Natsha stood there on the home plate. Her helmet was lowered, almost blocking her eyes, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her bat rested on her shoulder. Her hands were relaxed, just how she practiced with the white haired boy, and she took her stance.

She pulled the helmet up with her other hand and returned to position. To her left, third base, was where Lyon was hanging. His eyes were directly on her, waiting for the incoming pitch so that he could make his run for home base. His uniform, stuck to his body, was ragged compared to the others; his forehead glistened in sweat that he wiped off with his sleeve. Elfman was on the bench, waiting for his turn to bat; he wore the same cap as her. Another teammate, one that went by the name of Jet, stood on the first base.

Behind her was all of the fans from both of the teams; each one tried to outdo the other with their cheering. In the front two rows, on both sides, were occupied by friends and families of the teammates. Each player had two seats reserved, and the extras were in the back rows with faithful fans.

Natsha didn't care who came for her, as long as they treated to ice cream, she had no problems. Usually her spots were taken by Sting and Gray, since Igneel worked and Lisanna came with Elfman.

And, with her mind focused on the game, she didn't even notice who was in the stands.

Her days were turning into a cycle. Wake up, practice, school, practice, copy Lisanna's notes before the animals decided to tear them up, and then she rested.

The pitcher gave the gesture to the man behind her. His glove, where the ball rested, raised to his other hand in a fast motion. Within seconds, his arm swung backwards and the ball spun through the sky. It curved through the sky.

Her grip on the bat tighten and raised it to where she thought the ball was gonna travel through. She swung her bat backwards and landed a hit against the striped ball. It bounced back into the outfield and the Ravens were already heading towards it. She threw her bat behind, landing on Elfman's face, and dashed for first base.

Dust lifted from the third base and made a line to home plate. A white haired boy smirked as he returned to the benches.

Jet, without any hesitation or glances to the other members, breezed through second and then to third.

The ball, finally caught, went back to the pitcher as they assumed that both players were staying on their plates.

The cycle went again, with the next player up to bat. He hit the ball into the left outfield. Jet, when the ball returned to third during his run to home plate, continued along. The ball flew to the catcher, but Jet made it to home first.

Natsha made it to third as all of the attention was placed onto Jet than her.

She looked at the next batter, Elfman, but her eyes wandered to the stands in a moment of curiosity. As if looking for a familiar face.

She saw the sunny shade of Sting's hair, right next to Lisanna's. The two were cheering together. This does not mean that Sting was waving his hands or anything, but it means that he was doing the same cheer moves as Lisanna in the same moment.

How long did it take them to practice that?

Actually, how long have they been doing that without her noticing?

Natsha really needed to get that on video and blackmail him with it.

But, her thoughts quickly changed as she gazed at the next seat over from them. It remained empty, but it was usually filled by someone.

Wasn't it?

She was sure that there were no empty seats in the front row, at least that's what she remembered from her last four games.

She was sure that it wasn't Igneel she was thinking of.

Only one name came to mind.

Gray, the shitty ice bastard.

How…long has it been emptied?

She raked through her mind, looking for any recent memory of Gray.

Wasn't he at her practices...? No...

Didn't he walk her to class? No...

The last time that she saw him was on that day. The day before she started her morning practices. Why was that so?

There was no answer.

Her mind went blank with mashed thoughts and memories, until voices broke through. She lowered her head from the stands onto Lyon, who was waving his arms into the air, trying to get her attention.

"NATSHA! GO!"

Natsha was still in a game afterall.

Elfman just landed on first and another player was moments away from hitting the ball; and all of the bases were filled. She had to get to home or else it would result in their lost.

She tried to brace herself in those final seconds, and it all came to her like a dream. All of the voices in the background silenced as she darted the last base. The only one that she heard was of her friends' chanting and Lyon's shouts.

She made it.

Lyon took a deep breath, his throat felt dried, patted Natsha's back. "I thought I told you to pay attention to the game…" His voice cracked, and in result, he grabbed a paper cup of water and gulped it down.

"I…just went blank…?"

She seated herself and sighed. Her hand was on her forehead. Why the hell did she have to think about Gray at this moment of all moments?

Natsha could hear Lyon's mutter, but they were mashed together. She was still lost in her thoughts. She thought, she believed, that they had more contact, but those were memories from before her baseball season. She shifted forward in the bench, staring above to where she thought Lisanna and Sting seated themselves.

She had to talk to Lisanna.

But for now, she had to finish this game.

Every time she gotten into the field, she would blank out throughout the whole game. It gotten to the point that she was replaced with another player, and she stayed on the bench. As soon as the match ended, Sting and Lisanna surrounded her. Their faces were riddled with questions.

"Are you alright?"

"Did something happen?"

"Let's get out of here first," she decided. On her way out, not even changing to her normal clothes, she passed Lyon. And like them, he was also perplexed.

Before he could even get a word out, she raised a finger. "I'll explain later." And with that, she left him. Their 'date' was forgotten as another person clouded her thoughts.

…

The trio walked along the sidewalk with a huge gap between them and other walkers. She practically told the duo everything as they gotten out from the school. Though, she was not expecting their reactions.

Lisanna sighed in relief, while Sting uttered, "Bout time."

Quickly, Natsha remarked with, "What was that, cheerleader?"

