/Author's Note/
Chapter 6! A little bit angst here.. But not too much. Hehe..
Sorry for every mistakes in grammars and spellings..^^;
/Special Thanks to/
darkhuntressxir , AznAkatsuki , Indh13
for the review! ^^ I decided to take this story just like the beginning. Hehe..
/Disclaimer/
Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. Not mine.
Chapter 6 / From Anger to Better
The group started to walk again following the path in the forest. 4 days left to turn Natsu back to his human form. According to the gatekeeper's information, they should be arrived at the nobleman's house by the evening.
As usual, they walked while chatting to each other. But today was different, for Gray and Neko-Natsu. They hadn't spoken to each other since this morning. Neko-Natsu even stayed on Erza's shoulder to have his paws resting, not like he usually did on Gray's shoulder. While Gray was walking backmost of the group, keeping a little distances from the others.
What's wrong with him! Gray thought while watching Neko-Natsu. I haven't told him anything! Yet, he acts like he's avoiding me! He felt a little bit upset.
They walked peacefully without any interruption. Sometimes, they would stop to rest for a while. But still, the ice mage and the black kitten neither looked nor spoke to each other until noon.
"What's wrong with you, guys?" Lucy finally asked, couldn't keep it in her mind anymore. "You're acting…weird.. Are you guys fighting or something?"
"Nyo." "Yes." Neko-Natsu and Gray said in unison.
"Huh? Which one is the right one?" Lucy was confused because of their different answers.
"Mew." "Me." Again, in unison.
Suddenly, Erza came after took some water from a pond and interrupted. "Are you guys fighting?"
The two just gave a 'tch' as the answer. That was the first time they dare to 'tch' in front of Erza. It's like they didn't care anymore about what's gonna happen to their life.
Surprisingly, Erza didn't get angry at all. Instead, she told the two to keep their heads cool. "Look, boys. I don't know what's gotten into you both, and I'm too tired to deal with you. There's a small pond over there not far from here. Just cool your heads there and don't you dare come back before both of you finished cooling down."
Not wanting to be scolded any further, both Gray and Neko-Natsu walked toward the small pond with Neko-Natsu following behind Gray, but still had some gaps between them.
"Is that really okay, Erza?" Lucy asked worriedly.
Erza sighed. "Boys.. They will always be boys no matter what. But they're still best friend after all. I'm sure they could manage it themselves without us. They're mature enough to solve their own problem, aren't they?"
Lucy smiled. "Yep. They always are.."
Erza smiled. "Happy, prepared the camera." Her attitude suddenly changed into an eager one.
"Aye!" Happy grabbed the camera and flew to the pond.
Lucy just 'haha'ed plainly. And Erza and Happy will also always be like this. Haha..
=====meow=====meow=====
..On the side of the pond..
The two sat with some distances between them, just looking at the pond and refused to look at each other.
"Mwhat's wrong with myou, meow?" Neko-Natsu finally broke the silence.
"What's wrong with me what?" Gray asked with a little bit harsh tone.
"You told Lucy that we're fighting, meow…"
"Well, aren't we?"
"But we're nyot-"
"Then why are you avoiding me since this morning, huh?" Gray yelled, making Neko-Natsu shocked by the angry tone in his voice. "I didn't know what I've done wrong to you! I found you when you're missing, I lent you my shoulder for taking a rest, I saved you from those wolves,and I even help you to turn you back to normal!"
Neko-Natsu couldn't find any words to defend. He just stared at Gray's angry face, afraid of what's he's gonna say afterward would just make it even worse. Suddenly, tears started to run from his eyes down to his fluffy cheek. "Mw-mwhat..? Mwhy am I…?" He finally realized he was crying but he couldn't stop the tears. "I-it won't…stop… H-haha… S-stupid mew.. meow.. H-haha.." The black cat tried to laugh the tears off while rubbing his teary eyes with his paw, hoping the tears would stop from pouring, but fail instead.
And that's when he felt a pair of strong arms hugging him. "…Sorry, Natsu… I didn't mean to be mad at you.." Gray apologized while hugging the black kitten. "It's just that.. I was so upset seeing you suddenly avoiding me because I didn't even know what my fault is.."
Neko-Natsu just sobbed in Gray's embrace. "I…I'm so..scareed..meow…*sniff* E-ever since I'm… trapped in this *sniff* kitty form.. I felt..*sniff sniff*.. so weak.. and vulnerable…meow" Gray just 'uh-huh'ed in a very small volume and hugged the black kitten tighter.
