A Fairy Tail Gratsu.

Narrators POV

Mating season ended. Gajeel and Wendy both went back to normal, as did Sting and Rogue of Sabertooth, but Natsu was still missing. Gray had asked Makarov, only to be told not to worry, and the Ice Devil Slayer even asked Happy, when the little exceed returned alone. Happy just told Gray not to worry and flew off to try and woo Carla again with fish.

Wendy apologised to Master Makarov for her destructive behaviour, Gajeel vanished on a job with Levy, Jet and Droy, the thunder legion went on a job with Laxus and Mira stood by the bar with her classic creepy she-Devil grin that warned everyone not to get too close, lest she ask them about something they didn't want to talk about... such as their love life.

     Of course, rumours aplenty had surfaced when Lisanna had spotted Erza and Gray walking to the guild together. Sure, it was normal for teammates to walk to the guild together, but not when they lived at opposite ends of magnolia. Also, they were heading from Gray's side of town, not from Fairy Hills, so of course the white haired takeover Mage jumped the gun and assumed (wrongly of course) that the ice-make Wizard and the re-quip Mage were up to no good the night before. She told Mira, who in turn told Elfman, who of course claimed that Gray was a 'real man.'

      Gray ordered his usual drink, before hurrying over to where Lucy and Erza were sat. He slid into the seat next to the red headed warrior, sitting as close as he could without seeming too close. He'd heard the rumours. He didn't want them spreading. If the gossip was this bad with their assumptions on him and Erza, what on earth would they think if they found out that he was maybe possibly slightly interested in Natsu, not Erza. Urgh, Mira would have a field day. What a haunting thought.

     "Hey!" A voice greeted, as Loke materialised beside Gray. Before Gray could yelp and move away, Erza had punched the playboy so hard, he flew and landed on the other side of the guild-hall. Erza turned to the ice-make Mage with a concerned look. In a low voice, barely audible above the mild din of their guild mates, she asked if he was ok. Before gray could nod a reply, Loke stormed over and screamed angrily at Erza. Everyone went silent.

      "What the hell Erza! I didn't even do anything wrong that time!" Loke was furious. Being beaten to a pulp for flirting or misbehaving he could understand, but he hadn't even provoked her that time. Even her strawberry cake was still intact! The lion lit his fist and threw a regulus impact at her, only to be blocked by an ice-make shield.

     On the other side of the guildhall, by the bar, Mira watched the altercation with interest. To everyone else, it must seem like Gray was protecting Erza, but the She-Devil saw the more subtle dynamics between them. Erza was defending Gray, not the other way around, and that ice shield was to prevent Loke from brushing past Gray, not to protect Erza. (Not that the scarlet armour freak needed protecting.) Mira knew from one of her hidden surveillance lacrima that something awful had happened to Gray, but she didn't know what.

       Of course, the she Devil only had those lacrima in the more secluded parts of the guildhall, and they were meant to catch her guildmates being intimate, so she could tick off her ship pairings or interfere with ships she vehemently opposed, such as Gray and Juvia. (Something that had so far not happened, thankfully.) When she'd check her lacrima the day Natsu disappeared on a so called job, she'd seen Erza and the fire Dragon Slayer in the library talking about 'keeping an eye on gray as he was still recovering from a mission gone wrong.' Mira felt obliged to destroy that particular recording, she didn't even listen to the whole conversation. It was none of her business if it wasn't to do with her favourite couples.

       The whole guild broke into a brawl again, with Lucy trying and failing to close Loke's gate and Erza in a terrifying rage that didn't quite fit the situation, considering no one had asked about jallal or destroyed her strawberry cake.

       The brawl suddenly stopped as quickly as it had begun when Erza summoned twenty swords and demanded for silence. That was when Mira noticed the ball of ice encasing half the table Erza had been sat at earlier with Gray and Lucy. Everyone went back to what they were doing before the brawl, pretending nothing had happened. Lisanna And Kinana approached Lucy and cautiously asked in Gray was ok, to which Lucy replied she had no idea. It was like him to avoid a fight and hide in his ice like that.

      "Happy!" Erza bellowed, as the little blue exceed sped over. The armoured woman lowered her voice so only an exceed or Dragon Slayer could hear. "Get Natsu. I know you know where he is. I think he's the only one who can get through to him now. No, I don't know what's wrong, but whatever happened to him, it has to be worse than Deliora, and that's saying something. Go and get Natsu." Erza' voice raised to a soft shout. "NOW!"

     "Aye sir" happy nodded, as he reactivated his aera magic and flew off at max speed. The whole guild was silent once more as they stared at the dome of ice. What on earthland was going on? Why was Erza so worried?

A/N: I'm posting this chapter whilst the worst snowstorm I've seen since 2010 rages outside. Not that that's saying much, considering the most snow I get in my little part on England is a few measly flakes of snow. But.... it's actually settling this time. I doubt we'll get more than a centimetre of snow. If we're super lucky that is. I've not had a snow day for over eight years now!