2

Ella had just finished cleaning up the bar and was putting the dishes away when she heard someone behind her clear their throat, when she turned around she saw Gray leaning against the bar with the leftover dishes that had been scattered around the guild hall.

"You didn't have to do that." Ella said taking the dishes from Gray who just shrugged as he went behind the bar and helped her finish the dishes.

"I don't mind helping out, I'm kinda stalling going home." Gray laughed as Ella took the plate from him and drying it off so she could put it away.

"When we're done if you want, you could always hang out at my place." she offered and soon she felt silly for saying it, but Gray just smiled at her and gave her a light nod.

"Yea that sounds fun, if you don't mind having company this late." He said nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

The walk home was relaxing as Ella walked beside Gray, they chatted about how the guild was able to keep going while the strongest members had been gone. Gray stopped in front of Ella's door and kicked at the ground almost like he had something he wanted to say, Ella gave him a welcoming smile.

"You know Gray, that feeling like we've met before?" she asked guessing the direction of his thoughts, Gray looked up at her and nodded slowly.

"Yea I've had it since we walked into the guild." he admitted as she unlocked her door, she turned and smiled as she gestured for him to go inside.

"Well that's because we have met before, when we were kids." She told him as they sat on the couch, Gray looked Ella over and as he began to think about his childhood from before he had been orphaned, his eyes grew wider.

"You're Ella Dawn aren't you?"

Ella smiled shyly but gave a gentle nod as she got up to get a drink, Gray followed her and sat at the kitchen island in the middle of her little kitchen.

"Where did you go after Deliora killed our families?" he asked when she sat beside him, did she want him to know that she had been training with a dragon? She remembered talking to Romeo and Macao before about how some of the missing members had been dragon slayers, so she didn't see any reason why she couldn't tell Gray.

"When I left, I had run across a dragon named Verglas who took me in and trained me to be an ice dragon slayer." she stated with a nervous smile. Gray looked over at her with his jaw dropped; then quickly composed himself when she took his cup and put it in the sink before going back to her living room.

"Prove it." Gray said sitting on the couch clearly more comfortable now.

Ella held up her hand and formed a rose out of ice, Gray watched as the rose transformed into a little dragon.

"Well you're definitely a talented ice mage." Gray stated sitting back on the couch, Ella sat beside him and curled her knees up to her chest.

"Not as talented as how Romeo claims you are." Ella said blushing, Gray put his hands together and made an ice heart, Ella smiled at her friend; Gray grinned back at her and allowed the heart to melt away. 

"I'm gonna have to go here soon." Gray said stretching, Ella shook her head at her childhood friend.

"You could stay here tonight so we could catch up." Ella suggested hoping that she wouldn't be seen as weird; Gray scooted closer to Ella and put his hand on her knee.

"If you're really okay with that, then I'd love to stay over tonight." He said honestly. Gray and Ella stayed up most of the night talking and they didn't fall asleep until the sun began to rise.

Ella woke up feeling arms around her and was shocked to see Gray was asleep on the large couch beside her, seeing as she was on the edge of the couch; she sort of rolled off of the couch and made her way into the kitchen to make breakfast. After she finished cooking and noticing that Gray was still asleep, Ella made the decision to take a shower before going to the guild after breakfast. The hot water helped Ella really think about the events from the previous night, after all those years of looking for him; Ella had finally found Gray, her childhood best friend and after the years of being apart; their friendship seemed as strong as it was before they had gone their separate ways. Ella was startled out of her deep thought process when she heard footsteps followed by someone falling and cursing fairly loudly. Deciding to check it out, Ella quickly got out of the shower and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt; Verglas always said dress for comfort.