Note: So yeah, I know it's been a really long time since I posted the first two parts of this, but yay, surprise bonus chapter. This is honestly just some extra closure for Gray, but also for Lyon and Natsu as well.

It was a couple months after the incident on Galuna Island that Lyon walked into the Fairy Tail guild hall one morning. Natsu was the first to see him, and he was not pleased. Lyon should not be here, and Natsu wanted him gone right this second.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" the dragon slayer growled belligerently, jumping up from where he had been sitting with Happy, Erza, and Lucy. He advanced on Lyon menacingly, his eyes flashing daggers at the other man.

"Natsu, be polite to guests," Mira scolded, giving him a disapproving look.

He ignored her, and she seemed to realize that something bigger was going on when the rest of the team moved to join him, none of them looking any friendlier. Erza's hand had dropped to where the pommel of her sword would be if she was wearing one, and although her fingers closed on empty air, she looked like she might requip at the slightest provocation. Lucy didn't look quite as violent, but she leveled an impressive glare at Lyon nonetheless, and Happy hovered by her shoulder, his fur fluffed out angrily. They were all still acutely aware of what had happened last time Lyon had shown up, and none of them wanted a repeat performance. The fact that he was here didn't necessarily bode well.

"Where is he?" Lyon asked, staring back at them with unreadable eyes.

"Not here yet," Natsu snapped. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll be gone by the time he arrives. Now get the fuck out."

Lyon's expression didn't change, and Natsu wondered what the hell was going on in his head. The dragon slayer couldn't understand him at all, and he didn't know why he was here now. It was true that Lyon had come back after his verbal attack of Gray to at least start making things up to the younger ice mage, and it was also true that Gray apparently still wanted to patch things up with him, but Natsu didn't trust Lyon at all. Maybe Lyon's intentions in coming here today were good. But maybe not, and Natsu wasn't willing to take that chance after what had happened last time.

"No," Lyon said flatly.

Natsu's eyes narrowed and his anger flared up again, but it was Erza that spoke.

"You have no business being here," she told Lyon coldly. "Leave at once."

The other mage shrugged indifferently. "I don't have any business with you," he conceded. "But I'm not leaving until I talk to him."

Natsu's scowl deepened. "I don't know what you think you're playing at, but you'd better rethink it right now. I have never—never—seen him more broken than when you were through with him. I don't care that you came back afterward. You were the one who tore him apart in the first place, and he's still not back to normal yet. You need to stay the hell away from him."

Natsu hadn't seen Gray break down again like he had that one night on Galuna, but he'd been keeping an eye on his friend all the same. Gray was acting pretty normal, but sometimes Natsu could tell that he wasn't doing so well. The last thing Gray needed was Lyon coming back to screw things up again.

Something flickered in Lyon's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come and the older mage was as impassive as before.

"Be that as it may–"

Natsu cut him off, cursing loudly. "Damn it, he's coming," he hissed. He had been keeping a lookout for any sign that his friend was coming while he tried to get Lyon out of here, and now his keen dragon hearing could pick up Gray's distinctive footsteps approaching the door to the guild. He threw Lyon the most threatening look he could muster. "You had better think very carefully about what you say. The only reason I didn't burn you alive last time was because he didn't want me to, and I still regret it. Don't tempt me."

Lyon rolled his eyes, but Natsu was already turning away, making a beeline for the door. If he couldn't make Lyon disappear in time, then the next best thing was to catch Gray before he realized that the older mage was here so that he wasn't caught totally off guard by the bastard's sudden appearance.

The doors swung open as Gray pushed his way in. He was frowning faintly at the ground and appeared rather distracted, but at any moment he could look up and see Lyon there.

"Hey, Gray–" Natsu started.

