Disclaimer: I know it, you know it, but hey, let's say it any way. I do not own any rights or even the smallest piece of Fairy Tail. Let's just take a moment and thank the great Hiro Mashima, without whom we wouldn't have such a fun story and I wouldn't have the chance to try my own writer's hand in a Fairy Tail tale. Also, I did not create or own the idea of Jeryy from D. Grayman. But, the following is my own creation, using the amazing characters created in these stories. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: The Difference of One Note
"Natsu?"
….
"Natsu?"
"Huh?"
Zeref frowned, examining his younger brother's face carefully. Together they made their way around the worn dirt track. Sweat poured into his eyes, stinging terribly, but his younger brother barely looked like he was jogging, his face composed, his breathing steady and slow. But that was normal for his super-fit hard-headed younger brother. What wasn't was that Natsu's mind was clearly somewhere completely else, his forest-green eyes reflecting his soul far away. "What's up with you today?" Together, they ran around the curved end of the elliptical track, marking the beginning of their seventh mile.
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked distractedly, as if his brain had just used its knee-jerk response to that question, but he didn't really register one sound.
The older Dragneel's brow fell harder, Natsu didn't even follow up on that when he didn't respond. Swiping his hand over his flushed face, Zeref raked his hands back through his glistening black hair, sending sweat flying as they continued to run. He scanned the field as they ran, but didn't come across one glint of the blond haired girl. It really was the only thing that would make sense, but she was completely absent. Was his brother just thinking about her? Internally growling, Zeref cursed at himself. He didn't like not knowing things, and this was an area he just couldn't wrap his head around. What did normal people do when they were attracted to someone?
"Hey, Zeref, do you think I'm cute?"
Smirking, Zeref confirmed in his head that it had to be about the blond. "Nah, you're more of a little brat. Everyone knows I'm the cute one in the family."
The pink-haired boy just rolled his fiery eyes at his older brother, tempted to just pick up his pace from the slow jog he had been doing up until then and leave him in the dust. But, Natsu sighed. "I mean it, Zeref. Am I cute?"
"Why are you asking," Zeref stumbled a little, as his foot caught in the dirt, his breaths growing increasingly ragged and labored, "asking me this? 's about Lucy?"
"No," Natsu mumbled, rounding the bend again and starting their eighth mile.
"Okay," yeah, he really didn't understand this aspect of humanity at all. As foreign as Alpha Centauri for him, but his brother looked a little troubled. Honestly, he'd been this way ever since . . . ever since he had overheard the EMT brothers talking. What did he hear? Curiosity may have been the most double-edged weapon in Zeref's arsenal. It gnawed at him. He needed to know everything. "Yeah, I guess you're pretty handsome."
Natsu snorted. "Handsome is what a grandma would say to her little grand-baby, while pinching his cheek. Thanks a lot."
"I'm the wrong person to ask."
Growling, Natsu threw out his hands without breaking stride. "Who the hell else am I supposed to ask?"
"Okay, then yeah, I guess you're cute."
Natsu's green eyes glanced to him but quickly lost themselves again in whatever far-away land he had drifted to. That really didn't help much, he felt about the same as he did before asking Zeref. Restless. His body felt like an old glass bottle of soda, shaken for minutes and just set to rest alone. What was this unneeded energy and emotions he still couldn't pin down? The pink-haired man sighed, "ninth mile, I'll see you at the end." And with that, the ball of Natsu's foot dug into the worn dirt and he bolted out in front, pulling away from Zeref with the rapid acceleration of a cheetah at full stride.
His legs stretched out, hips opening as his arms pumped at his sides. The running shorts he wore let the strong cut muscles in his legs stand out, pounding every time his heel hit the ground. Keeping his torso straight, Natsu savored the cool air whipping past him, weaving through his hair, and the slight stabbing in his lungs.
By the time Zeref had finished his tenth mile, Natsu was already stretching, his legs wide as he bent in half on the grass, doubling over as his fingers trailed beyond his toe. Cooling down, Zeref wrapped his arms around himself, swinging his chest open and closed as he kicked the strain out of his legs in small loose movements. Below him, Natsu tugged his heels into his groin, pressing his knees down with his elbows.
Falling to the ground, Zeref mirrored Natsu. Though, his brother just stared off, barely registering his presence. He followed his younger brother's intense gaze across the field to where a single raven-haired man balanced on one foot, bending at the waist as his outstretched arms titled skyward. His bare chest was shining with the exertions of his own early morning workout. "Natsu, why are you staring at Gray?"
"Huh?" Bright pink splashed across his boyish face, before he turned back to stare off to the other end of the grassy field. Almost instantly his attention faded away again. "What do you think that book was that he's reading?"
"Reading?" Gray elegantly swept his arms down as he fell back onto his back foot, perfectly balanced between his toes. "He's doing yoga, Natsu, what the heck are you talking about?"
"When he was walking down here, he had a book in his hand and a piece of paper that he was writing on over it."
Zeref blinked several times. He honestly couldn't even remember when Gray had gotten down to the field, it had to be while they were running and after he felt like collapsing at the fifth mile or else he would have noticed. But more importantly, why did Natsu notice? That guy was always so oblivious to everything around him. What the heck was going on? "I don't know, he likes poetry, maybe it was that."
Natsu swung back around, intensely fixated on his brother now, "he likes poetry?"
"Natsu, what is going on?"
"Nothing," the pink-haired man mumbled, doubling over and reaching his hand out into the grass until his back was parallel with the ground. Rolling back up, Natsu jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together, "I think I need to talk to Gray."
Zeref just shook his head rapidly. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON? He was about to grab his brother's arm and make him explain it to him, but as he reached out his hand, a siren rang from the top of the hill.
Natsu whipped back around, his face suddenly intensely serious, his green eyes shining with an excited fury. "Let's go." And despite the fact that he had just jogged nine miles and sprinted another, Natsu tore up the hill, bounding like a gazelle taking the steps four at a time. Zeref just rubbed his face in the palm of his hand before huphing and running after his brother. This was the third call already and it was only seven in the morning. It was going to be a long day.
