Summary: The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. Beside him, Natsu laid lifeless, chest cold and unmoving. But Gray wasn't done yet, he had to fix this – he needed to fix this, even if that meant giving up his soul.

Word Count: 1734

Warning: cursing, graphic images, main character death, and spelling or grammar errors if I did not catch them.

Disclaimer: I own no one. These poor babies would be dead every week if they were mine

A/N: Since my last update, I became Voltron: Legendary Defender trash, I finally got my wisdom teeth out (my mom recorded me and shit is that stuff funny), someone stole my identity, I was able to transfer into a different college, and I got a new job. So ya, a lot has been on my plate but I was able to write this in between all of this craziness and hopefully it's as good as I think it is!

6 Years Ago

The woman walked forward awkwardly, her hand reaching out, shaking as she did so. The skin had sunken down, dark blue veins popped out against her aging features. "You agree to the terms and conditions," the old woman held Gray's gaze. He nodded quickly and his hand unconsciously gripped against the bandages around his leg – the stump, whatever it was called, that didn't matter now. She raised an eyebrow and Gray swallowed.

"Of course, I understand," he snapped back impatiently. "Just bring him back - now."

"Yes, yes," she muttered reaching out as she mumbled underneath her breath. "For this to work," she looked next to him to the dead mage, "You need to be completely calm. No outburst, no crying, no fear – just peace."

"Calm," Gray repeated, "calm…ya, ya I can do calm." But he looked away from her small form and stuck his gaze onto the flooring. "Calm…" He wasn't calm, damn it, he was starting to freak out. What if this didn't work? Would Natsu be all right if this did? What the hell was he thinking? He's stupid; he needed to think things over before agreeing to such crazy things. Maybe he could jump out of this, think this over-

A slap on his forehead drew him back. Gray looked up, his eyes unnaturally large and he swallowed. The woman glared, her eyes fierce and dangerous, "You have already agreed, young man." She reached forward, her hand already placed upon Natsu's motionless chest. "Now stay still."

He opened his eyes to a blur of colors and a pulse that shook its way through his existence. His eyes would not focus on the blobs and he snapped his tongue heavily against the roof of his mouth. Oddly, as he laid there, the world looked bland beneath his gaze and held no amount of importance. Gray tried to remember why he had been suddenly knocked into oblivion, but his thoughts were stuck in a cloud of dark mush. Aside from his vision, his hearing quickly picked up rustling as if something was thrashing around. He tried to move his head in the direction of the loud bangs, but the movement caused a spasm of pain to flow through his system like rushing water.

Gray groaned, his eyes closing quickly. He tried to go back to sleep, anything to make this sort of pain vanish. However, sleep would have to wait as hands suddenly latched onto his shoulders and shook him. "Gray!"

He whimpered silently as fingers dug into his skin, sinking – sinking so low that a scream ripped through his throat and he lost control. "Stop," he howled.

The hands instantly unlatched and drew back. The air around them warmed and the voice returned, "Gray – Gray!"

The Ice Mage opened his eyes, the fuzziness of the world slowly stabilizing and Gray instantly knew who was leaning over him.

"Please," Natsu begged, his form slowly hardening into one shape. "Please stay awake."

"You're alive," Gray muttered as a smile stretched across his features. He looked away from Natsu onto the ceiling that was a dark blob. "It worked," he muttered to himself and relief washed over the pain he had once felt.

Natsu frowned, his features turning into a look of panic and worry. "Gray," he reached forward, his hand lightly touching Gray's chest. "You're the one that was dying…" Gray paused for a second, his eyes closing a second later. Natsu seemed to sit back, a chair squeaking underneath his weight. "This was all my fault," the Fire Mage's voice was muffled and filled with grief. "If I hadn't…" The Ice Mage swallowed and then Gray blinked in the direction of Natsu. His friend had sat back, his right leg tapping against the ground and arm shaking as his hands cupped his face. "I'm so sorry, Gray." Natsu sunk deeper into himself, "If I hadn't jumped into the situation, you would still have your leg…"

Right, Gray thought to himself, though his left leg hadn't hurt since the old woman started the weird ritual to bring Natsu back. He rolled his eyes, "Don't blame yourself flame-brain." Gray gazed around the space; they were still in the timeworn shack that the woman lived in. Speaking of the ancient runt, where was she?

Present Day

Gray steadied his gaze as he glanced outside the moving train. The Ice Mage ignored his eyes that lightly stared back at him as he watched the trees rush by. Except he could only take so much of his sunken features before he turned away and back at his team. Natsu sat diagonal from him, his cheeks puffed out and eyes glassy. Lucy sat next to Gray, her eyes lit in bliss as she glanced across a sheet of paper. "You've looked over that thing for ages, Lucy," Gray muttered, his chin resting on his palm.

Lucy looked up, her eyes sparkling as Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Both of you don't understand," Lucy retorted happily. "We're going to one of the most popular parties in Fiore."

Happy, who had taken the seat in front of Gray raised his paw. "I bet they have a lot of fish there," and from the corner of the cat's mouth, drool peaked out.

"Call it what you want," Gray shrugged and glanced over towards Natsu. "We're just protecting a guy." With that, he stood and stepped towards the back of the train. He glanced back at Lucy, who frowned at his sudden movement. "Make sure the idiot doesn't puke everywhere," Gray stated before walking towards the caboose. Lucy had smiled but behind the false joy was sadness. Natsu moaned in response.

Gray shut the door behind him and felt the wind ruffle his hair as he dug for a cigarette. He quickly located the item and placed it between his lips and lit the end with a match.

"You smoke like a chimney," Cana had muttered as she took a swig of her drink.

Gray laughed bleakly, "and you drink like a fish."

