Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed and added this to their favourites and follows.

"Gray, are you ok?" Lucy asked, staring at the ice mage after Naru had left them in the caves with a warning about what happen to them once they leave this cave. Nodding, Gray kept his facial expression blank as he stared at the frozen form that belonged to Deliora while Natsu laid down on the ground, staring at the demon as they waited for the ceremony to start. They would have attacked now but Gray knew Naru, he knew if there was one thing he could not doubt it was the fact Naru was cautious. She would be expecting them to attack as soon as she left or the very least follow her to find Lyon.

So they needed to wait for it to start before attacking Lyon, Naru and their gang.

He pressed his knuckles together, looked down at the dirty ground as he allowed the memories of his past flood through his mind that now seemed to be impossible for him to contain. His father smirking as he teased about his friendship with Naru while his mother shook her head, telling him he needed to take it slowly with Naru. Naru's confusion at what they were saying and her anger when his parents did not explain to her what they meant. He could see his mother's smiling face as she took him to school, telling him he needed to be a good boy while his father smiled and tell him8.

All of that was taken away in one night.

Well not everything, his mind supplied as the memory of the threat Naru gave flashed through his mind as he listened passively to the tune Lucy's Celestial spirit played. In some weird twisted sense, he still had Naru. There was one person he didn't lose that night. She was still alive, still breathing. She was still there. He knew he shouldn't be relief Naru was alive, not when she threatened to hurt his friends or destroy the sacrifice his master gave. He should want to hurt her but he couldn't do it to her. No matter how many years had passed between them, Gray still thought of Naru as his friend.

"Hey Naru, do you think we'll be friends forever"

He shouldn't be remembering this. He needed to prepare for what was to come. He needed to defeat Lyon and talk sense into Naru with her plans. This memory should not be popping up out of nowhere. There was no time for him to go back to that one conversation he had with Naru.

"Forever is a long time Gray," Naru pointed out to him, avoiding his eyes as she licked the ice-cream his father bought for her. "And Tou-san always told me that things change over time. For all we know, we won't be friends forever."

Gray frowned. "Our friendship won't change overtime! There's nothing that can change it."

"Y'know you don't know about that! One day, things will change and you won't see me as your friends, what then Gray? Forever isn't something you can say," Naru answered, flickering her eyes at the giggling girls who stared at them. "Besides you can't read the future…and things change or haven't you forgotten about how you told me two girls in your class stop being friends because of some guy?"

"Well we're different from them!"

He had truly thought they were different from every other kid in the village. They never fought about a girl or a boy, which when Gray thought about it, would have been awkward for him. He always stuck by Naru whenever someone teased her about the whisker marks on her face. Naru always defended him from those fangirls of his by telling them he didn't like any girl. That fact was wrong but Gray never corrected her. He could never tell her he liked her. How could he? Naru would have blinked her eyes and tell him he was being an idiot since they were just too young for him to like her like that. She would tell him with her monotone voice, he didn't have any kind of feelings for her and that he mistaken it for something else.

He hadn't mistaken it. After Naru, he did have a few crushes, gone on a few dates and nothing ever seemed to happen with them. There was just nothing there, which was logical since relationships took time to build but all the dates he had didn't make him smile or laugh. He always told the girls, who would smile and tell him they understand. Sometimes, he sees them on his way to his apartment and feels nothing as they make awkward talks about their life now.

With Naru, it was different. He still felt his heart rate quickened at the sight of her or how his stomach seemed to have butterflies when he looked at her. It was the same thing all over again. Except, before he tried to tease her and make her smile while now he knew it would fade. His old crush would fade because there was nothing about Naru that would make it come back again.

"Gray?" Gray looked up to see Lucy staring at him. "How do you exactly know Uzuamki? And is she really serious about unleashing this demon."

"Naru is my childhood friend," Gray answered, tugging the necklace that clung to his neck. "And knowing Naru, she is definitely serious about doing this…she never jokes around. If she tells you something then she means it…she won't hesitate to hurt us as soon as we step out of this cave."

"She also said she wouldn't stop us from preventing the sealing the demon," Lucy informed him, looking up at the ice. "If she really plans to unleash it then why did she say she won't stop us from preventing its sealing."

"I don't know, Lucy. She might be planning something if she told us she won't stop us from the sealing. I don't know her all that well…everything I thought I knew about her was a lie," Gray replied with a bitter tone, pressing his hands into his pockets. He wanted to add more, to tell Lucy that Naru always contradicted herself. She hated ice cream but always had a smile on her face when she ate it. To actually know what Naru meant was for someone to look underneath her words. Gray had never been good with that…at least when it came to Naru. He didn't tell Lucy all this, it would be just too awkward for him to say this.

