A/N: This is my first fan-fic. I'm sorry for the OOCness of some characters but I really hope you like it. I will be updating ASAP.

Thanks for the reviews. I've made some changes... I hope this is better! Oh yeah, yes I'm totally new at this. Any criticism is welcome.

EDIT: I went back and edited this story because I was disgusted after rereading it recently. It was my first fic and it's still pretty bad. I did the best I could without completely rewriting it. Haha.

Chapter 1

"Hey Flame head! When you gonna grow some muscles?" Gray asked while walking on the path along with Erza and Natsu, both of which looked annoyed and irritated.

"Hey Ice Block, why are you starting shit this early on in the trip?" He asked excitedly, smirking."Not that I would mind burning you to a crisp!" He wrapped a flame around his fist which was now close to Gray's face as he threatened him.

Gray leaned over and blew a cool breeze to the flame, putting it out. "As if you could," He said as he walked ahead of Natsu feeling victorious, now, only wearing boxers.

Erza stopped behind them and knocked them both on the top of their heads with her fists. Natsu rubbed the back of his head as he peeked over to Gray.

She glared sternly at them as she lectured them. "Why do you guys have to do that constantly?" She sighed and continued as she pulled her luggage along. "Gray! Clothes on! Natsu! Remember that you're still going to have to ride the train to get there!"

"Whaaat?" Natsu protested. "I thought you said this path was a straight shot!"

"Nope." Gray said with an evil grin, now pulling his shirt back over his head. "And it looks like I get to be the one to knock you out this time."

Natsu gave him a confused look. "...And why would you think that?"

Erza stared at the ground as she answered. "I said this path was a straight shot for me, you guys are going to stop Jellal from building the second tower all by yourselves."

The more she spoke the bigger Natsu's smile grew.

"Something came up, there are some things I need to take care of and where I'm going, you can't. It's going to take some time to get to there." Erza paused. "So, I hope you guys got some good sleep."

Natsu smiled brightly, filled with excitement."Going on an S-class mission without Erza or any of the S-class wizards... is soooo worth dealing with the train ride. "

Erza felt troubled. She stopped the cart as Natsu skipped on ahead. Gray turned and leaned towards her whispering. "Don't worry; I'll keep him in check."

She turned to him but her expression was difficult to read. Gray couldn't figure out if she was annoyed or angry.

She spoke in a low but stern tone. "...And what about you? You're just as bad. Do you realize what will happen if you two fight without someone to break it up?" Realization hit Gray like a slap in the face, yet part of him wanted to find out.

They walked in silence for a little bit as Natsu bounced along, but both Gray and Erza deep in thought.

After a while they came to a fork in the road and Erza raised her voice speaking to both of them.

"Well, this is it, do your best or I'll have to punish you when I get back or you might have to go through THAT, again."

Both Gray and Natsu's eyes widened in shock.

Gray opened his mouth, "THAT?"

Natsu and Gray started grabbing their heads running in circles, panicking.

Natsu, who was now on the ground covering his eyes, muttered to himself. His voice rose, "Anything but that!"

Erza smiled as she turned to leave, both boys collected themselves and said their goodbyes. Natsu noticed the concern in her voice but chose not to speak of it.

After leaving Erza, they walked along the path silently because Gray was making an actual effort not to piss Natsu off. He thought for a moment. 'What would happen if no one broke up our fights? She's thinking we might end up dead...? Or we'd probably destroy a whole town...Ehh, I think she's thinking too much into it. After all, we've known each other forever and it's not like she's always around.'

Natsu started chattering on about things in the guild and Gray let it all go through one ear and out the other. The ice mage zoned out on the trees and the way the wind blew through them and looked down to the dirt and the rocks that were kicked as they walked along the path. 'Then again it could be a total disaster,' he thought.

Natsu changed the subject back to his excitement.

"Woo hoo! We're going to kick Jellal's ass without an S-class wizard! Haha, I bet Lucy and Happy are going to be so jealous!" And with that, realization hit Natsu, he wasn't going to see Happy for a while.

He stopped, staring at the ground. He seemed to have a depressing aura. "Umm... Gray?" He paused, "How long exactly is it going to take us to get there?"

Gray noticed Natsu's sadness and immediately knew what was upsetting him. "We probably won't get there till the day after tomorrow or tomorrow night."

Natsu did the math in his head and then began to prepare himself not to see him for a little less than a week. Gray caught up to him and put a hand on his head, ruffling his hair as he spoke in a low tone."Don't worry, He'll be alright. Lucy needed his help for the job she went on. He likes helping out, you know that. Plus, Lucy wouldn't let anything happen to him."

Natsu looked up, seeing Gray walk passed him.

"I know." He took a step but stared back at the ground as if debating if he should take another.

Gray turned to Natsu, still walking ahead."Well, come on, the mood is getting depressing. Remember we're on our way to stop Jellal."

Natsu, with a fake smile, tried to push the thoughts out of his head. He really did miss Happy. This was the first time they would be apart for so long.

"Right, this should be fun, I'll finally be able to prove that I'm S-class material." His smile began to widen, becoming genuine.

