Shortly after the Grand Magic Tournament:

Gray was sitting in the carriage. His fiery friend was moaning and groaning as motion-sickness took him over, his head was resting against Lucy's shoulder and she was laughing at what Erza said about desserts and swords. Gray passively looked outside, the world seemed to close into a quiet sphere with only him and the outside as the main characters. The carriage hit a bump, and he jumped in his seat and hit Erza by accident. He apologized, not wanting to get on her bad side. She gave him a sweet smile and went back to talking to Lucy.

Everyone was doing their own thing: Juvia was staring at him like a love-struck puppy, Wendy was talking to Carla about cute dresses, and Happy seemed to mind his own business with a fish in his mouth. Curiously, Gray has no idea where Happy got the fish but he chose to ignore it. He had more important things on his mind.

He flashed back to when they were fighting the miniature dragons.

He slammed into Juvia and Cheria, knocking them down. He accidently grabbed Juvia's ass in the act of saving their lives and he knew he was going to be grilled about it. He got up and looked around. Juvia stayed on the ground, probably contemplating whether or not Gray meant to grab her ass and probably deciding he did. He looked down at her and said, "I need to tell you something."

Her face lit up in a flush and she started stuttering. "W-What is it, Gray-sama?" No doubt she's thinking of an asinine scene of them.

He started to say, "Juvia—" She started screaming and pointing behind him. He turned around and a miniature dragon came up from behind some rubble and shot straight at him. It slammed into his chest, piercing straight through. Pain quickly overwhelmed his mind and he knew he was dying. All he could manage to get out was, "Huh?" before more miniature dragons came up behind the other and fired more and more at his body. They hit his chest, legs, arms, and finally, his head. It went blank from there.

Gray shivered as the scene flashed in his mind. It felt like it really happened. He truly felt he died back there. He stared at his chest, placing a hand right above his heart and a tightening feeling could be felt. Pain shot through his chest and he winced. It felt real. Why am I not dead? Was that some sort of vision of the future? I should have died back there.

He attempted to ignore the pain. He turned towards the back of the carriage where a small opening was. He watched the road stretch out as the carriage moved further ahead. He saw a sweet old lady walking along the road; they just passed her and she was slowly disappearing in the dust. Gray looked hard at her, she looked so familiar but he didn't know any old lady like her. The old lady looked at him as well and gave him a sweet smile with a tilt of the head.

For some reason, Gray was struck with guilt. Such an immense of feelings started to overwhelm his being. The longer he stared, the more it started to click. Ultear. Ultear used her magic to help us, as a result it saved his life. Tears started to flow down his face as he stared more and more. "Ultear . . ." he moaned in pain and he stood up suddenly. "Stop the carriage! Stop it now!" He looked back at the old lady and saw her give him a shake of her head. Telling him to stop, don't do it. He felt crushed inside and he collapsed in the seat next to Erza. Tears started to overflow more and he turned towards the outside world to hide it from the rest of the members.

However, Natsu in his motion-sickness haze saw the wet streaks slide down his cheeks. He was curious but while every part of his body wanted to throw up, he couldn't exactly ask what's wrong. It pained him a bit to see Gray like that but he chose to ignore the twinge of pain.

The rest of the ride went quickly for Natsu. He went unconscious at one point and woke up later drooling on Lucy's shoulder. She was muttering, "Ew, ew, ew, ew!" over and over as it dripped down her arm. When the carriage stopped, Natsu got up revived and started spewing fire all over the place in triumph. Lucy was rubbing her arm with Happy, trying to tame the cat enough to wipe the drool off her arm.

Gray hopped off the carriage and subtly walked into the new guild, ignoring the welcomes of the city of Magnolia. Natsu cautiously watched him as he took a seat at the bar and asked Mirajane to give him the strongest beer they had. Natsu took a seat next to Gray and stared at him.

