Haha... it's been a while hasn't it? 4 chapters left! Ish. Give or take 1 or 2.

Disclaimer: Don't own them!

"Shouldn't you go after him?" Lisanna asked.

Natsu blinked as he came back to himself. "Yeah, I probably should."

"Hold it right there, Dragneel. You're not going anywhere until I get an explanation," Lyon scowled.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lyon. Gray kissed him. Not the other way around. Now unless you want us to lose track of your brother— which we really shouldn't, considering there's still someone out for his blood— I suggest you let Natsu go after him."

Lyon crossed his arms and grumbled. "Fine. But if I hear you lay a hand on him, I swear to god…"

Natsu didn't stick around long enough to hear the rest.

It didn't take long to find Gray. The raven was standing under a big tree, forehead to the trunk, an aura of regret surrounding him. Natsu couldn't help but laugh as he came up behind him.

"…shouldn't have… was nice… but shouldn't…" Gray was mumbling into the bark. He looked seconds away from hitting his head against the tree repeatedly. And while that would've been funny, Natsu didn't want his maybe boyfriend to hurt himself.

"You know, I'd still like an explanation," Natsu spoke up from behind Gray. The CEO jumped before turning back to Natsu with a nervous expression.

"H-hi, Natsu. Didn't expect to see you there."

"I'm sure you didn't. You seemed pretty preoccupied. Mind telling me with what?"

"O-oh, you know… stuff."

"Stuff."

"Yeah, stuff. Stuff that I should probably go take care of, you know with Fantasia and all. Gotta go!" he said as he made for a quick escape. Unfortunately for him, Natsu had caught his wrist and didn't seem intent on letting go for anything.

"While I'm sure that you actually do have important things to do, I'm sure they don't need your attention right this second. I'm not going to let you go until you answer my question."

"And what question would that be?" Gray asked as he turned back.

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "You know which question."

The two stared at each other for a while, before Gray's cheeks coloured and he looked away. Natu's eyes softened as he loosened his grip on Gray's wrist.

"Please, Gray?"

The raven looked back up at him, cheeks still a brilliant red. He bit his lip as his gaze darted between the ground, Natsu, the sky, and back. Finally, Gray took a deep breath and steeled himself to look into Natsu's green eyes.

"I… I like you, Natsu. I like you a lot."

Natsu smiled and stepped closer to him. He gently cupped Gray's cheek in his palm and leaned in close.

"I like you a lot too, Gray," he whispered before kissing him.

It was everything Gray had thought it would be and yet nothing like it at all.

When they pulled away from each other, Gray turned away, bright red. Natsu laughed and linked their hands together.

"Come on, let's go back to the others."

They heard before they saw Lucy and the others. When the others finally came into view, Lucy and Lisanna immediately made their way over to the two, gushing their congratulations. The two men smiled and thanked the others before someone cleared their voice, cutting into the celebration. Gray turned in the direction of the interruption, coming face to face with Lyon. He swallowed what seemed to be a lump in his throat.

"Lyon…" he began. But his older brother cut him off with a hand.

"I'm happy as long as you're happy, Gray," he said with a smile.

The raven beamed and pecked Natsu on the cheek, to which the rosette blushed.

"Well, I didn't expect you to act so quickly, Gray!" Makarov laughed as he and Gildarts came up to the group.

Gray spluttered. "It-it wasn't that fast!" he shouted as the others laughed at his expense. Gildarts grinned mischievously as he slung an arm around Natsu's shoulders.

"So, Natsu. When can I expect the wedding?" he teased. This time it was the bodyguard's turn to redden.

"Gildarts!" he shouted.

"Serves you right for not telling me about your relationship with Gray!"

"How is it any of your business?!"

"Of course it's my business!"

"You old pervert!"

"What did you call me?!"

"Do I need to bring you in for disturbing the peace?" a voice demanded from the side.

"Erza! It's been so long!" Lisanna greeted.

