A/N: Hey guys! This is just something I wrote up really quickly because I was too damn excited after reading Ch. 26 from the Fairy Tail sequel. I know this is a far stretch from what's actually going to happen next chapter, but I really want to live in my fantasies a little longer hehe.
Pairing: GRUVIA OF COURSE, a bit of Nalu and Gray/Lucy Brotp!
***SPOILER ALERT for those of you who haven't read FT 100 Years Quest yet!
Warning: Contains coarse language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. This drabble is all in my imagination.
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Lucy and Wendy shuddered as the icy waves of doom and darkness emanated from their friend's body. The poor girls who sat on either side of him could only shiver silently, unable to escape the sub-zero temperature that extended within a 3-feet radius from Gray. Neither had the courage to say anything; they could tell that it wasn't a good time.
Erza, as well as Happy, were soundly asleep against a boulder furthest to his right. Luckily, having taken Erkis' place in the play earlier had tired Erza out completely, or else she would've smashed his skull open for being so careless with his magic.
The ice mage's right leg shook restlessly as he stared intently at the bluenette who sat directly across from him. They were separated by a campfire that unfortunately illuminated the unsightly scene in front of him all too well.
Yes, unsightly was the right word.
To say that he was in a sour mood right now would be an understatement.
"U-um," Wendy said meekly, barely above a whisper. "A-are you okay, Gray-san?"
He didn't hear her. It was safe to say that at that moment, he only had eyes and ears for one person, or rather two, to be accurate.
The neglected chicken wing he happened to be holding on a skewer engulfed into flames, but even then, his eyes never left Juvia's smiling face as she listened adoringly to Natsu's exaggerated retelling of how they defeated the Water God Dragon.
What. The. Fuck.
The scorched skewer in his hand snapped in half. He didn't know if he was overreacting because he hadn't seen her in a while and was simply more sensitive than usual, or if there really was something fishy going on.
Ever since Juvia showed up out of nowhere on their train, she hadn't been acting like herself. First of all, she didn't pounce on him immediately after she found them. This part wasn't all that strange since even Juvia had her calm days. But after explaining to the team why she was there —apparently, she had taken up a solo mission close by because she just couldn't bear to be away from her Gray-sama another second— she then had the audacity to sit down next to stupid Natsu. Without so much as hugging the ice mage.
Ok fine, he'll admit that to outsiders, her behavior didn't seem out of place at all. Perhaps to the rest of Team Natsu, it just looked like Juvia was holding back more than usual and keeping her feelings in check. But they didn't know her, Gray did. The two of them had been separated for an insane amount of time. She surely would've missed him just as much as he missed her, if not more. But to his utter disappointment, other than a few polite acknowledgments and gentle smiles his way, Juvia had, for the most part, ignored him.
And now, as they're settling in for the night, the water mage had once again plopped herself down beside flame-brain. Even when there was a huge vacant spot next to Gray, which he had purposely kept free just for her.
Juvina-sama's words echoed in his mind.
"Don't think she will wait for you forever, lover boy!"
He shook his head to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts. No, there was no way she moved on already. They had been through too much; they literally died for each other. And besides, even if Juvia finally got tired of waiting for him, it was ridiculous that she would choose the pink-haired idiot over him, of all people.
And yet…
"Wow, Natsu-san is so powerful!" Juvia giggled. "The Water God Dragon didn't stand a chance, huh?"
The dragon slayer let out a boisterous laugh, his head doubling in size at the compliment.
It took Gray everything he had to not plant his foot in Natsu's face right then and there.
He glanced over at Lucy, who had been sitting quietly at his left. The celestial mage's eyes were also glued to the unlikely pair across the campfire.
Shit, even Lucy looked worried. And this made him worried because if anyone was an expert at reading these types of situations, it was her.
The blonde emerged from her thoughts when she felt like she was being watched.
"W-What…"
"Nothing."
"So you noticed too, huh?" Lucy gave a forced smile and tried to sound cheery. "I didn't know they got along so well!"