Gray looked up and his eyes immediately locked on Natsu as he spotted the dragon slayer heading towards him. "Not now, flame brain," he said. "If you want to fight then we can do it tomorrow. I'm only here to pick up a job, and then I'll be gone for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we can–"

Gray broke off, his voice dying in his throat. His gaze had caught on something behind Natsu, and the dragon slayer came to a stop, realizing that it was too late. He could tell that his friend had noticed Lyon, because Gray's face immediately paled and he unconsciously took a half-step back.

"L–Lyon?" he stammered, his eyes widening. "Why are you here?"

Natsu grimaced and reluctantly moved to the side so that he was no longer standing in between the two mages. He would just have to watch from the sidelines for now and hope for the best.

Lyon crossed his arms loosely across his chest and stared back at Gray expressionlessly. "You know why I'm here."

Gray winced. "No, I really don't," he replied, his voice tight. "I know what today is, but that doesn't really explain why you're here."

Natsu frowned over at Gray. One thing was for sure—he didn't know what today apparently was, but if it had to do with Lyon then it couldn't be good.

Lyon just let out a breath and shook his head slightly. "Judging by the fact that your dragon slayer doesn't seem to think that you should be any more upset than usual, I'm going to assume that you didn't tell your friends that today was the anniversary?"

Gray winced again and looked away, his eyes fixing on some arbitrary point on the floor off to the left. "No," he said quietly.

Natsu's eyes narrowed. Anniversary? He was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Studying Gray carefully, he looked for any sign that his friend was more upset than he was letting on. Natsu thought that maybe there was something dark and pained lurking in Gray's eyes, but he couldn't be sure.

"And you weren't planning on telling them," Lyon added. It wasn't quite a question.

"No," Gray agreed, still staring at the ground.

"So your grand plan was…what? Grab a job and run off so that you can mourn all day by yourself?" Lyon's voice still didn't display any overt emotion, but his lips tightened slightly.

There was a brief pause. The normal hustle and bustle of the guild had long since quieted to a dead silence. Natsu wasn't sure if Gray was really aware of it since he was so focused on Lyon, but the rest of the guild had taken a keen interest in the proceedings.

"…Yes," Gray said finally.

Natsu exhaled slowly, putting the pieces together. Today was apparently an anniversary, and probably a death anniversary judging by how Lyon was talking. So something to do with either Gray's parents or Ur, probably. Natsu assumed that it was about Ur since Lyon was here, and if today had anything to do with Ur's death then he wanted Lyon gone even more. Gray would be more fragile than usual, and Lyon would have more opportunity to screw things up.

And Gray obviously hadn't been planning on telling Natsu or the others anything. He was just going to run off on his own and then come back when he felt like pretending to be happy again. Natsu honestly understood why Gray would do that, but at the same time it hurt, just a little bit. Not that Natsu's feelings were the main issue here.

He watched Gray sadly. Now that he was really looking for it… Underneath all the tension and anxiety Lyon's appearance had evoked, Natsu could see some of Gray's sadness seeping through.

"Idiot," Lyon grumbled. Natsu tensed and looked back over at him, ready to claw his eyes out. If the older mage noticed Natsu's renewed hostility, he didn't show it. He kept his eyes fixed on Gray instead. "Weren't you the one yammering on about how your friends have gotten you through so much? This is a little hypocritical, considering how much you went on about how friends are there for you in your darkest times and whatever." His eyes narrowed slightly. "So why?"

Gray let out his breath in a huff and crossed his arms defensively across his chest as he stared moodily at the ground. "I don't know," he muttered. "It's the way I've always done it. It's worked for me for ten years; I don't see why I should change it now."

Lyon stayed silent for a moment, studying Gray even though the younger mage was still resolutely looking away.

"Well, then," he said finally, his voice devoid of emotion, "go pick out your job and let's go."

That startled Gray into finally looking up, and he stared at Lyon wide-eyed. "What?"

Lyon scowled faintly and glanced away. "Go grab a job and let's go do it," he repeated.

