Ch.13 - Flashback Galore
Thanks Tragically Hopeless for beta-ing. What would I do without you. :)
Holy...! 150 reviews in total? I love you readers so much! Here's an extra long (for me. Whew.) chapter to celebrate! Hope I don't disappoint.
This chapter has two parts, for those that are not interested in Lyon's feelings towards Gray, you can skip to the second part. It won't affect the story.
As the title suggests, this chapter consists of flashbacks from Lyon and Natsu's point of view.
Disclaimer : Fairy Tail and all its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I stake no claim.
Pairing : Seme!Natsu x Uke!Gray , slight Lyon x Gray
Rating : M for sexual content.
Yaoi alert! This story contains Yaoi ( boy x boy ). You have been warned. If you don't like Yaoi then please step aside.
Day Five
"Kuso, kuso! Chikusho!" (Shit, shit! Shiiiiit!) Lyon paced around in his room. "I was just reprimanding that pink-haired airhead for going back on our deal, and then what do I do, just hours later? I go out and break my side of the promise as well. What's wrong with me?"
He tangled his fingers in his hair and shut his eyes, "I just want him to be happy." He sighed.
Suddenly, his mind was attacked by a vivid memory.
-Flashback-
"Ne, Gray! " A young, snowy-haired little boy nudged his dark-haired companion with his elbow.
Said companion had his hands stuck into his pockets as he shivered fiercely,his head turning away from the boy that was standing beside him. "Shut up."
Young Lyon wasn't bothered by the cold tone. Instead, he brightly pushed a snow cone under Gray's nose. "Here, eat this!"
Gray replied, monotonously, "No."
Lyon pouted a bit. "Ur bought this for us!"
"I know, I saw her."
"She wants you to be happy, you know."
"That woman wants everyone to be happy. I'm just not an exception."
Lyon frowned. "Just take the snow cone, it's started to melt."
Gray didn't even spare him a glance. "Then eat it yourself."
"Gray, I can't eat both of them!" Lyon was starting to whine. "Eating one won't kill you. You've got to like them, I know Isvan was popular for their snow cones."
Gray finally faced him, his face expressionless. "Now, you listen to me and you listen well. I don't like snow cones. I hate Isvan. I hate the cold. I hate snow. I hate winter. I hate ice. The only reason I'm learning Ice Make Magic is because this is the only type of magic that woman can teach me. Besides, it's befitting to kill something I hate..."
"With magic that you hate as well? Is that it, Gray?"
Gray huffed as he was interrupted. He turned towards his teacher who was wearing a sad, gentle smile on her face.
"Whatever, let's go." Gray began pacing forward, leaving Ur and Lyon behind.
"Ur..."
"What is it, Lyon?"
"Why can't Gray be happy? Why can't he eat snow cones without being reminded of Deliora?"
Ur ruffled Lyon's hair and smiled. "Because I have yet to seal away his darkness. Don't worry, I'll fight off that inner monster of his. Now, let's go, shall we?"
Ur hurriedly followed after Gray who had caused a commotion by stripping bare naked in the middle of the city. Lyon watched as his teacher bonked the dark haired boy on the head and made him pick up his clothes. He looked down at the snow cones in his hands. One of them was twice the size of the other one. It was that one that he had been planning on giving to Gray, just a few moments ago.
"All I wanted to do was wish him happy birthday..."
-End of Flashback-
Lyon did not know when he had sat down on his bed with his face in his hands, feeling utterly exhausted.
His feelings towards Gray were complicated. When they had travelled together with Ur, his feelings towards the boy were nothing more than pure interest and curiosity. It was once he fully understood Gray's past that he began to feel sympathy for him. And then somewhere along the road, those feelings had morphed into an innocent love. Perhaps it was brotherly love, perhaps it wasn't. He didn't know. At that time, he loved Gray very much. But he loved Ur even more. He loved her, admired her, looked up to her, practically worshipped the ground she walked on.
Which was why when things took a turn for the worst, when Ur left his life because of Gray's stupid mistake, his love towards Gray did a 180 degree flip. Pure, passionate love became pure, passionate hate. He hated Gray with every fibre of his being. He hated him so much that he wanted to kill him.
