"The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer."
― Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Gray listened to the streaming water in the other room. Natsu hummed as he washed. Gray had already showered, letting Natsu rest and recover while he cleaned off sweat and lube. Now Natsu sounded so happy washing up, and Gray rested on the bed, still buzzing with the afterglow.

He would need to change the sheets. Later. He felt tired, relaxed, and...

And so in love.

That had to be this feeling. Love!

His fingers caressed the pillow Natsu had slept on. A fallen pink strand rested on the cotton cover. Gray swiped it aside, leaned in, and inhaled the pillow.

It smelled like Natsu!

So did his sheets, the whole room, probably the whole house was filled with his scent. Gray did not have a nose that could detect such things. He just knew his bed smelled like Natsu, that campfire musk with a hint of cinnamon. It made his cheeks hot as he played through memories of the past two days.

The water turned off, and Gray stopped nuzzling the pillow like some besotted idiot. A few moments later, Natsu walked out wearing snowflake boxers that hung loose on his hips, a purple palm-print shirt left unbuttoned and hanging open, and a towel across his shoulders as he continued to rub out his wet hair. Gray's mouth dropped as he saw his clothes on Natsu.

"Why the hell are you wearing that?" he cried out.

Natsu looked down at the clothes, then up in confusion. "My clothes are dirty from yesterday. You haven't washed them yet, have you?"

Gray opened his mouth but shut it with a low growl. "You should ask before taking someone's clothes. I wasn't ready for that."

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "Huh? Ready for what?"

"You! Seeing ... that." He emphatically waved at Natsu's body.

"Would you rather I walk around naked?"

"At least I've seen you naked. I've never seen you wearing my clothes."

Natsu pouted. "Are you that mad?"

"N-no! No, I'm not mad. It's just ... it's ... dammit, never mind. I don't care if you wear my clothes. Just ask next time."

He scowled and looked away. He was not at all mad. He found it sensual, seeing Natsu in his clothes, walking around with his boxers hanging off his hips, hitching them up every few steps.

"Do we need to go to the guild today?"

Gray blinked and forced himself to stop staring at Natsu's ass. "I don't think so. Maybe we can do something. I was thinking we could go out, get something nice to eat, walk around the apple grove while the fruit is ripe..."

"No," Natsu said quickly. "No, we ... we should stay in."

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

Natsu flopped on the bed and curled up next to Gray. "You shouldn't go out. I'll get food. Just ... um ... stay inside. Rest. You should definitely rest."

Gray's brow furrow. "What the hell is wrong with you? If anything, you should be the one to rest."

"Seriously, relax. Let your body heal."

Gray barked out a laugh. "My body's fine."

Natsu's lips twisted into a sideways pout. He reached forward and touched a spot on Gray's neck.

"Ow!" He reached up and rubbed out the ache.

"You didn't look in the mirror, did you?"

Gray leaped up and ran to his mirror. He saw marks all over his neck and shoulders, red and purple blemishes on his chest, stomach, and thighs. "What the hell? What ... oh my God, so many!"

Natsu nibbled on the tip of his finger. "I might have gotten carried away."

Gray glared, but then he walked back to the bed. "If that's what you're worried about, you shouldn't leave either." His fingers traced along Natsu's jawbone and down the neck. "Even with your scarf, you'll have a problem hiding all of those."

Natsu's eyes flashed up. "I like them, though. They show I'm yours."

Gray smirked and straddled over his hips. "You want something to let people know we're together?"

Natsu blushed and turned his face away. "M-maybe. Like ... something you gave to me, doesn't matter what, just something to show you want me ... I guess. I don't know," he pouted, embarrassed to be saying such uncool things.

Gray's heart fluttered in happiness. He got up again, walked over to his dresser, and picked up his sword pendant necklace. Then he returned to Natsu and draped the silver chain around his neck.

Natsu bolted up in bed and gawked as the pendant laid on his chest. "Gray! But ... this is your favorite necklace."

He took a seat beside him and placed his hand over Natsu's. "That's why I want you to wear it. Everyone knows that's my necklace, and now they'll know you're my boyfriend."

Natsu's hand trembled as he touched the pendant. "But this ... it's..." He scowled and turned away. "It's not fair! I don't have anything I can give to you."

Gray chuckled at his surly attitude and wrapped his arms around Natsu. "Then keep marking my body."

Natsu chuckled and reached around Gray, digging his nails into his back. "I will!" His fingers slowly clawed down his spine. "Until I can get you something, I'll mark you. But you heal quickly. I may need to mark you a few times a day."

Gray chuckled as he saw the lust burning in Natsu's eyes. "Insatiable horny bastard."

Their faces drew closer, their lips met, and the sound of their kiss was like a cannon in the room that marked the beginning of a race. Natsu grabbed Gray and flipped him hard onto the bed.

"I really will mark you everywhere," he warned, licking his shoulder and giving it a bite.

Gray hissed and put his fist to his mouth to hold back the moan. "I want it."

Fire blazed in Natsu's eyes. His! He slithered down to Gray's hips where he had bit hard before. The wound had healed, leaving teeth marks scabbed into the flesh. Natsu went over to the other hip and bit there, piercing in deeply.