Gray didn't move for a moment, but then he slowly began inching towards the request board, keeping a wary eye on Lyon as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"You don't have to give me that kicked puppy look," Lyon grumbled, looking up to watch Gray. "I'm not scared of your dragon slayer. If I was here to throw around accusations or start a fight, I would have done it already."

Natsu turned his attention back to Lyon and scowled. He wasn't sure how much he was liking this newest development, but it was ultimately Gray's decision to go with Lyon or stay here.

And honestly, Natsu already disliked Lyon enough. Throwing insults wasn't going to win the dragon slayer over.

"Well, maybe you should be," Natsu said coldly.

Lyon tore his gaze away from Gray as well, to look down his nose at Natsu. "Well, I'm not," he said dismissively. "Maybe it's the hair. It kind of ruins the effect."

Natsu's scowl deepened. What an annoying asshole.

"Just keep in mind what I said last time," he shot back, glaring at the other man. "I won't hesitate to follow through."

Lyon stared at him blankly, but then recognition flickered in his eyes. "Oh, you mean how you said you'd kill me if I hurt him again?" He snorted and gave Natsu an infuriatingly condescending look. "Maybe that would be more intimidating if I thought you'd actually do it, but I've heard of your guild and its values. Fairy Tail mages don't kill, isn't that right?"

Natsu opened his mouth to retort, but paused as his sensitive ears picked up a slight sound, more audible than it should have been in the dead silence cloaking the guild hall. It sounded almost like paper crinkling, and he glanced toward the source automatically. He would have dismissed it immediately and turned back to Lyon, except that he had spotted Gray.

Gray was still standing in front of the request board. His back was turned to them, but Natsu noticed that his head was bowed and he had clenched his fist around the job request he was holding, which was what had made the sound that had caught Natsu's attention. Natsu frowned slightly. His friend seemed suddenly tense, and he didn't know why.

"Gray?" he asked cautiously.

Gray didn't respond, although his head lowered a little further. Natsu blinked at him in bewilderment and then glanced helplessly at Lyon, wondering if the older mage had said something offensive and he'd just been too dense to pick up on it. But no, Lyon looked faintly puzzled as well, his brows knitting together as he studied Gray. After a second, his eyes widened almost comically.

"Oh shit." For the first time since he had walked into the guild hall, his impassive masked slipped a little. "I didn't mean it like that, Gray. You didn't kill her."

Natsu winced and let out a breath as he finally reached the same conclusion that Lyon had. Some of the other guild members shifted uncertainly and a few of them started whispering to each other. Natsu wished they'd just shut up. Gray hadn't been very open about his past with most of the guild, even after what had happened on Galuna. Natsu understood why the others were curious at such a strange pronouncement and it looked like Gray was going to have to finally come clean with them now, but this wasn't the time or place.

If Gray noticed the others' interest, he didn't show any sign of it. Letting out a breath, he finally turned away from the board. He began walking back towards Natsu and Lyon, his steps short and clipped in a way that accentuated the tension that still radiated from his body.

"It doesn't matter," he said tightly. "That's just a matter of semantics and you know it."

"No, it's really not," Lyon said with a sigh.

Gray just shrugged, not looking at anyone as he stopped in front of Lyon and began smoothing out the wrinkled job request. "Are you coming or not?" he asked shortly.

Lyon stared at him for a moment and then bit his lip. "You told me that I needed to let go of the past and start moving on," he said quietly. "And I'm working on that. If I can do it, then maybe it's time that you do too."

Natsu was watching Gray's face carefully, so he saw the exact moment when something within his friend snapped.

"Yes, well you aren't the one who killed her, are you?" Gray shot back, his eyes flashing with something akin to anger, although Natsu could detect a distinct edge of grief.

