A/N: The title comes a Cellar Darling song.

I know that I should be updating The Land of the Dragons but RL is kicking my butt and it's stressing and I only have like half of the plot for the next chapter already down but it's kind of difficult to plan, at least the way I want it to happen, so, it makes things go veeery slow...
But, fear not, the end of that story is close. In the meanwhile, enjoy this little bit of dumbness. ^^

Under the Oak Tree...

The sun was barely breaching the horizon line when Natsu got there.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, the place, nothing that stood out greatly in the forest.

It was an oak tree. Tall and majestic, its bark seemingly normal, slightly rougher in the place that faced Natsu, almost unassuming.

Alas, it was something. Something grand and that made Natsu shiver, despite the slight chill that permeated the air. Tiny droplets still clung to the vegetation, clung to Natsu's skin.

He didn't pay it – or anything else, for that matter – any mind.

It was the oak tree.

And the grass at its foot seemed innocent.

As if it wasn't tainted by darkness.

Because that was the last place Gray had been in. Before being engulfed by the ground, so he was laying under it. And that always ripped open the wound that Natsu had buried within himself, which he'd let fester and infect, closing it hastily so that he didn't have to look at it, at the memory of Gray.

Yet, those endless instants were etched too well in his memory, they were with him in every instant of the day, the night – ever since Gray had disappeared all those years ago.

Was it death?

If so, Natsu had gone with him. So yes, under that one oak tree, Natsu had died, to some degree.

Still, he would go there, the closest place he had to be with Gray and sit there and reminisce.

It was odd because, despite being a night owl and hating mornings, Gray did enjoy the sunshine – only, snow beckoned louder. Gray even went to the point of making a bed of snow, flopping onto it and ending buried in it. Laughter and teasing would ensue – and that always morphed into a snowball fight to which all of their friends joined in.

Happy times.

Innocent times.

Natsu wished he could bring them back. That he'd had the time to fully enjoy them. While they lasted.

Why did you go? Natsu's question remained unanswered, had been that way since the moment of the disappearance. I should have known, there was a sign of caution in the air on that day… Natsu tilted his head back, the roughness of the wood and some of its splinters embedding themselves in his flesh. But it didn't mean anything.

So, yes, from that day on, that one place under the oak tree had become Gray's home. And Natsu imagined him.

No.

Not him.

Unfortunately there was a distorted person that had taken to Natsu's memory.

The cold was colder, slimier, vicious. The darkness had intensified.

And Gray… Gray was there, lying all alone and still. Slowly having his edges eroding. Slipping into nothingness.

Natsu slowly came to a sitting position, legs crossing and his hands holding onto the ankles. He glared intently to that patch of grass.

The rift.

Despite everything they'd gone through ever since meeting, their rivalry that had morphed into friendship, Natsu hoped that Gray had understood the things Natsu never thought he needed to convey, to outright tell – at least, not so soon.

Gray was his best friend.

And they would be best friends forever. Natsu trusting in Gray and Gray trusting in Natsu. Together in both mischief and the punishments when they were caught.

Together.

But time had slipped away before either could do anything. And so the same question remained.

Why did you go Gray, you asshole? Why did it have to be you? The knowledge that he would never have an answer always ended with that same resignation, while the guilt welled in the pit of his stomach. I really should have known…

It was with horrifying clarity that he saw that black hole opening under Gray's feet once again, the shock they felt simultaneously, the desperate attempt at something.

Their hands had been desperately clasped, slipping slowly because of the sweat, their eyes wide and exchanging an anguished and fatalistic conversation.

Natsu saw the outcome.

The end was coming near.

And try as he might, there was nothing Natsu could do to avoid it.

Gray saw it too.

Gray's hand slipped, him being engulfed by darkness.

And Natsu was left alone, the black hole previously at his feet gone too.