"Look, Juvia, I'm sorry. Please don't cry." His hand on her head, warm and comforting in all the worst ways, and the tears simply would not stop. They spilled over, trickling down her cheeks to mingle with the rainwater as the downpour only intensified. "I know how much you think of me, and I wish I could feel the same, but I just don't. I can't force myself to love you back, it doesn't work that way."
"B-but Juvia loves-s o-only Gray-sama." The words tumbled free, stuttered and jarring from the hitching sobs she made no effort to suppress. Why should she? It wasn't as though it made any difference.
"Which is why you need to find someone else, someone actually worthy of your love." It wasn't the first time Gray had told her this, rejected her advances so openly. Sometimes it was in public, loud rejections triggered by anger as her at times unacceptable behaviour tipped him over the edge. Sometimes, like then, it was in the quiet not-quite privacy of a deserted street. It hurt, regardless of the method, but at least out there she had the privacy of anonymity.
"But Gray-sama i-is worthy." The protest earned her nothing but a small, sad smile. She had been so certain for so long that he could grow to love her, and she knew she was too over the top in her affection for the ice mage, but somehow she could not help herself. He did care for her, she knew as much else he would not stand in her downpour and stroke her hair thus, his own heart breaking at the pain he was causing her. But that wasn't love. At least, not the love she wanted.
"I meant, someone who can return your feelings. You deserve to be treated like a princess, Juvia. You deserve someone who can adore you as much as you adore them, and I'm just not that person. I'm sorry." He had done nothing but apologise, but it had not helped. The gulping cries would not abate, and Juvia knew he had nothing to be sorry for; this was all on her. He could not love her, could never love her as she did him, and she did not blame him for it.
'Poor child.' The rain had stopped, though Juvia had not stilled it herself. Emotions as they were, it should still be falling upon them, though both were already drenched to the skin. 'Poor, sweet child. Does it hurt?' No, Juvia realised a moment too late, the rain hadn't stopped as much as it had simply paused. It hung in the air, frozen where it fell, and when she glanced up at Gray she saw that he was much the same, held frozen in space. In time. Leaves in the trees had stilled, and there was no sound save the roar in her own ears and the odd voice in her head.
"Who are you?" Pulling away from the hand that had rested upon her hair, Juvia moved to put herself between her static beloved and the disembodied voice in her mind, wherever the source might be hiding. It seemed to be laughing at her, and she swiped away the tears angrily, dislodging the hanging droplets of rainwater wherever she moved. They gathered on her, soaking into her clothes and skin, breaking the spell for those few only.
'Don't worry, little one. I mean neither you or your lovely boyfriend no harm.' Space seemed to shift, and from the gap it created a form appeared, taking shape. The woman smiled and Juvia blanched, seeing her own face, her own visage.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Juvia cursed herself for the tremble in her voice, more a remnant of her tears than any actual fear, though it was still there and she hated to show such weakness. The woman, her doppelganger, stepped forward until she was close enough to reach out and touch, if Juvia so wished.
'I have heard your pain, pretty one, I have come to soothe it.' The doppelganger shifted to stare over her shoulder, eyes raking over Gray with no small amount of disdain. It made the hairs on the back of Juvia's neck stand up, anger prickling. 'I heard what he said, child. I have felt the pain he has caused you, and I can make it better.' It paused, smiling softly. 'If you wish it.'
"Juvia does not understand. What are you offering?" A hand reached out to brush a stray lock of dripping wet hair from her face, and to Juvia's credit she did not flinch, did not recoil. The hand of the stranger was cold, she noted, like ice.
'I offer what no more or less than what that man has said you deserve; someone to treat you like a princess, to love you unconditionally, worship you. Is that not what you want? I can show him what it is to love you. Your love, your 'Gray-sama', he himself wishes to return your feelings - did he not say so? Do you not want to grant him his wish?'
"Juvia-" She paused for a moment, swallowing down her own unease. The stranger, this creature, was not wrong - Gray had indeed said that he wished he could love her, so perhaps this is what he would want? Should she ask him? "Why would you do this for Juvia?"
'To see you happy, my child. To give you what you desire. And in return…' The creature paused at that, seeming to think, before clapping its hands together with a look of glee. 'In return, when you pass on to the next life, you shall keep me company a while. It is so lonely here, I should very much enjoy your company.'
"Alright, what does Juvia need to do?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Juvia regretted them. Hands colder than ice pressed against her hand, blade sharp against her skin, drawing a line of red through her flesh that welled up immediately. Juvia snatched her hand back with a sharp cry, and the doppelganger simply grinned. She blinked, and it was gone, the rain continuing to fall around her, hand stinging from the slash across her palm.
'It is done.' The voice mocked in her head, cruelty evident in the dark tone. It sounded less like her now, deeper, far older than her own lilting voice. Turning, Juvia found Gray staring at her, drenched to the bone, deep blue eyes glazed over and lifeless.
"Gray-sama?" She could sense something, the swirl of magic as old as the ages, clamping down around them. It dug its claws in, almost enough to hurt, tying itself to her soul, their souls.
"What do you wish of me, my princess?" She swallowed down the rising bile; he was looking at her, straight at her, yet she knew he did not see her. The man standing before her was not Gray, not any more, entirely spellbound by the old, forbidden magic of the curse. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing, no real recognition, the spark gone. Gray was gone.
"This is not what Juvia wanted." Letting out a low cry of despair, she turned on her heel, searching fruitlessly for the long-gone creature who had sealed their deal with her blood. Her hand stung and her head swam, pulse pounding incessantly in her ears. "This is not what Juvia wanted!" Her scream went unanswered, save for the cold, lifeless arms that wrapped around her shoulders.