Natsu stared unblinkingly ahead, his rarely used mind reeling as he attempted to fathom just what was going on.

Gray… He wasn't sitting up in the seats Natsu reserved for him because he was instead in the arena, prepared to fight… For Sabertooth; Fairy Tail's most prominent rival...

This had to be a bad dream, he decided, finally blinking owlishly at the familiar raven. All he had to do was pinch himself and all this would be over… He would just wake up and laugh about how absurd his dreams could be…

But it wasn't. No matter how many times he pinched himself and regardless of how utterly idiotic he looked doing so he did not wake up.

This wasn't just a horrible dream after all.

The pinkette was so lost in shock, irritation and confusion that he almost didn't notice Juvia streak past him, her eyes brimming with tears as she raced towards the Sabertooth team.

Her mind too was whirling as she stared at the man standing now only feet from her, an all too familiar bored expression seemly etched onto his pale face.

This was him… This was the man she thought she had lost seven years ago…

This was her love, her light and her prince… He had come back to her after all… He was alive.

"Gray-sama!"

Upon hearing the odd nickname he hadn't been referred to in years, the raven turned to face the voice, only to be knocked down seconds later by a blubbering bluenette.

"Gray-sama!" The girl sobbed, her thin arms wrapping around her love's body tightly, almost as though she feared if she let go he would fade away again, "Gray-sama is alive!"

The ice sculptor paused for a moment, a startled look crossing his face as he glanced down at the sobbing girl clutching onto him for dear life. He wondered only for a brief moment who precisely the emotional girl was when suddenly realization hit him hard, causing him to freeze.

"J-Juvia is so happy! Gray-sama came back!"

Behind him, Gray could hear his other team mates walking over to them, no doubt wanting to find out just what the hell was going on.

"Juvia, I…"

His sentence drifted as the pretty martial artist finally pulled her face off of the raven's now wet red coat, her blue eyes glistening with relief and happiness. Looking her over, he couldn't help but realize how much she had changed since he last saw her.

He noticed that, despite her being one of the more modestly dressed of the girls present her coat was skin tight, showing off her curves for the world to gawk at. Her once flat chest and butt seemed to have grown during the years, giving her quite the sexy appearance. She had really filled out, he noted with a slight blush as he immediately diverted his attention before it went further south.

She had truly grown into a beautiful woman.

"Juvia missed you so much… Juvia… Juvia knew her prince wouldn't leave her… She knew you would come back…"

Her small body began to shake and Gray couldn't help but feel a tinge of pain in his chest. He hadn't realized the girl had missed him so much.

"Calm down, Juvia… It's okay…" The black haired boy mumbled, feebly patting Juvia's back in hopes that she would get off him soon and cease sobbing. He always was bad when it came to crying girls…

His words received a slight nod from the bluenette as she finally pulled away, her fear of him vanishing diminishing the longer she looked at the man.

She couldn't help but notice how much older he looked now… His once young and childlike face had narrowed out and his thin body was replaced with muscles, giving him an older appearance than what she remembered. He was definitely handsome, more so than before. However he still had that raven hair that looked almost midnight blue under some light, he still had that pale, almost porcelain like skin and those dull blue eyes…

Dull blue eyes…

Were they always that dull…?

She couldn't remember exactly, but she could have sworn they were brighter when he was younger; full of innocence and life… They no longer held that shine…

Juvia wondered just what Gray had gone through since she last saw him.

"Gray-sama, I…"

The girl was cut off when suddenly a loud, angry voice filled the arena, causing the audience's attention to shift from the almost love sick looking couple to the pinkette who was marching over to them, his tone rivaling that of a dragon's roar,

"Gray!"

Narrowing his eyes at the seething martial artist, Gray helped Juvia up before getting up himself, his cobalt eyes meeting emerald ones in a silent challenge.

"Miss me, flamebrain?" He jeered, smirking in hopes that his discomfort with the whole situation would remain unnoticed, instead he would cover it with a cocky and confident front.

"Like hell I did, you bastard! What are you doing here?!" His heated glare tore away from the raven to instead focus on the grinning blonde coming up to stand beside Gray, "And why the hell are you on that idiot's team?!"

"Cause Gray here wants to be on the winning team." Sting replied haughtily as he threw an arm around the raven's shoulders, enjoying the flash of jealousy on the fire slayer's face at the action, "So naturally he would want to join the best guild in Magnolia; Sabertooth."

"Sabertooth is nothing compared to Fairy Tail! Gray belongs to us; he's a part of our family!"

"Yeah?" Sting lulled, his grin turning into a devious smirk, "Then why did he join us instead, huh? Unlike you lot we treat him like a friend. You know, it's kind of ironic, really. Fairy Tail, the guild that prides itself on being so damn family oriented treated one of its members like dirt."

"It wasn't like that!" Natsu growled back, "Don't go on about things you don't know crap about!"

"Getting worked up, Natsu?" The blonde chuckled and shook his head, his smirk never leaving his scarred face, "To think I actually looked up to you when I was younger."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Are you trying to start something, bastard?!"

Clenching his fists, the pinkette glared daggers at the Sabertooth member looking over at the raven, who wore a blank expression.