Lucy looked up at the demon. "She seems to care about you," the celestial mage commented, glancing at the ice mage, "or why else didn't she call us out when we were here or looked so happy to see you in Clover Town."

Shrugging his shoulders at her, Gray looked up to see the frozen form of Deliora. If Naru truly cared about him, she wouldn't try to unfreeze Deliora. She should have known even if he was dead, he wouldn't want anyone to deal with this demon. Yet, this was what Naru was doing. She got a lot of people helping her. One of them was someone he knew.

Lyon. What the hell was the bastard thinking? He pressed his lips into a thin line. Had Lyon forgotten that Ur gave her life to stop the demon? If Lyon undid the seal then all of Ur's work would have been for nothing. He gritted his teeth. Why would Lyon do this? Why would he be willing to do this? Hell, why was anyone willing to unleash the demon? What the hell was going through Naru's mind? The girl was smart so why would she do this? She may have said it was her duty but what kind of duty makes her do this?

Why would she do something like this?

What would Naru gained from releasing this demon?

And what the hell was this duty she kept talking about?

Looking up at the ceiling, Gray tensed when he heard a large creaking sound coming from the rocks above. There was a purple light that seemed to be slipping through the loose rocks. The purple light seemed to be getting larger and brighter as each second passed. He glanced at Natsu and the others, who were now all rubbing their eyes as they looked up at the ceiling, which appeared to be opening up to let a beam of purple light in.

"T-The ceiling opened up!" Lucy said, staring wide-eyed at the open ceiling.

"Purple light…is it the moon light?" Gray jumped up from the boulder he leaned against and watched with a heavy heart as the moonlight hit Deliora. Looking up at the ceiling, Gray noticed that the light came in only one direction. Was Naru really going to make it easy for them to find them? This was not something Naru would do. It might had been years since he saw her but he knew Naru would have made it difficult for them to find where the attack was happening just like how it was difficult for him to beat her in chess.

"The light is coming from up there," he glared at the ceiling before turning to the others. "Naru and Lyon are probably somewhere on top of the ruins," he clenched his hands into a fist. "We need to search on which floor those two are in."

The others nodded in acknowledgement before starting to run towards the stairs. With each staircase they climbed, they noticed that the purple light was still coming from the same spot and that there was always hole in the exact same area where Deliora stood. It did not seem to stop until they reached to the roof, where there was no more purple light being projected.

The four of them stopped running as soon as they noticed a group of people chanting around the beam of purple light. In front of the whole circle was Naru who watched the chanting with a complete relax expression. The blonde stiffened and Gray wondered if she knew they were there. He shook his head and stared at the chanting people. Could this chant undo all of his master's hard work, Gray asked himself as they hid behind the boulder.

"Doesn't she know what Deliora can do? If she remembers it then why is she willing to unleash it?"

"She answer it in the cave…it's her duty." He replied bitterly.

Lucy opened her mouth to ask more questions but closed it when Naru set her eyes on their hiding spot. She didn't seem like she knew they were there but her body was tensed, which told Lucy what was about to happen next wasn't something Naru wanted to do. Her whole body relaxed when the demonslayer looked away from her spot, fixing her eyes on the chanting people.

"Hey Lucy…I just remember something, the woman said something about Moon Drip? What's Moon Drip?" Happy asked.

"How am I suppose to know you stupid cat?"

"So that's what they are using," Lyra said as Lucy asked why she was still here. "Moon Drip is a powerful dispelling magic that requires the moon's magical power to break the spell. It can break any type of spell," the celestial spirit grimaced. "Whatever the island's people think that curse is, I think it's due to Moon Drip. The moon's magical power gathered at one place is so strong that it can contaminate a human body."

"They—" Natsu growled, remembering the sad and torture expressions of the villagers. He pressed his hands onto the rock, crouched his legs and was about to leap when Lucy covered her mouth.

Natsu raised an eyebrow and Lucy's response was, "Someone is coming!"

Gray grimaced and followed Lucy's gaze, tightening his grip when he saw who it was. If Naru hadn't told him before, he wouldn't know who it would be. Still what was up with Lyon's outfit? He raised his eyebrow at the sight of the striped horn helmet which covered the upper part of his face. He glanced at Naru, who had a wide smile as Lyon and his gang came closer.

"Uzumaki-sama did you find the intruders?" Yuka asked to the smiling blonde who still had the wide smile on her face.

Naru shrugged. "I didn't find anyone in this island," she pursed her lips. "Are you certain there were any intruders down there?"

Why the hell was she lying? Gray asked himself, staring at the relaxed blonde. She said she would harm his friends if they interfere with his plans yet she was lying to them. What was Naru trying to do? Why was she doing this? Naru warned him that she would not hesitate to hurt them yet she was saving their asses. Something was not making sense about her behaviour.

