Gray had been sitting alone in this empty room for a while now. He had left the skater's waiting room with a lame excuse to find the most abandoned part of the building to sit alone with his misery. So there he was… sitting with his head clasped tightly between his hands.

It hurt so much! Why did he have to go and get sick on the Final of the skating competition? Curse his luck!

He had taken a painkiller half an hour ago but it didn't seem to work. The pain had yet to leave him. He couldn't even stand having the lights open because the light hurt his eyes. He was so pathetic.

"Popsicle? Where are you? It's almost your turn." a familiar voice was heard from the corridor. Of course Gildarts would send him to look for Gray. He figured he couldn't stay in his little room for long but the skater was hoping for a bit more peace and quiet. Well as much peace as he could have with his head feeling like a thousand needles are poking it. He hadn't been gone for that long though, had he?

Gray sighed and slowly got up, "I'm here flame brain! Why do you have to make such a fuss?"

A pink colored head poked out from the door, "Found you! Why are you here anyway? Gildarts made me look all over the place for you. And what's up with the lights?" Natsu commented while looking around the room.

"I don't know… they must be broken." He lied

"Of course you found the darkest place to sit and brood. But hey, don't worry, if you want to chicken out of the competition I understand. It's natural to be intimidated by my awesome performance!"

"Yeah you wish!" Gray smirked. Even this little motion made his head pound. "That would be your only way of winning"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

Loud clapping could be heard from the distance. The previous skater must have finished his free skate.

"That's my cue." said the pink-haired skater "I'll definitely beat you ice princess!" he shouted as he left the room.

"Yeah in your dreams!" Gray shouted after him. He took a big breath. He could do this, he had practice the routine a hundred times. Even if his head was hurting he couldn't let it destroy his efforts.

It was going to be alright. He had memorized the routine by heart. It was going to be alright.

/ - / - / - / - /

"That was an amazing performance by Natsu Dragneel! The score will be…"

Gray tuned out the announcer's voice. He had to focus. His head felt like it would burst into pieces any moment now.

"Next up… Gray Fullbuster! Skating to "Frozen Soul"

Gray took off to the ice and took his starting position. He was feeling dizzy. Were the lights always this bright?

The music started playing and Gray mechanically started his free skate.

A little headache wouldn't bring him down.

He prepared himself for the first jump, a triple loop.

Perfect. He could hear the audience clapping.

Slide left, then right and then a quadruple flip.

Just before his feet begun to leave the ice, he felt lightheaded. He then knew he messed up badly.

Gray hit the ice roughly, not managing to break his fall. He felt a jabbing pain coming from his leg. His head was spinning even worse than before.

He felt his vision blur. He tried to get up but he didn't succeed. He should get up, he had to finish the skate.

He started to lose focus of the world around him. He could faintly hear the announcer's voice. "There seems to be a problem! Fullbuster isn't getting up!"

Why was everything spinning?

He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Why did they have to be so loud? He felt like the noise only added to his headache. He just wanted to sleep.

Then everything went black.

/ - / - / - /

Natsu stared at his friend's sleeping form.

Yes, he did consider him a close friend despite their constant fighting. They didn't really hate each other though they would never admit that.

Gray was in the hospital after a nasty fall. Apparently, the idiot had a fever but refused to tell anyone and decided to compete and didn't that go wonderfully. That's why he was covered in bandages and unconscious.

Natsu had rushed to the hospital with Gildarts, their coach, and now here he was waiting for his sleeping rink mate to wake up while Gildarts talked to the doctor.

He heard the door opening behind him and he turned to see Erza, a longtime friend of theirs and a fellow skater.

"I came as soon as I could. How is he?"

"He's sleeping like a log." Natsu gestured to Gray's sleeping form "Gildarts is still talking with the doctor."

Erza sighed "Right before I forget" she reached for her bag and pulled out a gold medal "This is yours. The judges gave it to me after you fled the rink, they were really pissed that the gold medalist left before the award ceremony." She offered him the medal.

Natsu stared at her extended arm for a moment "I don't want it."

"Natsu…"

"I don't deserve it! If I'm going to win gold I should win it fair and square! Not when that idiot went and got injured!"

He knew it wasn't his fault that Gray was in the hospital but he couldn't help but feel guilty. He should have noticed something was off. He should have noticed… then none of this would have happened.

"Who are you calling an idiot flame brain?" said a weak voice

"Gray you're awake! How are you feeling? Is anything hurting?" the redhead was never calm in these situations.

"Relax Erza. I don't think I'm in a critical condition" Gray tried to lift himself from the bed but failing.

"I should go find a doctor. Wait here!" Erza fled the room.

"It's not like I could go anywhere." murmured Gray.

