"Stand up and fight!

Stand up and look into the light

Pushing the clouds away.

Stand up and fight!

Stand up and see the sky turn bright.

Fight for a better day."

— Turisas

Gray and Natsu walked down the steep embankment to the shore of the river. The rain was still pouring in torrents, evidence of Juvia's grief at breaking up with Gray, and the ground under them squished with saturated mud. The river had swelled with the storm, and already both wizards were drenched.

"Won't this be a disadvantage to you?" Gray asked, glancing at all the rain.

"The rain is warm," Natsu pointed out, "so it's a disadvantage to you as well. This is perfectly fair."

"If you say so," Gray shrugged. "Don't cry when the rain douses your flames."

Natsu grinned fiendishly. "Don't cry when it deforms your ice!"

They both took fighting stances and glared at each other, yet there was a tiny smirk to Gray's face. How long had it been since they fought like this? It was like going back to childhood, growing up with this flame-brain idiot, arguing about the strengths of fire and ice, and that one day when he finally beat Natsu solidly. Gray began to chuckle as he remembered that fight.

He could hardly wait to beat Natsu again.

"Ice-Make..."

"Fire Dragon's..."

Up on the bluff overlooking the river, Juvia stood with Mira, Levy, and Lucy. The three girls decided that Juvia needed some company, but on their way they heard the boom of an explosion. They had rushed to the river and saw the brawl. Pieces of ice and charred leaves from scorched trees scattered around. The two boys below were bruised up already.

The rain suddenly lessened to a drizzle, and Juvia smiled a little. Gray was moving on. It still hurt her heart, but she knew he needed to find his own path. She had tried to be a roadblock and forced her way into his life, but in the end that simply was not enough.

"Gray's always happy around Natsu, isn't he?" Mira said with a light sigh.

Levy nodded in agreement. "They're constantly at each other's throats, but they really do work well together."

Lucy knew she could say nothing about Natsu's feelings. She kept her smile secretive. "Natsu is doing this on purpose."

"Indeed," Levy nodded. "Gray was in shock. This will help him."

Mira hugged Juvia. "And now, as your friends, we have to help you. Come on, the sweet shop awaits!"

"Y-yes," Juvia said, still watching as Gray delivered a blow, but Natsu recovered fast, leaped on the ice, and jumped off in order to deliver a massive punch to Gray's face. "Win, Gray-sama. Juvia will stop the rain so you can win."

Down by the river, Gray rubbed his aching jaw and streaked blood away. "Bastard. You'd never think you just went through heart surgery."

"You should have learned the first time," Natsu said sternly, holding a rib that was probably-most-likely broken. "Don't underestimate an opponent. Just because they're old or sick or invalid, never, ever, underestimate them."

Gray glared up. The first time? The fight! The fight that started all of this. Going easy on his opponent just because he was an old man had been Gray's biggest mistake, and it had almost cost him his life.

Natsu was right. He still did this sort of thing, showing pity toward an opponent whom he assumed was weak. Maybe everyone thought Natsu had no clue when to hold back his power, and he was a destructive pyromaniac who took things too far, but one thing you could not say about the Fire Dragon Slayer was that he lost for underestimating opponents.

"Fine," Gray growled, and he punched both fists into the ground while cold steam rose around them both. "Then I won't hold back."

The ground exploded with ice, spiking like daggers, spears, and thorns. Flames danced through the air like fiery birds and blazing rivers. They fought long and hard, sometimes using magic, sometimes resorting to fists and kicks. Natsu realized one thing: Gray's punches were much harder. Months of pushing around his wheelchair left him stronger in the arms. One well-place blow to the gut had Natsu vomiting bile and seeing stars, yet he did not give up.

Gray realized something as well. He was less agile. That was something he would have to work on in practice. His Ice-Make magic was as strong as ever, but his ability to dodge was weak. Natsu was faster than him, he got in more hits, and Gray could not fully dodge many of his attacks. Although Natsu already sounded exhausted (he knew Natsu could normally fight much longer than this) his strength and magic power had not diminished one bit.