"Intruders?" Lyon asked.

"We meant to tell you this earlier but Uzumaki-sama said she would handle it before talking to you Reitai-sama," Sherry explained, glaring at the blonde, who glared right back. "There were intruders during the daytime…but we couldn't find them and Uzumaki-sama said she would personally deal with them. I can't speak of love like this."

Gray tightened his grip on the rock.

"And you found no intruders at all Naru?" Lyon asked Naru with his arms folded to his chest.

Naru nodded. "Are you really questioning about this? I told you I didn't find any intruders down there," she smiled. "Besides if I did find them, wouldn't I have inform you by now? I don't keep secrets like that from you do I?"

Lyon frowned at the angry tone in Naru's voice while Gray raised his eyebrows, wondering why the girl was so furious with Lyon. Shaking his head, Lyon turned his attention towards Toby and Yuka, asking the one question that now ranged in Gray's mind: "When will Deliora will be revived?"

"I thought you said it would be revived today, Reitai? Did you lie to me?"

Lyon sighed. "I gave you a rough estimation on how long it would be Naru," he narrowed his eyes at her, "You seem to be grumpier today than ever."

"Like I said, I've a good reason to be grumpy."

"If it's about your fake boyfriend then this isn't the time for you to be grumpy," Lyon stated. "I told you it would be a bad idea to get involved with him and now you paid the price."

Naru scowled. "I don't want to discuss about him. Now can one of you tell me, how long it will take for the damn fake demon to be revived?" she glared at the subordinates, who gulped. "I had to look for some non-existent intruders in the forest when I could have been taking my usual nap!"

"I-It'll probably be today or tomorrow Uzumaki-sama," Sherry stuttered.

The blonde flickered her eyes at Gray and the other's hiding spot before turning her attention towards Sherry and the others. "I see," Naru stared at Reitai. "Y'know Reitai, you can back down if you want. You can forget about all of this and live a peaceful life."

"Naru…" Lyon growled.

Naru raised her hands in defeat, smiling bitterly at the man. "I'm just going to say this one last time even though I know you won't listen to me. I'm saying this as a friend, not as your superior. This mission of yours might bring you the fame you want and might fulfil your dream but I want you to think again about what you gave up for it! Was it worth ruining your childhood for this? The chances of you defeating him is low I'll tell you this now but anyways if you did defeat it, I want you to consider what I said to you all these years ago when we found the demon. "

For the first time since they were reunited, Gray saw the old Naru. He saw the little girl who had believed him in yet told him his father could be right about being a terrible mage. He saw the girl who despite what she said was willing to do everything in her power to make people happy. He tightened his grip on the rock and stared at Naru, whose eyes were now focused on Lyon. Naru cared about his fellow student yet she was willing for Lyon to continue to do this even though she knew his chances of defeating the demon was low.

"Have you checked the villagers to see if they were the ones who trespassed the temple Naru?" Lyon asked, ignoring Naru's words.

Naru closed her eyes. "I did…there's no one who could do this."

"Will you give me permission to kill them?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Kill them?" she hissed. "I'm willing for you to do anything but harm those villagers. They've done nothing to deserve to get hurt from this. Besides, it'll break the deal we have."

"They could ruin our plans."

"Then you should have picked a better place to do the spell," she retorted, folding her arms against her chest as she stared down at the village. "Those people don't deserve to get murdered…they've done nothing to deserve getting hurt. I'm not willing to get them hurt."

"We need to set an example."

"My answer is no," Lyon scowled. "These people don't deserve to be dragged into this. Besides, I'm not allowing you to become a murderer. That is the one thing I would never ask you to do! Promise me you won't harm those people in any form!"

So Naru did have her limits about what harm could be done. It seemed like despite her claims of not being afraid to fight dirty, she would never consider hurting the villagers. She wanted to protect the villagers from Lyon. It seemed to contradict everything she told him. Was not killing people consider getting her hands dirty? And wasn't she trying to release Deliora? What difference does a bunch of villagers make to her? Why did Naru care about those villagers so much?

"I'M TIRED OF SNEAKING AROUND" Natsu roared, drawing everyone's attention when he jumped out of his hiding spot and puffed his cheeks before spitting out flames. Naru twitched while Lyon crossed his arms at the demonslayer, waiting for her explanation on why there were intruders in the island when she clearly stated there were none. "We're the ones who will stop you!"

"He's an idiot," Naru mumbled under her breath, glaring at the smirking pink-haired mage. She should have dealt with those two mages when she had the chance. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about Gray not getting hurt. Now with the fire mage revealing his friends and him were here, Naru might actually be forced to pick a side and she knew which ever side she picked, the other party would not like it.

"That mark! They're from Fairy Tail!" Sherry cried.

