Chapter 23

After Natsu had left him with no explanation, Gray had spent all of his free time searching the woods for any signs of him. He could feel through their bond that Natsu wasn't far, but no matter how hard he looked, he could never seem to find the elusive dragon slayer.

He'd even ventured towards the dragon slayers' cave once, figuring Natsu must surely be there, but he lost his courage when he heard the noises coming from inside. Loud roars and heavy dragging sounds accompanied by scuffles, obviously belonging to multiple creatures, leading him to believe some dragons might have returned as well. An image of Atlas covered in hellfire was all he needed to turn himself back around.

He was having a hard time cataloging his emotions. On the one hand, he now knew for a fact that his mate was alive, and that made him incredibly relieved. On the other, he couldn't help but feel frustrated that he didn't know what was going on.

Why was Natsu hiding from him? Where had he gone? And the one question that kept him up at night, what had made Natsu so reticent and full of despair?

His mind, already filled with questions relating to his missing memories, was now even more overloaded, and a part of him wondered if the two things could somehow be connected. He'd heard a voice when he'd woken up in the field, a familiar voice that had asked for his forgiveness.

Could that have been Natsu?

The uncertainty continued to gnaw at him, and after a particularly long day of training and patrolling, he found himself drawn to the lake. It wasn't a place he often visited, much preferring their field, but it was peaceful. So he sat down and stared out at the water while his fingers did their usual dance with the fringes of Natsu's scarf. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there when he felt someone sit next to him.

He didn't bother glancing to see who it was, automatically assuming it was Lyon. Gray had made the mistake of telling him everything that had happened between him and Natsu during the summer solstice, thinking Lyon would be happy for him.

He now had undeniable proof that Natsu was alive, but Lyon had been furious. He felt Natsu had used him and then disappeared, adamantly refusing to listen to any of Gray's claims to the contrary.

It was only in the last few days that they'd talked again, but it was still awkward, and he was too tired to deal with it now, so he remained silent.

"I see you've found my thinking spot," Erza remarked, smiling at him warmly when he startled at her words.

"It's nice here," Gray replied simply.

"It is," Erza agreed, working her hair into a ponytail as the wind worked at it, "I like to come here to think about my mom. It's hard not to know, isn't it?"

Gray nodded, absently playing with his scarf once again.

Erza studied him briefly before asking in a kind voice, "Does Natsu know how you feel about him?"

She chuckled as he blinked at her, his features settling into a shocked expression before blurting out, "Did Lyon tell you?"

"No, Lyon would never betray your confidence, not even to me," Erza assured him, remaining quiet for a few moments, eyebrows furrowing in thought before finally explaining.

"When I saw how upset you were when Natsu first left, I thought the two of you had become very close friends. After all this time, though, the only reason I could think of for you to continue carrying on this way was if you were in love with him. Then it was just a question of thinking back to how you acted around him."

Erza's eyes twinkled at his bewildered expression, and she asked again, "So, does he know?"

Gray thought about denying it, but he saw no point in it now that he knew Natsu was alive. "He does."

"I don't understand why you felt the need to hide it. It's not like you're the only ones. Sting and Rogue, my mother and Anna, and I've seen a few other couples around town. There's no shame in it."

"You mom and Anna?" Gray thought back to another time they'd sat at the lake, suddenly understanding what Erza had been trying to tell him. "I didn't realize."

He thought about how to explain his feelings in a way that would make sense, but he knew a lot of it had been stupid superstition on his part, "We'd just gotten together before he left. We never had time to discuss it, and then I felt like he might not make it back if others knew. It was stupid."

Erza grabbed his hand and squeezed it sympathetically, "No, I understand that quite well, actually. I'm sorry for all the Juvia business," her expression was sheepish as she apologized, "I just wanted you to come alive again, but I should have talked to you instead of trying to force something on you that you clearly didn't want."

"It's fine," Gray dismissed her apology. Now that Juvia was content to be his friend, he'd rather not remember how things used to be between them.

"I was, uhm, actually looking for you," Erza stammered nervously, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Erza's cheeks rivaled her hair, and that alone was enough to grab Gray's interest. Erza rarely acted this way, so he assumed she wanted to talk to him about his brother.