Gray screamed, pulled away from the pain, but claws held his torso in place. Natsu raised up, blood on his lips, a wild grin, animal-like eyes, and a fierce dragon's smile.

"My mate," he declared.

Gray gulped. Shit! He was hard again.

Just then, Gray's lacrima phone beeped. Natsu jolted back as if caught doing something naughty. Gray growled in frustration. Worst timing ever! He rolled over, flinching from the pain, and checked the phone.

"It's Erza," he said in surprise. There was no way he could ignore a call from her, so he answered it. "Gray here."

"We have an emergency mission. We need to leave today."

Natsu and Gray exchanged looks. Neither one was truly ready for a fight after all the sex.

"Are you there?"

"Y-yeah. Um ... so, what time?"

"I still need to secure train tickets. Do you know where Natsu is?"

Gray looked over to his boyfriend. "Yeah, he's here."

"Good. Be ready to leave." The phone clicked off.

"A mission," muttered Natsu. "Dammit, I don't feel like fighting. I'm horny and my ass hurts."

Gray laughed and collapsed back onto the pillows. "Same here. And now both of my hips hurt."

"Sorry," Natsu muttered.

"Nah, I liked it. Just bad timing. We can't even really go to a healer for this."

"Hell no!"

They gazed at one another. Gray really did want Natsu to take him again, suck on him, anything. Natsu looked ready to do it, too, but then he glanced at the phone. He debated incurring the wrath of Erza in order to satisfy his hunger.

Nope. Never a good idea.

Gray closed his eyes as his arousal whithered away. "I don't know about you, but I need food."

"I need to clean my clothes."

"You do laundry, I'll fix something. I'll pack up some things for a trip as well."

"Gray?"

He hummed and looked over, only to be kissed by fiery lips. His mind forgot about missions and focused solely on the softness of that mouth. He leaned back, and Natsu straddled over him. However, he kept his hips up, not grinding. It was just a kiss.

Natsu pulled back, and his green eyes gleamed. "I have something I need to tell you before we go, but it's not something you're going to like."

Gray felt a shiver of dread. "You're not planning on breaking up now, are you?"

"No! No, nothing like that. It ... it's about..." He scowled and looked aside.

"Hey, you figure out how to tell me, I'll make food, we'll talk while we eat. We should probably be ready for Erza to call again at any minute."

Natsu nodded and gathered up his clothes as well as the messy sheets. He started the laundry and laid out fresh sheets for the bed.

He needed to tell Gray about his heart. Although it was bound to cause problems, maybe the mission would give Gray time to soak in the truth. Natsu placed his hand over his chest. Just thinking about confessing his sacrifice to Gray made his heart pound with dread.

What if this was enough to make Gray want to break up?

Still, he needed to tell Gray. It was only fair, and it was the loving thing to do.

"Just go out there and say it," he muttered to himself. "Gray, I healed your leg by using my magic to power that machine, but the stress damaged my heart. That's why I had a heart attack and needed surgery. I wanted you to walk again, but I almost died to heal you. Dammit, I can't tell him that."

He walked over to where he could see Gray in the kitchen. For some reason, he had stripped naked except for an apron. Natsu spent a few minutes gazing over Gray's body and the marks left on it. He did not want to lose Gray, and telling him the truth was risky.

Was it lust that kept him quiet? From the start, he wanted this to be love, not lust.

The loving thing would be to tell Gray. This was a serious matter. Gray deserved to know precisely why Natsu's heart gave out and was still weak.

"Gray." He strode forward, determined now. "It's about your leg."

Gray continued to cut sandwiches. "It's feeling fine. I think I've regained all the strength I lost as well."

"No, I mean ... about that machine..." He hesitated again, and his face drew up.

Gray stopped and looked around. "What is it?"

Natsu bit his lip. He looked across the room at Gray. It would be fine. He would tell him and it would all be over. No more secrets.

"The machine that healed you ... it worked off magic. My magic."

"You powered it?"

Natsu slowly nodded his head.

Gray laughed with an amazed smile. "I thought you just took off, you bastard. You should have told me."

Natsu flinched. "No ... you see..."

The door banged open and Erza marched in. "Good news. We can leave immediately. I hope you're packed and ready to..."

She saw Gray wearing nothing more than an apron and Natsu wearing Gray's clothes. Then she also noticed all the hickeys on both of them and some fading scratch marks. Erza's cheeks went bright red.

"My apologies. I didn't realize you two ... that maybe you were ... I hope I didn't interrupt anything earlier when I called."

Natsu quickly yanked his shirt together to hide the hickeys, but he knew it was too late.

Calmly, Gray asked, "Do we have a few minutes to dress and eat?"

"Not really. The train leaves in half an hour."

Gray looked over to Natsu. "Get those clothes out of the washing machine. Wear them dirty if you have to."

"But Gray..."

"We'll talk on the train."

Natsu shut his mouth, but at least this gave him more time to think about how to tell Gray. He trotted off to fetch the laundry and dry it with his flames.

