Hello, dear readers! Here I am with another two-shot. To tell the truth, I had already posted this on Christmas Day, but since I'm planning on doing a sequel to this short story, I've decided to repost it so that you can have the opportunity to read it before the sequel comes.
A few details have been altered and I added in a flashback in chapter two. So even if you've already read it, I advise that you take another look to check out the new scene. (I don't know why I didn't place it before).
This is my first Fairy Tail story based on a Holiday, so tell me what you think!
Just a heads up: This one-shot should be placed after the Edolas Arc, but before Tenrou Island. I'll warn you before hand that Gray might be a bit OOc, though I tried my best to explain his actions and thoughts.
Happy reading, Gruvia fans!
The Only Exception-Paramore
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content
With loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk,
But you are the only exception
December 19th, X784
Juvia Lockser entered the Fairy Tail guild only to be surprised by how much it had changed in the five days since she had last been there. She had gone on a mission with her best friend, Gajeel Redfox, and they had finished it the day before.
"What the hell?" Gajeel whisper-screamed as soon as the two crossed the doors, making everyone look at them in surprise.
"Hey, you guys. Glad to see you're back." Lucy cheerfully greeted them from her place by Natsu's side as the dragon slayer was, as usual, stuffing his face.
"How was the mission?" Mira asked while cleaning a glass.
"It was fine." Gajeel answered, seeing as his partner was currently frozen in shock.
"Is something wrong?" Lucy asked, seeing Juvia's reaction at the guild hall.
"I guess she doesn't like the decorations." Gray said, heading away from the bar and towards the entrance. He looked exceptionally grumpy and it was clear he too didn't enjoy all the Christmas decorations that filled the guild hall.
"I told you it was too much, Mira." Laxus told the white haired woman, who glared at him.
"It's not." Juvia finally spoke, biting her lip. "I had just forgotten that Christmas was coming."
"How could you forget about Christmas?" Natsu inquired, having finally finished eating.
"It's the best holiday ever!" Happy put in, flying by the pink boy's shoulder while eyeing Carla, the new exceed that had joined the guild a few weeks before.
"Speak for yourself." Gray muttered, looking annoyed.
"Gray, please. Not this year." Erza warned, coming out of no where and giving him a big scare.
"Sorry." He whispered, looking away.
"What's wrong, my love?" Juvia asked, curious to why her crush seemed so upset.
"Don't mind him, he's just being his annoying, Christmas hating self." Loke said, rolling his eyes towards Gray. With the holidays coming up, he had made an agreement with Lucy to remain in human form so that he could celebrate with their friends. Everyone was glad to have him back as a guild member, even if for a short while.
"So you hate Christmas, huh stripper?" Gajeel asked, raising a brow while he took a step forward.
"Yep. Are you sure you still want to go after him, Juvia?" Loke asked, taking a step forward. "I'm sure a beautiful lady like yourself could do much better." He winked and the water mage was uncomfortable.
"Hmm.. thank you?" She shyly whispered as Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Are you kidding me?" The blonde crossed her arms and Loke gave a sheepish smile.
"Don't worry, Lucy, my heart belongs to you." He dramatically said and she shook her head.
"You're impossible." She muttered and Juvia laughed a little. She loved the interactions in Fairy Tail, everyone was so unique. Crazy, but unique.
"Can't you keep your mouth shut for one second?" Gray snapped at the celestial spirit while blushing a little. Juvia had come to notice that he would blush many times when people made comments about them being a couple.
"Anyways, now that you guys are here, you can help with the tree." Mira spoke before a fight could erupt.
"What?" Gajeel asked, looking confused.
"We've all helped decorating a little, but since you two weren't here, you're gonna have to go with the tree." Lucy explained and Juvia shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you." They stared at her in confusion.
"Why not?" Natsu asked, raising a brow.
"Please, asking Juvia to decorate a Christmas tree is like asking me to be all nice and friendly." Gajeel snorted, making them look at him.
"Meaning?" Gray asked, still confused.
