Warnings: Violence, Yaoi, Potential OOC, un-betaed (for the most part) and cursing.

Italics means memories or, in one instance, thoughts. The two are easily distinguishable by context, though. Enjoy~

"So... Care to tell me what the hell happened to you?"

Gray sighed and rolled his eyes, his gaze landing on anyone but Lyon, who was busily tending to the wounds he had accumulated during his brief, yet effective brawl with the annoying pinkette. He had originally passed it off as no big deal, to which the other merely grumbled and insisted on looking at his cuts and bruises nonetheless.

"Not particularly..." The raven murmured, wincing visibly as he felt added pressure on the wound the silverette was currently tending to on his chest, "Hey, jackass, be careful..."

"Just shut up and be grateful. Really, Gray, I thought you stopped picking fights with people back when we were with Ur."

"The bastard started it..." He grunted, uncaring as to how childish he sounded at the moment. After all, the flame brain was just asking for it! You don't just stalk someone and refuse to leave them alone without expecting some kind of repercussion. What he did was only justice, or at the very least, that was his defense.

"Who did you even get into a fight with? And where did you go this morning? By the time I woke up your bed was empty."

The dark blue haired boy shrugged slightly,

"I was out. Decided to take a walk, ya know? Then..." His voice trailed off for a moment as he sighed and finally glanced over at his comrade, who's gaze was glued to his wounds as he continued carefully mending to them, "I had a run in with Natsu..."

Immediately, Lyon glanced up from his work and rose an eyebrow, a silent order for him to continue,

"He wouldn't leave me the hell alone, so we got into a fight... The damn ash for brains doesn't know how to take a hint."

Huffing, the elder ice maker finished taping the last of the bandages onto the raven's chest before setting his sights solely on the male in front of him.

"I was afraid that was what happened..." He ran a hand through silver locks, "Damn it, Gray, next time don't leave without me. It looks like he got you pretty good. You have scrapes, bruises and a cracked rib... Or maybe it's broken... Hell, I don't know, I'm not a freaking doctor, and that's just what's on your sternum."

"Sorry..."
"You better damn well be." He sighed and shook his head, "At the very least tell me you got a few good hits on him."

Instantly a smug grin ghosted across the raven's face at the other's question,

"Like hell I did. He was in about as good a shape as I'm in now, hell, maybe even worse."

That news caused an equally smug simper to appear on Lyon's face and they each raised a clenched fist before bumping them together,

"At least your good for something, streaker."

"What's that supposed to mean, you damn albino?!"

A moment of silence passed between the two before they both burst out into simultaneous laughter.

"Just be careful next time. I won't always be so nice as to clean you up every time you decide to act like a bastard and start a fight."

"Yeah yeah, I guess I should thank you or some shit like that, so, thanks..."

The elder ice maker grunted in acknowledgement before packing up the first aid kit and standing up,

"Come on, you've wasted enough time. We need to get back to work."

"Right..."
With a huff Gray stood back up and stretched out his sore limbs, groaning softly as his injuries caused him slight discomfort. Damn it, now he wouldn't be able to move as swiftly and Lyon was sure to give him hell about it. It was all thanks to that stupid flame head.

He hesitated a moment, his gaze drifting to the far window as the image of the Salamander cluttered his head. That day's conversation and memories still draped over him, ruthlessly tugging at his heart. His old master had seen him and recognized him, that he was certain of. Great, now his plan to remain incognito was really going down the drain. He just hoped that the old man would leave him alone.

Countless questions coursed throughout him, giving him a headache, however there was one question that stood out from all the other chaos brutalizing his mind.

Was Natsu really telling him the truth?

For some reason a part of him desperately hoped that he was.

"Now," The master began, his eyes narrowed at the pinkette before him, who had finally dried off, had his injuries checked out and arrived at his office, "Explain to me what happened today."

