Chapter three, here you go! I've decided to put my other story on hiatus. I'm not sure where to go with it right now. I had an idea all set up for it and it got away from me so I'm going to bench it and replace it with a different story. Another Gray/Natsu deal based on Jonjou Romantica (my all time favorite yaoi series).

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. One of the girls I worked with was out with a back injury this week and I had to do a week of double shifts. Fun, fun. It shouldn't ever be that long between updates again.

Anywho, to those that have asked for it, here it is! The next chapter!

Chapter Three:The Hard Choice

Natsu held the strange box out at arms length, twisting and turning it to try and look at it from all angles. The glass it was made from thick glass yet at the same time seemed to be weightless. He could not help but frown as he held it upside down and shook it as if something might rattle out of it. His frown deepened as he let out an annoyed sigh. Shoving the box under one arm, he grabbed at the large beaded necklace that hung over his shoulders. It was the same one that the monks had been wearing meant to protect them from the power of the orb.

They had met with Elder Teaga first thing in the morning and he had given them the box and the necklaces. He had left them with the warning that once they found the orb they had to get into the box right away. And then they were off, trudging into the woods towards the castle. The group seemed a little split up, Natsu and Happy were in the lead, followed by Lucy and wrapped up by Gray who seemed to lagging behind. The ice mage's hands were shoved deep into his pockets, head hung low.

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she watched her friend. Gray had been strange ever since they had arrived. At first she had thought it had something to do with the idea of facing another sealed demon. That his mind might have been stuck in his past once more, drowning him in a misery that he had assumed he had gotten over. It was then she had noticed the strange looks that had passed between the pinkette and raven haired boy. They would peer at each other with confused and almost hurt eyes when they did not think that the other was looking. Her large brown eyes narrowed in curiosity and concern. Something must have had happened between the two the night before, something they were too ashamed to talk about.

One time Natsu had slowed his step to try and bring himself closer to Gray but the raven haired boy panicked. He had just turned and wandered into the surrounding woods claiming he had to pee. She had been able to see the desperation Gray's face as he staggered past the bushes which was only topped by the one of confused hurt that crossed Natsu's features. She had to wonder exactly what had happened. Had they gotten into a fight that went too far? Had cruel words been shared that could never be taken back? She knew both men had a lot of sore spots that could have easily been abused by the other and a part of her feared that in enraged spat they shredded those areas.

She opened her mouth, trying to think what she could say that might fix this situation. Had Erza been here she probably would have grabbed then both by their collars and slammed their faces together, holding them there until they apologized and got over whatever it was that had them acting so strange. The only problem was that she had no idea what to say. One wrong word and she could make everything worse. The last thing they needed was either one of them being more angry or upset then they were at the current moment.

Gray kept his pale blue eyes locked on the dirt path in front of him. He was afraid to look up, afraid to see those golden eyes on him, peering at him and into him, trying to decipher what it is that actually happened the night before. In truth, he did not know himself what had happened. Natsu had asked himself to open up to him, and what had the ice mage done? He had punched the dragon slayer and walked off. One hand came up to rub through his shaggy hair as a heavy sigh left his lips.

He was a mess, plain and simple. There had been a chance for him to let it all out finally. The fire mage had asked him to tell him what was wrong and it was a perfect chance for him to let it all out. Still the idea of rejection had been far too frightening and he had run from it. His heart was breaking all over again and he could feel the pain arching through his whole being. As much as he wanted it to happen, he knew it never could. They were simply too different. Natsu was loyal enough that at first he might try and make it work just to keep from hurting the ice wizard too deeply but in the end it would coming to a shattering halt. He could not let that happen.

A sharp sound from the surrounding woods pulled him up to a stop, blue eyes narrowing. In front of him he heard a deep intake of air from the dragon slayer and knew that he had picked up a strange scent. The pinkette growled low in his throat and moved to place himself in front of Lucy, preparing for the arrival of whoever was lurking about in the bushes. It seemed his companion was not expecting friendly company. Gray took a step back, falling in closer to Natsu and Lucy as his eyes narrowed on the thick woods that surrounded them.

"How many?" He asked as Natsu sniffed at the wind again.

"Three." The pinkette answered, gold eyes flicking around as he waited for the appearance of their visitors.

Both men heard Lucy gulp and knew that she was scared. The last few Dark Guilds they came across had been no joke and had nearly taken their lives. Now that there was a new and unknown one faces them down, it was a bit unsettling. They had no idea the strength or the numbers of what they faced and it could turn out they were running into some serious trouble here. A part of Gray was now wishing they had waited to call for more help.

It was too late though. Gray felt a force slam into his chest as it threw him backwards and forced the air out of his lungs. He landed hard on his back in the snow unable to move for a few moments. What in the world had hit him? He had not seen anybody, nor anything. There had just been this strange crushing blow. He was still wheezing as he tried to struggle back to his hands and knees. A faint hum was droning in his ears as he flipped over.