"You didn't–"

But Gray wasn't willing to listen to Lyon right now. He had been exuding a sense of tension ever since he had seen the older mage, and that pressure had finally reached a boiling point. Natsu suspected that the problem wasn't only Lyon's appearance, but also the grief his friend had been trying to suppress ever since he had walked in here. Gray had finally snapped under the weight of his grief and guilt, and the words seemed to flow out of him as if a dam had broken, releasing everything he had been holding inside for ten years.

It was terrible to behold.

"Oh, please, Lyon," Gray hissed, throwing his hands into the air. "You know it as well as I do, and you've made your position on the issue very clear. I don't know why you're acting as if you've changed your mind now. I don't need your pity any more than I needed your blame.

"You and I both know why she's dead. The demon killed my parents but it didn't kill her, not really. All you have to do to move on is find a way to work through your grief. You had me to blame and hate for all these years, but what about me? The demon was gone, so there wasn't any point being any angrier at it, was there? It didn't fucking kill her. I could blame it for my parents, but not for Ur. You hated me, Lyon, but tell me, who was left for me to hate?"

Gray glared at the older mage, although Natsu could tell that he was less angry at Lyon and more angry at himself. Because now that Gray had said something, had admitted to how much he blamed himself, Natsu could make out the self-loathing in his eyes and it made the dragon slayer feel sick. He could see that Lyon had figured out the answer to that last rhetorical question as well, because he sucked in a breath and his eyes widened.

"Oh God," Lyon breathed, his air of nonchalance finally crumbling as he stared at Gray in horror. "How much of this is my fault?"

That seemed to finally snap Gray out of it, and he frowned in confusion as the frenzied anger faded from his eyes. "What?" he asked uncertainly, a faintly bewildered look spreading across his face as he blinked at Lyon helplessly.

Lyon clenched his hands into fists at his sides, his fingernails digging into his palms.

"You want to know why I'm here?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly before it steadied again. "I'm here because I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I blamed you and that I told you that you killed her. I'm sorry that I walked away and left you there crying even though I knew that everyone you loved was dead and you had no one left. I'm sorry I revived the damn demon and almost forced you to use iced shell to seal it again. And God, I'm sorry for all the things I said afterward. I'm sorry for everything I said about your parents. I'm sorry I said that you didn't deserve to use her magic, that you didn't deserve friends, that you didn't even deserve to still be alive. I'm sorry that I said I wanted you to be dead and that I would never forgive you.

"I'm just… I'm sorry, okay? So please, just…just stop doing this to yourself. I didn't mean it, okay? I didn't mean it."

Lyon seemed to shrink into himself the more he talked, and his gaze dropped to the floor. Now that he wasn't pretending to be uninterested and impassive, Natsu could see that edge of guilt and sadness eating away at him as well, and even though the dragon slayer hated this man, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy anyway. Everything Lyon had said was heartfelt and laden with regret, and Natsu finally allowed himself to consider the possibility that the older mage really did have good intentions in coming here and that he truly did want to make things up to Gray.

For his part, Gray was the one whose face had become unreadable this time. He stared at Lyon impassively, and let the silence drag on for a few long seconds after the older mage had finished his apology.

"Yes you did," he said finally, his voice flat.

Natsu couldn't figure out what his friend was feeling. Gray didn't seem angry, didn't seem like he blamed Lyon despite his assertion, but his face was suddenly so neutral that it was impossible to read.

Lyon winced and flinched. "Okay, I meant some of it back then," he admitted quietly, his voice subdued. "But I don't mean it now."

Gray didn't answer for a moment, but then he sighed softly. "I know," he said. Then his lips tightened. "But don't flatter yourself."

Lyon's head jerked up and he blinked at Gray uncertainly. "Huh?"

Gray stared back steadily, his dark eyes displaying no emotion. "I don't think so highly of you that I take your word as law," he said flatly. "I didn't need your help coming up with any of this bullshit—I did that all on my own, thank you very much. Don't even think about trying to take credit for the things I've done. I don't need your apologies. Didn't I already say that I forgave you?"