"I'll save humiliating you for during the actual games." Sting shrugged.

"Why you…"

"Gray-sama… What are you doing…?"

The staring contest between the three boys seemed to stall as they all turned instead to look over at the soft voice that belonged to a confused and relieved Juvia.

"You wouldn't understand, Juvia." Gray muttered frankly, his tone turning softer as he addressed the rain woman, "Just know I have my reasons for what I do."

"Juvia knows that and… And Juvia knows what happened before you left Fairy Tail…" She couldn't help but pause as her beloved's eyes widened slightly at the news, but she continued nonetheless, "Juvia just… Just wants to know why Gray-sama is with Sabertooth now…"

"Yeah! Why the hell are you betraying Fairy Tail, Ice prick?!"

Immediately the ice sculptor's calm demeanor fell as he instead turned to glare at Natsu, an annoyed tch escaping him at his ex-friend's words,

"I'm the one betraying Fairy Tail? I knew you were stupid, Natsu, but now you're just plain moronic." He stepped closer to the Fairy Tail mage, his finger jamming into the chest of the other's purple one sleeved coat, scoffing "You are a damn hypocrite, you know that? That's why I joined Sabertooth. I'm going to show you the pain I went through when you betrayed me."

From the corner of the raven's eyes he could vaguely make out Lyon's form come to stand beside him, his arms crossed as he stared boredly at the man that seemed to annoy his younger surrogate brother so much.

"Don't do this, Gray…" The salamander warned, his tone low.

"It's already too late." The raven sneered.

"Fine…" Crossing his arms, the pinkette glowered at his former friend, "Then let's make a deal."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Opting to ignore the ice sculptor's question, Natsu turned to Sting, a determined expression appearing on his tan face as he regarded the blonde in what seemed to be disdain.

"If we win, Gray will join Fairy Tail again."

Sting couldn't help but snicker at the audacity of the moron.

"There's no way you and your pathetic little fairies can beat us."

"What, are you afraid of losing, blondie?"

"Of course not." Smirking, the scarred blonde tuned out the raven's protests that he was 'not a thing to be won' and held his hand out to the fire dragon slayer, "Fine, but when Sabertooth wins he stays. Do we have a deal?"

Returning the other's haughty expression with one of his own the Fairy Tail mage nodded and took the others hand, only shaking it for a moment before retracting it once more, his gaze drifting to the ice sculptor as he spoke,

"Deal."

Get ready to come back to Fairy Tail, Gray.

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"Natsu… Are you okay…?"

Finally tearing his gaze away from that pillar that he was subconsciously glaring a hole into, the pinkette looked over at the blonde sitting beside him, a worried look on her pretty face,

"Just fine…"

His tone came out in a low growl, causing the girl to flinch slightly at the malicious tone that was so unusual for her cheerful friend. Something was definitely wrong.

Noticing his friend's reaction, the salamander sighed softly and ran a hand through his unnatural pink locks,

"Sorry, Luce, didn't mean to be mean or anything like that…"

"It's okay, Natsu…" The blonde silently assured, reaching out to hesitantly touch the other's shoulder. She paused for a moment upon contact, making sure her comrade would accept the touch before she gently rubbed his back, attempting to calm him down in the only way she really knew how.

The games had ended around an hour ago and the two business partners were now gathered in the Fire Slayer's house, getting ready for the party that was scheduled to begin in half an hour.

Well, rather, Lucy was getting ready for the event whilst Natsu took to merely glaring heatedly at a fixture in the house, almost as though he was attempting to burn a hole into it with looks alone.

He had been like that ever since they had arrived at the house and the blonde had only a vague idea as to why that was. After all, it didn't take a rocket science to deduce that the little scene he made earlier in the arena in the games was still bothering him, but that was pretty much all she knew.

That and the fact that for one reason or another her friend was fixated on being around that black haired ice sculptor.

But she personally had not the slightest idea as to why everyone was reacting the way they were to seeing the dark blue haired boy in the games, I mean, sure, she was a little surprised to see the guys who made their ice sculptors for that night's party entering the tournament under a rivaling team, however she hardly saw how that warranted the outburst it did.

Why did it trouble all her friends so much that that Silver or Gray, or whatever his real name was, was competing? It just didn't make sense to her and so far no one seemed to want to clarify things.

"It's not okay…"

Torn away from her own inner musings by the sudden voice, Lucy blinked at the pinkette's late response.

"What do you mean…? I know that it was surprising to see the ice brothers enter the competition for that Sabertooth team, but they are just workers, it doesn't really matter what they…"

"You don't understand."

"Huh?"

"You don't know who that is, do you? Who Gray is?"

His question was met with a moment of silence as the blonde seemed to consider that for a moment, her thin index finger coming up to tap her lower lip in thought.

"Well, now that you mention it I think I heard that name before somewhere… But I don't remember anything about it…" She finally admitted, her memory drawing a blank.

"Yeah… I thought so…"

"Well…" She rubbed her forearm somewhat awkwardly, uncertain as to how to help her brother figure get through a dilemma she knew nothing about, "You can talk to me about it, you know… I mean, if you want to…"

"Yeah… Thanks, Luce, but it's a long story…"

"We have half an hour…" She offered.