Gray placed the cig between his fingers as he looked down at his left leg. He tapped his shoe gently against the metal ground, "Hm." Nothing…Sometimes if he focused enough, a pain would come back. One that wasn't painful or annoying, but it came back as reminder. Other times there would be an itch, like on his knee or the bottom of his foot, a phantom desire of something that wasn't even there. There were times where he would take away the leg, trying to hobble on one foot, trying to strengthen himself in ways that seemed stupid to do so – but he had gotten so weak since that fucking day 6 years ago.

He was weak, plain and simple. Weak in ways many people wouldn't be able to truly understand before they experience it themselves. After so many years have passed, Gray was able to build back muscle he had lost when he was on bed rest and then some. However, his mental state never seemed to adjust to life. He still had terrors of that day – watching Natsu die, watching as his leg vanish, feeling the pain as his existence was ripped in two. Even with the pain and suffering, Gray wouldn't have done it any different. Natsu was someone who you couldn't live without. The dumbass had to live… Even if Gray had learned over the years of his importance to the guild, to Lucy, Erza, Juvia and everyone else – Natsu was still important. To Gray, he felt like a side character compared to the viscous fire-eater.

Things had changed in the past 6 years. People became more protective and jobs became stricter. Natsu and Gray weren't allowed on missions alone anymore. Erza had accompanied them on each assignment, and when Lucy joined she was had unknowingly been placed as their guardian until Erza arrived. It was annoying, to say the least, but Gray had found to ignore the overprotective rules.

If this was the punishment for saving Natsu, then so be it.

After what had happened, Gray changed slightly. He smoked, trying to push down the stress that accompanied him every day. He kept his distance from people and only smiled on occasions, but to his defend life just seemed so bland now and days.

Natsu had changed as well. He still kept his carefree and reckless nature, but he also grew up. His attention drew to Gray whenever they were in battle. The bastard had also dawned a "Big Brother" persona, that from time to time got on Gray's nerves.

Gray took a final inhale on his cigarette and flicked it onto the tracks as the train speed on. He watched the end of the cig toss and turn before coming to a stop and Gray reached into his pocket for another.

6 Years Ago

"I said anything," Gray swallowed thickly as he held the old woman's gaze.

She blinked once then turned towards Natsu. "There are some warnings about what you are asking for." She looked back, her thin lips drawn out into a grimace, "There are days when you can not stand, eat or sleep. Days, where your power is little to none and life, seems to-"

"I don't give a damn," Gray snapped. He leaned forward, "Just bring him back!"

The woman didn't answer for a while, holding onto Gray's stare as he shook with desire and redemption. "Very well…" She walked away from Gray and left the room. Her voice rose from the opposite room, "There are some terms and conditions, however."

Gray clamped his jaw shut, "Yes, sure – whatever," he said between locked teeth.

The woman glanced out the door, "When my son shows his face again, you must kill him."

Gray paused; "…sure," he found his voice to be low and unsure. He waited for a minute, "Is that all?"

"Is that all?" The woman's laugh echoed throughout the house. "Yes, boy. Kill him and I will be happy."

"Fine," Gray retorted. "But…if this works, you can't tell Natsu anything."

"So be it," the woman walked out of the room. She held a large book in her arms, "Now for this to begin, you must focus on your friend here."

Gray raised an eyebrow, "How does this work anyway."

The woman scoffed, her eyes rolling as she placed the large book on the nightstand next to Natsu. "By sharing your soul, of course."

A/N: I may go into the whole "sharing Gray's soul" later in the story if needed. As for how it's done, I was thinking about how Meredy used her Sensory Link with Juvia and Gray. She was able to link their senses together and so I expanded upon that thought. I hope it's not out there, because when I thought of it I was like "HOT DAMN GIGGLES YOU THOUGHT OF SOMETHING SMART !" Of course, what comes with this magic, comes some unexpected outcomes, some have already been displayed. Anyway, thank you for reading chapter three and here's to a quicker update!

Anniegirl132- That is not a word but it needs to be! As for the more friendship thing, ya I want what happened in the first chapter to be a big life-changing thing for Natsu and Gray. It should be a very big thing in this story.

RansomeNone- First off, your username is gold! Thank you so much!

Nyan Cat- The title is "Shared Soul" which should make sense now. Thanks for the review!

Ryuu91- I feel like 6 years ago (before Lucy came into the picture) Natsu and Gray are unwise with themselves and their decisions. Hopefully, some questions were answered in this chapter!

Kori no Kobito- *gasp Oh me oh my! Hopefully, the way he did it makes sense, if not I may have to go back to the drawing board.

PokeTail- I got halfway through your fic and I suck again…I'm a terrible person, but I will try to update it soon! It's so difficult to get out of this writers block sinkhole!

DeltaGrayFraza- *giggles uncontrollably HAHAHA WHAAAAAAT NOOOO stawp it *blushes deeply no no no! As for your questions, no and no. I didn't want to have a mark on the outside, but if what I had planned calls for it, the tattoo or your idea may show up later

Lost-Remembrance- Here it is!

FalynELF- They do not and I just noticed that xD His leg isn't back, I guess I should have clarified that better. Hopefully, I was able to clear that up in this chapter

Mnemosyne's Elegy- I'm so freakin' happy you reviewed. You're like one of my favorite authors on this site! AH! As for Natsu and Gray's relationship, I totally agree. I didn't really think about it until you said something and you make a valid point! If anything in this chapter is confusing or fragmented let me know so I can fix it! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks again for reviewing!

Deboo- AH! Good heheheh

Just Me- Ahh stawp it you're going to make me blush. I'm sorry for the late update, but I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon!

CrazyBlueOwl- Thank you so much, I'm always worried about my writing but I'm glad you enjoy it!

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