Gray said nothing.
An elbow nudged him in the chest. "Don't tell me you're jealous?" Lucy winked at him.
He scowled and looked away, knowing that a blush was making its way to his face. "Shut it."
"Oh? You're not even going to deny it?" Lucy laughed and this time, it was genuine. "You've come a long way, Gray Fullbuster."
Gray grunted but smiled back. "Stop, you're starting to sound like Juvina-sama."
His friend, now more relaxed, looked back towards Natsu and Juvia happily chatting away. "Alright, since you're having such a hard time, I'll be generous and help you out before you freeze us all to death."
Wendy and Charle, who were currently cuddling close to the fire after Gray had unknowingly unleashed his cold wrath, turned to Lucy and gave her their best look of gratitude despite shivering.
"Um, Juvia!" the blonde called out. "You and Gray haven't seen each other for a while, I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do. Why don't we switch spots? Natsu here doesn't know when to shut up once you get him started on dragons."
"Hey I don't talk that much!"
The bluenette looked startled for a second as if realizing something. "Ah yes, Juvia indeed has missed Gray-sama so much!" She turned to face the ice mage and gave him her best, loving smile. "Juvia can't wait to hear all the stories Gray-sama has to share, later."
Later?
Gray's heart fell. Lucy, Wendy, and Charle looked on with shock. Heck, even Natsu's jaw dropped slightly at her response.
Without sparing him another glance, the water mage turned back to the dragon slayer. "Please continue, Natsu-san. You left off at a most exciting part!"
Natsu let out a nervous laugh and reluctantly continued. In turn, Juvia shifted closer to him until her bare knees pressed snuggly against the clueless man's thigh.
Very. Snuggly.
The campfire froze.
Everyone turned their attention to Gray.
"Hey ice princess, what's your deal?!" Natsu immediately blew a mouthful of fire at the block of ice, restoring the heat a little.
"Gray?"
Lucy peered up at her friend cautiously, but couldn't see his eyes as they were hidden under his bangs.
She noticed his tightened fists shaking and digging into his thigh, and placed a comforting hand over his white knuckles.
The girl jumped when the ice mage suddenly grabbed her wrist instead and tugged her closer.
"Sorry, Lucy," Gray said under his breath. Confused, she followed his line of sight until her eyes landed on the bluenette. The dots quickly connected as she realized his plan.
So Gray was going to test Juvia's reaction. Lucy relaxed slightly and tried to play along. By now, Juvia's love rival senses would've been tingling and any minute now, she'd probably fly across the fire to put herself between them.
However, to their surprise, the water mage didn't even notice the fact that they were holding hands. She couldn't have, because she never once looked their way.
Lucy was thoroughly freaked out at this point. And Gray was getting desperate.
In one swift motion, and a little more aggressively than he had intended, Gray threw his arm around Lucy's shoulder and slammed her body into his. This earned a loud squeak from the celestial mage. Wendy's face turned red, and finally, Natsu and Juvia paused their conversation to see what's up.
The pink-haired dragon slayer was the first to react.
"GRAY!" he roared and shot up from the log he was sitting on. He then pointed an accusing finger at them. "What do you think you're doing to Lucy?!"
Gray ignored him and continued to direct his piercing eyes at Juvia. No one can tell except probably Lucy, but he was fuming right now.
Suddenly, the hair on his body stood up.
Although it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, Gray could've sworn he saw a flash of irritation across Juvia's face. But it hadn't been the look of jealousy like what Gray was expecting. No… it was a look of annoyance directed at him for interrupting her conversation with Natsu.
She can't be serious….
Just what the hell did he do? Was Juvia actually giving him the cold treatment? Was this all because he went on the 100 years quest without considering her feelings?