"She hates Christmas." Juvia said nothing, looking uncomfortable.
"What?" Natsu asked, staring at her wide eyed like everyone else.
"You can't possibly hate Christmas!" Erza protested.
"Why?" Lucy asked, curious.
"We didn't celebrate it at the orphanage." Juvia explained quickly, but they had a feeling there was more to the story.
"Well, it's good to know I'm not alone in this." Gray said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"You two really are perfect for each other." Max said, making both blush.
"I must be going now, I need to...buy that thing you asked." Juvia turned to Gajeel with a pleading look.
"Sure. Just don't be late for lunch." He told her and she nodded before hurrying off.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go too. Can't stand another minute of staring at these ridiculous decorations." Gray said, making Mira frown. Before anyone could say anything, he was gone.
"Seems like this is sure to be an interesting Christmas." Cana commented, smirking. The others nodded while Erza, Natsu and Lucy shared looks. Having Gray and Juvia both hate Christmas was not an option that year and they would find a way to convince them to celebrate it with everyone else.
"So, how do we change their minds?" Lucy asked a few hours later, when they were reunited in her apartment, Wendy and Carla having joined them.
"No idea." Natsu said.
"You could give them presents. Everyone loves presents." Happy suggested.
"That sounds more like bribing than convincing." The blonde told him and Erza smiled.
"Yes, but it's not a bad idea." They stared at her curiously.
"So you think we should do it?" Lucy asked, incredulous.
"We'll give them the best gift of all." The red head excitedly said. "Love."
"Love?" Natsu asked, confused.
"So your plan is to like... give them hugs?" Wendy asked and she shook her head.
"No, I didn't mean we actually give them love. We just have to make them realize they already have it." As the dragon slayer stared dumbly, Lucy and Ezra shared knowing looks.
"So you want them to realize that they're in love with each other." The blonde stated and the requip mage nodded.
"Wait, what?" Natsu yelled, standing up from his chair.
"You two are crazy, Gray's not in love with her." Carla reminded them.
"She's got a point." Lucy said, frowning.
"That's where you're wrong." Erza told them, smirking. "I've known Gray for years, so I understand how he works. He's never let anyone get too close and I think you know why." They nodded. It wasn't hard to pick up on the fact that Gray was afraid of losing people after having lost both his parents and master.
"It's no different with Juvia. I mean, they're friends, but that's it." Natsu pointed out and she shook her head.
"No, something's changed over the past few weeks. I think it might have been our visit to Edolas, but Gray's been acting differently towards her." Lucy stared at her in disbelief.
"Really? I haven't noticed it." The red head smiled.
"It's hard to notice unless you really pay attention. But I saw how they've been spending more time together than usual and Gray doesn't seem to mind it. He's also been asking Gajeel about her, wanting to learn more about her likes and dislikes. Not to mention, he's been much happier lately, don't you think?" As they thought about it, they realized it was true.
"Do you really think that he could be falling for her?" Lucy asked. The idea of Gray falling in love with anybody was hard to phantom, seeing as the ice mage was usually so closed.
"Yes, he is. He just needs a little push to realize it." Erza replied.
"So, what do we do?" Natsu went back to the original question.
"The first step is getting them to spend some time together." Erza replied, a smirk on her face as a plan came to mind.
December 21st, X784
Juvia arrived at the main fountain in Magnolia park by 3 pm, just as the letter she had received advised. It had come from Erza, saying there was something urgent they needed to discuss and the bluenette knew better than to ignore something coming from her. She was surprised to find the red head hadn't arrived yet, she was usually very punctual.
Shrugging it off, the water mage sat down on the fountain and patiently waited.
After a few minutes she started to grow anxious, so Juvia decided to distract herself. Using her magic, she made the frozen water of the fountain become liquid once again and then transform into snowflakes. She was glad that none of her friends were there, because it would seem weird considering she had told them that she hated Christmas.
"That's pretty." Someone said, startling her. She quickly turned around and was surprised to spot Gray.
"Gray? What are you doing here?" She made the snowflakes disappear and turned the water back to ice.
