~When Extremes Meet~

Insert some vague yet meaningful metaphor about water and ice here.

The third time they met, it was a complete coincidence.

Walking through the streets of Magnolia as she was wont to do in search of the subject of her desire, Juvia felt her heart sink with every passing moment. He was nowhere to be found today. Not in the guild, his usual restaurants or stores, absolutely nowhere.

Perhaps Gray-sama was on a mission? If that was the case, her stalk- following skills were starting to deteriorate! Truly being in love took a lot of work, as Juvia could attest to. One had to know everything about their beloved: what they ate, what they wore, and where they were at every moment. If Juvia couldn't do even that, then she was certainly not worthy of Gray-sama's affections.

The water mage turned in the direction of her guild with a sigh, intending to go back and confirm the status of her target- er, love. But from the corner of her eye, Juvia suddenly spied a shock of silvery blue, very out of place against the dark brick buildings lined along the street.

"Juvia!" A somewhat familiar voice called her name enthusiastically. Juvia turned back completely to see Lyon Vastia of Lamia Scale, an associate (rival?) of Gray-sama, striding quickly over to her.

She immediately linked the word 'rival' with 'love', remembered Lucy and Lisanna, and then the love chart she had made for her own reference. A rival for Gray-sama's love! Her mind hissed venomously, but Juvia schooled her expression into one that was hopefully of polite curiosity. She had managed to keep up with the other women of Fairy Tail so far; she would just have to keep up with the men too, and prove to Gray-sama that she was both woman and man enough for him!

"Dearest Juvia, you look as beautiful as ever. The sky pales in comparison to your shimmering hair, and the seas only wish they had y-"

"H-hello, Lyon-sama," Juvia interrupted, blushing at his extravagant praise. This was the man who had so blatantly confessed to her at their first meeting, as well the man who Gray-sama was (reportedly) in love with. She had to keep her guard up! "What brings Lyon-sama to Magnolia?"

"I had a mission nearby, and decided to stop in Magnolia for a rest before returning to Lamia Scale," Lyon explained cheerfully, tinges of pink rising in his pale cheeks. "I'm very glad to have been able to encounter you today. Would you like to come get something to eat with me?" He said this all very fast.

"Eh?" Juvia took a small step backwards at the sudden question. "J-Juvia…" What was this? Lyon wanted to… spend time with her? He was nice enough, of course, but a rival, and she knew it would be cruel to get Lyon's hopes up with her, when Juvia had eyes for no one but Gray-sama. "J-Juvia doesn't…"

Lyon seemed crestfallen at her vague response. "I see." And in that moment, Juvia thought Lyon looked very much like a kicked puppy.

"N-no, that is not what Juvia meant!" Rival or not, Juvia wasn't cold enough to openly refuse a warm invitation like that. He was a rather nice person after all, and it wasn't as if Lyon was ugly or anything… And maybe... Perhaps if Gray-sama saw them… Would he be jealous? That thought alone almost spurred Juvia to accept immediately. "Juvia doesn't mind." It would be a good chance to get to know Lyon as well, as a friend, and to find out more about Gray-sama.

"Really?" Lyon's demeanor appeared to do a complete turnaround, and his eyes lit up with happiness. "Alright then, is there anything in particular that you prefer?"

Juvia thought for a moment. "Juvia knows a very good restaurant around here. Would-ah!" She squeaked in surprise as Lyon hooked an arm around hers, smiling gently.

"Lead the way."

.

.

.

It only occurred to her later.

"L-Lyon-sama, is this… a d-d-date?"

"If you would like it to be."

Absolutely not then. What would others say? It was just a friendly meeting. A nice chat between just the two of them, while they were eating together. Lyon did have a way of making her laugh quite a bit though. So overall, not an unpleasant experience.

The fourth time they met, Juvia maintained that it was still a complete coincidence.

She had taken a mission to a different town, since she couldn't spend all her time with Gray-sama if her rent needed to be paid. It was a fairly easy job, and there were hours to go before the next train back to Magnolia arrived. So Juvia resigned herself to wandering about the large town, wishing the time would pass faster.

Surveying the busy area, Juvia suddenly spied a familiar figure, just a little ahead. His back was to her, but familiar nonetheless. Now what would he be doing here? "Lyon-sama!" she called before she realized it, surprising even herself.

He turned around to face her and visibly brightened. "Juvia!" Like before, he made his way over to her as she did to him, both of them meeting in the middle. "It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Juvia was doing a mission, and is waiting for the train to take her back to Magnolia." Even if it was Lyon, Juvia was very glad to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. "And why is Lyon-sama here?"

He stared at her for a moment before bursting into a small fit of laughter. "This is where Lamia Scale is. Were you unaware of that?"

Her jaw dropped. "J-Juvia is shocked!" she proclaimed, raising both hands to her face. "Juvia is very sorry, Lyon-sama, for not knowing…"

"What are you apologizing for?" Lyon asked, tilting his head in a puzzled manner. "Although now that you are here… You have some free time, then?"

