Juvia awoke to the sound of shuffling and strangled gasping, sleepy haze quickly clearing from her vision as she sat up in her sleeping bag and looked towards the source.
Alarmed at the campsite's lack of Natsu, she squinted her eyes and focused on the commotion just downhill of the compact clearing in the surrounding bustling flora.
Through the clouded forest, trees of every hue cloaked in white velvet, she was able to briefly spot a familiar streak of pink hair.
Scrambling from her sleeping bag and gingerly stepping over the ashy remains of their campfire, Juvia pushed on despite the chill that bit at her bare legs and arms.
Natsu's own sleeping bag was clumped up, telling of someone who left in a hurry.
His beloved scarf was still laying among the blades of grass like a white scaled snake.
Following the trail of footsteps that left the earth blackened, Juvia continued downhill, stepping over fallen logs and barging through vegetation.
With each step and the subsequent crunch of fallen flaky leaves, she grew closer to the sound of snarling pants, softly calling out, "Natsu?"
Carefully weaving through the clutter of towering trees and shrubs, Juvia finally found him.
Down on his hands and knees, chest heaving with strained intakes of oxygen, was a quivering Natsu.
Sweat soaked the plains of scarred muscle of his bare upper half, dripping from his forehead and streaming down to his wide unfocused eyes.
The forest floor hissed and sizzled around him, carpets of pine needles, acorns, and grass melted to black mush.
"Natsu!?" Juvia rushed over to him, "Natsu, what's wrong!?"
Kneeling before him, Juvia felt the gnarly heat pulsate from him, yet still decided to touch his molten skin.
"Natsu, talk to me, please! What's wrong?!" she urged softly.
The already shivering Juvia felt a trill run along the length of her spine upon seeing the intricate rather imposing coal black tattoo that had appeared on his right bicep.
Whatever was going on inside his head had brought this monstrous magic out of him.
Juvia pushed against his shoulders without a sliver of reluctance.
From the pupils as thin as pinpricks, and defiant scowl that signified his battle readiness, Juvia understood he suffered some sort of night terror or panic attack.
There was no fear, no terror in his expression, just the frenzied willingness to fight.
Gently chanting his name until his eyes snapped to her, Juvia positioned herself closer, wrapping lithe arms around his shoulders and pulling his head to rest against her chest.
"It's alright Natsu, it's okay. You're okay. No one is here except you and me." she sung softly, the pad of her thumb sliding across his marred cheek over and over again.
Returning from the realm of subconscious action, the huffing Natsu seemed to realize what the situation was. Scanning his surroundings, his shoulders went lax.
"Shhh, just relax, just breathe in and out." Juvia soothed.
Crooning gently, Juvia continued to sit there and hold him, not caring how long it took to provide him with some ration of comfort.
Natsu's own trembling arms encircled her bare belly, squeezing with desperate protectiveness, as if he was attempting to keep her from leaving.
She could barely make out any of his mumbling, it being lost to the snores of the sleeping forest around them.
But he gave one croak, one hiccup, one whimper she did understand; 'M-mavis.'
Juvia wasn't sure how many times she could take her heart shattering. She squeezed Natsu tighter against her chest.
"It was just a nightmare Natsu, just a nightmare." she murmured as she rocked him back and forth, "Focus on my voice, nothing else."
Clearing his throat in the same way one would reignite a sputtering engine, Natsu's breathing eventually steadied.
When he unconsciously nuzzled the side of her neck and gave a strangled warble, she felt relief flow through her the fact she was doing something right.
"I-I'm alright." Natsu rasped shakily, feeling Juvia shiver at the chill of the night.
Juvia desperately wished that Lisanna was here.
Natsu and Lisanna's relationship was sacred, private almost, but as she had gotten to know the wonderful youngest Strauss, she had also picked up on the fact Lisanna knew how to engage with him better than anyone.
Juvia never thought she would need to remember any of this.
Understanding nothing else was going to be said, and desperate to get out of the cold, she guided Natsu to his feet and assisted him in trudging back towards their abandoned campsite.
She wasn't going to give Natsu the chance to try and pretend that had never happened.
As they walked, Natsu gradually sobered, using his free arm to steady the both of them against any trees they came across.
"I-i'm alright now." Natsu rasped, scanning the campsite upon arrival, "I'm sorry for waking you with all t-that."
Juvia frowned tightly, sitting him down atop his sleeping bag, "Natsu, just... don't."
Snatching his beloved scarf from the ground, she gracefully lowered herself to her knees and wrapped it around his neck, "Please, enough with the bravado, it's just me. If you don't wish to talk further about what's wrong, I won't push, but please don't try to pretend nothing happened."
Natsu sat with legs crossed and shoulders slumped, wiping cold sweat from his face.
She could practically see him force harsh memories back down every time they dared show defiance.
When the faint chittering of Juvia's teeth reached his ears, Natsu flexed his internal temperature and sent a glance towards the extinguished heap of grey dust.
With just a glance, Natsu reignited the fire, summoning warm orange tongues of flame to heat the air.
"Warmer?" he grunted, letting Juvia sit down and slump against him, holding the chilled skin of her arms.
She nodded and opened her mouth, but it was Natsu who spoke, "Look, I'm all good now, 'kay? I just got uh, too hyped up, dreamin' about a fight."
