Red Heads, the best kind of Sin

Clover Town. That was the name of the freaking town where the Guild Master´s meeting building is placed. Bloody hell, it has taken me a year to remember the name of the freaking town.

It has been a month since the end of the Tombos war, and the return of the victorious defenders back to their homes. Well, it sounded cool and all that, but the survivors knew the numbers and we didn't precisely call it a victory. All of that carnage has been made by only one freaking demon of Zeref. One shudders to think what dozens of them working together could do.

The rest of the Fiore´s mages were back, relatively safe and sound, back to their Guilds, but I had yet to complete the training with the shamans of the north, and I was a man of my word. My return took place a couple of weeks after the rest were back, and the newspapers all over Earth Land echoed the success of the campaign.

On my end, it has resulted in a very profitable business; as I promised, none of my Guildmates had ended up dead or traumatized for life, and I only become stronger due to the entire experience. According to Hibiki, I now had scars that would only make me even more appetizing for the females all over Fiore. I had a beautiful redhead to return, so I am afraid that the rest of the females of Fiore would have to be content with only watching.

Clover town was pretty much the same as I remembered when I took the train to Iceberg along the others. It was a bit louder than I remembered, but I have passed the majority of the last year alone with the only company of my pack and my masters from the Temple of Ymir.

Although, each time that Bacchus saw me, he dragged me to the nearest bar, happy to have a real "Wild!" person to drink with. Jura, Hibiki, and Araña joined us from time to time until Araña was sent back home due to her wounds, pity that the lass was always on her guard around me. I think I have traumatized her, somehow. I like to think that I made friends among the Rune Knights, and other mages from all places of Earth Land.

My moniker of the Iceman was already carved in stone, and I was sure that Jason is going to shout "Coooool!" as soon as he knows of my return, and try to snap a new photo of my appearance.

Frankly, it was exactly the same, except for an intricate black tattoo in my arm, a scar of puncturing on my stomach, and a couple of other markings of violence on my skin. Ah, and my eyes are red now, that was something that had to happen due my overuse of Devil Slayer magic. Secondary physical effects, I am afraid.

Taking a good breakfast in the restaurant of the train, I read in the newspaper that the Guild Master meeting would be taking place the same day I will arrive at Clover Town, so I will be able to meet Makarov, and return with the Guild Master to Fairy Tail.

I was quite eager to be back home.

Due to an unexpected complication with the trains, I reached Clover town in the evening, almost the night. According to the locals, the Guild meetings tend to become parties at the end of the meetins, so it will not be out of the ordinary to find my Guild Master partying with the rest of the Guild Masters after the end of the business meeting.

Hopeful after that news, I walked to the building, and I deadpanned like a pro when I saw a demon the size of the bloody building surging out of nowhere and start laughing and threatening everything around.

This must be a bloody joke, another freaking demon of Zeref, right in front of my fucking face. This is a joke of a very bad taste. But my bad humor vanished when I listened to the battle cries of Natsu and Erza, and observed how they attacked the demon head-on, making the demon experience pain and surprise over the power of "puny mortals".

You know, for a collection of Guild masters, when I saw a lot of them trying to run from the indiscriminate attacks of the demon, I felt kind of disappointed. Sighing, I walked right in front of them, surprising several of them and stood in front of the incoming magical attack.

Without a care in the world, I made a gesture with the two fingers of my left hand, and a black tainted ice wall surged from the floor, blocking the incoming projectile of energy like it was nothing.

[Frozen Aegis] was one of the most powerful defenses of my arsenal.

"Its been a while, Master Makarov", I smiled at the flabbergasted yet smiling old man.

The old man has not changed at all in a year, he was the same shorty with an orange jester cap. Yet, I was happy to see that the old man, a person to whom I owned a lot, was still alive and well. Makarov was an eighty years old man, and at some point, he will die like every other mortal on the planet. Myself included, I just take a longer route.

"Gray!, welcome back my boy, we really missed you", smiled widely the man, happy to have one of his children back home.

"Happy to be back, the feeling is mutual believe me", I clenched my fist and the ice wall disappeared back into the earth. "So...the usual Fairy Tail luck?", I pointed to the demon that was slashed, punched, and burned mercilessly by my comrades. I almost felt bad for the poor sucker.

"Gray, you are back!", the childish voice of Happy sounded at my side before the flying blue cat flew at me, "did you bring me some fish?". Always with his priorities straight these one.

Petting him in the head, I smiled at the presence of the little furball, it was like his partner, a constant source of cheerfulness and funny antics. We really didn't have a lot of those in the war.

