A/N: Had this sitting on a folder. I'd forgotten I'd written it. Hope you enjoy.
Handfasting Ceremony
Night had fallen. The moon cast its silvery light upon the snowy hill.
Silence reigned.
Gray was sitting at the top of the slope; it was a familiar, almost forgotten place. From an earlier life, almost.
Gray was looking on to the town. The lights of the houses and the smoke that erupted from the chimneys painted a comforting image. A brief smile came to his lips.
It had been too long since he'd felt so at peace. Or maybe the tiredness had finally won him, making him feel so wrung-out that a simple and silly thing such a sleepy town under a blanket of snow calmed him.
Too much time had gone by, he'd made his peace with Ur, with Lyon. A little bit with himself too. If it hadn't been a certain stubborn fire mage to drag him, he wouldn't have come up north. There was no need to confront the past. But, deep down, Gray admitted that he needed this.
Peace had been made with the past.
The wound was still open – it would never really close, he knew that – but it was much more healed.
With a sigh Gray let himself fall back onto the snow, feeling the slightly fluffy, giving embrace of it. He looked at the stars in the dark glossy sky.
And for one everlasting second, everything seemed to set into the right place.
It had been a complicated year. Not just to him but to his family as well. However, if something good had come out of it, it was his relationship with Natsu.
They were still the best friends and rivals but they'd been there for the other through some really hard shit. The rest of the guild as well, of course. But the stronger connection between them had been forged in pain, stubbornness, pride, caring, tears and an unbreakable faith in the other.
It was strange. It was new. It was a new take, an evolution on their long relationship.
Maybe that was another of the reasons why Gray had found himself smiling. Natsu evoked some warmth and comfort. And Gray was grateful for that.
Shuffling noises came from his side and Gray sat up to look at Natsu as he walked towards him.
The Salamander plopped on the ground beside him.
"Isn't it dumb that you're sitting here in the snow, all alone?" He asked promptly, looking down at the town.
"Not really." Gray answered cryptically. "This has always been my place."
Natsu arched an eyebrow inquiringly.
"Long, long ago. It was…" Gray paused and looked up at the sky, "I came here when things got hard. To cool down a little." Both shared an amused smile at the pun.
"It must have been lonely."
"Yes and no." Gray acquiesced. "But sometimes you can be lonely even in the middle of a crowd."
"Being lonely suuucks." Natsu agreed as he started making a snowball.
"If you throw that at me, you're dead." Gray stated calmly.
"Wanna bet?" Natsu asked, grinning cheekily. But then he threw the snowball ahead. They saw it flying towards a tree and heard the noise of the hit against the trunk.
Gray elbowed Natsu on his side.
But then Natsu sneakily contorted his arm so that he was holding Gray's hand.
"What are you doing?" Gray deadpanned.
"Holding your hand." Natsu shot back in his 'you're so dumb' voice.
"Okay, fine," Gray rolled his eyes. "I guess the question would be, why are you holding my hand?"
"I've been thinking."
"Ohh, that's dangerous. You can't overheat the goo you call brain." Gray teased.
"Shush." Natsu retorted with a grin. "Like I was saying, I was thinking. And what you're saying makes sense. It does happen for one to become lonely. But I have the answer for that problem!" The grin seemed to almost make Natsu glow.
"Okay… and what would that be?" Gray asked cautiously.
"Me!"
Gray blinked uncomprehendingly for a few moments.
"What?" he said at last.
"I'll be it." Natsu raised their joined hands, almost as if he wanted their hands to reach the moon.
"I don't… follow…"
"And you call me slow, ice brain. I'm saying that I'll be here. I won't let you go lonely again. Oh." He said suddenly and let go of Gray's hand to start rummaging on his pockets. With a triumphant noise he removed what seemed to be a piece of string and started to tug at it.
"Hey, I'm not slow. You're the one not making any sense." Gray said with a hint of defensiveness.
"A lady gave me this and… let me just…" he made a few impatient noises as he unknotted the string.
Gray looked on, dumbfounded and curious.
"Done!" Natsu looked up at Gray and held out his hand. "Give me your hand."
Cautiously Gray did so. He clasped his hand in Natsu's feeling the warmth seep into his skin right away. It wasn't overwhelming but, again, comforting and familiar. The fire mage intertwined his fingers with Gray's. Then he put the string over their hands and one handedly made a loose knot.
"I'm making this to tell you that you will never again be alone. I know that the guild is our family but even in there things can get lonely." He held one of the ends of the string and offered it to Gray, who took it, then he held the other. "I heard some people talk about this. So, I am making this promise to you."
"Natsu, are you aware of what you're doing? This is like a promise for life…" Gray started. "Okay, probably not but… to me this is serious…"
"I am serious Gray." Natsu glared at him, conveying his seriousness. "I wouldn't do this without thinking it through before."
"You're kidding me, right?" Now Gray scoffed.
"Okay, that's not the best phrasing," Natsu rolled his eyes. "But I've thought about this and, yes, I understand the meaning and still want it. With you…" he looked slightly down and Gray wondered about the sudden dusting to his cheeks. It couldn't be what he thought, right?
"Oh…" He could feel that his own cheeks were getting warm. "That was a bit sudden. We didn't talk more…"
"You're right. Sorry." Natsu seemed to deflate.
"I'm not saying no, dumbass. Just… give a guy some time to think, yeah?" he stopped Natsu from his attempt to remove the string. He tightened his grip on Natsu for a moment. "This was quite sudden. And… I appreciate it. I would like it." Gray pulled at the string, fastening it on their wrists. "Even if it's still too sudden and we need to have a serious conversation about it."
They sat in silence for a while, under the pale moonlight and in the snow.
"And, whatever we decide, we'll have to do this again, later, at the guild." Gray added.
Natsu just laughed.
"Come on, let's go home." He said finally.