Transcendent
summary; Most people, when they're told they have 24 hours to solve a case would do actual police work. Juvia Lockser is not most people.
chapter 1; a party and a proposal
"No."
"Cana, you promised."
Cana wrinkled her nose in disgust as she stared at the weird cloak-like coat Lucy was brandishing in front of her, "I did no such thing!"
"Just put it on," Lucy sighed, "they're going to be here soon. And don't forget this," she fished around the large box near them and tugged out a clear ball.
Cana snorted, and wondered how many glasses of prosecco Lucy had drunk that afternoon. That had to be the only explanation for the madness that was suddenly unfurling.
"Are you drunk?"
"Am I what?" Lucy raised an eyebrow at her, "Cana, in about ten minutes I'm going to have a house full of screaming ten year olds and you're asking me if I'm drunk?"
"That sounds like the perfect reason to ge-"
"Cana," Lucy hissed, "are you going to wear the coat or not?"
"Not," she huffed, gesturing to the ball by Lucy's side, "add that with the coat and I'm going to look like frickin' Mystic Meg."
"Fine."
Cana blinked. That had been easy. Way too easy.
"Fine...?" she asked nervously, deciding she didn't like the sudden dangerous glint in Lucy's eyes.
"Fine!" Lucy repeated, sounding decidedly happier, "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice."
Ignoring Cana's sudden splutters, Lucy marched over to the door, flung it open and hollered at the top of her lungs, "Noah! Can you come in here please, Aunty Cana's just putting on her costume."
"You witch," Cana hissed, glaring daggers at Lucy, "using Noah is cheating and you know it."
"I'm not denying I cheated," Lucy shrugged, shooting Cana a sly grin as she ushered her son through the door.
"Woah it looks so cool!" he whistled as he fingered the coat Lucy had in her arms, "is this what you're wearing Aunty Cana?"
She wanted to say no. She really, really wanted to say no. But how could she? Not when her nine-year-old (soon to be 10) godson was grinning up at her with those huge cherub like brown eyes and that mop of messy red hair. Christ, he was adorable. And Lucy knew it.
Shooting her friend the most subtle glare she could muster whilst in the presence of her son, she then turned to Noah and grinned, "of course I am, I wouldn't let you down!"
"Awesome!" he cheered with all the exuberance of a child knowing he was about to spend the next few hours being plied with cake, jelly, balloons and gifts.
Grinning triumphantly, Lucy ushered her son out, promising she'd come and help him tie up his "Happy Birthday Noah" banner in a moment. Once he'd left the room, hollering for Natsu at the top of his lungs, Lucy turned to Cana and chucked the coat at her.
"Glad we've got that settled."
"You owe me," Cana grumbled, as shoved her arms into the sleeves of the ridiculously large, shimmery blue, coat that had a high collar and cape that would probably send Edna Mode into cardiac arrest, "big time."
"Well you shouldn't have mentioned being psychic to Noah. You know how when he gets something in his mind he doesn't quit."
"I didn't think he'd believe me! Nobody ever believes me straight away."
"You told a nine year old you were psychic. What else did you expect? Now, hurry up. The kids will be here soon."
Still grumbling under her breath, Cana fixed the coat properly around her and scooped up the clear ball from earlier, "this supposed to be my crystal ball?"
"Yes. And you better use it!"
"I'm not even that kind of psychic."
"Yes, well, the kids don't know that so get into the act."
Sighing a little, Cana heaved the weird clear ball into her arms and obediently followed Lucy to the living room where Natsu was setting up for the party.
When she had mentioned to her godson a few weeks ago that she was psychic (and he better drop the multipack of crisps behind his back before she snitched on him) she had been momentarily amused by his enthusiasm on the subject. They had spent the better part of an hour discussing her strange powers, with Noah begging her to tell him his future - despite Cana telling him over and over again that 'it doesn't work like that, kid!'. Eventually their discussion moved towards his upcoming birthday party he decided that he'd very much like to have a real live psychic at his birthday party: "Esme had a snake, but mum won't let me have a snake, but I know she'll let me have a psychic!" And before Cana had the chance to protest, he was running over to Lucy to tell him.
Fast forward two weeks and here she was, dressed in a shimmery blue cape, holding a crystal ball, and about to sit crossed legged on the floor behind some cardboard boxes that had been cut out to look like a booth at the fairground.
"Oh come on," she whined as she glanced at the makeshift booth, "this is so corny. You're making a mockery of my powers!"
The doorbell rang and Cana heard Natsu yell, "I'll get it!" followed by the sound of Noah's excited footsteps as he rushed to the door to greet his friends.
"Once again, they're children. To them, this will look cool, so sit down, smile, and put on your best 'I'm all knowing' voice."
