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Heated Discussion
Natsu dozed. Every time he felt himself sinking deeper than that, something foreboding tugged at him. His instincts kept him wary of it.
The fire mage listened to Lucy's breathing; his partner had fallen asleep a while ago. He cracked an eye open- she didn't look too comfortable in her desk chair. He couldn't help noticing the bruise that stood out against her skin even in the dim light. He squeezed the hand he still held and sniffed at her pillow.
Natsu's left hand moved beneath the comforter, rising out from under it in a lazy motion.
Except the hand and arm had a charcoal color. Natsu snapped both his eyes wide as his fingers splayed and reached for Lucy's neck. The fire dragon slayer glared at his hand and hissed through clenched teeth.
"Do. Not. Touch. Lucy."
His hand twitched and hovered in midair, inches from the celestial spirit mage's injury. The discolored hand hung down, fingers retracting and curling. It lay on top of the comforter as if scolded.
Lucy murmured something and shifted in her seat. Natsu watched the blond for a second before staring at his left hand. He scooted on the mattress away from Lucy. The fire mage released his grip on her hand and sat up.
"You can't just," he said, pausing with his mouth hanging open. He blinked at his hand. The charcoal appendage perked a bit. "Luce is my partner."
The dragon slayer scratched at his head with his right hand. He tried lifting his left; expecting resistance, he found none and his arm shot up over his head.
"I don't think I'm sick," he said, keeping his voice down. He lowered his hand again, turning it in front of his face. He discovered some rebellion from it if he flipped his wrist back and forth.
Before he could think any further on his new pigmentation, his left hand snapped toward the curtain Lucy had put up. Claws replaced the charcoal fingers. The pink-haired mage forced the hand down and grabbed his scarf. He nudged Lucy's covers off him with his feet.
He peeled back the curtain and jumped from her window to the street below. He caught a familiar scent once open air hit his face; the fire mage wrapped his muffler around his discolored forearm before Gray appeared around the corner. Natsu's left hand clenched.
"He ain't dangerous," he said in a whisper.
"Not really an appropriate time for a one night stand," Gray said, indicating Lucy's window with his thumb. "We're still at war, moron."
Natsu took a moment before he cocked his head.
"Huh?"
"Unless you usually take off your shirt and shoes to see her," Gray said.
The dragon slayer narrowed his eyes.
"I was only in there for an hour," Natsu said, focusing on the ice mage's first comment.
The devil slayer held up a hand.
"I don't need to know about whatever issues you have with stamina," he said.
Natsu huffed.
"Whatever," he said, crossing his arms. If Gray had any suspicions about the way he wore his scarf, he didn't say anything. "Stupid ice... uh, icebox."
Snow queen quirked an eyebrow at Natsu. The fire mage moved to walk past his rival. He repressed the spike in tension from his left arm. Gray sidestepped to block him.
"That was pathetic even for you, sakura blossom," he said. "What's wrong with you?"
Natsu stilled his trembling left arm with his right hand and forced a smirk.
"Didn't know ya cared."
The ice mage scoffed.
"I'm only here because Erza promised a lifetime record thrashing if I didn't find you," he said. "I don't want to be held responsible if you're broken."
The last word triggered a relapse of the dragon slayer's nightmare. The agitation in his left arm relaxed for an instant. His gaze sank downward. Natsu grunted at a shove to his chest.
"Listen, pyro," Gray said, pointing into Natsu's face. "You don't get to sulk over whatever's happened the last few hours."
Natsu opened his mouth to respond, but Gray didn't let him.
"Because it's your own damn fault that you went insane; you didn't trust us."
The fire mage almost staggered.
"What"
"Did you even consider telling us that you know about your connection to Zeref?" Gray asked.
Natsu let his mouth hang open; he murmured.
"What does it matter?"
Gray slammed his fist into the dragon slayer's face and knocked him into Lucy's apartment building.
"It matters because there are consequences, dumbass!" He yelled.
