There she stood in the doorway.

- Eagles, "Hotel California"

10

The one good thing about being on the pole was not having to talk constantly. Any conversation Gray had with Luca was done through hand signs, a skill he had taught the boy in Isvan itself. It proved indispensable now due to the strong winds carrying away their words.

As they stopped to have lunch in their sled – one of three – huddled up under the tarp, Luca asked him why they couldn't just fly there with the birds.

'Wind would knock them from the sky,' Gray answered with signs. Then he handed the boy his lunch – two protein bars. He took one for himself and started chewing on it.

Luca parted the tarp a little and peeked out. Gray followed suit. The dogs pulling the sleds were all sitting around like loyal palace guards. The sleds themselves were larger than usual, and each had seventeen dogs pulling it. Instead of a carriage, they'd created a caravan.

Still, Gray couldn't complain. It meant having some company on this barren land. The sudden transition from being on a huge ship full of people to being alone was jarring. Not rolling around felt strange, too. After weeks on the water, Gray's mind still believed he was out on the waves. Even now, sitting on the solid ice sled, he rocked to and fro involuntarily. He figured it would take a few days.

The bar tasted good. Gave him some much needed energy. Riding in the lead sled, Gray had been strengthening the ice below them as they passed, making sure none of the sleds fell through. He didn't want to lose any of the dogs. Or the equipment.

He waited for Luca to finish his bars before pulling out the charts. He had marked the camp's location on the map, and checking their own position relative to where the flare had signalled was necessary to make sure they stayed on course.

'Didn't you take a reading just an hour ago?' Luca asked.

Gray sighed. 'Look outside. What do you see?'

'Nothing.'

'Really? Nothing?'

'I see white, I guess. Ice. Nothing else.'

'Exactly. Nothing else. It's mostly flat here. There are no hills and no mountains we can count on to be landmarks. And not enough sun for shadows. So unless we keep doing this, we'll never know where we're going.'

Gray stepped out of the sled, into the biting wind, and pulled out his compass. It was true that he had nothing on land to take a reading against, but the sun was still there. Barely.

That, and the clouds. The clouds moved very, very slowly and maintained their silhouette for a while. Gray had been taking bearing checks against the clouds every ten minutes. The weather was still clear, thankfully. If it turned into a whiteout, navigation would become an absolute nightmare.

Once he was satisfied that they were on the right track, Gray went back to the sled. It was strange, seeing Luca with sunglasses, but that was also a necessity. With the sunlight reflecting off of pure white in every direction, sunscreen and sunglasses were the best way to avoid radiation burns.

'You ready?' he signed.

'Born ready.'

Gray chuckled as he climbed into the sled. The dogs took off immediately, each of them falling in line. He made sure that the sleds were all separated by a mile whilst travelling. In case he didn't have anything to take a reading against in front of him, he could take a backbearing against the two specks. It provided an effective check to the angle of travel.

From the bay, they had been travelling up the ramp at a steady pace. The terrain wasn't rough. Not as much as he'd expected, anyway. The incline was gentle, too. It allowed them to go faster than they would normally.

Three hours into the journey, the winds really picked up. Gray braced for a snowstorm.

These winds, Gray knew, were katabatic. Descending. The air high up was heavy and cold, and they often 'fell' off the continent, rushing towards the coast until it gathered the force of a hurricane. Though they were far enough away from the coast to avoid the full force, the winds were strong enough to carry loads of snow in their wake. And sure enough, a veil of powder obstructed his vision immediately after the wind swept by.

But apart from the winds, there was nothing else to look out for. The same dull routine – checking bearings every five minutes, stopping for ten minutes every hour, looking at the absolutely flat, featureless snowscape – tempted him with complacency. Constantly using his magic to reinforce the ice didn't help. Gray found his mind wandering often. He thought less about his surroundings, and more about the destination. About finally meeting his old friends.

Meeting her.

He wondered how she would react. How she looked now. Surviving on minimum sustenance meant losing body fat. They would all be thinner. Much thinner. Gray set his jaw. He hoped that the food he was bringing would be enough.

By next week, the sun would pretty much be gone. How would he extract them? That was not something he'd thought about. His duty was, officially, to bring the crew supplies. Unofficially, he would do whatever he could to-

The dogs all stopped. The sled slid ahead for a few feet before friction stopped it, too. Luca looked at him and flipped his palm. He didn't need sign language to communicate that question.