"Aye Happy, I brought fish, later I will give it to you okay?", chuckling at how the flying blue cat shouted in joy I turned to girl that has accompanied Happy, and that seemed to be the new addition to the Guild judging by the pink symbol on her hand.

The lass was a blonde bombshell. A long-haired blonde young girl of sinful femininity and blue eyes that observed me with a mixture of apprehension and checking me out with appreciation. She was a living beacon of contradictory emotions, all her body language; quite the gorgeous body by the way; sent mixed signals, she was exalted of being here, and terrified of being here at the same time. Well, it was a usual feeling among the mages that took their first jobs.

Also, the keys that she carried with herself identified her as a Celestial Mage. Oh boy, Loke, if the fucker is still around, is going to have a lot of fun with such a fine lady in the Guild. The whip at her side did confuse me a bit though, that was an unusual weapon.

"Well meet lady", I smiled at her and she tried to compose herself under my smile. "I am Gray Fullbuster, a proud mage of Fairy Tail".

"Lucy", she presented herself with a smile. Without surname, uh? interesting. "Nice to meet you".

"A new member of Fairy Tail, aye?". A new comrade was always welcome. "How do you find the Guild so far?".

"A bit too crazy", she mumbled under her breath, rubbing her hands together.

Aye, I could empathize with that notion, as much as I love Fairy Tail, there are times when the chaotic and boisterous nature of our Guild becomes a bit too much. Not that I would have liked them any other way, it was just their nature.

"But you love it anyway", I raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed with a guilty smile. I was right after all.

"So, Lucy, how come you got tangled in this particular mess with Erza, Natsu, and Happy?", I asked her keeping an eye in the battle.

I would have called it bullying at this point, between Natsu's flames and Erza´s weapons, the poor demon was being beaten up black and blue. His magic rays and curse spells were good for the average mages, but against Erza and Natsu it was as if the demon was tossing daisies at them.

"It was my first day in the Guild", she mumbled lowering her head, "I had just got my Guild Mark when Erza walked in with a massive horn covered in jewels and said that Natsu will be coming with her to investigate that", she pointed out at the demon, "who at the moment was just a flute called Lullaby, Eisenwald, a Dark Guild wanted to use it to kill all Guild Masters, and here we are".

"Ah, our usual brand of craziness then", I shrugged. The attacks of Lullaby; the demon; are starting to become so random that I was forced to raise another [Frozen Aegis] and kept it up to stop the incoming barrage before it could hurt anyone.

"Is that black ice?", Lucy touched the ice and hissed by the could touch but felt the extra infuse that my slayer magic added to the mixture. "It's filled to the brim with magical power".

"Very perceptive, lass", I smiled at her and she beamed for the compliment. "I take that you are familiar with the [Fire Dragon Slayer Magic] of Natsu".

"So many clothes burn...", Lucy whined and I choke down a chuckle at her misery, poor lass.

"I am a slayer as well", I revealed to her; I was convinced that by now, the newspaper had already shouted my status as Devil-Slayer to the entire country. "But I am a Devil Slayer, the Ice Devil Slayer to be precise".

Lucy blinked, then focused her stare at me. Well, the evening inside the forest have only allowed her to see me as a vague masculine, half-naked figure, so when she focused her eyes on me, saw my red eyes and realized who I was, she blushed to the root of her hair and muttered something along the lines of "the Iceman", and, "hotter in person". But I preferred to ignore that last part, as I was convinced that Lucy had a certain photo on the wall of her room.

Between Erza and Natsu, the demon was already on his last rope, but I would never underestimate a demon of Zeref. They are tricky bastards, and always had a final trick to pull. In this case, Lullaby swung his massive arms, forcing Erza and Natsu to back a bit or be swatted away like flies, and roared about how he was going to kill us all with his death song.

Nay, never under my freaking watch.

Taking the stance that Master Ur taught me, I focused my magical power and shaped it with my imagination into what I wanted. In this case, I was not much for subtlety, and sew the mouth of Lullaby. A needle and a thread of blackened ice manifested surrounding Lullaby, as the demon was already taking a singing stance. The demon muttered a surprised grunt by the giant tools at his sides, but before it could react, my magic fell upon him and sew his mouth shut. A bit more violently than it should, but with demons kiddy gloves are off.

Lullaby was scared for the first time, pain was something that the demon can take without breaking a sweat; but this ice was charged with my Devil slayer magic, and Lullaby was feeling the drainage of his curse, how my magic was corroding and destroying it.