He cleared his throat. Avoided her gaze. "H-happens sometimes, no big deal."
Juvia spend every last second of the ensuing silence staring hard at Natsu.
He was going to be far more stubborn than Gray.
Even after their exchange in the rain, even after that, Natsu still had it in his head he could possibly spin this to be nothing.
Juvia wasn't frustrated, not at all. She understood, somewhat, so she would just need to take a different approach.
Natsu was so different compared to Gajeel and Gray, he was so warm and open and easy.
Even now, even quieter, Natsu was just easy to be around. He was... safe.
Juvia squared her shoulders, finally finding the right words.
"Natsu, if someone hurt me, if someone scared me, and I came to you, would you protect me-"
"I would have never allowed anyone to hurt you in the first place." he interrupted, almost petulant as he stared at the fire tersely.
The flickers of fiery color failed to reflect in the obsidian of his eyes as he swiveled his neck back towards her, magical power pressuring the atmosphere.
"I will always be there to protect you. Do not doubt that." Natsu said, softer.
She held up a hand as to say 'let me finish', unable to hide her flush and grin at how quick he could activate his fearsome protectiveness.
She said he was open, not that she was used to it yet.
Having someone so active and forthcoming about their affection, platonic or not, was a drastic change in pace to the few and far between subtle hints her beloved Gray and Gajeel's recent yet awkward attempts at affection.
But with Natsu, he would not beat around the bush. Well, that bush. He clearly had no interest in discussing the one Juvia wanted to talk about.
"If someone hurt me, and I came to you scared, would you judge me for it, for relying on you? Would you look down on me because I wanted your protection? Your help?" Juvia patiently rephrased.
"Of course not." both said in unison.
Juvia smiled in victor.
Natsu, not having bothered to search for argumentative protests, exhaled through his nose in reluctant admittance.
"See?" Juvia admonished, giving her head a half tilt quizzically, "Why can't you afford yourself that same understanding and kindness you would me?"
With intense pondering lighting up the dark caves of his pupils, he glanced away, finger tapping against his knee as directed his attention to the campfire.
The swirling colors slowly darkened to auburn as his mere stare caused the fire's grooving sharp blades to curl and bluster, flaring outwards.
"N-natsu?" a timid mewl instantly yanked him from his trance, head snapping towards Juvia, who nodded to his right arm.
With hands placed on shivering knees, she shuddered, blushed, and sheepishly requested, "C-could you turn t-the... The…. Could you turn that off?"
Natsu's stomach dropped.
"I-it's... your... too strong, you know?" Juvia mumbled.
He looked down at his arm. Fire Dragon King Mode. He had yet to drop out of the form, the scalding tattoo still printed to his arm.
Juvia, a veteran mage who had mastered the ability to detect magical signatures, was rightfully overwhelmed as a force that rivaled Gildarts beared down on her every sense.
Clenching the tattoo, Natsu's jaw tightened as he visibly wilted with shame, bowing his head to murmur a 's-sorry'.
As his devastating presence and the tattoo signaling it faded into the night, Juvia winced.
"Hey, hey, Natsu, we talked about this." Juvia reminded gently, "I know what's going through your mind, and I want you to let it go."
"This doesn't go away after just one talk Juvia." Natsu practically defended his shame.
However, his clenched fist instinctively loosened when Juvia slithered her hand into his, long digits curling around Juvia's palm with such steady gentleness.
Before spending all this time with him, Juvia would have never thought about being so physical, but she found that's just how Natsu communicated.
Besides, it was cold and she had a walking talking furnace right in front of her, personal space was irrelevant.
"Look at that." Juvia held up their tangled hands, "your body, you, despite all of your power, does not seem to have any trouble knowing where and when to be gentle."
"Do you know what that tells me?"
Natsu gave a small, helpless shrug.
"It tells me that all of this is in your head. When I said you're one of the most gentle people I know, I meant it. Stop doubting yourself, doubt kills. All you need to do is just be."
Unable to argue, Natsu pursed his lips, the cinders of confliction fluttering in his head much hotter than the campfire before them.
"You're too smart for me." was Natsu's eventual response, which drew a chuckle from her, "You and Gray's kids are gonna be freaking scary. Gajeel will even out Levy, they're kid will be average I think, but not yours."
Haltingly, she said, "Let's not get off topic. That's just a hypothetical, and also far down the road."
Juvia denying was rendered moot by the dumb grin that lit up her soft features as her subconscious swooned at the idea of offspring with her beloved.
"Uh huh." Natsu 'agreed'.
Clearing her throat as if to restart their conversation, Juvia deflected. She would tease Natsu on the insinuation he thought Gray was smart later.
"A-anyway…" Juvia looped both her arms around Natsu's right, prompting jokingly, "What was... that power?"
His bicep stilled, "It's Fire Dragon King Mode."
"Where did it come from? What does it do?" Juvia jumped on that.
"Uh, besides a magic boost, grants me access to spells Dad used. The form only exists because my old man was actual dragon royalty, like, he was an actual king."
Juvia stifled the coming yawns, "I thought... I thought you know who was the Dragon King?"
Name dropping them so casually, as if they were just another topic of conversation to be bantered about between friends, felt wrong.
