Hey all, next update is ready to go!

My apologies on the late timing with this. But work and holidays just totally consumed my time. I plan on trying from this point out to get a chapter out at least once a week.

Any who, shall we find out what happens to Gray now? We shall see.

Chapter Five: Love Means Sacrifice

"GRAY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Lucy let out a soft sigh as her call went unanswered again. They had been searching the woods surrounding the area where they had woken up for hours now and still there was no sign of Gray or Happy. Though he tried not to let it show, the longer time went on, the more that dread filled Loke. There was no way that Gray had made it this far out on his own. The spirit had been the last one to see him alive, and that was a relative term. The shape the mage had been in would not have allowed him to travel very far before passing out. So at best they were looking for an unconscious body.

At worst…at worst this was simply a body retrieval.

A light snow was beginning to fall about them, making their situation worse. If the storm got any heavier it could start to cover any tracks they might try to follow, or an unmoving body. They had to move quickly or they might lose Gray even if he was still alive. It might have been a easier task if Natsu could pick up a trust worthy scent but it seemed something was altering his senses. If Loke had to hazard a guess it would be some kind of anti-tracking spell. Whoever these Medusa's Eyes guys were, they meant serious business. Though what bothered the leader of the zodiac the most was what they wanted with Gray. Why take him and yet leave everyone else behind. And alive. In his experience, Dark Guilds did not like to leave behind survivors or witnesses. In this case they had done both. What worth did the ice mage have to these people?

Though he did not want the others to know, a sinking dread was forming a pit in Loke's stomach, allowing it to be filled with awful thoughts. Lucy and Natsu were sure they would find Gray somewhere in the forest, passed out behind a tree or sleeping against a rock. They also wanted to believe that Happy had simply gone back to the village looking for help. The thought caused Loki to come to a stop. Both the others turned and whirled back to face him.

"Loke, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, taking a step towards him.

His abrupt stillness had her worried. She knew that Loke and Gray had been close. Before they had known that Loke was a Celestial Spirit trapped in the human realm, Gray had been one of the few people that had ever noticed anything wrong with him. He had noticed the times that the red head had often stared off into space, an almost scared look on his face. Or the times that he just simply seemed weak, like it was taking all his energy to stand.

Lucy considered all her spirits to be her friends, which meant she considered them to be friends to the other members of the guild as well. But this was true even more so for Loke who had actually spent three years among their ranks. He had been one of them, was one of them, and Gray had been one of his closet friends. So the ice mage's worrisome disappearance had to be effecting him greatly.

"Is it…is it possible that Happy simply took him back to the village because he was badly hurt fighting while the rest of us were down?" Loke asked, his voice soft, betraying the little faith he had in that statement being even remotely true. "I mean, we didn't even think to go back there and look. Maybe we should do that first? We might just be wasting our time out here running in circles looking for something we won't find."

"No."

The sudden and sharp answer from Natsu stopped any response that Lucy might have had for Loke's question. His voice was so startling that Lucy hadn't realized how quiet the dragon slayer had been since he had realized he had Gray's stained necklace. He had not cried out or ran around screaming, he had just simply stared off into the distance. It was like he was thinking he could find the answers to were the ice mage had gone written on the horizon.

Loke seemed to curl into himself upon Natsu's words. Lucy could easily see the lion spirit's resolve crumbling away. The pure grief that washed into his hazel eyes was obvious even through the tinted shades. He had only been trying to help, and Lucy was sure Loke felt just as guilty and responsible as the rest of them. He had been there to and had been able to stop this from happening either. One hand curled against her chest as an anger built up there. Natsu may be a friend, but Loke was one of her spirits, and right now the dragon slayer was hurting him.

"Natsu!" She barked out, startling Loke out of his depressive thoughts. "You don't have to be mean to Loke! He's just as worried about Gray and Happy as the rest of us. He's only trying to help, so there's no need to yell at him!"

