Frost

9

Natsu was dumbstruck for over two weeks. He showed up to the guild hall, but said or did absolutely nothing during his time there. It concerned Erza, for she made him mad when she said the dragon slayer was not allowed to investigate until Christmas Day. However, there was another reason why Natsu was acting this way.

"I heard the invisible person speak," Eric said, making Natsu raise an eyebrow. It was expected from the poison dragon slayer to hear everything, especially when he heard the footsteps of the invisible person. "They said they wanted to be found right after Erza said that Gray probably didn't want to be found."

Natsu's eyes widened, and he crossed his arms. He then scratched his head, and he looked at both Lyon and Eric. Lyon had a small smile while Eric wore a serious expression. When Natsu started to bite his finger nails, Lyon said, "We think the invisible person is Gray."

"And he can hear us?" Natsu asked. Both of the wizards nodded their heads. The dragon slayer looked down to the ground. "And he's been watching . . . me?" Eric hesitated before nodding. Lyon only shrugged his shoulders. Natsu thought back to Rogue saying that Makarov would do anything to get rid of the invisible person, and he decided that he would tell Makarov to not do it. Although it kind of made sense to Natsu, there was a chance that Eric was just hearing things. The dragon slayer sighed before giving the wizards in front of him a large smile. "Well then, if he can hear me, I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back, Gray."

Natsu doesn't know what happened to his energy that day. He couldn't tell Makarov to stop looking for the invisible person in the guild hall without Lyon and Eric—Natsu didn't hear anything, so Eric could be pulling everyone's legs, and no one knows what happened to Gray yet.

The dragon slayer was not only excited that there was a slight possibility the person watching him was Gray, but he was also confused. Why would Gray be watching him in the first place? Yeah, Natsu understood that they were best friends and all. The dragon slayer relaxed his head on his regular table. He watched as the exceeds hung lights on the ceiling of the guild hall. Mirajane was filling the cabinets with festive looking cups. A few people even wore Christmas sweaters.

If only Natsu could get in the Christmas spirit himself.

•••

Gray decided to celebrate Christmas with his guild—even if they couldn't see him. Before he had gone invisible, something told him that this upcoming Christmas would be a good one.

He still believed he could have a good Christmas while watching his guild mates prepare for the upcoming holiday. Despite his disappearance, they still smiled and had fun, and it made Gray feel good. They weren't depressed, and the guild hall didn't have a miserable vibe to it.

But Gray spoke too soon, for only one of his guild mates was depressed and miserable. Gray stared directly at him. "Natsu . . ." The dragon slayer's ear twitched, but Gray left him alone. Natsu could sulk to himself.

The ice mage watched as people walked by him in Christmas sweaters. He was so used to saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone, that when he said it to Laki, he forgot she couldn't hear him for a moment. As much as the ice mage thought about how sad this Christmas was going to be, he also thought about how exciting it would be. This was his chance to get people to notice him. Natsu was going to search for clues on Christmas.

A loud crash came from the opposite end of the room, along with the laughter of Levy and Lucy. Juvia was covered in flour that soon turned into a type of goopy substance. She wiped it off of her eyes and started laughing as well, and it made Gray smile. He was glad she wasn't crying today.

Gray closed his eyes and relaxed his head against the wall. He was tired. The entire two weeks after Erza took Gray's house key from Natsu, he has been trying to move things by focusing all his energy on items. But he gained progress every day, and he was excited about it.

The ice mage opened his eyes to see Erza yelling at the three laughing girls. She said that they were goofing off way too much, and that the cakes should be made with perfection. Typical from her, and it only made the three girls laugh harder. Erza flushed and stomped away.

Gray's eyes drifted back to Natsu, who was still laying against the table. However, the dragon slayer's head was facing his direction, and he was gazing at Gray's wall intently. The ice mage only rolled his eyes.

•••

Natsu looked along the wall like something was there. Even if there were only windows and plants aligned on it, there was this feeling Natsu had that told him something was . . . there. He just couldn't explain it.

Natsu has been trying to focus his hearing on the energy around him during his time of sulking on the table. And during that time, he felt something off in that section of the guild hall, and it seemed like he was the only one that noticed it. The energy was chilling, but it was faint and unnoticeable. However, Natsu watched people shiver as they walked by that wall, and it made him raise an eyebrow. He could only say one thing. " . . . Gray?" It was barely a whisper, and his tone made him sound unsure. But when Gray heard his name, he nearly burst into tears. Could Natsu see him? And if not, could he feel him?

"Natsu! Glad to see you're awake! Can you wrap this garland around the balcony and stairs railings? And then afterwards I need you to wrap lights around the Christmas tree so we won't have to struggle on Christmas Eve!" It was Cana. Those things were all her job, but she was too tired to do anything. After all, she was there since five, and she has been decorating since. Natsu nodded before looking at the wall. Cana noticed, and she nudged the dragon slayer's shoulders.

"Um . . . What are ya looking at?" The card mage scratched her head when Natsu shrugged his shoulders. After a few moments, Cana slowly backed away before making her way out the guild hall. Natsu immediately got back to work.

He was confused.