After the Galuna Island fiasco and everything was cleared up, he found it in himself to forgive, but not to forget. He heeded Gray's advice and joined Lamia Scale, one of the best guilds in Fiore. When they joined forces with Fairy Tail to defeat Oracion Seis, he understood just how much he still cared for his younger disciple. It was apparently enough to make him willingly sacrifice himself for the other. At the time, he had shrugged it off as repaying a debt.
Then Gray disappeared without a trace. During those seven years, he did all that he could to help. It was torturous, not knowing what happened. He thought over many things and became aware that he still loved Gray. He was very much in love, and the one he loved was gone. For seven years, his heart was taken over by hollow emptiness. However, when Gray finally returned safely, he was scared to face him. He was afraid that he would blurt out his feelings, and drive the other boy away. Foolishly, he made a rash decision to channel all his love for Gray towards the first person he laid his eyes on upon entering the guild that fateful day - Juvia. Someone, he found out later, that was just as, if not more, infatuated with Gray Fullbuster.
And now, he finds that Gray has fallen in love with another. There was no denying it, he could see it clearly in Gray's dark eyes. He had fallen in love, with Natsu Dragneel.
Lyon moaned and lay down on his back. "Let go, let go. The only thing that you can do is protect him and make sure that he receives the love that he deserves. You got that, Lyon Bastia?"
Still mumbling, he fell into a deep slumber.
NatGrayNatGrayNatGrayNatGrayNatGrayNatGray
Natsu made his way home slowly, trying to digest what had transpired before. He recalled the day Gray had been injured by the attacks of Lyon and himself. After Gray had decided to let Natsu take care of him, Lyon had approached Natsu. He dragged Natsu to a corner and struck a deal with him.
-Flashback-
"Salamander, you said that you won a bet against Gray, is that correct?"
Natsu scrunched his face at him irritatedly in a childish, cute way. "Gray's waiting for me, can't you talk with me some other time?"
"No, this has to be done now." Without giving the other a chance to speak, Lyon continued, "What you two bet on has nothing to do with me. I know that you two had sex, and I know that it was consensual. But I want you to promise me this - never hurt him. Not physically, not emotionally, never."
Natsu's eyebrow twitched. "I don't hit him, if that's what you're implying."
Lyon sighed exasperatedly. "I know that, man, could you get any denser? I meant, don't... Arrgh, do I have to spell it out? Unless he really, really wants it, don't fuck him too roughly."
Natsu's face showed understanding. "Oh. Okay."
Lyon wasn't finished. "One more thing, you know that he has just been hurt by our attacks, so let him recover before doing anything to him. Can you promise me that?"
Natsu nodded. "Sure." Lyon was about to leave then, but the dragon slayer stopped him. "In return, I want you to promise me something too."
Lyon raised an eyebrow.
Natsu sucked in a deep breath. "I like him, a lot. So I would appreciate it if you don't touch him intimately anymore. He's mine in a way and I'm possessive. Don't you even look at him funny."
Lyon did not hesitate. He seemed to have expected it and had resigned himself. "Of course."
-End of Flashback-
"Damn!" Natsu plopped himself down at his doorstep. "Just what was I trying to prove? That I had Gray when he didn't?" He sighed. "I get it. I get it now. But what good will it do? Darn it, he probably thought I was claiming him as my whore or something. "
The dragon slayer stared at the bright blue sky above him, wishing that someone just as bright and just as blue would return. If only his best friend and companion was there, he was sure they could come up with something good - or horribly stupid - to apologize. "Curse you Happy, I still can't believe you dumped me for Charle."
He heaved another long and heavy sigh. "I'm wasting away precious time with Gray. I wonder where he is... He's always been distant, and after we finally got him to truly smile after that stupid Deliora stuff, I unintentionally decided to act like a jerk and upset him. Shit, I probably made him cry. What am I competing for, the title of Fiore's Biggest Idiot?"
He directed his gaze back to the sky. "I remember, the sky was just as beautiful that day. The day we decided to be rivals. "
Contrary to popular belief, Natsu and Gray hadn't been at each other's necks since day one. When Gray first met Natsu, he didn't pay too much attention to him. To Gray, Natsu had just been the weird new kid. To Natsu, Gray was simply... unapproachable. But it's not like that had stopped him.
-Flashback-
Natsu was a kid. When kids are forbidden to do something, they go out of their way to do it. The more they shouldn't do it, the more their intent increases. So when Gray told Natsu to stay away, Natsu did the exact opposite.
