All those stars.
It wasn't a particularly hard mission, but the journey itself was quite tiring. Gray and Juvia took a job in a neighboring town and they thought they'd be lucky enough to catch a carriage, but the coachman refused due to unplanned construction workings. He politely apologised and added that with the main path being blocked the fastest way to get to their destination would be on foot. Gray sighed heavily, but no matter how annoyed the circumstances made him, they've already accepted the job, so there was no turning back now.
And so they've walked for 6,5 hours taking a small break somewhere mid-way to tame their appetite. Juvia packed enough food for four healthy young men to consume, but Gray was no ordinary guy, and though he'd be very displeased with the comparison, but when it came to food – he was very much like his dear frenemy Natsu. Leaving Juvia's basket completely empty, they were back on the road and carried on with their walking.
While eating, they had a small conversation about the upcoming job: Juvia was very excited to be Gray's partner and she wanted to know his thoughts about the mission, but Gray dryly pointed out that it was he who should be considered the partner, because it was her idea to begin with, and as for the mission itself – really no thoughts there, but according to the description, it shouldn't be too complicated.
Juvia did not forget to praise Gray with his spot-on guess by the end of the mission. He was absolutely right: the job wasn't very complicated. Not for them, anyway. And especially not, since they were working together. Letting himself be consumed by the victorious atmosphere Gray complimented Juvia on a job well done, and since those words came at such rarity, Juvia took full advantage of them and within seconds she turned to probably the happiest being Fiore's history has ever known.
Happily glowing like a Chinese lantern on Yuanxiao Festival, Juvia half-skipped next to Gray as they were on their way back to Magnolia. Gray didn't want to stay over-night so he insisted they went back straight away. Juvia really didn't mind.
They took a break once again somewhere mid-way, but this time just to rest, rather than eat. It was now night time, however the street wasn't very dark. Their surroundings were lit by thousands of beautiful shining stars.
There were no trees nearby, no bushes. Just a few tall mountains somewhere behind them and a vast empty field in front of them. It was a calm summer night with just a slight breeze whistling through the grass every once in a while. They sat on the ground quietly, neither one saying a word, resting, enjoying the starry night sky until Juvia spoke up:
"Gray-sama?", - she asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence too much.
"M?" – he asked still looking at the sky.
"What is Gray-sama thinking?" – she wondered.
"Nothing," – he answered, leaving no room for her to continue.
People are very perceptive creatures, and Juvia was no exception. It didn't take a lot to see that Gray wasn't a talkative guy. But somehow Juvia managed to see the thin line in his attitude that separated the Gray that didn't want to be bothered because now he's really not in the mood to talk to you or to anyone at all, and the Gray that was just dismissing your words as always but wouldn't actually mind sharing a few of his thoughts. And she always knew which Gray she was talking to. So after Gray's short reply, she kept looking at him, silently persuading to answer her question.
Gray rolled his eyes, exhaled and said:
"The stars."
"The stars?", - curiously tilted her head Juvia. She turned her attention back to the sky.
Juvia effortlessly understood him. A starry night sky was just as wondrous to Juvia as a bright sunny day. She was never able to enjoy the elegant unobtrusive shade of blue and the glorious blinding sun prior to meeting Gray, but that wasn't the only beauty rainclouds were hiding from her.
When she first moved to Fairy Hills, Juvia would stay up nights and look up at the sky. The first time she saw stars she cried. What were they? They looked like silver raindrops, but somehow frozen in the sky…
Frozen, huh….
The sunny and the starry sky both became one of the most treasurable images she had, and she kept them close to her heart, right next to the one they reminded her of. She and Gray-plushy-sama would try to connect the stars, would dream and talk about what's out there and if someone perhaps lived there, what it'd be like to touch a star and if maybe one day they'd have a star of their own…
Juvia knew what she was thinking about, looking at the stars, but what was Gray thinking? She couldn't help but ask, and she really wanted to know the answer.
"They're very beautiful", - she continued.
"And very far away," – he added sounding almost upset.
"Does Gray-sama want to see a star up close?"
"I don't think that's possible."
That sounded very negative for this kind of atmosphere…
"Nothing is impossible, Gray-sama," – she said as if she was reminding him of some very common-knowledge fact.
Gray immediately recalled the time Natsu and Erza were set heart and soul on destroying the moon back on Galuna island, and though he was chanting over and over that it was impossible, he followed Erza's weapon all the way up to the sky, and somehow had the slightest belief that maybe… just maybe it would actually manage to reach the moon and….
"What a nice memory of my dorky-annoying friends", - smiled Gray.
