Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I just wanted to play in his universe for a bit. ^^ Gruvia (GrayxJuvia) fic all the way. This will be five chapters long, so I hope you'll stick with me. ^_^

Gray and the others had separated, as they went chasing after the members of Black Lightening, a dark guild that had been raiding towns near Magnolia for the last month. Fairy Tail finally managed to track them down, and put together a team to defeat them. But they had proven to be pretty formidable. After the groups had clashed, everyone had scattered. Natsu and Gajeel had gone after the leader, Arashi, and Gray could still hear roars of thunder, even from a distance. Lucy, Erza and Juvia looked to have gone after Rita, a mage who specialized in telepathy. And Gray was currently chasing after Gasper, a earth-manipulation mage. The coward had turned tail and run when he had caught site of the devastation caused by Natsu's fire dragon roar.

"That idiot, burning up everything in sight," Gray said to himself, as he dodged through the low hanging branches of Waas forest. "There wont be a forest left when he's done with it." Gray stopped suddenly, as he saw a clearing up ahead.

"Damn, where did he go?" Gray had lost sight of Gasper a few minutes earlier, as the earth mage had dodged a few of his attacks, and made a sharp turn. Gray had followed, but now it looked like Gasper had disappeared completely. Gray approached the clearing warily, and saw that it was a dead end that lead to a cliff overlooking the ocean below. "I lost him..."

"Not quite," a gravely voice said behind him, just before he felt something as hard as steel, but with the texture of rock whip across his face, sending him flying a dozen feet into the grass and earth. He could taste the bitterness of blood in his mouth, as he spat on the ground, and looked up at his attacker.

A short, but powerfully built man stood just outside the cover of the trees, and he had an awful grin on his face, showing a couple of missing teeth.

"Awe," he mocked, as his lips pouted comically. "Did I mess up that pretty face of yours?" referring to the cut across Gray's cheek. "Let me even it out for you."

Gray saw a circle of ground in front of Gasper suddenly become almost liquified, as a whirlpool of sand formed at the epicenter, and a large fist, nearly twelve feet tall, arose from within it.

"Let's see how you handle my Gravel Fist of Fury, Icemage," But before Gray even had a chance to think of a counterattack, a stream of water appeared from his right-hand side, and cut the fist at the wrist. It crumbled down to earth, and disappeared.

"What?!"

An out-of-breath Juvia came running into view out of the bushes, and she held out her arms protectively in front of Gray. "Juvia will not let you harm Gray-sama!"

"Juvia?!" Gray shouted angrily. "Why aren't you with Lucy and Erza?"

"Juvia couldn't let Gray-sama face this man all alone. Juvia wants to help," Juvia said simply, as she turned to him, and gave him a shy kind of smile. As her attention was diverted towards him, however, Gray saw Gasper make a move.

"Juvia, look out!" he called, but too late, as several earth-made hands had jutted out of the ground at Juvia's feet.

"That won't work on Juvia! " she said, as she stood firm. "Juvia's body is water -" But before Juvia could react, she was being smashed into a rock nearby.

"My soil absorbs water," he cackled gleefully.

Gray got to his feet, as more hands surrounded him. He felt something rough scrape his entire arm, and just as he began to freeze it with his ice-make magic, it started spinning him wildly. The ice caused the hand to snap in half, and he was propelled forward into a thorny bush. He got up, tearing off his shirt, which was entangled in the thorns, and saw that Juvia was up again, and had managed to trap Gasper in her water lock.

Gray sighed, relieved that she had trapped him, and began to walk over to them, but before he could get much closer, he noticed a thin thread of soil was quickly absorbing the water from below. Within seconds, Gapser had managed to break free of the water lock. A gravel hand now had a hold of Juvia, and seemed to be trying to crush the life out of her.

Juvia's scream of pain pierced through Gray, as he called out in fury," Ice-make sword!" and from within his hands sprang a frozen sword.

He ran at the giant hand, and was just about to slash it in two to free Juvia, when Gasper said, "I don't think so."