"How's this for all knowing? I will exact my revenge on you," Cana grumbled as she plopped to the floor and peeked out from the cut out square in her cardboard box, "mark my words, I wi-"
She was cut off as about fifteen children stampeded in Lucy's living room, screeching and singing and with arms full of gifts.
Lucy paled as she watched one of them leap onto her couch, their swinging feet barely missing the ornaments she had placed on her coffee table.
"Ah, lets take off our shoes shall we?" she said quickly as she hurried over to them. Cana grinned, deciding that having to deal with fifteen hyperactive nine and ten year olds was revenge enough.
"Hey, did you guys see? I've got a psychic!" Noah pointed at Cana in her makeshift fairground booth and suddenly fifteen pairs of tiny eyes were zoning in on her.
"Oh...crap."
.
.
.
Cana was not one for exaggerations. She preferred to tell it like it was - it was just easier that way. So when she glanced up, after half an hour of making up fortunes for excitable children, and watched as Natsu gave a blue-haired woman as bear-hug, and thought "God. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life", she was not exaggerating.
She was tall, trumping Natsu by an inch or two, with cropped dark blue hair and skin the colour of sunkissed sand. She half laughed, a weird throaty chuckle that had Cana's ears perking up, half shrieked as Natsu span her around.
"We didn't think you'd make it!"
The woman laughed again and patted down her hair as Natsu set her down, a shy smile tugging at her lips. She said something Cana couldn't quite make out, but Natsu nodded and grinned and the woman chuckled.
"Juvia!"
Cana watched as Lucy ran into the room, looking slightly frazzled (and with a Noah sized cake handprint splattered on her front), and smiled warmly at the woman Cana had to assume was named Juvia.
Lucy moved to hug her but paused and gestured at the cake mess that was slowly sliding down her shirt, "we can hug later, I don't want to ruin your uniform."
Cana dragged her gaze back to Juvia, belatedly realising that she was wearing a uniform. A police uniform. She raised an eyebrow as she watched Juvia hand Lucy a small present, wrapped in bright orange wrapping paper, before Noah came running in.
"Aunty Juvia!"
Juvia said something to him, (damn it, why did she speak so quietly?) that made him laugh before she crouched down and gave him a quick hug.
"Hey," Noah turned to Cana and grabbed Juvia's hand, "have you seen my psychic?"
Before she had a chance to answer, Noah was dragging Juvia across the living room and before Cana knew it, she was standing in front of her.
"Aunty Cana, this is Aunty Juvia - tell her, her future!"
"Noah, your friends are waiting for you outside," Natsu came over and easily lifted his son into the air, "go and be a good host."
Cana laughed as Noah struggled in his father's arms to no avail as he hollered about wanting to watch Juvia get her future told.
"Sorry, he's as excitable as ever," Lucy sighed, leaning against Cana's booth, "Juvia, this is my friend Cana from university. Cana, Juvia is Natsu's friend from way back."
Cana grinned up at Juvia and stuck out her hand, "nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Juvia gripped Cana's hand and shook it tightly.
For what felt like an age, time seemed to stop. Cana was no longer in Lucy's living room, she was in her home sitting on her couch and flicking through a magazine. The doorbell rang and she frowned and glanced at her phone. It was late and she wasn't expecting anyone. The doorbell rang again and she hesitantly got up from her seat.
"Coming, coming," she called, slouching down the corridor. She hesitated as she got to the door before peering through the peep-hole.
Juvia was standing outside her door, chewing her bottom lip as she glanced around nervously.
Cana frowned and pulled open the door.
And then she was back in Lucy's living room, still dumbly holding on to Juvia's hand. It felt like an age had passed but, in reality, only a matter of seconds had.
Juvia smiled, unaware of what had just transpired between them, and dropped Cana's hand, "so, you're a real psychic?"
Still reeling from the vision, Cana could only nod. There were so many questions running through her mind. Namely, why would Juvia come to her house?
"Will you tell Juvia her future?"
She sat down in front of her and Lucy laughed.
"It doesn't work like that," Lucy said, "it's random. Sometimes Cana will touch an object or a person, and she'll see something. She's just been messing around with the kids today."
Juvia pouted and Cana nearly cooed. She looked adorable.
"Juvia would have liked to know her future."
Shaking herself out of her stupor, Cana grinned and grabbed Juvia's hand, "I'm sure we can work out something. Ah yes, you're due to meet a beautiful brunette and...what's this?" she pretended to gasp as she ran a finger down the lines on Juvia's palm, "you'll go out for a drink with the beautiful brunette?" she dropped Juvia's hand and winked at her, laughing as Juvia's cheeks reddened and a shy laugh fell from her lips.
"Stop flirting with my friends," Lucy grumbled, kicking the makeshift booth.