"Lyon asked me to marry him last night."

"He did?! That's amazing, when's the wedding?" Gray managed an honest smile for his friend, pleased that his brother had finally gotten the balls to ask her and surprised that he hadn't mentioned it.

"I told him I needed some time," Erza blushed again, "I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I gave him my answer. I know you need him right now, and I don't want to get in the way of that."

Gray was incredibly touched by the gesture, but it made him sad to think that the two people closest to him would put their own future on hold for his sake.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you never know what's going to happen. If you get a chance at happiness, you need to grab it before something can wrest it away from you. I know you know that too."

"I've known Lyon most of my life, and I've never seen him as happy as he is when he's with you."

Erza tried to hide her smile, but it shone through all the way to her eyes, "Thank you."

Gray enveloped her in a heartfelt hug, "I hope he makes you as happy as you do him."

"He does," Now that she was sure of her decision, Erza's entire face radiated joy, and Gray could feel some of it rubbing off on him.

Erza was a beautiful woman, both inside and out, with a will of steel and a heart big enough to hold the entire town in. Lyon really was quite lucky, and Gray was pleased for him.

"And if he ever gets out of line, I will gladly beat him up for you," Gray cracked his knuckles in demonstration.

"I can handle that myself," Erza replied, eyes blazing with confidence.

"Oh, I know, but it would be fun for me," Gray laughed, the first real one he'd managed in weeks. He'd been debating whether to tell her about seeing Natsu, but now that they were having a moment, he felt she should know. The dragon slayers had been her friends first, after all.

Gray peered down at his hands, not sure how Erza was going to react to what he was about to say. "I uhm, I saw Natsu a few weeks ago."

"You did?" Erza's excitement was unmistakable, "Were the others with him? Are they okay? Did he say anything about my mom?"

"I couldn't get much of anything out of him before he took off again," Gray admitted, "Only that the others are all alive, but I think some of them might be hurt. He uh, he had a lot of scars, some of them looked pretty bad." He could hear the way his voice was trembling, and this time it was Erza who was hugging him.

"Natsu is strong, it's not just his magic, it's his will," Erza reminded him, "No matter what he has to go through, he will find his way back to you in the end. I know it."

"And when he does, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Erza fumed comically, "I can't believe he didn't tell me that date was with you!"

And in the blink of an eye, she beamed at him, "He said it was perfect, though!"

Gray could only marvel at her response, but it was enough to lift his spirits somewhat. Erza was right. Something was obviously going on with Natsu that he needed to sort out before he could return to Talos for good. As much as it irked Gray to be kept out of it, he would just have to trust that Natsu knew what he was doing. He just wished the idiot wasn't so reckless, though.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sunset, neither one noticing Lyon watching them from a distance, a pleased smile on his lips at seeing the two people he loved the most sharing a moment.

0-0

The Village Guard had spent a lot of time and resources on putting the village back together after the attack of the black dragon. In doing so, they had neglected some of their regular duties. That, coupled with the decrease of the number of red dragons in the area because of the war, had allowed the Vulcan population to grow unchecked, which had attracted larger predators, hungry for a substantial meal.

Gray and the others spent a lot of their time tracking and hunting Vulcans, trying to keep their numbers away from Talos. But no matter how many they killed, more seemed to show up in ever greater numbers.

Gray and Juvia were patrolling the area near the mountains. Gray was only half listening to Juvia chatter on about how beautiful the colors of the changing leaves were when he heard a loud noise through the trees, getting closer at a fast rate.

A group of Vulcans ran towards them, and Gray and Juvia readied to fight, but the Vulcans raced past, paying them no mind as they screeched in palpable fear.

That's when Gray heard the much more disturbing noise, as a giant creature flew past them, the flapping of its mighty wings causing some of the colorful leaves to fall prematurely from the trees. To their horror, both recognized the shape of a dragon flying overhead towards the town.

Without a word, both mages raced toward Talos, hoping to get there in time to help the other guards fight off the creatures, with Gray creating a trail of ice to speed up their progress. He tracked the dragon's flight, noticing it was smaller than the sampling of red dragons he'd seen.