"Natsu, Erza!", I shouted to my comrades that jolted at my voice but then smiled widely when they saw me. "I will nail the bastard, Erza, widen the cuts over his torso, Natsu, once Erza and I end our tasks, burn it with all you had, go wild and illuminate the night".

Even after a year, they reacted in a second. We were an amazing team since forever, sure, we were a bit out of touch due to my constant travels but once we start to roll together, we are an unbeatable team. We also pass most of our time bickering until Erza whacks our heads, or we have to see what kind of mess had Natsu and Happy got themselves into that time.

Back to my ice make posture, I nailed the legs of the demon to the ground and created several chains that dragged his arms down, preventing him to release the sewing that I have put in his mouth. Erza changed into one of his armors; his [Heaven´s Wheels] if I am not mistaken, with that one on, she was a redhead Valkyrie with a storm of swords at her beck and call. The swords ripped and tear the body of the demon, widening the holes that they have already made.

Once Erza ended her task, Natsu and Happy went up in the sky, and using a new Dragon Slayer spell, they dropped a big ass fireball of orange flames right in the head of the demon, hammering it to the ground with a mixture of explosive power and burning flames. Damn, Natsu carried some serious firepower now, I didn't know he could do that.

In a massive explosion that illuminated the night, I smiled widely; I was able to sense the demon perishing, burned under the flames of Natsu.

With my devilish eyes and smile, Natsu dragon-like teeth and victorious laugh, and Erza´s armor and swords reflecting the flames of Natsu, I was sure that we presented quite the image. And judging by Makarov ear to ear smile and the flabbergasted expressions of the other Guild Masters, we have scared them shitless, and cemented our fame as the top Guild of Fiore. Heck, even I managed to nail Lullaby to a place where the flames of Natsu, and the burning corpse of the demon, will not touch the building, denying the infamy of Fairy Tail being mindless wreckers.

Lucy and Happy were smiling and cheering for us, saying that we were amazing, and for fuck´s sake, of course, we are. We are Fairy Tail, we always stand at the top. Makarov, on the other hand, was just laughing proudly at our victory, I would have done the same, parading us as the best thing ever.

Well, I suppose a bit of good PR would not hurt us.

"Gray, you are back!", Natsu jumped at me with a flying kick, "fight me!".

I ducked under the assault with easiness, this kid really should know better forms of saying hello by now.

"Sure Natsu", I nodded and Natsu already took a stance, "but at the Guild training grounds, here, we will damage the building behind you, and Erza would skin us alive".

That froze Natsu, that stiffened and nodded vigorously, looking at Erza, who was back into her usual Heart Kreutz armor and blue skirt. She was as gorgeous as I remembered. She eyed Natsu and the [Fire Dragon Slayer] said that he was going to be a good boy, and will not fight me until we are back on the Guild's training grounds. That I have promised that. Well, not exactly, but I have accepted the challenge and it would be rude to leave him hanging like that.

My attention now was on the redhead that stood in front of us. Erza was conflicted, even with her usual stoic manners I could read her like an open book. Her armor was not only for the outside but for the inside as well. She felt naked, unprotected, without her armor, heck, even bathing was a group activity when we were kids to avoid solitude; not that later I protested much, puberty hit Erza like a train and turn her into one stunningly beautiful woman.

Our eyes meet and I could see the turmoil behind her azure eye; the left was an artificial one that Porlyusica implanted not much after Erza joined the Guild. Erza was the Titania, the invincible S-class mage of Fairy Tail. Her reputation, and stoic and straightforward methods and words, have earned her quite the rep sheet. But I was the bastard that could see through that armor, right at the suffering child that needed a hug, and comfort, and the love that has been taken from her.

I walked in front of her, never breaking eye contact, and she suddenly realized that I was taller than her. Back in the day, we were of similar stature, both around the six feet tall more or less, but now, I stood on a solid six feet nine. I raised my hand to her chin, and with infinite tenderness, I caressed her cheek and jaw, making her look at me.

"I´m home", I whispered to her.

"Welcome back", she whispered back.

Our lips connected and we forgot everything that it was not each other.

The temblor on the ground was just the result of the collective impact of so many lower jaws reaching the ground at terminal velocity because of the surprise. So please ignore them. I was very busy kissing the most amazing redhead in the world.

As it can not be otherwise, my return, and my bold actions with Erza, were the gossips of the guilds for quite a while. The people of Fairy Tail was delighted to have me back, but a bit shocked about how we were a couple now. It seems that none of the original witness of the train kiss said anything. Considering the fame that Erza had, and my own infamy, the people of the Guild need a bit to process how we were an item. Curiously enough, the only one that knew it since the beginning was Mirajane, who insisted that it was bloody obvious. I suspected that it very well be the case, but blinded by my fear of hurting Erza more; someone has hurt her in the past, someone close to her had left a scar in her heart and I feared that getting close would only open that wound; I did not act as directly at I should have done otherwise.