***duh la la la laaa la da daaaaa – cue the spinning batman graphics!***
"I don't give one flying fuck what the mayor said! I need a goddamn plane in the air now. No, you listen to me, you ask the mayor what's more important: the thousands it will take to send up a fire retardant team, or the millions of acres that are going to burn and the possibility that if the wind shifts, it's headed straight into his voters' homes." Whipping the headset off his ears, Gildarts growled, flicking it into the dash. "Bunch of damn bureaucratic asshole sitting around with their thumbs up their asses!"
"Way to kiss up to the office, chief," Zeref chuckled in the driver seat as the engine screamed up the hillside, leaving the town stretching out back below them.
"Idiots don't know what it takes to get fires beat." Continuing to mumble to himself, Chief Gildarts picked up the headset from the floor. Out of the earpiece a high-pitched woman's voice was squawking. Fixing it over his ear, Gildarts scowled, "yeah, yeah, no, yeah, okay." He rolled his eyes in a wide dramatic motion, settling back against the headrest with a huph.
"Firebird going up?"
"Damn right it is. If they didn't send one up, I think it would've been prudent to show them what a fire is like first hand in their home."
"You're not even really the chief yet, let's try not resorting to arson yet, chief."
"Tch. Can't wait until gramps gets into that office." Shifting in his seat, he threw his arm over the back, giving the two rooks in the backseat along with the burly hulking Elfman a hard glare. "Here's the situation, kids. We have a three-hundred acre burner in the Magnolia forest, first sight at 6:40am."
Elfman gave out a sharp whistle. "300 acres in thirty minutes? That's a manly fire."
"She's just getting started. Forecast is 4000 in the next thirty. The fire triangle is about as bad as it gets."
"Fire triangle?" Lucy sat up, her knee bouncing in anticipation.
"Fuel, oxygen, source." Gildarts, pulled up a clip board, scanning down the paper. "Rain fall in the last two years has been forty percent under a normal low average, wind speeds whipping her ass into a sprint. It's going to be a fight, kids. Now listen, there's already a hell jumping team en route, they are going to working south, creating a fire wall. Our job is going north. Put out any spot fires that you find, clear brush, and make damn sure she doesn't double back on herself.
"You and your spotters are tied at the hip today, got it? You don't piss without the other knowing. The wind could shift at any moment and you better get your ass out of there if it does. You all got that? Hey, Salamander, I'm talking to you!"
"I got it."
"All hands are on deck today. There's only a skeleton crew back home, everyone on call is going to be out there with you, I'll be organizing from here, but priority orders are from your section leads. Engine team three is going to be up here in two hours once they douse that residential. Make no mistake, kids, this is the fire of the year, got it? If I had my choice I would never be bringing you rooks out here." If only Gildarts knew then how bad that year would get.
The engine screeched to a halt at the forest's edge. The five fighters sprang out of the cab, the chief already walking off with an arm gesturing and issuing orders to the lightning squad, the leader of which, Lieutenant Dreyar, more aptly nicknamed the thunder god, shifted a massive two-handed axe over his burly shoulder.
"Elf, Lu, you're with us!" Next to an adjacent engine, the genius of the station, the short and amazing Levy waved her hand. The Dragneel brothers separated from them, Zeref tugging Natsu behind him.
The pink-haired rook just stared at awe at the pillar or dark black smoke coiling and rising from the forest's heart, churning and overwhelming the clear blue sky with a dragon's fury. It called to him like a beating drum thrumming in his gut.
"Hey, dumbass, pay attention!"
The eager fighter groaned as he turned from the fire waiting behind the treeline. Of course he would be in his team. Somebody really did hate him up there. Natsu frowned, not attempting to hide one ounce of his disappointment and disgust as he beheld the long black spiky hair of the wanna-be grunge rocker, the piercings in his nose glinting with the early morning sun. Though, behind him, Lieutenant Scarlet barked orders with a vicious gleam in her eyes as she slammed her fist down on Myst's head. Beside her, her blue-haired boyfriend just grimaced in sympathy for his twin.
"Damn it, Pinky, stop staring off." Gajeel spat at the ground, his lip twitching in an aggressive animalistic snarl. "Why the hell did I get stuck with you bunch of rejects!"
Us bunch? Natsu turned, a bolt of pure shock slamming his chest with a curled fist. Gray glanced at him, inclining his head slightly in a greeting. Beside him, his brother gave a wink, his normal gravity defying white hair stamped down inside his helmet. "Why are you guys here?"
"We are trained fire fighters too, blockhead."
"One of you shouldn't be," Gajeel not too subtly mumbled, glaring at the raven-haired EMT.
Lyon went to make a quick retort, but Gray just put his hand on his brother's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
"After last time, Fullbuster, you have no damn right to wear a god damn fighter uniform." The spiky-black haired bad boy grabbed Gray's collar in a tight fist, shoving his face to within inches of Gray's. "If you fucking go out there, you put every one of us in danger, and you know it. So just stay here, pretty boy."
"I'm cleared for duty."
"Old-man Gildarts has no fucking clue what he's doing putting you back out there. Not after last time. You should've been fucking thrown out of Fairy Tail on your ass. There's no place for your bullshit. Not with me. You're not going out there."
"Well, it's not your call, rat." Zeref warned in a low monotone, his eyes dangerous underneath his helmet. "I'm lead, and it's my call."
Stabbing a finger at the oldest fire fighter in their small dysfunctional group, Gajeel sneered, showing the fine points of his blade-like teeth. "If you had any sense, you'd leave him here. You were there, Zeref. You were there back in January. Because of him, because of this chicken-sh-"
A hollow bone on bone crack filled the air just as Gajeel went flying backward, sprawling out on the ground. On his ass, Gajeel brought his hand up to his reddened face, glaring with an incredulous deathly look at Lyon. The white-haired boy shook his hand in the air, waving out the jarring pain from meeting Gajeel's cheekbone with his knuckles. He returned the grunge-rook's look with a steely glare of his own.