For a moment, no one moved. Natsu didn't even seem to flinch like he normally did when Lucy seriously yelled at him. Both Lucy and Loke held their own stillness and silence, waiting for the dragon slayer to speak to them, to apologize, to move, to do something. Instead he just continued to stand there like a statue, his gaze back on the horizon of the forest. It was like he could see something they could not.

Finally he began to move. His arm lifted, slow and jerky, as if he had forgotten how to use his own limbs. But then it lashed out in a quick and bright flash. Natsu buried his fist into a nearby tree, the bark crunching away beneath the blow before catching sparks. The entire large plant instantly went up in flames so powerful that Lucy was forced to take a step back away from the force of the heat.

"No." Natsu repeated. "If Happy took him, he would have come back by now to tell us. That's not what happened, Lucy, and you know it."

Natsu turned slightly to glance over his shoulder at the girl standing behind him. Lucy froze as she found herself pinned beneath that gaze. It was truly frightening. His normally onyx eyes were dilated with a band of gold, the flakes of dragon scales beginning to appear around them. But what was worse, what truly twisted Lucy's stomach into knots was not the pure burning rage on the dragon slayer's face as his entire body was swallowed by the furious flames. It was the tears that were streaking down the boy's face at the same time, showing the true extent of such raging sorrow that Natsu could not figure out which emotion to feel first.

"Oh, Natsu…" Lucy whispered as trembling fingers pressed against her lips.

"He's out here somewhere and I'm going to find him and bring him back. Alive!" Natsu continued to rant, a low rumbling growl like effect now consuming his voice. "So you can go back to the village if you want, but I'm not giving up yet! I'm going to find Gray and bring him home even if I have to burn down this entire forest to do it!"

The last words trailed off in roar the shook the ground around them as Natsu's flames burst out about him. They shot into the sky like a fiery beacon as the roar continued to following their flaming path. Lucy stumbled back a step, stopping only when she bumped into Loki who stepped up behind her. She glanced up at his stony features for a moment before turning back just in time to see Natsu take off at full sprint into the woods, leaving the two of them behind. She tried to struggle forward, both terrified of and for her friend.

"Natsu! Wait!" She called out, starting to rush forward after him. A hand gripping her shoulder stopped any forward movement though. Glancing behind her she saw Loke holding her in place. "Loke? Let go! We have to follow Natsu before he does something stupid and dangerous!"

"Leave him be for a few moments, Lucy." Loke whispered.

Lucy could only blink at him for a few moments. Let him go? Did this spirit even know what he was asking? Lucy had no doubt that Natsu would keep up his word and burn down half the forest in the pursuit of his friend, maybe even rush into the Dark Guild hall and get himself killed. She couldn't take that. Hadn't they suffered enough loss today?

"No!" She shouted back at him, struggling to try and get out of Loke's grip. "I won't let him run off on his own like some spoiled child and get himself killed! We need to help him and we need to find Gray and Happy and we can't do that if were all running around and hating each other for something we had no control over!"

"Lucy, stop!"

Loke's shout stopped the Celestial Wizard cold. Sure, the lion spirit had yelled at her in the past, but never like this. There was no anger in his voice, just despair. Lucy turned to look at him and saw that the spirit's entire body was trembling. His head was bowed, thick orange bangs covering his eyes. However it was not enough to hide the tears.

"But Loke." She whispered, lifting a hand to place on his upper arm. "I don't understand. I know that you want to find Gray as much as the rest of us, there was no reason for him to be so rude. Natsu needs to learn to be more accepting of help. He can't just run off on his own to try and take care of everything on his own. Doesn't he…doesn't he realize that we all care about Gray just as much as he does?"

Loke grinned slightly at this and shook his head. Lucy was slightly confused when her spirit started laughing. She didn't really understand what about this whole situation was funny. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and turned her head away to pout angrily. If there was something she hated it was being made to feel stupid or out of the loop. Like just another ditzy blonde. Sure she could act like one from time to time, but the truth was that she was one of the smarter members of their team. While the others all tended to rush in ready to brawl, her magic type allowed her to sit back and think more. So she hated being treated like an idiot.

"I don't get what you're laughing about." She muttered.