Still, we were an item now, and I was delighted with it. It was going to need a lot of effort, as Erza was a complete virgin in anything love related; despite being a closet pervert of massive proportions; and her scars were in the inside, not the outside. Her wounds are deep and I wanted to heal them, not aggravate them.

The news of my return to the Guild was soon running through Magnolia, I was a relatively popular figure in town. First for my stripping habit, and second for my investments in some business and how, from time to time, I walked around town doing small jobs and, in general, being a helping hand. The people of Magnolia saluted me when I was back and made my usual rounds, catching up with some business owners, and setting some order in my business ledgers.

My mage status means nothing if I don't have the jewels to back up my research, or magical training. Practically all my savings went directly into my home, and only after returning back to Fiore I was paid the millions promised as payment for the war job, and a lot of "extras" that the Rune Knight conveniently overlooked in the loot ledgers. It is easy to lend a hand to someone, when that someone has been saving your ass since day one of the war.

The Guild did tossed me a party on the Guild Hall, practically all the mages of Fairy Tail came to the party, it was a very joyful occasion, and I had the perfect drink for it. I took it out of my [Re-equip] although it took me a bit and a lot of dragging, much to the amusement of the Guild, a massive barrel of cold mead. Not any mead, thrice honey and fermented mead. It was the nectar of the gods. Makarov, Cana, Wakaba, and Macao agreed with me wholeheartedly. Even Natsu found the liquid sweet and tasty, a bit too cold for him but it was rich nonetheless.

Drunken shenanigans ensued, but, all in all, it was a very nice party.

On the next days, I was tending to my home; and I had to admit that the people that I gave access to the house in order to clean and kept it habitable, did a superb job; filling the freezer, buying essentials, and recharging the lacryma amenities and wards all over the manor. I have already calculated my absence for a year, so I had to recharge almost the entire lacrymas.

On the good side, there were no signals of any breaking and entering, and my private Sancta Sanctorum was untouched. I had a lot of dangerous shit down there, things that were borderline dark arts or that danced on the less than the savory side of the fence. I was convinced that any Rune Knight would have a stroke if they saw what I had buried there.

On the third day, I had a date with Erza.

Frankly, she lost it when I walked all the way up to Fairy Hills and told her if she was in the mood for a date. She stood there, staring at me for a while, and I just patiently waited for her brain to reboot. It took about five minutes, but then she started to walk up and down of the reception hall, ranting like Christmas.

During all this time, I was having a conversation with the very amused Levy and Laki. With all that happened, I have forgotten that I have brought souvenirs to my friends, and asked them to pass through the Guild Hall, later in the evening, when there were not many guild members left and I could have a quiet chat with those that I considered close to me. The girls promised to deliver the message to all of those that I wanted there and made their way out when Erza finally turned to me, pointed her finger at me, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"You!".

"Aye, me, your, hopefully, boyfriend", I smiled at her and she lowered her finger trying to make a point but only blustered in incoherence. "So, you in the mood for a date?".

Erza took out one of her iconic swords. Solid long swords with a wing styled guards and pointed at me with a face as red as her hair. She was so adorable like that I couldn't control myself.

Walking right at her, I caressed the flat side of the sword as I entered into her personal space and stared right at her embarrassed and confused eyes. We were forehead against forehead, with her blade still extended and my fingers softly slipping through the surface of the flat side of the sword as if they were the threads of a harp.

"Strong, sharp, beautiful, just like her owner", I whispered at her and softly kissed her lips. With my free hand, I surrounded her waist and drag her close to me.

We started soft and tenderly, with Erza emitting adorable angry noises, but never stopping kissing, and before we knew it, we were making out passionately in the middle of the reception halls of Fairy Hills.

Frankly?. I couldn't care less. Erza was my personal drug. Her lips had a lingering taste of strawberry, it could not be lipstick as I knew that Erza did not like make-up. Erza was as gorgeous as she was naturally, she never liked how make-up felt over her skin. Breathing forced us to separate, but a thick line of saliva connected our tongues, breathing raggedly, but never, ever, letting her go, we stared at each other, and as soon as we recovered our breaths we went at it again.

Making out with one of the most gorgeous women of Fiore?. Hell yes.

It took us about an hour to stop making out, and Erza punching me for being so bold, yet she was smiling and blushing like a girl in love, mission accomplish I would say; before we walked out of the Fairy Hills and into the streets of Magnolia.