"Did you ever think," he said. "That one of us might have killed you without knowing it?"
Natsu sat on the cobblestone and stared at the devil slayer.
"Gray"
The raven-haired wizard had already stormed off, leaving Natsu. The fire mage let his head fall back and thud against the wall he'd been knocked into. His left hand shook in a fist.
"Nah," he said, pulling himself up. "He's just annoying."
The shaking lessened and his arm quieted. He let his scarf unravel from around his hand; the charcoal color remained, but the claws had vanished. The dragon slayer set off toward his house.
"He ain't wrong, though."
Gray stopped somewhere along the canal that ran through Magnolia. The ice mage leaned over a bridge and stared at his reflection in the water.
"Stupid." He muttered.
"Gray-sama."
The devil slayer looked over his shoulder. Juvia stood a few paces behind him.
"Juvia overhead," she said, stepping closer until they stood next to one another. "Juvia was worried."
Gray shifted one of his shoulders in a shrug.
"I'm fine."
He looked back across the water, avoiding eye contact with the blue-haired mage. He shoved his hands in his pockets; her warmth tempted him to reach out. Juvia stayed for several minutes before she shifted away. He cracked.
"Half a foot," he said. He felt Juvia's eyes focus back on him. The ice wizard took out his right hand and let his demon slaying magic manifest. "Probably even less than that. Two, three inches at most."
He glared at the black markings that ran up his arm.
"That's how close I came to killing him."
Gray took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I spent the past year training to use this power," he said, flexing out his fingers. "My only goal was to kill Zeref's demons."
Gray felt a hand touch his arm. The raven-haired mage looked at Juvia.
"Juvia thinks Gray-sama should heed his own wisdom," she said. "The past can't be changed, as you said to Natsu-san."
Gray's demon markings receded.
"Juvia believes nothing has to change," she said, smiling a little. "Natsu-san was your goal even before you knew what he is."
The devil slayer stiffened a bit. The water mage murmured.
"Juvia wishes Gray-sama had as much regard for Juvia."
Gray rolled his eyes away from the former elemental and rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, well."
He felt the warm hand leave his arm. He turned back to Juvia as she walked off.
"Where you going?"
Juvia stopped and peeked at him. She fiddled with her hands.
"Juvia thought Gray-sama wanted to be alone."
Gray stared for a second longer than he meant to before breaking eye contact again.
"I don't mind your company," he said. A beat passed before he sensed the water wizard return to his side. He took a minute to appreciate the silence.
"Juvia," he said. She hummed. "Thanks."
Gildarts waved Natsu down on his way back toward the guildhall. The dragon slayer had fresh clothes, but he seemed a little more fatigued than earlier, if possible. One of the kid's eyes looked bloodshot. Gildarts nonetheless grinned at him.
"Yo, Natsu," he said. "You look like hell."
The crash mage noticed how Natsu's left hand was stuffed inside his sleeve, but he didn't comment on it. The fire mage swayed as they walked together.
"I've been thinking," he said. He didn't act as if he'd heard Gildarts' teasing tone. The older wizard chuckled.
"This is what that does to you, huh?"
"I came up with an idea to end the war," he said. Gildarts wrapped his prosthetic arm around Natsu's shoulders.
"I'm impressed," he said, masking his interest under an expression of amused disbelief. Natsu tilted toward and bumped his shoulder against the crash mage before he steadied himself.
"Yeah," he said. "Worst that might happen is I end up dead along with Zeref."
Gildarts frowned. He flicked the dragon slayer's head with his right hand a bit harder than intended; he sent Natsu rolling onto the ground.
"What'd I say now?" Natsu asked, groaning as he sat up.
Gildarts crouched by the fire-eater.
"Fairy Tail has rules about treating your life lightly, you know." He said. Natsu glanced down.
"Cutting this war short sounds like a fair trade," he murmured. Before the ace of Fairy Tail could chide him, Natsu pushed up to his feet. "I just said that was the worst that could happen. I ain't gonna let it happen."
