1 - Nightmares

When the demon Deloria destroyed her home, killed her family, and devastated her entire town, Gray was left one of the lone survivors. This experience left her with scars, both physical and mental. So sometimes she would mutter in a language barely spoken anymore(1) in her sleep until her dreams became more vivid, and she would wake screaming. Those were the nights she would make her way down to the Guild hall, usually at ungodly hour, and drink herself into a dark, dreamless sleep. Those nights led to the days that Natsu would walk up to the Guild hall, smell Gray's calming scent mixed with the recognizable smell of strong alcohol, and take the dead asleep mage back to her apartment and place her in bed. He would always leave a cup of ice water by her bed, even though he knew it would melt before she woke up. They never spoke about it, never even acknowledging it after the first time it happened, until Natsu saw Gray in the midst of one of these dreams.

He remembered the day strongly, a day some weeks after Lucy joined the guild, when he was tasked with going over to Gray's apartment at around midnight to tell her of their leaving early in the morning for a new mission. That was the day he walked in her room, strategically looking solely at her face and willing his eyes not to wander, and heard a language he knew Gray rarely spoke. He heard her almost silent screams as he walked further into her room, and the sheer terror he felt for her was driving him mad. He desperately tried to wake her up, and was successful after a minute or two of trying. Gray turned to his chest, and lightly cried into his shirt. He awkwardly tried to comfort her, and felt a need to protect her and stop her from feeling this again. He held her in his arms and waited for her to calm, before she turned to him, obviously embarrassed but too tired to fight, and simply said, "Sorry." And in that moment, he faced her, started into her eyes, and gave a small smile.

"Don't worry 'bout it! We're friends, right? I'll always be there for you!" Always.

And for the first time in a long time, she smiled her real, beautiful smile. And Natsu smiled back.

"Oh, I almost forgot! How do you feel about a mission tomorrow? Err..later this morning, I guess."

She laughed, called him a name, agreed, and told him to get the hell out of her house.

2 - Scars

She took her shirt, among other things, off so often that Natsu was sure he knew where every imperfection on Gray's skin was. Though he thought they made her even more perfect, no matter how cheesy that sounds. That was until Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza faced a man by the name of Zerirai, a lone mage who fought with magic using all the elements. He was difficult to defeat, but each of the four had their own element to face. Erza defended his earth attacks, Lucy his air strikes, and Gray and Natsu faced his attacks from their own elements. They were gaining the upper hand, until Lucy's magic faltered and allowed a sharp burst of wing past her and right at Gray. Natsu was focusing on Lucy, asking if she was alright, and didn't realize Gray was hit until he heard a startled cry from behind him. He turned around, and saw Gray flying back, shirt gone and a large slice in her abdomen that was beginning to bleed. Natsu, anger burning in his eyes, turned and let out a powerful blast of heat at the mage, who had left his guard down in vain as he saw that he hit Gray. Zerirai was quickly knocked down by the burst of flame and Erza subdued him quickly after. Natsu's attention was focused solely on Gray at this point, watching as her eyes closed despite his loud screams to not close her eyes. He quickly shed his loved vest and put it over her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She groaned in protest and he wanted to stop, but knew he had to keep it on to stop the bleeding.

Lucy was quickly making her way over to Gray, internally berating herself for this. Stupid, stupid, mistake. This is all my fault! Erza finished tying up Zerirai and made her way over to her fallen friend, worry showing in her eyes. Natsu was so focussed on Gray's wound to notice a slight glow forming on said mage's skin, until Lucy pointed it out.

"Natsu, Erza, what's happening to her skin? It's glowing!" The three shared a look of bewilderment, and looked down at the now almost unconscious Gray. She must have noticed their stares, as she quickly started to panic. "No, no, no. It wasn't supposed to brake!" She cried, her tone one of anxiousness and fear. Natsu looked at her and asked, "What is it, Gray? You're - uh - glowing and it's kinda freaky." She looked away and everyone looked down at her exposed stomach again, until there was a bright flash of light. They looked away, but when the turned back Natsu saw it. He saw the scars. He knew, of course, that Gray had some scars, small ones gained from training and such and other, more gruesome ones from some of the wilder battles they had. But he never knew how many there were until now. They littered her torso, and he saw ones that traveled below her waist. They were different shapes and sizes, each with their own probably unique story that Natsu both wanted and wished never to hear.

"Gray..." He began, worry etched in his tone. "Natsu...just- just forget about it, Natsu. There was a s-spell. I a had a spell on m-me 'caus I didn't want you t'know." Natsu turned away, resignation on his face, and gave a nod. He picked gray up just as she fell into unconsciousness, and rushed her back to the Guild Hall, Erza right ahead of him and Lucy trailing a little behind.

It was a few days before Gray woke up. And what a sight it was to see. She woke up to smell the familiar smell of disinfectant and some chemicals and medicines she probably couldn't name, saw the medicinal equipment around her. She looked to the chair on her right and saw a snoring and drooling Natsu by her bedside, looking like he hadn't left in days. His hand was intertwined in hers, and she quickly fell back asleep, a new calmness encompassing her.

Soooo...this might not have taken a day to upload. Sorry! Our school is out on spring break this week, so I've been on vacation with my family. And then I was actually in the hospital (only for a few ours… But I'm hoping the two parts will make up for it. Okay? And another apolgy for the terrible ending of the second one, I just didn't know what to do.

(1) this is an AU already, what more is a bilingual Gray, right?