"Y-Yes…" Juvia replied hesitantly.

"Sherry recommended a café close by, would you do me the honor of accompanying me there?" Juvia jumped in surprise as one of Lyon's arm slid across her shoulders, already subtly guiding her to a building nearby.

Gray-sama wasn't around, so she had no reason to fear he would see her as being disloyal… Which she wasn't.

Lyon glanced down at her. "You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you, Juvia, and-"

"Lyon-sama already said that once before," she reminded him heatedly. "That won't work on Juvia." Still, it was nice to have compliments lavished so freely on her, when her attempts to impress Gray-sama rarely garnered more attention than a vague nod, if not outright ignorance. But Juvia swore she would break down that barrier of ice someday. In the meantime, if she so happened to meet Lyon-sama on a mission, there was no reason to refuse another friendly invitation. "Juvia will go with Lyon-sama then."

"Wonderful. After you." Lyon was already holding the door open for her.

The fifth, the sixth, the seventh, the tenth, the twentieth, Juvia couldn't even remember how many times they had met now, whether they were coincidences or not. But with the sheer number of missions Lyon took that seemed to conveniently be close to Magnolia, Juvia had her doubts.

And, well, if Juvia found that the missions she took happened to let her linger around Lamia Scale more often, she found that she couldn't complain. Lyon joked about the two of them being magnets attracted to each other no matter the distance (something that made her blush horribly), and always greeted her with a compliment, and always seemed to be in contact with her and yet never crossed some invisible line he had apparently set for himself.

Lyon was…

Was what?

She couldn't quite answer her own question.

Winter in Magnolia typically brought about a flurry of the year's first snow. Pristine flakes, the beautiful union of solid ice and liquid water, floated down from the skies to softly blanket the streets, and as soon as the snow was deep enough, the streets would surely be filled with children starting snowball fights and building snowmen.

Juvia walked through such a street one day, glancing back now and then at the trail of footprints her boots left behind. It was silly to enjoy something so childish, she supposed, but she enjoyed it nevertheless.

She aimlessly climbed the stairs to one of Magnolia's many bridges. There was nothing in particular to do, and most people were in the guild or at home, out of the cold. But Juvia sought solitude for some reason, maybe to think about how she could impress Gray-sama this time…

Juvia blinked, realizing something. She hadn't thought about her plans to win Gray-sama for a long time. What kind of person in love was she, to forget the all-important mission of pursuing her true love through all barriers? She had to rectify this immediately, and yet… Juvia found that she couldn't bring up her passion for that ice mage as brightly as before. This was terrible! Was something wrong? Did something, someone-

"Juvia!"

At the sound of her name and the more than familiar voice saying it, Juvia's heart sped up to twice the pace. She turned her head slowly, meeting the fond gaze of a different ice mage than she had been thinking about.

Or… had she been thinking of this one all along?

"What is Lyon-sama's excuse for being in Magnolia this time?" Juvia asked teasingly, fighting to restrain a blush. Lately, he had taken to making up incredibly inane reasons for being in the vicinity of Magnolia, and it amused her all the same.

But there was a sort of solemnity in Lyon's expression this time. "To see you," he said simply, and Juvia started. He had never openly stated it before now, and she felt… happy?

Lyon moved closer, one foot on the lowest step leading up to the bridge. Snowflakes were gathering into his hair. "I wanted to see you," Lyon repeated, eyes bright with some emotion Juvia couldn't quite make out. "I wanted to hear your voice, your laugh. I wanted to see your smile."

She was trembling. Why was she trembling? Why was her heart pounding so hard, even harder than the first time she had met Gray-sama? Why was there such a strange feeling spreading throughout her body? Why-

"Juvia, look out!"

No sooner had the words left Lyon's mouth then Juvia felt her left foot move, far too fast, slipping over a patch of ice she hadn't seen, and then she was falling forward, down the steps and she squeezed her eyes shut-

Warm arms suddenly wrapped around the entirety of her body, her head was pressed to a broad chest, and all too soon Juvia was hitting the ground with a thump that was much too soft. For a moment she was stunned, only able to lie there and feel snowflakes melting on her cheek. Then she snapped her eyes open, felt a movement underneath her, heard a groan, and frantically scrambled off Lyon's body. "Lyon-sama! Are you alright?!"

"Never been better," Lyon muttered dazedly, cracking one eye open. "That was a highly unnecessary greeting."

Juvia breathed out something that sounded like a mix between a sigh and a sob of relief, leaned over Lyon's face, and kissed him.

A/N: 1,908 words including the title and the pre-story sentence I always like to put, 1,893 without. This is for Mrs. HopeEstheim's NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenge, and it certainly was a challenge! I've never written Lyon/Juvia before, but I kind of enjoyed it a lot, even though this is super terrible.

It was actually 1,999 words before I took out a section at the very end just before the author's notes, because I felt that it was a better way to end and the extra section was unnecessary, but I did want to include that too… Oh well. Hope this is enough to pass to the next round. Good luck to everyone else still writing their story.