Yuka frowned. "I understand now…the people contacted a guild for help."

Lyon glanced at Naru, who kept her face blank as she stared back at him. Rubbing his throbbing head, Lyon asked, "Did you know they were there?"

"I did."

"And you did nothing."

"Technicality, you never ask me to do anything when I came," Naru retorted, flickering her eyes at Gray. "Besides, I'm not obliged to tell you everything! You certainly don't tell me everything!"

"They could have ruined our plans."

"Our plans have a slim chance of working."

"I thought we agreed that anyone who gets in our way are our enemies," Lyon reminded her, clenching his hands into a fist. Naru shrugged her shoulder. "Why didn't you inform of me earlier? And why didn't you stop them?"

Gazing at Gray's dark blue eyes and then to Lyon's dark eyes, Naru shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't stop them. She didn't want to stop them. Stopping them meant hurting Gray, which was the last thing she wanted to do. The one thing she couldn't do was use her magic against Gray. Of course, she could not tell Lyon that. He would use that weakness of hers against it. He would try to find some way to manipulate it for his use. She didn't want Gray to get hurt from her actions.

She could not lose him again.

"Well Naru…why didn't you stop them?"

Before Naru could give a believable lie to Lyon, Gray charged towards them. "Stop the ritual!" He yelled at them, clapping the palm of his hands and slamming it down on the ground, making it head towards Naru and Lyon. He didn't understand why they were doing this. Why Lyon was doing something that made their master's sacrifice pointless or why Naru who still had some form of conscious was not doing anything to stop it.

Whispers broke out as the ice continued to head towards the two other teens. Naru raised her eyebrow and jumped out of its way while Lyon gave a haughty smirk at him, extended his arms and then slammed one hand at the floor, doing the same thing to Gray. The two ice collided with each other, making the ice crystals spikes even bigger than it should be. Naru landed down on her feet and kept her facial expression blank at what just happened.

"Naru told me you were helping her," Lyon raised his eyebrow at Naru, who looked away from his gaze. "Why are you doing this! Why were you so eager to help Naru?"

"It's been a long time Gray," Lyon glanced at Naru, who avoided his eyes. "You don't seem to be surprised he's alive Naru," Lyon stated to the demonslayer who kept her eyes fixed to the ground. "Did you know he was alive all this time?"

"I met him in Clover Town," was Naru's response. She gazed at the furious boy, gulped down the bubbles of emotions that threatened to consume her before continuing. " And you knew he was alive Lyon! Don't act so damn surprise."

Lyon stared at Naru's eyes, gulping when he noticed how her usual blue eyes had turned blood red and that her once wide pupils had stilted, reminding him of that of a fox. His hands shook as he tried to find a reasonable thing to say to Naru that didn't sound like an excuse in Naru's ears. He needed to figure out a way to calm down the girl. It was one thing to deal with a calm Naru, it's another thing entirely trying to deal with a furious Naru. A furious Naru meant trouble and this wasn't the time to tell her.

"You didn't ask me," he finally answered. "You simply made the presumption I don't know who Gray was. You never once consider I might have know him. What would you have done if I told you I know him?"

She did not answer him instead she fixed her eyes on the chanting people. What would she have done if she knew Gray was alive earlier? Would she have gone to search for him? Yes, she would have. She would have seen him one last time before doing her search again. She would have delayed her research just to see him. Even if he wasn't her mate, Gray had and will always be one of the most important people in her life. He had been the reason why she trained so hard, why she had stopped complaining to her father about his training methods.

"Answer me Lyon! Why were you eager to help Naru?" Gray yelled at Lyon.

Lyon ignored him. "Naru, will you give me permission to allow Shelly and the others to deal with his friends?" Gray raised an eyebrow at this. "You know if they stay here then everything you worked for is going to be destroyed."

"That's fine," Naru answered Lyon. She gazed at the furious Gray before pulling Lyon till they were at eye level and whispered in his ear. "I've one condition and one condition only Lyon for you…you can battle Gray but if I see he's badly injured then I'll inflict the same injuries to you! Understand?"

"Understood," Lyon nodded and turned his attention at the others, giving them the subtle hand gestures that Naru taught them when communicating while he said. "Naru has changed her mind about obliterating the village! I want you three go and destroy it."

The three others teens nodded and proceeded to run towards the village, looking confused at the message that he silently gave them.

Naru sighed.

"You're going to let him do that?" Gray asked Naru. "I thought you said you don't want those villagers harm."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Guess I changed my mind. What are you going to do about it?"

Clenching his hands into a fist, Natsu ran towards her, declaring to her that he won't let them do that. Naru sighed, ducked and slammed her elbow against the fire mage back, who tumbled down to the ground. He glared at her. She narrowed her eyes, kneeled down till he saw her eyes and stated, "I thought I told you this before, don't leave any openings! It makes it very easy for me to beat you up. Lyon, can you freeze this idiot? Not the entire way of course…maybe his upper body! I think he'll look funny like that, goodness know I need a good laugh right now."