Lyon gaped at him, his own eyes brimming with emotion and shimmering with unshed tears. Natsu stared at Gray as well, recognizing what it was that his friend had done.

Gray had told Lyon that despite everything he had said and done, he hadn't contributed to Gray's state of mind and had no reason to feel guilty for it. Natsu didn't know how true that was—surely Lyon's words and actions must have at least played a role in how much Gray blamed himself, even if the dragon slayer was painfully aware that his friend was perfectly capable of blaming himself without outside help—but somehow Gray had ended up trying to comfort Lyon, despite the fact that Natsu rather thought that Gray was the one who should be being comforted right now.

Natsu shook his head slowly. He was of the opinion that maybe Gray should at least pay Lyon back for some of the terrible things the older mage had said and hold him responsible for them. But then again… Natsu sighed. He supposed that it was hard to really want to make someone feel even worse when they were clearly feeling bad already. He still didn't fully understand why Gray still cared about Lyon so much, but he had to admit that his own hatred towards the other ice mage was slowly slipping away, although he still couldn't say that he cared for him overmuch.

"I'm going to go do this job," Gray continued, glancing back down at the job request in his hands so that he didn't have to look at Lyon any longer. "You can come or not."

Lyon exhaled shakily. "Yeah, I'm coming. But Gray, I meant it. It really isn't your–"

Gray's head snapped up and something flashed in his eyes. "Don't tell me that it's not my fault," he interrupted harshly. "I don't want to hear that. Not today. Just…not today."

Natsu grimaced and unconsciously dug his fingernails into his palms. He didn't like that Gray was still blaming himself and didn't seem to want to stop. Natsu had tried getting through to him on Galuna and he knew that he more or less had, but he also knew that guilt was something that was hard to let go of, however irrational it might be. It was going to take time.

He thought that it might also take Lyon. Lyon had blamed Gray, and if he really could let go of that hate and convince Gray that what had happened wasn't his fault… Well, maybe Gray would eventually believe him. Natsu hoped so. And it looked like Lyon might be willing to try. As much as Natsu detested the idea of working with the other mage, he would do it if it would help Gray.

Lyon sighed at Gray's words, but although he looked a little disappointed and regretful, he didn't appear surprised. "And you said that I had funny ideas going on in my head," he remarked, shaking his head.

Gray stared at him blankly, before his eyes widened. "Good grief, just how much of our conversation did you overhear?" he demanded.

Natsu frowned thoughtfully. Gray could only be referring to their conversation on Galuna. Now that he thought about it, Natsu thought he might remember Gray using that specific turn of phrase sometime during the course of their talk, before Lyon had shown up. He couldn't be certain, but he rather thought that it had come up sometime during the middle of their conversation, not at the end. Which would suggest that Lyon had been standing there for a lot longer than they had realized.

"A lot more than you think I did," Lyon confirmed. His gaze slid away from Gray's face, and his voice dropped so low that Natsu could only hear his words because of his dragon-enhanced hearing. "I always thought of you as something like a brother too," the older mage mumbled.

Gray's eyes widened in shock and he rocked back on his heels, before he dropped his gaze to the ground and bowed his head. He swallowed hard, and although Natsu couldn't be certain since his hair was veiling his face, the dragon slayer suspected that he might have been fighting back tears for a second or two.

"Yeah," Gray said thickly. "Okay."

Lyon seemed to shake himself and force back his obvious embarrassment at his admission, and looked back at Gray.

"Okay, then," he said, his tone suddenly businesslike and no-nonsense again. "Here's the plan. We're going to go do your job, and then we're going to talk. You seem to have filled your head with all kinds of stupid ideas these past ten years. I helped put them there, and I'll be damned if I don't take them right back out again. And then you'll come back to your friends." He let out a breath and his lips tightened involuntarily. "Yeah, today sucks, but tomorrow's going to be a better day, alright?"

