ThatWritingCorner

Final Chapter Chapter 11 Two months had passed, Everyone in the guild had gone back to the guild before Gray and Natsu, That included Erza, Lucy, Wendy and Carla. Happy stayed because he wanted to stay with Natsu. Over the past month Natsu was getting better. He was feeling happier and less down, sure he still has his down moments but they weren’t as bad anymore. If anything his temper sure came back at full capacity. This irked Gray a bit, sure he was happy Natsu was returning to normal but his temper was one thing Gray was not too fond of. “Gray! Fight me!” Gray groaned. “Got some energy to burn fire breath?”Natsu nodded and grinned. Gray dragged Natsu to an open field and shot some ice spikes towards the dragon slayer who eagerly crushed them with a fiery fist. They probably  fought for a good two hours before they were both tired and bruised. Natsu layed down on the ground and Gray layed next to him when he found the energy to make his way over to the fire mage. “That was fun.” Natsu laughed but coughed as he held his stomach. Gray had landed a punch to his stomach not long before the battle ended.Gray looked at Natsu “You alright?” Natsu looked over at Gray as well “I’m okay.. I think I got you back pretty well anyway considering the bruise that’s already forming on your stomach as well” He grinned.Natsu also hit Gray smack in his stomach as payback for punching Natsu in his stomach. Gray groaned, Natsu was right, he probably felt just as bad as the dragon slayer right now.After they got the energy to get up they both made their way back to the Inn. Natsu decided to take a shower and Gray just wanted to lay down. Natsu exited the bathroom in only a towel. Gray looked over and blushed deeply, sure he’s seen Natsu naked before when they would share a room on missions or in the hotspring they had at the Inn so he had no idea why his face was heating up so much. The ice mage turned away quickly and lid on his side. Natsu put on some boxers and sweatpants and crawled over next to Gray, he wrapped his arms around the ice mage. Gray turned around in the embrace and grinned. The ice mage rolled so he was towering over Natsu, The fire mage grinned and lid on his back while placing his hands on the ice mage’s chest. Gray looked over Natsu’s body, his eyes scanned every curve and ridge, he scanned Natsu’s abs and arm muscles but he noticed something sticking out from that wristband the fire mage always wore.Gray grabbed a hold of Natsu’s wrist before the fire mage even knew what was happening, Gray removed the wristband and stared in shock at the fading scars still visible on the tanned skin, along with a fairly fresh one. “Natsu…What?” Gray couldn’t find any more words at the moment, he just sat there and stared at Natsu’s wrist. “Gray…” Gray’s instinct kicked in and he checked Natsu’s other wrist, there were no marks there considering he doesn’t cover that one. The ice mage checked everywhere Natsu possibly could have marked. “Natsu are you still doing this?” “Gray…I…No not anymore. “ Natsu put his head down and shaded his eyes with his hair. “Baka! You better not! Why would you do this?!” Gray looked at Natsu with a pained expression. How could he have missed this. He’s been with Natsu every night. There were fresh scars…The only time Gray was never near Natsu was when Natsu or him went to the bathroom. ‘Oh Natsu…’Tears threatened to fall from the dragon slayer’s eyes but he forced them shut. “I did this to feel that I am alive, I wanted to feel the pain to know I’m alive. I’m sorry..”“And you don’t do it anymore?? Right??”Natsu shook his head to signal a ‘No’ and Gray wrapped his arms around the trembling mage. Natsu calmed down after a few minutes but Gray hadn’t. Natsu decided to kiss the ice mage’s neck, he kissed all the way down to Gray’s chest and then back up to those icy lips. Gray was finally starting to calm down so Natsu kept kissing him. Gray pulled away with a small protest from the dragon slayer. “Natsu, tell me the truth.”“Gray..I’m fine. I promise you I stopped and I promise you that I am actually okay!” “Alright. I believe you”Natsu smiled and resumed what he was doing. (I’m not writing it because it will suck! Let your imagination take over hehehe)The next day they got ready to head back to the guild. -2 Years Later- Natsu and Gray were coming back from a job, they both had no scrapes,cuts or bruises so the job must have been pretty easy. “Hey popsicle! Race ya!” Natsu grinned deviously at the ice mage and took off running in the direction of the guild.“Hey, Flame head! Get back here!!” Gray sported a smile of his own and chased after the dragon slayer. Gray soon caught up to Natsu and they both burst through the doors of the guild hall at the same time. Members looked towards the loud crash with annoyed  glares, while other members just paid no mind to it or were grinning at the duo who crashed through the doors.Natsu was on the floor wrestling Gray until Erza came and broke up the fight. Both boys scurried away from the glare they were receiving. Natsu and Gray were still together as a couple but that doesn’t stop the constant fighting, more so now that Natsu was feeling like himself again. Gray smiled to himself, Natsu was now laughing with the others and Gray felt a sense of achievement and tenderness at the sight. The ice mage was happy that Natsu was back to being the happy, loud and childish person, He loved that part about the dragon slayer.  Natsu was surrounded by Lucy and Erza and they were squealing. ‘Damn they must have spotted the silver band on Natsu’s finger.’ Gray thought to himself and chuckled, he then took a look at the dragon slayer and noticed the face that clearly screamed ‘HELP ME!’. The ice mage grinned and pulled his fiance away from the screaming girls. Natsu jumped onto the ice mage’s back and they  both made their way to their apartment.