But given Natsu didn't seem to mention his father with any hesitation, she would try to match that attitude.
She wanted to be careful, she wanted to worry about poking the wrong nerve again, but Natsu had assured her that what happened back in the guild was a fluke.
The last thing Natsu wanted was her to be very anxious talking to him.
"Juvia, anyone can call themselves anything, doesn't mean it is true. Acnologia thought just because he came in towards the end of a war and wiped out both weakened sides, he got the right to call himself 'king'."
"Dad was very much the rightful King, per tradition, he actually had earned the title." he stated firmly.
"Ooh, 'tradition', that was a big word." she quipped, to which Natsu snorted.
"Hey, one of my many favorite things about ya is that you ain't Gray, that includes his snark." Natsu clicked at her with a smile she had hoped so much to see with that remark.
Juvia felt herself melt against him, the bare skin of her arms and legs no longer cold to the touch. She felt more comfortable, feeling his mood lighten.
"Well, I like the ring to it Mr. Dragon King."
Natsu was able to keep his expression from souring at that.
"Do I have to call you 'my highness' now?" Juvia giggled sleepily, dropping unease in Natsu's gut.
"Please don't. I'm ain't above you, o-or anyone." Natsu begged, clearly not a fan of the idea.
Juvia slowly nodded against his shoulder, deciding it was time to get back to sleep. They could discuss what happened more tomorrow if need be.
"Okay. We have a big day tomorrow, we need to get back to sleep." she crooned sleepily, "I'll be right here, I promise."
Juvia dragged her sleeping bag over next to Natsu's, settling back in before looking back to him with a warm smile.
Natsu gave her one in return.
"Thanks Juvia, for being smart." he said.
Juvia laughed, her head shaking, "It's nothing Natsu, really. After all, we're friends-"
"No." Natsu interrupted firmly, "Family. You're my family Juvia."
It was Juvia's turn to duck from his gaze, although she did it to hide her aching smile behind her hair.
Her heart decided her next choice of actions, leaning over to peck Natsu's cheek.
"You know ice pants ain't here, so he can't be jealous of somethin' he can't see." Natsu remarked with a snicker.
She sighed, giggled, and pushed herself away from him.
"No more cheek kisses then." Juvia announced as she laid down on her back.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean it." Natsu groveled instantly, turning her giggle to a cackle.
She had no idea how much better Natsu felt listening to it.
Natsu laid down once she calmed down, turning away as he bid her a soft, sweet, "Night Juvia, love you."
He heard the sound of rustling fabric scraping across dirt and grass, then felt Juvia's smaller back press into his. Her skin was cool to the touch against his.
Natsu shuddered as his scars stopped aching.
"Good night. Love you too." Juvia mumbled in reply.
Juvia wasn't going to leave Natsu sleeping peacefully up to chance.
She wasn't Lisanna, she wasn't entirely sure how to fully reassure Natsu, so she hoped this ounce of physical contact would be enough to at least ward off any more prowling nightmares.
The way Natsu pushed back against her and was asleep within minutes told Juvia it had worked.
"Hey, what did you mean last night when you said Igneel had earned the throne?"
Juvia's silvery voice cut through the verbal noise of Magnolia's broiling markets, snapping Natsu from his stoic daze as he gazed out into the sky.
The clouds had not graced the skyline since he had blown them in a slip of composure.
Thankfully, the question gave him an excuse to not think about it.
Having both his and Juvia's travel bag shouldered, Natsu met the quizzical glance Juvia sent him from over her shoulder.
Brows curling, Natsu grunted an expectant 'what about it?' over the marriage of noises that were the city streets, from friendly bartering to the clatter of spinning wagon wheels.
Juvia elaborated as he effortlessly caught up to her via his much longer strides, "Does that mean there were multiple Dragon Kings before him?"
Watching towns folk hang up their laundry to dry over wires that connected rooftop to rooftop, Natsu gave a ragged hum of confirmation. "Yeah, Dad used to tell me stories about them when I was little."
Bumping her shoulder against his, the ever curious Juvia demanded lightly, "Ooh, do tell."
"Really? Not a lot of people are interested in Dragon culture." Natsu admitted, adjusting the collar of his duster, recalling,
"I mean there was that one time I took Levy to an ancient library in the desert looking for books about it since the Dragon Historia book was a full of crap, but then we got attacked by a giant owl before the whole thing sank into the ground."
Juvia blinked dumbly, "Story for another day that one."
As the townspeople flowed around them like a jagged stone knifing through the current of a river, some even murmuring in awe and surprise at seeing members of the fabled Fairy Tail guild, Juvia moved closer to him and somehow cobbled together a response to that.
"Well I am very much interested." she stated with vehement seriousness, which was in turn negated by her suddenly stopping in her tracks to admire a jewelry stand.
"Oh Natsu, look at this adorable little piece! Do you think Gray would-" she gave a girly yelp when Natsu gently tugged her away by the wrist, apologizing to the befuddled stand owner for the commotion.
Natsu pulled her to his side and rumbled, bemused, "Focus Juvia."
Sheepish, Juvia fiddled with her hair like a shy child and murmured a plea for him to continue.
"So you wanna know about Igneel?"
"Y-yeah." Juvia cleared her throat, fighting chills all over.
