The sun had just begun it's ascent into the sky, it's rays of light shining upon the colored leaves of the trees in the town of Magnolia, birds singing and flying around in the cool autumn air. A beautiful day, as many would think. As a matter of fact, it was a day so beautiful, that Juvia Lockser had decided to take an early morning stroll before she put her plan into action.

For those of you who are wondering about what this plan of hers may be, let's just say it's similar to that one plan she had, the one with that bubbly love potion. Except this time, the potion is the real deal. And yes, it really is, because a very kind lady had told her it's history.

-Flashback: The Previous Day-

A bell jingled noisily when Juvia opened the door to the small store that sat near the edge of town. Juvia coughed as she entered; the air inside was a little stale, but she adjusted rather quickly. She spotted what seemed to be the front desk, but she didn't see anyone standing behind it.

"Hello?" She called out. When she didn't get an answer, she walked further into the store. "Hello? Is anybody here?"

"I'm right here, darling," said a feminine voice from behind her.

Juvia jumped slightly, turning around to see a smiling woman who seemed to be in her late 40's or early 50's; she had short grey-ish brown hair, was slightly chubby, and she was just a little taller than Juvia. She had light blue eyes that seemed almost grey, and she had reading glasses hooked on the neckline of her pink long-sleeved shirt. She had on a brown wool shawl, and her ankle-length skirt was a tan-ish color. In Juvia's opinion, this middle-aged lady seemed a bit out of place here--it was kind of dark, with some old-fashioned candle sconces here and there, and the air was, like she noted earlier, slightly stale. And it was as she was thinking all of this that she realized the woman was speaking to her. "Sorry, could you repeat what you said for Juvia?"

The lady chuckled. "Is that your name, then, dear?" Juvia nodded in response with a shy smile. "Well then, Juvia, I said 'welcome to my humble little shop'. May I ask what has brought you here?"

"Oh! Well, you see, Juvia saw an old flyer floating about as she was stalk-er, walking with her beloved Gray and she caught it when it flew in front of her. It said something about a potion shop and it gave an address, so Juvia decided to see if it was still here." She looked around her and noted that there were plenty of bookshelves with books, but she didn't see any potions. "However, it seems that this is not the potion shop...Juvia thinks it is actually a library."

"Well, it is a library, but it's still a potion shop." The woman turned towards one of the closer shelves and took out a book, opening it and flipping through a couple pages. She stopped at one and moved to stand next to Juvia, showing her the contents of the page. "This is a library for learning about and how to make potions. I am a master in this art, so I like to share the knowledge with others who wish to pursue the art of potion-making." She closed the book gently and placed it back where she had gotten it. Juvia could see that, even as the lady turned to face her again, she treated these books with great care. "So Juvia, why is it that you wanted to come to my potion shop?"

Juvia stood up straighter, which caused the woman to raise a brow. "Juvia would like to know if your shop possesses a love potion."

The way that the girl seemed to state this instead of actually asking the question puzzled the woman, but she waved it off with a kind laugh. "A love potion? Why of course!" She unhooked her glasses and put them on, a smile still plain on her face. "Come," she said to Juvia, "let me show you!"

Juvia followed the woman to a separate room in the back of the store behind the front desk, and instead of shelves with books, she saw shelves with bottles of liquid. Some of the bottles seemed a bit fancier than others, and others were shaped strangely. Many of the bottles were of different colors, ranging from a dark burgundy to a color that almost perfectly matches the color of thunderstorm clouds, a stormy, cloudy dark grey.

"Ah!" Juvia's head whipped towards the woman's voice and saw her on a stool, bringing down an purple bottle with an oval-shaped bottom. She watched as the lady stepped down from the stool and approached her. She held up the bottle, a smile on her face. "This is the creation that brought me my first customers."

"Really?" Juvia said, curious.

"Yes! This was my first successful potion! I created it when I was twenty-two, and..."

-End Flashback-

Now, this lovely lady did give Juvia the potion, since she had more made back at her own home in the country side right outside of town. The kind lady also told Juvia that the effects only lasts for about a day, sometimes even two (it varied, but the reason for that is unknown). She told Juvia that when her beloved drinks some of this potion, the first person he sees will be who they shall pursue, so Juvia must make sure that she is the first he sees after consumption of the potion. When the effects wear off, he will remember everything during his time under the potion's influence, and that will be when he decides if he is in love with her. She also told Juvia to make sure he consumes no more than four drops of the potion and, before Juvia left the shop, she even told her to call her Carol.

With the reminder of the potion placed snugly in the top of her dress, she ended her walk and made her way to the guild hall.

-At the guild-

She pushed open the doors and walked inside, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Oh hello, Juvia! How are you this fine day?"

Juvia looked over to the bar from where Mira had greeted and nodded. "Juvia is great, Mira! It is a lovely day outside! Where, uh, where can Juvia find her beloved Gray?"

Mira pointed over to a table with Gray, Cana, and Elfman. "Right over there, Juvia!"

"Thank you!" But she didn't go over to the table. She approached the bar, and Mira looked at her with a slightly confused expression. Before she could say anything, though, Juvia spoke. "Juvia wants to bring a drink for Gray," she said, a slight blush on her face.

