Gruvia one shot based on this scene (338 page 7-8) in the manga. (Watch out for spoliers if you haven't finished the GMG arc yet)
Rated T for VERY mild suggestive themes.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
The Grand Magic Games were over and the guild was back home celebrating their victory. The evening had been full of partying, drinking and fighting, just the way it always was, but as Lucy Heartfilia went out the back of the guild for some fresh air, she couldn't help but notice that something seemed wrong.
The day had been bright and sunny, but now the sky was dark and overcast, rain threatening to spill from the clouds any minute. It was then that Lucy noticed a lone figure sitting by the pool, their feet in the water.
She approached and realised it was Juvia, looking much sadder than she had been in a long time, and Lucy knew this must be the cause for the sudden change in weather.
Juvia and she weren't exactly close, mostly because Juvia saw Lucy as her love rival, but Lucy still cared about her just like she did all her other guild mates, and it hurt her to see Juvia so down.
Lucy made her way over to the poolside and sat down next to Juvia.
"Hey, is everything ok?" She asked tentatively.
"Oh." Juvia said, looking up as if she hadn't registered Lucy's presence until now. "Hello Lucy." She said, her tone lacking the usual suspicion that was so often there when she talked to the celestial mage.
"What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
Juvia let out a big sigh and swirled the water with her feet. "It's nothing…"
"Come on Juvia." Lucy encouraged. "I know you don't like me all that much, but you can still talk to me if you want to, I'm here for you."
"Thank you." Juvia said with a genuine smile that all too quickly faded. "It's just what Gray said to me earlier…"
Lucy knew exactly what Juvia was referring to. Gray had outright told Juvia to that he didn't like her affection, but she had seemed to take it really well at the time. No one could deny that Juvia was persistent, but Lucy wasn't surprised to hear that Gray's words had hurt her.
"I can usually take his rejection, because I love Gray-sama so much that I can't imagine being with anyone else, he's my sunshine, but this time…I just wish that I knew why he didn't like me, and then maybe I'd be able to accept it…" She said dejectedly.
Lucy felt moved by what Juvia said, she had always thought the way Gray treated the water-mage wasn't right, even if she was a bit obsessive, and she wanted to help Juvia, the question was how…
"I know!" Shouted Lucy suddenly as she jumped to her feet. "I know exactly how we can find out what Gray is thinking."
"How?" Juvia asked as she too got to her feet, her voice far less excited than it normally was, and it made Lucy even madder at Gray for making Juvia feel like this.
"Well…"
Gray sat in the guild feeling down, drinking something Cana had given him – never a good idea – but right now he didn't seem to care. Why did he feel so down? He just didn't understand it, normally he would be in a fight with Natsu right now, or laughing with his guild mates, but he just wasn't in the mood, something felt wrong.
Right then, Lucy walked up to him, put a hand on his shoulder, said hello, and just walked away again. How curious.
He was about to follow her but lost sight of her in the crowd.
Where did she go? And why did she just act so weirdly?
"Ah, there you are Gemini." Said Lucy as she gestured her spirit, currently disguised as herself, over to where she sat with Juvia outside under the moonlight and the stars.
"Okay Gemini, change into Gray and let's see what he's thinking." She asked excitedly.
"Gray, Gray." The twin spirits chanted as they transformed.
"Are you sure this is ok to do?" Asked Juvia, still looking so sad, a few drops of rain starting to fall.
"Sure." Said Lucy. "Besides, he had it coming for being so mean to you."
"Alright." Agreed Juvia, seeing Gray standing shirtless before her, even if it was Gemini, seemed to be enough to convince her.
"We don't have long so we better make this quick, tell us what he's thought recently Gemini."
"Gray is confused. Gray feels sad. Why does Gray feel sad? Wasn't this for the best? Surely this will be better for Juvia." Gemini started to list off.
"What will be better for Juvia?" The mage in question asked, her fists clenched in anticipation.
"Everybody Gray cares about dies. Gray's parents, Ur, Ultear. Gray doesn't want Juvia to die too. Gray doesn't deserve to have anyone love him. Gray doesn't deserve Juvia's love. Juvia would be better off without Gray. Gray thought pushing away Juvia would be for the best."
"No!" Juvia said, outraged. "Being with Gray-sama is the best thing for Juvia. Gray-sama does deserve to be loved, so much, even more so because he has lost so many that he has loved. Haven't I made it clear how much I care about him…how being apart from Gray is the worst thing that could happen to me."
Gray finally spotted Lucy as she made her way outside so he quickly and silently followed her. What was she up to? And why was she going outside again? Hadn't she gone out for air not that long ago?
He was about to call out to her when he saw her go over to someone, wait, another Lucy! And…Juvia.
His heart seemed to ache a little bit seeing her, and he couldn't help but notice the clouds in the sky or the light patter of rain. He didn't even seem to notice or care all that much that there were two Lucy's, all he could focus on was how sad Juvia looked.
Gray decided to see what was going on so snuck over to a tree nearby and tried to listen in.
"Okay Gemini, change into Gray and let's see what he's thinking." Said Lucy.
So that's what was going on. The Lucy he had seen acting strangely inside earlier was Gemini and, of course, Gemini could only copy people once they had touched them.
But why did Lucy want to copy him?
"Are you sure this is ok to do?" Asked Juvia nervously.
"Sure." Said Lucy – it was strange for Gray to see the two being so friendly. "Besides, he had it coming for being so mean to you."