Lyon rolled his eyes at her and did as she asked, freezing the boy's upper body. Naru grinned at him, poking her finger at the ice before fixing her eyes at the fire mage. "I'm going to give you one piece of advice," she whispered to him, "The way you're now is laughable, if you want to get stronger then fist master the basics. Don't waste your time getting into fights that you have no chance of winning."

He blinked at her words and frowned as Naru stood up and made her way towards the chanting circle. He shook his head and turned his attention to Happy and Lucy. "Happy, take care of Lucy!"

The cat nodded, grabbed the blond-haired girl from the behind and started to fly away, ignoring the girl's cries about being with the others. It seemed like the idiot was smart, Naru thought, staring down at the frozen boy. He at least knew it wasn't safe for the girl to be here. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the glint in his eyes were similar to her when she stared at Gray. She looked at the retreating back of Lucy and the cat before fixing her eyes at Natsu.

"Is she your mate?" Naru finally asked Natsu, who struggled to stand up.

Natsu blinked. "Mate? What do you mean by that?"

She shook her head. Maybe, she had been imagining that glint in his eyes but looking at the boy, Naru had to wonder about him. She hadn't taken the time to look or smell him properly but with Lyon fighting Gray now, she had her chance. She took a whiff of Natsu's scent. He didn't smell human, Naru thought, gazing into his eyes. Even if he was raised by a dragon, there wasn't enough to explain his scent or why he smelled entirely of dragon too. This boy, Naru thought to herself, was someone she needed to keep an eye on because something about him didn't seem right to her.

She might need to ask Itachi if he could dig up about Natsu's family life before the dragon adopted him.

"You made an opening to let the girl and cat go," Lyon stated, snapping Naru from her thoughts. "Well never mind, they won't be able to stop Sherry and the others."

"Don't underestimate mages from Fairy Tail," Natsu roared as he stood up from the ground. Naru chewed on her lips in order to prevent herself from laughing at the pink-haired mage, who simply looked ridiculous with the ice covering his upper body. She had to hand it to Lyon, he really did pull through for her by agreeing to this request of hers although she had no doubt that Lyon would have done it anyway. He was simply impatient for these people to go away.

Gray didn't glanced at Natsu before he kicked the boy off the roof of the temple. Naru raised her eyebrow at this sudden display, looking down at the boy that was still rolling down to the ground. Gray had gotten a lot more smarter, she thought to herself, staring at the fading form of Natsu. Kicking Natsu away meant that Lyon's magic would fade due to the distance, which in turn kept the boy safe. Although, it meant Gray had to face Lyon by himself, which was a bad idea with his state of mind. The older boy still need to think things through before doing something like that.

"You're still reckless," Lyon commented. "Isn't he your nakama?"

"Lyon, you need to think why Gray did what he did," Naru warned him. "You kicked him so that Lyon's magic will fade right?"

"Yes."

"That makes more sense," Lyon muttered, looking impressed at Gray's actions. "Good job on that."

"Stop acting like you're my senior," Gray growled with a dangerous glint in his eyes before turning to Naru, "And don't act like you're smarter than me! I'm not the same boy from ten years ago!"

I know you're not the same, hell you're not even a boy, Naru thought to herself as she allowed herself to stare at his muscular shoulders. She could feel the burning desire acting up again. The pull to grab him and kiss him and do all the things her father had told her that she should never do until she had a mate. She licked her sudden dry lips before biting it down hard. She was starting to become one of those girls that needed to sleep around. She was starting to act a little bit like Sakura, who always desired to have Sasuke in that way.

She couldn't allow herself to become like that. Naru had more respect for herself than that.

"Lyon." Gray said. "You're no longer Ur's student anymore."

"The same goes for you, Gray," Lyon took off his helmet. "Ur isn't alive anymore."

Gray snarled. "She lost her life in order to seal Deliora! You and Naru are trying to destroy what Ur did!"

"Naru, did I ever tell you who actually killed Ur?" Lyon asked Naru, gazing at Gray. "Did I ever tell you that it was Gray who caused my master's death?"

Naru felt her blood turned cold at his words and stared at Gray, who turned pale at her ally's words. Why would he say that? Why would he say it was Gray's fault his master died? How could he blame her mate…no her best-friend, who she knew had a heart filled with gold? How could he say that about him? She licked her dry lips and stared a the shaking ice mage, who avoided her eyes. She chewed on her lip, uncertain on what she should say or do.