A sudden heat slammed into the ground next to him, melting the snow and searing the dead grass that laid beneath. The blacks blackened the ground as Gray jerked away to try and escape the friendly fire. Leave it to Natsu to get carried away and not notice what was going on around him. Rolling a few feet to his left, Gray was finally able to jump up to his feet and shot a glare towards the raging pinkette across the clearing.

"Will you watch out, Flame Brain!" He shouted out before returning to scan the area to try and locate where these enemies where so that he could join the fight as well.

A quick survey showed nothing though. Natsu stood with both hands clenched tightly at his sides, the fist covered in bright orange flames. It seemed he was ready for a fight but there was no one that he could see. Even Lucy was ready to go, key gripped tightly in her hand and Loke standing beside her with a baffled look on his face. She did not often summon him outside of combat situations. He was scratching at his wild mane of orange hair.

Gray backed up towards the others, still looking around to try and find the source of what ever had hit him. A growl rumbled up in Natsu's throat as Loke's eyes flicked back and forth behind his blue tinted sunglasses. The bushes in front of them rustled again, drawing four sets of eyes to glare at the sound.

"What is going on?" Lucy whispered in a fearful tone. "I don't see anyone."

"I don't know..." Gray murmured and was about to begin saying something when there was another loud crack, like a blast of thunder booming through the clearing. The small group jumped and tried to duck down. It was followed by a bright flash of light.

Then there was pain, a numbing agony that tore through flesh and muscle and seemed to peel it back off the bone. Nerves were left raw and exposed, screeching with the terrible sensation of being burned from the inside out. In a sheer panic and instinct Gray was able to summon his magic for protection. An icy shield formed around his body taking the brunt of whatever hit him. It only lasted a few moments until it shattered into tiny fragments around him and he was knocked back once more. He could hear the distant cries of agony from his team mates moments before everything was swallowed up in a white wash.

-H-A-S-T-A-K-A-

He was not sure how long he had been out for or if he even had passed out, all he knew was that once the blinding light faded he was on his back in the snow once more. Gray blinked slowly trying to get rid of the double vision that plagued him. His entire body hurt and even the slightest twitch caused his body to thrum with a dull ache. He did not want to move, afraid that if he caused himself too much pain that he would black out. That was something he could not do right now. For some reason the ice mage felt there was something that he was forgetting, something he needed to do.

The sound of someone talking nearby reached him, the words muffled like he was hearing it from underneath water. Who was it? Lucy? Natsu? He tried to open his mouth to speak to them, to call out to them, however his lips refused to move. No sound came out, not even a groan. More voices jumbled their way into his ears. Two more. That meant one too many. Summoning as much strength as he could, Gray finally managed to turn his head to the side. The sight that greeted him was frightening.

Lucy was the first one that he spotted, her large brown eyes closed. She was not moving and her body seemed was mottled with faint bruises and raw marks. A few feet away from her was Loke. His form was shimmering, in the middle of the process of returning to the celestial realm. The carrot top's body was a mess of bloody scratches and gaping wounds. It was obvious that he had used his body to shield the celestial mage knowing that he would not die and he could save the other. Loke was always doing things like that when it came to his key holder. The lion spirit gave a shuddering gasp, hazel orbs locking with Gray's blue ones. A thin stream of blood trickled down from the corner of his lips as he mouthed something. It was hard for Gray to figure out what he was saying, but it looked almost like 'save them'. Then he was gone in a shimmering of gold dust.

He tried to search for Natsu, needing to find the last piece of their group. The pinkette was just a few feet past Lucy, but he was not alone. The dragon slayer had three people standing over the top of him. One of the men was leaning over him with a firm grip on the boy's scarf. The trio were muttering to themselves, one of them giving the fire mage a slow shake. His sense of hearing was starting to clear up and he could start to understand what the strangers were saying.

"This one seems to be the strongest. Shouldn't we just snag him and run?"

"What about the others thought? Can't hurt to have more than one around in case something happens."

"Having too many could be dangerous. They could band together and figure out a way to escape. No, we'll just take the one. Any one of them would be more than enough magic energy for what we need. Grab him and let's go."

Gray could only watch with wide eyes as a tall, thin man with lime green hair hoisted Natsu up and over his shoulder. The dragon slayer simply hung there limply, like a large doll with no bones or muscle. It was an unsettling sight that chilled Gray to the core with a cold that burned worse than his own ice magic. They were taking Natsu, but to where and what for? He started to struggle in the snow, rolling to his side as a desperate wheeze left his throat. Not Natsu, anybody but Natsu. Gray would not be able to live with himself if he just laid there and allowed someone to cart of the one who held his heart.

