Unfrozen Love

~* Chapter 6 *~

Weeks had past since Gray had found Yuki inside the mysterious cave on his quest. Almost everyday of each week, he sets out and searched for Yuki's soul mate, but gain no luck.

"Gray..." Yuki's face was full of concern, "Are you going out again?" The two were inside the guild, and Gray was wolfing down his food in a hurry.

"Reah, the dead lines croming cruse to an rend, sho I better shurry to find you the shoul mrate."

Gray took large gulps of water as he let out a sigh, standing up from his chair, "Stay here, okay?" Yuki's eyebrows were facing in opposite ways, her expression sad and concerned.

Yuki looked down to her lap, "Okay..." Gray patted her head lightly before walking out, taking one last glance on behind him. He watched Natsu run towards Yuki, guessing that he is inviting her to join them.

Yuki gladly accepted and walked with Natsu, side by side. Something turned on the bottom of his stomach, but he shrugged it off, telling himself it's nothing important.

He walked out of the guild and took a short walk around Magnolia, letting his feet lead him to wherever it goes. Just as he turned the corner, he felt rain drip down his cheek.

Raising his head, more drops of rain fell down. "Great..." Gray mumbled with a growl, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Just my day..." He took a shortcut back to the guild, but looked into the window on the side of the guild.

He watched Yuki laughing and giggling as Natsu told her something, Natsu grinning as well. Then, the two laughed. He just want to punch the pink haired male on the face, but held himself back.

'Why am I feeling like this...?' Gray thought to himself, 'I think I just got a cold... Or just a bad dream...' But how could that small little action be a bad dream? He wondered himself.

Then, something clicked inside his head, which then suddenly turned his mood upside down. "Maybe fire-breaths her soul mate..."

"Gray?" Yuki questioned as she watched Gray's head hung down, "Gray, what's wrong?" Gray didn't answer, but gripped the wood cup in his hands in reply.

"Please, leave me alone..." He said, his eyes under the shadows.

"Gray...?" Yuki can feel the tears welling up in her eyes, "Gray, are you okay? Do you need something to eat? Something to drink?"

"Yuki, go away." Gray snapped, "Leave me alone." Yuki was stunned, and the tears came running down like a waterfall. Gray regretted saying that, but just before he raise his head to apologize, she was gone.

"What the hell, Stripper!" Natsu's voice roared inside his ears, "You made Yuki cry!"

Gray gritted his teeth before punching him square in the face, "Shut up, fire-breath!"

As Natsu was just about to punch Gray back, he halted, staring at the bags under his eyes. "Whoa! What happened to you?!" Gray clicked his tongue before sitting back down on his chair, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"What's with all the ruckus?" Erza ask as she walked in between the ice and fire mages.

"I think Ice-breath has a nightmare or something."

Gray growled and rose up from his chair, yelling, "Shut up! This is none of your business!"

Natsu knitted his eyebrows together, "What's with that attitude, Gay Fullbuster?! I don't remember doing anything wrong to you!"

"Yes you did!" Gray's voice was full of anger, even he himself can't believe that that was his voice, "You are Yuki's soul mate, okay?!"

Silence filled the air.

"What?" After a long pause, Natsu broke the silence.

Gray slapped his forehead, "You're Yuki's soul mate, I can't change that anymore..."

Natsu shook his head, "No, I don't think I'm Yuki's soul mate."

Gray raise an eyebrow, "Why? You've been hanging out with Yuki a lot more often then usual."

This time it was Natsu's turn to click his tongue, "I was just accompanying her while you went and searched for her soul mate, dumba$$! It's not even mating season for the dragon slayers yet!"

Dumbfounded, Gray stood there, his mouth agape and eyes wide. "CRAP!" Gray finally yelled before pulling his hair out, "CRAP CRAP CRAP...."

"Hey! Now what's wrong with you!" Natsu interrupted his cursing. "I just told Yuki to leave me alone, CRAP! Man, she's going to ignore me now..."

"I doubt that." Lucy said, joining the conversation, "She isn't the kind of girl to ignore someone from this little argument!"

"Go away!" Lucy let out a sheepish laugh, "I take that back..."

Gray banged on the door of Yuki's rented home, "Yuki! Open up the door!"

"You told me to leave you alone! So I'm leaving you alone!" Yuki yelled back, he can hear her whimpering from the other side of the door.

"Yuki-" Just as Gray was saying another word, Erza placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.

"She'll need some alone time to clear up her mind." Erza said, "It might take a few days, but It's just to keep her quiet and calm for a little while."

Gray hesitated, but nodded, "Fine."

Gray walked back down the steps from Yuki's front door, but took one last glance on the window, which was covered by the window blinds. He was slightly pained by the silence, he was pained that he can't hear her laughter and voice for the next few days.

But, months had past, and she never came back to the guild.