Chapter 12:

Ashkar's POV:

I felt so embarrassed when I heard that coming from Gray. I was so happy that he felt the same way, but sad because I could never go back to Fairy Tail as regular old Ashkar. They know how I look and now know me as Nakar. The old Ashkar was gone. I felt sad to admit it but I felt horrible and miserable. The boy I loved, loved me back but we couldn't be together. I can't risk that happening again. I look back for a second and he has a confused look on his face. I felt guilty that I couldn't answer any more questions. Otherwise he would figure out I was the real Ashkar. I quickly walked away and checked to see how everyone else was doing. Once I was reassured that they all were fine and I unfroze Juvia, I headed to my apartment. I stepped into the bathroom for a nice and soothing bath when I heard shouting in my living room. I quickly threw on some clothes and grabbed a frying pan on my way to investigate the noises. I go downstairs and saw someone.

Without thinking, I immediately whacked the person in the head with my eyes closed. I slowly open my eyes to see that I smashed Natsu in the head. Happy was hovering over him trying to wake him up. I look around to see Gray, Erza, and Lucy. I see Gray holding his hands up while Erza quietly eats cake. Lucy had summoned Virgo to protect her.

"Whoops!" I slowly bring down the frying pan. Just then I realized something.

" WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE IN MY HOUSE?! THIS IS MY PROPERTY! YOU CAN ONLY COME IN IF I SAY SO! WAIT….HOW DID YOU GET IN?!" I start screaming like crazy when Gray starts to explain things.

"You see….it was Natsu's idea! So we followed him in".

"WHY WOULD YOU FOLLOW THAT FLAME-BRAIN?"

"Um…"

Suddenly Lucy spoke up.

"Don't worry, I feel your pain. You'll get used to it sooner or later. And BTW Gray ...your clothes."

"Agh! Where did they go again?!"

I started laughing so hard I fell over.

"What's so funny Nakar? You smashed Natsu in the head! Now he is dead!" Happy wailed.

"No he is not. He is just unconscious…."

"And it's all your fault Nakar!"

"Shut up, Cat!"

As Happy and I argued, Natsu woke up.

"Huh…...oh hey Nutcracker."

"My. Name. Is. ASH-NAKAR!"

"Whatever…"

I glared at Natsu . I look back at Gray, Erza, And Lucy when I notice Gray looks a little uneasy. I have a feeling he came here for answers. Happy smiles all of a sudden which worries me.

"I see you Gray...You LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE her!"

"No, I DON'T! SHUT UP, CAT!"

Gray starts blushing madly, and I know he is just trying to keep his cool. I smile at him, and he turns away. They all leave but Gray stayed back. He said he wanted to talk to me in private.

"So Nakar...about...Ashkar...How do you know her?"

I knew this was coming sooner or later.

"Um….she used to be in my old guild...and we have stayed friends since…."

"Really?" His face got a little brighter when I told him about me.

"So where is she?"

"I don't know…"

"Oh…well what was her previous guild?

"Um… Meiro Sonata…"

"Awesome! Hey, I'm going to track her down. If you want...you can come with me...I'm sure she would love to see an old friend again!"

"You can't go. Please don't… You can't, Gray!"

"Why not?"

"Because…your … girlfriend needs you!"

"I don't have a girlfriend…"

"...You still can't go!"

"Why not?"

"Because the guild needs you and you have a new job and need to…."

He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look into his eyes. I immediately started blushing.

"What are you hiding from me? I can tell you are lying because you look just like Ashkar when you lie. You both look away and fidget and look around a lot."

"What...what do you mean…..I'm not hiding anything…"

"Anyway..I'm not gonna look for her…."

"You...you're not?"

"Nah...just for your sake." He smiles at me and I start blushing again.

Natsu's POV:

I wonder what's taking them so long...maybe I should check on them…on second thought- nah. It's not nice to spy on someone confessing their love. Happy has an evil grin on his face…It's kind of scary. Oh well! Happy and I still have that fish we were arguing about to catch!

Gray's POV:

Why did I just do that to her? Maybe because she seems just like Askar. But she did look just like Ashkar when I held her. Maybe she is Ash….nah...she couldn't be. If she was then…I just confessed my love to her and she feels the same way…I should probably keep an eye on her…

Ashkar's POV:

What just happened? Gray held me and forced me to look into his eyes. I wonder how much I blushed… Either way I have to go finish my bath and then head out on the mission to get the artifact that could save my mother.

As I sat in the tub I wondered if it was a good idea to have told Gray the name of my old guild. No matter what he or I said he could go to the guild at anytime and I wouldn't be able to stop him. Would he really like to know that I am Ashkar? The Ashkar that he loves? I couldn't do that to him could I? Tell him I'm Ashkar, not see him for two months and then leave the guild? That is something that I couldn't do. It would be better for him to think that Ashkar was somewhere else.

After I was done with my bath, I changed into a white tank top, a black jacket, black cargo pants and some black combat boots. I think anyone could tell that my favorite color was black. I headed to the guild to tell Gramps that I was off.