticing the blanket he still held in his hands.

Gray quickly shoved it under his pillow. If Natsu found out about that, he would never hear the end of it.

"It's nothing, lava-brains."

"Sure doesn't seem like nothing," Natsu mumbled, but let the subject go upon realizing that he had been insulted.

"Who are you calling lava-brains, ice cube?!"

The arguing went on for a little while longer before Natsu, surprisingly, put an end to it.

"Okay, you comin' or what, 'cuz Erza sent me to get you, and she'll be mad if we don't get back to the guild soon," Natsu shuddered, presumably at the thought of being on the receiving end of Erza's wrath.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," Gray said, standing up and following Natsu out of the room.

As they left the house and made their way to the guild, Gray thought back to that moment, when he had deemed his blanket lost forever. Lyon had fixed it right up, albeit badly, and given it back to him. He smiled sadly at the thought, because when he thought of it, he remembered how Lyon still hated him for what he'd done all those years ago. But it also gave him hope that, maybe, just maybe, Lyon wouldn't stay that way forever.

Oh my god, the cheese. I hope that's what y'all signed up for, because that's what you've gotten. Also, I'm not really sure if Gray has has his own place or what his living situation is, but we're just going to pretend he does for the sake of this oneshot, you can pretend that Gray's just sitting in Lucy's house in her room if you want, but what he'd be doing there, I'll never know. Well, see you next Saturday. (You'll like next week's chapter, I'm sure of it)