Gray's POV:
I wake up like any other day, fairly late. Hungry I get out of bed, not bothering with clothes because they'll just come off later today, and go to the kitchen.
There's not much in my fridge so I grab some milk. About to look for a cup I hear a sigh behind me and spin around, putting my fist over my hand in order to use my Maker Magic. Oh, it's only Layla. I forgot I let her stay over last night. The cat is also asleep on my chair. She looks less guarded and more, I'm not sure, serene and happy while sleeping.
Layla's hair was let down, and I see it's almost as long as Erza's. The sweatpants I idiotically gave to her last night are lain on the back of the couch. Why'd I even do that? Relaxing again I notice that I dropped the milk on the ground, letting it spill everywhere.
Shit. I scowl and clean up the milk that spilled, and go back to looking for a cup. Not finding a clean one, I just decide to chug it from the carton.
"You're such a guy," says a voice behind me.
I turn around and see Layla quietly laughing at me, trying to wake Tobias up from the looks of it.
"What do you mean?" I say, scowling again.
"The milk, you're chugging it straight from the carton," she says, and hugs a half-awake Toby to her chest. (Note: Like Wendy does with Carla)
"All my dishes are dirty, so I didn't have any other choice," I say, and walk over to her. Layla's cheeks flush slightly. Eh?
"Your clothes Gray," she says, obviously amused which bugs me for some reason. Oh ya, maybe I should've put some one.
Before I'm able to go back to my room, or even respond, I feel a large wave of heat and look over at my door.
"What are you doing with my sister, Gray?!"
Damn, it's the pyro. Natsu bursts through the door surrounded by fire, looking pretty pissed off.
"Why'd you burn down my door flame freak?!"
I glare at him and he butts his head against mine. He summons flames and I summon ice magic.
"Why is my sister sleeping at your house, ice princess?!"
"How'd you even find her so quickly, dragon freak?!"
"Guys."
"I can smell her, ice cube, and what are you trying to pull!? You can't just mess with her like you do everyone else!"
This pisses me off. I was only trying to give her a place to stay for the night.
"She wouldn't be staying at my house if you thought to offer your place! Some brother you are!"
"Actually, I have a good reason for th-"
Natsu punches me before I can react, and I fly through the now non existent door and into the street.
"The hell Natsu!? This time I didn't even do anything! I was just helping her out!" I yell, though he doesn't seem very convinced and runs out to me.
"You're trying to get back at me for something through her, aren't you?!" Natsu yells, summoning more fire to his fists.
"GUYS!" Layla runs out after us, looking annoyed.
"Ya right you pyromaniac, can't I do something helpful without you thinking I have some other motive?" I say, starting to summon my Maker Magic.
"If she needed a place to stay last night, she would've come to me!"
"What's going on?" I hear Happy ask Layla over to the side, but don't look.
"You're so lucky Erza's not here right now, 'cause now no one can stop me from turning you into an ice cube."
"DAMMIT YOU TWO!"
Natsu and I both ignore Layla, "Ice Mak-"
"Piercing Talons of the Ice Dragon!"
Ice much colder than mine comes in a wave over the fire freak and I, knocking us back twenty feet or so. I look over at Natsu and he looks over at me. My confusion and surprise reflecting back at me through his face.
Looking back over at where Layla is, her hand is on the doorframe and she looks exhausted and annoyed with our fighting, which actually makes me feel a little guilty for getting into a fight with Natsu, for once, "Are you alright Layla?" Toby asks, flying at her shoulder and sounding worried.
"I'm fine, Toby just please," she says, shooing him away. Layla sounds surprisingly tired, which is weird considering she sounded wide awake while we talked before Natsu bursted in. I get up and scowl at Natsu, who scowls back at me while Layla walks over, "Do you two really fight over such trivial things?"
"Aye," Natsu says with a sigh, "That's Natsu for you."
"Oh good, you broke them up before I had to," says a familiar voice that strikes a small cord of fear in my heart. Erza walks over in her casual clothes, surprisingly not her normal armor, carrying a basket. Behind her, looking a little annoyed, is Lucy.
"How'd you know we were fighting?" Natsu says, giving Erza a look.
"I was on my way to find you all when I heard you two screaming from down the street," she says flatly, "it's not too hard to find you."
Layla looks over at Erza and seems to come to a realization of sorts. Maybe how Erza keeps the two of us from fighting when she can.
"Why were you looking for us?" I say, trying to get past the fight so Erza doesn't beat us to the pulp.
"I had the idea that we could all go have a picnic up on the hill, as a sort of welcoming for Layla," Lucy says, smiling brightly, "All you did for me was make me fight giant monkeys and destroy the guild hall, but I thought Layla deserves something nicer."
"That job was fun!" Natsu protests.
"Aye!" Happy agrees.
Lucy gives them both a look, "It was cold is what it was."
"You guys, it's really fine. We don't need to have a picnic or anything for me," Layla says, looking uncomfortable again, "Don't have to do anything special for me."
"Of course we do," the red head says, grabbing Layla's scarf and pulling her towards the edge of town, "I have cake."
The bluenette looks timid at first then laughs a little, following along.
The six of us all go up a hill on the outskirts of town. Erza and Lucy set up food and a blanket while Natsu tries to get Layla to spar with him.
"Come on! We don't even have to use magic, we could just have a little fight!"
"Oh fine, you dope," Layla says, with a small smile. It's taking her time, but I think she's slowly getting used to all of us.
I lean against a tree and watch them. Layla throws a punch at Natsu who returns with a roundhouse kick. They spar for a bit, and seem pretty well matched. It takes a few minutes for her, but soon Layla's laughing and having a good time with it. Erza, Lucy, and the two cats watch as well while the two siblings have fun.