There was no time to heed his growing fear. All he could think about was reaching Lyon in time. He tried to attack the Vulcans with some of his ice spells attempting to distract them or, at the very least, redirect them away from Talos, but they were moving too erratically.

Soon Talos came into view, and he heard the alarm going off. The town engaged in the type of chaos that people who are in a state of panic can only create. Adults collected children, dragging them to the guard headquarters, which was the safest place in the village. Guards ran towards the town entrance, donning weapons and regrouping at the request of Erza's barked orders.

Gray and Juvia finally entered the village and took their places next to the other mages. All their regular fighters engaged the Vulcans even as the dragon loomed overhead. Gray could feel eyes on him and turned to see both Lyon and Erza watching him worriedly.

Gray heard Anna screaming out a name in desperation. His eyes widened when he spied a young boy, one he vaguely remembered seeing running around town, crouched in fear outside the town's walls.

Memories of Isvan clamored for his attention, but he refused to let them paralyze him. Without a thought to his own safety, he ran towards the boy, wanting to protect him as his parents had done for him. He could hear Lyon, Erza, and Juvia screaming out his name, but he kept running.

He peered up at the dragon, seeing it had dived towards the boy, its talons searching for the tender flesh. Gray molded an ice bow, using it to shoot arrow after arrow at the creature, but with what almost passed as a grin, the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed an attack with his breath weapon, and Gray found himself on the receiving end of his own element.

He tackled the boy, covering him with his body while creating a cocoon of ice around them to deflect as much of the attack as he could. He could hear Lyon screaming his name, right before molding his snow dragon to fight against the ice dragon. The fear in his voice made Gray wince guiltily.

Checking on the boy and finding him unhurt, Gray dispelled his ice, grabbing him in his arms and running back through the entrance as fast as he could. He peered at the sky, wanting to know where the dragon was and spotting Erza hovering in mid-air, requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. One of her prettier ones, in his opinion. A large circle of swords surrounding her, all pointing toward the dragon.

Juvia was also attacking the dragon with her water slicer spell, but none of their attacks seemed to do anything. Gray returned the boy to Anna, who hugged him so tightly in her relief, he almost collapsed to the ground.

He watched with dismay as the dragon readied its breath weapon as Erza requipped to a different armor. Gray attempted to scream out a warning, but before he could open his mouth, he noticed a red blur advancing towards them at an alarming pace.

He blinked, trying to get a better look at the object which had materialized into a red dragon, one that placed itself in between the ice dragon and Erza.

"Move back!" the dragon growled at Erza, who looked as perplexed as Gray felt, although she complied, coming down to stand by Lyon, who frantically checked her for injuries even as she waved him away.

The red dragon butted heads with the ice dragon, his arms reaching out to grapple with the smaller dragon. He breathed a cone of fire into his face, hot enough to make the ice dragon howl in pain.

"The Dragon King has decreed this village and all the humans in it to be under the protection of the red dragons," the red dragon hissed, "Leave, now."

Although the dragon had not uttered a threat, the implication was unmistakable.

Lyon, Gray, Juvia, and Erza stared at each other in shock, trying to understand what was happening.

The ice dragon didn't seem pleased with the outcome of his attack. However, it backed down against the might of the more massive dragon. He snatched a screeching Vulcan in its talons and flew off in the opposite direction. The red dragon followed them, flying away from Talos without speaking another word.

Juvia's eyes were glued to the red dragon, her mouth open in disbelief.

"What is it?" Lyon asked.

"That's the same dragon that fought the black dragon," Juvia announced.

"Are you sure, Juvia?" Erza asked.

Juvia nodded, "Juvia is sure, it had the same scars. That is the dragon that saved Gray and took him away."

Gray felt a headache coming on. He still refused to believe what had happened, attributing it to Juvia's overactive imagination, even though he had no other explanation for how he could have gotten to the field while injured.

"What did he mean about the Dragon King?" Lyon wondered out loud.

Gray shrugged, suddenly feeling overcome by exhaustion as all his actions in the last twenty minutes caught up to him. He allowed himself to collapse where he stood, and the others did the same.

"I don't know," Erza replied, her brow furrowed in thought, "but it seems I was correct in my assumptions. The red dragons have been protecting Talos all these years, and now it seems like they're back."

