Every Time We Touch

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

Author's Note: This fic is nearly finished. It brings a tear to my eye! *Sniff*

Chapter 12

Natsu stared blankly at the wall, Gray's words ringing in his head loud enough to drown out his thoughts. He wasn't worthless. And he wasn't crazy, either! How could he say that to him? He had trusted him.

And now, after having heard those words coming from the ice mage, Natsu felt more alone than ever. Gray had destroyed what little hope he'd had left of happiness.

However, the dragon-slayer hesitated as that final thought went through his mind. It was just too difficult for him to figure out which side of Gray was the real one. Was he the bastard who acted cruelly toward him? Or was he the kind-hearted one who'd taken care of him and comforted him when he'd needed it? It wasn't like Natsu had asked for his help. The ice mage had helped him all on his own.

So which Gray was the real one?

Sighing, he leaned back, a frown crossing his face. Natsu let his thoughts wander, only for a replay of their argument to cross his mind. After some thought, the dragon-slayer came to the conclusion that maybe Gray didn't actually hate him. If the look on the ice mage's face had been any indication, Gray had seemed worried or…scared.

Scared? Gray? Of what?

Contemplating some more, it dawned on him. He knew what Gray was afraid of. Or…well, concerned about, anyway. The ice mage was more than likely anxious about whether the dragon-slayer was losing his mind or not; in other words, going crazy.

Sure, his health and magic hadn't been up to snuff, but Natsu sure as hell knew he wasn't crazy. However, that left one little problem.

How the hell was he going to prove that to Gray?

"I fucked up," Gray ground out, burying his face in his hands.

Happy stared at the ice mage sympathetically. He'd come outside to give Natsu some alone time while he tried to talk some sense into Gray. But it seemed the ice mage had taken to beating himself up instead.

"Gray, if you didn't mean what you said, why don't you just go and apologize?" inquired the Exceed.

"Because I don't think he's up to accepting an apology at the moment," he snapped. "And besides, anything I say now will just make things worse."

Happy watched him silently, noticing the stricken look on the ice mage's face whenever it appeared he thought about what had happened between him and Natsu.

"Do you believe him?" he muttered quietly.

Gray raised his head and sighed, hurt etched on his face. "I don't know. I want to, but I just don't know. I…" His voice trailed off.

"You want to believe Natsu because you don't want to accept the alternative," Happy said for him. At the ice mage's nod, the Exceed settled himself more comfortably next to Gray.

"I never wanted to hurt him," Gray stated softly. "But when he just started rambling about what happened out there, I thought he'd finally lost it. That…scared me. I don't ever want to go through that feeling again. It felt like I was going to lose him or something. Not in body, but in mind. And now, I just don't know what to do."

"I think you two need to sit down and just talk. It sounds like you really like him, right?" Happy implored.

Gray let out another deep sigh and leaned his head back against the tree behind him. He stared up at the sky, which was already starting to show signs of the quickly approaching dawn. "Yes. I like him."

"Have you told him how you really feel?" continued Happy.

Shaking his head, he focused his gaze to the ground.

"I think you should. It might be a good way to mend things."

Half of a smile began to make its way onto the ice mage's face. "Why do you have to be the one giving me advice? Shouldn't this be the other way around?"

"Nope," Happy answered with a smirk. "Let's go back to the cabin. Then you can apologize to Natsu and tell him how you really feel about him."

Gray patted Happy's head and turned to face the direction of the cabin. "Come on."

They headed back for the cabin, the ice mage feeling a little bit better after speaking with Happy. It amazed him how confiding in the Exceed seemed to lift his spirits.

Upon opening the door, Gray stepped inside, immediately ready to begin apologizing to Natsu, but the cabin was empty. Natsu was nowhere in sight.

"He's gone," Gray started as he searched the place. He froze. Where could Natsu have gone? And why?

"Gray?" called Happy, something clenched in his hands. "Natsu left this."

The ice mage took the slip of paper Happy passed to him and read the messy handwriting scribbled upon it. With the note dropping from his fingers, Gray raced for the door, determined to bring Natsu back no matter what.

Happy stared at the fallen piece of paper. It read: I'm gonna prove I'm right. You'll see.

The Exceed clenched his paws, growing anxious. Hopefully, Gray would find Natsu before something—anything—happened to the dragon-slayer.

Natsu trudged through the woods, determined to find any sort of proof that would confirm he wasn't crazy. Would anything he found be tangible? Probably not. But it was worth a shot.

He clutched at his chest when he felt a twinge urging him to return to Gray. "Why couldn't you just believe me, Gray?" the dragon-slayer mumbled to himself.

As if in answer, the wind blew through the trees. Natsu listened to the leaves whispering to him. It was as if something wanted him to follow the direction the breeze went. But before he could take a step, he detected something strange.