Gray took a large swallow of the beer and looked at Natsu, giving him an obviously fake smile before chugging more down. Natsu stayed silent. He wanted to wait it out, he knew Gray would say something if he really wanted to. He has to be patient. For once he has to be. It sucked; he was used to be being more head-on and a strong headed type of guy. Still, he didn't want to rush Gray. He just continued to watch him drink more and more.

Finally, after his fifth beer, he looked solemnly at Natsu and stands up a bit wobbly and walks to the back of the guild, to where a storage unit is. Natsu follows, knowing Gray is asking him to follow. Lucy, Erza, and especially Juvia noticed the two going to the back but thought nothing of it. Erza simply thought they were displaying that they were best friends, Lucy thought it was a bit weird but knew they were friends deep down, and Juvia never once thought of Natsu as a love rival so she also had no reason to think anything of it.

Natsu entered after Gray into the storage unit and he gazed at him. He was leaning up against a shelf full of jars, lacrimas, and medicine. He crossed his arms and gave Gray a hard stare. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Gray looked at him sadly and gave a sigh as he ran a hand through his black hair, making it messier. "Ultear," he said, his droopy eyes seem to droop more. "Used her magic."

Natsu frowned. "What do you mean? What about Time Arc?"

Gray looked away from Natsu and had a very distant look on his face as he thought. After a few seconds, he said, "Time Arc, she used a spell that reset time and it saved my life. I was supposed to have died. I saw my death. I felt it." He grabbed his chest with a pained stricken face. "I can still feel it. The moment when my life was slipping through my hands and everything going black . . . Natsu, I'm so terrified and I feel responsible for Ultear."

Natsu didn't say anything; there was nothing he could say. He didn't know what to say to a claim like that. Mouth feeling like cotton, he worked around it roughly, "You died?"

With a small smile, he started pointing to all the parts of his body that was shot. Natsu felt sick. He really did die. My best friend (enemy) died . . . Natsu thought. He wanted to throw up. He wanted to cry. To scream. To yell in anguish. He fell back against the door and held his head, staring at the ground. "Gray . . ." he struggled out.

Gray shook his head and slammed his fist into the shelf, causing some jars to jiggle and a lacrima to fall on the ground and shatter. His face had the look of desperation, hopelessness, and vast sadness. "Why does that family continue to haunt me so? Why do they fucking save my life over and over? The debt I have for them is so large . . . And now I won't be able to get rid of it. Ultear . . . She's an older lady now, not much time left apparently. Damnit!"

Natsu went up to Gray and pulled him into his arms and held him tightly. Gray trembled, he started to cry. Natsu never seen Gray this messed up before, never so torn up about a conflict. The vision of his death is taking its toll. Natsu, acting on impulse, pulled Gray away from him and wiped his tears away with his thumb, giving him an award-winning smile that hid his true feelings. "I'm glad you're alive, Gray. You should be glad too. They gave up their life for you because they care for you. If you let that go to waste, then their sacrifices were useless and you weren't worth the trouble. So chin up and smile."

Gray smiled slightly and Natsu smiled back.

It was then that Natsu realized how close their bodies were, his body emitting the bite of the cold magic while Natsu's body was radiating heat. The two stared at each other rather passionately.

"Gray—" Natsu began to say.

"Natsu—" Gray began to say at the same time.

They both blushed like an innocent virgin girl. He needs to step away, or else my hidden feelings will explode out of me and make me do something I'll regret, Natsu thought as he inwardly grimaced. He gently pushed Gray away, yet his fingers refused to let go of its grip on Gray's cold arm. The bite of his cold magic brought a sizzle through Natsu's body and he wanted to groan but he refused.

"G-Gray . . .You need to back up," Natsu said with a stutter of complete vulnerability.

Gray looked up at him and he noticed how much his blush was spreading through his face, the way his eyes darted up to focus on his lips, and the way his skin seemed to emit more heat. Oh God . . . Gray thought. I think Natsu wants to kiss me. I didn't think he was for guys . . . I thought he would always get with Lucy.