Mira smiled kindly. "What a kind gesture! I'll get one right away so you can give it to him." Mira turned around and got a cup, then filled it with some root beer. "Here you go, Juvia! He likes root beer, so this should please him."

"Thank you, Mira. A-And can Juvia have some water?"

Mira nodded. "Sure!" She turned around again, and Juvia took this small window of opportunity to quickly pull out the small bottle. She unscrewed the top and pulled out the small dropper, and recalled Carol telling her to use only four drops. But Juvia was desperate! She ignored the tool and poured half the bottle into the root beer, then quickly screwed the dropper top back on and hid the bottle in the top of her dress again, just in time for Mira to emerge with a cup of water. "Here you go, Juvia!"

"Th-Thank you, Mira." She took a nervous sip of her water and turned around with Gray's drink in her other hand. She looked over at the table and saw Gray, with a small smile on his face, looking over at Natsu, Happy and Lucy (LOVE RIVAL!) who were across the room arguing over something. She huffed and finally walked over to the table. She stood next to Gray after about a few steps, and spoke. "H-Hello, Gray!"

Gray turned from looking at his teammates to gaze up at Juvia. "Oh, hey Juvia. How are you?"

Juvia smiled nervously, which earned her a few snickers from Cana. She mentally shook her head and smiled a bit more kindly. "Juvia is great! Juvia took a nice walk this morning to enjoy the beautiful day!"

He grinned. "Yeah, it is a great day, isn't it? But winter is almost here, so nice days like today won't be here for very long. Might as well enjoy them while they're still here."

Juvia nodded and, remembering the drink she had gotten (and tainted) for him, she held it out for him. "J-Juvia got you a drink!"

He looked at the cup for a moment before looking inside it. "Oh hey! Root beer! Thanks, Juvia." He grinned and took it from her hand, immediatey taking a nice, big gulp from it.

This is it, Juvia thought excitedly, now all he has to do is look at Juvia. He put down the cup and was quiet for a moment. "It tastes a little different," he said, still looking at his drink. Come on, Gray! Look at Juvia! His head started to raise and her smile widened as his face turned toward her. Yes! Yes! That's it!

WHAM!

Suddenly Juvia was on the floor, holding her shoulder. "Ow! Juvia's shoulder!"

"Oh my god, Juvia! I am so so sorry! I didn't see you there!" Juvia looked up and saw Lucy (LOVE RIVAL!) standing above her, right where she had been standing. Then she looked at Gray and--

Oh no.

Gray was staring at Lucy with a strange awed expression on his face, and Lucy was completely oblivious to it! When Lucy extended her hand down to Juvia to help her off of the floor, his eyes stayed on her face, never straying. He seemed entranced, and Juvia began to frown.

My plan has failed again.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Lucy, you should watch where you're going!" said the blue exceed, Happy, who was sitting on Gray's head.

"Shut up, cat! I wouldn't have run into anyone if you hadn't been claiming you were holding a SPIDER! And saying you would throw it on me!"

"Lucy, Happy was kidding! You didn't know that?" Natsu shook his head in disappointment.

"No! I didn't know! And it's not like throwing a spider at me is something you WOULDN'T do!" She sighed in exasperation and turned back to look at Juvia. "Here, Juvia, let me help you--huh?" Juvia wasn't on the floor anymore, which confused Lucy. "Where did she go?"

"She probably went away to pout somewhere," Cana said, drinking from her barrel of alcohol.

"To pout? But why?" Lucy was feeling bad now. She hadn't meant to knock her over.

"Juvia had brought Gray a drink to try and gain his affections, but it's not like it would have worked anyway," Cana replied with a wave of her hand. "He likes someone else."

Lucy nodded. "I see." She looked over at Gray and noticed he was staring at her. "Um, hey Gray." When he didn't say anything, she sighed. "Well, I'll just head home. I'm kinda tired. If anyone sees Juvia, tell her I'm really sorry." She waved to everyone and turned around.

"Wait! Do you want me and Happy to walk you home?" Natsu asked.

"No, not this time. I just want some time to myself." She offered them a tired smile. "Thanks anyway, though." And with that, she walked out of the guild hall, with the gang watching her leave.

"Hello everyone, was that Lucy that just left?" A red haired woman appeared beside the table where Lucy had been prior to her departure.

"Hey, Erza! Yeah, she said she was tired." Natsu shrugged. "I think she was just upset about the spider-thing."

She nodded. "I see...Gray, are you alright?"

Erza's words had drawn everyone's attention to the ice mage, who was now staring at the doors where Lucy had gone. He hadn't said anything the entire time during the conversation. He had been staring at Lucy the whole time.

"GRAY!" Suddenly, something whacked him on the head.

"Ow!" He rubbed where he had been hit and scowled, looking at Happy who was now holding a fish. "Did you just slap my head with a fish?"

"Yeah! Erza asked if you were alright, and you hadn't said anything!"

"I think lover boy's about to make his move," Cana said with a smirk.

"'Lover boy'? Are you saying that Gray likes someone?" Erza asked.

"MANLY!" Elfman suddenly exclaimed.

Gray suddenly got up. "I'm gonna head home, too. This whole conversation has been exhausting." He walked away from the table and out the doors of the guild hall.

A few seconds of silence passed before Happy spoke. "But he only said four sentences!"