"And then… Something came into my mind, meow.." Still sobbing. "What if…we fail, meow? And I'm gonna be a kitten forever, meow…"
Gray patted Neko-Natsu's head, smiling. "Don't worry. We won't fail." And then he grinned. "Even if we failed and you're still stuck in that kitty form… I will keep you with me." Neko-Natsu's eyes widened. "As a pet." Gray smirked while adding another sentences.
"Mw-mwhaatt? Like I would wanna be myour pet, meow!" Neko-Natsu bursted out, forgetting about his sadness.
"Hahaha. Kiddiiiinngg~.." Gray laughed. "But it's true that I'm still gonna keep you if something goes wrong, you know. Hehe.."
Silence…
"…I didn't mean to…avoid you..meow.." Neko-Natsu said again. "I was just having a lot of thoughts in my mind, meow. And don't wanna bother myou anymore with my problems. Myou already help me a lot, Gray. I just need some times to think and calm myself down. That's all, meow.. So, I'm terribly sorry if it looks like I'm avoiding myou, meow…" Neko-Natsu looked down.
Gray watched the black kitten and patted his head. "You know.. You could always talk to me, kitty. I'll always be there to hear your thoughts." Gray grinned. "So, what's in your mind anyway?"
"...Uh… I'm…meow…"
"You're…?"
"I'm…confused…about my own feeling, meow.." Neko-Natsu blushed. "I don't know if it's really just my 'cat sense' that drives mew insane, meow… But I think.. I started to feel… 'thing' for you, meow… B-but don't get mew wrong, meow! It could be just because of my 'cat sense', meow!" Please don't hate me after this, Gray..!
Gray remained silent for a while until he opened his mouth. "What if I say… 'I might have a 'thing' for you too'?"
"M-meow?"
"Look, Natsu. I don't care if it's just because of your 'cat sense' or whatever it is." Gray said. "But I'm definitely gonna make you fall for me after you became human again." The ice mage smirked.
"Mw-mwhat did myou say, meow?" Neko-Natsu blushed even more. M-making me fall for him? "Myou're serious, meow?"
"Why wouldn't I? Hahaha." Gray laughed at Neko-Natsu's priceless face. "So…, friends for now?" He offered a hand-shake.
Hesitated, but the black cat finally took the offer and gave Gray a paw-shake. "..Mokay, friends, meow."
"But only until you turn back to human. And after that, let's become 'more' than just friends." Gray smirked while the two were still shaking hand. "This hand-shake is the proof of our promise!"
"I haven't say yes, meow!" Neko-Natsu tried to pulled his paw back but Gray's grip was too strong so he failed miserably.
"Well, you just did say 'yes'." Gray finally let go of Neko-Natsu's paw. "You better be ready…, kitty.." Gray said as he poked Neko-Natsu's forehead with his forefinger. "Because I'm very bad at giving up." He smirked at the black cat.
=====meow=====meow=====
"Finished?" Erza asked the two who had just arrived.
"Myep." "Yep." The two said in unison.
"You two are really match with each other." Happy said.
"Yes, we are. Right, kitty?" Gray ruffled Neko-Natsu's head who immediately threw a glare to the ice mage.
"Okay then. Shall we continue walking? We almost there, I supposed." Erza stood up and grabbed her belongings. And they started to walk again for a few more hours until almost sunset.
"A house! I can see it!" Happy pointed at the house direction while flying. "It's not far from here."
Finally they arrived at the front gate of the nobleman's house.
"It's…huge.." Lucy was very astonished.
On the edge of the forest, they could see a very board grassland which happened to be the nobleman's garden. And at the end of the grassland, there's a house, or more like a palace, with the mountain as it's background.
Erza pressed the 'welcome' button in front of the gate. And a voice came out from the little speaker.
"Mr. William's residence. Who is it?" said the voice from the speaker.
"We're members from Fairy Tail guild. We have an urgent necessary with Mr. William. Do you mind letting us in to meet Mr. William in personal?" Erza said.
"Ah, yes, Fairy Tail. Of course we don't mind at all. Okay, just walk through the gate until you reach the house. I'll open the gate for you now."
The gate was suddenly opened automatically. And all of them walked through it until they finally reached the house. Exhaled, Erza knocked the door.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
A/N: In the next chapter there will be OCs in order to complete this story. ^^