Ice Umbrella

FayeValentine00 (aka Juvia0613)

Summary:

Posted for Gruvia Week 2019 - Day 5 (Heartache)

Gray had only been away for a few months but it was long enough that Juvia didn't know exactly what to do with herself. No sooner had the ice mage finally confessed his feeling, and he was off on the 100 Year Quest with Team Natsu leaving her behind.

It's not that Juvia minded. She was sensible enough to know that jobs needed to get done, and she also knew that Gray would never abandon his team, but she still got lonely. Despite being an S-class wizard and going on missions of her own, it was still hard to come back to the guildhall and not see his face. Now it was even harder, what with Levy being pregnant and Gajeel being totally preoccupied with his own his own happiness. It reinforced her own loneliness and the wish to be with the one she loved above all else.

One particularly depressing night when Levy announced that the couple was expecting twins, Juvia conveyed her sincere congratulations but then snuck out of the guildhall as soon as humanly possible. As she left, she hadn't needed to look up to know that the skies were threatening rain. She just hoped that the happy parents-to-be would be too cocooned in their own bliss to notice.

I wasn't that Juvia was jealous of the couple, or even that she wanted exactly what they had. (Although just the thought of carrying Gray's child was enough to set fire to her cheeks.) It was simply that she longed for the comfortable companionship that Gajeel and Levy shared so easily but that she and Gray only managed to find when they were alone, away from their well-meaning but nosey guildmates.

She'd have given anything to be held in Gray arms just then! As Juvia drifted down the lane, she couldn't forget her loves words when they'd both nearly killed themselves to save the other. Subconsciously her hand went to the place where the scar remained on her abdomen, a silent reminder of the most pivotal moment of her life. Then she recalled his other words on the night he'd claimed her body as his own. The memory of those words normally chased away any negative thoughts yet, that night, Grays touch was the one thing she truly desired.

She gave her head a hard shake to chase away those thoughts as she walked right past her home and towards the center of town when she felt the first raindrop hit her shoulder. In that moment she knew that sitting home alone would only exacerbate her sullen mood.

The water mage walked blindy through town, not paying attention to the surrounding people. The fact that she was drenched from rain of her own subconscious making made her think that perhaps she truly was destined to be nothing more than the Rain Woman. One would think she had outgrown that particular trait after her years of happiness in Fairy Tail but, clearly, she had not. Gray Fullbuster was the only person who'd ever been able to chase away her particular clouds and he always would be.

At first Juvia didn't notice when the rain stopped falling around her. It wasn't until she heard the light "tink, tink, tink" of drops hitting something solid above her head that she looked up. Above her was solid ice in the shape of an umbrella. She didn't want to give in to hope when she saw the ice. She needed to see the mage who'd protected her from the rain before she allowed the joy to overtake her so, slowly, she turned around. Gray was standing right behind her, gazing at her with his perfect smile.

"GRAY-SAMA!" She shrieked loudly and threw herself into his arms, oblivious to the fact that she was soaked.

"I'm home," he whispered into her ear, causing her whole body to tense in surprise. With a smirk he wrapped his arms around her waist and, accepting that she had already ruined his clothes, pulled her tightly to him for a long time.

Juvia surprised Gray by pulling away enough to look up at him with a dazzling smile. In that same moment, the rain and clouds dissipated completely, showering the couple and the town in bright moonlight which made her light blue hair shine around her face like a halo.

"Welcome home!"