Well, it seems many of you are excited for Gray's chapter, so here it is!

In fact, I almost got the same amount of "I can't wait's" as I did when Natsu's chapter was coming xD

So without further ado, here's part one of my favorite pairing~

"Umm..."

"Yeah?" the man replies. I cannot help but wonder if he realizes the very thing that has me in doubt.

"Uh, if I may ask...why exactly are you in your boxers?"

Suddenly, the man's eyes widen in surprise, and he looks down. Sure enough, his pants are lying on the ground next to the chair. "When the hell did that happen?!" he yells, as he quickly picks them up and puts them on as fast as he can.

Oh dear. Seems he is just as weird as I thought...

"So um, Gray, what's with this stripping...thing-"

"It's not a fetish!"

"...I didn't say it was."

"...oh. Sorry" He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "That's normally what the others call it to annoy me."

"So, uh, what's the deal with it?"

"Well, it's a habit my teacher gave me..."

What?

"You're teacher taught you to strip? What kinda guy was he?"

"Err...Ur was a woman." His face turned a bit red.

"A woman taught a young man to strip?"

"N-No" he said, blush deepening, "I was only a 8 years old!"

"...not helping, Mr. Fullbuster." Gahaha, messing with him is fun!

"Alright, look: In order to teach me Ice-Make Magic, she had to have me adapt to the cold, and apparently the best way to do that was to strip in the freezing cold temperatures of up North."

"Oh. That actually makes sense."

He raised an eyebrow. "It...does?"

"Yeah. For my training, I started asking random people I passed by questions to try and determine their personality as fast as I could."

"Did you also get a lot of people calling you weird?"

"All the time."

He smiles at me. "Maybe we're not so different, after all."

"Indeed." Can't mention that my actual training was trying to read people's minds by staring at them, which gave me even more weird looks than he probably got.

"So, Gray, if I may ask, why did you start training under your Ice Make teacher?"

He looked down at the ground. "Ur was her name. (Was?) The reason is, back shortly before my 8th birthday, a demon named Deloria ravaged my village. I...was one of the few survivors."

"Oh. Your parents, too, I'm guessing?" I ask solemnly.

"Yeah. When I got to a nearby town, I met Ur, who was one of the strongest mages in the land. She could even be one of the 10 Saint Wizards. After some convincing, she finally agreed to teach me. My fellow pupil, Lyon, Ur, and I all grew close during our training."

"You keep saying 'was'. Don't tell me she..."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Due to my recklessness, I tried to fight Deloria. She intervened, and sacrificed herself to kill that damn demon. That was the day after I..." He didn't finish his sentence; out loud, that is.

That was the day after I realized that she was my family now. That I loved her like I did my parents.

I leaned back in my chair to review this information. I wonder if he acts cold because of these incidents.

"What ever happened to Lyon?"

The Ice mage sighed before responding. "He grew obsessed with fighting Deloria for himself, to prove that he was stronger than Ur. A few years back, he tried to melt Deloria's ice, but Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Happy, and I all stopped him. Since then, he joined a guild, Lamia Scale, and seems to be much more calm about everything.

But just as annoying, dammit!

"Alright. Enough about the past, I believe I have a clear understanding of you and your issues. Why don't we move on to the second half: tell me about your friends, here in the guild."

"Well, flame-brain and I are rivals-"

And I'll never admit it outloud, but best friends, too.

"Lucy and I are friends-"

She's pretty cute and all, but I'm ninety percent sure she has a thing for Natsu, and vice versa.

"Happy can be kinda annoying, but he keeps everyone, well, happy-"

Not to mention his teasing of Natsu and Lucy is hilarious.

"And Erza is...scary, yet amazing at the same time."

I've had nightmares of her, before...

I freaking love my power.

"Anyone else of importance?"

"Well...I'm pretty good friends with Cana-"

Tried dating once. Didn't work so well.

"I get along fine with Elfman and his sisters, Team Shadow Gear, and the Raijinshuu. Gajeel is similar to Natsu, so I get along the same with him. Wendy is kinda like a little sister to me, and many others in the guild."

I nod as I write all this down. Looks like he and Cana had a bit of a past, but nothing too serious. He thinks Lucy is cute, but he's not too interested like that. He...wait. Why did he stop talking?