Chapter 10 Gray looked at Natsu and thought ‘I need to talk to him tomorrow.’ The next morning Gray woke up before Natsu. He looked down and found the dragon slayer sprawled out on his side of the bed, snoring away. He smiled and got up, showered, and got dressed. When he came out of the bathroom Natsu was sitting up in bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning. Gray strode over and placed a sweet kiss on the fire mage’s cheek. Natsu sighed in contentment and smiled. “Morning Gray” “Morning” Gray sat down on the bed as Natsu got up to shower. He got dressed in a red t-shirt and his regular white pants, He finished wrapping his scarf around his neck as he walked over to Gray. “Lets go get some breakfast” Natsu nodded and they headed down to the Inn’s cafe. Gray managed to shed off his jacket already, it was his white one with the blue trim. Natsu picked it up and put it on instead of giving it back to the ice mage. Erza was sitting at a table in the cafe eating a piece of strawberry cake, Gray got a coffee and sat down across from her while Natsu came and sat next to Gray with a plate of food piled so high his head was hidden from Erza’s view. Erza took notice that Natsu was wearing Gray’s jacket almost as soon as they walked into the cafe with each other and grinned. “Morning boys” “Morning Erza” Both teens said. “I see that Natsu stole your jacket.” She grinned at Gray. Gray looked at Natsu and blushed. The fire mage was indeed still wearing Gray’s jacket, and Gray thought that it looked damn good on him too. He also noticed that Natsu was still wearing the necklace that Gray gave him. He smiled and turned back to his coffee. Erza finished off her cake and looked at the two boys again. “So what are you two planning on doing today?” “Not sure yet. ” Natsu answered. “A few people decided to go check out the water and theme park they had here, its all in one so there’s multiple activities to do. You should come.” She got up “Also Wendy gave me these to give you.” She placed a bottle containing small white pills in Natsu’s hand. “There troia pills, they are more powerful then her spell so they should work on you, that way you can go on the rides. anyway, I’m off to find Lucy.” She smiled and left. Natsu grinned “These would be perfect. I think we should go Gray!” “Yeah, it sound like fun” He smiled and finished off his coffee. Natsu had already finished eating and was getting up. Gray got up as well. “We should go get our swim clothes in case we go on water slides as well.” Gray suggested. Natsu nodded and they headed back up to their room. They each packed a small bag and made their way to the park Erza mentioned. Natsu’s eyes lit up when he saw everything. Gray chuckled and pulled him over to a change room. They changed into swim clothes but kept on their shirts. Natsu wanted to go on the roller coaster that went under water on a loop so he took one of the trioa pills and dragged Gray to the lineup. They got on the ride in the very front so they’d hit the water first. Natsu grinned widely and Gray chuckled. 'I still need to talk to him’ Gray thought to himself. As the roller coaster went under water Natsu had his mouth open and ended up swallowing a mouthful of water and spitting out what he couldn’t swallow. Gray laughed a little when Natsu started laughing. They went on many rides and played a few games. Natsu was now hugging a plush that looked kinda like Happy, he carried it back to the dressing room and placed it in his bag and then dragged Gray over to a water slide. They had both already lost their shirts, Gray lost his shirt faster than Natsu though. Natsu had dragged Gray to the tallest slide they had, it was probably 100 ft high, it also had a bunch of turns. They climbed the tower of stairs,  and Natsu sat down and gestured Gray to sit behind him. Gray sat down and wrapped his arms around Natsu as they both went down the slide together, both laughing loudly. When they hit the water Gray came up first but Natsu was no where to be seen. Gray panicked and looked around for him, little did he know that the fire mage was sneaking up behind the ice mage. When Natsu was close enough he Grabbed Gray’s waist causing a yelp to escape the ice mage’s lips. Gray heard the familiar laugh of the fire mage and couldn’t help but smile, although when he turned to look at Natsu the smile left his face and was replaced by a glare. “Baka!!” Natsu shrugged and laughed again. This time Gray joined in on the laughter. They raced each other to the other end of the pool, there was no winner, just a tie, but they sure did argue over who won. Their argument turned into a splash war once again and there was also no winner for that battle either. They both got out of the pool and decided to go change and get something to eat. They headed back to the change rooms. Natsu changed into his white pants and now a black t-shirt he secretly stole from Gray’s drawer when the ice mage was in the bathroom. He then put on gray’s jacket once again. Gray changed into some black pants and a blue t-shirt. They both walked out of the park and went to find a restaurant to eat at. Natsu had his scarf in his hand and seemed to forget about it until Gray looked at him. “Hey Natsu, Why aren’t you wearing your scarf?” “Oh! I forgot!” He stood in front of Gray and wrapped the scarf around the ice mage’s neck. Gray looked shocked at gesture but smiled. “I want you to wear my scarf Gray, at least for now.” Natsu smiled “Cause i’m not giving you back this jacket anytime soon!” Natsu chuckled. Gray laughed “You can wear my Jacket as long as you want, It looks good on you” He grinned. They came across a restaurant and went inside, of course Natsu ordered almost everything on the menu. After eating they went to a small but peaceful park and sat down on the ground by a tree. “Hey Natsu?” “What is it?” Natsu looked over at the ice mage. “I got to tell you something.” Gray stared into those brown eyes of the dragon slayer. Natsu nodded to let Gray know he can continue. “Well…Every time we go on a mission and I or anyone else gets hurt you blame yourself and then after that you get all sad, I know you don’t want me to bring it up but what happened that one day at the lake a few weeks ago..that scared the shit out of me Natsu. I really don’t want to see you do that again…or attempt it…You really need to stop blaming yourself, when we get hurt it’s not your fault. It will never be your fault no matter what. I really just wanted to say that. None of us are leaving and we are all here for you, we just want you to be you again, no one wants to see you unhappy.” Gray Watched Natsu. Natsu had looked away and put his head down. He understood what Gray was saying. If Natsu was unhappy, Gray and everyone else was unhappy. He unknowingly caused his family and friends pain just by being sad. He sighed and Gray wrapped his arms around the fire mage. “Lets go back the Inn, Okay?” Natsu nodded and they got up. Once back in their room at the Inn Natsu curled up on the bed with Gray, neither of them bothered to remove their clothes, they just stayed like that and fell asleep.

