Final Chapter; Lost and Found

Gray POV

Natsu and I walked through the streets of Magnolia. The sun was high and warm on this beautiful summer's day. "Hey, Natsu" I chirped as we walked hand-in-hand towards the guild.

"What is it Gray?" the Dragon Slayer asked me, a slight look of confusion on his otherwise happy, and adorable, face.

"I was just thinking… doesn't your name mean summer?" I asked with a slight smile. The Fire mage smirked at my question.

"Yup, sure does. Summer's the best season after all" he stated, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. I tapped his shoulder lightly.

"I prefer winter" I stated with a matter-of-fact tone. The pinkette shrugged.

"Figure's you'd be weird like that" he stated, before we were interrupted by another voice.

"You two look like you're having fun" Lucy said, emerging from the pastry shop near the guild with a number of different, delectable-looking items.

I smiled at her as Natsu waved. "Hi Lucy" the Dragon Slayer said.

"Hi Natsu" she replied as she arrived.

I looked at the collection of food-stuffs that the Celestial mage was carrying. "You having a party, or just a really big breakfast?" I asked with an amused nod towards the items. Lucy pouted.

"No. I'm not greedy like you two" she said with a mock-annoyed tone, "Mira just asked me to pick these up, that's all. I think they're for the other Guildmasters who are visiting" she added after a moment. Natsu looked to between Lucy and me for a moment with surprise written plainly all over his face.

"What… who's coming where?" he mumbled with a puzzled pout on his face. I sighed and tapped the pinkette's head.

"The other guilds are coming today, flame brain. Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus, don't you remember?" I breathed, "We talked about going on a double date with Juvia and Lyon?" I added, trying to provoke some form of memory in my mate. After a moment, the lights of recognition raised in Natsu's eyes.

"Oh yeah…" he mumbled quietly for a moment, before looking to me, "Do you still wanna do that date thing?" he asked me. I nodded.

"It'd be good to catch up to Lyon, since we haven't since… you know… Walter…" I trailed off. The Dragon Slayer nodded.

"Oh yeah…" he muttered. Lucy looked between us and heaved a sigh.

"Are you two still beating yourselves up over that?" she questioned, "There's nothing you can do, it was his own choice. That's why the guilds are here today though, just checking up to see if the mess has been cleared up from the battle" Lucy added. Natsu and I sighed, before looking up the street towards the guild.

"I guess that means they'll want to speak to us again" I sighed, before a new thought sprung to mind. "Although… if Sting and Rogue are here, as well as Lyon and Juvia, we could make it a triple data instead of a double" I stated, trying to start a slightly more upbeat train fo thought. Natsu nodded at my suggestion.

"Good idea, we still haven't paid them back for that hot-springs trip" he stated. I nodded as we began to walk with Lucy back towards the guild hall. Despite mine and Natsu's date-planning, the lingering thoughts of that night on Magnolia's outskirts still left me with a cold feeling inside.

Maybe we should have tried to get them to join the guild… then they wouldn't have… left… in such a hurry I thought with a slight frown. Natsu seemed to pick up on my thoughts as the Dragon Slayer darted me a look and a smile, before leaning in and kissing me in full public view. The kiss was soft and sweet, and a little surprising, but it was exactly what I needed to stop feeling so blue. I'm with Natsu now and that's all that really matters I thought happily.

/

We entered the guild and were met with the slightly grumpy face of Makarov. "Ah Natsu, Gray…" he said as soon as we had set no more than two feet into the guild. "The Magic Council's here and they would like a word, hope you don't mind" he added, before ushering us into a separate room with allowing us enough time for even a minor and futile protest.

The room we entered was sparse, with just a few chairs on which were sat a couple of serious-looking council officers and a group of frog-men officials, along with the Guildmasters, or other representatives, Sting and Rogue, Ooba and Jura, Bob and last but not least Kagura. Natsu eyed them all up suspiciously, especially those Councilors.

"Natsu Dragneel, and Gray Fullbuster, correct?" one of the frog-men said. We both nodded, deciding it better, under the death-glare of Makarov, to just get this over and done with without protest.

"Yes" we both stated in unison.

"Good. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused, however in light of recent events the Magic Council has decided to avoid any further incident and brush this 'Codex' issue under the carpet" one of the stony-face men stated. Natsu and I nodded in semi-understanding of the man's words.

"However…" another chimed in. Of course, it's not that simple I thought. "For the record, we need to have a statement from every mage present during those fights against the dark wizard Damien and his minions. If you could please just explain what occurred the night after those fights, and the supposed last moments of the group known as the Triplet Code, we would be most grateful" they stated. I looked to Natsu for a moment, as we heard their request.

"Should we tell them?" I asked him. Natsu shrugged and looked to Makarov.

"Hey Gramps, should we tell that bit?" he asked. The councilors turned to Makarov, who scowled.

"Yes, that's the point of them interviewing you two. Just explain what you said to those three and then we can let you go" the old man stated.

"Alright" the Dragon Slayer nodded, "Well… after we defeated Damien there was this big party, however Walter, Cyrus and Blake… they all went outside and then…" Natsu began explaining exactly what happened that night, almost a month ago.

/

General POV, the night of the party

Natsu, Sting, Rogue, Gray and Makarov all stood facing the Triplet Code. The teen mages each stood with a glass of poisoned champagne in their hands. Blake stood silently, with his face an open book of mixed emotions. Cyrus stood to his right, a stoic expression as always, but one tinged with regret, sadness and a sense of finality.

Walter stood apart from the group, closer to the guild mages, anger and resentment clear on his features. "You think you understand everything" he barked abruptly at Gray and Natsu, "You only fought Damien a little, you may have seen his death… however… I… you have no right to say this, no right to say he intended for anything". The teen mage had a few tears streaming down his cheeks, however he was stopping himself from saying the one thing he hadn't been able to before Damien's death.

"You loved him" Gray stated, his tone not quite calm, but not angry; just a mixture of a little pity, and a statement of fact.

Walter was repulsed by the tone. "Yes, I did," he barked "So for what reason shouldn't I kill myself, if not only to see Damien again" the Requip mage seemed close to breaking point. After all the times the group had seen him stand up to danger, and smile, this completely broken Walter was something new to all of them. They seemed stunned for a moment. "Well?" Walter barked.

"It'll protect the world too" Cyrus chimed in, logical tone of voice the perfect contrast to Walter's overly emotional tone.