Ok, that kind of made sense. But regardless, this was still out of character for Juvia no matter how angry she was with him! And Gray knew her more than he would admit. The girl who proved that her love for him was strong enough to break even Invel's Ice Lock was not someone who would play mind games with him. Like water, Juvia's thoughts were transparent and people can read her like an open book. She was refreshingly simple in the sense that she spoke her mind and behaved in ways that felt right to her. She displayed her heart for all to see, believing that there was no shame in telling someone how much she loved them. Juvia was different from Gray.
So why then, is his woman cuddling up to his best friend and—more importantly—not losing her shit over the fact that he literally has her "self-proclaimed" love rival practically sprawled across his lap?!
Another second passed, and Juvia was making no move to do anything about their compromising position. However, just as Natsu was about to march over and start a fight, Gray stood up, making poor Lucy lose her balance and fall on her stomach.
"It's getting late. Let's call it a night."
"HUH?! Oi popsicle head, I'm not done with you ye—"
"Natsu, stop!" Lucy snapped as she tried to pull the fire dragon slayer away. "You've done enough for one night, now let's go get some sleep!"
The blonde all but shoved Natsu into the boy's tent.
"Wendy, Charle, do you think you two can manage carrying Erza to her bed?"
"Don't worry, Lucy. We'll take care of it," Wendy said with one arm already under Erza's shoulder. She seemed relieved to finally escape this 'adult drama' that had unfolded a few moments ago.
As the crew slowly retired to their respective tents, only Juvia and Gray were left.
"It's been a wonderful night, Gray-sama," she smiled at him brightly. "Juvia will see you tomorrow!"
"Wait." His hand shot out and pulled her back.
"Hm?"
His eyes were pleading. "What's with you? You're acting different."
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are," Gray stressed. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and you're treating me like a stranger."
"You're worrying over nothing, Gray-sama. You can never be a stranger to Juvia."
There it is, that fake smile again.
The ravin-haired mage narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Juvia," he leaned over the wooden fence that stood along the edges of the hill, and stared off into the faded landscape as dusk settled in. "Has that scar healed yet? I still feel awful for accidentally stabbing you that day."
The blue-haired beauty had a troubled expression on her face. "Gray-sama, Juvia will be sad if you keep blaming yourself. It was nothing more than an accident, and the scar is healing just fine."
"Oh really?"
Her skin crawled when he turned slowly, eyes glowing bright red in the dark. His arm and the majority of his broad chest was covered in disturbing, black markings. She backed away.
"Gray-sama? You're scaring Juvia—"
In a split second, his long fingers were around her neck and she found herself choking.
"Your acting was pretty good there, almost had me fooled," the devil slayer seethed. "Too bad it just wasn't good enough."
She struggled and clawed at his tight grasp.
"You're not Juvia. So who the fuck are you? Some sort of shape-shifter?!" he bit out threateningly and released his hold just enough for her to be able to talk.
"Please… Gray-sama…" Her tear-stained face twisted in pain, and almost immediately, Gray released her.
His heart beat heavily in his chest from the adrenaline. Shit, what if he was mistaken? What if—
A chilling laugh escaped the water mage's lips. With a hand still massaging her neck, she gazed up at him with a smirk.
"I'm impressed, I didn't think you'd catch on this quickly. You're not as dumb as you look."
Gray froze and his blood ran cold when the unfamiliar woman in front of him confirmed his worst fears.
"I'll ask you one more fucking time," he rasped out as his whole body shook with barely restrained rage. "Who are you? And where the hell is Juvia?"
"Who I am is not important."
The woman stepped towards him. "But your sweet little Juvia…" she took his hand and placed it over her heart, "is right over here… Gray-sama." She whispered the last part tauntingly into his ear, and Gray realized that he had escaped a crazy dream only to end up in a nightmare.
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A/N: Hope you all enjoyed reading my predictions! ^_^ I don't know if I'll continue this because it's meant to be a one-shot; just a drabble I posted on Tumblr. And Chapter 27 will probably come out before I'll have time to write more lol, but we'll see! I really REALLY hope we get to see jealous Gray in the next update~