"I came to meet Erza. What about you?" He asked, hands finding his pockets.
"So did I. She's running late." The bluenette replied, finding it a bit strange that Erza would suggest a meeting with both of them. It was weird, but then again, when it came to Fairy Tail, there was no such thing as normal.
"That's weird." Gray voiced her thoughts, looking confused.
"I'm guessing she'll try to convince us not to hate on Christmas." Juvia suggested and he shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. She's tried that so many times with me that she eventually just gave up." She stared at him cusiously.
"How long have you hated it for?" He looked taken aback by the question.
"Why do you care?" It hurt to have him still wonder why she cared when she had made her feelings for him clear so many times before. But Juvia knew that boys could be clueless when it came to the matters of the heart and Gray wasn't exactly the open hearted type, so she forced herself to look unaffected by his harshness.
"I'm just curious." His look softened and he shrugged.
"It's been a while since the last time I actually managed to enjoy Christmas time." She wanted to ask more, but felt like the ice mage wouldn't want to share. "What about you?"
"I never liked Christmas." The water mage admitted.
"Why? Didn't you celebrate it with your family?" Gray regretted the words as soon as he said them. It had completely escaped him that Juvia had grown up in an orphanage.
"I wouldn't know, I was so little when my parents..." She paused as a pained expression came to her face and he felt bad for reminding her of them.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad." She gave him a soft smile.
"It's alright. You were just curious." He was once again surprised by her infinite kindness and forgiveness when it came to him.
Gray didn't like it when she treated him so nicely, specially given the way he treated her. It's not that he didn't like her or anything. In fact he thought she was amazing, but he couldn't allow her to get too close. So he acted clueless and indifferent despite knowing how much it must hurt her to have him ignore her clear affection towards him.
He had wanted to change, he really did. After having possibly the most awkward conversation ever with a version of himself (he still couldn't believe there was a world where he was an idiot who wore too many clothes), Gray had began thinking about his relationship with Juvia and the possibilities of where it could lead.
It was no secret that she desired more than just friendship and, as he came to realize, he had been developing feelings for her as well. They had been spending a lot of much time together lately, mainly on missions because she had insisted to accompany him ever since he came back after defeating the Oracion Seis.
Gray had began seeing her company as less of another reason to be uncomfortable and more of an opportunity to learn more about her. He had learned over the past few months that her favorite color was bright blue, because it reminded her of the cloudless sky he had allowed her to see again; her favorite dish were caramade franks that he had introduced her to and her favorite season was spring, because it didn't rain much and the flowers were beautiful.
He wasn't the only one who learned more, during their conversations the ice mage had found himself sharing things he usually never would. It was strange, but he trusted her even though he hadn't known her for long. With Juvia, it was like he could finally allow himself to not care about what he said and thought, about being judged because she never judged him.
Gray found happiness in their latest encounters and he was thankful for it. For many years he gad settled for living life one day at a time and keeping a distance from everyone, but it was different with her. With each day they spent together, the distance would decrease a little and he often wondered what would happen if it disappeared.
Although he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't interested in her, there was no chance that he would ever act on his growing feelings. He knew well enough the price of being close to someone and wasn't ready to pay it again, specially not with someone who understood him as well as Juvia did.
"Do you think Erza will take too long?" Her voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"I don't even know if she's coming anymore." Gray replied, finding it strange that the red head wasn't there yet. If there was one thing about Erza Scarlet that they could be certain of, it's that she was never late.
"Then I guess it's just the two of us. Do you perhaps want to get some caramades?" The water mage shyly asked and Gray tried his best not to smile.
"Sure." He replied before standing up and she did as well. They walked towards the restaurant, unaware that their friends were watching from the distance.
After getting their food and sitting down, Juvia brought up the topic of Christmas once again.
"I know you hate this holiday, but could you tell me what it's like to celebrate it with a family? I always wondered." She spoke softly and Gray was surprised not to find himself angry for once. He always felt uncomfortable and upset when someone wanted to discuss such topic, but something felt different this time.
