Hello everyone.

I will keep these damn things short from now on just so you can start reading faster. :)

This will probably be my last update until march or so. Unfortunately my homework has picked up in terms of pointlessness and frequency. I have a bad case of writers block but I want to get this out just so you have more to read.

Lets read…

:::-((x))-:::

"A girl was staring at us..."

It only took those words for Ur to process the meaning behind her students actions and instantly understand why he had made them. For she was about to do it herself.

She didn't even motion for Gray to stay as she thundered away from him as fast as her feet would carry her. If the girl Gray had seen was the girl she was thinking of then she had to find her, no matter what.

But as she picked up the pace, she realised that Gray had lost her to the heavy snowstorm and fog, and he had taken off VERY quickly, ascending the cliff-face and running off to where she found him faster than she had ever seen him go before. If he had lost her, then what chance did she have?

The snowstorm had started to pick up. Snow was now latching on to her hair and face as she continued to run. She briefly wondered how she hadn't seen the girl yet. She even wondered if Gray was pranking her. But that thought left her as she saw an object just on the verge of being swallowed up by the grey fog that was impeding view more and more. She made a brisk bee-line towards the object she now recognised as woolly and proceeded to pick it up. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers when she identified the object as scarf. The scarf had been lying there for at least a few minutes as Ur needed to shake it roughly to see the colours and the patterns. But just the mere presence of the scarf meant that Gray had been on to something.

And she would find this 'girl'. She just needed to know…

And she would find out…

:::-((x))-:::

"Hey! Ur! Wait!" Gray called as he watched her dash away from him. Clearly in some sort of weird frenzy. He wondered for a few seconds why she would just take off without any warning like that. It seemed to odd, it wasn't like her.

His thoughts unconsciously travelled to the night before today and he smacked himself for forgetting. After being privy too a snippet of his masters past he should have known right away why she would do something he would do.

And the more he thought about it, that and the more he recalled the girls look the more he realised that he had probably spotted the girl in Ur's picture.

'What was her name?' Gray thought too himself. 'Her ex-husband called her Ul I think and she sounded something like that.' He looked towards the snowy ground as he puzzled. 'Ulmec? No, hmmm… Ulsmear? Nope. Ulgear?… Ultear?' His head snapped up as soon as he remembered the name. "ULTEAR!"

Gray looked toward the miasma of snow and fog. The originally light-ish grey canvass had intensified due to the extreme weather conditions and was now a more dark and foreboding steel esc colour. Not quite grey but enough to be named a shade of grey.

"Ur..." He spoke under his breath. Still standing in the same spot he had been for the last few minutes.

He thought about how different things would be if she found her daughter. Even if she was said to be dead Ur had never believed it fully. That much spoke for itself, her actions mere minutes ago contributed to that also.

Ur wasn't going to let what people had told her get her down, she would wait until the end of times if it meant that she find out the truth. She had her opinions and she would always stick by them.

Just like his father… never fully following a certain majority or minority. His father, who had always forged his own opinion on everything, speaking it when necessary and keeping it to himself when appropriate.

So there he stood, snow latching on to his tired and hunched body, still panting from exhaustion in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms even he had ever seen, making his trousers flap form the speeds, smiling.

A smile, one that adorned respect and some admiration towards the woman who was his master. He could now truly see why Lyon obsessed over her so much.

But as he was about to move his body reminded him of its situation. He quickly fell to his knees and started to catch his breath again. His eyebrows creased in fatigue and irritation, the ice augmentation took too much out of him.

He would have too work on that, as well as his static and dynamic ice-make. Not too forget his devil slayer magic, that was more important too him still. Despite how immaculately impressive his new magic was.

He hauled himself to his feet and began trudging back to the cabin. He had to rest… and make fun of Lyon about his loss.

With his plan of action in mind, he made the hard journey back home.

:::-((x))-:::

(Two hours later)

Ur was just outside her cabin, about to enter as she held the woolly object in one tight fist to her side. She only realised just how long she had been searching when the storm calmed sown slightly and she saw the dark blue sky. The snow falling across her vision blended in with the night sky's stars.

She was surprised to see the clarity in the sky. Living in the mountains meant that a view like this only came around once every orbit of the planet. And in the winter season the weather restricted her sight to only a few metres ahead. But tonight the sky was clear as it came…

Well, for how the weather Is in the mountains are at least…

Her door lamp turned on and enveloped her form with a warm golden glow as she turned the handle to her cabin and opened the door slowly. Entering the living room, she saw Lyon reading a book on ice augmentation with clear determination etched into his face. She smiled at his eagerness and nodded at him when he turned his head to greet her with a sulky expression. He really wanted to better himself. If not for himself then to beat her or Gray. She knew that he would surpass her with training. Gray, he would have to work hard toward but he could definitely defend himself against him.

