Chapter 7
Natsu lay on the grass of his favorite field with his arms behind his head, basking in the sun and staring up at the clouds thoughtfully. He wondered how his father and the others were faring. Atlas had told him the war had moved closer, it was now only a few days' flight away.
He had been the one Natsu had always relied on for the hard truths. His father still liked to protect him.
Natsu was full of worry. It had been six months since they'd left, and the fear that one of the renegade dragon slayers would come after his father was something he couldn't shake. All he could do was hope that Atlas kept his promise and stayed by his father's side.
He was also exhausted, and it wasn't like he could tell Erza that he was pulling double duty. Working as a guard during the day and then having to change into his dragon form to go on patrol at night, was already wearing on him.
Natsu was finding it harder and harder to get away at night. The other dragon slayers were just as concerned about their adoptive parents as he was about Igneel and Atlas. They were clingier and had begun to sleep in a big pile in the center room of the cave which felt colder since Igneel and Atlas had left. A few times, he thought he'd caught Gajeel staring after him when he sneaked away, but the Iron Dragon Slayer had said nothing.
"I don't know why I look anywhere else for you, you're always here."
Natsu opened his eyes slowly to see Gray sitting next to him, a blade of grass sticking out of his mouth. He gave himself a moment to look at the well-loved features before he closed himself off again.
"What's the matter with you, Flame Brain?" Gray looked him over with interest, "You've been looking like hell lately."
"Another fire nickname, how original." Natsu rolled his eyes, "I was hoping you'd be over that by now."
He looked at the position of the sun in the sky. "Crap, how did it get so late?"
"You fell asleep, genius." Gray watched as Natsu scrambled to get up.
"Relax, you still have time. Not to mention, Erza's away on a mission today."
"That's worse, that means I'm in charge for the day."
Gray started snickering, "Erza actually trusts you to be in charge?"
"Believe it or not, I had the job before her."
Gray gazed at him intently and burst into peals of laughter. "You're right, I don't believe it."
Natsu laughed along despite himself. He wanted to feel insulted, but the idea that someone would entrust him with something that important was pretty funny.
Except, Igneel had done just that. He stopped laughing and worried again.
"You never answered my question." Gray peered at his face again making Natsu feel uncomfortable.
"Igneel and Atlas left to go fight in the war a few months ago." Natsu confided.
Why not? He and Lyon were probably the only ones that didn't already know.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Gray looked down at the grass and replaced the blade in his mouth. "You must be worried. Why didn't you tell me?"
It surprised Natsu to see that Gray looked hurt. "I guess I don't like to think about it, although it seems to be all I do."
"Natsu, are we friends?" Gray looked at him with a seriousness he wasn't expecting.
"What? Of course, we are, idiot." Natsu punched Gray none too gently in the shoulder in what passed for affection between them at this point. He knocked him down on the grass.
Gray bounced back quickly and punched him just as hard, both boys laughing as they started one of their wrestling matches. They rolled around in the grass, trying to get the upper hand on the other.
It had become a routine of sorts whenever they were in the field. No magic was ever used. They saved that for their training spars. Natsu let Gray win this time, pretending to look annoyed, while inwardly reveling at the gleeful grin on Gray's face. It was the closest to love he was going to get. Besides, he'd get him back at training where the rules were more clear.
Gray got up and offered him a hand, and Natsu let himself be pulled up. "Come on Acting Captain of the Guard, you don't want to be late."
Natsu snorted at that, and they started the long walk back to the village. Natsu remembered what his father had said about getting to know Gray again and tried it.
He cleared his throat and asked, "What happened to you after I left?"
Gray stopped in his tracks and stared at Natsu, his eyes big as saucers and just as vulnerable. "You mean after I attacked you?"
"I thought we were past that." Natsu reminded him.
"Yeah, but I still feel bad about doing that." Gray muttered, "Both times."
"I already forgave you, Gray. I healed you, didn't I?" Natsu pointed out.
"Yeah, you did." Gray agreed, "That reminds me, how come no one here knew you had magic until recently?"
"How is it all questions about you, end up turning back to me?"
"Sorry. I just want to know why I lied to Erza."
"Don't you mean the Scarlet Menace?" Natsu grinned at his friend.
Gray stopped, taken aback. "How do you know about that?"
Natsu laughed, "Lyon has a big mouth, not to mention an enormous crush on Erza."