"How can you live like that?" Lyon then turned to Naru with a cold look in his eyes. "I never told you this but it was not really Deliora who killed Ur, it was your best friend right here who caused her death. It's presumptuous enough to even mention his name. "

Naru felt her anger bubbling over as she listened to Lyon's words. She knew he was messed up by his master's death. Ur wasn't just a teacher to Lyon but like a mother to him as she would hear him say whenever she was able to get him drunk enough. She had taken in Lyon when he lost his whole family. If Ur was a good person like Lyon claimed then she would never want Lyon to say these things about Gray. If Ur was a good person then her cause of death wasn't because of her best friend.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Gray crashed into a brick wall while Lyon looked on with an arrogant smile on his face. She willed her legs to stay put as Lyon walked closer to Gray. This wasn't the time for her instincts to act up. She couldn't let herself help Gray because she knew this fight was between them. If Gray was anything like he was ten years ago, he was going to hate her for helping him. It also didn't help if she went to him then Lyon might figure out about the depths of her feelings for Gray. He would call her weak for helping Gray because of her feelings for him. She didn't want to be seen as weak.

"What's wrong? Do you feel too guilty to counteract?" Lyon asked mockingly as the younger boy struggled to stand up. Naru bit her lips at this comment. "If that's the case, I ask you not to get on the way. I honestly have to wonder why Naru didn't simply hurt you earlier!" Naru didn't answer the question, keeping her eyes solely fixed on Gray. He frowned. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to reviving Deliora."

"I won't let you!" Gray snarled.

Lyon smirked. "That's the spirit," he dropped his helmet and suggested to Gray, "let's have a match, it's been a while."

Was reviving Deliora worth getting Gray hurt? Naru asked herself as Lyon made several ice birds attack Gray, who made an ice shield to block the attack. Was she willing to let him get hurt because of her father's desires? He was her mate and her best friend but her father told her to kill Zeref. Deliora might be her only clue to finding Zeref and fulfilling her father's desires. Was this really worth it? Was she really going to let this fight continue on? Was she really going to let this one sided match go on?

Naru clenched her fist, felt her heart grow heavy as she realized her decision as Lyon's eagles hit Gray. Her father was going to be furious with her. He was going to hate her for this. However, Naru was done with following everything her father asked. She was still going to defeat Zeref but not at the cost of Gray's life. Not at the cost of people's lives because she knew at this rate, she was eventually going to take a human's life away just because of her search for Zeref.

She was going to end up like Zeref and that was the last thing her father had wanted for her.

Still, she would do that when the match was over because Naru knew if she interrupted the fight then those two boys weren't going to forgive her. So she watched with a blank as Lyon tried to use the same magic he used on Natsu on Gray and almost smiled when Gray broke the spell. He stumbled around but Naru made no attempts to help him instead she avoided looking at him to prevent herself from helping him.

Shaking her head, Naru watched as a giant ice hammer appeared above Lyon's head. The older boy shook his head and raised his arm, yelling out: "Ice Make: Ape". A giant ape appeared, looming over Lyon and broke into a million pieces when the hammer hit it.

"You're pathetic," Lyon informed Gray. "You're still using both your hands for molding magic."

Gray scowled. "It's Ur's teaching. One-handed molding is incomplete and not balanced."

"I'm special," Lyon said, causing Naru to slap her forehead at his arrogance. "I've surpassed Ur's power long ago."

"Don't think too highly of yourself." Gray snarled.

"I'll return that line to you word by word," Lyon retorted. "Were you able to even hit me once?"

There was a rage in Gray's eyes that made Naru realize with a heavy heart, he was going to do something reckless. She was right. The dark-haired boy slammed his fist against his palm and without any delay, his ice magic was beginning to accumulate into his hands. "I'm not the same as I was before! Ice Make: Ice Geyser!"

Giant ice shards started to rapidly grow in where Lyon was standing, causing everyone but Naru to run away from the circle. It was a good plan…if it was anyone else but Gray had a disadvantage when compared to Lyon. The older boy was more in control of his emotions then Gray. He was able to think more clear-headed then Gray ever could since looking at all of this, must have brought painful memories to her friend. Of course, she could be wrong and Gray could defeat Lyon despite this weakness of his.

"Same old, same old," Lyon said, walking out of the mist that formed during Gray's attack. Gray twitched when he saw that there was not a single scratch on the older boy. "I was the senior pupil, and I was stronger than you. I could mould magic one-handed but you couldn't. Nothing has changed." He dispersed the mist around him and raised his arm to accumulate magic in his hand. "Even though our paths differ, time has been frozen since then."

Naru felt time slowed down as an ice dragon shoot behind Gray and felt her heat beat painfully against her chest as the ice mage was flung up in the air by the ice dragon. What the hell was she doing allowing Gray to get hurt? What was she thinking letting Lyon to hurt him? She knew if she told him no then alarm bells would be ringing in Lyon's ears. Was keeping this a secret worth it? Would it have been bad if she had just told him that Gray was off limits.