The earth surged up all around Gray, and he was enclosed within a dark earthy tomb, buried alive. He could still hear feint screaming in his pitch-black cell. Trying not to panic, as the screams continued, he said, "Ice-make cannon!" He held the icy weapon, and fired. The force of the large ice cannonball was enough to break a hole in the wall of the Earth that encapsulated him, but he still couldn't quite get out. However, he could see through the hole he had made, that Juvia was being thrown around like a rag doll. He had to get out of there, immediately. Gray mustered all the strength he had, and focused it on the walls around him. He froze the earth, and using his fists, shattered the walls away into nothingness. It had taken a lot of strength out of him, as the walls had been thick. He ran, panting now, toward Gasper and Juvia, but stopped suddenly, as Juvia was thrown straight at him. He braced himself, and managed to catch her, as they both flew backwards. They hit a rock behind them, Gray cushioning Juvia, as he held onto her.

Collecting himself, Gray took a good look at Juvia. She was badly cut and bruised, and her eyes were struggling to stay open.

"Gray-sama, I'm sorry," she whispered, tears in her eyes, as she lost consciousness.

Gray heard a harsh, pitiless laugh behind him, and anger surged within him.

"Gray- sama..." Gasper chuckled. "She is a pitiful thing, isn't she? I hate people who show weaknesses, and love is the biggest one of all."

Gray tenderly laid Juvia down, and stood in front of her. "You'll pay for what you did to her," he said in quiet anger, glaring at the short man. If looks could kill, Gasper would already be dead.

"Awe, is she your girlfriend? No, I guess not. Sama is a little too formal for that. She just wants to be, right?" he laughed again, highly amused.

"Juvia is a a member of Fairy Tail, and you're about to find out what happens when people mess with Fairy Tail," Gray growled, before putting his fist in his hand. "Ice-make lance!" he shouted, and huge pieces of ice shot out from his hands, and straight at Gasper.

Gasper dodged all but one of them, as he went tumbling to the ground. However, he recovered almost immediately, and sprang back onto his stubby feet.

He's fast, Gray thought, as he said, "Ice-make hammer!" A huge ice hammer came falling from nothingness right on top of Gasper, but the earth he was standing on swallowed him up, and the hammer fell onto empty solid ground instead. Gray's heart was racing, as he stood in silence, attempting to hear something that would give an indication of where Gasper had went. Or where he'll be popping up, Gray thought, frustrated.

And sure enough, Gasper sprang from the ground right behind him, and as Gray took a step forward, he realized the ground beneath himself had given way too. It was like he had suddenly been caught in a immense sand trap. Gray froze the sand, and shattered it, but a gravel hand flew out the earth, and knocked him backward. He got up quickly, though, just in time to see a hand had hold of Juvia's unconscious form, and was holding her suspended over the cliff.

"We must keep things tidy," Gasper said, grinning maliciously. "I don't like to leave my toys just lying around," and as he said this, the fingers of the gravel fist opened, and Juvia plummeted.

"No! Juvia!" Gray shouted, his heart racing. She's ok. She has to be ok, he thought in panic. He ran towards where she had fallen, about to create a ice slide, in order to go after her. But once again, he was knocked backward by a giant fist coming out of the rocky surface of the cliff.

"You fairies just don't learn, do you? You can't win against Black Lightening," he taunted. "Don't worry, though," he said, almost reassuringly. "As soon as I'm done playing with you too, I'll happily let you join your fairy friend."

Tired, angry, frustrated, and terrified, Gray knew he had to finish off Gasper, and he had to do it now. Juvia, he thought.

"Ice-make-" he roared, but Gasper interrupted, wagging his finger.

"Uh, uh,uh," you're too slow, Icemake mage." And 10 hands sprang from the ground, as they dealt punch after punch on every part of Gray they could reach. "You used too much magic earlier in our group battle. Did you really think you alone were enough to take me down? Chasing after me, like you thought I'd be a push over. Arrogant fairy. You're about to pay for that mistake with your life," he said, relish in his voice, as a hand closed over Gray's throbbing, aching body.

