"I'm not abandoning you; I promise."

Gray stood in the entrance to Lucy's apartment, trying to ignore the unsettled feeling in his stomach at the thought of leaving the dragons. He sighed at the despondent expression on Sting's face as he stood on his hind legs, paws pressed firmly against Gray's shin.

"Don't look at me like that," Gray grumbled. "This is hard enough as it is."

Sting whined unhappily, pawing at Gray's leg until Gray crouched down next to him. The other two, who had been sniffing curiously around Lucy's apartment, scrambled back over as well.

"Look, I won't be gone for that long," Gray insisted, scratching behind Sting's ears and petting Natsu's head. "You have to stay with Lucy, it's too dangerous for you to come with us." Rogue huffed, giving Gray a look that was very clearly a pout.

"I'll take good care of them," Lucy reassured him. Gray gave all three of them one last pat, then stood up and shifted his pack on his shoulder.

"Thank you," he said to Lucy. "I'm hoping we'll be back within a week. I've got my lacrima phone if—"

"I know," Lucy said, giving Gray a look of fond exasperation. "You've already told me six times. We'll be fine, I promise. Erza will be here soon, we can handle them." She squeezed Gray's hand, then stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Be careful," she said, voice turning serious.

"I will," Gray said, pushing past the unease and giving her a thin smile. Then he sighed, giving in and looking down at three sets of wide, forlorn eyes as he backed out the door. "Be good," he said, then added quietly, "I love you."

Gray and Freed were just settling into their seats on the train when someone screamed.

"What the hell?" Gray frowned, looking down the aisle at a group of people near the ticket-taker at the door. They all seemed panicked, and after a second, one woman shouted again and jumped up on her seat. Freed, who had been tucking their bag in the luggage compartment, looked at Gray and frowned.

"It's a snake!" the woman screamed, pointing at the ground on the other side of the aisle. "There's a snake on the train!"

A flash of red caught Gray's eye and his heart sank. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he muttered.

As if on cue, his lacrima phone started to ring, Lucy's name popping up on the screen. He quickly handed the phone to Freed, who answered as Gray took off toward the commotion. One of the train attendants had his hands out to the woman, trying to coax her down, but she was shaking her head, pointing at the seats on the other side of the aisle.

"I saw it!" she insisted. "There's a snake!"

Gray sighed, crouching down in the aisle and peeking under the seat. Natsu was crouched near the wall, hiding behind the seat leg with his ears flat back against his head and his teeth bared. "You little shit," Gray grumbled. "C'mere."

He reached out his hand and Natsu quickly scrambled into it, pressing himself against Gray's chest and making a soft chittering sound as Gray stood up. "You're fine," Gray said, rolling his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh, sir…" The train attendant looked at Natsu hesitantly. "Is that snake… yours?" Natsu made an indignant sound at the word 'snake,' and Gray flicked him gently on the nose.

"He's not a snake, he's a dragon," Gray explained quickly as Natsu huffed and clambered up onto his shoulder. "And, um…" He looked around quickly, realizing that Rogue and Sting were nowhere to be seen. "Where are the other two?" he asked Natsu.

"Other two?" The woman, who was still standing on the seat, looked like she was about to faint.

"Um. Yes." Gray felt his cheeks growing hot and he gritted his teeth. "They're just babies, they're harmless, I promise." Natsu, clearly taking offense at that, ruffled his wings and growled. "Knock it off," Gray hissed. "We're trying not to get kicked off the train."

"Sir, pets are expected to be properly minded on the train," the train attendant said seriously.

"They're not pet—" Gray cut himself off, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yes, you're right, I'm very sorry, he won't bother anyone again, will he?" He glared at Natsu, who had the decency to look remorseful, then turned around and headed back toward his seat, keeping an eye out for Sting and Rogue.

"You are the absolute worst," he said to Natsu, who whined and rubbed his head against Gray's cheek. "Don't you dare. You're supposed to be at Lucy's – how the hell did you get here?"

He trailed off as he reached his seat and found Rogue and Sting curled up in the middle of it, both looking at Freed with guilty expressions on their faces.

