Gang, subdued. Reward money claimed.

Just another day's work.

Natsu stretched, popping his joints. "That job was too easy," he said, though no one heard any disappointment by the Salamander's grin.

"You almost destroyed the town in the process," said Lucy, sighing at the energetic fire dragon slayer. She had long grown used to Natsu's antics, but still he never failed to surprise her. It was a perk of being part of Fairy Tail.

Wendy fell into stride beside Erza. "I do agree with Natsu-san, though. It was a little too easy," she said.

"It's only because they weren't a large a group as we thought," Carla replied to the sky dragon slayer.

"Carla's right," Erza added shortly.

Gray had agreed on the easiness of the job, but now that it was complete, his mind could get back to trying to solve the puzzle that currently plagued him. If his gut was right, the girl was his old friend and she was understandably upset with him. Now he had to think of how to find her and explain himself-

"Isn't that the girl who ran away earlier?" Wendy suddenly asked as the group approached the guildhall, her eyes wide.

-Well, seems she didn't have the mindset for his plan.

She stood in front of guildhall, her hands behind her back, appearing to have been waiting for a while. Her head snapped up at the sound of them approaching, eyes flickering to the group, before her steely gaze landed on Gray.

Erza approached her first. "Miss, is there something you need?" she asked, to the point in a firm voice. The girl that so resembled his old friend cocked her head to the side, surveying Erza with curiosity. She didn't answer right away, but when she did, she exhaled a breath before speaking. "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is something." Her voice carried traces of a mysterious accent, something Gray vaguely remembered from their childhood.

"Got something to do with Gray?" Natsu spoke this time, his glare as well as his tone rimmed with suspicion for the strange female.

"You could say that." She addressed Natsu with the same look of curiosity before her eyes went to Gray. "Do you mind if we have a quick chat, you and I?" she asked him, her voice colder than any ice he could muster on his best day.

Gray sighed, but he could humor her if he wanted to amend things. It was only fair. "I don't mind at all."

"Gray, is that safe?" Lucy whispered to him, worry saturating her voice. "We don't know who she is, though she seems to recognize you."

"She's not dangerous." Gray was firm in this before meeting the girl's eyes. "Come on. We can take a walk while having this chat," he told her. She nodded and began to follow Gray as soon as he turned to take the lead. He could tell his friends were shocked, but couldn't be bothered with it now. They didn't know the girl like he had, could probably see her as dangerous-but he knew she would never harm anymore.

The silence between them was tense, heavier than the blackness of despair. That wasn't a good sign, was it?

Gray took in a breath to speak, but she beat him to it. "Do you know who I am?" she asked softly.

"…Yeah," he answered. "Although if I remembered right, you were a brunette."

"Right," Zephyra replied tersely before he could hear her pick up the pace to be in stride with him. "Did you always remember or just when you saw me again?"

Her voice was still cold. Not that he blamed her. "You want me to be honest?"

"I'd be lying if I said no."

"I remembered when I saw you outside the guild. It's been way too long since-"

"—Since you left without telling me."

Gray winced, but kept his pace. "Zeph, I…"

"I'm not after an apology," Zephyra cut in before he could even start, raising a hand. "I just wanted to know why you took off without telling me. For God's sake, I thought we were friends, Gray."

"We are," he replied firmly, but it coated his mouth like a lie. He hadn't been much of a friend to her. "We were also kids back then, Zeph. I was an idiot back then. I made a mistake by not telling you anything."

"Glad to know we both agree on something, idiot," Zephyra snapped, crossing her arms, her eyes narrowed. "I was left wondering why I suddenly lost the only friends I made. Had you been straight with me, we wouldn't be where we are now."

"I get that. Hell, if you wanna hit me to let out your frustration, then hit me."

"You know, that sounds highly therapeutic."

Gray scrubbed at his face with a sigh. Though, part of him was quite glad that she didn't hit him—

-until Zephyra's fist crashed into his face in a split second, the pain blinding, sending him sprawling to the ground. Crap, spoke too soon.