Erza was not in her usual armor, but on a white sleeveless shirt with a red tie and blue skirt. I took it as a symbol that Erza felt safe enough to do not wear her armor when she was with me. It was a symbol of trust that I was going to respect. We walked down the path of the main streets of Magnolia, talking about all the things that I had missed when I was running as Solo on Iceberg. I promised Erza that during the evening reunion I was going to answer all their questions, but to remember that there will be things that I will keep even from them.

But not from, not from Erza. I told her that I will never lie to her, that she will be the only one that could ask whatever she wanted and I will try to answer as well as I could. I confessed that there were things of my past that I felt ashamed and guilty, along with several mistakes that I have made in all these years, but if she asked about them, I will tell her.

I wanted no secrets between us.

Hugging her, I explained to her that she did not have to tell anything, that I understood that someone has hurt her deeply in the past, someone that was very close to heart. She was shivering like a leaf, but she hugged me back, choking a sob and repressing the memories that had resurfaced after that comment. That I understood that all this couple's business was very new for her, and that I was perfectly okay with taking it as slowly as she wanted.

Such a lass like Erza was worth all the efforts in the world.

Alone, in a corner of the city, Erza cried close to my chest, unable to express in words the amalgamation of feelings that she had in her chest and throat at that moment. I let her cry and with a couple of gestures, raised a transparent barrier between us and the rest of the town. That gave us some privacy, Erza´s scar would not start to heal until she let go of the guilt and sadness of her past.

Just wait until I put my hands in the fucker that hurt her, I will make him beg for something as sweet as pain.

After the emotional bomb, Erza and I agreed in taking it slowly, start our relationship as couple one step at a time, we have been comrades, friends, we have bled together and covered each other backs, but this time we were moving one step forward in our relationships and become lovers. That was a massive leap of faith for Erza, whose idea of romance come from not entirely understood raunchy novels and gender confusing about who was the knight and who was the princess in several books.

After recovering from the ordeal of emotions, I guided Erza to a particular store, and enjoyed a coffee with strawberry cakes. Well, I enjoyed the coffee and Erza was in trance about the cakes. I explained to her that I was one of the investors of the Coffee shop /bakery, and that I wanted her to taste the mini cakes that they offered with the coffee.

Erza was delighted with the small sweet snacks and bought a dozen of them to bring with her to her room in Fairy Hills.

It was way too soon for me to even start mentioning the possibility of living together; not to mention that I will have to reform an entire new wing for Erza´s weapons and armors. I had a magical workshop but that would not be sufficient for the massive collection of weapons and armors of Erza. I didn't really have an armory as I created my own weapons with my magic and the only real weapon that I use was Icebreaker. I do have some displays for things like my rune carving daggers and other tools like that, but considering my stripping habit, armor is a waste on me.

The date went on surprisingly well and I had to admit that I enjoyed it greatly, but more importantly, Erza enjoyed it a lot. I was hoping to mend Erza´s heart, to see the amazing woman that I knew that she was, free of the scars and the burden that she carried with her. I didn't care about Titania, the S-class mage, I cared about my girlfriend, Erza Scarlet; there a bloody world of difference between the two.

On the late afternoon, just as I promised to Natsu, he and I sparred in the backyard training grounds of Fairy Tail. It was an invigorating experience, my magic and Natsu´s could not be more opposite, so, by training together, we learned to overcome the difference. What I noticed is that Natsu is a very instinctual fighter, what he lacks in technique and finesse, he compensated with agility and strength.

We fought for an hour before Master Makarov appeared and bitch slapped both of us to the ground with a hand the size of Magnolia. We have been so focused on our fight that we lost sight of our surroundings and we ended up demolishing the backyard and accidentally sending other training mages flying all over the place. In fact, I had left two of them frozen in a corner of the training yard, the poor lads were not fast enough to vacate the place when Natsu and I started to get wild.

Makarov punched us into the ground a couple more times to let us know his displeasure with our little sparring, and then Erza came to the Guild and proceed to chew us a new one. I will admit that she is hot when she is in her "teacher" mode. I have to found a naughty secretary dress for her, or, more likely, she had a Secretary Armor on her arsenal that I would love to see, that is going to fuel some fantasies for a while. Naughty secretary Erza, hell yeah.

Now that I thought about it, when our relationship is advanced enough, I was sure that Erza was going to be a hellcat in the shack. I knew of her collection of raunchy books and her [Re-Equip Magic] allowed her to change clothes in a second. That was….err...there was a term for it, I do remember it. Aye, Cosplay sex. I have to try that with Erza at some point.