"Agreed. We should catch up sometime, Lisanna," the officer said as she turned to Natsu and Gildarts. "Well? Do we have a problem here?"

"No," Natsu said quickly. "Gildarts was just being nosy."

"And that prompts you to begin a screaming match in the middle of Fantasia?"

"Well, we were all getting pretty excited about Natsu and Gray's new relationship," Lucy offered. Erza turned to her, surprised.

"I see. Congratulations, you two. But don't think that that will let you get away with public disturbance again," she said as she walked away.

"Why is she even here?" Natsu asked.

"It's not uncommon for Erza to take the day off for Fantasia. She makes a point to support Gray when she can. They're practically siblings," Lucy explained.

"That's not exactly how I would put it," Gray mumbled.

"Don't listen to him. She's right," Lyon said. "In any case, do you want to leave a bit earlier? We're just about finished here and I can take care of anything that needs to be done for clean-up."

"That's surprisingly nice of you," Natsu remarked.

"It's not for you, Salamander," he hissed. "We—"

"It's ok, Lyon. I'll take him with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Lyon watched the two warily. "Alright. I'll see you later, Gray."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to a cemetery."

Natsu immediately sobered. "Are you sure you want me there? This seems pretty personal."

Gray briefly glanced over at him before turning his attention back to the road. "It's ok. She wouldn't mind. Besides, if she were here, I think she would've liked you."

Natsu carefully eyed him, searching for any trace of a lie. When he didn't find any, he sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"Lead the way."

It didn't take them long to reach the cemetery, which Natsu was thankful for. Gray had lapsed into a pensive silence, and while Natsu completely understood, he had begun to feel antsy. Once the rush of endorphins had faded, he started feeling less sure about this. He had gone along with Gray because the raven had looked like he needed support, but he still felt like he was intruding on what was sure to be an intimate and private moment.

Gray pulled up into a parking spot and slowly exited the car. Natsu could tell that he was prolonging his movements, possibly dreading this more than Natsu was. Nevertheless, he made his way to Gray's side and bumped his shoulder lightly before sending a smile his boyfriend's way.

"I can't wait to meet her."

"Yeah… she's pretty great."

The pair made their way up the hill, hand-in-hand, before stopping at a grave. Gray let go of Natsu's hand and knelt in front the tombstone, gingerly running his fingers over the engraved words.

"Hi, Ur. It's been another year now. Fantasia was a success this year again," he started. Natsu watched silently behind him, sometimes darting his gaze around, searching for threats. "Everyone is doing fine. Erza is her usual disciplinarian self, Lucy is still pretending that she isn't with Loke, Levy is still pining after Gajeel, and Gajeel is still pining after Levy," he laughed.

"Lyon is his usual workaholic self. Still yelling at people to call him Vastia-fukushachou and being overbearing as usual. He really hasn't changed at all, Ur." With a sad smile, he turned and reached a hand back out to Natsu, who immediately took it and stepped forward.

"Ur, this is Natsu. He's… my boyfriend. I brought him to meet you today because I thought you would've liked him."

"Hello, Ur-san."

"God, she hated that. She would've said 'Just call me Ur'."

"Ur it is then. I'm glad I got to meet you. I'll take good care of Gray."

"I don't need you to take care of me, Flame Brain."

"Maybe not, but I want to anyways."

"Natsu…"

He squeezed Gray's hand briefly. "I promise, Gray. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Man, coming here reminds me: do you mind if I get someone else to guard you on July 7th?"

"Sure, but why?"

"That's the day Igneel died."

Gray stopped, the words causing him to go cold. "July 7th? How long ago?"

"16 years. Why?"

"And what did you say Igneel did?"

"He was a firefighter. Why, what's wrong, Gray?"

Gray shook his head and plastered on a smile. "Nothing. C'mon let's go home."

Natsu looked confused, but easily accepted the redirect. But Gray's mind was racing.

16 years ago.

Firefighter.

July 7th.

It couldn't be… could it?

He needed to talk to Erza.

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