The Fairy Tail guild had had quite a loud, fun and exciting few days, with the whole week having been off from quests and near-death situations and instead dedicated to celebrate the birthday of their founder and resident strategist and ghost - Mavis Vermilion.
The six days before had seen guests from all major guilds in the continent, participating in a series of events and competitions - big and small. The final day, however, had just one event dedicated exclusively to members of the guild, at the founder's request - Mavis's birthday ball.
It was noon on the big day, the guild preparing for the event later that night, and to say that Juvia Lockser was excited would be the understatement of the century.
In her palm was a small piece of paper Mirajane had just handed to her with a rather neat writing she would recognise from miles away, simply because of who it belonged to.
"Supposed to go in pairs for the ball tonight, apparently. Wanna go?
- Gray."
Juvia stared at the little blessing in shock. Mira, who had been observing her the whole time gently touched her shoulder. "He wanted to ask you in person. But Master sent him on a day-long errand so he asked me to give you this before he left."
Juvia looked up to the barmaid's gentle smile as she felt herself tear up a little "Juvia is.." she sniffed "..Juvia is so happy."
Mira's smile grew gentler. She realised that Juvia had probably braced herself to be the one asking her precious Gray-sama for the dance, judging by the way she came asking for him earlier.
"What's going on?" came a concerned blonde's voice. Juvia's head immediately snapped around to see Lucy approaching them, along with Erza. Her demeanour did a 180.
"Gray-sama has asked Juvia to be his date for tonight, not Love Rival! Ha!" she boasted proudly, holding out the proof.
"Juvia.." Lucy sweat-dropped. "I'm not your Lo- HE DID WHAT?" Lucy's hand shot out to grab and read the little note, Erza leaning in to do the same.
Juvia couldn't help the proud, almost smug grin she had on as Lucy read the note. "It is true, Gray-sama himself ha-"
"He really did it! Juvia, this is such awesome news!" Lucy cut her off, turning to Erza who nodded approvingly.
Seeing Lucy this excited for her made her momentarily wonder, 'Huh. Maybe Lucy isn't Juvia's Love Rival after all!'
"So, do you know what are you going to wear tonight?" Mira enquired, interrupting her thought process.
Juvia's expression turned from one of euphoria to one of extreme anxiety in a matter of seconds.
Understanding before she said a word Lucy asked, "Want to go shopping with us, Juvia? Cana, Levy and I need to buy our dresses and Erza's coming along too."
Finding her panic immediately reduce at the prospect of a rare girls' day out, Juvia gave an emphatic nod. "Juvia would love to!"
The evening turned out as lovely as she had hoped. Tailing Gray as often as she did meant Juvia didn't get to spend such all-female quality-time very often and had full plans to make the most of it.
They went from boutique to boutique trying on all kinds of dresses till they each found what they were looking for. Minus Cana's random entrances while she changed and surprise boob-gropes, she had a really good time shopping with everyone, deciding to make this a more common occurrence in her monthly schedule.
Having all found what they wanted, the group finally stopped at Erza's favourite café for coffee and a quick bite before heading back to get ready.
Sitting in balcony-area of the quaint cafe, the girls all really began to talk. Juvia learnt that her Lov-um..Lucy was going with Natsu that evening.
"He just assumed that the 'partner' the ball invite was referring to was your usual one," she sweatdropped after a lot of out-loud speculation on Cana's and Levy's part of how and why Natsu asked her.
"Don't be so sure of that, Lucy. He is much smarter than he may seem," Erza sagely replied, earning a thoughtful blush from the celestial mage in response.
'Definitely not a Love Rival,' Juvia mused, smiling.
But what excited her most was news of Levy's date for the evening.
"Gajeel-kun asked you?!" she exclaimed.
"Yea." squeaked Levy, looking at her hands under the table, blush intensifying. "Jet and Droy were busy arguing over who would ask me when he picked me by the collar and declared 'You'll be goin' with me, Shrimp.'"
While Lucy and Cana began teasing her, all Juvia could do was marvel at how much her good friend had matured from the harsh, mean, destructive mage he was in Phantom Lord to one that could appreciate liking someone.
'Guess Gajeel-kun is not the only one' Juvia thought, remembering the day she saw the sky blue for the first time, changing her fate forever.
"Hey! How about we all get ready together?" Lucy suddenly suggested, snapping her out of her Gray-reverie. "This has been so much fun I don't want it to end yet."
"I agree with Lucy. Girls that get ready for special occasions together stay together."
'Juvia doesn't get it,' Juvia wondered, though judging by everyone's nervous smiles and sweating she assumed there really wasn't anything to get. Nonetheless, they all agreed to do so.