Brows furrowed, Gray stepped out of the sled. He patted the head of the nearest dog and went up the line. When he'd made them, he gave them a specific condition – do not step on anything that isn't solid, flat ice. Whatever it was that lay ahead wouldn't be pretty. And when he reached the lead dog, and found what had made them stop, the sight almost made Gray dizzy. He clutched the dog to steady himself and backed away as fast as he could.

Fuck.

He felt Luca clap his shoulder. 'All okay?'

Gray shook his head. He motioned for Luca to follow him and took him up to Do, the lead dog. He pointed at the horizon and turned to Luca.

'Okay?'

The boy nodded. Then Gray pointed downwards. And Luca looked down, found that he was standing two inches from the edge of a cliff several hundred feet high, and jumped back, screeching.

Yeah, Gray thought and looked down the ice wall, hands on hips. That's the appropriate reaction all right.

In the ice, there was no shadow. The constant white screwed with perspective – crevasses remained hidden until you fell into them and thirty foot walls not evident until you smacked into them. And this, this was a problem that he could have avoided had he been more alert. Or so he told himself.

He then looked up, let his gaze wash over the frozen landscape spread out before him. It was absolutely desolate and barren. Just white. White as far as the eyes could see. No trees, no buildings, nothing. In the distance he could see a mountain range forming the furthest border of the horizon. He smiled at that. Nobody had ever gone close to that range. Nobody had attempted to name it, or the peaks it contained. A part of him wanted to take a crack at them, but he shook his head.

Still, despite the nothingness, there was a beauty to the place. A dangerous, untamed beauty – one that could kill you if you couldn't respect its laws. It was probably what lured so many explorers and adventurers to their demise. The lust for breaking it in and conquering it.

Gray took a deep breath and released it. Imagined apartment complexes and mining equipment set up all over the place. Busy harbours, fisheries. A goddamn disco, maybe. He shook his head.

I hope we don't ruin this.

The South Pole was one of two places left on Earthland not subject to pollution of any kind. It was pristine. And Gray really, really hoped it would stay that way.

By the time his thought reached its natural conclusion, Luca had joined him on the edge. He looked at the boy, but couldn't gauge his thoughts. He was looking at the mountains, too. Maybe they were having the same thought. Maybe Luca was wondering whether a dragon lived up there. Looking at the jagged peaks, it wasn't hard to imagine one of them serving as a lair to a wyrm.

'So, what do we do?' Luca asked eventually.

'We wait for the other dogs to show up.'

'Then what?'

Gray chuckled. 'Oh, you'll see.'

So they sat and waited. Luca tried to sleep. Gray kept a look out behind them. With his binoculars, he saw that the dogs were following without deviating a hair from the course. He chuckled at that. They were more like machines than sentient creatures. In this environment, that was a blessing.

After twenty minutes of waiting, another fireball went up into the sky. Gray, standing near the edge of the cliff, tried to trace its origin point on the ground but couldn't. Even if he was looking right at it, the base would probably be covered in snow. Unless Natsu came out and took a flamethrower to the surroundings, it would take hours of shovelling to deal with all that snow.

Still, the flare meant that another hour had passed. They had been sending out signals every hour on the hour. It made him smile to think that he and Erza were probably looking at the clock at around the same time.

It was another hour and a half before the other sleds joined them. Gray and Luca spent that time lashing every bit of equipment as tightly as they could to their sled, and doing the same for the other two when they arrived.

'Okay,' Luca began after they were done. 'Now what?'

'Now, we descend.'

During his own training before going to the North Pole, Gray had learnt from the hunters of Ateh the ins and outs of leading a dog team. The knowledge had saved his skin on more than one occasion. Right now, he wanted to kiss Reynauld – the hunter who had instructed him.

He made the dogs turn around and pull some distance the other way, so it was the sleds that were on the edge. Once all three were lined up side by side, with the dogs facing away from the cliff, Gray called Luca over.

'We're going to go down sled first,' he explained. 'The dogs will dig their paws into the snow and slowly lower us.'