"Natsu," Gray started but Natsu suddenly moved forward, pulled him close and kissed him deeply. Their lips touching was a cause and effect of what's to come next. The burn of Natsu's lips brought a groan up from Gray's throat and he ran his hand through Natsu's pink thick hair, loving the silky smooth feeling.

Gray managed to work around Natsu's burning mouth and mumbled out, knowing Natsu will hear with his good hearing, "N-Natsu, we shouldn't . . ."

Natsu paused and licked his lips as his heated eyes flickered up to Gray's. "Shut up and let me indulge myself in you." With that said he grabbed Gray and pushed him into a wall as he brought his hot lips down on his icy neck and started sucking and biting periodically. Gray was trying to hold back his moans but a few slip through. Natsu soft whisper tickled, "I will make you forget everything."

I can believe that, Gray's weak mind barely could grasp what was happening but he knew he had to go along with it; it felt too good to stop. His shaky hands reached out to Natsu and he pulled off his white, scaly scarf and slipped is fingers along his bare skin as he slowly slid off his vest. Steam was rising up from wherever his fingers touched and it continued to bring a sizzle down his arm.

His eyes glanced down at Natsu's pants and his eyes widen slightly as he saw a bulge struggling against the seams of his pants. Oh God, Gray thought as his own dick started to grow and struggle against his pants, completely getting turned on at the sight of Natsu's.

Natsu noticed a change in breathing in Gray and he went forward a bit, letting his hot body and bulge press against Gray's. When their bulges pressed against each other, they both let out a moan in unison and their lips found each other desperately. Their tongues and breath mingled together as Gray skillful threw off his clothes and undid Natsu's pants, letting it fall to the ground at his ankles. Now they were both bare naked in the storage unit and their dicks were standing strong, almost touching. Natsu's hand went down their bodies and he grabbed both of their lengths in his large hand and started to stroke them together.

Gray's eyes went wide as a new feeling took over his body. He let out a moan as he knew Natsu was moaning right along with him. Their foreheads were placed together as they moaned over and over as Natsu's hand skillfully went faster, pressing their tips together, mixing their pre-cum together.

"I-If you go any faster, I'm going to cum," Gray whined out as his ragged breath came out frosty as his temperature went down the further he got turned on. Natsu seems the same but with fire, since smoke was escaping his mouth. His dark eyes connected with Natsu's glazed over green eyes and they stared at each other. His hand went up to Natsu's hot cheek and he said, "I love you Natsu."

Natsu's hand slipped and pressed too hard on their tips, making them both groan out. He stuttered, "D-Do you mean it, Gray?"

Gray nodded as his breath took on a higher pitch as Natsu increased his speed. He felt pressure on the inside and he let out a louder moan. "I-I love you too, Gray, so much."

Gray reached out and caressed Natsu's cheek as he leaned in to kiss him as he finally let out a moan as he came all over Natsu and his bodies. Natsu didn't take long and he moaned into Gray's mouth as he came too, getting it all on their bodies and dripping down his hand. He took a deep breath as he looked at the mess they made. What a mess, Natsu thought. He licked his hand clean of the white stickiness as he leaned up against the wall next to Gray.

Gray was looking down at his body as it slowly dripped down his toned stomach. "That was awesome," he muttered as he turned his head to look at Natsu. "When can we do it again?"

Natsu laughed hard, his pink hair shaking and a shade of rose started to color his cheeks. "Whenever you want to, Gray."

This happy scene was soon to be over. A few days later an attack from Tartaros would ruin their winning from the Grand Magic Tournament and all hope seemed to dwindle as they fight to the death once again. The longing gaze from Natsu will soon turn hard and Gray will have sadness overwhelm him that he would have to conquer. Their smiling faces will be stained with dirt and hardships. But their clasped hands will in the end help them.

I love you.