Gray stayed silent for a few seconds before replying. "Alright," he agreed quietly.

Glancing around, he finally seemed to notice that the rest of the guild was watching him. He had to have been at least vaguely aware of it the whole time, of course, but Natsu suspected that he had been so distracted and tense that he hadn't paid it much mind. But now it had captured his attention again, and he winced as he noticed everyone's faces.

No one had been unaffected by the spectacle, and there were a lot of horrified and sad expressions. A couple people, like Lucy, were even crying a little. And for those who hadn't been there on Galuna, there was a strange combination of confusion and comprehension mixed in as well, as they heard and understood parts of the story but were also aware that they were still missing most of the details. They would want answers, and Gray would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Oh great," Gray muttered. He scowled at Lyon. "You just had to do this here, didn't you?"

Lyon shrugged unrepentantly. "You would have had to tell them eventually, anyway. You should have done it already." He glanced around at the Fairy Tail mages before fixing his eyes on Gray's face again. "You'll have to explain everything to your friends, but not now. You really aren't in a good enough place to talk about it right now. But later, once the anniversary is over and you start feeling better… Well, they're your friends, aren't they? You should really tell them."

Gray sighed heavily. "Yeah," he said tiredly. "Later." Then he looked back at the others, a more normal expression replacing the melancholy one he had just been wearing. Natsu didn't know who he thought he was fooling. "Well, I'm heading out," he said. His voice wasn't exactly cheery, but it was far more upbeat than it had been a few seconds ago. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Waving goodbye in the general direction of the gathered mages, he turned and walked away before anyone could respond. Natsu watched silently as he disappeared out the door and into the street beyond, Lyon following behind at a slightly slower pace. Just before the older mage was about to head out the door after Gray, Natsu called out to him.

"Hey, slanty-eyed bastard!"

Lyon paused and turned back, arching an eyebrow. Apparently he still remembered the not-so-fond nickname from Galuna Island. Natsu gave him a hard look, trying to convey what Lyon should already know: that the older mage bore at least some responsibility for what had happened to Gray and therefore was responsible for trying to fix it. And even more than that, Natsu wanted to make sure that Lyon was perfectly aware of what would happen if he dared hurt Gray again. After Lyon's apology, Natsu doubted that he was planning to do that, but it didn't hurt to take extra precautions.

Lyon stared back for a moment and then, although he rolled his eyes, he nodded slightly.

"Leave him alone, flame brain," Gray called, although he was still out of sight since he was waiting outside the guild.

"I didn't even say anything!" Natsu protested indignantly.

"You didn't have to," came Gray's voice. "I can practically feel your death glare from out here. I can take care of myself."

Lyon snorted and looked faintly amused, but something about Gray's words rubbed Natsu the wrong way. Before he could stop himself, the words came pouring out, even though he knew that this was neither the time nor the place to bring this up.

"I know that you can take care of yourself," he said, his voice brittle, "but will you?"

He really, really should not be making a big deal out of this right now when Gray was still upset, but it was like he couldn't help himself. This had been bothering him since Galuna, and if Gray and Lyon had both reached their breaking points on certain things within the last few minutes, then perhaps Natsu finally had too.

Lyon's amusement immediately melted away and he frowned at the ground, but Natsu kept his sharp gaze fixed on the open door that Gray had walked through shortly before.

"Because you didn't last time," Natsu continued, even though he should probably stop. "I trusted you to take care of yourself and you didn't."

A heavy silence fell as no one even dared to breathe. After a few seconds, Gray appeared again in the doorway, his dark eyes sad and regretful as he stared at Natsu.

"Look, flame brain, Lyon isn't going to–"

"This isn't about Lyon!" Natsu interrupted, clenching his hands into fists. "I don't trust him, but I don't think that he's going to try anything like last time. Lyon isn't the problem. You're the problem. This is about you.