"All right, that's enough of that," Zeref commanded in his same monotone, authoritative voice. Lending Gajeel a hand to his feet, he continued, "we are a team. This is going to be a very long fight as it is and if any of you are thinking about hurting anyone else in this group, I will personally throw your ass into the wildfire and I will watch with joy as you burn to a crisp." He glanced from face to face, "everyone got that?"
"Tch," Gajeel turned his back to the group, "he causes trouble, it's his ass, I'm not dying because of him."
Natsu just stood there, looking quickly from face to face, inspecting each one in turn, only to be left more perplexed as he tried to understand each look. Gajeel was easy, he was pissed. He was always pissed – though there was some serious hatred there that Natsu had never seen before. Gray, who was apparently the epicenter of all the tension, just looked stoic, his pale face impartial, while his brother fumed, biting at the bit, ready to claw Gajeel's eyes out. "Zeref?"
His older brother just shook his head with a quick jerk. "Gear up, boys. We are heading straight to the frontline." Though he tried to get an answer from his brother, Natsu only found him unresponsive. Even for his antisocial brother, he was always open for Natsu, but not now. The air felt thick with the energy vibrating in the tension rolling off of each of the other three boys, yet Gray still seemed just resigned. "Why the hell, did I go running this morning?" Zeref mumbled, already feeling the tired edge creeping into his legs. It was going to be a long day, and most likely stretch into longer than that still. "Let's go."
****And now for a word from our sponsors: Hey kids! Don't forget, fire is not a toy. Never play with matches, and always make sure that campfire is well covered and stamped out before falling asleep. Even professionals who have been working with fire their entire lives would never claim to be in control of it. What is the first and most important thing in preventing fires? You! … And now back to regular scheduled programming****
The five members of the most poorly constructed team in Fairy Tail history broke through the dry forest underbrush, silence only broken by the crashing and snapping of branches and twigs as the men forged their path. They had been trudging along through the unmolested natural world for an hour and a half now, and still had about another forty to go before even being within a working radius of the ravaging fire. Every second that ticked by meant that the wildfire was growing, driving as an army, uncontested and unhindered by all the life it squelched to black ash. They would meet its whipping tail soon. Natsu shifted the chainsaw he carried, his forearms burning from its awkward weight.
The team suddenly stopped when their lead, turned around, facing the group. "We are going to be splitting up into two groups from here, Gray, you're with me, you three are together. You three will work ahead to the tail, clear away a healthy breadth and dig in some lines. Gray and I are going to scout the outer edge for any spot fires."
When the men shifted to separate, Natsu glanced at Gray who looked as if he had been stabbed in the chest, pain clear in his midnight blue eyes. "You're chaperoning me."
"No, this is a necessary job, and we will act as spotters once we get up to the ridgeline."
"You're chaperoning me," Gray repeated, the hurt lining his words as his eye line dropped to the dirt. His brother placed a strong supportive hand on his shoulder though he paid it no mind. "I can fight! Let me go in there, Zeref."
"No, this is my call. And if you don't like it, then you shouldn't have come."
Gajeel gave him a wicked sneer as he passed, shoulder checking the lifeless man. Gray didn't respond. Natsu frowned intensely, his chest hurting. What the hell was going on? Beside him, Lyon looked worriedly at his brother.
"You should just stay back, Gray. Let me go in your stead, okay?" The look on Lyon's face was the oddest of combinations. In his eyes shone a clear relief, while his worry bit severely making hard lines in his snow-like skin.
"You don't believe in me either." Gray turned to his brother, the hurt so plain on his face. "I can do this."
"I believe in you, Gray." Lyon sighed, "Gray, I just—"
"I got it," Gray interjected, a hardness lining his eyes through the pain.
"Just watch our backs, okay, bro? There'll be other fights." Hesitant to leave, Lyon grabbed Natsu by the shoulder and pushed him along as they moved to follow Gajeel who had already disappeared.
"What was that all about?" Natsu demanded of Lyon once they had walked several minutes off and were well out of earshot.
"They don't trust me," Gray commented, his words cut short like a dagger's keen edge through his earpiece. Natsu cringed, realizing he had forgotten to turn off his COM.
"Gray, what-"
"Natsu, you have a job to do, get your ass moving," Zeref barked, ending all communications and leaving the pink-haired rook with a ringing ear.
Rubbing his pained ear on his shoulder, Natsu made sure to flick off his COM on his walkie-talkie at his belt before repeating his question to Lyon. The white-haired man just sighed in reply, continuing to break ground ahead of them.
Luckily, or unluckily as it was, Natsu didn't have much time to dwell on it. They practically tripped onto the fire's whipping tail as it thrashed like a demon on the wind through the trees. It spread, breaking like ethereal waves upon the bark of the trunks.
"Salamander, get to cutting, we make the line here. If she's going to come this way, make sure she doubles back on herself and bites her own ass."
Natsu grunted, yanking at the chord of his chainsaw. The thrum of its roar echoed in the vibration jittering his arms. The fire was about three hundred feet off, burning north. They would make a preemptive stand here, ensuring that the hell jumper's efforts at the dragon's mouth wouldn't be in vain if the winds turned it back south again. Digging the blade of his chainsaw into the closest hulk of a dead standing tree, Natsu bit his teeth as his arms quickly fell numb and wood chips flew past his face.
Ahead of him, Lyon slammed the blade of a shovel into the hard ground, Shoving his boot on its head and gouging the earth. Gajeel had already set to work clearing the dried underbrush. He too dug with a spade, and also piloted small controlled ground fires to eat away any of the fuel.
The hours seemed to drain by as they worked tirelessly. Natsu glanced up every now and then to witness the awesome wrath of the fire beast which had carved away all the life in the forest as far as he could see north. Sweat had long-since drenched his clothes, leaving him a sticky, uncomfortable mess as he labored. The ground seemed to be breathing a fire of its own as they edged closer to the event horizon, feeling the heat billowing from the charred earth.
