Warnings: Violence, cursing, angst, and Yaoi. Don't like, don't read~
In turn Natsu smirked and positioned himself for a fight. When words couldn't breech Gray's ice cold defenses than fists always could.
Natsu snickered and dodged the raven's attack, unleashing one of his own, to which the other evaded as well.
Gray growled and struck again, his determination surging as he fought the urge to leave. He was damn tired of running away from the Salamander like a scared little kid. All he did last time was run and it got him no where. Now he refused to flee, instead he would fight and beat the shit out of this cocky bastard once and for all.
A smirk crept onto pale lips as his punch met the pinkette's stomach, rewarding him with a 'umph'.
"Look's like you aren't half bad, snow queen," The fighter cooed before hitting the ice maker with his own kick, which sent him stumbling back, "But you still aren't any match for me! I'm all fired up!"
"Shut the hell up and prove it then, dimwit!" Gray growled, ignoring the pain as he continued his rough attacks against the other man, his adrenaline raging with every moment, "I'm not weak like before. I don't need anyone's help, especially not yours!"
They continued their rough blows, missing some and hitting others, however their attacks didn't lessen with time, if anything they only harshened. Neither wanted to lose to the other.
"I'm going to knock some sense into you!" The taller man growled, "Maybe than you will just give up already and go back to how you were, ice block!"
Grunting, Natsu wiped a stream of blood from his busted lip. Inwardly he was honestly quite surprised by the ice maker's fighting skills. He supposed that Gray had kept up with his fighting over the years as well, however he still was no match for a world class martial artist. Or at least, that was what the pinkette thought.
"Shut the hell up!" The dark blue haired male slammed his fist into the other's sternum, causing him to step back, "Get this through that thick skull of yours. I am never going to be like I was."
Their brawl lasted for several minutes until finally Gray managed to duck under Natsu's kick. From there he took his chance and grasped the muscular leg before swinging him around and tossing him unceremoniously into the river.
"God dammit, snow cone!" Natsu roared, spitting water from his mouth as he swiftly swam towards the riverbank, "I hate water!"
"Good," The raven sneered, wiping at the blood running down his cheek before crossing his pale arms in defiance, " Are you still so fired up, Natsu? Cause to me you look more watered down."
"Bastard! I'll make you pay for that!"
He trudged out of the water and clenched his fists, glaring daggers at the other male.
He received a snicker in response and the sculptor shook his head,
"It's over, Natsu. Just forget about me. I died, remember, fire breath? Just leave it at that."
"Like hell I will, Gray! You are alive, I can't just ignore that. I could never do that to a friend."
"I am not your friend. I'm just someone you employed." He grumbled and closed his eyes, his hands jamming down into his pants pocket as he turned his back to the pinkette. All his resolve to fight ebbed away and now he just wanted to be alone.
Not sparing the other another look, Gray turned and began walking away.
"No way! I'm not done talking to you, you damn coward!"
"You really haven't changed, have you, bastard? Well I have and it's high time you accepted that. Honestly, you are acting like a child."
"Nah ah!"
The pinkette paused for a moment and mentally slapped himself. Okay, so maybe he was acting just the slightest, tiniest bit like a child, but not without reason! Gray was acting like a stubborn little brat too!
Letting out a low, feral growl, the fighter lunged forward once more and tackled the other male to the ground. With one swift movement he turned the raven so he was laying on his back with the so called dragon slayer straddling him. Tan hands gripped pale wrists and held them above the captured man's head in order to further prevent any attempts of escape. There was no way he was going to let that damn jackass leave yet.
"Natsu..." The ice maker's voice was low and dripping with venom, causing Natsu to suppress the urge to shiver. Never before had the other uttered his name with such irritability and disdain. Maybe he was right after all, this wasn't the Gray he remembered from all those years ago. This man was almost a stranger to him and to be quite honest that scared him.
"Why the hell do you keep trying to run away from everything?!"