"How about this; there's still one thing that Damien didn't tell you… something that only I know, because I saw him die" Natsu stated. The Requip mage seemed surprised by this news, however it was little comfort, and it did nothing stop him raising that glass to his lips and drinking the contents. Everyone held their breath, knowing full well that the next few words could define the course of fate for the three mages. Cyrus was logical, however if they all did not kill themselves logic would dictate he shouldn't either, and so he would, they all knew. Blake cared only for his friends, so he would not take action without them, and so both his, and Cyrus' fates, rested upon Walter's next move. Yet still in this maelstrom of emotions, teetering on the brink of triple suicide, Natsu smiled.

"What?" Walter barked at the Fire Dragon Slayer, "What do you know?"

Natsu smirked. "Damien…" he let the name hang in the air for a moment, "isn't really dead".

Everyone was stunned by the announcement, everyone but Walter. The Requip mage snorted derisively. "You're really that desperate, that you'd lie to bold faced like that" he accused, taking a slightly firmer grip of his glass. "Damien died and you know it… now… if you haven't got anything else to say, it's about time the Triplet Code finally undergoes our last mission. With that, Cyrus, Blake and Walter all took a drink from their glasses before anyone could stop them.

"No wait!" Natsu barked a fraction too late. "Damien didn't die. Did Blake or anyone check his pulse or anything?"

Blake shook his head, which prompted Walter to give a look of confusion. "But… I held him in my arms… I… I held him as he died" the Requip mage blubbered. Natsu shook his head.

"No. Damien faked his death, he must have thought you'd move on and live your lives if you thought he was dead. You can fool most things, but my nose could still smell his magic, and I could still hear his breathing" Natsu explained hurriedly.

"But Blake and I dealt with Damien's body" Cyrus stated, his face visibly pained by the effects of whatever potion Blake had just given them. "I used fire magic to burn his corpse, even if he was alive… he would have died after that" the Script mage stated, with a little note of sadness in his voice.

Gray cleared his throat. "I may not have known Damien long; however, he was a Maker mage. Even just using my Ice-Make magic even I could have faked a corpse. Could it not be possible that he simply used his powers after we all greeted the rescue party, when no one was looking, and then escaped off until the coast was clear?" the Ice mage asked. Cyrus pouted for a moment, before shrugging.

"It's possible" he said, "However…" he trailed off as Walter chuckled loudly.

"However, it doesn't really matter now… we've all just drank Blake's potion, so we're going to die regardless" Walter stated, with an amused tone. "Even if Damien is alive, we're not going to be meeting him again for a little while, however… when we do… when I do… I'll finally tell him how I feel" Walter added, his expression becoming increasingly pained under the effects of the elixir.

"It's not over, you can still meet Damien again… Blake, just tell us how to fix this and we will. We can get Sherria, Wendy… anyone" Natsu reasoned, "You can't just die!".

Walter laughed. "S-sorry Natsu… if there is one thing I can ask, though… why didn't you tell us he was alive at the time?" Walter asked, as he and the other two mages fell to their knees in pain.

Natsu and Gray both rushed over to Walter's side. "I figured that Damien could finally go off and live a normal life, and you could too… maybe if I had told you sooner…" the pinkette looked distraught by his lapse in judgment.

Walter shook his head. "No, it's not your fault… don't blame yourself" Walter stated, before a loud noise broke the quiet struggles of the three dying mages.

"No!" it barked. Everyone looked around, and their eyes all rested on Blake.

"B...lake…?" Walter croaked in surprise.

"I… prepared for this eventuality" the Elixir mage stated, his fingers glowing as they were pressed to his throat. The gathered mages looked in surprise, as he forced himself to his knees, his hands fumbling about in his left pocket, the opposite pocket to the one which he had stashed the poison in. "There's… an antidote" he stated, "I thought… just in case… I didn't really want to die, but I figured I could go on living knowing you two had killed yourselves, so just in case… I made this" he stated, desperately unstopping the phial, before dropping a few droplets into his hand and then lapping them up. As soon as he did, the pain lessened, and carefully, the Elixir mage crawled over to Cyrus, dropping a few drops into the Script mage's open mouth.

"Y… you disobeyed?" Cyrus asked. Blake nodded.

"Yes, I did, Cyrus. Instructions are good, but you still need to learn that there can be room for emotions" Blake stated, before he made his way a bit more carefully over to Walter.

"Here" Blake stated, giving Gray the vial. "Give him this… I'm afraid… I'm about to pass out from the antidotes… effects" Blake stated. Gray took the antidote hurriedly, administering a few drops to Walter's mouth. After only a few moments, Walter groaned, as the pain in his stomach, like a fire burning, dwindled.

The teen looked up at the two mates that stood over him, and smiled. "Thank… you" he said, before he too passed out from the effects, along with Cyrus.

/

Gray POV

Natsu finished his recount of events with a slight smile and a heavy sigh. The officers, and Guildmasters present, all gaped at the story, except Sting and Rogue, who had been present during those critical moments themselves. All the way throughout I was prepared to jump in and assist the pinkette, however he needed no assistance, and I did not even have to give one ounce of support, outside of the warm touch I gave when Natsu recounted Walter's hurried drinking of the poison, and the tense few moments after that event.

After a few minutes, no one spoke. "Is that it?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence, "Can we go now?"

The Magic Council officers seemed a little lost for words, which greatly amused both me, Natsu, and Makarov, who was standing just out of their field of view. "Er… yes, I suppose. Do you have anything to add, Mr Fullbuster?" the human men turned their gazes towards me. I shook my head.

"I think Natsu covered it all pretty good" I stated, "So… we'll just be on our way" I added, tugging Natsu to leave. Sting smirked as we began leaving, mouthing a 'help me' as the officers turned to the Guildmasters now to ask them to fill in some (overly) large stacks of paperwork. Rogue smacked the blond on the side, urging him to begin filling in the meaningless stacks of paper, alongside those others present.

I chuckled to Natsu as we left. The pinkette Dragon Slayer looked at me with confusion. "What's so funny?" he asked with a slight pout.

I looked at him, and pulled him aside for a moment, before we would return to the hum-drum of the main part of the guild. "Well… I didn't think you could be so… descriptive… or dramatic Natsu" I stated, smile plastered all over my face. Natsu's pout turned into a frown at this statement.

"Well ya coulda helped" he mumbled. I shook my head.

"And ruin the show?" I teased, before I pulled the other male in close, "Anyways, don't be like that… I kinda thought it was… cute, the way you added all those little notes of fear or panic to your voice as you explained to them what happened. Almost sounded rehearsed, like a play" I added. Natsu blushed slightly at the praise.

"Come on… Gray… Don't fool around" he chided me playfully, pushing me away with only a light resistance. I stood my ground, holding the pinkette in close.