"I wasn't flirting, I was simply telling her, her future."
"About a beautiful brunette?"
"Exactly."
"And it's just a coincidence that you happen to be a beautiful brunette."
"Of course."
Juvia laughed loudly, covering her mouth with her hand, before she pushed herself up from the floor, "it was lovely meeting you Cana. Maybe one day you can tell Juvia her real fortune?"
"You're going already?" Lucy frowned, "you just got here."
Juvia smiled apologetically, "Juvia is working on a difficult case that needs to be solved quickly," she sighed, "when Juvia solves the case she'll have more free time to come and see you guys."
Pouting a little, Lucy nodded, "fine, let me go and wrap you a slice of cake to take home anyway. Come on." Juvia followed Lucy to the kitchen, giving Cana one last wave before they disappeared into the room.
Cana stared after them, wondering what she should do. Her vision had shown her Juvia turning up at her doorstep unannounced sometime in the near future for some reason she couldn't fathom. There was only one problem with that. Juvia didn't know where she lived.
Cana hummed as she leaned back onto her palms and considered her options. She could just wait it out, there were many ways Juvia could get her address. She could ask Lucy for one. Hell, she was a police officer, Cana was fairly certain it wouldn't take much digging for Juvia to find out her address. But Cana didn't like leaving things up to chance.
Making her decision, she crawled out from behind her booth and tugged open the coffee table drawer, snatching a pencil and a piece of paper from it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lucy walking Juvia to the door - a large piece of cake wrapped in foil in her arms. As quickly as she could, Cana scrawled her address on the paper, folded it into quarters and quickly jumped up.
"What're you do-"
Cana brushed past Lucy, who was now making her way back to the living room, and flung open the front door to find Juvia walking down the pathway.
"Uh," she cleared her throat, "hey, Juvia."
She paused and turned around, "Cana?" she smiled and Cana swallowed, "did I forget something?"
Resisting the urge to use a ridiculously cheesy pick-up line, Cana simply grinned and handed Juvia the piece of paper.
"What's this?" Juvia frowned, and unfolded the paper, "this is...this...this is you-"
"My address, yep," Cana shrugged, "you said you wanted to know your real fortune one day. Let me know when," she waved at Juvia and quickly turned on her heel to stop her from handing back the address in confusion.
As she reentered Natsu and Lucy's home, she glanced back at Juvia to see her slowly walking down the pathway, eyes still glued on the piece of paper Cana had handed her.
.
.
.
She was tired. After the kids had left, she'd stayed for a little longer to help Natsu and Lucy tidy up. But that had ended up in a two hour gave of hide and seek with Noah and, she was embarrassed to admit, he had won. Though he had an unfair advantage, it was his house, and she was fairly certain Natsu had been helping him.
Now home, and fresh from an amazing bubble bath, she wanted nothing more than to sink into her favourite armchair with a box of chocolate and her current favourite show (OITNB) blaring from her TV. She flicked through the Netflix channels, trying to remember what episode she'd watched last. Annoyingly, Mira had spent the night not too long ago, and had gone through her Netflix watching all her favourite shows and ruining her 'last watched' system.
As she flicked through the episodes, her thoughts drifted to Juvia, the cute police officer from earlier. She flushed slightly as she recalled how confused Juvia had looked when she had thrust her address into her hands. Being a psychic was annoying sometimes.
She couldn't very well say, "listen doll, you're going to come to my house one night so I'm giving you my address so you know where I live," so she had just settled for awkwardly flirting and hoping Juvia wasn't too freaked out not to chuck her address away as soon as she was out of sight.
If she was honest with herself, she was kind of looking forward to meeting Juvia again. But mostly, she was intrigued. She wanted to know what the circumstances were that would lead to Juvia knocking on her door.
She landed on the correct episode and she sighed happily as she sunk deeper into her chair, ready to descend into an Orange Is The New Black Netflix marathon.
And then, the doorbell rang. Freezing for a moment, she frowned and glanced at her phone. It was late and she wasn't expecting anyone. The doorbell rang again and she hesitantly got up from her seat.
"Coming, coming," she called, slouching down the corridor. She hesitated as she got to the door before peering through the peep-hole.
Juvia was standing outside her door, chewing her bottom lip as she glanced around nervously.
Cana frowned and pulled open the door.
Despite knowing just exactly who she was going to find out there, the sight of the woman frowning nervously up at her was still surprising.
"Ah…" Juvia cleared her throat, "Miss Alberona? Can...can Juvia come in?"
Cana nodded and stepped aside, allowing Juvia to walk into the apartment.
"Is everything ok Juvia?"
Juvia nodded, waiting politely for Cana to close the door, "you...you gave Juvia your address earlier today."