Gray wasn't one to shy away from others. He was pretty open and spoke his mind. His personality shone through his actions. Most of the guild members saw him as the brat who strips often and was grouchy, rowdy, and easily worked up. In other words, they welcomed him immediately as one of their own. However, when Natsu first laid eyes on the shirtless boy with his raven locks, he felt that he wasn't looking at the boy himself, but the hardened shell of ice on the surface. The shell wasn't empty, he just knew it. Somewhere inside, there was a Gray that... That... Little Natsu did not know how to put it into words.
He wanted to see him. He wanted to meet him. He wanted to have a good brawl with inner Gray. Thus, he tried to get past the outer surface.
He didn't have a plan. He didn't want to confide in anyone or ask anybody for help. He was on a mission, and he would do it alone.
"Gray~"
And that was the story of how Natsu came to pester Gray every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (the rest of the week he went on missions, pigged out, and searched for Igneel).
Gray furrowed his eyebrows. "Piss off."
Behind them, Macao and Wakaba laughed. Macao hollered good-naturedly, "Language, brat!" while Wakaba chortled so much he choked on his pipe. After regaining his breath via a violent pat on the back from the man beside him, he called out, "Just leave him alone already, Natsu."
Natsu's face reddened. He turned to the duo and raised his fist, "What, you guys wanna go?"
Gray sighed. "Shut up and leave me alone, Natsu."
The pink-haired boy huffed at him. "Not until you fight me!"
The ice mage ruffled his hair, "Jeez, why me?"
"No reason."
Tiredly, Gray stood up from the bar and made to leave, "Get it through your thick head that I'm not going to fight you. I don't like using magic."
"What kind of magic do you use, anyway? I've never seen you fight with anything besides your fists," Natsu yelled after him.
Gray stopped his movements. He was silent, and Natsu wondered if the boy was going to ignore him. After a few awkward moments, he spoke softly, "Magic that goes against yours."
Natsu stared at Gray's retreating back. He scrunched his eyebrows, deep in thought. "I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, so..." his eyes lit up. "Gray's a Water Beetle!"
Wakaba heard it and laughed harder. "How the hell did he come to that conclusion?" Macao shrugged, "Still, it makes you wonder. That boy has never used any magic since he joined. Funny considering this is a mage guild. How does he complete his missions?"
Natsu didn't appear to hear them as he scurried after Gray, yelling, "Wait up! "
Gray was getting frustrated. He turned back, his hands balled into fists. "Get lost already!"
Natsu dismissed his words, "Where are you going?"
"..." Gray looked at his feet, "None of your business."
Eagerly, Natsu grabbed his hand, "Can I come?"
Gray looked at the hand holding his. "Uh, if you want to. It's not like I can get rid of you."
Natsu grinned. "Lead the way, Droopy-Eyes !"
They ended up sitting down side-by-side at the riverbank. They sat in comfortable silence until Natsu decided to break it.
"Gray, let's be friends."
Gray stared at him. Then he shook his head.
Natsu pouted. What's the next best thing besides friends? Enemies? Comrades? He pondered for a while before speaking again. "Alright then, let's be rivals."
Gray looked at Natsu as if he'd grown a second head. "Uh, okay."
Natsu beamed at him. "The friendly kind!"
"The friendly kind?" Gray repeated.
"Yup! The kind that beats the shit out of each other but doesn't kill each other. The kind that has each other's backs."
Gray nodded slowly. Natsu continued, "The kind... That don't keep secrets because it's stupid and cowardly."
Gray got riled up, "Who're you calling stupid, you Ashbrain!"
"If you're not stupid, then you're a coward! You can't even face who you are!"
"..."
"You don't like using magic? Mages are nothing without magic, magical energy is our life source. You. Can't. Hate. Magic. Just tell me whatever the hell that's preventing you from using magic and get it over with! Face your fears head on! Better yet, fight me using that magic! Win! Prove that you can do something else besides standing there looking sad and pretty."
Dark bangs shadowed Gray's eyes. Natsu believed that Gray would get mad and erupt, it was just a matter of time. Surprised would be an understatement of what he felt when Gray began to chuckle. "All you want is a fight from me involving magic. Fine." He stood up.