"Now when have I ever missed the opportunity to… fool around with you, eh pyro?" I asked, emphasizing the key words with a suggestive raise of my eyebrows.

Natsu smirked at me. "Don't you remember what happened the last time we got… fired up in the guild?" he questioned me. I shrugged.

"I can't see that happening again, what with Sting and Rogue back in there" I stated, nodding my head in the direction back towards the room we had just left. "Besides… what's the harm with just a little make-out session in one of the side rooms?" I added, again wiggling my eyebrows suggestively, this time bucking my hips just a little too, to see if I could get passed Natsu's defenses. It worked; the pinkette began smirking lewdly.

"Come on then" he stated, taking my hand to lead me away to some discrete corner of the guild hall. Unfortunately, we didn't get more than a few steps, before a gruff voice beckoned for our attention.

"Oi! Lover boys!" it called out loudly. Natsu and I both turned, to see the hulking form of Gajeel, with his arm spread around the smaller form of Levy.

"Hi guys" the Script mage greeted us with a shy wave; she was clearly only here because the Iron Dragon Slayer was, and nothing more.

"Hi Levy, Gajeel, what's up?" I asked. The Iron Dragon Slayer blew air out of his nose.

"Don'tcha 'what's up' me, what we're you two about to do?" the black-haired mage questioned. Natsu eyed up the other Dragon Slayer suspiciously.

"Nothing… just hanging out as mates" the pinkette stated, emphasizing the last word almost like he was brandishing a weapon. The Iron Dragon was unperturbed.

"Oh really… well that's not what it smells like to me. And I'm not the only one who'll be able to smell it either, so keep it where it's not in public, or make sure you hose yerselves, and the whole place, down afterwards" Gajeel stated, with a slyly victorious smirk. Natsu huffed.

"I suppose you've got a point, come on Gray" the pinkette stated, tugging at me to follow him past Gajeel and towards the guild entrance.

"Whoa… what are you doing Natsu?" I questioned the other man in surprise. Another voice joined in that query.

"Are you two leaving already?" Erza asked, Lucy alongside her.

"Yeah, I thought you just got here?" Lucy stated confusedly. Natsu shrugged.

"Sorry, but Gray and I have gotta go…" he stated. But why? I thought confusedly. I almost voiced the thought aloud, however Natsu leaned in to my ear and whispered something additional, so that the girls couldn't here. "gotta go and fuck" he added on, withdrawing with a smile. I almost blushed at the suggestion, however I too joined in the pink-haired mage's smiling.

"Where are you going?" Erza reiterated her question to us. Natsu just repeated his earlier response.

"Oh… we've just gotta go somewhere, that's all" the Dragon Slayer stated, giving my arm another tug. I just shrugged in compliance.

"Sorry you two, but we'll have to talk later" I stated, as I was almost dragged away by my now horny and most likely hard, pink-haired mate. As we left I could hear the last couple of snippets of Erza and Lucy's conversation.

"Considering what happened this morning, I'm surprised they'd be so upbeat and cheerful" the Celestial Spirit mage stated.

"Well, it was for the best, after all… Walter's decision did seal it" the Sword mage added on "I wonder how they're doing?" she questioned aloud, before Natsu dragged me out of ear shot.

Once we were outside, I tugged at the pinkette to stop, and he did so, albeit reluctantly. "Where are we going, my place is that way" I pointed in the opposite direction of where Natsu was headed.

The Dragon Slayer just smirked. "I just thought we might… make a lot of noise… so we should go to my place where it's more secluded" Natsu grinned. I sighed and smiled back.

"You know… you can be a real pain sometimes" I stated. Natsu almost sweat dropped.

"I'd never cause you pain, Gray" he mock-whined, before his tone gave way to a more lustful quality, "Well… not unless you asked for it beforehand" he added, raising his eyebrows.

I sighed again and tapped the pinkette's side playfully. "Come on pyro, you've fired me up enough, let's just do it" I said, gesturing for the Dragon Slayer to continue walking. Natsu laughed.

"Well… that's the spirit at least" he giggled, before taking my hand and parading through the streets of Magnolia to his out-of-the-way house in the woods.

/

Natsu POV

"Hey Natsu, I was just thinking… what did Walter say to you when he woke up?" Gray asked as we began walking the track out of town. I pouted.

"What'd you mean?" I asked with a confused tone.

"Well when Walter woke up after taking the antidote, when we were still on the hill late that morning, I was sort-of sleeping, but I could hear you two mumbling together" Gray explained. "I meant to ask you… Since Walter left that morning, and we've had no message from him after that, except for that letter he told us to give to the guild before he left, I've always wondered…" the raven-haired mage trailed off, leaving it to me to explain myself. I sighed, and stopped treading the path, Gray stopped a step ahead of me.

"When Walter woke up I was already awake, but I thought you were asleep. He smiled at me, and we began talking… about things" I started, "We thought about the first time Walter came to the guild with Cyrus and Blake, as well as the stuff that'd happened since then. He seemed to be in a better mood, so I… decided to ask him what he was thinking of doing in the future" I explained, giving Gray a minute to absorb this information. The Ice mage nodded in understanding, and I continued. "After a few minutes, he said he didn't know, so I suggested that he and the others stayed at the guild whilst looking for Damien, but Walter said he didn't want to burden us anymore".

Gray frowned. "He wouldn't have been a burden" he stated. I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I said so too, but… Walter said he'd feel bad going back to the guild after what they'd just tried to do. That was when he came up with the idea of leaving and well… you know the rest" I further explained. Gray nodded.

"He left to search for Damien, whilst Cyrus and Blake left to… actually what did they want to do?" Gray asked. I shrugged.

"Don't know. Before Walter left, though, he did bring up one thing" I smirked broadly, which made Gray pout.

"What?" The Ice mage asked.

"You agreed to go on a honeymoon with me right before we cast that spell" I chuckled. Gray seemed stunned by my statement for a moment, before a great smile spread across his face.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about that" he laughed. "We totally agreed to do that, however I guess we both forgot" I shook my head at that statement.

"I didn't forget Gray, but… weeeeell…" I felt a blush raise to my cheeks, Gray looked at me intently until I finished. "I kinda can't afford to go anywhere expensive" I admitted at last, lowering my gaze a little. The Ice mage just laughed and ruffled my hair with his hand.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, flame-for-brains" he stated, before lifting my chin up, "Besides… you don't need to take me anywhere to… have fun" he added, "I'm most comfortable wherever you're happy".