Just talking about Igneel made her spine tingle. It was hard not to talk about it, about him, without thinking back to that night.
"Pfft, you think that overgrown lizard is scary?" Natsu's laughter came flowing and free, the scars of his face stretching as he grinned for but a moment.
A variety of emotions, some of which Juvia didn't want to see in him, scurried across his expression, showing unresolved grievances, and peace not yet made.
They both stopped at a street corner right next to the gaping river that portioned the city into unequal sections, waiting for a line of carriages to make their pass, horses giving impatient whines.
"Well, that story about him becoming king is a bit long, he used to tell it to me at bedtime. Sure you wanna hear it?"
Juvia nodded eagerly.
Sure, it was a bedtime story, and knowing how Natsu idolized his father, he most likely took it seriously, but she had found getting him to open up and then engaging in what she was told boosted his mood.
It probably felt nice to be truly listened to.
Natsu sucked in a breath, "Hoo boy, here we go. It's uh... been a while since I told it."
"Dad would start the story like this; from the center of a supernova came 7 beings, their blood flowing with sin, as they were said to be disgraced angels of God, rising from hell to tarnish his precious creation out of spite." started Natsu, tilting his head back a few minute degrees.
"The Elder Things, the Deep Ones, the Lords of Sin, they went by tons of names, each one dumber than the last." Natsu said, desperately trying to not cringe at himself.
"We don't know why they decided to take the form of Dragons, or why they wished death upon the stars, whatever that even means. All we knew is that they eventually made their way to Earthland."
Finally able to cross the cobblestone street, Natsu headed off towards the sparsely populated bridge that oversaw the busy river, Juvia hot on his tail.
"Dragons have existed for hundreds of millions of years, and Dad was one of the oldest to ever exist. Older than Acnologia, than Zeref, he was there long before they were." he revealed, switching off his story telling voice.
"They're that old?" Juvia whispered to herself, to which Natsu nodded, shifted their travelling bags in his grip.
"Dragons were one of the first creatures to ever roam the planet. But their reign was almost cut in half when you know who came along."
"So what happened?" Juvia prompted. This was far too intense to be any normal bed time story.
The question drew a 'really?' look from Natsu, who kept the caustic remark silent and answered bluntly, "War."
"The seven of them, Sodom, Vars, Kamukura, Gladios, Ganglion, Dioramos, and Megidora, almost wiped all life on the planet out. Just one could have destroyed the planet with a snap of their fingers, cleaned out the solar system, but they had other intentions."
"D-destroy the planet?" Juvia squeaked out, how in the world was this supposed to help a child sleep?
"If they had one, with the twitch of an eyebrow."
Rubbing her arms, Juvia ushered him to continue, or rather piece it all together, "Okay, that's unsettling, but how does this relate to your father becoming King?"
"Simple. Dad beat em'."
"W-what!?"
While passersby held their aching ears and sent Juvia dirty looks for her outburst, Natsu reiterated, scratching an eyebrow, "He beat them, fair and square, by their own rules."
While Juvia withered with embarrassment and clung to her companions' sleeve, they rounded a street corner, their vision able cut through the swathes of people littering the hug of houses and small businesses to see their guildhall just a block or so away.
"But the Dragon Emperor's came in, claimed the top, and created rules for anyone foolish enough to challenge them."
"So, one by one Dad handed their butts to them, and became head honcho." Natsu continued.
"W-what happened to them?" she pipped shakily, "Where did they go?"
"Dead, whatever soul they had left cast back down to hell by Dad. When the dust settled, there was just one king." he answered, stepping away from Juvia to allow two scampering giggling children to slip between them as they chased a ball.
Juvia cleared her throat, "So, your father was really, really strong."
When Natsu's veil broke and a proud grin tugged lips upwards, Juvia couldn't help but do the same.
"Yep. He was an old fart by the time he adopted me, but in his prime, he would have no trouble against Acnologia. I mean, he did beat the 'Lords of Sin' after all."
Juvia's face flipped to an expression of alarm, "W-wait, the story is true!?"
While having enough tact to not repeat her past mistake of screeching in public, her shrill voice raised an octave higher than she would have preferred as cold alarm drenched her back.
"You said it was just a bed time tale your father told you?! Now you're telling me aliens exist!?"
Natsu simpered, shooting back smugly, "Why are you acting surprised? You started asking questions, I thought you had bought it."
Juvia's composure simmered into steam, "Because I was interested in it you dummy! Sorry for thinking your father was interesting!"
A bark of laughter escaped Natsu, watching the soft spoken polite Juvia freak out, "Hey, silver lining, your reaction tells me I told the story correctly."
He leaned in to whisper, "Between the two of us, I don't know what half those words mean, I'm just parroting Dad."
"Really? But you were using such big words."
Natsu nodded, "Yeah, the story sounds really stupid. I think its cool though."
Rubbing her palms against her face, Juvia groaned, brain struggling to fully comprehend what she thought to be an effectively chilling legend to tell children.
"All of it's true?" her weary prompt came muffled, which was almost devoured whole by the noise of the city streets.
She received no answer.
Splitting two fingers apart, Juvia stared at her companion's face for any sign of a confirmation or denial.
All she got from Natsu was a coy smile and shrug, something his younger self would do often. Neither a yes or no.