"He didn't tell her, did he?" Gray looked both horrified and ready to kill. "What else did he say?" This time he definitely looked nervous.
"Nothing, he's been asking us a lot of stuff about her. Why, do you have other nicknames for her?"
"Anyway," Gray quickly changed the topic, "You were about to tell me about your magic."
"You don't let up, do you?" Natsu asked him and then shrugged, "After what happened with you, my dad thought it best to keep it a secret from the others. It was a condition he had for me attending school in the village. Once the whole dragon slayer thing happened, it was awkward to admit I'd always had it."
"You can stop feeling guilty, it's fine," Natsu assured Gray, trying to ease away the frown from the other's face. "It was a long time ago. We were little, and I upset you."
Gray opened his mouth to say something, but Natsu interrupted, "I don't want to hear any more about it. Now, your turn."
"I waited for you to come back, I knew I'd never be able to find you if you didn't want me to. When you didn't return, I did the only thing I could, I kept heading towards that village. It took me a few days, but I found it."
"Once I got there, I didn't know what to do, I spent most of the day just watching. I went to a bakery, determined to ask for food in exchange for work, but the woman was so mean to me I froze. She was coming to hit me with a broom when this woman named Ur came out of nowhere and told her off." Gray smiled as he remembered the first time he had seen Ur.
"Lyon came and talked to me, he'd been alone too until Ur found him. They took me home with them, and we became a family of sorts."
"She was the one who taught me magic. She was amazing, although her training methods were strange at first." Gray laughed, his eyes shining in a way that enthralled Natsu, "She's also the one that gave me that stupid stripping habit."
His laughter was soon replaced with a broken smile, "I was happy there, but she got sick and died." Gray looked at Natsu seriously, "I talked Lyon into coming here. You were the only other person I knew, and I was hoping you were still here."
An annoyed Gajeel saved Natsu from having to respond, "What the hell took you so long, Salamander? Did you fall asleep in the field again?"
Natsu didn't answer right away, and Gajeel frowned. "Maybe you should sleep with the rest of us instead of running off to wherever it is you go to at night."
Natsu stiffened at Gajeel's words. He'd been right, Gajeel had been watching him. Shit! He was going to have to be even more careful. He could feel Gray's eyes on him, but he didn't meet them.
"I'm here now, you can go." He put some command into his voice, to let Gajeel know not to push him. Gajeel glared at him, but left it alone.
Gray was about to say something, but Natsu cut him off. "You can start patrol without me. I have to go to Erza's office to read her orders. I'll catch up with you later."
He walked off towards Erza's office, ignoring the eyes he felt following him. He opened the door and sat at his old desk, looking through the papers to see what required his attention. Damn Gajeel, and damn Erza too. He groaned when he saw the long list of things she'd left for him to do. It kept him occupied well into the night.
Natsu reached the cave to find all the other dragon slayers already sleeping, save for Gajeel, who had apparently been waiting up for him. He gestured for Natsu to follow him into the room he shared with Metalicana.
"What is it you're doing at night?" Gajeel demanded, never being one to mince words, "Whatever it is, let me help you. I can do more than just babysit the others."
"I'm sorry, but you can't help," Natsu told him honestly. "Atlas gave me instructions, but it's something only I can do. If you want to help, you can keep the others off me so I can go do it."
"I'm going to find out eventually." Gajeel prodded, "You might as well just tell me."
"I can't. Igneel forbade it, and I'm really going to need you to respect that." Natsu pleaded with Gajeel.
"Since when do you do what you're told?"
"Since the one telling me was a humongous cranky fire dragon," Natsu smirked.
Gajeel snorted at that, "Okay, I can't argue with that."
"Just, don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it," Gajeel told him before heading towards the room's entrance, leaving Natsu in a state of confusion. Gajeel was being nice? He'd never expected Gajeel to offer his help, but he still couldn't take it.
When Gajeel had reached the entrance, he stopped and turned. "One last thing, Salamander. I know that Gray guy is important to you, but if he pulls something like what he did to that baby dragon again, I won't hold back." Natsu could feel Gajeel's glare pierce through him.
Natsu nodded in understanding and then stared at Gajeel's retreating back thoughtfully. Great. One more thing to worry about. Just what he needed after the day he'd already had. He left Gajeel's room and eyed his own with something akin to longing, but he still had his patrol to do. He headed towards the back exit making sure he wasn't followed and after transforming flew out into the night.