He got into a stance Natsu had never seen before, one hand beside the fist of the other. " Ice Make : Hammer!" The air shifted for a moment and before Natsu could comprehend what was happening, a huge ice hammer materialized above Natsu's head and hit him so hard he saw stars. Shaking his head hard, the pink haired boy grinned. "That's more like it! I'm all fired up!"
That was the beginning of the two's daily brawls by the river.
Their first fight ended with Gray as the victor. Natsu puffed his cheeks, "I'm totally gonna beat you next time, Gray!"
Gray smiled, "Whatever you say."
They resumed their sitting positions, regaining their breath.
"So... Ice Make?" It wasn't a question regarding what magic Gray used but why Gray despised using it.
Gray chose to reply, "...Yeah." It was his way of saying that he did not want to answer.
Natsu got mad, "What did I just say about no secrets?"
"Thank you for your concern, but my past has nothing to do with you." The remark held no spite or sarcasm.
Natsu wanted to scream at the other boy, but decided against it. He'd find out in due time. He got up and dusted his pants off.
"You're leaving?" The young dragon slayer might be mistaken, but it almost sounded like Gray didn't want him to go.
"Yeah." Gray's expression fell. Natsu wasn't finished, "Wait for me here."
"Huh?" Natsu had already ran off.
After what seemed like years, Natsu returned with two paper cups in his tiny hands. He shoved one to Gray.
"This is yours!"
Gray looked at the contents and frowned. "I don't like snow cones. Let's switch."
Natsu finished emptying his cup and looked at him, "What did you say?"
Gray sighed, Natsu's cup had nothing left. He wasn't even sure what the pink haired boy had ate. Resigned, Gray dug into the snow cone. For some reason or other, it was strangely delicious.
After their day together, Gray started to think Ice Make Magic wasn't so bad, at least it helped him kick Natsu's ass.
-End of Flashback-
Natsu was jolted out of his reverie by the sound of footsteps. He turned towards the source.
Gray had took his time back to Natsu's house, he needed to think. And he had come to a decision. That decision nearly wavered when he saw Natsu sitting on the doorstep. He cleared his throat, hope rising, "Are you waiting for me?"
Natsu shook his head, "No." He wasn't waiting for Gray, he was wallowing in regret that he had hurt Gray.
Gray's heart sank, and his resolve hardened.
"I see."
There would be no more doubting this. Gray had his mind set. He would cut out any feelings he had towards the teen in front of him.
I thank everyone who reviewed, followed or favorited. Please give me the chance to thank you again next time ;)
I have a question for you guys. What genre do you think this story should be listed as besides 'romance'? Or should I just leave it as 'general'? Thanks.
-Dreams
ThriceJinxed : Thanks for reviewing.
theabridgedkuriboh : Yes, fix this at once, Natsu! Or you won't be getting any from Gray for a week!
yukinome23 : Lyon and Natsu are both good for Gray, but in different ways. So it all winds down to Gray's feelings.
Suzie Loux : Bingo! Natsu wanted Lyon to know that Lyon may have had a taste, but Gray will forever be Natsu's. That cute, possesive idiot.
Fullbusterrulesmyheart : Aww thanks for the compliment. Actually, I have been here for a few years, but this is my first story ^^
Glitterkyo : In my story, nobody being dense = no drama. XD
AsDarknessSpreads : The tear molding just seemed to me like something Lyon would do. :D
Cutiecakee123 : Wow thanks! You made me very happy ;)
GlammieGirl328 : Truth be told,I kinda want Lyon to be with Gray too, hell knows he deserves him. But this is a Natsu/Gray fanfic, so...( bursts into tears feeling bad for Lyon)
LolyGothica : (pushes Natsu over) Do what you want, but don't kill him. And make sure he's presentable to Gray XD
TheSlayerGirl : Poor poor Gray. He needs a hug.
FairyTailFreak : What are your thoughts on Lyon and Natsu's pasts with Gray? I wonder if you'll catch the similarity I slipped in :D
x0xalexis8 : You have every reason to be. The poor guy didn't know.
InSanity-of-REALITY : I like LyonxGray too so I'll shield you from the fangirls :3
masterofyaoi : Welcome, new reader! Nice username. Thank you, your review meant a lot. I like spreading NatsuxGray and LyonxGray love ^^