Chapter 1: The Rain Outside

It was a rainy day in Magnolia and Lucy was alone. She was sitting on her bed with her book by her side. She didn't feel in the mood for reading and she couldn't really think of anything else to do. So she just sat there and listened to the gentle pitter patter of the rain on her window. A few minutes past when she heard a knock on her door. She walked over to her door and glanced at her clock. Who would be visiting me at 9pm? She opened her door to find a sobbing bluenette.

"Juvia?! What's wrong? Please, come in." Lucy stepped aside and gestured to her bed. Juvia walked in with her arms swinging loosely by her sides. She looked extremely depressed. Lucy closed the door and went to join sit next to her on the bed.

"Juvia is sorry for barging in on Lucy-san. Juvia had nowhere else to go." The bluenette sobbed. Lucy placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She looked more closely at Juvia's face and realised that she had been crying for some time.

"No, no. It's okay. I wasn't really doing anything anyway. What's wrong?" Lucy heard the rain grow stronger and noticed that Juvia was about to burst into tears.

"Juvia feels so sad!" Juvia cried. Her flow of tears were so sudden that Lucy almost jumped at the sudden out-burst.

"Why are you sad?" Lucy asked. She tried to comfort her by gently rubbing her back but it didn't seem to making any difference.

"Juvia feels so frustrated!" Juvia calmed down a little, but not a lot. Her tears were still flowing down her cheeks. "Juvia is so frustrated with Gray!" She cried. Lucy blinked a few times to let the words sink in. Juvia didn't say 'Gray-sama' and… wait. Did she just say that she was frustrated with him?! Lucy thought to herself. This wasn't like Juvia at all. No matter what the situation was, she would always love Gray. She could never seem to find any fault with him.

"Wait, Juvia? What happened with Gray?" Lucy was suddenly concerned. If he did anything to her… he was going to have to answer to her and Erza. No man could stand up against Lucy AND the Great Titania.

"Nothing! That is Juvia's point! No matter what Juvia does… she cannot seem to gain Gray's attention! Juvia has tried for so long just to earn one moment with him… but Juvia cannot!" Juvia clenched her fists in frustration. "Juvia swears that man is hopeless!" Lucy looked stunned. Juvia giving up on Gray? No. Not their Juvia. The Juvia she knew would always love Gray. She would never give up. The Juvia before her was different.

"Juvia… is there anything else that's happened? The Juvia I know would never give up. Anything else that has happened?" Lucy tried. There must be something else.

"Well… Juvia does not think so. Although… Juvia did go on a mission a while ago where something happened. A mage cast some sort of spell on Juvia." Juvia had calmed down a lot now. Her breathing had calmed down and her tears had stopped. The rain outside had grown weaker too.

"Can you remember anything about this spell?" Lucy asked.

"Well, the man told Juvia that she would have to change to reach her goal. Then he placed this on Juvia." She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a small blue heart tattoo on her inner forearm.

"Hmm… strange. This might have something to do with your change in personality…" Lucy stated.

"I do not know what you mean. I feel perfectly fine." Juvia rolled her sleeve back down. Lucy stared at the female.

"J-Juvia… you just referred to yourself in first person…" Lucy was amazed. This was the first time she had the water mage speak in first person. Something was definitely wrong.

"Oh? It would appear so. Well, I feel better now so… thank you Lucy. I'm so glad to have you as my friend." She smiled and stood up to leave.

"What happened to 'love-rival'?" Lucy started to panic. If Juvia had lost interest in Gray then what kind of effect would it have on everyone else? And why was the spell suddenly taking effect now?

"Oh, I am sorry about that nonsense. I consider you as friend now." She smiled and left the room. Lucy just sat there, lost for words. She noticed that the rain had stopped completely.

A/N: Next chapter shall be up soon! :)