"I guess they didn't want to be left behind," Freed said wryly, gesturing to a pleased-looking Laxus who was sitting in their lap. They handed Gray's phone back and gave Laxus an unimpressed look. "Bickslow called, too. They must have snuck out and followed us somehow – these two were in your bag." They gestured at Sting and Rogue.

"I'm not happy with you three," Gray said seriously, lifting Natsu off his shoulder by the scruff of his neck and dropping him next to the other two. He slumped down across from them in the seat next to Freed and sighed. "I was trying to keep you safe."

Rogue huffed, looking at Natsu as if blaming him for the entire escapade, while Natsu ruffled his wings and managed to look indignant. Sting, on the other hand, looked pitifully at Gray with his ears flat back against his head and his tail tucked between his legs.

Guilt welled up in Gray's chest and he reached out for Sting, who immediately clambered into his arms and burrowed against his chest. "I'm not mad at you," Gray reassured him. "I'm just worried."

"Well, it's too late to send them back," Freed said as the train started to move. "I guess they're coming along." Laxus chirped happily and Freed raised an eyebrow at him. "That doesn't mean you aren't in trouble." Laxus seemed unfazed by Freed's admonishment as he turned in circles and curled up on Freed's lap with his tail over his nose.

Gray sighed, running his finger over Sting's nose as he rubbed his head against Gray's chest. The mild irritation from earlier slowly faded with every stroke of his fingers through Sting's fur, and as he watched Natsu and Rogue curl up around each other, a sense of relief washed over him.

"Do you feel…" Gray hesitated, glancing over at Freed, who was idly running their fingers along Laxus' spine. He hadn't even realized how on edge he'd been until now.

Freed nodded before Gray could finish his thought. "I felt it before," they said. "When Laxus was human, I mean – he always felt like home. But it's stronger now. It's like…" They gestured vaguely and Gray nodded, somehow understanding exactly what they meant.

"Yeah." He looked down at Sting, who bumped his chin and licked him. "I know, sweetheart," Gray murmured, kissing his nose. "I missed you too." Sting nuzzled his cheek again, then clambered up onto his shoulder, purring happily and settling in for a nap.

Miraculously, none of the dragons got into trouble for the rest of the trip. Natsu attempted to clamber onto the snack trolley when it came by, but Gray managed to catch him before he could do any serious damage. The rest of the time, the four of them stayed on the seats, alternating between chasing each other around and sleeping in a tangle of legs and tails.

When they stepped off the train nearly six hours later, it was snowing.

"Is it like this here all the time?" Freed asked, burying their face in their scarf and tucking their hands in their pockets. Laxus, who had crawled up into Freed's hood, poked his head up over Freed's shoulder and watched curiously as snowflakes drifted down from the sky.

"I think so," Gray said, frowning as pieces of memory cracked and splintered through him. Everything was disjointed – a flash of dark hair, the smell of woodsmoke, kids laughing. "I remember sledding with my friends. And ice fishing, I think."

Natsu, who had been asleep in Gray's coat pocket, perked up at the mention of fish. Gray laughed, scratching behind his ears when he looked up eagerly.

"No fish," Gray said as Natsu started to sniff his hand suspiciously. "Just snow." Natsu grumbled, huddling down in Gray's pocket in an attempt to avoid the cold. "You're going to have to get used to it," Gray said. "I told you to stay with Lucy, I have no sympathy for you."

Sting, who had been asleep in Gray's hood, yawned and poked his head out, nuzzling Gray's cheek. As he stretched and kneaded the heavy fabric of Gray's jacket, a snowflake drifted down and landed on his nose, and he blinked at it in surprise. He immediately brushed it away with a paw, snuffling and looking up at Gray.

"It's all right," Gray reassured him as he cocked his head, then clambered out of Gray's hood and down his arm. Natsu squeaked in concern as Sting batted tentatively at the flakes falling from the sky.

"Oh, shush," Gray said fondly, scratching behind Natsu's ears. "Just because you hate the cold doesn't mean he has to." Natsu nipped at Gray's finger and made a disgruntled sound as he burrowed deeper into his pocket.

