Familiar wood floors and beams embraced Juvia as she stepped into her home—the Fairy Tail guild hall. Maybe she didn't live there, but some days the welcoming atmosphere and friendly faces felt much more like home than her apartment.
A sweet, little voice exclaimed, "Gajeel!" Juvia new before looking that Levy had been the one to shout. Petite yet fierce, Juvia had learned to respect Levy despite her seemingly defenseless nature because somehow the mage with sky-colored hair had tamed the rambunctious mage with an extreme dislike for transportation.
"Gehe…" Gajeel sniggered in his usual mischievous manner.
Juvia watched him lifting Levy's book high above both their heads, taunting Levy playfully as she leaped and stretched as if on a trampoline. "Give it back! You are so—no! You'll bend the pages!" Finally she whipped out her pen and wrote 'stool' in the air. The letters appeared, large and wooden, and she hopped on top to swipe her book from Gajeel's hand with ease. She started to jump down, but Gajeel looped his thick arms around her waist and twirled her in the air. She squealed and whacked at him—not hard. Finally he slowed to a stop, Levy still high up in his arms, and gazed at her face, a grin still curling his lips. Levy cupped her small, delicate hands on the sides of his face and leaned down to kiss him lightly.
It looked so wonderful, so loving.
Heart clenching in longing, Juvia turned away and told herself not to think about Gray being away on a job. Though even if he were here, she thought, Gray-sama would not act like that with Juvia.
Walking sullenly to the bar, Juvia sat on a stool and looked around for Mirajane to order a snack. Finding her only made her want to turn away again. The lovely and popular bartender sat atop the bar further down, Laxus's spiky yellow hair snared in her fingers while his own hands trailed along her thighs. Their noses nearly touched, their lips moving slightly as they murmured sweet nothings to each other.
Juvia sighed and slid off the barstool.
"You are unusually quiet today, Juvia. Is everything alright?" asked a strong yet kind voice. Juvia swirled to face Erza. Finally, another girl without a man hanging off her.
Juvia smiled. "Juvia is alright. Juvia just misses Gray-sama."
"Oh, is that all?" Erza slapped Juvia's back encouragingly. "Don't sulk about just for his sake."
"What else is there for Juvia to do?"
"Well, you could—"
"Hey there, beautiful," purred Jellal's silky tone.
Erza's eyes widened in surprise, and a brilliant smile wiggled onto her face, eyes glistening with happiness. Totally forgetting about Juvia, she glomped Jellal, knocking him on his back. "You've returned!" She hugged his neck so hard his face started turning red—though that might've been him blushing…—then purple and blue. Jellal tried telling her to lighten up, but what came out sounded more like a dying giraffe.
Juvia quickly blinked back tears of loneliness, turning her back on yet another lovey-dovey sight—only to be met with yet another lovey-dovey sight. Natsu's sturdy arms ringed Lucy's neck, embracing her from behind, and Lucy giggled and fed him bites of special-cooked steak over her shoulder. He chomped down on the chunk, chewed, swallowed, and sighed in satisfaction. He licked his lips happily before placing a peck on Lucy's cheek, making her face flush and eyes sparkle.
Finally, Juvia's tears spilled over. Covering her face with her hands she hurried out of the guild hall, determined not to let the others see. Blindly allowing her feet to take her away, Juvia wiped fervently at the warm drops slipping along the curves of her cheeks. She gasped and sniffed, still running. She ran for so long her feet began to ache, making her slow her pace. Before her a small fountain spouted clear water from the top to flow down, bowl to bowl. Kicking off her boots Juvia dipped her feet into the water, her toes dissipating to join the water almost instantly. All the way up to her ankles spread away into the fountain, soothing the dull pain. The spray misted her flushed face, cooling the burn in her cheeks. She found herself wishing Gray were there to morph the liquid into solid, cold, steady solid.
Soon her tears tapered, leaving her feeling tired and empty. After several minutes Juvia collected her scattered particles, reforming her feet, and retreated from the fountain to pull on her boots. The sky had turned gray as if to sympathize with her somber mood. "Juvia has nothing to do but go home now…where Juvia will still be all alone." She breathed in and out slowly then started the journey home.
By the time she turned the corner on her block, the rainclouds had been driven away on the wind and revealed twinkling, white stars and a pale crescent moon. But when she lifted her head, she saw something stunning and breathtakingly beautiful.
"Surprise!" cheered nearly the entire Fairy Tail guild.
They all—Erza, Jellal, Levy, Gajeel, Lucy, Natsu, Mirajane, Laxus, Evergreen, Elfman, Lisanna, Wendy, Romeo, and many more—crowded like sardines in front of Juvia's home. Flickering lanterns drifted through the air, bobbing up and down around… Around delicately—almost lovingly—crafted ice sculptures.
Through the mass of mages a dark head of indigo hair emerged. "I heard you were sulking all day," Gray said, that heart-snatching smirk tweaking his mouth. "So I figured you could use a little company tonight."
Juvia's eyes bulged, and she flitted like a little bird to hurl herself into his arms. He held her tight to his body, spun around and around and around, and began sliding backward. Juvia vaguely registered that they were skating along a blue-white sheet of ice, everybody watching them. Keeping Juvia pressed against him, Gray began twirling about, leading Juvia in a smooth dance across the ice. They jumped and swerved and turned gracefully until Gray slowed them and dipped to his knees as they still slid gradually to a stop in the center of the ice dance floor. Clasping Juvia's hands in his fingers, Gray gazed up at her with gorgeous dark eyes that reflected the light of the colorful lanterns.
As Juvia stared, awestruck, his cheeks reddened slightly, and his eyes darted sideways. "Sorry it took so long, but I'm doing it now, so I hope it'll make you happy." He cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on hers. "Juvia…um…will you…I mean, do you want…what I'm trying to say is…" Gray huffed then nearly shouted, "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Silence.
Gray fidgeted just a tad, glancing about. "Juvia?"
She'd frozen like one of Gray's ice-make magic creations.
Then her eyelids blinked once. Twice, and again, and again in rapid succession. And she fainted.
Gray quickly straightened up, catching her in strong arms as her knees buckled. "Juvia?" he repeated, alarmed.
"Uuhhh…" Juvia moaned happily, her pupils turned to pink hearts, and her mouth shaped similarly.
Gray chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."
The cheers of Fairy Tail's mages rose into the night's air as Gray hooked Juvia's legs in his arms and carried her off the ice.
Finally!