Gray looked at Natsu and thought 'I need to talk to him tomorrow.’

The next day everyone started to rebuild the guild once more. Gray had been discharged from the hospital along with Lucy, Gray decided to help the guild members before he went to get Natsu. When the guild was about halfway to being done, Gray took off in the direction of Natsu’s house, he knocked once before opening the door, he then made his way to Natsu’s bedroom when he didn’t see him in the other rooms. He opened the bedroom door slowly in case it creaked and startled the dragon slayer. Natsu was curled up under the blankets with Happy snuggled up against his chest. Gray grinned at the sight but as he got closer his smile faded, he noticed tear tracks on Natsu’s cheek. ‘He must have been crying all night..’ he sighed and decided to let him sleep a little longer. Gray sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on the fire mages cheek to wipe away a stray tear that rolled down his cheek. 'What’s he dreaming about…whatever it is it can’t be good…’ Happy stirred awake, he crawled out of Natsu’s grip and yawned. “G'morning Happy” The exceed jumped a little at Gray’s voice. “Oh, Good morning Gray, I wasn’t expecting to see you..” He smiled at the ice mage. “Yeah I came to check on Natsu” “Oh, Yeah he seemed pretty upset last night I heard him crying.” “Yeah…I could tell he was” Natsu stirred awake at the voices and sat up. “Morning Natsu” Happy said to the dragon slayer. Natsu didn’t say anything he just looked at the exceed and gave him a small smile, he then looked at Gray who was smiling at him. Natsu’s eyes showed pain and sadness. Gray sighed and hugged him. Natsu didn’t do anything, he just stayed there. Gray sighed and let go, “What’s wrong?” “Nothing Gray.” He turned his head away. “that’s bull, there’s obviously something wrong.” Gray’s voice rose a little. “It’s nothing different then what you already know, it’s about yesterday…” “Yesterday is in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.” Gray tried to reassure him. “It still happened.” “Quit blaming yourself, you did nothing wrong… you were being controlled, Blaming yourself only leads to you falling deeper into this depression I know you don’t wanna be in, Stop blaming and just forget about it! Where’s the lovable, up beat guy we all know and love?” Gray snapped a bit and Natsu flinched a little. “Right now, it feels like you’re gone. You’re changing.” Happy chimed in. Natsu didn’t say a word he just sat there and looked down. Happy sighed and jumped off the bed, “I’m going to the guild, Maybe they could use some help”. with that he left. Gray sat closer to the dragon slayer and Natsu leaned on him. “Are you hungry?” “No” Gray was taken aback by the blunt reply. “Well do you want to do something then?” “Like what?” “I don’t know, we could go to the market, the park, we could go to the river and maybe duke it out for old times sake?” Natsu thought about this for a moment before speaking. “Would you mind letting me take some frustration out on you?” “Nah, Not like you could land a hit on me anyway!” He jumped up to avoid getting punched. “What are you talking about frosty! I so could land a hit on you!!” Gray ran out of the house with Natsu following behind. Gray chuckled at how easily Natsu got riled up, even when he was sown in the dumps. Soon enough they were at the river side, Gray was on one end and Natsu on the other. They charged at each other, no magic was used in this fight, it was just an ordinary physical fight. About and hour or so later Gray and Natsu were both panting, Gray let Natsu take a few hits on him and he held back a little as not to actually hurt the dragon slayer, he’d never admit it but they were equals when they fought for real. Natsu fell to his knees and Gray did as well. “Ah, I’m beat!!” Natsu shouted “Yeah, I know how you feel!” Gray sighed “Feeling any better?” Natsu took a moment too long to answer. “Natsu?” “Oh, uh, yeah i’m feeling a bit better” “Good” Natsu crawled over next to Gray and leaned on him once again. “I’m glad I never actually hurt you, or worse.” “Yeah me too aha” Gray put his arm around the dragon slayer and they stayed like that for maybe half an hour. “You want to do anything else?” “I don’t know, I wish we could finish that vacation we were on before we got interrupted!” Natsu sighed “Me too, I was glad to see you happy again” Gray smiled a little. “Maybe we could once the Guild is rebuilt, Erza and Lucy, Happy too could go back and finish the vacation.” “I’d like that” “You wanna go see the progress the guild is at?” “ah…Yeah, lets go.” He got up and Gray did too. They made their way to the guild and saw that it was already almost finished. 'Man they work fast’ Gray thought. “Natsu!” Lucy ran over to the teen and hugged him tightly. Natsu hugged back slightly. “Hey Luce, How are you?” “I’m A-Okay!” She smiled at him. “Let me help you guys.” Natsu and Lucy walked over and helped drag some boards over to some of their other guild mates. Gray watched as he helped the other members and how they all welcomed him back as if nothing happened. Of course they wouldn’t think any differently of him, they didn’t blame him for anything, they still loved and cared about him. 'We all will get the cheerful dragon slayer back. I’ll make sure he returns to normal’