His smugness vanished as he glanced at her with a frown formed in his forehead. "Cheerleader?"

Natsha snickered to herself.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

And now Lisanna giggled.

Neither one of them said a thing about it.

They headed past her house, to Gray's house down the street. She never went here unless if she needed to study, and for Lisanna, this was her second trip. Sting, while he considered Gray as his bud even though they were only friends of friends, never even knew he lived this close. "Man, and when you thought you knew a guy…" he said while scratching his head.

The two waited on the sidewalk while Natsha marched to the doorstep. Her fist hammered onto the cedar door, yet there was no answer. "GRAY! GET YOUR UGLY ASS OUT HERE!"

There was no movement inside of the house.

"He's gone?"

Lisanna bit her bottom lip. Now that she thought of it, Gray did look like he was in a hurry when he answered the door this afternoon. He looked disappointed when he found out it was only her outside, and not someone else. Really, the one time that Natsha decided to visit is the same time that he leaves. The two were horrible at timing.

"What about leaving a note?" Sting suggested.

Natsha shook her head and returned to them. "I'll catch him tomorrow."

Lisanna glanced back at the house for one last time before they left.

For the next day, Natsha did not meet her end of the promise.

Her knock was finally answered on Monday, but it wasn't Gray who answered, but Ur. She stood there in the clearing, her head to the side, and looked down upon the pink haired girl. "Yes, Natsha-chan?"

Natsha glanced behind the woman, hoping to catch glimpse of the bastard. "Is Gray here?" Her voice was full of hope.

"Oh, you mean the calculator," she paused for a second and shook her head, her bra bouncing from one side to the other. At least she had a bra and underwear on in the first place. "I believe he's staying over at Rogue-kun's house. He'll be back tomorrow." Once again, Ur paused as Natsha's hope was crushed. "I can always give him a message from you."

"No need," she shook her head and sighed. "I'll just be on my way."

Ur, with her motherly instinct at its highest point, grabbed Natsha's shoulder before she could leave. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? I can make some cookies and turn on a movie. It would be just like girls' night. What do you say? I think I have some peanut butter cookies somewhere in the cabinets…"

At the sound of cookies, her stomach growled. Which, to Ur, was a 'yes'. She pulled the girl inside of her house and marched right into the kitchen. Natsha stayed there until Ur's head peeked out, "Don't be a stranger, just sit down and relax." Her head went back, "And this time, I'll make sure to have it on the right temperature and minutes!"

Natsha obeyed and went into the living room. Everything was the same from her last visit. Except now there were candy wrappers thrown into the basket in the middle of the table, an outdated laptop under the couch, and a single jacket on the hooks by the TV.

It didn't take for long for Ur to return to the living room and started flipping through the channels until they settled on a cheesy horror movie called Gajeel the Phantom and Spooky Ghost Girl; which sounded more like a porno than actually movie. This movie was so famous during this season, that even the local movie theaters were showing it.

She rested herself along the couch while Ur took over the arm chair. Between them was a plate with fresh, not-fully-baked cookies.

Alright, now we are getting into the juciy events.

firelass19: XD That's probably the one good thing about having most of this prewritten, I can focus on the events and not worry about writing a chapter within an hour then posting it.

EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: This is probably the best love triangle I've ever written, even if it's mostly Gray-centered. I was just about to add a huge scene with LyonNatsu right in the beginning.

darkhuntressxir: I can't believe someone noticed that detail.

Pridam: 'Gray was sitting in his room, an empty ice cream box on his desk, and flipped through pictures of a smaller version of himself and Ur. He remembered the times before his sibling left for college. Did Ultear know? Who would have told her? A ping of guilt rested in his stomach. It just happened so fast and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He was helpless and now Ur was gone. Gone from this world. With a soft sigh, he turned off his computer and fell back onto his bed. The comforts of his blanket wrapped around him. A slight ringing echoed through the room, but he ignored it. On his nightstand, his phone lite up and read: 37 Messages. He ignored them all. He couldn't stand that pity in their voices. None of them knew how to act around him. They all tried their best to comfort him and that everything was going to be alright, but just wanted to forget. He wanted silence. Someone banged on the door...it echoed throughout the house. No answer. No nothing.

Ultear stood outside, her back to the door, and banged her head against the wooden panes. Even her phone rang, but at the moment, she did not care. It was either her stupid brother's friends or her own. "Dammit, Gray...Just answer the door..." She banged her head once more. Tears streamed down her face. The news was still fresh in her mind, and as soon as she heard, she raced back to her childhood home with no way to get inside. In her foggy vision, she saw two teens standing in front of the lawn. Without even questioning them, she shouted, "Get the hell away!" She didn't want strangers to see her tears. All she wanted at the moment was to rip apart her pillows. These feelings twisted her stomach.

The two teens had no idea what to do. Their messages were not getting answer, and now this strange woman was shouting at them with tears in her eyes. Gray, what was going on? Why wasn't you answering?' Imagine it somewhat like this. I like to think that Gray would distant himself and act like Rogue. But now that you asked that...and I wrote this...it would be a pity not to include this...wouldn't you say? :D

AsDarknessSpreads: XD We all know that Loke would kill himself if he cheated on Lucy... and Juvia has eyes only for her Stripper.