The florescent lights flickered above Juvia's head glinting off the grimy linoleum. A hum of machinery accompanied the drone of clacking keys.

Her neck was stiff from grueling hours of hunching over her desk. The joints in her fingers weren't any better. Juvia's eyes were red and burning from looking at her computer screen. She would stop but there was large window, from which the higher ups could observe their employee's work, and Juvia needed this job; she couldn't afford being caught slacking off.

She refocused on her work. At a certain point the numbers, letters, and symbols of various memo's and assignments began to blend together. The keys continued clacking occasionally accompanied by the cracking of stiff joints or low pitch squeal of the antiquated copier. Juvia kept working with methodical practice.

Click, click, clack. Shit, out of staples. Juvia reached for the desk drawer and tried to open it to no avail. Stuck again, the drawer rattled. Leave it to Phantom Corp. to neglect upkeep on their facilities; anything for an extra jewel. Screech, finally, she managed to wrangle the drawer open.

The cloudy night sky greeted Juvia as she left the office; it was later than she expected. Any later and she would have missed the last train; it wasn't as if she could afford a cab. The city was still bustling, even at this hour. Then again, the city never really slept.

Her feet dragged down the sidewalk. Juvia was still sore, who knew sitting at a desk all day could be so draining, and in a few hours she would repeat the same things again. Wake up, work, collapse into bed after forcing down some cheap fast food. Wash, rinse, repeat; it was a vicious cycle. The city continued to roar around her as Juvia continued dragging her feet. As she was nearing the station she gazed up at the sky. The smog and glaring light from the city obscured everything; you couldn't see the stars. The occasional blinking light from aircraft could hardly be viewed.

Before long Juvia reached the station and not long after a grueling train she was home. Her dingy apartment wasn't the most welcoming place but it was hers. The electricity didn't work reliably on its best day and there was never hot water; at least, it was a roof over her head no matter how structurally sound it actually was. The door creaked on its hinges as Juvia made her way into the apartment. She dumped her coat and briefcase on the sofa before flopping face first onto her bed. Her eye's were drawn to a cerulean jewelry box on her vanity; Juvia had always loved the silver accents that swirled around the lid. Although, calling it a jewelry box may be a bit generous, it had never served its purpose, the box held trinkets Juvia had collected over the years, most of them were from her childhood. Childhood, everything seemed so much simpler when Juvia was younger; she never would have thought that she would grow up to be so unhappy. Juvia thought she was going to be someone when she grew up, and now? What was she doing with her life?

Juvia opened the jewelry box gently palming through the contents. Her teru teru bozu doll, a flower pin, a small sewing kit, photos, and a letter. It was unopened, who could it be from? The envelope showed wear, the paper of it was worn, it must be from years ago. Why hadn't she ever opened it? Well, now is a good as time as any to find out. Juvia tore the envelope open.

My dearest granddaughter,

Grandfather

I do not have much time left. If I do not see you again before I pass away, know that I will always love you. You are capable of great things. If you are reading this letter you must be in need of a change in your life.

What? Wait a second. Juvia remembered, it had been so long since he had passed away, grandfather had given her this letter when he was on his deathbed. He had told her to only open it when she was ready, was she ready? So many years had passed. Juvia supposed it was okay to read it now. There's still more?

I once found myself in a similar situation. I found my solace when I moved to Magnolia. Now, I would like to give you my home there. The deed is enclosed.

In the hopes this will bring you the same happiness it brought me,

Grandpa

Juvia was beginning to regret handing in her resignation. Dropping everything to move to the middle of nowhere without so much as jewel to her name; well, that wasn't true but five thousand jewels wasn't enough to live off of. Juvia turned toward the bus window, maybe watching the scenery go by would keep her mind off of the enormous mistake she was making. Of course, it didn't last long, the bus jerked snapping Juvia out of her reverie. The bus swerved, swerved?! Juvia looked up front, was that smoke?

"Hold on tight! The engine broke down," the bus driver announced over the radio, "no need to panic. We just need to come to a stop," she assured.

Thankfully, Juvia's luck wasn't all bad, they arrived at the Magnolia stop. If the bus had to break down at least it broke down at her destination.

Juvia stumbled off the bus with her luggage; she would have to go without furniture until it was delivered.

"Hey, you must be Juvia!" A women called to her, "welcome to Magnolia! I'm Ur Milkovich the town carpenter. Mayor Makarov asked me to escort you to your new home. He had some business to take care of so he will meet us there."

"Alright," Juvia was sure she could find the place on her own, but it isn't everyday someone new moves to town, so maybe they were excited something was happening here. Country life must be pretty slow.