Chapter 7 Master Gasped “Shadow Flame Dragon” Erza looked at Gray and took notice on how bad the burn is on his chest. She furrowed her brows and yelled to him. “Gray, When did he change?!” It took a while for Gray to take notice of the other two in the room but when Natsu turned his attention to the door way he snapped out of it and looked in that direction, that’s when he registered that he had been asked a question. “Ah…About 5 minutes ago” Natsu turned to face Erza and she took notice of the battle stance he was now standing in but before she could do anything an ice shield formed in front of her, followed by a spiral of black flames. She was taken aback, this was not Natsu, he would not willingly attack his friends. He was being controlled “He needs to take this in 24 hours or he wont change back!” She held up the vile to show Gray that she had the cure, Gray’s face turned hopeful, he looked back at Natsu and charged at him in hopes to tackle him to the ground. Natsu didn’t let him touch him, he dodged Gray’s attempt and punched him in the back, Gray fell to the floor in pain, his back now sported a burn. He got up and charged again, this time he got a hold on Natsu’s waist but they ended up crashing through the window, that didn’t slow the fight though. Gray got back up and took a stance “Ice Make: Cage!” A large cage trapped the fire mage. Erza, Happy, Lucy, Wendy, Carla and Master rushed outside. Gray was down on a knee and Lucy was the one to notice that he now had burns covering almost all of his chest, she sent Wendy to heal him. Not long after Gray was healed, The cage broke. Pieces of Ice flew towards everyone. Gray hugged Wendy to protect her while Erza requppied into an armor with a shield to protect everyone else. Gray looked up at the dragon slayer and noticed something that took him off guard, he noticed tears. Natsu was crying, but only from the eye that was normal colored. ‘Natsu…He’s being controlled, he’s trying to fight it…’ Gray thought to himself as he stood, he took a step towards the dragon slayer but Natsu noticed and sent a wave of black flames towards him. Gray was quick to form a shield this time but it melted as soon as the flames touched it, that’s when Natsu took off. Gray ran after him, he ran through a forest, dodging branches as he chased Natsu, Erza wasn’t far behind, along with Lucy and Happy. Natsu came to a cliff and stopped. Gray caught up to him. “Natsu!” The dragon slayer turned his head only to look at Gray, he then turned back and looked at the cliff’s edge. “Don’t you dare!! we can help you!” Gray was now in panic mode. Natsu looked back at Gray and tilted his head as if he didn’t understand what the ice mage was saying. Gray took slow steps towards him so he wouldn’t cause Natsu to run away again. Happy had somehow flew right above Natsu’s head in case he did jump, he was prepared to catch him. Luckily Natsu didn’t notice the exceed above his head. Gray crept closer and closer, Natsu still had a confused expression on his face. Erza followed behind Gray just as slowly. Natsu took a battle stance when he registered that the two mages were getting closer to him. Gray stopped abruptly but it was too late, a wave of black flames came spiraling in their direction. He managed to shield himself from them and Erza did the same after running back to the others so they were safe too, but Lucy got hit with the flames. Erza silently cursed herself for not staying back with her, Lucy was now unconscious and sported several burns on her left side. The trees behind them had been caught on fire. Natsu had taken off again but this time no one saw where he had disappeared to, or so they thought he took off. He was sitting on top of a branch in one of the trees and watched them. He spit out fire balls and surrounded them in a cage of fire, the flames were so high that Happy’s magic would have been at zero  before he even reached the top, then he took off towards Magnolia once again. The heat coming from the flames surrounding the group was too much for two of them to handle, Erza had requipped into her flame empress armor, Gray tried to cool himself down with ice but it didn’t work, the ice melted as soon as he formed it. Lucy was still passed out on the ground from her hit, Gray was soon to follow, he fell to his knees and collapsed as the heat over took him. Happy collapsed soon after. That left Erza, the flames were still hot for her but she could handle it, although, she had no idea how to get out of this situation. Natsu had made his way back to the town and everyone ran from him as soon as they spotted him, but who wouldn’t, black flames danced around him, his body was arched so he walked with a slouch, his normal eye was hidden by his hair and his black eye was now glowing red, no pupil could be seen. The black markings that he sported on his arms and chest had now multiplied while covering his Guild mark. He made his way to the Guild hall while setting everything in his path on fire, there was only one thing on his mind 'Destroy Fairy Tail.’ He made it to the guild, and his flames grew, They surrounded the hall, Gajeel smelled the smoke first and told everyone to evacuate, they all ran out the back door to avoid getting burned. Natsu sensed that the Guild was now empty and the flames grew, engulfing the entire building and turning it to ashes. Every member then became visible and they all looked at the fire mage with a shocked expression. Gajeel smelled the tears Natsu had running down his face. He turned to the Master. “Salamander’s crying, He’s being controlled. I think it’s the markings covering his body” Master nodded and looked at Freed. “Trap him” Free nodded and trapped Natsu in magic canceling box, he then went inside the box, Natsu tried to punch but Freed dodged every attack sent his way, he then pressed in on Natsu’s pressure point causing him to black out immediately. Freed then lifted the spell and Laxus hoisted him over his shoulder. Natsu was placed down on a clear patch behind what was once the guild. “Gajeel, Wendy, Go find the others, Erza has the cure.” Gajeel nodded at the Master, him and Wendy ran towards the forest, they could smell the others, but they could also smell burning flesh. When they got to the others, Wendy rushed over to Erza who was leaning against a tall rock. “Erza! Are you alright!? What happened?!” Erza waved her hand to show she was okay “I’m alright but Natsu trapped us in a flame like cage, Lucy was burned and Gray and Happy passed out from the heat..I think they may have a heat stroke. ” Wendy gasped “can you walk?” Erza nodded. Gajeel picked up Gray and Lucy. Carla helped Erza just in case and Wendy picked up Happy. They all made their way back, Wendy told Erza about the Guild so she was ready to face the pile of ashes. Carla told Wendy she was to no longer use her magic as she already used it too much so Gajeel brought Lucy and Gray to Magnolia’s hospital. Erza walked up to the Master and nodded at him, She took the vile she somehow still had in her hands and placed it to Natsu’s lips. She made him drink to liquid. 20 minutes passed before anything happened, Natsu suddenly began to squirm on the ground, he let out one loud cry and bolted upright. No sign of black markings were to be seen and both of his eyes were now normal. He looked around confused and suddenly everything dawned on him. He curled into a ball and buried his face in his hands sobbing. Erza wrapped her arms around the trembling fire mage, and everyone looked at him with sympathy in their eyes, no one blamed him, he was being controlled, his actions were not his own. Master surly didn’t blame the fire mage for anything he did, he knew Natsu never would have done this if it was his own choice. Happy woke up in Wendy’s arms, Wendy hugged the exceed and then brought him over to Natsu. Happy was quick to hug the fire mage and soon everyone was hugging him, even Gajeel and laxus. When Natsu finally calmed down enough to speak they all let go. “I’m S-So s-sorry!!” “Natsu, Don’t blame yourself, it wasn’t your fault!” Erza tried to reassure the trembling teen. “Where’s Gray, and Lucy?” “In a hospital, Lucy had some pretty bad burns and Gray passed out from heat stroke….” Gajeel spoke this time. Natsu reached for his scarf but when he just grabbed air he panicked “My scarf! Where’s my scarf!” “Gray has it, I picked it up when were sent to find them, I placed it on him until we got back but I guess I forgot to grab it, Sorry” Wendy frowned. “O-oh, O-okay, I want to s-see them” Erza looked to Master and he nodded, She helped him stand up and they made their way to the hospital. everyone they had passed looked at the fire mage with fear in their eyes and some of them glared. Once they got to the hospital they were taken to Lucy and Gray’s room. Lucy’s burns were treated by a healer  and she was now resting. Gray had a cold cloth placed on his forehead but he was awake. Erza smiled at him and he smiled back, but when Natsu stepped into the room his eyes went wide and he tried to get out of the bed. Erza and stopped him “Gray! You need to rest!”  she managed to get him to sit still but his eyes never left the dragon slayer. “Natsu?” Natsu looked up and met Gray’s eyes, Gray noticed that he was crying. “Natsu, Come here!” He opened his arms for a hug but the fire mage didn’t move. “I’m sorry! I hurt Lucy, I hurt you!!” his voice shook as he spoke. “It’s okay! It wasn’t your fault!! Don’t even say it was because it wasn’t! This could have happened to any of us! now come over here!” Natsu slowly moved over next to Gray and he was pulled down by the ice mage, he was pulled into a hug. Natsu hugged him back but his sobs only got louder. Gray rubbed his back as he comforted the fire mage. They let go of each other after 10 minutes, Gray pulled Natsu in and kissed his lips gently. “I’ll be out of here tomorrow, and maybe Lucy will too. They’re keeping me here to make sure i’m definitely okay, i’ll come see you as soon as i’m out of here so go home and get some sleep!” Gray gave Natsu a small smile. Natsu nodded and walked back over to the door, he took one last look at Gray and Lucy then Erza walked up to him. “Ready to go?” He nodded and was about to leave when Gray shouted “Wait! Your scarf!” Natsu looked back at Gray and walked over, Gray was lifting it off the stand next to his bed and held it out to Natsu. The fire mage took it and wrapped it around his neck, he was pulled in for one more hug. “Thank you.”  Gray nodded and then Natsu turned to leave. Erza walked him back to his house and they said their goodbye’s, she told him that Happy will be there shortly and that he should get some sleep. Natsu went inside and went straight to his room, he climbed under the covers and layed there, Happy soon came home just as Erza said and he curled up next to Natsu. Natsu had pulled Happy to his chest and hugged him till he fell asleep. Natsu could smell Gray’s scent on his scarf, it comforted him a little but he still fell asleep silently crying.