"Heh, whatever you say," – he replied.
"It's true!" – tried to convince him Juvia, - "Juvia has decided! She will get Gray-sama a star!", - she pumped her fist to the sky getting very excited.
"Calm down, you sound ridiculous," – he didn't hesitate to say, - "Plus, I don't need a star".
"But doesn't Gray-sama want to see one?"
"I can see them just fine from here, Juvia."
She mouthed and "oh" and turned back to look at the sky. Maybe this wasn't the right time yet. Perhaps, she'll have to share more starry conversations with Plushy-sama, before she gets to have one with the real Gray.
"How would you get one anyway?" – he suddenly added.
"Is Gray-sama interested?"
"Just thought I'd ask. Never mind. "
She didn't want to end the conversation there.
"Juvia would gladly try and bring Gray-sama a star, if that would make him happy", - she stated matter-of-factly and then continued –"… But, truthfully, …Juvia doesn't want to."
"Don't want to make me happy?"
"NO-NO, OF COURSE NOT! JU-"
"Keep it down! You'll wake someone... I'm kidding."
"Oh… "
"You were saying?"
"Right", - she cleared her throat, - "Juvia would love to make Gray-sama happy, but she doesn't want to tear a star away from its home."
"Home?"
"Everything has a place it belongs to…. Juvia believes in that... One can search for months or decades until they find it, but everyone has a home... Those stars are incredibly beautiful, but what if the star Juvia picks for Gray-sama has been waiting all its life to be among other stars?"
Gray turned to look at her face. Her gaze was somewhere far away; she was looking at the stars, her eyes shimmering under their light. He was listening intently.
"It would be incredibly selfish to steal it from its home… Juvia wouldn't want to upset the star... It might loose its glow… It will be sad and lonely without its friends, and its light will fade away… " - finished Juvia.
Gray was a very perceptive person as well. He didn't miss the subtle sound of pain in her voice. Truthfully? Recently, he found himself noticing the little things about Juvia. She was a lot to handle, for sure…. But somehow when she was around it felt…nice.
Right now, she was being a little weird, talking about some shining dots like that, but Gray liked the starry sky as well. It made his worries seem very trivial. It made the world seem very big. And it gave just the right impression of how old being under twenty actually was. He wasn't too young, like the Master liked to point out, nor was he too old, like the Council members liked to point out…
He had his whole life ahead of him (knock on wood). And he would be lying if he said that it wouldn't be nice to share that life with someone special…
Someone, who would always be there for him like those timeless stars…
Her love would be unwavering and she'd be true to him, like the stars are loyal to their sky. She would shine brightly and chase away his darkness. She would bring him back to reality and with her by his side he would never feel lost. She'd light up the saddest of his days, and make them slightly more bearable. And if sometimes they were not together, he would still feel her warm and loving light in his heart.
The Ice mage was thinking, still looking at Juvia.
The stars are always there. The sun hides them during the day, but they are always there. And even though sometimes we don't pay attention, they are always shining brightly.
Gray took a moment before answering.
"Then I guess the smartest thing to do is to just let the star be."
"Let it be among its friends?", -asked Juvia.
Gray got up, dusted his pants from the dirt and reached out his hand to her:
"It's where it belongs, right?...Home."
She looked at his palm and placed her hand in his. He helped her up, but didn't let go.
Juvia was the master of poker-face and if she didn't want to let her feelings show, she wouldn't, but there was never a reason to hide from her beloved. She was never on guard with him, and she always let herself be honest to her feelings. And right now, she was feeling a little down and a little sad.
Maybe he was too tired or maybe he wasn't careful enough, but he squeezed her hand and said:
"You will always shine brightly, Juvia."
Her eyes widened and she parted her lips slightly, but Gray already let go of her hand. He turned around and headed towards the road.
"C'mon, we're only half-way there. Let's go."
She stood there for a moment not entirely sure of what just happened, but composed herself rather quickly and ran after him.
"W-wait, G-gray-sama!"
"Hurry up!"
Gray was already on the road when he heard a distant happy giggle come from behind him. He slowly blinked, and memorised that sound, then turned around to see her running towards him, smiling a tender smile.
A smile that was light, bright and warm…just like the shine of a star.
.
.
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AN: It has been a while.. But I'm back!
This is a small one-shot, but hopefully it isn't worse than the pieces I posted here earlier ^_^
I would love to read your reviews, and as always, don't hesitate to contact me, I'm available almost 24/7 and I reply really fast ^_^
(My DA: chsabina . deviantart . com; My Tumblr: chsabina . tumblr . com)