Previously on D2L: She had strengthened her resolve… if she couldn't face him now, she could never hope to do so in the future and she would do all it takes.
…
…his words set alight a new determination within Gray.
…he would clear up the misunderstanding she held. He would give her the truth and leave it for her to choose to forgive or not, to love him or not and to be with him once more…
Or not.
A/N: It's been a while guys… Thanks for all the reviews and all the readers that were so patient and stuck with me this long.
Continue:
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, we never properly met." She had said, extending her hand towards him.
"Gray. Gray Fullbuster…but you already knew that." He had replied bitterly.
The rest of the trip, they spent in silence… Yukino and Lucy slept comfortably next to each other; even Sting had fallen asleep gradually. But Gray? Gray found that no matter how tired he was, he could never manage to get himself to sleep. The small exchange he had had with Lucy kept replaying in his mind and he realised that he wasn't only hurt that she denied him any recognition, but there was a raging feeling of betrayal within him too.
He knew he had no right to be mad at her after what he had done, but it just hurt him to think that she would refuse to acknowledge that they ever knew each other or that they ever shared something.
He found his eyes tracing her features… 'was it so easy for you?' He wanted to ask her, 'did you really feel nothing?'
His one-sided conversation with the sleeping blond was short-lived…
"Mm… Gray?" Yukino mumbled as she rubbed her eyes awake slowly stretching, "You didn't sleep?"
Gray turned his eyes away from the blond and towards her. He managed a small smile, "Nah, I'm not very sleepy…not yet at least."
"You had better get some good sleep during this journey. It's going to be a long one after all." She told him as she pulled out a packet of chips from her bag, "here have some"
He took a few and sat back for a while, easing up his mind.
"You seem quite tensed…" Yukino observed as she munched on the chips, her eyes fixed on him. He found her eyes very…discerning – like they saw through things. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable but at the same time a bit light headed.
"What's so funny?" She pouted when he smirked.
"Nothing…you just remind me of someone" He told her. He wondered for a moment that if Lucy chose not to forgive him, he may actually end up marrying her – a girl he knew nothing about; well, not yet at least. She seemed like a nice person, he could imagine him becoming good friends with her, but he couldn't imagine ever harbouring romantic feelings towards her…
"This journey is awfully long, isn't it? You've already been to Crocus, right?" She asked, sitting up.
"Yeah, couple of times…mostly for work." He replied, resting his head on his elbow as he stared wistfully out the window.
Out of the blue, Sting's yawn cut through the peaceful silence; he slowly stretched. Even Lucy was rubbing her eyes open, now fully awake.
"What time is it?" Sting asked.
"Don't bother… we're not nearly there yet. Long way to go" Gray replied.
"Sheesh" Sting sighed, "Speaking of which, did we get anything to eat? The train food sucks and I'm really hungry right now"
"I brought sandwiches" Lucy stated, pulling out the bag she had packed the sandwiches in.
"And I've got drinks and chips" Yukino added in.
"Here, pick one" Lucy said handing the bag to Yukino, who picked one and passed the bag to Sting.
"They're different, huh" Sting mused, "You worked hard, Heartfilia" he said, taking a bite.
"Is this egg salad sandwich?" He asked, the moment he tasted it.
"Yeah" Lucy replied, placing the bag with the remaining sandwiches under her seat.
"Haven't had these in a while huh Gray?" He said, nudging the brunette next to him.
"Yeah, it's surprising how this is kind of nostalgic" Gray replied, a hint of smile gracing his lips as he took another bite of the sandwich.
"Nostalgic, huh? How so?" Yukino asked with curiosity.
"There was this old woman who would make those for us every weekend. We really liked those" The excitement was not hidden from their eyes, as they spoke about it.
That's when Lucy thought about it again for the first time since the day she clashed with Gray – that Sting and Gray somehow knew each other from before. She wasn't the only one curious about this though… Yukino was practically itching to know about it all.
"You guys… it's too much of a coincidence that you two haven't met for the first time. Aren't you guys at least going to tell us about it" Yukino urged them, "aren't you curious too, Lucy-san?"
Lucy took a moment to glance at Gray… she realized that it did bother her after all. She may have decided to do her best to avoid involving herself with him more than she had to, and she probably should not be so bothered by this, but she just couldn't help but be bothered by the fact that the two people that tore her apart were actually connected in some way.
"Yeah, how do you know each other?" She finally asked.
A/N: That's the end of this chapter Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long. It's definitely been forever since I returned to Fanfiction. I had a lot going on… First it was those exams, then I was preparing to move and then after that, I was simply adjusting to life in a new country.
Even now that I have adjusted, I have so many deadlines every now and then that I'm afraid, I don't really have a lot of free time on my hands.
Truly speaking, other than the reasons stated above, I was also going through writer's block for quite a while. I was just not sure where to go from where chapter 32 ended. I of course know where I want to go, I just didn't know how to get there. Every time I did have a bit of free time, I tried to write this chapter but I was never satisfied with it. After loads and loads of editing, I thought I just needed to wait till I got some inspiration. Today, I have finally written the 12th version of this chapter and even though it's not everything I wanted it to be, I hope you guys can bear with me till I get back into the groove.
Thanks for being so patient!