Maybe one day, even rival him if he was working hard enough. And she hoped to see the day when they were at their best.

Watching two people you consider you're children grow and improve was one of the best gifts a parent to get. An old guild master she knew proved that with more than enough enthusiasm.

'I wonder if that crazy guild is still going strong.' Was her main thought in that moment.

She then realised that Gray was not in the living room.,,

"Lyon." Lyon turned his head towards Ur again. "Is Gray asleep?" She asked, frowning a bit as Lyon's face went from sulky, to sulkier.

"Yeah, Scar-face is asleep." He responded distastefully.

She scowled. "Lyon, what have I said about calling him that?..."

"'Don't call him such a horrible and demeaning term.' I remember." He said sarcastically. He was acting odd and Ur wanted to find out.

"I want you tell tell me the truth Lyon." She commanded sternly. "Ever since we found Gray, you have been more how should I put it?" She cupped her chin in thought. "...Explosive..." She finally described to Lyon. "Why have you been like this around him and me recently?"

"I'm not." He whined defensively. His voice hitching at the start.

"Lyon I-"

"I'm fine."

"Will you li-"

"I said I'M FINE!"

Ur reeled back from the sudden loudness. She inwardly thanked fate for Gray's sleeping tendencies. He would have walked in and hit Lyon for waking him up. But she had never heard Lyon get annoyed with her like this. Sure, he got irritated with her strictness every now and then but he sounded… Hurt? Scared?… Angry?

Or Betrayed…?

Quickly re-composing herself, Ur gave him a glare and he instantly quelled, hit looking down towards the coffee table in front of the fire. A tense silence filled the room, drowning the two of them. It felt like minutes had gone by before Lyon broke the painful lack of sound.

"Do you like Gray more?"

Ur blinked… Of course she likes Gray. Underneath his half angry half nonchalant exterior he was just like any other kid. Of course a kid who was hurting, but a kid nonetheless. But what was Lyon talking about when he said 'more'?

She stared Lyon in the eyes. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

She watched him jump up from the couch, frustration plastered on his face. "You know what I mean, do you like him more than me?" He cried out, stunning Ur again.

She quickly got over it this time. "Lyon, I really don't understand. Clarify for me will you?!"

Lyon's face quickly returned to it's anguished emotion. The one he let slip moments ago. "Come on! Surely you know what i'm talking about!" His voice was straining to keep itself from shouting too loud. But his voice held pure anger, confusion following as a close second. "Ever since we found HIM, you barely even give the time of day anymore except for when were at the damn table!" Ur stood there, in complete shock. But Lyon quietly raged on. "It's always Gray! Gray, Gray, Gray and an extra does of bloody Gray! Not anything to do with me! Not anything to do with my health, my training, my thoughts, Nothing!" As he continued to let everything out, Ur began too realise just how interesting the floor below her was.

:::-((x))-:::

Lyon ranted for two more minutes. Complaining about how she only ever talks about Grays progress and how he is doing before he finally ran out of words to say. But he didn't want to stop. He wanted to scream more, he wanted to hit something. But he knew he couldn't. Ur would only allow him to do so much and even in his anger he could still grasp onto the knowledge of Ur's patience with him. And that thought suddenly made him cease his actions any further.

The room seemed to mock him, the light of the lamp near him only reached his masters waist. Being on the coffee table it could only reach so high. But the slight shade continued to dance around her upper body with glee. No matter how insignificant it was everything seemed to be twice as worse for him in the state he was in.

He took a few moments to calm himself down. Looking at his master with his emotionally overflowing eyes. He waited desperately for Ur to answer him. He wanted too know. No, he needed too know.

It felt like an eternity for the two of them. Just standing there looking at eachother, one with raw emotion and the other with pure confusion. So when Ur opened her mouth to reply Lyon he almost felt like crying in pure joy. The tension would finally just bugger off.

Her answer was evasive… delaying and clever. Everything that Lyon hoped it wouldn't be…

"We will talk in the morning… I will be getting Gray to go to the town anyway. We will talk then."

:::-((x))-:::

(9 hours later)

'ugh, why me?'

That was the main thought racing through the head of the now fully awake and grumpy Gray Fullbuster as he continued to walk towards his local village. Ur called it a town, but Brago had been a village and that was huge. This was more like a camp-site with fully furnished houses with a market and fountain in the middle.

