Erza wasn't the only one upset about being left behind. Natsu and Gray had hoped that she would be allowed to go to England with Makarov and give the two of them a break from her. A few days of peace and quiet, allowing them to hear their own thoughts, maybe destroy each other. Yes you read correctly, destroy each other. That's what they wanted to do with their free time.

When those two had been brought back into the world of the consciousness they both had only one goal and that was to destroy the other person for their supposed betrayal. In fact they would have fought each other to the death if Erza had not ordered them to never try to kill each other. The contract restricted them from doing it but the desire for revenge was still fresh in their minds. They had hypothesized that the restriction wouldn't be as strong if she wasn't present and they were desperately seeking for a chance to test out their theory.

The opportunity for Gray rose one morning after it had snowed. Erza had given him and Natsu the day off so she could go ice skating. As soon as she and Ivan left the house he put his plan to action quickly for he knew his time was limited. The sun was out so Natsu would be asleep, asleep and vulnerable. Gray used his claws he cut down a tree and carve a wooden stake and mallet from it. After that he crept down into the basement of the building where Natsu kept his coffin. As he drew closer to the shut coffin he gripped his tools tightly and made sure that no matter what, he wouldn't lose his nerve. He wouldn't let past relationship with him change his mind, no amount of once strong childhood friendship could get him to forgive the vampire for the unimaginable hurt that he had inflicted on to him.

Unfortunatelyfor him when Gray moved to open the coffin he found that his body was no longer responding to his thoughts. Every limb became completely stiff and it refused to budge until he expelled the plan to kill Natsu from his mind.

"Damn it!" Gray cursed as he threw down the stake and mallet. It was no use, that contract was the equivalent of iron clad chains which couldn't be broken, only unlocked by a key. And that key was Erza's word. He needed some air. If he couldn't use this opportunity to eliminate his rival, he could at least use it to clear his head.

He left the basement and went outside for a walk in the woods. It was very cold outside today due to the snow but being a devil made Gray immune to extreme heat and cold. He could be frozen in a block of ice or set on fire completely and it wouldn't harm him. However he didn't like fire. Fire brought back bad memories.

He glanced over on the right side which allowed him to see a large and wide frozen lake. At the edge of the lake Erza was lacing up her skates while Ivan was close by watching her. When she was finished she proceeded to skate across the frozen lake. Her cheeks and nose were rosy from the cold, her red hair was flying in the winter wind, and she was smiling. This was the first time Gray had actually seen her with a smile. The first time he ever saw her looking happy. It was quite a surprise to him because he was certain that she was one of those creepy kids who were never happy. But today he was proven wrong and another thing that was surprising to him was that he actually found her to be very adorable when she was happy.

"I guess all kids can be somewhat cute." He thought to himself."Even if they are deranged."

He turned around and started to head back to the house when suddenly he heard a scream that made his blood run cold. He went in the direction of the scream and discovered that Erza had fallen through the ice. Her head was bobbing up and down in the water as she frantically reached for the edge and tried to pull herself up but found she couldn't do so because of how slippery it was.

"Ivan!" She coughed as she desperately tried to keep her head above water. "Ivan! Help! Ivan! Help me! Help me!"

Gray expected Ivan to rush over there and save her but he didn't. Now it wasn't like he couldn't see what was taking place or hear her crying because he could, but for some reason he was not moving to help her. Why wasn't he doing anything? Why was just standing there, watching her helplessly try to stay alive? Wasn't it his job to keep her safe? Eventually Ivan did move but it wasn't to help her, it was to walk away,

Erza went under again but didn't come back up. Now if any other ordinary devil was in Gray's position he or she would have gladly left the child to drown because you see not only were devils beyond cruel but if Erza were to die then the contract would be null and void. Her death would have been Gray's one way ticket to freedom but Gray was no ordinary devil and the very moment that little girl's head stopped coming up he bolted from the woods, broke through a great deal of more ice, and dove head first into the freezing waters. A few minutes later he came out holding Erza's tiny body in his huge arms.

He had to act fast before she caught frost bite or worse hypothermia. He took her back to the house, removed her wet clothes, and wrapped her up several blankets. He laid her down on a sofa in the living room with the fire place and quickly got a fire started. After that he filled a bowl with hot water, soaked a wash cloth in it, and used it as compress for her forehead. She was stable and getting warm but there was no sign of her waking up. He decided to fix something for her while waiting for her to come to. Two hours had passed before that happened.

"Wha...What's...What's going on?" She asked feeling a little groggy. "Where am I?"

"Oh good you're awake." Gray said entering the room while holding a cup of something hot.

"What happened? How did I get here?"

"You fell through the ice while skating so I pulled you out and brought you back here."