"That's the least 'answer' answer ever. You jerk, I want to sleep tonight." Juvia murmured as she took off her cap to soothe down some of the blue frizz underneath.
Juvia could pinpoint the exact reason she was so disconcerted by this, after what she had seen Igneel do by merely emerging from his slumber, the things she had been told didn't seem so nearly far fetched.
As they grew closer to the guild, Natsu offered somewhat soothingly, "Hey, don't worry about it. They're all dead, so it's a moo point."
Juvia corrected, eyeing the unusual crowd in front of the guild hall, "You mean 'moot' point?"
He scoffed, "What? No, don't be ridiculous. It's a moo point."
Eyebrows stitched together in befuddlement as Juvia mouthed 'what?' to herself.
Catching that, Natsu elaborated as if his companion had gone insane, "It's a moo point, you know, like a cow? It's a cow opinion, it just doesn't matter. It's 'moo'."
Natsu pursed her lips as if she had swallowed something bitter, giving her head a small shake of disappointed understanding before looking ahead.
All of her attention now diverted to the guild hall, her audience came back to the growing crowd of people that had formed in the street right in front of it.
"Hey, what's everybody doing outside?" when her gaze flitted to the side and saw the dead seriousness that had etched itself into the scars on Natsu's face, Juvia felt her stomach clench. He knew something she didn't.
Natsu broke out into a hasty jog, which Juvia was forced to replicate.
The two expertly navigated their way to the crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces, the congregation's numbers too plentiful for them to catch a glimpse at what had so strongly demanded their attention.
The very intimate sounds of battle punctured the jubilant cheering to reach Natsu's eardrums.
The shrill clang of blade impacting parrying surfaces, the dull yet heavy thumps of blows landing, the rush of whiffing air that followed a missed strike, they all served to encourage Natsu's feet to move that much faster.
The only sense other than sound he could rely on was sight, keen eyes allowing him to catch fractured glances of the fight from over the heads of guild members and spectators.
Gingerly grasping Juvia's wrist so as to not lose track of her, Natsu dove headfirst into the wall of bodies, the height of the audience not short enough so he could assess the situation from afar.
Thankfully, his flaring magic signature served as a more than strong enough 'ringing bell' so that people were instantly informed of his presence, and as such gave him and Juvia plenty of clearance.
Natsu pushed aside the cacophony of astonished shouts and queries that came from his observing guildmates, and strangers, as his grizzled intuition caught on to the battle's combatants through the increasingly more clear signals.
"Oh snap, is that Natsu?!"
"Hey Droy, Natsu's back!"
"Kid, where the hell ya been?!"
"I told you Freed, there was no way he wouldn't show up to watch eventually!"
"Okay, but why pink?"
Finally, both mages broke through the innermost circle of the sudden conflux to a sight that left them stunned.
The street fight's participants were none other than Gray, Erza, and Mira.
From the looks of it, the alliances were obvious, a 2v1 with former rivals working in tandem to challenge the ice mage, to less than stellar results.
If this was a year ago, Gray would have gotten his ass handed to him.
He was stronger than them individually, and had been for a good while, but the two women made such a formidable team that not even Gray, with all his strategic abilities, wouldn't have lasted long at the time.
While Gray had evolved as a fighter in every conceivable metric since, Erza and Mirajane's growth were comparatively shallow, with only new armors and transformations to assist them.
They had kept themselves in shape and went through several harrowing and grueling battles, but they hadn't sought to actively push themselves in the same way he had.
That very much reflected in the fight, with Gray able to competently fend off the combined efforts of both Erza, who had donned her Nakagami Armor, and Mirajane, who was utilizing her most recent and power transformation, Satan Soul: Alegria.
Fortunately, it seems as if magical spells as a whole had been prohibited, leaving the street fight as an anarchic melee between mages who could all level islands if they didn't restrain themselves.
So for Natsu, there was still plenty cause for alarm seeing three of the strongest people he knew engaged in a street brawl.
The three combatants moved as blurs, slithering about with such speed their shadows struggled to keep pace.
To most, whatever was going on was completely indecipherable, but to Natsu, their movements were very much readable.
To their credit, Erza and Mirajane had been able to come together to create a well oiled machine that constantly forced their opponent on his toes.
Deadly and precise flurries of lethal slashes, lunges, and blows made sure Gray could never stay in one spot for long.
These efforts never actually managed to harm Gray however, let alone tag him.
When Gray bobbed and weaved his way through a string of hastily thrown jabs and hooks from Mirajane, the moment a palm thrust or back fist sent her sprawling, Erza was right there to continue the attack.
The bladed halberd the she wielded allowed her superior reach over her opponent, and when combined with the immense strength the armor itself provided, it gave Gray a very convincing reason to keep his guard up.
With each swing the blade left streaks of grey in its wake, making it near impossible to deduce where the weapon actually was to most.
But Gray was able to duck and dodge with grace that was unmatched among the other combatants, snaking blows to Erza's torso or face every time he used his forearm or shin to block either the flat side of the blade, or the handle itself.
Mirajane leapt back into the fray, effortlessly blending into and contributing to Erza's assault, forcing Gray onto the backfoot, turning his agile dodging into careful blocking.