"Well..." Natsu allowed himself a moment to pause as he stared down at his brown sandal clad feet, not exactly thrilled to have to recount everything that happened both today and years ago to his grandpa, "I woke up and fed Happy fish, 'cause you know he can never seem to get enough of those things. After that I went to that cool new restaurant named Mermaid Peel or something a few blocks down, but I was kicked out. Apparently starting three fights within the course of a week is 'ill mannered and unbefitting of a prestigious restaurant' or some shit like that. Then I came here early and totally kicked Gajeel's ass, as usual." He smirked at the memory, "Then I..."
"Dear Mavis, child, I don't care about any of that! Tell me what happened right before I found you fighting with that boy! Although, we will talk about you starting fights again at Mermaid Heel at a later date."

He gave the Salamander one of his rare harsh glares and the younger boy gulped. He knew that his grandfather was very serious at the moment, so prattling on about nonsense like he was was not a very good idea. He was met with no other option than to finally deal with the mistakes of the past and come clean.

"Okay, okay... Well... You know how I told you that I had hired ice sculptors to come and make the decorations for the ball Luce and I are having in a few days?"

Makarov nodded.

"One of them was Gray... I didn't recognize him at first, but there is only one person in the world who can get me angry just by looking at him, so that was how I knew he was the damn ice basta- I mean Gray."

His gaze flickered from the floor to the older male, an awkward silence settling throughout the small office and soon Natsu found himself absentmindedly threading his fingers through pink locks. The typical school themed chair seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable as he fought for the nerve to continue the tale, however he couldn't bring himself to look directly at the master, who sat formally behind the desk in front of him. The poor fighter could only hope that his grandfather did not think ill of him after he confessed to the one thing that he had hated himself for for the past seven years.

"I'm waiting, Natsu."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed, "I tried talking to the blockhead as soon as I found out who he really was, but he refused to listen to me. Then I followed him this morning. I was a ninja!" He simpered smugly, "He didn't even know I was there until I started talking to him! Then... We started yelling and then... We started fighting... But the ice prick started it!"

"That isn't descriptive, Brat." The white haired man clasped his hands on the wooden desk and stared at the fidgeting boy, "At least tell me why you two were fighting and why he thinks Fairy Tail isn't his family anymore."

Here it was. The question that he had been attempting to evade since the talk began.

"Okay... I'll start from seven years ago..."

"Is that the best you can do, pipsqueak?" Gray teased, a supercilious look on his face as he smirked down at the pinkette, who was on his knees, his breaths coming out in rough, shaky pants, "Can't take the great Gray? Not that I blame you."

"Shut the hell up, ice bastard." The scarf clad boy grumbled as he managed to stand back up, his fists clenched as he glared heatedly at his opponent, "I can take you any day, no sweat."

"Then prove it, Salamander" He mocked the name, "'cause so far you only seem to know how to fall down."
"I'll show you! GRR!"

Without warning Natsu jumped at the raven and tackled him to the ground. Immediately limbs thrashed as the two fumbled around, neither willing to submit to the other and thus the boys routine brawl continued. Every day, several times a day, the two would find themselves engaging in rough matches, however they were always solely playful. In fact, Natsu and Gray were unspoken best friends.

"That is enough, brats!" An irritated voice growled, causing both teens to pull away from their glare to look at the master, who stood before the two with an annoyed look on his old face, "You have already caused a mess in the gym!"

"He started it!" The two yelped simultaneously, both turning to point at the other, "Me?! Oh hell no!"
The master couldn't help but let out a low chuckle at the boys childish antics,

"Just go and get changed, brats. That's enough for today."
"But I'm not done! Come on! Fight me, Gramps!"

Rolling his eyes, the master stepped forward and, faster than either could see, he slammed his fist onto the top of the pinkette's head, effectively knocking him flat to the floor.

"Okay..." He gagged, his voice muffled by the mat on the floor, "We'll get changed..."

"Good." With that the elder nodded and turned, disappearing up the stairs.