"Are you alright, Gray?" Juvia asked, noticing he'd withdrawn from the conversation.

"Just great," he responded with a definite edge to his voice.

"This could be good news," Erza remarked, "If the dragons have returned, maybe the others will too."

"Let's hope so," Lyon said before lying back on the grass with a groan, "I hate to admit it, but that red dragon has saved our asses twice now. Ugh, it's not even noon, and I'm already exhausted."

Erza and Juvia agreed it was indeed lucky that the dragon had interceded on their behalf.

The others continued their chatter, and Gray ignored them, lost in his own thoughts. Natsu had said most of the dragons were gone, but it felt like they'd seen more dragons in Talos since the dragon slayers had left to fight in the war than ever before.

Natsu had clearly said that people had caused his wounds. What did that mean? Had he been fighting those renegade dragon slayers that he'd talked about before he left? Is that why he'd had to go again? Were they still fighting?

But if that were true, then why were the dragons back? No matter how much Gray analyzed the little information he had, it made no sense to him. Could Natsu be trying to protect him somehow? Was he afraid those same renegade dragon slayers would follow him to Talos?

Then there was Juvia's observation. As much as he wanted to deny it, Gray couldn't help but think that the red dragon had information he wanted, no needed. If it had fought in the war, which seemed likely given its scars, maybe he had information about Natsu.

If nothing else, maybe the dragon could tell him why he had ended up in the field and who else had been there with him. The idea of searching for the dragon was not one he was very keen on, but he was tired of having only questions. Besides, it had said all the people who lived in Talos were under the protection of the red dragons, so he should have nothing to fear.

Right?

0-0

As rational as his little pep talk had sounded in his head, it still took Gray several days to get the courage to go looking for the mysterious red dragon. He would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified.

No matter how many times he conjured up images of Happy embracing Natsu to soothe him; or reminded himself that the dragon had said they were all under its protection. He still couldn't help but think that what he was doing was insane.

Dragons killed people. He knew that better than anyone. Images of Deliora and Atlas quickly replaced thoughts of Happy, and he almost turned back, but then he remembered the despair in Natsu's eyes and let that image bolster his resolve. Natsu trusted the red dragons, and so he would do so as well.

He arrived at the beginning of the path the dragon slayers had traveled daily, taking a deep breath before following it up the mountain. He strained his ears, trying to pick up any noise that might tell him where the dragon might be and hoping against hope that he wouldn't be inside the cave with the others. Gray wasn't sure he could handle that.

It was a crisp fall day, full of sunshine and cool weather, the combination making for a pleasant hike with breathtaking views of the changing foliage below. He continued climbing until he reached a path he wasn't familiar with.

After some deliberation, he followed it, curious where it led. He followed the path for about thirty minutes through increasingly rougher terrain, almost deciding to turn around when he found what looked to be an entrance to a cave, complete with a large ledge that jutted out from the side of the mountain. On this ledge lay a sizable red dragon who appeared to be sleeping in the sun, much like a regular lizard.

Gray wasn't dumb enough to wake it, so he sat down on a flat rock, as far away as the ledge allowed, and waited for the dragon to wake on its own. He examined the creature from the safety of his spot, fascinated by the number of scars that littered the parts of its body that he could see, several looking severe enough to be life-threatening. He could instantly see why Juvia would recognize it. Once seen, those scars were not easily forgotten.

This was a dragon that had been in many fights. That he had survived them all spoke of his fierceness and determination. Or maybe, like his mate, he was just too stubborn to know when to give up. The thought brought a wry smile to Gray's face that was followed by a longing so intense it almost made him cry out.

The dragon shifted in his sleep, muttering uncomfortably, and for a moment, Gray thought he saw a red glow coming from the dragon's claws, but he soon forgot all about it as a sense of peace soothed away his previous distress.

He shifted slightly, trying to keep his limbs from falling asleep in case he had to make a quick escape. His body tensed as the dragon moved once again, this time opening its eyes and sniffing the air before scrambling into an upright position with a speed that was almost comical. Until you remembered it was a giant dragon.

Its bright green eyes fixed on Gray as it remarked gruffly, "What are you doing here?"