Luca gave him a long look. Then he glanced down the cliff. There was enough of a slope for the sleds to not dangle in mid-air. Not enough for the ride down to be comfortable.

'Can't we just make a ramp?' Luca suggested. 'Slide down?'

'We have no sense of perspective. It all looks the same. I have no idea how deep this thing is.' Gray grimaced. 'Plus, if we slide and lose control, you and I will be fine. But we can't risk damaging the equipment. Wouldn't want to trigger an avalanche, either.'

'I'm with you there.'

'So? Ready?'

'Nope.' Luca smiled. 'But let's do this anyway.'

Gray clapped his shoulder. 'Attaboy.'

Luca and Gray manned separate sleds and, when the boy gave him the thumbs up, Gray commanded the dogs to dig their claws into the ice and lower themselves, slowly and carefully, down the cliff face.

It was among the most harrowing experiences Gray had ever gone through. Despite the slope, the sled dangled more often than not. He had to augment the claws of the dogs on the fly, allowing them to grip better. But the feeling of dread never went away.

Hanging like a pendulum from a cliff that could have been either hundreds – or thousands – of feet high at the mercy of the dogs and the elements, it was the most helpless Gray had felt since leaving his cottage.

The most terrifying part was when the wind picked up. Usually it was quiet enough. Sometimes the winds came blowing up the cliff face and tried to lift them up along the way with varying degrees of success. Gray had to stop all the dogs from moving until conditions stabilised. Though he knew holding on to the equipment wouldn't save him, but that stop him from clutching the ropes for dear life every time the wind swayed them around. It was the slowest, hairiest descent he had ever made.

He glanced at Luca during a particularly turbulent gust of wind and found the boy sitting stock still with his eyes closed, white-knuckling the sled.

Hang in there, kid. Hang in there.

The saving grace was that he didn't have to look down. Looking down and waiting to touch bottom would have been torture.

Every five minutes, Gray dropped a decent sized chunk of ice over the side of the sled. Never did he hear it hit bottom. And yet, they had been descending for an hour and change. The dogs sometimes struggled to find footholds, and Gray let them take their time. Those sixty eight claws were keeping him alive. If it meant getting down safely, he didn't mind if it took half a day.

Thankfully, it didn't take as long. In a couple of hours, all three sleds were down, with all equipment accounted for. Just as Gray was taking a reading and pointing the dogs the right way, another fireball went up.

That's the seventh one.

Luca was white as a sheet by the time he made it down. Gray had him drink some brandy. He waited until colour returned to the boy's cheeks before clapping him on the shoulder.

'You did great, Luca. You held your nerve. I'm really proud of you.'

Though shaken, the boy smiled at that. Nodded. Gray made him eat half a chocolate bar – half as a reward, half to give him a shot of energy.

And it worked. Luca went back to his usual excited self by the time they started for the polar base camp. The last flare hadn't seemed very far away, so Gray decided against putting a mile between the sleds. Making his sled go first, he had the others follow closely at his heels. He didn't want necessary supplies coming in a few hours after his arrival.

Now, the going was smooth. Gray, restless and eager to make up for lost time, pushed the dogs harder. And they ran. Fifty one dogs thundered down the ice, threatening to outpace even the wind. Luca finally shook off the last vestiges of fear and came alive. He stared out at the mountains and hummed to himself, tapping his fingers against the sled. Gray couldn't make out what the tune was, but he was glad that Luca had come back stronger. He would need his support to get through meeting the others.

At four PM, another fireball shot up into the sky. Gray watched it rise, a smile spreading across his face. Luca turned to face him, grinning widely.

'That's not even a mile away!'

'Yeah. Guess we'll be there soon.'

'I can't wait!'

Soon, in the distance, there appeared a few structures with unnatural angles – right angles, squares. Man-made. Horizontal lines in a land of verticals. A bunch of single storey buildings. Gray looked at them through his binoculars. Three. No, four. They'd managed to build four little buildings in their few months on-site. Working through winter and summer. It was impressive. Damn impressive. Then again, what less could be expected from them?

The smallest one, off to the right, was most probably the kitchen. The two built next to one another were probably the living quarters and the lavatory. The other one, Gray suspected, was a storeroom. All in all, it seemed like a wonderful, self-sufficient environment.