I smiled up at Gray, before connecting our lips in a short kiss. "Okay, how about we… have that fun we were going to have then?" I asked gesturing for us both to proceed up the path and into my house. Gray laughed and began walking with me again. After only a few steps a rustle in the nearby undergrowth caught my attention, and I whirled around to find the source, however when nothing presented itself, I just shrugged. Gray seemed a little confused by my behavior.

"Probably just a rabbit, or something" I stated to him, before we both continued walking up to the house, and shutting ourselves away inside, with no other company than each other.

/

General POV, somewhere else

Two figures walked the less travelled road, stopping only when they reached what, to the more casual observer, appeared to be a solidly thick wood of many different species of trees. "This is it" one said to the other. The other figure nodded.

"Yup" they said, "This is where it is" The other figure gave an inquiring expression.

"Are you sure?" he asked his companion, who nodded again.

"Definitely, there's your proof" they stated, pointing to one of the trees on the fringes of the wood. "I carved that symbol myself".

The other figure observed more closely the highlighted tree, to indeed see that there was some inscription carved into the bark; three squares nestled within each other. "Disobeying is part of your persona now, is it Blake?" Cyrus enquired. The aforementioned Dark Elixir mage shrugged.

"You and Walt give orders, I follow them… vaguely" Blake stated. Cyrus sighed.

"Don't talk like that, you know… it woulda been a lot quieter had I not realised I could suppress your powers with a simple collar, you would still be unable to speak" the Script mage stated. Blake smirked.

"Well you did" he stated, tapping the collar he now wore around his neck, "And so you get to hear all those quips you've missed for the last eighty something years" Blake added with a smug look.

Cyrus rolled his eyes. "Regardless of your speaking habits… we've got work to do. This forest needs to be cleared again, and the place prepared" Cyrus instructed. Blake smiled, and gave a mock bow.

"Yes M'lord" he said in a fake-subservient tone, before pouting. "Although… this did take us a number of months to make the first time, and that was when Walter was around to help" the Elixir mage noted. Cyrus sighed; that statement was said with sincerity at least.

"Yes, Walter's absence means that we're going to have to work even more efficiently, although… all we did was destroy the buildings and make the sand-part overgrow, so it's not like we're going to have to create the whole cove again" the brunette reasoned.

Blake nodded. "I suppose so. Hey… do you think we'll get everything done before Walter comes back?" he asked with genuine intrigue. Cyrus pouted, it was a thought that had crossed his mind too.

"It's likely we should at least get the forest area cleared a little, and some of the ground-work laid… however it depends on whether Walter is, you know, successful" the Script mage debated. Blake smiled; although Cyrus' face gave no emotion, at least no credible one, his voice belied many little subconscious thoughts that the dark-haired mage had grown adept at spotting.

"I thought you might say that. Damien always was a tricky one; he could try to run or hide, however… I hope they both come back safe and soon" the Elixir mage stated, before smiling more broadly. "Plus, we're gonna need their help, otherwise this is gonna take forever" he chuckled.

Cyrus nodded. "Agreed, now… the best time to start is always the present" he said, before gesturing for Blake to follow him through the woods. The other boy obliged, readying a few spells in case any giant insects decided to grow bold and try their luck.

Much needed to be done before the plan Walter had laid down was to be completed, and the two members of the, now dissolved, Three Cubed guild were going to have a lot of work ahead of them.

/

Meanwhile

The traveler, upon entering the quaint town of 'Lost' made a bee-line for the nearest bar. Entering the darkened place, the cloaked figure made no eye-contact, and barely made a gesture, to any of the other patrons. Calmly, he sat down at one end of the long bar, alone, and after a few moments the older form of the bartender materialized from somewhere.

"So, what're you here for?" the older man, somewhere in his fifties, asked the traveler.

The cloaked figure looked out from underneath the hood he wore, bright golden eyes stared out. "What's it to you?" he questioned, his voice was a mixture of threat and mystery.

The bartender looked unperturbed by the harshly-asked question. "Nothin' much, 'cept… I can't serve you a drink unless you tell me" he stated. The traveler gave a confused expression at the old man's response.

"You can't serve me?" he questioned "Why?" The bartender shrugged.

"Y'see… there's only two kinds of people who come to this town; those who are lost, and those who are lookin' for something. I've only got two drinks, a drink for one and a drink for the other, so which one are you?" he explained. The traveler paused for a moment, before he gave off a loud laugh.

"Ha… guess I was looking for something once, but now I'm lost" he stated. The older man smiled.

"One drink for the lost comin' up, then" he stated, before quickly producing a drink with well-worn, well-practiced skill.

The traveler accepted the beverage with barely a second glance to the old man. The bartender shuffled off to go to another gruff-voiced, rough-looking man who had come to sit on the far end of the bar, an empty glace in his hand.

"Hmph… guess the rumors about this place being weird were true" the traveler sighed, before slipping off into his own rambling train of thought.

/

Elsewhere, around Magnolia…

Natsu and Gray kissed sweetly as the slightly shorter pinkette kicked the bedroom door closed with his foot. "Gray…" he mewled into the kiss, gently pushing at the Ice mage's chest to urge the other male towards the bed. Gray allowed himself to be guided by his mate towards the now familiar mattress, sitting once he felt the edge touch the back of his legs. Natsu smirked down at Gray from above, before straddling himself on the Ice mage's lap. His smirk was tinged with a slight lust, that emanated from the fires deep within his dark eyes. A moment later, the Fire Dragon ground his hips so that his butt rubbed up against Gray's member.

"Agh…" Gray let out a little moan at the action, a smirk forming across his own features. "So, you wanna do it that badly, huh?" the Ice mage asked the pinkette, brushing aside Natsu's open-fronted waistcoat, so that he could wrap his arms around his bare waist. Natsu mewled again as Gray began trailing kisses along his chest. "Answer the question, Natsu" Gray stated after a few drawn-out moments of quiet, with nothing accept the few noises Natsu made as his torso was covered with light, soft kisses.

"I d-do want it badly Gray" the pinkette stated after the prompt. Gray smiled, and switched tactics from leaving little kiss, to instead focusing his efforts in one place. "Ahh…" Natsu moaned, as Gray's tongue carefully caressed the Fire Dragon Slayer's right nipple. Looking down, Natsu met Gray's gaze, and the Devil Slayer smirked wickedly, before tugging at the hardening pink bud with his teeth. "G-ray…" Natsu breathed, tugging at the dark locks of his mate. "I want to fuck… but… ahh…" the pinkette couldn't get his words out properly. After getting hard in the guild, and having to wait the whole way over to his house, Natsu was already pretty far-gone.

