So this fic is for Silver Inklett since the idea for it came from her! Major shoutout to Silv for being my beta on this and for all the magnificent input/suggestions/revisions she's given our baby here. This started out as rambling about headcanons and I decided I wanted to write it for her, so here it is!
All her life, clouds had seemed to follow her wherever she went, leaving her solemn and broken.
Of course, it wasn't literal clouds, but her hardships that always decided to kick her when she was down. At four years old, her parents went through a nasty divorce and her mother was given custody with no resistance from her father. At nine years old, Juvia had to move away from her closest friend, a troublemaker named Gajeel, thanks to her mother's promotion, and they moved around so often that it was hard for her to ever truly make another friend like the one she had left.
Her fifteenth year saw the death of her beloved mother, lost to slick roads and pouring rain that seemed to hang around in Juvia's chest long after the skies had cleared. She was shuffled off to live with a father she barely knew, in a town that felt too small and too confined.
But through it all, she adapted.
When her mother's job made them move several times a year, Juvia worked and begged until she could spend her summers with Gajeel and his family. When she got sent to her father's and the summer trips stopped, she made sure to not only keep in constant contact with Gajeel - whose tales from home and of his foster siblings antics made the world feel a little bigger - but she also worked hard so that she wouldn't have to spend a day longer than she had to with the man with her features that felt like a stranger.
When she found that her boyfriend of several years, Lyon, was a cheating scumbag, Juvia had put on her big girl pants, told him to take a hike, and swore off men for good.
That was, until she met Gray.
It was Juvia's second semester of college at Columbia University - where she could pursue a degree in earth and environmental sciences while being as far as possible away from her father - when she met him. The course they shared was one of the general education credits required of all students, and when she first saw him she swore the heavens had opened up.
He was an angel, a gift from God made specifically for her. Since then, she pined after him, but her advances were never reciprocated. He was the dam Juvia couldn't move around, the person she couldn't let go no matter how much his constant rejections stung.
Juvia's latest failed attempt to catch the eye of her long-time crush found her at the campus bar, looking for advice from one of her new college friends, a Miss Cana Alberona. They had met at the same counter Juvia sat at now. She had come hoping for relief from the heartache she had felt at the time, courtesy of seeing Gray walking across the quad holding hands with another woman, and Cana had been working as a bartender that night. They had bonded, and in the time between then and now, the two girls had spent many nights drinking and studying together, and Cana was now the first person Juvia went to whenever she was upset about Gray.
Now it was her last week of college before earning her degree, and Juvia sat at the bar nursing a mug of whatever form of liquid courage Cana had designated as a cure for a broken heart.
"C'mon doll face, Gray's not worth those tears of yours." Cana was standing behind the bar, leaning forward to peer at Juvia's puffy eyes and bright red nose. "You need to stop worrying 'bout him, he's an ass. He shoulda manned up and told you that he wasn't interested in the beginning instead of leading you on 'til now."
Letting out a loud sigh and downing the last half of her drink, Juvia looked up. How many times had she heard that advice, not just from Cana, but from Gajeel as well (though it was less "advice" and more offers to come to her campus and beat his face in)? How often had she sat at this very bar, refusing to believe that her affections would never be returned? When was the last time she had come to this bar to just have a good time instead of mope?
… She couldn't remember a single time.
She frowned at Cana, eyebrows furrowing together. "You're right," she admitted slowly, and she could see Cana's eyebrows disappear under her brown sweeps of hair. Juvia pushed on, pushed against the dam she had been stuck behind ever since her traitorous heart had latched onto Gray Fullbuster. "I need to let go of Gray. I deserve better," she said with conviction, "and I should focus on my career."
She almost immediately wanted to snag the words out of the air, forcing the admission back. Surely Gray would have to return her affection eventually, she just had to stick it out! But the proud grin on Cana's face made Juvia's resolve strengthen, and she knew she had done the right thing.
She adapted, as she was wont to do, and it felt like breathing for the first time. There would still be challenges, lord knows the heart is stubborn, but Juvia knew that this was something she'd fight to stick with. She deserved better than nights spent nursing a broken heart over a man who couldn't be bothered.
Cana was definitely in shock and awe from Juvia's admission; this was the first, and possibly the last time she would ever utter that sentence. Juvia's sudden change of heart seemed to set off a train of thoughts Cana hadn't been sure how to approach, and the words were already coming out before she could think them over more. "How 'bout this; you and me, the open road, shitty hotels, and my beat up Buick?" she offered. "We've got some time after graduation before we need to go job hunting, right? Before you say anything about how much it'd cost, I've made way more in tips working here than I'd like to admit so it's all on me. Think of it as a graduation gift, and a reward for finally pulling that pretty head of yours out of your ass," she teased, making Juvia grin.
"Hmm, I think I'll have to accept your offer," Juvia responded after a few moments of over exaggerated thinking. "But are you sure I can't cover the cost of food at least?" she inquired with her head in her hands. A patron at the other end of the bar caught Cana's attention and she raised her hand in recognition of the top-up needed on their beer as she moved down the bar.
As she filled the mug she called back to Juvia, "Well, I won't stop ya from paying for the food, but we can talk more later on. You should head home before it gets too late, doll face. Don't you have a final exam early tomorrow anyway?" Juvia went to put money down on the bar to pay for her drink before Cana waved her off. "Forget about it, it's on me tonight."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm heading home. And thanks Cana, I owe you one." Juvia reached across the counter and pulled Cana into hug, giving her a peck on the cheek. "We still on for the study party tomorrow night?"
"'Course we are, I'll bring the drinks," Cana said, turning to move some bottles and to hide the blush creeping up her neck "Anything in particular you want?"
Juvia pulled herself up from the bar stool and shook her head. "Not really, just something fruity. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yea, see ya, doll face." Juvia was out the door and Cana made a frustrated noise, akin to that of a dying whale.
I hope you enjoyed it and any/all reviews are greatly appreciated!