It’s been 3 days since Natsu collapsed for the second time and he has yet to awaken. Master had sent everyone on a frenzy searching for a cure. Every now and then someone was sent to check on the dragon slayer. Happy was sent this time to go check on Natsu, he flew up to the room and he landed on Natsu’s bed. The exceed placed a paw on the dragon slayers arm but instantly removed it. Natsu was cold. Very cold. Happy panicked and flew straight to the master without checking for a pulse. Gray noticed happy quickly flying out of the room and followed him along with everyone else when they noticed Gray take off. Happy was already talking to Master when they got there. “It’s Natsu! H-He’s so cold!” Happy was crying now. Everyone who heard let out a gasp and Master quickly made his way to the room. Gray pulled Happy in for a hug to comfort the exceed. “Happy, Was he breathing??” Gray was afraid of hearing no. “I…I don’t know…I forgot to check. He was so cold I just quickly came down here!” He cuddled into Gray’s chest and cried a bit more. “I hope we find a cure!!” “Me too happy, Me too..” Gray walked up to the room with the others to see how Natsu was doing. Master was checking for a pulse when he entered the room. “Is he alive?” Lucy spoke. “Yes..He still has a pulse so he’s still alive but it seems we don’t have much time left before all his magic is gone.” “If we are able to find a cure will all his magic return?” Erza questioned. “I’m not entirely sure, but, if there was ever a cure then I would think that yes, all his magic should return..” Gray sighed and walked over to the bed, he placed a hand on Natsu’s cheek and then noticed there was absolutely no heat radiating off the teen. “C'mon, we should go back to finding a cure. we may have only a few days left, and then again we could have a week to month, I don’t know.” everyone followed the master out of the room, Everyone except Gray, he stayed back for a little longer. Happy was still in his arms. “Gray, What’s going to happen?” “I don’t know…I really wish I did though.” They headed back down to everyone else. An hour had passed, Levy and Freed had been sent to search for a book in any bookstore they could find. Lucy was in the Guild’s library but she couldn’t seem to find anything that could be a possible cure. Erza was sent back to the village they got attacked in to ask around and see if anyone knew anything about the type of magic and if there was a cure available. Gray was getting frustrated “Argh!! Why did the one spell that has no cure have to be the one that idiot got hit with!!!” He slammed the book his was reading shut and ran his hands through his hair. “Oi! Shut up or i’ll come over there and make you!!” Gajeel yelled at Gray. “Do not pick a fight with me right now!!” As soon as Gray spun around to face the iron dragon a loud scream came from Natsu’s room. Everyone stopped in their tracks and Gray bolted to the room, Master and happy following behind. Natsu was tossing and turning in his bed clutching the sheets in tight fists, his face was contorted into an expression of pain. Gray ran to his side and planted both of his hands down on Natsu’s chest in a attempt to keep him still. “Natsu! What’s wrong!” “Hurts!!! AHHH! Everywhere!!!!” A low growl escaped his mouth that caused Gray to take a step back. When Gray backed up Natsu flipped himself over so he was half kneeling on the mattress, his face was buried in a pillow that he was biting really hard on, His hands gripped the sheets in tight fists once more. He still screamed but they were muffled by the pillow. Gray turned to Master “ What do we do?!” “Happy! go get  Wendy!” “Aye!” Happy flew out of the room and soon after Wendy came running in. Wendy placed both of her hands over Natsu as both Gray and Master held him still. She gasped and took her hands away. “we have less then a hour before all his magic will be turned to dark magic. I actually thought it was a poison that sucked your magic out but instead it taints it and turns it in to dark magic!” “We have to get a hold of Erza, she’s asking about the wrong thing!” Gray’s voice shook with panic. “Yes, I’ll go try to reach her on the communication lacrima!” Master ran out of the room and straight to his office. Gray watched as Natsu curled into a little ball before passing out once again from the pain being too unbearable. Freed and Levy returned empty handed almost as soon as the Master left the room. About twenty minutes later Erza entered the guild with a vile of some kind reddish orange colored potion. “Master! I got the potion! I have the cure!” She ran up to the Master and handed him the vile. “We have to give it to him after he transforms but it has to be before 24 hours are up or else we can’t save him!” They heard a loud bang and a scream before both her and Master rushed back up to Natsu’s room but what they seen was not what they had been expecting. Gray was crouched in a corner with Wendy behind him, his face showed pain and fear, there was a long burn mark across his chest. Natsu stood a few feet back, Black flames circled around his fist. His eyes were different colors, one had turned black while his other eye was normal. There was purplish black markings running up his arms and chest. Master gasped “Shadow Flame Dragon”