Town? Yeah, right…

Gray continued to grumble too himself as he got to the outskirts of the village. Not paying attention as he passed a mother and her little girl. Strangely, they were the only two outside from what he could see. It was still fairly dark outside so he didn't think that anyone would be out at the time, but he didn't pay them mind anyway.

They sure looked rich though, if there pristine and regal looking clothes had any say in the matter…

'Well, rich or not it's none of my concern or my job to care.' Gray thought as he walked away from the two and towards the fountain.

The fountain was a big, circular pool with a giant chalice in the middle which had water spilling over the side and onto a marble slide that went around the entire circumference of the chalice. It wasn't a bad design, in fact Gray quite liked it. Even when he was grumpy he could still take the time to admire the fine art that was the fountain in front of him. It made him feel calm for a bit before he would get a move on to the cabin again.

But he would have time for that later…

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Gray started to make his way around the magnificent structure and towards the grocery shop on the opposite side.

:::-((x))-:::

(3 minutes later)

It wasn't everyday that young Lucy Heartfillia got to travel Fiore with her mother and see the wonderful sights it had too offer. Being the only child she was her mother was naturally a big bag of worry and concern. The little blonde didn't mind too much, her mother loved her very much. But it did get a little annoying sometimes.

"Mum!" he pulled at Layla Heartfillia's hand to get her attention. Her mother looked down with a warm smile.

"What is it? Luce?" She asked. Her voice as sweet as candy as spoke.

Lucy Pointed towards the big fountain, the really early morning sky contrasting beautifully against the illuminated decoration. "Can I go and sit there please?"

Layla Thought it over. She was on only going into the shop on the other side of the fountain, but she would be able to keep an eye on her as the shop was only fifteen feet away from where she was asking to sit. It seemed safe enough.

Coming to a conclusion, she looked at her daughter. "Okay." she smiled, but suddenly got stern. "But don't stray away from that fountain okay?" Her daughter nodded and she bounded over towards the fountain, looking entranced by the water and the way it shined In the light.

Shaking her head, Layla plastered her ever present smile onto her face and made her way to the shop. On the way there she passed the same kid with black hair from earlier. He was walking out of the same shop she was going into. He looked slightly off. She could feel pure magical power radiating off of his person, but she could also feel a different magical signature. It felt like the signature one would find from a charm.

But she tore her eyes away from the boy, not wanting to be caught staring. She entered the shop and went to get what she came in for…

:::-((x))-:::

"Wow, it's so pretty!"

Lucy couldn't keep her eyes away from the fountain. The way the chalice in the middle let the water pour elegantly onto the slide around it had simply captivated her. She internally wished that she could have a fountain in her back garden as nice as this but she knew that her father would throw a fit if he suddenly found a fountain replacing his patio table and multiple flower pots.

She imagined he would go on about how it would ruin the regal and powerful feeling from his garden. She didn't understand how it would ruin the garden but she didn't bother him by asking. He was always strict, boring and scary.

'How could mummy like him? He's so boring.' She thought unconsciously. Shuffling slightly to get off of the side.

She started to tare her gaze away from the fountain to see a that black haired boy from when she was walking. He had moved fast and had gone in the same direction as they went in and was now staring at the fountain with an expression her young mind could understand. But it looked kind of… sad?

'Why is he sad?' She wondered. 'The fountain is great.' The young blonde perked up suddenly as an idea popped into her head. 'Maybe I can cheer him up!'

She was happy at the thought of making someone's day better. It warmed her heart to know that she could make someone smile. She always felt sad when her friends were sad and when they were enjoying themselves she felt like she was on top of the world.

Seeing his expression flicker to angry for a split second she instantly decided to talk to the boy. Flattening out her dress and walking up to him with a big smile that reached her cheeks.

:::-((x))-:::

"Hello!" A voice suddenly rang out next to Grays right ear. Making him jump slightly.

Unfortunately, he jumped and lost his balance, spilling the bagged food and his brown jacket onto the floor and sending him toppling into the chilly water, making a loud splash as his face connected with the water.

He quickly lifted his head out of the water and started to regain his breath, wondering who the hell decided to frighten a damn child. Suddenly, he felt a pair of tiny hands pull him out of the water and back onto the floor. He really felt like freezing whoever did this to him. He whirled his head around to see a young blonde girl, around his age or maybe younger, looking worried. Her brown eyes locked on to his darker, more black ones.

He scowled. "What is wrong with you!?" His voice cried out in pure exasperation. The girl retracted slightly, her face morphing into a pout.