Erza´s and Makarov´s rants about our destructive tendencies extended for a bit more than I expected and they chew us for being idiots for enough time to reach the evening. As Levy and Laki promised, they spread the word about the little reunion that I had planned with those that I called close friends.

Elfman and Mirajane, Cana, Loke, Laki, Natsu and Happy, Levy, Erza and Makarov. There are other people, like Jet, Droy, Miki, Chico, and others, that I considered friends, but these are the oldest and most cherished friends that I had in Earth Land. They deserve to know as much as I could divulge about what really happened on Iceberg. All of the survivors were told to keep a lot of shit that happened in Iceberg under wraps, and I would never speak of the Temple if Yimir unless is absolutely necessary.

After giving them some of the many trinkets and souvenirs that I picked up, we were sitting around one of the big tables of the Guild, at this hour it was practically deserted, and only us remained in the Hall. I knew that Mira was out of working hours, but enjoying a drink with friends would do her good.

"So, how many Guilds did send people?", asked Makarov sitting in the table and drinking from his beer.

"In total, eight", I answered back, sitting at the side of Erza. Our status as a couple has spread like gunpowder all over Magnolia and I was quite sure that more than one of the other Guilds would know the notice by now. I was already waiting for Jason´s call or visit.

"Hibiki from Bue Pegasus, aye, Mira, that Hibiki", I smiled at the white-haired lass that was surprised for the presence of Hibiki in the war. Now she understood why Mister Fiore has been out of the business for a long while.

"His [Archive Magic] was a godsend in the war", it was the absolute truth, the man was a communication network on his own, I don't even want to know how he managed to process such absurd quantities of information and do not melt his own brain. "We have become good friends during the war, as I was the only Solo mage out there and have to be in contact with him regularly for updates and new orders".

"Solo mage?", asked Elfman, not entirely sure about what Gray was talking about.

"Mages that worked alone", I informed the muscular young man. "Later I will explain it better, after I told Master Makarov about who was sent and where did we end".

"Jura, from Lamia Scale", I continued. "I believed he is called Iron Rock Jura and I completely agree with the nickname, the man is a mountain in body and mind. I think that I have made friends with the man, but he is quite stoic and always treats everyone with extreme respect and politeness".

"I do remember him", commented Makarov with a thoughtful gaze. "Ooba is quite fond of him, she says that he is going to make into the Ten Wizard Saints in a couple of years".

"I agree", said to Makarov completely serious. "Jura, and pardon the pun, is a rock-solid man with an iron will and the magical power to back it up. I have no doubt that he will get into the Ten Wizard Saints at some point".

"Well, we need more good people", shrugged Makarov who was part of such a select group.

"Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus, the only S-class among us", I followed the list. "I have understood that Bacchus and you had fought several times, without a clear winner", I turned my face to Erza...

"Yes, I know the man, is a very powerful mage, although he is more a brawler than a mage", nodded Erza.

"Drinks more than you Cana", I smiled to my old friend and she raised an eyebrow, drinking from her barrel, "and rants a lot about "wild" and "man", as much as you Elfman". The called man chuckled but did not deny it. It was his particular trait. "Fights like a demon, using [Palm Magic] and several martial arts styles that increased his speed and raw power".

"During all the war, Bacchus kept calling me for my nickname, "Iceman", but even if it began as a mockery, after the first three months and a lot of skirmishes and close calls with the undead army, the mockery was no more in it", I remembered the odd mage and how I almost neutered him when he tried to pose himself as the Alpha male.

"Araña from Mermaid Heel", was the next of the list. "A green-haired woman with a web theme all over her clothes, kinda ironic as she hates spiders. She was out of the field by the fourth month?". I believe?. At some point days and weeks become all the same. "A very nasty wound on her back, they sent back to Fiore for recovering. We were cordial enough, I am afraid that she was terrified of me".

"Her loss", shrugged Cana and I smiled at her.

The truth was that Araña has seen me in one of my worst moments, and how much of a monster I can really be. That scared the shit out of her.

"Dobengal from Sabertooth", another mage of the list. "A ninja if I ever saw one".

"A ninja, really?", smiled Natsu with shining eyes, "he was all nin-nin?".

"No idea", I chuckled at the disappointed look in Natsu´s face. "The man never interact with any of the mages of Fiore and was gallivanting around all on his own. That provoked more than one headache to Hibiki, but the ninja fucker never revealed anything about where or what has he been doing".