Gildarts smirked, ruffling the younger wizard's hair.
"Atta boy."
The crash mage paused at the guildhall entrance.
"You really should be careful talking like that, though," he said. He pushed the door open. "Not all of us have my understanding disposition."
"Natsu!"
Mira called and beamed at the fire wizard from behind the bar. Gildarts took a seat on a bar stool and watched as the eldest Strauss sibling made her way over. She'd used her transformation magic to hide her lingering facial burns.
"You look famished," she said, fretting over the dragon slayer in the motherly way she looked over the entire guild. "I'll fix you something to perk you up."
"Mira- I"
"Men do not refuse free food, Natsu!" Elfman shouted from the bar, slamming a fist on the counter to emphasize his point. He still had splints on some of his fingers, but he couldn't have been in too much pain. His neck brace had come off earlier. Gildarts couldn't help grinning at how like Fairy Tail the exchange sounded. Natsu hadn't moved except for being pulled by Mira toward the nearest table.
"Natsu Dragneel."
Erzas hard, cold voice from the second floor provoked a shiver from the fire mage. Gildarts leaned against the counter and shrugged when Natsu looked to him. Erza came flying down, landing by the dragon slayer, and wielding one of her katana.
"I'll just bring out your food once it's ready," Mira said in her usual light tone, still smiling. Natsu stared after her retreating form in a sweat until Erza recaptured his attention.
"You left the guild in a blaze," she said, emitting a dark aura as she loomed over him. "You ran amok in Fiore," she pointed the blade at Natsu's pale face. "And after all that, you disappeared without telling your teammates where you went or whether you were okay!"
Gildarts thought he heard Natsu mutter something about a misunderstanding before Erza jammed the business end of her sword into the floor. The dragon slayer jumped a little.
"You are forbidden from ever scaring us like that again."
The requip mage's voice had lost its edge, and the malicious aura had dissipated. Gildarts rested his face on his hand. Natsu blinked a few times, and his shoulders relaxed.
"Erza"
"Ever," she said, firmer than a moment ago. Natsu just nodded and she slammed him headfirst to her chest plate in a one-sided embrace. Gildarts turned in his seat to order another drink; he had every confidence that the kids would be fine.
Charla pressed her face against the mattress. She wanted to forget her premonition.
"Charla," Wendy murmured. The white Exceed shook her head to focus on her charge. She pawed at the young dragon slayer's hair. "Why were you so rude to Natsu-san?"
The magical cat rolled her eyes and tried to set her wobbling lip.
"I was just worried," she said. Charla knew she needed to tell someone. "And I'm a bit tired. That's all."
Wendy sat up on her cot. Most of her bandages had been changed.
"You didn't have to exaggerate my injuries," she said, testing out her left hand. "Most of this won't be permanent."
Charla rested against Wendy's side, facing the window to avoid looking at her. The Exceed couldn't bring herself to share the source of her distress.
"I'm sorry."
She felt Wendy's hand stroke her fur.
"You should apologize to Happy and Natsu-san, not me."
Charla closed her eyes to prevent tears.
"I will."
No one had to know yet; Zeref would win the war.
A/N: AH! What does my life have against my writing fan fiction?
Is this short given the wait? Definitely. Overdue? Indubitably. Fun to write? Surprisingly. Fluffy? Er, I think. I'm not a great judge of that for myself. I know one of my other FT fics certainly is. But there's also plot! Oh snap!
I want to talk about the state of characters, but I must resist for suspense's sake! If you enjoyed this, leave a review! If you didn't, go be a productive member of society, but mash the keyboard just the once to show you were once here on the interwebs!
Review Reply Corner:
The Age of Awesomeness: You my friend get points for consistency and being legit. I have to admit I'm impressed how truly you stick to your principle of giving the author encouragement! And I thank you for it once again! Have an update! I'll fight against any odds that might prevent me from providing more soon!