Loke laughed a bit harder now, causing his taller frame to plop down on the ground. Despite any worry that he might have been feeling, it did feel good to find some humor in the situation. And the look that his key holder was giving him seemed to alleviate some of the weight pressing down on his heart. He lifted a hand, wiping a hand at the tears that were forming in his eyes.

"You know, being a spirit I sometimes forget how young you actually are." He mused. One hand came up to stop Lucy even as she geared up to snap at him for the comment. "Compared to me you are. I've been around for a long time and I see things. Such as, well, I'm sure you've heard the old saying 'there's a fine line between love and hate'?"

"Well yea," Lucy blinked slowly as she sat down beside him. "But what does that have to do with Natsu being an impatient jerk?"

"I don't think Natsu has noticed it yet, but I'm pretty sure Gray has. And I fear that is what is at the source of all this." Loke continued, before sighing heavily. "I know you think Natsu is being rash because you see me and Gray as being close and the two of them as simple brawlers. But think of it this way. I've known Gray for a long time, three years, this much is true. But if that means I'm allowed to hurt, then it means Natsu is allowed to hurt more.

"You have to remember, I joined the guild three years ago when I thought that I was going to die. I did not bother really trying to make friends or get along with the others. I took jobs and I buried myself in distractions, but I really didn't care about anyone else. That was until I was approached by Gray one day. He gave me that stern look of his and told me flat out that if I didn't stop wallowing in whatever darkness was in me and start acting like a true member of Fairy Tail, that I was going to be sorry one day. Turns out he was right. If I hadn't put myself out there I would have never really met you and things would have ended much differently on that cliff side for me."

Loke paused in his story, lifting one hand to adjust his sunglasses as his head tilted back slightly to look at the sky.

"That's why I want to help Gray so badly. He saved my life. But now think on this. When Gray met Natsu, they were still children. They grew up together, fought together. They can hardly remember a life without the other one in it. Those two may fight until the day they die, but at the end if all of it they truly love each other."

Lucy had a hand pressed against her mouth, tears rolling heavily down her cheeks. She hadn't thought of that. It was so easy to forget such a bond between the two boys when they were always so busy fighting each other. This whole situation, it just hurt too much. Lucy could not stop the sobs from heaving out of her as she threw herself against Loke's chest with a moan of regret.

"We have to find him, Loke." She whimpered. "We just have to find Gray. If we don't…if we don't then Natsu…"

A short hiccup cut her off as she continued to bawl into the spirit's chest, dampening his shirt. Loke could only smile sadly as he stroked her blond hair. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Lucy suddenly stiffened and jerked away from the lion. Loke gave her a sheepish smirk and shook his head.

"Come on, Luce." He chuckled. "Don't be like that-"

The rest of his words were cut off as Lucy's palm came to slap against the center of his face, drawing a short "erk" like sound from him. Hus sunglasses were now slightly askew as he tried to look at his key holder through her fingers. It was like Lucy to get physical with her spirits even when they annoyed her. Sure she would argue with them, yell at them, even force their gates closed when they got to be too much for her to handle, but she was never abusive towards them. It was one of the reason so many spirits tried to find a way to see that their keys fell into her path.

Said blonde was busy staring down at her other hand that was clenched tightly in a fist near her lap. Loke could tell the wheels were turning rapidly in her mind while she processed what he had just told her. His lips could only curl up slightly as he waited out the enivtible explosion.

"Did you say they love each other?" She asked, finally letting her hand fall away from the spirit's face. It dropped into her lap beside the other one as she tried to allow her mind to process this. "As in love love? The whole holding hands and getting married and having 33 babies sort of love?"

Loke had to chuckle as he adjusted his sunglasses back to their normal spot and moved to straighten his suit. He was honestly surprised that no one else in the guild had noticed it yet. Then again, most of his guild mates were rather oblivious towards these sort of things. After all, none of them had even noticed that Loke had been slowly dying for years. They were a great group of people, defienetly the kind of family that you want on your side. But when push came to shove, they were all pretty much morons.

