Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail (though I wish I was talented enough to be Hiro Mashima! XD

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On a snowy, wintery December day, Fairy Tail was especially cozy. Juvia stood by the bar talking to Mira Jane, who was cleaning a glass, and a sitting Lucy, who seemed only a tiny bit interested in what the bluenette was saying. Juvia was in fangirl mode, her hands clasped on her chest and her eyes replaced by hearts. Though the other two were unfazed by the topic, she didn't let their inattentiveness halt her passionate raving. However, the trio's one sided conversation was interrupted by a man with raven black hair and a normally icy, yet laid black composure. A slight blush dusting his face, which was unusual for the stripper, Gray stepped up to the blue-haired water mage.

"Uhh, Juvia, I was wondering..." He wasn't especially confident in himself, though he already knew what her answer would be. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Everyone near enough to hear those words come out of the Ice Make mage's mouth turned shellshocked; they had never expected Juvia's excessive love for Gray to ever be requited. Juvia, meanwhile, was ecstatic, her face glowing with pure joy.

"Oh, Gray-sama! I thought that you'd never ask!" Her voice was thick with adoration. "Juvia would love to!"

"Great. I'll meet you at 7 for supper, then." He then gave the name of a nearby café. He was trying his best to look indifferent, though Juvia just knew that he was elated on the inside.

~~~~~-TIME SKIP-~~~~~

After hours and hours of nonstop fangirlesque squeals of ecstasy and fretting over choices of outfits, Juvia arrived at the said café ten minutes before 7. She went ahead and ordered an ice water, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach by sipping on the mingling forms of the one uniform substance. In a way, it reminded Juvia of herself and Gray. Two sides of one coin, even everyday things like a glass of water agreed that the two were meant for each other. Seating herself at a table for two with a lovely view of the river through the frosty window, Juvia tried to think back and remember when Gray had begun to show interest in her. Though the little she could come up with was insubstantial, like a casual graze of his hand on hers or a well meaning smile of congratulations after a completed mission. That was just Gray's way, Juvia thought fondly. Being flippant and nonchalant was simply how he showed affection, and there's nothing she could ever do that could change that. Closing her eyes, the water mage became melancholy. She knew what it was like to feel alone, how positively lonely it was to have no parents whilst still a child. Juvia was still in this somber state when Gray walk into the café. Spotting her, he moved towards her, stopping when he noticed her closed, teary eyes and sad expression.

"You know, if coming on this date was going to upset you, you could've just turned me down."

Opening her navy blue eyes, she took in the sight of her love. He stood directly across from her, a rather confused look on his face. He was wearing his white jacket over a dark blue button up shirt and a pair of jeans. His silver sword necklace hung at his neck, and because of his low body temperature, unmelted snowflakes glistened in his hair.

"Oh, no, Gray-sama." She said serenely, though a twinge of sadness was still visible in her eyes. "I was just thinking about..."

Gray took a seat, and prompted her to continue speaking, "About what?"

"...Our parents."

"Oh... They would've loved you."

Juvia glanced up at him in surprise, "What?"

He smiled, "My parents would've loved you. My mother was a true believer in love at first sight, and my father would have found your stalking tendencies towards me hilarious."

Juvia blushed. So he had noticed her! She should've known that he couldn't possible be that oblivious.

"Juvia thinks...her parents would have liked you also!"

From there they branched off onto other, happier topics. While they ate, they were reminiscent of fast paced, challenging jobs they had taken, and spoke of the kinds of missions they planned on taking in the future. They debated the best wintertime and water activities and found that they both enjoyed many of the same things. Gray told her about which of Lucy's Celestial Spirits were weird and which scared him, and Juvia replied with how much she liked Aquarius. The water mage told anecdotes of rare moments in Phantom Lord when Gajeel actually acted like a human being, and Gray likewise entertained her with stories of Natsu's idiocy as a child, even going into full detail on the time the pinkette and Lisanna raised Happy. Hours passed in this fashion, and soon the café's manager announced to them, the last customers in the store, that the restaurant was closing. The idea of this perfect night coming to an end upset the bluenette, but before she could voice her complaints, Gray seemed to read her mind and suggested they go for a walk.

The sky was crystal clear, dotted with brilliant, dazzling stars. The couple walked side by side down a sidewalk covered with a layer of snow. The air was crisp and cold, making Juvia shiver. Immediately, Gray shrugged off his white jacket, and thinking he was once again stripping, she ignored the action. However, the fabric was then wrapped around her in the Ice Make mage's cute attempt to warm her. Though the jacket made her even colder, her love's consideration towards her was enough to make her forget about the freezing temperatures. As the continued their stroll, Juvia noticed that they seemed to be following the path of the river into a patch of woods.

"Gray-sama? Where are we going?" She looked up innocently at her crush.

"About that...You see, the truth is that the only reason I asked you on this date was so that I could show you something." He ran his hand through his hair and looked apologetic. His words hit Juvia like a ton of bricks. 'W-what? Gray-sama... he didn't actually want to go on the date with me? It was just an excuse to show me something?' She thought that she might start crying right then and there. However, she obediently trailed behind him, even though she felt as though her heart was breaking. 'J-Juvia should have known it was an excuse...why would someone as perfect as Gray be interested in a freak who used to belong to an enemy guild?' Juvia knew it was unhealthy to think this way, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. She walked, eyes brimming with tears, behind Gray, her head tilted downwards so that the only thing she saw was the continuous imprints of her feet in the powdery, fallen snow.

They must have soon arrived at their destination, because Juvia stumbled into Gray after he apparently came to a stop in front of her. Looking up caught her off guard, because what she saw in front of her was breathtaking. From where they stood at the bottom of an hill, underneath branches of trees which were heavy with shimmering icicles, the river came downwards in a long, thin waterfall on the side of a rocky cliff, before evening out and continuing on its give path. In the frigid, wintry air, the bottom layer of water had frozen. More had continued falling over the edge, freezing into solid, lustrous sheets. The sight was gorgeous, radiant. The glittering ice reflected the light of the stars above, making it appear as if it were made of diamonds. The water mage searched her mind for something, anything to say, but came up with nothing.

From beside her, Gray cleared his throat, "I guess I should explain now, huh? Well, I found this place yesterday when I went out on a walk. For the first moment that I saw it, I- I just knew that I had to show it to you. I didn't know how you'd react to me taking you someplace romantic out of the blue, though. I was afraid that you'd misunderstand. That's why I took you on the date. I like you, a lot, and I wanted you to know that before I took you here without any sort of explanation," He was blushing now, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "And I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to go on more dates? To get to know each other better, I mean."

Eyes shining with love, Juvia was once again overjoyed. Unable to restrain herself, she pressed a small, chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Juvia would love to."

~~~ft~~~

"And that's how our first date would go!" Announced the bluenette to Mira Jane and Lucy, who had been listening with little interest to Juvia's fangirling.

"My, what an imagination." Mira said cheerfully, and to be honest, a little condescendingly.

"No kidding." Lucy agreed with a sigh.

They were interrupted, for real this time, as Gray walked up, slightly blushing, and began,

"Uhh, Juvia, I was wondering..."

~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~FT~~~~~~~FT

And there's a oneshot completed. Enjoy the plot twists? I did, though I was admittedly half asleep when I came up with them... Leave a comment, please. I'd love to know what you thought! See you in the next one,

Willow