'Oh no…' Gray mentally lamented, he hated pouts. Ur would use them on him to get him to do her bidding. She even used it to get him to help her cook when Lyon was sick a few months back.

"I-I'm sorry!" The girl stuttered apologetically. "I only came over to say hello! I didn't mean for you To fall into the F-Fountain!"

She looked like she had just committed the worst crime yet. And Gray wouldn't entirely disagree, he was an ice mage but now he was soaking wet and his shirt felt heavy and uncomfortable. But he looked at her face and he just couldn't bring himself to yell at her. No matter how much he wanted to.

So he just settled for an agitated grunt. "Whatever, just don't do that again." He replied. He watched as the girls face lightened up a bit and he felt like he had avoided a very bad incident of the tears. He couldn't take girls tears.

She nodded frantically. Desperate to not annoy him more than she probably already had.

Gray was getting annoyed by his shirt sticking to his chest so he removed it to let it dry on the way back. The girl next to him squeaked and hid her face behind her hands.

"W-What are you doing!?" She said in a high pitched tone as she was given a full view a boys chest for the first time. "You took your short off!" She was not only concerned for the boy's soaked upper body, but she also was worried for his health in to cold weather the town seemed to be enveloped in.

"Well done for noticing..." Gray answered sarcastically. The girl gave him a scary glare he glared back for a moment before he turned away, to wet and annoyed to be bothered with a staring contest.

"Won't you catch a cold?" The girl asked after a moment. He looked at her with a blank stare.

"No." He replied curtly, confusing the girl.

"Where are your parents?" She asked.

Gray's form went rigid. Memories of his father and friends burning to death flashed across his mind and he closed his eyes tightly as the memories ended. The girl saw this all and her eyes looked worried again.

He looked at her after a moment. "My fathers dead… My mother is a person I would rather not talk about." He said tensely.

The girl quickly diverted from that topic, seeing his subtle distress. "What are you doing out here at this time?"

"What are YOU doing out here at this time?" Was his reply. "I'll answer if you tell me your answer first."

Sounded like a good deal…

"My mum and I have been on a trip.2 She said with a chirp. "We went to the city of Bronsen, and the villages scattered between there and the city of Isvan." Gray Froze. But the girl didn't notice. "We recently stopped in Kenteen for the shopping mall and now we have stopped here." She paused for a second, her face falling a bit. "But tonight we are leaving, mum has gone to get some food for the trip back and it will be back to being in a big boring house with my dad who argues with mum often."

'Oh boo hoo…' Gray felt slightly annoyed at her complaints. She still had a house she could call her home. His masters cabin felt like a hotel to him more than a home.

Gray suddenly felt the girl poke his nose and he moved his head away from the intruding appendage.

She giggled, he was funny. A bit sarcastic and blunt, but funny. "Now your turn!" She replied in her annoyingly cheerful voice. Making Gray wince at the pitch.

He pushed his charmed ring further onto his finger, pondering on what he should say and coming to the conclusion that she was harmless.

"I was ordered by my master to get the weeks groceries." He answered, pointing to the slightly spilled bags of food. "She teaches me magic."

The girls head perked up at the mention of magic…

"You do magic too?" She asked, genuinely shocked by his answer.

"Yes." Gray said back.

"Really? What kind of magic do you do?" She questioned him, looking excited at seeing some magic.

He sighed. "Ice-make magic."

"Oooohhhh!" Her coo was hard too listen too, the inflection of it was just too damn high! "Can you show me? Pleaaaaaassssseeeeee!"

He watched he practically bound up and down on the spot with pure, unfiltered excitement. Even if he hadn't forgot the fountain incident, he decided to quell her excitement.

"What do you like then?" He sighed resignedly.

"The star constellations! I love the horoscope!"

'Oh god.' He inwardly gulped. 'Why did she have to choose something hard!?'

"Y-yeah sure, just stop bouncing!" He snapped. She stopped and sat on the side of the fountain with a great deal of interest.

Gray looked at the fountain and pictured the star constellations. He struggled slightly, forgetting the stars formation a few times, but he soon got a clear picture.

He slammed his fist into his open palm and after a moment he thrusted forward and thousands of tiny balls of ice suddenly appeared in the air a few feet above the fountains pool. He watched the blonde turn around in confusion and gasp in shock from the sight in front of her.

:::-((x))-:::

Lucy had never seen such a beautiful sight before, even the real stars and the actual constellations looked less impressive than what this boy had made just in front of her!