"Well, I'm not sure about the 33 babies thing…" He trailed off with a gently shrug. "But the rest of it, well, yea. I mean, haven't you noticed the way Gray acts around other people? People not on your team. He was a real loner before this team started. When is the last time you remember seeing him touch somebody? And I don't mean a casual touch, like slapping someone on the back. I mean honest flesh to flesh contact."

Lucy paused at the question, turning her gaze up towards the ceiling as she tried to think out the answer. When had she seen Gray touch someone? Well, Juvia was always throwing herself at the ice mage, but that wasn't by his choice. Not to mention half the time he managed to wriggle away in seconds if not figuring out how to avoid it all together. He'd also occasionally given them support when they were injured during a fight, or patting someone on the back while talking. But other than that…

Natsu…

Gray always seemed to have some form of physical contact with the dragon slayer. When they were fighting, when they needed help. It was a longer contact as well, as if Gray purposely started some of the brawls just so he would have an excuse to lay his hands on the pinkette. Her mouth dropped open as a hand lifted to press against it.

Gray loved Natsu.

Most of it had started after Galuna island, when Natsu saved Gray's life multiple times as well as spoke from the heart about Ur. If there was one thing that could get straight at Gray's heart it was his late master. But still, there had been more. Lucy realized that when they traveled, Gray always ended up sitting near Natsu even if he complained about his motion sickness. The ways that Gray was always defending Natsu when the dragon slayer was not around, or putting his faith in him to defeat all odds. Lucy was not sure when it had happened, but Gray and Natsu had, over time, become insperable. They were a raging package.

"So you see it now too?" Loke chuckled and shifted slightly to lean back on his hands. "Unfortunately I think both those two are far too stubborn to ever admit it to one another and, truth be told, I don't think Natsu even knows it himself yet. If Gray's face wasn't so damn easy to read sometimes, I would have only known by this stunt that he already knew it himself. This, this is Gray's love."

Loke waved a hand in the direction the raging dragon slayer had taken off. It was as if he was indicating that Gray's disappearance somehow involved this bombshell that just gone off in her head. Lucy groaned and raised both fists to her temples, rubbing in a childish frustration.

"I don't get it!" She snapped. "How on earth is this his love? Does he think if he can make Natsu worry enough that that idiot will get it? Geez, Natsu doesn't get stuff even if you lay it out in front sometimes. You have to be direct with that blockhead! And besides that, this is just cruel. Even if its only a game, its one step way too far!"

Loke placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder to silence her ranting. He still forgot that for as smart as Lucy was, sometimes she just didn't see the whole picture. She knew a lot of Gray's tortured past, but even then it was only half of it. Most of the members of Fairy Tail had sad stories. That's what made them such reliable guild mates. Someone that understood loss would fight with everything they have not to go through it again or let others feel that pain. They fought not only for the pride of their guild but for the happiness of their friends' future.

But Gray…Gray was different. His past was dark and filled with so much death, destruction, and heartbreak that Loke was honestly surprised the kid wasn't a basket of crazy tied with a violent bow. The things he was forced to witness as a child, the sheer amount of times he had to watch those that he loved die before him, it was no mystery that he had formed a strange view on what it meant to love.

"To love is to sacrifice." Loke murmured. He caught Lucy arch a brow beside him and sighed, tilting his head back as he prepared to explain. "You know, I almost want to smack the hell out of the kid for putting us through this, but I guess I'm no different. I was willing to give up my own life as well for guilt and love. Not that I loved Karen in the same way, but the bond was there in some regards.

"I'm sure you know about Gray's past, how the demon killed his family and then his teacher. How he then watched his teacher melt away and bring the demon with her. How his teacher's daughter then gave her own youth and life in order to turn back time when the dragons were attacking, something that saved Gray's life. And then his father…" Loke trailed off and shook his head. "That boy should be nine kinds of messed up, but somehow he's stayed sane. But it did change the way he views matters of the heart. To sacrifice is to love. He has seen time and time again people throw themselves at death's door in order to save his life. It showed him that the only true way to love is to give up everything. That was why he was so willing to die on Galuna Island. He believed that his death would be the ultimate act of love. So I'm pretty sure that's why he's done it again. Gray has given his life to save all of yours."