Gray smirked at his handiwork, before leaving off Natsu's nipple and kissing a trail back up to the Fire mage's mouth. He kissed Natsu softly, before sliding his hands up the Dragon Slayer's sides, stopping when his fingers reached the other man's shoulder blades. "What did you want to say Natsu?" the Ice mage asked as he drew back from the kiss. Natsu was blushing, and panting slightly.

"It can… it can wait" he stated, before he leaned in to kiss Gray some more. The Ice mage accepted the kiss, knowing full well that Natsu was already at his limit. "I wanna… make you cum so badly, Gray" Natsu said into the kiss. Gray chuckled, as Natsu began to rise up, getting higher above Gray and forcing the Ice mage to tip his head back.

"Natsu…" Gray breathed, as he felt the pinkette's tounge finally reach out and begin pressing to his bottom lip, begging for entrance. Gray opened quickly; he was equally as horny as the Fire Mage at this point. The two mates had decided on avoiding having sex for a few days, since before he left, Walter had suggested that there could be some side effects to the spell which they had used to make the dragon, and that these would be worsened by the pair being 'too close' or 'too bonded', however after about a month without proper sex (they had masturbated together, but no actual penetration occurred) they were basically desperate.

After a few minutes of more heated kissing, the two broke apart. "Natsu I…" Gray began to say, however Natsu shook his head, standing up off of Gray and pulling off his waistcoat.

"Gray, get naked. Now" the Fire mage commanded, giving the raven-haired mage no room for debate. Gray laughed, sliding up the bed. He had already lost his shirt somewhere, so all he had to do was kick off his boots, and remove his trousers. As Gray got to work removing his lower clothing, Natsu had already removed his clothes, and quickly was making his way over to the bedside table. Gray watched his mate, and realised only then that the snow-globe lacrima he had given Natsu on their last date before they became mates was standing proudly on a shelf facing the bed, along with some other bits and pieces Gray recognized.

"Natsu…" Gray said, earning the Fire mage's attention. Natsu looked over to Gray, who had stopped undressing, and frowned.

"What is it Gray, please don't say you wanna wait, because I don't think I can at this point" Natsu stated. Gray smirked, and shook his head.

"It's not that" he reassured Natsu, "It's just… I never noticed that shelf before" he pointed towards the shelf.

Natsu blushed a little at the mention of it, and came to kneel down in front of Gray, before lying down on top of him, his weight supported fully by his own strong, muscular arms. "I kinda… put that up when I was here by myself a few days ago, it's just a stupid little collection of stuff" he stated, with a somewhat dismissive tone.

Gray shook his head and smiled. "I can see what's there from here Natsu; you've got the snow globe, a few pictures, I'm guessing of me or of us both together, and what looks to be the little wooden token I gave you on our very first date" the Ice mage stated with a cocky smile. Natsu huffed.

"Fine, I wanted to show off all the stuff we'd done together, okay?" the pinkette admitted. Gray smiled softly.

"Of course, I'm okay with that, now… where were we?" he asked. Natsu grinned, taking ahold of the raven-haired mage's loosened trousers and underwear, before pulling them off completely in one fluid movement.

"I believe we shoulda been right here" the pinkette stated, earning a slightly lustful look from the raven-haired Ice mage.

/

The traveler sat alone at the bar. The air inside the old wooden building was somewhat stale, and with the beating sun outside, it would have been stifling for anyone normal, however none of the patrons of this place were even remotely normal.

After about half an hour of silence, with not one person coming to speak to him, the traveler was slightly surprised, when a voice spoke up from somewhere nearby. "You gonna actually drink that?" it asked. The traveler looked up, his golden eyes resting once more upon the older bartender, who shot him a slightly gap-toothed grin.

"Maybe" the traveler replied unenthusiastically. The bartender smiled.

"You're a lot different from the other guy" he stated, which earned a confused look from the silent cloaked figure.

"I came here alone" he said gruffly, before returning to staring into the liquid in his glass. "You must be going senile, getting me confused with another customer" he added with his own slight smirk. The bartender laughed.

"Quite a sharp tongue, don'tcha?" he muttered, before pouring himself a drink and downing it in one. "I know you came 'ere alone, but…" the bartender trailed off.

"But what?" the traveler inquired, his tone of voice belying his slight interest in the peculiar older man.

"When I asked yer for yer drink earlier you said you were 'looking for somethin' once, but lost now', correct?" the bartender stated. The traveler just nodded. "Well, you weren't the first to come in here and say somethin' weird like that" he added.

The traveler furrowed his brow. "Someone else said the same?" he asked.

The bartender nodded. "Yep. Well… he said somethin' similar" he explained, "When I asked him 'bout himself for his drink, he laughed, said a couple of… remarks… then started a brawl across the whole of this place. When he was done, I asked him again, and then he said he was 'lost once, but lookin' for somethin' now'" the bartender added.

The traveler just shrugged. "Some people are weird" he replied, before hardening his eyes "what did the guy do then?"

The bartender smiled broadly at this question. "He said you'd ask that" the old man chuckled. The traveler went wide eyed.

"He's here now?!" he questioned a little loud, which earned a few stares from the other patrons. The old man nodded.

"Yeah, after I gave 'im his drink he said that 'nother guy was goin' to come in here and that I should give them this" the old man produced a piece of scrap cloth, on which was drawn a crude drawing of two stick figures. One was sitting having a drink at a bar, and the other was standing, waving, from a separate doorway to the right. After a precursory look, the traveler stood up from his seat, and picked up his drink. The bartender registered the movement, and understood what the traveler was going to ask next.

"He's in the third room to the right" he stated. The cloaked figure nodded, before downing his own drink.

"Thank you" the traveler stated, before beginning to make his way over to the aforementioned room. He paused a moment before wrapping his knuckles against the wood of the door.

Natsu stripped Gray off in one fluid movement. Eyeing up his mate's hardened member, the Dragon Slayer swallowed instinctively. Gray watched the action with a flicker of a smile, before his mouth was locked in heated, passionate kissing with Natsu, who had immediately crawled on top of his naked form, straddling the Ice mage in the process. "Gray…" the pinkette moaned into the kiss, as his hands and fingertips explored his mates muscular body.

"Natsu…" Gray moaned back. The two were locked in a heated battle of wills between their mouths, as their tongues fought for dominance. After a few minutes, Natsu won the battle, and his tongue took the lead before he was forced apart from his Ice mage by the necessity for oxygen. "I want to… no, I need to taste you Gray. It's been too long" Natsu breathed. Gray smiled up at Natsu; the tone of desperation in the Dragon Slayer's voice, combined with how sexy the pinkette looked on top of him, sent a shiver of pleasure down the Ice mage's spine.