"When will you learn to stop picking fights with people you can't handle, idiot?" Gray groaned, yanking at the other's scarf in order to pry him up from the ground, "Ugh, get up, dammit."
"You get up!" The young Salamander mumbled as he begrudgingly repositioned himself on his knees.

"What the hell? I'm the one standing up, moron!"

"Whatever... I still won our fight anyway."

"Keep dreaming, half wit, I totally won."

"As if!"

Feuding, the rivals trekked into the familiar locking room and quieted down as they went to their own individual lockers, which just so happened to be across from each other, and began changing from their training clothes.

It was when they were almost finished that they heard the sound of foot steps enter the large room.

Rolling his eyes, Gray ignored the noise as he slipped his plain blue t-shirt on and leaned down to work on lacing up his shoes. He had a pretty good idea as to who it was that entered and there was no way in hell he was going to hang out in here much longer. Maybe if he could just make it out in time they would leave him alone this time...

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Or maybe not..

The raven took a deep breath and closed his cobalt eyes before looking up from his shoe to the two forms that were looming over his crouching person,

"What the hell do you two want?"

Hesitantly, the black haired boy stood up and glared at the two intimidating older males, his face hiding the fear he felt. He had hoped that today he would be lucky enough to escape their teasing and bullying, but of course he had been stupid to think as much. They never left him alone, no matter how many times he asked and demanded for them to.

"You really don't learn your lesson, do you, shrimp?" Gajeel jeered, leaning down so his face was only inches from the younger boy's, "Then we'll just have ta remind ya. Gehehe."

Without warning the ice obsessed boy felt a fist plant itself firmly into his abdomen, which caused him to instantly cough and clutch at his stomach. Blood pooled in his mouth from where he bit his tongue and it took all his control to hold back a whimper and withhold the neutral expression on his face.

"Is that the best you can do?" His voice came out in a low croak.
"Look's like the jackass has attitude." Laxus sneered, a haughty tone to his voice as he stepped closer to the wounded raven, "Haven't you learned to just pipe down and take it like a good boy?"

"G-go to hell!"

Using all the strength he could muster, the boy swung at the blonde, only to release a high pitched yelp as his arm was harshly grasped and squeezed. Tears sprung to his eyes as it was twisted and pushed behind his back. Compared to the older teens he was small and weak, making it so no matter how hard he tried he could never seem to fend them off. He hated himself for that; for his uncanny and despicable inability to protect himself,

"S-Stop it! Damn it!"
"Why should I?" The blonde, older male purred, a low chuckle resounding from him at the pain inflicted upon the younger boy, "Make me. Oh wait, you can't. You're too weak."

The raven let out a small groan of compliant as he was slammed mercilessly against his locker, his chest and cheek taking the blunt of the shove. They would merely add to the list of bruises marring his porcelain skin.

"Hey, cut it out you guys!"

The blonde and long haired raven turned their attention from antagonizing the youngest among them to instead look at their step cousin, who stood uncertainly a few feet from them. The pinkette seemed to be inwardly arguing with himself, not sure whether or not he should get involved.

"You mean you are actually standing up for this pathetic freak?" The lightening scarred teen chuckled, turning to completely face the nervous Salamander, "I knew you were idiotic, Natsu, but not to this level. Maybe we should treat you just like this loser."

Immediately the boy gulped and shook his head,

"N-no way! Why the hell would I stand up for that moron? I... I just meant that you shouldn't waste your time on him..."

"Oh? So he isn't your friend then?"

Pleading cobalt eyes met emerald ones as Natsu spared a glance at the raven, who was now being held against the locker by Gajeel. A moment of silence passed before the salmon haired boy finally tore his gaze from his rival and looked down at the floor,

"No... He's not..."

A sly smile crept onto Laxus's face as he nodded smugly and once again turned to look at the ice lover, who held a disbelieving look on his face.

"Then hit him."