"Well, I think for each family it's a bit different. When my parents were still alive, we would play in the snow during the day and at night, my mom would bake my favorite cookies and then we'd curl up on the couch and they'd tell me stories about anything." A smile came upon her face as she watched him.
"Sounds fun." He nodded.
"It was." Her smile suddenly turned into a frown.
"What happened to them?" The question caught him off guard. Juvia had always avoided the topic of his parents, understanding it must be a hard topic, and he had appreciated it. He thought about avoiding it once again, but decided not to. This didn't have to be a secret between them.
"They were killed during an attack on our village." He replied after taking in a sharp breath.
"I'm so sorry." Was her immediate response as she placed an unsure hand on top of his. He stared at it with widened eyes and she quickly removed it.
"What about your parents?" He changed the topic and it was her turn to take in a sharp breath.
"I don't know." He raised a brow, disbelieving. "I was too little and the people at the orphanage said that they didn't know for sure."
"That's messed up. They didn't bother telling you about it?" He was incredulous, but Juvia only shrugged.
"They didn't bother much when it came to me. I was a nuisance to them, because of the rain." Pain crossed her face as memories of the worse days came rushing back.
"They were idiots." Gray said, taking her hand in a sudden moment of boldness. "You didn't deserve what they did to you." She stared at him in surprise, blue eyes widened.
"Thank you." She softly told him and before he could say more, someone cleared their throat.
"Hey, you two." Lucy said, making them quickly let go of each other's hand and stare at their friends.
"What are you guys doing here?" Gray asked, gaze focused on Erza.
"I'm sorry I was late for our meeting, something came up." The red head offered, but he was having none of it.
"Cut the crap, Erza. I know you didn't actually plan on meeting neither of us." He shot back and she looked unsurprised.
"Why did you set us up?" Juvia curiously asked.
"We were hoping that if you got to talking about Christmas, you might change your mind about it." Lucy explained and the ice mage sighed.
"Of course. So this was all about changing my mind." He shook his head, frustrated with his friends. "It's not gonna happen, okay? So just give up."
"We're just trying to help, Gray." Erza told him, unaffected by his harshness.
"Maybe we should listen to them, my love." The water mage told him.
"Why?" He frowned.
"Because they're our friends and they want us to be happy." Erza and Lucy smiled.
"That's right. And we think that if you two went to the Christmas Party this year, you would be." The ice mage looked unconvinced.
"I already went last year." The blonde rolled her eyes.
"But this year will be better." Erza told him, smiling. "You won't be alone anymore." He blushed a bit, picking up on the double meaning of her words
"To be honest, I always wanted to go to a Christmas Party." Juvia admitted, making them turn to her. "They didn't allow me to go back at the orphanage, because wherever I went, the rain would follow. That's why I hate Christmas, it reminds me of a time when I didn't have such nice friends like you guys."
"Really? That's cruel." Natsu pointed out and Lucy nodded.
"Those jerks didn't have the right to do that." She shook her head before a smile came upon her face. " But worry not, this year we'll make sure you have the best Christmas ever."
"See, Gray? You should come." Erza told the ice mage while the water mage and celestial wizard hugged.
"Yeah, maybe I should." Gray said, eyes focusing on Juvia. After everything he had heard that day, he realized that his reason for hating Christmas was actually pretty stupid. It was wrong of him to avoid the holiday because it reminded him of his late parents, that should be a good thing. He should be glad that he had great parents with whom he had spent so many amazing holidays, because at least he had the chance to have fun.
Juvia hadn't and if anyone had the right to hate Christmas, it was her. Yet here she was, deciding to change her mind and enjoy being with her friends. Gray knew that the right thing to do was to follow her example. Who knows, maybe this Christmas might bring him more happiness than he could ever imagine it would.
What did you think?
For those readers of Connections who await info on the sequel, everything's going as planned. I've already started writing the first few chapters and the story has been planned up until chapter 15, so it's all good. I hope you'll be able to enjoy it, it will be much darker and more intense than any story I've ever written.