Natsu ran the back of his gloved hand across his face, only to feel the black grunge shift a thick layer on his skin. Lyon nodded to him, breathing hard, as he braced himself with his hands clenching at his knees. Somewhere along the way, even Gajeel had ceased to rub Natsu raw. Too tired to expend any excess energy, they just glanced at each other wearily while they both took long gulps from their water bottles. Cool water trickled down his chin as he swallowed hard. But, he looked around, taking a strange pride in the firewall they had constructed. And it felt absolutely amazing to know he was part of a team giving all they had to combat nature's wrath, together with the entire station, who were surely connecting one wall to the next and cornering the fire. But then he thought of Gray. He hadn't heard one word from the raven-haired man through the entire ordeal, and it was already well into the afternoon.
His COM buzzed in his ear, "good work, guys. Take a thirty minute break and refuel a little," Zeref's voice called.
Lyon crashed down next to him, hooking his arms around his knees. His normal pearlescent skin was miles below the soot and ash marking his face like a thick burglar's mask. And most notably, his stark white hair was now bathed black and clinging to his forehead. Holding out a candy bar, he gave Natsu a small smile. "Eat this, it'll help."
The Salamander tore at the chocolate with a fury, almost devouring the wrapper itself. He licked his dry, chapped lips before taking another long swing from his water bottle.
"You're holding up pretty well. This is your first wildfire, right, Salamander?"
The rook nodded jerkily, flopping back onto the ground with his arms outstretched, palms open to the sky.
Lyon smiled awkwardly, but then he flicked the button on his walkie-talkie. "How are you holding up, Gray?" A static burst was the only reply. Lyon sighed at the signal of a walkie-talkie being disconnected. "That was the wrong way to ask that. Zeref, how's he doing?"
"He's doing his job."
Lyon just rolled his eyes, plopping down next to Natsu while flicking off his mic. "You're brother is a robot, Natsu."
Giggling lightly at that, Natsu just nodded. "He doesn't really get any emotional stuff, I tease him all the time that he might just be a super-sophisticated android. But," Natsu's burning green eyes swiveled to Lyon, "what's all the stuff going on with your brother?"
Silence fell upon the two fighters. Lyon just stared away at the desolation after giving a short shake of his head.
"Uhh," Natsu tried awkwardly again after five minutes of sudden silence passed, "can I ask you some things about him?"
"No." Lyon glanced at the rook next to him, the brilliant pink of his spiky hair laid subtle and covered by the dark ash. The boy frowned so heavily. "Sorry, Natsu, I just don't like talking about other people. I don't make it my business to share second hand information or gossip. If it's not mine to share, I don't feel I should. If you want to know more about him, you should just ask him yourself."
"Mmkay," Natsu sighed heavily, staring up at the blackened sky overhead.
"Okay, team, let's get back to work," his older brother commanded over the COM.
"Hey, Zeref, what's our timing looking like?"
"Going to be out here until sunrise at the very least. We push on until dinner."
And so the three men did push on. As they advanced with the fall of evening, their world turned even more hellish. They had finally caught up to the fire's flank, and it was pissed. Embers flew in every direction. No sooner did Natsu stamp out a fledgling spot fire then another one would catch behind him. He felt like he was rooted in place, spinning endlessly in a circle.
In an ancient dance, he was a madman, smacking the ground underneath with the sole of his boot, digging into the ground with a shovel and sending dirt flying through the air. He growled, snarling his teeth. In his mind, he brandished a long gleaming broadside, standing at the edge of barren wasteland, staring down the kingly glare of a mighty ancient dragon.
It's huge fanning wings beat up a storm, whipping and cracking at the air. Flames licked far too close to his skin, making his eyes water at the heat. He hacked and slashed his sword, not really feeling the weight of the long blade anymore. His arms were numb, his shoulders long since too tired to even register. But, the dragon roared and as its jaws opened, its dangerous eyes glinted with divine pleasure as its wrath and fury was released. Opening its maws, a growing overwhelming fire coursed out from its scaly throat, bathing its tongue and exploding through the air.
"Hey, Salamander! Hey, Lyon, Gajeel!" Natsu froze in mid swing of his sword, blinking. A woman who looked a lot like Erza smiled at him. Though instead of her firefighter suit, she wore a gleaming metal breastplate, her scarlet hair, long and whipping down her back. She seemed a mighty swordswoman, wielding two keen blades at her sides. Natsu blinked, wincing, as he rubbed the top of his head.
Erza glared hard at him, dropping her fist. "I don't even want to know what you were day dreaming about, Salamander."
Natsu blinked again. She looked absolutely ragged. Her hair was a tangled mess, black coating her from her face down. The grunge and gruel matting her suit to her skin testified to the fight she had waged against the fire.
"How are you guys holding up?"
"Kickin' ass more than getting our asses kicked," Lyon grunted, as he bent low, tugging a large decayed branch back several feet.
She jerked her chin. "All you can ask for. Scanning over the faces, she frowned, before locking onto Lyon and flipping off her COM at her side. "Where's Gray?"
"With Zeref, up on the ridge line."
Nodding, her soot covered cheek bulged out from her poking tongue. "I was worried."
Now Natsu frowned even harder. The hurt look Gray had that morning flashed across his mind again. For Erza to be worried . . . what happened? He felt like he needed to know, but at the same time, a small part of him didn't even want to know – it must have been bad.
Flicking on her walkie-talkie again, Erza crossed her arms across her chest as she spoke into it with her normal general-like authority. There was a reason she was called Titania. "Zeref, we just met up with your group. We are going to push together, working North, by North-east, two-clicks."
"Roger that. She's been pretty tame on this end so far, hope that keeps up."
Shrugging a long-bladed hatchet over her lat, Erza's teeth shone in utter juxtaposition in white brilliance to her ash-strewn face. "There's a river about three miles from here. Let's see if we can't get there before nightfall. I want to take a bath before dinner tonight, boys."
As it was, night-descended upon the forest an hour before the six-member team tumbled into a small clearing as the trees fell away to rushing water. The twin blue-headed boys collapsed on the rocky bank, while Lyon just crumbled in the dirt. Unlike the others, Gajeel walked off, separating himself completely from the group without a word. And Erza unceremoniously, and without a care that she was surrounded by a bunch of men, peeled her clothes off and stepped into the frigid water.