She felt like a damn coward.

"Ur was my goal. It was my dream to surpass her," Lyon said, staring down at his fellow ex-pupil. "I thought it'd be impossible to surpass Ur now but Naru found out about how I knew it was and knew of a way to unseal it without her killing the demon," Gray stared at Naru, who kept her eyes fixed on the ground, "she told me she would give me a chance to kill it. She gave me a way to fulfil my dream. If I can defeat Deliora that even Ur couldn't defeat then I've surpassed her. I can continue dreaming," he finished with a wild look in his eyes.

"That's why you joined Naru!" Gray yelled. "You should know how dreadful Deliora is! The both of you should know what it can do!"

Naru clenched her eyes when Gray muttered the last two words, "Don't…it's impossible.."

The memories of the people's screaming, the beams shooting at the village and her father's words about how she wasn't strong enough to defeat the demon yet flashed through her mind. She did know. She remembered that day clearly. She still had nightmares from it. She could still remember finding Gray's parents bodies and burying them in the ground, struggling to keep herself from crying and then finally letting herself go with the make-shift grave she made for Gray. She did know and that was why she needed to defeat Zeref.

Naru stared at Lyon and felt dread creep into her heart when she saw the deranged look on his face.

"Lyon, stop," Naru whispered, getting the two boys attention at her. "Remember what I said what I do to you earlier."

"I'm willing to break it Naru," Lyon said harshly before gazing at Gray. "Don't, it's impossible! Back then, we told you the same exact words! Don't tell me you forgot!" Naru clenched her hands into a fist when Lyon summoned more ice and threw them all at Gray. "YOU CHALLENGED DELIORA AND THAT'S WHY UR DIED!"

Naru glanced at Gray, who had cuts and bruises all over his body and then to Lyon before making her final decision on the matter. Before Lyon could summon even more ice, Naru slammed her fist against the ice mage's cheek, sending him flying several feet away. "That's a warning Lyon," Naru said coldly as she kicked him in the stomach. "If you do something like this ever again, I'm going to do something much worse to you. He had enough! You don't hurt someone while they are down."

Lyon spat blood and glared at her. "He deserved every single bit of it."

"No, he didn't and I don't think your sensei would've wanted you to hurt each other," Naru said coldly, looking at the limp body that belonged to Gray. She pressed her hand against Lyon's chest and pushed him. "You're my ally and I don't want to hurt you so leave before I do something I will regret."

"Naru, you're going to let him live after all I said!"

"Leave!"

"Naru!"

"Leave Lyon that's an order!" Naru snarled, glaring at the male.

He opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he saw the murderous glint in her eyes. He felt fear creeping into his heart as Naru continued to stare at him. Gulping, Lyon left without another word. Naru felt the tension in her shoulders leave. She continued to stare at Lyon's fading figure and when she was certain, he wasn't going to turn around, she rushed towards an unconscious Gray.

She felt her hands shake at the sight of his bloodied face and allowed her fingers to touch his face. Gray was going to be fine, she reassured herself as she gently touched his blood-soaked face. He was still alive and that was all that matter to her. Taking in a couple of deep breaths, Naru grabbed the older boy by the arm and started to take him towards her room, where she knew no one would bother her.

She needed to make things alright with him.

Gray groaned as he sat up straight in bed, grimacing when he felt his ribs cracked. Rubbing his eyes, Gray noticed that he wasn't in the room in the village or in his apartment bed. His room wasn't filled with maps or filled with so many books. It also wasn't even this neat. So where the hell was he? He glanced around the room, stopping when he noticed a picture of himself, his father and Naru in the bedside table. His father was ruffling his and Naru's hair, causing Naru to scowl and his younger self to smile. He remembered numbly, it was his mother who took the picture.

"Do you remember how your mum insisted I was in the picture even though I told her I didn't want to be in it?" Naru asked, giving him a small sad smile as he turned his attention towards her. He gazed at Naru, opened his mouth to curse at her but clutched his ribs when he felt a stabbing pain in his ribs, silently cursing Lyon for hurting him the way he did.

Shaking her head, Naru fixed the older boy into a sitting position in the bed, which earned a raised eyebrow from the ice mage. "Why are you giving me that look?" she asked, pulling the blanket away from him. "I'm going to check on your wounds…he badly injured you."

"On your orders," Gray retorted, hissing as Naru unwrapped the bandages on his chest. "And where am I Naru? And why are you checking on my wounds?"

"You're in my room in the temple," She answered, placing the blood soaked bandages on the bedside table and grabbing a new set of bandages beside the picture. "I'm checking your wounds because you're injured idiot."