Natsu blinked,

"Huh...?"

"If he's not your friend and you don't like him then you will have no problem hitting him, right? Or are you lying to us?"

"N-No! Of course I'm not lying to you! I'll show you how much I hate the damn ice bastard!"

Gray couldn't help but stare at his so called friend as he felt his heart drop and tears spring to his eyes again. What did he mean they weren't friends? Of course they were... Right? They might have been rivals, but they were practically best friends! Why was Natsu saying this...? Why was he lying? Why was he betraying him...?

"Natsu...?" His voice was soft and almost cracking.

He watched silently as the pierced man shoved him forward so that he was facing the pinkette, who adopted his cousin's smug grin as he raised his fist towards the boy.

"Did I say you could say my name, scum?" He glanced over his shoulder at his two relatives, who merely cheered him on with an encouraging nod, "You're so damn spineless, Gray."

"What...? Why the hell are you saying this?!"

"Because you're pathetic." A tan fist connected with a pale cheek and the raven found himself stumbling back slightly at the blow.

Sure, the boys were accustomed to fighting with one another, however it was always either playful or for training. They never aimed to actually wound one another like Natsu was now.

Countless thoughts resounded throughout the raven's mind as he focused on the pain pulsing in his cheek, pain that was delivered by an individual that he thought he was safe with.

While the pinkette never helped him with fighting off his two brothers he never actually dealt a hand to the physical nor mental bullying he received. If anything he merely stood off to the side and goaded them on half- heartedly. But now... Now things had gone too far. Now the so called fire dragon slayer was no better than the other bastards who had nothing better to do than insult and injure him.

Gray bit his lip as his head lowered and his expression was covered by his black bangs,

"So that's how you feel, Natsu?" He shook his head, "Go to hell. All of you... Just rot in hell..."
"Looks like the pipsqueak has got sass." Gajeel smirked, appearing behind the ice fond boy before delivering a harsh kick to his back, which sent him tumbling to the ground. The boy didn't even let out a sound as his head connected with the edge of the lockers and his vision wavered.

"He's so weak. He gives Fairy Tail a bad name. I swear, Gramps is making this place a joke. Once he finally retires and leaves me in charge I'll get rid of all the losers like him and make this place actually worth something. It'll be the strongest gym in Fiore like it should be."

The blonde adjusted the coat that hung leisurely from his shoulders before turning to look at his grinning brother,

"Come on, Gajeel, we're just wasting our time here."

Laxus shot the barely conscious boy a glare as he stalked over to him and kicked him in the gut, simpering at the pained expression that crossed Gray's face,

"Just leave Fairy Tail already. No one wants you here. Isn't that right, Natsu?"

The pinkette bit the corner of his lip before staring back down at the brown floor,

"Right..."

"See? Not even your so called best friend cares about whether you're here or not."

He scoffed before turning to leave,

"You coming, brat?"

Immediately Natsu nodded and went to follow his two older step brothers, but before he turned the corner to leave the large room he cast his rival one last glance. He seemed to have managed to pry himself off of the ground and appeared to be nursing a wound he had sustained on his head, although the look on his pale face was what grabbed his attention and proved to be one that he would never forget. It was the look of complete and utter hatred and betrayal. It was an expression he never, ever, wanted pointed at him.

That was the expression of a boy who's trust was shattered.

What made it worse was that Natsu knew that he was the cause for it.

Uncertain as to what to say and not wanting his cousins to get upset, the pink haired boy sent his friend an apologetic look before leaving the locker room to catch up with his family. He would just have to apologize to his friend later, I mean, he would forgive him, right? He always did, so why would it be any different this time? After all, Gray Fullbuster just could never seem to hate Natsu Dragneel. The next time he saw the boy he would beg for his forgiveness.

Unfortunately for him, that was the last time he saw his best friend.

As the Salamander finished his tale he could vaguely feel the narrowed eyes glaring holes into his skull, however he held neither the urge nor the initiative to glance up at his grandfather.

