Appreciating the Rain

The day and a half between the Battle of Fairy Tail and the Fantasia parade was hectic. Granted, Gray Fullbuster was used to the Fairy Tail's chaos. What he wasn't used to was the amount of people in the guild's clinic. Master Makarov was forcing every member of the guild to get a checkup after all the fighting, whether they were terribly injured or not.

What a mess, Gray thought as he leaned his back against one of the pillars with his arms across his clothed chest. Right now, at least twenty people were back in the clinic while he stood in the main area. Erza, Natsu, Gajeel, Juvia, Mirajane, Elfman, Lucy, Levy, and Master were just a few that were back there (though to be fair, Levy was only there to play nurse and keep track of the medicine they were giving out. Gray didn't have his turn yet, but he didn't think he needed much care; he put ice on his wounds and he was just fine. No, others needed the medical attention much more than he did.

One person in particular was on his mind. Juvia.

All the guildmates were gathered in this main room, recounting the battles that they fought with one another. Most were still curious about who was the strongest person in the guild and how someday, they'd need to have rematches. Gray didn't care about that; he knew he would have won against Bickslow if he hadn't fought dirty. And besides, he had the power to protect Magnolia from the lacramas. That was a good enough testimony of his strength.

Droy and Jet recounted their battle with Alzack with only slight bitterness. Reedus conveyed his terror of Freed. Elfman argued that he couldn't fight well against Evergreen because she was a woman and not a man. Talking. Recounting. Bragging. Boring. Pointless.

The story that was on Gray's mind now was the story that Cana proudly told: The story of Juvia. When Cana and Juvia were contained and forced to fight another, Juvia took a different path. "Freed insulted her," Cana had said. "He called her…a Phantom Tramp. As soon as he did, she turned so serious—Well, more serious than she already was. She asked Freed one more time if he would fight the winner of the match. He assured her he would. And then before I even realized what was happening, Juvia was soaring into the sky."

At this point, the room around Cana had fallen silent. Good thing, too, because her next words were spoken in an uncharacteristically small voice. "She said that instead of hurting a friend, she'd rather open the path. She attacked the lacrima and risked her life so she wouldn't have to hurt me. She was the only person who overcame Freed's rules, even though it cost her a lot. It almost killed her."

Gray couldn't stop thinking about that story, even though Cana told that story over an hour ago. Instead of injuring her nakama when everyone else would have, Juvia flew to the sky and destroyed the lacrama. She proved that she'd rather get hurt herself than to cause pain to another friend. She's a better Fairy Tail nakama than half the people here, he thought with slight anger. What right did Freed have to call her a Phantom Tramp? She was Fairy Tail, obviously.

Finally, someone emerged from the room.

There she was. Her spiked blue hair lost some of its volume throughout the day, hanging straightly along the sides of her face. It hindered his view of her face, and the bandage that was over her right cheek. It hindered it; it didn't cover it completely. Even seeing a small wound made him feel…uneasy.

"There she is, the woman of the hour!" Cana called from her side of the room. The drunken brunette had a way of getting all the attention on her, whether it was because of her loud and boisterous voice or because of her bikini top. Either way, all other side conversations ceased as Gray's guildmates shifted their eyes to Juvia. Someone in the crowd began to clap appreciatively. It was a slow, awkward clap after a second, since nobody else joined him.

It wasn't that they didn't want to praise Juvia; it was that clapping was too formal for them. Two seconds later, the whooping and hollering broke out.

"That's our Juvia!" someone called out.

"One of the only people to be shown in a positive light today. I'm so jealous, man."

"Juvia, you're so cool!"

Meanwhile, Juvia stood in the clinic's doorway in stunned silence. Even after digesting all the kind words and praise, she hardly even blushed. Gray assumed that maybe it was because she didn't believe them. But why wouldn't she believe them? Everything they were saying was true.

Cana, already drunk after a hard day, approached Juvia and wrapped her arm around the blunette's shoulders. "Glad you're back, Juvia."

"Cana-san…"

"Everyone here's really proud of you," she said with a sincere smile. "See? Look at all of them, cheering for you, our nakama."

Slowly, Juvia's eyes wandered over the group. It was massive, too; over sixty Fairy Tail members remained in that room, and all of them were cheering for her. The words were varied, but the message was the same: Juvia, you are our nakama.