Gray got scorched by one blast of flames and collapsed with pain sizzling half of his body.

"Stand up," Natsu growled.

Gray iced the burn, forced himself up, and kept fighting. Later, a flaming fist to the face made him black out for a moment and collapse onto his back. Gray figured that was it, he lost, Natsu would start to brag now. Instead, he woke up hearing the Dragon Slayer shouting.

"Get up, get up, get up!"

Somehow, he made it to his feet and stopped the double vision long enough to punch, feeling his knuckles hitting flesh, although spots still swam in his eyes. Gray felt himself getting weaker, yet every time he fell, instead of declaring victory, Natsu shouted at him again.

"Stand up!" Natsu yelled angrily. "Fight me!"

Once again, Gray pulled himself back onto his feet, stumbling with dizziness. He fought blindly, sensing the heat around him, aiming his attacks haphazardly, but not giving up. He did not want to lose, not after all he went through to recover and get stronger.

He wanted to fight, if only as a thanks to Natsu for all he did to help Gray through that near-death experience.

At last, Gray fell into the mud, and no amount of shouting roused him. He could barely even hear Natsu's voice over the hammering of his own overworked heart. He wondered how someone like Natsu, who just had heart failure, was still going after this long.

"Get up!" Natsu shouted, covered in blood and bruises but still upright. "Stand up and fight me, Gray! I don't want to fight a weakling."

"Shut up!" Gray shouted in frustration.

He wanted to sleep. He hurt everywhere. He was probably bleeding from every limb. Natsu looked no better, his clothes tattered, his face swollen purple, still grabbing at his rib that Gray had bludgeoned with ice.

Natsu walked right up to Gray's fallen body and stared down hard at him. "The only reason that I was able to fight all these years was because I had you beside me. I got stronger when I felt like I was about to lose you, because I knew that if it was you, you'd never give up. If I was the one in danger, you'd fight all out to protect me. Isn't that right? You swore to fight to the death for Fairy Tail. That's how you are, Gray. That's how we both are. So don't give up this easily! Now, get off your ass and fight me! Fight until you can't. Just don't give up!"

Gray roared, jumped to his feet, and used the last of his strength to make one last punch. Natsu merely tilted his head to the side, not even sidestepping it, but still Gray missed. Suddenly, the Ice-Make wizard collapsed against that burning hot chest. He grabbed hold of him, slumped against the Dragon Slayer, and laughed weakly.

"Hey!" Natsu said in surprise as Gray's arms wrapped around him. He felt the heaviness of Gray's body and grabbed around his waist to hold him up. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Out of ... practice ... I guess," Gray panted. He laughed again. "Heh! I really do need you to keep pushing me." His head collapsed onto Natsu's shoulder. His nose pressed into the scarf, and he inhaled the scent. Softly, Gray murmured, "I need you."

Natsu gulped at those words.

Breathing laboriously, Gray whispered, "Thank you."

Natsu was shocked to hear such warm words, but before he could reply, Gray lost consciousness. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, Natsu held onto him firmly.

"Hey, you bastard! Don't black out on me."

Gray was unconscious, but as Natsu laid him on the ground, he saw a smile on those pale lips.

"Idiot," he muttered, brushing back the raven hair. "You really did push your limits, huh?" Natsu straightened up and rubbed out an ache in his chest. "I guess we're both out of practice."

After a few minutes, Gray showed no sign of regaining consciousness. Natsu figured he was out for the day. He could not just leave him here in the mud by the river or Gray would catch a cold. He decided to take Gray home on his back. He carefully hoisted the Ice-Make wizard up, grumbling about his weight. Since Natsu's house was the closest, he headed that way.

As he walked along the wet path leading to the forest, he felt the sweaty muscles pressed up against his back and Gray's weak breath chilling the side of his neck. It made Natsu a little uncomfortable, but at the same time he felt happy. Fighting with Gray again was something he enjoyed, always had, and probably always would. They were fire and ice, and each needed the other to hone in their skills.

"You fought well," he said quietly. "Let's do that again some day."