Frost

35

The artificial light ended up being a dead end. It was a small lantern that sat on the ground. There was a little flame left in it. Natsu ended up eating the flame, and Gajeel scolded him. "Maybe we could have used that lantern so you wouldn't have to use all your magic power!" Gajeel exclaimed. Lily giggled behind him while Natsu folded his arms.
"Well, I'm sorry. I was hungry! Besides, a flame in my hand won't affect my magic power."

"That's not an excuse!" Lily found a little opening during the small feud. The three walked through it and ended up in a larger tunnel.

Loke appeared in front of Natsu and Gajeel shortly after. Well, not really in front. He was walking closely behind them for a while. He waited until it was dead silent before he really said anything. He had to agree with Gajeel that Natsu really were dense. Their conversation about Natsu's love for Gray was just painful to listen to.

"You guys are just so . . . awkward when you are alone," Loke spoke aloud. Pantherlily was then one who stopped walking. Gajeel only turned his head as he followed behind Natsu, who didn't even give him a glance. "Where's the fiery attitude? Where's the fighting? I came to see the action!"

"You know, there are times where I can't stand you, which is always," Gajeel bluntly stated as he stopped walking a little further away from Loke. Natsu snickered, and he stopped as well. The dragon slayer gave Loke a smile before leaning against the rocky wall. "Look who finally decided to leave the celestial world to help find Gray. What, were you and him on bad terms or something?"

"Oh shut up. You know I love that guy!" Gajeel flinched. Ever since Levy said that about Natsu, the word coming from a guy talking about another guy made him uneasy. It was . . . different. He hadn't met anyone like that, or at least he believed he didn't. But he was positive about it. He was going to get used to it. For Natsu's sake, and whoever else was like him.

If Levy was right . . .

"Then why didn't you help?" Natsu questioned. Surprisingly, the fire dragon slayer was pretty calm about it. After all, time is different in the celestial world. Loke technically did have an excuse. "Because I was worn out! But, I have good news!"

The two dragon slayers and the exceed all looked at each other with confused looks. When they looked back at the regulus mage, and a large smile grew on his lips. "I already found Gray!"

•••

"You can let go of my wrist now, Loke! I can run on my own!" Gray exclaimed a little too loudly. All he received was a hush from the lion, and then his hand was released. Gray sighed with relief and stopped to catch his breath. Loke did the same. "Damn, this tunnel feels like it was longer than before!" Loke could have sworn that he reached Gray in a snap, but maybe that's because he teleported to him. He didn't think that Gajeel, Natsu, and Lily were that far away.

"I should've taken you to Levy and Juvia instead! They are closer to us than Natsu, Gaj, and Lily are. And they are above ground!"

"At this rate, I would prefer that over anything." As much as Gray wanted to see Natsu, he wasn't lying. All he needed at the moment was food, water, and fresh air. He needed sunlight, and he wanted to feel a breeze. He didn't want to be stuck in a stuffy, hot, tunnel system. Loke let out a sigh and stood up straight before he continued to walk. The ice mage followed.

The two boys were quiet for a while. Loke kicked some pebbles and tugged at his tie. He wrapped the tail around his finger before asking, "What was it like?"

"What, being invisible?" Gray asked. Obviously, it was terrible. He felt ignored all the time, and when he was desperate to talk to someone, no one was there. Even though his loved ones were near, he had never felt so alone in his whole lifetime.

"No, eating ice when you thought you were going to die from dehydration."

Gray blinked. "You know about that?"

"What was it like when you were invisible, Gray?" Loke asked more specifically this time. Gray bit his lip.

"It was rough. I'd rather die than go through it again."

Loke looked back at him with the look of confusion. That's not what he would say. He would have a blast fooling with people and pantsing his friends. He could maybe even sneak at peak at Lucy if he even wanted to. Maybe she would notice because he is her spirit after all, but if he was really sneaky . . .

"That's disgusting," Gray said after Loke told him what he thought about it. "I would never look at someone naked if I was invisible. That's an invasion of privacy!"

"Come on Gray! Ya know you really want to," Loke teased with a smirk that Gray hated so much. He grunted and looked down to his feet. Loke was annoying sometimes, but, besides Natsu, they were best friends. He could be obnoxious and, most of the time, self-centered and careless, but he preferred that over sitting in a boxed room underground with no source of natural light, no food, or no water. Loke came to help him get out, and he was thankful for that. "Thanks," Gray muttered, but Loke didn't hear it. The ice mage didn't give any effort to repeat himself, and he looked back up to see what was ahead of him.

There was a light source, and within the light he could see three figures walking towards them. His heart dropped, and he tried his hardest to keep random words from flowing out of his mouth.

Yeah, he was excited earlier, but seeing Natsu ahead of him in person made him feel different. He wanted to run towards him, to squeeze him tightly and cry and even give Gajeel and Pantherlily a big hug. But he kept those emotions to himself when they approached the trio. Loke stood with a smile on his face. "I got him!"

"Sup, Gray?" Gajeel casually said. Lily greeted him as well. Natsu, however, had a look of complete shock on his face. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and Gray's did as well. After coming up with nothing to say, Gray gave Natsu a smile, and the ice mage watched as a few tears streamed down Natsu's cheeks.

"You're back!"