"You can all use Juvia's room," Juvia offered, smiling shyly. "Juvia wouldn't mind."
Lucy grinned widely, "Sure Juvia! I was going to suggest the same. I've been meaning to come over again for a while now, anyway!"
Juvia smiled as brightly back as they all made their way to Fairy Hills.
Within minutes, Juvia's once neat room was swarmed with girls, and with dresses, make-up and accessories lying around everywhere as the girls all collectively got down to getting themselves and each other ready.
"Juvia," Erza called out "May I inspect your dressing table drawers? I'm thinking of investing in more for new armour-accessories."
"Sure!" Juvia consented turning around to get back to helping Cana with her hair (while actively avoiding her groping palms by liquifying her body each time she tried).
After a few moments she sensed powerful magic coming from behind her. She turned around to see Erza and Lucy standing together, the former in the middle of what seemed like an unusually long requip, the latter grinning widely as she did so. Moments later however, Erza was looking absolutely stunning, in a full-length blood-red gown, befitting her name.
'Such a convenient ability, that is' Juvia mused, 'Especially if one is with a lover…'
"JUVIA YOU'RE MELTING ONTO ME!" yelled Cana snapping Juvia out of a day-dream involving her and her Gray-sama, that had her heart thudding long after she'd dried Cana and moved onto dressing herself up.
The minutes ticked by and soon enough, Juvia was almost ready. Her hair was done into lovely curls, courtesy Cancer, and her make-up was light and elegant thanks to some very productive advice from Lucy.
Her dress was a layered dark blue in a mermaid cut, a blue-tinged sheer collar and long sheer sleeves with the bodice hugging all of Juvia's beautiful curves till right above her knees, before flaring out till before the end of her heels.
All she was missing was -
"Earrings! Where are Juvia's earrings?!" she cried, rummaging through all her drawers looking for the accessory. She had a pair she had in mind from the moment her eyes landed on the dress she was now in and she had been been looking forward to completing her ensemble with them tonight.
"Noo! Juvia can't find them!" Juvia wailed.
"Awww, Juvia! No, don't cry. You'll ruin your make-up," Lucy tried. "Besides, you look gorgeous right now anyway, even without jewellery."
"But Juvia wanted to look perfect for her Gray-sama tonight!" she cried.
"Juvia." Came Erza's firm voice as she placed her hand on the distraught mage's shoulder, the pain effectively silencing her. "If you spend more time crying and searching you'll not just ruin your make up but you'll also be late. Would you want to make Gray wait?"
Juvia sullenly shook her head, sniffling.
"Then cheer up and let's get moving. Besides, like Lucy said, you do look beautiful."
"Yea Juviaaa! You look soo smooookin', he's not even gonna notice. They're just earrrrrrings," said the already slurring Cana, slapping Juvia on the back.
"They're right, you know. You do look very pretty, Juvia," voiced Levy.
Juvia wondered if she really was making a mountain out of a molehill. Deciding to heed her friends' words, she nodded, wiped her tears and smiled.
With some minor touching up of Juvia's make-up, the very pretty lot left Fairy Hills and headed towards their guild hall entrance, where they were to meet their dates.
'Gray-sama is Juvia's date.' Juvia thought excitedly, having cheered up by now.
They all stood together outside the gates, with the exception of Erza who excused herself and headed inside - being S-rank had it's own set of responsibilities on such guild occasions.
Macao was the first to reach to escort Cana, who was already more than a little tipsy. The drunk waved at everyone and stumbled towards the guild seemingly paying no attention to her supposed date, following right behind her.
Gajeel was next, picking up Levy. Literally. While he did so teasing Levy for her height, the way he was delicately holding her on his shoulders and the slight pink dusting on his cheeks told Juvia he really did appreciate how "the Shrimp" looked.
Natsu came shortly after for Lucy, and Juvia was pleasantly surprised to see how well he had cleaned up. "Let's go, Luce!" he yelled, before gently pulling Lucy by the hand to his side, wrapping an arm around her, holding her close. Juvia giggled at Lucy's blush, the celestial mage having clearly not expected the sudden but somehow tender gesture. Her small but happy smile not going unnoticed by the water-mage either.
Just as Natsu and Lucy were leaving to enter the guild she spotted the one she had been waiting for all day. Or her life, depending on how you looked it.
He was breathtaking. Even more so that usual too, if that were possible; looking absolutely debonair in a dark suit with a tie that matched her dress! Juvia was in the middle of her little mental jubilation when she saw Gray pass by Lucy and Natsu. Just as he did, she saw Lucy grab Gray's elbow, signalling him to bring his ear to her. Gray leaned in and the blonde whispered something that had the object of her affections splutter and blush. Lucy then giggled before winking at him and leading a surprisingly smiling Natsu into the guild.