"That's what happened..."
Silence filtered throughout the office as neither party decided to talk. It was only after what felt like hours of the uncomfortable quiet that the master spoke once more, his tone firm and authoritative,

"Why was I not told of his incident before?"

Bringing a hand up, Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he fidgeted from one side of the chair to the other,

"I was going to tell you... Really, I was... I was going to tell you after I apologized to Gray, but then he disappeared and I... I didn't want my cousins to get mad at me for betraying them and tattling..." His eyes closed in shame, "I know what I did was fucked up and if I could I would beat the hell out of my younger self for doing that to family, but..." He voice trailed off before another sentence began, "It was right after Igneel disappeared... I.. I just didn't want to be abandoned by the rest of my family... I didn't want them to think of me like they thought of Gray..."

Makarov shook his head sadly and closed his eyes, a low sigh escaping him,

"How long did this go on for?"

"A few months after Gray first joined the gym, so around 2 years, though the damn ice block refused to tell anyone else about it. I'm pretty sure Laxus, Gajeel and I were the only ones who knew about it."

" Dear boy, I had no idea that was going on... I will speak to Laxus and Gajeel about this and punish them accordingly." He glanced up at the pinkette, causing the boy to gulp, "As for you, I'll inform you of your punishment later. However there is one thing you clearly must do. I do not care how you go about it as long as it is completed correctly."

The master stood up from his chair and clasped his hands behind his back as he turned away from his grandson,

"Make amends with Gray. I'll go and talk to the boy myself as well."

"No!"

The white haired man sent the other male a questioning look, to which he received a determined stare,

"Don't. He told me not to tell anyone else that he is here... Let me win him back and bring him back here... I promise you that I will get him to come back to us!"

The master was prepared to argue, however the determination and regret glinting in emerald eyes was enough to convince him to back down. Natsu was serious about making it up to Gray and he saw no reason to get involved in a matter that he had no business stepping into. So long as he followed through with his vows Makarov would allow him to take control and clean up the mess he made seven years ago.

"Very well, my boy, though I am very disappointed in you." His gaze hardened, "I have half a mind to ban you from the upcoming Grand MMA games.-"

The pink haired man paled,

"-However, I won't. We need you three if we want to hold any chance of winning it again. I'll come up with an even crueller idea instead."

A malicious smirk crept onto the old man's face as he hid his expression from the tan fighter. Now he just had to come up with a fitting punishment for the three scoundrels. Thus the punishment game would begin.

The raven let out a small groan as he stalked through the familiar streets of Mongolia once more. The sun was now just beginning to disappear behind the horizon and the ice maker was already completely exhausted. He had been working all day and now wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

"Where the hell are we even going, Lyon? I'm tired of walking."

The white haired male rolled his eyes as he cast a sideways glance at his comrade, who seemed to be unconsciously stripping off his shirt,

"Stop stripping and complaining," He smirked at the surprised expression that clouded the other boy's face at the realization that he was, in fact, removing his clothes, "and we've only been walking for ten minutes. Maybe if you stopped getting into fights you would be able to walk further without getting sore."
"Oh shut up, jackass, I asked where we were going, not for lip."
"If you really must know we ar-..."

"Well look what we have here, If it isn't Gray Fullbuster. I thought you were dead!." A voice jeered from behind the two boys, which served to effectively cut the white haired male off and caused the raven to stiffen before reluctantly sparing a glance over his shoulder.

Standing just feet away from Lyon and himself were two men, one with short black hair that covered one of his eyes while the other had spiky blonde hair with a scar on the right hand side of his forehead. To say that he was startled by the appearance of these men would be an understatement, although it was rather a nice surprise.

"Hey, Sting, Rogue, long time no see."
He received a nod in response from Rouge and a grin from Sting,

"Tell me about it. What are you doing here?"