Smoke?

He sniffed the air, noting that there was definitely smoke coming from somewhere. Which meant—

"Fire," Natsu said in realization. But where was it coming from?

The wind blew again—harder, this time—which only made the smell of smoke stronger. If the dragon-slayer didn't know any better, he'd have said the wind was trying to make the fire head in his direction.

But that would be crazy…right?

Gray stared at the woods, trying to figure out which direction to take when Lucy called out to him.

"Gray!" the blonde cried urgently.

"What?" snapped the ice mage in response.

"There's a fire in the woods! Some guys were messing around with a campfire and it got out of control. I came to get you guys. We need to head to the main camp."

Gray's heart slammed into his chest. Would Natsu be all right? He wasn't with him. What if the dragon-slayer's magic got out of control again? "Get Happy. He's in the cabin. I need to find Natsu. He went off into the woods," he said before taking off.

"Gray!"

"Get Happy! I'll find Natsu!" he yelled back.

Hoping that Lucy would just do as he said, he frantically made his way through the trees. How far Natsu had gone, he didn't know. Where the fire was, he didn't know.

But he was starting to smell it, which meant it had to be close, right?

"Where the hell are you?" Gray hissed under his breath. Just where would he have gone?

The wind began picking up, making his eyes sting as burning pine wafted in the air. He coughed a few times and trudged ahead.

"Natsu!" He paused to listen.

Nothing.

"Natsu!"

Crack! Boom!

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a large tree about thirty feet away from him cracked and plummeted to the ground, revealing hot and hungry flames. The fire was heading his way.

"Shit."

Gray tried to use his ice magic to put out the flames. It didn't work. Why didn't it work?

Deciding to go left, he moved away from the fire and smoke that seemed to want to ensnare him, picking up his pace in the process. He really needed to find Natsu and get the hell out of here.

"Natsu!"

"Gray?" came a faint reply.

"Natsu! Where are you?"

"I'm over here! But I can't see you!"

"Don't worry! I'll find you!"

The ice mage waved his hand in front of his face, trying to clear the smoke that obstructed his vision. And when he caught sight of a pink mass of hair, he pushed forward until his hands came in contact with the mage.

"Ah!" Natsu screamed. But when he realized it was just Gray, he calmed himself. "Gray. You came."

"Of course, I came. You had me worried sick, you idiot. Don't you ever run off like that again!"

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to find proof."

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we should worry about not dying in these woods," stated the ice mage. "Can't you do something about this?"

"I already tried to eat the flames, but it's not working," Natsu stated frantically. "How're we gonna get out?"

"Uh…this way," he said, grabbing Natsu's hand and heading for an area that looked clear.

Crash!

Another tree fell, blocking their path. Flames licked over the trunk, making their surroundings heat up intensely, the thick, black smoke becoming stifling.

"Gray! We're trapped!" Natsu said over his coughing fit. "We're gonna die out here. Why the hell is this fire affecting me?!"

They really were trapped. There was no way to escape. They were going to die.

Gray pulled Natsu into his arms, burying the dragon-slayer's face in his chest. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Natsu. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I left like that. If I hadn't, we wouldn't—"

The ice mage silenced him with a kiss—a kiss so passionate, that they both truly—finally—felt what they'd been wanting to say since they'd gotten together.

"I think I'm in love with you, Natsu," whispered Gray when they broke apart. "I think I always have…deep down."

The dragon-slayer smiled at him. "I feel the same, Gray. I really do."

A strong gust of wind burst past the two, startling them. But soon, something caught Natsu's eye.

"Uh, what's that?" asked the dragon-slayer, pointing at something ahead of them.

Gray turned to look. And gaped.

Something was swirling around and glowing. But then that something became two somethings. It wasn't any debris from the fire, so what was—

"Holy shit," gasped the ice mage when the glowing objects started to take form. One of them took the shape of a woman, the other, a man. Both were somewhat transparent and were looking at them.

"They're the ones from the story," said Natsu breathlessly.

Suddenly, the man and woman clasped hands and smiled at each other before disappearing. A final gust a wind signified their departure before the sky rumbled and a heavy downpour fell upon them. Gradually, the fire began to dissipate.

"It…was real? They were real?" Gray asked stunned. Or was it just a hallucination brought on by the smoke.

"It was real," replied Natsu with a smile. "They finally found each other. Do you believe me now?"

The ice mage looked down at the dragon-slayer—his dragon-slayer—through the miraculous rain that had probably saved their lives. They'd been given a chance—a chance that Zeref and Mavis never had. Perhaps that was their gift to them, for helping them find one another.

"Yes, Natsu. I believe you. I'll always believe you. And I'll love you. Forever and always."

End Chapter