The dark blue haired male gritted his teeth and struggled against the pinkette's strong grip, to no avail. Damn, Natsu really had gotten a lot stronger after all these years. With an irritated huff Gray merely turned his head to the side and stared at the river, his voice low as he hesitantly replied,
"I don't know what the hell you are talking about. I'm not running away from anything, dammit!"
"Really? Because turning your back to me and trying to walk away from the conversation sure looks a hell a lot like you are."
"You're such a damn hypocrite! At least I face my problems, I'm back in Magnolia, aren't I?! You couldn't even do that before!"
"Shut up!" The older male seethed, his eyes clenching shut as he visibly trembled. From what exactly, he wasn't certain. Rage surged within him, however hurt was also apparent, however he went with the latter. Gray was just spouting nonsense. After all, the past was the past and he couldn't do anything about it now... right?
"Just shut the hell up already! You keep saying that!"
"Then just leave me alone."
Tentatively, emerald eyes opened to meet cold cobalt ones, feeling his heart twist painfully as he noticed the solemn and empty look in those blue pools. That was the look of a man who had been through more hell than anyone his age, hell, anyone of any age should have to endure. The salamander only wished that he knew just what exactly those orbs had seen; just how much pain their master had experienced in the last 7 year.
But unfortunately it seemed as though his eyes were about as lifeless as his entire being, making it so he shielded himself from the world.
Slowly, the pinkette felt his resolve to fight lessen as his gaze instead turned to rest on the scar marring the other's porcelain forehead.
What could have caused that? What could have managed to freeze this boy's heart to such a painful extent?
"Gray..."
Was he truly the one responsible? Was he the reason why Gray experienced so much grief and agony?
Natsu's attention was swiftly ripped away from Gray as his superior hearing made out the sound of foot steps nearing them. Instinctively he leapt up from his position over the ice maker and whirled around, swallowing a groan as he saw just who was standing before him. A pointed glare was directed straight at him from the new individual and he offered him a small, innocent smile. Damn it...
"Really, brat,you just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Makarov sighed, shaking his head before bopping the complaining dragon slayer on the head, "I was hoping to just take a nice and relaxing walk before classes and what do I find? You fighting yet again with a citizen." He tched.
Why of all people did it have to be him that found them like this? He knew that he would now be in a boat load of trouble, seeing as it was just the day before that this very same man had scolded him for starting another fight with Sting, a fighter from the Sabertooth dojo. He had said something along the lines of ' You shouldn't use your skills for personal brawls' and how it 'went against the policy of the Fairy Tail dojo', although he wasn't really listening at the time. That smug bastard deserved it.
"It's not my fault, gramps!" He grumbled, crossing his arms as he pouted. ignoring the steady stream of water that dripped from his hair and into his face, swiftly mixing with the blood smeared across his cheeks from a few, small cuts, "He started it!"
The Fairy Tail master simply sighed once more,
"I don't care who started it, I am ending it." He looked over at the other male, suppressing the urge to face palm. This would just prove to provide even more paperwork that he would have to tend to from the Magnolia police department, that is, if the other male was set on pressing charges, "I apologize for this loudmouth's act-..."
His voice cut off as he studied the other closer, his eyes widening...
"Oh dear Mavis..."
Gray, on the otherhand, felt his breath catch in his throat and a cold feeling clenched his stomach as he stared at the all too familiar elder before him. If meeting Natsu wasn't hell than seeing this person again certainly was.
Damn it, god dammit all! This was not happening, this was NOT who he thought it was!
Instinctively, the raven reached down to his neck to pull the hood back up to cover his head, only to curse inwardly at himself at the realization that he was no longer wearing it. At some point during the brawl he had lost it, so instead he stood there before the Fairy Tail master clad in nothing more than his black jeans and sneakers.
"Gray..." Makarov whispered, stepping closer to the familiar looking teen, "Is that you...? Dear boy..."