This didn't last long, as he caught Erza's halberd mid-spin, and snapped an elbow across her cheek.
With speed neither woman could compete with, Gray blocked a jumping knee from Mirajane with a palm before sliding between them.
They both let out strangled yelps of pain when he lashed out with a leg, a harsh knee burying itself in Erza's spine before bouncing off to stuff a heel in Mirajane's gut.
It was crystal clear that the two S-class mages were outmatched in hand to hand.
On the sidelines, the moment Natsu made the slightest motion to imply his intervention by dropping their bags, Juvia stopped him, holding an arm out in front of him, "H-hold on Natsu, we don't know what's going on!"
"It's pretty freakin' obvious what's going on." Natsu stated sternly, gesturing to the scuffle with his chin, "Someone is going to get hurt if this keeps up."
"Just wait!" Juvia urged as she swiveled her head to scan the crowd, hoping to spot some figure of authority.
Upon spotting a head of dark orange hair and a familiar ragged cloak, she ordered with as much firmness as she could muster,
"Please, don't make a scene, I'm going to find out why this is happening."
"I'm pretty sure the scene has already been made!" Natsu shouted out as his companion slipped back into the broiling hornet's nest that was the crowd, frowning tightly in muffled frustration as he turned his attention back to the fight.
The crowd's intrigued murmuring turned to winces and 'oofs' of sympathy as Gray seemed to finally put an end to the fight.
While Erza was sent skidding across the pavement by an expertly placed uppercut to the chin, Mirajane took the chance to charge the occupied Gray with enough speed on her side he might not be able to react to.
He turned around just enough to get a demonic fist, en-coated with ominous hues of purple, planted firmly on his cheek.
Loose stones were sent sky-bound from the blow, dug up from the smooth marbled streets only to settle against the ground after a brief moment of airtime.
Everyone present felt gnarly trills run along the length of their spine when the temperature abruptly plummeted.
In the sky, drab bitter clouds tumbled across the sky, stretching and stretching until for a brief moment, the storm encompassed Magnolia's once bright skies.
Slowly forcing his head back to face her, Gray stood completely unaffected from the most formidable strike Mirajane could muster.
Even the recovering Erza staggered to a knee at the perilous magical energy.
Doleful obsidian tattoos practically preened as they stretched like a jagged serpentine over his right side from head to toe, slowly coming up to overlap an eye socket.
Gray's jet black hair told gravity 'no' as it bristled, now pointing up and every which way.
The ice mage, now stood, a devil slayer.
Mirajane visibly gulped, fear registering across her features before she let out a hoarse gasp upon feeling cruel frostbite, not nip, not bite, but chomp at her hand.
Rearing back her other arm, the she-devil brought down several more straights upon the side of her opponent's head, only for none of them to have any actual effects.
Gray, eyes as cold as the ice running through his veins, reached forward to tightly grasp her wrist.
Fingers squeezed with terrifying strength, to which Mirajane cried out at as she feebly attempted to tug herself free, both hands desperately clawing at Gray's wrist for some sort of leverage.
When Mirajane's quivering knees could support her no longer, she buckled, defiant growls falling upon merciless ears.
Soon said growls morphed to gasps and whimpers.
Steeling her nerves, Erza steadied herself and lunged, her halberd at the ready, her legs tensing as they channeled every ounce of strength they had into the charge.
Leaving a trail of uprooted marble and stone in her wake, she let out a fearsome battlecry, eyes a lit with vitriol.
Gray, unnervingly calm, merely turned around and caught halberd's blade in his palm, halting both it and its wielder in their tracks.
A blast of whipping wind pushed against the audience as all the ridiculous power behind Erza's attack was utterly defused in an instant.
His mere touch cooled the weapon's molecular structure to absolute zero, smashing its atoms completely.
With a simple flex of his fingers, Gray reduced the halberd to shimmering dust, which gathered in uneven piles at Erza's feat.
Lacking enough magical energy to replace the weapon, Erza remained steadfast and lashed out with a punch capable of leveling a dozen city blocks.
Gray, still having Mirajane writhing on her knees before him, merely caught his guild-mate's forearm, leaving Erza's knuckles mere inches from his nose.
The two women bucked helplessly in Gray's grip as he opened his mouth to ask them to yield.
He never got the chance.
"Enough!"
Natsu's voice bellowed with such authority nearby windows shuddered as he dove into the fray, patience tested, no longer able to play the part of neutral spectator.
Natsu leapt in and sent Gray, who had managed to let go of the two women in time to cross his arms in front of him, drifting across the cobblestone surface with a palm thrust.
Gray was impossibly quick to recover, his heels having dug out a half-foot deep crevice in the ground beneath him as he came to a stop, visage one of pure surprise.
Taking in Natsu's appearance, which had melted what little ice blanketed the street into steam, Gray opened and closed his mouth several times, his brain hiccuping as he searched for an appropriate response.
Erza and Mirajane crumbled to the floor with the same pep as a dead body, dropping out of their strongest transformation and armor, left completely exhausted evident by their ragged huffing and puffing.
That was all that could be heard as the crowd was rendered dead silent, the once rowdy rainbow of people arching through the marble top streets now a scattered collection of dumbfounded faces.
