I do not own Fairy Tail. Thanks for all the sweet reviews. Enjoy the chapter.

"Dammit! Where the hell is he?!"

"Calm down, Natsu. I'm sure he'll show up any second now."

"Loke's right, Gray's going to be here any second." Lucy soothed.

"He hasn't come to school since the beginning of the week." I grumbled. "What's so important that he doesn't come to see any of us?" I'm not going to act all tough. It hurt, having Gray not seeing me or at least telling me why he couldn't. "I was supposed to tell him tomorrow!"

Lucy gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he'll meet you then. Why don't you pick him up tomorrow?"

"I can't wait till then! I miss him."

"Just give him until tomorrow. If he's just sick or something it's best to leave him alone."

"I but misssssssssss him."

Erza rolled her eyes at me. "Gray can take care of himself. He doesn't need people worrying about him every five seconds, nor would he want that."

"Fine, but I'm checking on him tomorrow."

There was a small park some blocks away from that damn foster home. The greenery stood out brightly and flowers blossomed in the growing bushes surrounding the park's edge. Benches and a handful of trees dotted the ground, giving the park a comfy feeling. A bubbly fountain stood in the middle. A lovely image of the perfect gar-

Who the hell am I kidding? I've seen dumpsters that looked more inviting than this shitty place.

When I say this park is small, I mean small. It couldn't really be considered a park either. It was more of a patch of green tucked away in the city. It didn't snow in Concurs like it did in Magnolia, so the green(ish) plants were still insight. The grass was somewhat alive and the trees were somewhat alive. Years of suffering from city pollution has taken its toll on the plants, causing them to droop. Most of the park benches were rotting and the fountain in the middle was cracked didn't hold a single drop of water. The stone pathways were beaten and looked like someone had smashed them in with a sledge hammer. It also gave the impression that this is where the homeless and rodents made their bed for the night.

At the moment though, it was paradise at its finest.

Like I said, it was a few blocks away from the hell known as the foster home. That was plenty of space between me and those animals who resided there. This spot of the city was also not necessarily the friendliest, so people tended to avoid it when they could. It was almost completely secluded from anyone that could possibly want to talk to me (not that anyone does).

Along with this park, there were a few more things I've figured out. First off, it doesn't matter what time I got back to the foster house. The caretaker usually doesn't check on anyone, he's not even there most of the time for whatever reason. If he did check to make sure everyone was back it was usually at ten at night. Before and after that you could be on a different continent and he wouldn't know. After he came at ten, I snuck out the window and slept peacefully on the roof. My whole life was pretty much on a schedule. School, park, back at ten, roof. It was that simple.

…

Crunch.

The thin sheet of ice covering the white snow shattered on each stride, giving a soft cracking sound each time.

Crunch.

A small whistle came from my lips and there was a spring in my step.

Crunch.

My whistle became a hum as I got nearer to the small house on the outer reaches of town. The early Saturday morning sun peeked through the grey colored clouds, giving little warmth in the cold weather. The snowy landscape was still, minus my practically skipping self. "Graaaaayyy." Where was that silly raven?

I bounded up the porch steps and gave a knock at the door. I rocked back and forth on my heels waiting for someone to answer. A white hair male opened the door. "Hiya, Lyon, is Gray here?"

The older male narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you here?"

"Huh?" I blinked innocently at him. "Well Gray hasn't been at school the past few days. Everyone was getting worried."

"He's not here."

"When is he getting home?"

"He's not."

Lyon slammed the door shut in my face before I could say anything else. "Umm," I raised my hand back to the wood, unsure if I should knock again. I let out a deep breath. "He wouldn't answer if I did."

I hopped down the porch steps, kicking up snow when I reached the bottom. "I just wanted to talk to Gray." I dragged my feet thru the snow, depressed. "He didn't have to be mean. What did he even mean by 'he's not?' Of course Gray is going to be home later."

The sound of a door creaking open came from behind me, followed by the crunching of snow. I peeked behind me to see Ultear coming towards me. "Hi Ultear." I waved. Lyon may have be a scary meanie he wasn't all bad. As far as Gray's sister goes, I really like her. She's nice and devious and just plain fun.

Ultear gave me a small wave in response. "Sorry 'bout that." She nodded in the direction of the house. "Lyon is just a little stressed right now."

"That's okay. When is Gray going to be home."