When Juvia finally began to accept the praise, a blush crept into her lips. Gray saw a lot of Juvia; lately, he had begun to notice how she often appeared wherever he was…like a stalker. Or a fangirl. Fairy Tail members often had fans because of the guild's popularity, and because of the guild's inexplicable ability to require attractive members. Gray always knew that Juvia was a kind girl even with her habits, but seeing her so sincere now with that blush and small, warm smile, made him feel happy. He knew that Juvia was so much more than a fangirl.

Cana released Juvia from her arm and went back to the crowd who also settled down and went back to their stories. At first, Juvia still stood in the doorway. And then she felt comfortable enough to work her way into the crowd. Even though Gray had been standing off to the side, he casually joined the crowd, even if their arguments about strength were pointless in the face of Juvia's heroic actions.

He casually worked his way over to the side of the group where she was. She really must have been shocked by the praise, because she didn't even notice him until he was right next to her. "You alright, Juvia?"

She jumped, looking over at him in shock. "Gray-sama?"

Jeez, why are you looking at me like that? he thought. Then he guessed that it made sense; he wasn't the type of guy to start too many conversations, especially not with "fangirls". But she was a friend foremost. "Yeah?" he asked then. Do I need to say it again?

Apparently he didn't have to, because after a few seconds, she collected herself and answered the original question. "Juvia is fine," she assured him calmly. "Are you alright, Gray-sama?"

"I'm fine," he said. "No new scars to show off though," he added in disappointment

"Juvia is glad," she said with a small smile. Gray couldn't help but match it—that sincere smile and soft gaze was so much more appealing than her other side. He wasn't the type of guy who could easily be swayed by a girl's smile, but there was something about Juvia's that actually made him forget for a moment why he worked his way over to her.

Upon remembering it, he scratched the side of his head as he briefly glanced over to the side. "Say, Juvia…"

"Yes?" she asked gently.

"I wanted to say that…You did good today."

"Um, yes," Juvia said as she gazed down towards her feet. The topic must have made her uncomfortable again, or at least self-conscious. Even without Gray getting into any detail, she formed a response. "Juvia didn't want to fight Cana-san. She's my nakama."

"You didn't have any urge to fight Freed?" he inquired. "But he called you…" He was having a hard time repeating it, just as Cana did. A Phantom Tramp.

"Freed said mean words," Juvia agreed. "But Juvia would never hurt her nakama, even if it did mean forcing Freed to take his comments back."

Gray had been avoiding Juvia's eyes up until this point since the conversation was so awkward, but this time, he had to. "You acted more like a Fairy Tail member than everyone else did during all that fighting."

Juvia's present blush increased to match the shade of Erza's scarlet hair. "Juvia is happy to hear that," she said, though her tone expressed some uncertainty.

"Juvia," he said. "I mean it. And I wanted to let you know…That you are a nakama of Fairy Tail. Ever since you joined, that's all anyone has seen you as."

The blunette smiled and finally met his eyes shyly. "Is Juvia your nakama, Gray-sama?"

Gray glanced away once more, scoffing. "Tch. What kind of a question is that?" Apparently Juvia thought it was a real question; when he looked back up, she was staring at him intently. He bit back the urge to scoff again as he stood up straighter. "Of course you're my nakama."

Juvia didn't give any response to Gray. There was no time to. At that moment, Master called Gray back to the clinic to treat his wounds. It was good timing, since Gray didn't know how to end the conversation. He started back to the clinic while leaving Juvia to think through the words.

Erza was waiting outside, apparently finished with her examination. "Gray," she said in a surprised tone. "Did you just start a conversation with Juvia?"

"Yeah…?" he said. Is there a problem with that?

Though the question was obviously implied by Gray's tone, she simply responded with a knowing smile. "I see…" Without offering any explanation, she stepped out of the way and started walking towards everyone else in the guild. Gray followed her with his eyes, the teen turning and laying eyes on the group. Juvia's blue hair stuck out to him and drew his attention to her face. Panic struck his heart for a brief second.

Juvia was crying.

No, wait…She was crying, but there was something other than tears on her face. There was a smile too.

Jeez, he thought again. He shook his head and smiled faintly as he turned around and walked into the clinic. Juvia sure was a rain-woman. But he was beginning to appreciate the beauty of the rain.