Mate Trouble

Letting Go

Time passed. Gajeel watched Natsu go through the same routine every day. He'd come to the guild hall, only to take a mission from the wall and disappeared for the day. Sometimes he came back battered and bruised, other times he was completely fine. It worried the other.  The other dragon child was slowly falling apart and the metal dragon didn't know why.

Natsu himself was falling apart on the inside, quite literally. He stopped eating for the most part, as he just didn't have an appetite anymore. He could feel his insides groaning in protest. Doing missions everyday was also taking a toll on his body. He barely slept at night anymore, only to get up and go on another mission. He didn't know how much time had passed. 

His heart still ached for Gray. His whole body craved the other's touch, innocently and not. He didn't know what to do. He sighed as he walked into the guild to pick another mission. One of them caught his eye. It asked for help up in the snowy mountains. He knew it was a bad idea. His flames had started to die, and his magic wasn't working the same as a result. But he took it anyways.

"Natsu, are you sure you can do this?" Mira asked in concern. Natsu rolled his eyes, trying to give a smile. It was strained slightly, but it was there. Even if it was fake. 

"I'll be fine. The cold has never bothered me before!" he declared. Mira sighed. 

"Alright, just be careful. Please," Mira said. Natsu simply nodded before heading out once more. Before he left, he saw Gajeel and Gray out of the corner of his eye. They were making out in a dark corner. Gajeel caught his eye just as a tear managed to slip out of Natsu's serpentine eye. Gajeel broke away from Gray, eyes widening. Before the metal dragon could say anything, Natsu was gone. 

"Damn," Gajeel muttered. Gray frowned and looked to the door. But he only saw them swinging shut. 

"What happened?" he asked. Gajeel shook his head, ignoring his boyfriend for now. He got up and walked up to Wendy.

"We have a problem."

~O~

Natsu was shivering violently as he traversed through the blizzard. He could feel the cold seep into his very being. The cold had never bothered him before, but now it seemed to be his enemy. He had to finish this mission though. Someone had gotten lost in the mountains and the request had asked for help finding this person. The more time he spent in this blizzard, the more he could feel his magic starting to freeze slowly. He ignored it though. The mind-numbing pain actually felt good. It didn't take him long before he found the person. He scolded the boy for going into the mountains alone in the first place.

"I-I'm sorry," the boy cried. Natsu sighed. 

"Just hop on my back. I'll get you home," Natsu said, crouching down. The boy sniffled and nodded before climbing onto the fire dragon's back. It took him a half-hour to make his way back. He fought the shivering as he delivered the boy home. The mother ran out the house to hug her son to her. 

"Oh thank you! What can I do to repay you?" she asked. Natsu smiled sadly. 

"Can you contact my guild and let them know I'm done with the mission? But I forgot something, so I have to go back up," Natsu said. The mother frowned in worry.

"Are you sure? It's a blizzard up there," she said, concern coating her voice. Natsu gave a small, but sad smile. 

"I'll be fine, ma'am," he responded, before walking off once more. The women shook her head, but did as the boy asked. 

Natsu sighed as he felt that biting cold seeping back into his being. The pain clouded his mind and he kept walking until he found a ledge that he collapsed on. Being in the snow and ice reminded him of Gray. Tears entered his eyes at the thought that he would be broken-hearted for the rest of his life. Dragons only had one mate that they chose in their life. Once chosen by the dragon's heart, nothing could change it. He would always love Gray, and long for him. 

The pain would only cripple him the longer he lived. The mate that he had chosen would never be his. He was taken by another dragon. He couldn't reverse it, no matter how much he wanted to. Even Gajeel couldn't do anything about it. Natsu's heart was suddenly gripped with a huge amount of pain. He cried out into the freezing air and clutched his chest. 

He knew what was happening, but was powerless to stop it. He was just glad he had secluded himself from anyone.

~O~

"What's happened?" Wendy asked with a frown. Gajeel sighed.

"The greatest pain a dragon can go through," he responded. Wendy gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as tears formed into her brown eyes. The guild became silent. 

"Who?" Wendy asked the older. Gajeel subtly looked at Gray quickly, who was making his way over to the pair. Wendy let out a sob. "No."

Gajeel pulled Wendy into a hug. He knew it was uncharacteristic of him, but this wasn't a normal situation. Makarov pushed his way to the two. 

"What happened?" he asked. Wendy turned to look at the older man. She gave a sniff before answering.

"Natsu's in too much pain. Soon he's going to to lose control and his dragon instincts will take over," she responded. Everyone frowned at that. 

"What triggered it?" Makarov asked. Wendy gave a watery sigh before responding.

"Dragons chose one mate in their entire life. That mate is everything to them. It's not predestined or anything. A dragon will give their heart and soul to the mate they chose," Wendy explained. Makarov frowned.

"What does this have to do with Natsu?" he asked. A sob came from Wendy and she buried her face into Gajeel's side. He allowed an arm to wrap around her. 

"Natsu's mate has been chosen. But there's a problem. The one he chose, he can't have," Gajeel said, looking away with pain in his eyes. 

"Why can't Natsu have his mate?" Lucy asked. Everyone was curious. Gajeel took a deep breath to hold back his emotions. No one knew how close dragon children were. They hid it most of the time. Gajeel hid his emotions behind his iron resolve. 

"Because Natsu's mate became my mate first," he responded. Erza gasped. Everyone looked to Gray, who's eyes were wide in shock. 

"W-what?" he stuttered out. Gajeel sighed. 

"We can't change anything. Natsu can never have Gray. Dragons are fiercely loyal to each other. Instead, it slowly kills the dragon," Wendy said, facing everyone once more. Makarov's eyes widened at the fact that one of his children might die. And there might not be anything he could do about it. 

"Well, I know where he is," Mira said. Everyone turned to her.

"You know where he is?" Wendy asked, slight hope entering her being. The mage nodded. 

"I just got a lacrima call from the client. He's finished his mission. But he went back to the mountains saying that he had forgotten something up there," she said. 

"Shit!" Gajeel ran his hand through his hair. 

"What?" Gray asked, voice shaky.

"Natsu either went to die as the grief was too much. Or his instincts knew when he was going to lose control. Meaning his human side would be lost," Gajeel explained. He didn't want to see his brother suffer. But he didn't know what to do. 

"What can be done to help him?" Makarov asked. Wendy shook her head, and Gajeel didn't speak.

"W-we don't kn-know," she sobbed out, tears spilling out of her eyes. 

~O~