With a lust-filled smirk, Gray nodded. "Go get what you want then, pinky" the Ice mage said with a commanding tone. Natsu's face reddened slightly at the dominating attitude of his mate, however this reaction was very short lived, as the pinkette crushed his lips against Gray's for one last kiss. Claiming Gray's mouth with ease, Natsu explored all of Gray's now familiar moist cavern, before breaking off to begin his path down the Ice mage's body. Starting from his ear, Natsu nibbled on Gray's earlobe, which made the raven-head shifted and let out a few whimpering sounds, before the Fire mage began trailing kisses along his jaw line. As Natsu neared Gray's mouth area again, the Ice mage reached out and shifted so that their mouths met and forced his tongue into Natsu's mouth before he could react. The Fire mage allowed his mate a few moments of reclaimed dominance, and Natsu sifted his hand through Gray's dark hair as Gray's hands stroked Natsu's face. The instant of intimacy was over quickly, as Natsu was first to break away. Moving lower, the pinkette ran his tongue along the Devil Slayer's neck before advancing further down his body, over Gray's chest, and abdomen.

He stopped at Gray's cock and looked up to meet the Ice mage's gaze as he took the head into his mouth, causing Gray to moan. The sound had a wonderful effect on Natsu, and he engulfed more of the length into his mouth, flicking his tongue against the tip of the shaft, and eliciting such a beautifully satisfying noise out of the Ice mage. He kept going, sucking and flicking down as much of the length as he could, making as much noise as he could, making sure to get as much of Gray to moan and writhe in pleasure as he could. Gray, on the other hand, could barely contain himself, and he buried his head into the pillow, face a picture of joy. Natsu couldn't believe how hot the raven-haired mage looked, despite all the times they had sex in the past, Gray had never looked so pleased. Gray moaned again and Natsu couldn't help but laugh as the dark-haired Devil Slayer began running his figures through his mate's pink locks. The vibrations from Natsu's laughter caused Gray to moan even louder and soon it became too much. Natsu began touching himself, moving his hand in time with the bobs of his head.

"Ahh… Natsu…" Gray let out a gasped breath, the Ice mage more roughly tugged at the pinkette's locks. Feeling the throb of Gray's muscles, Natsu already knew what was going to happen. "C-oming…" Gray gasped, before hot white ropes of seed shot into the Fire Dragon Slayer's awaiting mouth.

Riding his orgasm out, Gray only ceased his grip on Natsu's head once the waves of pleasure subsided. Natsu had already stopped touching himself, since he wanted to prolong this lust-fueled activity for as long as he could. Removing the Devil Slayer's cock from his mouth, Natsu climbed up Gray's body, and kissed him, forcefully taking dominant position, and sending his tongue out into his mates awaiting cavern. Gray did not resist the kiss, and as he tasted himself on Natsu's invading muscle, he felt a great sense of elation, heightened by a twinge of pleasure that spread throughout his body.

After a few moments of heated kissing, Natsu and Gray broke apart, with a trail of saliva, mixed with traces semen, still connecting their lips. The pinkette had a wry smile on his face as he looked upon Gray's form. "Natsu…" he panted in deep breaths. The Fire Dragon Slayer chuckled.

"You know what comes next, right Gray?" Natsu asked slyly. Gray nodded breathlessly. "Good" Natsu said, before he shoved two of his fingers into Gray's mouth. "Suck them" he ordered. The Ice mage obliged with complete obedience; he was too desperate and horny to refuse. Natsu slid his other hand along Gray's body, playing with the one of his nipples. Once Natsu deemed his finger's slick enough he removed them from the Ice mage's mouth, quickly to be replaced with his tongue once more. After a little more heated kissing, Natsu began sliding the first of his slickened fingers into Gray's ass. The Ice mage moaned a little into the kiss as he felt the Dragon Slayer's first digit enter. He began sliding it in and out, and soon he formed a steady rhythm. Gray's member was already hard again and as he looked over the pinkette's body, he could see how hard the other male was. With a slight smirk into the lustful, messy kiss, the Ice mage reached down and began stroking the pinkette's member, earning a slight moan in response.

Natsu slid another finger inside and started scissoring his fingers inside Gray's ass. As he did so Gray began thrusting up and down, causing himself to moan with increased pleasure as the gyrations also caused Gray to become impaled upon Natsu's figures. "Ngnn… So fucking good…" Gray moaned as Natsu caused him to feel pleasure from increasing depths within his body.

After a little while, Natsu removed his fingers from within Gray, earning a slight whine from the dark-haired male at the feeling of loss. The pinkette grinned. "Don't worry" he said, "Now you get to really feel filled" Gray smirked at the cockiness of his mate.

"Agh… get on… with it" he begged the Dragon Slayer. Natsu could've almost cum just from hearing that pleading tone, however he maintained his control for long enough to quickly take off the top of the bottle of lube and pour a generous amount onto his cock.

Also applying some of the slippery substance to Gray's hole earned another whimper, however this was silenced by a final kiss from the Fire mage. "I'm gonna go in" Natsu told Gray. The Ice mage nodded and looked his mate up and down, as Natsu lined up his cock with Gray's prepared and lubed-up hole. "Ready?" Natsu smirked at Gray. The Ice mage bit his lip.

"Ye… YES" he replied, yelping as Natsu began pushing his cock in before Gray could even finish his sentence. The Fire Dragon Slayer felt nothing but pleasure as he slowly descended into the depths of his mate. Once he was up to his hilt, he waited on Gray to give the go-ahead for the last part.

After only a few seconds the Ice mage looked up to Natsu with lust in his eyes. "Fuck me" he whined desperately.

Those words were all Natsu needed to hear, and once given they could not be taken back; not that Gray would want to of course. The pinkette pulled his hips back and forth, increasing his pace as he found a steady rhythm somewhere within the waves of pleasure. Gray moaned loudly as Natsu angled his thrusts to roughly hit the same area he knew from experience would drive his Ice mage crazy. He kept thrusting until he found once again the place he was aiming for. "F-fuck… so good… faster Natsu… AGH!" Gray moaned as Natsu bore down on his sweet spot.

Natsu smirked at the pleasured moans he was ripping from the dark-haired mage's throat. Encouraged by the noises of approval, his thrusts came harder and faster until Natsu was ushering pleasured moans out of his own mouth uncontrollably, just as Gray had done so many times already. Gray looked up at Natsu with a lust-lidded, pleasure-blind gaze. This heated moment made everything they had experienced seem worth it, and Gray finally realised the gift Walter had left to him. Sending out one final thought to the Requip mage teen who had pushed him and his now-mate together, Gray gasped loudly.