Gray's mouth dried up, and his mind immediately went blank, his initial courage disappearing as he began considering his life choices. That was until he felt a warmth on his chest and looked down to see that his necklace was glowing brightly, something he'd never seen it do before.

What the hell?

That was enough to break him from his panicked state. Gray noticed the dragon staring at his necklace with interest.

"Why is it doing that?" Gray asked, somehow knowing that the dragon would know.

"How should I know?" the dragon responded, but he looked away, making Gray think he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"Well, it's never done it before," Gray insisted.

The dragon remained silent, but its eyes never left Gray.

Gray was getting irritated, "I wanted to thank you for saving my friend the other day," he managed through clenched teeth, wanting to work his way up to his real questions.

"I didn't do it for you," the dragon shrugged, "Talos is under our protection. Why are you really here?"

"What is your problem?" Gray snapped testily.

The dragon's eyes widened, and it muttered something under its breath before remarking, "Don't most humans dislike dragons?"

This time it was Gray who looked away. "Fine, you're right, I didn't come all the way up here to thank you, I wanted to ask you some questions."

The dragon seemed to think about it for a bit before responding, "Ask then."

"Do I look familiar to you?"

The dragon startled but answered honestly, "You are the human Acnologia attempted to kill some moons ago."

"Why did you save me?" Gray asked anxiously.

The dragon shrugged, not giving the question much importance, "You were hurt and smelled of dragon."

"I smelled like a dragon?"

The dragon nodded, "Yes, I flew you to safety and healed what I could. If that's all, I must go."

"No, wait!" Gray exclaimed hurriedly, afraid the dragon would leave before he could ask the question he most wanted answered. "Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, do you know where he is?"

The dragon blinked at him, his bright green eyes dimming before he lowered his head, "That I cannot tell you."

"Please, I'm his mate, surely you can tell me something! Is he in danger?" Gray pleaded, desperate to know any detail, no matter how small.

The dragon remained stubbornly silent, and Gray felt the worry consume him again. What did this dragon know about his mate?

"Natsu Dragneel is assisting the Dragon King," the dragon finally explained. "The best thing for you to do is to forget him. He can never return to you."

"That's not true!" Gray protested, he just wished the words didn't sound so empty, "Natsu will always come when I need him, he's told me that many times!"

"Do you need him now? Cause I don't see him anywhere." the dragon was gazing at him with what seemed almost like pity.

"You don't know anything!"

"From when I stand, you're the one who seems to be in the dark. Forget him, human. Move on. Dragneel will cause you nothing but pain."

"Please," Gray begged, hating how pathetic he sounded but not caring if it got him what he wanted. "Please tell me what you know."

Silence was his only response.

"Natsu was wrong about dragons," Gray spat out, "you are heartless after all."

"I'm sorry," the dragon said before taking to the air and flying away from him. If Gray hadn't known better, he would have sworn the dragon had looked sad.

As ready as Gray was to hate the dragon for its callousness, those words rang too familiar for him to ignore. He'd heard them from that same voice once before. And while it disappointed him to discover Natsu hadn't been there, a bigger question remained. Why had the dragon felt the need to apologize to him in the first place?

He sat alone for several hours waiting for the dragon to return, using the time to think over what it had said, and the strange way it had acted. Gray was somewhat surprised to realize that even though he had disliked it, and had wanted to throttle it on instinct, he'd still never felt the urge to attack it.

0-0

Gray couldn't pinpoint when it had started. He vaguely remembered seeing a likeness of the dragon drawn with red chalk on a shop window. Soon other shops followed suit. Then the townspeople began leaving tokens of food outside the wall as an offering, hoping to ensure the red dragon's continued protection. He'd even heard the Talos elders were already planning some sort of festival for the summer solstice dedicated to the creature.

It was almost impossible to walk around town without bumping into kids pretending to be dragons, arms flapping as they ran in pretend flight. Juvia and Erza thought it was adorable, the latter even telling stories of how Sting would do something similar when he was a child with Natsu and Rogue never far behind.

Now that she knew about their relationship, she'd begun sharing stories of Natsu's exploits whenever she noticed Gray struggling with his emotions, knowing it never failed to put a smile on his face. Gray wasn't sure if she was just oblivious to Lyon's scowls at those times or if she just ignored him, but either way, he was grateful for her efforts. It kept Natsu near, even when he felt so far away.