Cana's cheeks reddened, "yeah, that was…" she trailed off, deciding she didn't particularly want to let the pretty blue haired police officer know that was partly because of her weird attempt at flirting. Instead she cleared her throat, "can I help you with anything?"
Juvia hesitated before she nodded again, "Juvia has...Juvia has a problem at work."
Cana cocked her head to the side in confusion, "I'm afraid I'm not sure how I can help you there, doll," the term of endearment slipped out without her permission, and she could feel her cheeks flaring up again.
But either Juvia didn't notice, or she simply didn't care, because she stepped forwards and grabbed one of Cana's hands, cupping it in her own, "you can!" she said earnestly, "Juvia has a case she cannot solve, so Juvia needs your help!"
For a moment or two, Cana wondered if she had fallen asleep in the bathtub earlier and she was currently having a bubble bath induced dream. A pretty girl had turned up at her doorstep begging for help? It had to be a dream. As subtly as she could, she pinched herself. Though apparently she wasn't subtle enough, because Juvia frowned and took a step backwards.
"Why did you pinch yourself?"
"Just making sure this isn't a dream," she murmured, rubbing the area on her arm she'd attacked, "and judging by the throbbing pain I'm feeling, it's not."
"Ah."
"Mhm," Cana hummed, acutely aware of the fact that this was not going very well, "can you explain a little more, I'm not sure how I can help yet." She moved towards her living room and gestured for Juvia to make herself at home.
"Want something to drink?"
"Juvia is fine, thank you," she said as she settled herself into Cana's favourite armchair, "Juvia has been working a case for nearly a year. A string of robberies."
Cana nodded, "and I can help, how?"
"You're a psychic, aren't you?"
"I...I mean...yes?"
"Juvia does not mean to sound forward, but Juvia has 24 hours to solve this case. Juvia is out of leads and," she shrugged helplessly, "Juvia is willing to try anything at this point."
For a second or two, all Cana could do was blink at the blue haired police officer. She'd come to terms with the fact that this was definitely not a dream, but now she had to wonder if she was being pranked. Was Lucy behind this? It definitely sounded like something Natsu would find funny. Hell, she wouldn't have been surprised if Noah was in on it as well.
"Juvia knows this sounds ridiculous."
"You've got that right, doll."
"But Juvia is out of options."
"So you came to a psychic?" Cana leaned forwards, cupping her chin in her palm, "how do you know I'm not faking?"
Juvia blinked, as if the idea hadn't even occurred to her, "you said you were a real psychic."
"People over the age of ten don't tend to believe me normally."
"Juvia believes you."
Cana frowned, her mouth opening and closing in disbelief a few times before she shut it - lest she say something stupid. Nobody ever believed her straight away. It had taken almost six months of living together at university for Lucy to finally accept that maybe, just maybe, Cana had powers. Natsu still didn't believe her, ("Natsu, she predicted what you'd say on our wedding day!" "She got lucky!"). Mirajane only just accepted her powers, despite their friendship spanning almost a decade. Laxus said he believed her, but once or twice she'd caught him shaking his head when he thought she couldn't see him. And then there was Gray, who seemed to hover between believing her and thinking she was part of some elaborate plan with Laxus to embarrass him (which wasn't to say they weren't).
And here was Juvia. Staring at her with the most trusting expression Cana had ever seen in her life. Juvia believed her. Straight away. She wasn't entirely sure how to deal with that.
"If you don't want to, that's ok! Juvia just thought she should ask."
"No, no," Cana sighed, rubbing her temple a little, "I want to help. This is just going to take some getting used to."
"What is?"
"Most people assume I'm lying when I tell them I'm psychic. It usually takes a lot of convincing to get them to think otherwise."
"Why would you lie?" she cocked her head to the side, her thin brows furrowing as her lips pursed a little. She seemed genuinely confused.
Christ, Cana thought, desperately trying to ignore the little ba-dump, ba-dump in her chest as she stared at Juvia, she's so trusting.
"Because of situations like this," she sighed, "I could be a con-artist."
"Juvia does not think you're a con-artist," she laughed, that weird throaty chuckle from before, "Juvia can tell you're an honest person."
Cana snorted, "go to a few casinos downtown and tell them that."
Juvia laughed again and Cana had to physically stop herself from clutching her heart.
"Juvia is a police-officer so Juvia has good intuition," she smiled brightly, "you're not lying so, Juvia trusts you. So...will you work with Juvia?"
And with a smile like that, how could Cana say no?
A/N: *christens new account with some Juvana*
BIRTHDAY FIC FOR SILV WHO DESERVES ALL THE JUVANA GOODNESS IN THE WORLD! Happy Birthday bb :)
I'd be super grateful if you read this if you leave a review pleeeasseeee and also there is a part 2 coming soooooon!