'Definitely a Love Rival!' Juvia seethed. However, before her jealousy-induced overimagination could work up yet another highly unlikely scenario involving the two, Gray was standing right before her.
"Hey." He greeted simply.
"Good evening, Gray-sama" Juvia replied shyly.
"Umm.." He began, tugging on his collar, "Lucy mentioned there was something bothering you?"
Juvia blushed. 'He is concerned for Juvia'. Suddenly, she was embarrassed over the triviality of what had bothered her.
"Juvia just lost her earrings, that's all! Nothing for Gray-sama to worry about!" she said hurriedly.
Gray's eyebrows shot up for a split second before her turned in the direction Lucy had left in. "That idiot," he said below his breath.
Before Juvia could ask, Gray turned back to face her and took a deep breath. "Juvia."
"Y-yes, Gray-sama?"
"Close your eyes."
Without question, Juvia's eyes were shut the next moment. Gray took a split-second to appreciate the trust she placed in him.
Juvia waited patiently in the dark for a few moments wondering what to expect; calmed, however, by Gray's lingering smell. Which, oddly enough, seemed closer all of a sudden.
Her breathing hitched as she felt Gray's fingertips delicately trace her jawline. Not having been told open her eyes yet, Juvia lost herself in the feeling of his extremely gentle touch, warmth coursing through her, her heart beating a mile a minute. She was certain her face would be more than just a little red.
Gray's fingers moved up till they reached her ears, proceeding to gently pinch the bottom of each lobe.
Juvia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before she felt a small surge of coolness on either side of her head. Soon, she felt a small weight tugging at each ear as she heard Gray take a step back as he pulled away.
"Y-you can open your eyes now."
As she did so, she brought up her right hand to her right ear and felt it. Looking away from a rather red-in-the-face Gray, she created a water-mirror as if to confirm what she'd already guessed by now.
Looking back at her from the mirror was the same stunning Juvia. Except now wearing simple, but beautiful deep blue tear-drop earrings, a tiny snow crystal embedded in the centre of each. Handmade by the very person who held her heart.
Still staring at her reflection and one hand still feeling a earring in awe and almost in disbelief, she quietly asked, "Will they not melt?"
"Special ice. Won't unless maybe that Flame-breath swallows it."
Juvia retracted the makeshift mirror before stepping closer to Gray, shyly looking up at him through her lashes.
"How does Gray-sama think Juv-"
"Beautiful," he breathed.
Juvia's head shot up in surprise to look him fully, only to find him staring right at her with a light blush and a serene smile; one that had her pulse racing and heart melting all at the same time. "Gray-sama.." she whispered.
Gray's expression suddenly changed to one of panic. "The earrings!" He yelled jumping away from her, pointing at them frantically. "The earrings are beautiful!"
Juvia was momentarily taken back by his outburst, but quickly recovered with a giggle as Gray turned his back to her, blushing profusely as he ran his hand through his hair, muttering curses under his breath.
"They are, Gray-sama. Thank you!" she cheerfully replied.
Gray shot her a look from over his shoulder before mumbling something about it being high time they entered the guild.
Juvia began picking up the suit jacket and dress-shirt he hadn't noticed he'd taken off, when he stuck his elbow out, stubbornly looking the other way. "Well?" He urged.
Juvia happily latched onto the offered arm, hugging it close to herself, earning a surprised "Oi!" from her beloved, as they made their way into the guild.
As soon as they stepped inside, a flying chair hit Gray smack in the face. Before Juvia could ask if he were okay, he was up on his feet again yelling for Natsu.
"I KNOW IT WAS YOU FLAME-BREATH"
"YEA IT WAS FROZEN-ASS! WHA'CHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT? "
And with a blink of an eye Juvia was left alone at the entrance.
Recovering, she yelled a "You can do it Gray-sama!" before making her way (while avoiding a ton of flying debris) to where Lucy and Levy were sitting on the bar stools, both watching the brawl. She sat next to Lucy.
"I'm sorry Juvia," Lucy sighed.
"Juvia isn't. Juvia is very very happy." Juvia smiled widely as she gently touched her new treasure.
Lucy smiled knowingly when -
BOOM!
"BWAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GETTING DISTRACTED IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT, YOU ICE-BASTARD!"
"I guess guild-only parties would always turn out this way, even with fancy-clothes," sighed Levy.
"Yea," concurred an equally exasperated Lucy, before breaking into a small smile. "But you know what? I honestly wouldn't have it any other way".
Turning to watch her precious Gray fend off one of Gajeel's attacks in all his half-naked glory, Juvia's smile only grew, as she found that she couldn't agree more.