He was tired of not knowing if Natsu was alive or dead, of the constant worry and fear, and although he knew it wasn't fair, he couldn't help but think that the happy moments in their relationship had been few and far between.

He knew that wasn't Natsu's fault. He couldn't help his situation. On days when Gray was feeling generous, he even somewhat understood the impossibility of the choice forced upon his mate. But there were other days, ones where his darkness was at the forefront, when he wondered if it was all worth it. If perhaps the dragon hadn't been right all along and it was better to just let go rather than continuing this destructive pattern that Gray knew was tearing both of them apart. He tried to fight it as best he could, but it was getting harder every day.

It certainly didn't help that the damn dragon seemed to be everywhere. It flew over the town daily, rewarding the children's joyous cries with involved aerial shows, which as much as Gray hated to admit, even he enjoyed. The dragon's scarlet scales glinted prettily in the sun as it moved gracefully in the sky before flying back towards the mountain.

Gray knew everyone loved the dragon, heck even the other guards seemed to like it, so he kept his opinions to himself. Until the dragon did something so unforgivable in his eyes that he could no longer remain quiet. When Gray arrived at their field, the one that he felt belonged to him and Natsu, he found the red dragon already there, surrounded by the town's children.

The children talked eagerly, asking the dragon many questions, and unlike his own experience, the dragon was actually answering. If that wasn't bad enough, they had climbed on it, squealing happily as they used its large body as a climbing toy while Anna watched from a safe distance. The dragon smiled, content with the children's play.

Maybe it was the smile that proved to be too much, but Gray found he'd had enough of this ridiculous dragon fever the entire town had succumbed to. The wretched creature had the nerve to invade his field, and it needed to leave.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gray raged at the dragon, not caring about the surprised looks he was getting from the children, who had never seen him upset before.

He addressed them as well, "Get down from there!"

"Aww, Gray," the kids complained, "Why? We're having fun, and Anna said it was okay."

"Because it's not a playmate, it's a vicious creature."

He could see the dragon huff angrily, and once again, he felt the necklace warm-up, distracting him for a moment from his rant, but when he looked down, it seemed dimmer than he remembered. Anna stepped in to humor him before he could wonder about what it meant.

"Alright children, listen to Gray, he's a guard and just wants to make sure you are safe. Besides, it's time for your afternoon snack," Anna reminded them cheerily.

The children cheered at this news, climbing down carefully and waving goodbye to the dragon as they ran back towards the village, all of them promising to play again soon, much to Gray's dismay.

"Do you have something against fun in general or just me in particular?" the dragon demanded, surprising Gray with its terse tone.

"I don't trust you," Gray enunciated each word, squaring his shoulders and feeling his magic respond to his unstable emotions, creating an icy mist around his fingers to prepare for his molding.

"Therefore, I don't want innocent children around you. What if you took one home to eat or something?"

"I would never do that!" the dragon protested, and Gray could feel the air around it becoming hotter as it became angry.

"Right, cause dragons don't do that sort of thing," Gray retorted sarcastically.

"Don't stand there looking all high and mighty, you don't know the first thing about dragons, Gray," the dragon seethed.

"We're on a first-name basis now?" Gray raised an eyebrow, enjoying getting a rise out of the dragon, "And what pray tell, should I call you?"

The dragon remained stubbornly silent, and Gray pushed further, "What's the matter, too stupid to know your own name?"

"Fuck you!"

"Rather unorthodox, wouldn't you say?" Gray smirked, "But I can work with it. Fine, I'll call you Fukou. Rather perfect actually, it means sorrow and misfortune, among other things."

"I know what it means," Fukou grumbled as he started at Gray unblinkingly.

"Well, then you'll know I'm right, fukou is all you'll ever bring to everyone you meet," Gray sneered.

"You're probably right," Fukou acknowledged, "but I tried harder than you'll ever know." And with that, he took off, looking incredibly hurt.

And even though Gray now had a full reign of the field like he'd wanted, he found no pleasure in it, suddenly feeling like the monster he'd accused the other of being.