was heard outside the inn and screams followed soon after. Gray and Natsu shot up and Gray threw on some pants, then they both headed out the door, Guests were running around and away from the entrance. Gray and Natsu ran towards the entrance and met up with Erza and Lucy. “Happy fly me up!! I wanna get a better look!” “Aye Sir!” Happy grabbed onto Natsu’s shoulders and lifted him up over the running crowd of people. Natsu seen the problem. In the middle of the street stood a hooded figure casting magic spells, dark magic spells.   “Happy! Drop me!” Natsu was dropped right in front of the mysterious figure and soon a flaming fist was thrown at them. The hooded figure stumbled a little before throwing a spear made from black matter at the dragon slayer, Natsu dodged with ease and shouted “Fire Dragon’s Roar!” the enemy dodged the spiraling fire coming their way only to get hit by a bunch of ice shards. “Natsu! Don’t go off yourself!” Gray ran and stood back to back with Natsu as more hooded figures appeared. “Sorry but I wanted to see who was causing so much trouble!” “Ice Make Shield!” Gray put up a shield just as a couple more dark spears came their way. “Fire dragon’s wing attack!” Natsu hit another two enemies and sent them flying into more enemies. Natsu noticed the girls were fighting a group of their own. Looks like it was up to Gray and him to defeat this group. He threw another punch at an enemy but got hit by a spear instead. Dark magic circled around him before his body absorbed it, he started to get dizzy before everything went black and he dropped to the ground. The last thing he heard was Gray going on a rampage. Natsu woke up and found himself layed in the room him and Gray were staying in at the inn, he sat up and instantly fell back to the bed after feeling an intense pain run through his abdomen. Gray walked into the room and noticed that Natsu was awake and he made his way over to the side of the bed. “Hey, Nice to see that you woke up” He smiled at the dragon slayer and sat down on the bed. “What happened?” Natsu groaned. “You got hit during a fight, do you remember anything?” “Um, yeah, I remember the fight, Do you defeat them?” “You know I did!” Gray grinned but it faded “they hurt you, there’s no way i’d let them get away with that” Natsu grinned “Great! But I feel like shit!!” He groaned as he tried to roll on to his side, when he let out a gasp Gray rolled him back over onto his back. “No moving!” “What exactly hit me?” “Well I don’t exactly know what it was but it was some type of dark magic, it was the shape of a spear and somehow your body absorbed it.” Natsu looked as if his brain couldn’t process what Gray was telling him. Gray chuckled at his reaction. and leaned down to place a kiss to his forehead. “Lets not worry about this right now, we can head back to the guild later because Wendy needs to check on you, We need to make sure you’re okay.” Natsu nodded and closed his eyes drifting off back into sleep. When Natsu woke up again he was at the guild, but something didn’t feel right, Wendy had already checked on him and she was now talking to the master. “He was hit by some type of poison, and it drains your powers and replaces them with the same dark magic that is in the poison.” Master looked at Wendy and sighed, it was just as he suspected. Carla’s vision was coming true. Natsu sat up in the bed, he was no longer in pain for some reason and he got up and walked down to the others. Gray noticed Natsu and ran over to him. “Natsu what are you doing out of bed!” “I’m not in pain, I feel fine right now, well something feels different but i can’t place my finger on it.” He placed a finger on his lips and thought but he looked way too confused to deal with it. Master came out of his office and looked up at Natsu “child, come with me, along with the rest of you as well.” Natsu followed the Master into his office and they all followed as well. Master sat down in his chair and motioned for everyone to sit as well. “I have some news about what happened to Natsu, it’s not good news.” Natsu swallowed a lump in his throat as he waited for the master to continue, Gray looked uneasy as did the rest of the team. “Natsu, you were hit with a spear with poison laced in it, The poison is making its way through your body, it will eventually suck out your magic and replace it with the magic that made the spear and poison..and there’s nothing we can do to stop it right now…I’m sorry , we will keep looking but so far there is no cure.” The team was left dumbfounded and Natsu teared up, Gray snapped out of his shocked state and wrapped his arms around the dragon slayer who was now shaking. “Shh, Natsu don’t worry we will find a cure, we will fix this, that poison will not take you magic.” Gray tried his best to comfort the dragon slayer but nothing he said seemed to work. Master let them stay in his office as he went to find levy and Freed. Natsu didn’t know what to think, what was this going to do to him? He definitely didn’t want to lose the power that Igneel gave him, he was afraid, would the dark magic change him? Would it take control over him? He panicked and something took over, he started to feel dizzy again and everything went black once more, the last thing he heard was someone shouting. “NATSU!!”