"That's true… Well…" Letting out yet another sigh, the scarf clad individual nodded to himself and directed his attention solely to the blonde sitting at the kitchen table beside him, "I'll tell you about it, just… Promise me you won't think differently about me… Okay…?"

Lucy smiled gently at her friend, her hand coming to rest lightly on Natsu's shoulder,

"Nothing could ever make me see you any differently, I promise."

"I hope you're right…"

Pausing a moment to collect his thoughts, Natsu began his story, admitting facts that he had never told anyone before, facts that made him feel as though he was nothing more than scum.

He visibly flinched as he recounted all the times he was pressured into verbally and physically hurting his best friend and he felt the urge to bang his head against the wall as his regrets nearly choked him.

Damn it… He didn't blame the raven for leaving like he did… After all, it wasn't as though he had anything really to come back to other than a friend who betrayed him and a guild who ignored the bullying he was suffering.

"Oh, Natsu, that's horrible…" The blonde gasped, unable to believe that her friend, the guy who was always so loving and protective of his friends, was the same guy in the story that was being so cruel to his closest comrade…. It just didn't sound right… "You have to apologize to him…"

"I did. Several times. He just won't accept it, but I guess he has every right not to… I probably wouldn't be so forgiving of that either… But times were different back then… It was right after Igneel left and I… I just didn't want to lose what was left of my family…"

"I understand, Natsu…" Lucy assured, gently rubbing her best friend's back, "People change, I know you would never do anything like that now. You just have to prove that to Gray…"

"But how? I can't even talk to the guy without him giving me the cold shoulder…"

"Hm…" Thinking about that for a moment, the blonde suddenly smiled, an evil glint in her brown eyes as she turned to look fully at the pinkette once more, "We need a plan!"

Jumping up, the Dragon Slayer looked at the preppy girl with confusion,

"A plan?"

"Yes, a plan! You need to talk to Gray without any interruptions, right? Well leave it up to me! I'll talk to Levy about it and make sure that tonight you two will have time to make up."

"Uh…" Feeling a bead of sweet drip down his temple at the sudden malicious look on Lucy's face Natsu merely nodded.

"Great! In that case I'll get Aires and Virgo to finish setting up the party. Just don't you worry about a thing, Natsu, I'll make sure that you get your love!"

"My love?!" Natsu squawked, a blush quickly rising to his cheeks as he stared at the now leaving blonde in bewilderment and embarrassment, "What the hell?! Who said anything about me loving that damn icicle obsessed freak?!"

"Oh, Natsu," The girl winked, "Us girls can spot a love sick man anywhere and you always were bad at hiding your feelings. It's obvious that you don't just want to be friends with him again."

Pausing at the tentative look crossing the man's face, the blonde quickly gave him a reassuring smile before turning a corner , making her way down the hallway,

"Don't worry, I'll keep your little secret. You can count on me."

Wordlessly the dragon slayer stared at where his business partner disappeared, only the distant sound of her heels against the marble floor piercing the quiet house, leaving Natsu confused, embarrassed and feeling like he just needed a nap.

However that luxury was not to be, for only moments after the sounds of the blonde's shoes faded away the sounds of two others, entered the air, causing the fighter to glance over at the doorway curiously. He wasn't expecting any visitors yet.

"Salamander!"

Groaning outwardly, the pinkette rubbed his face with his hand, knowing that voice all too well.

He didn't even have to answer before two shapes appeared in the doorway of the room, equally annoyed expressions marring their features as the men took to glaring at the lone inhabitant of the room.

"Hey, Gajeel, Laxus…" He mumbled, "To what do I owe the pleasure of having you two here…?"

"Cut the shit, Salamander." The black haired man growled, advancing further into the room so that he was standing only inches from the younger male, "You know damn well why we would be here."

Standing up to face his angered cousin, Natsu sneered,

"I thought I wouldn't have to see your ugly faces until later."

Just barely managing to suppress the irresistable urge to punch the shorter man in the face Gajeel merely glowered at the other's sarcastic comment, about to reply when another voice cut him off,

"What is going on, Natsu?" Laxus inquired, his big arms crossed, "What the hell is Gray doing alive?!"

Growling in frustration the fire dragon slayer clenched his teeth, angered by the mere idea of Laxus daring to utter the raven's name.

There was certainly no peace to be had that night, that much Natsu was sure of.

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Okay, first of all, I am so sorry you guys. I didn't even realize a month and a half had passed since I last updated with a cliff hanger. Because of that I decided to update as soon as I could, which meant this chapter could not be as long as I had originally hoped, but I knew that if I didn't update this now it would take even longer, so here's the part that I know a lot of you have been looking forward to.

Also, I have good news for everyone hoping for more interaction between them. Next chapter will have fluff! After all, this story really needs some, don't you think?

Anyway, thank you everyone for following, favoriting, reading and reviewing, it really motivates me, especially when you guys tell me something that you would like to see in my story. Who knows, something you say might just motivate me into adding something else in :P
Hope you guys like it and once again sorry for ending it where I did.