His face has a hint of a blush as he stares at me. "We done?" Okay, so I think that's that, and I don't think he'll be bringing her up. Just PLEASE do not bring her up. Don't be as insistent as Erza. Just then, an image of he and the red-haired Titania flashed through his mind, and she said, "Surely you've noticed Juvia's feelings for you. Why don't you make everything clear?"

Juvia? Wasn't that the blue-haired mage who was sitting next to him, and caught his shirt?

...oh ho, I see now.

"So, what about that young lady with the blue hair who was sitting at your table?"

"J-Juvia?" And the red face returns. "W-what about her?" Craaaaap. Alright, calm yourself Gray, just keep cool. Cool like ice. You got this. "Ahem. I mean, yeah, she's a pretty great mage and all." An image of her in a rather cute dress appeared in his head, that asked him, "What does Gray-sama think? Does this new look look good on Juvia?" Dammit brain, focus!

It's one of the hardest battles in my life, but I somehow manage to keep a straight face despite his hilarious inner conflict. Before I can ask my next question, I cannot help but point out the sudden change in him. "Um, Gray, your pants..."

He looks down, and notices them on the floor. He suddenly reaches down and picks them back up, fumbling as he puts them on. "Damn it!"

My battle to keep a straight face proves even more difficult, but I succeed nonetheless. "So, Gray, about Juvia..."

He stops in his struggle to redress himself and glares at me. It looks like it might have been an intimidating look, if his face wasn't so flushed. "Y-Yeah?" A memory of said water mage in a yukata, clinging to his arm and staring right at him, with a small pout flashed in his head. His mind seems to focus on her lips. Gaaah, damn you brain! Stop making things even harder than they are!

"I'm sensing some...conflict. Is it between you and her? I ask, despite knowing the real reason for said conflict.

"No, it ain't that. The only time there was ever any conflict between her and I was when I first met her, 'cause we were enemies at the time." He sighs as he recalls that day. "I knew there was something about her that day. She kept switching between this seriously powerful enemy to...I don't even know what to call her when she does...all that."

"All of...what?"

"All that blushing and daydreaming and fawning over me. It's...weird."

"Is that a bad sort of 'weird', or a good one?"

"W-well, at first I thought she was annoying, but I got used to it pretty fast, and nowadays, well..."

"...you enjoy it?"

He simply nodded.

"Do you know why she blushes and daydreams and everything else when you're involved?"

He didn't respond for a moment, but eventually he hesitantly nodded.

"Because she...l-likes me..."

"Likes you? From the few seconds I've seen her, and from everything you told me, it sounds more like she loves you."

To my great surprise, instead of blushing, the young ice mage seemed to become downcast, and simply stared at the floor.

"...Gray? Why the sudden depression? Shouldn't a guy be happy to hear that a girl loves him, even if he probably already knows it?"

He sighed, stood up, and walked to the door, where he stared out the little window. Seriously, does everyone in this guild do the same thing when they're thinking?

"It's just...I don't have much luck with loved ones."

Before I can even ask what he's talking about, an image of a young couple urging a young Gray to run away flashes through his mind (his parents?), followed by an image of a woman with short black hair, standing before a large demon. (I'm guessing this is Ur, and the demon Deloria). I get up from my chair, and walk over to the young man, where I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Gray, is it true that you feel those who are close to you, those you love, perish?"

He didn't look at me, but he did nod.

"I disagree. Look out at your friends, your guild. I've only had the pleasure of talking to a few of you so far, but I can tell that you are all a family. And I can tell you, Gray, treat them as your family. That you love them. And yet here they all still stand."

He stared at me with extremely wide eyes, surprise evident. Hell, even I'm surprised at what I just said. He turns back and stares at his guildmates, before finally smiling.

"Yeah. I guess you're right, huh?"

"Indeed. Now, about Juvia..."

"I still don't know what to do..."

I pat him on the back. "Start simple. In my opinion, you should ask young miss Lockser to go to dinner with you or something."

He nodded. "R-right." I can do this. I just have to play it cool.

"Yes, just play it cool."

"...huh?"

"N-nothing! Anyways, we're done here!" I quickly rush him out the door, and call for my next patient. "Heartfillia, Lucy, you're up next!"

That was close. I have to be more careful, or else they're gonna figure out my abilities...

Well, that's that! I had a whole theory of why Gray acts "cold" (lolpun) sometimes, so yeah.

Longest chapter yet.

Anyways, I love you guys as always, and thanks for reading!

Next chapter is Lucy's, AKA part II of NaLu!