By this point, Lucy again felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. She swiped at them angrily, as if she could erase this whole situation if she could just stop crying. Why? Why did the men she know have to be so damn reckless, so foolish? Did they not understand that by running off with stupid ideas like dying was the only way, that they were only hurting the ones they left behind? Her teary brown eyes turned in the direction they had last seen the dragon slayer and her heart broke all over again.

"Gray….Gray is…" She sobbed before slamming a fist angrily into the ground. "He's such an idiot! Doesn't he realize this won't solve anything? That all that's going to happen is Natsu is going to run off and likely get himself and a whole bunch of other people hurt or worse? Uh! When find him I am so going to kick his butt and put him straight!"

Even throughout her whole rant, the tears poured relentlessly down her cheeks. The whole image was rather cute and Loke found himself smiling softly. This was why he was glad that Lucy was his key holder, the reason he felt so strongly for her. He was just starting to lean towards her when the sound of something crashing through the woods to his left jolted him back to reality.

"What-?" He started to ask just moments before Natsu came crashing back through the underbrush, nose lifted and sniffing at the air.

"Natsu, what the hell?" Lucy barked. "You scared me half to death!"

The dragon slayer ignored her, sniffing the air still. His head turned from left to right, as if trying to figure out where the scent that invaded him had was coming from.

"I smell him…" he whispered.

"Who?" Lucy snapped to attention. "Gray?"

There was a soft fluttering above their heads and both Lucy and Loke's head snapped up. They were able to catch a glimpse of blue and white before the small creature was falling out of the sky. Happy plummeted towards the ground, obviously too weak to continue flying. A gasp left Lucy as she tried to struggle to her feet in a panic.

"Happy!" She cried out.

The pink blur rushed past her as Natsu dived forward. His arms stretched out just in time to catch the falling feline before he made contact with the earth. The two rolled across the snow covered ground before coming to a stop a few feet away. The dragon slayer was panting heavily as he sat up, looking at his small friend he held closely. Happy didn't look scratched up, but judging by the bags under his eyes, he was tired. It was as if he had been flying fast and for a long time. Natsu's brows furrowed slightly. The blue cat stirred in his arms slightly before his eyes cracked open. He peered up at his long time friend through lidded eyes.

"N-Natsu…" He whispered in a wavering tone. "I tried to…I really tried to….to save him…"

The words tugged worriedly at his mind, not wanting to admit the implications of what they could possibly mean. Or who they were about. He had a good idea, but he couldn't manage to swallow that kind of dread yet. Not until he made sure that his friend was safe first. One at a time. He forced a faint smile and shifted his weight so that he could hold the shivering cat closer to himself. He knew the smile was weak and faint, and probably looked horribly fake.

"I know, buddy." He continued to try smiling. "But we're here now. We'll save him together."

The words seemed to trigger something and Happy's eyes filled with tears. He sniffed softly and turned in Natsu's arms. He buried his face into his friend's chest as he curled into a tighter ball. The actions furthered the fear that was starting to nibble at the dragon slayer's heart. His brain was screaming at him, screaming at Happy. It was begging the small blue cat not to say what he thought was coming, for the creature just to smile and agree. He did not want to hear what he was pretty sure was about to come.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered from her spot sitting beside Loke who looked just as sick. "Happy? What's going on?"

Happy turned again to look up at Natsu. Those eyes were wide and watery, tears now pouring down his furry cheeks. His paws reached up to tug at his ears as he shook his head from side to side sharply.

"No, no we won't Natsu." Happy suddenly bawled. "I tried to save him, but I couldn't. I was too late. Gray…they….Gray's…"

He could hardly speak around his sobbing now. But still he managed to look up at Natsu with eyes filled with heartbreak.

"He's gone. They….they killed Gray…"

So, I lied and decided to be evil. Buhahahaha.

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