"W-wait." He rasped, some how managing to lumber to his knees. The ice mage tried to move towards them, his knee crawl a lumbering mess. One hand came up, reaching out towards the unmoving head of pink hair. He wanted to beg, to cry, to plead for the boy not to vanish with these people. Yet all that slipped past his lips was another pathetic whimpering moan. "Don't..."

It was enough to catch the trio's attention though as they paused in their retreat and turned to face him. Gray felt oddly pinned under the gazes of these people. One was the one who held Natsu, the boy with the lime colored hair that was left a bit long, the citrus colored tresses falling just past his ears. His eyes were gold and peered out from under the brim of his brown fedora with an expression of boredom, as though his precious time was being wasted.

The second was a short woman with long snow white hair that fell mid way down her back in a wavy waterfall. Her large sky blue eyes were cold, as though this woman harbored great distaste towards everything. She crossed her arms over her chest as she leveled him with a glare.

The last was a tall man with long black hair that fell about his face and shoulders freely. He was handsome, with refined yet gentle features. His eyes, however, were the same color as blood and seemed to ruin the idea of a sort of fantasy beauty. Though he seemed to be the only one that looked at Gray with more then anger or disgust. It was almost as though he seemed interested in something. It was likely that he had assumed that whatever magic they had used had taken them all down and to have one of them up and moving seemed to hold some sort of allure to this man. He took a few steps forward until he was leaning over the battered ice mage.

"Don't what?" He asked.

It was a simple question, yet as soon as it was spoken Gray realized that he had no idea what he had meant to say after that. His words had not been meant for the three strangers but for Natsu. He had been pleading with the unconscious pinkette to stay here with him. It was apparent these three had some dark plans for him and he was not about to let that happen. He had to make them leave Natsu behind and there was only one way he could think to do that.

"Don't take him." Gray licked at his dry lips and swallowed hard, his throat feeling tight. "Take me instead. I'll go willingly and I won't try and escape. It will be easier on you because I can assure you if you take that fire breathing idiot he'll destroy your whole place without even meaning to."

The white haired woman grunted in disdain. It seemed she did not believe Gray's words even though they were true. They may have been spoken in a plea to keep the pinkette from being taken but one could not look past the fact that where ever Natsu went, things got destroyed. He had seen the dragon slayer take down entire buildings while sleeping. Hell, they had wrecked an entire hotel room having a pillow fight. Though mostly it was just a ploy to try and get them to leave them to leave Natsu behind.

The black haired man reached out to grip Gray's chin tightly in his thin fingers and turned the ice mage's head from side to side as though examining an animal he was thinking of buying. The cold wizard had to fight the grimace that wanted to creep up on his features. All he had to do was keep reminding himself that it was for Natsu. He would give up anything for the dragon slayer, even his own life. So instead he simply sucked it up and swallowed down any biting remarks that tried to bubble up.

"So you will go with us, no fight?" The red eyed man asked, lips curling up into a dangerous sneer. "We just have to leave the pink haired one behind?"

Gray only nodded slowly in answer. His entire mouth was dry now and fear was starting to work its way into his system. The man above him only chuckled and turned, motioning to the one that was holding Natsu. The green haired man only rolled his eyes a bit and with a quick shrug he popped the dragon slayer off his shoulder where he landed with a thump on the ground. Gray peered at him with soft eyes feeling a pang that stabbed at his heart. For a moment his eyes burned with tears. The garnet eyed man chuckled and patted the ice mage's cheek gently.

"Say your good byes." The man murmured. "Its the last time you will see them."

He moved away from Gray, leaving the ice mage to his own misery. Blue eyes moved towards the crumpled form of Natsu. The pinkette's lips were parted as fain breathes passed over them. Unlike Lucy and Loke, there was not much damage to his body. A few bruises and a handful of scratches. The raven haired wizard crawled forward, overwhelmed by the sudden need to be near Natsu, to touch him. One hand moved out, fingers stroking over a pale cheek. Natsu's nose scrunched up a bit and he muttered something under his breath. Gray could only smile at the gesture.

He reached up with both hands and lifted the silver chain over his head, letting the sword pendent weigh heavily in his palm. He brushed his thumb over the cool metal. He could not remember the last time he had actually taken it off. The necklace was his trademark and he already felt naked without out. But he could not leave Natsu without any part of him. He slipped the necklace into the pinkette's palm and closed the man's fist around it to make sure he would not drop it. The sound of foot steps moved up behind him and he knew that it was he was at the end. He leaned down, bringing his face close to the dragon slayer's.

"I love you." He whispered just before the spiking pain smashed into his head and everything went black.

And ta da!

I know this chapter was shorter, but I did not want to get into a full on fight scene (not yet at least) and move into the main plot of the story and into some of the true angst and meat of the story.

Thank you all for the lovely support so far and I look forward to hear your lovely feedback. :)