"Are you freakin' kidding me right now!?

"I'm so sorry, Gray-sama! This is all Juvia's fault!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Not even you could cause this much rain...I think."

And with that, Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser found themselves running with all their might, away from the downpour of rain that had suddenly besieged them. After having finished another mission with her beloved Gray-sama, Juvia had worked up the nerve to suggest that they take the more scenic forest route back to the guild. Initially, things had gone smoothly, as the pair enjoyed each other's company, making pleasant conversation whilst being basked in warm sunlight. That all changed however, when torrential rains suddenly attacked the two, sending them desperately looking for shelter. Juvia didn't really mind the rain, being made out of water and all, but the thought of displeasing the love of her life made her frantically depressed.

"There, a cave!" shouted the Ice-make mage as he pointed towards a potential safe haven.

"Juvia sees it as we - wah!" the rain woman of Fairy Tail was about to agree with Gray, when she found herself picked up bridal-style as the ice mage started running headlong towards shelter.

Juvia must be dreaming right now... the bluenette thought to herself hazily as she suddenly found herself in the arms of the man she loved. Their little trip didn't last nearly as long as Juvia would've liked, unfortunately, as she suddenly felt herself being set down in their newfound shelter.

"Juvia wishes you could've held her forever..." the Rain mage muttered to herself dreamily, still stuck between reality and her own little world where she and Gray would suddenly find themselves hot and bothered by their close proximity, and then...

"What was that, Juvia?"

"N-Nothing!" Juvia managed to squeak out, realizing that she had made her last statement out loud.

Gray sweatdropped at his friend's eccentric response. He had come to the conclusion that all women were weirdos from a young age, having dealt with Ur as his teacher for a long time, but Juvia definitely took the cake. Although he had to admit that she did bake really good cakes for him on occasion. 'On occasion' meaning whenever she felt like it and generally for no reason whatsoever. And they say that food is the surest way to a man's heart, wait...what? Gray mentally kicked himself for remembering one of the more useless things that Ur had ever taught him. That particular conversation had come when his teacher had tried to broach the topic of girls with him. Needless to say, at that young age Gray wasn't too interested in the "knowledge" she had to impart. The ice mage sighed as he broke the silence between them.

"Who would've thought that all this rain would come out of nowhere like this." Gray said pensively, as he contemplated the sudden weather change.

"Juvia doesn't know how this happened either." the rain mage agreed, though her voice held hints of sorrow.

"Hey, come on." Gray started, noting his friend's unease. "I'm not saying it's your fault. Rain isn't even really all that bad, either. This rain just came out of nowhere, is all." he concluded, attempting to put Juvia's conscience at rest.

"Do you mean that, Gray-sama?" Juvia asked as she looked up at her love with eyes resembling those of a sad puppy's.

Damn she's cute when she's like this... the Ice-make mage found himself thinking, before reprimanding himself. She's just a friend, moron. Don't think things like that.

Despite the unease swirling in his thoughts, he put on his best smile. " 'Course I do, Juvia." he stated, attempting to reassure the woman in front of him.

Needless to say, Juvia felt herself melting at the sight of her love's bright smile. If she wasn't careful, she felt like she might actually turn into water. Although, a thought suddenly came up, one which caused her some sadness, as she pulled her knees up to her face. Gray looked over and noted the sudden change of mood in the rain woman.

"Somethin' wrong, Juvia?" he inquired, casually.

"Juvia...Juvia just remembers some...things about her past. That's all." the bluenette stated, trying not to worry Gray too much.

"You can tell me about it." the Ice-make mage said, trying to reassure his suddenly depressed teammate. "We're friends after all, right?" he concluded, offering her an encouraging smile. Juvia looked back up at her beloved, giving a small smile of her own in return.

"Juvia just remembers the men from her past." the Rain mage said, sadness in her tone. "All of Juvia's relationships always turned out the same way because none of them ever liked the rain. Juvia always caused nothing but gloom." she finished her explanation, her voice soft and wistful. Juvia buried her face in her knees to hide the shame on her face when she felt something pulling her. She looked up, only to find Gray suddenly sitting beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her close to his body. "Heaven" was something she professed to feeling almost daily whenever she laid eyes upon her Gray-sama, but this was something else.

"G-Gray-sama?" the bluenette stammered, her voice barely a whisper at that point.

"I don't feel 'gloom' when I'm with you. In fact, I'm plenty happy when you're around." the Ice-make mage stated thoughtfully, looking away from the woman beside him. "They don't know what they're missin' out on. Any man would be lucky to have you by his side." he concluded, tightening his grasp on his teammate's shoulder, pulling her deeper towards the warmth of his body.

Juvia felt herself about to evaporate into steam at her beloved's words.

"Does Gray-sama really think so?" she asked. Juvia knew that Gray wasn't one to throw around such words without meaning them, but she desperately wanted to hear her beloved Gray-sama affirm his previous statement. It was a little selfish, she figured, but really, when did moments like these ever present themselves? She still felt a lingering suspicion that this was all a dream.

Gray sighed at his partner's disbelief. "Come on, Juvia." he insisted with a light chuckle. "Why aren't you believing anything I say today?"

"N-No, Juvia believes you!" the Rain mage stammered, not wanting to lose her beloved's trust.

"Well...I mean," Gray started, closing his eyes in thought. Juvia blinked at her teammate for a while before realizing he was going to attempt to justify his statement about her being a great catch, despite her insistence that she believed him.