By the time the clock struck five, the buildings were looking life size. The closer he got to them, the harder Gray felt his heart race. No flare went off this time. Which meant that they could see him. At that realisation, his heart skipped a beat. They were probably all taking turns, counting down the time until he arrived at their front door.

Same as me.

Only now, within view of his destination, did it sink for Gray that he would meet his former friends face to face. Intellectually, he knew. Had known all along that this would happen. But in his single-minded pursuit, he'd put everything else on the back burner.

What if I'm not ready? What if they're not ready, either?

A deep sigh escaped him. His anxieties had decided to rear their heads at the worst possible time. He shook his head. Pushed them down. Whatever happened, whatever the consequences of his past actions, he would suffer them. He didn't fear them more than he loved... loved...

Gray looked up. Looked at the largest of the four buildings. Found the door open. And there, standing in the open doorway wearing at least five layers of polar clothing, stood Erza.

For a second, Gray thought it was an apparition and sucked in a breath. Unlike a mirage, she didn't waver as they neared. Even when he took off his sunglasses, he could see her clearly – standing at the doorway, hands stuffed into her coat pockets and smiling at them. That smile was easily the warmest thing anywhere on the Pole and Gray couldn't help but smile back.

As the dogs pulled up a few feet from the bunker, Gray hopped off and started walking towards her. He didn't high-five Luca. Didn't thank the dogs. Didn't even check the equipment. His body decided to walk of its own accord, his feet lengthening their stride. It was as if every single one of his muscles were working in unison under a single, simple command.

Move.

And he did. As Gray made his way up the ramp leading to the door, Erza pulled her sunglasses off. He recognised the mirth lighting up her rich brown eyes. Knowing that she was happy, seeing it up close for himself, lifted a weight off his chest he didn't know he was carrying.

She smiled up at him as he closed the distance and stopped before her. He, in turn, smiled back.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"Fancy meeting you here."

Erza chuckled. "Likewise."

This is it, he thought. This is what I came for.

He'd crossed more than half of Earthland and come to the literal edge of the known world. All for her. All for this person standing half a foot before him. There was no point in lying to himself about this. She was the reason he'd come. She was worth it. Worth travelling to the ends of the world for.

So when she reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug, he returned it as enthusiastically as he could. He put an arm around her neck and rubbed her back, swaying to and fro gently.

Even now, on the South Pole, she smelt of strawberries. It made him laugh. Some things never changed, and he was glad for that.

Gray wasn't sure how long they held each other. He didn't complain. He didn't say anything. Neither did she. But he felt everything she was trying to say.

Gratitude. Relief. Remorse. Tenderness. Each of those emotions shone in her eyes when she pulled away. Reading all that at once almost overwhelmed him. It was too much.

Coughing into his hand to hide his blush, Gray rubbed the back of his neck. "Bit cold for ya, innit?"

"Takes a while to get used to." She shrugged. "But I learned to love the cold."

Gray's head snapped up at her words. Found her smiling at him. Before he could ask, Luca came barrelling past and threw himself at Erza.

"AuntieeeeeeErzaaaaaa," he cried, stuffing his face in her shoulder. "Boy, is it good to see you! And you look great, too!" He grinned at her. "And ya know what? For a change, I bought you chocolates! The expensive ones too!"

"My, my, that is most impressive, Luca," Erza told him once she was done crushing his bones with a hug. "I shall to have inspect the goods myself. But for now, allow me to welcome you to our base."

She put an arm around Luca's neck, and latched onto Gray's elbow with the other. He chuckled and let himself be pulled along, making sure to close the door with his foot.

Whatever happened next, whatever awkwardness he'd have to deal with, he would do so gladly because Erza was there. He was with Erza now. Everything else would fall into place.

"Luca, Gray," Erza began, every word bursting with unconcealed pride. "Welcome to the first ever all-weather research station in the South Pole." She beamed. "Welcome, to Mavis Camp."

A/N: Nastja, consider your wish fulfilled! I wish you had an account so I could have a conversation with you, but I'm happy that you're liking this story so far. Hopefully the next part won't take very long!

On that note, it's the end of part 2, everybody. We're halfway through the story! Thank you all for continuing to read and support Cold, folks! Really can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Hope you're all having a good year!