She could see the constellations her mother had made her learn. Looking just like they did in the books and through the telescope! Cancer, Pisces, Lyra, Taurus, Aquarius and many more! They weren't perfect, but the sheer scale and detail put into every single ball of ice was absolutely amazing. She struggled to take her eyes off of it and she probably would have failed if the boy didn't clear his throat.

Lucy looked over to him, admiration floating In her chocolate pools as she gazed upon him. "I-I-It's so beautiful!..." Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to find the right words to show her amazement, only to fail… Words could not explain how wonderful the creation was without doing it an injustice.

He smirked at her tone, a smug expression falling onto his normal grumpy features…

"Like it do you?" He asked, sarcasm pouring from his voice as he spoke.

She nodded dazedly. "I love it!" She gushed. "You got it so accurately tat I can only see a few things wrong with it, and that is barely noticeable!"

"Nice to know." He replied. "Do you do magic then?"

"Yes! I am a celestial spirit mage!" Lucy said quickly. She saw him nod.

"Hmmm, not bad, they must be cool." He complimented.

"They are! I love Aquarius, she helps me with my chores sometimes. But she goes on about someone called 'Brandish sometimes. It's weird."

"Right, so what do you d-"

Lucy felt a hand grab her shoulder lightly. Startled by the sudden contact, she looked up and saw the face of her mother. Looking at the boy she had been talking too.

:::-((x))-:::

"Seems like you have made a friend hmm?"

Gray looked at the women before him with surprise. How in the actual hell did he not see her walk up behind the girl before she got to her?! He felt slightly stupid for not seeing her sooner, but he didn't show it.

"Yeah!" The girl chirped up to her mother, who smiled back at her. "He's awesome! He even does magic! Look!"

Her mother looked behind her her and her eyes widened a fraction at seeing the floating ice stars that were clearly representing the stars and there constellations. She saw the pristine and almost flawless design and spacing and she could see why her daughter was so enamoured by the boy in front of her.

He was certainly talented… But he he apparently didn't know the constellations too well, if the numerous mistakes In spacing and shape were anything to go by.

She turned her head to the boy again, giving him a friendly smile. "You got most of it right, just a few things you need to refine and you should have a great third dimensional map of the stars." Her praise made Gray smile, a slight arrogance seeping through.

"Yeah sure, but I am not really into looking up to the sky too much." He answered.

The woman nodded in understanding. "The constellations are an acquired interest." She looked down at her watch, gasping in shock before grabbing the girls hand and pulling her back to the street they came from earlier.

The girls quickly escaped her mothers grasp and looked back to Gray, her eyes boring into his questioningly. "Wait! Before we go, what's your name!?"

He cleared his throat. "Gray!" He replied, raising his voice to get his answer across.

The girl grinned. "Lucy! Lucy Heartfillia!" She shouted back before running away, trying to catch up with her mother.

Gray continued to watch the two figures shrink into the dark sky over the horizon, dumbfounded. Those two were the Heartfillia girls? He didn't care much but it was hard not to hear about them at least once.

The girl, Lucy apparently was really interested in his magic, well more of the fact that he could make something akin to the real life star constellations. But, he was pleased that someone gave another look instead of the scowls and gazes of pity he got from others. The only one who gave him the normal looks was Ur. The ones he wanted. The ones he liked.

Lucy Heartfillia… He would remember that name. She seemed cool.

Suddenly, he remembered that he was standing in the middle of the village, soaking wet and shirtless. He scrambled over to his jacket and put it on quickly. Reaching over to the bags he grabbed the pieces of food that escaped the clutches of the bag, got up and started to walk back to the cabin.

But ones thought raced through his mind just then…

'Why the hell did Lucy's mother not tell me to put on a damn shirt or something?!'

:::-((x))-:::

Okay, so we have had a little cameo from young Lucy! Expect a few of these every now and again, I love foreshadowing in the most terrible way.

I don't have TRIVIA TIME or a PHRASES OF AWESOME today because I have an announcement…

IMPORTANT AN!

So just to clarify from earlier. This will be one of my last updates for a while. As said, my college homework is starting to get out of hand, currently, I have two or three things I need to get done this week alone. Even then, when I give in one of my work pieces on Monday I am going to get more to complete through the week. This will most likely continue until March, when this subject come to an end.

For this reason, I have decided to make a facebook page. If you want to keep up with updates and shit and you have a facebook profile then you can visit the page. And feel free to ask me anything on that page too. Within reason of course.

I have called it 'Viperhat-fanfiction author'… Just look for my FF home page image and you should be there. :)

IMPORTANT AN!

Stay cool and I will most likely see in march,

-Viperhat