Ultear got a sudden forlorn look in her eyes. "We don't know."

"Wha- But Gray lives here."

Ultear shook her head. "Not anymore." Her dark eyes met mine. "Gray was picked up by custody services the other day. He can't live here anymore."

"So he's back at the fos-" Something in Ultear's look told me my next question was a no. Gray wasn't back at the foster home in Magnolia. He wasn't even in Magnolia. "Oh, okay...thanks for telling me."

I turned away from her and continued walking. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and my heart twisted inside my chest. Tears started freely flowing down my face seconds later. "Gray…"

"Why can't fairy tales ever come true?"

I closed the book I had been reading and placed back on the shelf. My local excursions had led me to the town library. It was nice enough, not the nicest in the world, but it was humble. The majority of the day had been spent in the fiction section, more precisely, the storybook part of the section. Books with faded covers caught my interest. Happily, I spent the morning in reminiscence of when Ur used to read stories to me. I never would have guessed when I was five years old that these stories were a load of crap.

Rags to riches protagonists, foul demons, knights in shining armor, it was all a complete lie. Damsels in distress and a brave prince that comes to save them that turns out to be their one true love. Daring sword fights and magic powers. Knights that slay ferocious dragons. "Who the hell has even met a dragon anyway?" I groaned.

I pulled down another book from the shelf and looked at the title. I remembered this book. The ending always stuck with me. How the main character traveled to faraway lands to save the one he loved that was taken from him. Every once in a while Ur would change the ending "to make it least sexist" as she put it, which is why sometimes the damsel was the one that kicked the bad guys butt instead of the hero. Now that I think about, she had a point. Why is it the boy is never the one that needs saving.

"Still…it's a good book." I flipped open to the first page and began to read.

"Are you okay, son?"

"Mmm."

"Is that a no?"

"Natsu's just upset." Happy spoke up, directing his comment to my father Igneel. That was actually really brave of the cat. He was usually calling my dad ferocious and running away.

"It's not often you're upset. What's gotten you down?"

I didn't answer. I've spent the whole weekend locked up in my room, sobbing. I was so caught up in Gray leaving I had hardly realized when my dad came home last night. That was completely out of character for me. Usually I was jumping in joy when Igneel got home. But ever since I found out Gray left I just haven't acted like myself. Lucy and Erza have become worried because of it. I hardly even talk anymore. The only one who hasn't said anything about it was Loke. He just watched as I moped around.

"Hey…dad?"

Igneel looked back up from his newspaper. "Yes?"

"What do you do when…you're heartbroken?"

He gave me one of his unreadable expressions. "Heartbroken? Since when have you had your heart captivated?"

"Umm…" I had forgotten I hadn't told him anything yet. "A while now."

Igneel let out a sighed. "Should have known this day was coming. Natsu," I looked up at him as his tone changed from emotionless to fierce. "I was never one for relationship advice. You know that. But there is one thing I know." He leaned in closer to me. "We're Dragneels. We don't mope around. We act. If it was your fault you better damn well make this right. If it was theirs, then you figure it out."

"What if it was neither of our faults?"

Igneel snorted and leaned back in his chair. "Do I look like a marriage counselor?"

"No."

"Figure it out. Just remember, I know you, Happy knows you, your friends know you. We know you're too stubborn to give up this easy. Get that heart of yours fixed."

"Thanks for the advice." I rolled back over on my stomach, my mood not that much improved. My dad was never one for sappy, heart to heart exchanges. A fortune cookie would have been just as helpful. He did have one part right, though. I was too stubborn to know when to give up, and if it was for Gray's sake, I wasn't going to.

"I just don't know what the hell to do." I grumbled.

…

"Cheer up, Natsu."

"Hmm," I looked up and saw Lucy standing over me, a forced smile on her lips. Gray leaving hadn't been easy on anyone.

"He's fine. It's not like you're never going to see you again."

"How would you know?"

The blonde didn't reply to my sour remark. I hadn't been the nicest either lately. "Well," Erza tried. "Gray has family here after all. He'll come back one day."

"You can't be so sure." I grumbled. "What if he doesn't? What then?" The scarlet didn't reply. On any normal day she would have beaten me to a pulp for talking back to her. She was that sympathetic to this whole scenario that she didn't do so.

Loke didn't say anything as during our trading of remarks. His expression was blank and stiff. You couldn't even make out what his eyes revealed behind his glasses.