Gray touched his cheek, wincing as the flesh throbbed beneath his fingers. That'll leave an impressive bruise—though the guys would laugh themselves stupid that he got it from a girl who wasn't Erza. He raised his eyes to Zephyra, only to blink surprise that she was wiping at her eyes. Was she…crying?

"Zeph?" he whispered, lowering his hand.

She glared at him, her eyes still watery. "What?" she bit out.

"I've never seen you lose it like that before."

"Shut up." She held out her hand to him. Tentatively, Gray took her hand and she hauled him back to his feet before she let his hand go. "Why did you go anyway? I'd figure you'd still be training under your teacher with Lyon," she said.

"Ur died because I was a reckless dumbass," Gray replied, lowering his hand from his face. "I went after Deliora and…" He stopped. Zephyra either guessed what had happened next or wasn't about to press him for any more information, for she remained quiet when he paused. He remembered how Ur had treated Zephyra when she, Lyon, and he had encountered her. Back then, Zephyra had recoiled at Ur's kindness like she's never experienced it before. It took her ages to even be calm around him, something that made he wonder why. Not that he took the time to ask; which was stupid on his part, now that he thought of it…

"You weren't keen on getting to know us back then. Why?" he asked, looking to her.

Zephyra bit her lip, averting her eyes. "…You wouldn't understand."

"Bullshit."

"If I knew you'd be able to understand, believe me, I'd tell you. But I know you won't."

"You don't know that. Why don't you just come out and say it? Even after all these years, you don't trust me."

"I never said that, Gray."

"You know what's the kicker, Zeph? You don't have to."

Zephyra bit her lip again, the steeliness back in her eyes and something more…

Fear. That brought on waves of confusion coiling in Gray's body.

Just what was she scared of?

Gray felt anger spike in him in spite of himself. She wasn't responding to him now, which would mean she was either scared of him or she really never trusted him. It was hard to decipher which was valid with this girl.

"Fine," she finally muttered before turning on her heel and beginning to walk away, her ash-blonde hair flying behind her.

Gray reached out and grabbed her by the arm, the digits curling tightly around the flesh. "Zephyra, wait."

"Let go of me before I even up your face," Zephyra growled. Only the briefest of minutes of silence lasted before Gray released her slowly. The moment he did, she continued on her way, away from him. The minute she was out of his sight, Gray's hands curled into fists. "Dammit."

That hadn't gone well at all. Now she left angrier than she probably was than when he left back then…

Gray frowned slightly. Why had she gone to see them…?

He dug through his memories of her, a tiny thing with a strange tattoo on her arm. She preferred him compared to Lyon and she often watched him when he practiced ice make magic. He didn't know how to tell her about how Deliora killed his parents, didn't want to shatter whatever delusion of him made her eyes light up back then, like he was a hero.

At least until…

He shook his head violently, clearing the memory right from his mind. He couldn't think of that, not now, as he made his way back to Fairy Tail with a strange heaviness in his heart.

When Gray arrived back to the guild, his friends accosted him like they were piling up questions and was ready to explode like balloons.

"Who was that girl?" Natsu asked from where he sat, crossing his arms.

"A girlfriend?" chimed in Happy. Gray twitched, half a heartbeat away from slugging that damned cat. Like he needed a rumor of having a girlfriend flying around.

"Seriously, Gray, who was she?" asked Lucy, her eyes bright with curiosity. Gray sighed, feeling the need to just dismiss his entire conversation with Zephyra and smoking a cigarette. However, his friends were a rabidly curious bunch and wouldn't give him any peace until he answered their questions.

"Her name's Zephyra," he answered wearily, closing his eyes. "I met her while I was training with Ur and we were in town for supplies."

"Did she hit you?" asked Erza seriously, her eyes on his bruised cheek.

"Yeah," Gray answered, automatically rubbing his cheek, positive that it looked worse than it felt, "but to be fair, I was asking for it."