"Oh God…" Gray shouted abruptly as Natsu rammed down significantly harder onto his sweet spot, "I'm gonna… f-fuck… cum… Natsu" he tried to warn, too late. As Gray gasped in a second orgasm, ropes of his hot white seed covered his chest. The sight of muscular Ice mage covered in his own seed, and the muscular contractions that the orgasm resulted in, causing him to tighten around Natsu's member pushed the Dragon Slayer over the edge too.

"Gr-ay… GRAY!" he moaned as he came inside the Ice Devil Slayer. "F-fuck…".

Riding his orgasm to competition, after a few moments Natsu pulled out and lay beside his lover and mate. "Well…" he said, panting a little hard, "That was definitely fun" Gray nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… seems like… we're both tired too…" he added, giving a yawn. Natsu chuckled.

"Yeah" the pinkette agreed, as he curled up beside Gray, the cum on the Ice mage's chest not deterring him from wrapping an arm around his mate. "However… let me clean you up a little" Natsu giggled, before lowering his head to Gray's chest and lapping up some of the sticky substance with his tongue. Gray whimpered a little; despite two consecutive orgasms, he could already feel a twitch in his groin again as the Fire Dragon Slayer ran his tongue all over his sweaty, semen-covered body. After Natsu was finished, he grabbed the sheets and threw them over his and Gray's naked forms, before cuddling up close to the Ice mage.

"Let's just nap for a bit… then we can get back to the guild" Natsu stated, with a slight blush on his face. Gray smiled, the warmth in his chest was strengthened whenever Natsu blushed so cutely.

"Okay…" he agreed, "But no longer than an hour, okay?" he asked. Natsu mumbled a reply, however as usual he fell asleep almost instantly as he rested his head on Gray's shoulder. Gray couldn't blame the pinkette as he too fell asleep with speed.

Once both were out a knock sounded at the door. Without a reply the visitor entered, and with a wicked smirk on their face, they quickly, and stealthily, made their way up to the bedroom where the two mates had just fucked. "This outta surprise 'em" they said.

/

The traveler took a moment to compose themselves, before they knocked on the door. No reply sounded from within, however this did not deter the traveler. Knocking again, this time a little louder, yielded results, and the door opened, seemingly of its own accord. Suspicious, but not entirely surprised, the cloaked figure entered the room.

It was plain and relatively unfurnished, with no particular furniture to speak of, save a table in the center of the room. Opposite the door there was a window, looking out onto the bleak and barren wasteland beyond the town.

"I take it you're another special case" a voice said from within. The traveler looked around, and from a side-door, another hooded, cloaked figure walked out, taking the glass that had been placed on the central table, before standing at the window, their back turned to the door. The traveler analysed this person for a second before responding. "If by that you mean I surprised that old bartender then yes, I am" he stated calmly. The other figured seemed to nod their head.

From their build, they were male, but besides that no information could be gleaned about who this person was; not that the traveler didn't have his suspicions. "Let me ask you this then; are you lost, or looking for something?" the figure asked the traveler.

The traveler sighed. "I will repeat the answer I gave to that old man; I was looking for something once, yes, but now I suppose I am lost" they stated, with an almost bored tone. The figure seemed to smile, and they took a sip from their glass.

"Hah, you are not lost… from your voice alone I can tell that much. I myself was lost for many years, leading a band of 'merry men' on a foolish quest. I know what it is to be lost… devoid of true hope for the future or for any of the things you truly want out of life" the traveler sagged their shoulders. "Or at least… I thought I was" they admitted. The traveler furrowed their brows.

"You thought you were?" they asked in a slightly more familiar tone. The mysterious figure nodded their hooded head.

"I was consumed by despair, yet smiled outwardly, however it was only by seeing everything I wanted destroyed before me that I came to understand the true value of things. To learn how much something means to you, you must first see whether or not you can do without" the figure explained. The traveler shrugged.

"It seems logical. I have heard such a thing before, and perhaps I thought the same when, in my past, I was looking for the thing I thought I wanted" they stated.

"But you do not want that thing now?" the figure asked. The traveler shook their head.

"It is outside of my reach; for to my family I am dead, and to that which I want most… I cannot go back" the traveler replied. The figure seemed amused by this response.

"Then you have dug yourself into this pit of despair?" they asked. The traveler closed their eyes.

"Yes… perhaps" they stated, before taking a long breath out. As they did this, they hardened their golden eyes into a piercing gaze. "How what about you, what is it that you seek?" they asked with determination. The figure went silent for a few moments, before drinking down the rest of their drink, and placing the empty glass on the window sill.

Taking a step back from the window, they began laughing. "What I seek…" they muttered, "Is you… Damien" Walter said, pulling off the cloak to reveal his well-dressed form beneath. The traveler smirk, and pulled down their hood to reveal much longer blond hair, and deep golden eyes brimming with intelligence.

"Walter…" Damien smiled. The Requip mage covered the whole distance of the room in one step, his Swift magic landing him exactly where he wanted to be; with his arms around Damien's waist.

"I've got something I want to say to you" Walter said. Damien stood dumbfounded. "I love you, and don't you ever try to run away again" Walter said, before leaning in to kiss Damien.

The blond smirked as the initial shock wore off. As Walter pulled out of the kiss, Damien chuckled. "Guess you can still surprise me" he said, "But… let me ask you one thing; how did you realise I wasn't dead?"

Now it was Walter's turn to chuckle. "Hah… that's gonna take a while, come on. I've paid that bartender a lot of jewel to go along with my charade, let's see if we can't get ourselves a couple of drinks and then… we've got a lot of catching up to do" the teen said, before steering Damien out of the room and back towards the bar.

Damien allowed himself to be lead; since he never thought any fate or divine intervention would allow for him to at last be by Walter's side again.

He was truly, truly happy now, after so many decades of suffering and regret.

/

Natsu POV

I stirred from my sleep. "Mgn…" I mumbled, as I sleepily awoke to prod the Ice mage beside me. "G'After… noon…" I said, trailing off as I found a significant lack of raven-haired Devil Slayer beside me in the bed. "Where's Gray?" I said aloud, sitting upright. The form a of naked Gray was crouched by the door.

"Good afternoon, sleepy dragon" the dark-haired mage said over his shoulder. I smirked, before giving a puzzled look.

"What are you doing over there Gray, come back here" I said, patting the place beside me in the bed where Gray should have been. The Ice mage grinned.

