Natsu and Gray: Another Love Story

Chapter Six: Together Again

Gray and Natsu talked and joked for a while as they snuggled next to the fire and sipped their soup. When they'd finally had their fill, they pushed their sleeping bags next to each other and crawled inside, leaving one arm out to hold each others hand. They laid there whispering for no apparent reason, giggling occasionally until they each fell asleep.

When they woke up, they discovered that the storm had died and that the temperature had risen. They cleaned up and crawled out of the tent, and took it down before carefully putting everything back in their bags. "Can you still smell her scent?" Gray asks as he surveys the area.

"No. It's completely gone." Natsu lets out a sigh. "Guess our only option is to follow the road and see where it leads us?"

"Yeah." Gray says reaching down and grabbing Natsu's hand. "You ready?"

"Absolutely." Natsu says with a huge smile as he and Gray continue down the path. "So... We're officially together right?"

"Yeah. If that's what you want."

"It is!" They walk in silence for a while before Natsu has another question. "Are we open about it? Like, are we okay with people knowing?"

"I don't know." Gray says smiling at Natsu, their hands starting to swing.

"Me neither. On one hand, I want to shout it to everyone! Except on the other, I'm a little afraid."

Gray lightly squeezes Natsu's hand. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Not as long as we have each other." Gray gives Natsu a reassuring smile as his thumb caresses the back of Natsu's hand.

Natsu looks down and blushes, still getting used to the idea of being with a guy, with Gray. "Yeah! You're right!" Natsu says feeling the butterflies fill his stomach again as he and Gray walked through the snow hand in hand.

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"I wonder where Gray and Natsu are?" Lucy asks out loud to no one in particular as she picks her feet off the chair sitting next to a blazing fireplace and tucks the blanket under them.

"I'm kinda worried." Happy says staring blankly into the fire, sitting on the table next to the chair Lucy is sitting in. "They should have reached here by now."

Erza gets up off the couch she'd been laying on and walks out of the waiting room and to the check in desk and starts talking to the bellhop.

"What do you think she's doing?" Lucy asks, craning her neck to see.

"Probably interrogating him."

"Why him?" Lucy asks, straining her ears as she tries to listen to the conversation.

"Nothing else to do while we wait for Gray and Natsu."

Erza finishes with whatever she was doing and briskly walks past Lucy and Happy. "Follow me." Is all she says. They both jump up and follow her down the corridor and to a room towards the end. "Someone matching Angelia's description checked into this room with a man the night she disappeared." Erza says opening the door and walking in. "No one has been in this room since. Everybody spread out and look for anything that might help us."

"I've got the bathroom!" Lucy yell, running for the restroom hoping to score some free soaps and conditioner.

"I'll check the kitchen! I hope there's fish in the fridge!" Happy yells excitedly.

"We're here for clues!" Erza yells at Happy as she heads for the bedroom.

"Well, there isn't anything in the bathroom." Lucy says deflated as she walks into the living room and plops down on the couch.

"Nuffin in da kinn eever" happy says, his mouth full of food.

Erza struts out of the bedroom, a smile on her face. "I found an I.D." She says. "It belongs to a Max Steel. He lives a couple of miles North of here. Seems we have our next lead. Come on. Let's go." Erza says leading everyone out of the room and down the corridor.

"What about Natsu and Gray? We can't leave without them." Lucy says.

"We can just te-" Erza stops talking as she glances out the window on the way to the front desk. Natsu and Gray are walking past the inn towards a diner laughing, their hands clasped together. Lucy and Happy stop and look to see what Erza is looking at. Their jaws drop and they can't move until the two walk into the diner, out of sight.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!" Lucy screams, looking back and forth between an equally shocked Happy and Erza.

Erza finally snaps out of her shock. "Guess we know what took so long." She says slightly amused.

"Let's go see them!" Happy yells, swooping for the exit.

"Wait." Erza says quickly before Happy can leave. He stops and gives her a quizzical look. "They may not want us to know. Don't mention anything unless they do, okay?" Happy gives a disappointed look before nodding and flying out the door.

"Why wouldn't they want anyone to know?" Lucy asks, turning towards Erza.

"Neither Gray nor Natsu have mentioned anything about liking men, let alone even hinting at liking each other."

"Actually, that would explain some of Gray's comments recently." Lucy says deep in thought, remembering some of the comments Gray had made.

"So it would. Come. Let's go see them." Erza says walking out the door, Lucy following her closely. Happy was waiting at the diner door for the others to arrive since the door was too heavy for him to open.

"How come you can carry a person but can't open a door by yourself cat?" Lucy asks as she opens the door for him.

Happy shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe the writer didn't want to backtrack and change what he wrote earlier." Happy offers. Lucy just gives him a puzzled look and walks inside.

"Hey Natsu! Gray!" Lucy yells towards a blushing Gray and Natsu who's hands are in their laps. "What took you guys so long to get into town?!"

"We got held up by a snow storm." Gray answers, scratching the back of his head.

"The storm ended a while ago." Happy informs them.

"We kinda fell asleep and lost track of time." Natsu says blushing slightly as he gives Gray a small smile.

Erza scoots into the booth across from Gray and Natsu. "Anyways... While we were waiting, I interrogated the bellhop at the inn across the way. We have a new lead."