Good Intentions

Free To Choose

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 19: Free To Choose

"Happy, please go find Wendy and Gajeel and ask them to come to the house."

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu headed home. He wanted to go to the guild himself but he was afraid that Gray might be there. He didn't want to have any conversations until he knew their fate, one way or the other.

He opened the door to his house and was greeted by an amazing stench. Crap! He must have left food out again. He wasn't a big fan of cleaning up but at least it gave him something to do while he waited for Happy to return. He set about collecting trash off the floor and cleaning dishes. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he was not aware of anyone entering his house until he heard Gray's voice behind him.

"So, you're avoiding me now?"

Natsu nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Gods Gray, are you trying to kill me?"

"Answer me.", Gray said roughly.

Natsu sighed.

"Why would I be avoiding you? I just got home.", he said evasively.

"You sent Happy to the guild to look for Wendy and Gajeel. Why didn't you just come yourself?", Gray said accusingly.

Natsu cursed Happy's inability to do anything quietly.

"Were they there?", Natsu asked.

"No, they weren't."

Natsu tried to hide his disappointment, but Gray noticed.

"What do you want with them?", he asked curiously.

"Can you please wait until tomorrow for an answer?", Natsu implored.

Gray thought about this for a minute and shook his head. He had already been waiting for a week to see him, and now he very much wanted to know what Natsu was trying to keep from him.

Natsu wanted to shield him from the disappointment that was likely to come but he felt badly about it. They were in this mess together and he did not want to add a lie to to the growing list of things they would have to work through. He sighed and began to tell Gray about his week.

"As I was leaving town to go on my job, Loke came to see me. He talked me into going to see the man who had sold Erza the potion but I didn't know anything about him. He talked to Lucy and had her meet me in Malba after I finished my job. We went to the shop but the mage was out on a job and we had to wait for three days for him to return."