"You almost got yourself killed last time," he pressed on, his voice wavering for a second. "Hell, you almost killed yourself. Twice. And then afterwards, you just stood there and took everything he threw at you. You let him hurt you and you didn't even try to defend yourself. You wouldn't defend yourself and you wouldn't let us defend you either, and we just had to stand there and watch you fall apart."

Gray's eyes clouded over and he suddenly looked guilty again. Natsu didn't really want to see that, but he also needed Gray to understand.

"I'm sorry, but last time it was because–"

He wasn't understanding.

"Last time it was because you convinced yourself that you deserved it," Natsu broke in. "You convinced yourself that you deserved all those words and accusations he threw at you. You convinced yourself that you deserved to be hurt. You–" His voice cracked, but he forged on anyway. "You convinced yourself that you deserved to die, Gray."

Those ugly last words hung in the heavy stillness shrouding the hall, seeming to echo in everyone's ears. Gray let out a shuddering breath and looked away. Natsu hurriedly collected himself enough that he could finish saying what he needed to say. He might as well finish what he had started.

"And you can try telling me that it's just because everything with your past came up again—because you convinced yourself that you killed Ur, too—but that doesn't make it any easier to trust you today, does it? Because today is connected to your past too, and last time something was connected to your past, you–you–" Natsu broke off and took a calming breath, unable to make himself consider iced shell again. "When you walk out that door today, how am I supposed to know that you aren't going to self-destruct again? How am I supposed to know that you're going to take care of yourself and come back in one piece? I don't–I don't know that I can trust you to do that."

Natsu had known that this had been lurking somewhere at the edge of his mind since Galuna, but until this moment, when he couldn't stop the heartbroken words from pouring out, he hadn't quite realized exactly how much it had been eating away at him.

"I tried to get through to you, I really did," he said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. "But I can't force you to be happy. I can't force you to forgive yourself. This isn't something that I can fix. But I tried. I tried. And you should know by now that I'll keep trying as long as I have to. That we all will.

"But you weren't even going to say anything to us. If Lyon hadn't walked in here today, you would never have told us that it was the anniversary of Ur's death, would you? You're hiding things again, Gray. We could have tried to help you, but still, even after everything, you're still trying to do it all alone."

Natsu couldn't make himself look at Gray anymore, so he looked off to the side instead, fixing his eyes on the floor. Silence reigned for several seconds after his speech, but then quiet footsteps started up. He didn't look back over, even when Gray stopped in front of him.

"Flame brain," Gray said quietly.

Natsu bit his lip and narrowed his eyes, but kept his gaze fixed on the ground. It wasn't so much that he was mad at Gray, but that he was hurt and worried, and maybe a little bit embarrassed about his outburst. When he didn't look up, Gray sighed.

"Natsu, look at me."

Despite himself, Natsu reluctantly looked up to meet Gray's eyes, unable to resist the same request that he had made to Gray back on Galuna. Gray's eyes were sad and tired, and that made Natsu's heart hurt even more.

"You're right," Gray said in a low voice. "I gave up on Galuna. I couldn't take it anymore and I snapped and gave up. But Natsu, I've never been doing this alone. Fairy Tail has been my reason to keep going, you know. It's my reason to fight and to try to move on and get better, because I didn't really have a good enough reason until I came here. One day I'll have to stop using you as a crutch and make myself the reason to keep moving forward, and that'll happen eventually, I think. It just takes time. I can't just undo ten years in a few days.

"But yes, you're also right that I should be telling you guys about what's going on. I should have told you that today was the anniversary instead of planning to run off on my own. I really did hear you back on that island, Natsu. I did. I'm working on it and getting better, I promise I am. I'm sorry that I broke your trust, but you really don't need to worry so much. I'll take care of myself, alright?"

Natsu swallowed hard. "Promise?" he whispered.

"Promise," Gray agreed, his eyes showing nothing but sincerity.

