My Sunshine
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You never know, dear, how much I love you. So please, don't take my sunshine away."
This childhood classic brought back many memories to a certain water mage named Juvia Lockser. As a child, she was always cast aside because everywhere she went, the rain followed. At school, she would hear her classmates singing the song about the sun. She always hated the song. She had never seen the sun before and felt that the song was directed towards her. She was the reason the skies were gray.
Juvia Lockser grew up and became a strong mage known as "The Rain Woman." She was powerful and feared, even though she carried a frilly pink umbrella with hearts. She was one of the strongest members of Phantom Lord and a member of their elite group of mages, the Element Four. The rain still continued to haunt her and made it difficult for her to make friends in Phantom Lord because she was seen as the gloomy Rain Woman. The closest thing to a friend was an iron dragon slayer named Gajeel, but he was almost never around because the master would send him on top secret missions.
However, one fateful day, Juvia was able to see the sun and a clear sky. It was all thanks to a handsome ice mage, Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail. She was forever thankful to Gray for allowing her to see the sun she so desired. She loved him, maybe a little too much. Juvia joined Fairy Tail after she saw how hard Gray fought for the sake of his friends. She was willing to do anything for her precious Gray-sama.
Juvia had difficulty making friends at Fairy Tail in the beginning. After all, she was a former enemy. The fact that she convinced Master Makarov to accept Gajeel as a member, even though he destroyed Fairy Tail and almost killed three of their members, did not make the process any easier. But, eventually Juvia and Gajeel were able to show their repentance and earn the trust of their fellow mages, and most importantly, their friendship.
Gray still remembers the first time it rained after his battle with Juvia. It had barely started to drizzle, when someone made a comment about the gloomy weather. Juvia couldn't help but remember her days as the Rain Woman and stormed out of the guild hall, crying. Gajeel ran out to look for Juvia, carrying her beloved pink umbrella that she left behind. Gray and other members of Fairy Tail followed Gajeel's example and began to search for Juvia. Gray began his search at the park, where he knew Juvia liked to sit staring at the river. She wasn't there.
He was heading back to Fairy Tail when he heard a soft hum accompanied by sobs coming from an alleyway. He knew it had to be Juvia. He stood against the wall and peeked in the alleyway to confirm his suspicions. There he found a crying Juvia with her head against a stiff Gajeel, who had his arms awkwardly around her trying to comfort her, and the pink umbrella on the floor. All Gray could hear was her soft voice, "You are my sunshine *sniff* my only sunshine. You make me hap—*sniff*—py when skies are gray. You never know *sniff* dear, how much I love you. *sniff* So please *sniff* don't take my sunshine away."
Gray decided to leave the two alone and walked back to the guild to let everyone know that Juvia and Gajeel were fine. He never told anyone what he saw. Gajeel had smelled Gray standing by the alleyway due his dragon sense of smell, and later threatened to beat Gray up if he told anyone. Gajeel knew Juvia was a strong woman and wouldn't want people to know how shaken she really was. She wouldn't want their pity.
Years passed and Gray and Juvia became closer. They would train and go on missions together. During rainstorms, he would hear Juvia softly singing "You are my sunshine" and he would find himself humming it along with her. Gray had always known that Juvia loved him, but he never returned any of her feelings. He was scared. He always lost the people close to him and didn't want to risk losing anyone else. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand that pain again. However, Juvia was persistent and stayed by Gray's side. She forgave Gray when he left her for six months without any sort of notice. She helped him when he faced his biggest enemy, who was also his best friend. Juvia stood by Gray through it all because she loved him, and he loved her for that. He was her sunshine, and she was his. While he gave her clear skies, she was able to melt away the ice that surrounded his heart.
After the whole E.N.D fiasco, Gray was finally able to confess his feelings to Juvia. He no longer needed to worry about E.N.D. hurting Juvia or anyone else he cared about. He was no longer afraid of loving someone. Juvia was delighted when Gray confessed and Gray loved the way her eyes sparkled with happiness. He felt his chest tighten seeing her so happy and knowing he was the cause of it. They were both finally able to be happy.
That is why it confused Gray. He was finally able to be happy with Juvia. He had earned the right to love again. He had stopped E.N.D. There was no longer a threat to Juvia. But yet, here they were. It was supposed to be a simple mission: capture a couple of robbers who were rumored to be hiding in a forest. Simple. Juvia and Gray knocked most of the robbers out easily. They were on fire.
Only one robber remained, and he was also a wizard. Gray and Juvia ran towards him ready to attack. The robber dodged attack after attack. Gray and Juvia started to pant from exhaustion. They had used up most of their magical energy fighting the rest of the robbers. The robber finally began to counterattack. He shot beam after beam of magical energy towards the couple of Fairy Tail wizards. They jumped and dodged the attacks. But then, a beam came towards Gray and he didn't have the time to dodge it. He froze. Juvia pushed Gray out of the way and he fell on the cold, hard ground. He heard Juvia shout her signature attack, "Water Slicer," followed by a groan and then a thump.
He opened his eyes expecting to see the robber lying on the ground. He was right. The robber was on the floor injured and unconscious. He smiled as he could already picture his beautiful girlfriend jumping from the excitement of victory. He was scanning the area for Juvia so they could finally head back to the guild together, when his eyes landed on her familiar sky blue hair.
His chest tightened and his heart fell to his stomach. This couldn't be happening. He got up and ran towards Juvia. He knelt by her side in utter shock. His sight becoming blurry as his eyes became glossy with tears. There laid Juvia, in a pile of her own blood. His hands began to shake as he placed the injured Juvia on his lap. Juvia was moaning and began to cough up blood. The ray had gone through her abdomen. Tears filled Gray's eyes as he saw the love of his life declaring that she would save him as many times as she could. But, he couldn't listen. She wasn't supposed to save him. He was supposed to protect her.
Juvia looked at Gray and placed a bloody hand on his cheek. He grabbed her hand and kissed it promising that everything would be alright. She smiled and he saw the shimmer in her eyes begin to slowly fade away. Gray held onto her hand and gently caressed her blue locks. A tear slowly rolled down his cheeks.
Juvia wiped away his tear with her soft hand and began to sing, "You are my sunshine…my only sunshine… you make me happy… when skies are gray… you never know dear… how much I—" her arms fell limp at her side. Gray held onto Juvia with all his might. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore. He pressed her head against his chest as he finished the song "—you never know… dear how much…I love you… So please… Don't take my sunshine away… Please…"