Towering over and in front of the two protectively, Natsu almost barked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Gray narrowed his eyes,
"Sparring." he answered steadily, "What does it look like?"
"You seriously call that sparring? We haven't fought in months, so I know you aren't concussed. So what led you to think doing all this in front of a bunch of strangers would be a good idea?"
Natsu couldn't help but hiss, "Do you know how many people you coulda' hurt with this stunt?"
If this conversation had happened a few years ago, Gray would have remarked on the irony of that statement.
But in the present, his reply was much different,
"We know how to control ourselves." Gray stated, prompting his rival as if he had gone insane, "Is there a reason you're acting like this?"
"On what planet is doing that to your family called control?" Natsu scoffed contemptuously, pointing to the two prone women behind him with an open hand.
Gray snapped, "You need to get down from that high ground you think you have and join the rest of Natsu."
"You've been here, what? A minute? Stop acting as if you know everything that is going on."
Natsu's eyes narrowed in disgust as he spat, "Trust me, I've seen more than enough."
"Oh, come on then," Gray taunted, gesturing around them, "enlighten me as to what is going on, really, I'd just love to hear you get to the bottom of this."
"We make a pact Gray! Or have you already forgotten?" came Natsu's growl, searing with aggravation and hurt, "It was you and me, we both agreed that the cycle stopped with us."
Gray's frustrated veneer melted for a moment as curled fingers lost their tension, forehead puckering and brow loosening.
The recovering Erza and Mirajane, while still dazed, were coherent enough to listen in with perspective few others could claim.
Stalking forward, Natsu, completely aloof to the spectating mob, continued,
"When we surpassed them, we would not use our strength to hurt. We would not put them down!"
The two prone women shriveled with guilt as they finally understood why the argument that came from nowhere had turned into such a fierce tornado of words.
There were few times Gray and Natsu actually argued, not bickering, no banter or teasing, but actual disagreements that strained their relationship.
Of those few times, they seldom came to harsh words, but when they did, no one in the guild, no one, was brave enough to get between them
Natsu's jaw clenched as if he was trying to keep down bile, "It didn't matter what they did to us as kids, we weren't gonna do this, we weren't gonna be handing out beat-downs."
It was Gray's turn to appear betrayed, starting with a raspy murmur, "Is that what you think of me? Is that really what you think happened?"
Mumbling something indecipherable, he eventually stomped forward to meet Natsu in the middle,
"Do you really think that I came up to them and said 'Hey ladies, want me to kick your ass in front of a buncha' strangers?'. You seriously believe that after all this time of being stronger than them, I choose now to break that pact?"
"Newsflash asshole, they came to me," Gray revealed, jabbing a finger at them then back at himself, "they challenged me to this fight, they wanted to see for themselves how much stronger we we're."
The two men stood eye to eye, forehead's half a foot apart as Natsu let out another scoff, "You really expect me to believe that?"
"I don't give a shit what you believe, that's the truth whether you like it or not." Gray shot back, nostrils flaring with indignation,
"They aren't delicate flowers that need to be coddled, they are grown ass women who have to accept the consequences of their actions like everyone else in the world."
Gray continued. A horrible mistake.
"Just because you feel as if you failed to protect your precious Wendy doesn't mean the rest of the guild have to be babied."
Thrashing flames licked at Natsu's fingertips as his lips pulled back, growling thunder.
"You leave her out of this." he ordered darkly.
Gray, fully realizing his error, still refused to back down, ice spurting at his heels.
The moment the two rivals tensed in preparation, a blue blur cut between them.
"S-stop!" Juvia demanded with as much authority as her nerves could muster, pushing Natsu and Gray away from each other to halt another potential scuffle, "You two get yourselves under control this instant!"
Surprised by Juvia's attempt to assert herself, the two men let their glares slip from their veils, feeling the tension that hung thick partially give way.
Curious murmurs broke out within the stirring crowd, but the three mages ignored them entirely.
With one rival on either side of her, Juvia placed hands square against each of their chests, "That's enough, both of you. Don't stoop back to this."
Seeing as they two were in opposite camps, building barricades in lue of bridges, Juvia went to defusing the brewing bomb around her.
"Natsu, Gray's telling the truth." she revealed, sweat sliding down her cheek from both the polarizing difference in temperatures and rising magical energy.
"Gildarts told me everything. Him and Gray were taking care of Asuka, and Erza and Mirajane challenged him to a spar." throwing a nod towards her left, Juvia watched Natsu's attention follow.
The fire bundling in his palms was extinguished upon seeing Gildarts standing at the front of the crowd.
Juvia added context, "He was here the entire time to make sure no one went too far. If something happened, he would have stepped in."
While Natsu was still visibly unsettled, the very familiar learning tool known as regret washed over him for what seemed to be the thousandth time in his life.
Drowning with watery shame, onyx eyes dulled as they flickered from Juvia, to Gray.
He was unable to hold the devil slayer's gaze, now realizing the weight of the accusations he had thrown at his best friend.
"I-i didn't…" Natsu didn't bother finishing the sentence, letting his counterpart's previous point settle true.
He didn't know.
He had come to an express distraught conclusion on a situation he was largely ignorant to.
Natsu mentally added yet another mistake to the long list of missteps.