"Nice to see you haven't lost your humor" said Natsu dryly.

/ - / - / - / - /

Gray was sitting in his hospital bed alone. He had sent Natsu, Erza and Gildarts home. They insisted of staying but Gray needed some time alone to process what happened.

"Damn it!" Gray hit his hand on the bedside table from frustration.

According to his doctor he had badly injured his knee. He also hit his head in the fall but thankfully, he avoided a concussion.

He had to wear a cast for seven weeks and he will be walking with crutches. Even after his leg would be healed and he could take out the cast, he would have to wear a knee brace and start physical therapy.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have a permanent problem but he couldn't participate in competitions for a long time. He couldn't even walk without help at the moment, let alone skate.

Gray's hand started trembling. He tried to force himself to calm down. His lips tightened with frustration. How did he manage to screw up his life so badly?

Gray let out a shaky laugh, "I guess I really am an idiot."

/ - / - / - / - /

When Gray was preparing for a competition a month felt like a week.

Now a month of staying in his house to heal felt like a year.

He wasn't completely alone though. Erza, Natsu and Gildarts visited him regularly as did some of his other friends. Even Gramps, the owner of the Fairy Tail ice rink, came to visit sometimes.

He wasn't alone yet he felt empty inside.

He couldn't laugh with his heart and even bickering with Natsu wasn't the same. Not that he'd let the flame brain win their fights.

Gray missed skating. He missed the feeling of his skates cutting through the ice. The cold on his skin and dancing with the music. Feeling free…

He missed it terribly.

/ - / - / - / - / - /

Seven weeks had passed since the day of the accident and Gray would be finally able to take off the blasted cast. The thing was really getting on his nerves.

He had to use crutches to move around and he even had to swallow his pride and ask for help a number of times. Bathing was an absolute nightmare.

"What do you mean there's a problem?"

"Calm down Mr. Fullbuster. It's nothing that can't be fixed with time and physiotherapy. You'll just need a little more recovery time than I first expected. If you follow my instructions and be careful with straining your leg there shouldn't be a problem."

Gray shut his eyes "Skating… what about ice skating. When will I be able to start again?"

"Let's see… if you do physiotherapy and watch out for your leg it should be about six to eight weeks. After that schedule an appointment with me and we'll see."

"That much? Can't it be sooner?"

"Not if you want to cause serious damage where it didn't exist."

"Alright…"

He just had to wait. Wait a little longer.

/ - / - / - / - /

It was finally the day he could skate again. He got permission from his doctor and as long as he wouldn't strain his leg it was alright. He could stay on the ice only for a little bit but it was better than nothing.

Gray opened the doors of the ice rink center and his practice rink for many years.

Fairy Tail was Magnolia's local ice rink and one of the best in the country. It was consisted of 4 separate ice rinks; a medium sized one for visitors and 2 private ones for the professional skaters to practice. There was a lake too, which was used as a rink during the winter. That attracted many visitors not only on winter but on spring too when the cherry blossom trees bloomed. Fairy Tail was a pretty famous spot after all.

Gray usually trained with Erza and Natsu in their own rink. It wasn't theirs but they booked the same one every single time,

He went in and stared at the place. He had really missed it. He noticed Natsu was already on the ice. The pink haired man didn't notice him, too engrossed in his skating. He had to practice his new routine after all.

Natsu executed a perfect triple loop.

Gray felt a little jealous of his rink mate. Not that he would ever admit it. He wasn't allowed to do jumps for now. If ever…

He shook his head. He could go back to his usual routine soon. He would just have to be patient.

Gray tied on his skates and stepped into the ice.

A blue haired woman was sitting on a couch with her legs pressed against her torso. She stared intensely to the TV with the remote clasped tightly between her hands.

The announcer's voice could be clearly heard in the silent room. "Gray Fullbuster's fans are devastated since their idol hasn't completely recovered from his unfortunate fall on the last final and it seems that he won't be taking part in any competition this year. Now moving on…"

The screen turned black and the announcer was cut off. The room was enveloped in silence.

"Gray-sama."

/ - / - / - / - /

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed me and ruby's collab fic. Just you wait we got a lot in store for you! Tell us what you thought of the first chapter, we look forward to reading your reviews!

IMPORTANT NOTE! If you're not interested in reading the gruvia part of the story you can jump right into chapter 4 where the nalu part starts. You won't be missing anything from the nalu side of the story.

You can find us on tumblr, our blogs are watchmist1412. tumblr. com and bloodredruby. tumblr. com just remove the spaces. Also our art blogs are watchmist-art. tumblr. com andbloodredrubymoon. tumblr .com We have made a couple of fanarts for the fic that you can find under the tag "break the ice".

See you next chapter!