"Why?" asked Wendy, her eyes wide at the thought of an old friend of Gray's striking him like that.

"I left without telling her and we lost contact over the years. I figured she was still in the northern continent, managing on her own like usual." Even as he said this, he doubted it was true. At the time, he was so guilty about what happened to Ur that Zephyra was the furthest thing from his mind, which resulted in this mess that they were in now.

"She must've been pretty pissed off at you," Natsu commented dryly.

"Aye," Happy chirruped.

Gray glared at Natsu, but couldn't summon a retort because—and he wouldn't admit it aloud—Natsu was right. He exhaled a breath to calm himself down.

"Did you apologize at least?" asked Lucy, her eyebrows drawn over her eyes, her mouth set in a serious line.

"She didn't wanna hear it," he answered.

"She may have said that to you to seem like she didn't care."

"Believe me, she didn't care."

"Gray," Lucy sighed as though she were dealing with a child, "your friend cares more than you're probably even aware of."

"I agree," Erza said. "You should go and apologize properly."

"How can I do that if I don't even know where she is?" asked Gray, pointing out the obvious.

"She probably lives near the guild if she's able to show up on a whim," replied Erza. Gray had a feeling he wasn't going to win this argument with Erza—not that he was keen to try since Erza can ream him into next week. He stood up, irritated. "Fine. I'll go, but expect me to have my face even on both sides," he said.

Before he could walk away, Carla spoke, "Wait."

He turned to look at her, noticing that all eyes were on the female Exceed. Wendy frowned, her face creasing in concern. "Carla? What's wrong?"

Carla had an expression of sorrow on her face when her eyes met Gray's. "Something tragic is going to happen between you and your friend," she murmured. "Tread carefully."

For an ice wizard, Gray felt a chill in spite of himself.


That did not go as well as she had hoped. Zephyra had slowed her race-walking when she neared her apartment. She should have expected that question to come out of his mouth and his attempt to try and get it out of her.

Freaking idiot! Her mind snapped, not sure whom exactly she was calling an idiot. She really needed to start putting her thoughts into files. She stopped in front of her door, shut her eyes, and inhaled. If she caught his scent, it would mean he'd followed her and she'd need to get in her apartment before getting into his line of sight.

However, she didn't catch his scent. Which meant she was safe. For now. She unlocked the door and went inside, swiftly shutting and locking the door as a second instinct, leaning against the wood for support. Despite every warning thought telling her otherwise, she knew she was hiding from him in case he decided to look for her.

Though Zephyra did wonder if the Gray she had met as children remained within the man he had turned into. Something was different about him, she could feel it. The confidence he carried as a child was still there, but there was less brashness than what she remembered. She never pressed about how Ur's death was his fault or why he said it was because of him, despite the surprise at not finding him with his former master and fellow student, Lyon.

Yet Gray asked her a question she couldn't answer honestly. He would have been repulsed if he knew the reason she kept her distance from people...

A loud knock resounded on the door. Zephyra jumped, her heart racing in panic.

Did he follow after all? She thought, getting off of the door and slowly turning to look at it. She undid the lock with one hand and slowly turned the knob with the other, pulling the door open just a crack.

Her eyes widened in shock before the visitor shoved their way in, a sharp point against the column of her neck. "Found you," a low voice growled as the intruder slammed the door shut and turned the lock.

Zephyra tried to back away, but strong fingers wrapped around her arm to pull her close, the dagger's point digging into her neck as a soft whine bubbled in her throat. "Let me go, please."

"Oh no, no, no," murmured the stranger soothingly, though a twisted smirk curled his lips. "You have something we want."

A violent heat roiled in Zephyra's stomach, twisting her insides as the intruder aimed the dagger to her jugular. No…not now…her mind whispered brokenly.

Not when I've found my peace…!

Darkness swirled into her vision as the heat grew into an inferno and Zephyra knew no more.