"I was just picking something up" he explained, standing back up and coming to sit beside me on the bed.

"What were you picking up?" I asked, confused. He didn't pick up our clothes, they're still all over the place… I thought for a moment.

Gray shrugged, however before he could speak, I began to smell a faint scent in the air. He registered my expression. "What is it Natsu?" he asked me. I frowned.

"I… don't know, but… there's a scent in the air, and I feel like I know it" I half-explained, scenting the air. "Did someone come in whilst we were asleep?" I asked Gray. The Ice mage shook his head.

"I don't think so… although it could have been when we were… um… doing it" he muttered. I gave a slightly more horrified look; it wasn't like Gray and I were quiet, so if someone had come in they would have likely heard a lot of… embarrassing things. Gray took in my horrified expression, and grinned. "Don't look like that, I was only messing with you. I think someone probably came in when we were asleep. Did you lock the door before we went upstairs?" Gray asked me.

I punched the Ice mage lightly on the arm. "Don't joke around like that" I pouted, before shaking my head, "But no, I didn't lock it. Normally, most people don't come here. And anyone in the guild who knew we were here would have likely just left again without coming in" I said.

Gray shrugged. "Whatever, I don't think it was someone from the guild, look" he handed me a envelope. "I was just going to get a quick drink of water, and you were still asleep, however when I opened the door, this was sitting on the floor outside" Gray explained. I turned the paper over in my hands.

"Did you open it?" I asked; scenting the air again I found the same smell coming from this paper, whatever it was.

Gray shook his head. "No. I only just found it when you woke up, so I haven't opened it yet" he said. I nodded.

"Okay, should we open it then?" I asked. Gray frowned.

"Yeah, but be careful. It could be some kind of trap… like there's an enchantment on it or something" he said warily. I chuckled, he's cute AND hot when he's overprotective of me, even though it's supposed to be me that's the overprotective one I thought.

Carefully, as per Gray's instruction, I opened the envelope. Inside there was a piece of paper, and two tickets. "What's this?" I frowned; I had half expected it to be a letter, or some joke from the guild.

"It's… tickets?" Gray questioned, with a puzzled expression. He took one and looked it over. The small rectangular paper had a faint picture of a beach on it, along with the words 'FREE ROOM AND FOOD FOR TWO WEEKS' on it in a big, bold script. Getting increasingly confused, I took the other ticket and the scrap of paper. "Does it say who it's from on it?" Gray asked. "I'm guessing the tickets are for some hotel or something, however… it doesn't say where" the Ice mage added on. I frowned and gave the paper a look over.

"Well… this kinda has a map on one side" I said, "But on the other there's just some weird number thing" I added. Gray took the paper and gave it a glance over. After a moment of looking an enormous grin spread across his face.

"Erm Natsu… do you know what this number is?" Gray asked me, pointing to one of the digits. I shook my head.

"It's just two threes, but one is smaller than the other… does it mean thirty-three?" I asked. Gray shook his head.

"No… not quite Natsu. Come on, what does the smaller number do?" Gray asked me, trying to prompt some form of revelation, that clearly wasn't happening. After a few moments of thinking, I just shrugged. Gray sighed, and cuddled me closer to him. "When the smaller number's in the corner of the bigger number, and it's a three that's in the corner, then that number is getting cubed" the Ice mage explained.

With this information, I looked to the piece of paper, my mind trying to process what Gray clearly had already figured out. "So… that three… is getting cubed?" I muttered, before something suddenly struck an accord inside of me. "Wait… three… cubed… three cubed?" I smirked at Gray. Realising what I now understood the Ice mage laughed.

"Yup. Looks like Walter is still giving us surprises" he said, "And judging from this map… he's gonna be covering for our honeymoon, or at least a mini-break" the Ice mage chuckled. I hugged Gray tight.

"Gray, let's go there now" I said. Gray hugged me back.

"Well, let's go to the guild first, like we said we would… then maybe in a couple of days we can go" he said. I nodded and buried my face in the Ice mage's shoulder.

Thank you, Walter, I thought, You always help us… all of us…

/

General POV

Walter smirked as he and Damien walked the path away from Magnolia. The blond and dark-haired teens looked to each other with wide grins on their faces, their fingers interlocked with each other as they strode along.

"What are you still grinning about?" Damien asked Walter. The Requip mage shrugged.

"I was just thinking about the time I met these two idiots… they both had feelings for each other, but they could never express them" Walter said. Damien chuckled.

"Now which two idiots could that be, I wonder?" the blond asked as they walked. "Me and you?" he questioned. Walter laughed at Damien's inquiry.

"Actually, no… but now that you mention it, I love you" Walter said.

Damien gave a puzzled look. "Who are you talking about then?" he muttered. Walter sighed and pulled Damien close, an arm around the Maker mage's waist. He gave him a quick kiss, before they returned to holding hands and walking down the path.

"I'll tell you on the way. It's kind of a long story, and we still have some time to kill" Walter said. Damien nodded.

"Fine. Just continue where you left off in that bar…. I think you were telling me about some giant creature you were killing" Damien said with a smile. Walter laughed.

"You were actually listening to me?!" The Requip teen smirked in surprise. Damien shrugged.

"Maybe…" he blushed slightly.

"Oh god, do that again and I'm not gonna be able to wait until we regroup with Cyrus and Blake, I'll have to fuck you here" Walter said with a wicked look. Damien tapped Walter on the side of the head.

"Just shut up and tell your story" the blond stated, earning a pout from Walter, which lasted all of two seconds.

"Alright… so we were busy on that job and then…" the two walked on towards their intended destination.

It had taken Walter only a week to find Damien, however it was now taking the pair over a month to get back to Magnolia, before they set off towards the beach-front that Walter, Cyrus and Blake owned.

Damien was confused as to who Walter had referred to as the 'two idiots, however as he walked beside the Requip mage, he couldn't really care less whether it was he and Walter that were the pair, or someone else. Only one thing mattered to the blond, and that was that Walter had managed to find him and they had managed to at last be together.

Walter's actions had not just made Damien happy, but from his stories, Damien finally understood the impact Walter had on so many people's lives; both to Damien, and to all those others, he was a genuine hero.

Fin.

Author's note; I would like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has supported this fic, and continued to read it. It was a long story, but now it is at an end. Please leave a review to tell me how you felt about this, did I do a good job on creating believable OCs? Did the story interest you? Or was it a huge bore? Please tell me so I know what I can work on in future fics, and until my next work (which I hope you'll read) I will leave you all with just a 'See you later' :)