Yes, the elder was certain of it. He may be old, but he certainly wasn't dumb. He would recognize that head of raven locks and sword necklace anywhere. One of his children that he thought he had lost long ago was back.
Their eyes met for several moments as silence overtook them.
Not knowing what else to do, the dark blue haired youth finally ceased fighting his instincts and did the one thing he was best at.
He grabbed his hoodie and ran.
"Wait! Gray! Come back here now!"
He could hear both Natsu and Makarov calling him, demanding for him to come back, but he only sped up.
There was no way in hell he was facing any more of the people from his childhood.
"Natsu!" The old man swiftly turned to look at the pinkette, disbelief clouding his wrinkled features, "That was Gray? You were fighting with Gray?!"
The salamander nodded slightly before swiping both sweat and blood from his face with his forearm,
"Yeah, that was him alright, gramps."
He earned another smack on the head.
"Ow, what the hell was that for, gramps?!"
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that Gray was here, brat?! How long have you known he was still alive?!"
"Not long," Natsu assured, "I just found out the other day myself..."
Suddenly everything in the old master's mind clicked.
"Is that why you asked about him?"
His only response was a nod.
"Then... Where has he been all these years? Why didn't he return to Fairy Tail?" His eyes narrowed, "And why were you fighting with him?"
"Well..." The younger boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he contemplated how precisely he wanted to phrase everything that had occurred between himself and Gray, including the last few days and the day before he disappeared, "He... Damn it, he didn't want to come back to Fairy Tail because he felt it wasn't his home anymore and it's all my fault."
The gray haired master studied the boy for a moment before clasping his hands back behind his back and turned around, starting to walk towards the dojo,
"First you are going to dry off before you catch a cold and then you are going to explain to me why exactly it's your fault that Gray left. Do I make myself clear, brat?"
"A-aye..."
I'm kinda alright with how this turned out... Oh well, fighting scenes aren't exactly my forte, but I suppose it turned out well enough.
Anyway that aside, the full story as to what happened between Natsu and Gray will be explained next chapter and I apologize for prolonging their getting together for the last few chapters, I just wanted to set the atmosphere a bit more. I'm also not one of those authors that plans everything out ahead of time, so this is just coming out as I think it up XD Not to worry though, their next encounter will be much more eventful and somewhat more heartfelt.
On a side note, the newest chapter of Fairy Tail was amazing, although they the name of the chapter didn't fit so well with what happened -_- I wanted Gray to make some big comment about how Silver was his dad, like the name suggested, but instead he just basically kidnapped him (which was amazing and hilarious, don't get me wrong)... Ah well... I look forward to how Natsu will react to that, that is, if he actually is shown to outwardly react.
On to the review responses!
DreamscomeTRUEEE:I'm glad XD Because that may or may not have been part of what happened ;)
AsDarknessSpreads: Yes, Gray has been through quite a bit so far in his life. Poor thing... But at least things will start looking up... Eventually... As for running away, he was more dwelling on his anger. All his life he had been running away from his past, so he finally had enough and decided to try to stand up to one of the demons he tried to forget. I also see you are a LyRay lover, I am too~ But honestly, your comment made me laugh. It's funny to see you analyzing the characters, although I'm glad you like it :D.
Rewinsan: Sorry, I wasn't aware that I made that scene that scary. How exactly Gray did manage to survive that will be addressed later on though~
Nori of the sea: Yeah, bullying is unacceptable in any manner. Regardless of if Natsu actually did the bullying or merely goaded it on, though that will be explained more in depth next time~
G. Night: Aw, I'm sorry! *hands tissue*
.oO: Thank you ^.^ I'm glad you liked that chapter :D
Daddys little crazy bitch: Thank you, I'm glad :)
mooney-996: Yay, thank you!
Summer's finally here, so I will be updating more often! Hopefully! Next to update is 'To thaw a frozen heart'. Thanks everyone for reading!