The river downstream turned black as the water licked against her skin. She sighed a sigh of relief, lowering herself into it and swayed her head with her eyes peacefully closed, the water pulling and streaming through her long hair.
Natsu jumped when a branch crashed beside him, only to find Zeref tailed by Gray emerge into the clearing. Zeref kept to himself, as was his norm. And Gray just avoided everyone, even more than he usually spared. Without meeting anyone's eyes, he sat at the river's edge, tugging off his boots and dropping his feet into the running water. Out of his pocket he pulled out a folded piece of paper and a fountain pen. Natsu watched him silently, as he scribbled on the paper underneath the moonlight.
'Dinner,' or what normal people would call cold lumpy mountain mash potatoes and tepid soup, was a savory feast to the group. Natsu devoured the food, staring longingly at the pot, wishing to take another healthy serving, but, he sighed, falling back on the ground. His entire body was numb. There was more food to be made, but no one had the energy to make it, and they may have need for it if this stretched into another day's worth of work tomorrow.
He watched Lyon carry a cup of the cold soup over to the river's edge, sitting down with shaky limbs next to his brother, who hadn't moved from the spot. "Here, eat this."
Natsu frowned, recalling what Lyon had said to him. It wasn't his business to learn secrets that weren't meant to be shared with him. A pang of guilt twanged in his chest as he remembered last night when he had overheard Gray and Lyon. Wait, was that really just last night? Gods, it seemed like it was at least a week ago. But, as guilty as he was, he couldn't turn off his sharp ears. And curiosity still played its stealthy guiding hand.
Gray pushed the cup back at his brother, "you need it more than me. You worked really hard today."
"Come on, just eat it."
"No. You need it. You were the one fighting endlessly, today. You were the one swinging the axe, digging more ground than humanly possible, hauling dead trees, killing fires; not me. You expended a lot of energy."
"Gray, being a spotter is a necessary role."
"Yeah, I know that, but the energy I spent just sitting back at a safe distance and watching you guys doesn't compare to what you guys put into actually doing the real work."
"Gray . . ."
"Enough, Lyon. Seriously, just eat the soup, I can hear your stomach rumbling, take my share of the food, that way I served at least some justifiable purpose today."
"Would you stop it? Gray, come on. Sulking like this doesn't help anyone, least of all you."
"You don't get it Lyon, they don't trust me. Fuck, I don't trust me! They are probably right, I shouldn't be fighting fires. I feel like I've gotten absolutely nowhere since January. I'm finally back out here, and yet I can't even go out there and fight. I just sit back up there, twiddle my thumbs, and watch while you guys risk your lives."
Natsu sighed heavily, feeling the hitch in his chest again.
Erza sat down next to Gray, wearing just an extra-large blue t-shirt, which hung loosely over her. Altogether, she now looked like she was just comfortably lounging at home in her living room, ready to cuddle up on the couch and settle in with a movie. "We are going to put this one to rest by noon tomorrow. You guys have a concert tomorrow night right?"
Lyon groaned, "oh, god, I can't even think about playing right now."
"Yeah, well you're going to, if you know what's good for you, I want to relax with a tall chilled beer in The Frozen Emperor tomorrow night."
Gray let out a small chuckle at that. "If Erza wants it, you are going to have to do it, Lyon."
That night, Natsu conked out in a record twenty seconds, a loud ripping snore filling their small campsite almost instantly after his eyelids closed.
When the Natsu woke it was to the sound of sizzling fat over the small campfire and a heavenly drawing scent which wrapped around him and sent him drifting among the clouds. He looked around though, scowling despite the thick rich bacon smell surrounding him, for everyone was up and about. Everyone was up before him? Impossible, even his brother, who was standing quietly watching the bacon fry in Jellal's small pan. What was more, his body felt like a giant lead brick, anchored to the ground. His shoulder groaned as he shifted to sit up.
"Well, it's about time, sleepy-head! Nat-suuuuu ti-wwwwaaddd?"
Natsu's face immediately shot through a light pink as on a beat the entire entourage's attention snapped to him. Luckily, the black soot still covered him like a mask, and hid the embarrassment well. But, Erza gave him a wicked smirk as if she could see the blush as plain as day. So promptly, he threw his thickly ash coated jacket at Gajeel, smacking his face dead center. A small plume of dark dust billowed from the impact, poofing into the air as an overfull makeup pad.
A fistfight was imminent. Even the scarlet lieutenant knew she wouldn't be able to stop the brawl to come. But, when Jellal called the first batch of bacon done, all hostility in the group flew away on the wind, a misbegotten notion.
"I think the first strips should go to the birthday boy!" Jellal announced with his ever-present wide toothy smile. Sliding the bacon from the pan to a plate in a quick trained motion, he held the plate to Gray who just rolled his eyes while taking it. "Happy birthday, Gray, sure picked a fantastic way to enjoy it!" Not deigning to respond, the raven-haired man just took a chomp on his bacon, and gave the blue-haired chef an amused stare.
It was Gray's birthday? Natsu immediately felt the worry as if he were a small child, showing up to a party without a present. How was he supposed to know? It just got worse when Erza handed him a crushed and squashed cupcake.
"That's strawberry-shortcake flavored," the lieutenant said very seriously, holding onto the end with a death grip, finding it the hardest challenge she would ever face to let go of the sweet.
Gray looked dubiously at the destroyed desert, it's thick confectionary sugar melted to the plastic it was pancaked flat in. Though, he knew far better than to say anything but a gracious thank you back to the Titania.
"Hey," Natsu elbowed his older brother in the side, dropping his voice to a near-silent whisper, "why don't you put Gray on the forward team today? He's fresh unlike the rest of us and he would probably be way more effective than all of us put together."
"No."
Jerking at his brother's hard refusal, Natsu insisted, gesturing at the raven, "come on it's his birthday. You know how hurt he was when you wouldn't let him fight yesterday." Recalling the words Gray had snapped out over their COM last morning, Natsu questioned, "don't you trust him?"