Gray smiled slightly and shrugged before stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black jeans,

"Well that's kind of a long story... Right now we're just looking for a place to get dinner..."
The silverette glanced from the blonde to the raven, an emotionless mask on his pale face as he studied the strangers before he sent a quizzical glance to his fellow artist,

"Friends of yours?"

He nodded,

"Yeah, you could say that. Rogue and Sting were sort of friends of mine back in middle school. Then we went to different high schools and I left Magnolia, so it's been a while..."
The raven jumped as he felt an arm being slung around his shoulders before he was pulled against a coat covered chest and bare midriff,

"You know it has! It's been too long!" Sting's grin widened before turning to face Lyon, "Who are you? Gray's boyfriend?"

Immediately a blush crept onto both ice maker's faces,

"W-what?! No! Why do you think that?! We just work together..." Gray stuttered, inwardly cursing at himself for the blush that he was certain was apparent on his cheeks.

"Oh, well a friend of Gray's is a friend of ours. What did you say your name was?"

The elder of the two artists sighed and crossed his arms,

"I didn't, but my name is Lyon."

"Lyon, nice to meet you!"

"Sting, stop acting so childish..." Rouge muttered, rolling his eyes at his brother's behavior.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Rouge. Come on, I know the perfect place for us all to eat dinner and catch up!"

"Hey! I don't remember inviting you to eat with us!" The raven grumbled as he was yanked forward by the blonde.

Oblivious to the other's words, the scarred man continued his trek forward, his hand wrapped snugly around his old friend's wrist. Soft footsteps trailed behind them, letting both men know that their other friends were following close behind.

"Wow Gray, I didn't know you were so popular." Lyon teased as he and Rogue followed behind them,

"Yeah, neither did I..."

I guess it will be alright to only let them know I'm back... Besides, its not like they are really on speaking terms with any of Fairy Tail or it's members... I'm sure they will keep the secret for me...

Pushing his thoughts and worries aside, Gray allowed a small smile to slip past his defenses as he turned to look at his friends. Maybe being back in his hometown wasn't such a bad thing after all.

If only he knew how much trouble coming back to his past would really bring him.

There we go! Another chapter down! Albeit, it's not one of my best and I can't say I'm completely thrilled with it I think it fits well enough. Next chapter the real plot with come into play (yes, there actually is a plot to this besides rekindling friendships).

I actually meant to post this a few days ago, but with Father's day, my birthday, my sister's birthday and my dad's birthday on Sunday things got a bit hectic.

That aside, I hope this helped answer the question as to what happened between Natsu and Gray that ruined their friendship. Later on it will also dwell more into the reasoning behind why Natsu did what he did.

Oh, I almost forgot! This is an important thing! I have only watched the Fairy Tail anime and am on episode 140, which, for the people that don't remember what part that is, it is right during the 'Key to the starry heavens arc'. To be specific it is literally right before they fight Oracion seis for the second time.

It is because of that that I have only a vague idea as to Rogue and Sting's personalities, so they will probably be pretty OOC. I wasn't originally planning on using them, but I couldn't think of any other characters to fill their roles, so, sorry 'bout that.

Now, on to the review responses!

AsDarknessSpreads: That's a good way to get more into a story ^.^ I do the same thing most of the time. As for Gray pairings, I have to agree. I ship a lot of guys with Gray, although my main two being Lyon and Natsu. Given, in this story Natsu does deserve to have some sense beaten into him... Anyway, your reviews always make me smile XD Thank you for reviewing!

Daddys little crazy bitch: Thank you, I'm glad you like it :) Thank you for reviewing!

Strife 134: Thank you, I'm really happy to hear that you like it ^.^ Thank you for reviewing and I hope you like the new chapter!

.oO: There we have it! The explanation as to what happened! I hope it answers all your questions and is seen as satisfactory :P. Thanks for reviewing!

Thank you everyone for reviewing, following and favoring! It means a lot to me that people like what I write and it motivates me to continue! See ya!