Part of Gray wanted to protest, he wasn't mean, was he? But he knew that he had been, all this time, he had been harsh with Juvia, more than was necessary. He'd just thought it would be best for everyone if he pushed her away, even though he did really like her, hell, that might even be an understatement, he liked her A LOT.
"Tell us what he's thought recently Gemini." Asked Lucy and Gray's heart dropped.
He wanted to move, to stop them from finding out what was going through his head, but he seemed to be frozen to the spot – somewhat ironic considering he was an ice mage – and all he could do was stand there and listen.
"Gray doesn't deserve to have anyone love him. Gray doesn't deserve Juvia's love. Juvia would be better off without Gray. Gray thought pushing away Juvia would be for the best."
Hearing his own thoughts was hard, but maybe if it helped Juvia to understand, maybe if it would make her feel just a little better…
"No!" Juvia said suddenly and it brought Gray's thoughts back to what was happening in front of him.
"Being with Gray-sama is the best thing for Juvia. Gray-sama does deserve to be loved, so much, even more so because he has lost so many that he has loved. Haven't I made it clear how much I care about him…how being apart from Gray is the worst thing that could happen to me."
Gray's heart seemed to break for the fourth time in his life hearing those words, and he couldn't stop the tears that were welling in his eyes from overflowing, hating himself for hurting Juvia so many times, yet so happy and relieved to hear that she didn't care about his past and wanted to be with him.
"Gray is so sad, but Gray is so happy too." Gemini started to list off again.
"What?" Asked Lucy confused.
"These are his current thoughts." Explained Gemini.
"Gray never realised that pushing Juvia away would hurt her more. Gray wishes Juvia knew how much he cared about her, how much he-"
"Wait!" Shouted someone from behind a nearby tree, making Lucy jump.
"Gray-sama?" Said Juvia as she saw who was approaching. "What are you doing here, I thought-"
"Juvia." He interrupted. "I need to tell you something and I want you to hear it from me." Gray explained as he took her hands in his own. "The real me."
"Yes, Gray." Said Juvia, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, flowers and hearts no doubt appearing around him in her head, the clouds in the sky disappearing.
"I want you to know Juvia…that I love you." He said as he looked deep into her eyes. "But I was so afraid, that if I told you, that if I ever let you into my heart, that I'd lose you like I lost all the others. But you've always been in my heart Juvia, no matter how hard I tried to deny it, ever since I first met you, and I'm so sorry that I never told you, that I was so cold to you..."
"Oh Gray." She smiled as tears fell down her cheeks. "Juvia is just so happy that you love her, and, she loves you too."
Lucy just sat there beaming with Gemini, watching the scene unfold as if it were a romance novel, her cheeks turning red when Gray leaned towards Juvia and kissed her.
Juvia seemed to be close to turning into a puddle she looked so happy, but it seemed as though Gray's strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist were holding her together.
Starting to feel like she shouldn't be watching as the two started to get a little heated, Lucy thanked Gemini quietly who then returned to the spirit world, and made her way back inside to the party.
"Have you seen Gray?" Asked Natsu as soon as he spotted her. "I was about to fight him earlier but he disappeared."
"Yes, I haven't seen him around either." Added Erza as she joined them.
"He's outside." Explained Lucy with a wide smile. "With Juvia."
"At last." Said Erza with a sigh, instantly catching on. "I swear some men just don't realise that pushing you away just hurts more." She said, most likely with a certain member of Crime Sorciere in mind, blushing slightly when she realised what she had said.
Natsu didn't seem to understand what was happening and was heading towards the doors to find Gray, but was stopped when an armour clad hand grabbed his collar.
"I swear that if you go out there and ruin this Natsu, that you'll be beaten worse than the last time you ruined by cake." Said Erza in a deathly whisper.
"Yes mam." Said Natsu with a gulp, quickly running back towards the party looking as pale as a ghost.
"What's going on?" Asked Mira as she stumbled upon Erza and Lucy looking dreamily out the window. "No way! Is something happening out there?!" She squealed excitedly. "Is it Evergreen and Elfman? Gajeel and Levy? Cana and Bixlow? Natsu and Lucy – oh wait, you're here." She said, ignoring the bright red blush on Lucy's cheeks.
She looked around the room and finally noticed that an ice and a water mage were missing.
"No! It's not! It can't be! Has it finally?!"
And with that Mira collapsed from sheer excitement – definitely not anything to do with the drink Cana had given her earlier – but soon recovered, probably from the adrenaline rush running through her system that only a successful match making would give her.
"Gray and Juvia are finally together!" She shouted with glee and the whole guild stopped momentarily, cheered, several people looked like they were winning or losing bets, and then continued with the party, things looking even more out of control as everyone celebrated the news.
Erza helped a now very sleepy Mira back to her feet and, after whispering something into the she-demons ear that made her blush, the two left hand in hand, Lucy trying not to think what they might be getting up to.
All too soon Lucy got dragged back into the party by Levy and couldn't help but wonder whether she would ever get her true love like Juvia had.
Perhaps she could use Gemini just one more time tonight…
Always wanted to write a Gruvia, and that scene in the manga kind of made me hate Gray a bit, so I thought I would try and redeem him.
Hope you liked it!
Just so it's clear, despite the way it ended, there won't be a sequel/next chapter for this.
I have also written two Erza/Gajeel fics (watch out for the M rating) and an Erza/Bacchus/Jellal and Erza/Evergreen for those of you with a taste for the unusual.