"That sure did not sit well with the Rune Knights", snorted Elfman. "I have met Sabertooth mages before, they spout a lot of the nonsense of Laxus about strong above all, they are not manly at all".

"No idea, the ninja evaded me like a plague". It was something that irked me, knowing that the ninja was who knows where doing who knows what in the middle of a war zone.

"Boze of Phantom Lord", continued with the list of Fiore mages. "Usual run of the mill Phantom Lord mage, talented with his [Sound Magic], but lacking the raw power, or the determination, to get into S-class".

"Phantom Lord", grumbled a lot of my friends under their breath. Even Natsu and Happy look more gloomy than usual.

"Something I should know?", I asked the present on the table.

"Phantom Lord has been pushing limits during the time that you were off", Levy informed me. "Once the Rune Knights found proof of a lot of shady things that the Guild has been doing, Phantom Lord reputation took a nose dive, they are still strong, but they have lost a lot of jobs due to their abusive practices and blackmail tactics with their clients".

"When a lot of those jobs ended up here, Phantom Lord took it personally", continued Elfman with a growl. "They are clever bastards, they do not attack us directly but if anything goes wrong during a job and a Phantom Lord mage is around, I could assure you that they have something to do with it".

"Blood has not yet reached the waters, but it's only a matter of time", somberly added Loke.

"Shit", I was all that I needed to say.

"The Phantom Lord mage that I knew in the war, Boze", I continued with my description of those that had fought alongside me for a while, "was your average Phantom Lord mage, but during the war, the man proved to be professional enough. Like it happened to Araña, he was beaten black and blue by a thing that we called decoys; later I will explain what they are, and was sent back to Fiore".

"The last one was Ulrik, and he was not from a Mage Guild, but from the Southern Wolves", I told them the last reinforcement that gets up on the train with us. "The mercenary Guild".

"I know those guys, I kicked their asses!", said Natsu all fired up. "They were all about how mages are weak and I punched them into the walls".

"Well, this one was bigger than Elfman and more muscular than Joey", I remember the man, ending up as he did was not a good way to die. "He was a gunner like Bisca and Alzac, but with a massive machine gun. He reaped the undead like they were wheat. Unfortunately, he didn't make it".

"The newspaper was a bit vague on that", pointed out Mirajane. "All the guild was following the news of the war but never they did say how many people died".

"It was a freaking disaster, Mira", I took a long drink of my tankard. "The Magic Council would have never allowed the numbers to be published":

"That bad?", said Levy in a soft voice.

"How many the newspaper said were there?", I asked and I felt Erza´s hand over my own under the table. I grab hers and softly squeezed her in thanks for their support.

"Two thousand Rune Knights and around two hundred mages, if I remember well". She had a good memory.

"Less than five hundred Rune Knights and less that sixty mages made it back". I answered her question and the table fell silent and pale. That was a bloody massacre, neither the Rune Knights and the mages were all that numerous to toss around bodies like they were confetti.

"Fuck", was the eloquent wording of Loke. Celestial Spirit or not, Loke has lived among enough more than enough to understand the kind of disaster that this was. Under his disguise of Loke, he has become even more human, living among us for a long time and learning how hard it is to make a living.

Erza´s hand was squeezing mine, she was fearing that I was going to disappear that I was one of those casualties and that it was only a dream. Damn girl, you are going to crush my hand!. I massaged her with my thumb and smiled in her direction, I was fine, and at her side, that´s what matters.

"The worst was the undead", I sighed. "They were relentless, dead bodies filled to the brim with magical power reanimating them, they could take a lot of punishment and they do not stop until they have destroyed everything".

"How did you manage to hold your ground?", commented Cana, needing a lot more booze to get the images out of her head. She was not the only one, there were a lot of green faces around the table.

"Our commander was actually very good", I chuckled at the memory of Mikazuchi. "I think she was a former mage herself, Commander Mikazuchi".

"Oh, I do know her", raised his eyes Makarov. "She is quite famous, one of the few Rune Knights that could actually hold her own even against S-class".

"Aye, she is a magic swordsman", I turned to Erza, "you would have loved her, she is a strict as you and a tornado with her favorite long sword, "Duty"".

"Where is she now?", asked Erza, interested in a fellow swordswomen.

"Neck deep in paperwork and logistics", I chuckled, "she is as perfectionist as you, love", I said to Erza and she blushed a bit and crushed my hand under the table. I didn't even wince and kept my smile all the time, making her pout.

"I still can't believe you and Erza are a couple", Natsu observed us with curiosity and apprehension. Well, the traumas of Erza´s particular brand of teaching were deeply ingrained in little Natsu, and he was scared shitless of Erza. Not that the rest of the Guild did not follow suit, but I loved my redhead knight just as she was.