It’s been a week since the team took the vacation that the master set up for them, Natsu and Gray were now sitting at a bar, Natsu was basically drooling over all the food options available and Gray was about to order a drink before Natsu interrupted him. “Hey what are you getting?” “probably just a beer, you?” Gray didn’t really have to ask the dragon slayer what he was getting cause if he knew Natsu he knew he was going to order a bunch of food, but Natsu had surprised him “Just one plate of fire chicken” “That’s all?” “Yeah, I’m not very hungry anyway..” Natsu called the waiter over and ordered, Gray ordered as well. Their food and drinks were brought over and Natsu dug in. It didn’t take him long to finish. Gray finished off his beer soon after. “What do you wanna do now, hey Natsu?” Gray shifted on his stool so he could face the dragon slayer. Natsu put his hand on his chin as he thought, this made Gray smile at how childish it made him look. “How about we go to the beach, i’d really like to go swimming” “Yeah we can do that, Lets get the girls too, they probably went shopping” “Okay!” Natsu paid for his meal and Gray’s drink under Gray’s protest, but Natsu grabbed gray’s arm and dragged him to the shopping area. Gray scanned the shops looking for Erza and Lucy as well as looking at the items in the shop. Natsu on the other hand was only looking for the Girls. “Hey Natsu, We’d probably find them quicker if we split up” “Yeah, you’re right.” “Okay you go that way and i’ll stay in this area, Sound good?” Natsu nodded and sprinted off in the other direction. Gray had told Natsu that it’d be better to split up because it would be but he had also noticed something in the shops window which he thought Natsu would love, he’d love anything the ice mage gave him anyway but he wanted to get this one item that caught his eye. -Back at the Guild- Master was anxious over something, Carla had mentioned something that made him uneasy and he wanted to get the team back as soon as possible, he hated that he had to cut their vacation short but something was going to happen, Someone was going to get hurt again or worse. “Master, I don’t think there’s anything we can do, we’ve tried to avoid one of Carla’s visions before but it didn’t work out in our favor.” Mira was watching the Master in concern, she wanted to avoid this from happening but really there was nothing they could do. The Master sighed “You’re right Mira, Maybe we should just leave it be” Tears welled up in his eyes as he stalked his way back to his office. -Back with the Team- Natsu had found the girls and was already heading back to find Gray. Erza and Lucy along with Happy were watching Natsu with a smile on their face, they were happy to see how eager the teen was to go to the beach, they knew that, that would make him happy, he would have fun with everyone there. Erza was the first to notice Gray moving away from a shop with a small box in his hand, not small enough for a ring though, secretly she was disappointed that there was no ring in that box but she knew that he had bought something for the now cheerful teen as he spotted Gray and ran up to him. Gray had to quickly hide the box in his hand as he was almost bowled down by the fire mage. Natsu jumped on his back and insisted on a piggy back ride. Gray happily complied to it, he carried Natsu all the way to the beach since they were already wearing their shorts and the girls had their bathing suits on under their clothes. Once they reached the beach Natsu jumped off Gray, threw his shirt and scarf at him and ran into the water. Gray chuckled and walked over to where the girls went and placed Natsu’s stuff down by theirs, he then threw off his shirt which he surprisingly still had on and ran out to the water as well. Natsu had dropped to his back so he could float and Gray splashed water at him. Natsu gasped and stood up, then grinned and splashed Gray back, they laughed as another splash war broke out between them. Soon after the war broke out the girls joined in on the fun and then everyone was splashing each other, Happy was flying above as he watched Natsu smiling and everyone having fun, but Natsu grabbed his tail and pulled him into the water causing the exceed to let out a small yelp. After they all were tired of splashing water at each other they all decided to go back to the beach and lay down for a little bit. Natsu walked up and sat under a tree, Happy curled up next to him and Gray sat down on the other side of him. Erza and Lucy sat next to happy and looked at the dragon slayer. “So are you having fun Natsu?” Erza spoke first. “Yeah, I am” He gave the red head a small smile before looking down at Happy who had fallen asleep. He knew that this was fun to do, especially with everyone there, they were part of his family, they were his closest friends, but he knew that this wouldn’t last, he had a feeling that something was going to happen but he didn’t know what. “That’s good to hear, we all want you to be happy. you too Gray, we want you to be happy as well.” Gray nodded at Erza to tell her thanks and both her and Lucy gave them a smile. They all lid down and stared at the sky which was now darkening, yet they still stayed there until the whole sky was covered in stars. Gray now had his head layed on Natsu’s leg and Natsu was running his fingers through the raven locks. “Maybe we should head back to the inn, it’s starting to get cold” Lucy spoke as she shivered and shifted closer to Erza. “Yeah, lets head back, i’m getting tired anyway.” Natsu spoke as he yawned. Gray sat up and stretched before grabbing his shirt and Natsu grabbed his own shirt and scarf. The girls grabbed their clothes and they made their way back to the inn, once they got back they all said goodnight and each disappeared in their own rooms. Gray walked into the room and reached into the bag he had with him for the small box, once he found it he looked over at Natsu and called him over. “What is it Gray?” “I found something that I think you would like.” He smiled and handed over the box to Natsu. Natsu opened the box and his eyes lit up. Inside the box was a pendant on a chain that was a flame encased in ice. “Gray….I love it!” Gray smiled and kissed the dragon slayer tenderly. They pulled apart and Gray placed the necklace around Natsu’s neck so it was visible under the scarf. “Thank you Gray!” “You’re welcome” Natsu moved to the bathroom to get ready for bed, Gray had changed into boxers and got in bed, Natsu came out of the bathroom and noticed that Happy had already went to bed and smiled before getting in bed next to Gray. They fell asleep hugging once again but it didn’t last long before a big bang was heard outside the inn and screams followed soon after.

Well here’s chapter 3