"You're a great cook for one thing." the ice mage continued.

Juvia knew her delicious food would beguile Gray-sama one day! the rain woman thought to herself jubilantly.

"And you're incredibly thoughtful. And kind. You're really loyal, too."

Amidst Gray's sea of compliments, Juvia felt as if she was about to drown. And drowning wasn't a sensation that a Rain mage such as herself should ever feel.

"You ain't bad on the eyes, either." Gray added, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Juvia's eyes widened in shock. Did Gray-sama just compliment Juvia's looks? she thought to herself incredulously, before promptly taking note of what she was wearing. Maybe Juvia never has to change again...No, Gray-sama wouldn't like that. Lost in her thoughts, Juvia instinctively moved herself closer towards her beloved, sighing contentedly as she rested her head against his chest. Feeling his body heat up despite himself, the Ice-make mage gazed at the blue-haired beauty currently making use of his body as a makeshift couch.

Come now, surely you've taken notice of her feelings for you...

Gray inwardly groaned as he remembered Erza's words during the Grand Magic Games. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Juvia's feelings were, in fact, glaringly obvious to him. There was no way they couldn't be. However, the Ice-make mage wasn't one to act impulsively on such feelings. He knew of the perils that such feelings presented to friendships. Gray had always liked keeping things status-quo, but Juvia's feelings threatened to burst the bubble of safety that he liked to keep himself in. Still, he found himself drawn in by the woman's obsessive desire for anything having to do with him. It was fascinating, really. He never fancied himself a lady-killer like Loke or someone like that, but more and more, he was beginning to find that he didn't mind Juvia's craziness all that much. Crazy was pretty much what Fairy Tail was all about, anyway.

Gray chuckled a little to himself, amused by his thoughts of the whole situation. Am I getting drawn into her feelings too? he wondered to himself.

"What's so funny, Gray-sama?" the Rain mage asked, looking up to behold what she believed to be the most handsome face ever to grace Earthland.

"Maybe..." Gray started, his tone contemplative. "Maybe all those things are why Lyon's so into you, huh?" he finished his thought. Gray knew it wasn't right to tease the girl in his arms so, but he figured some harmless joking couldn't hurt.

Juvia looked up, her expression aghast as she attempted to make things clear. "Juvia doesn't want to be with Lyon-sama!" she stated, her voice soft but fierce. "Juvia doesn't want to be taken away! Juvia just...Juvia just.." the rain woman attempted to confess her feelings to her love, but found herself unable to unlock her heart's deepest desire. Juvia's just a big coward after all she thought to herself dejectedly. How much longer could she keep these feelings within her heart until they ruined everything she had with her Gray-sama, she wondered. Juvia was about to put her head down in defeat when she felt a slight force of resistance to that action. As she stopped to wonder what was going on, she discovered that her face was being moved upwards, forcing her to stare Gray in his eyes. Gray had cupped the Rain mage's chin gently, as he gave her a small, apologetic smile.

"I won't let that happen, then." the Ice-make mage offered reassuringly. "No one's going to take you away from me. Especially not that crazy bastard." he concluded, his voice firm and resolute. Juvia could hardly believe her ears at Gray's strong words.

"No one's going to take Juvia away..." she started, attempting to quote what her beloved had said.

"No one."

"...From Gray-sama?"

Crap, is that really how I said it? the ice mage thought to himself. He hadn't meant to make that statement sound so...possessive. And yet, he found his body making movements that were very much despite himself. He reached down and kissed Juvia on top of her blue-haired head.

"D-Did Gr-Gray-sama just..." Juvia stammered, her voice five times higher than normal. Needless to say, the Rain mage couldn't believe what had just transpired. She felt her heart about to give out on her, though she figured that wouldn't be quite so bad if the object of her affections could quickly resuscitate her through means of mouth-to-mouth.

Gray could hardly believe what he had done, either. Damn weather's getting to my head he attempted to rationalize, though even Gray wasn't sure how the rain had just made him kiss the woman beside him. However, he knew that what had happened wasn't a mistake. Clearly, there was something to the idea of the two of them being together that wasn't so...crazy, after all. In typical Gray fashion, however, the Ice-make mage lived up to his cool reputation.

"What?" he asked, a smile on his face. "It's like I said. Ain't no one takin' you away from me. Not now, not ever." he concluded.

"J-Juvia isn't mentally prepared for this yet, though." the Rain woman squeaked out.

Gray sweatdropped. He could've sworn that her feelings for him had been going on for quite some time now. What could she not be prepared for?

"What do you mean?" the Ice-make mage asked, tentatively, only to find his partner's eyes wide, and her face a burning red.

"Don't tease Juvia so, Gray-sama!"

"No, seriously, what do you mean?"

"...Why else would Gray-sama be holding Juvia in only his..." the Rain mage trailed off, nervously contemplating if her first time would indeed be in a cave with her Gray-sama. This prompted the black-haired Ice-make mage to look down to see what Juvia was talking about...and he immediately paled in horror as he found that somewhere during their conversation, he'd once again - somehow - stripped down to nothing but his underwear.

"Goddamnit, not again!"

Read, (please) review, favorite, or do whatever you want. Everyone's feedback really does mean a lot to me. :P I usually write NaLu stuff (check out my profile for those fics), but I absolutely adore Gruvia as well. So I just had to write a fic for them. :D