Natsu let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Gray arched an eyebrow and a faint smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Unless, perhaps, my word doesn't mean much now that you don't trust me?" he asked wryly.

Natsu glanced away. "You don't break your word. I trust that. And it's not that I don't trust you, exactly. I'd trust you with anything else and you'd be the first one I'd turn to if I needed help, but I need to be able to trust you to take care of yourself as much as I trust you to watch out for the rest of us."

Gray sighed quietly. "It's not as bad as it was, really. Things are going to be okay. I'm going to be okay." Suddenly his seriousness morphed into sly amusement again, and he smirked at Natsu, his eyes sparkling with barely repressed mirth. "But really, flame brain, you should probably stop worrying so much. People are going to start thinking that you actually care about me."

Natsu stared at him in disbelief, and his indignation flared up. "You know damn well that I–" he started hotly.

"Shh," Gray interrupted, pressing a finger against his lips in the universal gesture of silence as he winked at Natsu conspiratorially. His grin widened a little. "It's a secret. We wouldn't want them to start thinking that we're best friends or anything like that, would we?"

Despite himself, Natsu's lips curled into a half-smile and his indignation drained away as he picked up on what Gray was saying.

"Where would they get a silly idea like that?" he asked, watching his best friend with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

Gray's grin turned crooked. "Damned if I know." Then his smile faded and he sighed, looking weary and melancholy again. "I'm sorry, Natsu," he said quietly. "You really do help more than you know. Let me mourn today, alright? We can talk tomorrow. I'll tell you whatever you need to know, just…tomorrow."

Natsu nodded, recognizing the gesture for what it was. Gray was willing to open up to Natsu again like he had on Galuna Island, and although the dragon slayer usually avoided touchy-feely emotional crap like the plague, this was a conversation that he really needed to have with his friend.

"And tomorrow will be a better day?" he asked uncertainly, parroting Lyon's words from earlier.

Gray smiled faintly. "Yeah," he said. "It always is, isn't it?"

Well, it would be if Gray was planning to work towards moving on, and maybe that was what he was trying to convey to Natsu. The dragon slayer sure hoped so.

"Well, I'm off, then," Gray said cheerfully, his melancholy morphing back into some semblance of his usual attitude again. He turned and headed for the door once more. "I'll be back tomorrow."

Natsu—and the rest of the guild—watched Gray as he lifted a hand in farewell without turning around, brushing past Lyon and disappearing out the door. Lyon made to follow him, but paused in the doorway and met Natsu's eyes for a split second, nodding slightly before disappearing after Gray.

Their gazes didn't touch for long, but it was enough to come to an understanding. The two mages didn't particularly like each other yet, but they both recognized that the other was someone important to Gray. More importantly, each was someone who could help Gray overcome his demons in their own different ways, and they both—along with the rest of Gray's family in the guild—would have their own roles to play in their friend's recovery.

For just a second, that glance set aside their mistrust of each other and acknowledged their common goal.

'We'll do whatever it takes to fix this.'

Note: Like a reviewer lamented a while back, Gray still blames himself for Ur's death in canon, and someone needs to talk some sense into him already. I thought it would be nice to at least give a start to that, and these three all have things to work out.

emmahoshi: Yeah, talking about personal stuff in public can be really uncomfortable and usually I prefer to keep things private, but... Well, everything I write is way more fleshed-out in my head than is shown in what I actually write. There are parts of this that I wanted to be public for various reasons. I've got reasons for everything I write, even if you don't always see them and they aren't always easily explainable. (And yeah, it was the third part of "And All the Times After". Although, to be fair, the guild snuck up on both Gray and Natsu.) Yeah, I was pretty miffed that there was no bridge between Galuna and Oración Seis in canon. There really needed to be one. (EDIT: Nah, you're good. You most always come off as polite to me. I was just saying, because you're not the only one who's mentioned it. There are also other, smaller, reasons that aren't very evident in the story, but you've got the main one.)