"I don't trust anyone."
"Isn't he your friend?"
"Yes, he is, and that's precisely why I'm keeping him by my side and not putting him out there. I need to keep an eye on him. Natsu," Zeref turned in an odd seriousness to his little brother, "you know this better than anyone else. You are either born a smoke-eater or you aren't. Now leave it be."
"But-"
"Drop it."
Huphing, Natsu pouted childishly until a plate of bacon managed to flip that mood, if only just a little.
After the group had eaten a small quick breakfast and broken camp, they looked to eachother with a determination that would make any wall crumble. Shouldering their gear, they walked off, ready to return straight to the hellish fight with the light of the new dawn.
In the back of the group, Gray stopped his brother with a hard grip on his forearm. "I'm sorry about yesterday. Acting like that, it just proves they were right . . . I'm still not ready. Sorry for being such a pain in the ass."
Lyon gave him a crooked grin, smacking his shoulder. "You're my brother, Gray. What else would you be than a pain in the ass?"
Shaking his head as he laughed, Gray grabbed his brother in a rough bear hug. "Take care of yourself out there, today. I'll see you once we win this thing."
"Oh hey look, a plane! What's that pink stuff it's dropping on the fire?"
"That's fire retardant, dumbass."
"Looks fun, let's go play in it!"
"It'll melt the skin off your bones."
"Really!?"
*Sigh* "Why is that making you excited? Let's just get back to work, okay?"
The sun was hanging low in the sky, bathing the blackened world in a deep ominous red when the fire finally laid down to die. The combined team made it back to the trucks just as the stars were starting to come out. Weak and weary, they managed enough energy to shove themselves into the cabs, leaning limp and lifeless on their friends inside.
"Congrats on making it through your first wildfire, kids." Gildarts wore a broad grin that spoke legions to his pride in the new fledgling group. Thrown into the deep end off the start, they proved that they would swim, and come out the best there ever was. And a hell of a showing they did of it for their first time.
Zeref climbed into the driver seat of the engine, giving the chief a nod. Before the tires of the firetruck met pavement the three in the backseat snored loudly. An explosion could have gone off just outside the truck and they would have remained completely oblivious, dead to the world. Gildarts smiled again, looking back at them. "Good job, kids."
Stretching his jaws wide, Natsu opened his mouth in a gaping yawn, teetering back on his heels. If it wasn't for his brother's hands suddenly supporting him, he probably would have toppled over. But, honestly, he probably wouldn't have minded if he had. He yawned again, but rubbed his stomach idly. "I want foooood."
And food he got. Jeryy's arms flailed as his blurred motion through the kitchen reached an apex upon the Salamander's arrival. Bowl after bowl of steaming food churned out the order window. Sniffing at the air, Natsu drifted along the dining hall, completely lost to all else. When he sat down to eat, a mountain of food obscured him from the rest of the room, though it didn't last long. Rice, chicken, steak, string beans, snap peas, everything disappeared without a trace. He quickly went back to Jeryy, who crooned, smiling brightly as he handed the pink-haired man covered in soot, ash, and grunge another mountain.
It was an hour and a half before he finally sat back, patting his extended belly with a blissful smile upon his lips. Now, he shakily stood, pushing himself up from the table, it was time for a shower. He felt absolutely disgusting, and he smelled worse.
That shower was simultaneously the most wonderful and hardest thing Natsu had ever done. The stinging hot water baptized him, cutting through the thick layers of dirt over his skin. Raking his fingernails along his forearms, he carved away the armor gained from the battle. Steam caressed him and he lolled, rolling his head back and forth under the hot stream and moaned as it warmed tired muscles. And yet, he had to remain standing. His legs protested his stoic stance under the waterfall profusely, and as a result of their whining, his shower ended far sooner then he really wanted to. Plopping down on his bed, with only his towel around his waist, Natsu mumbled a quick good night to his brother, before snoring filled their room.
Rubbing fists over his eyes, Natsu sat up in his bed, "mornin'."
"Morning, how are you feeling."
Gripping one of his arms just below the elbow, he stretched high over his head feeling his midsection open up and his side protest. "Feels like I got run over by a truck, but I'll manage."
Nodding, Zeref flipped a page in the book he was reading. He glanced at his brother over the books edge, "you did really well the last couple of days. You should be proud."
"Thanks, now I know why dad was so ridiculously strict when it came to campfires." Laughing softly, he plopped back down in his sheets, staring at the white ceiling overhead. "What's today looking like?"
"The chief said we'd get by with a small on-call today. Most everyone has off, including you and me."
"What about Gray?"
Cocking his head, Zeref's eyes narrowed. "Gray's going to be playing down at The Frozen Emperor tonight."
"Sweet, I wanna go."
Frowning, the older Dragneel slipped a bookmark on his page and closed it over his lap to turn his attention to Natsu. "What's going on with you lately? Even during the fire, you kept bringing up Gray. Weren't you always fighting? Now you want to go see him play."
Natsu just shrugged, slipping on a pair of black Calvin Klein boxer briefs before sliding his tired legs through his jeans. "Want to go get some breakfast?"
"Already ate."
The pink-haired boy frowned, giving his brother a mocking look. "I really don't like this whole you getting up before me thing. Doesn't feel right. Anyway," he tugged on a black t-shirt before opening the door, "I'll see you tonight at The Frozen Emperor then."
"Wait, what?"
"Well, you're coming along of course. Gotta get my anti-social bro out once in a while to be around other talking primates. I've got some shopping to do though, so I'll catch up with ya in town later." He winked before sliding out of their room and clicking the door shut behind him.
That night bit cold. Natsu panted heavily, his breaths fogging in front of his nose as he almost collapsed. His older brother just cocked an eyebrow at him, standing in front of The Frozen Emperor with his hands stuffed into his hoody pockets at his belly. Running a hand back through his wild pink hair, Natsu gave his brother a slight smile. Really, that run there was next to impossible after the last two days, but it took forever to find what he was looking for in town.