Gray felt one of his arms snap, as the rock-hard hand attempted to crush him into a fine powder. He gritted his teeth, determined not to cry out. He didn't want to give Gasper the satisfaction. Is this what Juvia felt when the hand had a hold of her earlier? Gray was not about to give up, though. He had to take down Gasper. He had to stop Black Lightening. He had to find Juvia.

Just as he was attempting to muster up the little magic he had left, to freeze the hand, he felt the massive fingers slacken. Confused, he looked up to see what Gasper was doing. Gasper's mouth was hanging open, as he stared slack-jawed at a sight high above, and behind Gray. Gray turned and saw a giant woman made of water rising up from the ocean. No, that wasn't just any woman.

"Juvia?!" Gray said in shock and alarm. From the looks of things, it seemed Juvia had become one with the ocean itself, and was using the immense body of water to magnify herself.

Her large eyes were creepily translucent, but also threatening as they surveyed the scene below her. Juvia's giant water hand reached over the cliff, and grabbed a hold of Gasper, who tried, but failed dismally to escape.

Gray felt himself falling, as the gravel arm crumbled around him. He got to his feet, and stared in awe at the spectacle before him. Apparently, Juvia had taken Gasper too far from the reach of the cliff. And as the only earth around was the ocean floor, which was several thousand feet below, Gasper's magic couldn't reach to manipulate it, essentially leaving him powerless.

"Didn't Juvia say, she would not let you harm Gray-sama?" her voice was magnified too, as she spoke in a deadly calm voice to the horrified Gasper, who looked like a ugly doll in her hand. "Tempest!" she boomed.

Juvia's body became a giant swirling vortex of water, as Gasper spun around within it. It increased in speed, until stopping suddenly, and flinging Gasper from within it's depths. Gasper easily flew at least a hundred feet. He passed right over Gray's head, landing in a crumpled, unconscious heap in the thorny bushes Gray had untangled himself from earlier, crushing them to pieces. It wasn't as hard of a landing as it could have been, but from that distance and speed, Gray was sure Gasper wouldn't be ready to fight again any time soon.

Gray looked around, and saw Juvia's water vortex fade, and rejoin the ocean. He ran to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. That's when he saw Juvia's body lying on one of the rocks at the base of the cliff below.

"Ice-make slide! Gray said, as a icy slide leading down the cliff was formed. He rode it towards Juvia, hopping off onto the rock where she lay. "Juvia!"

Juvia had clearly pushed herself to her magical limit. Her breathing was very shallow, and she looked like she was putting in a great effort to remain conscious. "Is it over?" she asked, staring straight ahead at the ocean.

Her voice was so quiet, that it scared Gray. "Yes, you beat him," he said, as he lifted her up into a sitting position with his uninjured hand.

She looked at Gray, and gave a weak smile. "Juvia is glad that Gray- sama is alright," and with that her eyes closed, and her head fell unto his shoulder.

"The Master said she's lucky to be alive. Porlyusica fixed up a remedy to help her recover," Mirajane explained to the Fairy Tail members back at the guild.

"Is she still in the forest with her?" Erza asked, her face creased with worry.

"No, Porlyusica said she didn't need to stay, and she should make a full recovery. Master and Gray brought her back here. She's upstairs, asleep." Mirajane said, looking up the stairs, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It sounds like that Gasper was the toughest of the lot," Erza said.

"I wish I could have fought him some more," Natsu expressed jealously, crossing his arms.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you see what he did to Gray and Juvia?" Lucy asked in disbelief. "Juvia had to become the ocean itself to take him down."

"That's why I wish I could have fought him!" Natsu said passionately. "Arashi turned out to be a pushover. It would have been nice to have a bigger challenge."

"Oh yeah? Is that why I had to save your butt so many times during the fight?" Gajeel grinned tauntingly.

"Who saved who's butt? I didn't need your help!" Natsu blustered, getting to his feet, his fists raised, as Gajeel did the same.