"Alright, alright! Enough fun for one day!" Gildarts announced, sounding far more flaccid than Juvia's squeaky pleas.
Gildarts stepped forward and scanned the crowd, "Show's over people, everyone who ain't Fairy Tail just go about your business."
The horde of spectators remained still.
"Now would be nice."
With that, the townsfolk quickly dispersed, scattering back into the surrounding city blocks, some satisfied from the street fight, others confused at the subsequent turn of events, most being both.
It wasn't often Fairy Tail's dirty laundry didn't consist of destructive misconduct.
As the slithering ebony venom of the Devil Slayer mark receded into Gray's skin, him and Natsu lowered their magical signatures, conscious of a way out of her depth Juvia between them.
Gildarts huffed, scratching his stubble, "Alright gang, back inside, we've made enough of a scene."
The rest of the guild, eyes still glued to Natsu and Gray, voiced their weak protests before eventually meandered past the points of interest and back into the guild hall's interior, gossip now very much rampant.
Natsu gathered himself, shoulders hanging half an inch lower, and managed to keep Gray's stare long enough to say softly, "I'm sorry."
He lowered his head and stalked off towards the still prone Erza and Mirajane, kneeling down in front of them to murmur soft words of concern.
Natsu gently grasped their slim forearms and lifted them to their feet, providing a pillar of support much like Juvia had done for him the night before.
As Juvia's throat squeezed out a weary sigh, Gray behind her mumbled his thanks.
"T-thanks for… for keeping things from getting ugly."
What Gray didn't expect was the girl very much smitten with him to rear on him, hissing,
"Gray Maurice Fullbuster, I could slap you upside the head!"
This promptly drew the attention of Natsu, the two S-class women, and the lingering Gildarts.
Lightly cuffing him upside the head, Juvia chided her beloved, "What on earth is wrong with you?"
Rubbing his aching skull, Gray seemed far more intimidated by her than anything Erza could threaten him with.
"You could have avoided this entire mess by just saying, and watch my lips closely, 'no'." Juvia scolded, nailings biting into her palms, "They can't force you to do anything anymore." she added.
"They can be so cruel when they sense weakness, what was I supposed to do? Let them walk over me? Roll over and take it?!"
Juvia rolled her eyes and gave a haughty half laugh, admitting quietly to his point before moving to the crux of her frustration.
"Alright fair point." she relented under her breath, before snapping an index finger under Gray's nose. "But!" Juvia reminded sharply, "That doesn't excuse you bringing Wendy into it."
Gray winced at that. His hindsight, too languorous for its own good, just now arriving on scene.
Bunching her fingers together, she pressed them against her own temples over and over in a balked display, "What about that could have possibly seemed like a good idea? Using her to make a point in front of her own big brother! You know who you were talking to, right?!"
Gray nodded dumbly.
"If you weren't practically brothers, he would have revoked your arm privileges."
Gray shuffled, a portion of the strenuous shame that Natsu was carrying now found itself nestling on his shoulders.
"Beyond his relationship with her, you should still be ashamed of yourself." Juvia's embittered berating calmed, words much more earnest in meaning beyond her showing concern for her beloved how she saw fit.
"That is the sweetest little girl to ever walk the planet. And guess what? She looks up to you Mr. Fullbuster! Do you want to see her face when she finds out one of her idols used her as leverage in an argument?"
Gray cringed, disgust settling in his chest as he envisioned the times Wendy had looked up at him with such innocent admiration.
Beyond being Natsu's little sister, Wendy was the guild's little sister.
As her beloved wilted, Juvia roamed her eyes over his bare chest, and instead of the usual nose bleed, she found sympathy talking hold of her.
Gray had his own fair share of bruises, and wounds that neither Erza or Mira had, gashes and cuts.
He didn't want to beat the two women down, rather tire them out, and his lack of offense until the final few moments of the fight were obvious when comparing each side's injuries.
For someone much stronger to the point they could have ended things right away, Gray sure had a lot of knicks.
It just went to show, Mirajane and Erza weren't weak, Gray really was just that strong.
Natsu, who had gently thrown both women over his shoulder, much to their dismay and mewls of indignation, passed them with eyes downcast.
Juvia's eyes softened considerably, "Look, I get that you were in a bad situation, but when it got worse, you certainly did not help things. He may have messed up first, but your response wasn't all that much better."
"I know. I sorta forget what head space flame brain is in." he admitted, wiping blood from his chin, "I-i'm sorry."
"Me too. I-i…. I shouldn't have struck you."
Gray shook his head, reassuring with a quick grin that made Juvia's insides swoon, "Don't be, I deserved it. I was being a dick."
Looking over his shoulder towards the still open guild hall doors and his comrades just inside, a ponderous thought crossed the ice mage's mind.
"How is he?" Gray questioned bluntly, not bothering to look at Juvia as he watched Natsu carry Erza and Mirajane to the clinic, Gildarts on his tail.
More guilt stirred upon seeing the splotches of blue and purple had had left upon his friend's pale skin.
Gray knew that conversation, this whole ordeal, wasn't over.
He added cautiously, "Is he still all 'there'? He still Natsu?"
"Some parts of him are still there." the fond smile that Juvia took was quickly swept from her face.
Juvia's voice cracked as she finally admitted to him, and herself,
"But most of him isn't."