Tucking the paper bag covering the book underneath his arm, Natsu jerked his head, signaling them to go in. He hadn't run all the way through Magnolia back to here only to miss out on the concert now.
"What's in the bag?"
"A book."
"A book?" Zeref smirked, leaning in close to examine his brother. "You spent all day finding a book? You? Natsu Dragneel?"
"Yeah, finally found what I wanted in this really small hole of a bookstore all the way across town." Natsu smiled brightly, sitting at a nearby table, tucked in the corner.
"Who are you? A book!"
"A book?" Jellal Fernandez's lip quirked, leaning over the table. "Natsu got a book?"
"Woah, the flame-brain can read?"
Natsu blinked at the blond-haired boy with a cocky smile sitting next to Jellal, his arm around the black haired, almost goth kid, next to him. His hand rested at the other boy's hip. "Sting!?"
Flicking two fingers to his brow in a mock salute, Sting Eucliffe winked his shining blue eye in the dark hazy atmosphere of the club. "Yo."
"Why are you . . ." Natsu shook his head. Running into his old friend from the Dragon Slayer's Fire Prep Academy, here of all places.
Sting shrugged, but then dropped his cheek onto the black-haired boy's shoulder. "Rogue and I figured we'd hang around town for a little bit, that fire was a bitch."
"You are a hell jumper." Erza glared nodded to him in a strange admiring air of approval. She reverently placed a shining slice of yellow cake, washed in a finely decorated buttermilk icing, and topped with no less than a mountain of ten plump dark strawberries.
Sting inclined his head to her. But, he slid his attention back to the pink-haired man, while never lifting his head from his partner's shoulder. "What book did you get?"
Erza blinked, a gleaming metal fork hanging from the corner of her mouth. "Natsu got a book?"
Growling, Natsu shook his head incredulously. "YES! I got a book! Jeez." Though, he dropped into a self-irritated muttering, "it's a gift."
A gleam sparked in the Titania's eyes as the tongs of her fork poked teasingly at the top strawberry. And she exchanged a quick look with her blue-haired beau who just nodded with a sign of recognition in return.
Pouting, Natsu just stared across the table at his old friend. He cocked his head to the side, like an inquisitive puppy. "Who is he?"
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Sting turned so that his blue eyes were shining just a few inches from the strangely powerful red eyes of his partner. "This is the most amazing man in the world." He leaned in and took his lips deep in his own, before pulling back with a cheesy grin. "This is my fiancé, Rogue Cheney."
Rolling his dark-red burning eyes, Rogue smirked, "nice to meet everyone."
Fiancé? Natsu openly stared at the two in such a comfortable lover's embrace across the table. But, it all instantly slipped from his mind when the room's lights faded to a low hum. The stage lit with bright footlights, illuminating the group as they walked on. The whole room whistled, cheers, cat-calls, and the occasional friendly jeer rang from the gathered audience to their friends.
The drunkard fire chief's daughter, who was probably drunk already, took a long tipsy bow before falling back onto her seat behind her arcing drum set arranged around her. And then, a tall threatening man who bore a lightning shaped scar across one of his eyes, smiled fiercely, flipping the strap to his guitar over his burly neck. Across the room a man's swooning voice rang out, "LAXUS!" Natsu grinned at his friends on stage, they were all from Fairy Tail, all his family. Though this was the first time he'd come to see them perform.
Mira waved cheerily to the crowd, the bass guitar hanging from her shoulders. The petite white-haired beauty was the crown jewel of Fairy Tail, but while her feminine grace was not to be questioned, neither did it pull from her place in an alternative rock band. She was the she-devil after all.
And then, Natsu's heartbeat took a quick spike. Across the table, Erza watched him with a knowing smirk.
The cool foster-brothers strode onto the stage both dressed like the rest of the group, in all black. Gray sat down, the top of his black silk shirt unbuttoned, revealing the top of his pale chest to the spotlights. In his hands, his golden sax shone, while an even larger sax sat on a stand next to him. Lyon took center-stage, standing behind the mic.
Caughing, he put down his beer next to the stand. "Thanks for everyone for coming. Sorry for having to postpone until tonight. Everyone here," Lyon looked to each of his bandmates in turn, "in Icemake would like to thank The Frozen Emperor for hosting us again and for being so flexible." Taking a swig from his beer, he smiled. "Why don't we get started with tonight with an oldie. Here's to everyone who spent the last two days putting it all on the line up in the mountains." Lyon inclined his beer to the audience and Cana slapped her snare.
Gray leaned back, a husky tone drawing from his sax as he filled the room with a powerful timbre. Dropping into a low growling voice, Lyon began the opening line of, "Old Time Rock and Roll," paying homage in the tone of his voice to Bob Seger.
An hour passed as the band sunk down into a drifting swaying beat, carrying the softly moving crowd with them into their souls. Lyon leaned back on a barstool, bringing the mic up to his lips. "Alright folks, I think we have just about enough in us for one more." From his pocket, he pulled out a crinkled piece of paper, and he stared down upon the writing for a while before looking up to the audience again. "We are going to end with a song by our very own Gray Fullbuster," shifting to his side, he gave his brother a smirk.
"Now, this song was literally just written. It doesn't have a name yet, and if you'll forgive me, I'm going to keep the lyrics right out here. Or," he turned to Gray with a mischievous look, "how about we get Gray here to sing his song?" When Gray didn't budge, Lyon addressed the audience, "come on, who wants to hear Gray sing this song?"
The crowd erupted with applause, whistles accenting the response. Without even knowing it, Natsu was banging his hands together, his head in a fog, a blissful grin arching his lips.
But Gray just rolled his eyes, and sucked the spit from his sax through his reed. He had drifted with the night to his bigger, deeper tenor sax.
Laughing, Lyon shook his head. "You know, one of these times we are going to get you to come out from behind that sax. Well, I guess you all just have to suffer through just one more with me at the mic." He gave a quick nod to Laxus who started high, rolling down the neck of his guitar in biting thirds, until it dropped into a low and solemn riff.