"Um..." Erza stepped in and got closer to Gray. "Which one of you ... that is ... who would be at a ... a disadvantage if it came to a fight?"

Gray laughed at her awkward way of asking. "Both of us."

"Both!" she cried out. "I ... I see. Well, you two can rest on the train. I got us a private sleeper car. It'll be a long ride."

In the bedroom, Natsu dressed in wet, half-clean clothes and groaned at the threat of extended motion sickness.

--

They were a few hours into their trip, and it was already dark. Natsu and Wendy laid curled on beds in their sleeper car, moaning with motion sickness. Natsu could barely get three words out without throwing up, let alone tell Gray anything. Lucy, Carla, and Happy looked after the sick Dragon Slayers while Erza and Gray went to the food car to fetch dinner.

"So, what is this mission?" Gray finally asked her now that they were away from the vomiting Dragon Slayer and could talk.

Erza's eyes darkened slightly. She grabbed a plate and began to pile on food to take back for the others. "Do you remember the dark guild we defeated last year? They ... gave us a hard time."

Gray jolted, almost dropping his dinner plate, and looked over to her. "You mean ... that fight?"

She nodded, worried about how personal this would be to Gray. "It seems the dregs of their guild banded together under the guild master and are causing problems. They are purposely demanding Fairy Tail to come fight them. Apparently, Quatro Cerberus sent a couple of wizards to deal with the problem, but they returned ... severely injured."

She did not have the heart to tell Gray the real outcome, not with his memories of facing these guys a year ago. Bacchus was barely hanging onto life, and the other wizard who went with him was now minus a limb. Erza glanced down at Gray's leg. No, she couldn't tell him that part.

Gray shook his head. "But we defeated their master."

"Yes, but not the heir to the guild."

Gray's eyebrow arched. "An heir? We weren't told that the master had family."

"It wasn't the master's kid. It was the son of one of the founding wizards. He wasn't there when we fought. I overheard while the army arrested the dark wizards, many of them claimed that if some man by the name of Mallumo had been there, we all would have been dead in an instant. They claimed his magic rivals the Ten Wizard Saints."

Gray huffed out a wry laugh. "We've heard that claim before," he said as he piled fish onto his plate. At least Happy would like that food, even if Natsu was too sick to eat. He paused with a serious expression. "Still, he must be powerful if he's the guild master's heir. You fought that guy, and he was pretty tough. Hell, even that old bastard I fought was damn powerful. We can't underestimate them."

Erza cautiously glanced over to him. "Trust me, we won't this time. With these bastards calling out Fairy Tail, and Quatro Cerberus can't even handle them ... perhaps it was brash of me, but I really do feel like we need to finish this." She gave Gray a worried smile. "Especially for you. The whole team wanted revenge for what they did to you, but the fight was over. This is our chance to pay them back."

Gray smirked and patted where the hole in his gut had once been. "I wouldn't mind a little revenge myself. All those months in the hospital, nearly a year in a wheelchair ... I've got a lot of anger pent up against them. That Mallumo bastard is going to wish he had stayed in hiding."

Erza nodded, proud of his attitude. "I'm glad you're confident about this. Now, please put your clothes back on. You still have hickeys all over you."

Gray looked down and only then realized he had flung his shirt off while talking. "Crap! When did I do that?"

Erza chuckled as he searched around for his shirt, but her eyes tensed up. She had held back one vital bit of information.

Mallumo was not really calling out Fairy Tail.

He was calling out Natsu Dragneel.

Natsu: the man who killed Mallumo's father ... who had been the old wizard who almost killed Gray.

They were about to face the son of the man who left Gray half-dead and paralyzed. He was out for revenge against the Fire Dragon Slayer who burned his father to death, and he probably wanted to finish off the ice wizard his father had failed to kill.

In the sleeper car, Natsu slept fitfully. Lucy dabbed his forehead with a cool cloth, but she also had to deal with poor Wendy, who was still not used to motion sickness. Happy sat near Natsu, petting him with a worried frown.

"He sure has a lot of bruises."

Lucy bit her lip, not wanting to explain precisely what sort of bruises those types were. Natsu could explain it later. Still, she hoped Natsu would be okay. She was there when Makarov told them about this dark guild reemerging and seeking vengeance. She felt they should not have brought Natsu at all, but Erza felt it was only fair that he be there to face this man. After all, Natsu went overboard back then. He had killed someone. He should face the consequences and fight honorably. Besides, bringing Gray but not Natsu was now probably impossible. The two were in love and inseparable.

Both Gray and Natsu deserved their revenge, and this Mallumo guy deserved to face the wizard who defeated and killed his father.

"Natsu," she whispered in worry. "Don't do anything stupid."

Natsu's face drew up. "Gray," he moaned, twisting in bed fitfully. "No ... Gray ... won't let you ... ugh ... no."

Lucy sighed and dabbed his forehead some more. "You really would go to any length to protect him. Just don't make him go to extreme lengths to protect you this time."

Natsu groaned and twisted, tortured with nightmares.

The train chugged on through the shadowy night, bringing them closer to an even deeper darkness.

A/N: Mallumo means "darkness" in Esperanto.