"Well, as far as I know, this is supposed to be a secret that we're doing this job by ourselves. Erza was supposed to go with us but apparently something came up so she left it to us." Gray said, uncertain of how Natsu would feel about that fact.

Natsu looked disappointed. "So, G-Chan doesn't know, huh?" He let out a deep sigh, "Well that makes more sense since I know G-Chan would have keeled over if he knew."

Gray chuckled, "Yeah, you got that right."

The two boys continued chatting on as they came up to a small town. The town seemed to be a little behind in development with cobble stone roads and shops set up on the roadsides rather than in stores. They could see the train station from the entrance; it seemed so out of place. Natsu's pace decreased as they walked through the town. Getting closer to the train station, he began looking all around him and finally grabbed an apple, standing in front of one of the stands. Gray walked on, not noticing that Natsu had stopped.

Natsu yelled to him, "Oi, Gray, do you have any money?"

Gray stopped and looked at Natsu, who was tossing the apple up into the air and catching it with one hand. Natsu tried his best not to make eye contact with him, "I want to buy this apple."

Gray started to walk back towards Natsu with a blank expression. Natsu wasn't sure what to think but continued tossing the apple. Once Gray reached him, he whacked him on the head hard enough to knock him down.

"Are you really trying to stall? Do you want this mission to take even longer?"

Gray puffed his chest out, crossed his arms and looked down at Natsu like a disappointed father. Natsu looked down and blushed slightly embarrassed that Gray saw right through him.

"Alright, I'm coming," he said as he started walking toward the train, decreasing his pace behind Gray.

They reached the train and attempted to board. Gray spoke with the clerk to find out that the only seat available was a small half booth in the back of the train. They agreed to take it as they were doing their best not to prolong their journey. Natsu wanted to protest, of course, but he thought about not seeing Happy and the others for even longer and came to his senses. They walked to the back of the train to find their seats. When they said small, they weren't lying. This booth was one bench with a window unlike the full booth that had a bench and window on both sides facing each other. The bench was actually a little longer than any of the others and on the other side, where the other bench should have been, there was just a wall. Natsu thought it looked like this is where they would put a poor man to sleep for the night on the train or store extra luggage.

Natsu let out a deep sigh, "Ugh...Train ride and on top of it I have to be share a seat with you."

Natsu slid passed Gray, who was already sitting, to the space that was left for him. It was a natural unwritten rule that he always had the window seat. He sat down, putting one foot up on the bench and resting his arm on it. There was still enough room to fit one more passenger between them, two if they were skinny.

"You better not throw up on me, Natsu." Gray shuttered in disgust as he thought about it, "You want me to go ahead and knock you out?"

Natsu shot him a glare and answered. "Nah, no thanks, I'll try to ride it out. I have the window so it should be fine. Plus, I plan on taking a nap."

Gray looked around trying to figure out the best way to get comfortable. He stared at the shoe prints on the wall until he understood what they were from. He sunk down in his seat then propped his feet up on the wall and crossed them. Now feeling relaxed, he crossed his arms.

"I agree, nap time," Gray said quietly as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the wall.

As the train began to move, Natsu's face turned white as a ghost and he threw his head out the window. Gray peeked one eye open to check on him as he heard him vomit but once the train reached full speed, Natsu pulled his head back from the window and laid it on the window sill. The ice mage closed his eyes as he tried to focus on something to block out the weird moaning noises that the other was making to try to calm his stomach. He listened as the train pressed on, letting the vibrations and rocking put him to sleep.

The fire mage continued to throw up out the window between naps of 20 minutes or so. Miserably, he watched Gray sleep as if nothing bothered him. "How can you sleep while hearing me throw up?" He asked Gray, not really expecting an answer.

"I guess he's used to it by now," Natsu said softly to himself. He watched as Gray's raven hair blew around in the wind, periodically stopping to throw up out the window. After about an hour, Natsu finally fell asleep on the windowsill.

Two hours later, Gray's eyes popped open. He saw the night outside and thought to himself, 'It's night already and probably another three hours to go.' Gray looked over at Natsu to find him still pale and sleeping unsoundly on the window sill. His was hair dancing around as it was brushed by the wind coming in through the open window. 'I must be the only one in the world who thinks he's slightly feminine,' he thought. It didn't take long for Gray to realize what he was thinking, before he blushed and shook his head, trying to shake away the thoughts. Refusing to look at Natsu, he figured he ought to sleep the rest of the train ride away since he had nothing else to do. He closed his eyes and listened for all the things that put him to sleep the time before. He felt for the vibrations and rocking of the train as he started to drift into dreamland but before he could reach it, the train took a sharp turn and something heavy and very hot fell in his lap. Startled, Gray's eyes came open and once he saw what it was, they widened in shock. Natsu's head was lying in his lap. His first thought was to push him off but as he went to do that, Natsu started moving around. He flipped himself over on his right side facing Gray's legs, making himself comfortable. Gray watched him for a while, not moving at all, as his face regained its natural color and he was finally sleeping soundly.

See what I mean?