As it leveled out near the bottom of human emotion, Mira and Cana joined in with dark rolling bass. Lyon pulled the mic to his lips and began in a deep drawing raspy tone that tore from the back of his red throat. Gray accented the lines following Lyon's voice with a growling tenor melody.
The sky is going up in flames
In a dream, you threw it all away
Set a match, and turned it all to ash
But I know with me lies the blame
Still I won't let go
Because through the smoke I see the stars
Oh, it's you . . .
I feel the walls closing in,
The lock click echoin'
Through my hollow heart
Because I watch the flames to start
And you wonder why
I won't ever say no, never say it's done.
Well it's you . . .
Everyone cut off, leaving Gray alone as he jerked to his feet, his back arching, as his tenor sax's gravelly tone dominated. Closing his midnight blue eyes, he let himself drift away into his music as he rolled through long tones, clashing them with sudden breaks. When the mid-scale notes stopped on a dime, the entire club dropped into a complete silent void. Just as the silence drew at them uncomfortably, pulling them for the next melody on a baited breath, Gray's sax would breath a strong growling tone. On the last silence, Natsu almost fell off his chair as he leaned forward, pulled as if by a strand of magic. Tilting the bell of his tenor sax level with his neck, Gray climbed into a high clear pure tone. It carried on and on. Natsu's breath caught in his chest, as his mouth gaped and he watch wide-eyed as the steady note carried, washing over him and piercing through his heart.
As it finally fell, squeezing into a silence, Lyon started again in a moved emotional voice.
While the sky turns black
Won't you tell me once and for all,
Please,
Am I part of the cure,
Or am I the disease?
How could you question if
The sun would ever shine again?
When it's with you . . .
I find myself stuck.
In the center of this spider web.
I struggle to find that ray of light,
Just for that,
Oh, for that one sign
That you will find your answer
And the clouds will part
For light to shine through the holes
And you might find,
While the world burns down
You'll just sit and cry.
So before you throw that match,
Just look to the sky, and see
Oh, honey,
It shines for you . . . only you.
"Thank you." The crowd, mostly filled with firefighters from Fairy Tail jumped to their feet, clapping wildly. Gray smiled, thankful for everyone who shared the moment with him. The bandmates joined in a line at the front of the stage, wrapping their arms over eachothers' shoulders, taking a bow as the clapping escalated.
"Holy shit," Natsu airily said, collapsing back into his chair. The two couples at the table embraced each other, taking the moment to show their partner's how much they loved the other. Zeref just sat there, frowning, unsure of what was going on.
Without remembering moving, Natsu stood at the edge of the stage, calling out to Gray who was bent over, stuffing a cleaner stick into his alto sax before placing it into a case. Gray cocked an eyebrow, "Natsu?"
"That was absolutely amazing, Gray."
Blushing lightly, Gray rubbed the back of his head, as the corner of his lip quirked. "Thanks, this is the first time you've come right?"
Nodding, Natsu let out an awkward chuckle. His blood felt on fire. What the hell was going on with him? Shoving the brown bag into Gray's hands, Natsu's cheeks burned a light pink.
Frowning, Gray took the bag. "What's this?"
"It's a birthday present." And with that, Natsu about faced and beelined for the front door. He breathed in deep the icy cold air outside. It did little to chill his burning blood, but it helped to calm his nerves.
Completely confused, Gray stared at the retreating back of the pink haired man. When he disappeared, he looked down to the gift in his hands. Tilting it, a small thin rustic blue covered book line with a gold print inlay fell into his fingers. The gold spelled out the name, Frost. Looking up again to the door, Gray frowned deeper.
Flipping open the front cover, Gray stared at the swooping black letters scribed in pen upon the back of it
We can't live if we don't keep running forward. The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long.**
-Natsu
"Gray, want to grab a drink?"
….
"Gray!"
"Huh?"
Lyon laughed lightly, tilting his head a little. "I asked if you wanted to grab a drink."
Blinking, Gray gazed up at his brother as seconds ticked by, before he snapped the book closed in his palm and grabbed the handles of both of his sax cases. "Sorry, I have something I need to do."
Bewildered, Lyon scratched his head as he watched his brother hurriedly take off.
"Lyon-sama, I thought you were really amazing."
Shaking his head back to his present surroundings, Lyon's jaw dropped as he registered Juvia's blue hair in front of him.
Gray knocked on the door again, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Gray?" Natsu fell back a step, stunned, "what's up?"
"Come on." Gray nodded to the side, signaling the pink-haired man to follow him away from his room.
"What?"
Gray smiled softly. "Don't you want to learn how to dance?"
A/N: **This is a direct quote of Natsu's in Fairy Tail.
Mashima, Hiro. Fairy Tail. 2014
For those of you who don't know who hell jumpers are, I'd thoroughly recommend looking them up. They are also know as smoke jumpers. Basically, they are an amazing group of people who fight wildfires far away from accessible land. They have to parachute into the fire to fight it, absolutely amazing. If you are interested, I'd recommend reading "Chasing Fire," by Nora Roberts. It's a fantastic read, and not only is it a great story but you'll get a chance to learn a lot about smoke jumpers.
The book Natsu gave Gray as a birthday present is a collection of poems by Robert Frost. He is my favorite poet, and the exact book I described (minus Natsu's writing on the inside) is one of my most treasured possessions. Mine has words written in it by someone I love.
To avoid copyright issues, please note that the only use of music within my stories will be in citation of titles and singers/bands. If you want the full experience, I'd recommend playing the song if you don't already know it. Any song I mention is a great song by the way, so you should listen to it anyway. Any lyrics in my writing will have references in my favorite artists, but are completely my own literary work.
Let me get up on my little soapbox for a second about wrongful use of intellectual property. As lame as it is not to be able to use lyrics that I want, I would much rather respect the artists than steal their work. Even if I claim it as theirs, it is still against US copyright laws to use any lyrics that are not public domain (90 years since the artist passed). Please help stop the growing problem of intellectual property theft.
Next chapter: Rhythm of a Heartbeat