"Yes but why you? You could have just left me there," Gray stated, watching Naru as she wrapped his chest with a new roll of bandages. "Besides…why are you even helping me at all? I'm going to stop the unsealing of Deliora whether you like it or not."

"Leaving you out there in the cold might have meant you getting an infection. I don't want you getting sick, you're still my friend," Naru answered him, chewing on her bottom lip as she finished tying the bandage on him. He blinked and rubbed his eyes causing Naru to look down at her hands. "I know when we were kids, I deny it but you were my best friend…and I don't abandon my friends. It's for that reason alone I'm doing your bandages since I didn't know how long it would take your friends to get to you."

He kept still as Naru continued to redo his bandages, watching the blue-eyed girl as she worked on it. Looking at her now, Gray noticed how much Naru had changed. She no longer did her hair in braids instead allowing it to flow free, revealing her straight hair. Her cheeks were still slightly chubby but nothing like her childhood chubbiness, making her face looked slightly tomato shape. Her eyes were no longer emotionless but now seemed to radiate with life. He looked down at her clothes. She wore an orange blouse that seemed to hug her chest and black cargo pants. He blinked his eyes as he remembered the days when Naru had a flat-chest and how he used to tease her for it.

Guess, his jokes were wrong now.

"You know fighting Lyon the way you did was reckless," Naru said when she finally finished wrapping the bandages. He folded his arms at her. She narrowed her eyes. "Listen to me Gray Silver Fullbuster or else I'm going to tell your friends about how you used to beg me to hide you from your fangirls!" He paled, causing her to smirk. "Glad that you're now listening to me. What the hell were you thinking fighting him when your emotions were all over the place?"

"That he was betraying my master's sacrifice!"

Naru's eyes softened. "That may be true but he used your anger against you," she slapped him in the head. "I thought I told you to think before you act! The next time this happens, don't fight or the very least have some back up on you!"

"If I didn't know any better I would say you were concern for me."

She didn't deny his words, causing Gray to stare at the blond-haired girl, who now avoided his gaze. When did Naru act like this? She used to deny anything to do about caring about him. When they were younger, she would deny about caring about him and make up some lame excuse about how they would have gotten into trouble. What happened in the past ten years for Naru to change so much? What happened for Naru to be the way she was now?

"I was concern," Naru finally said, taking a seat on the chair beside his bed. "It was the first time in four years that I've seen Lyon act like that and I was afraid he was going to murder you. He told me about how his master gave her life to seal it but he never told me the whole story, he never told me anything to do with you."

"You heard the bastard didn't you? He blamed me for Ur's death," Gray informed her, looking up at the roof. "He's right in any case…it was my fault that Ur gave her life away."

Naru didn't ask him why he said something like that. It was just one of those things the two of them knew never to talk about such as the topic of her father when they were younger. Ur was just something that they could not discuss now, not when Gray's emotional wounds were open for her to see. It was just one of those topics that shouldn't be talk now.

"I'm trying to correct my mistakes and to fulfil my promise to my father," Gray blinked at her words while Naru gave him a bitter smile. "That night when Deliora attacked, I wanted to stop it," Naru swallowed down the lump that was being formed in her throat. "I told Father that I was going to defeat it that I was going to save you guys but he wouldn't allow it. He said…I wasn't physically strong enough to defeat it or emotionally ready. I tried to convince him but nothing I said would convince him."

"Naru…"

"If I had been stronger then everyone in that village would have been alive," Naru said to him, clenching the necklace that clung to her neck. Gray felt his throat become dry when he realized the necklace on her neck was the sapphire necklace he begged his father to buy for Naru's birthday. "Your parents would have been alive and that demon wouldn't have caused trouble."

"You don't know that," Gray finally said as Naru started to pace back and forth. "My parents might have still died even if you were able to kill it. Besides, I'm glad you're alive Naru and that your father prevented you from doing it, at least you lived," he narrowed his eyes. "If that was the case then why did you promise Lyon, he could kill it?"

"Because he reminded me of you, just as reckless to want to do something like that," Naru answered tiredly, giving him a smile. "He seemed so eager that I didn't have the heart to ruined it. I didn't want to tell him he had absolutely no chance of defeating it or the chances of him actually doing it is slim."

Gray felt like there was more to her words but he knew he could ask her another time. Right now, he felt drowsy, warm and drained from everything that happened. So with that mind, he kicked off the blankets and closed his eyes, ignoring Naru's cries of protest about how the bed he was sleeping on was hers.

For the first time in years, Gray felt like he was home.

Questions and answers:

Did Kurama sealed himself into Naru?

No, Kurama hasn't sealed himself into Naru.

Is the village that Sasuke live called Konoha?

The answer to that you is…well you will find out at the end of this arc.