"I knew it for a long time", Mira tossed everyone a knowing glare, and both of the love birds had the decency of smile sheepishly and blush a bit.

I was close to Erza, but I feared that any intimate relationship would be out of the discussion until she managed to set her demons to rest. That is not an easy task. I have done that several times during my life as a Campione and, sworn to mama Pandora, that every single time is harder than the previous.

"I wish the best for both of you children", smiled Makarov and I smiled back, passing an arm over Erza´s shoulder, she punched me in the ribs for the sudden contact but kept my arm over her.

Ouch, good thing that I am way more resilient than even the average mage otherwise, I would be screwed. We really have to do something about her mania of hitting first, ask questions never. That, and she is dangerously close to becoming a Tsundere, and that was something that I would prefer to avoid.

"Can I ask you something perhaps a bit rude, Gray?", asked Elfman and I could see the mental debate that he was having with himself about the question.

"Sure thing Elfman", I raised an eyebrow. Since the death of Lisanna, Elfman had developed his "Man" antics as a way to cope with his guilt about the passing of his sister Lisanna.

"How did you cope with it?. I mean, in all that time, you sure have made friends with some Rune Knights and other mages, you always do, but you must have seen them...well...", the poor lad was at a loss of words but I understood perfectly well.

Mirajane hugged her brother´s bigger frame, it was something that has crossed her mind as well, but she refrained to ask, as she knew how deep that pain can reach and how hard it is to endure it. The problem was that I was a cold bastard and they very good people. We were different in character and I had tons of experience over them about how to overcome that pain.

"Sorry Gray", he said, smiling at me and hugging his sister back with one arm. "I should have not asked that".

"Nay, Elfman, I understood completely". I shook my head and hugged Erza closer, this was going to be difficult. "Let me answer you, as best as I can".

"Remember what I said when I took the mission?", I can see that I had the entire table hanging from my words. "I said that It was a matter of power and mentality. When I said that, I was not speaking of intelligence or wits. On power only basis, all of you could have taken the job", I complimented them, and it was actually the truth, Fairy Tail was filled with talented mages.

"The trick is the second part", I sighed and Erza hugged my waist discretely, offering her support. "Despite the particular idiosyncrasies of this war, in all the wars, it is a very common occurrence that you lost friends. When the spells fall indiscriminately all over the field, casualties are to be expected".

"Soldiers harden their hearts, shrug off the pain and focus on their objectives". It was something that practically all veterans had done at some point or another. "And that´s what I did, I detached myself from everything when I was in the field. No emotions, no desires, nothing, focus on the mission, and nothing more".

I smiled and laughed with absolute no humor in my voice.

"That how I become the Iceman".

Silence, dense silence filled the room. I was not one for cheerfulness, I was a cold bastard the best of days and only people like those around me are the ones that had prevented my transformation into one of the worst nightmares of Earth Land.

That and the memories of Gray.

Gray had a good family, and when the tragedy of Deliora hit him, Ur became his family. When the stupid child provoked the death of Ur, Makarov gave him a good home. In Fairy Tail, I become something more than the monster that I knew I had inside. It was just that I focus the monster where I wanted and not lashing at everyone and everything.

"Well, you always were an ice brain", laughed Natsu and after blinking, I laughed with him.

"How right you are, flamebutt", replied back and both moved at the same time clashing in the middle of the table with our fist covered in ice and fire.

Everyone was sent flying due to our sudden movement and the shockwave of the impact of our fist. Laughs erupted among some of the witnesses of our usual brawls, along with the curses of Makarov and the usual man varied spiel of Elfman. Happy was flying all over the fight, cheering Natsu, but in truth, the bloody cat was eating one of the fishes that Mira has left for him and didn't really care much about our usual brawls. Natsu and I have a quick punching exchange before Erza appeared over us and punched our heads into the floor.

For a moment we were again that silly bunch of kids that grown up in Fairy Tail. Natsu and I were on our knees as Erza scolded us with her best disciplinarian tone. The rest of the presents were on a safe distance, laughing at the image with wide smiles. The scene was a blast from the past, a reminder of simpler, easier, times.

"Ey, lizardbutt", I whispered to Natsu when Erza was ranting, walking left and right over us."Thanks".

Natsu smiled back, after threatening with his fist to Happy that was laughing over the table of the bar. Once again, Natsu has demonstrated that he was way more clever and perceptive than anyone gives them credit for.

"Always". Replied the Dragon Slayer with his fanged smile.

Fairy Tail was really my home.