"Yeah right, flame for brains," Gajeel countered, as Lucy laughed nervously, and Erza drew out her sword, which quickly separated the two Dragon Slayers.

"That does sound like some amazing magic from Juvia, though, doesn't it?" Erza continued, as though the Natsu and Gejeel back and forth hadn't just occurred.

Mirajane nodded, smiling. "Yes. It sounds like it was a completely new technique combining her Sierra and Water Cyclone skills. Incredibly powerful." Her smile faded a bit. "But master said that she had put a severe tax on her body, and if things had continued, she would have..." she trailed off, and looked into the corner of the room, where Gray was listening, half concealed in shadow. He didn't take the opportunity to chime in, however, and instead, ignored all of them, and headed upstairs toward the guild's medical ward.

Gray opened the door to Juvia's room with his good hand, his broken arm tied in a sling. His several cuts had also already been tended to when he had taken Juvia to Porlyusica, but only after he had insisted that she look after Juvia first. He stood in the doorway for ages, as he looked at Juvia sleeping peacefully. She wasn't as bandaged as he was, but he knew her ribs had been cracked, and she had a huge gash down her left leg. However, that wasn't the worst of the damage. As Mirajane had said, using such a immensely powerful spell for the very first time, after she had already greatly depleted her magic, was incredibly reckless, and could have easily cost her, her life.

He felt a rush of anger and embarrassment within him that he couldn't fully explain to himself. He tried to shake it off, as he walked inside the ward to the end bed, and sat down on the bed beside it. He studied Juvia's still figure. Her porcelain skin was highlighted by the sun streaming in through the window. He observed her long eyelashes, which were fully visible as she slept on, and her blue hair, which she changed almost as often as her moods. She had taken to wearing it long, and flowing lately. Such a contrast from the stringent curls she had when he had first met her. It wasn't that he didn't find her attractive. Quite the opposite, as he looked at her outline from beneath the crisp white sheet. But, still, if only she wasn't so...

He didn't know how long he had sat there beside her, but the sun had long since receded behind the distant mountains by the time Juvia started stirring.

Her eyes flickered open, and she simply stared at the ceiling for a minute before noticing she had company.

"Gray-sa-" she started, smiling. Her tone of voice clearly showed she was happy and relieved to see him, but she was cut off by Gray, who put a finger to her lips. She blushed deeply, and quieted at once.

Gray pulled his hand away. "There are three things I have to tell you, and I don't want you interrupting," he said bluntly, and she nodded her head.

"Firstly, I'm nobody's sama," he said harshly. "I'm just Gray. Understand?"

Juvia's eyes were wide, and she made no reply, but the smile she had moments ago faded away.

He continued. "Secondly, you're an idiot. You could have, and would have been killed! It's only a miracle that you're not dead. Porlyusica said you far out-taxed yourself, and pushed your body beyond normal magical limitations. In other words, you went way overboard -"

"But - " she started defensively, but he quelled her with a look, and she retreated even farther beneath her covers, as just the tips of her fingers, and only everything from her nose and up could be seen of her face now.

"You went WAY OVERBOARD," he repeated again forcefully. "And why? To come after me. To help, you said? Who said I needed help? You don't think I can take care of myself?"

She quickly shook her head in fright.

"I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me. I don't want you risking your life for me," he said, and there was a fury and finality to his voice, and she didn't seem to dare argue. She merely looked at him from behind the sheet, and there was more than just fear in her eyes now. But Gray didn't want to spend the time to puzzle out what it was. Instead, he got off of the bed, and made his way to the door, before turning back, determined to say everything that was on his mind.

"And thirdly," he started, addressing the wall near the door, rather than looking back at her, so that his face was in profile, "nothing has ever come easily to me. I've had to work hard for everything I have, and everything I am. And I prefer it that way. I... I like a challenge," he said, angry at himself, as he heard his voice betray him a bit. He felt a slight heat rush to his face, and he quickly turned completely away from her.

"That's all," he finished simply, leaving tthe room and an awkward silence behind him.