To my surprise, and probably everyone else's, Layla turns out the victor.
"Regret your decision to fight me?" she says, with an amused laugh and helps Natsu back up.
"Wow! You've gotten so good! I can't wait to see you use magic!" Natsu says with a grin.
"We saw it earlier, remember? When she knocked us both down?" I remind him, sitting down at the picnic with the other girls.
Natsu sits next to Lucy with an annoyed look, putting his hands on his knees, "But we didn't see it. We were just, you know, attacked by it."
Layla walks over and sits in-between Natsu and I, "Maybe a bit later, Natsu," she says, nudging Natsu with a smile, "And anyways, it's not fair that you all know what magic I use when I don't know what any of you except Natsu uses."
"Oh, I forgot we haven't told you yet," Lucy says with a superior smirk, and takes out one of her keys, "I'm a Celestial Mage Wizard. Open: Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
Virgo comes out of a light and bows to Lucy, "Am I here for punishment, princess?"
"Wow!" Toby says, flying over to Virgo, "A person came out of your key!"
"It's a celestial spirit," Lucy corrects, closing the gate again, "Thanks Virgo."
"Not at all, princess."
Layla smiles, brightly instead of the small and timid one for once. It fits her. She looks a lot cuter and less small or weak. Layla's obviously not a weak girl, but her appearance did make me think that at first, "That's so cool, I've heard of Celestial magic before, but I've never seen a mage who could use that magic before!" she says, seeming really amazed.
"Oh, it's nothing at all," Lucy says, obviously happy with the praise. Knowing her, it'll probably go to her head.
I pick up a sandwich and start to eat it as Layla looks over at me, her blue eyes alive with curiosity like before, "What about you Gray? I heard Lucy say earlier that you're an Ice Mage, but what kind of ice magic do you use?"
Swallowing my sandwich I smirk, "Ice Make: Shield."
An icy wall appears a few feet to our right, Layla looks over at it and smiles a little, "I met a boy who uses similar magic to you. It's Ice Make magic, except his creations moved. It was a guy named Lyon, have you met him before?"
Lyon. Just the name makes me clench my fists in frustration. Everyone else except Toby also tense a little.
"What is it?" she asks. From her voice I think she feels as if she's done something wrong.
"Nothing, I know Lyon, we trained together. He's turned into a bit of a bastard now, but, you know."
She blinks at me, taking that in and sighs, "I'm not going to ask."
"My turn."
I look over surprised to see Erza standing, "Requip!" She requips into her Fire Empress armor, and then back before sitting back down to eat.
"All your magic is so diverse and powerful," Layla says smiling at all of us. We sit around, eat and talk for about an hour or so. Layla gets more comfortable and talks more than she has before. At one point Natsu and her share some joke that none of us get, but they find absolutely hilarious. The more Layla lets go and gets more talkative, the more I realize that I like her.
The fact she uses ice magic, her smile, eyes and laugh. She's more naive than Lucy, but also strong willed and defiant towards Natsu mostly, despite her small stature and innocent look. All of it's intriguing, but why? Why am I thinking about this, she's Natsu's sister.
Grunting I pick up another slice of cake and start to eat it, "You know Layla, I think it's your turn to show us your magic," I say, smirking at her.
"No!" Toby says, coming over to me, "Uh, I mean, she's too tired to."
"Come on, what's the big deal Tobias," Lucy says with a sigh, "Let her speak for herself too, I'm interested to see what Ice Dragon Slayer Magic is like. Erza nods in agreement and Natsu pulls Layla up to her feet.
"Have you figured out anything new since we were little?" Natsu asks an overwhelmed looking Layla. I can't tell what else she's feeling or thinking anymore, as if she's becoming more guarded again.
Taking her arm away from Natsu's grip, Layla gives in with a sigh and nods, "Fine, I'll show you," Toby flies over to her, looking like he's about to protest until Layla smiles reassuringly. Something's going on between those two, and they're not talking about it for some reason. It's also quite strange that Layla has been putting off using her magic for so long. Could it have to do with why she sounded tired after separating Natsu and I?
She walks over to the edge of the hill and summons ice around her like Natsu does with his fire. I notice that Toby's looking at her nervously, despite Layla seeming calm.
"Secret Art of the Ice Dragon Slayer! Crystal Storm: Piercing Ice Blizzard!"
We all look at her in amazement as ice comes out of a large magic circle in pure masses. It really was a piercing blizzard. Snow, icicles, and sheer cold went out above the valley that was down below. Once done, she looks over and smiles a little at us, "See?"
Toby flies over to her quickly, worry evident on his expression. I don't see any reason to be, considering Layla seems completely fine.
"That was so cool! You couldn't do that before!" Natsu grins, annoyingly over excited.
"It's been seven years, of.. of practice," Layla replies, sounding tired again. Huh. She starts to walk back over to everyone, and suddenly cries out in pain, clutching herself.
"Layla!" Tobias says, looking more worried. Before anyone can react Layla cries out in pain again and falls over, unconscious. I get up immediately and run over, Natsu having the same idea and we catch her before she can hit the ground. I look down and see her face extorted in pain, even though she's unconscious. Getting more worried I try and figure out what's going on.
"What happened?!" Natsu yells frustrated, not directed to anyone but just frustrated in general.
"I told you," Toby says, tears in his eyes, "I told you not to make her use her magic. And she overdid it too, to try and impress you guys."
Editor's Note: I hope you like the chapter. :) Sorry it's a bit of a cliffhanger, ;) Review and tell me what you think. :D