"You...You saved me?" She asked in a quiet yet surprised tone.

"Yes. I think I just made that perfectly clear."

"Why?"

"I guess I lacked the stomach to watch a little girl die. Even if she is the most irritating human being I've ever met."

She tried to sit up.

"I'd be careful about moving if I were you." Gray said to her.

"Why?"

"Because you're naked."

"What?!"

She looked under the covers and found that she was indeed bare. She turned burning red in the face and pulled the blankets tighter around herself to hide any body exposure.

"You undressed me?!"

"Had to be done." He said nonchalantly. "Your clothes were wet and your feet were already in the early stages of frost bite."

"You saw me naked?!" Her redness grew. "You didn't think...I mean...You didn't...You know...You didn't touch me or have certain thoughts about me did you?"

"Hell no! Are you serious?! You're a child for God's sake! What do you think I am, some kind of deviant?"

"Well actually-"

"Don't answer that. I see where you're going." He said annoyed. "For future references I'm not looking for anything to satisfy my manly urges but if I was rest assured, I like em old."

"How old?" She asked suspiciously.

"Twenty and up."

"Okay." She said relived. Suddenly she went into a coughing fit and realized that her throat had become sore.

"Still feel bad?" Gray asked her.

"Yes."

"Throat hurt?"

"Yes."

"I thought so." He brought the cup of hot liquid toward her. "Here drink this."

She sniffed it, it did not have a pleasant smell.

"Eww! What is that?"

"Medicine. Made it myself."

"It smells terrible."

"Yes and it tastes even worse but it'sguarantee to make you feel better. Now bottoms up kid."

She shut her mouth and shook her head in stubborn refusal.

"Oh come on, I thought you were more mature than that." He said. "Now don't be difficult. Open up."

She shook her head again.

"Open up and chug."

She still wouldn't comply so Gray tried a different approach. He merely pinched her nose and waited for her to take a breath with her mouth. She tried to pull his hand off of her but he was a lot stronger than she was. Eventually the need for breath forced her to open her mouth and when she did he put the cup to her lips and made her drink every last drop.

"There we go." He said.

Erza coughed and hacked, gagging on the horrible taste of the medicine.

"What was in that?" She asked.

"Just some roots, a few berries that grow year round, tree sap, and the drippings of boiled bear intestines."

"Intestines?! I drank intestines?!"

"You eat sausage don't you? That's basically pig intestines. Although technically speaking you didn't drink intestines, just the drippings of them."

"What kind of medicine requires drippings from bear intestines?"

"One that's centuries old and never fails. In a little while your throat will be healed and you won't cough as much. Trust me it works."

She wasn't sure if she believed him or not but soon she found that he had been correct. In a short while she felt no pain in her throat, she didn't cough, and her body wasn't even shivering anymore. She was impressed.

"It really does work. Where'd you learn to make something like that?" She asked Gray.

"When I was a little boy I had very poor health. I would get sick all the time and my childhood took place during a time when doctors weren't around much so the man who brought me up had to resort to natural remedies. I hated to take them because they were either bitter or rotten tasting but he always found a way to get it down my throat."

"Wait a minute, you were a little boy?"

"Yes."

"But you're a devil."

"Yeah so?"

"Aren't devils made fully grown? Oh wait! Duh! You're referring to when you were a living human."

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was human once but I'm still living."

"Yes but by living you mean un-dead right?"

"No by living I mean I never died. My heart is still pumping and I still have air in my lungs."

"But that's impossible. Devils are the souls of evil humans when they die."

"Most of the time they are but I'm a different breed, if you will. Like most devils I started out human but unlike most, it wasn't evil acts or death that turned me into this. I was born a devil but because my parents were human, that part of me was dormant throughout my childhood and teen years. Then one day when I was fully grown something triggered it and now here I am."

"Astonishing." She said with fascination. "So you're not really evil are you?"

"I try not to be."

"I guess that explains why you saved me back there. Wait if you were born like this then that means you never really choose to be a devil did you?"

"No. I didn't."

"But I thought you did and I was really mean to you because of that. I'm sorry. I thought you were one of those sinner devils who escaped Hell or something. I didn't know you were actually a decent person who became one without any say in the matter. I'll try to be more nice to you."

"Does this mean you won't make me do push ups anymore?"

"I'll make you do fifty instead of a hundred and I'll give you more break time. Also I'll talk to you more respectfully."

"Well that's a start I guess."

"Can you leave the room now? I want to get some clothes on."

"Sure thing kid."

He started to walk away but stopped when she briefly called:

"Gray." It was the first time she had ever addressed him by his name and it was in a gentle way. "Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome." He smiled but made sure that she didn't see.