Sting, on the other hand, looked pleased with the snow. He gazed upward, opening his mouth to try and catch some of the flakes. When he finally snatched one out of the air, he made a surprised sound and attempted to spit it back out.

"It's just cold water," Gray said. "Look."

He crouched down near a snowbank, setting Sting down on his knee. Then he reached out one mittened hand, scooping up a handful of snow and bringing it closer for Sting to inspect. Sting sniffed at it curiously, then moved in to take a bite and blinked in surprise when it immediately melted in his mouth.

"See? It's not going to hurt you." Gray poked at his pocket. "Or you."

The only response he got was an indignant growl and he rolled his eyes.

He was about to stand up again when Sting wriggled on his knee, then pounced head-first into the snow with an excited yelp. Rogue peeked over Gray's shoulder and immediately started to whine in distress.

"Shit," Gray cursed, digging into the pile of snow to try and find the tiny dragon. "Sting, get back here!" There was no response for a second, and then Sting's head poked out of the snow a few feet away, snuffling and shaking out his fur.

"Well he certainly seems to like it," Freed commented as Sting growled playfully, jumping as high as he could and diving back down into the snow. He resurfaced again a little way away, then looked back at Gray and chirped at him.

"Do you think he'll be warm enough?" Gray asked, standing up and dusting off his pants. Rogue chittered at him, shifting onto his shoulder and nipping at his ear.

"He does have fur," Freed said as Sting started to dig into the snow, kicking it up behind him in a tiny cloud. "I don't really know anything about dragon biology."

"I don't think anyone does," Gray said, wincing at the sharp teeth in his ear. "Knock it off," he said, reaching up and grabbing Rogue to stop his biting. "He's fine, look at him."

Sting made a pleased sound and burrowed into the hole he'd dug, spitting out the occasional mouthful of snow. Natsu poked his head up out of Gray's pocket and looked around, and as soon as he saw Sting, he joined in with Rogue's distressed sounds.

"You're the only sensible one," Gray said, looking over at Laxus, who was fast asleep in Freed's hood. "And you two are ridiculous. He's not hurt, see?"

Sting, who had just swallowed a chunk of snow, stood up on his hind legs in the hole he'd dug and trilled at Natsu and Rogue reassuringly. They both appeared somewhat mollified until Sting sneezed, and a sharp line of magic burst out of him and sent him tumbling backward.

"What the—"

"Did he just—"

Freed and Gray both spoke as Sting stumbled to his feet, looking dazed and staring at the hole his magic had made in the snow. Natsu and Rogue's distressed sounds quickly turned into surprised squeaks, and before Gray could stop them, they both leaped down into the snow and scurried over to Sting. Laxus wasn't far behind, and all three of them immediately started to sniff Sting, nuzzling him and then joining him in inspecting the hole once they were satisfied that he was unharmed.

"Well then," Gray said as Sting backed away from the others, then let out another small burst of white magic, looking quite pleased with himself. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised – Laxus still has his lightning."

"Yes, but not quite like that," Freed said, watching the dragons curiously. "I wonder if it's the snow."

"The snow?"

"It's white," Freed explained, crouching down and running their fingers through it. "If Natsu can gain power from eating flames, it stands to reason that Sting would gain his from something white."

"Huh." Gray watched as Natsu studied Sting curiously, then looked down at the snow and appeared to come to the same conclusion. He carefully took a bite of the white powder, made a face, then attempted to breathe out a stream of magic. When nothing happened, he whined and looked sadly back at Gray.

"Come here, you idiot," Gray said fondly, crouching down as all the dragons made their way clumsily through the snow toward him. Natsu sat on his haunches in front of Gray, sticking out his tongue and wiping at it miserably with one paw.

"Don't worry," Gray said, picking up the despondent Natsu and tucking him back into his pocket. The other two quickly clambered back up his sleeve and curled up in his hood, purring contentedly. "We'll get a fire going tonight and you'll be able to make magic, too."

Then he dusted the snow out of his hair and gestured to Freed before continuing down the path toward Isvan.